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BlackMagic Motion JPEG Codec

Overview The BlackMagic (BM) Motion JPEG codec is the codec that is used to create the AVI files generated during the film capture through the BlackMagic Intensity Pro capture card from the Sniper units.  The codec is maintained in the final file that is generated by the Cinecap VelocityHD program.

Issue

When these AVI files are ingested into the various NLE programs, these programs need to be able to translate the AVI files.  Customers have reported that Adobe's Premier Pro (CS 4 or CS5) does not natively ingest these files.  One person with a new system (quad-core PC, 8GB RAM, Win7 64bit) and CS5 and our website sample download got the dialogue box that said:  "The project file appears to be damaged"....he could however play it using a player on his system.

Install Codec

However, it cannot hurt to have the BlackMagic Motion JPEG codec.  Here's the instructions on how to install it:

It appears that they've repackaged things and the codec  can now be downloaded in something called "Desktop Video".  The other person that downloaded this had no problems and even found a cool utility to analyse his drive configuration for editing HD footage.  The direct link to download it for windows (xp, vista and 7) is here:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail/?sid=3947&pid=3989&os=win&leg=0

Otherwise here's the route:

1) http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/

2) Then select the OS, the Product Series is "Intensity", and the Product is "Intensity Pro" ... then click the <Search> button.

3) Under the downloads title, select the <Download> button for "Desktop Video 9.0 for Windows"

PowerPoint Into Sony Vegas

How to convert a PowerPoint or Keynote file to images PNG is the recommended export format for generating high-quality slide images for your presentation video. However, Presto can work with a wide range of image formats, including:

  • Windows bitmap - BMP, DIB
  • JPEG - JPEG, JPG, JPE
  • Portable Network Graphics - PNG
  • Portable image format - PBM, PGM, PPM
  • Sun rasters - SR, RAS
  • TIFF files - TIFF, TIF

Microsoft Office PowerPoint®

To convert PowerPoint slides to images:

  1. Open the presentation in PowerPoint.
  2. Choose Save As...
  3. From the file type drop-down menu, select PNG Portable Network Graphics Format.
  4. Type a filename, choose a location for the files, then click Save.
  5. After you click OK, PowerPoint will present the following dialog:

Select Every Slide, and PowerPoint will create a folder with the name you specified. Your PNG slide images are in this folder.

Apple iWork Keynote

To convert Keynote slides to images:

  1. Open the presentation in Keynote.
  2. Choose Share > Export, then click Images.
  3. Specify whether to create a file for every slide or for a range of slides.
  4. To create a separate image for each build stage, select Create an image for each stage of builds.
  5. Choose a format option from the format pop-up menu (preferably PNG, as noted above). If you choose JPEG format, use the Quality controls to specify a high-quality output.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Type a filename, choose a location for the files, then click Export.

How to quickly rename slide files using Windows Explorer

If a single presentation video is based on multiple presentations (i.e., you have several PowerPoint or Keynote presentation files to work with), you may need to rename the slide image files that you export from PowerPoint or Keynote, because Presto requires that each slide image has a unique filename.

In Windows Explorer it's easy to rename a group of slide image files. When you select multiple files in a folder, Windows automatically adds a number in parenthesis after each filename. The following steps explain how to use this multiple file renaming feature:

  1. First, make sure all the slide files are sorted by name, then select them all, as ilustrated below.
  2. RIght-click on the first item and choose Rename from the drop-down menu.
  3. The text of the first item will now be selected, as illustrated below. Type a name for this presentation that is unique and will ensure that the multiple presentations sort in the correct order (e.g. Presentation 1, Presentation 2, and so on).
  4. Now when you press Enter, Windows will rename all the files, adding a number in parenthesis to make each filename unique, as illustrated below.

Transferring a Copy Protected VHS Tape

Overview: The odd VHS tape will have copy protection.  The copy protection will probably be Macrovision.  And here is a simple way to get around it.

Tools:

Canopus ADVC100

Summary:

Use the Canopus ADVC100 to strip the copy protection.  Place the unit with the 3 cables coming from the VCR into the Canopus and either the firewire out to the computer or the 3 cables out to the DVD recorder.

Details:

(From: http://www.guygraphics.com/REVIEWS-192003.html )

(also similar but for ADVC 100:   http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/233261-Canopus-ADVC-100-vs-Canopus-ADVC-110 )

Macrovision Protection/Elimination Controversy As many people in the video editing world are aware, Canopus has been around in the mainstream for a long time. One of their earlier products was an analog to digital converter called the ADVC-100. And often, when people talk about the Canopus ADVC-110, then often refer to it as “the ADVC-100 without macrovision elimination”. This is mainly because the ADVC-110 is only slightly different from the ADVC-100. According to Canopus, they added the powered bus feature to the 110, but got rid of the ability to disable macrovision. Because of these minor changes and because the ADVC-110 and 110 look almost exactly the same, people have been asking if there was a way to still disable macrovision on the 110. Many people have offered suggestions on how to accomplish this. And although Canopus doesn’t officially support this feature on the ADVC-110, we figured we’d give it a try anyway.

How to Disable Macrovision on the Canopus ADVC-110

• Press and hold the Input Select button on the front panel for about 15 seconds • While holding, your captured image will freeze • When the video starts playing again, you can stop pushing the button. • Macrovision copy-protection is now disabled until you switch off the ADVC-110

This process is pretty much the same as it was on the ADVC-100. We didn’t test this with multiple units; therefore we’re not sure if this will work for everyone. Nor are we aware if Canopus or Grass Valley will continue to allow this awesome feature to keep working. But for now, feel free to bask in the joy of a cool little tweak.

The following info is pertaining to the ADVC100:

To disable MV on the ADVC-100, you do the following:

1. while the tape is in the vcr and playing 2. be sure the advc dip switch is set to Analog -- the Rt blue light will come on 3. turn on the advc, and let it initialize completely 4. make sure tape is playing and observe the advc's red light 4a. if not on, disabling step feature does nothing, so don't waist your time pressing it 4b. if on, then proceed to disable like this: 4c. when RT blue and red light are on, press and hold down silver button for aprox 15 seconds or until the red light stop illuminating. At this point, the MV is disabled -- finished

(One thing I want to point out, and that is, that the advc may respond to different types of MV but depending on how the source vcr outputs the signal. So while the advc responds to one type of MV on your vcr it may not respond to another users' if using a different vcr. This also helps to explain why some users meet with success while others, not)

When I work with vhs transfers and conversions, I may use one of the following scenarios:

ADVC->DVCAM->CapCard or DVCAM->DVCAM->CapCard.

16mm Sound Film Pointers

Purpose This article focuses on transferring 16mm sound film.

What Can We Transfer

We can only transfer 16mm film with an optical sound track.

How Can You Identify Sound Film

16mm sound film has sprockets only on one side of the film.  Be aware though that sometimes the leader may not be the same as the film.  I have encountered silent film leader (sprockets on both side of the film) and then the film was a sound film (sprockets only on one side).   An optical sound track runs along the film on the opposite side to the sprocket holes.  The optical track looks like a dark and light wave pattern running along the edge of the film.

Preparation

  1. Mount the film on the rewinders with the empty take-up reel on the crank winder.
  2. Check to make sure the film is on the reel correctly:
    1. Emulsion side should be facing up...on the outside of the reel.
    2. For sound film the sprockets should be away from the rewinder stands.
    3. Sometimes the leader will say "header" or "trailer"....if it says trailer then the film is more than likely backward on the reel.
  3. Check the leader of the film to make sure it has about 3 feet of leader.
  4. Clean the film on the rewinders using the Solvon solution and a rag.
  5. Rewind after cleaning.
  6. Clean the Sniper-16 HD's:
    1. Gate using compressed air
    2. all the other track areas using compressed air
    3. wipe the lens with a lens cleaning cloth
    4. clean the sound drum (big silver drum with a red dot in the middle) with a piece of paper-towel and rubbing alcohol.
  7. Set the silent/sound toggle switch to "sound".
  8. Check the volume control knob.  It should be set to about 11:00 or 11:30.  Treble and bass are usually at 12:00.
  9. Thread the film and run.

Film On Reel Incorrectly - How To Fix

Backward.

Sprocket on the wrong side.

Watching Copy Protected Videos on Mac

- Update the mac operating system to the latest version... check for updatesnot sure as to what difference this makes but when I played the DVD on my mac I had the latest os x updae installed

- Bootcamp (do not really recommend) not sure as to what difference this makes but when I played the DVD on my mac I had used boot camp to partition my drive and install windows on the partitioned drive. you need a legit copy of windows to do this and to go through a fairly lengthy re install and set up process

I have discussed it with tim i might have a different dvd reader then he does and that could be the reason why it works in mine and not his

Scanning APX/IX240 Film

What is This Stuff APX or IX240 or Advantix film is basically a film developed to make managing of films and negatives easier.  I've seen Kodak and Fuji products.  The film came in cartridges similar to most 35mm film except the negatives stayed in the special cartridges even after processing.  The customer typically gets the cartridge and a proof sheet of all the photos.  This cartridges may be stored in a special case that can handle many cartridges and their proof sheets.  The negatives are not 35mm and in fact are smaller than 35mm in size.  The smaller negative size also impacts the quality....ie. not as good as 35mm.  In order to get prints or digital copies of the film you have either send it to a lab or we handle scanning these using the special Nikon adapter.

Scanning APX or IX240 or Advantix Film Using the Nikon Super Coolscan and the IA-20 adaptor:

  1. Push power button to turn unit on
  2. Unit is connected to Xavier.
  3. Make sure the IA-20 adapter is installed into the Nikon scanner.
  4. Open Nikon Scan 4 software.
  5. When the light on the scanner is solid green, load film cartridge and close door.
  6. Nikon Scan 4's scanner preview window.... a) setting should be set to "APX film" - go to "setting" - saved setting, "APX film" will be at the bottom of list....click on this b) Make sure the next setting is "Neg (Color)" and NOT "Positive".
  7. Click on the thumbnail tab.
  8. Select all thumbnails (click on 1st thumbnail, then shift+click last thumbnail)
  9. Make sure that "Neg (color)" is still selected.
  10. Go to "settings" and click "APX film" profile to apply to current selection
  11. Then hit the green scan button and all the negatives will be scanned and saved.
  12. The batch scan window will appear....check the setting and scan.
  13. After the first negative has scanned, confirm scan looks good (ie. go to folder and open tif or jpg)

Time Statistics

  • 35 minutes to scan 25 negatives (typical cartridge size)
  • 1.4 minutes per negative

Recovering An Unreadable DVD

Issue: Customer presents a DVD or mini DVD that cannot be read.  The DVD has bad sectors or the DVD has not been finalized, either way the DVD cannot be read by a burner or player.

Solution Options:

  1. If the DVD has not been finalized, ask the customer for the camcorder that the DVD was recorded with and finalize the DVD with the camcorder.  Generally this takes about 10 - 20 minutes.
  2. If the mini DVD has an error code (such as Hitachi with error code 0280)...then the DVD may have bad sectors and therefore cannot be read or finalized.  See "Disc Recovery" below.
  3. If the customer still has the original recording device, see if they can bring it with them just in case the recording device can read the disc.
  4. Check if the DVD is dirty...a simple cleaning may be all that is needed.  See "Clean DVD or CD Disc" below.

Clean DVD or CD Disc

Just remember that disc media is very delicate and you need to be careful not to damage a customer's DVD's shiney surface.

  • If the DVD surface feels sticky or greasy, mix some baby shampoo in lukewarm water and use a cotton or soft cloth to gently rub the surface.  Make sure it is dry before storing or handling.
  • If there are fingerprint marks on the CD surface, dip a soft cloth in Isopropyl Alcohol/Ethanol/Methanol and gently wipe the surface. Never use a petroleum based solvent like Acetone as that will permanently damage the CD surface.
  • Always wipe the disc surface in a non-radial back-and-forth motion (from the center hole to the outer edge). Don't follow the concentric circles while cleaning.

Disc Recovery

If after cleaning the disc it still cannot be read then the problem may be bad sectors on the disc caused either by the media or the recording device.  No guarantees, but we can try to read the disc onto our harddrive (HDD), then try to recover the files, and finally burn the recovered files back onto a DVD or HDD or whatever.

  1. Place DVD in burner.
  2. Open "isoBuster"
  3. The window "No files systems and/or files found" will display.  Click the "Make It So" button.
  4. The "Work from an IBP image file" window will show.  Click "Yes".
  5. The "for your info" window will show asking to create ibp and ibq files. Click "Ok".
  6. Create a folder and place ibq and ibp files in the folder.
  7. Right click on the resulting vob files and extract them.
  8. Open up "Nero Vision"
  9. Select "Make DVD...", then "DVD-Video"
  10. Select "import", then "import files".  Find the folder where you dumped the vob files via isoBuster.
  11. Select all the vob files.
  12. A box will put up asking if you want top merge all the vob's into one.  Select "Yes" if they are all one movie.
  13. All the vob clips will now be displayed as thumbnails.  On this screen, select the "Next" button.
  14. The next screen, the "Edit Menu" will allow you to change the default title and thumbnail titles.
  15. After changingthe titles, click "Next".
  16. In the "Preview" window, click "Next".
  17. In the "Burn Options" window....put disk in burner and click "Burn" button (make sure the right burner is selected otherwise you'll have to find it).

Exporting Epson Print CD labels to another format

Issue: We have a disc label that was created in the "Epson Print CD" program and we want to export the label to be used somewhere else such as the Mircoboards PF-Pro printer ("SureThing CD Labeller" program).  The Epson creates a proprietary file with a .ec3 extension.  This file cannot be ported into any other program directly.

Solution:

  1. Open up ec3 file in the "Epson Print CD" program.
  2. Click the <print> button which should open up the print dialogue window.
  3. Click the <Manual Print> button located in the lower right of the window.
  4. Now select the Adobe pdf "printer" and print
  5. The resulting file will now be in pdf format and one can simply "save as" from Adobe PDF into a png, jpg, or whatever.

Once the file is in a more standard format, we can import the file into programs such as "SureThing CD Labeller" for printing on the PF-Pro.

Film Terminology

Colour reversal film - commonly called slide film.  Slide film works the opposite of print film (ie. negatives).  Most films are also this type.  Today most of these films use either the E6 or K14 development process. Colour negative film - Some Super 16mm and 16mm films being shoot by film schools are developed as colour negatives.  These appear as photographic type of negatives....ie. the colours are reversed.

Labs For Processing Film

Processing film falls into two categories, old film and new film. Great resource for finding labs that process new film is Kodak's Lab Directory at:

http://motion.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Support/Laboratories_Directory/

Old film that is no longer handled by these labs can generally be processed at International Film Rescue in Saskatchewan.

www.filmrescue.com

File Sizes

Here's a list of file sizes: 1 hour of VHS = 13GB in avi

30 Minute VHS-C = 6.8GB

2:00 minutes - 1 reel (50ft) Super 8 (not pulldown) = 0.44GB

1 hour miniDV (SD or HDV) = 13.2GB

1 hour audio cassette / LP (wav) = 1GB

3:23 minutes - 1 reel (50ft) Super 8 (pulldown) = 0.72GB

2:20 minutes - 1 reel (50ft) Regular 8 (not pulldown) = 0.5GB

4:40 minutes - 1 reel (50ft) Regular 8 (pulldown) = 1GB