Re: If not DS...

[Scott Malkie <ltc.vitc(at)gmail.com>]

Well go
ahead and try to outfit a suite, that is as versatile as a DS suite, with the
console, VTR's, DA's, monitors, scopes, mixer, chair, phone etc. and has a
workflow that allows you to output the same quality, in the same time for  - as you put it "A FIFTH THE COST OF DS",
no sir, it won't happen.  Been
there, ran the numbers and honestly, there is only about a 20-25% difference in
price between other "Pro-sumer" systems and DS if you are fitting from the
ground up.

Ballparking here, and using list prices -

Assuming building a suite from the ground up:
Huge Media Systems RAID:  $10000.  (4TB)
VideoTek VTM-450E HD Scope: $17000. (HD/SD scope)
Sony 27" HD CRT: $27000. ($1k an inch or so, before cards)
Dual 23" Apple Cinema Displays: $3000. ($1.5k each)
Mixer: $2000. (01V or equiv.)
Console/Chair/Furnishings: $10000.  (Really can be as cheap or as pricey as you want here)
Miscellaneous: $7000.  (Power strips, racks, cables, fancy keyboard, decent speakers)

All that stays no matter what NLE goes in.
Now for the rest:

Apple Quad-Core G5: $3500.
Blackmagic Decklink HD Pro PCIe card: $1500. (oh, and IT DOES 4:4:4)
Apple Production Studio: $1300.
Shake: $3000.
Tinder for Shake: $650.
Sapphire: $1700
Automatic Duck I/O bundle: $800.
Photoshop: $600.
After Effects: $1000.
Anything I might have left out software-wise: $4000.  (codecs, speciality software like Traffic, etc.)

Now, some quick math tells me that just the FCP side of the suite works out to be around $20,000.

A DS, even before Tinder / Keylight / Photoshop is how much now? 

Even if we're talking about building from the ground up, an ultra-tricked out FCP suite is easily at least 1/4 the cost of a DS suite. And, in the hands of the right operator, can do some things substantially easier than the DS.  (Underlining, H.264, Native HDV come to mind...)

Of course, an all-in-one solution like the DS will always have speed and general ease-of-use advantages over a multiple software solution like the Apple Production Studio.  But is the small amount of time you save every day by not opening a different program worth the $100K+ more you pay for the DS?  Do you not think you'll use at least Photoshop and After Effects daily with a Symphony Nitris?  Talk about clunky - at least with 'round-tripping' I can use the same media - I can't imagine boucing stuff back and forth in uncompressed HD between a Symphony Nitris and After Effects.

Apple and their hardware vendors have constantly improved and innovated with FCP and Motion; Avid has taken a 15 year old interface and added 3 year old hardware to it.   Where's my SDI Mojo?  Where's my 4:4:4 Nitris?

Apologies for the length.  FCP is not a 'prosumer' NLE anymore.   Perhaps you mean to say 'Liquid.'

- Scott Malkie