Sharing and collaborating materials web 2.1?

For team working Box.net proposes a useful feature.

As web 2.0 moves increasingly into socialising the web it's becoming easier to work on projects with friends, collagues and team mates remotely.  Dropbox is a very popular service, (well worth exploring if you haven't already) and it offers a shared folder.  This makes it possible to place a file into a shared web based folder, or if the app is installed on the collaborator's computer, onto their hard drive.  But there are some additional features that are needed to support comment and communication alongside file sharing.

Box.net

With a recent upgraded version of their service Box.net have some way to answer these issues.  Like Drop Box there is a free version as well as a premium service.  My comments all relate to the free service.  It comes with 5 gigs of storage.

I recently suggested using the service to a team of students who are managing the pre-production on a film project.  They have all had to set up accounts and provide an email address.  Any of the team can then place/view/download material from the shared folder.  Some files can be viewed in directly in the browser.  It supports common types of file formats like Word, Excel etc.  Each file can have notes and threaded comments attached to it.  People can easily be invited to join the 'sharing'.  It's also possible to do a group email to all collaborators.

When you log in to your Box.net account you are presented with a list of things that have been updated.  However it's not necessary to actually log in to Box.net see what's going on.  Each shared folder creates an RSS feed.  So all activity can easily be seen using a Feed Reader.  I use Google's reader and the excellent 'Reeder' (sic) on the iPhone. (£)

Solutions to recent transcoding problems

Transcoding is the process of changing a file from one format to another. Last week having edited as aif students needed to convert to a Wav file. Its common to have to do this converted from one to another and back again. The conversion to MP3 is also very common. These are all different CODECs.

Here is a post I wrote earlier this year about Switch - a free Mac app that makes it easy to convert from one audio format to another.

The file conversion site Zamzar is another favorite of mine. This works on all sort of file types - image, document, media.

The producers of Switch also make a free - multi platform audio editor called Wavepad Sound Editor, it looks good and will do the conversion to multiple formats too. The open source fav is Audacity - which I have found to be good. for simple stereo editing Sound Studio is neat and very mac-like. It only runs of Mac and doesn't convert to MP3 sadly, oh yes and costs $80.

You have to get used to understanding formats and develop your own toolbox and workarounds. There isn't an easy cheap one stop shop. Or maybe there is? Let me know.

Using Youtube or Vimeo?

YouTube is a great service and I use it alot. But there are some advantage of using another service called Vimeo. The main one is that you can upload videos and control the people who have access to it. So that rough cuts and work and progress can be shared or collaboratively worked on , privately. As far as quality goes I thinks its about even. YouTube has improved recently with the addition of HD and more importantly support for 16:9 playback. I, personally, find YouTube to stream more consistently. But then I think my home ISP (Tiscali) is to blame for this!

The basic account at Vimeo is free with limits on the number of HD files you can upload a week and the max weekly data upload. Thats 1 HD video and 500 mb respectively. Plenty for normal use. The video that you upload is converted by Vimeo and then the orginal is deleted after a week, leaving the compressed version to view and download. So its NOT a storage service for your videos!

You need to compress the video, initially. This is to maximise your data useage, mimimise the upload time and create the best looking online video. There are a number of ways of doing this. Here are the vimeo guidelines:

Codec - Choose H.264 for the video codec. Choose AAC for the audio codec.

Frame rate – 25 per sec. If there is an option that says "current" just go with that.

Keyframes - Every 25 frames. This is basically how often the compressor references your uncompressed video.

Data rate - 1800 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video , 2500 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition. Making these numbers higher will increase both quality and size.

Size - 720 x576 for standard definition 4:3 video, 1024 x 576 for widescreen DV, or 1280x720 for high definition. It is also best to export 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 video as 1280x720 too.

Deinterlace - Yes. If you do not deinterlace, you will often get weird-looking horizontal lines in your video.

Sound sample rate - 44.100 kHz

Audio quality - 128 kbps.

To convert SD DV use the free handbrake application. Instructions here. If you have FCP here are instructions. If you want to use Compressor (from the FCP studio bundle) instructions are here with a downloadable 'droplet' for you desktop to make it even easier.

I have also been trying QuickTime Pro and MPEG streamclip as ways of compressing the footage. I'll post about these soon.

Good luck.

Mike J

transcoding to MP3

I hate it when Apple remove a function or facility from some software. We get so used to companies adding utility. I recently wanted to create some MP3 files from .aiff files. Easy, I used to use iTunes. Possibily the only thing its useful for. Except the newest version I have doesn't seem to allow you to do this anymore. 

The solution was to use a free application called 'Switch'. This worked like a dream and with much more control and features than iTunes.  Great.

When working with FCP, its easiest to disarm iTunes. I hate the way it hijacks audio CDs and automatically opens them in iTunes. I turn this off, and re set the default application.   (Select the file in the finder, then click command (apple) + i.)

Now when I load an audio disc , I preview it in the Finder and when I open it , it opens in QuickTime. If I want to use the track in FCP then I save it to the media assets file of the project, and transcode it to 48K at the same time. No iTunes, no glitchy playback, all the assets in the right place.

The offical Apple way of bringing audio into FCP with Batch export is DAFT.

cheers, Mike J

Troubles with wi-fi networks?

At home I had been noticing more and more difficulties using my laptop wirelessly. It would connect to the Internet via the wireless router but often failed to load a page etc. It was driving me mad. Depending on the time of day the connection was better, quicker and more reliable than at other times. I assumed that the router was at fault. My service provider (Tiscali) has been OK. However last week I finally figured it out. The problem was that my router uses the same wi-fi channel as several neighbours. When I changed the channel my router used, the problem disappeared.

In order to perform this useful feat you need to know what channels your neighbours are using. You need to know your router's login and password and about 10 minutes of time.

Since I use a Mac I used coconut wifi - a free application that gives you the info you need to select a channel. Pick one thats a couple of channels away from a neighbour's. Open the router settings (accessed via your browser) select a suitable channel.

Job done. Thanks to Macuser for that great tip.

The sad demise of Polaroid

Its a changing world I suppose so ity should come as no surprise that the old staple of design, wardrobe and make up depts, having been replaced with digital cameras, is about to expire. Polaroid - the instant colour camera, much loved by artists, voyeurs and photographers is to cease making film in 12 days time. Naturally there is an internet website that is trying to fight back (save polaroid) but the economic odds are heavily stacked against it.

One solution - and its well worth a play with - is to try Poladroid (mac only). This neat free app allows you to process an image as if you had taken it with a Polaroid camera! It must be puzzling for those who are unaware of the soft greenish images that Polaroids produce. You can even influence and control the development as you could with the real things! Waiting for the image to process reminds me of the same wait in the darkroom and the thrill of seeing the print appear on the paper ........

Here's a video by way of explanation (I recognise the music loops from Soundtrack Pro but they are very nicely used). Play around with it and have fun. Happy Christmas! See you next year.

Official POLADROID demo video - v0.9.5
Uploaded by paul_ladroid

Free magazine - online

COW Magazine ISSUE 7 -- Nov/Dec 2007.

In this issue of Creative COW Magazine, you will meet one of the men that made Max Headroom such an 80's icon. He'll share strategies and how it all came about, including some of the techniques used. One of the members of the legendary Robert Abel & Associates team takes you inside some of the earliest uses of CGI and how these commercial techniques preceded their later use in the world of film. You will also be taken inside a direct response advertising expert's world and how it works and why. You will also learn how one man made a commercial that you would swear used 3D software but doesn't. You will discover five ways to get control of your billings and make more money with less stress. Watch as one woman handles 11 deadlines a day -- and you thought you had it bad, eh? Learn an artist's secrets for high-end graphics workflows. And take a tour of drive technology of the past, the present and the future. Well worth a look