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Apple Finally Discontinues Shake?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,557
30,888


Alongside today's introduction of updated Time Capsule models, Apple appears to have finally discontinued Shake, its long-standing high-end digital compositing and visual effects software package. While Shake's product pages remain available on Apple's site, it is no longer listed in the online Apple Store and MacRumors has received word that Apple sales representatives have been informed of the product's discontinuation. Shake had been priced at $499.

Shake was originally launched in 1997 as a product of Nothing Real, which was acquired by Apple in early 2002. Apple continued to update Shake over the next several years, but the release of Shake 4.1 in mid-2006 was accompanied by the announcement that no further software updates were planned. A minor update to version 4.1.1 was issued in late 2008.

At the time of Shake 4.1's release, rumors claimed that Apple's replacement for the software package, code-named "Phenomenon", would be based on Apple's Motion software and released in 2008. While such a standalone product has not surfaced, it is possible that Apple finally views Motion 4 and other components of the updated Final Cut Studio released last week as a sufficient replacement for Shake's features.

Article Link: Apple Finally Discontinues Shake?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/30/apple-finally-discontinues-shake/
J

jersey

macrumors regular
Jul 9, 2007
218
0
Kilamite said:
After Effects is miles ahead anyway.
Click to expand...

True, it is. But nothing can do a more pristine conversion from 29.97fps to 24fps than Shake.

Just as I keep an old g4 around, why do I see myself keeping a machine simply to run Shake on the 2 times a year I need it ......
 
Z

zedsdead

macrumors 68040
Jun 20, 2007
3,403
1,147
Full of Win said:
So long as they do not cancel Master Shake...then we're good
Click to expand...

Actually, I think Aqua Teen got cancelled..sadly.

As for Shake, I really expected a replacement, but I guess most of it can be done in Final Cut Studio (i'm not a Shake user, so I'm not sure).
 
E

enygma

macrumors newbie
Nov 29, 2004
25
0
To say that Final Cut Studio has all of the features of Shake is idiotic to say the least. There may be aspects of shake now available in part within various applications in FCS, but the bottom line is that Shake was not only a package with all compositing features necessary within it, it was unbelievably flexible, supported a plethora of third party plugins, and had a very intuitive workflow for compositing.

I was one of those people that bought Shake when the price dropped. While I haven't used it a lot, for the times I needed to use it when working with background plates, CG elements, masks and various other layers, it became an indispensable tool, and very easy to work with. To discontinue Shake is one thing, because we can always still use it, and there was a faint hope that it would be replaced with something *BETTER*. Not assimilated into various sub-par workflows that weren't designed for compositing. And no, I don't view Motion as a compositor. It is a motion graphics app.
 
FSMBP

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Jan 22, 2009
2,712
2,633
zedsdead said:
Actually, I think Aqua Teen got cancelled..sadly.

As for Shake, I really expected a replacement, but I guess most of it can be done in Final Cut Studio (i'm not a Shake user, so I'm not sure).
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you can't do half of what Shake offers in FCS3.

I hate how Apple neglects the "pro" users after it is the "pro" users who made Apple what it is.
 
bigandy

bigandy

macrumors G3
Apr 30, 2004
8,852
7
Murka
MacRumors said:
it is possible that Apple finally views Motion 4 and other components of the updated Final Cut Studio released last week as a sufficient replacement for Shake's features.
Click to expand...

My first thought was:

FCPnewbie said:
If that's the case, then Apple is dead wrong.
Click to expand...

But then I haven't yet furnished our VFX department with FCS3, so can't really make that assumption.


... however I'll continue to make it, because Motion really would have been pitched as a replacement when it came out last week. I'm wondering how good the compositing really is.


In the meantime, I'm sure our VFX department will be happy to continue their move towards Nuke. :rolleyes:
 
T

tracedlight

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2009
6
0
After effect's engine is 300% slower

Kilamite said:
After Effects is miles ahead anyway.
Click to expand...

AE is slow slow slow.
It's a huge pile of antiquated code, and it's transfer maths is appalling.
Motion is After Effects' replacement, not a shake replacement.

The sooner AE dies, the sooner the quality of commercials and budget films will increase.
 
clancemasterj

clancemasterj

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2007
161
21
Somewhere outside of time.
tracedlight said:
AE is slow slow slow.
It's a huge pile of antiquated code, and it's transfer maths is appalling.
Motion is After Effects' replacement, not a shake replacement.

The sooner AE dies, the sooner the quality of commercials and budget films will increase.
Click to expand...

I'm confused, do you even know what After Effects does? The last time I checked, Motion is not a compositor.
 
B

bobafett

macrumors newbie
Dec 27, 2002
9
9
Rip

Even though it may be discontinued, many highend production houses still use it. It's still a workhorse and very stable. Many companies have purchased the source code and will still be used for some time. Don't expect Apple to replace it, they are making too much money with consumer products.

RIP Shake.....
 
J

jakovasaur

macrumors newbie
Jan 13, 2008
10
0
Apple killed Shake long ago, when they purchased it. Apple's shroud of secrecy is incompatible with the visual effects industry's need for stability and support. We're used to companies having an open dialog with us about product roadmaps, planned updates, and having access to developers' contracts and other things that make buying 200+ seats of software a less frightening experience.

When Apple bought Shake, the industry jumped ship to Nuke immediately because the only thing Apple would tell us was "no comment" about updates, and wouldn't offer any sort of roadmap. The "you'll know when we release it" mentality may create hype in the consumer sector, but that kinda crap won't cut it when you're making movies. (Final Cut being an exception to that rule, obviously, because of sheer market penetration)
 
S

sigamy

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2003
1,392
181
NJ USA
I'm sure it's no match for Shake but has anyone tried FXhome's CompositeLab Pro? Might be a good alternative for lower end needs...

http://fxhome.com/compositelab/pro

I'm not affilated with fxhome in any way, I just used and enjoyed their AlamDV (EffectsLab) back in the day.
 
Gasu E.

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,034
3,150
Not far from Boston, MA.
jakovasaur said:
Apple killed Shake long ago, when they purchased it. Apple's shroud of secrecy is incompatible with the visual effects industry's need for stability and support. We're used to companies having an open dialog with us about product roadmaps, planned updates, and having access to developers' contracts and other things that make buying 200+ seats of software a less frightening experience.
Click to expand...

True. Running a big company with millions of mass market customers is entirely different from running a company with hundreds of specialty customers. Typically it is hard to manage both kinds of businesses at the same time, as each requires a different kind of internal culture; so clashes and animosities develop that need to be resolved.

Don't blame Apple, though. The real culprits here are the Shake company owners who cashed out. Perhaps they did this because their business was not viable as it stood.
 
O

oddgit

macrumors newbie
Jun 17, 2003
22
3
Apple killed shake years ago. Their lack of support and neglect of the once awesome compositing application is very sad, it also gave its competitor's app Nuke years to catch up and pass it by. Its one less reason for VFX houses ot keep Macs around for the fx artists.
 
THX1139

THX1139

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2006
1,928
0
tracedlight said:
AE is slow slow slow.
It's a huge pile of antiquated code, and it's transfer maths is appalling.
Motion is After Effects' replacement, not a shake replacement.

The sooner AE dies, the sooner the quality of commercials and budget films will increase.
Click to expand...

So... in other words, you don't know what you are talking about?
 
B

blur35mm

Cancelled
Jan 18, 2007
50
0
Crap - Who's Running Things At AAPL?

I really expected a new version of Shake to make it into FCS3 even if only minor enhancements. FCS3 is not a replacement for Shake at all. I must have missed all those other announcements.

Now the Foundry can jack up their prices even higher. :-(

So much for having an all in one solution. FCS is oh so close with 3.0...bundle a new Shake with Logic Pro and you basically would have had everything you need for an entire hollywood quality production studio (supporting Red and Blu Ray now in 3.0) - (minus 3D but they should just buy NewTek and integrate it all together).

Who is running things over there? Hire me to go in there, clean things up and take the market by storm. Sheesh, it is so simple with as much cash as they have on hand.

Cheers-
Blur
 
J

jndub

macrumors newbie
Jul 30, 2009
17
0
Sad but...

Sad but it's basically been dead for the last couple years anyway. The good news is the Foundry seems to be catering to the old Shake crowd by making Nuke look and run a little bit more like shake in the last couple versions. :) I still miss shake but one thing that blew my shake mind with Nuke is that it can actually complete an undo operation correctly!!! Amazing.
 
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