NEWS ANALYSIS: Is Nothing Real Anymore? A Look at Apple's Latest Acquisition

On February 6th Apple confirmed that it was acquiring Nothing Real,the manufacturer of Shake and Tremor compositing software. These twosoftware products were making significant inroads into professionalfilm and video post production. In fact, Shake was used in the makingof Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter as well as 80 otherfilms. Nothing Real’s products were also making significantinroads in video postproduction. There have been predictions that Shakeon Linux, together with Maya, would be the pillars that would bring theLinux operating system to prominence in our industry.

Apple says it plans to use the technology gained by this acquisitionin future versions of its products, but so far has given no furtherinformation beyond that. Nevertheless, based upon past acquisitions,conjectures can be made on possible impacts.

When Apple acquired Spruce Technologies, the company disappeared andApple announced no new DVD products that were derived from theacquisition. Before that, Apple’s acquisition of Astarte’sDVD authoring technology became DVD Studio Pro. The other well-knownvideo industry acquisition is that of the Final Cut Pro technology fromMacromedia. In this case, it became a successful Mac-based product, butthe cross-platform solution and several promised features wereeliminated. We also know that Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs has greatinterest in providing tools for the film and video industries.

Although neither Apple nor Nothing Real will comment upon theacquisition, a memo from Nothing Real management to the Shake UserGroup indicates Shake will be around for the foreseeable future.

The memo states, "We will continue to sell, support, maintain anddevelop Shake. We are not closing shop and abandoning you. Instead, wewill now have more resources to improve the software and give you newtools to do your work. As you might expect, our OS X port will becoming soon."

The memo also reveals that, "everyone at Nothing Real has joinedApple. No one is going away, we are not moving to Cupertino, we are allstaying right here in Venice." This memo also reveals plans to contacteach customer and explain the actual impact.

There is lively speculation on various newsgroups concerning whetherShake will be incorporated into Final Cut Pro, or if it will evolveinto a new Mac-based product, or if the technology will be absorbed insuch a way that the products themselves disappear.

Nothing Real has evolved into a potential powerhouse in thecomposting/finishing marketplace. It holds a significant position inwhat looks to be the hottest product arena at NAB this year. It wouldbe a blow to the Linux community if the product disappears or islimited to the Mac interface.

If Shake evolves into a Mac-only product, it will be another blow toAdobe Systems. Final Cut Pro has taken a significant number of salesaway from Adobe Premiere, and Apple’s iPhoto is beginning toimpact sales of Adobe’s photo imaging products. Now Apple coulduse its marketing muscle to offer a product--perhaps for significantlyless than the original suggested retail price of Shake--to cut into thesales of Adobe After Effects.

This also may have ramifications for Discreet with its combustion,flint, flame and smoke products, and for Media 100 with its new entry,code-named Pegasus. Products from other manufacturers from 5D Cyborgand eyeon Final Effects to Leitch dpsVelocityQ and Accom Affinity couldalso be impacted. Stay tuned.