[Marcus Warren]

Thanks. I actually perused that article before writing the original email. I’ve reviewed it again and still cannot come up with a “score” of UI and workflow enhancements.

[Marcus Warren]

Hi. I didn’t want to leave you with the impression that you would have to use MacBook Pros with the AJA Io HD and the MOTU V4HD. Since they connect with firewire they should work with any firewire-equiped Mac. The question is whether these devices support Media 100.

If they do, you would have to weigh the benefits of using these devices with iMacs versus getting Thunderbolt-equiped MacBook Pros.

[Marcus Warren]

I should add that the AJA and MOTU solutions were marketed to FCP users, so I suggest checking with those manfacturers and/or with Boris FX to see if both or either is a workable solution for Media 100.

[Marcus Warren]

I can’t answer all of your questions but I can tell you that I am running Media 100 Producer v13 on a refurbished 15″ MacBook Pro that I bought from Apple, August, 2009. Core 2 Duo, 2.4 Ghz. I see no reason not to be able to run M100 on current iMacs. In fact, I’ve edited with Final Cut Pro on iMacs and standard MacBooks and that was about four years ago. I believe that they were all Intel-based Macs.

It is my intention to upgrade to Media Suite V2 this year to run on the same MacBook Pro and at this point I don’t forsee any issues. I mostly use Firewire for I/O. My particular MBP also has an Express Card port through which I could use eSata drives.

You could look at the AJA I/O portable device and maybe the similar device from MOTU (V4HD) since they both connect with Macs through Firewire. They might be able to give you some VTR and Camera connectivity options.

[Marcus Warren]

Hi Michael. Let me quote from Frank McMahon’s review of Media 100 Producer 12.6 in Digital Content Producer: “Really, I find few faults with Media 100, but there’s also little to entice me away from other desktop editors.”
Those kinds of special features.

Obviously Media 100 15, I mean Media 100 Suite 2 is better than 12.6, but only in the fact that it now has more of the features that you would expect of a modern day NLE. Media 100 is very capable and very solid, but to the world at large, not very special.

I’m saying it needs some attention grabbing features. Who of you have not heard of Premiere’s Mercury Playback Engine or Avid Media Composer’s Script Sync feature (no longer included with the program it seems), Vegas 10’s ability to work with stereoscopic 3D content, etc. I’m just saying that it would be beneficial for M100 to have some attention grabbing features that would certainly help boost sales and increase name recognition.

Angie Taylor in her book “Design Essentials for the Motion Media Artist: A Practical Guide to Principles & Techniques” just released in October of last year refers to Media 100 as the “late, lamented Media 100”. She apparently doesn’t even know that the program is available and still in development . People who read her book may come to the same conclusion, simply because M100 doesn’t have the name of the other major NLE players.

How many plug-ins have you been able to find for Media 100? How about for Final Cut Pro? No comparison. Some name recognition would drive 3rd party development for M100.

I’m not asking for feature bloat, just for some really useful, innovative, marketable, you-can-only-get-that-here features that will help the Media 100 market share grow and benefit all of us.

[Marcus Warren]

Interesting. The initial announcement for M100 Suite 2 has Red integration as the lead item, but like you, that did not excite me and I am not sure, percentage-wise, the number of current Media 100 user who will benefit from the inclusion. I do agree that it is a needed item to keep pace with other NLE, but I still wait for that super-feature that launches M100 into the stratosphere. The other items in the press release appeared to be enhancements and improvements; welcomed for sure, but nothing to make me go “wow!”

Media 100 needs that really special, you-can-only-get-it-here type of feature or features to draw attention to itself.

With that said, I am curious about the new capabilities of Boris RED 5. Other than the inclusion of long overdue new BCC filters did Floh get much into the workflow and ui enhancements of RED 5?

[Marcus Warren]

I have Media Producer v13 and I was told by a Boris rep that there are “all kinds of problems” with trying to run Producer on Snow Leopard. I’ve never been brave enough to prove him wrong. That’s one reason I am still on Leopard. Trying to save the pennies for an upgrade to Media 100 Suite so that I can also upgrade to Snow Leopard (or Lion)as well.

[Marcus Warren]

Hmmm. I downloaded the Sony Log and Transfer software. It won’t install because it does not detect FCP on my system. If FCP is not anywhere near your computer how did you manage to install SLT?

[Marcus Warren]

As I mentioned, Apple’s Compressor comes as part of the Logic Pro Studio bundle, and of course, Compressor is most assuredly a video program, and by it’s very nature works with codecs.

[Marcus Warren]

You mentioned that ProRes is only available with Final Cut Pro. I have been considering buying Logic Pro Studio which includes Apple’s Compressor. If I have Compressor, will I have access to the ProRes codecs or would I still need to have Final Cut Pro installed?