Marco Solorio
Forum Replies Created
-
Yes, the complexity involved is over-the-top. Then on top if it, you have to program it in such a way that it’ll be compatible on any unknown web server that’s out there.
I appreciate your insight in the matter. And I have to say, your question, “do you guys offer a “repentant do-it-your-selfer” discount?” gave me a good chuckle. Email me offline for a possible cross-grade offer.
m a r c o [at] c i n e s o f t [dot] c o m. (sans the spaces)
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Your server isn’t executing the PHP. All it’s doing is showing the PHP code, nothing more. What does that mean? It means PHP isn’t installed on your web server. This is surprising since 99% of all shared hosts install PHP on the get-go to help draw sales in. If you ask your web host to activate/install PHP, then it’ll work just fine. PHP is free so they shouldn’t balk at activating it. Again, I’m really surprised PHP isn’t installed on your server. That is quite rare.
Who is your web host?
BTW, we have bunlde packages where we can perform the installation process of Media Batch on your server if you don’t have the time or desire to do so yourself.
But again, what you saw/describe is nothing… it’s just showing the raw PHP code. It’s not executing anything.
Thanks,
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Adding displayable timecode (by means of JavaScript) for QuickTime is easy to do (which I should add) but creating the interface for QuickTime that I’ve done for FLV is much more complicated due to the inherent nature of how QuickTime works.
Adobe has recently announced that they are going to support H.264 in Flash. This is big news as it could allow your QuickTime H.264 to work in the Flash interface. This would mean I wouldn’t have to re-build a QuickTime version of the FLV interface. H.264 support in Flash was supposed to happen sometime in October. I’m just waiting to see what the final support standards are going to be and then go from there.
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Ha ha, well Mark, it’s completely up to you whether or not you want to share the user login with others. If the client shares the login with others on their end, well, there’s nothing anyone can do about that! =)
On a serious note, I usually assign a main user login to a client. He or she may opt to share that login with others, but it’s understood that any feedback/approvals will be made by one person.
So yeah, I couldn’t agree more that too many “approval people” can make things congested. In a strange sort of way, using Media Batch keeps them in check because the system is so organized.
Bottom line is, no mater what, the client needs to see the files we send them. Using Media Batch makes it easier for them and us. If too many people chime in on approvals, we tell them to keep it under control and it always works. If it doesn’t, you can always change the user login! 😉
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Thanks for the nice comments, David!
[David Battistella] “I just want to be able to get my FCP timesline to encode directly to flash. That would make it all complete.”
An expensive way to do it, but if you have Flash installed you can. :-/
BUT…
Since Adobe is going to be incorporating H.264 as part of the their native Flash support, you might be able to do this sooner than later… right out of your FCP timeline. I’m still not totally 100% clear on their format intentions, but you might be able to render to QuickTime H.264 and play it right in the FLV viewer. I’d have to make some changes to the Media Batch FLV Viewer to support that, but that shouldn’t be too big of an issue. At any rate, Adobe’s H.264 integration will be a big deal. =)
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
[Mike Cohen] “Last year we created a content review website of our own, because we needed a way for people to review documents images and flv videos all in one session. Comments on all pieces of media are saved to a database and immediately displayed for others to see.”
Hey Mike. Thanks for the replies. Yeah, Media Batch works in the same way although it actually natively reads almost 200 file formats, including some off-shoot ones like DivX, Real, some pretty strange audio formats and many more. We figured since this will be going to a global audience, we need to cover as much ground as possible. In fact, we recently got a feature request from a facility owner that needed M4V iPod video support. For some reason we forgot to add that format as a natively supported format. We’ve added it and works great (will officially be out in the next update release, but if anyone needs it sooner, let me know).
[Mike Cohen] “We simply put a time-code burn on the FLV video and people can easily type the timecode numbers into their comments.”
You should check out the demo regarding the Media Batch FLV Viewer. In short, it’s completely timecode based, down to the frame (reads the frame-rate, whether 24, 25, etc. and displays the frame-count appropriately). You can also offset the master timecode. While the video is playing you can hit the “M” key on your keyboard to add marker points (or click the “+” icon). Once you create a marker point, you can add notes to that specific marker point and even draw on the video frame for that marker point. You can change in/out points for each marker, re-order the marker points, etc. Once you have a list full of marker points and their notes, you can print it, save it to a text file, email it, copy to the clipboard, etc. There are also aspect ratio conversions so you can play back the video in square pixel format, NTSC, PAL, anamorphic 16×9, etc. The video can be re-scaled in real-time, including overlayed drawings and marker points. Even true full screen mode without any OS menu bar is there. It’s incredibly powerful!
Here’s a small screenshot of the interface populated with notes and a drawing on a marker point. Click it to view full size.
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
David: Thanks for sharing your user experiences! Just to let everyone know that David has been a fairly long user of Media Batch (in “computer years,” months is forever as we all know). He’s personally told me many times how much he’s loved using it with his clients (and how much his clients love using it). He’s also helped in suggesting feature updates which I’m always open to hearing to make it better and better. One of those suggestions will definitely be in the next release as well. I’m not a big corporation like Apple or Adobe; I’m an end-user like everyone here. Like you, I want Media Batch to work better and better for MY production needs as well. The more feedback I get from users only helps me in the end as well! It’s that unique position that in some cases, makes my Media Batch development more powerful than Apple or Adobe can do.
Nick: Yes, I’m approached quite a bit about a 30-day try-before-buy request. Currently, there’s a 30-day money back guarantee in place, so if for some reason the facility doesn’t like it, they get their money back. I can happily say that there’s never been a facility to date that’s requested a refund.
However, I may opt to change it around a bit. I might change it so people can fill out a form and they get the software with a 30-day license on it. Once they actually buy it, they don’t have 30 days for a refund since they’ve had the chance to use it under the 30-day trial period.
This would probably draw more sales because as you know, it truly is hard to understand the full potential of the software until you actually use it with clients. The demos just don’t do justice.
Your check for marketing consultation is in the mail! 😉
I would have to agree that comparing Media Batch to FTP wouldn’t be exactly like Mac vs. PC… I’d say it’s more akin to something like fax vs. email (email on an iPhone or something cool like that!).
BTW… I should mention that I’ll be showing off Media Batch in person at this Tuesday’s SF Cutters meeting in San Francisco. I’ll be giving away a Media Batch Pro Platinum Bundle as part of the raffle. All the news is here…
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/127/854676
Philip Hodgetts from Digital Production Buzz will be there as well as Brian Rutz of AJA. Should be a really fun event!
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
This post comes as a big surprise, Nick! You definitely made my day!!! Thanks a lot for the kind words. Very much appreciated.
Looking forward to releasing more features for you to use.
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Looking forward to getting you setup, amigo!!! =)
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch
-
Hi Rich,
I appreciate your post as it points out some things I should clear up to those that are new to the concept. Some replies below…
[Rich Rubasch] “Not sure I agree it is a game-changer. I see it as more of a niche service. Some will pay for the software and set it up, then train all their clients to use it. Will work great for them. But many of our clients, especially agencies, have their own sites where we put our sample clips and elements etc and they don’t want our solution. We might be different in that regard.”
Just to clarify, Media Batch isn’t an outside service like YouTube or file sharing websites. It’s software that lives on your own website server. When I initially created it as proprietary software, I wanted my clients to know that they were sharing files on *my* website and not some other company’s website.
Although some agencies have their own file-transferring system in place, it’s just that: a file-transferring system. Media Batch is much more than that. It has integrated tools, specific for the media industry that file-transfer systems just don’t have. The timecode based FLV viewer with real-time marker-assigned notation and drawing capabilities come to mind! =)
Agencies themselves are doing the switch to Media Batch as well. In fact, there are some big-name companies using Media Batch right within their own internal production workflow. Yahoo! is one of them.
[Rich Rubasch] “Thier short demos don’t hit on any real groundbreakers. It mentions that you can approve a clip, but it looked like it could be approved by only one person. Sometimes you need approval by many. In some ways this looked like a souped up .Mac account. Sure, I have to build the skin, but I still have to train clients where to go to see the clip.”
I agree, the demos need updating, while some important demos don’t exist (I need one for the Directory Manager, Client Portals, global logins and more). In fact, the Approval demo you watched is unfortunately quite out-dated. The latest Approval system allows for multiple degrees of an approval state (not just “Approved”) and allows for a note right within the approval as well.
Likewise, more than one person can in fact approve a file(s) if you wish. Just assign each person you want the unique passkey for a specific file(s) will allow them to do so.
It’s definitely much different than a .mac account. I didn’t want to build something that already existed or put lipstick on a pig (not that .mac is a pig by any stretch). In fact, the reason I built it in the first place (solely as proprietary software in the beginning) was because there was nothing out there that did this and I was willing to pay for it. Since it didn’t exist, I built it myself. It wasn’t until much later that I decided to turn it into a purchasable product for the masses.
As far as training the client, there really isn’t any. You send them the URL and the username/password. That’s it. They’re presented with a list of files to view/download/review/approve/etc. No special FTP apps. Just a regular http web address.
[Rich Rubasch] “What has workded for us is to send a web link and description to the client which plays off our web site in an FTP directory. We also send emails with JPEGs of the sample layouts or designs. I don’t have too many issues with workflow here, except sometimes I agree that certain clients are phobic or untrained in using FTP sites. That has been an issue.”
I agree that FTP can be a pain with clients. This was the very initial reason that I developed it. Corporate clients especially don’t like (or in some cases can not use) FTP. But anyone can go to an HTTP address.
Prior to creating Media Batch as proprietary, I used to do the same thing: place the files on my site in a directory and they could then go download it. Problem though… I never knew when they actually downloaded the file(s). Media Batch tracks all of this so I know if the client is truly reviewing the work.
The other problem is that some clients didn’t know to “right-click-and-save-as” and would play the file in the browser and then ask how to save it. Media Batch alleviates all of this. They can either view the file inline within their browser (with a proper web viewer) or they can download it with a simple click, no matter what file type it is; QuickTime, JPEG, whatever.
The notation feature for each file is quite powerful as well. We recently had a fairly large 3D medical device project that we finished (under OneRiver Media) and there’s no way everyone in the project (spanning from California, Florida and Germany) could have conveyed the intricate information about each animation step without the notes pertaining to each file.
[Rich Rubasch] “Rather than these services, I wish our browsers would become more compatible with simple FTP transfers with easily customized interfaces. FTP in general seems like it hails from the ero of the Fax. Long gone. But we still use it more than ever. I think Media Batch solves the interface problem.”
Again, Media Batch isn’t a service, but an integrated “interface” of sorts, that lives on your own website. But more importantly, it’s much more than an interface for file-sharing; it’s a complete review and approval system where clients have unique tools for viewing these files.
[Rich Rubasch] “Our clients have peace of mind knowing that their sometimes sensitive media elements are on our site and not a public site where others might see them. Corporate clients can be pretty particular where we are putting their media files.”
Agreed! This is why Media Batch isn’t a service, but a system that lives and operates on your own website. =)
[Rich Rubasch] “Finally, I thought the sight had about 30% too much “glitz” for me. A few less animated buttons and slick Flash interface. It had a bit of the “look at me” affect and was a slight turn off for me.”
Well, I couldn’t agree with you more, Rich. Prior to the last NAB (where we had a booth and showed Media Batch for the first time), I needed to get a Media Batch website up and get it up FAST! The Flash-based site that you see now was the fastest way to do it, while keeping it from looking drab and boring. Agreed that there’s too much glitz and the entire website will be changed in the next few months, hopefully before the next NAB. With the limited time I had, it’s the best I could do without it looking the opposite: plain and taking away from the product. The next website revision will be much better.
Look Rich, it’s *really* hard to know what the real benefits are to Media Batch until you start using it in a real production workflow. I’ve literally had my own clients say they had no idea how the project would have gotten completed as efficiently, timely and *accurately* as it was, had it not been for Media Batch. Like Hairclub For Men, I’m not just the president, I’m a client! =)
Having known you for so long over the years, Rich, I’m so convinced that it can change your workflow that I’ll give you a FREE install and license to Media Batch Pro. If you like it and keep using, great. If not and you want to keep using your current methods, no worries. If you’re interested, email me offline and I’ll set you up.
For those that are interested, we’re still running the 20% off discount. Just enter coupon code COW at the check-out stage.
Marco Solorio | CreativeCow Host | OneRiver Media | Codec Resource Site | Cinesoft | Media Batch