Moving Windows Media Player Ratings into iTunes
Here is how SteveX does it.
I’d like to know how to transfer Windows Media Player ratings from one PC to another as well.
Graphics License Cards
Interesting take on license "keys" [via Dave Batton]
Yahoo Online Status
My Online Status for Yahoo IM is suppose to display along the left column of my home page here. It has never worked. I finally wrote TypePad technical support but the response did not lead me to a solution (make sure you aren’t logging in as invisible, make sure your status is available to all). I investigated further and came across this post. I viewed the source of my weblog home page and compared the code that is suppose to show status with the example in that post. I recognized that the screen name that was being used on my weblog included @yahoo.com and it should have only been the screen name. Updating my Typepad profile with only the screen name did the trick. Another example of how computers are still way to hard for a normal person to navigate, and how great technical support is hard to come by.
I’m starting to provide technical support for DVFilm.com. Hopefully, my experience on the other side will help me provide the type of technical support I have come to expect.
Understanding Video Recording Framerates
Here is an excellent explanation of framerates and when you might want to use them. A summary table follows:
FPS
|
description
|
examples
|
|
usable for extreme fast motion, twice as fast as normal motion.
|
In the indie hit film “El Mariachi”, director Robert Rodriguez made use of 12fps for fast-motion scenes such as the hotel front desk clerk scrambling to the telephone to make a call. | |
|
this is the frame rate that most 8mm home movies were .
|
If you’re looking for the Keystone Kops or Charlie Chaplin look, 18 fps is where you should start. | |
|
20 fps is a fast-motion effect that’s not nearly as exaggerated as 12fps is, but it’s fast.
|
If you wanted to show someone running extremely quickly, exaggeratedly quickly in fact, 20fps might be a good choice for that. It starts to push the bounds of what the audience can believe is “real”, but it’s very fast motion without being exaggeratedly fast. | |
|
this is a subtle fast-motion effect.
|
22 fps is a very popular frame rate for karate action movies – shooting at 22 fps and playing back at 24 fps makes motion look very fast but completely believable. Shooting a car chase or a fight scene at 22 fps will lend an added edge of excitement and action to your scenes. The 50Hz camera’s equivalent would be 23fps. | |
|
this is the standard movie film speed.
|
Shooting at 24 fps and playing back at 24 fps gives your footage the temporal feel of motion picture film. This is the speed you’d normally shoot all dialogue scenes and “normal action” scenes. The 50Hz camera’s equivalent would be 25fps. | |
|
like 22 fps, but in reverse. This frame rate can add a subtle, subliminal slow motion effect to your footage.
|
The effect is very mild. Things moving slower than normal can be perceived as being “larger than life” – if you want to add a bit of elegance and grandeur to your scene, but don’t want it to be obvious as to what you’ve done, 26 fps can add that additional element of drama. The 50Hz camera’s equivalent would be 27fps. | |
|
this is a slow motion speed.
|
It’s mild slow motion, but it’s noticeable. It’s not very subtle, it’s the first of the real slow motion speeds. | |
|
just a little slower than 30 fps.
|
If you’re shooting your main program in 720/30p mode, filming at 32fps and incorporating in your 30 fps project can give you a similar slightly-larger-than-life feel as 26 fps does in a 24fps project. | |
|
at 36 fps, the scene is most obviously slow motion.
|
Action takes 1.5 times as long to play out as it took to shoot it. 36 fps is as slow or slower than many movie cameras could shoot at. | |
|
full-fledged slow motion.
|
This is a “walk-away-from-the-explosion” caliber slow motion speed. 48 fps makes everything take twice as long to play back as it did to shoot it. | |
|
super-slow motion.
|
60 fps is suitable for shooting explosions or extreme slow motion scenes. It’s the slowest slow motion possible on a conventional video camera. The 50Hz camera doesn’t really have a direct equivalent. |
Andy’s work
I worked with Andy here at DVFilm. He’s a budding director. He recently showed me a music video he shot in California. It looked great. I guess I can say I helped a smidgen. Before he shot the video, he practiced on me to try out some new equipment. Click HERE, right click on burning.mov and download the file before playing . I’ll just sit back and wait to be discovered now!
Check out Andy’s Braveheart 2000 Trailer which did well in the Unnecessary Sequels contest.
Inno Setup
I haven’t written an install program in a while. I used InstallShield briefly a long time ago, and I have used Nullsoft System Install System (NSIS). I downloaded and tried out NSIS recently and it left me feeling the same as with the first experience. I found the scripting language somewhat cryptic. Although there are ample examples, I don’t enjoy working with it, much as I didn’t the first go around.
I found and downloaded Jordan Russell’s free Inno Setup program and am very pleased with the program. I can say I actually enjoy working with it and found the script syntax easy and straight forward. The documentation and support material on the website is helpful and easy to navigate. Hopefully I won’t hit any snags and we can standardize on Inno Setup at DVFilm.com
BTW, Inno Setup writes a log file during installation to the user’s temp folder. On Vista this is hidden. I used ProcesMon to help me find it at C:\Users\RAK\AppData\Local\Temp\Setup Log 2008-02-02 #001.txt
On XP it is C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temp\
Raylight for Mac Update
The Mac update for Raylight has now been released. This is the program I cut my teeth on Cocoa with. DVFilm is all about improving the workflow of post production video editing. I worked on adding MXF support to Raylight. MXF stands for “Media Exchange Format” which is a popular format used by cameras including the Panasonic HVX200 hand-held, high-definition camera. The camera uses P2 Cards to store video. P2 cards are solid state flash memory packaged as PCMCIA cards. Raylight is actually a set of tools that includes a decoder and plugins for video editing software such as Final Cut Pro for Mac and Sony Vegas & Adobe Premier on the Mac.
Our website describes it his way:
- Raylight for Mac puts MXF files from the P2 Card straight into Final Cut Pro!
- It allows instant, direct editing of MXF files in FCP, or any video application on the Mac.
- It turns the Quicktime Player and FCP into a P2 Card Viewer.
- View Metadata in the first or second frame of every clip Automatically name and organize clips based on Metadata.
- New with 2.0: Export Quicktimes from FCP and make a P2 Card!
- It allows instant, direct editing of MXF files in FCP, or any video application on the Mac
XBOX Night
This past August marked the first anniversary of hosting XBOX night’s at our house. Tomorrow we’ll usher in Halo 3 and introduce a challenge ladder. Even Kristen and Cassidy have enjoyed playing Halo 3. We try to take on David but he’s too much for us. My strategy has been to stick together and gang up on him but he scoffs and says sticking together makes easy targets for him and he can destroy us with a single grenade! I’ll may never be as good as he but maybe I can break into the top 5 on the ladder! I hope to be posting some "recorded" clips of highlights now that H3 makes it easy to create them. In the meantime here is a clip for the history books.
Raylight For Windows Update
The first code I had a hand in at DVFilm.com has gone live. It wasn’t a lot but it’s always fun to get "published" and have something you helped with used by real customers. Ironically I only worked on this Sony Vegas plugin update for about two weeks. I’ve actually been working on the soon to be released Raylight for Mac update most of the time since starting at DVFilm back on July 23rd.
Top 10 Wi-Fi Boosts, Tweaks and Apps
Article here
No doubt you’ve got a home wireless network or you’ve connected to hotspots at the local coffee shop or airport—but are you getting the most out of your Wi-Fi? Whether you want to strengthen, extend, bridge, secure, sniff, detect, or obscure your signal, today we’ve got our top 10 best Wi-Fi utilities and tweaks for the power wireless user