[Brian Lynn]

I will check out that Cinebench. Thanks for the tip!!

How about CS2 vs CS3 on Core 2 Duo? I’ve heard mixed reviews on the performance enhancements for dual/multicore machines… Any opinions or thoughts on this? I checked the FAQ but its a little dated on newer versions and hardware…

Thanks a lot!
Brian

[Brian Lynn]

The direct link worked. For some reason when I click through off your page I get the 404 error. Could just be my Verizon Wireless card.

You might also try using a text layer with a color gradient fill, like an inner glow effect, and then use that for your “shined” layer… might be able to imitate the Colorize functions of Shine that way… Wish I had more time to play with it!

[Brian Lynn]

The “work with it natively” was mostly just as last resort, in case nothing else worked you could potentially work directly in HDV. I get footage from clients, and heaven knows what they’ve done to it before they get it to me, so sometimes if I am having bad issues I’ll stay in a native format. Not happily I might add…

I already hate HDV, but I read the link, and hate it even more now LOL! After reading that I am believing that native HDV work is an absolute last resort. Thanks for the info…

I’ve had more than just editing issues with HDV. Trying to get HDV footage into a Grass Valley Turbo (GV T) was just about impossible. After I watched the “video engineer” futz around and fail for 5 hours, I finally told him forget it, I would operate the portable deck, and put it inline. GV T failed me again, for totally different reasons this time!

[Brian Lynn]

BTW, tried to watch your lightsaber tutorial (being super geek I love lightsaber effects and will watch just about anything that has a lightsaber style item in it!) but the link on your website leads to a 404 error, page not found…

Would love to see more tuts! Keep up the good work! =)

[Brian Lynn]

Tutorial is great… and it does create a basic shine look… good job!

How do you address Shine’s Shimmer, Colorize, and Boost Light components? Your tutorial easily creates a basic Shine look, but basic Shine looks is something I very rarely use. The speed of the control and ease of use for the Trapcode plugin is spectacular, and exactly the reason I was willing to shell out the cash for the product.

Along the same ideas, I can Motion Track or Rotoscope in AE… but would I buy Mocha Tracking Station if I had the money? You better believe it!!

Good job though on the tutorial… the more tips and trick we can get out there for people through forums/tutorial site such as CreativeCow, the better =)

Thanks for the tutorial, was fun to follow along!

[Brian Lynn]

There is good Motion Tracking tutorials on CreativeCow, check the FAQ, if you don’t find it there, try a Forums/Tutorials search under After Effects for Motion Tracking.

As far as your subject is concerned, you will probably have to rotoscope him/her as they cross the blurred area. If you can afford it, Mocha Tracking Station is AWESOME… it will help a LOT with tracking points that go off screen, or pass behind a subject. AE’s tracking will probably handle what you need, but you will have to do a bit of manual point tracking to fix problems that occur when/if your subject covers a point being tracked…

The tutorials found here on CC will show you the joys, and heartaches of rotoscoping/masking.

Good luck!

[Brian Lynn]

First, which AE are you using?

Second, why the Final Cut ahead of AE?

Third, why the transfer to DVCProHD? Why not just work in the native format you shot with, and convert after you’ve done all you want? Does your FCP not work with HDV natively?

AE will work with HDV footage natively… maybe skip the FCP step and go straight into AE after you ingest to your HDD.

You might also try to Right Click your footage in AE, and Interpret Footage… Expirament with the different Pixel Aspect Ratio until you get what you desire.

[Brian Lynn]

I tried adding HP, and “commercial” to the search string. The response about needing to add this to the sticky prompted me to venture into it, and sure enough, it was there!

Thanks!
Brian

[Brian Lynn]

True, and I did find what I needed on the FAQ sticky, thanks for the direction. I wasn’t complaining, just trying to point out a limitation =)

[Brian Lynn]

My problem with referring everything to the FAQ sticky post is some of those links are outdated. For example, the two threads in the Mac vs. PC sticky are both over a year old, and both recommend “waiting until Mac comes with Core 2 Duo” … Well Mac has been Core 2 Duo for a while now. A newer user, or future up-grader with a Mac vs. PC question will not find an answer relevant to the currently available hardware choices without starting a new thread based on what’s available.

Just my two cents.