[Kdenlive-devel] What is professional level work?

[Oceanwatcher]

I would like to get a little serious talk around the use of the word 
professional.

It seems to have two meanings.

1. Anyone that get paid to work with video and TV

This is a very popular way of putting it for people that is not in that 
business themselves. And to a certain degree, it is true. 

But there is a different way of looking at it, and this is something you will 
frequently meet when you enter the business - you will quickly learn that just 
because you get paid to do it, does not mean you are able!

2. A professional is someone that can tell a story in such a way that the 
technology get out of the way and into the heart of the viewer. This is based 
on skill, knowledge and the ability to relate to the people in front of the 
camera and in front of the screen.

I have been working in this business for 20 years. And sometimes I have been 
doing demos of editing systems. I could always tell who the amateurs were when 
their first question was "How many effects does this system have?". The correct 
answer (that I could never give them) was "More than you should ever need or 
use!".

I have come here to offer the knowledge I have for free, and I consider myself 
a professional. I also happen to think that what is good for a professional is 
good for the amateur.

Would you ever think about "dumbing down" Word or OpenOffice just because you 
think most people are not professional writers or secretaries? I think that is 
the wrong way to go. I have seen it over and over again - never underestimate 
your audience. If my drinking buddy wants to edit video, it takes him a very 
short time to grow out of the "dumb" stuff. And he is left craving for more. 
But then, as he moves "up", he will have to start learning things all over 
again.

There are two areas of video production that have very simple needs. News and 
documentaries. Most amateur productions would fit very well within those 
boundaries. They usually do not produce fiction, music videos or commercials. A 
vacation video is basically a documentary. So they need a tool that fits the 
job. And there is nothing wrong about taking what big companies and thousands 
of professionals have spent millions of dollars to learn and develop and apply 
that to a tool that is developed for free. Why waste time inventing the wheel 
again?

A trade lingo, or professional naming, is common in all areas of life. Have 
you ever been to get the oil changed on your car? Or talked to a chef about 
food? Try to pay attention when you are going through the day. How big would 
the confusion be if everyone insisted on developing their own set of rules and 
language for everything we do? Communication would be totally hopeless.

Eventually (I really hope so), kdenlive will attract more professionals and 
you will get a living community around the art of telling stories. That is 
waht this is about. Kdenlive is a tool to get stories out to the world. No 
matter if you get paid for it or not.

And here is the BIG thing for me. Most of the people that really need kdenlive 
in the first place are people that can not afford any of the big brands of 
videoediting. All the big, well known TV stations have money enough to buy 
what they need and they will not consider kdenlive at all. The only ones 
inside an organisation like that considering it, would be open source fanatics 
that are working in small test groups to see what is "out there". I know one 
of those groups and when kdenlive is ready for it, I will make sure it gets 
the attention that it should have.

But the main area are people that today are pirating software in the hope that 
it will make them a better storyteller. And instead of having a stable, 
uasable system, they might end up running something that is Windows based and 
full of malware.

I also know a lot of what you can called advanced amateurs. People that are 
passionate about making video, but do it as a hobby. They are also a big group 
for kdenlive. AND they are very concious about getting to know the correct way 
of naming things so they can communicate with the pro's.

The pro's that will come to this community will be a huge resource as most of 
them are more than willing to share their knowledge. And in my experience, 
people crave knowledge and they are very attracted to anything that can 
increase it.

What kind of tool is in my opinion needed? A tool that is as basic as 
possible. The focus should be on cutting video, and not on compositing. What 
my drinking buddy needs is not a tool to make the next Matrix, but a tool to 
edit his latest fishing trip to show off how big the fish really was. Compositing 
might be fancy and cool to work on, but face it, it is a real minority that 
will ever need it. On the other hand, what EVERYONE need is good media 
management, fast and efficient cutting, easy adjusting of clips in the timeline 
and as much standard ways of doing things as possible so they can use the 
knowledge they already have.

Have you ever used professional kitchen tools? As you move away from the 
hobbykitchen, flimsy, plastic stuff, you see that you also loose most of the 
fancy stuff, but the tools become more powerful and more sturdy.

For a pro it is not about more features and effects, it is about less. There 
are two words used in the business about the kind of video that uses all 
available effects and fonts in all colors - pizzavideo or porn. If someone use 
that about your production, you might not consider that as a compliment :-D 
And if you actually has read all the way down to this, I thank you for 
listening to these thoughts of mine whether you agree with them or not. 
Because that is your privilege.

-- 

Regards,

Oceanwatcher