In Between …

Postproduction technology continues to change at breakneck speed.

New technologies are upon us before we have even learned to take full advantage of the previous innovations (let alone write books about them).

During the writing of this book, Apple announced (but has not yet released) the promising new software Final Cut Server “to provide media asset management and workflow automation for postproduction and broadcast professionals” (according to their web site). From everything we can gather, this new product has the potential to change the way that many large-scale Final Cut Pro implementations are conceptualized and executed.

One underlying theme of this book is to understand new technologies in the context of the technologies that preceded them. Historical context helps one to perceive underlying principles that continue to apply through generations of artists, methods, and technologies.

Our approach to Final Cut Server is no different. We look forward to using it, and expect it to be very useful in certain situations. Even if we wind up using it more often than not, the new software probably still will not fundamentally change the way we think about nonlinear editing or postproduction workflows.

One thing that the case studies in this book show is that producers of media adapt Final Cut Pro to their specific needs. Final Cut Server should enhance this flexibility but not fundamentally alter its nature.

So, we could not write an afterword to this book. We needed to write a “To Be Continued”—or, as we prefer to call it, an “In Between …”

Please read the two additional chapters about Final Cut Server workflows on the Web at http://booksite.focalpress.com/Osder/finalcut/.

Until then …

Jason and Robbie