Category: mungenet

Weighted Optimisation in Photoshop 6.0 There is a new feature in Photoshop 6.0: Weighted optimisation. This allows a single JPEG or GIF image to have variable compression . There is no special browser plug in required; and is reasonably easy to set up. It is useful when there is a featured object, or text that must be of high quality, and the rest of the image is needed to be as small as possible. This module is © 2000 Adobe Systems, Inc and cannot be reproduced without the written consent of the author.
1. Create a selection around the object you wish to have in high quality.
2. Feather the selection, and Expand the Selection (Select>Feather and Select>Modify>Expand)
3. From the Channels palette, click on the “Create Channel from Selection” button Name the selection something useful.
4. File>Save For Web. The button to click on to access the Modify Quality is the small circle.
5. The black marker on the slider represents the black area in the chosen channel. Therefore, the black areas are getting a greater compression setting in the JPEG compression algorithm. The white end of the slider is having less compression. Areas in between get variable compression depending on the ‘greyness’
6. With GIF images, there is no compression per se. Therefore, with GIF compression the Save for Web dialog box changes the lossiness of the GIF which reduces the resulting file size.

Faster Editing with your Eyes Shut

Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick’s is famous for many reasons: Tom and Nicole’s final film together; Stanley Kubrick’s swan song; and a film renoun for taking nearly eighteen months to film, let alone the time complete many edits.

As you create a video program, the number of source clips and settings you edit and manage become more complex. This can get in the way of your creative flow, so here are some tips and techniques to simplify a complex project and edit efficiently. We don’t all have years to edit our masterpieces, nor wish to expire before delivering the product.

Allocating sufficient RAM

Premiere plays and exports video most efficiently when up to approximately 64 MB of RAM (Windows) or 48 MB (Mac OS) is available to it. You can make more RAM available to Premiere, but above the recommended amounts the performance gains are not as significant. Make sure you aren’t running unnecessary programs, such as custom screen savers, that may be using memory that could be used more productively by Premiere. In Mac OS, leave at least 2 MB of unused RAM so that the system software has room to load additional Mac OS system components such as QuickTime.

Choosing between RAM (physical memory), Hard drive (disk space) or CPU (megahertz or gigahertz; number of CPUs) and Operating System (Windows, Mac) is always a difficult choice.

– Choose an operating system based on your personal taste and depending on who can support you. If you have friends and collegues who can support MacOS, personally, I would choose a Mac. Its these friends who will help out at the cost of a coffee or nice bottle of red

– If using Windows 95 or 98, based on your hardware capture cards and drivers, seriously consider Windows 2000

– If your RAM meets requirements, invest in a second faster hard drive

– If you are using many filters or effects, extra CPU performance and/or a dual processor would be a good investment

– Realtime cards are a boon when editing day in, day out.

Using low-resolution clips or offline files

Large frame sizes take longer to process than small frame sizes. When you edit you are viewing frames nearly all the time, so slow frame display can cause longer editing sessions. For better performance during editing, use low-resolution versions of your clips, or use offline files. Then capture the same clips later using high-resolution settings, and replace the low-resolution versions for recording or exporting the final version of the program.

This process is only effective when you are capturing with device control. Device control captures the timecode on the tape, which enables you to replace frames precisely. Only DV and analog with 3rd party device controllers have this facility.

If you’ve already captured the clips at high resolution, you can use Premiere to export low-resolution versions of them for editing and then substitute the high-resolution clips before recording or exporting the final version. You can also temporarily substitute a still image for a video clip. Using low-resolution or still versions of clips also lets you store more clips in the same amount of disk space.

Using low-resolution versions of clips is standard practice in offline editing, but you may prefer the speed benefits of using offline files even when your system is fast enough for online editing.

You can also create an offline file at any time. To create an offline file:

– Choose File > New > Offline File.

– Type a filename. In general, use the filename of the actual source video that is missing.

– For Duration, type the length for the offline file.

– For Timecode, type the timecode value of the In point of the missing source video.

– For Reel Name, type the name of the reel containing the missing source video.

– Choose a time format from the Format menu that corresponds to the source video.

– Choose a frame rate from the Speed menu.

– Select either or both Has Video or Has Audio, according to the contents of the source video. Then click OK.

After editing, to replace an offline file with a source video file:

– In a Project or Bin window, select the offline file.

– Choose Project > Replace Clips.

– Locate and select the actual source video file, and click OK.Using keyboard shortcuts

Almost every function in Premiere has an associated keystroke, including some functions that don’t appear as commands or buttons. Some keyboard shortcuts are very fast because they require pressing only one key. Keyboard shortcuts appear next to menu commands and in the Tool Tips for buttons and controls, and are fully documented in the Quick Reference Card that comes with Premiere. Keyboard shortcuts that have no equivalent in menus, tools, or buttons are listed in Premiere’s online Help.

For example, when accessing Premiere’s clip properties on Windows, you can use the ALT key in combination with the underlined letter keys in the Clip pop-up menu, or use the keyboard combination listed to the right of the menu command. As a time saver, the arrow keys can be used to navigate through the menus.

Shortcut keys, when available, appear in the Tool Tip after the tool description. To ascertain the keyboard short cut, just move the mouse over an item, and wait for the Tool Tip to appear. For example, the Mark Out button’s Tool Tip displays the letter O (in parenthesis) as the shortcut key to mark an Out point.

Using bins

During the process of capturing and editing you might accumulate many clips in your project, making it difficult to locate an item in the Project window. Organize items by creating and using bins in the Project window, which are like folders on your hard disk. If you use clips that you want to include in more than one project, you can save bins as files that are stored outside of projects.

To make a bin available for use in other projects, select the bin and choose Project > Export Bin from Project, or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the bin and choose Export Bin from Project. Then, type a name, choose a location for the bin, and click Save. Bins created and saved in Windows use the extension .PLB. To use the saved bin file in any project, click File > Open, select the bin file (.PLB), and click Open.

In previous versions of Premiere, you could create containers called libraries, which were used to store clips from one or several projects. A library was stored as a separate file apart from any project. Although Premiere 6.0 doesn’t directly support libraries, you can open a library. The library is converted into a bin when you open it in a Premiere 6.0 project.

Closing unneeded windows and palettes

As you edit, each open window and palette requires processing time to update its display. To lighten the processing load, keep open only the windows and palettes that are necessary. Pressing the TAB key on your keyboard causes all of Premiere’s palettes to disappear and pressing the TAB key again causes the palettes to reappear.

To aid the process in Premiere 6.0, you can save Workspaces. A workspace is a particular configuration of palettes and windows for use later on. Arrange the palettes and windows to your taste, and go to Window > Workspace > Save Workspace. To select and reset your palettes and windows to a saved workspace, just select it from the Window > Workspace menu.

Hiding and locking tracks and clips

If you are working on a complex video program with many tracks, you can hide tracks you aren’t currently editing by marking the tracks as shy and then choosing Hide Shy Tracks from the Timeline window menu. To mark a track as shy, press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) as you click the eye icon (for video) or speaker icon (for audio) at the left edge of a track. The icon then appears as an outlined eye (for video) or outlined speaker (for audio)

To hide shy tracks, go to Timeline > Hide Shy Tracks.

If you do not want to modify a track or clip but you still want to see it, you can lock it. This can prevent you from accidentally modifying it.

Eyes Wide Shut depicts a couple in having marriage difficulties. Isn’t it strange how life imitates art.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Frames

Last month I made reference to Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut. This month to find an interesting piece of trivia I visited my favourite movie web site, The Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com, and searched for “stop motion.” Another Stanley Kubrick film was returned on the top of the list: “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Spooky – or merely a coincidence?

A common question from Premiere users is “How do I create stop-frame motion in Premiere?” Stop-frame video is sometimes called a “strobe” effect. I am sure you remember going to clubs in the 1970’s and 1980’s where a strobe light made all the dancers appear as still in time. At least my dancing looked better this way!

You can capture video using File>Capture>Stop Motion; but what if the clip is already imported? Well, its easy to accomplish – without resorting to filters or effects or exporting single frames of video as pictures and reimporting. Its all in the magic of the ‘Frame Hold Options’ dialog box.

The first step is to place the video clip you wish to have ‘stop framed’ in your Premiere timeline.

By right clicking (MacOS: control click) on this clip on the Timeline and go to Video Options>Frame Hold. (this can also be accessed from the menu Clip>video effects>Frame Hold…

The Frame Hold Options dialog box appears:

The key part to creating the stop motion effect is to adjust the frame rate. This does not alter the original clip, just the rate of playback in the final movie. In the ‘Alternate Rate’ section, place a new frame rate. For instance, if you would like to have a single frame per minute, the alternate rate is 1. For two frames every minute, the alternate rate is 2.

The good news is that audio will play back at normal speed. All we are adjusting is the video component of the movie.

A poster frame can be held during the duration of a completed video clip using the Frame Hold Options dialog box. Just specify “Frame 0” in the Hold frame popup. You can also hold the In point or Out point as the hold frame. The Poster frame special frame in clips. This poster frame is used in the Storyboard feature of Premiere as a user-specified frame that represents the content of the complete clip. It is marked using the Clip>Set Clip Marker>0 (Poster Frame). It can be placed anywhere in the clip. If the frame doesn’t freeze, make sure that you set the marker on a clip and not on the Timeline ruler.

The de-interlace option is important. With a single frame of interlaced video, it may appear jittery or washed out.

You may also need to apply frame blending, which interpolates between available frames to create intermediate frames that can make motion seem smoother. This also creates an interesting ghosting effect. You may or may not want this effect.

According to the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) originally, “Dr Strangelove” filmed in 1963, was to have a custard pie fight and at one point, the President took a pie in the face and fell down, prompting George C Scott’s character to exclaim, “Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime!” Kubrick had already decided to cut the pie fight before the Kennedy assassination, but this line (or possibly even the whole sequence) would certainly have been cut due to its eerie similarity to real events. Spooky.

May 1999	Implementation of Adobe Solutions Network, Service Provider Program
May 1999	Future of Publishing Roadshow (Adobe InDesign, Adobe PressReady, Adobe GoLive, Adobe Acrobat)
February 1999	Adobe Tech Summit, San Jose
January 1999	Adobe Sales Conference, San Francisco

October-November 2000	Stay on the Edge (Photoshop 6) Roadshow. Incorporating special 1.5 hour indepth session
November 2000	Shred the Web Roadshow: South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia & India) Appearred on CNBC “e” with Keith Lui. Live TV interview (not a prerecord)
August 2000	Adobe Tips, Tricks and Techniques Roadshow, Pacific
July 2000	Transition to Technical Resources Manager, Pacific and South East Asia for Adobe Systems
May 2000	Shred the Web Roadshow: Pacific
May 2000	Assistance to the 3DAP (PDF Guidelines for Magazine Advertising Delivery) in the creation of the “3DAP Guidelines for Digital Advertising Delivery”.
March 2000	Adobe Tips, Tricks and Techniques Roadshow: Pacific

September 89	As part of honeymoon, visited Apple Computer headquarters in Cupertino, California. Visited Apple Pacific and liaised with AppleCentre task force team and shopped at the “company store”.
April-September 1991	Moved from Technical Support Manager to Corporate Systems Engineer, responsible for Beneficial Finance, BHP Whyalla, Kinhill Engineers, Australian Submarine Corporation, F. H. Faulding & Co, and CRA Exploration. This role involved the all technical aspects of Macintosh usage in these corporates. Regular newsletters and fact sheets were also compiled and sent out, along with Corporate User Group Meetings and one-on-one technical sessions with their Technical Staff. Early experimentation with Ethernet, QuickMail, Apple’s A/UX and other technically challenging products pioneered at AppleCentre Adelaide were introduced to these Corporates and in many cases adopted as Corporate platforms. This role, whilst extending to September 1991, involved levels of Account Management and liaison with developers and distributors in Australia and the US. Close ties were created with Tri Data Communications, Keyway (now Conexus), Apple Sydney and Melbourne.
December 88	Completed writing chapter for the book “Tricks of the HyperTalk Masters” about using HyperCard as a front end tool to communications services. This book was published in 89 by the Waite Group, Mann County, USA. (ISBN 0-672-48431-5)
November 88	Employed and Trained new Technical Support team members. August 88 Appointed Manager of Technical Support at Random Access.
January 88	Appointed prime Technical Support contact for the Australian Submarine Corporation. This included daily liaison with Kay Lindley, PC & OA Supervisor and Brian Musker, MIS Manager.
September 87	Attended Apple Service Training in Sydney, achieving Level 1 Accreditation for Macintosh II hardware.
January 87	Moved from Sales to join the one man Technical Support team as a trainee Technical Support Analyst. In 1987 the world of Macintosh was just about to explode into ethernet networks, open systems with the Macintosh II and AppleShare. Supported Apple platforms ranged from the Macintosh, to the Apple II, to the rare Apple III.
August 86	Achieved highest sales in the month.
January 86	Commenced work at Random Access as a Junior Trainee Salesman. Job roles included store management and initial customer contact.

June 1990	As Systems Engineer with AppleCentre Adelaide, provided prime Technical contact for the Co-operative Group bid. AppleCentre Adelaide won this bid over IBM Australia as “it was the safer choice”. This bid involved the integration of a network of Macintoshes into an IBM 4381 host.
April 1990	Attended “A/UX Systems Administration” course at Apple Computer, Sydney.
February 1990	Appointed AppleCentre “Building the Difference” Trainer/Motivator for AppleCentre Adelaide. Attended training course in Sydney in April.

December 1993	Created client/server EIS/Query system called “Sherlock”. Written using VICOM. Macintosh front end displays data and executes Oracle SQL queries. Sherlock also integrates agent-based architecture into Random Access electronic mail system.
December 1993	Sold 200 licenses of VICOM into E&WS after extensive testing of TN3270 emulation at E&WS to Tandem Cyclone and ETSA IBM Mainframe.
November 1993	Installed a uucp-style connection to connect.com. Installed Mail, UseNet news and other services on a Random Access’ Sun server.
September 1993 – October 1993	Assisted DPA Computing in installation of new Sun/Oracle based School Management system for Walford CEGS.
August 1993 – September 1993	Part of team at Random Access Consulting that outsourced to the Cooperative Group in Macintosh, Windows, Netware and IBM Mainframe technical support.
September 1993	Started Newton development research for inhouse projects and evaluation for external consulting.
September 1993	Attended Apple Workgroup Server training, in Sydney.
September 1993	Project Managed and implemented cut over from old single user accounting system to new multiuser Sun/Oracle CFACS system. September was a $1.4 million revenue month for Random Access, very close to the company’s record at that time.
August 1993 – August 1994	Appointed as Technical Consultant and Technical presenter to Technology in Management project at the Douglas Mawson Institute of TAFE. This course will presented over 5 days in March 1994. This project is a joint venture between Random Access Consulting and Douglas Mawson Institute of TAFE.
August 1993	Consulted to Young & Rubicam for Desktop strategy in Melbourne. Also assisted in technical considerations in move to new building in early 1994.
June 1993	Presented Macintosh Futures Debriefing from the Apple World Wide Developers Conference to senior management of Random Access customers.
May 1993	Provided technical Consultation to IPEC Group in the integration of Macintoshes into their Delivery Note EDI system.
May 1993	Attended Apple World Wide Developer Conference, San Jose, USA. The WWDC is a once a year seminar where Apple present their technologies such as System 7, PowerPC and Newton to their developer community.
April 1993	Attended Windows NT Technical Seminar presented in Adelaide by Microsoft Australia.
April 1993	Provided Technical Consultation to CSIRO Division of Soils in Macintosh to Unix/TCP/IP integration.
April 1993	Assisted Mike Seyfang and Fujitsu Australia with the integration of Macintoshes into Novell Netware network and Unix-based PICK system at the City of Henley & Grange.
April 1993	Sold a volume license of VICOM for TV1950 emulation to the E&WS Department.
March 1993	Chose CFACS as product of choice for Random Access Pty Ltd’s new accounting system. Attended training at Cedardata.
March 1993	Attended Quality Auditor’s Course presented by Aptech Australia.
February 1993	Random Access Consulting appointed Australian and New Zealand distributor of VICOM. VICOM is a front ending tool for the Macintosh, written in the UK.
February 1993	Consulted to the Australian Submarine Corporation in Macintosh integration using DECWindows XWindows protocol.
January 1993	Attended the MacWorld Exposition, San Francisco, USA. MacWorld is a one of two major events in the Macintosh community for the display of products and services.

December 1993	Created client/server EIS/Query system called “Sherlock”. Written using VICOM. Macintosh front end displays data and executes Oracle SQL queries. Sherlock also integrates agent-based architecture into Random Access electronic mail system.
December 1993	Sold 200 licenses of VICOM into E&WS after extensive testing of TN3270 emulation at E&WS to Tandem Cyclone and ETSA IBM Mainframe.
November 1993	Installed a uucp-style connection to connect.com. Installed Mail, UseNet news and other services on a Random Access’ Sun server.
September 1993 – October 1993	Assisted DPA Computing in installation of new Sun/Oracle based School Management system for Walford CEGS.
August 1993 – September 1993	Part of team at Random Access Consulting that outsourced to the Cooperative Group in Macintosh, Windows, Netware and IBM Mainframe technical support.
September 1993	Started Newton development research for inhouse projects and evaluation for external consulting.
September 1993	Attended Apple Workgroup Server training, in Sydney.
September 1993	Project Managed and implemented cut over from old single user accounting system to new multiuser Sun/Oracle CFACS system. September was a $1.4 million revenue month for Random Access, very close to the company’s record at that time.
August 1993 – August 1994	Appointed as Technical Consultant and Technical presenter to Technology in Management project at the Douglas Mawson Institute of TAFE. This course will presented over 5 days in March 1994. This project is a joint venture between Random Access Consulting and Douglas Mawson Institute of TAFE.
August 1993	Consulted to Young & Rubicam for Desktop strategy in Melbourne. Also assisted in technical considerations in move to new building in early 1994.
June 1993	Presented Macintosh Futures Debriefing from the Apple World Wide Developers Conference to senior management of Random Access customers.
May 1993	Provided technical Consultation to IPEC Group in the integration of Macintoshes into their Delivery Note EDI system.
May 1993	Attended Apple World Wide Developer Conference, San Jose, USA. The WWDC is a once a year seminar where Apple present their technologies such as System 7, PowerPC and Newton to their developer community.
April 1993	Attended Windows NT Technical Seminar presented in Adelaide by Microsoft Australia.
April 1993	Provided Technical Consultation to CSIRO Division of Soils in Macintosh to Unix/TCP/IP integration.
April 1993	Assisted Mike Seyfang and Fujitsu Australia with the integration of Macintoshes into Novell Netware network and Unix-based PICK system at the City of Henley & Grange.
April 1993	Sold a volume license of VICOM for TV1950 emulation to the E&WS Department.
March 1993	Chose CFACS as product of choice for Random Access Pty Ltd’s new accounting system. Attended training at Cedardata.
March 1993	Attended Quality Auditor’s Course presented by Aptech Australia.
February 1993	Random Access Consulting appointed Australian and New Zealand distributor of VICOM. VICOM is a front ending tool for the Macintosh, written in the UK.
February 1993	Consulted to the Australian Submarine Corporation in Macintosh integration using DECWindows XWindows protocol.
January 1993	Attended the MacWorld Exposition, San Francisco, USA. MacWorld is a one of two major events in the Macintosh community for the display of products and services.

November 2001	Right Tools for the Job Roadshow, incorporating a special “Adobe for Developers Session”
June-August 2001	Assistance to ACP in evaluation of InDesign and Photoshop as a mechanism for changing internal design workflows. Resulted in ACP purchasing InDesign and other Adobe products. InDesign now implemented across all 50+ titles.
May 2001	PacPrint, Melbourne
April 2001	Paid-for events in Singapore, Malaysia and India
February 2001	Premiere 6.0 Roadshow, New Zealand and Australia