Re: The SuperApp? A current Smoke user's take...

Thanks so much for your response.

[David Jahns] "Jeremy - there is actually quite an extensive audio toolset. But quite honestly, since I've been doing picture finishing, I haven't really touched it, I just load in mixes done from ProTools."

Typically, we do too, but clients are so crazy these days that they want to see something that is ALMOST finished, and so we need some audio tools (don't have to the best audio tools) to clean things up and do a really nicely roughed mix. As long as their's some audio tools/filters I don't need a ProTools set. We part that out as well via OMF, typically.

[David Jahns] "No XML/AAF - even though Autodesk has been positioning Smoke as an Editor, they haven't positioned it as an offline editor"

Yes. Actually I don't necessarily want to use it as an offline editor. I realize that my workflow is weird, but there are times when I would bring footage in to Smoke and key it, or do other things, and then I need to part that slice of the timeline out to other After Effects users that are offsite. I do this now with FCP7, Automatic Duck and After Effects. I usually end up sending the AE artists a project/compositions with rendered handles. This way, our timelines stay relatively matched for timing. The AE users really seem to like it. Once I get the media back from them, I then put their rendered media in my timeline.

So I would still use SMoke to finish, but I would need to get edited /layered pieces (and not necessarily flattened movies/DPX). Also, having interchange means that I won't have to be locked to one application. Call me paranoid.

[David Jahns] "Grading - here's an example. You do a primary grade, then want to highlight an actors face as he moves through the shot. In Resolve, that's like 3 clicks of the mouse & sliders (or knobs/buttons!) - I've literally seen it done in 10-15 seconds. In Smoke, that means doing the primary grade, then stepping out of the grading module, duplicating media (or adding adjustment layer) on the layer above it, drawing a mask (no quick & easy oval preset), tracking the mask (hoping it tracks well on a face, not a given), and then rendering. So, maybe it's a 2 minute process. Does it look just as good? Sure. "

And that sounds pretty good, actually. Color's tracker is not too awesome, as I'm sure you know. I do use a lot of keys (hsl), though to qualify skin tones and other elements that need it. The nodal method in Color allows keys, and then you can set node "grades" on those that are usually comprised of all the different parts of the primary/secondary. It doesn't work like the rest of Color at all, but it is supremely powerful. I was hoping that Smoke would have similar capability. We are also an AJA shop, so Resolve isn't fitting for us at the moment.

[David Jahns] "But then the client says, "Ok, that's good - let's try a different look..." Here's where even Apple Color is superior. Click Add New Grade - try out new things, easily switch between Grade 1, 2, 3, or 4. Smoke would require a lot more management to be able to quickly show a client 4 different looks. You can save "setups" and even "sub-setups", but doing all of this quickly is challenging. Maybe this will get faster/easier with connect FX, but a dedicated app is DESIGNED for this exact thing, and it's crazy to think an "everything" can be the absolute best at everything. "

I totally agree. I have been very interested in someone giving an "all-in-one" an honest go, and I am one of the people that would really like to stay with OSX. Call me naive and boring, but it's just the way it is. Obviously, it can't be absolutely great at everything. That's too much to ask. I do like that Autodesk is thinking that these "lower power" computers might just work in a professional environment. I really enjoyed your comment about how your clients don't ask about what application you are working on. Mostly, that's my experience as well. They just want the job done at a big quality.

I don't need anything to be a real time super beast. I've never had one, and honestly don't need really need one. I do need decently powerful and controllable tools to get the job done, but not everything has to happen in real time. If Autodesk is thinking that a new iMac or MacBookPro with fast storage is good enough, I am listening.

[David Jahns] "I usually work on 30-120 second pieces, and for this kind of short form work, I still find it much faster to work entirely in Smoke, rather than round tripping and segmenting the workflow into different phases. That being said, for something longer - a 10 minute film that primarily needs grading, not FX & compositing - for that, I might still use Color, and either finish directly in FCP, or grade in Color, then send to Smoke for finishing - or maybe just send a few shots to Smoke if that's all that's needed."

Yep. Can't wait to check this out!

Thanks again for writing this all up.

Jeremy