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Posted on 07/07/2003 1:28:07 PM PDT by Charles H. (The_r0nin)
Adobe pares Mac support
David Becker
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
July 7, 2003, 10:22 AM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1046-1023167.html
Adobe Systems announced new versions of its video-editing software Monday, including a Windows-only application that marks another high-profile defection from Apple Computer's Macintosh operating system. Adobe, a specialist in publishing and imaging applications, announced a new version of Premiere, its main application for editing digital video. The new Premiere Pro will work only on PCs running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, ending years of support for the Mac OS.
Meanwhile, Adobe is updating After Effects, its software for adding visual effects to video. After Effects 6.0 will be available in Mac and Windows versions. Adobe also is adding Audition, an audio-editing program it acquired from Syntrillium, where it was known as Cool Edit Pro. Audition will be Windows-only, as will the Adobe Video Collection, a package that includes Premier Pro, After Effects, Audition and the Encore DVD authoring application.
David Trescot, senior director of Adobe's digital video products group, said the new edition of Premiere is a complete rewrite of the application and it didn't make financial sense to support the Mac anymore.
"We were rewriting Premiere from scratch, and it would have taken a lot of work to have cross-platform support," Trescot said.
The Mac already has several competing video-editing applications, including Apple's Final Cut family of products, making for a small and crowded market, he said.
"If Apple's already doing an application, it makes the market for a third-party developer that much smaller," Trescot said. "I think you're going to find that more and more--if Apple's in a software market, third-party vendors are going to skip it."
Apple said that Adobe remains a valuable partner. "Adobe and Apple continue to have a great relationship, as evidenced by Adobe's recent support of the new Power Mac G5 with Photoshop performance that is twice as fast as before," Apple said in a statement.
Apple's balancing act Adobe applications such as Photoshop are key tools for Apple's core user base of "creative professionals," but the software maker has shown signs of wavering in its commitment to the Mac. Adobe didn't bother with a Mac version of Photoshop Album, its new consumer digital photo product, because Apple already has the market covered with iPhoto. And the software maker earlier this year touted a purported Windows performance advantage in running video-editing software.
Microsoft recently made a similar move in the browser arena, saying it would halt development of Mac versions of its Internet Explorer, due to competition from Apple's Safari browser.
Roger Kay, an analyst for research firm IDC, said Apple faces a tricky balancing act as it expands its role as a software developer. Apple-created applications tend to provide a more consistent user experience that may attract new converts, he said. "Apple, by controlling its own stack from top to bottom, can provide a more integrated experience," Kay said. "They're less dependent on other companies to produce their user experience."
But Apple-published software also tends to alienate third-party developers, some of which have loyal followings among long-time Mac users. "When companies that have been longtime Mac supporters back away, it does tend to isolate them," Kay said. "Older users that have been loyal to particular Mac applications have to think about what it is that's keeping them on that platform."
The new Adobe products continue the company's push into video software, which company executives have identified as a major growth area for the software maker. Major enhancements include a new design in Premiere that allows editors to see the changes they've made without waiting for the PC hardware to render images.
For After Effects, the big news is support for OpenGL video-programming instructions, which will allow video cards to do much of the heavy lifting in processing visual effects. "It's a big difference in performance for anyone doing 3D animation," Trescot said.
Adobe is aiming the software at a range of customers--from broadcast professionals to marketing specialists and Web designers who occasionally need to produce video segments. "We're basically looking at anyone doing something for money with video," Trescot said.
All the new video products are set to ship later this summer. Premiere Pro will sell for $699 for the full version, $399 for those upgrading from Premiere LE, and $199 for those upgrading from a previous version of Premiere.
After Effects 6.0 will sell for $999 for the professional version and $699 for the standard version. Upgrade pricing ranges from $199 to $499. Audition will sell for $299 for the full version or $99 for those upgrading from a previous version of Cool Edit Pro.
The Adobe Video Collection--a package of Premiere Pro, After Effects Standard Edition, Encore and Audition--will sell for $999. Adobe Video Collection Professional Edition, which adds Photoshop and the professional edition of After Effects, will sell for $1,499.
I've been looking at this. Looks like an ideal low-end program for multi-track recording and editing.
Hmmmm, you don't know much about the professional video editing market, eh?
Apple's Final Cut Pro won the 2002 Emmy Engineering Award.
Other software from Apple includes DVD Studio Pro, Shake (for digital compositing), and Logic (for music production).
Pixar has announced that RenderMan will probably released for the PowerMac G5 later this year.
I know two artists for software developers and one independent movie producer who all work primarily with the high-end Adobe products, and this will cause them quite a bit of concern. This kind of change will have an impact on the market, as developers decide whether, during their next upgrade, they should spend the capital to switch computer systems or whether to learn new software. Some (and maybe a lot) will choose to follow the software they are comfortable with over to the PC. And when, as seems likely, more Adobe software goes PC only (the day it happens with Photoshop will be catastrophic), the market will face more of those basic capital decisions.
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not an issue...
One other announcement Apple made recently is a new studio-grade codec for filmmakers called "Pixlet" (developed per Pixar's request). It encodes video at 48 bits-per-pixel with 20-25:1 compression, and will be included in the next version of QuickTime in Mac OS X.
Basically, Apple is shopping for the best video technology companies. Apple acquired the RAYZ and Chalice software technology from Silicon Grail, which will be used in future products for effects, color correction, etc. And Apple has acquired India Titler Pro from India Graphics.
For people who just want to edit their home movies, Apple includes iMovie and iDVD for free on new Macs. For more advanced users who don't need the full power of Final Cut Pro, another product called Final Cut Express is available.
So Apple spun the apps off into a separate company, Claris, and that issue went away for a while. Sounds like it's back. I don't know why it's any different from what Microsoft does, though. If you invent a new software category and it takes off, a "good enough" freebie will be along in the next rev of Windows to make you go away. About the only things left for third-party guys are geek toys, games, and high-end Pro stuff. |
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This is a very old issue for Apple. When the Mac first came out, it came with a suite of Apple-written apps like MacWrite and MacPaint, and they were talking about doing more (which they did). The third-party software guys told them to lose that stuff or Apple would end up having to write everything, because no one else would write for the platform.