Jim Kanter
Forum Replies Created
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In the 20 years I’ve been working with computers I’ve learned a few things including:
= Don’t count on announced release dates. Things don’t always ship on time and you can’t use it until it’s installed properly.
= If it will pay for itself within 2 months buy it NOW.
= If you need it now, buy it now; if you can wait, wait.
= Don’t buy things hoping they will make you money if you have them. They won’t, and something faster/better/cheaper is right around the corner. They’ll probably announce it with immediate availability the day after you install yours.
= All computer apps build on previous versions. Rarely do you see a total makeover. Most of whatever you learn now you can still use in the future.
= It’s never too soon to start learning, but be sure to practice regularly what you’ve learned so far. The sooner you learn it, the sooner you can use it.
Having said that, would it hurt to wait a couple of weeks to see what’s announced (if anything) at DV Expo?
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Install as much RAM in your system as you can afford (or it will hold). Also make sure that there is plenty of hard drive space available for the operating system (for caching which speeds performance if there’s not enough RAM). If your hard drive gets too full it can slow down the performance of your apps.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Runs fine on my 2 year-old PB 17″. Not as zippy as my dual-G5 with an x800, but it runs reasonably well. Max out your RAM for better RAM previewing.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Total Training is very complete and exhaustive.
Inside After Effects from Magnet Media is not as intense but can be a little friendlier to the new user:
https://www.digitalmediatraining.com/products/ae6/index.htmlTrish and Chris’ books are a must-have but can be overwhelming to teach yourself from. I find them much more valuable for someone who already is familiar with AE and wants to advance.
Visual QuickPro Guide from Peachpit is a 1-2-3 how-to reference that is useful in a pinch.
Bear in mind that books and dvds can’t answer your questions or look for alternate ways to explain things if you don’t grasp what they are saying. Classes vary in quality based on the instructor and some of us are better than others.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Logos.
Vector graphics that scale cleanly to any size.
Spirals and other shapes.
Text converted to paths for editing shapes.
Blending shapes together.
Image replication on paths, etc.Do the tutorials and play with it. You’ll find all kinds of interesting uses.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
You should check out Trish and Chris Meyer’s DVD “Videosyncrasies” to help you understand video better.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Try unplugging the 2nd video monitor and then restarting as s single monitor system.
Also, how many layers/objects are open? How many files are listed in the Media tab but are not being used?
Have you tried setting up the particle emitter as the only object in a new project (and make sure that no other projects are open)?
Are you connected to a network? Sometimes that can slow down a system.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
In the layer named BACKGROUND (italicized) when you “delete” pixels it just paints them with the background color. If the layer is a copy above it (or has been renamed) then when you delete pixels they are deleted (transparent). The BG layer would still show unless you turn it off or delete it altogether.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
One of the disadvantages of videos and tutorials is that they can’t answer questions or explain things any other way than what’s been recorded.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com -
Forgot to mention that I am running M2 and it tested fine in both Canvas and Inspector windows.
Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com