Andrew Kimery
Forum Replies Created
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[Andy Neil] “Like what exactly? If you rely on After Effects and Illustrator for your work, what exactly “other options” are you going to move to? “
Are there options to switch to tomorrow? Maybe not, but there will be down the line if it does turn out to be a sizable percentage of users that are upset and want to change applications.
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I disagree. If Adobe doesn’t offer compelling reasons to keep using Adobe software people will find other options. This is true with a perpetual license as well as with a cloud subscription. $50/mo is no where close to a lock in price. I mean, years ago many users and facilities with 10’s (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars invested in Avid gear found ways to leave Avid and switch to FCP Legend.
I also disagree with the idea that subscription equates to a monopoly. I’ve seen other people make this same leap and I don’t understand why. Did Avid need a subscription plan to gain near monopoly status in the TV/film parts of the industry and ultimately rest on it’s laurels? Did Microsoft? If Adobe doesn’t make compelling products a competitor will rise up, people will look elsewhere and eventually leave. That’s the bottom line.
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Politics of being a corporation aside, Apple can price ProApps so low, in part, because you are required to use their hardware to run them. While the price drop for X was dramatic, it isn’t uncharted territory from Apple. Everything from DVD SP to LiveType to Color (formerly a $30k app) was priced well below competing software. Apple’s other revenue streams also mean that it doesn’t depend on FCP X and Motion profits to keep the lights on.
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As others have said, you seemingly hijacked his project in short order. Even if the whole thing was about to die on the vine it’s his deal to let die. Since you are the experienced part of the duo did you even try to advise your friend before you decided to announce you were taking over?
I’m not a lawyer, I don’t know what the exact verbal agreement was, I don’t know how the releases were worded but my arm chair QB guess is that he owns the rights to the footage. Maybe even you both have claim to it but I highly doubt you have sole ownership of it. IP can be a crazy thing. I mean, right now there are two versions of the band Queensryche out there and their record label is releasing a greatest hits album recorded by a previous version of Queensryche that doesn’t exist anymore.
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[Bill Davis] “At worst it can drives companies towards short term profit targets to keep wall street happy. Performance metrics delivered NOW are always more reliable and less risky than those pesky “forward looking statements” that the legal teams are so persnickety about.
“Agreed. Publicly traded companies are basically valued on growth so they have to keep getting bigger to keep Wall Street happy even if getting bigger isn’t in the best long term interests of the company.
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[Bill Davis] “Maybe. But I don’t think it’s that direct.”
I don’t think it’s that direct either (for Apple or Adobe or Avid or Company XYZ).
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[Bill Davis] “The link between monthly subscription and updateability is imaginary. Apple (and many other software manufacturers including most Apps on your phone – do it constantly.
This is about revenue. Nothing else. And, BTW, there’s nothing wrong with it being about revenue. It’s the lifeblood of any business. Period.”
If the link is imaginary then why did Apple used to charge iPod users for feature upgrades that iPhone users (on cell phone subscription plans) got for free and why is Avid going through this internal audit? SOX is real and so are companies attempts to do business how they want while abiding by its regulations.
And why is it only one or the other? Can’t it be about accounting procedures, revenue and freeing all their applications from the artificial lock-step of upgrading in unison (ready or not)? Ultimately you are right that everything a business does is comes back revenue. Even Apple’s grand re-imagining of what editing could be was little more than a ploy to separate you from your money. 😉
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Craig,
It does sound like that given the array of formats and the deadline that FCPX’s multicam saved the day.
Bill,
Two questions. 1. How long have you been waiting to unleash that? 2. How did you manage to only rant about changes that most people agree to liking in X? 😉
Shane,
I agree. It’s all about beating the red headed step child and Adobe is currently said child. lol
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Great info from Mark as always.
With regards to learning the “official” or “proper” ways to do things I’ve found that on-the-job training is really the only way to learn many things. If you can get a job (even part time) at a local production facility that can go a long way to helping you learn both technical and creative aspects of editing.
On the broader view side of things, make sure to make goals. Short term goals, medium term goals and long term goals. I know it sounds obvious but goals are waypoints to your final destination and without them it’s kinda like hitting the road w/o a map and hoping you’ll end up someplace you want to be. For example, you said you were interested narrative features. If your goal is to cut ultra low budget features you can do that just about anywhere. If you want to indie features you might need to move to some place like Austin that has a big indie community. If you want to cut bigger budget features you’ll pretty much need to move to LA (possibly NY though NY tends to have a bigger documentary community). Once you decide what your long term goals are then work backward from there.
For example, when I got out of college one of my long term goals was to be supporting myself editing full time in Los Angeles before I was 30. Every professional decision I made was always put in the perspective of “Does this help or hinder my long term goals?” Some moves helped directly and some helped indirectly. Almost like playing chess where at times you have to make lateral moves, or even backwards moves, that are part of a bigger plan that will hopefully lead you to success. For those wondering, I squeaked in under my deadline at the age of 29.
I’m on my way to another long term goal of editing docs/unscripted material full time and one leg of that path had me stop editing for over a year to work as an assistant editor. Sometimes you have to go backwards to move forward.
I guess my overall point is act with purpose. Many parts of this world can be a grind but if you are moving forward it can make the grind worthwhile.
-Andrew
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How large is your FCP project file? Once a project approaches 100megs it will become very unstable in my experience.