[Andrew Kimery]

Where are the numbers coming from? If you go to the App Store iMovie is 12th and FCP X is 16th.

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

First off, I don’t see how anyone can watch that demo and not be impressed. 4k playback, screen recording and recording a feed from an external camera via SDI all happening concurrently on a MacBook Air! Seriously?!?

I’m not going to wave the ‘desktops are dead’ flag but technology stands still for no man. There will always be a niche that needs the fastest money can buy but that niche keeps getting smaller and smaller. How long did it take for SGI to go from hi-end workhorse to bankrupt?

Shane,
I agree that client perception is a factor at times but client perception changes as well. I mean, look at an old linear bay, a room full of specialized gear, compared to an off-the-shelf computer running FCP 7. The ‘wow factor’ certainly goes to the linear bay yet NLEs, many of which ran on everyday computers, killed them.

Jeremy,
As I understand it, it’s not that there are no desktop procs that can work w/ThB it’s that Apple is waiting for the new (and delayed) intel CPUs to come out before they refresh the Mac Pro line (which will presumably include ThB). Apple also had 1 year of ThB exclusivity which is why there are no PCs w/ThB but now that the exclusivity window is over a number of PC makers have announced ThB products. I’ve also read that Apple has been gobbling up almost all of the ThB chips which is one reason ThB peripherals have been slow to hit the market.

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

I don’t think this changes anything with Apple because they are going to keep doing what they want to do. Did Apple target or woo the business sector? Not really, Apple made products they wanted to make, people really liked them and a ‘bottom up’ movement started getting Apple into the hands and offices of corporations. Instead of IT saying “this is what you get” employees have said in strong enough numbers “this is what we want to use so figure out a way to support it”.

I think the differences between OS X and iOS will continue to shrink, desktop machines will drift more and more into the specialize niche roll (possible getting ‘re-envisioned’ altogether) and mobile devices will keep moving towards being the daily driver computing device. 10yrs ago we had ‘big iron’ workstations, desktops, and laptops. Today desktops are the new big iron, laptops are the new desktops and mobile devices are the new laptops.

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

I’m of a different theory about Thunderbolt. I’m waiting for new ThB enabled towers since it’s not something that can be added to an existing machine via card. If I needed a new tower *now* I would certainly buy one, but since I’m not under duress I’m going to wait.

I have a MBP with ThB and I like the idea of being able to use the same external devices regardless of I/O across my machines. Matrox and Blackmagic Design have ThB video I/O solutions. LaCie and Belkin are showing off ThB docks at CES (LaCie as showed off a ThB drive). Egato, Seagate, and OCZ announced bus-powered ThB pocket SSD drives. MSI announced an external PCI case that connects via ThB. Sonnect Tech has an ExpressCard/34 card reader the connects via ThB (great for the new 15″ MBPs that don’t have ExpressCard slot).

The list of devices is growing and I only expect it to get longer now that Apple’s window of exclusivity is gone. ThB is an Intel tech and I bet you they’ll be pushing it hard (PCs w/ThB are supposed to start becoming available this spring).

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

[Dave LaRonde] “.mov is just the file extension for quicktime movies. QT’s can encompass many codecs, some of which (e.g. H.264) will make FCP react like you’d react to bay leaves in your food: too much becomes toxic.

So what are the CODECS of these movies shot by your miracle cameras?”
The JVC cameras being referred to use Sony’s XDCAM EX codec and since the cameras use MOV instead of MP4 you can drop the clip right into FCP and away you go.

David,
My only, and minor, correction to your post is that the core code that holds FCP 7 back is more along the lines of 12 years old not 4-5. I’ll also add that even if you use MC 6, FCP 10 or Premiere Pro to edit natively in H.264 your performance will suffer compared to using less compressed codecs like DNxHD, CineForm or ProRes.

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

Democratization of gear and distribution gets rid of some barriers but raises new ones at the same time. It allows for a broadening of the content spectrum but I don’t think it’s going replace or dramatically displace content as we know it today.

For example, access to sports equipment (be it a soccer, cricket, or basketball) is nearly universal but professional sports still exist. The fact that I can join a company softball team doesn’t mean that people would find equal enjoyment, equal value, in watching me play vs going to a Dodger’s game and the Arena Football League hasn’t displaced the NFL (if anything it’s acted as a bit of a feeder system). I think the low and middle ground of content will expand but the top will still be the top.

People want the content. People want Game of Thrones and American Idol and The Dark Knight Rises. What people also want more of is control of how and when they view their content. They want to be able to stream more and not have to have a big, expensive cable package. If they buy a Blu-ray they want an easy way to make that content accessible across all their devices (living room TV, computer & mobile device).

As a content creator I’m not really concerned, but if I was a ‘traditional’ TV distributor I’d remind myself that I’m in the content distribution business, not the only deliver content over-the-air business.

With all that being said. I just read that people watch an average of 5hrs of TV a day (this number is going up) but only watch an average of 15 minutes of YouTube a day. Lots of people want IP-centric delivery to work but the devil is in the details.

All in all, an exciting time to be in this field, IMO!

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

A HUD on top of the footage you are grading just seems like a horrible solution.

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

There was a discussions about that a while back. How a relatively low cost Mac Mini would act as the core unit and for those users that needed more power/expandability they could buy modules that attached via Thunderbolt (better GFX cards, faster storage, etc.,).

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see Thunderbolt devices give even more power and flexibility to users that need mobile setups, but the OWC product in the link is a ‘miss’ for me because it doesn’t have Thunderbolt. Not much of a point to have eSATA and USB 3 ports if the fastest connection to the Mini is only FW800.

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

I gave the Burning Man video a shot Bill and I got bored after 90 seconds. Maybe I’m just not in the right mood this morning…

To a bigger point though, I don’t think the future is an either/or situation. We’ll have more ‘home grown’ things like The Annoying Orange but we’ll still have big budget films and huge production spectacles like the Super Bowl.

Has the easy availability of musical instruments and sports equipment spelled the demise of professional musicians and pro sports leagues?

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Andrew Kimery]

The monetary aspect is the most interesting piece of the puzzle, IMO. Like the article mentions, ad revenue is based on scarcity and if an episode of your show is available 24/7, as opposed to Tuesday at 8:30pm, it is abundantly available so it is worth much less in the eyes of an advertiser. Another option is to rely more on sponsorship and/or product placement but then you have a corporate sponsor that will most likely want influence because they are footing the bill and they want to make sure the content stays in line w/what they want their brand associated with.

The article seemed a little more in depth than others that I’ve read and I’m glad it stay away from the now getting tired “TV is Dead!”mantra and actually showed the situation for what it is. The beginning of a new ‘era’ of entertainment delivery laced with uncertainty and the lure of being at the forefront of the next big thing.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)