[Bill Davis]

Sorry, I got distracted.

I stumbled across a Katie Couric Special interview on ABC with Beyonce Knowles.

What stopped me was hearing Beyonce say: “I’ve learned to use Final Cut Pro so I can edit my own projects.”

Yeah, nothing’s changing out there.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Walter Soyka] “They are creating FUD about themselves!
“

But is that a strategy, or merely an artifact of the fact that they’re keeping their eye on the game of development, rather than wasting too time explaining themselves. I remember back at FCPv1 when a bunch of us “discovered” 2-pop.com and a guy named Ralph Fairweather who could actually answer questions and help us understand how the then new software operated. It was many, many months before we discovered that Ralph was actually part of the FCP development team.
My point is that they didn’t do this publicly, they did it quietly and the few of us who stumbled into the right place at the right time benefitted. You could claim that not having “official spokespeople” even back then was also driving FUD – but the difference is that back then, nobody much cared about FCP. All I see is Apple doing precisely what’s worked well in the past (keeping things close to the vest and letting the work speak for itself) and that the only thing that’s changed is the massive perceived “need” in the minds of thousands of us on boards like this that being privy to their plans is the only possible key to our happiness.

[Walter Soyka] “Why wouldn’t a cross-platform workflow be smart in any market?
“

I actually don’t think so in a lot of cases. In some ways I think it’s like an individual trying to be both a guitar and a banjo player. You can become “competent” at both. But to really excel, I think most musicians typically concentrate on one instrument. There are exceptions, and I suppose it’s a bit based on whether you want to see the editor as a “technician” (operating a variety of tools) or an “artist” (attempting to achieve absolute mastery of one). Both views are rational. Pick one, I guess.

[Walter Soyka] “What’s the big differentiator for FCPX? What’s its unique disruption? “

Good question.

I think the answers is that it presents TWO compelling “market differentiators” to editors at a time when increasing numbers of people are interested in exploring the skills for their personal purposes.

Price is clearly one. Its a two thirds cut in the cost of entry. (Actually more if you compare X+Motion5 to Studio Plus Motion in the past) So the barrier to adoption and use are significantly lower.

And the second “differentiator” is its new editing paradigm – which I view as a good match for the kinds of practical projects that will be increasingly common in the future. To expand on that, I used to make lots and lots and lots of 30 to 60 minute duration corporate training videos. I haven’t had a job like that in years. Today, the market wants significantly shorter, web deployable “modular” training. Not monolithic “sit in a room for a day and get trained” content. And I think that’s a clear “sweet spot” for X.

It’s the kind of content in the “Videos” section right here on the Cow.

That kind of common “web site” embedded content didn’t exist until VERY recently in your timescope of “the past fifteen to twenty years”
And now it’s increasingly the NORM in audience expectations.

So I think that’s where the “content” market is increasingly headed.

Whether we like it or not.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “guiding our “privileged sons and daughters” into those plum editing positions…”

Perhaps it never works that way on your side of the pond… but if I had a dollar for every production pro I’ve ever talked to who lost a position to someone “better connected” by birth or marriage to a working pro in the industry, I’d be able to… well, to buy a lot more nice toys.

I don’t even begrudge it. Heck, I’d hire my own kid over a stranger unless there was a clear expertise gap – and even then I’d probably find a way to keep him on the payroll just like you would. That’s the whole point of family.

So dismiss that all you like. Just let us know how holding onto the fantasy that it’s a “level playing field” out there for everyone works out in the real world.

At least FCP-X for $299 helps a little bit since those who don’t have a full $1000 in disposable income can get their feet wet in building real-world editing skills.

Doesn’t really matter much, I saw a statistic once that indicated that significant wealth, unless it’s really massive, seldom lasts past 3 generations.

The grit to amass it takes a particular orientation, the next generation has it so much easier, that they typically pass on little of that grit to their kids, and eventually the even more “entitled” grandkids just spend it down to nothing.

And so it goes.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Walter Soyka] “Apple is inviting studios to consider PCs.”

Since when did this market segment require an “invitation?”

Isn’t this precisely the market segment where budget considerations play under different rules than the “rest of us?”

The couple of movie sets I’ve been invited to were places where if you had to pay 50% of the purchase cost of something in order to bring it on set as a prop – and then subsequently drop it back off with the original owner – that was a smart deal. The requirement to look at overall “costs” against the total scale of the operation made an otherwise foolish economic deal very, very smart in it’s particular context.

I just read Rami Katrib’s article up top here – and in his business model I think he’s making eminently sensible decisions. With his clients he could care less about squeezing out nickels and dimes, they just want the work down properly and as bullet-proof as possible.

I actually remember sitting down talking to Rami back at a conference when he was just starting out to help Walter Murch build the “home studio” workflow that he used for Cold Mountain, and I remember his enthusiasm for the brand new possibilities of digital editing via the early FCP.

I suspect he would agree that his choice of FCP way back then was a huge driver in his subsequent success.

But it’s also sensible that he’s sustained that success over these years by understanding that people succeed not by defending the way things have “always” been done, but by seeing how they’re changing and trying to get ahead of the curve as it applies to ones’ particular circumstances.

For shops like his, at the nexus of Hollywood episodic TV work, broadening the toolset from all Mac to Mac, HP and whatever has been very smart. With those budgets you do whatever it takes.

But I suspect that having been at the table, listening to him talk as a brash young 20 something year old, I suspect that there’s a new kid out there just like young Rami, who sees precisely the same potential in FCP-X.

We shall see.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “”editing country club set””

When one writes to tweak and get a reaction, it’s gratifying to see exactly that…

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Shane Ross] “Well, some people here have taken to going to the offices of the company and sitting in the lobby until they pay. And telling everyone that comes in that you did work for them, but they didn’t pay you for X many weeks, and refuse to pay. Told everyone. And they were soon paid.”

As someone who once flew to LA and camped out in a reception area in order to collect from a client, I can verify this.

But the important business lesson you must take away from this is to adopt an inflexible strategy of never extending credit to any business unless there is a massively compelling reason to do so.

Many will tell you that even when working with large, stable, national companies, sometimes personnel come and go, paperwork gets lost, and there are a thousand things that can get between you and your payment. Just as a reality check, I imagine that there may be some KODAK invoices out there today that small vendors are having issues getting paid. That’s speculation, but it points out that even massive household name players may be struggling in this era of change.

Requiring appropriate deposits to protect you from ruinous loss, and even “cash on delivery” policies are the best tools to insure that you actually get your money.

And acknowledging that the moment you deliver usable work to a client, you’ve essentially lost any leverage you might have had and from that point on, are relying totally on the “honor” of them to compensate you.

Harsh, but reality, IMO.

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

[Bill Davis]

[Oliver Peters] “Hmmm… A shop with 30 Macs but only 4 edit suites is hardly a large post house. Granted that may be the case today, but if you come from the days of large linear bays and machine room infrastructure, it’s hardly the same thing.

Unfortunately today’s reality dictates frugality and yesterday’s edit boutique is today’s large post house. If you expect to survive these days, you really need to develop a business model that allows for a complete refresh every 3 years (or less) and to have most of that paid for by active projects and not by loans. Smart companies have alays done that. It’s called having an annual Cap Ex budget and sticking to it.

Like it or not, the direction Apple is taking is supportive of that environment. I see plenty of places that are still running FCP 6 on G5s or early Mac Pros. They followed the philosophy of not replacing it because it worked. Now the stuff is so long in the tooth that it’s not a simple matter of upgrading but rather a complete, expensive overhaul of the facility. Having smaller, cheaper gear with comparable (or more) power makes it easier to pursue a plan of more frequent refreshes without breaking the bank.

Oliver
“

Most accurate and insightful post of the week, IMO.
Nice one, Oliver.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[David Roth Weiss] “But Walter, if you’d been paying more attention to Bill D., you’d know that X is the new SeaBiscuit of NLEs. “

Jesus, I feel like I’ve been caught in a “singularity” and transported to either Fox News or MSNBC!

If you read my post carefully, David, you would note that the metaphor was something to spark thought – it was not a position.

I know that’s a difficult distinction, but at least in thoughtful discussions (which are common here) I’d appreciate the freedom to put forth ideas that aren’t easily distilled down to inaccurate sound bites.

Lets leave that for the talk shows. OK?

Thanks.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “here then is an actor dramatising Bill, invigorated by FCPX POWER, in a confrontation with horrible snooty professional editors, those meanies who have always looked down on him – here, he gatecrashes one of the dinner dances at the “Exclusive Editors Country Club Set Club House Of Exclusive Editing and Dining For Exclusive Gilded Editors – Home Produced Vet Ads and The Lower Orders Need Not Apply””

I always know I’m on the right track with an argument when someone responds with the “classic video clip” gambit.

After all, personal mockery is pretty much the classic fallback position when a person starts to figure out they have a really bad argument.

I actually would have gone with the Ted Knight character, rather than Dangerfield – probably because while each are accomplished at levels nobody here is likely to ever attain, Dangerfield was vastly more charming in his role than Knight was in his.

But whatever.

“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

[Bill Davis]

[Levan Katsadze] “Hello, I want a converter or compressor software to compress videos with highest quality, I don’t mind performance or speed or such king of things, I just want highest quality. I know Sorenson Squeeze is good, but is there other software which is realy the best of all compressors?

Thanks a lot…”

Well…

If we re-wrote this it would make essentially the same sense in a way that might be more familiar to you…

Hello, I want a sandwich or a wrap to eat. I want it to be of the highest quality. I don’t care about the garnish or dressings on such a sandwich – I just want the BEST possible sandwich. I know that Ruben sandwiches are good – but is there another kind of sandwich that is considered the “best” of all sandwiches?

Thanks a lot.

As you can see from my lame little parody, there really is NO sensible answer to that question. It’s TOTALY dependent upon taste. Compression that looks WONDERFUL to a guy who wants to put their video on an iPhone, might suck rocks for another guy who wants to deliver a movie to a huge digital theatre – and vice versa. That’s just one example of how different the game can be to two users.

Essentially, “compression” just like “sandwiches” is too complex and varied a subject to reduce to one “best” candidate.

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