Is Edit* Dead?
As Edit 6.5, the newest version of Discreet's digital video editing software for Windows begins shipping this month, its devoted users are worried. Is this the last version they'll see? Will there be an Edit 7.0? Beginning its life as DVision, the powerful software was bought by Discreet a few years ago, and many credible sources now think the company has left it to die.
Not so, say Discreet officials. "We are developing beyond 6.5," insists Phillip Miller, VP, Product Management for Discreet, a division of AutoDesk based in Montreal. "At this point, we're taking a look at the product and seeing where it needs to go." Senior PR rep for Discreet Kevin Clark concurs: "Edit 6.5 will be shipping quite soon with full support on Pinnacle Targa 3000," Clark said. "After that, we are transferring responsibility for Edit to our Montreal office. It will be available and fully supported by Discreet. These are cost-saving measures." [an error occurred while processing this directive] Why would so many of Edit's users think this is the end of the road for their favorite editing app? They believe Edit will be developed beyond 6.5, but that only means one bug fix and nothing more, they say. The speculation intensified when Discreet announced it was laying off its entire group of 12 Edit developers, based in Chicago. Digital Media Net has learned that as of January 31, 2002, all that will be left of the team is a skeleton crew of three code writers. Their assignment, according to sources both within and close to Discreet, is to write one bug fix for Edit 6.5, after which their jobs will be terminated by May of this year. Although tech support for Edit has always been in Montreal, where "responsibility" for Edit has been transferred, there are reportedly no Windows developers employed in Discreet's Montreal facility. A check with Discreet's job listings show no positions being offered for programmers working on Edit. However, there are some posted for another of Discreet's products, Combustion, the effects and compositing application. Those are the only software development job openings advertised for the Montreal offices at this point.
This is not to say the current version of Edit won't be supported. All indications are that the company will honor its current Edit customers. "When our users hear the Chicago development office closes, they automatically conclude that it's the end of Edit. Not true," VP Phillip Miller told Digital Media Net. "We fully intend to back it up from here on out, 6.5, absolutely, for at least two or three years. Take a look, we're still supporting edit 5, which we released in June of 1999. The same goes as well for any of our products. We support them usually for two full releases, that runs about 3 years," Miller said. But other sources close to Discreet say that's not the case. They contend that Discreet has never supported any software release without the development team in place that created the software.
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