Archive for June, 2010

Avid MC5 vs Adobe CS5 vs Apple FCP 7 (FCS 3)

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/will-cs5-and-mc5-toast-fcp

  • Great article comparing their pragmatics for various kinds of business and workflow situation.
  • Also speculating on their likely future developments.

Posted in Avid, Final Cut, NLE, Premiere | No Comments »

Sony Vegas & High-Definition (HD) for YouTube

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Using Sony Vegas to produce High-Definition (HD) material for YouTube, from HD sources:

Posted in Sony Vegas, YouTube | No Comments »

Mac Boot Camp > Windows 7: Heat Issue (again)

Friday, June 25th, 2010

The following describes exactly what I observe.  So it is definitely not just my machine then…

  • http://www.macwindows.com/keep_vista_cool_bootcamp.html 
    • An illustrative story:
      • “The laptop will just get hotter and hotter without heavy load, until I can’t take it and turn it off. If I restart it into Mac, it will turn the fans on full blast for a little while and cool it off and then slow the fans back down. So the Mac side knows that it is way too hot. But the Windows side refuses to cool it off. “
    • But no need to worry (?):
      •  “I have called Apple tech support a few times and get it escalated, but engineering say this is not an issue that I only have to worry if the thing shuts itself off. It’s not being investigated, its not an issue.”
    • Fans operate but do not ramp-up as soon as expected, in terms of temperature.
    • Some people use a fan-base.
    • The higher-powered (more power and heat-producing) of the two graphics cards is used, and there is no way to swap between them.
    • Lubbo’s Fan Control is said (by some) to be better than  Input Remapper and  smcFanControl:
      •  The primary purpose of Input Remapper is to provide a variety of useful keyboard shortcuts while in Boot Camp (which can be disabled if desired).  However it also provides controls to set the minimum fan speed.
      • smcFanControl allows you to set the minimum fan speed on the Mac side. Whatever they’re running at will still apply if the computer is restarted into Boot Camp.  However the fans go off again if machine shuts down or hibernates.
      • However for the version I tried, one of the two cores did a 50% duty cycle of load.  So the downside of this utility is it eats 25% CPU power (and wastes energy).  Apparently due to the way it’s implemented, a necessary compromise in the absence of source code for Boot Camp.

Posted in Mac, MacBook Pro | No Comments »

MacBook BootCamp Re-Install

Friday, June 25th, 2010

WHen using Windows under BootCamp, I had been getting some serious problems when using an external drive via FW800.

  • …like the device disappearing (from the visibility of the OS, Windows 7).

As advised by suppliers, removed and reinstalled BootCamp, as follows:

  • Windows 7: [Control Panel >> Remove Programs: BootCamp Services]
  • Rebooted
  • Inserted Mac OS Disk that came with the MacBook
    • It is MacBook-specific. Must use that one, not any other.
  • From root folder, as seen by W7, ran [setup.exe].
    • Kapersky complained a few times.
  • Rebooted.  Mostly OK but no keyboard lights or control thereof.
  • Rebooted again.  Now the keyboard lights are on and controllable.
  • Check the BootCamp version: It is 3.0.
  • Need update to 3.1.
  • Go to Apple support page for BootCamp:
    • [www.apple.com/support/bootcamp]
  • ..and click [Downloads]
    • Taken to [http://support.apple.com/downloads/#macoscomponents]
    • There are several items.
  • There are several Boot Camp 3.1 downloads (these are upgrades not installs).  Which one (if any) is appropriate?  Examples:
  • Searched web for any clues:
  • Finally: Downloaded the one at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL979
  • Broadly applicable installation instructions are at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4177
    • …even though they’re for the 13-incher.

Not necessarily related, but interesting to note:

Posted in Mac, MacBook Pro, Uncategorized | No Comments »

ProDad Mercalli Registration

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

You have to email them, then they send a .exe file specific to that installation.  Not simply a loicense key to enter in a dialog.

Posted in Mercalli, Prodad | No Comments »

DreamColor Calibration – profile kept regardless of connection?

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/view-video-display-hardware-software/479831-hp-dreamcolor-calibration.html

  •  Q: “‘ve got HP Dreamcolor monitor connected to MacPro via BlackMagic HD LinkPro (display port) to monitor FCP footage. I managed to calibrate the monitor using APS soft and the Xrite/HP calibrator. During the calibration the monitor is connected to MacPro via DVI cable and works as a computer monitor. Then I disconnect one and use BlackMagic to feed the signal. Is the calibrated profile stored in the monitor regardless of the signal source”
  • A: “I’ve done some testing and it looks like the calibrated profile stays regardless the connection. “

Posted in DreamColor | No Comments »