[Andrew Mehta]

Heh-heh….

Rename to Media1000.
Like Media100, but with the power of 10 Tigers…Defenders of the Earth! =P

Oh dear, lame “Phantom” joke over.
Anyway, Tiger’s being replaced by Leopard. 😉

Although you could pretend it started off as Media100, had a misforay as Media844, and then rounded the figures up to Media1000…lol…or Media2006….we could do the whole EA Fifa thing, with yearly iterations.
It’s all confusing, and not entirely necessarily, but I’m just joking about. (Don’t really want a name change).

More seriously, I think the big issue is more about what everyone has. FCP is dominant, because of the need to share files and systems, and collaborate on projects. Like how Quark became industry standard, and I know I went for a job interview once where I had done an incredible layout, and the employer was really blown away and then I let it slip I had used some lesser known software to accomplish that, and he just dismissed me with a wave of a hand: “It’s gotta be industry standard software you know, or don’t even bother me”…it may be slightly different with video editing as a lot of the programmes share similar traits, and most people I know can sit down and get going with Media100 whatever their editing background is. But I did find things difficult when trying to get freelancers to help out. I think the codec independance of V11, and the ability to have FCP on dual boot with the AJA board are steps in the right direction. I still fear FCP is something you need to work with, but just like Apple is tempting over Windows users with Boot Camp, and dual boot OSX/Windows, M100 has a chance to get FCP users – although the main problem is, if they already have FCP, and that’s the dominant market leader, why switch? It’s probably all they need, and what they feel most comfortable with. Is probably best to do as someone else suggested and donate edit suites to production schools. I got into Media100, because it was what we were taught to use at University.

I agree Media100 is easy to use. I do hope however, that they continue to improve it, adding extra ease of use features, to enhance the experience. I don’t want to comment too much on this, as I’m still on version 7.5 and any suggestions for improvements I have may not be applicable on newer versions which have likely already improved upon things. But will be interesting when I upgrade next year, if any of my wish list for improvements to 7.5 have made it into version 11.5
Am also glad there’s finally a software only version, for the fact it brings down the entry level price, and with firewire i/o it’s finally practical to use, and an equivalent product to the FCP software most people purchase.

But I’m just waffling, ‘cos I’m procrastinating some net research I have to do. Had better get back to work. Ciao.

P.S. I think the main reason people don’t want a rename, is because they would rather see the existing brand that’s already on all their equipment become fashionable again / restored to glory, as oppose to seeing “Media100” die, and a new brand take centre stage, meaning even if it was really successful, colleagues would still go: “Huh?” when you tell ’em you edit on M100…hence lengthy explanations as someone pointed out.

Having said all that, rebranding doesn’t require a new name.
Ubisoft, and Konami both got new logos a couple of years ago when they rejuvenated themselves. It felt like a rebranding exercise, it gave the feeling of fresh energy behind both companies, and a renewed approach to the market and the games industry, it felt fresh, but they were still called Ubisoft and Konami respectively.

Again though, I echo what everyone has been saying – the brand doesn’t matter as much as the product, the usefulness and relevance of that product. Boris have helped rejuvenate it, but they’ve still got a way to go – Universal Binary, Mac Pro optimisation, etc…

[Andrew Mehta]

Well, I voted “No” to a name change on your site’s poll John, despite the dodgy Google and Ebay searches. 😉

Oh, and I have sent linkage to my FCP friends.
Is time they knew their Media100 history. ;-).

[Andrew Mehta]

Hi, I liked the article, although there were some typos that skewed meaning in parts ( least, instead of most, etc ).

Generally, people don’t know what or who Media100 is. The sort of freelancers I work with, they’re 100% Final Cut Pro ( even thought I caught one using Boris filters in FCP ), and a few dable in Avid, when I mention Media100, they’re just like: Huh? What?

Appart from a select few – and in my experience, this has been merely two people – and those VERY FEW that do know it, still associate it with professionalism, which I like. ^_^.

But the biggest pain in the arse with Media100 as a name, is the problems it creates when searching the internet, whether it’s google or ebay, you’ve got to get past all the “100 blank Media discs” crap, and so forth. The biggest cheat of course is to search for Media100i and that numbers it down a bit, but “i” is a dead product. Oh, I find what I’m looking for in the end – systems and hardware for sale, but Media 100 is still an arse to search for online. Same with Boris Red….you get tonnes of russian stuff that just happens to be red, such as, I dunno, album covers, or russian boots, or vodka or goodness knows…you usually have to type Boris Red 3 or BorisFX before you actually get decent search results.

Overall, I think the brand should stay the same. The audience M100 wants to – neigh – needs to reach, doesn’t know what Media100 is, so there aren’t gonna be many negative connotations.

But those who do know, still seem to view it up there with Avid and FCP. All it needs to prove is that it hasn’t lost its way too much. And that’s why getting its act back together after near bankrupcy has been / is important.

Haha…unless you want it named Boris Editor…lol….Ding-dong, the witch is dead…

[Andrew Mehta]

Glad you’ve a couple of leads, as I was beginning to guilt trip, seeing as I actually have some ears, yet am being selfish and don’t wanna give ’em away.

That said, I have seen a number of breakout boxes on ebay in the past, and these sometimes come with ears. If it’s just the BOB with no software or capture card, the price can be quite cheap, and you can always resell the box again, once you’ve got your ears.

They’re just pieces of metal with holes in though, that fall out when you unscrew the breakoutbox (kinda T shaped, with the top of the T inside the box, and the neck of the T poking out through the side slots). Dunno if that gives any scope for home made solutions.

But personally, my own advice, although I’m far from expert, would be to keep an eye on ebay, or also try asking any local Media100 resellers that might have been collecting parts when accepting returns or exchange-based upgrades (that’s just a guess, I dunno if they actually do that or not).

Still, if you’ve some local leads, hopefully they’ll lead to something, and you won’t have to worry about any of this. ^_^.

[Andrew Mehta]

Perhaps, but it seems Kieran was more on the mark.

Experienced the same problem myself today – coincidence! =P

It occured when I created a title in the graphics track using a composition clip (edited with Boris FX).

By default, Boris starts off with an underlaying Text track.
I also added a background track, using “Video1” which showed me the video underlay whilst I was editing the title.

Eitherway, as I first experienced the fade to black, I thought maybe ‘cos I had put a background track there, the title was opaque on black instead of transparent to the clip beneath, so I went in, and removed my background track, and tried rendering the title again.

Still no luck.

So I went to edit it again, and saw the default TEXT track that had appeared in Boris FX. Dispite a checkered background being visible, as if to suggest nothing in the background, the TEXT track at the bottom appeared to have a MEDIA CLIP icon at the end of it, which probably shouldn’t have been there, as I didn’t want any media clip in the background.

Since my titles were on 3D Plane tracks above, and I hadn’t used the TEXT track at all, I just deleted it.

Then I re-rendered the title, and it was fine.

The fade to black no longer happened.

So, in short – I deleted the background, it made no different, I deleted the default text track the composition clip had when I first opened it, and the problem went away. Whether it was one or both of ’em, I dunno. But the logic is – is there anything in the background of my title graphic that might give it an opaque black background, instead of a transparent checkered background that will show the video below? Whether it be a background track, or some track expecting a media clip to be there that isn’t (in my case, the text track ), etc, etc…

Look for the track that has the wrong setting, or shouldn’t be there, and take it out. ^_^.

[Andrew Mehta]

I have no idea mate.
But if it’s blatantly not working, you could just export your slo-mo clip, and re-import it, so it’s not a special effect anymore, rather it’s just like any other video clip (i.e. green, not purple), and then maybe your title will behave normally, as it’ll be working with normal video beneath it. Unless of course something is wrong with the way you’ve setup the title itself, in which case, the same problem might occur regardless.

Well, until someone comes along with a better suggestion, that’s my two cents.

[Andrew Mehta]

As far as I’m aware, the Boris FX plugin for M100, can use any After Effects Filters, so it’s possible to use these for transitions, by selecting Boris FX as your transition, and then clicking custom settings…

Not all the After Effects plugins I have appear to work with Boris, but the vast majority of them do, and I assume some of them at least are third party ones.

Still, this is as far as my knowledge goes on this subject, as I’m only working on an old G4, OS9, Media100i 7.5, Boris FX 6, After Effects 5, etc….and the only extra filters I ever bought were the ICE Fx ones, which of course, were made by M100 themselves, so aren’t really third party.

Although saying that, someone is selling Blue ICE cards on ebay at the moment for $75, however, it doesn’t look like it comes with the software plugins, which makes it a bit redundant(?), unless the filters are online for download, but am not sure if they are, and even then, you’d need serial numbers. Ho-hum.

I’m waffling.

Hopefully someone else will come along who knows all about Spice and Pixelan and stuff, or any 3rd parties still making transitions, and will clue you up.

For now, this is my two cents.

[Andrew Mehta]

Yeah, or you could just use the “spotlight” filter and be done with it.

Sorry, I have a lot of filters that came with ICE and Final Effects Complete, and several spotlight filters that do exactly this effect effect were amongst them.

Still, I used to just have a mask with feathered edges in After Effects.
The closest I’ve got to that effect in Boris is to add a new Gradient to the mask layer, and then set the gradient type to “radial”. You choose this from the gradient face options, under “colour stops” and in this settings screen, you can also change the position of the circle, or how “feathered” it appears by dragging the black and white markers along the bar.
If you wish to change the size and position of the circle, you can adjust the position parameters which appear when you select “gradient” itself ( i.e. not the face layer, but the layer above ).

So in short,
I would use the “spotlight” filter.
However, if you don’t have that filter, try adding a new gradient to the track, set it to radial, and resize and position it, adjusting the darkness of outside the circle, and lightness of inside the circle, using the colour stop settings.

[Andrew Mehta]

Does 2.5 work in OS9?

[Andrew Mehta]

Whoops…I went on on one, without paying too much heed it was a black clip / spaces problem that was annoying you more than anything else.

=/

Buggy, huh?

Hmmm….that does sound a bit bad, though I assume they’ll fix it in a future revision, its obviously effected your confidence in the brand.

I don’t have SW, so I’ll let someone else comment on this problem in particular, or perhaps how people who have upgraded find their new setup in relation to their old XR.