[Mike Cohen]

Tried on another computer – same effect – import mpeg2 file encoded at 1080i max bit rate 20mbit/sec – gets to 99% then freezes system

Has anyone experienced this, or likewise, has anyone been successful in this?

Thanks

Mike

[Mike Cohen]

deleted the registry entry for media cache – now importing the m2v gets to 99% and freezes Windows. Importing of WAV was no problem.

And standard def DVD authoring works normally – it seems importing an HD resolution MPG2 is the culprit.

[Mike Cohen]

note to self – search my own past questions:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/145/867835

Will see if this works!

Mike

[Mike Cohen]

HDV is normally the lowest common denominator – however if the Nikon does not shoot 1080/60i then you have to find somewhere for the two formats to meet. If you edit in 720p, your Nikon footage can be native, but then you are making the HDV progressive.

The ultimate proof is in the pudding – do some tests with the different Nikon settings, since HDV is only one setting, and output all to DVD and see what looks best, which is fairly subjective.

You should check out the HDSLR forum.

Mike Cohen

PS – If editing in CS4, be prepared for sluggish playback of the Nikon material.

[Mike Cohen]

Select the clip in the bin, then click Clip>Audio>Breakout to Mono
then when you drag it to a sequence it takes up two mono tracks instead of one stereo track.
Other edit systems do this by default – that took some getting used to after learning NLE on Media 100.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

[Walter Soyka] “We need to frame our work in terms of the skills we have and the value we add, not the tools we use to do it.”

This is exactly right. Pay attention those of you studying for your future career.

Obviously if you want to work in effects or a specific job like Flame artist or whatever, the tool is the thing, but that is not what we are talking about here.

In more generalized jobs, definitely know how to do a lot of different things. But your clients want a final product.

My clients want a video, a DVD, a CD-ROM and website. They almost never ask what software we use – they don’t care – they want to know how much it will cost and when they can get it. We sell services based upon our expertise and our process, not our tools.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

It sounds like you need to remove audio filters from all clips on a track – you can select multiple clips and right-click – Remove Effects – to quickly remove all effects on those clips.

Then just export a new audio file if that is what you are going for. Or use a nested sequence.

Not entirely sure what you actually need as your final product.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Thanks Mark. I had been planning to post something similar to this as a blog, but it seems right at home here.
Really, there is a social media forum?

Maybe we should post a link to it from this thread –

https://forums.creativecow.net/socialmedia

Ah yes, LinkedIn is perhaps the 4th tier of the Social Media Landscape.
This actually has some business uses for researching potential new customers. Facebook for Grown Ups!

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

I think “Director” or “Producer” are best if you will be giving other people, er, direction, and they need to know what your role is.

But it is true, lay people do not know what different job titles mean. People always ask me what a key grip does. I reply, “The Key Grip is like a Clapper Loader only closer to a Gaffer and less like a Best Boy” which gives a good laugh without giving any useful information!

I have been called “miracle worker” and “MacGyver”.

I like to quote Al Pacino from Scent of a Woman “I’m in the amazing business!”

Mike Cohen
Problem Solver
Solution Provider

[Mike Cohen]

Here is my take on social media for business:

1. Everyone is doing it

2. Facebook – why use it? Because everyone is there, that’s why.
As an experiment we setup a couple of Facebook ads. Compared with Google Ad Words, which is based upon keywords, Facebook ads allow you to target people of a certain gender, age, interests – so potentially better results, or at least different results.

But as for doing a fan page and expecting people to stumble upon your page, it depends upon what type of business you are.

If you are an established car company, food or beverage company etc, you already have customers. But your customers are unlikely to check out your website every day, while they are on Facebook every day. So they do it because that’s where people are at the moment.

If you are an up and coming company that sells anything, you have to get the word out about your Facebook page, just like any other advertising you may do. Obviously every piece of advertising, websites, tv commercials, blogs, newspapers and magazines have Facebook buttons – almost to the point of overload. It sort of reminds me of political signs that people put in their front yards during election season. There is a house on my way to work that has signs for every candidate – they cancel each other out there are so many of them.

So how does someone decide to become a fan of your company on Facebook?

1. They see your advertisement, website or word of mouth – and they become a fan. But in this case, social media is not selling itself, you have to hear about it from another method. But once you are a fan, you are a fan for as long as you are getting something out of it.

1B. They are a member of an organization, society, group, class, or they are users of a product already, etc. In this case, they are already connected, and social media is simply a more efficient means of communicating with them, and as a benefit there is the potential to make friends with other members/users etc. Not a bad thing.

2. They see another friend is already a fan. I could see this for consumer products, but not necessarily for a services company, unless both you and your friend are real life friends with someone from the service company.

3. They decide to search for things they are interested in, and find your company. Least likely scenario. I don’t think people go to Facebook to search for a video production company – but they should!!

The other social media tools are Twitter and YouTube (there no doubt are others, but these are the big three (NBC, CBS, ABC, – what is the 4th representing FOX? Blogs perhaps).

YouTube is easy – upload videos about your company, your products and/or services. But then, again, people need to find your content, which is like a needle in a haystack on YouTube or even Google. So you need to use your content in blogs, posts on forums, YouTube pages etc. And people do go to YouTube to search for topics – better they should search for video production Atlanta vs music video – but like google ad words, it is luck if someone searches for a keyword that reveals your videos.

Twitter

It took me a year to figure out why anyone would ever want to use Twitter. But now you cannot turn on a tv without hearing the word Tweet – it is simply another way to communicate with people. I started a Twitter account, followed a few celebrities and a few media production folks who I admire, and posted my name on my Creative COW profile.

I now have 100 or so followers, and I follow about the same number. However, I quickly learned that I do not want hundreds of tweets in my cell phone every day – that’s a lot of information to manage without any real benefit.

So the best way to manage Tweets is on a Tweet aggregator. But that is yet another website to check every day. And a lot of people Tweet links to their blogs, and post blog entires on their Facebook pages. And there are folks who have Creative COW blogs, about the only site I go to several times a day – whose COW, blog, FB and Tweets are all the same. Too much repeat information.

So maybe someone else could reveal how you are supposed to use Twitter as a follower.

In Summary, here are some real world examples of trying to figure out what social networking is good for. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts.

1. Facebook Fan Pages

We started a company fan page. But people need to know about it, and we have not started promoting it. However given the fact that thousands of nurses and doctors are on FB every day, it can’t hurt.

I “like” several other related fan pages – one from a society of nurses, posts their news, links to related articles, and encourages basic conversation among its members and other fans. So likewise, they know that their members won’t go to their website every day, so this is a better way to communicate non-vital information.

I have a friend who works at the Norman Rockwell Museum – their fan page has daily links and news about upcoming events. Short of subscribing to an email newsletter which I am unlikely to read, or visiting their website periodically which I am also unlikely to do, it is actually a good way to get interesting links and news.

I think I am getting it!

I clicked the fan page for Biscardi Creative Media. While I read Walter’s blog posts here on the COW, I will admit I do not read them every day. And I do not go to his website or blog every day either. However I do go to FB every day, and lo and behold, Walter usually has an update for me. At the moment I am following the construction of his new facility.

As an experiment I became a fan of Artisan Lettuce – a unique lettuce brand I recently tried. I figured, if a lettuce company is doing social media, then everyone should! Their updates consisted of recipes, surveys and tips about healthy eating. Interesting, but kind of useless.

So after all this, I have come to the conclusion mentioned at the top of this post. Why do social media? Because everyone is doing it, but also because that is where the people are at this point in history.

Twitter

I can see how Twitter is useful for celebrities – as if they need another way to get publicity. There was a good example on the show Entourage. The main character was convinced to endorse a new kind of beverage. He Tweeted that the product would be available on a certain day at a certain store, and his 900,000 followers got the message and bought a lot of the product.

But most of the Tweets I get seem to be links to blog posts or pyramid schemes! LOL.

Ok, I have just demonstrated my non-hipness by using LOL.

So Tweets are becoming a replacement for the press release for people in the public eye, but not necessarily for people or businesses who are not known to the general public. So if BP Tweets “all the oil is cleaned up and we are giving free houses to everyone” their message will be received, because they have lots of followers and they are under scrutiny.

But if Joe Smith of Joe Smith Bait and Tackle Tweets “we have nightcrawlers – buy a pound, get a pound $4.99 – get em while they last” only people who may have subscribed to Joe’s Tweets will get the message. Maybe that is all Joe cares about – the 50 people who get his Tweets. I suppose people vacationing in Joe’s town might search Twitter for nightcrawlers (or google if google searches Twitter) but how much does this actually happen?

So maybe what I am getting at it:

Just because all this social media communication is happening, is it actually working?

I’ll stop here.

Mike Cohen