David Johnson
Forum Replies Created
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I agree with Walter, Tom and Rafael …
[Walter Biscardi] “You would end up with a completely bloated app that featured everything in one but could not do everything well.”
[Tom Wolsky] “…things would be improved with a single, integrated application? I don’t think so. I would think quite the opposite is more likely to happen.”
It might even be appropriate to change Walter’s “everything” to “anything”. And, what about the 75% of the time inside of FCP you’re not working on authoring a DVD? Or, what about the people who choose to use other tools like After Effects instead of Motion? Why bog us down with a bunch of stuff we don’t need and that would inevitably get in the way whether in terms of interface or resources?
[Rafael Amador] “integrate Color as a plugin to work in the time-line.”
Seems to make sense since, for most, coloring isn’t a task that’s separate from editing the way motion graphics and DVD authoring are.[Rafael Amador] “eliminate Compressor, as an stand alone application and I would implement a proper export option in FC/QT, instead of the crappy “QT conversion” (the only magic of Compressor, apart of the high quality filters, is that offers a bunch of presets to people unable to build their own one).
Couldn’t agree more that having to go to a separate app to output your work is silly … me thinks the last part of Rafael’s comment refers to one of the many places Apple has tried to be all things to all people … are we talking about “pro apps” or not?
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I’m still on CS3 for a few more months so I haven’t used the new rotobrush yet, but based on the way rotoscoping usually works and how other AE brush tools work, perhaps there’s a parameter you have to set to tell it the draw timing and, if not, it defaults to one second.
Just a guess since you didn’t get any other answers … sorry for the AE 101 type first answer and that I couldn’t be more help … you just said “the effects on one of the layers ain’t working” and didn’t mention you were using rotobrush so, considering the post is in the Basics Forum, I figured it might just be the effects switch.
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If you bring the render back into AE is the background transparent? If so, it’s a Flash issue … sorry, but I won’t be much help there.
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My hope for seamless integration with Photoshop and After Effects making it practical to do everything needed with tools from the same developer and suite and, therefore, focus more on the craft than wasting brain space thinking about different interface conventions, etc. is why I always wished Premiere would’ve matured faster and more steadily. But, it didn’t … and there’s no doubt FCP is King now. Like any other, it’s got some weaknesses, but it’s generally pretty awesome … and it pays my bills too, which I’m grateful for.
Maybe it’s just me, but despite Adobe’s failings with Premiere, they seem to have a better track record of not forgetting about their pro market even though they ventured into the consumer market … am I dreaming to wonder whether there will be a day when Adobe buys the Final Cut suite from Apple and integrates all the best of both suites? Or, did that already happen in the same dream where I saw Steve and Bill ballroom dancing together in their Skivvies?
Just to be clear, I’m not bashing Apple … Apple rocks … just think the consumer market success of recent years has hurt the pro market.
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Everything is right in the render settings and output module … try changing your AE background to black (CNTRL B) and re-rendering … I’m not a Flash guy so I don’t recall this about Flash, but many programs that aren’t specifically video programs won’t interpret an alpha channel if it’s represented by any color other than 100% black.
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I don’t have the specs for a Dell i7 memorized and you didn’t mention anything else about your machine, but some of the first things to do:
Turn off multiprocessing in AE (until you get more RAM)
Turn off OpenGL in AE (forever)
Close any other programs you might have running while working in AE (or forever … who needs anything other than AE? lol)
Get more RAM
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“I exported it as a Quictime with RGB+ and Million+ colors for setting”
You didn’t leave the comp in the render queue so the AEP doesn’t show what’s wrong with your Render Settings or Output Module.
In any case, you have to use a codec that supports alpha channels (Animation, PNG, ProRes, Uncompressed, etc.). Also note that media players can’t display transparency even if it’s there … they generally show it as black, but in your case, you’ve changed your comp’s background color to grey so that’s what will be used to represent the alpha channel. The only way to see it as transparency is in other media creation (versus playback) software.
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Well said, Ryan.
While I agree with everything you said and think the right decision depends somewhat on an individual’s circumstance, I used “irreversible” to refer to the business standpoint that it’s often very hard to get away with charging one customer $1000 for the same exact thing you charged another customer $100 … and rightfully so … assuming that the idea is for the majority of customers to be in the $1000 camp, having any $100 customers at all is an easy way to make the more important majority feel like they’re being gouged and, thus, end up out of business altogether.
Doing a favor for a friend is a completely different subject in my mind. I’ve done that many times throughout my career. In fact, the first occasion was similar to (yet also sounds different from) the scenario David described and turned into an opportunity that catapulted my career. In my case, a very significant difference was that the “client” had already been my best friend for 10 years (and still is 20 years later) … not someone I met as a client who wanted to be “friends” because they wanted something from me.
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[Jeff Bernstein ] “Tiny chocolates for my pillow”
[Herb Sevush] “most of those features were available 10 years ago on those systems”
Those two statements seem to have in common that they, in different ways, allude to the days when the companies that made our tools catered to the professional market because we were either their best by far or only customers, neither of which is true any more … and never was for some companies. So, we may as well forget the tiny chocolates since it increasingly seems that we’re lucky if we get the clean sheets otherwise reserved for important customers – the much larger consumer market.
What the _____ is a QuickTime X!? And, considering I still have installers for QuickTime 1-7 archived (please don’t ask me why), why is it suddenly so hard to download QuickTime 7 without iTunes?
I basically started on Discreet *Edit after my first brief stint with Avid and also encountered several other systems throughout my career that easily did many things that are still a struggle for the market-leading tools 10-15 years later … personally, I miss the days when there were companies that focused on the pro market.
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I’m glad you found my input helpful, David. And, thanks much for the reaffirmation, Scott … I too believe very strongly that logical thinking spreads better when it comes from multiple sources.
David, One thing I have to add to when I said “you really should read about what a Grinder is since you are obviously dealing with one” … I’ll bet you a zillion dollars your Grinder knows all of the things I tried to point out in my first reply, yet will still deny them if you let him/her, which is what makes him/her a Grinder (a.k.a., a thief).
With that said, if you’re 16 and haven’t yet invested much in your training, skills or tools, maybe an argument can be made for jumping at any chance to make some quick cash. If you do take that route, just keep in mind that, if you do decide to become a professional later, defining yourself as the will-work-for-pizza guy early in your career means you’ll have to live with that for much, if not all, of your career … and, $100 for a few hours easy work doesn’t have quite the same appeal when you’re not 16 anymore.