Quintessential Studios' Weblog

Smoke 2013 Challenge of 2012 has been extended.

I’ve found that it’ll take a little bit more time from me to accomplish what I would like to have by September. So, I am extending the time frame for a demo to “to be determined”.

In the meantime, I defer your attention to:

Scruffy Smoke Challenge

http://scruffy.tv/challenge/scruffy-smoke-challenge.html

…for all your Smoke 2013 info fixes.

I would like to thank Twitter for being the glue to my Post Production Informationalist and Filmmaking Democratization Herald hat in life. I haven’t been as active on it as of late but it really has been the key to SO many contacts and new friends that I consider it the best tool for networking, hands down.

If you’re looking for some storyboarding, check out: @wakanax http://www.w-halo.com/storyboard

I start my Final Cut Pro X editing class on Monday. I am taking this class with my first editing teacher from 2008. So, it’s especially cool. My plan is to follow along with at least two other NLEs. CS6, Avid and maybe Smoke too.

Alright, that’s all for now.

The Great Smoke 2013 Summer Challenge of 2012

This is my adventure into Smoke 2013 (aka Smoke on a Mac 2013). I have no experience with any Autodesk programs and am only slightly familiar with FCP 6, 7 and Avid Media Composer 3 – 6.

While I have a production company, my personal editing skill I would say is at the level of pretty good student editor.

Not having edited 10,000 hours of videos, I’m no expert. So, let’s see how I fare with this new program. I am giving myself about 60 days, give or take a few days to complete my basic training and demonstrate on a public stage what I have accomplished with the pre-release trial 1 version of this software.

My plan is to present Sept 5th at IFIE* and Sept 26th, at LAFCPUG**.

I am going to be watching the Autodesk Smoke 2013 tutorials channel on YouTube and you can play along at home, if you wish. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB876B082326C2124
I expect to get through these 14 videos today.

Tech Specs:
I am using a 2011 13″ 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 MacBook Pro with 4 GB of RAM, running Mac OS X 10.7.4. I am using a 750 GB G-Drive Mini FW800 external drive as my media drive. It’s not the recommended setup but I feel it’s somewhere in the what-the-average-consumer-can-afford realm.

My goal is to see what a general student should be able to comfortably accomplish in this program. I feel that if a company wants to conquer the future, it better make its programs accessible and understandable at the student level.

I can be reached on Twitter.com/quintessential if you want to interact.

* IFIE, Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire

** LAFCPUG, Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group