Debe
Forum Replies Created
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I certainly agree with everyone here. I do want to point out that for as many guys in the industry who didn’t go to school, 100 did. Perhaps 1000. I don’t know. But it’s LOTS more.
The college degree can get you in the door faster, and can get you up the ladder faster. Instead of spending 10 years doing various flavors of duplication, shipping, inventory, assisting, etc., you could possibly knock that down to 3 to 5 years before you get a big promotion when you’ve earned a degree. The guys who made it without one are more of an exception that the rule. You greatly increase your chances of getting where you want to be a lot faster if you spend your four years in college.
If you intend on running a post house, a few business courses should be a must. Accounting is so important when you’re a little company. Even if you hire someone to keep the books, you should really understand what it is they do, ‘cos you’re the one that has to sign the tax return. Global Econ probably is a business course that wouldn’t do you much good for running a post facility, unless you plan on having offices all over the world! There are a lot of realities about running a company that are boring as snot. If you learn ho to do them right, you don’t have to spend nearly as much time dealing with them.
Being a well-rounded individual is very important. I have a BA from a local private university. My majors were Art History and Video Production. When I interviewed for my second real job after college, it was the Art History background that the VP of Post was interested in. After he hired me, he told me that he figured he could teach practically anyone with the aptitude to edit. My interest in art told him that I likely had a good eye, too, and that’s not something he could have taught me. I probably wouldn’t have been considered for that job if I hadn’t earned my degree.
I didn’t go to “film school”. I went to “TV school”. I learned a lot of the basics of production. I learned how to (and more importantly, how NOT to) work with a team, I learned what a proposal and a treatment are. I learned about writing scripts and telling stories, and I figured out where my strengths were through trial and error. Anyone who worked on the big project that I co-produced my senior year in college knows that I’m not necessarily cut out to produce. I’ve learned a lot since then. I learned a lot of basic lessons in college that perhaps could have been disastrous had I learned them in the real world. When it’s other people’s money, and something goes horribly awry due to inexperience, it’s a whole different ball game than when it’s a class project. I admit that I learned a lot more in my first year after about post than I did my entire four years of college, but I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn what I did when I did if I hadn’t have spent those four years in college. Ok, four and a half years. What…I DID have a double major!
I did do outside projects. I worked with a group that did really baaaaad parody videos on the weekends. Yes, they were so very baaaaad. So bad that we’re getting together next weekend to watch a couple of them and make a DVD commentary track for the groups 20th anniversary party that will happen sometime this summer. But it is largely their fault that I’m here!
So I guess what I’m saying is what the other guys are saying, get out there and do stuff, but consider that college is a giant stepping-stone that will help launch you. You don’t have to major in film or video. Major in English. Major in writing, Major in psychology. Major in anything that interests you and will give you a unique perspective on the world that your competition won’t have. And take a couple business classes!
There, I’m done!
debe
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He need to to have the same codec you used to make it. Actually, you should have asked him what codecs he can use before you made it. Or he should have requested a specific codec.
Now it’s trickier, because you can’t just load any codec into FCP and expect it to work. VLC is a cross-platform player, and that’s why it works. Just because VLC can read it doesn’t mean FCP will. “QuickTime” is just a wrapper. Anything can go inside it.
He may be able to convert it, I don’t know about that, but for future reference, you need to ask a lot more questions than “Can you take a QuickTime”. It’s kind of like asking “Can you wear pants?”, and then sending someone a random pair. You’ll never know if they’ll fit until after they get there. He also should have asked you questions. More communication for both of you could have possibly averted this.
debe
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Hmm, I’ve not delved into Automator, that would be a VERY nice way to go, if it works!
Keep us posted if you get something to work!
debe
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That happens every once and awhile to almost everyone. If you make it part of your workflow to check the scratch disk when you open up Log and Capture, you’ll lessen the chances. There will always be that one time that you forget…but that’s Murphy’s Law!! It’s in the Capture Settings tab in the Log & Capture window, in case you thought you could only get to it from the File menu.
Achem vs. Murphy…GO!!
Actually, Apple wouldn’t probably include a “Backup” feature like QuickBooks or other apps has, because they’d just say “why don’t you use Auto-Save”, but if someone came up with an applet like FCP Rescue, only call it FCP Backup, where it would take all open projects and make a copy with a time/date stamp and put it somewhere safe, that would be super-swell!! One could even select the file name format convention, like date and time or sequential numbers or letters and select the save location as well.
Dunno, just a thought. Haven’t made it through my first cup of coffee today yet, so I can’t tell that it might not be a good idea!! I haven’t trusted Auto-Save since FCP 2 oh-so-slowly fried a project file and I had four hours of unopenable Auto-Saves.
debe
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There is a Features Request board both at Apple and at 2-pop. They do get read! And by folks at Apple!
debe
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I keep my FCP projects folder in my dock for easy access. I open it up, right-click on the project file and select copy, flip over to where I want it saved, right-click again and paste it in my FCP Backups folder. Then I rename it with the date and time, like Bryce suggests, only mine look more like “MyProject_2_1_1730.fcp”. Date and military time keeps them in order. Of course, so does the time/date on the file, so you could just name it something simple, like “MyProjectA.fcp”, ahd the next one will be “MyProjectB.fcp”, and so on. The project can even be open when you do this. It takes about 5 seconds to do once you get a rhythym that works for you.
Save Project As gets you more folders in your capture scratch, and that’s a royal pain. I don’t use Save Project As for backing up. It also closes the project you’re working on and you continue on working in the Save As project. Recipe for all sorts of confusion down the road.
debe
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You can export an XML (version 1) of your timeline from Studio and open it up in FCP 4.5. It works slick for video, but for any non-video media you have it’ll be a pain.
I just tried it decided it was smarter for my purposes to make the time to install my other copy FCP Studio on that machine instead. It’d been sitting in my office for months anyway. Figuring out the non-video media part on my timeline waould have been a substantial undertaking. Might have taken me longer than upgrading! (ok, not really, but…)
That might not be the right solution for your situation, though!
debe
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Oh, hey, I didn’t see this until now!!
It’s the SilverSATA from wiebetech.
Thanks again for all your help!! (my fingers still ache from trying to get those drives out this morning!!)
debe
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Keep in mind most networks bug the lower right corner…
debe
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Wow, sorry for the typos! I usually proof-read better than that!
debe