Re: Smoke: A Journey and a Look Ahead

Hi Shane - thanks for your comments.

Sure, I like Smoke and am excited about the version, but a Smoke-PR-Koolaid piece? My whole piece was pretty much, "it's very good, but it still has its' challenges." Have you seen any of the other recent Smoke articles on the web? ;-)

Yes, I meant to mention Avid DS in the early stages of consideration when I was also looking at Scratch, etc. To be perfectly honest, I was quite curious about it, but in the hundreds of finish sessions we have done at facilities in LA & NY, I've never actually come across one. Maybe that's "not getting out much" - but it does seem kind of invisible in the circles I roll in.

Without a Mac version, there was no way to try it in our shop or "ease into it" the way I did with Smoke/Mac/Kona. And the reviews of DS that I did find were a pretty mixed bag. If we were an all-Avid shop, it might have been easier to give it serious consideration.

And my "better Color Corrector than any NLE" statement was obviously meant to compare to the standard packages of FCP, Avid, Premiere, etc... I doubt most people consider Avid DS in that category.

But you've been a vocal DS supporter here at the Cow, so I'm curious to hear your take:

Why has Avid never ported it to the Mac?
Why isn't Avid offering crossgrades to DS instead of Symphony?
If it's as awesome as you say, and it's not terribly expensive, why has DS never really taken off?

I don't mean these to be snarky comments - I'm genuinely interested in your take, and why DS isn't more widespread in the pro video world.

David Jahns
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Joint Editorial
Portland, OR