Dave Johnson
Forum Replies Created
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Dirk,
My apologies that I seem to have misspoke in response to your earlier post. Although what I said about having to have the corresponding codecs installed in order to render to a particular format is true, apparently AVI is no longer available in AE’s output module window regardless of what codecs you have installed … it seems you have to go to File > Export > AVI … something I never do so I hadn’t considered it.
Sorry about that … I guess it’s been a while since I needed to render an AVI from one of my Macs so I didn’t notice that anything had changed.
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Just to expand a little on John’s good advice, FireWire is preferable for video work because it provides steady streams of data transfer (when reading & writing files). I’m not an IT guy so I can’t explain this with the proper terminology, but the concept is simple … USB transfers data in bursts instead of steady streams, which causes issues for video work … not sure if that has changed with USB3.
In case this is what you were asking, its fine to use USB drives to simply transfer video files from one place to another … just not as a source drive for video software. I have a 30Gb key-shaped LaCie drive that I use for exactly that purpose … everybody makes them now and they’re all about the same.
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Nest your looping comp into a new comp (to avoid possibly messing up the expression) by dragging it onto the comp icon in the project panel (to make sure it has all the same comp settings) and apply time re-mapping to the layer in the new comp. Then, go to the last time-remp keyframe at the end of the layer (which is created automatically when you apply time-remapping), copy it and paste it a second further down in the timeline (or however long you want it to hold on that frame). Might sound complicated, but it’s very simple.
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Unless there’s a new feature I’m unaware of or have forgotten something, a set of AE layers that has been pre-composed can’t be un-precomposed except via undo, which wouldn’t accomplish what it sounds like you want. You can easily duplicate layers before pre-composing them or copy them from comp to comp as many times as you want, but those are the only ways I can think of to get what you want.
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Glad to help.
Just open your MOV in QTP, set an in and out point (keyboard I & O), and choose “Trim to Selection” from the Edit menu.
If you’re not accustom to QTP, you’ll probably want to get familiar with the “Movie Inspector” and “Movie Properties” windows too … some very useful tools.
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QuickTime Pro … the best $30 any video editor will ever spend.
Correction … the best free software any video editor will ever use … forgot that a Pro license comes with the Final Cut suite.
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Glad to help. I’m certain everything I’ve said is accurate, but others will often chime in with details, etc. so it’ll probably be beneficial to check back in a few days for any additional tips.
A couple general tips: When importing things from one version to another, consider making backup copies of anything important to you (ie, if you have a collection of hundreds of brushes that took years to build) AND make sure you don’t just click through things without reading them … look at the available options carefully (ie, whether you’re appending something or replacing it … like the currently loaded brushes, styles, etc.).
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Not sure how to answer the first question other than to say is there really anything in life that one can do “without worries”?
[Daniel Schmidt] “What will happen to my custom actions, keyboard-shortcuts, brushes, etc.?”
Your CS3 custom actions, keyboard-shortcuts, brushes, etc. will remain in CS3 until/unless you import them to CS5 since they’re separate suites of software (not “udpates”). The process is slightly different to import each and also differs depending on the platform you’re on, but it is definitely possible (and is actually pretty intuitive). On rare occasion there’s a change among versions that makes particular things incompatible (ie, some old actions).
[Daniel Schmidt] “Should I uninstall CS3 first”
That’s a personal preference with valid arguments on both sides. Personally, I never uninstall my previous Adobe suite until I’ve worked with the new suite for at least several months and sometimes don’t bother to uninstall it at all. However, keep in mind that they’re separate large suites of software (not “udpates”) so if, you decide to keep both, make sure you have enough drive space for both and do not try to install one over the other (it won’t let you anyway, but it’s best not to try). I’ve never had any problems having multiple versions installed.
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Andrew, Thank you very much for clarifying that … you explained it well and I get it now.
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I don’t understand how this new development differs from the “Fair Use” clause that has always been part of copyright law … the part that allows use of copyrighted materials for educational and other limited purposes … could someone clarify that?