Does switching tools have to be an end all situation? If you don't like the next iteration of FCP, why does that mean you have to feel like it's the end of the world for you?
To borrow a situation from another industry that could be construed as similar to what's going here in our industry...
My photographer colleagues have switched between Nikon and Canon a number of times throughout the course of their careers and we're talking thousands of dollars in camera bodies and lenses and brand dependent accessories. If this year, Nikon has the best lenses and camera bodies, then that's what they will use to beat out their competitors who stuck with last year's Canons. And next year, when Canon comes out with the better cameras and lenses, they will switch back. Why? Because their business is to capture the absolute best photo possible. Newspapers, magazines and even videos don't care what camera they used to capture the image. They just care that the image tells their story.
What's killing the "pro" photographers isn't the expense of their gear so much as the dwindling "pro" places to sell their images to as well as the increase in competition from "so-called" digital pro photographers. Pretty much anyone can capture an amazing image nowadays with the advance in digital technology and photography. The only real factor going for the "pro" photographers is the fact that they know how to get those amazing shots, time and time again.
Back to our industry...
I really think the angry outburst about Apple changing our mainstay tool on us is really just an excuse to rant and rave and vent our pent up feelings about the sad state of our industry as a whole.
Nobody likes to change a workflow after they spent any amount time developing it, problem solving it, and executing it. It doesn't matter if the market demands it, the FCC demands it, or technology out-dates it.
As an editor, do I care about how the consumer will "pay" to see my video/film? No. My job is just to make the video/film engaging, entertaining, etc. without regard to how much the consumer will pay. As an editor, I'm also not concerned about color and sound because there is an established work flow and people who have jobs dedicated to doing those tasks, too.
But for the guys, those clients of ours, who's job it is to sell to those finicky consumers, the finished video/film is the only thing that matters. They don't care how we made it, how much time it took, how many people were involved, or what tools we used. They're only concerned with the final cost and how much they can make off of it.
The internet is one of many issues that is directly affecting and impacting the "established" ways of doing business in the film and TV industry. You can try and fight it stick to what you have developed and worked for you in the past or you can try and figure out how to adapt to it. And the first step is to define what the "IT" is that is really affecting the profitability of your business.
I strongly believe based on everything that I have seen Apple do, both the good and the bad, the successes and the flops, that Apple is trying to figure out how to adapt and even pioneer. What Apple did to the mp3 market with the iPod and iTunes is a barebones idea of what I hope they will do for the film/TV industry in the sense of removing old bottlenecks, reducing cost of entry and overall cost production, and by introducing slick hardware and software that will inspire us to create great content.
In the mean time, I will continue to use the appropriate tools for the job. Software that I use include FCP, After Effects, Logic, Garageband, iPhoto, Aperture, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Notepad, Office, InDesign, and an assortment of plug-ins. Hardware that I use include a 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro, a 3.05 GHz iMac, a 2.8 GHz MacPro, a Core2 Duo custom built PC, a Canon 5D Mk II, a KiPro, a Panasonic P2 video camera, Sennheiser 100 G2 wireless camera mic system, a Sennheiser boom mic, a Bogen carbon fiber 190CX with a 3030 head, a bogen micro fluid head, a $100 LED video light, a photogenic 1250 DR, Photoflex softboxes, reflectors, stands, sand bags and anything else that I need to purchase or rent to get the job done that my client has hired me to do.
Best wishes!
) open for those that still need it.)
