Butcher:

Pixar says they'll release all future movies in 3D.  Perhaps it is an emerging market?

I can remember major studios in the 1950s saying that all future movies would be released in 3D.  Maybe they were right - just out by half a century or so.

This is why there is to be Mojo Dx - so we can have Mojo 3Dx soon...  Mojo 3DSDI just doesn't work from a marketing perpsective.

I have my daughter's 3D glasses from one of her Disiney films on right now - and heh, this forum is in 3D too.  Its like the monitor is actually on my desk and the keyboard is real too.  And if I blink really fast I can get it in 5p.  If I wink alternately and shift my head up and down is like, 5i.  Now, I have another beer and I'm getting all sorts of tearing like the field order is reversed... wierd.

On topic - before we get 3D editing - how about an Avid Softimage XSI that actually outputs to my Avid Mojo like it says it can?

I am going to amend my earlier thoughts a bit . . . after coming back from NAB and reading the articles and seeing the demos, 3D is more here and closer than I ever would have previously thought, especially with Disney pushing it hard.  I do think that Avid is right to be looking in that direction.

That being said, I still think that they are lagging behind in areas much more critical to their large customer base and if too many resources are spent on 3d and too little on more relevant, current improvements and additions, their customer base will shrink even more before they make it to 3D.

I second the motion for a real-time TC plug-in. and no I am not even bending my knees for cutting 3D on a Avid.

"... I second the motion for a real-time TC plug-in ..."

Like the one that has been included since MC v3.0 started shipping?

LOL - I guess it's good to request features that already exist, kind of proves their worth.

I want double-roller Trim!

Rotation in P & Z oops without a rezize! lol just incase someone sees this

Hi Todd,

Very good post. I also never had 3D on my radar.. But that is logical as I never do film, only TV production. I don't know if there are any main stream 3D producers out there. It seems like a "funny" feature for which I don't see a big audience, at least not now. That said, Randall is the exception that indeed does 3D and could work with it.

I agree with you that priority wise avid has made a bad decision this time. Red and AMA need more attention then 3D!

I would like to suggest that avid brings back Xpress pro or something similar. A product that is not loaded up with functionality that is not needed by the large majority and makes the system requirements heavier and heavier with every release.

Personally I would like avid to separate in 2 categories. Cinema and TV. In my "TV world" the stations and producers are trying to squeeze out every little dollar out of every project. And more and more I'm becoming a mass production facility, producing similar game shows, reality shows, award shows and talk shows. Seen from that perspective I don't need so much new functionality. I need more simple workflows to be faster and cheaper. Xpress pro HD 5.x with AMA support would be ok for 80% of my daily work.

I hope the people in the "cinema world" have more artistic jobs, with better budgets and maybe some room for a 3D production.

Hi all,

jveekeres:

I also never had 3D on my radar... I agree with you that priority wise avid has made a bad decision this time. Red and AMA need more attention then 3D!

I think this quote nicely illustrates something that Frank Capria brought up in this interview.  There are thousands of people using Avid systems, and nobody's workflow is the same as anyone else's.  (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)  I'm sure somebody somewhere was happy that Avid added 3d capability, and doesn't care about the Red camera or P2 footage.  The more capabilities Avid builds in, the more workflows it fits, and the more people will want to use Avid, which is good for all of us.

Plus, one of Avid's big selling points is how prevalent it is in big-time Hollywood productions.  If James Cameron is making 3d movies, Avid would be foolish not to explore the capability.

adios,
Carl

Last week in the UK we had the first ever Live TV transmission of 3D TV of a pop concert, on BskyB (Murdoch company).

Todd, I also completely agree. There are many more pressing and important priorities right now that users have been clamoring for in some cases for years - IMO, 3D is a completely misplaced priority at this time. Personally, I don't believe 3D will ever become totally mainstream until it can be done without the viewer wearing glasses or any other physical device. And come to think of it, holographic projection will probably come into it's own before that happens.

Again, like the dongle issue - when and where was a focus group convened to discuss this issue and who participated? How did Avid make decisions about who to contact as participants? It just seems like we, as the mainstream users - some 58,000 plus Forum members, are never solicited to participate in these focus groups on subjects like these. Why?

jveekeres:

I would like to suggest that avid brings back Xpress pro or something similar. A product that is not loaded up with functionality that is not needed by the large majority and makes the system requirements heavier and heavier with every release.

OMFG! I can not believe what I'm reading.

Throughout the entire existence of XpressPro users were badgering Avid to ADD more Media Composer functionality into XpressPro as they felt it was too limited.  Avid obliged where possible and added new stuff in each release and it got to the point where there really was little difference between XpressPro and MC functionality/capability.  At that point there was redundancy in the product line and so then the masses demanded clarification of the product line into one product. 

If I were Avid and reading this I would be ripping my hair out!

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Abe Lincoln once said:  "You can satisfy some of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time. But never all of the people all of the time."

TCurren:

I have to agree with the rest of you that I could care less about 3-D. It's the big buzz in the high end film circles, but I truly believe this attempt at keeping people coming to theaters instead of watching at home on Blu-Ray is just like the 50s.

My understanding is the big push is from the studios as it significantly reduces the piracy in cinemas which is out of control in much of Asia.  Within 48 hrs of the film opening in Asia the DVDs are on the black market in London.  Stereoscopic projections completely takes one piracy route out of the game.

The tools are much better than they ever have been for stereoscopic film making but from my point of view it is just a visual gimmick that does not enhance the story one iota.  Heck, it would be nice to have a story once in a while...

TCurren:

Since the motion picture business is one of Avid's last strongholds, I completely understand them trying to do anything they can to save that market.

 

As for this being a reflection of the new regime, the technology shown at the event has to have been in the development stage for at least a year by now. That rules out the current management from having any input on it's development priority up to now. 

 

Discussions like these are invaluable to them as they try to get a handle on their marketplace.

I agree, Avid a correct in supporting stereoscopic workflows as it really is their target market.  Of all the NLE manufacturers Avid simply have to have this in their product.

Kenton is right on!  OMFG! The fact is it has been so nice to have a focused product line in which you aren't screwing around with small bits of add-ons and reduced functionality.  In my situation where we have numerous installs, it is nice to know that all of my systems are now on MC and not a hodge-podge of versions and capabilities.  Moreover, we (Avid Community) constantly voiced our opinions that it made no sense to have such a segmented product line - especially when you could go across the aisle and get a competitor who had one product offering (i.e. FCP).  And in terms of system requirements constantly growing - this is a mute point as you can always stay on a legacy version that works just fine.  For example I still have a Meridian system that works just fine (haven't used it but only once in the last year and a half though).  And I bet that many of our film editors out their are still using Meridian based systems everyday on Win2K/IBM workstations without a ton of issues. 

My point is that if you want less functionality, lesser system requirements, and older workflows, please stay on your Xpress Pro that should still be working just fine and leave the the current software lineup where it is at!

Hi Kenton,

I agree with you that my request is weird. It is not consistent with that what we asked for years from avid. But till the arrival of HD, I believe the developments of avid were always in sync with the needs of "the many", not that I want to speak for "the many". If avid thinks that 3D is a important feature that will help sales of avid to customers like Randall and Disney then I support that. But I'm sure that most of us are not "Disney". 

It is the "one fits all" thinking that I don't believe in. Especially if we start with 3D,