Mike James
Forum Replies Created
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Jan,
I was just stating facts. Your post is the answer to my question. It was not a price increase, but rather a mistake on the site initially that has now been updated. So be it. Thanks for the quick clarification.Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
So far every reseller I’ve called or emailed has said to expect 30-60 days from the first week in January. That basically means early Feb or eary March. But I’ve only contacted 14 resellers so far.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
Mike,
I hadn’t thought about that. I guess that is the route I’ll have to take. I’ve contacted over a dozen resellers and I’m looking at early to mid-February as the “earliest” possible time I can expect to receive one. I’ll just watch eBay and pay whatever the going rate is.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
So is there any chance that paying a $1000 over retail will get me to the top of a reseller’s list? 🙂
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
Noah, thanks for the heads up.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
All compositing software has a big learning curve and there are no shortcuts. You eat the elephant one bite at a time. NLE’s are easy in comparison to compositing softwares.
A great video clip I saw on a blog was from POST NAB. The comment was from someone who attended there in NY. They commented that they took a beginner’s Final Cut Pro course because they had never properly learned it. They just opened the software and tried to figure it out as they went. What they realized at this FCP course was that they were doing things WRONG in some instances. They had never learned the basics. It’s like trying to build a building on a weak foundation… you’re always going to be better off by studying the basics and building up from there. Which means buying several books, DVDs, CD-Roms or in person workshops.
I think it is unrealistic for anyone to try and fudge it through compositing apps. You have all the complexities of a photoshop and then add animation, 3D and moving layers. Which means many, many more buttons, dialog boxes and understandings of how to use the software.
It sucks, but you have to set aside many hours and many days of your time to slowly learn the application with the PDFs, help docs and any third party training you can afford. One of the main reasons I like compositing and 3D so much is that it is a challenge. Both the process and the apps. But folks new to the apps (after effects as well) it means biting the bullet and digging into the help docs.
Sure we can answer questions here, but these apps have online and CD-Rom courses that are 10, 20, 30, 40 hours in length. And that is just for starters. I’ve noticed over the years that the really easy to answer questions sometimes never get addressed or answered on threads because people get annoyed when they see that someone is not bothering to read the manual. Whereas when people are asking questions that fall outside the manual or deal with technique those posts will get tons of answers from folks who have had to conjur up home made techniques or solutions.
3D and compositing are two skill sets where there really is no way around learning the basics. Which can only be accomplished through long hours of reading or watching (others or videos).
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
All good advice Jim. You’ve obviously been at it awhile based on the truths in your post.
Given that Adobe completely skipped NAB 2005 for their video collection (no new releases) and given they have been guiding wall street for months that it will be released in Q4 (30 days left) … I’m inclined to be patient until DV Expo and can’t help, but be verbal for others to do the same to avoid buyers regret (unless they are working on a current project).
Adobe has been much better with nailing release schedules than 90% of the industry and if vegas were making odds I’d wager some money on AE7 and a new video collection to be announced before christmass. I’ve never seen a major software announced in the last two weeks of December so if there is no new release at DVExpo, then Adobe will likely wait until a key event in early ’06.
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TotalTraining is due to be at DV Expo in early Dec. And Adobe has been guiding for months now that the next generation video collection would release in the 4th quarter (only 30 days left).
Unless there is some delay related to the macromedia merger I would imagine that an announcement at or around DVExpo would be quite fitting. And TotalTraining would likely be pre-selling their new training series’ at that event.
The After Effects Total Training videos are a combination of 6.5 and older versions of AE. I’d imagine that there would need to be quite a hefty overhaul of the training videos given the possibilities of new features for AE 7 which was demoed at Max 2005 in October.
So if you plan on buying the Total Training videos, just be aware that if in fact Adobe releases or announces new versions, then Total Training prices will in fact be adjusted because the current sets will instantly become the “old” sets and usually get discounted.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
Mark,
Technical support questions like this are best served up in the Adobe forums. Why? Because we all use different hardware, software, OS’s… It would be nearly impossible for anyone at the cow to have the exact same setup and reproduce the exact same error messages consistently enough to be able to cross reference your error messages with ours. But Adobe sees these problems from EVERYONE out there and can better address OS specific and hardware compatibilities.
Sure there will be some stuff that everyone bumps into, but your error message I have NEVER seen myself personally. Your footer shows NT4, and I am on XP Pro and OSX 10.4.2 so maybe that is one reason why.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com -
Someone had a good link to a tutorial about this. It might have even been a cow tutorial. I’ll dig around and see if I can find that link because it was sooooo detailed.
FYI, Adobe originally said that the new video collection (which includes After Effects) will release in the 4th Quarter. Which means that AE7 which has a seamless export to Flash (with alpha channels) is right around the corner.
But for now I’ll hunt for that link.
Mike James
VFXpodcast.com