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The Honda Ad Timeline
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[Herb Sevush] “And yet you have insisted that the release was handled perfectly. So how perfect was it being handled when it has caused “irrational” resentment that has dragged on for almost 4 years. Even I think the anti-X phenomena has dragged on too long – yet here it still is. Must be the fault of all them dumb LA/NY editors.”
I get you Herb.
In my wildest WILDEST dreams I simply couldn’t forsee professional editors remaining so emotionally wounded for so long.
It’s been one of the MOST amazing things I’ve witnessed in my career.
Oh well.
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[Oliver Peters] ” On one hand, they talk about not caring about the enterprise,”
Where does Apple talk about this specifically?
What defines “enterprise”?
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That’s the “heard” mentality, and is the result of the way the rollout was handled. It’s the same reaction as you get to the Affordable Care Act – it sucks, it doesn’t work, it will raise prices – it doesn’t matter that this is demonstrably not true – public perception is a hard thing to change (When the legend becomes fact, print the legend) – which is why it’s so important to get it right the first time.
For sure here in UK the people who seem to hate FCPX the most (that I have spoken to) are the ones who have not really used it or learnt it. And producers who have formed their opinion from what they have heard editors say (who also have no used it). And yes people are still banging on about “How apple could be so unprofessional…”
In truth if Apple had just said “hey guys don’t panic this is under development and Legacy will continue to work fine for 4 years” maybe that would have been better.
Or maybe nobody would have even bothered looking at FCPX and it would not have got off the ground at all.
The best comment I got was from a corporate producer who said to me “… but that’s something that FCPX can’t do isn’t there … I can’t remember what it is though…”
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[James Ewart] “Or maybe nobody would have even bothered looking at FCPX and it would not have got off the ground at all.”
Actually, I think that’s probably why they did it the way they did to some extent. Perhaps they went a bit too far by stopping FCS sales right away though. Ah well… hindsight and all that…
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
One other point about the Honda workflow….
Just thinking whether he might have made use of Auditions and replaced all the shots in the Timeline by changing the selection?
Maybe not as fast for replacing edited sequences I suppose but perhaps simpler?
Or am I missing something?
Why did they have to use Compressor to create the Proxy files rather than letting FCPX do the work?
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“Where does Apple talk about this specifically”
Going back to interviews with Jobs, Apple has repeatedly and publicly expressed the sentiment that dealing with enterprise customers was a PITA and that they preferred the immediacy of dealing with the individual consumer. Besides this, it has been backed up by Apple changes in direct sales practices. When Xsan, Xserve, FC Server, etc. looked strong, Apple had a dedicated staff of sales and support engineers to interface specifically with customers. This was dismantled and the service offloaded to systems integrators. That was a less than adequate solution and from my own personal knowledge, soured many customers on such solutions from Apple.
“Where does Apple talk about this specifically”
In the context of this discussion, I’m referring to broadcast groups, large post facilities, studios, etc.
Admittedly this attitude has shifted (again) under Cook. But only in so much as it involves specific software deals and product features within iPad and iPhone.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[James Ewart] “So we are all afraid of losing our livelihoods and that’s a natural enough fear to have.”
Sorry, but I find that rather ridiculous. If you’re “losing your livelihood” to some hack that just graduated from a three day course, then your problem is clearly something completely different than just the NLE you or they are using. If you can’t compete with them, then you’re simply using them as a scapegoat for being a BAD EDITOR and not staying up to speed on your profession.
But I wouldn’t want a client that actually thought they were getting their money’s worth by choosing someone like that over me either way. Good riddance. Just don’t come crying to me when your project goes tits up, looks horrible or just plain never gets finished. 😛
[James Ewart] “they also represented a psychological barrier to entry. Which equals job protection.”
Someone actually admits it for a change. 😀
Yes, the only thing that kept and still keeps so many people working isn’t actual talent and story-telling expertise, it’s an “elitist nerd” status. Being the only one in the room that is able to make heads or tails of messy, overloaded, convoluted GUIs. Now that any and everyone with even the most basic comprehension skills can work a pro level (whatever that means) NLE, they’re scared senseless that people will now finally find out that all they could in fact ever do was memorize buttons and knew when to push them. (yes, I’m being facetious… but then, not really) And that’s one thing I absolutely love about X and see every day when teaching. It democratizes filmmaking. Actually having talent as a filmmaker/story-teller is no longer truncated or stopped in its tracks by the lack of a computer science and broadcast engineering degree just to get a simple idea into a timeline. So yeah… those that have the latter but none of the former need be really scared. And apparently are.[Andrew Kimery] “many of the FCP Legend users I personally knew did not know any other NLE so they reacted to the EOL by Apple as a direct attack on their ability to make a living”
Which is just painfully nonsensical and self-important, too, yes. Since legacy continues to work TO THIS DAY. Or did it magically remove itself when X came out? Which “ability” did X take away exactly? I’m very curious. And even then, after a mere 6 months X was everything 7 was and more. Just it was different and you don’t dare suggest to “pros” that changing a few things and ideas here and there (and having to grasp those differences) could in fact be a good idea. Because they of course know better. They’re “pros”. Wouldn’t actually want to EVOLVE! 😀
And sorry, there was no “EOLing” of FCP 7 (unless you consider FCP 1-6 EOLed also). Yet another meme that will never die. It was UPDATED i.e. brought up to speed with today’s digital workflow, which meant various changes for the better, yes. An update like any before it, even if it was drastic, but so was the whole switch in the industry from analog to digital and HD. It’s still FCP. An update that some went for, other’s didn’t, just as before. This bizarre notion anyone was somehow forced to make the jump on day one (or even today) is exactly that: bizarre.
Funny how there are even still FCP *6* users making money out there, and not just a few. They saw no sense or gain in updating to 7, and the same applies to X. Good for them. Life goes on. Contructing some silly Wailing Wall around an update like that is just childish. To suggest that nearly FOUR YEARS to decide what’s best for you going forward somehow isn’t enough is just witless rhetoric IMHO and certainly has nothing to do with Apple or FCP.
I certainly agree with Bill: people seriously need to get over themselves. Going on four years of this nonsense… wow.
[Andrew Kimery] “the chicken/egg part of the equation that’s keeping X from gaining ground quickly”
Could it be that you haven’t been around much lately? There has never been another NLE that has gained more ground faster than X. Just because it’s not happening in your immediate surroundings doesn’t actually mean much. It’s merely anecdotal and says very little about the industry as a whole, which btw is a completely different one than from just 5-10 years ago. So it’s apples and oranges either way. There are also a lot of other cities outside of L.A.. And L.A. is a yardstick for… L.A.… full stop. It only represents an extremely small segment of the industry. One that is completely irrelevant to an easy 95+% of the rest. Cherry-picking the only one relevant to oneself as a measure for an entire industry is a statistically useless logical fallacy.
I for one don’t know a single (working) Avid editor. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist or that there aren’t plenty around.
And, for me, if there’s an NLE company with an actual shaky and highly unpredictable future, then it most certainly is Avid. So to raise the rather tired “will Apple blow it up again” FUD question is just polemics. Of all the big A’s Avid certainly is the company I would least consider investing even a single cent in at this point, if I had to pick one, if you want to talk “security”.
Btw, any proficient and experienced editor will be able to edit on ANY NLE out there and do a good job. At worst needing a few minutes here or there to find the one or other menu item he needs. To suggest that someone is a more decent or even better editor just because he’s more familiar with a certain software package or editing paradigm is ludicrous if you ask me.
And there’s absolutely nothing “predictable” about any aspect of this industry, be it software or hardware and no matter which OEM you’re talking about. To believe anything else would just be rather delusional. There isn’t a single company on the market worth mentioning that hasn’t killed a product “unexpectedly” at some point or another.
Okay… now my fingers hurt. ;P
– RK -
[Robin S. Kurz] ” If you can’t compete with them, then you’re simply using them as a scapegoat for being a BAD EDITOR and not staying up to speed on your profession.”
This is so correct. I heard this from linear editors when Avid came out and Avid editors when FCP came out. There is a simple answer: just be better. If you are a good editor, no NLE will put you out of business. Personally, I have yet to reduce my rate just because an NLE can be had for only $299. My clients really don’t care what I cut on or how much it costs. YMMV.
[Robin S. Kurz] “There are also a lot of other cities outside of L.A.. And L.A. is a yardstick for… L.A.… full stop. It only represents an extremely small segment of the industry. One that is completely irrelevant to an easy 95+% of the rest.”
Been saying this for years. Broadcast is a niche when looked in terms of the entire visual storytelling landscape. What the broadcast and film niche needs may not be anywhere near what the rest of the market wants or needs. Avid is smart: they recognized their main market and are pretty much doing everything for them.
[Robin S. Kurz] “Of all the big A’s Avid certainly is the company I would least consider investing even a single cent in at this point, if I had to pick one, if you want to talk “security”.”
Robin. The trick with Avid is to buy it about a month before NAB and sell it about a week after. You get 15%-20% and get out clean! 😉
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
“So we are all afraid of losing our livelihoods and that’s a natural enough fear to have.”
“Sorry, but I find that rather ridiculous. If you’re “losing your livelihood” to some hack that just graduated from a three day course, then your problem is clearly something completely different than just the NLE you or they are using. If you can’t compete with them, then you’re simply using them as a scapegoat for being a BAD EDITOR and not staying up to speed on your profession.”
I understand why you think that but change is scary for a lot of people. Look at the way nations (yours and mine included) react to large scale immigration – it’s the same vibe don’t you think? The way the Avid community has consistently rallied against FCP in both iterations has been hard to fathom at times but job protection (albeit misguided) is a reasonable explanation. And the more they can perpetuate the negative publicity the better for them (they think).
I also agree about the democratisation. After all FCP1 at £900 was pretty radical at the time and allowed me, a producer/director, to secretly learn the craft myself – something I had always been itching to do. FCPX at £200 is a similar kind of leap. At that price of course people will look into it and, as I think I put in my previous post, I also like the idea that the tool no longer matters. Never did really much. Nobody (apart from people here of course) ever said “I must go and watch that show I hear it was cut in Adobe/FCPX/AVID/Quantel or a Steenbeck.
Owning a word processing software and a computer does not turn you into a great writer any more than being able to operate edit software makes you a great film maker.
I agree with you but I also understand that when you have been earning a living a certain way, for many years and you are freelance with a mortgage to pay and kids to feed, you can feel a bit threatened by some of these developments. I don’t think that’s ridiculous but I do think it would be better to embrace the change. But that is human nature.
We must also be careful not to disrespect the many fine editors who have been happily working with Avid for twenty or more years successfully who think “why change?”. I kind of get that too. These guys have not been earning a living purely on the strength of knowing which buttons to push.
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Actually £900 is wrong.
Because back them two 27 inch moonitors which were too heavy to carry cost about £1,000 each. The Power Mac (was it an 8100 back then?) must have been £3,000. The external Lacie scsi drives (50GB each?), the deck…the whole shebang set me back about 10 grand. But that was still cheap by comparison.
So there was still quite a barrier to entry compared to now.
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