Shift to the Cloud

Adobe is now heavily focused on their Creative Cloud innovation. They have rebranded the “Creative Cloud” name to just “CC,” which suffixes each application – “Adobe Photoshop CC,” “Adobe Premiere Pro CC,” etc. In addition to the new name, Adobe has also added the ability for users to sync files, system settings, and more across all of their devices with the click of a button.

Moreover, Adobe did mention that all future updates will be for Creative Cloud members only and they will not be making a CS7. However, they will still be selling CS6 – just no longer developing it further. So, if you’re not a Creative Cloud member yet and would like future updates, you will have to sign up for a subscription-based service.

At the keynote, various Adobe representatives demonstrated some of the many new features that will be available on June 17th. For more information on those new features, visit Adobe’s website.

What are your thoughts on the shift to Creative Cloud only? Do you think Adobe should still offer a one-time purchase option? Voice your opinion in the comments section below.

Featured: @splice_eric, @jasonkonoza, @lmbulgar, @nrogers, @snapper78, @editorliam, @mattpenndotcom, @zbutcher, and of course @nle_ninja and @kyl33t!

The next-gen Thunderbolt tech (code-named Falcon Ridge) enables 4K video file transfer and display simultaneously in addition to running at 20 Gbps. It will be backward-compatible with previous-gen Thunderbolt cables and connectors, and production is set to ramp up in 2014.

Via Engadget

Here’s a video from a presentation at the NAB Show provided by Engadget.

Apple will announce its replacement for the company’s Mac Pro lineup this month, a source who has been correct about Apple product matters in the past has just informed us.

Our source offered no information as to whether the “Mac Pro replacement” would be a tower, mini-tower, or some other solution, but did caution that the announcement “could slip into May or even June, but currently April looks most likely.”

Via Mac Rumors

In my opinion, it would have been perfect if Apple made an appearance at this year’s NAB Show and made the announcement there. However, as pointed out, the announcement could be made in May or June. Maybe around the time Apple announces Final Cut Pro X 10.1?

What are your thoughts on the rumors? Do you think Apple would make such an announcement? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

DaVinci Resolve 10 will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2013 booth at #SL218.

DaVinci Resolve 10 has been developed to simplify the integration of different software tools used in the film and television industry, allowing timelines to be moved into and out of DaVinci Resolve and other edit software such as Final Cut Pro, Avid and Premiere Pro.

As workflows have changed, more post production is now started on set during the shoot. Lighting and other aspects of the shoot are also often verified based on color correction checks and DaVinci Resolve 10 has new powerful tools to manage this process. The new Resolve Live feature allows color grading direct from the video input live with full creative power such as primaries, secondaries, power windows, custom curves and more. Grades can be stored and then relinked when the camera files are loaded.

DaVinci Resolve 10 includes enhanced editing features and allows online finishing of edits performed in other popular editing software. This means multiple users can submit scenes in large complex jobs from the applications they prefer to use, and DaVinci Resolve 10 can finish online from the original camera RAW files for dramatically better quality than would be available when finishing in a standard NLE software package. If any scene needs additional editing, it can be moved back to the NLE software letting editors use the tools they love.

New editing features include full multi track editing with 16 channels of audio per clip and unlimited video and audio tracks in the timeline. Audio can be synced or trimmed and dragged independently to the timeline. Other new editing features include extensive ripple, roll, slide and slip clip trimming support which display dynamically on the timeline and viewer. The viewer also allows split screen display to show in and out points of adjacent clips.

A good example of the online editing process is when an edit has been completed in Final Cut Pro X that includes mixed frame rates, mixed media types, multiple audio tracks and even color corrections. DaVinci Resolve 10 will support import of that project via XML and will online it including full translation of all these elements while rendering the master from the original RAW camera files. This means that Final Cut Pro X editors can use DaVinci Resolve 10 as the tool to online their work for cinema release and generate the Digital Cinema Package file directly from the camera RAW files.

Editing in DaVinci Resolve 10 also includes a powerful title tool with static, lower third, scroll and crawl titles with multiple fonts, size, drop shadow and XY positioning. Timelines in DaVinci Resolve 10 also include the support of compound clips with multiple elements including multiple video and audio tracks. Also, DaVinci Resolve 10 can be used for stereoscopic 3D projects with full support for left and right eye clips in the media pool and the edit timeline. Using timecode and reel name, DaVinci Resolve 10 will automatically associate the left and right eye of the stereoscopic clips.

Color correction features have been upgraded in DaVinci Resolve 10, including support for industry standard OpenFX plug ins with an unlimited number of plug ins per clip. There are now unlimited power windows per corrector node and the new Gradient PowerWindow™ lets colorists quickly add a gradient across the image. Other new color correction features include copy and paste of tracking data, motion effects including spatial and temporal noise reduction and motion blur effects.

For project delivery, DaVinci Resolve 10 includes full audio track visibility in the deliver window timeline as well as EasyDCP integration so users can render directly from their project timeline into a Digital Cinema Package for release to theaters. Because DaVinci Resolve 10 allows rendering from the camera RAW file directly to the Digital Cinema Package files in the highest quality 32 bit float, there is simply no better quality possible for a cinema release master. Customers simply need to purchase a license from EasyDCP to enable this feature.

DaVinci Resolve 10 also supports additional media types and continues to be the industry leader in file based workflows because it operates with virtually all video file types available. New formats include JPEG 2000 decoding and encoding, AVI clip decoding, playback and more.

“One thing I have found extremely frustrating over the last few years is the incompatibility between software tools for video. I think it makes life very hard for people working in post production where multiple people are working on different parts of the job and using all kinds of different software tools. With DaVinci Resolve 10 we have worked hard to help all these tools work together, depending on what the customer wants to do,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “This is what customers actually need and we think they will love all the work we have done to help make this high end workflow simple and easy. We think customers will love the powerful new on set tools, online editing and finishing, color correction updates and project delivery features in this massive software update!”

About DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve is the world’s highest performance on set, editing and color correction solution for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux computers. DaVinci Resolve supports more real time color correction than any other system because it’s not limited by the performance of the computer it’s running on. DaVinci Resolve eliminates this performance barrier because it’s based on a cluster of high performance GPU cards, so all processing is always real time. DaVinci Resolve has the power of a true real time performance solution so handles complex color grades even when using dozens of primaries, secondaries, Power Windows™, multi point tracking, blurs, and more. DaVinci Resolve provides incredible performance in a low cost solution which can be easily upgraded by adding extra GPU’s for supercomputer power to handle 4K resolutions, stereoscopic 3D and real time grading direct from raw camera files such as ARRI RAW, RED RAW and Sony RAW files which can be handled with ease.

Availability and Price

DaVinci Resolve 10 will be available Q3 2013 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide and will be a free upgrade for existing DaVinci Resolve customers.

Here’s a press release from Avid:

NAB (Booth #SU902), LAS VEGAS, NV, April 7, 2013 — Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today unveiled Media Composer® 7, featuring accelerated and simplified file-based workflows including optimized HD delivery from high-res source material and automated media operations. In addition, as a key component of the Avid Everywhere vision, the new release offers Interplay® Sphere for Mac support, extending real-time production everywhere. Used to edit more top-tier content than any other nonlinear editing (NLE) solution, Media Composer software is now available starting at $999 USD—bringing unprecedented value to post production editors.

“Avid has never wavered in its commitment to the professional editing community. Today’s video professionals are faced with a media landscape of new formats, fewer resources, and tighter budgets,” said Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of Products and Services at Avid. “Media Composer 7 tackles these challenges with unparalleled file-based workflows, background processing, and automation. Plus, with its new lower price point, Media Composer is now more accessible than ever to editors who previously had to compromise on quality with other tools.”

Accelerating HD delivery from high-res source

As more content is created with high-res cameras and delivered as HD, editors typically must perform time consuming transcode and resize operations before true editing can begin. Media Composer 7 eliminates this step by enabling editors to work directly in HD from the high-res source, while maintaining full creative control of image framing.

Media Composer 7 offers a wide array of key new features, including:

• AMA media management — Media linked via Avid Media Access (AMA) now benefits from the complete suite of industry-leading media management tools formerly reserved for native Avid media.
• Dynamic media folders — Accelerates and simplifies AMA media management tasks automatically in the background.
• FrameFlex™ tool and LUT support — Enables editors to ingest 2K, 4K, and 5K media with real-time color space conversion and deliver content directly to HD.
• Master Audio Fader — Enables editors to control overall program volume and insert plug-ins for compression, equalization, and compliance metering.
• Clip Gain — Editors can adjust gain on a specific clip, independent of track-based automation, without engaging separate audio tools.
• Symphony Color Correction option — Lets editors add advanced color correction tools previously found only in Avid Symphony.
• Interplay Sphere for Mac — Enables creative teams to edit, share, tag, track, and sync media as it flows through the production process anywhere in the world (Media Composer Interplay Edition required).

Mark Futa, head of Post Production at The Ant Farm, said, “As we journey further into a tapeless post production world, managing a wide range of dissimilar digital media is a major challenge. What excites me about Media Composer 7 is not only its ability to speed up the ingest of both high-res and HD source media via AMA, but also the introduction of background processing so our editors can keep editing while the application handles non-creative tasks like media transcoding and consolidation.”

Media Composer software configuration options

At product availability, Avid will offer a choice of two Media Composer software configurations:

• Media Composer provides the full Media Composer editing feature set as well as support for ISIS® workgroups.
• Media Composer Interplay Edition includes all the features in Media Composer, plus the ability to connect to Avid Interplay.

Availability & Pricing

Media Composer 7 will be available in the online Avid Store and from Avid resellers worldwide starting in June 2013. Customers can purchase Media Composer 6.5 now and receive a free upgrade to version 7 when available. Pricing will be as follows:

• Media Composer 7 (standard) — $999 USD
• Media Composer 7 Interplay Edition — $1499 USD

What are you most excited about with Media Composer 7? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Bob Zelin has been going to NAB since “before any of you were born” in his words. Bob designs, installs and maintains facilities in the professional television and audio industry. That is, when he isn’t sharing profound truths with unsuspecting Internet forum users. You can find him mostly on Creative COW. His meet-up is Monday, April 8th after 8PM at the Hard Rock Hotel — drink for your business card.

Deb Eschweiler has been on the Track Matte Moment before. She’s a freelancer in Minnesota who has been a regular NAB attendee for close to 10 years. Go listen to her Track Matte Moment and catch up with her on Twitter. It’s still unknown if she’ll be at NAB this year because she keeps things interesting.

Kylee and Kes will be in Vegas for this year’s NAB Show from Saturday to Friday. They’ll both be in the lower south hall mostly all day Monday through Wednesday (though Kylee will be found in the Small Tree Communications booth, SL6005, on Tuesday and Wednesday, so she’ll be VERY easy to find.) Come say hello if you see us, or tweet if you want to meet up. We’ll have a recorder if anyone should happen to want to record a TMM live.

Our calendars for the week are listed below. See you in Vegas!

Kylee’s is on her blog.

Kes:
Saturday
12:00 am Land in Vegas

Sunday
12:00 pm-4:00 pm Take care of badge registration
4:00 pm Check out Avid press conference
7:00 pm-late evening Hang out with Rampant Media Design or Hit up the strip

Monday
8:30 am-3:30 pm Exhibit Hall
4:00 pm #postchat tweetup
5:30 pm Media Motion Ball Setup
8:00 pm-late evening Open

Tuesday
8:30 am-4:30 pm Exhibit Hall
5:00 pm Supermeet
9:00 pm Private Party

Wednesday
8:30 am-5:30 pm Exhibit Hall

Psst. NAB sneak peeks are here.

Powerful new features are coming to Adobe’s industry-leading video and audio tools. You’ll soon be able to work even more creatively, seamlessly, and profitably — from script to screen. Here’s an early look at what to expect in the upcoming releases of Adobe® Premiere Pro®, After Effects®, SpeedGrade™, Audition®, Prelude™ and Adobe Story™.

Scott Simmons over at Pro Video Coalition has an in-depth look at the new version of Premiere Pro as well as some other info about the new Adobe Creative Suite. Adobe also has videos and articles on their website with more information on each application.

Update: The Edit Doctor has a great article going over some of the new features added in the next version of Premiere. Check it out.

Final Cut BasiX

Today I am launching a website called Final Cut BasiX. FinalCutBasiX.com is a site dedicated to teaching Apple Final Cut Pro X for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. Tutorials are straight-forward and clear to understand. There will be both written and video tutorials. If you’re just starting to use FCPX, Final Cut BasiX is for you. If you’ve been using Final Cut Pro X since its launch just like me, Final Cut BasiX is for you. My goal with this new site is to have a place everyone can visit and learn how to use FCPX and become better editors with it. So, check it out! FinalCutBasiX.com

What Does This Mean For EditingWhiz?

Nothing. Well, that’s not completely true. For the past couple of months, you may have noticed the content on EditingWhiz has been lacking. Part of the reason is because I have been busy coding FinalCutBasiX.com. The other reason is I am working on a documentary called Through Gay Eyes. This documentary has taken over any free time I have. As a result, EditingWhiz has sorta received the cold shoulder. But, I’m hoping as I get closer to completing this documentary, I will have more time for posting on EditingWhiz.

One of my favorite documentary editors to follow on Twitter is Steve Audette. I decided to get in touch with him and ask if he would be interested in answering a few questions about him and what he works on. Here are his answers.

About Steve Audette:

Steve Audette has been making documentaries for nearly 20 years. With now close to 50 documentary credits, Audette’s work has contributed to many Emmy Award-winning documentaries, as well as Peabody and DuPont Columbia Award-winning programs. In 2008 Steve was nominated for an Eddie Award from American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.), in the category of Best Documentary Editor for the Frontline documentary called Bush’s War. The film also went on to win a News and Documentary Emmy. In the fall of 2011 Steve finished cutting three episodes of the special NOVA series Fabric of the Cosmos. In 2012 he has edited four hours on politics for the PBS pubic affairs series FRONTLINE. Steve is currently Senior Documentary Editor for Frontline.

In 2010 Steve expanded his production credits beyond editor to include producer, writer and director. The film short, Nico’s Challenge, was the first documentary out of Audette’s company, Mezzotint Films LLC. Audette says: “The story of Nico Calabria’s climb was in the local paper. I called the family and asked if they shot any footage? The next day I’m screening the dailies and I knew I had a great story and a great little film.” Nico’s Challenge has garnered wide acclaim in both national and international film festivals. Including a screening at Cannes. In 2012 Steve produced, wrote, directed and edited a feature-length documentary for Mezzotint Films. Titled The Conviction of Officer Winfield, it is a poignantly disturbing family portrait of how, in an effort to protect children, the medical and legal establishment unleashed a tsunami of investigations, and in their wake, families on both sides are left to pick up the pieces. This  documentary holds a glimpse of our own vulnerabilities, and shows with horror and ease how our own lives could so quickly alter when child abuse is suspected. This program is scheduled to air on FRONTLINE in the fall of 2013.

1. When did you first start becoming interested in filmmaking and/or editing?

I was running a print shop for a business consulting firm back in the ’80s. One day every consultant got a computer. Big huge behemoths – that no one knew how to use or wanted to use. I found them fascinating and started to work as an analyst on a few projects. Then there was talk of me going to business school. I was excited about that but, I had graduated from art school as a printmaker and felt that I would be scrapping all my creative skills. Another analyst I worked with thought that I would make a great “Online-Editor.” Something his wife knew more about than he did. But they thought it would be a great mix of my technical skills and creative mind. I went to see what that odd term meant. I ended up at a conforming session at a local production house. It was like walking onto the command deck of the USS Enterprise. I was sold from that moment on. For the next ten years I became colorist, an visual effects guru, a sound designer and a audio mixer. However, I was always working on other people’s programs.

2. You are currently an editor for PBS’ Frontline. What made you decide to work for them?

I was living the life of a Online Editor at a production house working 80 hour weeks. It was the wild ’80s and everyone wanted video. When my third child was born, my wife asked me to cut back on the hours. At the time in Boston when an editor burned out, they called it going to pasture and that was done at WGBH (the PBS station). Two years later all the local production companies were gone and I was gainfully employed working for the major programs of PBS. Ultimately, that lead to cutting full-time for FRONTLINE. Though I did do a four year sabbatical cutting for NOVA including the series Fabric of the Cosmos which was so COOL!

3. Why did you decide to cut documentaries instead of any other genre?

I kind of fell into it. I always interested in politics and science and when the Avid Media Composer was created the doc editors at ‘GBH needed help building effects and transitions. At the time most of them were cutting tape to tape on ¾” U-matic decks. Cuts only! Only we online guys did effects work. As it happened when I went to ‘GBH I had to take a pay cut, so I was freelancing nights for one of my clients who just bought this whacky non-linear editing thing. I was cutting on the Avid at night and working the online Grass Valley rooms during the day. When I could, I would visit the Avid rooms to show editors how to work the box. Eventually I was asked to just BE the editor and I never looked back.

4. If you could edit any other type of film genre, what would it be?

I’d like to do scripted features one day. As a doc editor we are looking for drama in the content of the footage. I think the same is true for scripted drama. Albeit a scriptwriter and director have gathered the content and honed it down to a limited collection of clips (you have to remember a documentary shooting ratio is much higher than features). Anyway, I think the process of finding the right moments of drama and working the cuts to heighten the narrative work the same in documentary as well as scripted features.

5. What editing software do you primarily cut on?

My primary editing tool is the Avid MediaComposer. No question the best NLE on the market for the professional editor who is going from one documentary to the next non-stop. The best for working in a collaborative environment, and the best for the maturity of the tool. That is not to say the other NLEs are useless. They are not. Every day a doc, a feature, a TV program, or even a spot is cut on them. But for me, I like to use power tools when building a story. When the other NLEs mature to the level of tools that are the staple of the MediaComposer I will be very ready to re-evaluate my position. An example of of that is ScriptSync. For transcriptions there is no better way to move throughout the material and create the narrative of a documentary. Now – having said that – many of those Avid toolsets are the result of other NLEs taking on Avid. So far, Avid has adapted well and is still my editor of choice. The future is a game of survival of the fittest.

I also use Adobe After Effects as well as other features in the CS6 family including Adobe Story. I think all editors should keep an eye on this program. I have been using Adobe Story for about a year and I think it has the potential to dominate the scriptwriting marketplace. Really the best product I have used, it has changed my editing approach. The ability to share a script over the net and work on it all at the same time is spectacular. As I say keep an eye on that software, it is really great.

6. How do you set up your project, bins, sequences, etc. when beginning a new documentary?

This is a big question. In the interest of time I will truncate some of the process. Media is brought into the system via AMA, then transcoded to the Avid Isis in Standard Definition to save room (we have a shooing ratio some where above 200:1). The primary media is transcoded to 2:1s, the copious stock footage is brought in at 4:1s. Every interview, speech, event that is part of the narrative is transcribed and the media is ScriptSynced. Most of the documentary content is edited from those ScriptSynced bins.

B-roll is all segregated to bins of like-scenes. I don’t care if a bin only has one clip in it. If I am looking for footage of that subject I want a bin with that name on it. Much of this is done by an assistant editor, but we tag team too.

Audio headlines are gathered and also brought in to their own bins based on the subject of the audio fugue that I am looking to cut.

Every day I dupe my sequence and add a new suffice number Seq.01, Seq.02, Seq.03 etc. The highest number is the most recent.

At the end of the day I make a QuickTime (using turbo H264) and send it out to the director via yousendit.com. In the morning he has a series of changes to that part. Once that is done we move on to new material. The director sits with me writing and reads narration as needed. At the end of the day we start all over. Our goal is to cut 5 finished – polished minutes a day. Most days we do better than that.

After about 8 weeks we are ready to show the cut and by 12 weeks it is ready for air. The audio tracks have been mixed via ProTools, the video has been color graded and packaged by a Symphony.

7. What is your favorite part of editing a documentary?

I love, love, love, the process of figuring out the narrative. The storytelling. It becomes an obsession where you slowly start building up the characters in the film into whole people with motives and strengths and weaknesses. The more complex a character in a documentary, the more compelling the program.

I also really like cutting. The simple process of putting one shot up against anther to tell a tale. I am addicted to sound design. I think that is how we make a 3D world of our 2D screen.

8. What is your least favorite part of editing a documentary?

I’ve never been a big fan of agenda films. Fortunately at I don’t have to do those too much and NEVER at FRONTLINE. I like to find the story in the footage and let it tell the tale. Imposing an agenda or point of view early on when cutting a doc is a fool’s errand. Might as well be making infomercials.

One thing that bugs me in my workflow is transcoding. In the old days we digitized the footage and watched it go in. Now we link the footage and transcode so I don’t get that first pass – realtime with the characters in the documentary.

9. Anything else you want the EditingWhiz readers to know?

I get asked a lot about how to become a documentary editor. Here is the good news. We are in a media boom (though not all of it is on TV or silver screens). If you want to get into the field of doc editing my best advice is to keep editing. One day an opportunity will come. Your best way of succeeding when it does is to be the best cutter you can. The only way to do that is by cutting. I did not really understand how to cut a documentary until I was on my fifth one. Fifty editor credits later I am still getting better and better. It’s a journey not a destination.

You can follow Steve on Twitter and check out his Vimeo and IMDb. Thanks Steve!