Michael Hancock
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks Ron, and sorry for posting such a ridiculously long link.
I just figured out today that I can copy and paste the example on the “For more on how to post, click here” link right the message box and replace the URL and link words with the URL I’m wanting to post and my own words.
So much to learn, so little time.
Michael.
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No, you need to upgrade to at least 5.5 to go beyond 10.4.3.
See this thread–I posted it because of your question, actually!
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/45/866970
Michael.
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[Kevin Monahan] “In the Windows realm, there is a 2GB limit to QT files.”
Actually, that’s wrong. There’s a 2GB limit to FAT-32 formatted drives, which is the only drive formatting that can be seen by both Windows and the Mac OS without additional software. It’s a limitation of the drive formatting, not Windows. I’ve rendered out 40 and 50GB quicktime files from After Effects on our Windows machines, but the drives were formatted to NTFS. You’d need Macdrive or a similar program to use these drives on a Mac.
Michael.
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[Jeffrey Gould] “I was considering hiring a Jib Operator and a Lighting Director, with me directing and possibly a 2nd locked down camera. Even though I’m very adept with lighting, I’m not sure I have enough equipment to light up a gym correctly. My questions are: Do I tell the client that I’m outsourcing these services? Do I include their fees into my proposal? and lastly: am I doing the client a disservice by not directing them to a larger studio that can handle all of their needs without outsourcing?”
Absolutely hire anyone who will make this project as good as the budget allows. We have our own lighting kit for small projects, but when we’re doing bigger projects we always rent more lights, and a specialist to set them. Same this with a Jib–rent the jib and the operator. It’s all built into the budget, and we explain to the client that we’re hiring the best in town to assist with the project so we can stay focused on getting the right shots and telling the best story possible. So far, no one has complained or had a problem with it.
Regarding directing them to a larger studio–I wouldn’t, unless you’re so overwhelmed with work you just can’t take the job, or you feel the project really is out of your skillset. After all, the larger studio may still rent/hire specialists for the same shoot, so just hire the larger studio to help instead of giving them all the business.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Michael.
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We shoot everything with the AJ-PD900WA in DVCPro 50 progressive. The images are stunning, and final product goes to Beta for broadcast. When we need multiple cameras we rent mini-DV (Canon XL2) for small, internal communications projects for our clients. Otherwise, it’s all DVCPro.
I’m hoping to transition to HD by next year. Some of the TV stations in town have the HVX200 so we’re going to try to rent/borrow one of those to play with, and another station has XDCam. Otherwise, everyone in town doing commercial/corporate work seems to shoot with DVCPro, Beta, or Mini-DV. There are some HDV cameras floating around in some agencies, but I’m not sure which ones. All in all, we’re an SD town and likely will be for a few more years.
Michael.
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If you go with Avid you’ll have the option to install it on Mac or PC, so that’s a plus, and Media Composer for $295 can’t be beat. But with the educational purchase you won’t get third party programs like Sorenson Squeeze and Avid’s DVD program, so making DVDs will require an additional purchase. Plus, the hardware requirements to run Media Composer are very strict–if you boss just wants to install it on any PC you have lying around, you’ll probably have a system that won’t run or won’t run well. Something to consider, and it’s currently not approved for Leopard so a new Mac won’t run it (unless you have a Tiger disc lying around and can get it installed).
FCP is locked to the Mac (Grrr!), so convincing your boss will require more effort, but it’s an all inclusive package that is very, very powerful for what it can do (which is pretty much everything). When you buy Final Cut Studio you get everything you need to edit, color correct, fancy graphics, burn to DVD, compress to just about any format, etc… It has its drawbacks, and I don’t care for it because it seems more mouse-oriented than keyboard focused, but it’s a very powerful program for a great price. The biggest problem–it runs on OS X (which I really don’t like, but different strokes for different folks). 🙂
Like everyone else has said, it’s really up to what you’re most comfortable with and what will let your best work with the least headache/heartache. For me, that’s Avid, but I often suggest FCS2 when people ask me because it is an all inclusive package. Plus, it’s much easier to learn than Avid so (if you haven’t used it or Avid) you’ll be up and running faster. The user base is huge and the FCP forum here on the Cow is probably the most active of all of them.
One last thought–as others have said, look at Adobe again. Premiere has gotten much, much better (it’s basically FCP for the PC, and runs on Intel Macs now). Plus, with the addition of Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Audition, and Encore, you get everything you need (like FCS2, but with better integration and compositing capabilities). I believe the eductational discount is great, too.
Good luck on your decision. And remind your boss–with the new Macs you can dual boot into Windows if you want/need, so it’s the best of both worlds.
Michael.
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Sometimes the lines are just too thin and will vibrate or alias because of interlacing (even if rendering progressive in an interlaced project). I’ve found that taking the picture into photoshop and adding a .5 guassian blur to it does wonders to fix this, but it also softens the picture a bit.
Glad to hear you’re having success with it. If you want an even better plugin to do pans and zooms on pictures, check out StageTools. Their Moving Picture plugin is great with Avid.
Michael.
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I’m not in front of a system right now so I can’t check exactly where it’s at, but somewhere in the Pan and Zoom effect is a quality setting. Just keeping twirling down the arrows in the effect and all the little fast menus to see if you can find it.
I may end up going to work this weekend–if I do and you haven’t found it (or someone hasn’t posted another answer) I’ll check it out again.
Michael.
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In the Avid Pan and Zoom effect make sure you’re render setting is set to Highest Quality, and you may want to try Progressive.
Michael.
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[walter biscardi] “it would be interesting to see who would purchase it and whether or not it gets ported to Windows.”
I would absolutely love to have the FCP package available on the PC. I love my Avid, but being able to run FCS2 on Windows? That would be amazing!
Michael.