Marvin Holdman
Forum Replies Created
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Craig Seeman – “BTW this is one reason why I think FCPX is headed towards a media managed server control based system. To me, the metadata potential screams for it. The Event/Project management is fairly primitive because I think it may be handled elsewhere (although it badly needs to be improved in FCPX itself).”
Just curious…
Do you think they might have some form of “open” media management? As in, the ability to export the metadata to other data management systems? Or import said data from other management systems? I’ve been very curious about what might become of their stated alliance with the Square Box folks. It would seem that that particular cohesion might be very promising. Perhaps this might fill the void that you are describing.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
A couple of things have steered us to Adobe….
1. You gotta have photoshop, regardless. It’s just too practical for too many things.
2. Legacy FCS projects can be ported to PPro.
3. Large pool of freelance opportunities for outsourcing.Of course, we are NOT in LA, so the local ecosystem plays less into the quotient. In the Southeastern US markets we do service, we see a lot more installations of PPro for education (especially since FCPX) and that is one of the pools of labor that will be drawn on (at least here) for the next 3-5 years. It’s what most folks in our region will gain experience on in any school they may be going too.
Still hold out some hope for FCPX, but it diminishes daily, given the current state of all things Apple. This will be a telling year for sure, and we’ll most definitely be watching what develops in the next 12 months. I’ve got a feeling that time will tell whether Apple will ever be a player in this business again. While many have already “stuck a fork in it” we do hope that Apple will get their act together. The last couple of months have been dark days for this once dominant company… at least in the NLE world. Sad to see something so great screwed up so badly.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Jeremy – “PPro, at least with CS5.5, makes some sort of cache files that you have zero control over, and sometimes don’t really help (they seem to be audio related). And if you want to make proxy files, how do you do it? You’d have to do it through third party apps. FCPXs workflow in this regard has a leg up, it also wholly depends on your source footage as well. Not all workflows need proxy creation.”
I wouldn’t exactly call proxy creation a “leg up”. While it’s true, CS5.5 DOES create cache files, they are very small pointers that don’t have to be archived with the project. The problem most folks over look in this with the FCPX implementation is the fact that is DOUBLES YOUR VIDEO DATA. Yes, it is just a re-wrap of the footage and it is quick, but now you have twice the physical data on your system. At this point you have a few choices; 1. Keep all of that data, both raw footage and re-wraps and archive it. That’s going to become cumbersome really quickly if you have more than one person in your shop. 2. Get rid of your raw data and store ONLY the re-wraps. Several problems here such as meta-data from the RAW files not completely being transferred, sharing re-wraps across platforms (anyone know if sending these to PC’s is feasible? Historically hasn’t been) and what if you need to send the data back to the camera for some reason? (lining up shots for direct matching is one example).
The point is, native does NOT mean re-wrapping raw data. FCPX loses to CS5.5 hugely on this one. Don’t see how you can really say otherwise.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
[Scott Shucher] “You can have it good, fast or cheap. Pick two.”
Bill Davis – “Sometimes. I used to walk past a tangerine tree on my way to a summer recreation program.
Every day for a whole summer, I’d reach up on my walk and for a while enjoy all three at once.”Cause from seed to fruit is only a day, right?
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Anyone tried this one yet? It says it supports Lion. Of course, at $899, it should rub my feet while as well.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Jason Jenkins – “I have no idea what the Avid guy charges, but I don’t think $150/hr is racing to the bottom. In fact, I’ve worked long and hard to get up to that.”
Very happy to hear that, was afraid you were going to say you were charging something like $25/hr. Stick to your rates, this is hard work and as you know it cost more than money, it cost time! At that rate you can afford the time it takes to do this. I’ve had clients who have had sticker shock over rates before. So much so, they decided to try it themselves. What they found was, they weren’t necessarily paying me for the time I spent working on their project, they were paying me for all the time I’ve spent learning the craft. They could pay me for an hour at $150, or they could spend 6 hours of their own time figuring out what experience has already taught me. In the end, they’re not buying my time, they’re buying my experience.
Kudos to getting a good rate!
Jason Jenkins – “I agree, but I couldn’t resist posting my story with an inflammatory subject line! :)”
Kinda like wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt to a Republican debate?
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Aindreas Gallagher – “no Craig that is honestly wrong. Jobs said, on the record, with passion that they are a software company – they simply believe in sheathing their software in their own hardware.”
Not exactly sure when he made said this, but I have the feeling that if he could somehow say something like this again tomorrow, he might replace “software” with “iApps”. Combined with the iOS convergence via Lion, it seems like a pretty good description of what we appear to be witnessing and a logical progression of the above statement.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Given that Sony rolled for years with re-wrapping as the solution for FCS compatibility (equally marketed as XDCAM compatible), there is a high likelihood that what you see is what you get (re-wrap). Makes it a real pain to manage your data because the re-wrap solution basically doubles your data footprint. That’s a big deal if you are in a place with multiple shooters in the field every day. It adds up quickly and makes database management a bit of a chore.
Calibratedsoftware.com makes an excellent product for working with TRUE native XDCAM footage. Very handy in the way it interacts with QT without the need for re-wrapping footage. Not so sure how it works with FCPX though, been too busy installing PPro and ditching FCS. Will say that PPro does deal with XDCAM in a TRUE native manner, not this re-wrap BS.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
FCPX?
Cute kid.
Maybe they’re waiting till junior learns how to walk before taking him to market?
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
Hi Jason,
Thanks for sharing. I took a moment and peeked at your website. Nice work. It’s good to see that you have 10 years experience doing this type of work. With that sort of experience, I expect you want to continue to work. This is why it puzzles me that you are so proud of the fact that you are on the front lines of our industries seeming “race to the bottom” rate wise. The fact that you have apparently undercut a contemporary, who seems to have a lot more of an investment in money and (perhaps) time in what is still an industry standard NLE makes me wonder if you’ve thought out the broader implications of what this might mean for someone in your position.
With 10 years into this game, I expect you anticipate continuing growth of your business. While many might say lowering your investment overhead will make you inherently more competitive price wise, it also broadens the opportunity for those who will undercut your prices as well. While you may have gotten the gig this time, next time your new client is just as apt to contract out their high school cousin who just got FCPX. Yes, I know your experience is what separates you from others with whom you might compete, but you will still have to deal with a much larger pack of lesser skilled competition.
When DV came along, I still shot BetaSP for many years before transitioning to it. All that time, I had to compete against a growing pack of idiots who could afford the first generation of DV camera’s and sold many of my clients on it being “just as good” and “broadcast” at a fraction of the industry rate. All of those clients eventually came back when they realized it takes more than a camera to craft video. There were many gleeful shooters who I thought very poorly of, though I never said as much to them or my wayward clients. When asked, I would only say, “Good luck with that, I’m here if you need me” and more times than not, they did end up needing me.
My point is, it is great, appropriate and appreciated that you share your experience in the a forum such as this, but it is a bit of an overstatement to say “FCPX Trumps Avid”. It’s like saying “Nails Trumps Screws”. They both have their appropriate uses. I would like to believe you are merely excited by the fact that you have gotten a job using FCPX. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s only an example of an appropriate usage of this application. One that I am sincerely thankful that you have shared.
“FCPX Trumps Avid”? Um, not quite yet. Maybe in a few years.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv