Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Mark Raudonis] “You were “holding it wrong”! :)”
That joke definitely deserves a round of applause.
Well played, sir.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Jeremy Garchow] “I do think that his points pertain to the limits of a bin structure.”
Agreed.
There has to be a better model and I don’t think any NLE has yet come close to addressing the issue.
FCP X does recognise that what is ultimately more useful than mere containers is “tagging” but I don’t think they’ve really done that much to run with that concept.
Tagging, of course, can be generated quite separately from the NLE in ways that are very useful and more useful than tagging that’s NLE-specific.
I do think that a much more radical approach to NLE design would be interesting (see my other thread on this topic). FCPX for all its novelty is still mired in traditional conventions just as much as the competition.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Don Walker] “I am a huge fan of yours!”
Thanks for your kind words.
[Don Walker] “I swear that you have, in the last 6 months, become increasingly bitter towards Apple”
Not bitter, just disappointed.
Apple can and should be doing better in so many different ways – I don’t think it does anyone any favours to try and pretend otherwise.
Why should we accept “good enough” from the largest corporation in the history of the planet?
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
Another fundamental issue that a reimagined NLE could address is the dominant clip>timeline model.
All conventional NLEs presuppose that editing revolves around moving clips from a container to the timeline – hence the rigid and immutable hierarchy of the two Browser/Timeline spaces (see above).
Not one of them is optimised for what is in fact a very common and crucial editing model – and that is moving clips and groups of clips between timelines.
Some of them do have features that partially enable this process, others make it really quite difficult, but none seeks to provide the maximum possible facilitation of the process.
I have talked before about the creative and operational advantages of thinking in terms of timelines for organisational purposes and I don’t want to reopen that conversation here, but I want to stress that while there are many editors who apparently never edit between timelines (!), there are many others for whom it is a fundamental requirement of the kind of editing that they are engaged in. It is absurd that NLE makers haven’t grasped how important this is and offered tools and modes to make it fast and easy.
I would also observe that the way NLEs are traditionally conceived creates an unconscious bias towards thinking that certain ways of working are “the right way” to work, and this is very much true here. You see a lot of people who fetishise the inefficiencies of the clip>timeline model as if they were virtues. It is hard for them to see that there are other options because of the conditioning engendered by the design of the tools.
And this is why it’s valuable to keep thinking of ways to disrupt the conventions of how the NLE is conceived.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Bernard Newnham] “Your arms didn’t last too long. “
You’re missing the fact that it was also a fitness device.
😉
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Bill Davis] “Two time Academy Award Wining director Mike Figis wanted to improve on camerawork, so he partnered with Manfrotto to offer a circular gizmo with the idea that it would improve ease of shooting in at least certain situations.”
The Fig Rig was an absolutely brilliant concept that worked magically well – in a wide variety of situations.
If ever there was beauty in simplicity, this was it.
Thank goodness for people like Mike Figgis who are ready to think up ideas beyond the narrow parameters of what the world’s largest corporations think fit to spoon feed us.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Bill Davis] “Kinda makes you wonder what Wes Plate is doing now that he’s at Apple, doesn’t it?”
He’s probably busy taking suits to the dry cleaners – or something of the kind.
That’s what usually happens to brilliant people who get recruited by Apple. Their talents are immediately wasted on trivia.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Bill Davis] “Pretty much precisely what Mr. Ubillos did seven years ago?
“It’s almost like you’re saying that because the NLE has been refreshed once it can never be improved upon again.
But I’m sure you don’t mean that.
Come on, guys!!!
You’re brilliant, creative people, brimming with great ideas.
Don’t tell me you can’t think of innovative things to do in the NLE space. Cos I don’t believe you.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Joe Marler] “I think if Alan Bell was more familiar with FCPX he could make a more compelling and informed argument. “
I think you are missing the point he was making.
It’s not that existing NLEs don’t provide the means to access the information – it’s rather than he is looking for a different model of interacting with the material.
He doesn’t (just) want lists and fields as conventionally offered – he wants a much more graphical way of flagging the stuff that’s important to him.
I can understand that this might not appeal to other editors but what’s interesting is that he’s looking at what NLEs could be from a different perspective.
We are very hidebound in the way we think about all of this so it’s good to throw away the blinkers occasionally and imagine other possibilities.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
The reason I think this is interesting is not so much to do with specific features – it’s a more general point.
As editors we are paid to have ideas and solve problems.
So it’s a shame that we tend to approach our software as passive consumers rather than people with ideas who know how to come up with solutions.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki