Avid, Final Cut Pro, and Streaming Training Courses

Adobe Encore and Predesigned Menus

Mickey — 2007-12-26T15:29:18-05:00

Creating menus in Encore has never been easier! With many different options to choose from in the library you can be up an running with a very professional looking menu in a matter of minutes. All you need to do is add your desired text and route your buttons and you are ready for DVD navigation. That great thing is if you want to create a very custom looking menu system then it is still very easy. I always begin with a predesigned layout but then modify it to my needs. An easy way to begin a project is to base your menu on the predesigned menus, buttons, images, and shapes found in the Library panel. You can add still images, buttons, or other assets to a menu. The technique you use depends on the source of the object. To automatically create buttons and build the links to those assets, simply drag the assets (such as video, menus, or timelines) to a menu.

Buttons, in order to function as individual navigation links, cannot overlap each other. As you add buttons to a menu, Encore highlights any that overlap with a bright red outline.

In addition to standard definition, Encore provides an assortment of high-definition menu templates and other assets, and distinguishes them with an “HD” in their names. These can be used for any type of project (DVD, Blu-ray, or Flash) and Encore will automatically scale them to the desired menu size when you build the project.

We now offer a complete training class to get you up and running in Adobe Encore. Sign up now and start making professional DVD's.

ViewCast Corporation Names Peter Still as Sales Director

derrick — 2007-12-24T23:50:23-05:00

ViewCast Corporation a leader in advanced digital audiovisual products for capturing and streaming-live and on-demand-audio and video over the Internet and mobile networks, today announced that Peter Still will join the company as sales director, EMEA, effective Jan. 2, 2008. Still will have responsibility for developing and enhancing sales of ViewCast products and creating new business opportunities throughout the region.

Dailymotion Chooses Limelight Networks for Video Delivery

derrick — 2007-12-24T23:20:18-05:00

Limelight Networks, the leading content delivery network (CDN) for digital media, announced that it has been selected as the exclusive CDN provider to deliver video content for all 17 of Dailymotion's growing portfolio of localised, country-specific online portals. Dailymotion, the first independent video sharing site, needed a trusted partner that could help support its in-house content distribution infrastructure. Dailymotion has been experiencing exponential growth, in terms of site traffic, content volume and general brand awareness. In June 2007, Dailymotion drew 37.6 million users who viewed a total of 715 million online videos.

DV Show Podcast Interview Featured on Net Briefings' Website

derrick — 2007-12-24T23:19:00-05:00

The DV Show Podcast interview with CEO, Gary Anderson, from Net Briefings is featured on the NetBriefings' website.

Gary's interview covers the following:

Details about Net Briefings Enterprise product E-Conference Enterprise.
A follow-up to Streaming Media West 2007
Net Briefings earlier announcement this year of Proclaim

Limelight Offers Support for Flash Media Streaming Server 3

derrick — 2007-12-23T23:55:21-05:00

Limelight Networks, the leading content delivery network (CDN) for digital media, announced a streaming service beta program for Adobe Flash Media Streaming Server 3. The new service leverages the integration of Adobe Flash Media Streaming Server 3 into Limelight Networks' global, rich-media CDN. Select customers in the US can take advantage of this program to enable their Adobe Flash media content and bring the next generation of online experiences to consumers worldwide.

The new platform created by Limelight Networks to support Adobe Flash Media Streaming Server 3 will provide customers with enhanced features and capabilities including the ability to stream industry standard H.264 video and HE-AAC audio streaming for high quality Web video and encrypted streaming using RTMPE and SWF verification for improved content protection.

Internap Extends 100 Percent for Content Delivery Network

derrick — 2007-12-23T23:42:24-05:00

Internap Network Services Corporation, a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, announced a new service level agreement (SLA) that provides 100% uptime performance for its content delivery network (CDN) services. The CDN SLA extends the 100% uptime SLA that Internap has offered for the last 10 years on its Performance IPTM network services. Included in this new SLA is third party verification by Keynote Systems and proactive notification by Internap as part of its end-to-end network monitoring and management.

This new SLA follows the acquisition of VitalStream in February 2007 and the integration of the VitalStream CDN with Internap's Performance IP network infrastructure that includes patented technology and intellectual property known as MIRO (Managed Internet Route OptimizerTM). MIRO monitors Internet backbones around the world in real time and automatically chooses the best route for traffic based on performance and reliability. Internap's Performance IP and MIRO runs thousands of mission-critical websites and applications for more than 3,500 customers globally.

Distrubuted Encoding with Apple Qmaster and Compressor

derrick — 2007-12-23T23:16:02-05:00

Those that have Final Cut Studio or DVD Studio 4 installed on several workstations inside their internal network can look at Apple Qmaster and Compressor as an option for distributed encoding. This is one of the cool features of having Final Cut Studio and Macs available. Now before you decide to go this route you should know that the only way you'll be happy with the speed of the encoding on your encoding cluster is to have a fast network and fast workstations.

With that said you can create a Cluster with Apple Qmaster by turning on the QuickCluster with services feature in the System preferences of the Mac OS under Apple Qmaster. This option is only available for those with Final Cut Studio or DVD Studio Pro 4. Using Compressor you can send jobs to the cluster instead of to Compressor on your Desktop workstation. The workstations in the cluster can gang up on your videos to encode your output files which is very cool stuff. For example, when you send your Batch to your cluster each node in your cluster is used to process the videos which means encoding should be completed quicker. You even have the ability to check the status of your encoding on the cluster through the Batch Monitor on your client computer. A possible scenario is to have editing happening during the day and encoding going on overnight or when editing is not happening.

Save 10% on Adobe Production Bundle

Mickey — 2007-12-23T17:38:12-05:00

If you are in the market for one of the new Adobe bundles, then now is the time. Our great friends over at Digital Juice have teamed up with Adobe to save you 10% on your next purchase. This includes any product form Adobe and when you are spending close to $2000.00 on a production suite and a few other applications 10% adds up quick. So don't delay and get your Adobe products now and sign up for one of our up and coming Adobe training classes!

Adobe After Effects, Digital Juice and Trapcode Particular

Mickey — 2007-12-22T18:47:03-05:00

Digital juice has done it again, they have teamed up with the guys at Red Giant and are offering one fo my favorite plug-ins at 50% off. It is Trapcode's Particular. Particular is a powerful 3D particle system that can produce a wide range of effects from natural smoke and explosions to geometric or organic abstract motion graphics design elements. Tight integration with Adobe After Effects provides bouncing particles on 3D layers, emitting particles from layers and lights and using a layer as custom particle. Comp-camera aware and 16bit of course! The physics engine includes air resistance, gravity and turbulence, providing very realistic particle motion. The keyframable Physics Time Factor gives you full control over time so you can freeze time and move the camera around in a scene. Particular has many uses and make sure you check out these great examples. Don't miss this great opportunity to save big on a very useful plug-in and sign up for our next After Effects class and learn how to utilize this great plug-in!

Nero 8 Update Supports BDMV Playback and Mini HD DVD-Video Playback

derrick — 2007-12-22T01:24:55-05:00

Nero, leaders in digital media technology, announced that the latest update of the award-winning Nero 8 suite brings users a number of great new features including BDMV authoring and playback, improved file encoding speed, and support for Mini HD DVD-Video discs.

Nero 8 has received certification for authoring and playback of writeable Blu-ray Disc Video (BDMV) titles and, with the new update, now supports advanced and interactive features for High Definition audio and video. The certifications were presented by Sony Corporation's Blu-ray Disc testing center and ensure maximum compatibility with other Blu-ray devices for trouble-free operation.

RingNett to Expand IPTV Service With Envivio 4Caster C4 Encoder

derrick — 2007-12-22T01:10:56-05:00

Envivio Inc., the leading technology provider of IP video convergence encoding solutions from mobile to HD, announced it is providing a Convergence Generation video headend to Norwegian ISP RingNett AS to enable the roll out of its Digital-TV IPTV service across its ADSL2+ infrastructure. RingNett's Digital-TV service is already available to test customers subscribing to its optical fiber-based GPON high speed Internet delivery service. By also supporting an Envivio MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoding platform, RingNett can offer the same IPTV content both over xDSL (ADSL2+ and VDSL2) and FTTx (GPON and Active Ethernet) without compromising video quality.

Flip4Mac WMV Celebrates 10 Million Downloads

derrick — 2007-12-22T00:55:54-05:00

Telestream's award-winning Flip4Mac WMV Components for QuickTime applications has surpassed the 10 million download mark! They're celebrating the amazing milestone with the release of Version 2.2 software.

Highlights for all users:

- Play Windows Media from more websites and streaming servers
- Move your software from one computer to another using the new deactivation/reactivation feature
- Support for Apple's Mac OS X Leopard

Encoding a Quicktime movie vs a Sequence

johnlynn2003 — 2007-12-21T19:50:20-05:00

Exporting a Quicktime movie out of Final Cut Pro using the current settings of a HDV1080i60 sequence, and then closing Final Cut Pro, and opening the Quicktime movie with Compressor to do the encode is over twenty percent faster than exporting out of Final Cut Pro to Compressor. A test was conducted using a Powerbook Intel duo 2.2 with 2 gb of RAM. The Project was 1:45 long, and to encode straight out of FCP, it took 19:35. To export the Quicktime out of FCP, and then encode the movie, took 15:27. These numbers are certainly subject to the machine doing the encoding. Aside from the benefit of the time savings you also end up with a Quicktime movie.

Avid Xpress Pro / Media Composer and Capture Time Limit

Mickey — 2007-12-20T17:25:34-05:00

There are many different settings you need to be aware of in the capture settings dialog box, but the first one you need to address is the length of allowed capture. What I mean by this the the time that Avid will allow you to capture your footage before it stops capturing. The default is 30 minutes, which I have always thought to be way to short considering that your average DV tape is 60 minutes and for the most part I want the time limit to be when I press stop. So, I set mine to 120 minutes that way I have complete control over my capture time limit. To do this go t o your project window and select the settings tab. Double click on capture and the capture dialog box will open. Click on the OMF Media Files tab and set the maximum capture time to your time limit of choice. Make sure you sign up for our next up and coming Avid class, class sizes are always small and seats are filling up fast!

Exporting an Image Sequence in Final Cut Pro

2007-12-20T09:34:43-05:00

Exporting a series of images from your sequence is performed a little differently than exporting a single frame image in Final Cut Pro. You can export a sequence of images in the format of your choice via exporting Using Quicktime Conversion. Set a range in your sequence for export using in and out points.

1 After you have opened a sequence into the Timeline, you can set your in and out points for export as a Numbered Image Sequence.

2 Go to File > Export > Using QuickTime Conversion.

3 Designate a place where you want the files to be saved. I recommend creating a new folder for this export.

4 Click on the FORMAT twirl down menu and choose Image Sequence from the list.

5 Click on the USE twirl down menu and choose a setting.

6 Click on the Options button in the Export Window to set other options for bit depth and compression under the Options button of the Export Image and Sequence Settings box.

7 Click OK after you have made changes in the Options menu, in this example JPEG Options, and in the Export Image and Sequence Settings box and Click Save in the Export Window to export your image sequence.