Tuesday, September 27, 2011
6 Tips for Turbo - Charging
Saturday, September 10, 2011
9/11 Memories
This post is a slightly more fleshed out version of some thoughts I wrote down not long after the tragic events of 9/11/2001. Since this weekend is the 10th anniversary of those attacks, I thought I would share my experience and memories.

Then we saw the second plane hit. I knew almost immediately that it wasn't an accident. The plane was too big, the flight path too deliberate.
I remember the dread I felt that morning. Each attack seemed timed so that just as you were getting over the shock of one thing happening, the next thing happened. The plane hit the tower, then reports of
I remember the chaos as we informed people waiting to get into the show I was working on what had happened, and told them we were cancelling the taping and that they had to leave. I remember the security team for the show, which was made up of retired cops, taking charge. Being that we were a media center, there was a fear that we would be hit by something. Again, it was chaos, no one knew how big the attack was or how organized or anything. the Pentagon being hit. Then the first WTC Tower falling, and on and on it seemed at the time.
I remember that my parents were vacationing in New Hampshire and someone else was staying at our house to take care of my elderly grandparents. I remember calling her to make sure she knew I was okay. She informed my parents I was okay. That was the first they heard about the attack.
I remember working on a security detail for the Center, escorting people without a CBS ID into the building to wherever they were going. I remember Charlie Rose throwing a fit when he was informed he

couldn’t just walk in because he had forgotten his ID badge. I remember Mel Karmazin, the head of Viacom which owns CBS, waiting patiently when informed of the same thing.
I remember seeing the Naudet brothers come in, all dusty and sweaty, with their camera containing the footage of the first plane hitting the Towers, as well as their experience being with a group of firefighters who were on the scene. I didn't know any of that at the time.I remember being transferred to work in the Hard News center, logging a live feed of the aftermath.
I remember the eerie feeling of seeing no cars on the streets in NYC, just a few buses and taxis, as I walked through Times Square to a friend’s apartment to stay the night. I remember seeing the Empire State Building standing in the distance, dark.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Final Cut Pro...ish
So why the change of heart Apple? Was it the outrage, and abandonment felt by the professional editing community the world over...maybe. Or could it have something to do with the new CEO Apple recently welcomed into office? Whatever the case may be it is most likely that they started to get hit where it really hurt...their wallet. When the new software was first released and the negative reviews started to flood in, post-production companies, including Firelight, began to really think about whether or not they would use the software that Apple marketed as the next generation of professional editing software, which it clearly wasn’t. Final Cut’s biggest competitor, AVID, who had been loosing many

So Final cut users have a huge decision ahead of them: Do you “upgrade” to FCP X, and reinvest thousands of dollars in an edit system that doesn’t really work the way it should? Do you stay with Final Cut 7, a system you know and love, but is quickly becoming outdated and eventually will not be supported by Apple? Or do you jump ship to AVID. Yes you would have to reinvest, and learn a different way of editing, but it is a system that in the past few years has really begun to listen what editors want, and updating their features but keeping the same work-flow used by editors for years.
The future of Final Cut Pro is still unclear, but as Final Cut user I am glad to see that the editing system I first started to edit on, and work with everyday is not completely obsolete...not yet anyway.
Now with all of this being said, I have to admit I have not had much experience with the new software. But it looks like the fine folks at the Conan O’Brian Show on TBS can’t say enough about it.
I know not everyone reading this is familiar with the software but we would love to hear your feedback in the comments below.