On Thu, 19 Oct 2000 15:36:57 -1000, dean@dcsmedia.com (Dean Sensui) wrote:

>The point of all this commotion is that there are probably a lot of others
>who are reading this thread, trying to get a handle on the nature of FCP.
>
>Healthy debate is a good thing. But most of all, getting accurate
>impressions of the product across is of great concern to all who have
>posted information supporting FCP.
>
>For someone like me, who already own a Media 100 system, it would be
>against my best interest to advertise a system that costs 1/8 of what I'd
>invested to get started. To put someone on the right path at a fraction of
>the cost -- and incur additional competition -- would seem counter
>productive.
>
>However, I was so impressed by what I saw that it's worth noting. Having
>software like FCP around would only add to my own capabilities. After all,
>the real competition in what I do comes in craftsmanship, not low prices.
>
>So to anyone who has read this long combative thread: Is FCP really good
>enough for broadcast? Yes, if you shoot content worth broadcasting. And is
>it worth buying? Certainly. It provides excellent value for the dollar.
>Nothing else comes close in terms of ease of setup and simplicity. Be
>warned -- there is a steep learning curve. You will have to invest in a
>few books other than the user manual. You will have to spend time getting
>acquainted with the system and you could well be faced with the usual bugs
>and problems that plagues anything involving high technology. But the
>reward is being able to work with a setup that can become transparent to
>the creative process -- at a price point that's much lower than other
>comparative systems.

I don't understand this point of view, since it ignores even
cheaper, even more intuitive, even faster-rendering, even
more versatile systems which were around before FCP, and
which until recently had better CODECs for less error in
the rendered video (and therefore were even a bit more
"broadcast" ready than FCP...). The myopia of the Mac
crowd (and their odd clinging to their more expensive
and less able editing solution in the face of evidence of
the existence of other more able and less expensive systems)
does truly amaze me... Anyway, enough said on all this
(use whatever you like, of course!) - but one cannot
help observing that the power of belief over evidence
can be truly amazing... ;-)