[Tig] color (was FT, that is)

[Kevin Shaw]

Dear all 
> Kevin Shaw?  Your thoughts?

Well I was lucky enough to meet up with the Silicon Color/ now Apple guys at
NAB. They told me that the FCP Studio feature list had to be locked soon
after their acquisition, so I expect the real changes will be in the next
version (2008). Having access to Apple and XML experts has allowed them to
significantly improve stability as well as simplifying the work flow.

So, my disclaimer - I like and use Film Master and Final Touch. I am a
freelance colorist, but demo and train for Digital Vision. My thoughts on
Color...

* I see Color as an FT upgrade that gives me FCP, DVD Studio, Motion,
Soundtrack and Compressor for free. Color has tools familiar to pro
colorists and is therefore ideal for training and experimenting with. I
agree with Steven Bradford on this.

* Many colorists have invested in Final Touch to offer independent boutique
services. They are now in a stronger position to grow their business because
of raised awareness, lower costs (Color still supports dpx BTW) and the
greater development resources that Apple can provide

* I see a lot of potential in the 0.1% of FCP users (re Joe Owens) who see
the light and need help finishing. Especially since I can now send them
project settings rather than exporting and sending rendered files :-)

* If 0.1% of FCP users like Color, and 10% of those invest in a high end
system, it would probably double the total number of high end systems sold
this year, providing good opportunities for experienced colorists

* Color is largely GPU based and does not really need 8 CPUs. But Scratch
already uses GPUs to do real time 2k (and didn't they do 4k for Red?). Also
Film Master achieves real time 2k grading using 8-16 CPUs in a single PC. My
own opinion is that heavy iron, dedicated hardware and multiple PC systems
are something of a short term investment. (so I agree with Bob Friesenhahn
on this)

* It is not good policy to promote yourself or a product that you bought by
criticizing other products or people. (IMHO)I agree with Steve Hullfish on
this.

>Bob Festa wrote: " Look for Color to decentralize an entire industry near you."
No matter what we say or think, it is going to happen anyway

Happy Coloring
Kevin


Kevin Shaw                 colorist, instructor and consultant
kevs at finalcolor.com          www.finalcolor.com
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