[Mike James]

How’s “King Kong” fare in your book? Seriously. They used it. If it is good enough for Peter Jackson’s crew I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Pro ::: Avid DVD ::: Avid FX ::: Avid 3D ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Mike James]

Looks like while I was typing and digging up the exact link, Ron was also recommending the same solution 🙂

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Pro ::: Avid DVD ::: Avid FX ::: Avid 3D ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Mike James]

I hate to have to see you spend more money if you can’t afford it, but
After Effects lacks in the rotoscoping department (which is what you need done). It is one of the areas many were hoping would be upgraded on this latest release given Adobe bought a company that had good roto tools.

I think those will make it into the next version of After Effects, but until then you really should strongly consider how much time you can save by buying and learning how to use Silhouette’s roto app. It is $295 for the AE plugin version.
https://www.silhouettefx.com/buy/home.php?cat=5

Like I said though the next version of AE will likely address rotoscoping with the technology that was aquired in a buyout, but until then this would serve you well.

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Pro ::: Avid DVD ::: Avid FX ::: Avid 3D ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Mike James]

I actually took the full tour of duty.

I first learned LightWave, then 3DS Max, then briefly with Maya via the PLE, then I bought multiple licenses for Cinema 4D, Modo 103 and I’ve used Houdini 8 most recently via their apprentice version.

If I were asking the question you just asked and I was able to advise myself I’d say go with Cinema 4D. Even though it is one license per OS, you can always buy another if you move from Mac to PC or vise versa. And it exports directly to native AE files.

Above all else, it was the easiest interface of all the 3D apps I learned to use.

If you were a combustion user I’d steer you towards 3DS Max because of integration. If you used Shake I might be inclined to suggest Maya, but now C4D exports out to native shake files as well.

What I did above was painful and expensive, but I can understand why some users of some apps don’t understand and can’t answer certain things in general terms of all the 3D apps out there. Any 3D app is a big time commitment to learn. It ain’t like 2D.

I also happen to be selling a Mac commercial license of C4D 9.5 as advertised on the Cow Classifieds. $499 + training DVDs

https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=38&postid=855423

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Pro ::: Avid DVD ::: Avid FX ::: Avid 3D ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Mike James]

Thanks Don

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Studio ::: DFX+5 ::: Cinema 4D 9.5 XL Bundle ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Mike James]

Just so I a little more clear… it is the FRAME MODE that is unclear to me. Obviously normal is standard NTSC.

[Mike James]

You can leave the photo open in photoshop. Then FILE > NEW and choose from the “preset” drop down menu what you want “NTSC DV 720 x 480 (with guides)”

Then you can either

1. copy and paste the photo from the other open document to the new document…
2. … or you can SHIFT+CLICK from the layers pallette and drag the image into the new document window and let go of the mouse before releasing shift to center the photo immediately.

Then scale the photo down to fit within that 720 x 480 space.

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Studio ::: DFX+5 ::: Cinema 4D 9.5 XL Bundle

[Mike James]

We keep going back and forth and around in circles. You see these apps as pro level. To me they are just shy of that title, but enough new features that I was willing to pay $249 to bump them up .5 apiece. Not willing to pay $666 for the modest bump they got.

The collection still lags the marketplace when going feature by feature. That is not an opinion. Just go to Avid.com, Apple.com, and Adobe.com and go through feature by feature. Adobe falls short of the competition.

I’m not upgrading for $666. And I’m not coming back to this thread to read anymore regarding this new collection. We use different apps, so we have different views of value here.

For others it will be a great entry and a great bundle. I was expecting to see more given how much time these have been in development.

I am honestly not returning to this paticular thread, but if you want to email me directly I’ll be happy to respond further.

~~~POOF~~~

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

For the upgrade price (for me) it lacks the professional features any pro needs to be competitive. I was hoping to see Adobe catch up to the market place. They didn’t. I guess in 18 to 24 months they’ll try again.

If I compared Avid, Apple and Adobe on the NLE side, even though PPro has the freshest and newest release, it still has not added support that it’s competitors already support natively. It pales in comparison with various formats. Supported formats at Adobe.com (for PPro 2)

https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/supportedformats.html

NO DVCPro support without third party help
NO DVCPro HD/P2 support without third party help

etc, etc, etc… Meanwhile FCP and Avid have native support for many of these right out of the box. You see? Where’s the beef? Where are the features that should have been implemented in the last 18 months just to stay even with the competition.

A feature by feature comarison of Encore DVD 2 vs [ DVDSP4, DVDit Pro 6 and DVD Lab Pro ]… again Adobe lacks professional features that should have made it into this latest release. It lags the market yet again even though the other apps were released months and months ago.

And just so you know, DFX+5 (the 8 bit version of Fusion 5) is $1295, not $4995 like its big brother. I point this out because for $295 more than AE Pro 7 you get an amazing feature set. Granted you don’t have the float abilities in the 8 bit version, but if you are only doing broadcast stuff, DFX+5 is a powerful beast.

If you plan to step into the DVDPro world and/or buy a panasonic HVX-200 (like I am), then the native support players are Apple and Avid. Adobe’s known about it since NAB so why no native support for PPro??? And Encore got a mild face lift and a bunch of premade templates as it’s two biggest new features.

I guess if you are a wedding or event videographer and don’t need high end NLE and DVD authoring features, then this package will suit you fine.

I was expecting more out of Adobe.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

version one had all 1.0 apps except AE6.0. I accidentally typed audition 1.5 under the version I video collection.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com