Here is a little story some
of you may be familiar with.
Back in the 1900's this particular high profile company made linear
editing systems.
They made a wide range of products over the years.
Some were really very good, so good that other companies copied almost
every basic function of their design (including the color keycaps).
Some products were very bad, and nobody copied anything.
Then a time period came along (about 18 months) where all the customers
were challenging the company to fix the things that didn't work quite
right or at least add some new features that other manufacturer's
systems were able to do. Nothing seemed to be happening.
Sound familiar...
Well this company just didn't seem to respond to any of these demands
for a long time (did I mention it was 18 months?)
Then one day the company unveiled a new system that, while not perfect,
was light years ahead of other systems because it was built on a new
hardware platform, new OS, new interface, lots and lots of new features
that NOBODY else was doing.
The company..... CMX
The product ..... The OMNI
Did CMX abandon the 3100, 3500, 3400, 3400A, 3600 edit systems?
Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it. End of life did come to
the new development of features on those systems. But there are still
some of these units still in use and the CMX company went out of
business in the late 1900's.
Did CMX build a better mouse trap?
You betcha. For those who endured the development of the OMNI (we were
one of four alpha sites - started with version 0,.0 - painful) that
edit system turned out to be a great decision for the company and the
end user. (We still have two Omni's running - great compilation reel
assembly systems - in their 12 year and still going - by the way we
moved on past version 0.0 , we are running version 14.6 beta - yep, was
in beta test when the lights went out!). Oh yeah, did I mention that I
can make HD tape to tape edits with this OMNI using Sony's SRW-5500
tape decks?
And then the 2000's
I am not saying that Avid is necessarily following the same business
practices, but it seems very reasonable that the Symphony Nitris
product completes the "total conform" workflow for Media Composer fans,
and maybe Avid is done with this series of editors. Avid may have taken
this opportunity to put a new product in the hands of Symphony fans
(remember that group has been standing around with nothing new for a
long time too). Stockholders are happy with new sales to that Symphony
market, and Avid gets a window and a revenue stream to develop their
next generation editor. No way to tell, but that is the free enterprise
system.
up on soapbox...
By this group's own acknowledgment, maybe that's not so bad - referring
to people's testimonials that are still on v3.x, 4.x, 5.x, 6.x Equinox
system and making money every day.
Personally, it does not seem to be too risky to buy into the product
line at any point. Nitris dollars can certainly be recovered if used
over a long enough period of time. Only caveat is whether Avid will
assure the system for that long, but so far their track record of
support time on hardware seems to be reasonable, at least that has been
my experience.
I am not some crazed Avid cheerleader, but in reality, they have not
done anything really that uncommon for a public company of their size
and overhead.
back down off the soapbox.
Just my $.02
Tom Edwards
MTV Networks
Chasteen, Howard wrote:
Hi Rune,
I do think that Avid is constrained
from saying much because of corporate law and snafus. I would not say
the managers are gutless but probably more concerned about job
security;-) No one wants to be the first to attempt a response.
However....and there is always a
however, perhaps the least they should do is to communicate directly
and privately with each system owner giving them enough of an update to
restore some confidence in the platform's future ,if it has one. What
else can they do?
Meanwhile recover your investment from
DS ASAP. At this point we are just glad that we are on 7.6 Equinox with
our systems. The Nitris money [at least for us] might have been poured
down the drain. And like all other DS owners we now have to plan
whether to buy or expand Adrenaline and or FCP or to add NITRIS. Mostly
because of the newer, inexpensive HDV and similar formats, we need the
ability to digitize from firewire.
Howard
It's all about Avid management showing some guts
and letting DS system owners know what they can expect from their
expensive investment in avid DS equipment. We are not going to be any
less upset because they drag it out!
Rune
Do we really want to know what
Avid has to say?
Suppose you asked your boss,
"How are things looking for the New Year?" If he said "Great! Lots of
projects in the pipeline, everyone's excited and positive, looks like a
banner year!" That would be cool, right? But what if he said "Let me
call a meeting among the executives and figure out exactly how to
carefully craft a response to your question." Wouldn't that be a
pretty solid indication that the answer is going to be something you
don't want to hear?
I'm not seriously suggesting
that ignorance is bliss. But if Avid is having to think so long and
hard about how to word a response to the simple question of "what's the
future for DS," then I doubt we're going to be tickled pink with the
eventual answer.
Time for a new massive "We
Request An Official Response From Avid" owners/operators
complaint ?
Benoit DELVAL
|
PUZZLE EDITING FACILITIES
HD - SD Post-production for Film & Video
Rue des Confédérés 105
Eedgenoten straat
BRUSSELS 1000 - BELGIUM
- EUROPE
Tel + 322 7329789
Fax + 322 7329791
Website puzzle-editing.be
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-----Message
d'origine-----
De : owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM]De la part de
Chasteen, Howard
Envoye : 3 janvier 2006 18:17
A : DS(at)Softimage.COM
Objet : RE: How long are we prepared to wait for an answer from avid?
OK Avid, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years are over. Everyone must be
back in the offices. How about it?
Or:
Well it appears that all the well-meaning gossip about Avid actually
making a statement on DS was not based in fact but just Gossip. At this
time I would say that they will hold off until February some time and
then try to roll the release of v 8.0 into the NAB announcements. NG as
far as long range planning for system owners.
Anyone that has DS systems in major markets should perhaps consider
earning their investments out of the gear ASAP. If Avid lets DS die via
attrition or by outright abandonment it will leave lots of system owners
high and dry with those "Old, discontinued, DS systems".
Clients are sensitive to what system their post facilities have. Perhaps
they are a bit naive about it but who wants to edit on a system that is
no longer marketed? [If indeed that happens to become the case].
Happy New Year Anyway!
Howard C.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM] On Behalf
Of Matt Riley
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:02 AM
To: DS(at)Softimage.COM
Subject: Re: How long are we prepared to wait for an answer from avid?
Don't break a sweat? Are you kidding?
When Avid wants to kill the platform, they will; one way or another.
-Matt
On Jan 3, 2006, at 9:40 AM, John Heiser wrote:
> Folks, don't break a sweat over something we can't control. When
Avid
> wants to follow up on their commitment to communicate with us, they
> will.
>
>
> ____________________________
> John Heiser
> Avid DS Editor
> o2ideas
> Birmingham, Alabama, USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM] On Behalf
> Of CUT & COPY Michael Kellermann
> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 9:00 AM
> To: DS(at)Softimage.COM
> Subject: Re: How long are we prepared to wait for an answer from
avid?
>
> I am with Doktor Voktor
>
> (out of fear of course^^)
>
> Victor Wolansky wrote:
>> Same here...
>>
>>
>> Victor Wolansky
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM] On
>> Behalf
> Of
>> Rune Holm
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 3:20 AM
>> To: DS(at)Softimage.COM
>> Subject: How long are we prepared to wait for an answer from
avid?
>>
>> I lost my patience with avid management a long time ago so I
feel the
> answer
>> is long overdue.
>>
>> Rune Holm
>> Take-Away Film
>>
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