Anyone know anything about Wax? My tech guy is trying to get me try it out to possibly avoid purchasing the Adobe Suite. Not off to a good start - the thing is already shutting down when I try to import!
(Incase you couldn't tell, I'm hoping for negative feedback so I can tell him we need Adobe stuff! :) I guess I'll take positive feedback too... if there is any!)
Re: Wax? by Dave LaRonde on Jan 29, 2008 at 4:57:22 pm
What on earth is Wax? Who makes it? What does this software do... or more appropriately, what is it supposed to do? And just for the heck of it, what's a ballpark figure for what it costs?
Please understand, I have no knowledge about it. But even so, I smell a rat. I think your IT guy is trying to palm some limited-capability freebie or shareware software off on you so he doesn't strain his budget.
If that's true, you can anticipate nothing but trouble down the road. Bad trouble.
Run away from WAX!! by Dave LaRonde on Jan 29, 2008 at 5:56:10 pm
Thanks to Steve's link, I now have limited knowledge of Wax. But it's enough. The following is from the Wax web site:
Currently Wax can work as a plug-in with Sony Vegas®, Pure Motion EditStudio and Adobe Premiere® and work for integrating with various other NLEs is in progress....
Distributed as freeware for business or personal use....
Input formats : AVI, WAV, all popular image formats.
Output formats : AVI, MPEG, WAV, Flash, all popular image formats.
(AVI and WAV formats support compressed audio too, using Audio Codecs installed in your PC).
Do not touch this dog with a ten-foot pole! Want some reasons?
• Anything that works as a Plugin to Premiere is just that: a plugin, and not a full-ffeatured application. Besides, if you're going to get Premiere, you might as well get the appropriate Adobe Creative Suite applications, too. Of course, the IT guy might also have some lame freebie editing application in mind for you, too.
• Do you know of any training materials for this grunion beyond a very lame user forum? Compare that to the help you get on After Effects user forums... like the COW. Compare it to the volumes of AE training materials.
• Can it handle Quicktime? I don't think so, which means you've seriously hamstrung youself.
• I wonder what they mean by "all popular image formats". If they ain't listing them, it's because it's a darned short list.
• Do you want to limit your capability to share animation projects to a small group of guppies who bit on using this turkey? Or would you like to share projects with a user base of professionals?
• Can you get any necessary third-party plugins for it? Oh, wait... this Wax IS a third-party plugin! Well, I guess that ain't happenin....
• I didn't see any photoshop-style blending modes (aka transfer modes) in the oh-so-extensive Wax tutorials. That's a problem.
• Similarly, I didn't see any way to modify the speed of a video file.
• In addition to Wax, what other software would you have? A freebie photoshop wannabe? A freebie Illustrator wannabe? A freebie Audition wannabe? A freebie Encore Wannabe? Please.
• Do you want to stake your job on FREEWARE?
Well, I could go on, but time doesn't permit. Tell your IT guy to go soak his head. He's cheaping out on you, and YOU will be the one who suffers, not him. This guy's so tight, it's a wonder he doesn't squeak when he walks! Tell him to wake up and use what the rest of the civilized world uses.
I don't know if I can say it any plainer:DO NOT LET YOUR IT GUY TALK YOU INTO RELYING ON THIS WAX TURKEY.
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Sarah Hemp on Jan 29, 2008 at 6:06:01 pm
Haha! I think I got your point, Dave! :) I think our IT guy just wanted to make sure there isn't a viable alternative. I didn't think there would be anything good to say about Wax... Thanks for your pointed arguments - I'll be sure to use them if needed!
Sarah Hemp
Graphic Designer
The Collaborative Inc
www.thecollaborativeinc.com
Now in the COW Magazine: Commercials. A look at the history, strategy, techniques and production workflows of successful commercials. All brought to you by some of the COW's brightest members. Accept no substitutes!
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Sarah Hemp on Jan 29, 2008 at 7:46:03 pm
Believe me, I would have a Mac if it were my call. I have one at home... no video software, though. Unfortunately, because I am the graphic designer in the office & architects have to have their PCs & we have to be all on the same system... well, here I am stuck on one.
What's your alternative, just out of curiosity? (Not that switching to a Mac would be any cheaper than buying the Adobe package! But how I would love a miracle reason that I just MUST switch to a Mac!)
Sarah Hemp
Graphic Designer
The Collaborative Inc
www.thecollaborativeinc.com
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Dave LaRonde on Jan 29, 2008 at 7:59:52 pm
This isn't exactly a MUST migrate situation. But Motion, a part of Apple's Final Cut Suite, does a lot of the same things After Effects does.
Plus you get Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro (audio), DVD Studio Pro, Cinema Tools (good for conforming footage to new frame rates, removing 3:2 pulldown from 29.97 film transfers... both of which AE does) and Color, a confusing color correction and color grading application.
I happen to have a choice between AE and Motion, and I prefer working in AE whenever possible.
If you're of the mind that the Windows world is something akin to the Evil Empire, please be aware that Apple-land isn't much different at all in that regard. The big difference: Apple does have a nice, benign image, so I guess their advertising and PR is better.
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Ron Lindeboom on Jan 29, 2008 at 8:03:53 pm
[Sarah Hemp]"But how I would love a miracle reason that I just MUST switch to a Mac!"
I am not sure such a reason exists but I can give you a reason that it would be a good thing to use what they have: that is that jobs are hard to find nowadays and if you appear uncooperative, they will likely replace you before they replace their trusted hardware.
None of this stuff is perfect and as Dave LaRonde just said, things aren't all that different on the Apple side of the line -- well, except for the better marketing that he alludes to.
Now in the COW Magazine: Commercials. A look at the history, strategy, techniques and production workflows of successful commercials. All brought to you by some of the COW's brightest members. Accept no substitutes!
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Sarah Hemp on Jan 29, 2008 at 8:11:24 pm
Darn. :) No good excuses to switch. You guys are right, there isn't much difference between the 2 environments anymore... which is why I haven't been able to convince IT guy that I need a Mac. I run Adobe's print & web software and aside from the not-quite-as-pretty interfaces, I haven't noticed any difference - except retraining my fingers to hit the right shortcuts. I'm just a loyalist I guess... it's what I learned on.
However, I need to upgrade my home machine & I'm actually considering coming over to the dark side. Gasp! (For $2Gs more... it's hard to be loyal.)
Sarah Hemp
Graphic Designer
The Collaborative Inc
www.thecollaborativeinc.com
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Darby Edelen on Jan 29, 2008 at 8:42:22 pm
[Sarah Hemp]"However, I need to upgrade my home machine & I'm actually considering coming over to the dark side. Gasp! (For $2Gs more... it's hard to be loyal.)"
Unless you're building your own PC, your savings shouldn't be anywhere near $2,000 for a comparable system.
If your PC were $2,000 less than an iMac, for example, that could mean it's as cheap as -$800... Are they paying you to take it off their hands? (;
There may be a lot of details in the Mac Pros that you might feel are unnecessary for your purposes. In which case you can definitely build a PC that's better than an iMac for significantly less money than a Mac Pro... but it also probably won't have the extras that the Mac Pro does: 2 quad-core server class 64-bit processors, room for 32GB of 800Mhz DDR2 RAM, SAS options, PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot.
Looking on NewEgg I actually couldn't find any motherboards that would support the Mac Pro's specs... but maybe I missed something. And again, do you really need Serial Attached SCSI? =)
Darby Edelen Designer Left Coast Digital Santa Cruz, CA
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Steve Roberts on Jan 29, 2008 at 8:56:04 pm
It usually comes down to the apps. Do you want Final Cut Pro? 3D Studio Max? Many apps are cross-platform, but some aren't, so you have to choose the app before the platform in a lot of cases. In the 3D scene, a lot of plugins aren't available for the Mac -- 3D is heavily Windows.
In terms of costs, it's almost always more expensive to switch than to stay, because you have to buy for the new platform, so I don't counsel people to switch, generally.
Re: Run away from WAX!! by Darby Edelen on Jan 30, 2008 at 2:52:58 am
[Justin Parker]"You gotta check out the server motherboard section on Newegg... that's where the 32Gig Ram monsters are kept. :)"
I found some server motherboards with slots for 32GB of RAM, but not many... And none of them had a PCI 2.0 Express slot as well as a 1600Mhz FSB. I'm sure they're out there, but I don't know where to find them =)
Darby Edelen Designer Left Coast Digital Santa Cruz, CA
Re: Run away from WAX!! by lightning ad on Jan 30, 2008 at 3:43:27 am
there is no real reason you can't use a mac in a pc environment. The only reason is usually that IT guys are afraid of the new shiny pretty things that don't need constant attention just to keep them from self destructing. They see a more stable and user oriented machine that just works straight out the box and they panic.
I have 4 macs in a company of pc users. I refuse to use anything else. For me its the right tool for the job. I tell the IT guy what i need not the other way around....after all, i doubt he would ask my advice when buying networking software.
In fact thats not quite true....i don't let the IT guy anywhere near my system, and he seems quite glad about it. I have seen too many IT guys misuse and abuse macs through pure ignorance to risk having them involved.
