At IBC2012 in Amsterdam which ran until 11 September, Autodesk, Inc. showed the latest version of the Smoke 2013 professional video editing software pre-release trial. Since announcing the new Smoke earlier this year, Autodesk has been closely collaborating with thousands of editors working in broadcast, cable and corporate video to guide the development of the software.
“Autodesk is experimenting with a bold development strategy for the new Smoke which features an extended pre-release trial that allows users time to test the software and contribute to the product design and affords our developers the time to incorporate feedback to help improve the software. The strategy is all about engaging the community and creating the best software possible. Involvement, excitement and constructive input have exceeded all our expectations,’ said Mark Strassman, Autodesk Media & Entertainment vice president strategy and marketing.
The radically redesigned Smoke video editing and visual effects software for the Mac integrates high-end effects tools within a standard nonlinear editing workflow. Since making a huge splash at NAB 2012 where Smoke won six awards, thousands of video editors from around the globe have downloaded the software, contributed valuable feedback, attended training events and “friended’ Autodesk Smoke on Facebook. The US leads the world on the number of Smoke pre-release trial downloads, followed closely by Europe and Asia.
The blogosphere is ignited with enthusiasm over the new strategy, the extended trial period and the powerful functionality of the new Smoke:
“This is a great application with a bright future. It’s nice to see a company championing the quality of the product and the end-user experience over simply meeting a deadline.’ — Jason Myres, colorist and post-production engineer @jasonmyres.
“’Click’ You just heard the sound of me realizing the unbelievable power of #Smoke2013 — it’s like Media Composer & Nuke had a smarter kid.’ — That Post Show’s Kanen Flowers @kanendosei.
“All the XMLs from Final Cut Pro moved over to Smoke flawlessly! And, a key that took four hours to create previously, now only takes 10 minutes in the new Smoke.’ — Chris Wysoglad, visual effects supervisor Resolution Digital Studios.
“Smoke 2013 Wow! It’s a great opportunity for Final Cut Pro editors to become Smoke artists. Finally, an all-in-one finishing system with timeline editing, color correction, 2D and 3D compositing and effects.” — T Selvakumar, director and founder of Audio Media, India’s first Apple Certified Trainer.
