The Killer App for Post in 2011: The Cloud

To The Cloud!

As sure as rain and random as computer errors, we'll soon be getting bold predictions for NAB this year.  Some of them will be coy teasers.  Some of them will be completely speculative.  Regardless of what happens, you will undoubtedly be disappointed that your dream update/product/service/merger didn't happen - again.  That's okay because there's one thing that continues to get better.  The Cloud.

Google's ultra-fast broadband network ambitions

You know, the thing that you are relying on more and more for downloading, uploading and even encoding.  The feds promise "to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans" in the next 5 years.  Uh, ok, that's great you think but how does that help me today?  Well, it acknowledges how inadequate our network infrastructure is and it helps keep the dialogue flowing on efforts to improve it.  This will hopefully create more demand from consumers for faster, more reliable and hopefully cheaper internet connections.  This allows smart-people-containing-companies like Google to work on potential solutions that will get us rip-roaring speeds sooner than 5 (achingly long dial-up modem) years.

Air Display for iPad

More attention being given to the cloud is great news because we are relying more and more on virtualization.  You may not use the web based compression site encoding.com that I mentioned earlier but I'm sure you use a host of other web services.  Almost every editor I know uses You Send It, Vimeo or DropBox - regularly.  More and more clients and producers are realizing the power of collaborative, synchronized document services like Google Docs, Zoho, Office Live and Evernote.  Mmmm...Evernote.

But what's really interesting is how editors are starting to leverage these new media tools to create workflow hacks they could have only dreamed of a few years ago.  And when you throw iPhones and iPads into the mix, things really get crazy.  We're constantly reading about post-production apps for iOS devices like PhotoShop Express, AJA DataCalc and Cut Notes.  But not enough attention is given to the creative workarounds.  Some hacks are obvious like the app Air Display I recently wrote about that extends your desktop onto the iPad/iPhone.  A not so obvious hack would be to take screenshots of hard to remember menu settings and put them on flickr, where they can be sorted, tagged and called up at a moments notice, anywhere.  This extends the functionality of iOS VNC apps like Screens and can be a lifesaver for remote troubleshooting.  And according to the research firm Gartner, more people will gain access to the Internet through mobile devices than with personal computers. (NY Times 1/31/11).  So imagine when these web-enabled devices become faster.  MC Siegler on This Week In Tech thinks there will be some interesting things that people will be able to do with video editing like, on the fly.   Even to non-editors the possibilities are obvious and endless.

How do you use The Cloud in post?  Leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter.

The Infinite Desktop

Remember when we had dedicated Tektronix scopes?  Re-live the magic.

Well, maybe not yet but with Air Display by Avatron it's a step in that direction.  This iPhone and iPad app let's you extend your desktop over WiFi and as you can see, this is just the app that a lot of video editors have been waiting for.    It can really suck to edit on a laptop (even a 17") when you're used to editing on a couple of huge desktop monitors.  You feel cramped and crowded like you're trying to look out the window of the #23 bus during rush hour.  I'm glad I drive everywhere and I'm glad I bought this app - even though it's not quite ready for intensive pro media apps.  Sure, it's got quirky issues that you would expect from most version 1 releases but the promise may have a lot of people overlooking it's technical shortcomings.  Then again for $10 it's understandable to want to wait for the bug fixes.

The pros.   
 - More space for your canvas, toolbars, palettes, menus, etc...
 - Orientation in either landscape or portrait mode.
 - Touch-enabled
 - Wireless

Now my selfish laptop can have the After Effects canvas all to itself.

The Cons.

 - Huge battery drain.

-  Reduced image quality

-  Frame dropping

-  Reduced response time

Ok, so they won't be editing Avatar 2 on this but I could see editors of all stripes finding a reason to include this into their workflow.  In the very least it can give you another reason to justify buying a tablet.  And I can only hope when the more powerful iPad 2 arrives this spring coupled with the touch friendly OS X Lion this summer, we'll see a updated version of Air Display that will have us walking in the clouds.

Check out the more detailed review on Smoking Apples.

New Year, New Vine

Sometimes inspiration comes from the unlikeliest of places. I was hours into a day long trek through the deep south when I stopped at a convenience store for some, well - conveniencing. Who knew they were giving away free blog post photos! I snapped this photo of the door to the walk-in cold-storage locker. I immediately understood what context it was written in and it made perfect sense. A double entendre that's part plea and part threat. A marriage between Hal 9000 and Deep Blue. A voice from the void. It also kinda humanizes the space. Poor fridge, I'll make sure no one takes advantage of your ample shelf space and unenforced content management system. And then it hit me (not the loosely mounted security camera) but the idea of turning Splice Vine into a place where editors can learn to get more organized so that they can keep their cool. Ok, actually I've had this idea for a long while and this spring after months of spirited paper-balling and pencil-snapping we will launch the re-branded site. We will will be tweeting updates and planning on going live right before NAB. If you don't already, make sure to follow us on Twitter and be on the lookout for our Facebook page. Until then, keep your projects hot, your fridges cold and your mind organized.