I would like to get a little serious talk around the use of the word professional.
It seems to have two meanings. 1. Anyone that get paid to work with video and TV This is a very popular way of putting it for people that is not in that business themselves. And to a certain degree, it is true. But there is a different way of looking at it, and this is something you will frequently meet when you enter the business - you will quickly learn that just because you get paid to do it, does not mean you are able! 2. A professional is someone that can tell a story in such a way that the technology get out of the way and into the heart of the viewer. This is based on skill, knowledge and the ability to relate to the people in front of the camera and in front of the screen. I have been working in this business for 20 years. And sometimes I have been doing demos of editing systems. I could always tell who the amateurs were when their first question was "How many effects does this system have?". The correct answer (that I could never give them) was "More than you should ever need or use!". I have come here to offer the knowledge I have for free, and I consider myself a professional. I also happen to think that what is good for a professional is good for the amateur. Would you ever think about "dumbing down" Word or OpenOffice just because you think most people are not professional writers or secretaries? I think that is the wrong way to go. I have seen it over and over again - never underestimate your audience. If my drinking buddy wants to edit video, it takes him a very short time to grow out of the "dumb" stuff. And he is left craving for more. But then, as he moves "up", he will have to start learning things all over again. There are two areas of video production that have very simple needs. News and documentaries. Most amateur productions would fit very well within those boundaries. They usually do not produce fiction, music videos or commercials. A vacation video is basically a documentary. So they need a tool that fits the job. And there is nothing wrong about taking what big companies and thousands of professionals have spent millions of dollars to learn and develop and apply that to a tool that is developed for free. Why waste time inventing the wheel again? A trade lingo, or professional naming, is common in all areas of life. Have you ever been to get the oil changed on your car? Or talked to a chef about food? Try to pay attention when you are going through the day. How big would the confusion be if everyone insisted on developing their own set of rules and language for everything we do? Communication would be totally hopeless. Eventually (I really hope so), kdenlive will attract more professionals and you will get a living community around the art of telling stories. That is waht this is about. Kdenlive is a tool to get stories out to the world. No matter if you get paid for it or not. And here is the BIG thing for me. Most of the people that really need kdenlive in the first place are people that can not afford any of the big brands of videoediting. All the big, well known TV stations have money enough to buy what they need and they will not consider kdenlive at all. The only ones inside an organisation like that considering it, would be open source fanatics that are working in small test groups to see what is "out there". I know one of those groups and when kdenlive is ready for it, I will make sure it gets the attention that it should have. But the main area are people that today are pirating software in the hope that it will make them a better storyteller. And instead of having a stable, uasable system, they might end up running something that is Windows based and full of malware. I also know a lot of what you can called advanced amateurs. People that are passionate about making video, but do it as a hobby. They are also a big group for kdenlive. AND they are very concious about getting to know the correct way of naming things so they can communicate with the pro's. The pro's that will come to this community will be a huge resource as most of them are more than willing to share their knowledge. And in my experience, people crave knowledge and they are very attracted to anything that can increase it. What kind of tool is in my opinion needed? A tool that is as basic as possible. The focus should be on cutting video, and not on compositing. What my drinking buddy needs is not a tool to make the next Matrix, but a tool to edit his latest fishing trip to show off how big the fish really was. Compositing might be fancy and cool to work on, but face it, it is a real minority that will ever need it. On the other hand, what EVERYONE need is good media management, fast and efficient cutting, easy adjusting of clips in the timeline and as much standard ways of doing things as possible so they can use the knowledge they already have. Have you ever used professional kitchen tools? As you move away from the hobbykitchen, flimsy, plastic stuff, you see that you also loose most of the fancy stuff, but the tools become more powerful and more sturdy. For a pro it is not about more features and effects, it is about less. There are two words used in the business about the kind of video that uses all available effects and fonts in all colors - pizzavideo or porn. If someone use that about your production, you might not consider that as a compliment :-D And if you actually has read all the way down to this, I thank you for listening to these thoughts of mine whether you agree with them or not. Because that is your privilege. -- Regards, Oceanwatcher ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Kdenlive-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/kdenlive-devel
