Blog Archives

Has the World Gone 3D mad?

mitsubishi-3d-blu-ray-playerIt seems as if every movie that’s hitting theatres these days has a 3D version playing somewhere, but what does this mean to the editor?  The majority of experienced editor’s have worked in most formats and genre’s by now and most have even decided to learn at least the basics of effects and motion graphics to keep up with the growing expectations of post houses.  Now, along comes 3D, and the trend in Hollywood seems to be releasing films in both 3D and 2D versions to please the masses who have latched on to this one time gimmick…but, will it last?  Back in the eighties 3D was a quick fad, showing up in selected films and then was gone quicker than Corey Haim’s career.  Now it’s back, and with significant improvements to the theatrical viewing experience, the question is growing, will this become the new standard of film and even broadcast?  Yes, that’s right, broadcast.  If you don’t know already, the NFL is already experimenting with 3D football games having filmed several in the new format last season.  Some television studios have already decided to broadcast the occasional show in 3D ( such as the show ‘Chuck’ from Virgin Media) and more and more companies are turning to 3D as a way of being able to provide more of a visual index to their clients.  

So back to the original question.  What does this mean for an editor?  Well, at the moment, very little.  There is a niche market of editor’s who are being privy to this type of format, and they say there’s definitely a learning curve.  When it comes into the edit room you do watch the footage with 3D glasses while your cutting, and you have to extrapolate from multiple screens to link together the final sequence.  Basically cutting the left eye footage, then the right eye footage via linked timecode of course. 

In terms of hardware and software, a lot of people who are working in 3D ( which is not many comparatively ) are using cheap workarounds such as Sony Vegas ( which is a nightmare ) and working with 3D animation in Adobe AE CS3 ( not recommended but gets the job done ).  While these may provide some flexibility to those not wishing to shell out more money, Avid was pleased to announce the industries first Stereoscopic 3D editing with Media Composer. 

“Delivering full support of stereoscopic workflows, which enables customers to acquire, edit and display stereoscopic (3D) material. Content can be displayed with stereo monitoring capabilities in both the composer window and full screen playback – eliminating the need for costly conforms previously required to screen 3D material.” – Avid

Along with Avid, Nvidia is starting to pump out high end graphics cards for workstations that can handle the heavy load required to edit in this format along with the ability to view it in full rez.  On a side note , Sony has also gone ahead with plans to produce a 3D Blu-ray player and is waiting for the movie studios who were close to reaching agreement on the final format, a decision that is predicted will be finalised by the end of 2009.  According to Sony, this would bring the format to consumer market in late 2010. 

When you take all this in, yes, it does seem like the the 3D craze is more than just a passing fad this second time around, and from an editor’s perspective all of us are in for a crash course at some point.  So consider this fair warning to the lot of us, companies are ramping up it’s use, Hollywood is not letting go, and the tech corporations are preparing for a mass consumer market.  So just when you thought you knew it all, along comes a new thing, and this one could shape the way we see the editing room for a while to come.

Mac or Windows based?

windows_iconBeing an editor, I always come across the inenviable arguments that come with the different platforms that we work on.  Although there is a strong feeling that Linux deserves it’s time on the stage, and I won’t necessarily argue that, today I’ll focus on the two big boys, Windows & Mac.  It seems to me that the more graphic intensive artists won’t even bother debating the issue of whether or not to work off of a Windows or Mac based platform, they just use Mac and apple-logo1ignore the banter.  What I’ve come to discover though is that the majority of them don’t really know how to explain why they prefer this platform but rather just use it because their collegues do, almost like a passing down from generation to generation thing.  Now before the lot of you accuse me of being a private Windows marketing agent, I’ll state for the record that I really don’t have any preference, since the  systems I work off of are both Mac and Windows based.  However, the despairing argument from most Mac based users is that “You HAVE to use a Mac…”  if your an editor or graphic artist, and this I have found is more a cliche than an actual fact.  While there are things I prefer about a Mac compared to PC, price and hardware simplicity is not two of them. 

Take myself for example, I recently upgraded one of my systems, and did some real hard investigative research before making any decisions.  The system being replaced was a PC, so I considered the prospect of changing to a Mac based given that the system I had just purchased a couple years back was a Mac and I’ve been loving it.  However, the more I looked into this new endeavor the more I found myself teetering back to a PC.  The facts became clear that price would certainly be an issue considering what I was looking to do and I had to start weighing out the benefits of what I would gain by purchasing a second Mac at this point.  I really wanted to make get a current top-of-the-line system that could survive the next few years and could handle anything you throw at it, and I literally found that PC had an advantage there.  Not only was Mac only offering last years technology in regards to processors and such, but the price to even get in the vicinity of what I wanted strength wise was at least double.  So I began asking myself, what benifit would I gain if I sucked it up and spent the extra coin on a second Mac, and the unfortunate conclusion I kept running into was nothing more than the braggin rights of ‘telling people’ I had a Mac of such strength.  The actual workflow, software, and projects wouldn’t be affected, the render time, exporting and such wouldn’t change.  So really, what was I gaining? 

Due to this, I did eventual replace my older PC with, yes, I newer PC, and I can say with no bias that I think I made a wise decision.  In the end, your clients don’t give a rat’s ass what platform your using, they just want the job done.  And given that I have the ability to use both Mac or PC, I think I would actually put myself at a disadvantage if I went soley Mac based.  Also, and I say this with complete humility, but my new PC would blow the doors off  anything Mac could even remotely recommend in the same ballpark, no wait, city, price wise, so I think that the decision became a no-brainer.  To those waiting for the inevitable statement of what did I get exactly will have to keep guessing, cause I didn’t want to turn this topic into a spec comparison sheet, but the price range was between $2000-$3000  and a Mac of similar power was between $4000-$5000. 

Having been around for awhile, I’ve discovered that, ( especially in this economy ) bragging rights don’t pay the bills, nor do they bring you clients, nor do they make your projects better.  Being good at what you do, knowing the software, and most importantly ( at least what I find ) bringing a fresh and creative perspective to the table will tally you more respect and future prosperity than what operating system your under.  Having said all that, Mac is definitely an important platform to understand as well as the software it brings (Final Cut Studio, Shake, etc ) and by no means should one EVER religate themselves to just one system.  I have and continue to enjoy and prefer the simplicity of Mac over PC as an overall platform, but now days I just cannot ignore the most important factor… cost.  And really when it all comes down to it, if your able to do the same job for less overhead and no time lost then that’s the only factor to consider.

Avid… yes, still the King of NLE

avidWhile FCP seems to be really trying to push the competition, and further becoming the clear choice with medium and small post production facilities, Avid still seems to be the the king of the hill.  Recently the American Cinema Editors (ACE) Board honored Avid Media Composer with Its First-Ever “ACE Technical Excellence Award”.  The ACE Board of Directors has recognized AMC software with the Board’s first-ever “ACE Technical Excellence Award” – recognizing it as the preferred choice of the industry’s most acclaimed editors.   And that’s not all. 

Avid also seems to win big at the Oscars as well.  Most every year dating back as long as 10 years all of the nominees for Best Picture, Directing, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing used either Avid, Digidesign, Sibelius or Softimage, all happen to be Avid-owned companies.  Why is Avid so popular at the  Academy Awards?  Christopher Rouse, winner of Best Editing ( Bourne Ultimatum) said “An Avid system is far and away the most comfortable tool for me to work with,” notes Rouse. “There are zero barriers between me and the material. That, for me, makes all the difference.”  These comments along with the most recognized films and their editors including the recent Slum Dog Millionare show that Avid continues to make it’s presence felt.  Apple clearly seems to have it’s work cut out for it if it wants to make some be recognized as a serious platform with the industries top players but make no mistake, some, albet a few, have started to make the switch including David Fincher who rained praises on FCP which was used to cut both Zodiac and his Oscar nominated Curious Case.

Only time will tell but for now, Avid still seems to hold the keys to the castle.