Enabling firewire out from Color?

Question

Has anyone attempted to edit the file in color where it says video output disabled?
I truly believe that Silicon Color the originator of Color intended for firewire out to be enabled, is it possible the apple made a deal with the AJA Kona and the Black Magic design that make the cards for video output to boost their sales?
If you are just working with standard DV, firewire out should be available don't you agree?
in one of the forums a user asked this question and several responded, if you want to play colorist, you must pay the big bucks, but why? if there is a way around.
I look forward to some feedback
Thanks
Sigi

Answer 1

Maybe Sigi lives closer to the source, and knows something the rest of us don't (and obviously there is much that is unknown), but...
if you're strictly going on "faith", my perception is that Final Touch was NEVER intended to work over FireWire; the original team considered anything less than a 3-monitor Kona/Blackmagic configuration to be at best a joke, and at worst an insult. Maybe both. But that was a long time ago in computing terms.
But here's some financial and historical background that might be instructive, and may help to shed some light on the path this app has been following.
FT was originally envisioned to be a dpx DI solution, but for business case considerations was diverted into a Quicktime corrector, and further perverted to work with Long-GOP formats, and then purchased (rescued?) and scabbed onto FCS2. COLOR 1.0, as most FCP users came to know it, was really FT version 2.7+? or maybe 8-something. We all got the rug pulled out from under us virtually within days of 2.7 Release Candidate 2 being posted on the old Silicon Color website. The whole thing went dark from October 2006 until April 2007. Six months, no support, no news, no fixes, no updates, no contact, nothing. Some of us had spent anywhere between $5K and $32K depending on whether one opted for the HD or 2K versions. Apple's compensation for the lost investment was a "free" upgrade to FCS2.... if you still had a valid Support contract. Now, interestingly enough, sales were suspended as of October 2006. FTHD service contracts were only valid for a couple of months, while 2K licenses came with a year of support. So effectively all of the HD licensees' contracts expired in that period. As compensation, Apple offered them an "upgrade" to FCS2, including COLOR, for $US499. The 2K licensees whose contracts still hadn't expired effectively wound up with a $30,000 version of Final Cut that came with a slightly better integrated Final Touch. (If they argued in order to receive it.)
Just like Warren Buffett said.... "There were mistakes made". I don't know if its a widespread attitude, but COLOR, née Final Touch, as it exists now, still has the feel of an "awkward child". You could say "special needs" if you follow my meaning. It has lost all of the cachet that it might have had as a serious grading tool. Speedgrade is pretty much the indie choice of the moment if you can't afford a Lustre, Baselight, Scratch, or whatever, etc. (At least my Tangent panels would work with the new system.) Apple's non-presence at NAB2008 pretty much suggested "withdrawal" in the eyes of broadcast professionals. The rampant secrecy that the company operates under is poison if there are large budgets involved -- consumers might find the whole thing delightful because they like to be surprised. You'd be amazed at how dim the view is from completion bonding companies when certain technical solutions are suggested as part of a project's workflow.
Showstopper is the word.
So, now you want FireWire for your SD projects. It seems like a trivial thing, doesn't it? But how would you assess the odds of that happening?
Given the history of decline, maybe you will get your wish. And then the app will be remaindered like LiveType and Shake. Because there will be no business case to put further R&D into it. I know, Apple sells hardware and the software is the frosting on the cake. I understand that. But the math of the bottom line will also start speaking louder than anything else. Under present economic circumstances maybe sooner than later.
Anything in this that is not true? Let me know.
jPo