[Rich Rubasch]

This is a direction we are exploring, but we are looking to mostly produce/create the videos for their sites. We have done a couple of YouTube channels, but we also find that this is the next wave of video production that could keep us busy for the next few years.

Curious to hear more chime in if they have been successful doing it. still seems like people think YouTube videos are cheaper than regular videos and also that flat rating video productions is possible.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

The GY-700 shoots in Sony’s XDCAM 4:2:2 codec and then adds a QT wrapper so FCP will recognize it as a true .mov file. HOWEVER, underneath that slick .mov wrapper is a long GOP XDCAM clip. So you can work with lit like it is QT but your sequence setting will be XDCAM if you drag it in and let FCP adjust the sequence to match the clip.

The MP4 format is chosen when you will be editing on a PC with Vegas or Premier, which edit MP4 natively.

Final Cut users will most likely use the .mov wrapper.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

I have found that wen i was taking DVCProHD material and I was transcoding to XDCAM 4:2:2 for use on a PC Premier system, the only way the transcoded files would work is if I checked recompress all frames.

It think it might depend on what the source is and what you are transcoding to. If you are sure your settings are right and it still doesn’t work on the other side, check it and try again. My guess it will take a little longer to transcode, but every single frame will be “touched” thereby making a “cleaner” transcode.

Oh, and one more thing…if you export a sequence that has gaps in the sequence, slug clips, or clips that do not match the sequence, yhou might want to check this. I Googled “recompress all frames” and found some exciting info.

I have only had to use it once.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

Check in the second settings box where your basic video and audio settings are and click on the video button and see if the Interlaced button is checked….it should not be.

In the frame controls settings area make sure that the second pulldown says progressive as the output fields choice.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

Go cable modem. We have the Charter 10 meg down 2 meg up plus we have the HD cable service and 2 line phone. Way faster than our AT&T DSL and cheaper than any T1 service.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

But using none will also limit you to the 2 gig file size limitation of AVI. So clips longer than about 4 minutes will only be a partial clip.

MPEG Streamclip can create AVIs using many more compressors including QT compressors and embed them in the wrapper. But whoever opens them must have QT loaded on the machine.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

I will argue that this is another reason that Apple really should at the very least consider writing a complete uninstall and have options to uninstall back to a certain version. As we upgrade it seems new files are created and the old once still remain. This would be a pretty simple utility to write since they know where the files are.

Nelson has obviously tried to remove some files etc in an experimental way and that can certainly break things. But I have also had success doing this very thing.

Also, I have to say that my ideal encoding workstation has the following:

Quicktime Pro
MPEG Streamclip
Compressor
Episode
Flip4Mac
Handbrake
Wimpy Flash Player
Toast Titanium with BluRay plug in

Did you know that Toast Titanium comes with a video player that can play a bunch of files that other apps can’t and the Wimpy player is second to none in checking an FLV movie.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

Ouch. That sounds messy. I’ll take the $15 per month with Hostmonster and let them worry about firewalls, down time and redundancy.

Still, I do wish there was a professional service for business owners only with guaranteed speeds and service, or at least a tier. Hostmonster does not offer dedicated servers and I suppose that is what I am describing.

This market segment is really struggling right now with the number of users that flock to the next best hosting company….a year or so ago it was Hostmonster. A little before that it was 1&1. After about two years when their user base hits critical mass they outsource service and don’t have enough techs to support the servers. But they keep collecting the monthly fees even as service declines.

Seems this is the cycle in hosting companies.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

We just had to flee from Hostway. for years they were great and then they outsourced tech support and bought a bunch of small hosting companies and everything went to hell.

We landed on Hostmonster because of a great review on CNET. However I recently found out they are actually owned by BlueHost. Could be another Hostway waiting to happen. I also read that GoDaddy had the slowest access speeds than others. Hostmonster has slower FTP downloads than we were getting with Hostway, but Hostway took our entire site and all email accounts down for a week, then got the site up and we lost email for one month until I switched to Hostmonster.

So far so good. Tech support is right there and the control panel is pretty good. Performance is adequate.

In doing my research, and I know you will find this Walter, is that in this age of YouTube and every single person putting up gobs of video, hosting companies are like health clubs. They want your monthly payment but don’t offer much more. This is especially true in the shared server segment, and they all are probably right about having a dedicated server for top performance especially if you want to stream videos.

I’ve said this before…be sure that videos on your site load quickly and don’t make people wait. You might think your videos are all that, but others don’t want to wait for a big blob of an encode. Keep the bit rates low, keeps the size small. People will get the idea of what you do just fine, and in the same 15 minutes they can watch 10 short videos rather than wait for one to download only to realize it’s not what they were looking for, then they are gone.

On the Demo Reels forum I am usually commenting on how painful the download was with little payoff in the end. I’ll wait for a big Hollywood movie trailer, but not your sample of a local spot or a documentary that you are trying to sell. Even at 320 x 188 I can tell if you have it or not.

Check out our samples at https://www.tiltmedia.com and you’ll see what I mean.

So, report back, Walter. I know you will. I’m curious if you discover what i did. the hosting industry is in trouble in general as servers fill up, tech support is bogged down with newbies and everyone thinks outsourcing to India is a viable solution.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Rich Rubasch]

I agree with the Apple refurb with Apple Care. Some used machines are just lemons. Something jiggy in the RAM modules or the processor itself. Something quirky in the ethernet card etc. Apple tests their machines before putting them up in the store, but still get the Apple Care and a pile of RAM and you can’t go wrong.

Oh, and plan to get an SATA 500gig – 1 terabyte drive to slip into the second drive slot under the main drive. Best $89 you can spend.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media