[Tig] FinalTouch

[Bob Sliga]

To respond once again about misinformation on FinalTouch...

On Sep 23, 2005, at 1:30 AM, Sean McKee wrote:



Hi Bob,



To respond to your questions about myself and my qualifications to  
comment

about a product, our company and what type of work we do:



Yes, I am an owner/operator.

Now things are making sense...



Yes, we have invested in da Vinci systems and Discreet systems, but I  
have

no agenda to knock any system ........................ "the colorist  
makes the magic".



Each of our colorists has at least 15 years experience driving different

telecines and color correctors.



How many colorists do you have and who are they? Are you transferring  
print or camera original negative?  What type of telecine's are you  
running? I assume a Spirit, or is it an old modified Rank?   From  
your talk it sure "sounds" like your running a big operation..



The company's main business is film  
restoration,................................. Our

location in Schaumburg, IL (20 miles west of Chicago) has no bearing  
on our

abilities, and our business does not require us to be downtown, or  
even in

LA, as much of our work is unsupervised, and we have clients from  
around the

world.



I understand you run your FTHD system out of your house in the south

suburbs, should I question your experience based on your location?



It's nice you did a little research on my to finds out I live in the  
south suburbs. If you would have continued on your research you would  
have found that I in fact have worked for  some major players in  
Chicago, demoed for daVinci, demoed for Philips at NAB for 4  
years.....  I?ve got chops and I know what I?m talking about when it  
comes to film transfer and color correction.

  Yes, I do have a system in my home. My workflow allows me to do 90%  
of my work at home and the final 10% at Chicago HD, a downtown  
Chicago post house,  supervised with clients.  Process works...



  No, we did not try to drive the Final Touch system like a da Vinci. We

looked at it for what it is. There was no operator error because, as  
I said,

it was easy to use and was mastered quickly. So I appreciate the  
offer for a



Yes, Sean I'm sure you could show me a few tricks of your own,  
because your reputation precedes you..   Yes, I asked around about  
you and everyone I have talked to about you has the same opinion.



To quote you again, "Helloooooo....dude" I did read the web site and  
knew

the fact that the HD version was meant to work with FCP. .............

My point and complaint in that paragraph if you read it

properly was that the system does not allow you to render a single,  
large

QuickTime of the whole movie if you wanted to, which I would expect  
to be a

given.



Wrong again....I just did exactly what you said can't be done  
yesterday... Color and render 1 large clip of a movie...  No problem.  
Whats the big deal?



I hope that now in your eyes you think I am qualified to comment and  
have an

opinion on a product or an experience. .



Should have been stated at the beginning of your initial post, not 3  
posts later when challenged. Also, being an owner does not qualify  
you to be a colorist. Outside of your facility where have you been a  
colorist?



Although I have never spoke to Lucas?

Don?t expect a call anytime soon?.



????? I did end up saying it's a cool product in the end, but like I

said, I was just frustrated with the interactivity with the JL Cooper

panels. Those guys even made me put 1/2 down on a credit card to demo  
there

$5500 panels and now want to charge me a restocking fee! Yet we've  
demoed

much more expensive equipment for no charge.



I finally agree with you on something?That?s a lot of balls on JL  
Coopers part to charge a restocking fee for demo unit when their  
panels did not communicate with FinalTouch.. It?s in their best  
interest to make their panels work and play well with others.. I can  
understand a credit card deposit until the gear comes back, but a  
restocking fee for a demo unit is bullcrap? I hope you told them to  
stick it where the sun don?t shine..

  As far as this debate goes, I?m done with it.  FinalTouch works and  
right now is a baby? Just wait till it grows up, it will make people  
think twice about dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into color  
correctors in the future? The best analogy is a comparison to old  
linear editing systems of yesterday to the nonlinear edit systems of  
today? The future is coming and if you don?t like it get out of it?s  
way.

And that?s my opinion...


Bob Sliga