[David Bogie]

You can use the drive on the iMac for offline or network storage if you hook them together with ethernet or TCIP over Firewire. (See the online help system, not difficult but too complex to go over here.) The results will vary depending on yoor format but ethernet is pretty good for DV. The problem is you’re not going to be talking directly to the drive in the iMac; you’re accessing the drive through the iMac’s networking subroutines, via the OS.

You will not be able to use the iMac as a monitor.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

> All CAD drawings are provided on Microstation DGN format. Does anybody know of a utility to import those into Freehand, Corel… and then onto AE? I’m planning to shoot some aerial views and compose them with the CAD drawings but I just dont know how to get the DGN files into something I can work with.< I've had weird requests from our CADCAM and GIS people like this. I tell them what I can use and they give me the appropriate file formats. It takes lots of patience because even if the understand PDF or TIFF or JPEG, they do not understand pixel aspect ratio, video resolution, image size limitations and video color specs. We have also mapped aerial footage onto computer drawings but the results have always been terrible and it took forever. We had to very carefully stabilize the helicopter footage and that required extensive masking and severe cropping. I have one other practical suggestion: Minimize the on-screen movement. bogiesan This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

Hiya Mark!

I’ve done this many times using a cylinder effect applied to the leaf/price tag/envelope/feather. Nest it.

The motion path is easily created to emulate drifting or fluttering. Add turns and flips to the cylinder layer to coincide with the positional stops in the drift path or tie them in with an expression. Add a light to the main comp to simulate your primary camera lighting. you will want it for the interior shadows if the tag curls in on itself and maybe a glint.

I used Boris Cylinder because it has far cooler shading effects and much more control over the cylinder wrap than the CC version.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

Hiya Mark!

I’ve done this many times using a cylinder effect applied to the leaf/price tag/envelope/feather. Nest it.

The motion path is easily created to emulate drifting or fluttering. Add turns and flips to the cylinder layer to coincide with the positional stops in the drift path or tie them in with an expression. Add a light to the main comp to simulate your primary camera lighting. you will want it for the interior shadows if the tag curls in on itself and maybe a glint.

I used Boris Cylinder because it has far cooler shading effects and much more control over the cylinder wrap than the CC version.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

I’m not absolutely positive, Bob, but I think the description filed is metadata that Spotlight can see at the Finder level. Sorry, not on my FCP machine to try it. Don’t use the instant Spotlight menu, use the Finder’s FIND command to open the more useful dialog box.

FCP has never been any good at media management or as a database for finding what’s in a project or what’s been used. The Avid switchers keep pointing out these failures. I think we’ve all come up with our own methods of dealing with these massive shortcomings.

If you have any success working around it, please let us know.

Luck
bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

‘ll be watching this thread for something new. Never heard of mis-side decoding. But I remember a phase reversal filter in Soundtrack Pro. I think. I try to never think about using STP so memory is spotty.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

Why would you trash the prefs?
Usually a simple restart of the computer will solve stuff like that.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

I am in awe of folks who understand expressions and can think in 3D on a screen. I do neither well. So thank you for creating this cool effect for us.

Is there any other particle system that is usable besides Particular? Anything else?

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

I am in awe of folks who understand expressions and can think in 3D on a screen. I do neither well. So thank you for creating this cool effect for us.

Is there any other particle system that is usable besides Particular? Anything else?

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[David Bogie]

> Can anyone suggest the best (and most economical) computer I should get so I can start editing? It is not crucial that I edit on a laptop if there is substantial money to be saved with a desktop.< Visit apple.com and look up the prices. You didn't state your budget nor the rest of your offline peripherals. The best is not going to be the most economical unless you know how to set it up yourself. > Is FCP 5.1.1 the best and most up-to-date version of FCP for HDV?< Nope, check the FCP marketing pages for the latest information. > Also, has anyone out there edited cinema-verite style documentaries (meaning very long takes) shot in hdv on fcp 5.1.1? I have heard horror stories about having to re-render whenever making a cut–I’m hoping that isn’t the case.< HDV is not a linear fdigital ile format like DV, it's an implementation of MPEG2 so every cut requires serious CPU time to do the interpolation to create the missing frames. You probably need to research the format more closely before deciding on your editing platform. Try these: https://www.expandore.com/product/Sony/Proav/model/HDV/QNA.htm
HDV is a “consumer high-definition video format” proposed by a consortium of manufacturers, the core of which is composed by JVC, Sony, Canon and Sharp. These companies proposed the basic format specifications in July of 2003, and the formal announcement of the format came in a press release from the HDV consortium on 30 September 2003. HDV is native 16:9 with supported frame rates of 60i (frames-per-second interlaced), 30p (progressive), 50i, and 25p. All HDV variants record to existing standard DV format digital video cassettes, the most popular form factor of which is the Mini-DV shell. The transport stream interface conforms to IEEE 1394 (FireWire). HDV1 (from JVC) is a 19 megabit-per-second MPEG-2 transport stream with a resolution of 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall. HDV2 (from Sony and Canon) is a 25 megabit-per-second MPEG-2 transport stream with a resolution of 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall.< > And finally, can I master on HDV? If not, what is the best format? I will be screening the finished piece in an auditorium using a video projector.
< You can but "best" is always relative. You will need something to play it on that will hook into your projector. bogiesan This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”