Thanks! I thought maybe my post sounded incoherent. I guess not...
Sony does have a big presence in the tape based arena. They have been trying (unsuccessfully) to release a non-linear system for about 3 years now. (They contacted me twice about training on it to demonstrate at NAB, but I turned it down. I want to make TV and films, not sit at a keyboard in Las Vegas Convention Center). Their systems have yet to really make it in the non-linear arena and hopefully that's a good thing, because they do have a huge market share in the tape based arena and yes they do command a premium for their products. I am really excited that as time passes the business is getting less and less tape based and more and more PC based. The technoloy is cheaper, easier, faster and more available to everybody whcih can only mean more and more quality programming by more and more people.
Tektronix (Lightworks) has a big presence in LA and is a favorite of feature film editors. Scitex Digital Video (Turbo Cube, Video Cube, Starosphere etc.) has made inroads into the corporate/industrial market as has the Media 100 (Data Translations, Inc.). Avid has a broad based presence in all of the above markets and seems to be heavy in New York and used for TV long form programming, advertising spots, documentaries, music videos etc. The market for these systems seems to be becoming segmented and the systems have their own markets.
Nobody likes to work with heavily compressed images (not film types or TV types like myself). You sometimes have to check the original footage to check on things like a person's expression (especially in wide shots). However, the speed and creative freedom these machines bring to the process are well worth the trade off.
Hope this helps.
GO CUBE GO AXC
Tony |