Zak Mussig
Forum Replies Created
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I was wondering about that. I posted this here because the Motion forum here at the COW always seems so dead compared to the FCP forum. I feel like there should be a general FCS forum since most of us use all of the apps to at least some degree. That said, Color should definitely still have its own forum.
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It doesn’t have anything to do with the original question and everything to do with the extra information Michael posted after his question.
I get what academic versions are for. I just got out of college a couple of years ago and my first job was teaching FCP in an academic environment. I completely agree with you, and I don’t think I said that Apple should offer upgrades on academic versions. In fact I said that they didn’t.
My question was whether Apple had been willing to charge him the difference in cost between the upgrade and retail versions and send him a serial for the full retail version. The only differences between the retail, academic, and upgrade versions and the price, the sticker on the outside of the box, and the serial number inside.
I hadn’t meant to offend the thread… the Micheal said he was “working on it with Apple”, and I was curious what he meant since I didn’t see how there was anything to work on. Return the upgrade and order the full-version.
Zak
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Not trying to be a jerk, but… what is there to work on with Apple? The academic version isn’t eligible for an upgrade. The upgrades are only for retail versions. Are they willing to charge you the difference and just send you a new serial so you don’t have to wait for shipping?
Zak
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To add another perspective on the Photoshop issue. I have Photoshop CS Extended on my machine, and I feel like you’re asking if it can bring in and display 3d models / objects. The short answer is no. Motion works with 2d objects in 3D space… not 3D objects. The current version doesn’t even have cast shadows from light sources. Beyond 3D objects, what Adolfo said about PSDs is dead-on.
On a tangent… when I was in school I outgrew my iBook (first Mac) pretty quickly and wanted something that could keep me growing with FCP, Photoshop, etc. I really wanted a high-end Powerbook to replace it since I’d gotten spoiled by the mobility. A refurbished 1st-gen G5 was CHEAPER. The flexibility of a tower really extended the life of the machine, and since I was able to use it longer without getting frustrated with the performance it would’ve been cheaper over the life of the machine even if they’d been the same price. What’s done is done, but a low-end Mac Pro is much more powerful that a high-end Mac Book Pro and I’ll bet the tower would be much cheaper, even with a graphics upgrade.
Zak
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At the risk of sounding like a fanboy… the Intel Macs (and most new PCs) are using a processor whose architecture didn’t exist (at least commercially) when Stevesy made that claim. The “Core” line of processors was a big leap forward even compared to Intel’s own product line at the time.
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This tech has been brought into Illustrator CS3 as well if you have that.
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Motion 3 doesn’t do 3D in the way you’re describing. Think of it as 2 and a half D. Super Paper Mario 3D. 2D objects (except for some particles and maybe a few more things) in 3D space.
There’re also no cast shadows, and the camera doesn’t simulate depth of field. (Thanks MacBreak)
Sounds like you want a proper 3D modeling and animation app.
Zak
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I was disappointed to see DVDSP stay at version 4. I had high expectations based the big steps Apple took with the rest of the suite.
It’s hard to guess from outside whether there just weren’t enough software engineers to go around or if they decided to wait and see who won (even though Apple is a blu-ray member). Presumably the next version would have some features to let non-programmers take advantage of some of the advanced features in either format. I know I don’t know java or javascript. I still think Apple has their own competitor in the works that isn’t disc based, but I’m wrong a lot so who knows.
$3000 isn’t cheap, but it’s less than I’d have thought. We won’t be doing high-def discs for a long while, but I’ll have to check out that software.
Sorry for the rant, but I’m rendering, so I have a little time on my hands,
Zak -
Hey Peter,
At the end of the day you need the sequence of pictures to come after the anamorphic sequence on the DVD, not necessarily in your FCP timeline.
Are the picture keyframed, or is it basically just a slideshow? If it’s a slideshow, just take the image files into DVDSP and set that up seperately. There’s a cool feature that can turn your slideshow into a video track once you get everything set up. I’m a big fan of this when I just have a few images I need to show in order with no user interaction on a DVD. It’s much easier than making a sequence for them in FCP then exporting to MPEG 2.
If you need the pictures animated, then just set up a second 4×3 sequence in FCP and do whatever you like to the images there, then export 2 MPEG 2s… your sequence and your pictures. These files will be 16×9 and 4×3 respectively.
DVDSP sets display settings at the track level, so set the video track to letterbox 16×9 and have it end jump to the 4×3 picture track. You’ll probably want to use some kind of transition either built into your videos or have DVDSP add a transition between the tracks.
Hope that makes sense and takes care of your problem,
Zak -
I’m with you on that one, but backing up should be a no-brainer when you’re talking about the machine you need to do your job.
Zak