Re: FCPX Trumps Avid

[Walter Soyka] "How about looking at the question of NLE platform attracting clients another way. Among discerning clients seeking post-production services (not full-service, end-to-end production), which ones of these statements would they like most to hear?
"We'll be cutting your project on an Avid in our fully-equipped suite."
"We'll be cutting your project on FCP7 in our fully-equipped suite."
"We'll be cutting your project on FCPX in our fully-equipped suite."
"

See you and raise you... (if you'll allow a string bet)

The story...

Through a friend of a friend you secure an amazingly talented singer/songwriter to appear at your companies year end party.

Unfortunately we haven't the budget to rent a wonderful piano that night, all that's available is the cheap piano in the lounge.

So do you tell the entertainer the deal's off? 10 out of 10 times the answer is no.

You know the talent isn't in the tool, and you expect that while someone who's good at what they do might have a "preference" for a particular tool - the tool and the talent are separate things.

So if thats true (and it largely is) then this concept starts out with little persuasive power. We're arguing mis-perceptions, not something that truly sets the skills of pros and amateurs apart.

As long as the editor knows how to push the buttons, they can edit on anything. Just as a person who knows how to press the keys on a Steinway can also rock on a Casio.

The point is that clients who hire something like "general editing" based on tools rather than talent are all too often just playing games. People who really understand the truth know that unless there's a specific capability that's not present in a specific tool (which is the most solid argument against X at this point, IMO) - then the software you cut on is a, very, very minor piece of the puzzle. Yes, pros often use the finest tools. But not always. And nobody argues that ELTON JOHN with a lousy bar piano can't entertain rings around you or me or anyone else we know sitting at a Steinway.

"What do you cut on?" is one of the classic trigger phrases that I'm dealing with a newbie and need to consider doubling my rate if I take a gig, because their brain isn't on THEIR job - which is assessing the editor's talent and capabilities - but rather than impressing themselves with their "insider" knowledge.

In truth, I can't remember the last "serious" client who even knows what software I use. (But I can name a number of non-pros - including all my kids friends, half the still photogs I know, and even my dentist, who have an "opinion" on Avid, vs Adobe vs X!)

The above is not always true. And I freely admit that sometimes tools are an indicator of an artists abilities - but, IMO, that is neither universal, dependable, nor even a very smart standard in a world where yesterday's expensive rare tool is regularly supplanted by tools that cost much less, but are every bit as professional - Final Cut Pro Legacy being a prime example, after all.

FWIW.

"Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions."-Justice O'Connor