Going Steady
Sent from my iPhone
I noticed I haven't posted anything here since 21st June (and we all know what happened then!), I guess I've been in shock.
Disruptive technology is a big thing at the moment. Apple is especially famous for it, usually by creating something so compelling that it turns a market on it's head. This time they've created something (FCP X) so uncompelling (at least in my market) that it turns a market on it's head.
So, we are living in exciting times:
The bad news is that all the Apple Pro Apps tricks we learned over the last 10 years are out of date.
The good news that after being forced to look at the alternatives we've discovered that while Apple have been focused elsewhere, Avid & Adobe have been working hard to provide solutions for file-based, multi-user workflows that we'd been hoping FCP8 would supply.
So it's a time of ecdysis, a time to grow.
MSP
What's that all about?
FCPX File Menu:
No "Open Project" in iMovie either. You see all available Projects in the "Project Browser" after opening the App
iMovie Project Browser:
But where are those Projects? How do we share them?
This is going to be fun! MSP
UPDATE...........................15/06/11 21:15 AEST
well this triggered some interesting debate on Twitter and sent me back to iMovie to do some more research.
It appears that Asset Management for FCP X is nothing new, it's been around in iMovie for a couple of years at least (although the only metadata iMovie allows you to attach to a clip is 'favourite').
The media and 'Project' are completely separate in iMovie and Project is nothing more than a single timeline (hopeful multiple timelines with Compound Clips in FCP X). Perfect for living in the iCloud.
iMovie Project Browser
The Media is presented in the 'Event Library', which is in fact another view of the File System and metadata such as 'subclips' and 'markers' are stored with the media for a 'smart browser' to view.
iMovie Event Library
The same 'project' on an external drive in Finder.
Phil Hodgetts described the 'Event Library' as a mini-DAM, but as somebody who often works on and sets up projects to be accessed by multiple people it seems an ideal way for multiple people to access and maintain a single source of metadata (especially compared to the horror of multiple people accessing a single FCP project).
And it's elegant and usable by end users as much as Final Cut Server wasn't.
Currently iMovie won't access ethernet shared storage, but I can't imagine FCP X having that restriction.
Can't wait.
MSP
Ok you think I'm joking, but just because the world & technology weren't ready for it 10 years ago doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.
It's definitely time for a redesign, I bought my first PowerMac G5 before my daughter was born and it's her 8th birthday on Monday, that G5 looked identical to today's MacPro.
It will need some serious cooling for those 12-core and more CPUs, the Cube had a central tunnel designed to keep G4s cool by convection without any noisy fans, but noisy fans are a problem that Apple solved years ago by using large slow moving fans.
If you remove the need for gravity cooling you can make vertical/horizontal orientation a user preference. What if the cube/tower was aprox. 9.5ins high? You could put 2 side by side in a rack and cool them front to back like a Xserve, great for an Xsan setup or a render farm.
