Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Without good editing, Tarantino’s films would never have been so good. You can say that about a lot of pictures, but the nonlinear style of his storytelling lives and breathes by the editor’s talents.
Always sad to see one of our own depart.
Mike Cohen
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unless you give Encore h.264 or m2v it will re-transcode. You said you made Quicktime h.264 – this is not the same as mp4 if your file is an MOV (I speak PC by the way where we use file extensions). So maybe Encore thinks the MP4 you made is an MOV (which can be a container for MP4 but Encore may not know that).
Try changing the file extension..? Not sure this is a trick you can use on a Mac. On a PC you can trick the computer into thinking one file format is another by changing the extension, which can be enough to test if this is your problem or not.
Mike Cohen
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When a client asks for a still from video, I immediately tell them the maximum print size, so they know what the expectations are. For an average 8.5×11 printed page, photos, like in a magazine article, are not more than 1/3 to 1/4 of the page, so you can get away with just about any image.
If dealing with a printer, you may get flagged as low resolution in pre-flight, because something from video will likely be between 72 and 200 ppi – but you can override these warnings.
Make sure you deinterlace interlaced stills. Sometimes there is not perfect motion-free frame to use, and you need to do some creative Photoshop work to make a still frame better.Mike Cohen
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Have you heard about the new 1099 rule? When it goes into effect, businesses will need to send a 1099 form to any vendor it has purchased good from – office paper, blank media, coffee supplies, etc. It was added to the health care reform bill (has little to do with health care) as a way to earn money from vendors who normally do not declare sales tax, or something to that effect. Critics say it will introduce a lot of extra paperwork and labor to comply, especially for a small business.
So expect more tax forms in the future.
Mike Cohen
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[Chris Blair] “In the end…these are all just tools”
Chris has succinctly summarized countless discussions about technology.
Be familiar with technology so you can advise your clients when they bring up the subject…it is your expertise in media that makes them your clients in the first place.
Mike Cohen
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Regarding safety – some shy away from Tungsten due to risk of fire from blown bulbs – of course you should always have a safety screen in any incandescent fixture. Back in college we had a lamp blow in a studio light – a shard of hot glass went right through a table and chair – luckily the news anchor had stepped away from the desk.
Once we were shooting an interview between a psychiatrist and a vet with PTSD – I warned them ahead of time of the possibility of a bulb blowing without warning – the danger there was perhaps worse than a fire!
To reiterate the need to know how much juice you are using – if you blow a circuit breaker in your house or office, that’s ok. But if you blow a circuit in a commercial building, you may need a maintenance person to reset the breaker, and who knows what other devices are also plugged into that circuit. We were once in a medical clinic – 3 or 4 exam rooms and an office were all on the same circuit – not logical but not unexpected since a lot of older office buildings were not wired with modern electrical devices in mind.
Back to Milton’s original question, and the details provided by the others – CFL is essentially a replacement for old fashioned filament glass bulbs for individual light fixtures. Although used in commercial spaces, using CFL bulbs in groups in place of higher output tungsten is questionable – not to mention the color temperature implications. But I guess the price is right.
LED, once the price comes down, will eventually cancel out CFL.
Mike Cohen
PS – While the lighting forum would be better, this discussion has to do with business also.
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From one Production Manager to another – congratulations.
Unfortunately, the job usually does not come with an instruction manual.
The only manual is the manual process of figuring it out for yourself. You have a great opportunity to over time develop processes, organizational structure and some logical way to tie it all together yet do so in a way that defeats pushback and keeps your crew engaged.
This can be a challenge.
Read a lot, and read things from managers in other industries. “Winning” by Jack and Suzy Welch is a book I wish I had when I first started in a managerial role. I like Welch for his business savvy but also for the fact that he got his start at GE in my hometown of Pittsfield, MA.
Some of the best resources for someone in this role is the experiences of others in similar and dissimilar roles.
To save the COW readers an extremely long post, you’ve got me thinking I might write an article about this subject.
In the meantime, read the magazine as Ron has suggested. Also look at Walter Biscardi’s articles about starting a business – while you are not the business owner, having an owner’s mentality is a good way to get things done.
Best of luck. Feel free to ask some specific questions once you dive in the deep end – we are here to help.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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1 – The setup of your DVD player should match the type of TV you have – 4:3 or 16:9. I would wager that 92.7% of people do not know there is such an option in a home DVD player.
2 – Encore will identify widescreen video and flag it appropriately for correct playback. Search for Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) here on the COW or on a search engine. Some DVD authoring tools may not correctly identify widescreen video and it can appear squished or cut off.
Mike Cohen
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While late to this party, for future readers, I will add the following:
Just because someone has a current computer does not mean they have current media players. Not all Windows laptops can play an MP4 file. Windows 7, sure, but XP or Vista, you never know. And asking a client “{can your computer play XYZ file format?” can be like asking them any other technical thing. Non-technical people tend to not pay much attention to technical things – file formats, media players, software – they just expect things to work and don’t want to know why or how.
And corporate IT folks do their jobs well, but that sometimes means that media players are not kept up to date and/or that firewalls block video over the LAN. And just because a laptop has a DVD-ROM drive does not mean the computer can play a DVD.
Corporate computers are purchased for spreadsheets, Word docs and powerpoints, not for playing videos.
Luckily this is changing as newer computers are added to the mix, but you still need to know what the end user is using.
Mike Cohen
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It is interesting to read this thread. So much of the COW and other areas on the web are focused on new technology and new workflows, yet here is someone who makes a living using SD video and seems to have no urgent need for HD. Sony and Panasonic might not like that, but it is all about your audience. If your audience watches public access television, which even on a digital cable system is likely not HD, then HD is not a necessity.
That being said, the argument for upgrading is:
HD Video may look better depending upon the shooting situation. It might not help with the school board meeting room, but it might help with a town event, marching band or whatever public events you shoot.
HD downconverted to SD DVD may give you a better result – somewhat subjective of course.
You have future proof material for that mystical time in the mid 21st century when local access cable IS HD.
You get some editing benefits if cutting in SD – you can pan or zoom the HD video within an SD frame.
You can pull better still images from HD video than SD – this might come in handy should you need pictures of a town official or other event for which there was no stills coverage.
You mention projecting video for an audience – HD video gives you the option for HD projection from blu-ray or HDV or whatever format you have. SD video blown up on a projector does not always look great without line doublers or other scan conversion.
To answer your question – was switching worth it?
Yes, but we did it slowly. We were shooting DVCAM with our HDV camera for the first year we had it, because we needed a 2nd DVCAM unit more than we needed an HDV camera, but we were thinking of the future when we bought a new camera. You might think of doing the same. Shoot DVCAM as usual, but shoot some HDV when you get the chance – compare and contrast.
Our customers do not necessarily discern a difference – they want a video of XYZ. Most of our videos are for the web or DVD. Most of our DVD’s are likely played on a laptop.
But the benefits I listed above all come into play.
Your benefits will depend upon how you currently use video, but we have given you some things to think about.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer