Bill Davis
Forum Replies Created
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[Jeremy Garchow] “I hear what you’re saying, and I don’t know for sure, but throwing more people at software development might not help the problem. At some point, I’m sure there’s a point of diminishing returns.”
I think the classic and relevant quote is “If it takes one woman nine months to have a baby – how long will it take if you triple the number of women working on it?”
(couldn’t resist.)
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Ben Scott] “but I can see how much easier things could become once the broadcast monitoring out arrives, lets hope getting out to tape is just as easy as whats been released so far”
Just for kicks, let’s break this down.
“Broadcast monitoring” was created by engineers to address the grim realities of a pretty terrible system of shoehorning color information into a sliver of the broadcast television signal. It’s the “NTSC actually stands for “never twice the same color” deal.
Now we’re in a different era.
Most video is never broadcast. But sometime it is — and when it is, it’s often critical that color accuracy is maintained.
So I think the real question is that as we move towards a “post-NTSC video world” (and computers ARE post NTSC since they could care less about dumbing down a digital video signal in order to conform to an arbitrary broadcast standard) will new tools become possible that insure not so much “broadcast compatibility” but color information accuracy – luminance information accuracy – and even resolution information accuracy within a file as it’s passed around and manipulated between acquisition and viewing.
As I understand it, the migration from legacy Quicktime to AV foundation and Core Vdeo is already helping in that. The fundamental math is better (floating point and all) as I understand it. And the very fact that once you have a fully digitized signal (and nearly all acquisition has already moved there) error correction is not just possible, but widespread – then it may turn out that the old “holy grail” of maintaining arbitrary broadcast standards simply fade away.
And not because the accuracy part of the equation isn’t important – but because it universally comes along for the ride with good digitization and file handling — sorta like fat comes with hamburger — inescapably part of the deal.
Just thinking out loud.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “And that, children, is the story of how Apple completely destroyed FCP.
“Well then I hope they keep destroying it again, and again, and again.
I know I’ve stretched into new work areas and even have a few completely new clients based on the fact that this particular tool is AMAZING for producing certain types of content.
And not only are my web-centric customers increasingly asking for these new types of content – my corporate clients seem to be clamoring for this (less video more motion graphics) style as well for their meeting support shows. It’s a contemporary alternative to yesterday’s “movie like” training content that everyone seems to be really tired of.
So we’ll see whether this turns out to be all “it’s crap because it can’t edit my seventh “resume movie” and give it a hollywood level look.” (which was the model that largely built Legacy, IMO) or rather turns out to be a “this thing ROCKS because it lets me communicate easily and efficiently in new ways using all sorts of moving images that people really like” product.
I’m betting on the latter.
New requirements, new tools.
That’s X in a nutshell from my perspective.
But as always – YMMV.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “hat’s never happening. its all dead – there is no FCPX, there wasn’t from day one. It’s completely dead.”
You are quite simply wrong. Wanna know how I know that?
Glad you asked.
I know this, because even if everyone else on the planet totally ignores it – YOU alone, Aindreas will keep it alive with your consistent burning loathing.
Nothing insignificant or irrelevant can inspire such naked fear and hate.
Congratulations, savior of mind-share for FCP-X!
Like the enraged father that lies awake at night — lighting endless torches to better see the evil suitors coming (in his mind) to ravish the daughter – but who eventually only succeeds in burning down the family home — your blind loathing serves to feed the fearsome power of the imaginary foe.
Good job.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Herb Sevush] “The roll out was so bad it was parodied on the Jay Leno show – the only mention of an NLE in the history of broadcast TV was a total comedic assault. In future years the roll out of FCPX will be studied in business school the way Coke Classic and the Edsel is studied now.”
Well, you got the first part of this wrong (it was Conan) so pardon me if I don’t end up surprised if you get the second part equally wrong as well.
[Herb Sevush] “The very fact that editors who have never tried the software hate it so much is the most damming evidence of the size of the cataclysm that was the release of X.”
Wow. That’s an amazing sentence. Look at it again. “editors who have never tried it – hate it.”
Once upon a time, people with any intelligence at all would have broken down laughing at an idea like this. And here you are, Herb, propagating it.
The “cataclysm” of which you speak was, actually, more along the lines of what you’d expect from a toddler peeing in a relatively large lake. BTW, I’m not arguing that it might not be a “cataclysm” for you. But if so, you need to spend your time learning an alternative. Just don’t presume that your view is universal, cuz it’s not.
I actually know it wasn’t even close to “cataclysmic” for most editors. Seen in hindsight, the end of Legacy and the release of X was more a yawn than a cataclysm. It actually really hasn’t forced much immediate change at all. Those who like Legacy are still calmly using it. Some are learning X. And some are moving to something else. The earth isn’t shaking. Wolves aren’t rampant in the streets. And every single FCP editor I know is still just editing away. Some “cataclysm!”
Your view I quoted second above, actually kinda disses the intelligence of the editing community at large. It’s the working editor viewed as human sheep. “Just push the buttons and we ‘smarter folk’ will tell you what to think”
I don’t buy that at all. I know too many editors. And they tend to be pretty sharp folks.
FWIW.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Walter Soyka] “– it’s just that we can’t use these cars to win a race, get a passenger from here to the airport, or haul tons of cargo across the country.
“And therein the issue. Too many here are stuck defending the industry’s “traditions” and not getting that this top down view is what’s under such violent attack.
Look, sure those cargo trucks are still rolling out there – but the ones that hauled the boxes of Final Cut Pro to Apple Stores 4 years ago have to sign new contracts and replace that business because those boxes aren’t going to be shipped again. Ever.
And the cabs at the airport? How many airport trips have you made this year compared to years past? I’d hate to be forced to graph that for my travel because it’s probably a depressing trend. I know that up to last year, I was Avis Preferred, but this past year didn’t come close to racking up that status. That saved myself and my clients a lot of money, but I do miss the perk.
In times of widespread business expansion – opening slots at the top of the professional pyramid expand with the general economy. But when an industry (not to mention an overall economy) is contracting, with fewer and fewer seats available at the top of the pyramid, focusing exclusively on “exceptional skills” might not a sensible strategy for success. It may be smarter to look around and see if different skills might be more effective in distilling market share and profits from the new game.
I actually hate saying that – because I’ve spent the same long decades learning the video production trade just as others here have – but I have to be realistic. In a world where there are 50 players competing for each decent sized job – then simple math tells us that 49 of the contenders won’t get the gig.
So the smart player has to shift the game.
And I think that FCP-X and Motion 5 are tools that will let some experienced folks do that. It’s taking the skills developed over 20 years, and using them to utilize new tools to create content better than the new kids but with the same reduced economic footprint.
Heck, Walter, I suspect that the desire to be able to do precisely that is why you keep coming back here. You’re smart enough to understand that unless you keep an eye on the new stuff, you risk missing a chance to get ahead of an emerging curve.
I think that curve is real. And its built around the ongoing “serchification” of content delivery.
And am seeing more and more how the underpinnings of X might enable some to mount a stronger play in that future – as long as we understand the tool in the context of how the game may be changing.
If we ever again enter a period of expansion and growth, having the new skills to go along with the traditional ones — perhaps having a firm grasp on both how to light a video shoot – AND rig a motion graphics scene with equally facility — (and set up a smart keyword system for each!) might be the key to keeping in play while one waits for the budgets to come back.
Time will tell.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Todd Terry] ” vintage aluminum tree”
I know that vintage aluminum tree is actually a perfectly reasonable phrase…
but somehow my brain keeps screaming “oxymoron alert” at me.
Perhaps I can quiet those voices with the whispered incantation: “happy holidays everyone!”
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Walter Soyka] “Sports analogies and car analogies in the same thread!”
Why mix a metaphor when you can just as easily whip them into a nice soufflé!
[Walter Soyka] “If Motion is a Mercedes-Benz,”
Notice I was careful to modify that with “small” – maybe a 280SL? so the Miata deal is close. Each incapable of hauling concrete to the worksite, but each a delight to find oneself driving on a top down friendly day.
[Walter Soyka] “and not taken seriously by professional drivers”
Exactly. And the truth is – the vast majority of drivers are not that. For every one of those, there are at least a thousands day to day drivers. Some of them enjoy, appreciate, and will pay for a car that gets them to work on time, reliably and with some style. In fact, that requirement largely defines the class of “auto drivers” in ways that the “professional racer” class simply never will.
And as as more and more people discovered the joys of driving, they kept some of the “pro drivers” around for caché – but car companies became legendary by building something that people could actually BUY and enjoy. Lesson there, I suspect.
[Walter Soyka] “Like FCPX, Motion has some very clever ideas about how animation should be done, but its peculiar workflow makes it almost unusable on more complicated graphics projects.”
We agree. If ones needs are for “more complicated graphics projects” than it’s not the correct tool. That’s what it’s NOT. But what it IS is equally amazing. A great tool for doing interesting, screen filling, and wonderfully communicative composites combining video and kinetic type – something that Motion 5 has great set of tools for doing at a killer price point.
Simple as that, perhaps.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “so you are arguing that the lack of physical delivery mechanisms suddenly absolves professional software vendors from any onus to provide workable software to paying professional customers?”
I am arguing no such thing, Aindreas. (Perhaps it’s my inability to make my thoughts clear enough – and if so, I’m sorry, I’ll try harder.). The market place has a perfectly fine mechanism in place to reward/punish any company that delivers software that their customers feel is sub-standard.
For example, you clearly feel that FCP-X is sub-standard and have argued that here constantly. The problem is that there may be a huge and growing number of people – including myself – that feel it to be exceptionally useful and well designed. So the problem isn’t anyone “absolving” anyone of anything. It’s people telling other people what they “should” find useful.
That more clear?
[Aindreas Gallagher] “apple’s best minds are on that thing – late nights and furrowed brows over the imovie+ thing they dumped on the appstore half a year ago, whole boardrooms filled with apple’s best and brightest pondering the unusability of it, the instability, failing autosave, the mutating file size, that rectangular colour corrector, that half of the critical plug in developers are locked out by the moron software the engineers made..”
I stand in awe of your singular ability to deploy your consciousness out into the minds of others and suss out their intents, feelings, and inner-most thoughts!
Have you considered investing heavily in gambling? With your level of near-frightening acuity, I would imagine that the industry from Macao to Las Vegas will soon be trembling at your boots.
Remember me then, oh mighty one. Your humble acolyte.
[Aindreas Gallagher] “nasty, nasty, company with blueshirt moonies at the door to sell you is who they are.
increasingly nasty: a big, xanu volcano of apple truth, L Ron Hubbard style, big blue t-shirt rictus grinning company.
Apple is becoming a lie.
“Uh, it’s the holiday season in the US. They’re wearing RED shirts these days.
(kindly adjust your tinfoil and antennas, as you’re getting muddy signals in your current configuration.)
(And happy holidays, AG – sparing with you is easily as fun as greased javelina wrestling – if a bit more reminiscent of someone obsessed with this classic Titanic deck chairs as the iceberg of communications change relentlessly approaches. Peace to you and yours!)
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Neil Patience] “How did that happen and is there any other product you would buy on the same basis ?
“Actually, when you think about it, LOTS of things work like this today.
My Sony LCD TV does regular software updates to it’s OS overnight adding new channels and features.
My car dealer regularly updates the software in my car to increase efficiency, and my son keeps politicking to let is buddies re-flash the chips in our Honda to get “racing performance” out of it. (yeah, right!)
The whole core of the smart phone concept is that it’s kind of an empty bucket that gets BETTER over time via software updates and app purchases.
Like it or not, this is how the world is moving. We expect what we buy today – to be made better tomorrow via software update.
It’s just so new that we expect it some places (apps on the phone) but not in others (code in our cars.)
But it’s clearly something we’re all going to need to get used to.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor