Jeff Bernstein
Forum Replies Created
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Walter,
Have you played with the Cineform codec yet? It seems to be one of the better options with multiple quality levels, multiple platform support, and a road to 3D.
This product https://www.bitjazz.com/en/products/sheervideo/ was essentially killed by the release of ProRes. Now that Apple is on the receiving end, this solution may get new life.
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As of today, you will want to use the AJA Adobe CS5.5 9.0.1 plug-ins with the AJA 9.0.3 driver. So much for syncing version numbers. The 9.0.3 drivers fixed the issue with Nvidia and Kona cards being in the same computer under the 32-bit kernel. If you look at the release notes, you will notice, as noted above, that AJA rewrote their drivers to play nice and take advantage of the Mercury Engine.
And just to clarify Tim’s statement, I worked with Tim at the AJA booth at NAB. We were actually showing FCP7 outputting 4K. In this case, the standard we were using was the Sony 4xHD standard. As a result, the dimensions are 1920x1080x4. The math works out to just under the QuickTime limit of 4K. We were playing back both uncompressed and ProRes footage. To playback the uncompressed 4xHD signal, we had (2) Sonnet 8-gig fibre raids striped together so as to avoid the remote possibility of a dropped frame even though one raid would suffice, especially with the latest firmware on the RAID.
Though, I think I would have preferred stealing one of the 4K projectors from Barco to show off the footage that came from the Epic camera. 😎
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The problem with MXF is that is was too open and did not have a tighter spec. As a result, you see different implementations of MXF which are not compatible. Prime example would be how Sony and Panasonic did theirs. In addition, since typical MXF implementations break up files between different components such as audio and video and metadata, it becomes are royal mess to manage your files in a file-based workflow.
Unfortunately, MXF did not become the ‘open standard’ answer to the need to replace to supplement QuickTime.
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The improved results were specific to Resolve. There was no difference between the Nvidia 4000 and Nvidia 4000 as a slave.
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[Craig Seeman] ” Thunderbolt is a Video Post tool”
Actually, it is not. It is a serialized version of PCI Express limited, currently, to just 4 lanes. If I were a betting man, I would bet that Apple is going to remove PCI Express slots from the next Mac Pro because Apple believes that everyone wants to throw out their investments in PCI Express cards and no one needs all that bandwidth that is currently in their Mac Pros.
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I will assume that Apple is only allowing the extension of FCP7 for existing Volume License holders because it assumes they already have the Volume License installer. As such, Apple would not need to generate new media or new software keys. As such, this requires the least amount of work from Apple’s perspective and continues to keep resellers out of the loop.
IMHO, this does not go far enough. Apple needs to allow all sales, new and upgrades to continue.
Also keep in mind that Apple did not allow upgrades to Volume Licenses unless one was on a Software Assurance plan. Otherwise, Volume Licenses were only available for those who purchased at least 10 seats.
Weak.
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“They don’t like to punish users for the fact that they ship software aggressively early.”
Laughable. If this were true then Apple would ship a stable OS along with the current OS with their computers. To clarify, when Snow Leopard Server came out, it was extremely buggy and didn’t stabilize until 10.6.5, and even then it wasn’t ready for primetime. They could have bundled in Leopard. In the past , the server team ensured that technical reality was more important than shipping the latest release for stability is more important than features.
Shipping OS 10.6.8 with printing issues, a problem that has popped up twice in the 10.6.x releases, and a bug that brings Xserves to its knees, are just more examples of Apple not doing their best.
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As one who helped create QuickTime in the early years, I can tell you that Avid and Adobe have well-placed fears of entrusting the core of their products to Apple. Believe me, Apple tried to do just that. There were many meetings. Ultimately, it was Apple who did not step up to the plate.
As a prime example, QuickTime on Windows is single-threaded whereas it is multi-threaded on the Mac. As a result, performance under QuickTime on Windows is hampered. This was by design to encourage development on Mac.
As Brandon pointed out, there has been a bug in a QuickTime API that helps bridge the 32-bit to 64-bit worlds. It affects ALL 64-bit apps that call on QuickTime, not just Adobe apps. If actions speak louder than words, and as we all know, Apple doesn’t like using words, Apple’s response has been effectively, “this is not important to us.” How else do you describe a known bug that has lasted nearly 2 years?
While AV Foundation represents the rewrite of QuickTime 64-bit, it is not a direct replacement. Moreover, the rewrite of QuickTime in whatever form and whatever name, has been mismanaged and not delivered in a timely fashion. Had it been in capable hands, it would have been delivered 2 years ago. Apple killing Carbon64, on the other hand, has a lot to do with this. But, that is a whole other post.
Many, if not all, of the entertainment powerhouses, have adopted a file-based workflow for this new world of digital delivery. As such, many have adopted QuickTime. But they have found, like many of you, that QuickTime is EOL’d. In addition, many attempted to get Apple to fix the various issues in QuickTime, such as Gamma, and also asked Apple to enhance QuickTime for today’s needs. Apple’s response… “We don’t care.”
As a result, Disney, along with SMPTE, have embarked on a replacement for QuickTime, yet it emulates many of the core features of QuickTime, but brings it to the next level. The key here is that industry begged Apple, Apple said no, then the industry said we better make sure this is an open standard so we don’t find ourselves in this position again.
Will software manufacturers embrace this new standard? It is too early to tell. The hope is that it will become an industry standard with support on as many OS platforms as possible.
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The margin per product is actually better with Apple’s pro products. When it comes to their consumer products, how do they do it? Volume Volume Volume
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If you are an Apple Reseller, the abuse is endless.
Let’s assume, for the moment, that Apple also decides that its user base no longer needs PCI slots. Think about it, the next Mac Pro replacement is smaller, Apple is pushing Thunderbolt. When Apple moved from PCI-X to PCIe in the G5, they went cold turkey even though the chipset they used still supported PCI-X. Remember having to replace all those PCI cards? Wasn’t cheap was it. Do you think Apple cares about your existing investment? Does this become the final blow to Apple in professional graphics, editing, and effects?
So let’s review…
Apple starts with killing Xserve with no replacement, then kills FCS 3 (Soundtrack Pro, Color, DVD Studio Pro), Final Cut Server, not to mention Shake. Has anyone noticed that Apple Remote Desktop is looking pretty dead too? Apple won’t divulge their roadmap because businesses LOVE surprises. By the same token, I’m sure Apple avoids looking at their supplier’s roadmaps. I guess decisions are best made in a vacuum.
To be serious for a moment, my gut tells me that Apple is a victim of their own metrics. Before the iCrap, Apple had a profitable business with their core professional markets. In fact, Apple threw a lot of money at purchasing companies and their technologies to go after the Professional audio and video markets. Astarte, Nothing Real, Emagic, Macromedia (final cut only), Final Touch, and I know I am missing a couple. This was their core market. Then the iCrap started to really take off. Apple started to take away engineering resources from the Pro Apps.
In any event, Apple is making a ton of money on the iCrap which makes revenue from Pro Apps and the Mac Pro look like pocket change. Still profitable, but pocket change. I asked my brother about this situation about a month ago. He got his MBA from NYU. He’s no dummy. His retort was generally this…
Apple is a public company that seeks to maximize profits. I replied, “But Apple holds significant market share in certain vertical markets. Why kill it?” He says, “The other stuff makes more money. Every company has limited resources, even if they are the highest valued company on the NASDAQ. Thus, they are going to put those resources into areas they get the most value and return.”
He concluded, “Let’s face it. Apple isn’t really into you anymore.”