Thoughts on Autodesk Smoke 2013?

[WestSt]

Autodesk revealed the new Smoke for Mac 2013 at NAB.

I'm a hobbyist, and even though I spent $1000 on FCS2 way back (still what I use), and have spent thousands more on hardware and gear, I've always had the principal that my hobby should be as low budget as possible (toddlers, wife, house, car etc. all cost a lot ). But looking at this, and also seeing the new price point, I'm actually considering going crazy with my hobby budget again. The possibilities in one app - WOW!

I've dabbled with the Smoke for Mac 2012 trial some months back, and it had quite the learning curve! But at the end of the 30 days, and with FCP hotkeys enabled, I actually started getting to grips with it.

With Smoke 2013 it seems they have addressed the two major issues though: Price (2012 was over $15 000!), and UI (the main barrier coming from FCP for me).

So Pro's, is this what you've been missing since 2007/FCS3?

 

[mBox]

Probably wait another year or two cause it might drop even more in price.
They've done it in the past with prev Autodesk products and p*ssed off a lot of dedicated users
I have done the demo three times in the last two years, they would have had to really trim the fat to make it closer to my speed with After Effects and similar apps.

 

[cgbier]

It is what we have been missing since the too early death of Shake. Smoke is the long awaited Phenomenon (IMHO).

Do you really need it?

 

[mBox]

It is what we have been missing since the too early death of Shake. Smoke is the long awaited Phenomenon (IMHO).

Do you really need it?

thats kinda what I was going with. I dont work with top end film so Im not the target for Smoke. the closest app we use (love) is Maya. that app I would rather beat my brains over than Smoke.

 

[WestSt]

Probably wait another year or two cause it might drop even more in price.
They've done it in the past with prev Autodesk products and p*ssed off a lot of dedicated users
I have done the demo three times in the last two years, they would have had to really trim the fat to make it closer to my speed with After Effects and similar apps.

It is what we have been missing since the too early death of Shake. Smoke is the long awaited Phenomenon (IMHO).

Do you really need it?

You both are referring to compositors (Shake and AE). I was actually thinking more in line of this being the first true all-in-one app - including for editing. IMO 2012 is not half bad for editing, when you get used to it. Now they are saying Smoke 2013 is leaps and bounds better then Smoke 2012 for editing. It´s one of the main things they have addressed. Remains to be seen, but if it´s true, then it would be the first real all-in-one, right?

Anyways, you are right. Wait a year or two is probably a good idea, for several reasons. After soon to be a decade in FCP/FCS, I just find myself wanting something new - you probably know how it is A couple of years, and my hardware is also closer to its EOL cycle as well. Might be a good time to do a total renewal of my editing setup

 

[cgbier]

it would be the first real all-in-one, right?

That'd been Phenomenon.... that's why I mentioned it.

Smoke is out of my price range for the moment, sadly a very long moment... but it looks very impressive.

Isn't it amazing that the hardware requirements are going down in some new video apps?

 

[WestSt]

Isn't it amazing that the hardware requirements are going down in some new video apps?

Yeah, when I installed Smoke 2012 on my MBP, and it actually worked (despite warnings I'd read), I was baffled. Even took a while for the fan to kick in, when I started CC some HD ProRes! And Smoke2013 is actually being demonstrated on an iMac and MBP at NAB

 

[Zwhaler]

This looks like a really powerful program, I'd love to switch to Smoke 2013, even more so than to Adobe or Avid, this could be the next killer app.

 

[mBox]

Yea but Im sure itll kill most beefed up Mac Pro'

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Im sure itll kill most beefed up Mac Pro's once you get into R3D/footage above 2K