[Mike Smith]

Mant thanks for the pointers; much appreciated. I’ll try out those tutorials. They look promising.

The stock footage idea (or filming something new in super-slomo!) would be another good approach, but what I’m after just now is more a general / generalisable graphics approach I can adapt and reuse: I’ll see what I can get to in AE.

Thanks again.

[Mike Smith]

Many thanks to all.

I don’t have Cinema 4D or Lightwave (though I am tempted). I do have Caligari Truespace, which is more limited (and also Bryce, which is fun) but don’t know if I can get this to work in either of those …

I’ll have a go at the displacement map idea / approach, maybe combining it with a ripple on a plane /surface from the GPU effects section of Premiere Pro … might be able to make something useful.

Will also try to find tbe Newtek tutorial.

[Mike Smith]

Thanks. Cost is always an issue, and I think you must be right on hardware being mainly for IO, at least at some time in the future. Not sure we’re totally there yet, though, even for SD – on a fast twin xeon based system, I still have more rendering time than I’d like with Premiere. I guess that must be even more so with HD.

I had a Perception for a while, which was beautifully stable and very nice quality. I really liked the ability to work on single frames so easily – but otherwise, integration was difficult. Also the ability to set capture compresssion to suit was a big plus.

Currently I have a Decklink SD board, which produces very good results and has been stable for me, though the drivers are evolving almost month by month, and you’ll have seen there have been some issues for some users. PPro has some really nice features, and integrates well into wider computer software. You’ll also be aware that some editors don’t like its asset management, and handling split audio track input at present involves a workaround, but neither of these have bothered me.

I’m not at all sure how well Decklink will deal HDV, though. The only good HDV out in realtime from a timeline I’ve seen to date was via a Canopus Edius SP system, which probably won’t talk to a Decklink. I understand that Premiere is improving in that regard HDV handling, though best by use of a third-party plug in – Cineform Aspect HD – which has the benefit, I believe, of replacing PPro’s internal 8-bit processing with a 10-bit version …

My guess is that, today, with Decklink, you’d be capturing HDV via component inputs to uncompressed HD – massive disc space requirements, though very nice quality.

So if HDV is a prime target for you going forward, maybe it would be worth checking with BlackMagic what their suggested workflow would be for you? I wonder whether Decklink on a Mac capturing HDV via firewire might be a stronger option for you than PPro …

All best.

[Mike Smith]

Hi Eric

Isn’t Final Cut Pro supporting native native DVCPro HD editing right now, using firewire ..?

On the firewire / decklink monitoring side, I guess it all depends on output a bit: if you’re output is DV/ DVD and you’re working in DV codec, then monitoring AE via firewire will show you just what you are getting – if the monitor is good.

If your output is broadcast / digibeta, or, later, High Def, you’re going to want to connect to a broadcast (and later Hi Def) monitor via SDI or component out.

I presently have AE previewing out (switchably) via firewire through a DVCAM deck and a Decklink SD card, and can report that you can see differences – DV over firewire does cost some quality compared to uncompressed video. The differences are not huge, though – I notice less good handling of sharp edges, particularly on text, less good handling of large areas of near-flat tone from graphic areas; on monitoring DV-originated footage, there’s no difference I can see.

And of course it just won’t matter unless your output is at broadcast quality .. though if you supply AE output as numbered file sequences to others for broadcast / uncompressed use, then I guess you won’t be able to monitor quite what they will be seeing.

All best!

[Mike Smith]

Any reason why you’re not interested in Velocity HD ..?

[Mike Smith]

Hi Sam

Sounds like you are in a tricky place: hope it works out.

At one level, these are legal questions, and you don’t say where you are living / working: like anyone else I guess, a standard disclaimer from me would suggest taking appropriate legal advice if you can afford it …

Having said that, both the USA and the UK, to the best of my knowledge (and I’m a producer, not a lawyer), vest the initial copyright and moral rights in creative works in the “producer” – in legalese rather than video terms, being the person or organisation which takes primary responsibility for organising the work.

If you acted just as editor, that’s not you. If you in fact organised the whole video, which is what I infer from your question, it is you.

Many video commissioning contracts will specify an assignment of all rights to the client on completion / payment; however many more do not, and many projects do not have much contract or purchace documentation setting them up. In those cases, the rights rest with the producer. If that’s you, you can, at least in legal theory, control the use of your material, both in preventing copying and also (in the UK and Europe at least – I don’t know about the USA) – in preventing changes which you / the authors deem “derogatory” – your moral rights in the production.

At another level, maybe you should contact the people you know at the voluntary agency and ask what’s going on: they may not know. If they do, it seems to me that you, at the very least, deserve to be in the frame to carry out any re-editing or packaging: this is work you created, in part at your own expense.

If it is to be taken away from your control now, I’d think you had a case for charging the full rate for the work that went into it, and seeing that your contributors are properly paid. Better still, you might want to make sure that the voluntary agency (and not the start-up company) now takes control of the material: nobody wants the start-up owning or assuming rights in your material, I imagine. You could arrange an assignment of all rights to the voluntary agency in return for an appropriate fee. And if you still want to help them you could advise them to insist on an appropriate assignment of all rights on completion, together with physical transfer of master material, so they won’t be held to ransom in the future for access to work that they will have paid for …. !!

Hope this helps, and all best.

[Mike Smith]

Or is this where we get stuck on can’t store a variable – in this case, target position …? Hmmm

[Mike Smith]

Or is this where we get stuck on can’t store a variable – in this case, target position …? Hmmm

[Mike Smith]

Hi Dan

Wouldn’t it be possible to set up a “collision test” – just a check that the boundary of one square / rectangle does not overlap the other – then, if there is an overlap, move the “pushee” just enough pixels along to clear it …

Mike

[Mike Smith]

Hi Dan

Wouldn’t it be possible to set up a “collision test” – just a check that the boundary of one square / rectangle does not overlap the other – then, if there is an overlap, move the “pushee” just enough pixels along to clear it …

Mike