[Tim Wilson]

I found polarizing filters especially useful for shooting water. (NOAA and Everglades National Park were big clients.) Instead of blown-out reflections, I could see *into* the water. That opened up options for post that simply weren’t there before.

For example, I could use curves to bring out fish without distorting the color of the water. But getting control of the highlights was critical. Once they’re blown all the way out, there’s nothing to work with — just a sea of all-white pixels.

Same thing for skies, btw — a lot more data, more richly captured, gives you a lot more latitude in post. Skies and water are just two examples of how this one filter can help you in a wide variety of conditions.

Anyway, maybe a polarizing filter IS the way to go for a starving artist. You can give a man a fish, or you can teach him how to use a polarizing filter to make fish sandwiches.

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

[Jay Curtis] “So what’s the best way to protect a camera from the humidity? Is it merely a matter of letting the camera adjust to outside conditions before powering up?”

Pretty much. The heat’s not your enemy. Air conditioning is.

I had a production company in the Florida Keys for 10 years. My biggest clients were the national marine sanctuary there and Everglades National Park…but I did many, many sand and saltwater shoots, but the camera did fine as long as I took care of the cool-to-warm transition.

As long as you’re taking the standard precautions — not loading tapes with sand actually on your hand — I don’t think you’ll need to worry about much more than air conditioning for the shoot itself. Clean the outside of the camera often though. Unless you’re shooting in a boat it’s unlikely that things will get too salty, but I still like having some alcohol-free wipes handy. Keeps the camera smelling fresh too.

tw

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

I guess this is as good a place as any…but I don’t think Aharon will be able to answer for a while. He and his wife had their first baby on Friday! I suspect it will be a while before he’s back online.

If you can add a little detail to your question and ask it in terms of Audition, you might try asking in the Audition forum, which is where the folks who know Audition typically hang out…

Thanks for buying the disk, and good luck with your quest!

Best,
Tim

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

Okay, this gave me the fever. I did some poking around and surprise, surprise, you CAN monitor 2K natively on your desktop. It’s from NEC, 21 in., DVD-D, and only $4000. This is genuinely, ridiculously low.

BTW, full aperture native 2K is 2048×1556, aka QXGA. There are number of them, but the NEC is fairly easy to find.

The challenge is that
Academy 2K is 1828 x 1332 at 1.37:1
Digital Cinema 2K is 2048 x 858 2.39:1 , and 1998 x 1080 at 1.85.1.

I’ve been able to find NO desktop monitors with ANY of these resolutions.

The biggest problem is that you’re going to have trouble managing color. Doing 1920 on your desktop is no problem, because it generally corresponds to the screens that most people see HD on. But most people are going to see 2K projected, and although there ARE home theater 2K projectors — even home theater FOUR K projectors from Sony’s CONSUMER division — they ain’t cheap.

Now, I’d be happy to be corrected on all of this, but that’s what I’ve found in the time I’m willing to allow myself for goofing off. For now, follow Luke’s advice or face Bob’s bat.

🙂

[Tim Wilson]

[Todd Terry] “all part of Tim’s very subtle but quitely-strongarmed attempt to get me to get off my butt”

Naw, just a subtle but quietly strongarmed reminder to the class that we have a truly outstanding magazine, and that it’s free, and that people should follow the “Magazine” link above, to subscribe in print or PDF flavors.

🙂

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

[Todd Terry] “There will also be and upcoming article in the COW Magazine addressing DoF converters.”

Now THAT’s an article I’d like to read!

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

I don’t mean to be a wisenheimer, but you’ve posted here after logging in. Right?

Can you be more specific?

tw

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

That said, you really can get OEM software for a fraction of the price of the commercial versions. There are some serious drawbacks, chief among them that you can only install them on one motherboard EVER, and no upgrades EVER. In other words, if you ever need a major computer repair (including, for some companies, just changing a hard drive) or want the newest version, you might have been better off buying commercial.

Microsoft is among the companies who’ve acknowledged that they authorize and provide full support for OEM versions of Vista, with the restrictions above.

Also note, many of the sites like the one you found refer to software that simply isn’t available in OEM versions. Stick with known vendors like Amazon (you can get OEM Vista there for example), and don’t go with anyone who won’t give you a physical disk.

Tim

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

Hello Dick,

I’m afraid I don’t understand. Can you try explaining again?

Thanks,
Tim

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Tim Wilson]

Thanks for the answer Sahadeo! Very helpful.

What kind of work do you do in Guyana? We have Cow members from all over the world, but I do not remember seeing Guyana before!

Thank you for being part of the Cow!

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!