[Kevin Reiner]

The glowing could be a couple things. A misplaced light, too high res of an image and you’re getting banding or flicker, or perhaps the light transmission is turned up under the images materials tab. I would have to see an example to tell.

By biggest tip for your project would be to use the sequence layers option. Especially helpful if you’re going to be doing the same move to each photo. Make the photos larger than needed so that you can zoom in on them.
Simple Example:
1. Stack all your photos into the timeline in the order that you want them to appear. 1st one on the bottom and then sequentially going up, and set them all to be 4 secs. Your last photo should be on top and all of the layers should be starting at frame zero.
2. Select that top photo and hit the “S” key.
3. Create a keyframe on the first frame and make it 100% and another one at the end at 105%. Should make a zoom in effect.
4. If you like what you see – copy those 2 keyframes and paste them into all of the other photos.
5. Select all of the layers by clicking on the 1st photo (bottom) and then Shift+click the last photo (top one).
( This is more important than it sounds, because if you do the opposite, the photos will play backwards.)
6. With all of the layers still selected, click the Animation menu up on top.
7. In the Keyframe Assistant under the animation menu, click on sequence layers
8. Select overlap, make the duration 20 frames, and make the transition be dissolve front layer.
9. Hit okay and voila! You have a slide show.
10. Have fun and try tweaking the speed of the scale growth, throw in some rotation keyframes, and adjust the anchor point to emphazise the focus point of each shot.

Another tip is to add a very slight verticle motion blur in Photoshop to avoid flicker.

Thats all I got for now. Good luck!

[Kevin Reiner]

I’m in the lovely city of Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Some vendors here locally, but most things need ordering.

[Kevin Reiner]

I agree with Mr. Ross,
backing up actual footage is not important – it’s the projects and graphics and audio and effect elements that need backing up. As long as you have those original tapes and take advantage of timecode, all you need are the project files.

I’m very anal about this. I keep everything from a project in one folder (graphics, AE projets, FCP projects, audio..everything but the actual media) It usually doesn’t get that big in file size. When the projects done, I copy it to a CD with a text file identifying all important facts of the project. I also put another copy of that folder on our company’s server and then periodically make another copy of all of my projects onto a DVD. So thats 3 backup copies in 3 different places. Might sound like overkill, but its saved by behind a couple of times.

Think of it as saving the recipe, not the leftovers.

[Kevin Reiner]

Edit Suite filled with purring gear. It does have a closet though!

I did take a look at http://www.whisperroom.com
It’s a stretch on our budget, but might be able to do it.
Any alternatives?

[Kevin Reiner]

Probably have $1K in USD to work with. Would be bringing it into a FCP machine. I have a Mackie 1604-VLZPRO mixer, 4 Tannoy Reveal Studio Monitors, and 2 Crown D-45 amps.

Looking for a good mic for voice over recording and advice on pop filters, sound baffles, or any other technique to get as good of quality sound with what we’ve got.
Thanks again.

[Kevin Reiner]

Thanks Peter,
I’ve been looking to get an ISDN link, as we do use a lot of talent from around the country for most of our clients. Here’s the deal. One of our bread and butter accounts is an auto dealership. We are constantly doing updates for them and they continue to grow. They also strictly use a local voice personality which is out of our control. So, we need to make audio recording possible in our shop. I’d also like the ability to make scratch tracks to edit to. Any suggestions on mics, setups, and other equipment would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Reins

[Kevin Reiner]

It’s not just price but time. This is a small market, and the audio guy we use is usually booked. So, for small scale projects involving quick VO and scratch tracks, we would like to move it inhouse. Yes, we would charge for it, but not as much as we would for booking an entire audio studio.

I’ve started looking at a Neumann BCM-104. Any thoughts on this mic.