[Seatlanta]

Yoyodyne:
The M-Audio Audiophile 192 card was wonderful, but when I previewed something on the timeline, I got a sizzling sound like static–over all the sound (It went away during silent parts of the track.). This happened when previewed in Vegas (not to an external monitor).

I found that if I disabled the video track and played the same events, all the noise was gone. For some reason, the Vegas video track playback was related to the issue. I have no idea what was going on.

When I burned a DVD, the sound was clean, so it was happening only during the preview. But if I printed to a tape, the noise was recorded to the tape (of course).

I yanked out the M-Audio card and dug out an old Sound Blaster PCI-128 card from my junk drawer. It seems to work just fine, and the noise is gone.

But none of that had any effect on the flashing problem.

James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Ed:
The Gigabyte main board has an on-board firewire, but I have also tried two different firewire cards. Same problem with all of them. I’ve also tried different firewire cables–just in case.

By the way, I don’t have any trouble capturing video from my camera using the same firewire ports.

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions.

James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

It’s interesting to read about people’s hard drive preferences and about their success with various brands. I don’t want to get off-topic by discussing the merits of various brands, but I will say a word about my own experiences with various types. I suspect that problems are often related more to manufacturing and quality control during the production of certain batches than to the particular brand.

My experience over several years (including managing 40 CAD workstations at a college) was that the Western Digital Caviar drives were problematic. Within a year, we had close to a 50% failure rate in those models (in the early part of this new century). WD replaced them all, and things were marginally better. I’m guessing that those problems have been resolved, and I know people who love their WD drives.

I’ve had good luck with Maxtor, but all are internal. I don’t rely on firewire or USB drives for anything but backup.

Hit it with a hammer?
Someone mentioned dropping the drive. At the college with the bad WD drives, we often made them boot up by slamming the front of the computer with our fist. That usually “unstuck” them. So maybe there’s something to that trick. I’d use it only as a last resort.

Spinrite has been around for a long time, and has always had a great reputation. I suggest (as someone else said) that you install the drive as an internal device and eliminate one additional variable–the firewire or USB connection.

I wish I could offer more suggestions, but hard drive failures are a real mystery. I have several internal drives, and I use one to simply dump my avi and veg files for backups. It’s saved me a few times. I also network to another computer, and from time to time send valuable data to the other computer for backup. And as I said, I use the external drives only for backup.

Best of luck.
James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Hi Cosmoman:
I think we all remember beginners’ frustrations. My problems began with 8mm movies in the 1950s. Here’s the truth (as I see it): As you gain experience, you’ll find new frustrations. That’s the way it is with anything. If you’re never frustrated, you’re not advancing.

Vegas is not perfect, but in my opinion, it is definitely the best. I’ve used most of the others, and I don’t have any intention of ever going back. I started with Vegas 4.0, and I’m now using Vegas 6.0. Believe me, I wouldn’t have kept upgrading if I didn’t think it was worth it. The Vegas workflow is amazingly simple, and the program is relatively stable. Also, the Creative Cow team can answer almost any question I have.

Instructional DVDs
I strongly agree that instructional DVDs are very helpful. I bought Gary Kleiner’s DVDs, watched them, and realized how much I didn’t know about Vegas. I watch them again from time to time, and I’m always amazed at what I missed in previous viewings, or what features I forgot about because I didn’t use them. It’s money well spent.

Best wishes.
James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Hi John:
I do a lot of photo montages, and have come up with some ways to eliminate or reduce the flicker you’re seeing.

Without adjustments, you’ll probably see the flickering in horizontal lines, especially thin lines, and in detailed areas of clothing, foliage, bricks, etc. As I apply a zoom to an old photo, a woman’s patterned dress can become quite animated.

My methods require some work before putting pix on the timeline. I use Photoshop (but other programs will also do the job) to slightly blur the background or other offending areas. If I have a particular trouble spot, I use more blur, smudging, or whatever it takes to stop the flickering. I find the flickering to be more noticeable that a slightly blurred background.

I also use vignetting to emphasize the subject. Depending on the purpose of your movie, this can either enhance it or make it worse. Family photos look great with the background reduced with a soft mask. Historical or documentary photos may need to remain untouched.

I work hard to keep the subject in sharp focus, but as the background goes soft, you’ll be able to soften the subject a bit. Because of the relative blur between background and subject, it will probably still look OK.

If you’re doing pans and zooms, the flickering will probably be much worse, but the same methods will still help.

Good luck.
James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

I’ve used several converter boxes and the less expensive ones have not been satisfactory. I’m presently having problems with the ADS box. It worked for a while after I bought it, but soon became erratic.

Another low-cost convertor box works better, but is still not as stable as I want it to be.

I have just bought the Canopus box. I have not tried it yet, but if it works, it will be money well spent. I’ve watched hours turn into days as I tried to do a simple transfer to or from tape with the other boxes.

We’ll see.

James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

[Peter Wright] “No, my cookies are unchanged and have been there throughout – under Opera Tools/Advanced/Cookies, there are 9 separate entries listed under Creative Cow, but the Red Name thing, which used to work, does not return if I close the browser and re-open.”

Yep, Peter, that’s exactly my situation. I never delete cookies, yet the red listings disappear from time to time.

Also, while they may appear in one forum, they don’t always appear in another forum where I have postings. Or sometimes they do. It’s totally inconsistent.

I’m simply glad to know that others have the same problem.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my original post.

Best wishes.
James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Hello again:
Try a Google search with the words “video production rates” and you’ll get plenty of information about what other companies are charging for their work . . . all types of work.

Prices will vary, depending on the geographic area, the competition, and the quality of work. New York and Los Angeles rates will probably be higher than those in areas with a lower cost of doing business.

People with offices and studios and staff usually have more expenses than the person working out of the spare bedroom, and their rates will usually reflect those added costs.

I think the bottom line is this: Unless you’re just trying to establish a name and reputation, or you’re doing it for fun, you should (must?) charge enough to actually make a profit–otherwise, what’s the point?

I often do things for fun, for the creative experience, or because I think it’s a worthwhile cause. I don’t make money, but I enjoy it, and I invariably learn from it. But if it’s a job I don’t particularly want to do, I say no unless the money is right.

Best wishes.
James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Maybe I’m just old and crazy. Yeah, that must be it.

As soon as I posted this (previous) question, my name suddenly appeared in red throughout the listings. I just don’t get it. Can someone explain this to a weak-minded senior citizen?

James (seatlanta)

[Seatlanta]

Hello Mark:
I think that the girl and her parents will be thrilled with this–after all, we all enjoy watching ourselves or our children, right? And I’m sure they’ll enjoy the flashy effects, although they’re not something that I would want to see over and over. But the MTV-xBox generation expects things like this, so it’s probably the correct approach.

As for the motion video portions, I agree with you that they need something–and that something may simply be fewer repetitive shots. I realize that you were trying to sync movements with music, and that brings us to the next subject.

Even before reading Donatello’s comment, I was concerned with the copyrighted music. I would not use it in any of my videos. There is plenty of reasonably priced buy-out music that creates a similar mood (I recommend The Music Bakery.). Also, there’s Sony Acid and its almost infinite supply of loops–many of them free.

That said, you’re probably flying under the radar with a single disc for the family, but be careful with your Website posts.

Overall, I think you’ve done a great job. Just be careful with copyright issues.

Best wishes.
James (seatlanta)