Re:Runway – Create impossible video
by anigbrowl on Thursday July 08, 2021 @02:30AM
(#27768968)
Former film pro here. I don't see anything 'impossible' here, most of this is stuff I could do on my desk 10 years ago with a modest setup - but only with a lot of patience and manual labor.
If these demos fairly represent the user experience then it's slick as hell and further blurs the line between editor, compositor, DI specialist etc. Much will depend on whether the ML marketplace can be competitive with many mature commercial offerings from software studios that have no intention of letting their lunch be eaten. Video production involves a lot of bleeding edge technology but the client base is also suspicious of new providers or do-it-all solutions at first, and very loyal to products and tech support offerings that have got them through difficult projects in the past, so there will be a big hill to climb between people acknowledging it's cool as hell and their willingness to sell it to a producer who is making a 5, 6, or 7 figure bet on what some editor/VFX geek is telling them.
The web browser/cloud storage is an issue. It could be a plus in many circumstances, but it's also a big barrier to any production that's working in a remote location without reliable internet, especially given the massive data volumes involved. That limits a lot of the use cases to post production, and many producers and directors are going to be wary of starting on one platform and finishing on something else; nobody likes workflow changes unless they can be shown something seamless, like having your Avid/Final Cut/Premiere/* project leave your machine and show up frame-perfect in Runway, along with a definite answer about export time like being able to take in 12 hours of video and have it online within 24h. There will also have to be a lot of questions about security, downtime, and being able to get your project back out of Runway if money runs out, the editor gets fired, creative differences rear their head etc.
Looks like an instant win for short-form projects like personal shorts, music videos, commercials, corporate, demo reels, spec pieces. Potentially very good for reality TV indie and low-mid budget films once the above questions are answered. Toughest nut to crack is large budget or episodic TV where there's very stiff competition and contractual or professional commitments already in place, but doable within 5 years.
If these demos fairly represent the user experience then it's slick as hell and further blurs the line between editor, compositor, DI specialist etc. Much will depend on whether the ML marketplace can be competitive with many mature commercial offerings from software studios that have no intention of letting their lunch be eaten. Video production involves a lot of bleeding edge technology but the client base is also suspicious of new providers or do-it-all solutions at first, and very loyal to products and tech support offerings that have got them through difficult projects in the past, so there will be a big hill to climb between people acknowledging it's cool as hell and their willingness to sell it to a producer who is making a 5, 6, or 7 figure bet on what some editor/VFX geek is telling them.
The web browser/cloud storage is an issue. It could be a plus in many circumstances, but it's also a big barrier to any production that's working in a remote location without reliable internet, especially given the massive data volumes involved. That limits a lot of the use cases to post production, and many producers and directors are going to be wary of starting on one platform and finishing on something else; nobody likes workflow changes unless they can be shown something seamless, like having your Avid/Final Cut/Premiere/* project leave your machine and show up frame-perfect in Runway, along with a definite answer about export time like being able to take in 12 hours of video and have it online within 24h. There will also have to be a lot of questions about security, downtime, and being able to get your project back out of Runway if money runs out, the editor gets fired, creative differences rear their head etc.
Looks like an instant win for short-form projects like personal shorts, music videos, commercials, corporate, demo reels, spec pieces. Potentially very good for reality TV indie and low-mid budget films once the above questions are answered. Toughest nut to crack is large budget or episodic TV where there's very stiff competition and contractual or professional commitments already in place, but doable within 5 years.