Re: Smoke: A Journey and a Look Ahead

great Article
I too would like to see the XML export option, even if it doesn't include Composite clips. (really, those should be colored B4 being comped together, or, the entire comp exported as a new clip to be colored as a whole.)

I'd also like to see compatibility with the BMD card. then my Avid/Smoke/Resolve system would be 100% functional, and no work-arounds needed.

that being said, at the studio i used to work for, we switched to smoke for many of the reason you state as questions..

offline editing. well, not so much for reality, but film work, should be just fine, as it can handle tons of clips, and organization. i'd say my typical load was around 1500 clips, (then add in Stereo as well). Smoke performed Awesomely (is that a word?) i can't say enough of the power at your fingertips..

And after 18 months of using Smoke, i still feel like i was only using 10% of the tool.. it's soo deep in what you can do with it.

Conforming from both Avid and FCP was a huge issue as well, smoke made it super easy, and now with PPro exported proper xml files, add in another..

Tracking is steller compared to the Avid finishing tool, and, because Mocha is not a point tracker, will beat it any day for that type of track. As well, Smoke cannot do Planar tracking..

And as for compositing, with Smoke in your Computer, you won't need Nuke or Shake or AE (except for AE plugins, the capabilities are all there. So i'm hoping Connect FX is as powerful as Batch, just renamed for user friendly-ness.