Re: Thank you Apple - and don't change course. Please

[Andrew Richards] "I taught myself FCP, but stuff like AutoCAD and Maya is waaaaay more complex. Full-featured NLEs aren't trivial, but they aren't the most complex software out there by a long shot."

We may be talking about two different things, Andrew. I'm talking about the difficulties in authoring, not in learning/using. As such I'll stand by my claim. NLE's must do a wide variety of tasks for a wide variety of uses and users. They must interface with the analogue world of a wide spectrum of hardware. I can't imagine that any 3D software, as complex as they are to learn and use, is as complex to write. But maybe one of the Adobe engineers who respond to questions here could venture an opinion without bias.

[Andrew Richards] "I guess it depends on your definition of "great", but for OS X's part, the engineers that built it at NeXT went to work at Apple and turned it into OS X, so it isn't like Apple didn't have or doesn't now have top-teir engineering talent. Autodesk didn't develop Smoke, they bought Discreet. After Effects originated outside Adobe. Avid acquired DS. What's the difference?"

A fair point about OSX requiring good engineering ('great' would depend on your pov but I'll grant you that :). Autodesk absorbed the discreet engineering team, but Autocad was almost completely developed in house. Adobe developed PremierePro completely in house. But point out a 'major' app (other than OSX)that Apple developed from the ground up.

[Andrew Richards] " Premiere Pro has yet to achieve the same cachet (and it looks like it will soon)"

It seems Adobe is fully committed to competing at the high end. I think we'll see some good uptake this year and when their media management rivals Avid's they'll be well positioned.

David
AllinOneFilms.com