Re: [Ayatana] Seeking feedback on professional video import UX design

[Jason DeRose <jderose@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Frederik,

On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 3:53 AM, frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx
<frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Jason,
>
> well, this is what i've been waiting for all along:
> professional post production software for Ubuntu!

Music to my ears. :)

For anyone who missed earlier emails, discussion is about this pro
file import UX design:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AyatanaDmediaLovefest

> On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 19:33, Jason DeRose <jderose@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> I didn't make it clear, but in my scenario there will very likely be a
>> person editing at the workstation.
>
> Being a devoted AVID user (audio), I'm well aware of the various zombie
> states one can assume, operating a digital workstation for the better part
> of the day..

Nice. We haven't received as much feedback yet from AVID user (more
FCP), nor from pro audio users, so we really appreciate your thoughts
on any of this.

In your pro audio work, are you typically importing from cards, or
recording directly to your workstation?  We need to support both, but
right now we're trying to make the most common HDSLR hardware setup
work very smoothly... which pretty much means recording on a Zoom H4n
or similar, importing from SD cards.

Out of curiosity, have you used any of AVID's Media Asset Management
software?  If so, what do you think of it, any features stand out as
especially worthwhile?

>> When someone is there editing, I think NotifyOSD strikes a wonderful
>> balance between reliably capturing the user's attention yet not
>> distracting them.  It's all because the notifications are
>> non-interactive.  They're strangely soothing, IHMO.  (Mad props to
>> those who designed them so well.)
>
> I can only begin to imagine the benefits of my ProTools being integrated
> into its hosting DE for once.. that would change everything! Notify OSD and
> AppIndicators provide such an easy way of integrating one's professional
> software into the Desktop Environment seamlessly.

That's my thinking... why shouldn't creative professionals have some
first-class DE features just for them?

IHMO, there is a *huge* opportunity right now to bring creative
professionals to Ubuntu, especially in the big-data, compute-intensive
areas of pro video and audio.  Like what already has happened with
super computing, I think Linux will become the preferred platform for
creative professionals.  Hollywood special effects and 3d animation
have been done almost exclusively on Linux for some time, and from
talking to a friend that works in the industry, production shops are
foaming at the mouth to move to a *fully* Linux-based solution... they
just need a suitable video editor, suitable Media Asset Management.

I personally think Apple sees the writing on the wall already... I
think there is clear evidence that Apple isn't making further serious
investment in its pro content creation software.  It's all about iOS
and content consumption.  And that has opened the door for Ubuntu to
provide a new home for a lot of creative professionals.

>>
>> All the same, it would be a small effort to try both approaches, get
>> feedback from the users.  If you ever have a mockup of what you had in
>> mind for said window, I'd love to see it.
>
> Menus are condensed interfaces, they offer the most frequently used options
> of an otherwise more comprehensive interface for rapid interaction. In a
> similar way, as in Ayatana Indicator Menus, they can also offer the most
> recent and current event/process/progress/item in a given activity, e.g. a
> conversation, a message or a completed transfer.
>
> I think it is always easy to see a menu as a proxy to the more comprehensive
> main window of the same respective "project".
> Only that the menu will give back focus to the thing you were working on
> without the disturbing requirements of window management.
>
>> I know this is a very specialized use case and it might seem like I'm
>> splitting hairs, but it's also a use case where small improvements can
>> make a big difference to the user.
>
> I can confirm that.
> When only a single keyboard command changes, it can have a severe effect on
> how usable my workstation is!
> Imagine.. you sit behind that workstation for a dozen of hours on many a
> day, doing the same thing over and over again, how terrible would it be, to
> run into a logical regression in the UI design.
>
>> Thanks again for your input!  I'll add your suggestion to the wiki page.
>
> keep me posted as the software becomes available for testing, i for one
> can't wait to get professional post production work done in desktop Linux.

So the features described in this UX design should almost all land in
dmedia 0.2, which will be released on December 30th:

https://launchpad.net/dmedia/+milestone/0.2

Although the content of the RenderMenu will still be quiet rough and
cards wont automatically be formatted yet.

I'll let you know when it's available!  Thanks again for the feedback!