Wednesday, January 11, 2012

FCPX is to the video world what the DAW was / is to the music world. FCPX=DVW

THE OLD VIDEO EDITING WAY, WITH BOXES:
Many video editors today are placing a lot of trust in the technology of the past, in the established methods and current procedures for video acquisition and editing in post. But that's all in flux now. As costs come down for cameras and computers and software apps, all of those boxes and hardware are now completely replicated inside the amazing Intel chip inside a desktop or laptop computer, the game changes. Dinosaur equipment gets replaced with much lower cost personal computer options that have even more power and features than their predecessors. To get a glimpse of how this will all play out in the video world, all one has to do is look how the music world panned out, since it led the way and the whole paradigm of music creation and production is all done in a DAW.

THE OLD MUSIC RECORDING WAY, WITH HUGE GEAR:
It used to be that multi-million dollar STUDIOS were the only place that high quality work got done (not any more), and if a band signed with a label, the label used to contract them to record all their album in their megamillion dollar studio and they charged a million bucks to the band for that "service" which immediately put the band in great debt to the label. These record companies kept that RACKET going for decades. Only the hugest names in music were ever able to break away from that and make their OWN million dollar studio. Everyone else had to settle for a lousy four track tape recorder with severe limitations, dreaming that someday they too could rack up a dependence on the million dollar boys who were the gatekeepers. Not any more. In fact, there are NO limitations with a personal computer and a few key peripherals. There is absolutely NO advantage today to the studios with the large consoles out there because it can all be done in software within a DAW (digital audio workstation), and it only "looks" impressive to see 64 faders. There still is SOME of that going on, but its a real niche, and for the most part, an illusion.

Record companies today are running with extant recordings made by the artists themselves in their garages, because its good enough, and because their fans already like it. I recorded and filmed a band signed with Atlantic records recently, and Atlantic doesn't bring much to the table, frankly. They bring distribution and promotion.

THE NEW MUSIC RECORDING WAY, THE DAW:
Avid will gobble up the same so-called "high end" niche in motion pictures, but it is a shrinking niche compared to the field of users and talent that exist outside that niche. And they are making more than wedding video summaries. The rapidly expanding niche I just joined, the FCPX users, that's a huge and growing niche, and its comparable to what happened in music when it was within reach to get a Digitial Audio Workstation. Now we have professional musicians using DAWs on a laptop and making their products OUTSIDE the expensive studios. Who needs them? I have had bands that have sold MILLIONS of records buy my software products to help them with their craft, on a laptop DAW, so I do know it has all gone the way of the VST in a laptop studio. Now we have all these record companies scrambling trying to remain relevant, but they are shrinking, gobbling each other up until there only the three big ones left now. The "Big 5" major record companies became the "Big 4" in 2004 when Sony acquired BMG, and the "Big 3" when EMI was acquired by Universal in 2011.

Music industry just went first. Same thing is happening with motion picture now as these awesome tools get into the hands of the masses. You will soon see that the best stuff does not come from LA/Hollywood, or rather motion picture studios become more of a DISTRIBUTION channel (like Disney did for Pixar), but the making of movies will be done by the people who have talent and a tools to make HD and 3D motion pictures. People with cinematic talent, and for all they care, it could be done on FCPX if it is created in an unconventional way. There is no reason why it can't. The only reasons I have heard professionals state who argue against FCPX is that it can't talk to their specific cameras, it can't write to the tape of their liking, and it can't do multicam edits. Those are good reasons, but they are hardly deal breakers for those who don't depend on all that, and who use high def firewire products in capturing motion images.

THE NEW VIDEO EDITING WAY, THE DVW (Digital Video Workstation):
The only thing that will keep the big companies relevant is to repackage everything into a 3D wrapper. Repackage in such a costly process, that only they can do it. I don't know about you, but 3D glasses are a pain to wear when I watch a movie, and I can only take so much of projectiles narrowly missing my head. Gimmick. What does this all mean? It means that those who now work in the big industry and keep referring to everything else going on as wedding vids and home movies are in denial as to what is really going on. Its not about Avid. Its about FCPX. It will take off like the iPAD did and it has become to the movie world what the DAW became to the music world. FCPX is the DAW.


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