[Erik Pontius]

I was thinking that he was referring to the multiple timeline tabs. Say you have 3 comps open, you have three tabs along the top of the timeline allowing you to switch between comps quickly. Dragging and dropping the tabs you can re-order them to make working with them more efficient. I think the normal behavior is to keep the order you have it in when you save it…
However, I know that AE will reset the order to alphabetical if the workspace is reloaded (ie. one comp view, two comp views, etc…) so that could be where his problem lies.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

You can add your 16×9 comp to a 4×3 comp, then hit ctrl-alt-shift-h (command-option-shift-h on the mac) to have AE, fit the width of the 16×9 image into the 4×3 space, creating your letterboxing at the top an bottom.
I’d try strongly to convince your client that letterboxing your footage is the wrong way to go. You will further reduce the quality of your image since you are effectively losing a good portion of vertical resolution with the black bars. You might have well have shot the film on DV.
DVD players have settings in which you tell them what type of TV you have connected: 4×3 or 16×9. When the DVD player encounters 16×9 anamorphic content on a disc and it is connected to a 4×3 set, it will automatically add the black bars. The advantage to anamorphic is when dealing with 16×9 sets as the image will fill the entire scene utilizing as much of the vertical image resolution as possible. Letterboxed material on a 16×9 set will have black bars on the top AND the sides of the screen.
4×3 sets are becoming a dying breed and you don’t see to many of them in the stores anymore.
If he has requirements from a festival or something that is out of his control and the film must be letterboxed, so be it.
You may also consider outputting a letterbox version and an anamorphic version.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Bandwidth is the biggest hurdle and the current infrastructure for transmission (satellite, off air, cable) can’t handle it. 1080p is a huge amount of data. This will of course change with time as technology will improve.
The fractional frame rates are kept in the ATSC HD mainly as a transitional aid (59.94, 29.97, 23.98, etc…) for upconversions and the like. There are also integer frame rates in ATSC (60fps, 30, 24).

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Are you trying to make a DVD that will be watchable on a TV or are you just wanting to archive your file to disc?

DVD-video discs use MPEG-2 video and dolby digital audio compression, which will compress an 8gb file down into something more manageable which can be authored to a DVD to be viewed on a TV.

As for archival, you could use your NLE to cut the original video in sections and then export those sections as separate videos. There are simple applications available on the web like Media4PC that can split/join MPEG-2 and AVI files.
Many data dvd burning software applications like Nero and Roxio allow you to split large amounts of data across several discs for backup. Catch is you would need the software to combine the data to restore it.
Some data compression software like WinZip and WinRAR will allow you to split or “chunk” large files across several smaller files. During restore these files are combined.

Also, the cheap cost per gigabyte for hard drives these days makes it affordable to buy external usb/firewire drives to archive large amounts of data to or to transfer files to other systems.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

I just read your other post. I think the only way you are going to be able to accomplish this is with a little time consuming elbow grease. Any automated tool will be tracing the outline of the text based on difference between the text and the background. What you are wanting is one line centered in the middle of the text character stroke…so the letter “S” is one line with two curves, rather than a closed path around the outline of the shape.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Yeah..that’s not going to work. Again, once the mask is closed say forming the letter A, you are creating a separate mask (aka spline)…which defeats your one line/one spline goal. You would need one mask that envelopes all the characters of text…creating a line of text in cursive or script. You can’t create a mask that has more than one closed path…which is why tools like Autotrace and convert to outlines creates multiple masks with each character having its own mask.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

I don’t think that there is an automated way of doing that.
You would be creating an open mask. As soon as the mask is closed, a new separate mask would be created. So the characters in your text would need to touch.
I’ve done similar things in the past, creating one open mask the length of the line along the baseline of the text on a separate layer, then adding and dragging vertex points to match the characters. Then using the Stroke effect on the mask. Exactly what you are trying to avoid.
In my case I “morphed” the graphical text into an object which lined up with a video layer.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Type out your text, then select it, and choose Layer > Create Outlines. This will create editable masks for all the characters. Note that the text will no longer be editable with the text tool, so make sure that you have everything as you want it (check your spelling!).
By hitting the stopwatch for “mask shape” you can animate the mask over time.
Alternatively, if you have Illustrator you can type up all your text. Then choose the option to “create outlines.”
Then make sure that your clipboard options in Illustrator are correct, Edit > Preferences > File handling & Clipboard. Make sure the option “copy as PDF” is checked.
Select the text with the selection tool, and choose Edit > copy.
Open AE, create a new solid, then edit > paste.
This will create masks for every character. Really handy for creating masks from vector artwork (logos, etc…).

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

You might experiment with building your 3d bits first…then precompose this into another comp, click the “collapse transformations” switch on the layer and then add your camera and movement. Might help you manage things a little better.

Erik

[Erik Pontius]

Uncompressed AVI
Uncompressed QT
QT Animation
PNG 24 image
Photoshop PSD image
BitJazz SheerVideo

List goes on. Basically most uncompressed or lossless codecs. The alpha will need to be created during the creation of the file. For instance, in After Effects, you would choose “RGB+Alpha” “millions of color +” and “premultiplied” or “straight”.
For formats that do not support an alpha channel natively (say DV), you can often output a separate alpha channel in its own file, to then use as a track matte or alpha matte. Often compositors when needing to transfer effects via tape will lay both the unmatted effect shot followed by the grayscale alpha. matte.

Erik