[Bob Cole]

[Keith Golinski] “render the timeline”

Doctor, I feel much better. That worked! (rendering the timeline with the psd itself didn’t work, btw — but rendering the timeline in which the graphic appeared as a Layer 2 did work.)

Thanks very much. I have a supervised edit coming up with tons of supers, and I was a little worried about how I was going to deal with that if it came up.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

I guess what if boils down to is a conflict between interests which applies particularly to people who provide post-production services to producers:

You’re supposed to get your name out there as often as you can — certainly on stuff you’ve done. BUT #1: You’re in a service business to make the client look good. BUT #2: That should not mean letting them take credit for what you’ve contributed.

A slick-looking label/design which makes the producer/client look classy, and includes your own company’s name, seems like a good way out.

[Bob Cole]

[Wayne Carey] “Sounds like that particilar layer has a tiny line in it, whereas the other layers cover it up.”

Thanks. Yes, and no. I checked that, selected empty space/enlarged selection/deleted=no change — there’s some kind of virtual bounding box around this graphic that only shows up in FCP. If anyone else has the Weynand book you might want to check it out. Very strange. Not a big deal, just one of those mysteries.

— BC

[Bob Cole]

related question:

The consensus on this forum is that DVCPro50 is an excellent codec. I am not clear on why it is so great; for me the chief advantage is that it sounds like a great “common denominator” for sources from Beta SP to HDV. But in any case I have a problem using DVCPro50, even though I have a Kona LHe.

I have a Sony HDV (Z1) but am trying to avoid buying a deck. I could capture component from the Z1, but the audio would be unbalanced. Do you recommend:

(a) simply capturing Firewire, and using the DV codec, so as to obtain clean video and audio, or

(b) capturing DVCPro50/unbalanced audio?

– Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Unzarjones] “This thread is getting awfully similar to an old episode of the Simpsons.”

Rather snide remark, eh? Which episode? What’s your point? If you don’t like it, feel free to change the channel.

The COW is by and large a community of generous people — experts who could make snide remarks and put down others for their stupid questions, but don’t.

Many of us have our Emmy’s and other awards that allegedly certify us as professionals, yet we occasionally post questions that betray our ignorance of some detail. But keep in mind several aspects of our rapidly-changing profession in 2006: (1) many of us work alone or in small companies; (2) the nature of production is that it requires pulling together several fields, even those in which we have little expertise; and (3) due to time and budgetary constraints, we can’t afford to hire specialists. We can’t just walk down the hall and talk to an engineer, or a sound recordist, or a special effects artist. So we come to the COW, confident that our “stupid questions” will receive a respectful response.

True, there are some VERY stupid questions. But sometimes, the answers even to those questions can help me reconsider the way I always assumed something had to be edited/lit/dubbed/etc.

So keep those “stupid” questions coming, folks, and try to avoid putting other people down. It only makes you look smaller.

— Bob C.

[Bob Cole]

Do you use CDPrintExpress for printing only or the whole job? I like to burn and verify my own DVD-R, using trusted media, but if I do that, then send DVDs to CDPrintExpress, it’s going to add a week to the delivery schedule.

I’m looking at my options on both ends, for both small quantities and replicated work. I use the Epson R300, which is extremely convenient, but time-consuming.

[Bob Cole]

[tony salgado] “My shoot was inside a baseball park stadium where it would have been impossible to fly a full sized helicopter.”

I was curious about the safety/liability issues. Was this an occupied ballpark? With a helicopter, if something fails, it just falls to earth.

[Bob Cole]

Depends on how “mini” you’re thinking. This probably ISN’T what you’re thinking, but I saw a very tiny, rather inexpensive little helicopter/miniDV camera at NAB. I think the vendor was called Digitronics, Inc. of El Monte, CA. I’m not sure how it would do in any kind of breeze.

[Bob Cole]

[billlee] “an alternate boot drive configured and ready to go”

Could you tell us how you’ve set this up, and DRW, explain how you boot from this drive? Is this alt. boot drive part of an external hard drive unit?

It sounds like a great idea. Are both SuperDuper and CCC Intel-Mac-ready?

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Seconding Alfred. I’m planning to buy the 25, because on a recent location shoot/edit I had to use a rented DVCAM deck which had a built-in LCD, and it was a revelation to me. All decks should have this feature. It is so convenient to have image verification within the unit itself. Unless the deck is just a small part of a much bigger and well-stocked operation (see Walter’s post), you will always be happier with a more capable device.

I have to ask — Alfred Guzzetti, were/are you a professor? I took a great course from an Alfred Guzzetti 30-some years ago on the films of John Ford.

— Bob C