The all new Final Cut Pro

So for the last few days the internet has been abuzz – or at least the part of the internet that I pay attention to – with the news that Apple unveiled the new version of Final Cut Pro to a small group of industry vets and influencers.

The humorous thing is that everyone who actually knows anything can’t SAY anything. And everyone who doesn’t know anything… well, they CAN say anything, but really have nothing to say. I would fall completely into the second category.

I was not at the event, but have heard all of the rumors. If you have actually been working – for example EDITING – and haven’t had time to catch up on the latest FCP gossip, I will try to fill you in quickly.

The one rumor that can be firmly squashed that has been floating around angrily for the last year is that Apple has given up on Final Cut Pro and is abandoning development. This was crazy rumor to begin with. Apple’s had a very capable development team chugging away doing SOMETHING. Soon, we’ll find out exactly what they’ve been spending their time on.

64-bit will supposedly be coming to a FCP suite near you soon. Just how much capability, before the release of Apple’s impending Lion system software release, is – as lazy journalists like to say – “yet to be seen.”

The big question is how radical a change this software is. From varying reports, it seems to be a pretty radical change. It may even be radical enough that I may have to use my least favorite, most overused, over-hyped word on the internet: “paradigm shift.” From what I’ve heard, we’re not simply talking about adding all of those juicy feature requests that so many people have been throwing around. We’re talking about a radical rethinking of the entire application. If that’s true, then it may leave a lot of people either clinging to their old FCP7 release until it dies, or looking for new editing solutions. It could also mean that whatever this re-thunk FCP app looks like, you adapt or die. One largely circulated quote from someone who’d seen the new version is “The biggest overhaul to Final Cut Pro since the original version was created 10 years ago.”

I’ve heard rumors that this massively rethought FCP (let’s call it FXPx) has headed down the iMovie path in many ways. Now, I love iMovie. There are some very cool things about it, but I do NOT want to edit a feature film or a TV show with it. Of course, Apple has plenty of big-time, famous editors that it turns to for advice when determining what to do with FCP, so I can’t believe they’d agree to a radical dumbing down of FCP, making it, in essence, iMoviePro. But it is possible that many of the thought processes or technologies of iMovie will be coming to FCPx. Many editors will embrace that. Many will revolt.

Speculation about all of this should come to an end relatively soon because the release is due for sometime this spring. Apple is not on the official list of exhibitors formally at NAB, but they could – as in years past – present off-site. Apple has increasingly refused to tie their product releases to industry meetings and conventions like NAB, MacWorld and the rest.

When is a NAS not just a NAS

Why do other guys on PVC do all the sexy reviews about stuff like new cameras and I always choose to write about unsexy stuff like waveform monitors and network attached storage?

Probably because when I write about something it’s because I just need something that is going to do a job for me in the background while I get the work done with my clients and creative partners. Hence, another unsexy, but critical review of something to make your life a little better while you get out and get stuff done. May I present the QNAP TS-659 Pro? QNAP has a bunch of other NAS and server products, but this one seems pretty well suited for my small business.

Capture One - contender for Aperture and Lightroom?

Capture One has been the professional photographer’s well-kept secret for a number of years. I am not a professional photographer and learned about it from a friend who is. We were discussing Apple’s Aperture and Adobe Lightroom and he said, “But there’s a better option.”
That option is Capture One from Phase One. (http://www.phaseone.com/en/Software.aspx)

FREE Color iPad Awesomeness

Tangent Devices, which is one of the major color correction console manufacturers, came out with a FREE version of its Tangent Devices WAVE panel for iPad. The app allows your iPad to control the Primary and Secondary Rooms of Apple’s Color application WIRELESSLY. I’m sorry for all the CAPS, but I’m as giddy as a school girl as I write this. If you’re on DIGG or StumbleUpon, please pop this up as a favorite. It’s like a little geeky parlor trick.

I learned about this free app from my friend Bob Sliga in a post on the Yahoo group, Colorlist. This is technology that was shown at IBC.

Final Cut Pro “gets” ability to search for words in audio

Avid and Adobe both have technology that allows users to search for specific words in the audio of their footage, but to date, that ability has not been part of the Final Cut Pro arsenal. A new piece of software from Nexidia and AV3 called “get” allows users to quickly search all their media based on actual spoken words within their content, rather than just Finder level data or FCP metadata. Once results are found, they can be used by FCP in the edit.

BlackMagic Resolve on Mac OSX

Well, the rumor that started making the rounds last night have been confirmed. Back in September, Blackmagic acquired the venerable and respected da Vinci color correction brand. Ever since, colorists either shuddered or rejoiced to think that today’s events would occur.

Today, Blackmagic announced the release of the new DaVinci Resolve 7.0 that includes support for the Mac OS X platform, upgraded user interface, improved video field support, a new EDL library, improved shared database support, as well as new pricing for all models starting from a very affordable $995. Delivery for the Mac version is planned for sometime this summer - after June.

AJA KiPro: More Than Just a Field Recorder

The AJA KiPro (pronounced “kee-PRO”) is a very nicely designed unit that I believe will become more and more useful over time. As it is currently released, several of the features that I really am interested in are still not implemented, but the potential is definitely there.

My overall impression is that it’s a great little box that is very well engineered, but I have some reservations and an extensive wish list for making the device a “must have.” Before I get in to that, let me tell you a little about the device.

Controversial History Channel “WWII in HD” debate - THE TRUTH

The History Channel’s WW2 in HD series has created a firestorm of debate over archival methods.

If you read the AMIA listserve, the Cinematographer’s Mailing List, or the Telecine Internet Group or TKColorist Internet Group listserve, chances are you saw the huge debate over how the huge amount of rare color footage from World War II was transferred. Many people thought that historical records were being destroyed by careless film transfers. Several web stories – that were actually created by publicists – supported this controversy, but turned out to be mis-information.

The true story of the making of the series turns out to be far more interesting than the fiction, as so often is the case. I interviewed the series’ director, Frederic Lumiere on the phone in the midst of the controversy and discovered a man passionate about his project and for the care and cataloging of the materials he oversaw. Any misquotes can be attributed to my transcription. I recorded the entire interview and did the transcription word for word, but phonetic transcription is contextual and between Mr. Lumiere’s mild French accent and the quality of the phone line audio, I may have made minor mistakes. My intent was to be honest and portray the events correctly.

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