DVD authoring: The next killer app?
Apple announced that its high-end Power Mac G4 models, due in March, will ship with DVD SuperDrives from Pioneer that can not only read and write CD-R and DVD-R discs but create video discs for consumer-level DVD players.
The company even demonstrated software to take the complexity out of DVD production: iDVD, which will be shipped free with SuperDrive-equipped Macs, and DVD Studio Pro, a professional-level DVD-authoring tool that will be sold by Apple as a natural complement to Final Cut Pro, its high-end video-editing package.
Stoking the Velocity Engine
Apple's most important innovation: The company has found a way to reduce significantly the encoding time for video DVDs. To eliminate the need for very costly hardware, Apple engineers tapped the
Velocity Engine, a processing subsystem included in Motorola's PowerPC G4 processor that can speed certain computing-intensive tasks.
As a result, the 766MHz Power Mac G4 will be able to handle the task of encoding video for DVD without an expensive add-on and at an encoding speed that the company says is about twice the duration of the original material. (In other words, a 30-minute film will take an hour to encode.) Normally, software encoding would take at least 10 to 20 times longer than the original footage -- too long, in any case, to be practical.
Although video professionals grasped Apple's message enthusiastically, the Mac rank and file were slower to pick up on its import than they were to embrace, say, the new PowerBook G4.
Nevertheless, Apple's move may prove momentous: For the first time in history, there will be a cheap way of producing near-professional-quality video output at a reasonable cost. Thanks to DV camcorders, users have been able to produce high-quality video on the desktop for some time -- but as soon as they wanted better output than the average VHS tape, matters became complicated.
Remember DTP?
This announcement evokes another technology revolution initiated by the Macintosh platform: desktop publishing. In the mid-'80s, Apple introduced the LaserWriter -- the first PostScript laser printer -- and near-typeset output came into range for desktop users. The rest, as they say, is history.
That history could repeat itself if DVD authoring becomes tomorrow's killer application for the personal computer. The semi-professional and professional creative markets will hardly need to be pushed to take the new technology for a spin. The promise of DVD-quality output from your DV camcorder should get most creative minds spinning; for certain market segments, this is definitely revolutionary, and we can only guess as to the long-term changes it will bring in video and film production.
Apple's approach doesn't neglect the home user, either. iDVD simplifies a somewhat arcane professional exercise enough to make it accessible to consumers. It can only get more accessible: As soon as Apple can get enough G4 processors and DVD SuperDrives to put them into next-generation iMacs, home cinema could take a totally new turn.
Once all these pieces are in place, Apple should be able to provide very compelling systems for consumer-level video-production, delivering all the elements of an integrated, easy-to-use solution. The only question is, how long will it take?
Once it's in place, DVD authoring will create a flourishing market for independent filmmakers and video producers. The considerable potential of DV camcorders really only comes to fruition once users are equipped with the proper output medium, and their possibilities will be dramatically enhanced through the video DVD option.
This access to the means of production will inspire all sorts of creative spirits who may not yet be considering digital video as a medium. Just as with desktop publishing, there will be a groundswell of new users who are not (yet) video professionals and who will push this technology into the most astonishing market segments. DVDs will be everywhere: Imagine real-estate agents distributing DVDs with virtual tours of prime properties, and you get the picture .
Yet another important angle: video on the Web. By now, it's become quite clear that streaming video is bearable for a number of applications, but it certainly is no match for DVD-quality video viewed on a TV set.
But what about independent content providers who could use the streaming video over the Web to promote their own DVD-based productions, sold online via the same site?
In the long term, DVD authoring combined with the Web could have a profound effect on video production; it could redefine distribution channels and increase the credibility of content that would otherwise look relatively poor.
And where does Apple fit in? So far, it looks like the company has done it once again: It is about to leverage innovative technologies that will provide a strong push for the creative markets.
The big question will be how long Apple can reserve this competitive advantage for the Macintosh platform. If the Velocity Engine is indeed the secret ingredient behind the Mac's encoding speeds, Apple may have some advantage over the Intel-based market -- although it is likely that competitive solutions to iDVD are going to come out sooner than Jobs would like.
Meanwhile, consumer-level hardware-compression options should hit the shelves as soon as the market for DVD authoring gains sufficient steam.
PC manufacturers are going to jump on this bandwagon as soon as they can: In a market increasingly pressed to justify ever-more-powerful processors, DVD encoding would provide many users an ample incentive for upgrading to latest hardware.
Andreas Pfeiffer is an industry analyst and editor in chief of the Pfeiffer Report on Emerging Trends and Technologies. Fast new Macs at a Steve Jobs keynote presentation are always good for column inches, but Apple Computer Inc.'s most far-reaching announcement at this month's Macworld Expo/San Francisco was an also-ran with most of the mainstream press: the company's embrace of DVD authoring as a cornerstone capability of its latest Macs.
Apple announced that its high-end Power Mac G4 models, due in March, will ship with DVD SuperDrives from Pioneer that can not only read and write CD-R and DVD-R discs but create video discs for consumer-level DVD players.
The company even demonstrated software to take the complexity out of DVD production: iDVD, which will be shipped free with SuperDrive-equipped Macs, and DVD Studio Pro, a professional-level DVD-authoring tool that will be sold by Apple as a natural complement to Final Cut Pro, its high-end video-editing package.
Stoking the Velocity Engine
Apple's most important innovation: The company has found a way to reduce significantly the encoding time for video DVDs. To eliminate the need for very costly hardware, Apple engineers tapped the
Velocity Engine, a processing subsystem included in Motorola's PowerPC G4 processor that can speed certain computing-intensive tasks.
As a result, the 766MHz Power Mac G4 will be able to handle the task of encoding video for DVD without an expensive add-on and at an encoding speed that the company says is about twice the duration of the original material. (In other words, a 30-minute film will take an hour to encode.) Normally, software encoding would take at least 10 to 20 times longer than the original footage -- too long, in any case, to be practical.
Although video professionals grasped Apple's message enthusiastically, the Mac rank and file were slower to pick up on its import than they were to embrace, say, the new PowerBook G4.
Nevertheless, Apple's move may prove momentous: For the first time in history, there will be a cheap way of producing near-professional-quality video output at a reasonable cost. Thanks to DV camcorders, users have been able to produce high-quality video on the desktop for some time -- but as soon as they wanted better output than the average VHS tape, matters became complicated.
Remember DTP?
This announcement evokes another technology revolution initiated by the Macintosh platform: desktop publishing. In the mid-'80s, Apple introduced the LaserWriter -- the first PostScript laser printer -- and near-typeset output came into range for desktop users. The rest, as they say, is history.
That history could repeat itself if DVD authoring becomes tomorrow's killer application for the personal computer. The semi-professional and professional creative markets will hardly need to be pushed to take the new technology for a spin. The promise of DVD-quality output from your DV camcorder should get most creative minds spinning; for certain market segments, this is definitely revolutionary, and we can only guess as to the long-term changes it will bring in video and film production.
Apple's approach doesn't neglect the home user, either. iDVD simplifies a somewhat arcane professional exercise enough to make it accessible to consumers. It can only get more accessible: As soon as Apple can get enough G4 processors and DVD SuperDrives to put them into next-generation iMacs, home cinema could take a totally new turn.
Once all these pieces are in place, Apple should be able to provide very compelling systems for consumer-level video-production, delivering all the elements of an integrated, easy-to-use solution. The only question is, how long will it take?
Once it's in place, DVD authoring will create a flourishing market for independent filmmakers and video producers. The considerable potential of DV camcorders really only comes to fruition once users are equipped with the proper output medium, and their possibilities will be dramatically enhanced through the video DVD option.
This access to the means of production will inspire all sorts of creative spirits who may not yet be considering digital video as a medium. Just as with desktop publishing, there will be a groundswell of new users who are not (yet) video professionals and who will push this technology into the most astonishing market segments. DVDs will be everywhere: Imagine real-estate agents distributing DVDs with virtual tours of prime properties, and you get the picture .
Yet another important angle: video on the Web. By now, it's become quite clear that streaming video is bearable for a number of applications, but it certainly is no match for DVD-quality video viewed on a TV set.
But what about independent content providers who could use the streaming video over the Web to promote their own DVD-based productions, sold online via the same site?
In the long term, DVD authoring combined with the Web could have a profound effect on video production; it could redefine distribution channels and increase the credibility of content that would otherwise look relatively poor.
And where does Apple fit in? So far, it looks like the company has done it once again: It is about to leverage innovative technologies that will provide a strong push for the creative markets.
The big question will be how long Apple can reserve this competitive advantage for the Macintosh platform. If the Velocity Engine is indeed the secret ingredient behind the Mac's encoding speeds, Apple may have some advantage over the Intel-based market -- although it is likely that competitive solutions to iDVD are going to come out sooner than Jobs would like.
Meanwhile, consumer-level hardware-compression options should hit the shelves as soon as the market for DVD authoring gains sufficient steam.
PC manufacturers are going to jump on this bandwagon as soon as they can: In a market increasingly pressed to justify ever-more-powerful processors, DVD encoding would provide many users an ample incentive for upgrading to latest hardware.
Andreas Pfeiffer is an industry analyst and editor in chief of the Pfeiffer Report on Emerging Trends and Technologies.