Comments on: NAB, Rumors and business http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2005/02/25/nab-rumors-and-business/ Philip Hodgetts' random thoughts and items of interest on where the industry is at, and where it might be going today and into the future. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:02:00 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dave Bittner http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2005/02/25/nab-rumors-and-business/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Dave Bittner Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:12:37 +0000 http://intelligentassistance.com/blog/?p=9#comment-54 I know what you mean about the lack of techno-buzz. I wonder if the entire industry has reached a level of sophistication that there's very little left that's truly impressive any more. Real-time layers? Used to be impressive, now it's pretty much standard out of the box. Image quality is a non-issue, with plenty of compressed and uncompressed codecs available to choose from. So much stuff comes "standard" these days that the magical quality is gone. Compare iMovie with Media 100 v2.0. These days my high-school aged interns all come with a basic understanding of video editing. There's nothing exotic about it to them. (Remember when you would have to explain to people what "nonlinear" meant?) It's a completely natural thing, the manipulation of media, be it text, audio or video. So, my friend, it seems your predictions about everyone having basic media manipulation competency are coming true. ;-) I know what you mean about the lack of techno-buzz. I wonder if the entire industry has reached a level of sophistication that there’s very little left that’s truly impressive any more. Real-time layers? Used to be impressive, now it’s pretty much standard out of the box. Image quality is a non-issue, with plenty of compressed and uncompressed codecs available to choose from. So much stuff comes “standard” these days that the magical quality is gone. Compare iMovie with Media 100 v2.0. These days my high-school aged interns all come with a basic understanding of video editing. There’s nothing exotic about it to them. (Remember when you would have to explain to people what “nonlinear” meant?) It’s a completely natural thing, the manipulation of media, be it text, audio or video.

So, my friend, it seems your predictions about everyone having basic media manipulation competency are coming true. ;-)

]]> By: Philip http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2005/02/25/nab-rumors-and-business/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Philip Sun, 27 Feb 2005 19:11:28 +0000 http://intelligentassistance.com/blog/?p=9#comment-53 So, we're all agreed... I'm jaded ;-) I just can't get that techno buzz anymore. Probably for the best, it gets in the way of sound business decisions. As for beta testing - I totally agree it can be a pain in the neck and certainly not worth it for the small buzz being 'on the inside' gives. OTOH, I am fortunate in that my business has only rarely had on-site, over-the-shoulder clients and I'm moderately good at troubleshooting problems. And have sufficiently good backup routiines that I'm data-loss tolerant. I'd be much happier with a 720/24 P mode in HDV but it's not in the spec (although I fully expect someone will do it anyway). 720 30 or 60 P are in the spec and I expect JVC's NAB announcements to be good news in that area. Philip So, we’re all agreed… I’m jaded ;-) I just can’t get that techno buzz anymore. Probably for the best, it gets in the way of sound business decisions. As for beta testing – I totally agree it can be a pain in the neck and certainly not worth it for the small buzz being ‘on the inside’ gives. OTOH, I am fortunate in that my business has only rarely had on-site, over-the-shoulder clients and I’m moderately good at troubleshooting problems. And have sufficiently good backup routiines that I’m data-loss tolerant.

I’d be much happier with a 720/24 P mode in HDV but it’s not in the spec (although I fully expect someone will do it anyway). 720 30 or 60 P are in the spec and I expect JVC’s NAB announcements to be good news in that area.

Philip

]]> By: Carey Dissmore http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2005/02/25/nab-rumors-and-business/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Carey Dissmore Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:03:35 +0000 http://intelligentassistance.com/blog/?p=9#comment-52 Yes Philip, you have become jaded...but if you are like me, it seems to be temporary. I went into the last two NAB seasons pretty jaded, but somehow this year I'm back into the rumors, etc. Go figure. Gotta agree with Dave on Beta Testing...although I continue to do a bit of it. Although I'm currently not testing anything, and ramping up IMUG is taking all the 'spare' time anyway. But really...is there ever ANY spare time these days? Anyway, while Final Cut rumors have the potential to impact my future greatly...I'm actually most interested in rumors and speculation vis-a-vis Panasonic's answer to HDV, since I'm in the market and the lack of a 24P / 720P mode gives me pause about the Sony, as does the level of compression. Nice write-up on the hub about HDV though. Very comprehensive. Yes Philip, you have become jaded…but if you are like me, it seems to be temporary. I went into the last two NAB seasons pretty jaded, but somehow this year I’m back into the rumors, etc. Go figure.

Gotta agree with Dave on Beta Testing…although I continue to do a bit of it. Although I’m currently not testing anything, and ramping up IMUG is taking all the ’spare’ time anyway. But really…is there ever ANY spare time these days?

Anyway, while Final Cut rumors have the potential to impact my future greatly…I’m actually most interested in rumors and speculation vis-a-vis Panasonic’s answer to HDV, since I’m in the market and the lack of a 24P / 720P mode gives me pause about the Sony, as does the level of compression. Nice write-up on the hub about HDV though. Very comprehensive.

]]> By: Dave Bittner http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2005/02/25/nab-rumors-and-business/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Dave Bittner Sat, 26 Feb 2005 16:48:56 +0000 http://intelligentassistance.com/blog/?p=9#comment-50 Yes, Philip, you *are* jaded, but I think all of us in this business who's been around for while and seen the fortunes of companies rise and fall are a jaded, if not at the very least cautious. :-) I relate your comments about the desire to be "on the inside" to the phenomenon of public announcement of being a beta tester. Time after time, you'll see a magazine article profiling a production company, who's lead animator/editor/sound designer will puff up and announce, "well, ahem, we're beta testers for product X, so we've had access to the next generation of tools. We simply couldn't have completed this project on time without them!" Well, let me tell you, we've beta tested our share of products over the years, but we generally don't do it anymore. Why? Because it's a PAIN IN THE ASS! Loading up unstable, unproven software more often than not turns out to be not worth the time and headache. Sure, it's fun to have a sneak peek at what's coming next, and there's that cool feeling of being "on the inside" which, evidently, comes with bragging rights, although it seems like lately companies have clamped down on even mentioning that you are beta testing for them. But honestly, how many of us can afford to risk mission-critical apps to buggy beta software? Yes, Philip, you *are* jaded, but I think all of us in this business who’s been around for while and seen the fortunes of companies rise and fall are a jaded, if not at the very least cautious. :-)

I relate your comments about the desire to be “on the inside” to the phenomenon of public announcement of being a beta tester. Time after time, you’ll see a magazine article profiling a production company, who’s lead animator/editor/sound designer will puff up and announce, “well, ahem, we’re beta testers for product X, so we’ve had access to the next generation of tools. We simply couldn’t have completed this project on time without them!”

Well, let me tell you, we’ve beta tested our share of products over the years, but we generally don’t do it anymore. Why? Because it’s a PAIN IN THE ASS! Loading up unstable, unproven software more often than not turns out to be not worth the time and headache. Sure, it’s fun to have a sneak peek at what’s coming next, and there’s that cool feeling of being “on the inside” which, evidently, comes with bragging rights, although it seems like lately companies have clamped down on even mentioning that you are beta testing for them. But honestly, how many of us can afford to risk mission-critical apps to buggy beta software?

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