I think this thread has been one of the most depressing I have ever read on
the Avid-L
For a group of forward thinking industry leading creatives and engineers I
do not for one second understand the Luddite sentiments expressed.
When the BBC first transmitted news on television they did so in audio only
as it felt images would detract from the gravitas of reportage. People
wanted pictures.
In the UK our first high definition tv service was 405 line television. The
dual transmitted 405 line so as not to upset set owners until Jan 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG52HcgKaD4
But people wanted colour.
Someone in this thread tried to say that flat screen only took off because
manufacturers could pack more in a container ship. Which is totally untrue.
People wanted flat screens. The aesthetic of flat screens appeared in the
last generation of CRTs. People no longer wanted goldfish bowl curved
screens in the design oriented and square 80s, even light switches lost
their rounded corners and became more angular. Sharp lines became hip and
modern.
But more importantly people wanted bigger tvs. Remember rear projection?
Boxes half the size of a car so dim you had to draw the curtains. People
like big screens.
But it turns out most movies are not tv shaped so a wider aspect ratio was
wanted at home. 16:9 was suggested as the best shape to overlay all the
existing film and tv ratios with least wasted screen space and people
wanted it. We all know how bad the first plasmas were compared to our
grade one trinitrons but we wanted them anyway if we are honest. Especially
when they were 42 inch and we were stuck at 20.
But it wasn't all an erosion of quality. DVD landed at about the same time
and for the first time the general public heard about component video. From
being a complex video engineer problem we suddenly started to hear about
colour difference signals and YUV in pubs and taxis. 'Hey you guys do video
in there why is component so much better than composite' was a question I'd
be repeatedly asked leaving work at 2 in the morning in a cab. It was fun
and I loved it. (I generally left out the 8 field sequence and simplified
it to it does a lot less stuff to the original signal.)
People saw a Pixar movie on their first component driven screen and they
wanted it. Never mind that it was 2-3 times the cost of any tv they ever
had, the picture quality was worth it.
Next came HD. Combined with Blue Ray and HDMI people got their first taste
of digital video. It didn't hurt that the demo disk was Charlie's Angels
either. People saw Cameron Diaz in 1920x1080 and they wanted it. And the tv.
Its easy as pros to poo poo advances and say things like 'when they can
deliver the full quality of my RGB monitor to the home then I'll be happy'
but in reality the last few years has seen home viewing quality move out of
all relationship to the past. Someone here said look at people's home tvs
and you'll be horrified' and I agree but the average HD monitor is
infinitely better quality than the average CRT was with a red gun that died
3 years ago.
People care about picture quality. They really do. As pros we might care
more but its not just marketing hype that drives people to buy more mega
pixels than they need. Its a desire to document their lives and their
experiences with as much fidelity as possible. Its a desire to get as close
to the experience of being there at a sporting event on their 55 inch
plasma. Its a desire for an immersive entertainment experience. And for
that folks you can never have too many pixels or too big a TV. You can
never have too big a tv or too much money.
Its made me sad to hear smart people here saying 'I'll never need to edit
4K'. Well you don't actually need to edit HD. AVR70 is perfectly good for
editing decisions it is after all 'broadcast quality'. Im particularly sad
to hear 'tv manufacturers just want to move product' because whilst at some
fundamental business level thats true I'm pretty sure thats not what drives
the engineers when developing new technology. From spinning disks to Philo
and his brother in law blowing glass to shadow mask and trinitron, plasma,
OLED, LCDs and onwards display technology has been a constant unbroken line
of technological leaps the like of which has not been seen in many other
industries. 4K is just the next step down that path.
Since my heart surgery I've taken a step back from features and now run a
tiny post house in Bangkok. I ONLY make tv commercials so its easy for me
compared to people struggling with days and days of media, but I cut
everything 2K. I offline edit in Avid or FCP from the original media or HD
prores if its an awkward 5K Red shoot or Phantom. I then pull the selects
and grade in Baselight taking rec 709 linear DPX files back to Smoke 2012
to online. And effects tend to happen in Nuke and any graphics get done in
After Effects. I have a totally linear online workflow.
4K is coming and I for one eagerly await next NAB and the 4K monitors.
Everything else in my building is already specced for 4K, my 16 drive raids
can deliver, my Kona 3g cards can deliver. My SDI cabling can handle it. I
fully expect to be at minimum online editing 4K only by the end of next
year. And so will you all.
As for delivery... broadcast TV is finished. Its been finished for a long
time. Massively compressed out of sync cable cannot compete with Netflix
and their 'hey watch them all once' business model. People want to know how
a show ends and they won't wait until the next episode any more, DVD series
on disk have forever changed viewing habits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ukYf_xvgc
Progress goes one direction, AVR3, AVR70, AVR77 and on - why are we
collectively now saying we want to stop improving quality?
If I was asked what I want I'd say 8K, 32 bit float, RGB and yes for the
kids 60fps (this 48fps nonsense is just a halfway house to Showscan) AND
stereo support. With 7.1 sound. And metadata.
At the end of the day I'm with Barry Stevens, I'm glad my career lasted
from composite analogue vtrs to float images off compact flash cards. I've
enjoyed the ride and I'm looking forward as eagerly to the next leap as the
ones we've all taken so far. Come on guys, get on board.
Mike
On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 11:36 PM, Terence Curren <tcurren@aol.com> wrote:
> **
>
>
> --- In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, owen <owen@...> wrote:
>
> "With all that power, you'll be able to do things like seamlessly edit
> full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the
> background"
>
> I can't wait to see how you are going to do that over thunderbolt. And
> what type of drive array you will need.
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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