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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Anyone working with Autodesk Smoke 2013?

We tried it...
Fantastic composting tool as usual...

But as a edit machine... way way to clunky and slow.
Found myself constantly rendering and hardly a smooth flowing edit time line...
Was sad... as I expected more. But... in saying that, its still a great compositing box, and still has the best keyer ever !
 
I'm curious, when you found the editing clunky and slow, were you referring to the workflow in getting the edit built, or the actual speed of the edited timeline (having to render, etc.?)

As to the workflow, the default hotkey settings are the same as Final Cut Pro, so if you're familiar with that app (or Premiere, for that matter), hopefully the transition wouldn't be too bad.

If it's a matter of a slow timeline and constantly having to render, and your hardware is in spec, it may be a matter of how you're importing the footage. If it is soft-imported (linked to the footage instead of transcoded) and it has a higher resolution setting, it would certainly be slow and clunky. I have created edits from the ground up in Smoke for years, and i still adhere to an "offline/online" type workflow when creating edits, which is editing at a lower resolution and then reconforming (or relinking, to be more accurate) to the higher res footage when the time is appropriate.

I'm don't know your particular situation for sure, though. I was just curious how you were using it, and wanted to give another perspective from someone who uses it as their primary edit tool.

Mike
www.smoketutorials.com
 
Smoke 2013 is a different animal, unlike the previous versions. It had been redone from ground up. Editing had been simplified and streamlined. The whole app now is much more of a standard Mac app, where, for example, you can drop and drag files into the project from the Finder. The best improvement is the inclusion of CFX (Connect Effects), which anyone familiar with Flame or Flair will recognize as a Batch. Unlike Action, this is a true compositing environment, that previously was only available on Flame and such. So, now for very little money, in comparison to previous versions, you get an almost Flame for the price of Smoke.
Said that, it is still not the best editor, nor best compositing tool, nor is it a great color grading tool. There are better tools than that. But, if you're looking for a "One app solution", this is it! You can edit, if you wish, composite, grade and deliver all in one app without ever leaving the app. Yes, using Smoke for finish is a much better proposition, than using it for editing. I wish Smoke had better color grading capabilities. Unfortunately it is still using old CC And CW. Fortunately, I had been told by people in the know, that FilmLight is working on the Baselight plugin for Flame, a-la Baselight Editions. With that in mind, plugin for Smoke not that far off. If that or better yet, when this happens, I'm fully committed to working in Smoke. NAB this year can't come fast enough for me...
 
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