RE: Final Cut EXTREME - Avid's DS Killer???

["Hollis, Mark (NBC Universal)" <Mark.Hollis(at)nbcuni.com>]

Aargh!

 

Please remember the DS is not a religion.

 

I think it's great that Apple is doing this. It keeps Avid on their toes and makes them improve their code. Win-win.

 

Apple does not sell a hardware-software solution like Avid does. You can buy what Apple recommends, mostly from their store but they do not support it. They'll tell you how to install the application and, perhaps, troubleshoot it but they do not offer the kind of support that Avid does. You have to develop that on your own or use third-party support.

 

You can outfit an Apple FCP system for $10,000. That has always been the price point. What it doesn't include is a client monitor, a VTR, enough storage or anything more than a basic breakout box. All processing is pretty much being done by the Apple CPU -- either through a graphics card or the CPU (a dual-quad which ought to be a carburator).

 

If you really want to make a client comfy and do the right thing, you're talking $20,000. And that remains less than a DS or a Symphony.

 

SNL (Saturday Night Live) is currently using Apple's Shake with Final Cut to do work. I talked with the editor who really wants to learn DS.

 

Why?

 

(Now this is important, folks)

 

You do compositing in Shake. It has lots of tools and many of the same ones as are in the DS. Then you have to export. Then you import into FCP. You cannot access the layers -- it's a flattened Quicktime. If (or when, more likely) the client, art director or you need to change something, it's back into Shake with you. Tweak. Re-export. Re-import. Edit.

 

Ouch.

 

It is not a DS. Sure, you can combine the tools in your workflow, but the combination is just not all that. Some of Apple's tools are really nice. some of Avid's (in the DS) are, too. Should the folks in Tewksbury feel threatened? You betcha and it's good for us that they feel that way. We get better code as a result.

 

Yes, Spencer, there will be a power cable. You'll get what you paid for. And you won't get the same workflow.

 

Is it possible to do the same things on Apple's Shake and FCP as you can on the DS? Yes. It is at easy? Arguably, no. The DS was designed around compositing so that you can edit, too. You never have to commit to a video mixdown like you would have to on a Media Composer or Symphony. Containers let you decide to not decide. Shake is a great compositing tool. But you cannot edit with it. And you cannot composite with FCP.

 

I advise my friends on this list to stay agnostic. This is not a religion, merely a better (for now) workflow.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-ds(at)Softimage.COM]On Behalf Of spencer
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 1:19 PM
To: DS(at)Softimage.COM
Subject: Re: Final Cut EXTREME - Avid's DS Killer???

I got an iPod for christmas. Apple doesn't include power cables with it's $300.00 iPods. I guess some egg head (or apple head) did some research and found that by selling power cables separate Apple stands to make more money. And it's not really a cable... just a power supply.

Apple doesn't make a cable that goes from your wall outlet to your USB Apple power supply. Stupid apple heads.

The whole thing is a hassle. Or should I say hustle.

Do you think Apple's $10K system will come with a power cable?

Also I don't think FCP Extreme is "Avid's DS Killer"... Avid is "Avid's DS Killer".

_spencer

P.S. I'm being sarcastic.

On Friday, Jan 13, 2006, at 07:46 America/Los_Angeles, Ed Fraticelli wrote:

Reading peoples comments that follow is a howl!  There are folks who beleive they will get the WHOLE SETUP for $10K!!  How much do they think even Apple can give away?

It will definitely be an interesting NAB!

Ed at PMI

Pittsburgh, PA

On 1/13/06, editorphil <editorphil(at)gmail.com> wrote:

Maybe just in the nic of time . . .

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/finalcut6.html

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