Micr$oft to enter video editing scene??

[paulw]

Below is an extract from a report on it's new replacment for Win 98.

"Other new Windows features include a suite of tools to let users edit video recordings and put them up on the Web, echoing a move by Apple Computer Co. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) to add such software to its popular iMac line of consumer-friendly computers.

``If you think about why people want to take videos, it's not just to take videos but to share them.'' Sanford said. ''What we are trying to do with MovieMaker (software) is truly expose digital video to the masses.''

Make you a little nervouse that they're trying to corner this market as well.

[Brian Ellis]

Paul

It is inevitable. If there is a profitable niche, you will find MS trying to exploit it. Their usual method is to find a small, but good, software, buy the producers out and then market it under their own name, as they are incapable of innovation under their own right (WJG Jr, please note). Often, in trying to incorporate it within their own framework, they ruin it completely. There may be a few exceptions, but if you critically compare:
- Word with WordPerfect
- Windows x with Linux
- Any putative MS graphics software with any other
- Excel with StarOffice
etc., you will see that the MS offering is a) the one that crashes most often and b) the least rich in features.

The only exception I make to this generalisation is FrontPage which MS haven't yet managed to bugger up too completely since buying out the authors, even though it is now offered as part of some versions of Office. However, reading between the lines of your message, it would seem likely that their video editing software would be a light version for streaming from web sites, so will possibly be incorporated into FrontPage, which may very well finish the buggering-up process for that, as well

Whatever, they will never be able to catch up on Premiere or MSPro. If they do manage to produce something even half as good, at a lower price, it may force Ulead and Adobe to reduce their prices and that can't be bad.


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Brian (the terrible)

[Pertti]

Makes you wonder...

As MicroS**t is incapable of releasing stand alone applications...

What changes are they going to make to the OS this time ?
(Video editing on a PC is only meant for producing web videos)

Be very suspicious of any MS updates, the signs are already there...

Brian - can you play games in Star Office

[This message has been edited by Pertti (edited 13 April 2000).]

[wkulecz]

IF you look at the Microsoft device control for firewire digital camcorders and their DV codec as used by Ulead in both MSPro6 and Visual Studio, one has to wonder about the quality control at both Microsoft *and* Ulead. Plays back in Media Player, must be right :-(

Search the forum for Pyro audio sync problems and poor transitions rendered by Microsoft DV codec. Neither of these are immediately obvious to the superficial testing done by all the glowing reviewers, but as soon as you actually try to use the stuff they become painfully obvious!

Based on past performace from Microsoft, expect MovieMaker3 to be usable.

--wally.

[Brian Ellis]

Pertti

It's about the only thing you cannot do with it

Even though it's not perfect and can be downright annoying at times, StarOffice is a fantastic achievement. It does everything that MS or Corel Office suites can do plus Netscape Communicator plus PhotoPaint, yet it is a single programme, not a suite of applications which are separate, albeit with a few common files. It's programmed in Java which makes it crash-free (I've never succeeded in making it crash, even under W98) . The best part is the price: the cost of downloading it or 10 bucks for a CD-ROM. And it's supported by no less than Sun Microsystems.

Sorry if I've drifted OT!

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Brian (the terrible)

[Serengeti]

"If they do manage to produce something even half as good, at a lower price, it may force Ulead and Adobe to reduce their prices and that can't be bad."

I disagree strongly. It may not be bad, for you, the consumer, on the short run, but it is HORRIBLE for:

a> The companies workforce, who will now be stressed to be more innovative, work longer and for less.

b> The companies stability and reach, since MS will start underpricing them (free), just like Netscape.

c> Competition in general, which means less innovation and new features.

d> Diversity, which will narrow, as fewer companies will tread into this industry, in fear of the MS empire.

e> You, in the long run, for many of the reasons above. You'll see less innovations and more imitations of other software products.


Microsoft should be punished NOW. The courts aren't going to be able to do SHIT for the next two years, and in that time, MS will release more and more free software, distributed through Windows, severely hurting the competition. It's going to be a bunch of IE's over and over again.


[This message has been edited by Serengeti (edited 13 April 2000).]

[elister]

Movie Maker is getting more stable, but like all fledgling projects on campus, they often dont know what their doing. As it stands right now, MM is an overglorified version of wmtools.exe. Do not think of it as a serious editing software (iMovie comes with crippled features by default) as it writes only in asf and is mainly for emailing or streaming videos.

No big suprise here, your better off using Premier or MSP.

[Diddly]

I'm a lurker here who just so happens to work on a team related to the MovieMaker guys.

Don't worry about it affecting much in the videoediting world - at most it will get a few more new users to decide to get a capture card to email a video of little Timmy's birthday party

Sure, our software isn't perfect all the time - but we try out best to improve the technology and make it easier to do powerful things. What's bundled with Windows isn't meant to be and end-all solution - they're just little things that'll work until you can get your hands on the real deal.

Meanwhile, I have my RT2000 running here, and I make sure that it works right with everything... If any of you guys out there are WinME beta uers, drop me a note if you have any issues and I'll look into them.

...how come people didn't freak out when we bundled solitare?

[Brian Ellis]

Diddly

You must be about the most courageous guy on this planet, admitting on this forum, of all places, that you work for our beloved Bill Gates. Be prepared for a good flaming session


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Brian (the terrible)

[Serengeti]

hehe Well, not from me. I don't care if he works for Gates or not. In fact - Congratulations!! Get as much money from him as you can!!

The only thing that I didn't like about his reply was it was trying to assure us that MovieMaker was goign to be very low end consumer oriented.

Not that its unlikely - it is likely that the software will really low end users to consider buying a camear, etc, however, Internet Explorer 2 was not that great at all when it was first introduced. No one had any hope for MS over turning the Netscape.

Point being: In anything MS related, only time will tell how far it goes.

[cjyo~]

Diddly,

Do you have any hints for us about the improvements in the MS DV codec?

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Please visit http://spincycle.n3.net - My System: Celeron 300a(@450/2v),Abit BH6, 128mb RAM, Win98SE, Marvel G200TV, Diamond MX300, Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20g system drive, DiamondMax Plus 40 capture drive, IBM 8g Deskstar program drive, Adaptec 2940UW SCSI, 9gb Barracuda UWSCSI video drive, Hitachi GD-2500 DVD-Rom, UltraPlex CD-Rom, Plexwriter CD-recorder, Viewsonic PT775, Soundworks 4.1 speakers

[Pertti]

Diddly,

I didn't think the MM would be anything but a Mickey Mouse application for the masses, but history has tought us some tough lessons (do I even have to mention IE4 in connection with W95/NT4).

If MS didn't rewrite the OS files (VXD, OCX, DLL...), for the excisting OS:s everytime it comes up with these ideas, we couldn't care less.

Just one example of how the MS "improvements" are affecting us, is the new 1GB AVI limit that is bugging us.
Take a 1.1 to 2GB Matrox MJPEG AVI, and open it in MediaStudio ScratchPad or check the Properties/Preview of the File in Windows Explorer, and you are currently unable to scrub or play past the 1GB mark.
If you make a fresh installation of W95B (W98/W98SE is beyond repair), and keep tight control of what MS updates ("improvements"), you install (the fewer the better), the problem doesn't exist.

Brian - Reading at his post... I bet he is some young idealist, that has not been there too long (yet)

Pertti
(revealing his balding head for Diddlys courage)

[Diddly]

Ack, I wasn't expecting that much of a response...

You'll have to understand that I'm under NDA on tons of things, so I can't talk about the future of any product plans, etc. MM itself isn't a threat to anything IMHO. Residual effects will be incredibly positive to the whole community - sorry I can't elaborate, but give it about 4-5 months.

MS DV codec, we're working on it. This isn't really my area, so I don't know exactly where it's at. All I know is that it better work right with the rt2000 (and it does so far!).

Pertti - you've hit the nail on the head. I'm a young guy, only been here a few years. I'd like to believe that we're doing the right thing, and I do my best to do just that and influence others to do the same. I'm on the testing side of things, so I don't have much say as to features, spec, reasoning, and marketing - but I'm not afraid to holler when I notice something that will be a pain to the enduser.

Hopefully my choice of employment won't shut me out of this community - I've a few video ideas I'd like to get in the video showcase someday and get your feedback on.

[Pertti]

Diddly,

Don't worry, we won't hold it against you, welcome to the community

Actually, having MURCers at MS, is like having a spy at the enemy HQ

Pertti

[This_Idiot]

Echo that welcome Diddly, feel at home in this "ship of fools" as someone dubbed it longer ago than I care to remember. Mebbe Pertti has a better memory than me !

If you wear an MS coat around here you'll need to make sure it's a thick one, but you're in good company. Some of the Matrox guys hang around from time to time, but they ignore the ignoramii and give as good as they get in the banter stakes.

You'll get to know the characters pretty soon. I'm the one with hair