Shake no more
Yesterday Apple released Shake 4.1, the widely used compositing system that Apple aquired three years ago when they brought Nothing Real outright. Shake is a desktop compositing application that runs on Mac OS X and Linux and is generally thought of as a competitor to the likes of AutoDesk Combustion and Eye-on Digital Fusion. The new point-one update brings Shake to the world of Universal Binaries, allowing it to run natively on Intel powered Mac’s.
Until yesterday Shake was seen as the Rolls Royce of the three packages, rolling in with a price tag just shy of £3000.00. However Apple have now dropped the price to £329.00 including VAT (only on Mac OS X). Apple also announced that this would be the last release of Shake in its current form, AND all existing support contracts are now going to be terminated. For large maintenence contracts, for the likes of Weta Digital and other major customers, Apple are supplying the complete Shake code-base for a price of $50,000. This would allow those companies to continue to develop Shake for their needs in house.
So why have Apple pulled the plug on one of the most popular compositing solutions of recent times? Well in the tradition of Apple, it is because better things are to come. In the next year of two Apple are going to relaunch a super-sized version of Final Cut Studio, including a new compositing application based on Shake fused with Motion. This new compositing application will connect straight into Final Cut Pro, although FCP as we currently know it will be the complete suite of applications; Final Cut Pro; DVD Studio Pro; Motion/Shake (Hybrid); and Soundtrack Pro.
It seems as though Final Cut Studio of the future will be the all-in-one solution to productions scaling from the web to feature films. It is a shame that Apple didn’t purchase Alias before AutoDesk as Maya would have created the perfect companion to that suite, finishing the world-class production suite with a world-class 3D application.
Needless to say I am very excited by all of this. Once more Apple seem to be continually innovating and creating better products for creatives to use. Meanwhile I already have my copy of Shake 4.1 on order.
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