Tim Wilson
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I haven’t posted the NAB overview that Mac zealot Bob Zelin wrote for us, but he says that the HP Z820 is the machine Apple should build, and he knows they never will. Even if Apple releases another Mac Pro (and I think they will), the HP Z820 is going to be a better beast.
Best of both worlds for some Mac die-hards. Your favorite OS on a beast of a box.
Not that we would ever endorse software usages outside the End User License Agreement. That would just be wrong.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Craig Seeman] “Revolutions can be bloody, even for the victor. Revolutions can also be won by attrition.
FCPX is revolutionary even though we don’t know the long term outcome.”I have joked elsewhere that if FCP was revolutionary, then FCPX represents Robespierre beheading himself.
So certainly on the level you describe, FCPX has sparked a revolution, even if not every outcome has benefited Apple.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Craig Seeman] “On the other hand if Isis is their biggest money maker then they need to look at what boat anchors are dragging down the ship. One can’t say “everything is great” it’s just that numbers stink, as a business model.”
I have no idea if it’s their biggest money maker….but I really do wonder if the issue isn’t as simple as spending less than you make.
But like I said, I’m an idiot.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
Nice tip, Richard. Thanks for the reminder that there’s a forum where people USE FCPX, and some of them LIKE it. 🙂
[Chris Harlan] “[Tim Wilson] ” it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built”
Its funny. I came out of television, which embraced electronic editing first, so I tend to think of anything with a Source/Record motif as being a child of television. “
Okay, fair enough. But TV editing has been around for a long time too. (Did you know that Desi Arnaz invented multicam editing for I Love Lucy? See more here.) I don’t know how long source and record windows have been around, but 2-inch quad was introduced in 1956, so…a long time. You’re right, I should have paid more attention to this, as my dirty little secret is that I prefer TV to movies anyway….
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Craig Seeman] “[Oliver Peters] “You’re assuming that ISIS isn’t making money. I doubt that big time. ISIS is an enterprise-grade storage solution primarily intended for broadcast and high-end post. ”
I’m not assuming that at all. I’m saying there may be opportunities to open up the management software side much as they opened up their NLEs.”
On the product side, Unity, including ISIS, supports FCP clients, which no longer need separate allocations. I don’t know if they support FCPX. LOL
I’m not spilling any secrets to say that the people in every company sit around on late Friday afternoons and talk about what they future would look like if they ran things.
On one hand, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Avid was primarily a services and storage company, in that order. It’s not terribly far-fetched, in the sense that Avid broadcast sales (ca. 2006 when I left of course — no knowledge since then) was very much oriented around systems and workflow design, using LOTS of people’s products.
That said, it’s impossible to overstate how critical Media Composer, Interplay, et al are to ISIS sales. Maybe Avid is ready to sell ISIS as STORAGE to places like Visa or Pfizer as heavy iron…but I’m thinking not. Triple redundancy, scalability and configuration flexibility are nice….but for ISIS, it’s all about running software and services. Take away the value added by things like Interplay and Unity management that are exclusive to Avid editing clients and it’s not best in class. ADD those things and it IS best of class.
I was in the back of the room for one of the ISIS rollout events, and the very first question after the preso that time was “When can I get one twice that big?” The place exploded in laughter, followed by thunderous applause. For the target customer, this is a product with velocity. And, as noted in an earlier post, nice margins.
Craig Seeman [Tim Wilson] “(Note that one of the FCPX product managers was the designer of Symphony….He had my old job at Boris FX before he moved to Apple.”
Interesting career path. So when do you start your job at Apple? ;->
I spoiled it by, a) working at Boris and Avid in the wrong order, and b) being a dick. LOL Apple will hire me some time after hell freezes over….and thaws….and freezes again. I’ll be the guy in the kitchen with the hair net and mop.
Although if Karma works the way I understand it, I’ll be the stuff that that guy is mopping up….
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Chris Harlan] “Its also why I chortle anytime someone refers to FCP X as a revolution…. calling X “revolutionary” is like someone finding a tree, piddling themselves a little pool, and then proclaiming, “Look! I made me an ocean!””
I can see FCPX maybe entering into a conversation because it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built on. But when I see people call THAT revolutionary, their credibility drops to zero and I go back to picking my nose.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Craig Seeman] “Certainly they invested in making an iPad NLE.”
Not that big a deal I think. It’s an iteration of the consumer-oriented Pinnacle Studio that used to retail in places like K-Mart and Circuit City for $99. The (former) Pinnacle guys are software maniacs — they probably did most of it in their sleep on a Sunday night, wrapped it up by lunch Monday. I could be wrong, but it looks like the definition of low-hanging fruit.
We can have a different conversation when Symphony makes its way to iPad.
(Note that one of the FCPX product managers was the designer of Symphony. We came close to overlapping at Avid — he was one of the people who interviewed me, was very generous to me, but left before I started. He had my old job at Boris FX before he moved to Apple. Great guy. So Symphony winding up on an iPad, cue “Circle of Life,” the Elton John version, but stick with the Debbie Allen choreography from the Oscars.)
Given that I’m mathlexic and can barely read…or wipe my own drool…here’s how I read this.
Avid CAN sustain a video business that’s mostly software. When I was there, it was something like 40% margin across the business (including storage, services, Pro Tools — the whole shebang). They’re now at SIXTY points. That’s really good, especially for a business with so many hard costs (storage, mixing boards, etc.)
If their margin is 60%, they can survive as long as they want, as long as they’re spending something less than 60% of revenue. That’s not currently the case. Time to call in the MBAs, give ’em machetes, and turn ’em loose. Kidding aside, there’s a lot of smart people at Avid. They can figure out how to create net profit on a 60% margin.
I’m an idiot and can probably make a step or two in the right direction.
Usual disclaimers: I’m speaking only for myself, not anybody I work for now or worked for then….and I’m an idiot.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Steve Connor] “I don’t envy those people just starting in the industry trying to figure out which NLE they need to learn to get work.”
I went to a pretty good-sized school (10,000 people or so), and I only knew 2 people who ever saw a computer. They handed in a pile of punch cards every day, and didn’t find out until the NEXT day if they did anything right. Everything about moving into this business and moving up it was painful. Every new tool took forever to learn. And they were freaking EXPENSIVE. Not kidding even a little – I took out a home equity loan to buy my first NLE and storage.
Even for people in their 30s, part of what makes NLE churn so churny is that there was some idea that “this” is “THE” way to go. Between investments in NLE-specific IO and emotional investments in good and evil, there was a sense of playing for keeps with these choices.
Now, it’s all play. No keeps. It’s like college DATING applied to NLEs. Somebody pretty invites you into bed, you GO. Not only are they making it EASY for you to have multiple partners, they ASSUME you have multiple partners.
Kidding aside, kids are learning that NONE of this is all that hard. When you need to learn something else, learn it.
“Why are you still talking? I’ve already learned the next thing, and am on to the one after that.”
Not that I’m into that “Ah beeleeeve that children R R fewwww-cher” nonsense. Kids are idiots. And like all geezers, I think they have it way too easy. But I also think they have it right.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
Yeah, I was really crazy about the article. I had asked Von to get super-specific, name as many names and models as possible. He leads paid workshops on this stuff, and didn’t hesitate to go all the way with it. He’s a true believer in sharing knowledge, and it shows.
As his “editor,” it also delights me no end that, other than a quick follow-up question or two that I asked, I probably didn’t have to spend 10 minutes with the text, and he gave me bunches of great pictures. So on top of everything else, he’s a really good writer
[Bob Zelin] “this is a perfect article. “This is what I do, and this is how
I do it”. Lots of detail, and a super nice guy. “I agree completely. 🙂
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Chris Harlan] “Is it true that Bill Davis is paying for it?”
I’d say that’s the LEAST he could do.
LOL