These are some popular questions that have come up in the recent past.
Specific services we offer are detailed on the Services page.
Obviously there are many unanswered questions so contact us for your specific needs.
Specific services we offer are detailed on the Services page.
Obviously there are many unanswered questions so contact us for your specific needs.
1) What are QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) Panoramas?
A Quicktime VR panoramic movie presents a view captured from a central point. Using a digital/film camera with an extreme wide angle lens a series of separate images are captured and then using special software are stiched together. Depending on the method used this process can be done using from one to over twenty separate images.
2) How does Quicktime VR differ from regular Quicktime movies?
Well standard quicktime movies are linear by nature, that is you press play and watch. With QTVR you interact with the scene, panning to the left or right or tilting up or down and even zooming in or out.
3) Why use QuickTime? Isn't this an Apple format and I use Windows 98/2000/XP at work and home and so does 95% of the world, shouldn't I just use my Windows Media Player (WMP) instead?
Even the latest WMP does not support VR playback, it is primarily used to play back proprietary media. Quicktime is the leading cross-platform multimedia technology. More than 150 million copies of QuickTime Players are in distribution. This results in seamless playback for your visitors on both major platforms, further information can be found at the QuickTime web site
4) What I am to do if I am running some version of windows with an old version of Quicktime or having problems with the current version?
To be sure you have the latest version go directly to the QuickTime download site: Download QT
If you are having Window's specific problems go here: Widow's problems QT
5) So what are Object QTVR's and how will they sell my product?
Object movies allow you to examine an object from a variety of angles. This allows the potential customer to "handle" the object in a similar manner to picking it up in a store. This is far superior to flat 2D pictures, especially for solid objects.
A Quicktime VR panoramic movie presents a view captured from a central point. Using a digital/film camera with an extreme wide angle lens a series of separate images are captured and then using special software are stiched together. Depending on the method used this process can be done using from one to over twenty separate images.
2) How does Quicktime VR differ from regular Quicktime movies?
Well standard quicktime movies are linear by nature, that is you press play and watch. With QTVR you interact with the scene, panning to the left or right or tilting up or down and even zooming in or out.
3) Why use QuickTime? Isn't this an Apple format and I use Windows 98/2000/XP at work and home and so does 95% of the world, shouldn't I just use my Windows Media Player (WMP) instead?
Even the latest WMP does not support VR playback, it is primarily used to play back proprietary media. Quicktime is the leading cross-platform multimedia technology. More than 150 million copies of QuickTime Players are in distribution. This results in seamless playback for your visitors on both major platforms, further information can be found at the QuickTime web site
4) What I am to do if I am running some version of windows with an old version of Quicktime or having problems with the current version?
To be sure you have the latest version go directly to the QuickTime download site: Download QT
If you are having Window's specific problems go here: Widow's problems QT
5) So what are Object QTVR's and how will they sell my product?
Object movies allow you to examine an object from a variety of angles. This allows the potential customer to "handle" the object in a similar manner to picking it up in a store. This is far superior to flat 2D pictures, especially for solid objects.
1) What are some of the advantages of Digital Video over Analog video formats?
Since both audio and video information is already in digital form transfer and editing it on a computer is relatively simple. Digital Video can come in many forms from consumer MiniDV to High Definition (HD) formats like 24 Frame Progressive that George Lucas used to shoot the latest Star Wars movie.
2) What makes Final Cut Pro (FCP) unique for editing over Avids, Media 100's or even Premier from Adobe?
Of the many features that separate FCP from the others is it's scalability and combination of editing, compositing and special effects all under one, easy to use interface. FCP is tightly integrated with Quicktime which allows it to work with most video formats from web streaming to HD production all from the same interface. Other editing systems require "different versions" for different formats and also require separate programs to do compositing and special effects.
3) Does Digital Video eliminate regional differences like NTSC or PAL?
No, as it stands Digital Video formats and sub formats all operate within the same basic categories of : NTSC, PAL and SECAM. FCP can edit either PAL or NTSC which on the production end takes care of most of the world.
4) Can I Edit Anamorphic 16:9 video using FCP?
Yes, however graphics, including titles would need to have different aspect ratios and positioning than with 4:3 video.
5) As a Documentary Videoographer, I encounter multiple sources of material for my projects. Can I combine analog (non-time based) sources with current DV sources along with scanned photos created in Photoshop into FCP?
Yes, as long as you edit your sequence with one Pixel Aspect Ratio (Such as NTSC-CCIR601 DV 3:2) and conform all your other material to that. Inputting analog video into a DV/FCP system usually can be done by most consumer DV camcorders or using a media converter. If you are using a HD system with Cine Wave HD or similar you can combine Analog composite, component, S-video and SDI (SMPTE 292M) sources.
Creating graphics for your Video Productions often begins and end with Photoshop or Painter. Each layer in your Image , when imported, comes in as a separate video track in the sequence. Creating graphics that display well on Video as opposed to a computer screen or print, while not too difficult, requires an understanding of the severe limitations that both NTSC and PAL video places on their design.
6) I am using a DV camcorder to shoot many hours of video on location and I want to do a rough cut on my PowerBook, but even with a 60GB hard drive installed I don't have enough room, can I "capture" at a lower resolution to experiment with while still be able to render the sequence at full resolution later?
Yes, even with FCP 2.0 you could capture a low resolution P-JPEG 320X240 file But with FCP 3.0 Apple added a mode OfflineRT format so that not only you get 9 times the storage capacity of native DV capture but with real-time dual-stream editing as well. After you edited your project you recapture at DV quality, as long as you maintained good time code during shooting.
Since both audio and video information is already in digital form transfer and editing it on a computer is relatively simple. Digital Video can come in many forms from consumer MiniDV to High Definition (HD) formats like 24 Frame Progressive that George Lucas used to shoot the latest Star Wars movie.
2) What makes Final Cut Pro (FCP) unique for editing over Avids, Media 100's or even Premier from Adobe?
Of the many features that separate FCP from the others is it's scalability and combination of editing, compositing and special effects all under one, easy to use interface. FCP is tightly integrated with Quicktime which allows it to work with most video formats from web streaming to HD production all from the same interface. Other editing systems require "different versions" for different formats and also require separate programs to do compositing and special effects.
3) Does Digital Video eliminate regional differences like NTSC or PAL?
No, as it stands Digital Video formats and sub formats all operate within the same basic categories of : NTSC, PAL and SECAM. FCP can edit either PAL or NTSC which on the production end takes care of most of the world.
4) Can I Edit Anamorphic 16:9 video using FCP?
Yes, however graphics, including titles would need to have different aspect ratios and positioning than with 4:3 video.
5) As a Documentary Videoographer, I encounter multiple sources of material for my projects. Can I combine analog (non-time based) sources with current DV sources along with scanned photos created in Photoshop into FCP?
Yes, as long as you edit your sequence with one Pixel Aspect Ratio (Such as NTSC-CCIR601 DV 3:2) and conform all your other material to that. Inputting analog video into a DV/FCP system usually can be done by most consumer DV camcorders or using a media converter. If you are using a HD system with Cine Wave HD or similar you can combine Analog composite, component, S-video and SDI (SMPTE 292M) sources.
Creating graphics for your Video Productions often begins and end with Photoshop or Painter. Each layer in your Image , when imported, comes in as a separate video track in the sequence. Creating graphics that display well on Video as opposed to a computer screen or print, while not too difficult, requires an understanding of the severe limitations that both NTSC and PAL video places on their design.
6) I am using a DV camcorder to shoot many hours of video on location and I want to do a rough cut on my PowerBook, but even with a 60GB hard drive installed I don't have enough room, can I "capture" at a lower resolution to experiment with while still be able to render the sequence at full resolution later?
Yes, even with FCP 2.0 you could capture a low resolution P-JPEG 320X240 file But with FCP 3.0 Apple added a mode OfflineRT format so that not only you get 9 times the storage capacity of native DV capture but with real-time dual-stream editing as well. After you edited your project you recapture at DV quality, as long as you maintained good time code during shooting.
1) Why did Apple introduced a new operating System?
What is now called "Classic OS" including any system 9.X or earlier while having a friendly user interface did have some serious problems just beneath the surface. With increase demands by video, animation, audio and other "digital hub" tasks the Macintosh OS was at it's limit. Previous attempts, by Apple, to create a new operating system ended in failure and than came Steve Jobs and his company NeXT and it's UNIX-based OS called NeXTSTEP. What is now OS X is a blend of a new interface design Aqua based on a UNIX microkernal ( Mach 3 and FreeBSD 3.2) which gives a Mac user for the first time an industrial-strenght OS with the following advantages:
> Protective Memory - If one program crashes, the remaining programs can keep running without restarting.
> Preemptive Multitasking - The OS determines which program needs more system resources dynamically, which means while running multiple programs you should notice fewer slowdowns.
> Advance Virtual Memory - In 9.X and earlier operating systems memory was manually assigned to your various programs and were not shared by other programs even if the other program didn't even need the memory. The result is for a given Mac more programs can run with vastly improved performance.
2) What happens to my library of programs I have collected over the years, especially shareware programs that may never get upgraded?
There are three kinds of Programs currently in the Mac universe:
> OS X native both Cocoa and Carbon (see the OS X pages for a detailed explanation) which will run under OSX.
> "Classic" applications will run under OSX only by having 9.X OS running as a separate application letting you mix both OS X applications with older applications from one operating system environment. The disadvantage is that the Classic applications can still bring down the entire 9.X OS within OS X and the need to reboot 9.X OS though leaving the OS X applications alone and running fine. Also many older applications exhibit some anomalies when running under this hybrid environment.
> Classic applications that either run poorly under "Classic emulation" or not at all. These can range from professional applications to many games, especially those that expect to see certain hardware, extensions or drivers. The solution is to boot to a pure 9.X OS environment. This will remain an option running any legacy software or even hardware peripherals like scanners or printers that were orphaned by it's manufacturer by never releasing an OS X ,or even classic compatible, version.
