I’ve been thinking a lot since the latest Apple media event about the new Mac Pro. Gradually details have emerged and everyone got onto Twitter to vent their opinions, myself included.
I think it’s massively exciting because in my day to day job* I’m moving towards my ambition of The Invisible Edit Suite.
What I mean by that is that the combination of software and hardware will be so advanced that I don’t have to think about it or wait for it. It’ll just do what I tell it to. Because that’s what I want from my technology. I want it to get out of the way – it’s just a medium through which I manipulate virtual assets to create more virtual assets. If only I could get my own body out of the way too, that would really speed things up!
More time being creative, less time managing or waiting for the edit suite. That’s what excites me about a new machine. And though we don’t yet know exactly how fast the Mac Pro will be, it’ll be faster than the iMac I have right now, otherwise why would Apple build it?
We’re not there yet – my internet connection is too slow uploading for me to be able to not consider the time it will take. And of course the mythic Mac Pro isn’t even out yet, much less on my desk. Further than that, what you put into an edit suite will always progress as well – right now my job is 1080p footage, next year maybe we go 4k and/or some raw format and who knows beyond that?
But for now I’m going to let myself be excited. Life’s more fun that way.
*I’m cutting either DSLR or C300 footage at 1080p, usually narrative/comedy series, 3 minutes per episode.