[Daniel Peterson]

[Bret Williams] “This site gives out free information. Yours is asking for information. Just seems a little disingenuous and like link bait when you have ads.”

Ah, sorry if it came across that way Bret. I was merely pointing out that most sites have ads. Truth be told… I was told by a friend that a site without a ‘business plan’ is probably a waste of time…I see his point, but the survey is the focus, which is why the ads are at the bottom….

the free information is here… https://www.thedigitalslice.com/results

…or alternatively someone could pay $6K to buy these other results… https://www.reportlinker.com/p01056004-summary/Analysis-of-the-Global-Video-Nonlinear-Editing-Market.html

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

[Gary Huff] “But the ads at the bottom of the page are ROCK-SOLID!”

Not compare to the ads on this page! Hahaha

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

[Bret Williams] “I let him slide that the app is also called Final Cut PRO.”

Haha, thanks Bret 🙂

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

[Gary Huff] “But really it’s not. The amount of time that is heavy is learning a NLE for the very first time. After that, if you cannot easily translate your knowledge over to what is pretty similar across the board for all of them, then you’re initial attempt did not actually lay a foundation, but instead was focused on the minutiae of a particular package.
“

Haha, gee, you guys don’t come across very positive, but still… appreciate the thoughts flying here.

I used the word ‘mastering’ here for a reason, I would be very impressed if you’ve mastered any NLE from 2 projects (unless of course they are feature length), happy to be wrong, but I’m sure others like me have spent a lot longer getting a real grasp and understanding of all the inner workings a NLE offers (Let alone linking in after effects or motion5, normally years of learning before you get ahead of the curve.)… happy to be wrong…

[Gary Huff] “Lack of data? Have you even looked into the subforums on here of different NLEs? Seems like some decent activity in most of them. Otherwise, all you’re talking about is a simple poll result, which is hardly helpful.”

I think you might have missed my point… I agree there is loads of valuable info buried in these forums (depending on the source, haha), but opinions are one thing and numbers are another. Forums serve a different purpose, compared to a survey, they’re… ‘a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.’…

[Gary Huff] “Again, should this be a popularity constest? Let’s say that most camera operators prefer FCPX. Is that reason enough for a camera operator to come to the site and say, “Hey, I need to buy FCPX!” even if, all things considered, they might rather work in Premiere?”

Its more about discerning the trends… but if I was looking into becoming a camera operator, for me personally it would be very helpful to know that other camera operators prefer to use FCPX (if that is the case)… at the moment I can’t see how having any extra insight into other peoples preferences can be a bad thing.

Like I said, appreciate the thoughts and will keep working on it taking all this into consideration.

Cheers
Daniel

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

Hey Jason,

Thanks for thoughts, glad you took some interest in the site. Will keep the 2000 limit in mind. Collecting subjectively entered data was part of my original plans, it isn’t too hard to collect, but after some discussions became aware that collating and displaying it in the results is a bit of a challenge.

For the moment I’ve tried to keep it simple… constrained to the general fields that people work in (3D, cameraman/DOP, Editor, Independent filmmaker etc etc.) which I think still gives a good sense of the skill-set used or required. My understanding is that most people will be aiming in one of these general directions. Will keep all this in mind though as I am aware that there can be a lot of cross-over between professions… being a filmmaker, editor, motion graphic artist and amateur animator myself.

Cheers
Daniel

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

Hey Gary, good question, appreciate your thought.

So basically, the website is evolving (still in Beta) from my personal challenge of deciding what NLE to purchase and focus on… as the amount of time (I’m sure you can appreciate) spent mastering the software over the years is massive. I’m not sure everyone has the time or money to trial each NLE available, that would be the most ideal way, but its almost impossible to gain a good understanding of the software without using it over a longer period of time. I certainly didn’t, and still don’t have time to do that at this point.

The main challenge I found was that there are a myriad of opinions but lack of data, so if this gains some data and helps others gain more information about who uses what NLE’s, than I believe it will be a helpful resource. Of course this survey can’t, and never will, represent the complete picture, but the more people that submit info the more accurate it will become.

The aim is not to isolate one as better than the others, but give a better break down of who’s using what, which is why the filters at the top are important… for example, independent filmmakers may prefer to use one software whereas Motion graphics artists may prefer to use another, knowing that info when making a decision about which NLE to focus on is very helpful, and I’m yet to see any similar data (though I’m sure it does exist somewhere).

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Daniel

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta) – A new NLE survey, help me gather data!
http://www.SaltMedia.net

[Daniel Peterson]

For me it seems my main workhorse will be the CC (creative cloud) at least for the next few years simply because I constantly use Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects… and being proficient with those other ‘industry standard’ apps is part of my plan. But in saying that I am quite keen to also have FCPX on my system as a few higher end cinematographers I know are using it to cut their own material.

PS. I’ve just updated a personal website project https://www.thedigitalslice.com (currently just a survey) that I’m hoping will be useful in gathering data about who’s using different NLE’s… if you wanna add your data, would be much appreciated!

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.saltmedia.net
http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta)

[Daniel Peterson]

Glad to hear! Give us a quick summary, I’m interested to know what method you used. Thanks.

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.saltmedia.net

http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta)
What’s your weapon of choice… FCP7, FCPX, Premiere, Avid, Smoke, Edius, Vegas? Jump over and help gather some data.

[Daniel Peterson]

Ah I’ve run into this before, I’m not sure how to use blend modes with a grey solid, but you could possibly try luma keying the stock footage… I’ve had to do that before. Andrew Kramer has some great examples (albeit a bit old, but principals still remain) https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/advanced_sky_replacement/
There’s also a new tutorial from stern fx that may be helpful… https://www.sternfx.com/tutorials/125
once keyed, you could do whatever you like to the remaining parts of the footage.

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.saltmedia.net

http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta)
What’s your weapon of choice… FCP7, FCPX, Premiere, Avid, Smoke, Edius, Vegas? Jump over and help gather some data.

[Daniel Peterson]

It’s coming in the next update, next month… if you can wait that long…
https://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2013/09/after-effects-cc-12-1-whats-new-and-changed.html

Filmmaker | Motion Graphic Artist
http://www.saltmedia.net

http://www.TheDigitalSlice.com (beta)
What’s your weapon of choice… FCP7, FCPX, Premiere, Avid, Smoke, Edius, Vegas? Jump over and help gather some data.