Apple lays off 40 from FCP team, before NAB?

Apple laying off 40 people from the Final Cut Pro software team has been noted on Twitter, but not corroborated anywhere else as I can find.

But if the layoffs are actually true, it begs us to wonder what Apple’s long term dedication is to high-end computers, and professional apps— especially considering that the vast majority of profits come from: iPods, iPhones, iApps, iMacs, iBookstore, iTunes music & TV shows, laptops and soon- iPad.

Apple, Video Pros & the future.

It’s pretty clear that Apple dropping “computer” from their name was not just to use less ink. They’ve been behind the curve with the hardware for many years. Case in point: after PCs have had a SD card slot for many years, Apple finally decides to integrate this functionality into their laptops (but not desktops.)

But, in so doing, they ditch the ExpressCard slot from the 15″ MacBook “Pro” and specifically make the SD card slot not compatible with I/O devices so it can’t be used to expand the computer. wtf?

So now, the 17″ MacBook Pro is the only expandable laptop from Apple- for a starting price of $2500.
If I’m going to spend that much, I’ll buy a Lenovo 17″ (starting at $1,900) that offers me the capability of a quad-core chip, dual internal LCD displays, integrated Wacom tablet, Pantone color calibration of the displays, fingerprint reader for mobile security, internal Blu-ray, integrated cellular broadband, and more.

There were times, back when Apple didn’t have today’s market share, that they produced computers that were affordable, and wildly expandable. They strong to be what the other guys weren’t. They thought differently. That gave us the G3, the G4 towers. It gave us the G3 series PowerBooks with dual media bays, in addition to the PC card slot. That emphasis on providing users with innovative solutions ahead of the pack is gone.

AJA io -or- PMW-EX30 dilemma.

Do I buy:

  A 17″ laptop ($3,000), eSATA ExpressCard adaptor ($100),
external hard drives ($400), and an AJA ioHD ($2,800) to record
a live switch 1920x1080i60 SDI feed to ProRes 422…

or

A Sony PMW-EX30 XDCAM EX deck ($4,000) to record
a 30 Mbps 1920x1080i60 VBR stream to flash media?

Switching from Mac to PC. How?

As regular readers know, I use a Mac. But the lack of a midrange model really has me fuming and I need a machine that does the job, at a price that doesn’t kick the buyer in the face.

I received a brochure for Dell the other day which showed off a nice little quad-core machine for pittance compared to a quad core Mac Pro. I could upgrade the dual internal drives to 1 TB drives, drop in a Blu-ray burner and, with Adobe CS4, I could be editing and burning HD video with aplomb, compared to standing around with my thumb up my Mac ass waiting for Steve Jobs to get past his “bag of hurt” feelings and make Blu-ray authoring on the Mac a reality.

But what sort of machine should I get?

The Next HD Hurdle: Live Video Mixers

While HDV and the move to HD have produced some truly amazing cameras— even in the consumer arena— compared to what was available for many tens of thousands of dollars just 10 years ago, those of us who regularly produce live shows are facing a new hurdle: expensive HD switchers.

The Sounds of Inevatibility.

Agent Smith said:

“You hear that Mr. Anderson?
That— is the sound of inevitability…
It is the sound of your death…”

As I was unable to attend NAB in person, I read the same news as everyone else and there are clearly a few trends that it pays to notice because they will have a dramatic affect on production in the future. Whether or not you want to go this route, the sounds of inevitability are becoming louder.

Incredible Sony Z7 information!

You may just want to learn French to really understand (correctly) all the information on this site. I’ve included a little bit of it here, and did my best to straighten out the rough automated translation– but all of this is just one section, of FOUR.

So without further hesitation, here’s the Sony HVR-Z7 as you’ve not yet seen it (in English):

Movie Magic = free extras.

Kevin Kelly of  Conceptual Trends and Current Topics has an interesting writup and some great video of how four guys, a car full of props and gear, and a boatload of post-production time, can recreate the Normandy Invasion of WWII. All it takes is a lot of creativity, patience, and running. Lots of running, climbing, and, well, falling down. 

But it shows how anyone’s imagination can make things happen. No longer are high-end production tools restricted from anyone.  

CompactFlash Media Test Results.

We’ve worked with an early adopter of the Sony HVR-Z7U to test 10 different compact flash cards currently available. The test results of Marshall Levy, of Maverick Productions, will answer the following questions: Do you need to spend the extra money to get the absolutely fastest media available? What does the extra money actually buy? What kind of errors will we have by starting and stopping recording to compact flash over 100 times?
These are the questions we answer right now.

Will AVCHD go Pro in 2008?

As an emerging video acquisition format, AVCHD holds the promise of offering stunning full HD images at the same data rate as DV. But thus far, all manufacturers of AVCHD cameras are using reduced bitrate settings to offer more recording time on flash media recorders.

Will 2008 finally change all this?