Rank amateur question

Just did some filming and did a combination of Still and Video photography with my camera.
I accidentally filmed some of my video at a 90 degree angle. I did this to frame the shot previously for a still but for some reason I still held the camera at the same angle for the video portion.
I believe I'm up a creek in this regard because I've tried rotating the clip 90 degrees to get a normal view, but now I get dropped frames out the wazzu when I play it back. I'm just trying to learn from my gaff here. Is this error in playback caused because the frame is now altered? I've tested this by moving the frame of the clip back to the orginal and the dropped frame business goes away. Yeah, I can reproduce this, so this is the problem. Just wondering what causes it? Or do I need a PHD?

You could double-click your clip and open Motion in the Viewer.
Then move the Scale slider towards the 150% mark.
Your picture will be magnified thus filling up the black edges.
Of course it all depends what you have on the video - it's no good if it chops somebody's head off, but it's worth a try.
Ian.

Similar Messages

Rank amateur with "where'd it go?" question

Hi all,
Trying to do move over to FCP from iM, and having issues with the basic set up. For some reason my timeline and my canvas disappeared. I understand I have to have an "open sequence" to see the timeline, but can't figure out how to open in. Command-2 and Command-3 are greyed out.
WHat dumb thing have I done?
Thanks

You didn't do anything, which is the issue. If all you have is a project and no sequence, you are most likely looking at the the browser displaying only the contents of the Effects tab and a Viewer window. Select New Project from the File Menu and there should be a Sequence 1 icon in the browser. Double click on it to open the Timeline window and the Canvas window. If you are opening a previously started project, then just double click on any sequence and those windows will open. If you don't see a Sequence icon, press cmd-n to make a new one, then double click it.

CS3/4, JS Amateur question: how remove all empty text frames?

I'm an amateur, and thought it would be a straightforward matter to write a script that simply deletes all empty text frames in all of a document's stories. Here's my second attempt:
var myDocument = app.activeDocument;
var myStories = myDocument.stories;
for (i = 0; i < myStories.length; i++){
var myStory = myStories[i];
var myTextFrames = myStory.textContainers;
for (j = myTextFrames.length - 1; j >=0; j--) {
if (myTextFrames[j].contents == "") myTextFrames[j].remove();
The trouble is, sometimes it works as intended, but sometimes, with multiple stories, it needs to be run more than once. Can anyone explain why that is?
Thanks -- Jeremy

[Jongware] wrote:
(Bit of a Johnny-come-lately, but anyway )
AHA! -- This is a great help. It was driving me up the wall, and I don't know why it didn't work for me last night. Maybe it's because I was counting through stories in the wrong direction. Anyhow, I see how it works now, and I'm very grateful for the help.
By the way Harbs, I used all three of your suggestions because I had spent far too much time tapping away at that nut with my little toy hammer. I vented my frustration by using all three of your sledgehammers. In particular, I made sure it left a single empty text frame where it was, as such a frame might be used as a graphic. (Although in the past, I've found an empty story can be a sneaky place for a rogue font to hide. The insertion point just in front of the "end of story" character can have a paragraph style applied, with its associated font, but "Find" won't find any characters with that paragraph style or font applied!)
Thanks to all again -- Jeremy

Help for a rank amateur, please...

I can't figure out where my music files are supposed to reside. I get exclamation points next to every title, but then can locate the files for iTunes. My music files location is as following example:
C:/USER1/My Documents/My Music/iTunes/Artist/song.mp4
So, it appears that this is not where iTunes looks for my music files, so where should I move them to?
Thanks in advance!
Amateur
Windows XP

Normally, with default location, the location would be C:\documents and settings\user\my documents\my music\itunes\itunes music\artist\album\track
Are you moving the file around yourself. This will make itunes show the ! because it can't find the files if you move them.

Amateur question reagarding quality of video formats

Since iMovie '08 came out, I switched to FCE, to get into the program, before support for iMovie 06 HD disappears completely,
Now with the discussion of the future of FW on Apple's non pro machine, I do have the following question, which is not immenent to me right now, but would regard possible future investment in a new Videocamera and / or computer:
Presently I am using a DV based camera, occastionally having used HDV. Should Apple pursue the path of dropping firewire on some of their machines, I may have to consider getting a USB based camera for replacement (my current camera is close to four years old, so that perspective isn't too far).
Now, from what I learned, DV and HDV are not availalbe for USB, so in how do the codecs used with USB cameras compare to the DV and HDV formats. By this, I mean a comparison on the basis of picture and sound quality, only. And please, I do not intend this question for a discussion of pro/con firewire /usb or pro/con harddrive vs. tape. Just plainly a question and some advice of the quality of the footage I get on my computer.
Thx for any advice!
Dirk

DV and HDV use the MPEG2 compression standard to store video.
USB cameras use the newer AVCHD model which uses MPEG-4 Part 10 (also known as AVC also known as h.264)
h.264 was intended to get more data packed into the same bitrate thus giving higher quality. The idea being the 24 Mbps h.264 would be superior to 24 Mbps MPEG2. While in general this is held to be true, how much better is greatly debated.
My limited experience says that image quality depends far more on the equipment itself rather than the codec. If your camera has good optics and focuses well, your image quality will be better, regardless of which codec you use. I opted for an AVCHD camera when I purchased mine more because of size (it stores to flash cards) more than anything else.

Amateur question on color

I'm printing to a Canon iP6700D (very nice for a very cheap printer). Canon gives ICC profiles cryptic names, but I'm sure the "Canon iP6700D SP2" profile is the most appropriate one for the various Premium/Premium Plus glossy photo papers I use.
The difference between Onscreen Proofing on and off is clear, and the same difference is visible in the print dialog's large preview, when I switch between System Managed and the Canon profile. So far so logical.
The trouble is, I don't like it: too light and washed out. Choosing System Managed in the print dialog gives a result more like what the image on-screen (with Proofing off) makes me expect, and more like what I want.
My question is this: Aside from the obvious answer (print whichever way looks better), what am I missing when I don't use the profile (or some profile) in Proofing and in printing?

Thanks. I understand I need to manage color either in Aperture or in the printer but not both. In the Canon print-driver dialog there are two tabs with relevant settings. In the "ColorSync" tab there's only one option, "Standard" ("In Printer" is grayed out). In the "Color Correction" tab, I choose "None" rather than "ColorSync" or "Driver Matching." As far as I can tell, I'm making the right choices whether I'm using "System Managed" in Aperture or choosing an ICC Profile in Aperture's print dialog. Is that right, or should I be using a different "Color Correction" setting?
But in any case, my main problem isn't coordinating the application and the printer. If I print with the appropriate (I think!) ICC Profile, the print does pretty well match what Onscreen Proofing shows me -- but both the onscreen image and the print are too light, washed out. I get better results if I switch to System Managed when I print, better both on paper and onscreen (with Onscreen Proofing is unchecked).
In other words, I don't like the ICC Profile's results, anywhere. I've tried all the Canon profiles I have. Eight of the nine give the same washed-out result. The one that seems most generic, "Canon IJ Color Printer Profile 2005" (all the others contain my printer's exact model number), looks much better -- but it looks exactly the same as if I weren't using any profile. If I choose it for Proofing Profile, checking and unchecking Onscreen Proofing makes no visible difference at all.
So should I just give up on profiles and use System Managed?

Amateur question - how to setup iChat service?

"Make sure the user is a user or member of a group that's defined in the Open Directory search path of the iChat server."
How do I verify this?
I have created a user and the user is a member of the "chat server group", but I still can't connect to to the service.
Help please! =)

Hello buckster,
I'm also trying to turn on a iChat Server and use it. The iChat service is apparently "E-Z" to turn on in Server Admin tool but something about the wording of "search path" for Open Directory users is throwing me.
I'm not new Mac OS Server ( 3+ years ) nor to using Open Directory or WGM or Server Admin but I'm being tripped up in the setup of users. I can't seem to figure out "search policy" and "search path". I get the basic idea but I apparently do not understand the sequence of creating a Search Path so that iChat Server can be accessed.
Basic Setup-
DNS on
LAN using 192.168.0.x
192.168.0.1 - server.LANlocal_domainname.net
WAN using 10.0.1.x (Wireless thru AirPortBase Station as Gateway and Firewall internet with port routing to 10.0.1.2 as needed. APB is the DHCP manager for Wireless) server.WANdomainname.com
alias to ichat > server on both interfaces.
DHCP on - Managing 192.168.0.x
iChat on with Host Domains=ichat.LANlocal_domainname.net & ichat.WANdomainname.com
Open Directory on >>>>Open Directory Master with LDAP Settings pointing to search base of the WAN based user group
dc=server,dc=WANdomainname,dc=com
(CHECKED) Enable Secure Sockets Layer
Certificate: Default
Binding
NO CHECKS
Security
NO CHECKS
Workgroup Manager: server.WANdomainname.com
Authenticated as DirectoryAdministrator to directory
: /LDAPv3/127.0.0.1
I've got 23 users and 6 Groups that I have used for different kinds of things.
Web Mail Access
Website Access
FileMaker Server Access
Application Server Access
etc.
and now I'd like get iChat working ....
I'm on the inside of a router (though that shouldn't matter, right?), no software firewall (Firewall Service is not On). For a start, all I'm trying to do is get two machines inside the LAN to chat with a Jabber client (iChat or Atrium). I keep getting indications that the server is not found.
Sorry if this seem lame but I would really appreciate a step by step of the set up of two users, one that is on another machine that is not directly controlled by the setup of Open Directory and WGM an another that is not the iChat Search as a client (as well as the server). I'd don't need lots of explaination but it would be really helpful to have a click by click for user, group, search path.
Thank You for your help.
Terry
Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 1MB L3 cache - 2 GB DDR SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Server and Clients
Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 1MB L3 cache - 1 GB DDR SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Amateur question re: permissions

Can I limit access to removable media the way I can with user accounts and files? If so, how?

Use Disc Utility to create a password protected encrypted read/write disc image on the removable media. There is an option to make the disc image dynamically sized large enough to contain the data or to make it a fixed size.

Super amateur question follow-up (URL help needed)

I neglected to say in a previous post that I actually have five images in the flash animation that need to link to web pages.
I duplicated the code that worked on one image. Now I get an error saying there are duplicate function definitions. Here is the code I have added which I hoped would work for three images. It doesn't. Your help is greatly appreciated.
bfcSyringe_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
function onClick(evt:Event):void {
    var targetURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/syringe.html");
    navigateToURL(targetURL, "_self");
fpr_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
function onClick(evt:Event):void {
    var targetURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/fpr.html");
    navigateToURL(targetURL, "_self");
sandTrap_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
function onClick(evt:Event):void {
    var targetURL:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/sand.html");
    navigateToURL(targetURL, "_self");

And, for Funky Soul's solution, I used this code:
bfcSyringe_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
bfcSyringe_mc.name = "bfc";
fpr_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
fpr_mc.name = "fpr";
sandTrap_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
sandTrap_mc.name = "sand";
function onClick(evt:Event):void {
switch(e.target.name)
case "bfc":
    navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/syringe.html"), "_blank");
    break;
case "fpr":
    navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/fpr.html"), "_blank");
    break;
case "sand":
    navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://hodentalcompany.com/pages/sand.html"). "_blank");
    break;
And got this error:
1084: Syntax error: expecting identifier before _blank.

Help for a rank amateur?

I can't figure out where my music files are supposed to reside. I get exclamation points next to every title, but then can locate the files for iTunes. My music files location is as following example:
C:/USER1/My Documents/My Music/iTunes/Artist/song.mp4
So, it appears that this is not where iTunes looks for my music files, so where should I move them to?
Thanks in advance!
Amateur

Normally, with default location, the location would be C:\documents and settings\user\my documents\my music\itunes\itunes music\artist\album\track
Are you moving the file around yourself. This will make itunes show the ! because it can't find the files if you move them.

Indie Film Audio Level Questions...

I posted this in Final Cut Pro Forum as well, but no answer yet...
Been doing a lot of reading, but still cannot find a clear answer to this question...
What should my average audio levels be set at for a Standard DV indie film headed for the festivals on DVD?
I've read about the difference in audio ranges for TV & Cinema, and I've read about the average being around -12db & no more than -3db...
As a reference, I put 3 professional movies in my DVD player, and my sound is a lot lower. I need to boost them, but where should my meter read at on average?
Should I be using the Sound Mixer only? Or the Normalizer as well?
Can anyone help me out, so that I can put this film in the bag?
Thanks
Frankie

Hi Frankie:
I'm afraid your on a very slippery slope. First of all your comparing a home release of a DVD and comparing that with a movie. These are very different animals. The second question would be what are your comparisons and how are you making them. The speakers that you use for editing may not be useful for this job. Second of all you must calibrate your system so that you know what is what. Remember that -12 dB full scale digital is equivalent to 0+- within the analogue scale. You must calibrate your system so that you get a reading of -12dB at your outputs and 85dB when measured with a dB meter on fast and "B" weighted at the mixing position. You must do this using a 1k sine wave which is now calibrated in the room. Mark out this level using a dorrough meter. That will give you the proper level you are seeking. -3dB fsd is for peaks only. That is the loudest point at which your movie can fall. This is not for just dialogue. and -12dB fsd is the average of the soundtrack. The next question is what is the format of your deliverable? Film has it's own issues which are further complicated by each of the formats such as Dolby, Dolby digital, DTS, SSDS, etc. Remember that film is an optical medium unlike delivering on Tape or as files on a disk or HDD. In addition you may find that the festival should have restrictions and guidelines for audio levels as well as video levels and color standards if they don't they generally don't have their act together. I recently submitted to a film festival who's restrictions were incomplete and their guidelines ambiguous at best. Their guidelines were as follows. The deliverable must be as a DV tape accompanied by an AVI file. no audio levels, no video levels and a request that makes no sense. AVI file format or DV tape. These should never be the only required settings, and they seemed to be aimed at rank amateurs. DV tape is a very highly compressed format and in this day and age if your not shooting in HD you must be an amateur. What your acquisition format is should be irrelevant. EX Cam EXD Cam EX SR HDV P2 SxS, SDHC etc. are the formats you need to deal with to get the project into your editing system. Once you have completed your edit, color grading, and post audio including music you should then deal with a codec standard for deliverables. I can only say AVI isn't one! There are several Quicktime file types that should be acceptable depending on the audience and how big the screen will be. Mpeg 2 used in television or Mpeg 4 should be acceptable. Most if not all systems should be able to output these files but there are more. The audio should be in a standard format either aiff or wave for stereo but more complicated mixes such as surround mixes should use a compressed format such as Dolby or Dolby digital of the 5.1 or 7.1 variety. These are industry standards and folks who run these festivals should know this. If not perhaps they need to be replaced.

Newbie question - how to make an autoplay dvd?

Forgive the rank beginner question, but here goes. I have a 3.5Gb, uncompressed 8-bit .mov file that I want to burn to a dvd. It should simply play on insertion, no menus, no other media, nothing. Seems like it should be simple in dvdsp, but I've been beating my head against this, so far with no luck. Any help you experts can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Set first play to the track as suggested. If you want it to loop set the end jump to the track itself. Usually it is a good idea to have a menu in case someone hits the menu button on the remote (or to stop playback) and put a button on that menu to go to the track. If you are looping a short movie (timewise) you may want to string a few on the track so that the player does not have to keep on repositioning back to the beginning. I know you mentioned 3.5 Gig 8 bit, but did not see the time, I didn't want to do the math right now
Also if you search autoplay or loop --> this comes up often.
You also want to encodde your video with Compressor and make the audio AC3 in all likelihood
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_3.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_7.php
Some info on Compressor also here (though part of it is for something different)
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_7.php

Creative question for motion - caution...longish post!!

hello patrick, special case, and the rest of the gang...
I have (for a limited time...) a macbook pro, loaded with bookoo software, including fcp studio and a 30 inch monitor...woohoo!!!
Now the problem...
1) I am a rank amateur with motion, and
2) I have one big project to get right,
3) I do it right, and work may spring for a mac for my workspace...
So...
I work in the navy, and am working on a graduation ceremony that will incorporate survivors of a WW2 ship and medal of honor winner...what we call high visibility.
we will have a nice stage, with a screen reminiscent of the academy awards.
I want to use motion to create intros for the speakers, (somewhat akin to what you might see on an award show) my simple idea thus far:
use a live type background, add a sparkle or two, and have a lower third for the name...
it needs to be neat, and not draw too much attention from the speaker.
For you creatives, am I on the right track?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
imac Mac OS X (10.4.3)

i would use final cut, mainly for putting it all together.
create a neat background, swooshes, plasma or whatever.
something that looks cool, but can be used as a background.
(i like the eurosport-look, sort of abstract and moving slowly)
then work on the names, make them come in, animate them so that they're not too static, and move them out again.
not sure how you're going to do the whole thing when you don't know how long someone speaks.
play it live?
you could render individual movies (background + name intro + name static, another one that has the name moving out again), and time-control the ceremony with keynote.
i've now done a few events, and the main challenge was to build my project in a way that allowed me to play things depending on what is happening on stage.
because when someone practices at home and says "i need 2 minutes to read this text", on stage it'll be longer or shorter, mostly shorter since people speak too quickly.
my first event was "timed" in flash, which was crap since video quality sucked with flash6.
you could create a DVD with the names of the speakers being animated in menus, when speaker is finished, press "enter" to play the next clip and go to the next menu with the next speaker.
hope this helped.

1000BASE-T question

Hi;
If i put an GLC-T (1000BASE-T SFP) on 6500 chassis, does it works with my 10/100 DSL modem. So; can GLC-T module set its speed to 100Mbps automatically?
Sorry for this amateur question?

Hi Dandy,
The 1000BASE-T SFP can support 10/100/1000 speeds only on the Cisco Catalyst 2970, 3560, and 3750 Series Switches.
Here is the link supporting my statement
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps4999/products_tech_note09186a00807a30d6.shtml#trouble3
Regards,
Ankur
*Pls rate all helpfull post

LPX Filter and Effect Questions..

Hi all - still somewhat new to LPX (10.0.6).
With regards to filters and effects, there's two things I can't figure out how to do:
(1) Apply an effect gradually, overtime. An example would be the EQ changing throughout a few bars.
(2) Set a start point for filters that automatically reset after a specific number of bars. I'm using the Always Rising Filter preset for the basic Auto Filter and have it set to 8 bars. The problem is I can't tell it which bar to start with. It starts at measure 5 and goes to measure 12, I want it to start at 1 and go to 8. How can I change this?
I know these are kind of amateur questions, I've googled and can't seem to find an answer. Thanks!
Rebekah

You could try automation. With a slowly changing eq for example...
Say you've got an eq over a Ultrabeat pattern you've programmed in the tracks window and you want to do a slow eq change. Have a look under the Ultrabeat instrument in its channel strip. See the thing that says "READ" in a green box? Change it to "latch".
Now, open your eq plugin and hit the spacebar to start your UB pattern playing. As it plays, move the parameter you want to change in the eq window. Hit stop. Change automation mode back to "Read". A little yellow icon should come on in the Inspector area of the Tracks window next to your Ultrabeat instrument. That's showing that the automation is turned on.
Now, magnify your view in the vertical plane (tool for this in the top left hand corner of your tracks window) until you can see the automation stuff appear below the representation of the midi notes in your Ultrabeat pattern. There should be a pull-down there that will show what you've just put in with automation. You now use that info to edit what you want the eq to do.
That was a bit long-winded, I know...but you only have to learn the procedure of putting in automation once because it works pretty much identically for any automation function within LPX.

Rank amateur question

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