Sunday, March 18, 2012

Aksel Stasny's Film & Lighting tests. . .

Looks like my good friend Aksel Stasny has been busy. . . here's a series of Lighting & Film Stocks tests that he's been doing for his upcoming short. .. 

Original from here.

You can find out about Aksel's upcoming projects on his website, http://www.akselstasny.com/




Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Post Dept. of Conan weighs in on Adobe CS6

I saw this floating around the web today. . . Conan's editors got their hands on Premiere CS6, and they dig it.  Check out the video!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Where do I put FCP Plugins Again?

I can never remember where to put FCP plugins to install them. . . so I found this handy guide.  

For the original post, click here.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Quicktime 7 & Quicktime X in Lion. . . (With Download Link)

I just downloaded QT7 from Apple's Support page, and when I tried to install, this was the error I got:

"Quicktime can't be installed on this disk.  This version of Quicktime 7 can't be installed on this disk because Quicktime X is already present.  Please use Software Update to install the appropriate version of Quicktime for your Mac."

So. . . yeah.  QT X is definitely NOT a replacement for QT Pro.  This is TRUTH.  Here's an OLD thread detailing some of the differences.

Obligatory Backstory:

Today, I had some issues with a Gamma shift in my QT's from FCP (long story short), and it looked like one of my solutions involved QT Pro. . . So, after much googling, I came across this Apple Support topic, that answered my question.

I was a little put off about how far I had to dig for this, so here is the direct download link. . . your mileage may vary, but this should give you the ability to buy a QT Pro license (comes with Final Cut Studio).

>>>Download QT 7 (Lion Compatible)<<< 

It's now installed, and is playing nice with QT X. . . No hacking required.  I just opened the DMG, and now i'm looking at QT Pro. 

If you're interested, here's some links that got me to my solution;

"Quicktime X alongside Quicktime 7? (from Apple Support)"

"QuickTime Player 7 for Mac OS X v10.6.3 or later (Support Page)"

Old Thread detailing some of the Differences between QT 7 & QT X (from Macrumors)

Inside QuickTime Pro's bag of tricks (from Macworld)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Well, I'm back. . .

I've been slacking.  A lot.  

So, here's a list of things that I'm going to do this year (Professional-wise).

• Learn Avid

•Learn Premier

•Learn FCPX

•Update this blog more


So. . . Yeah.  I'm gonna post a bunch of back stuff on this blog, and keep up with all the new things that I can.  The next few months are gonna be busy. . . but I'll find some time.


In the mean time, scroll through the old entries, and refer this to your friends!

On Modding an iMac. . . (UPDATED!)

***UPDATE***

Looks like there's an extra SATA connector on the Logic Board that I didn't know was there. . . check out this video from OWC about their Turnkey service, which covers ALL the options I talked about below!

***/UPDATE***

I LOVE my iMac.  The first Mac I personally owned was a 24" Intel iMac, and when it died a fiery, applecare-y death, Apple replaced it with a 27", and I've loved it even more.

The iMac might not be the most upgradeable machine, but there's still some tricks & tweaks that you can do to get the most out of your machine.

***Protip:  Most of these mods (with the exception of upgrading your RAM), will most certainly void your Applecare warranty.  Proceed with Caution.***

1) Upgrade your Ram

If you own a Mac, and you don't know about Crucial, then you're missing out. Crucial Ram is the same as Mac OEM ram, but at 1/2 - 1/3 the price. They're SUPER awesome, ship quickly, and have a HUGE stock of old ram for legacy Macs. . . if it runs OS X, then they've got ram for it.

If you're a lil' fuzzy on how to do it, check this link HERE.

2) SSD Boot Disk

SSD's are SCREAMINGLY fast.  Paired with the Max ram in your machine, this will totally boost performance.

I know this is a little anecdotal, but now that I have a Macbook Air w/ and SSD, I have seen the light.

Also, you don't need the largest one. . . You could probably get by with a 150gb Boot Disk, and have all the software you need installed (for example, Final Cut Studio w/ all the trimmings is ~40gb, and that's HUGE.  Adobe CS5.5 Master Collection is 25gb).

Bear in mind that getting into the guts of your 2010 iMac can be kinda harrowing. . . it's gonna be one of those things that you're probably only gonna wanna do once.  So, while you're in there. . .

3) Ditch your optical drive in favor of another Hard drive

Hard Copy sucks.  Optical Media is lame, and old, and I can't remember the last time I actually had to use it.

If there's space on the chassis for an optical drive, then there's certainly room for storage.

There's a couple of pretty cool kits out there (not that I have any personal experience with them). . . most come with all the tools that you'll need.  Here's a couple of links:

Installing additional SSD in Mid-2010 27″ iMac

iFixit Dual Hard Drive Kit Helps You Install a Second Hard Drive in Your iMac, Is Perfect for SSDs (from Lifehacker) 

Protip:  Make sure you get the right kit for your iMac.  Also, you could keep the stock hard drive in your imac, and then boot off your newly installed SSD.  Both connections are SATA, so they should have similar bus speeds, to take advantage of your new SSD.  

and, finally, the Cadillac of iMac mods. . .

4) eSata Port Hack

This is kinda old news, but it's still pretty awesome.

Check out this link to OWC (Other World Computing), and see what's up, if that's something you think you'd be interested in.  I'm not 100% that you'd still be able to add an SSD in place of your Optical Drive. . . that'd be a question for OWC.

Be sure to check out the <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/iMac_2010_27/faq/">FAQ</a> on OWC's site for more information.

So, yeah. . . you've definitely got some options there.  Go forth, and rock out!

Big Ol' Bunch o' Links. . .



Here's a collection of links to stuff that I would have posted on this blog, had I been updating regularly. . . enjoy.

4 Simple Mac Maintenance Tips (from OS X Daily)
Things You Should Expect If You Start Freelancing and How to Prepare Yourself(from Lifehacker)
Why Videos Go Viral(from Gizmodo)
Reasons Behind the Demise of Kodak(from /.)



Top 10 Ways to Make the Best of an Old, Crappy Computer(from Lifehacker)
HD Monitor Calibration - SMPTE, ARIB, and White Balance



Order Off the Secret Menu at Starbucks (and Other Coffee Shops) for Better, Cheaper, or More Powerful Drinks
Improve the Quality of Enlarged Images with These Photoshop Tips (from Lifehacker)
USB 3 on a Mac

Tuesday, March 6, 2012