[Jeremy Allen]

Hey Will, thanks for the quick response. That is definitely pretty close to what I’m looking for. The only problem is you have to capture the footage to a bin before you can print that list. What I would like to do is log the clips (add a name, notes, etc) in the “Log and Transfer” window and then print that list with time codes and notes. Basically I’m looking for a way to keep track of all the clips on paper so I can narrow down the clips that actually need to be captured later.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

It’s also useful to create a 3d null and use that for your point of interest. You could still use the same expression: Link the focal length to the point of interest, which is linked to the position of the null object. That way you can freely move the null around when you need to change the POI. Works like a charm, and easier to move around than the camera’s built-in POI handle.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

Thanks for the replies and tips everyone. I will certainly make disc images for the future. I’m now on the 3rd disc of audio content with about 5 hours remaining. So the remaining time went down significantly, but it still feels abnormally long. I’ve been at this for a few hours already. Who’s got time to wait on such a lengthy install process when there is so much real work to be done!?

I’m trying to be patient.. Thanks again for your time.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

I’ve had this same situation. It seems no matter how good your planning is, there is always something new that pops up. Dave’s post gave me this idea for the future: I guess you could include some blank layers in your photoshop file when you import it. If you needed to add something new, you could modify one of the existing blank layers.

Do you see any problem or potential “gotcha” with that Dave?

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

You may already be doing this, but it helps to use a left, right or top view. As you adjust the focus distance you can see it moving closer to or farther away from the camera. When you see the focal plane touch the target layer, optimum focus is achieved.

There are also some expressions that you can use to attach the focus distance to a null. Then you can move the null around whenever you need to change the focus distance.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

“I am mainly interested in manipulating actual footage, rather than generating it. For example, I’m not so interested in really fancy titling or the kind of generated effects that one might see in a TV news or sports program.”

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To me, this pretty much says After Effects. Motion is good for quickly generating backgrounds and other cool “one-click” effects, where After Effects is gonna offer more control over effects, and more specialty effects like better color correction, masking and tracking. You can do some of that in Motion, but as Todd said, After Effects is the more professional app, and you will get better quality from it. And I think as your skill set grows, you will outgrow Motion’s abilities, so you might as well learn the more powerful program.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

check the light’s intensity? If it’s a negative number, it will make the layers darker. You might also check that the light is close enough to the layer to light it enough.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

It looks like they just used a feathered circle shape mask on the keyed footage, scaling the mask shape or animating the expansion property to reveal and hide the layers.

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

I’m not familiar with your footage, but would it be possible to save yourself some work and scale up/reposition the shot just enough to get the clamp outta there?

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3

[Jeremy Allen]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

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8core MacPro, 3.0 GHZ, 10GB RAM, OSX 10.5.2

AE CS3