Smart Edit/Bogart SE: Our Approach to Video Editing

[chetdavis]

I thought some of our members on this Forum would appreciate reading the following post from Macrosystem DE CEO Jorg Sprave. In this post he refers to the new 'Timeline' feature that is part of Smart Edit 8 and Bogart SE OS2

A few words regarding the timeline approach of SE and BogartSE:

We at MacroSystem are not unable to develop software that offers a very
complex timeline. In fact, our first editing software, called "MovieShop"
(first released in 1993) had a very powerful timeline that allowed all kinds
of trimming and multi-layering of scenes and effects.

We sold this system first for the famous Amiga computer, and later on for
our own computer system called DraCo (aka "The Vision").

The problem with this system was that our users found it way to complicated.
If you knew how to handle it, it was actually very powerful and well thought
out, but we sold the system to wedding and event videographers, not
experienced Avid cutters. We had many complaints customer frustration. That
was not unusual, all of our competitors had complex timelines and steep
learning curves, too.

In 1995, we realized that there was a market for a system that is more
simple. So we came out with the Casablanca and had a big success. Today, the
concept is still the same: We left out all of the unnecessary, hard to learn
computer stuff and focused on the important things.

In 2008, there are still many timeline based complex systems out there.
While it is perfectly possible to learn them, they all have their strong and
weak sides, and one weak side is the learning curve.

I don't use FCP or Adobe much myself, but I still find the user interface
complicated and hard to learn.

When we decided to introduce a timeline into SE8 and BogartSE 2, we did not
want to go back to the complex "MovieShop" timeline concept. We still have
all the software code and also the engineers are still in our employment,
but we decided to not go that route. If you want a system with a complex
timeline, there are plenty of products on the market already. We wanted to
create a timeline that is as easy to use as the storyboard, but offers a
better overview about the length of the scenes. That is exactly what we have
done.

I still think that our editing systems have very serious advantages over our
competition. I can edit much faster with our systems as there is less GUI
work, and the amount of options is much lower. There is not much you can't
do with the S 4000 that you can do with FCP or Adobe. It is well possible to
make money with a Casablanca, as the time you spend editing is often
shorter.

I love the ability to edit my video on the same LCD or Plasma HDTV set that
the customer will also use to watch the end result, and I love the many
inputs and outputs that you simply do not have on a standard PC or Mac.

Is our system flawless? No. We're not perfect. But last time I checked the
forums for FCP and Adobe, it sure looked like these systems also have their
issues. I firmly believe that their users need to deal with "work arounds"
too.

I understand we have some frustrated users that are unhappy with a product
we sold to them. It is perfectly understandable that these users are
complaining openly about their negative experiences, and we try to help as
good as possible. Sometimes, we simply fail to satisfy a customer, which
makes us very unhappy and sorry. Loosing a customer hurts very much. But now
that we have about 200,000 systems in the market, it is simply impossible to
make everybody happy. On the other hand, we also won many customers that had
bad experiences with competing products and are now happy Casablanca users.

After all, we are still around, and independent, unlike many of our earlier
competitors.

That was about what I wanted to say about this - thanks for reading!

Jörg Sprave
CEO, MacroSystem, makers of Casablanca audio/video editors
http://www.macrosystem.de

[PaulBusta]

And that folks is why I've been a Casablanca user for the past 11 (going on 12) years.

[KeithWiggers]

I agree with Paul.

I like Macrosytem's philosophy of making an easy to use working platform. We can do most everything with video and it almost always works.

And I appreciate the improvements in software and hardware over the years.

Keith

[JBrooks]

I certainly agree with Jorge and Paul as well. One of the many things I think is great regarding our Casablanca systems is that you don't have to pull up a dozen sub menus to performe a single operation. Most PC systems require a lot of clicking around to perform a relatively simple effect. MS has continued to deliver cutting edge technology to us. I have used the Casablanca product line since 1996 and I am not about to change.

Joel Brooks
Moments in Time Video Productions

[erictom]

I have the other timeline giants, FCP and Vegas as well...I even bought FCP Express hoping for editing expediency (as the name suggests) , but, these were just merely add-ons to my Casablanca line, and have completely failed to dethrone it, in over 2 decades of business. I also had the Amiga, then original Classic, and on to the Kron, the Solitaire and subsequently to this current HD workhorse, the S4KPro (Loves it...can hardly wait for the promised upgrades).

I often wondered if the added systems mentioned would have the wow factor, convincing enough for me to shun Casablanca completely in its favor. It continued to fail my expectations, as far as gaining the speed and the exported quality, as efficiently the "Cassies" does.

The video business, though very profitable for me through the years, is not my main bread and butter. To be able to keep up with the demands of my other professional offerings (http://www.vdvp.com), I need this extension of my personal creativity to co-exist in a manner where I can purge out my best possible craft creatively...and Casablanca provides just that.

Thank you, Macrosystem!