[Alan Okey]

[Lynette Gilbert] “I worked very closely with AJA to purchase a Kona LHi last year, and it ended up not being compatible with our setup, despite assurances from them that it was. “

I’m curious to hear more about that. I use a Kona LHi with Beta SP, DVCAM and SVHS decks. What about your particular setup precluded you from using the Kona card with your decks?

[Alan Okey]

720p downconverts to SD much more cleanly than 1080i, unless you use something like a Teranex hardware converter.

[Alan Okey]

You’re correct. Add AVC Intra to the list as well. It’s interframe codecs that are not supported.

[Alan Okey]

You don’t have a choice. Cinema Tools can’t conform long-GOP/interframe codec footage (h.264, XDCAM, HDV, etc.), only intraframe codec footage (Pro Res, DVCPRO HD, etc.).

[Alan Okey]

Rafael,

That’s great that you are able to do so many different things that you enjoy. I also have multiple skills and interests within video production, but there’s a difference between taking on tasks and duties that you enjoy versus being forced to be a Jack-of-all-trades / master of none due to time and budget constraints.

While I think it’s important to have a broad skill set, I don’t think it should be at the expense of depth of knowledge. I’m pretty detail-oriented, so being broad and shallow doesn’t appeal to me as much as being narrow and deep. I personally find it more satisfying to work at a high level of proficiency / master a focused set of skills rather than having only basic knowledge and skill in a wide variety of tasks. If you can manage to have both breadth and depth, then that’s great!

[Alan Okey]

Just to piggyback on Shane’s comments, the caveat is what market or level of production you’re talking about. For broadcast and feature film work, editing and finishing are two separate processes performed by different people with different skill sets.

Outside of film and broadcast, it’s very different. Not only are editors expected to edit, but they are also increasingly expected to do color, motion graphics, sound mixing, compression, DVD/Blu-ray authoring and just about any other ancillary duty one might think of when producing content. Just look at any entry level or mid-level video job listing (Craigslist, etc.) for a reality check. It’s also not unheard of to be expected to shoot and do sound and lighting in addition to everything else in post. This is practically a given in many corporate video gigs. It’s crazy, but I see it all the time.

It’s really a select few at the top of the industry who have the luxury of being just an editor.

[Alan Okey]

Avid and Smoke here. Still on a Mac, but if Autodesk ever ports Smoke to Windows I’ll switch to a PC immediately.

[Alan Okey]

Do any pros even use Aperture? Everyone I know switched to (or started with) Lightroom years ago…

[Alan Okey]

[Rafael Amador] “Don’t mistake H264 with YouTube.”

Rafael, you misunderstood my comment. I was not making a disparaging comment about the h.264 codec, I was merely pointing out that “uncompressed h.264” is an oxymoron. Since h.264 is a codec, by definition any h.264 material is compressed.

Perhaps in my feeble attempt at humor, my analogies failed.

[Alan Okey]

“Uncompressed h.264” is analogous to “affordable Ferrari,” “fast snail,” and “hyperactive sloth.”