New Features??????????????????

Are you referring to the DVDSP 4 that ships with the new FCS3 ?

It is identical to the DVDSP 4 that shipped with FCS2.

However, there have been changes in FCP and Compressor that allow the encoding of Blu-ray discs which presumably can be authored and burned in DVDSP.

Over the last couple of years Apple has been looking towards the demise of DVDs as a source of video and it certainly looks as though the days of the video DVD are numbered.

More and more people are now accessing movies over the web and the trend is snowballing.

Why would you say that? DVD is the number one distribution format and will continue for many years. DVDSP is about complete as its going to be. Its just and authoring program so there's not a whole lot of new development to do.

I agree.

DVDSP has been developed about as far as it, or any other authoring app can.

DVDs aren't going to disappear tomorrow, but most video makers (admittedly amateurs) are veering away from DVDs as a medium and posting their masterpieces on the likes of YouTube.

More and more films are being watched via the internet.

It's the same with camcorders, DV is virtually dead because of the amateurs' craving for auto this and auto that resulting in the propagation of DVD, then HDD and now Flash Memory cameras.

In its iLife suite ads, Apple doesn't even mention iDVD because most users are not interested.

The number of FW sockets is being reduced in most Macs and some don't even have any at all, as the growth of USB 2.0 cameras continues relentlessly.

I see only doom and gloom ahead and am searching for a high cliff-top.

REPENT! For the end of the world is nigh!

Yeah...more and more are being watch over the net but such a tiny percentage worldwide its barely a blip.....15 more years of DVD still left in it I'm guessing

I hope you are right, as it is my first medium of choice.

What gets on my wick is that so many people on the video forums have comparatively expensive cameras and use pro editing tools, yet their final and only destination is YouTube, where a lens made from a pop-bottle bottom would, in many cases, be more appropriate.

Eric Pautsch1 wrote:
Yeah...more and more are being watch over the net but such a tiny percentage worldwide its barely a blip.....15 more years of DVD still left in it I'm guessing

I really hope you are right with that one 🙂

I hope I'm wrong...

Well then I hope your wrong, which means then you are right.

I don't think it has 15 years left, I am thinking 1/3 of that number myself at best.

15 more years of DVD still left in it I'm guessing

I really doubt that. Frankly, I'll be surprised if optical media is still around in 15 years.

Well, in a perfect world that would be true. However there is one major problem with that, that most people are not even thinking of. The problem is that here in the U.S. the major source of broadband internet access is cable companies. Cable companies are terrified that indeed you will be downloading a lot of shows and movies via iTunes and/or Hulu, etc. That could lead to people turning off cable. So, in various markets across the U.S. the cable companies have been trying out various caps and/or punishing fees for doing anything more than checking your email. The cable companies are really intent on stopping people from watching TV shows or movies over the internet.
Do you really think optical will be dead if you have to play an additional $150 in monthly fees on top of what you are paying now for internet access, just to have access to iTunes and Hulu?
http://stopthecap.com/

I said that optical wouldn't last, not physical distribution. While I certainly wish physical distribution won't be around, I'm inclined to agree that the odds are not in favor it.

If cable companies get their way, optical media will be around for a long time. Not because they particularly care about optical media. They are just firmly intent on making sure that the internet does nothing to hurt cable (i.e., no watching of show or movies via the internet.)

And so far the cable companies have been winning. They killed off legislation (called Net Neutrality) several years ago that would have put a stop to their caps and/or punishing fees.

But physical distribution can still evolve without going to the web. SD cards, for example, could be the next big thing, as Jon Chappell speculated the other day:
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/blog/posts/couldsd_cards_replacedvds.html

Would you "people" tell me what you're smoking and where I can get some? The same people on this board who say Blu-ray disk is too expensive are now saying the future is flash memory. If you have a clue about the technologies, you know a SD card or whatever card will never be cheaper to manufacture than a CD/DVD/Blu-ray DVD. They stamp these puppies out like the mint stamps out pennies and a penny probably costs more to produce. If licensing fees are the problem, when the market begins to dry-up, those will diminish or disappear too.

As to who will be using DVD/Blu-ray, it is the small independent producer like myself who does industrial and event projects. While I know some of the wanna-be Hollywood types here can't imagine doing this kind of work, and it is fun work. My suspicion is that more profit is made by wedding videographers, Nationwide, than from the remainder of the true independent producers. Add in the industrial producers to the wedding/event mix and you have some whopping numbers. Greater Los Angeles alone has hundreds of these companies and while their owners don't live in Beverly Hills, a lot of them live near Mulholland Drive in Encino and Sherman Oaks. And I'm not counting the **** producers. The same is true for New York and Washington, D.C.

In most of the U.S., downloads are a joke. Some of the problems with the cable companies have already been discussed here. I live and work directly across Puget Sound from Seattle and my choices are a local cable company or Qwest (the phone company). I have the fastest choice I can get from any available supplier and that is a 3Gbit (download) DSL from Qwest that is really a 2.4Gbit download speed. They tell me without blushing that they advertise "up to 3Gb," but legally they are required to deliver only 80% of 3Gbits. I check it daily and it is never, never, never greater than 2.4. And I'm better off than most Americans who don't live inside a major city. Download - - - I'll need something to smoke!

Some of you often mention "other" alternatives to optical media, but never get specific about what that is. Clearly, you're smoking and believe the answer is halographic crystals! ...as a delivery medium I mean.

Back to Apple supporting Blu-ray, you bet they'll be there. Steve jobs knows what the numbers are very well, and he knows who his customers are who need Blu-ray for their customers. DVDSP will get fixed soon, it isn't that big a software development job. You naysayers just keep claiming he will throw this market away, and keep racking-up those postings numbers!