Our wefcpug 2011 ended* with the December meet, in the BBC at Bristol. Richard celebrated his attainment of Jedi status (FCP X accreditation, congrats) with his own canter through the app. Opinions were voiced, eyebrows were raised, tuts were tutted. As the Chinese were alleged to say about the French Revolution's effect, it's 'too early to say'. We're still at the point where we're (all, I think it fair to say) are impressed by the speed and power of the thing, but no-one amongst the paying customers has used it for paying work. For the future? Sure, how long are you planning/guessing for? There's no doubt that eyes and credit cards are wandering towards Avid's Media Composer: the one thing we all (subject to later recount!!) seemed to agree on is that knowing the MC toolset and workflow is, right now, compulsory for craft editors in Broadcast/Film. And especially so as we'll move into collaborative working in 2012 and beyond.
As for the rest (Premiere, Lightworks, FCP X next gen) it's going to be an interesting year to come. I'm not (this is Phil, folks) declaring 'end of days' for FCP just yet, but I do feel like a big reset button has been pressed for those of us still somehow in the broadcast/film/post-production industry and we're back in year 2000. This time, the impetus and the brains are with Adobe; Avid 2011 seems a different beast to Avid 1990's, and Apple are playing elsewhere. And this time the intriguing outsider might turn out to be an old favourite, Lightworks. Or they might all go bust (apart from Apple and their cash mountain).
I shall try, and succeed, resisting the temptation to download any free trials for the holiday period. There are other fish to fry, or turkeys to roast at least. There may well be further trivia on this blog, possibly even a review of the year, before we meet again in 2012. If you have been reading, thank you, and have an enjoyable holiday. Unless you've failed to commission/employ us. Further important news follows on the blog.
*except for the 2011 meal out, probably in the Indian restaurant in the Ashton Gate area, probably on Tuesday 20th. You may well know more than I do by the time you read this.
