http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren en tcurren@aol.com Copyright 2008 2008-06-01T17:46:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/an_nle_call_to_arms/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/an_nle_call_to_arms/#When:18:46:00Z As I’ve posted before, the commoditization of the NLE market threatens to steal valuable R&D resources from future development. It is obvious some thinking outside the box is needed here. So I’m throwing down the gauntlet to all of you hobbyist programmers out there, build us a better NLE! 2008-06-01T18:46:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/tapeless_workflows_a_jump_to_the_past/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/tapeless_workflows_a_jump_to_the_past/#When:18:37:00Z We in the post world are on the verge of an explosion in media management, and it isn’t a pretty sight. The worst part is that even though it is billed as the future, it really is a bast from the past. That is going to be very trying on many of the new production and post crowd who haven’t been raised with the disciplines of the old workflows. Business, Editing, Post Production, Production, Training 2008-06-01T18:37:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/nles_are_still_too_expensive/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/nles_are_still_too_expensive/#When:15:54:00Z There has been a lot of noise lately from some folks that even the new Avid hardware pricing is too high. As someone who is in this game for the long haul, this really rankles my feathers. Avid has lowered their pricing by around 50 percent, while delivering a product that greatly increases speed and performance over the existing Adrenaline line. When I try to explain that time is money and the time you save with this gear equals money in the bank, I just get “but FCP is cheaper” as the standard response. So I thought I would follow this new group of editors to their future world… Post Production 2008-05-18T15:54:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/is_it_worth_that_much/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/is_it_worth_that_much/#When:06:45:00Z While I found myself defending Avid’s new pricing scheme , I got to wondering about how people actually decide if something is worth its cost. From conversations I’ve had publicly and privately it is clear that logic has little bearing in most value decisions. Here’s an example: You shop at Costco because the price is cheaper. You can buy a ton of frozen and canned foods and big bags of fruit less expensively than in the local grocery store. However… if they are large cans, do you end up throwing some away? Do you refrigerate the leftovers which then don’t taste as good on the next pass? Do some of the apples in that big bag begin to decompose before you get to them? Do you really get through all the frozen foods before freezer rot hits them? And how long did you wait in line at Costco vs. your local store? Time is money. And don’t forget the gas. 2008-04-29T06:45:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/is_avid_toast_in_the_nle_market/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/is_avid_toast_in_the_nle_market/#When:04:11:00Z After returning from NAB last year (2007) I gave Avid 3 years as a significant player in the NLE market. The combination of the major inroads FCP had made, including the announcement of Final Cut Server and the ineptitude shown by the Avid marketing department, converged to create the impression of a grave future. This year’s NAB would mark the shift from 3 to 2 years left in my countdown. So I have been asked by many whether my opinion has changed. Before I answer, let’s take a trip down memory lane to last year. 2008-04-29T04:11:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/best_nab_find/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/best_nab_find/#When:05:57:00Z With Avid and Apple missing from the convention floor, I was hoping this would be a good year to hunt through the little booths and find something new. While I did stumble upon several cool new products, one impressed me more than anything else on the floor. This was a new monitor from a company I had never heard of. If you have been following the “Death of the CRT” and “What are going to replace it with” threads over the last few years, you are aware of the problem we face. If not, here is a quick summary. LCDs suck for critical monitoring of video! Plasmas are a close call but don’t come in any size smaller than about 40”. So that leaves us with a poor substitute. One company, eCinema has created a monitor that actually solves the lack of blacks in an LCD. But it costs a LOT! So imagine my surprise when I walked into a little draped off room and spotted three nice looking monitors in a row. The catch was, only the one in the center was a CRT. The other two were examples of a coming technology called Field Emission Technology, or FED for short. This is a variation of the SED technology that we have been waiting for since at least 2004. The blacks were so black that I couldn’t discern where the letterboxing ended and the black frame began. Looking off-axis, the picture held … Hardware, NAB 08 2008-04-22T05:57:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/gonna_miss_you_frank/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/tcurren/gonna_miss_you_frank/#When:01:08:00Z It is unfortunate that my very first blog entry has to be an obituary. In case you haven’t heard the news, Frank Capria is no longer with us. No, don’t panic, he isn’t pushing up daisies, it’s a little worse than that, he is working for a manufacturer! Of course I’m running with a bit of humor here, but there is also a serious undertone. Frank was one of the guys leading the resistance to push the manufacturers to improve the products and pricing in our market space… and now he’s been absorbed.  2008-04-21T01:08:00-08:00