David Johnson
Forum Replies Created
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If I understand correctly what you’re doing try this:
Take your MOV into QuickTime Pro, set an in and out point for your 8 seconds, select “trim to selection”, then export as an image sequence using TIFF with no compression.
Note that your images won’t lose resolution this way, but they won’t gain any either … in other words, video stills will never be 300+dpi print resolution.
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Steve,
Could you explain this a little further: “populate the memory in banks of 3, not 4. Or the system will drop down to 2 memory channels. So you want 12, 24, 48 etc.”Perhaps it’s just the word “banks” that’s confusing me … do you mean fill 3 slots at a time instead of four or use RAM in 3Gb increments instead of 4Gb increments? Both seem counter to my current understanding so I want to understand what you mean and the reason.
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Sorry I guess I misinterpreted some of your original comments in that you mentioned a Win machine that “far surpasses all of the system recommendations of Adobe CS5”, which doesn’t come cheap, and a Mac. That basically is the “redundancy” I referred to … I understand your point that you’re considering two machines for separate tasks, but my point was that two machines inherently means that one can do at least some of the tasks the other is intended for if/when needed. And, it’s not much of leap to go from there to having both capable of most of the same tasks, which can be very beneficial in several ways. In other words, I consider two good stations better than one great station, but again, maybe that’s just me. Also, I’ve only used ProTools on Macs and all the ProTools folks I know are on Macs so when you mentioned the possibility of two machines, I guess I assumed you meant upgrading the G4 in addition to the Win7 you already have.
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[Chris White] “I can raise the funds for a second PC but don’t want to unless I have to”
I always prefer a suite with both a Mac and a Windows machine, as long as both workload and workflow justify it and budget allows.
My opinion is that, depending very much on your needs in terms of both workload (amounts) and workflow (types, processes, turn times, etc.), if you can swing two separate stations, there are definite advantages. Most importantly, being able to run multiple of the particularly lengthy processes that are inherently part of video production especially, but also audio production to some degree. For example, if you have 12 hours of footage to digitize/ingest or a 6 hour render, you’re not dead in the water for those hours and can just slide your chair over to continue working on a machine with full resources. Or, if you have both of those or similar tasks that need to happen at the same time, you can actually pull it off.
Dual-platform suites also make the entire pool of editors potential candidates for you, rather than only those proficient on one platform or the other.
Multi-machine suites can also allow zero downtime when one machine is being upgraded or has some kind of temporary work-stopping issue.
Of course, such flexibility comes with the costs of outfitting two machines, but redundancy has saved my arse many times in my years in the biz. Hope my two pence is helpful.
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In most cases I prefer to buy direct unless I’m buying several one-off type plugins (developers that only make one plugin that I’d ever use), which there are few of these days anyway. Otherwise, it generally doesn’t make a difference as long as, if you do buy indirect, it’s from a good long-standing re-seller … ToolFarm is the only one that immediately comes to mind. So, it’s really a matter of price (direct is not always cheapest), how much support you may or may not need and whether there are any purchase perks that you find worthwhile.
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The issues sound resolved, but I felt compelled to comment on two of the side notes …
[Gigi Harris] “Need to go back to my basic training … Sad, very sad!!!”
It’s definitely great to know the tools well, but don’t beat yourself up either … just one generation back, many of the best editors could barely open the software by themselves since most shops had an IT guy who did everything up to that point … sort of like a mechanic-driver relationship. In fact, I’ve worked several places where editors weren’t allowed to touch anything beyond the inside of the editing package … just like an editor didn’t open up a tape machine anywhere with staff Engineers. Industry changes just required/allowed drivers to start being their own mechanics. It was also more common than today to have separate “technical editors” and “creative editors”. I guess it is possible to be good at something without being good at everything.
By the way, to me, establishing a permanent position at “the grown up table” is among lifetime goals since, in my family, it’s even possible to be demoted.
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Thanks Joe.
[Joe Bourke] “the number of Cub Scouts who claim to be F-16 pilots these days … it’s really easy to get ripped off by someone who’s “borrowed” someone else’s work”
I think that’s always been an issue in our industry, but that it has grown exponentially in recent years due to relatively new occurrences like pre-made After Effects projects for sale on a wide scale, far easier access to pro or prosumer software and equipment, extreme ease of ripping off other people’s work from YouTube, Vimeo, etc., an endless supply of free stock footage, etc., etc., etc.
[Joe Bourke] “every graphics and NLE software box which says: ‘Talent Not Included!'”
Brilliant idea! You’ve got my vote!
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Glad to help, Danny. I’m really glad you got a solution as it was obvious how frustrated you understandably were.
I’ve also had trouble getting obscure parts from any of the major manufacturers, which is why I always turn to Google first for such needs.
I’m certainly not defending the kind of greed-driven management practices you described, which I agree are based on short-term thinking and are part of the problem. At the same time, I think it’s also that the industry as a whole has changed dramatically, largely due to technology advances. Manufacturers of specialty products like any kind of pro video equipment have very quickly gone from, for example, selling a relatively small number of $100,000 cameras to having to sell 20+ times as many $5000 cameras to make the ever-increasing profits shareholders demand. So, they’re all struggling to keep the doors open already and, if they maintained the stock, staff and logistics pipeline to sell individual parts directly, they simply couldn’t survive in today’s marketplace.
Back in the days before there was any such thing as a “prosumer” market, it was one thing for manufacturers to keep up with the occasional calls from people at a Hollywood studio or New York broadcast center who needed some parts … now that every college kid in the nation owns a “pro” camera, it seems manufacturers just can’t maintain the infrastructure to provide the same level of support. From the change I’ve experienced and observed in recent years, that’s not at all unique to Gitzo, Behringer or any other. I guess that’s where resellers and/or the internet come in to pick up the slack.
Just my two pence.
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One thing I’ll add to Joseph’s great advice … before you start cutting checks to anyone, make sure you’ve seen their previous work and have verified through multiple sources that it is in fact their work … this was much less an issue years ago, but nowadays every college student who has tinkered with Photoshop for a couple weeks is a “mograph designer” and an “editor” so it’s very easy to get burned if you don’t know what to watch out for.
The COW is a great place to find real professionals.