Cameras have seen a huge metamorphosis from the transition of film to video to digital. There are experts now who say the word video should not be associated with the word camera. Cameras can safely be grouped into categories of large single sensor digital cinema cameras or HD television cameras and 3D camcorders

Examples of the large single sensor variety include the ARRI Alexa; RED One, Epic and Scarlet; Canon C300; Sony F65 and Panasonic AF100. HD television cameras would include the Panasonic HPX3700, Sony XDcams, and EX3 products. Hybridization has been the norm in the camera sector, with technological changes occurring at a phenomenal rate as more facilities adopt 3D technologies and acquisition platforms.

The report provides market size in total and by individual vertical market as well as brand shares, competitive analysis and future forecasts. For more info view the report online

Vizrt Reports Record Revenue in 2011

Barco’s Revenues Rise 16.1% in 2011

Haivision Continues Record Growth in 2011

EVS Reports Decline in 2011

Dalet Revenue Up 22% in 2011

Switching from FCP-7 to X or Adobe
I’m feeling more and more comfortable switching to FCPX from 7, but I have some friends in the field who decided from the outset to switch over to Premiere instead – and they don’t look like they’re going to change their minds. I believe Premiere’s half-price promotion only extends until the end of this month (Adobe continues to offer deep discounts). I’m tempted to get Premiere at that price so I can have it in case I need to share projects with Premiere users down the road. I would prefer not doing that (I’m familiar with the software, but there’s still a learning curve I’d rather avoid). I’m curious to hear after the dust has settled a little what others are hearing from colleagues, etc. Has there been a noticeable migration over to X after the initial resistance? Has Adobe published any numbers about increased sales since the promotion started? What have you guys heard?

Now, for the marketing information, we know that as of NAB Show 2011 FCP had 54% of the market, PPro had only 19%, Avid trailed at 17%, and the remaining 10% were other NLEs (based on data from SCRI’s 2011-2012 NLE Broadcast / Pro Video Report, probably taken from the New York Times Article, “Apple’s Final Cut Is Dead. Long Live Final Cut.”)

Adobe recently announced that their PPro sales for the past 12 months have increased by 45%. Bear in mind, that’s 45% of 19%, and is not as huge of an increase as it sounds. They also made it sound like FCP X was responsible for most of that, even though FCP X had only been out for 2 months at the time, and other marketing information didn’t reflect that alluded to claim.

There were decisions made by Richard Townhill that really upset folks both inside and outside of Apple. Part of his penance was to do this rare interview to help folks know Apple is committed to making FCP X as professional as possible (he also says Apple is doing things with FCP X that contradict the original decisions he made about it, think about that). He made decisions such as no bulk license deals, no backwards compatibility, etc.

So, Apple intends to keep it’s market, and is working hard towards that goal. Have they hurt themselves too badly to catch up? Will they win back their old users as FCP X matures and becomes what I foresee as the best NLE on the market? Only time will tell  (SCRI’s newly published 2012-2013 Broadcast/Pro Video NLE Report tracks market share )

I’m using FCP X more and more. In the past month and a half I’ve only opened FCP 7 to replicate problems my students and consulting clients have had, and troubleshoot for them.

I’m planning on moving from Color to Resolve eventually, now that it supports FCP X’s version of XML. I will also be moving from Final Cut Server to CatDV because of their aggressive development to support FCP X and Motion 5. I don’t think either of those companies would make such moves if they didn’t see enough of a market to be profitable.

I’ve spoken with my reps from both AJA and Flanders Scientific about their developments to support FCP X, and both are very tight lipped, dropping hints, but not saying anything publicly at all. I’m led to believe they are working on supporting some broadcast output Apple is working on (and has promised 1st quarter 2012). Not to forget that all the major third-party plugin developers are working hard on FCP X versions of their wares. I would not think these companies would be investing so much time and money to support a product they didn’t believe would have significant market share over time.

Finally, I’d like to point out that Adobe, Sony, Avid, Grass Valley, they are NLE makers and don’t have much leeway in being innovative. Avid released a version with “magic tools” to be more FCP like, and failed at that, with a huge backlash from it’s user base. Apple’s FCP X is a tiny part of their business, and thus can do drastic evolutionary changes without it hurting their bottom line. So, no one but Apple is in a position to evolve the currently outdated NLE paradigms as FCP X has. They’re trying it, they’re putting a good effort into it, we’ll see what happens.

Time will tell, many large houses are admittedly waiting to see how FCP X develops (meaning they’re not ruled out moving to it). A year from now, I’m very confident that we will be discussing how PPro and Avid have developed to be more FCP X like. But that’s just my speculation.

Gary Greenfield, chairman and CEO of Avid looking for some positive numbers, stated that “For the quarter, we reported positive GAAP net income for the first time since 2007, positive cash flow from operations and the highest gross margin as a percent of revenue since 2005. ”

Cable Networks

Operating income at Cable Networks increased $196 million to $967 million for the quarter due to growth at ESPN and, to a lesser extent, the worldwide Disney Channels. The increase at ESPN was driven by higher affiliate revenue reflecting contractual rate increases and a reduction in revenue deferrals related to annual program commitments. During the quarter, ESPN deferred $190 million of revenue compared to $266 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease was due to a change in the provisions related to annual programming commitments in an affiliate contract. Advertising revenues at ESPN were essentially flat as higher rates and units sold were offset by decreased ratings and a shift in the timing of the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and certain NBA games relative to our fiscal period end. Programming and production costs at ESPN were comparable to the prior-year quarter as the shift in the timing of college bowl and NBA games was offset by higher contractual rates for NFL and college football programming.
Higher operating income at the worldwide Disney Channels was due to increased advertising and affiliate revenue, partially offset by higher programming and production costs. Higher advertising revenue was driven by higher units sold and improved rates internationally. Affiliate revenue growth reflected subscriber growth internationally and contractual rate increases domestically.

Studio Entertainment

Studio Entertainment revenues decreased 16% to $1.6 billion and segment operating income increased 10% to $413 million. The revenue decline was driven by fewer Disney branded titles in wide theatrical release in the current quarter along with an adverse impact from the timing of title availabilities in television markets and lower DVD volumes. Higher operating income was primarily due to an increase in worldwide theatrical results and lower film cost write-downs, partially offset by decreases in television distribution and worldwide home entertainment results.

Improved worldwide theatrical results reflected the benefit of lower distribution and marketing costs and production cost amortization which more than offset the revenue decline due to fewer Disney branded films in wide theatrical release. Key titles in the prior-year quarter included Tangled and Tron: Legacy while the current quarter included The Muppets.

Lower results in television distribution were driven by the timing of title availabilities, relative to our fiscal period end, in international markets. The decrease in worldwide home entertainment was primarily due to a decline in unit sales, partially offset by improved net effective pricing driven by a higher Blu-ray sales mix. The decrease in unit sales reflected the strength of Toy Story 3, Beauty and the Beast Platinum Release, A Christmas Carol and Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the prior-year quarter compared to Cars 2, The Lion King Platinum Release, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Help in the current quarter, as well as lower sales of catalog titles.

Fourth quarter 2011 revenue was $16.8 million, compared to $17.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2011 and $14.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The increase in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter was driven by higher sales of new products and volume shipments for advanced TV. Revenue declined sequentially primarily due to weaker than expected demand in the digital projection market.
“2011 was a year of solid progress for Pixelworks, as we expanded our product lines for both the digital projection and advanced TV markets,” said Bruce Walicek, President and CEO of Pixelworks. “On a year over year basis our new products were up 66% over 2010 and represented 56% of total sales, compared with 31% in the prior year. We look forward to building on the new product momentum and customer traction across all our product lines in 2012, as we continue to deliver leading performance solutions with superior video quality.”