According to numerous posts on Apples discussion forums several threads of which have been deleted by Apple, as well as a number of popular video editing blogs, Apples recent QT 7.4 update does more than just enable iTunes video rentals — it also disables Adobes professional After Effects video editing software. Attempting to render video files after the update results in a DRM permissions error. Unfortunately, it is not possible to roll back to a previous version of QT without doing a full OSX reinstall. Previous QT updates have also been known to have severe issues with pro video editing apps.

Of course, you knew never to install any software or OS update (mac or windows) without first waiting to see if there were any reports of problems, right?

For the creative pro market, this is a very exciting day. The timing is a bit odd though. Given that MacWorld is next week, one might wonder why this upgrades wouldn’t be announced in the keynote. It may mean that there will be some even more exciting things in the keynote.

problems with FW hardware

Quicktime issues

Here’s an Apple ad and the Postal Service video they tried to get permission to use and then stole anyway when the band refused.

My favorite live blogging is always from Engadget.

My summary:

• New Final Cut Digital Asset Management/Transcoding Server: $999/10 users or $1999 for unlimited users (available summer)
• Final Cut Studio 2
  • Final Cut Pro 6
    • ProRes 422: compression for HD (1TB -> 170GB “at same quality”)
    • Support for Sony’s new HDCAM SR 1080p60, Silicon Imaging’s Red Camera
    • Aja-built IO-HD input box for encoding ProRes 422 in real-time on external box ($3495)
    • Open-format timeline: mix formats, resolutions, framerates
    • Smooth-cam camera shake elimination (from Shake)
    • Better Motion integration
  • Motion3
    • Match-moving
    • more 3D
    • Paint
    • Audio-driven animation
  • SoundtrackPro2
    • Better 5.1 support
    • 5.1 and stereo in same project
    • frequency spectrum editing (ripped off from Audition/Soundbooth)
    • Video HUD for better synching
    • “conform” feature (not sure what that is yet)
  • Compressor3
    • Faster
    • More codecs
    • Preview overlays and watermarks with a before and after slider
    • Integrated chapter markers
    • Better multi-threading
  • $499 upgrade, $1299 new, $699 to upgrade from FCP
  • Available May
• Color (new application)
  • Color grading
  • looks like this what at least part of the Shake team is doing now (my guess)
  • Same UI for 3-way color correction with
    • RGB and luma curves
    • lift
    • gamma
    • gain
    • visualization of color in 3D space
  • Mattes from chroma, luma, saturation, custom vignettes, hue and saturation curves
  • Color effects — string them together with a node tree
  • Geometry
  • included in Final Cut Studio 2

Wow, so FCS 2 was expected, but a lot more was also expected in this announcement given that Apple announced the 8-core MacPro a couple weeks ago with crummy video cards and no new iLife for ‘07 and lappys and iPod designs getting a little stale. Wonder what else would have been announced today if Apple hadn’t announced the delay of Leopard earlier this week?

I just realized that there was no update to DVD Studio Pro. Hrm, wonder why…

[added links to the apple website and comment about DVD Studio later at 3:51 pm]

I’ve been hearing a number of reports that the Mac OS X 10.4.9 update causes significant issues with some Audio Unit plug-ins, including those from popular developers Audio Damage and Ohmforce. (See Analog Industries blog for a comment thread and reports on Audio Damage; there’s also discussion on the Core Audio developer list which I hope will yield some revelations. Update: Note that Audio Damage is having only development issues; their plug-ins will work just fine if you’re a user.) This update apparently installs yet another version of the AU validator, which could be one clue. Apple has also made significant changes to QuickTime in recent releases, which can also cause issues with audio software in some cases.

We’ll see.

Audio Video Edition: Specially Selected Free and Open Source Software | Audio/Video ngo-in-a-box

Nice collection of links to the best Open Source digital media software for all platforms.

Those using Live for doing live audio or similar programs for video (or gamers) are in a constant hunt for the perfect keyboard companion to their exploits. Also, video editors, audio editors and anyone who spends multiple hours of the day in an application with a zillion keyboard shortcuts.

The Optimus keyboard has been long in coming, but was the great hope. If this keyboard actually ships in a reasonable period of time, could it be a realistic option? It looks like it has a multi-color LED under each key, which allows you to set the color of each key separately. That isn’t the same thing as actually having a picture or word on each key, but it can at least remind you that jkl is for your transport and [] is for your begin and end clip by having them be different colors.

also, it looks cool.