With all the changes at NAB this year, the 7th Annual FCP SuperMeet, offers one opportunity to see an official Apple presentation. Richard Townhill will be in attendance to speak about the latest news with Final Cut Studio and deliver the first “public demonstration” of Final Cut Server.

Other presenters include Red, JVC, BlackMagic Design, Ripple Training’s Steve Martin on CS3 integration and Noah Kadner on the Phantom High Speed Camera. The evening will round off with the traditional raffle, which currently boasts over US$90,000 (!) of prizes, including the Final Cut Studio Master Certification training packages from Witz, I mentioned yesterday.

If you’ve yet to buy your ticket for the SuperMeet, there are less than 100 remaining.

Next week I’m making the trek down to Las Vegas for NAB. I’m really interested to see how the FCP ecosystem fares. With Apple stepping back from the fray, I think there’s greater opportunity for the third-party folks to step forward.

The FCP SuperMeet will be one of the highlights of the week I’m sure. If you’re planning to attend, you may want to take note that Witz are offering 2 Final Cut Studio training packages. The winners of which will be able to select from a range of courses to complete the requirements for Final Cut Studio Master Certification.

*While I’m on the subject, Centigrade the short I edited last year, has been nominated for a Leo in the Best Short Drama category.

Courtesy of Apple

After months of eager anticipation, followed by weeks of furtive whispers about the elusive application that never was, Apple finally began shipping Final Cut Server this week.

Final Cut Server is a media asset management and workflow automation solution, announced with some fanfare at NAB 2007. Alongside the standard overview of the main features, the Apple web site provides a 40 page PDF and a collection of video tutorials.

It’s more difficult to get excited about a product away from the buzz of a big show and there’s a lot to digest, but if Final Cut Server is able to deliver what it promises, these will prove to be exciting times.

My next Apple Certified Final Cut Pro course in Vancouver is scheduled for 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 March. The course covers the range of features available in FCP 6, including core setup, understanding and adjusting preferences, capturing video and audio, trimming techniques, audio editing, Compressor, finishing and final output.

Course fees are CDN$1795+GST, but if you contact me directly through the VFCPUG site, you’re eligible to receive a 10% discount. Diana Weynand’s essential, Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 6 is required and can be purchased when you register for the course.

I’ve been on the road the past couple of weeks, Paris followed by Dubai (I know!) and I’m very much looking forward to returning to the stunning Opus Hotel in Vancouver for this next round of courses.

This week I teach my first Apple Certified Soundtrack Pro 2 course for Witz. To mark the occasion, we’re offering special pricing, CDN$1395, which includes Martin Sitter’s new Apple Pro Training Series: Soundtrack Pro 2 book.

The course covers the breath of features available in STP and participants gain hands-on experience with the application to edit audio files, repair recordings, perform multitrack mixing, synchronize audio and video, analyze and fix common audio problems.

The course will be held 14-15 February at the fantastic Opus Hotel.

Please use the contact form to reach me for additional details on how to sign-up and receive the 10% VFCPUG discount.

While there appears to be considerable disappointment about the move and some speculation about what the ramifications are, reports suggest that these companies simply intend to refocus their efforts to connect with their clients in other ways.

On this week’s Digital Production BuZZ podcast, Michael Horton of LAFCPUG confirms that the FCP Supermeet is happening as scheduled and that Apple’s attendance is confirmed. His comments got me thinking that, of course, while Apple may not have its own booth, FCP is certain to be well represented by industry partners and providers of 3rd party solutions.

QuickTime 7.4.1 is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users is available through Software Update or by direct download. If you are downloading from the Apple site, be aware that there are different versions depending on which operating system you’re using:

• QuickTime 7.4.1 for Leopard
• QuickTime 7.4.1 for Tiger
• QuickTime 7.4.1 for Panther
• QuickTime 7.4.1 for Windows

To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

UPDATE 08 February 2008: QuickTime 7.4.1 fixes this issue.

The first Final Cut Pro certification class at my new home with Witz is scheduled for 05-07 February. The class runs as a 3-day FCP 101 with an optional 2-day segment, which rounds the class out to the 5-day FCP 200 and enables us to explore the application in more depth.

The course covers the range of features available in FCP 6, including core setup, understanding and adjusting preferences, capturing video and audio, trimming techniques, audio editing, Compressor, finishing and final output.

The 3-day FCP 101 course costs CDN$1395+GST and the full 5-days CDN$1795+GST. Diana Weynand’s essential, Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 6, which you can purchase through Amazon with a 37% discount.

The FCP 101 sessions will be held 05-07 February and the subsequent 2-days for FCP 200 are 11-12 February. The course will be held within the beautiful surroundings of the Opus Hotel.

Terry Linnegar from Precision Camera is extending an invitation to a special XDCAM event this coming Thursday (24 January). If your head has been turned by Sony’s latest formats and want to see the workflow with FCP in action, this will be a good opportunity. Please RVSP to Terry in the Vancouver office — typos aside I assure you that you’re welcome.

The new MacBook Air is receiving a fair amount of attention from the pundits. I think that it’s fair to say here’s a significant amount of skepticism about the feature set and what “the World’s thinnest notebook” can and can’t do. We saw similar commentary about the iPod and the iPhone however and nobody can dispute the success of those products!

One thing that cannot be disputed is that the MacBook Air is ridiculously, ridiculously thin. I’ve looked at the Apple site, watched the commercial and the “Tour” video, but it was seeing the MacBook Air handled by Steve Jobs during the keynote* address that I found most stunning.

As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, there’s no FireWire, Ethernet or built-in optical drive, the battery is integrated (like the iPod and the iPhone) and the full-size screen means the footprint is, perhaps, too large for some. The MacBook Air has been designed without compromise for the wireless world. It was interesting really interesting to see the big picture painted up on stage this week. With iTunes movie rentals, Remote Disc, Time Capsule and the iPod used to represent a paradigm shift in how we relate to digital media.

The MacBook Air is not shipping immediately, but will be available in February. Configuration options include miniature 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 2GB of RAM standard, as well as a choice of 80GB 4200rpm Parallel ATA hard drive or 64GB SSD (solid-state drive) and Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor. The enlarged trackpad also supports some of the multi-touch gestures previously associated with the iPod and iPhone.

This all comes in a 0.4-1.94cm (0.16-0.76 inch), 32.4 cm (12.74 inches), 22.7 cm (8.9 inches) package that weighs a mere 1.36 kg (3 pounds)!

*The HD presentation is remarkably good quality!

A number of you will already know the name I’m sure and those of you who attended Apple’s FCS Tour last summer will have seen members of the Witz team in action. Already managing successful operations in Toronto and Montréal, Witz set the highest standards in the world of Apple Authorized Training. I’m tremendously excited to be their representative in Western Canada and looking forward to the challenge of exceeding their expectations.

My affiliation with Witz will yield new opportunities for you to take Apple Certified Training courses in Vancouver. In the coming weeks you’ll see that we’ll be offering a wider range of courses, including Apple IT Training alongside the Pro Apps. Last week we secured space at the fabulous Opus Hotel in Vancouver and we aim to hit the ground running with a Motion class before the end of January. The full calendar for February will be published tomorrow, with March and April to follow before the week is out.

I’ve negotiated a discount for VFCPUG members, so if you want further details or have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me directly before you register.

Just before Macworld Apple slipped out an update to the Mac Pro. The revised systems feature 8 processor cores as as standard feature, new RAM configurations and storage options.

With 8 cores as standard, today’s fastest Macs utilise Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors up to 3.2GHz. The entry level 2.8GHz system is now the only Mac Pro to feature a single chip, you get 2 when you purchase systems with 2.8GHz, 3.0GHz and 3.2GHz processors.

If you’re feeling extravagant you can install 32GB of RAM in the new Mac Pro. Though you’ll need deep pockets if you purchase direct from Apple — adding 8 4GB DIMMs will set you back CDN$9100! (Also make sure you know that your workflow requires that kind of upgrade and remember that FCS like symmetrical pairs.)

Also making a debut in the Mac Pro is a new 15000rpm SAS storage option. You’ll need the CDN$800 internal RAID card and you cannot mix and match SATA and SAS. The SAS drives at CDN$800 for 300GB are clearly a premium item and while you maybe able to play a single stream of 10-bit uncompressed HD, you will not be able to store many minutes even if you max out your system.