In the grand scheme of things, this is hardy an earth shattering issue – it’s just software.

But if you use video editing software as part of your work as I do, it means having to make some decisions about the future investment in this particular software.

I’ve been editing for a long time. I actually remember the first time I cut a piece of audio tape and spliced it back together back at CKDM in Dauphin.  It was 1972.

I worked with some of the very first non-linear audio editing software packages – all of them flakey and buggy compared to what we have today.   I used pretty much every audio editing tool made until I settled on Pro Tools.

When I started editing video I was interested in desktop PC based solutions rather than the expensive production house alternatives. I started with Premiere on the PC, then switched to Final Cut Pro on the Mac.  All that to say that I’m an early adopter and look forward to using the latest, newest tools available to me.  And I’m willing to put up with a bit of uncertainty if the benefits outweigh the risks.

I’ve been using Final Cut for 6 or 7 years now. I like it very much.  Even my kids, in grades 8 and 11 , prefer to use Final Cut over iMovie for their school projects because sharing data is easier, and Final Cut provides the right kind of control over editing.

Like a lot of people, I have been looking forward to a long overdue update to Final Cut – mostly to improve speed and file management.   When Final Cut Pro X was finally unveiled this week, I was excited to discover they’ve made huge leaps in performance and really improved file management.

But I’m mightily disappointed.

Without getting any further into the debate, it simply is taking things in the wrong direction;  I can’t use my existing Final Cut projects with it, I can’t easily export audio for post production, and it’s taken too many of the control features out of my hands.

It’s possible that Apple will restore some of the things it has taken out of the software, but for me, this is simply a matter of making a decision based on my business needs.

Like any decision, I try to ‘read the signs’ to see where things are going.  All I have to go on is what Apple has done, and what it says it will do, with the software.

The signs aren’t good.

The two main issues for me are collaboration and backward compatibility.

Making it more difficult (or expensive) for me to export audio for post production is a major deal.  Because I’m an audio editor as well as a video editor, I always treat and master my audio in another program and then pull it back into Final Cut.  With the new version, in order to do that,  I’ll need a plug-in that itself costs twice as much as the Final Cut upgrade.  It’s more steps, more software, more money, more hassle.

Secondly, there’s the issue of backward compatibility.

This may seem like a small matter, but it’s huge.

Not being able to work with older content means keeping 2 versions of the software on my machine to ensure that I can work on older files down the road if I need to.  Eventually that need may disappear, but at least in the immediate future – say 2 or 3 years – it’s critical I am able to work on those old files.

So that means keeping both the old and new versions of Final Cut running. I’m generally trying to reduce the number of types of software I use, not increase it.

Having to maintain and manage 2 versions of the same software just to be able to do my work is annoying. Plus, none of the effects plugins I have bought and used over the years will work with the new version.

If I’m going to have to spend more money just to use the software in the way I want, and I’m going to have to manage 2 versions, then I need to seriously think about switching to something else.

Do I want to do that.  No.

Is it a good business decision ?  I think so.

Why ?

Here’s the thing – the signs for Final Cut look bad.  Sure Apple may make some changes over the next few months, but in the end, they’re taking the software somewhere that doesn’t really fit with my way of working.   That’s their business decision, they’ve made it pretty clear.  It’s up to me to decide what I want to do about that – not whine about how Apple has let me down (they don’t even know me…)

So what are my options.

I’ve thought about this a lot, and really the only option for me is  Avid’s Media Composer.

It’s a professional tool created primarily for professionals.  It’s used in broadcast and post-production houses around the world.  It isn’t as pretty to look at as Final Cut and it’s more expensive, but it’s rock solid.

What’s more important for me – the signs for the future look good.

Avid knows it’s market and knows it’s users.  They’re professional editors who use the software every day cutting for news and current affairs show, and editing full length features.  They aren’t trying to appeal to a larger video editing market – they’ve concentrated on making a solid tool for industry professionals.  And because they also make Pro Tools, the audio editing and mastering software I use, it just makes sense to switch.

And that’s what I’ve done – and am now in the process of learning how to use Media Composer (they’re help videos are fantastic).  We’re lucky here in Vancouver to have a store like Annex Pro – I was able to get set up in just a few hours and using the software the same day.

Media Composer on my desktop

Yes, I will still need to keep an old version of Final Cut running in order to work on old projects, but I was going to have to do that anyway.

Yes, I’m having to spend more money, but I was going to have to spend a fair bit just to upgrade Final Cut and then buy yet more plugins to make it do what I need, but never quite getting there.

Most importantly, for my business, I feel confident that 2 or 3 or 5 years from now, Avid will continue to be making the kind of product I need to do my work.   I just don’t have the same confidence in the direction Final Cut is going.

I’m working with DigiBC during the games, and many of their members provided the content and technology for the gallery.  And friend  Sara Bailey, is the curator.   Sara worked on some of the earliest CBC Radio 3 designs back in 1999 (prototypes actually) and she and I worked together as consultants for a number of years.

On Wednesday, she offered photographer Kris Krug and I a preview of the gallery (it opened on Friday).

I shot a full ‘tour’ with Sara guiding us through – that will be online in a few days.  But I also put together this little piece for Kris.

He and I first met ten years ago when he was publisher of one of Vancouver’s first online magazines and we were just starting to put some definition on what CBC Radio would be.

There’s a higher quality version online here , on YouTube here, on Vimeo here

You can also see a longer, full video tour of the gallery with Sara Bailey here.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And yes.

Its something you most want to know, before you go.

North Vancouver, Jan 28, 2010 – 11:57 am

I’m working with DigiBC on a new project called VXperience, and one of the things we’re doing is spreading the word about British Columbia’s incredible pool of innovators working in a variety of digital sectors.

We’re just starting to gather up some of their stories,  but I wanted to get this information out as quickly as possible.

Branko Zurkovic from Upside Wireless emailed to say that IPIPI.com is offering free text messaging to Haiti.

He says the company wanted to do what it could to help out, so their offering their service free – making it possible for friends and relatives to text to either of the networks in Haiti for free.

I’ll let Branko explain more in this clip:

To get set up:

• go to IPIPI.com
• create an account (it’s free)
• after you’ve created your account, click on ‘contact us’ and let them know you want to be able to send messages to Haiti
• your account will be configured to let you send message for free

And you can help out by sending this information to anyone you think might be able to use it.

“We start to accept that ridiculous language in which citizens are referred to by politicians and administrators as clients.

We’re not clients of government.

We own the government, it’s our government.

There isn’t a single thing of government which we don’t own, how could we be clients ?

And we aren’t buying shoes, we’re talking about the rights of citizens within their own society.

We’re not stakeholders, we’re citizens.”

- John Ralston Saul, speaking at the PLAN 20th Anniversary evening at Christ’s Church Cathedral in Vancouver, November 20, 2009.

John Ralston Saul is an award winning novelist and essayist, and one of Canada’s most outspoken champions of freedom of expression.

His most recent book is called The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World. It’s just the latest in a series of best selling works that have been translated into 22 languages and sold in over 30 countries. Earlier this year he become the first Canadian to elected president of International PEN, the association of writers devoted to defending freedom of expression.

John is also the patron of PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network), and he was the featured guest speaker at PLAN’s recent 20th Anniversary celebration in Vancouver.

I was asked to record the evening, and you now can hear the John’s keynote on the Tyze.com website, or listen to it here.

Last year I used a WordPress template to create this mostly photo site for my sailboat Madsu.

This time, I wanted something super simple.

I’ve been using Slide Show Pro for a while now. It’s real strength comes when you combine it with Slide Show Pro Director, which is a content management system. I use it on the main page of this blog, but also for client sites where I need a rotating banner that’s going to get changed often.  Adding new images to the slide show is simply a matter of uploading them to the CMS, and nothing needs to be changed on the website itself.

For this little gallery called I Love North Shore, I’m also using the Thumbgrid for navigation.

I’ve been asked by BBM Canada to remove the data I had presented on this page, since it is copyrighted.

My apologies for any inconvenience for those of you looking for ratings info.

Sometimes a news story just jumps out at you as being so obvious that it’s hard to believe someone’s actually doing a story about it.

Two today from CBC.CA.

First story. It’s only surprising it’s taken this long for someone to turn up evidence that big tobacco knew ages ago that cigs are bad for you…

Imperial Tobacco Canada destroyed up to 60 early studies that linked cigarettes to addiction and carcinogens, according to a review published Wednesday in the online Canadian Medical Association Journal. (full story here)

Perhaps not surprisingly, Imperial Tobacco makes no mention of this on their web site, but proudly proclaims this:

We’re an international tobacco company focused on creating value for our shareholders.

Imperial Tobacco products are available in over 160 countries worldwide. Our geographic diversity and versatile multi-product portfolio provides business resilience and a strong platform for future growth.

Future growth !  Shareholder value !

Well guess what ?  All the future growth and shareholder value is based on a product that will kill you.

My sister, a 2 pack a day smoker, died of lung cancer in her early 40′s.  I was with her when she died.

Not a lot of future growth there, fellas.

Second story.

It’s surprising someone gave university researchers a $150,000 car to do this study, proving that fast cars and testosterone are linked.

Well, duh.

Researchers at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business in Montreal took 39 willing young men and let them take a cruise in a $150,000 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet.

The men were then asked to drive a 16-year-old Toyota Camry. (full story here)

According to the lead researcher, “just put a guy in a Porsche, and his testosterone levels shoot up”.

Well, duh again.

But hang on here.

Every time I get in our Toyota Yaris, I most definitely have a little testosterone thing going on.  Fully loaded, the Yaris clocks in at under 20-grand and even used to get a gas-miser rebate from the feds.

Maybe the John Molson School of Business should come out here and do a little study on us West Coast Men.

It all looks a lot like the CBC website, aside from having a bigger, flashier main page banner.

But ‘below the fold’, it’s pretty much the same grid.

(there’s a  larger overlay here )

Flattery ?