I stumbled across this review (http://www.wap.org/journal/premiere.html) of Premiere 4.0 just now, it's pretty interesting to see how far we've come!

Some gems:

Installation of Premiere either with the supplied five high density floppy disks or CD-ROM is explained very clearly in the Getting Started manual.

A dazzling array of 61 video effects Transitions is available. A few are seen in the Transition window. When the window is active, as shown in the Screen Shot, all the transition icons are continuously animated showing just what the transitions looks like!

The Movie Analysis feature, which gives all the details of the construction of a movie, is somewhat pessimistic, in my opinion. It over emphasises frames dropped during capturing. One animation video captured from tape had no dropped frames according to QuickFlix's Movie Get Info. Yet, Premiere announced, "This movie appears to have DROPPED FRAMES," and had a long listing of frame groupings each with the number of frames and duration.


One thing that impressed me with the professional level of Premiere is the inclusion of a simulated video waveform monitor and vector scope. These instruments are found only in television broadcast and post-production facilities. They are now available to anyone with Premiere.

And, of course, no nostalgic computer article would be complete without system requirements!

System requirements:

Macintosh 68020 processor or higher with 4 MB of RAM
or Power Macintosh with 6 MB of RAM
80 MB hard drive
QuickTime v1.6 or higher
Apple System Software v7 or higher.

System recommendations:
Macintosh 68040 or Power Macintosh
16 MB of RAM for full screen video
500 MB hard drive for full screen video
Video digitizing board that produces QuickTime movies
Color monitor with 24-bit video display card
CD-ROM drive.

sniff... sniff... I miss the good ol' days! I remember starting off with either 4 or 4.5, and don't recall ever seeing a vectorscope or waveform. I'm sure I would have noticed something like that...

I think he might mean the display in the Levels filter or something.

My favourite part is when he accuses Premier of being pessimistic!

I had written a screenplay, and used a place I remembered from years ago as the primary location. Well, as all things change eventually, my ideal location has grown, leaving it less than ideal.
So now, I am left trying to find a gas station/ convenience store, located in the middle of nowhere. Production is only a few months away.

Anyone have any ideas on how to do this? I could just get in the truckster and drive around Florida, but I think that would turn into a logistical nightmare. Any and all Floridians are welcome to shout out...

How about somthing like the gas station at the intersection of US 441 and State Road 60 in a town (2 buildings is a town?) called Yeehaw Junction? It's about 30 miles to the East of Vero Beach on the East Coast.

I'm going through there this weekend, I'll snap a pic and post it on my site for you.

I travel a lot--if I think of any others or come across somthing, I'll pass it along.

How's the plans going for your project in March?

-Phil

Hey Phil! If it's the bait and tackle and gas and deli I think it is, I've considered it too. If you are familiar with Yeehaw Jct., you know of Holopaw as well? That gas station on 1-92 was the original place that I had thought of. But that place is growing, and with all the changes they is making, it ain't right no more :)

As for the rest, pre production is going- slowly, but at least in a forward motion. I am working my tail off, just to insure we start on March 5th. And we will, unless there is some cataclysmic force that prevents it. Speaking of which, check out "Lost in La Mancha". It is about Terry Gilliams attempt at doing a movie based on Don Quixote. Very sad...

And, as always, check out the web journal for news and events concerning "Holler- It's a SCREAM in the Backwoods"

Man this is driving me nuts

http://homepage.mac.com/alantran/.cv/alantran/Public/name%20this%20tune.mp3-binhex.hqx

You know the name of that song? Its on mtv a lot in their documentaries and shows

Lemme know if you know it

Nice humming but it's not long enough for me to recognize it. What instruments?

hehe

it has an electronic dance type feel to it

Not sure if people already know about this or not, but I came upon this earlier this year and it always has something on there that cracks me up. Here Strongbad Email (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html), the dragon and techno episodes are my favorite. The homepage is here (http://www.homestarrunner.com).

Circuit city is selling some low cost Sony DVD players that play both "-" and "+" versions of consumers DVDs (including RW). One is listing for 99.00, the other for 129.00 with better color output. Also play Mp3s. Both are progressive. Very slim design too.

Could be a nice addition for those who have to deal with both formats.

Simple but funny!

Heh, very enjoyable.
Any other favorite on there besides Dragon and Techno?

Does anyone know of a good place to take workshops for digital film in NYC? I'm looking to take a lighting course to sharpen my skills up.

Interesting story surrounding the banned submission of inde films to the Oscars.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,61373,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_8

Check NYU's school of continuing and professional education.

http://www.scps.nyu.edu/departments/department.jsp?deptId=4

Thanks chris--Im checking it out

Trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/lost_skeleton/)

Site (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lostskeleton/site/flashindex.html)

Could be a funny send-up of those horrible 50s B movies that get played incessantly on AMC every October--on the other hand, it could be a pale imitation without any laughs, which was how I felt for 90% of Tim Burton's Ed Wood.

I'm surprised a studio got behind this.

I love 50's/60's B-scifi movies: my favorite genre! This looks like a real campy tribute to them. Gotta see this when it's out.

Thanks for the tip, Robert.

{EDIT}
The trailer is hilarious (and very slickly done)! Even the music is from 1940's horror movies. Filmed in "Skeletorama"!

For those of you who write your own stuff or wanna here's some interesting and sometimes useful links I've found - feel free to add your own.

1. Check out the script writing columns at Word Play (http://www.wordplayer.com/)

2. This is an interesting thread from Absolute Write (http://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm3.showMessage?topicID=257.topic), it's focused on writing novels but is applicable to movies.

3. This is a funny plot generator. (http://www.sff.net/paradise/plottricks.htm) Make sure to check out the different links on the page, some fun reading.

4. If you're feeling lazy - this is the automatic random plot generator. (http://nielsenhayden.com/overlord/) (Hint: Press F5 to get a new set of plot points)

5. And just to round it out: Movie Cliches.com (http://www.moviecliches.com/)

Filmed in S K E L E T O R A M A ! ! !

The trailer had me laughing out loud a few times, but I don't know if I could enjoy 90 minutes like that.

When we were putting together our Lady X script ideas, I considered making a 50's B movie style film, instead of the samurai one.

Loved MovieCliches.com it had some good ones......

Screenplay parts I thru IV:

http://linkzip.com?spoon44

I found these useful.

Cheers
-- Andre

( long link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=site%3Akuro5hin.org+screenplay&btnG=Google+Search )

Shooting People (http://shootingpeople.org/index.php) has a New York (http://shootingpeople.org/index_ny.php) wing now. This isn't a rival to DVi, more of a complement. Anybody joined?

Best,
Helen

Earlier this week I replaced a decade-old 27" JVC TV with a new model Toshiba 24" - what I could find to fit the antique cabinet that houses the entertainment centre. Last night I installed a component cable between the DVD deck and the TV. Then I put in a DVD-r of my own stuff and settled back to watch. I couldn't believe me eyes. The picture quality was stunning. I've worked with DV for nearly three years now and never seen the true resolution of my camcorders! I watched one project after another, marvelling at the colour, detail, sharpness of focus...I'm looking forward to getting some feedback from other eyes but I don't expect it to be different from my own reaction. If you haven't seen your stuff on up-to-date hardware you're in for a real treat.

David Hurdon

I have a bet running with a friend.

One of us swears that some portions of Love Actually--most saliently, many of the scenes between the writer and the Portuguese-speaking maid--were shot HD video.

The other suggests the crushed contrast look was intentional, achieved with the aid of "a double white pro mist filter or something."

IMDb is no help in this instance. Anybody know for sure? His AC subscription expired and I don't know whether they covered this film or not...

It's not definitive, but here's a mention (http://www.hollywoodindustry.com/2003/11_nov/news/baraka1114.htm) *** go down to the 3rd paragraph!!!

Yeah, I had seen this. All it mentions is credit for a trailer. Thanks, though, Michael!

I feed a HD LCD televison that has a Farouda doubler with a progressive scan signal. It isn't as good as real HD but it is very close. Makes S-Video look poor by comparison.

Megapixel Stills are stunning on HD. Makes me wish HD were really here for video cameras (the one available low-cost unit isn't really suitable for industrial videography I think).

Doubt if I can convince my wife that the PD150 and DSR-300 would make a decent downpayment on a HD rig. :-)))))))))

Now if they would only make a good HD monitor without all the junk they hang on the sides and backside. Maybe a 2-piecer so I could get a 32 " display in the Armoir.

Just signed up, Helen. We'll see how it goes. (didn't know they were UK-based)

*One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.

* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1 gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger. * With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition.

*Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. Cutting the fuel flow can only shut down the engine.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

* In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.

* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

* Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. * The redline is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.

* The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run, (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).


Putting all of this into perspective: You are riding the average $250,000 Honda MotoGP bike. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the vantage of a flying start. You run the RC211V hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph (293 ft/sec). The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your wrist cranked hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course.


That, folks, is acceleration

No wonder my microphones have a tough time at the drags!

Perhaps someone will have a good suggestion
for me regarding my next step.
I ordered some accessories from DV Info Net sponsor B&H.
I first got the Paglight C6 from them. Then I wanted a diffuser so I emailed PagUSA to ask if a particular diffuser I was considering would be usable with the C6 and was told that it would work fine for it. So I ordered the diffuser (~$70) from B&H. I also ordered barndoors to hold the diffuser (~$40).
(The reason I had to contact Pag directly is because
their website is not very clear about accessory compatibility. I can't even find the C6 listed on their USA site, only their Europe site.)
I also ordered a couple extra lamps (~$20)
and a dimmer (~$150).
All these items are listed with B&H as "no return".
When I received the items, I quickly realized
they were all designed for their larger lights,
including the diffuser and barndoors, which
customer support at Pag had told me would
work with it.
Any ideas what to do now as I have no use for
these items?

This sort of thing happens to me more than I care to admit. One option available to you is to post the items for sale in our Private Classifieds forum. Hope this helps,

You might consider giving the vendor a call and tell them what happened. Perhaps they can intercede with B&H on your behalf. You could also try calling B&H---or better yet a visit if you live in the area---They will often "bend the rules" if you make a good case.

What's the best video-/film-related gift you have ever gotten?

Make your own snowflakes, without the little bits of paper everywhere.
http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/

Have you found a great bargain or know of a sale that is worth mentioning? I own plenty of high end equipment and believe in buying the best whenever appropriate. I also believe it is smart to save a buck whenever possible. I enjoy all of the Home Depot type threads where people explain how they took something not specifically made for videographers and made it work well for their kit. If you have a cost cutter please post it.

Here is my 2 cents worth:

First a big thank you to ZOTZ Digital. A few of months ago I was shopping for a Sennheiser EW100 ENG kit. Brian at ZOTZ, who had a good price on it anyway, mentioned to me that he had one in stock from Sennheiser’s “B Stock”. That means it has a cosmetic flaw or something that kept it from being perfect but Sennheiser releases them because it does not effect the operation of the unit. I received an additional discount over his already low price for picking up the “B Stock”. Flaw? I can’t find it. Sennheiser’s B stock is an occasional find but if you’re going to purchase their great products it is worth asking if it is available.

A few weeks ago I found a Stanly toolbox at Wal Mart (yes, I know, I said Wal Mart). What made this one so cool is the wheels. It is two plastic boxes that stack on top of each other and rolls like air-line luggage. It has all kinds of little organizer pouches and compartments but the part I like is that the bottom box is just a tub I fill with XLR cable and AC. The top toolbox I fill with audio and monitoring stuff. Now with a Porta Brace bag over each shoulder I can roll in a gig box at the same time. It is 24” H x 19 W x 12 D, that does not sound like much but you start filling it with cable and your glad it has wheels. You can pick one up at WallyWorld for $24.99, I am going back to get another one.

Now that I have posted a Wal Mart tip I might as well take it a step lower and really embarrass myself by telling you about this accidental find at a “dollar store”. While shopping for kids stocking stuffers yesterday with my wife at a “dollar store” I picked up a few things for my junk box. Ground lift adapters were in packages of 3 for a buck, I bought 2 packages (see I am a big spender). Anyone that has ever delt with a 60 hrtz roll through their signal knows a ground lift is priceless. Nylon zip ties were in a bag of 200 (assorted sizes) for a buck, 1 inch spring clamps were in a package of 6 for a buck. No I do not buy hammers and cheap c-wrenches at the dollar store, but spring clamps?

Yes I am a professional (reference to Frank’s fun thread here), and I spend way too much money on pro gear, but, the more I can save on small stuff at WallyWorld the more often I can call DV Info Net sponsors for the good stuff.

Steve

OK, DVinfo has a No-Ebay link policy, but I think Chris will allow this one (plus the auction is over).

Read the description of why the guy is selling his video camera.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2971068672&category=20333

I buy small clips from the dollar store for clipping gels to barn doors. 6 for $1 sounds right. Maybe we buy the same ones. Metal with red rubber grips on either end?
I love these things, so handy. Good for many things, and I've never found the metal ones anywhere but a dollar store.

Sue 'em Dylan, he's using your story.

Dylan,
I think I saw the sequel to, "The Cops Will Never Take the Racoon Alive", but didn't think it was as good as the original that featured Lola "Boom Boom" Racoon. Sequels hardly ever capture the energy and emotion of the original.

I thought I would share this...really funny. I love the bottom right ending..."you kill yourself".

http://www.disinfotainmenttoday.com/filmschool.gif

Murph

Watched this one last night with my girlfriend. By the time the main character gets his second camera in the mail, having spent all of his money on it, my own girlfriend is compelled to shoot a definitive look of recognition at me. She is far more encouraging than the French stewardess girlfriend, however, Buddha bless her. :-)

ps It wasn't the strongest piece of work I've seen, but if you haven't seen it, CQ is worth a look, particularly if you're a young male would-be filmmaker introvert.

Not too far from reality!

Tickets to IBC and a filter set from my dad. Bought all the other
stuff myself.

there are two a lectrosonics 190 with ecm-77b's, or my second lowel kit with two AB 30/13 belts for field power....kinda miss getting gifts like that. both gifts from a kind boss when upgrades happened

m

For many reasons my editing PC isn't net connected. I discovered today that this has one major drawback when I tried to watch the wmv hi def version of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". Without an Internet connection it appears not to be possible to acquire the license necessary to unlock the content. I own the bleeding disk but can't view it in this format, about which I'm mighty curious. I've googled for a solution but can't find a way to download what I need on my Internet PC and run it on the other one. Any hope?

David Hurdon

To the best of my knowldege that's what DRM is all about. You
need a certificate to be able to play it and that certificate is
bound to the computer. So you can't transfer one to another PC.

In this case you will need to get internet access if you want to
play the movie on that machine I'm afraid.

Hey Kids,

If you haven't already seen the ad on tv, go to Mastercard.com to enter a contest to win a four-week internship on a music video production. I'd love to do something like this, but old girls aren't eligible--gotta be a student between the ages of 18-25.

There are sixteen openings, and all you have to do is write a good essay. It'll be shot in Los Angeles sometime in June.

Check it out: http://www.mastercard.com/mcweb/priceless/Home.do

Any members in Tokyo know a good place for me to go to get VHS copies made from a miniDV master?