themeworks wrote:Here's my wish list for N3+
a) needs native Quicktime, H264, MP4, WMV video support - and multiple videos, not just one chunk
b) needs timecode support - all manners
c) needs sync - lock to other things beyond rewire
d) needs flutters/streamers in addition to timecode windows, superimposed on video
e) needs timecode and measure staves - resizable and relocatable
f) needs markers and marker layout/visual control, editing window, etc. (like rehearsal marks)
g) needs to import markers and cuts from video, like FC
h) needs to ALLOW RESIZE TIME SIGNATURES to LARGE for full score, parts
With the caveat that I am just beginning to explore Final Cut Express for doing YouTube music videos, hence am not an expert on doing scores for motion pictures, I think that these suggestions make a bit of sense, even though my understanding of some of the concepts and terminology is a bit primitive at present . . .
On the other hand, I have extensive experience in Computer Science, which includes GUI application designing and programming, primarily with C/C++ both in Windows (earlier) and more recently on the Mac, where among other things I am a registered Apple Developer, which sounds quite impressive but basically is just a matter of sending Apple $99 a year and having an Apple computer and an iPod touch or whatever, but so what . . .
So what! The important thing is that from the perspective of a software design engineer, (a) I like your suggestions and (b) I have a few observations . . .
(1) Behind the scenes, Notion 3 is doing an extraordinarily complex set of essentially real-time computer processing, and pretty much everything Notion 3 does is in the group of software engineering activities that require special skills and knowledge, as well as being the types of programming that a lot of software engineers avoid diligently, because it is so remarkably complex. Hence, while all this might not be so obvious to composers and musicians, it is very obvious to me, and I am quite amazed at how well Notion 3 works . . .
(2) Two of the most useful principles I learned while studying Computer Science in college are the (a) "Keep It Simple" and (b) "Don't Reinvent the Wheel" rules . . .
(3) I have no interest at all in anything that happens in the Windows universe, even though I did advanced application, system, and database programming in the Windows universe beginning with the first version of Windows starting in early-1987 and continuing through Windows XP, although I stopped purchasing Microsoft products the instant they decided to do the .NET stuff and ruined Visual Basic, at which time I switched to the Mac but continue to do a bit of advanced Windows programming, although now I require clients to provide all the hardware, software, and a generous supply of strands of garlic . . .
(4) On the Apple side of the universe, as best as I have been able to determine, the fact of the matter is that Final Cut Studio is what most people use for video stuff, and while I am using Final Cut Express at present, sooner or later I will upgrade to Final Cut Studio . . .
(5) I prefer to use Digital Performer (MOTU) for all the music stuff, and it interacts with Final Cut Studio, which includes doing all or at least most of the thing you listed . . .
(6) ReWire certainly appears to be useful as an interapplication communication technology, but perhaps there is another way all the things you suggested are done, which is fine with me, since even though I might not be aware of how everything is done at present, I know that it is done some way, because MOTU lists all that stuff as features of Digital Performer . . .
http://www.motu.com/products/software/dp/film-scoring/(7) At present, among other ongoing entertainment projects, I am working on a quite silly song that is a bit of a parody of "Bad Romance" (Lady Gaga), and I am using Notion 3 for what I call the "basic rhythm section", and if nothing else this has been a fascinating exercise in discovering how Notion 3 interacts with Digital Performer via ReWire, as well as a lot of the other stuff that Notion 3 does. And while it is a
DISCO song, it has enough stuff to make it possible for me to explore the boundaries of what Notion 3 can handle on a 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro; what Digital Performer can do as the ReWire host for Notion 3; and so forth and so on, which is fabulous . . .
http://www.surfwhammys.com/Im-Going-Goo-Goo-Over-Ga-Ga-11-8-2010-MP.mp3Fabulous! (8) With the aforementioned two rules and everything else in mind, I think that it makes more sense to devise a way for Notion 3.X to interface more intimately with Digital Performer and Final Cut Studio, since I see no added value in wasting a lot of time attempting to transform music composition software into video editing software, because Final Cut Studio already does video editing, so instead of adding a lot of video editing stuff to Notion 3.X, I think it makes more sense to enhance the capabilities of Notion 3.X with respect to working with Digital Performer and Final Cut Studio in a way that does not require a lot of unnecessary duplication of work . . .
Notion 3 has a mixer that works very nicely with VST plug-ins, and it makes sense for Notion 3 to have a mixer that works very nicely with VST plug-ins, but this is very different from Notion 3.X duplicating what Digital Performer does, which I think would be a mistake . . .
And I am very reluctant to suggest that Notion 3.X wander into dealing with video inside the Notion 3.X application, because I think that will require a huge amount of designing and programming, none of which has much of anything to do with music composition, generating audio, and so forth and so on . . .
I think the smarter strategy is to enhance and extend the way that Notion 3.X or some future version of Notion N.X interacts intimately with Digital Performer and Final Cut Studio, toward the worthy goal of being able to use all three in an interactive way that provides a complete solution but with a minimum of application feature overlapping . . .
In other words, I think it makes sense to keep the focus of Notion 3.X on music composition and audio rendering but to enhance and expand its capabilities with respect to bouncing back and forth from Digital Performer and Final Cut Express or Final Cut Studio, although at present I have no idea whether Notion 3 and Digital Performer interact with Final Cut Express . . .
(9) As noted, although I have not done a lot of video work, I understand the general concepts, and I certainly see a need to be able to adjust music to video, which for music that is composed and rendered primarily by Notion 3 strongly suggests the need to be able to make these adjustments directly in Notion 3 without needing to redo everything, which when Digital Performer is used as the primary digital audio workstation (DAW) application tends to suggest that the interapplication communication needs to be very detailed, remarkably precise, and so forth and so on, where everything works together with a minimal level functionality overlapping . . .
SUMMARY
This is my current perspective, and it is based on the observation that Notion 3 is excellent for music composition and interfacing with Digital Performer, which makes it very practical and easy to use, with this mapping to a high level of productivity here in the sound isolation studio . . .
Based on everything I discovered while doing my second YouTube music video, which I did early this year for another of my silly parodies, "(I Want) Angela Gossow's Underpants (Ya-Ya-Ya)" (The Surf Whammys), I now am planning to build a set for the YouTube music video of "I'm Going Goo-Goo Over Ga-Ga", where among other things I plan to doing an interpretive dance sequence while wearing ballet tights with an impressive codpiece, pointy-toed slippers, a very large Elvis pompadour wig, and a Venetian mask, during which I envision quite a bit of suggestive hip thrusting, as well as more
DISCO lights, fog, bubbles, and a quite surreal black and white strobe light sequence, so the general concept of being able to make adjustments to the music is quite intriguing, although my current plan is to adjust the video to the music, which is a lot easier for me to do at my current video editing skill level, but so what . . .
[
NOTE: This is the YouTube music video for "(I Want) Angela Gossow's Underpants (Ya-Ya-Ya)" done by my pretend Rock and Roll musical group, The Surf Whammys. The current plan is for this song to be on the upcoming fifth Surf Whammys album, "Electric Underpants", along with "I'm Going Goo-Goo Over Ga-Ga" and the parody of the European Single for "Who Owns My Heart" (Miley Cyrus), which is titled "Feel Me" (The Surf Whammys) and was motivated primarily by my becoming quite annoyed by the vast stupidity of the lyric "Is it love, or is it art?" in the Miley Cyrus song, as well as the fact that she stole my idea for the Venetian mask. And while a bit over 3,000 YouTube music video views is not mind-boggling, it is pretty amazing for an unknown artist and a silly song about ladies underpants, really . . . ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecAFV-6rQ7QSo what! Stated another way, I will be very happy if Notion 3.X, Digital Performer 7.2, and Final Cut Studio work together intimately in a very practical and productive way, sooner or later, if only because I think the world needs to see me moon walking and doing the Mashed Potato dance in a lot of silly
DISCO music video, plus there is the
Flamenco Dance and
Mime reenactment of
The Mayan Story of the Creation of the Universe™, which I plan to do while juggling unshucked corn during the interlude for "Maríta de la Luna y Pablito el Petardo (
No Es Tanto Lo Que Es Como Lo Que No Es)", my
Flamenco song done in the
Surrealería™ subgenre that I created earlier this year, which has the verse and chorus in a traditional 12-beat
Bulería rhythm but features a 36-beat interlude, with this song being in some respects a parody of "Buleria" (David Bisbal) but not exactly, since David Bisbal has not done anything that annoys me greatly, other than being perhaps the greatest tenor on the planet, which is not really so annoying in the grand scheme of everything, for sure . . .
[
NOTE: This is the basic rhythm section for "Maríta de la Luna y Pablito el Petardo (No Es Tanto Lo Que Es Como Lo Que No Es)", and all the instruments are done in Notion 3. It will have real instruments and singing, but I got distracted by being annoyed by Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, so I have gone DISCO crazy at present . . . ]
http://www.surfwhammys.com/Surrealeria-06-22-2010.wmvFor sure!