Final Cut Server 1.1 Gets Four Stars

Michael Burns of MacWorld UK offers a comprehensive review of Apple’s Final Cut Server, giving it Four Stars, saying that “Apple’s Final Cut Server plugs a gap in the market for an asset-management solution for handling the Final Cut Pro-based video/film postproduction workflow.”

It works like Adobe’s Version Cue, writes Burns, “where project assets are checked in or out of a central system for editing and versions of files in various stages of completion are tracked. It also provides a backup facility for the media on your network. Not surprisingly, there is quite a bit of configuration required. In fact, it’s probably best to spend a bit of time on planning your workflow before even setting up - this is not a ’straight out of the box’ solution.”

Don’t misunderstand. Apple has included lots of automation during the setup. Burns writes, “Final Cut Server works on the principle of group permissions, and the installer creates an admin group by default. The application installs Final Cut Server (in the form of a multi-tabbed control panel in System Preferences), Qmaster for distributed working and Compressor to handle transcoding duties.”

Final Cut Server uses watch folders, like a media-cataloguing application, on various locations on drives and computers on the group’s network. Says Burns, “Known as Devices, three are created by default at installation time, using folders on the host machine. You can use the Device Setup Assistant to configure new locations to watch - scans of the devices can be scheduled for regular sweeps - or as storage locations for archiving your media.”

Clients are necessary to make a server application of any use, “and these are available to any Mac or Windows computer on your network. There’s a choice between 10 clients and unlimited client versions and they’re priced accordingly. You’ll need the IP address of the host machine to download a Java applet for your browser. Clicking on this installs the client application to your desktop.”

Media types include all the video which is supported by “Final Cut and also QuickTime reference movies, Soundtrack Pro files and most other audio formats, Motion project files and DVD Studio Pro and iDVD project files. Graphics are also supported, in the form of Photoshop files and most major image formats. Interestingly Final Cut Server also handles text files, including Apple’s Keynote and Pages files, as well as .doc, .txt and PDF, so subtitles, scripts and directors notes can also be checked in to the system.”

Media can be uploaded in two ways: drag and drop single or multiple files to the server client interface from the desktop, or “use the upload function in the main window to navigate to a group of files on your system. All media to be uploaded must possess file extensions and you need to be aware that if multiple files are uploaded at the same time they will all be transcoded at the same setting.”

Bottom line: Is Final Cut Server worth purchasing? Burns says yes. Although there are other postproduction facilities with similar functionality, he sees this as “an affordable solution for small-to-medium-sized Mac-dominated studios, especially as it dovetails so neatly with the Final Cut Pro workflow.” He recommends that you purchase the 10-client version, and upgrade only when necessary.

To read the complete article, see MacWorld.

9 Nominations For Apple in T3 Gadget Awards 2008

Apple has earned more places in the shortlist of the T3 Gadget Awards ‘08 than any other company. The iPhone, iPod Touch and MacBook Air have been named in categories like “Drop-dead gorgeous award”, the “Gadget of the year”, or the “Gadget you can’t live without”. The winners are chosen by votes from the public, and the results will be announced on 9 October at a grand ceremony. Katherine Hannaford, News Editor of T3.com said, “We’re thrilled to see that so many Apple products have made it through to the shortlist.” Well, naturally, so are we. For those of you who would like to see all the nominees, and cast your vote, visit: http://awards.t3.com/

New Apple Store in Belfast

James Stinson reports for The Irish Times that Apple is about to open its store in Victoria Square.
ifoAppleStore provides more information, “The interior of the store is nearing completion, and behind a construction barricade the all-glass faade has been erected. The store occupies space U5, on the upper ground-floor of the complex in the Northern Ireland capital of half a million residents. The store will be the first in Northern Ireland, and will open before the holidays, 2008.”

For a look at the store under construction, see http://www.ifoapplestore.com/

For those interested in applying for a position, see http://www.apple.com/jobs/uk/store/

Tate Liverpool Offers Free iPod Download of Gustav Klimt Show

Gustav Klimt, born July 14, 1862, died February 6, 1918, was one of the most important and prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau movement, and was an Austrian Symbolist painter. His works include murals, sketches, paintings, other art objects.

The Tate Liverpool presentation is the first comprehensive exhibition of Klimt’s work ever offered in the UK. This exhibition focuses on the artist’s life and work, exploring Klimt’s role as the founder and leader of the Viennese Secession, which embraced art, architecture, fashion and decorative objects, including furniture. Major paintings and drawings which span the breadth of Klimt’s career are shown, along with the work of architect and designer, Josef Hoffman, who was a close friend of the artist. The show has been a sell-out, and will close 31 August.

But if you haven’t been able to get there, the Tate is offering a free download of the show tour online at
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/gustavklimt/tour.shtm

It can be downloaded onto your iPod with video, your iPod Touch or your iPhone. The multimedia tour offers informationn about Klimt’s life, the historical times and his art, offering photographs of Klimt and his circle of friends. It also offers music of the time period, comments from museum curators, film recordings from archives, and behind-the-scenes information on how this Tate exhibition was conceived, planned and implemented.

Mac Adoption Quadruples In The Enterprise

According to Benjamin Gray of Forrester Research, Mac adoption among business users has quadrupled since 2006. What that means is that user percentage went from 1.1% in October 2006, to 3.6% a year later, and then to 4.5% in June 2007. These numbers appear small, but are extremely significant, says Joe Wilcox of eWeek, “Mac continues its slow gain among Forrester’s clients, even without an enterprise strategy. Apple’s singular focus on user experience has resulted in some success in the enterprise without even trying to break into the market.”

Wilcox claims that Apple doesn’t have a business strategy, and that this increase in the enterprise is happening largely as a halo effect of the iPhone and strong iPod branding and sales. Why? Because these very successful products boost visibility and sales of other Apple products, such as Apple computers, and in turn, this has lured enthusiasts and small workgroups with supple IT departments beyond the standard domain of design and media.” Is this true? Perhaps those successful products have brought new consumers into the Apple world but it has to be the line of Macs themselves which convinced buyers to make a purchase. To say otherwise isn’t giving the consumer much credit.

According to the Forrester report, in order to attract wider sales in the Enterprise, Apple should reduce prices and liberalise its controls over Mac repair, upgrade and servicing. What the report doesn’t seem to understand is that it is precisely Apple’s control over its tech support and servicing that assures maintainence of high quality of customer tech support. By relaxing those controls, there would be a risk that the kind of shoddy support Windows PC users suffer would undermine what has always been an important part of the Apple experience. It is precisely that ’singular focus on user experience’ that has resulted in such customer loyalty.

The expectation is that this quarter will see over 3 million Mac sales. It is hard to understand why Apple will shift gears at this point to change its repair or service model.

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