Jonathan Moser has posted a stellar review of the new book “The Assistant Editor’s Handbook” for Post Magazine. Written by Kyra Coffie, the book seems to cover just about anything you might want to know if you’re looking for a job as an assistant editor in an Avid-based editing room. Check out Moser’s review on the Post Magazine site, or take a look at the book at Amazon. You can learn more about it and download a free chapter at Coffie’s site.
Archive for the ‘Avid’ category
New Book for Assistant Editors
June 18, 2012Apple Gives and Takes Away
June 11, 2012Those looking for a better Mac Pro at WWDC were likely disappointed today. Apple released a modestly refreshed model with faster, 4-core and 6-core processors, but without USB3, Thunderbolt, or the new Ivy Bridge CPUs. Macbook Pros were updated with Ivy Bridge, Nvidia graphics (in the 15″ models), Thunderbolt and USB3 and continue to include Firewire 800 and Ethernet. The top of the line machine is now a 15″ model with a retina display, no optical drive, 256 GB of SSD storage, but without Firewire and Ethernet. It’s thinner and lighter at just 4.5 pounds. (A Thunderbolt to Gig-E adapter is available now and a Thunderbolt to Firewire-800 adapter is promised for next month.) The company now no longer sells a 17″ laptop. The Macbook Air line got upgraded with Ivy Bridge chips and USB3, along with faster speeds, faster SSD drives and lower price tags.
For more about the Mac Pro check out this piece at ArsTechnica. Additional coverage is available on their Infinite Loop page. Macintouch’s summary of the keynote is here. For prices and marketing videos, check out the Apple site or the Apple store.
Mac Pro to Resurface at WWDC
June 6, 2012
Posts have appeared on several rumor sites describing Apple’s expected hardware announcements at the World Wide Developer Conference next week. All the models will presumably sport USB3 ports, allowing us to use inexpensive USB3 drives at full speed. And a new Mac Pro will apparently be part of the lineup. This is welcome news for those of us who prefer to do our editing on Mac-based systems. Despite Tim Cook’s belief that we are now living in a post-PC world, if Apple had let the Mac Pro line lapse permanently, the professional content creation world would have probably begun a slow and inexorable march to Windows. New Macbook Pros are said to be thinner and lighter, with Intel’s Ivy Bridge chipsets, retina displays, no optical drives, and perhaps missing Ethernet and Firewire ports (yes, you read that right). We may also see some models with NVidia GPUs, which could improve real-time performance for editing and effects applications.
Splice Here -> Splice Now
May 9, 2012This site has been called “Splice Now” for many months now, but the original “Splice Here” URL has continued to work. That time is now coming to an end. Sometime in the next few days, the SpliceHere URL will be formally transferred to a post house in Minneapolis, the result of a trademark dispute. Please double check your links and subscriptions and make sure they are pointed to splicenow.com. Once the transfer is complete, links to splicehere.org will stop working.
These are the correct links:
- URL — http://www.splicenow.com
- RSS feed — feed://splicenow.com/feed/
Filling Niche Space
April 17, 2012
In evolution, when one species disappears, others evolve to fill the vacant niche. That seems to be exactly what’s happening now in post production. A year ago, Apple abandoned the professional editing world by releasing FCP-X and putting a bullet in FCP 7. The product has improved since, and contains many innovative ideas, but the consensus today is that if you want to edit professionally, you’re better served elsewhere.
In the intervening year, we’ve seen fundamental redesigns of the two major competitors, Media Composer and Premiere (both now at version 6) and, as of yesterday, the redesign and repositioning of Autodesk’s Smoke, now called Smoke 2013 and selling for just $3500. Not to be outdone, Avid has offered a competitive upgrade from FCP 7 (or Media Composer) to Symphony for just $1000. The result is a reinvigorated group of tools for both creative and finishing tasks, and a changed competitive landscape.
For more about Smoke and Premiere, check out two recent episodes of Kanen Flowers’ “That Post Show” — “Smoke This Podcast” and “Adobe CS6.”
Editor’s Lounge Videos Posted
April 15, 2012
If you’re not going to make it to Vegas this year and are looking for a bit of pre-show analysis, check out the Editors Lounge Pre-NAB Panel Discussion Video. It features Terry Curren, Michael Kammes, Mark Raudonis, and I talking about such things as how the growing move to tablet devices and internet distribution is changing life for content creators. But we get into the gear, too, with a discussion about FCP-X, Premiere, Media Composer, Lightworks, and, yes, even the resurgence of the typewriter. Masterfully moderated by Deborah Kaufman, it makes for interesting viewing (and looks crystal clear at full res).
Splice Now 
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