It was not your normal day.

Before the doors to MacWorld opened, I had the chance to sit down with Gary Adcock, founder of Studio 37, who lives somewhere beyond the high-end of today’s market.

“So, Gary,” I asked, “is the world really going to 4K?”

“Absolutely,” he replied,

And we launched into a wonderful conversation about 4K images, quad-HD, monitors, codecs, camera formats, and an eclectic discussion of the challenges of working with $100,000 cameras and lenses.

I loved it. Gary is a gifted story-teller and I’ll write about our discussion once I understand it better. I left convinced that the march toward higher resolution was inevitable.

Then, the doors to MacWorld 2012 opened and the first booth I saw was i4Software extolling the virtues of editing video on an iPhone.

Talk about mental whiplash…!

Last night, I presented a demo on Final Cut Pro X at the San Francisco Apple Store to about 70 people. Over half the people there had not edited video before. And less than 10% (because I asked for a show of hands) had ever been paid to edit video.

This got me reflecting on who is a professional and the future of video editing.

If video is your hobby, you can view the tumult our industry is going through with a bemused smile, as you watch an industry reinvent itself from the inside out.

However, if your livelihood depends upon trying to figure out what the heck is going on, that bemused smile turns into a terrified grin because all this industry change makes you feel like you are riding in a little red wagon while traveling at breakneck speed down a foggy mountain road.

Terrifying is a good way to describe today’s professional video environment.

MACWORLD

MacWorld made an interesting shift this year. The last time I attended, three years ago, it was all iPod covers and iPhone cases. It was in danger of become Walmart.

This year, I felt like I was in Best Buy. Something intriguing lurked around each corner. There were the obligatory covers and cases – including, yes, an iPhone case that doubled as a bottle opener – but there were interesting vendors hidden in plain sight.

MacWorld showcased the world of mobile devices. I was reminded of the photographer’s credo: “The camera in your hand is better than the camera you left at home.”

As I walked the show floor I saw crowds in the i4Software booth learning how to shoot and edit video on an iPhone using their Video Camera app.

Cinefy showed its app for video editing on the iPhone.

Blue showcased their family of professional mics that plugged directly into an iPhone or iPad.

MicW Audio highlighted some amazing small mics – both lavaliere and condenser that plugged directly into an iPhone or iPad.

iPro Lens presented its wide angle and fish-eye lenses for the iPhone.

Audio Engine devoted their booth to wirelessly streaming 24-bit audio from a computer to a personal or professional sound system.

And, probably my favorite booth was IndiSystem. This was run by a long-time grip with an infectious smile, who, in addition to a wealth of ideas, has access to 3D modeling tools, aluminum extruders, precision lathes, and a plastic model shop. He runs a hardware-creation toy store! Out of this, he created iSupport: incredible camera accessories – like jibs, camera sliders, and grips – for the iPhone. Perfect tools for photographing miniatures!

After walking MacWorld, I was reminded of Wayne Gretzke’s famous quote: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

THE IMPLICATIONS

The high-end of the market is not going away; the world of Gary Adcock attests to that.

But the tools are changing. And I think MacWorld is showing us where the puck is going to be. Not for the high-end, perhaps, but for the rest of us.

Last night, at the SuperMeet, Alex Buono, the head of the Film Unit for Saturday Night Live, explained that he gets a script on Thursday, shoots on Friday, and airs on Saturday. Speed and workflow are everything to him. He shoots on a variety of cameras, with emphasis on the Canon 5D, 7D, and 1D. (And the new Canon C300.)

With budgets continually shrinking, camera technology morphing on a daily basis, and deadlines ridiculously short, I think we need to redefine “professional.”

There is a time and place for “heavy iron.” Some shows require all the equipment we can throw at them… (I was told recently that the SuperBowl will have 43 robotically controlled cameras this year.)

But all too often we define ourselves in terms of the tools we use. As soon as we do that, however, we limit our opportunities.

At the SuperMeet lounge last night, I was hanging around the Peachpit Press booth when an editor walked up and told me that when he first saw a demo of Adobe Premiere in 1997, he was busy editing linear tape and laughed when Adobe showed how to do a DVE move in software.

“Shoot,” he said, “with our equipment we pressed a few buttons on the switcher, recorded it live, and we were done.”

“Yes,” I said, “but it took you three-quarters of a million dollars of equipment to do it.”

“Ah,” he replied, laughing, “but it wasn’t my money!”

Today, it’s our money. And our time. And this affects our ability to feed our families. Technology this year is in a whirlwind of evolution, constrained only by the sluggishness of the economy.

Philip Hodgetts presented three ideas last night at the SuperMeet that can help us grow our business. He suggested we:

1. Mind our own business. That is, figure out what business we are actually in and why someone else would want to do business with you.
2. Give yourself an unfair advantage. That is, network with the people around you and stay informed and up-to-date.
3. Own a piece of the action. That is, create something that you own and can sell yourself.

Just as the DV revolution undermined film, the new mobile revolution threatens a lot of what we used to believe in. But it also provides us a lot of opportunities if we recognize that people coming new to video on mobile devices can benefit from what we know.

Forcing the story to fit the technology you know is a trap. It will work for the short-term, but longer term you get pigeon-holed in a backwater with no clients. Don’t let old habits prevent you from learning new techniques.

All of us are story-tellers at heart. Focus on the story and your creative approach to it. When you let the story guide you to the technology it needs to be told, you will always be in demand.

People pay money to hear good stories well told. They could care less about the gear you use to tell them.

Let me know what you think,

Larry

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE SUPERMEET

I’m writing this at 9:50 PM from my hotel room at the 2011 NAB Show (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In less than 24 hours, we will know what the next version of Final Cut Pro will look like. If we are lucky, we may also learn the future of other software in the suite – Apple certainly has enough stage time to tell us.

What I am intrigued by is not what Final Cut Pro looks like – unlike most of the world, I’ve already seen it. What I am curious about is how much it has changed since Apple first revealed it.

When Apple presented the software to the group, they asked us to provide feedback. I provided a great deal, and I’m sure others did as well. I’m curious as to how Apple responded to what they heard.

I will be at the SuperMeet tomorrow, listening and taking notes. And, I’ll do a second NAB blog posting after the meeting about what I learned. But give me a few hours — initial reactions are not always accurate. I want to hear what Apple says, then allow myself some time to think about it.

Nonetheless, I’ve been reflecting about tomorrow night’s blog for almost two months. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts and – even more importantly – getting your reactions.

Tomorrow night is going to be … a jaw-dropper!

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NABSHOWBUZZ.COM — LIVE FROM NAB!

My podcast – DigitalProductionBuzz.com – is at NAB, recording interviews and creating shows. Our first dozen interviews are online – we are posting interviews as fast as we get them recorded and edited. Then, we gather the highlights from our interviews and post a new BuZZ every night.

If you want to hear the newsmakers themselves, explaining what they are doing – in-depth interviews you can listen to quickly — take a listen to our NAB website: www.nabshowbuzz.com.

We haven’t done anything like this before and we are very interested in your reaction!

We hope to create about 20 interviews a day for the next three days, then create NAB Show Specials for the next week.

You’ll find everything posted here: www.nabshowbuzz.com.

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LARRY IS A TWIT!

Well, ah, maybe that’s overstating things a bit. Let’s not get carried away.

Still, Leo Laporte invited me to be his lead guest at the start of his NAB coverage this morning on TWIT.TV. I was on for 15 minutes.

Plus, I’m invited back for an hour-long discussion on media this Wednesday morning on MacBreak Weekly. It will start sometime between 10:45 AM and 11:00 AM – Las Vegas time – this Wednesday.

See you then!

P.S. Thanks, John Stealey, for the screen-shot!

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ARCHIVING UPDATE

I spoke with the president of The Tolis Group yesterday during our setup at NAB and discovered that they have an LTO-tape-based archiving solution, called BRU, for less than $4,000.

I told him that I could not find it easily on their website, at which point he and his webmaster and I are going to meet later this week to discuss this further.

However, I promised in my recent blog that if I discovered anyone with a reasonably-priced, LTO-based archiving solution that works on the Mac, I would mention it here.

BRU is highly-regarded and I’ve received many positive reviews of their gear from readers. Feel free to check it out for yourself.

The Tolis Group: www.tolisgroup.com

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ADOBE’S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Adobe announced new upgrades today – they are releasing CS 5.5. But what really caught my attention was their announcement that they were now allowing you to rent their software.

Suspecting this was yet another ploy to get our data in “the cloud,” I spoke with Scott Morris, senior marketing director for Adobe.

What he told me was that when you rent software, your data stays on your system. “This is not software as a service,” he said. Instead, you are buying the full-featured software and installing it as usual. However, when you activate the program, it contacts an Adobe server to find out if this is a purchase or a rental.

If it is a rental, then each time the application starts, it pings the Adobe server to see if the rental is still valid. If it is, the program launches. If it isn’t, the program doesn’t launch.

In all cases your data is safe. If you send your files to someone who has the full program, the files can be opened, modified, and saved. If you stop renting for a few months, then start renting again, your files open exactly as they were last saved.

To me, this is a very elegant solution for people that need the power that Adobe software provides, but can’t justify the upfront cost of the purchase price. What I REALLY like is that our data remains “our data;” it is not forced to be stored somewhere “on the cloud.”

Weblink: Adobe Systems – www.adobe.com

For more details, listen to the Scott Morris interview.

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AVID’S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Avid didn’t announce any new products – except for a technology demo of much tighter 3D integration within Media Composer which makes the process of handling 3D materials much more seamless.

However, what did catch my attention was that Avid announced a cross-grade for all Final Cut users to the latest version of Media Composer for only $999.

For more details, listen to the Maurice Patel interview.

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HD IS THE NEW SD

It seems the video world is moving to higher resolutions.

Both Blackmagic Design and AJA announced support for 4K resolution playout. RED showed their Epic camera shooting 5K images. And Sony announced a new F65 camera that shoots 8K.

Clearly, the lesson is buy stock in companies that make or sell storage. These file sizes are going to be massive… And when you add stereo 3D, all your file sizes double!

Just as a rough guide, a 4K file is 4 TIMES bigger than a 1080p file. An 8K file is four TIMES bigger than a 4K file.

For more details, listen to the Nick Rashby interview.

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THUNDERBOLT IS STARTING TO APPEAR

We are seeing previews of Thunderbolt support from a variety of vendors — AJA and Blackmagic Design for image capture and playback; and Promise, G-Technology, and LaCie for hard drives — there are probably others that I didn’t make note of.

Thunderbolt is in the very early stages of adoption – the real roll-out will occur this summer. But it promises to be everything we could want for speeding up data transfers and handling the massive file sizes we are about to experience.

Sigh… Just watch. Someday, not that far in the future, we’re gonna say: “Boy! I wish there was something seriously faster than Thunderbolt.” We are never satisfied…

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More later, I’ll write again after Supermeet.

Larry

I love mysteries.

And in the case of metadata – that is, the information about your clips, like the stuff displayed in Final Cut Pro’s Browser – it seems we have a true conundrum.

Adobe, with the release of CS4, ratcheted up the interest in metadata by providing extensive support throughout all the CS4 applications. This can greatly simplify finding what you need when you need it – even when you have thousands of clips on your system.

However, the information stored in Final Cut’s Browser is only available to that one project. Final Cut does not make searching for materials used in other projects very easy. Yes, Final Cut Server is a step in the right direction, but none of the Final Cut Studio applications can approach what Adobe has done with CS4.

Up until a couple of days ago, I thought that was because Final Cut was just not aware of all this information. Then, Philip Hodgetts sent me a link to some research he’s done that indicates Final Cut is a lot smarter than we thought…. Sort of.

Take a look at this and let me know what you think:

www.philiphodgetts.com/2009/07/03/what-about-the-hidden-metadata-in-final-cut-pro/

I’m hoping that the next version of Final Cut Studio will do a much better job of acquiring, storing, sharing, and searching on metadata.

We shall see.

Having read about my concerns with the latest MacBook Pro versions, Steve sent me a link that we can all use to send feedback to Apple.

Feel free to share your thoughts and concerns – more importantly, share this link with your friends. The more people that Apple hears from, the more likely they are to improve the next version of the MacBook Pro.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

(To see what I’m worried about, please scroll down to the previous blog posting.)

Thanks!

Apple this week announced revisions to their 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pro laptop line.

Most of the time, when these sorts of things get announced, I just nod my head, acknowledge the new release and move on. I’m not buying laptops all the time, so this stuff doesn’t affect me.

However, in the last two laptop releases Apple is starting to reveal a trend which is very troubling to me as someone who uses Mac gear to edit audio and video — they are taking away the ports I need to connect my stuff.

This began with the laptop update prior to the most recent one with the removal of FireWire 400 ports. Now, in itself, this isn’t a bad thing. FireWire 400 is slow, with a limited cable length. The problem was that they didn’t replace the port with a second FireWire 800 port.

This means that I can’t connect a camera and a second hard drive to my computer without purchasing a FireWire hub. And a hub always runs at the speed of the slowest device connected to it. As well, there are legions of problems with editing video on a single hard drive, unless you are resigned to only editing DV or HDV. ProRes certainly can’t be edited on a single-drive system. Nor can any audio projects with more than a few tracks. Nor can many other HD video formats.

Then, in the latest laptop release for both the 13″ and the 15″ laptop, Apple removed the high-speed Express 34 card and replaced it with the much, Much, MUCH! slower SD card port. The SD card ports runs, according to Apple, at a MAXIMUM of 30% of the speed of an Express 34 card.

How can Apple call a laptop a PROFESSIONAL system when it has fewer ports and the ports it has are slower? They create computers with great software, blindingly fast CPUs, great graphics cards, then reduce the ways to connect external gear!

This is foolish and short-sighted.

Yes, Apple needs lower cost systems to meet the needs of the broader market. But, they also need systems that meet the needs of video and audio professionals. It makes no sense to buy a system that – out of the box – is inadequate for day-to-day video production. Yet Apple describes this as their “Pro” line of laptops.

Apple would say that they have the 17″ laptop. True, but disingenuous. The 17″ is too big to easily travel with, has a screen resolution that exceeds most video projectors which makes it totally impractical for training, and costs more than the 15″ which, up until the latest releases, met our needs for ports and speeds.

Apple might also counter saying that they offer the fully expandable Mac Pro line of computers. While true, this misses the whole point of having a PORTABLE computer for video editing in the field.

If you feel that Apple is short-changing its professional market, feel free to share this blog – or write your own – or contact Apple.

For me, though I need a new laptop, none of the current models are attractive for video editing. I’m going to hold off buying until Apple releases a system I can use, or I’ll just buy an older MacBook Pro – used.

Larry