[Andrew Kimery]

Late getting back to this one…

Herb,
Even if record sales are only a small percentage of overall music sales I still think it’s interesting that this ‘ancient’ technology is selling better now than it was 20yrs ago (I’ll give initial credit to the club/DJ scene for breathing new life into vinyl) and it helps illustrate my point about fragmentation. Digital downloads, CDs, vinyl, subscription services, internet radio, ‘smart’ internet radio (i.e. Pandora), broadcast radio… There’s never been a time where customers could so customize how they could acquire/listen to music.

Jeremy,
I do think if an a la carte model was offered for cable it mean a reduction or programing as some shows/channels would not be profitable enough to continue. Of couse before we see an a la carte option form providers the providers will have to get an a la carte option from large content providers. One of my favorite ironies of 2012 was DirecTV complaining about Viacom only being willing to sell its content as a bundle.

Joseph,
Thanks for the link. Maybe it’s my age (or just my lack of watching primetime TV in primetime) but I hadn’t realized how much twitter has turned TV watching into a communal (if disembodied) experience.

[Andrew Kimery]

There’s not much to go by here, but I will toss out that 30p is an odd duck of a frame rate. 24p, 60p and 60i seem to be the common frame rates wanted for distribution (for 60hz areas at least) so if you make a 30p master for yourself be prepared to make a different frame rate master for other people if you get distribution.

[Andrew Kimery]

I would give Compressor a shot and use the Frame Controls setting to get a better looking deinterlace. As an aside, what you are looking to do is cross converting (going from one HD flavor to another) and not down converting (which would be going from HD to SD). 1080i60 and 720p60 pretty much contain the same amount of picture information. 1080i60 has more spacial information but 720p60 has more temporal information.

[Andrew Kimery]

[Jeremy Garchow] “If Netflix et al were able to get the exact content they wanted and stream it all, they probably would be killing something, or at least stabbing them were they felt it. It would allow you to cut the cable cord and stream your content for 10 bucks a month. “

Maybe, but most of the world can’t get streaming Netflix so there would still be a market for DVD/BR sales/rentals and TV deals. Not to mention some people prefer physical media and the advantages (be they inherent advantages or bonus content type advantages) that come along with it. Netflix not getting everything it wants isn’t a conspiracy to keep the status quo but is in part a realization by large content creators that the streaming model works and they no longer necessarily need a middle man (be it cable or Netflix). HBO, for example, sees streaming in it’s future which is why they are keeping their content off Netflix. Starz sees more streaming players in the future and probably hopes to start a bidding war which is why they didn’t re-up with Netflix.

Even as we lament ‘dinosaurs’ such as Time Warner and Comcast for keeping change at bay they are in the process of morphing from cable TV provides to primarily content creators and/or ISPs. Every TW commercial I’ve seen on TV (just b’cast as I don’t have cable) for the past year or two has been ISP-centric. How many cord cutters have cut the wired internet connection coming to their house?

Tablets, TVs, phones, computers, books, CDs, records, DVDs, game consoles, rokus… we no longer live in a one size fits all world which is why I don’t buy into the whole X will kill Y thing. Fragmentation, not domination, is the new normal. Did NBC, ABC and CBS put up bigger numbers prior to the rise of FOX and cable TV? Sure, but none of the big three closed up shop, they all just shared small portions of the pie. For what it’s worth vinyl record sales have reached a twenty year high and are still growing.

[Andrew Kimery]

It’s reasons like this why I roll my eyes when I hear some proclaim that X is killing Y. CDs killed cassettes. DVDs killed VHS. Nothing is going to get ‘killed’ like that anymore because we are in a time of expanding, not replacing. Hell, 2011 was the first year online music sales beat CD sales (by a whopping .3%), vinyl sales are up and I’ve been hearing how MP3s and online distribution will kill music labels since ’99.

[Andrew Kimery]

Like Sascha said, definitely ask them what they need out of an assist because it can certain vary from place to place. I assist as well as edit and, honestly, you need a much larger knowledge base to assist than to edit, IMO. An example I use a lot is that an assist is a race car mechanic while an editor is the race car driver.

As brief run down I’d say AE’s are typically responsible for the following things:
1. Organization. The AE creates & maintains the organizational structure for the edit. This includes everything from how the projects are laid out (track assignments, bin/folder structure, naming conventions, etc.,) to where and how media is stored to what the backup and archival process is.

2. Ingesting footage. No matter how the footage comes in the assist needs to know the proper workflow for getting it into the NLE so this could mean anything from wiring decks to capture from tape to working with RED footage to using Sony’s 3rd party plugin to bring in XDCAM EX media.

3. Prep. The assist needs to prep all the media so it’s ready to edit. Is there DSLR footage that needs to be transcoded into ProRes? Is there 24fps footage that needs to be turned into 60p? Is there a four camera multicam shoot plus 8 tracks of dual system sound that need to be put into sync? Are there 90meg PSDs that need to be converted into a more edit friendly size?

4. Exporting footage. The assist will be responsible for knowing how to create media files ready for up load, DVDs and possibly tape outputs.

5. Collaborating with out of house audio mixers and color facilities. When it’s time for the finishing touches the assist will be responsible for getting all required assest to mixing and finishing facilities. Knowing how to make OMFs, EDLs and guide videos (most likely with burned in TC and split audio) will be required.

6. Trouble shooting. Last, but certainly not least, when workflows fail, software glitches and/or the editor complains that XYZ isn’t working it’s the assist’s job to know how to fix it and fix it fast.

-Andrew

[Andrew Kimery]

I don’t see why Gary’s credibility is being attacked as his post says nothing that hasn’t been said here, or other places, a dozen times. Is Gary the only one that’s said Apple’s lack of a roadmap and tendency to make abrupt course changes makes it hard for users to plan future, big ticket purchases? Is Gary the only one that’s pointed out that, speaking strictly of hardware, your dollar goes farther on the PC side since the MPs are years old at this point? Heck even RED, whom Apple partnered with early, now has a hardware partnership with HP. Is Gary the only one saying that Apple may no longer see the need to sell a big, expandable tower to an ever shrinking percentage of their users? Is Gary the only one saying that FCP7 users should not plan on new hardware and software from Apple supporting FCP7?

I don’t understand why people are trying to manufacture a reason to discredit Gary’s opinion when this piece is a culmination of things that have been talked about in the community for the past few years.

[Brett Sherman] “I just don’t agree with this analysis. Tim Cook has already said they are releasing a MacPro or Pro Market Mac in 2013. They would have to change gears completely and reneg on a promise.”

Tim Cook never said a new Mac Pro or Pro Market Mac. He was asked a question about Mac Pros and said they were “… releasing something really great next year [2013].” Maybe Apple will release a new tower that is very feature similar to the current MP. Maybe Apple will release a product they think is the modern day version of a tower but isn’t a tower at all (a Mac Mini Pro for example). Who knows, and what Apple defines as really great is up for grabs, IMO.

As far as changing gears goes, Apple’s history is full of misinformation.

[Brett Sherman] “It’s pretty clear in the post he’s trying to sell PCs. Maybe he’s right or not, but it’s definitely a sales pitch. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

I guess he is trying to sell Macs too as he states three different times how great current Macs are for editing.

[Andrew Kimery]

I’m trying to picture how one could read VO from a script while watching picture at the same time. As someone previously said commentary tracks for movies are typically done this way but those are supposed to impromptu as opposed to VO which needs to adhere to script and time limitations. I’m used to final VO being read to time and cut in by the editor (or assist if you are so lucky).

[Andrew Kimery]

I’ll preface this by saying Avid was the first NLE I learned though I also knew Premiere back in the day and I picked up FCP at version 3. Up until my current gig (which started last month and is on Avid) I’d be using FCP daily in a multi-editor, shared storage environment for the past 5.5 yrs doing everything from promos to a half-hour, magazine style show (which was mixed in SoundTrack and graded in Color).

Starting up on an Avid show again there are certainly things I miss about FCP like how ‘natively’ interactive the time is and how effects are handled (I really, really dislike having to hop into the FX editor in Avid for every little thing). There are also things like I really like about Avid such as the much, much better handling of a multi-editor environment. I’d forgotten how convoluted it was just to share a sequence or custom effect between FCP projects compared to Avid projects. By keeping all media in bins in Avid you can use the Open Bin command (or just the Finder) to access bins in other projects (and these bins are all managed so to keep people from overwriting each others’ work). Folders in an Avid project correspond to folders in Finder and w/o Avid somehow locking down folders on the Finder level it wouldn’t be able to properly allow read/write access to multiple user therefore you can’t store media directly in a folder in Avid.

I don’t want to turn this into an extended feature for feature comparison, but Avid’s AMA is more feature rich than FCP 7’s log and transfer, Avid’s overall media handling is superior to FCP 7 in general, Avid’s ‘open timeline’ (mixing and matching frame rates in the same sequence) does proper frame rate conversions where as FCP 7 does not and while sometimes I think that filler gets in the way it’s very cool that you can use it similar to an AE’s adjustment layers. Even though Avid’s GUI, even after the refresh, isn’t what I’d call sexy I think the the program very much is built with editors in mind. For example, things like the multiple TC displays that can be set to different frame rates (two of the last three shows I’ve worked on have shot and cut at one frame rate but delivered on another), the real time TC filter (that also has multiple adjustable fields including source clip name) and the marker tool.

With regards to the ‘big kids vs little kids’ thing, there is nothing Avid centric about that. Ever seen the look on a veteran FCP users face when you say you edit with Premiere? Or, worse yet, FCPX? Or when a dSLR shooter tries to talk shop with someone that owns a ‘real’ camera like an Alexa or a 35mm camera?

I don’t think any one company can successfully be all things to all people. Can an a single program be the best editor, the best compositor, the best color correcter, the best DAW, the best motion gfx tool, the best for a single user and the best for a team of users? I doubt it. If I’m shopping for an automobile and I want something that can pull a camper should I complain that sports cars lack trailer hitches and sufficient torque or should I just go look at the trucks? 😉

This got a little more ranty than I wanted it to but I feel like you’ve developed a workflow around FCP and are now trying to shove Avid into a FCP shaped hole and that’s just not going to go well (nor will doing the reverse).

[Andrew Kimery]

[Craig Seeman] “I didn’t say customers would be happy. Some would argue the fundamental existence of this very forum as proof of that.”

There’s a big difference though between FCP Legend & FCPX and Apple buying Netflix and turning it into an Apple-only service. At the most basic level FCPX is an attempt to bring editing to a broader audience while what we are talking about is bringing Netflix’s content, which already reaches a very broad audience, to a much smaller audience and hoping that the big audience pays the price of admission and follows along.

[Craig Seeman] “And the content to go with it. Apple is about control of content. That’ been integrated into their business model whether it’s iTunes or, now, even the Mac App store.”

And the content to go with it of course, but if the hardware is poor that’s a problem. That’s the case w/AppleTV right now. There’s nothing that stands out about it so very few people, relatively speaking, are buying it. Same thing when Roku first came out. It was the only way to get Netflix on your TV besides using a computer (which was a pain) but that wasn’t a compelling enough reason for people to buy an otherwise lackluster box. Hardware and the user experience comes first with Apple and I don’t think this case is any different.