Newbies, should we shake or wait for Phenomenon
by audioeditor
on
May 21, 2007 at 10:09:15 pm
We are just gettng started with FCP and in fact FCP Studio2. I've heard that Shake is discontinued and will probably be replaced by Phenomenon. Should we just wait for the newer program and not try to start with something that won't be upgraded?
Re: Newbies, should we shake or wait for Phenomenon by Burt Hazard on May 29, 2007 at 1:45:28 pm
Good question...if it's something you don't need right away you could wait until "Phenomenon" (or whatever the eventual program will be called) ships. I think it's reasonable to guess that when the new program appears, it will have Apple's signature streamlined GUI (probably still with a "compositing gray" background, though) and be (somewhat, at least) easier to use, as well as incorporating a lot of Motion technology as well.
Personally though, I can recommend buying Shake right now. The actual heart of Shake with its nodal structure is core to the compositing work flow, i.e., it is similar to other compositing apps in its approach (Digital Fusion, Combustion, Flame, Nuke, etc.). Last year I had to work on a video retrospective for a club I had belonged to and incorporated, among other things, a dimensional doorway and a "transporter/teleporter" effect that I did in Motion, as well as a glowing rock effect that I did using the roto abilities of Commotion, and I realized that I although I hadn't done those type of effects in a while, I truly enjoy compositing work. Right at about this time Apple dropped the Mac OS X version of Shake to $500, and to me it was a total no-brainer, so I bought it. So not only am I using it in real projects, I am probably getting about $20,000 worth of training (or whatever) from the Shake books and the Gnomon training DVDs! :)
Re: Newbies, should we shake or wait for Phenomenon by lightning ad on Jun 10, 2007 at 11:45:13 am
the other thing to realise is that just because it is no longer being developed, it does not become redundant the instant a replacement appears.
There is no built in self destruct that says you must sit back, watch the pretty explosion then go spend another heap of money for the next latest thing.
Buy it, use it, learn it and start earning from it. Its a great tool for compositing, and when used in conjunction with the other software you already have (Motion 3, FCP6 at least) then you will be working with equipment that many of us pro users are using on a daily basis to create much of the material you see on the box . Of course, you will need to learn it to do impressive stuff, but thats the same situation with any software (including the new unreleased wonderstuff on the horizon).
The miracles will come from experience, not from buying the new toys. Jump in and start creating.
Re: Newbies, should we shake or wait for Phenomenon by Mel Matsuoka on Jun 19, 2007 at 7:09:03 am
Call me a pessimist, but I don't have the highest hopes that there will ever be a next generation "Shake" or "Phenomenon" in the near future.
The fact that Ron Brinkmann--one of the original developers of Shake, no longer works on the Shake dev. team (which was reevealed this past NAB), and now works for The Foundry on the Nuke product, doesn't exactly instill confidence that Apple wants to continue to spend a lot of time developing high end compositing software.
Now that we're seeing parts of Shake being cannibalized for FCP and Motion in FCS2, I would hazard to guess that they have truly killed Shake forever, and is now making leftover turkey sandwiches out of the best parts of the codebase for the larger market of FCP and Motion users.
Re: Newbies, should we shake or wait for Phenomenon by Eric Meek on Jul 9, 2008 at 1:14:57 pm
your wrong. Apple will release a new comp app. It will be a surprise. Maybe 2009. It will have the best of both worlds of motion and shake, It will be layer AND nodel based. Trust me guys its gonna be everything shake was and more. Id say pricing will be about 1000 bucks.
