Comments for Will Dee http://www.willdee.net collected ramblings Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:47:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Comment on Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Michael Charap (Junior High School teacher) http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/comment-page-1/#comment-565 Michael Charap (Junior High School teacher) Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:47:22 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/#comment-565 All the previous reviews people are talking about things like the labels on the clips. You need to write those labels in yourself. That was designed from a teaching stand point. You have to start working right from chapter one with the tutorials. They all build on each other. <p>All I can say is this my second time though the book. A lot of the things people are unsatisfied about, are missed due to hasty studying. You have to label those clips yourself, right from the start! That book has helped me tremendously. I made the same mistakes the first time through the book. Final Cut Pro is very complicated, first time through you are going to miss things. <p>You are getting taught with this book. Making it though the book is not easy,however once you do make it. You will have a very good skill. This author is a teacher! The way he writes makes you think! He really takes you through at a good fast pace, and it is tough for the student(reader) to keep everything staight. There are so many details. Everyone tends to think that it is the author who is incorrect, I can tell you from experience that it is the reader, not the author or the book. I get that, Ohhhhhhhhhhh Yes, now I get it. But it took me the second time through. <p>This book gets you rolling. This book will get you right into it. You will learn extremely fast. If you take the free downloaded manual from Apple with this book you are set. Even better is Lisa Brenneis's and the DVD studio Pro manual too. I had these manuals for a year and did not get anything going. Then I got the Watkins book. I thought the same thing hey these clips are not labeled, I was in chapter four or five, I thought it was the author. No NO No you have to lable the clips yourself. And chapter stops are on page 289. You finish Adam's tutorials you will be able to take the book, computer, camera hook them all together and get very nice work accomplished. It is not an easy study it takes effort. Once you learn it, you can do a big project. You learn a lot from Adam Watkins, he is good teacher. I would easly buy this book again, I would only buy it sooner. <p>My past I used imovie for two years. I bought FCP and did not due a project for a while. Then I got Adam's book and started to get my hands dirty right away. I am not afraid to do anything with final cut pro. I learned a lot. The tutorial is great, good beat beat sound to set clips to. I can match sound and a clip together. I learned an awful lot from this book. <p> Rating: 5 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Final-Studio-Handbook-Digital-Filmmaking/dp/1584502002%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1584502002" title="Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook " rel="nofollow"><b>Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook </b></a> All the previous reviews people are talking about things like the labels on the clips. You need to write those labels in yourself. That was designed from a teaching stand point. You have to start working right from chapter one with the tutorials. They all build on each other.

All I can say is this my second time though the book. A lot of the things people are unsatisfied about, are missed due to hasty studying. You have to label those clips yourself, right from the start! That book has helped me tremendously. I made the same mistakes the first time through the book. Final Cut Pro is very complicated, first time through you are going to miss things.

You are getting taught with this book. Making it though the book is not easy,however once you do make it. You will have a very good skill. This author is a teacher! The way he writes makes you think! He really takes you through at a good fast pace, and it is tough for the student(reader) to keep everything staight. There are so many details. Everyone tends to think that it is the author who is incorrect, I can tell you from experience that it is the reader, not the author or the book. I get that, Ohhhhhhhhhhh Yes, now I get it. But it took me the second time through.

This book gets you rolling. This book will get you right into it. You will learn extremely fast. If you take the free downloaded manual from Apple with this book you are set. Even better is Lisa Brenneis’s and the DVD studio Pro manual too. I had these manuals for a year and did not get anything going. Then I got the Watkins book. I thought the same thing hey these clips are not labeled, I was in chapter four or five, I thought it was the author. No NO No you have to lable the clips yourself. And chapter stops are on page 289. You finish Adam’s tutorials you will be able to take the book, computer, camera hook them all together and get very nice work accomplished. It is not an easy study it takes effort. Once you learn it, you can do a big project. You learn a lot from Adam Watkins, he is good teacher. I would easly buy this book again, I would only buy it sooner.

My past I used imovie for two years. I bought FCP and did not due a project for a while. Then I got Adam’s book and started to get my hands dirty right away. I am not afraid to do anything with final cut pro. I learned a lot. The tutorial is great, good beat beat sound to set clips to. I can match sound and a clip together. I learned an awful lot from this book.

Rating: 5 / 5

Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook

]]> Comment on Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Anonymous http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/comment-page-1/#comment-564 Anonymous Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:48:19 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/#comment-564 Overall, I found this book and accompanying DVD to be an excellent value. The writing style was very accessible and the tutorials were exactly what I needed to get a handle on the technology. The only bad news is that the DVD installs in such a way as to mislable and poorly organize files needed for the tutorials. The good news is that the publisher provides a file that downloads instantaneously and clearly shows how to overcome the file labeling/organization issues in very short order. Again, very high value for the money and time I invested. Can't wait for Watkins' next book. <p> Rating: 5 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Final-Studio-Handbook-Digital-Filmmaking/dp/1584502002%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1584502002" title="Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook " rel="nofollow"><b>Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook </b></a> Overall, I found this book and accompanying DVD to be an excellent value. The writing style was very accessible and the tutorials were exactly what I needed to get a handle on the technology. The only bad news is that the DVD installs in such a way as to mislable and poorly organize files needed for the tutorials. The good news is that the publisher provides a file that downloads instantaneously and clearly shows how to overcome the file labeling/organization issues in very short order. Again, very high value for the money and time I invested. Can’t wait for Watkins’ next book.

Rating: 5 / 5

Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook

]]> Comment on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 by G. Fox-Smith http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/comment-page-1/#comment-560 G. Fox-Smith Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:22:25 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/#comment-560 We bought this upgrade from Video Studio 11 after my wife spent over 80 hours creating a video that would not render. Even with the upgrade, it appears the software will not use all of my 4Gb of memory nor does it use all of my 4 processors. Still would not render the video. By the way, it is only a 30 minute video put together from pictures and digital video clips of our family, not a big deal, right? <br />After 4 days of talking with Corel support(and paying them for it), we were told that we had to remove all of the transitions (which were all supplied with the software) and render the video again and then drop them in (50+ of them) one at a time to find out which one wasn't working and then "just don't use that one". This is unacceptable. Their product crashes every 5-10 minutes during use and after that many hours of work we still cannot burn a DVD even with hours of time spent with their support line trying to fix the problem. <br />My opinion is that if a company cannot get their product to work that they owe a refund or should definitely not charge you for the support call. <p> Rating: 1 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corel-VSX2PROENPC-VideoStudio-Pro-X2/dp/B001EJTO8A%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EJTO8A" title="Corel VideoStudio Pro X2" rel="nofollow"><b>Corel VideoStudio Pro X2</b></a> We bought this upgrade from Video Studio 11 after my wife spent over 80 hours creating a video that would not render. Even with the upgrade, it appears the software will not use all of my 4Gb of memory nor does it use all of my 4 processors. Still would not render the video. By the way, it is only a 30 minute video put together from pictures and digital video clips of our family, not a big deal, right?

After 4 days of talking with Corel support(and paying them for it), we were told that we had to remove all of the transitions (which were all supplied with the software) and render the video again and then drop them in (50+ of them) one at a time to find out which one wasn’t working and then “just don’t use that one”. This is unacceptable. Their product crashes every 5-10 minutes during use and after that many hours of work we still cannot burn a DVD even with hours of time spent with their support line trying to fix the problem.

My opinion is that if a company cannot get their product to work that they owe a refund or should definitely not charge you for the support call.

Rating: 1 / 5

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

]]> Comment on Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Joachim Smith http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/comment-page-1/#comment-563 Joachim Smith Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:43:02 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/#comment-563 This book is badly structured, verbose and chatty. A seasoned editor could have reduced it by at least 20 percent. More important, the book omits crucial features in FCP 3/DVDSP, such as using Markers to indicate Chapters. As a matter of fact, the subject of Chapters in DVDSP isn't even touched upon!<p>Further, in spite of the title, the book is heavily biased to FCP, with just a few scant chapters on DVDSP.<p>I'm very disappointed and consider this book a waste of money. <p> Rating: 1 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Final-Studio-Handbook-Digital-Filmmaking/dp/1584502002%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1584502002" title="Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook " rel="nofollow"><b>Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook </b></a> This book is badly structured, verbose and chatty. A seasoned editor could have reduced it by at least 20 percent. More important, the book omits crucial features in FCP 3/DVDSP, such as using Markers to indicate Chapters. As a matter of fact, the subject of Chapters in DVDSP isn’t even touched upon!

Further, in spite of the title, the book is heavily biased to FCP, with just a few scant chapters on DVDSP.

I’m very disappointed and consider this book a waste of money.

Rating: 1 / 5

Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook

]]> Comment on Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Tom Burke http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/comment-page-1/#comment-562 Tom Burke Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:07:16 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/#comment-562 In my initial review of this book (8/23/02, just after it shipped), I noted that the included DVD's contents didn't match the tutorial in the book, making the package "worthless". The publisher has now posted on their website a list of corrections to the filenames & organization, and the author has sent me a replacement DVD with all of the problems fixed. I can now justify giving the book the five-star rating that it deserves for its clearly-written, interesting and useful content. <p> Rating: 5 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Final-Studio-Handbook-Digital-Filmmaking/dp/1584502002%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1584502002" title="Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook " rel="nofollow"><b>Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook </b></a> In my initial review of this book (8/23/02, just after it shipped), I noted that the included DVD’s contents didn’t match the tutorial in the book, making the package “worthless”. The publisher has now posted on their website a list of corrections to the filenames & organization, and the author has sent me a replacement DVD with all of the problems fixed. I can now justify giving the book the five-star rating that it deserves for its clearly-written, interesting and useful content.

Rating: 5 / 5

Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook

]]> Comment on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 by a reader http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/comment-page-1/#comment-559 a reader Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:49:56 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/#comment-559 I've alternated between using Adobe Premier Elements 1 and Ulead Video Studio Version 7 and Version 9 over the last few years. If I occasionally needed to do something fancy, with a lot of picture-in-picture compositing and /or key-frame-based effects, I used Premiere -- although its interface was so annoying that for more normal projects I used Ulead, which I found to be a bit lacking in effects quality but overall extremely solid and easy to use. <br /> <br />I downloaded a trial version of Pro X2 and gave it a cursory test. The new effects looked great and overall I was pleased, so I bought it. I am now VERY sorry I didn't give it a more thorough test. <br /> <br />Post-purchase, I used Pro X2 to open one of my older Ulead 9 projects -- a pretty simple one, about 4 minutes long, consisting of about 12 short pre-rendered AVI files, 2-3 transition effects, and one audio track. In Pro X2 I made a very minor change, only adding a credits slide at the end. Nothing cutting edge. <br /> <br />When previewing the project, everything looked great. Then I rendered it as an AVI file. <br /> <br />I first became suspicious, however, that it took around 30 minutes to render (on a new, dual Pentium laptop with 2 gb of RAM, running XP3), whereas the original project had taken only around 15 minutes on an older machine running Ulead 9. <br /> <br />Then I saw that the resultant AVI file from Pro 2X was around 300 mb, vs 100 mb for the Ulead 9 project -- very strange since the two clips, burned to identical formats, differed from each other in length by only about 5 seconds. <br /> <br />But the really bad news came when I watched the resultant AVI file. The timing was WAY out of sync -- up to 7-8 seconds in some places. This completely ruined the project, which had been a tightly-timed music video. I tried re-rendering 4 times -- twice more to AVI, and twice to MPEG3 -- with same result. <br /> <br />All the great features in the world are irrelevant of you have no control over your final video. <br /> <br />I consulted the help file, which said nothing about this problem. I did notice that under the Troubleshooting section they did offer the generic advice that if Pro X2 isn't working properly, it might need repair, available by clicking Add/ Remove programs in Windows Control Panel, and then selecting the option to repair. Problem was, there was no option to repair -- only the option to remove the program or not. Why on earth give such fictitious advice? What were they thinking? <br /> <br />I refuse to pay Corel the required fee for tech support -- charging for help with something so flawed is a scam in my opinion. I will be seeking a refund. <br /> <br />By the way, just to be sure the problem wasn't with my new machine, I arranged the clips, music and title slide in the 5 year old Adobe Premier 1 which I installed on the new machine. It rendered perfectly. <p> Rating: 1 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corel-VSX2PROENPC-VideoStudio-Pro-X2/dp/B001EJTO8A%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EJTO8A" title="Corel VideoStudio Pro X2" rel="nofollow"><b>Corel VideoStudio Pro X2</b></a> I’ve alternated between using Adobe Premier Elements 1 and Ulead Video Studio Version 7 and Version 9 over the last few years. If I occasionally needed to do something fancy, with a lot of picture-in-picture compositing and /or key-frame-based effects, I used Premiere — although its interface was so annoying that for more normal projects I used Ulead, which I found to be a bit lacking in effects quality but overall extremely solid and easy to use.

I downloaded a trial version of Pro X2 and gave it a cursory test. The new effects looked great and overall I was pleased, so I bought it. I am now VERY sorry I didn’t give it a more thorough test.

Post-purchase, I used Pro X2 to open one of my older Ulead 9 projects — a pretty simple one, about 4 minutes long, consisting of about 12 short pre-rendered AVI files, 2-3 transition effects, and one audio track. In Pro X2 I made a very minor change, only adding a credits slide at the end. Nothing cutting edge.

When previewing the project, everything looked great. Then I rendered it as an AVI file.

I first became suspicious, however, that it took around 30 minutes to render (on a new, dual Pentium laptop with 2 gb of RAM, running XP3), whereas the original project had taken only around 15 minutes on an older machine running Ulead 9.

Then I saw that the resultant AVI file from Pro 2X was around 300 mb, vs 100 mb for the Ulead 9 project — very strange since the two clips, burned to identical formats, differed from each other in length by only about 5 seconds.

But the really bad news came when I watched the resultant AVI file. The timing was WAY out of sync — up to 7-8 seconds in some places. This completely ruined the project, which had been a tightly-timed music video. I tried re-rendering 4 times — twice more to AVI, and twice to MPEG3 — with same result.

All the great features in the world are irrelevant of you have no control over your final video.

I consulted the help file, which said nothing about this problem. I did notice that under the Troubleshooting section they did offer the generic advice that if Pro X2 isn’t working properly, it might need repair, available by clicking Add/ Remove programs in Windows Control Panel, and then selecting the option to repair. Problem was, there was no option to repair — only the option to remove the program or not. Why on earth give such fictitious advice? What were they thinking?

I refuse to pay Corel the required fee for tech support — charging for help with something so flawed is a scam in my opinion. I will be seeking a refund.

By the way, just to be sure the problem wasn’t with my new machine, I arranged the clips, music and title slide in the 5 year old Adobe Premier 1 which I installed on the new machine. It rendered perfectly.

Rating: 1 / 5

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

]]> Comment on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 by J. Harley http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/comment-page-1/#comment-558 J. Harley Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:34:50 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/#comment-558 I like making home videos, however, like most users, I want to dive right in without first being required to read a 2-inch thick manual to simply get started. On the other hand, I don't want a wimpy underpowered editing app that focuses so hard on being easy that it leaves out essential creative features. I tried several different applications on both PC and Mac platforms. I kept finding that the apps were either feature-rich yet complicated to use or easy to use but lacking in features. I was just about to give up hope when I got the chance to try Corel VideoStudio Pro x2. I think I finally found the perfect balance. This is a great program for the typical home user. From capture to burned DVD disc, it was really easy, straightforward, and offered plenty of options to really enhance the movie. Installation was simple with no complications. After install, it fired right up with no significant impact on system performance. I installed it on a dual-core Centrino laptop with 2GB of RAM and running Windows XP. I never experienced any lockups or crashes. The interface is clean, free from unnecessary clutter, and the controls are logically placed and easy to locate. I connected my camera to my laptop via 4 pin firewire. It immediately detected my Panasonic mini-DV camera and offered several capture options. I opted to capture in MPG2 format. You can capture in uncompressed formats as well, such as AVI. The program menu controls were logically placed and easy to access. There are tabs along the top labeled Capture, Edit, Effect, Overlay, Title, Audio, and Share. Clicking these tabs brings up the applicable options panel. I was trimming video, stretching audio, and combining clips with ease. I also tinkered with the many transitions, titles, and special effects. I never had to refer to the owners manual while creating my first DVD. Even using the chroma key to replace a transparent background, (blue screen and green screen effects), is relatively simple for a newcomer. I experienced no dropped frames and the resulting DVD was pretty nice with animated menus featuring clips of the video. The video quality was very good and played with no problems in a set-top DVD player. There are plenty of nice DVD menus available and everything, from capture to burn, is completed within the one application. The entire rendering and burn time for a 15-minute DVD was under 20 minutes. However, that was for a MPG2 capture, so rendering an AVI file or a file or a clip with heavy effects will obviously take a bit longer. If you are really in a rush and just want to quickly capture from camera to disk, there is a feature to do this. There is also a quick DVD feature that will quickly capture, create, and burn a themed DVD disk of your footage if you're not interested in editing. Other output options include HD and Blu-ray, however I don't have a Blu-ray player or HD camera yet, so I couldn't test those features. It also has a direct upload to Youtube and an option to export as an flv file. <br /> <br />Overall, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better combination of professional features while retaining ease of use. This program is so much fun to use because you can jump right in and do some really creative and advanced editing right away. It shouldn't be a chore to put together a nice home movie. If you need professional editing power with numerous audio and video tracks, and dozens of ways to tweak the raw footage, look elsewhere. However, If you're a home user and wish to dive right into the process and have a ton of fun while making a pretty good looking home movie in the process, you can't go wrong here. <p> Rating: 5 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corel-VSX2PROENPC-VideoStudio-Pro-X2/dp/B001EJTO8A%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EJTO8A" title="Corel VideoStudio Pro X2" rel="nofollow"><b>Corel VideoStudio Pro X2</b></a> I like making home videos, however, like most users, I want to dive right in without first being required to read a 2-inch thick manual to simply get started. On the other hand, I don’t want a wimpy underpowered editing app that focuses so hard on being easy that it leaves out essential creative features. I tried several different applications on both PC and Mac platforms. I kept finding that the apps were either feature-rich yet complicated to use or easy to use but lacking in features. I was just about to give up hope when I got the chance to try Corel VideoStudio Pro x2. I think I finally found the perfect balance. This is a great program for the typical home user. From capture to burned DVD disc, it was really easy, straightforward, and offered plenty of options to really enhance the movie. Installation was simple with no complications. After install, it fired right up with no significant impact on system performance. I installed it on a dual-core Centrino laptop with 2GB of RAM and running Windows XP. I never experienced any lockups or crashes. The interface is clean, free from unnecessary clutter, and the controls are logically placed and easy to locate. I connected my camera to my laptop via 4 pin firewire. It immediately detected my Panasonic mini-DV camera and offered several capture options. I opted to capture in MPG2 format. You can capture in uncompressed formats as well, such as AVI. The program menu controls were logically placed and easy to access. There are tabs along the top labeled Capture, Edit, Effect, Overlay, Title, Audio, and Share. Clicking these tabs brings up the applicable options panel. I was trimming video, stretching audio, and combining clips with ease. I also tinkered with the many transitions, titles, and special effects. I never had to refer to the owners manual while creating my first DVD. Even using the chroma key to replace a transparent background, (blue screen and green screen effects), is relatively simple for a newcomer. I experienced no dropped frames and the resulting DVD was pretty nice with animated menus featuring clips of the video. The video quality was very good and played with no problems in a set-top DVD player. There are plenty of nice DVD menus available and everything, from capture to burn, is completed within the one application. The entire rendering and burn time for a 15-minute DVD was under 20 minutes. However, that was for a MPG2 capture, so rendering an AVI file or a file or a clip with heavy effects will obviously take a bit longer. If you are really in a rush and just want to quickly capture from camera to disk, there is a feature to do this. There is also a quick DVD feature that will quickly capture, create, and burn a themed DVD disk of your footage if you’re not interested in editing. Other output options include HD and Blu-ray, however I don’t have a Blu-ray player or HD camera yet, so I couldn’t test those features. It also has a direct upload to Youtube and an option to export as an flv file.

Overall, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better combination of professional features while retaining ease of use. This program is so much fun to use because you can jump right in and do some really creative and advanced editing right away. It shouldn’t be a chore to put together a nice home movie. If you need professional editing power with numerous audio and video tracks, and dozens of ways to tweak the raw footage, look elsewhere. However, If you’re a home user and wish to dive right into the process and have a ton of fun while making a pretty good looking home movie in the process, you can’t go wrong here.

Rating: 5 / 5

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

]]> Comment on Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook by Tom Burke http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/comment-page-1/#comment-561 Tom Burke Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:07:58 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/final-cut-pro-3-and-dvd-studio-pro-handbook/#comment-561 The book is a tutorial which depends on media files from the included DVD-ROM. Unfortunately, many of the files & folders discussed in the book are missing and/or have very different names on the DVD, making it impossible to do the tutorial. Since that's about all there is to the book, it's rendered worthless.<p>Unlike with many technical books, the publisher's website does not have an errata section that might have helped fix this mess.<p>It's really too bad, because the book is otherwise well-produced, the author's writing style is clear & interesting, and the subjects covered would make an excellent combination. I hope that this book will be re-issued with the correct DVD.<p>The final "gotcha" is that the DVD's sealed sleeve contains a warning that the "package" is not returnable if the seal is broken. But you can't know if you have a flawed DVD until you break the seal... <p> Rating: 1 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Final-Studio-Handbook-Digital-Filmmaking/dp/1584502002%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1584502002" title="Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook " rel="nofollow"><b>Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook </b></a> The book is a tutorial which depends on media files from the included DVD-ROM. Unfortunately, many of the files & folders discussed in the book are missing and/or have very different names on the DVD, making it impossible to do the tutorial. Since that’s about all there is to the book, it’s rendered worthless.

Unlike with many technical books, the publisher’s website does not have an errata section that might have helped fix this mess.

It’s really too bad, because the book is otherwise well-produced, the author’s writing style is clear & interesting, and the subjects covered would make an excellent combination. I hope that this book will be re-issued with the correct DVD.

The final “gotcha” is that the DVD’s sealed sleeve contains a warning that the “package” is not returnable if the seal is broken. But you can’t know if you have a flawed DVD until you break the seal…

Rating: 1 / 5

Final Cut Pro 3 and DVD Studio Pro Handbook

]]> Comment on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 by Chawks http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/comment-page-1/#comment-557 Chawks Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:29:23 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/#comment-557 VideoStudio Pro X2 is enigmatic program. It is an easy to use video editor, with powerful editing tools often found in much more expensive programs. Tools such as: <br /> <br />- Editing Masks <br />- Graphic overlays <br />- Color correction & brightness <br />- White balance & tone adjustments (very useful for indoor photography) <br />- Video rotation <br />- Ability to add flash animations to your video <br />- Chroma key functions <br />- Surround sound mixing <br />- Stretching audio duration <br /> <br />From my tests and reading of the manual these functions seem to be relatively easy to use. However, the quality of the program is always found in the production process and the final output. <br /> <br />To test VideoStudio Pro X2 I imported a 30 minute avi file and had VideoStudio segment this clip into segments. Next, I placed these segments onto the storyboard and cut out a few unwanted clips at the start and end of video. Next, I trimmed the opening and ending clips using the clip trim handles. Finally, I applied an audio fade at the end of the video and burned the production to a dvd. All of these functions worked perfectly and quickly on a Pentium 4, 3ghz machine with 3 megabytes of ram. Impressive! <br /> <br />However, VideoStudio does exhibit some unstable behavior upon exiting the program. VideoStudio has given me a couple error messages upon shutdown. Strangely, neither of these error messages affected the editing and production process. My guess is that VideoStudio is not fully releasing the memory it was occupying. <br /> <br />Corel is close to having a class defining video editor. Hopefully, Corel will issue an update to fix some of the small but irritating bugs. <br /> <br />P.S. If you are looking for a slightly less powerful video editor that is even easier to use you might want to check out Serif's MoviePlus X3. Both of these programs appear to be far more stable than my old Pinnacle Studio versions 8, 9 or 11. <p> Rating: 3 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corel-VSX2PROENPC-VideoStudio-Pro-X2/dp/B001EJTO8A%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EJTO8A" title="Corel VideoStudio Pro X2" rel="nofollow"><b>Corel VideoStudio Pro X2</b></a> VideoStudio Pro X2 is enigmatic program. It is an easy to use video editor, with powerful editing tools often found in much more expensive programs. Tools such as:

- Editing Masks

- Graphic overlays

- Color correction & brightness

- White balance & tone adjustments (very useful for indoor photography)

- Video rotation

- Ability to add flash animations to your video

- Chroma key functions

- Surround sound mixing

- Stretching audio duration

From my tests and reading of the manual these functions seem to be relatively easy to use. However, the quality of the program is always found in the production process and the final output.

To test VideoStudio Pro X2 I imported a 30 minute avi file and had VideoStudio segment this clip into segments. Next, I placed these segments onto the storyboard and cut out a few unwanted clips at the start and end of video. Next, I trimmed the opening and ending clips using the clip trim handles. Finally, I applied an audio fade at the end of the video and burned the production to a dvd. All of these functions worked perfectly and quickly on a Pentium 4, 3ghz machine with 3 megabytes of ram. Impressive!

However, VideoStudio does exhibit some unstable behavior upon exiting the program. VideoStudio has given me a couple error messages upon shutdown. Strangely, neither of these error messages affected the editing and production process. My guess is that VideoStudio is not fully releasing the memory it was occupying.

Corel is close to having a class defining video editor. Hopefully, Corel will issue an update to fix some of the small but irritating bugs.

P.S. If you are looking for a slightly less powerful video editor that is even easier to use you might want to check out Serif’s MoviePlus X3. Both of these programs appear to be far more stable than my old Pinnacle Studio versions 8, 9 or 11.

Rating: 3 / 5

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

]]> Comment on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 by J. J. Marino http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/comment-page-1/#comment-556 J. J. Marino Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:49:18 +0000 http://www.willdee.net/corel-videostudio-pro-x2/#comment-556 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SYV9LMI4Q520">Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SYV9LMI4Q520</a> This entire video was made in Video Studio Pro X2. I purposely did it as fast as I could to show the power of the product (matter of fact this writeup took longer). Besides the obvious time line oriented video editing, there are a ton of video outputs that can be utilized whatever your ability. You can export directly to You Tube, or record it in HD for watching in 1080. Direct to DVD authoring is another really nice addition. <br />I have used Final Cut Pro Studio costing $1300. While this is NOT as powerful at all, it does allow for a good deal of professional editing. It has a very low learning curve and if you just need to make excellent quality videos and not spend a very long time learning then this is the product for you. <br /> <br />You can import your own clips very easily, just drag and drop. It will even import your entire audio library. I tried to do a voice over for this video but my mic is really poor quality so it sounded very digitized. It allows you to add a voice over with 1 click though and I may redo this review if I can get a better mic. It is very refreshing the amount of video outputs this program has. If your a novice and want to make a video that is high quality for You Tube it is just a few clicks and you are done. The menus are easy to navigate and very intuitive. <br /> <br />About this video: Because I did not want to wait 3 hours to upload it. I rendered it at 30fps mpg. I am not sure how Amazon codec will re-render so I hope it looks nice when it is finally converted. <br /> <br />Thank you for watching! <p> Rating: 5 / 5 <p> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corel-VSX2PROENPC-VideoStudio-Pro-X2/dp/B001EJTO8A%3FSubscriptionId%3D0XS1GFAQ3BE1AWQ6ST02%26tag%3Dwilldee-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EJTO8A" title="Corel VideoStudio Pro X2" rel="nofollow"><b>Corel VideoStudio Pro X2</b></a> Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SYV9LMI4Q520 This entire video was made in Video Studio Pro X2. I purposely did it as fast as I could to show the power of the product (matter of fact this writeup took longer). Besides the obvious time line oriented video editing, there are a ton of video outputs that can be utilized whatever your ability. You can export directly to You Tube, or record it in HD for watching in 1080. Direct to DVD authoring is another really nice addition.

I have used Final Cut Pro Studio costing $1300. While this is NOT as powerful at all, it does allow for a good deal of professional editing. It has a very low learning curve and if you just need to make excellent quality videos and not spend a very long time learning then this is the product for you.

You can import your own clips very easily, just drag and drop. It will even import your entire audio library. I tried to do a voice over for this video but my mic is really poor quality so it sounded very digitized. It allows you to add a voice over with 1 click though and I may redo this review if I can get a better mic. It is very refreshing the amount of video outputs this program has. If your a novice and want to make a video that is high quality for You Tube it is just a few clicks and you are done. The menus are easy to navigate and very intuitive.

About this video: Because I did not want to wait 3 hours to upload it. I rendered it at 30fps mpg. I am not sure how Amazon codec will re-render so I hope it looks nice when it is finally converted.

Thank you for watching!

Rating: 5 / 5

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

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