Compressor And File Names

 Tips on Using Apple Compressor: if the source file name contains L-R-C-LFE-Ls-Rs or any of the surround naming conventions used by Compressor, it will automatically recognize the file as a Surround Group instead of say a WAV multichannel.

This is wrong and will yield to bad results. Make sure to name the source file accordingly.

Adobe Encore - Do No Use The Loop Feature In BD Menus

 Basically it's a useless feature and does not work properly in Encore for Blu-ray. I tried everything and I cannot have it loop seamlessly, even less correctly. No matter what I try it truncates the beginning of the music/audio, or it puts an interminable silence at the end of the music.

The solution: DO NOT USE IT! It is much better, less aggravating, seamless and accurate to just set the loop to NONE always. If a menu needs to loop, just make it point at itself in the End Action. That's it.

More about this snafu here.

Adobe Encore - Replace Asset

 Be super wary of Adobe Encore's Replace Asset function.

It is very handy when switching asset, without the need to redo everything you've done with it.

There is a huge gotcha though, if the asset is of a different length for example, Encore still thinks the new asset is the old length.

Not good for looped menus with music. If the Music is 30sec. and you replace it with a 40sec. music, the loop is still stuck at 30sec. If you manually change it to 40, the image is cut short 10sec.!

The right way to do this is to relink/reload the new music in the Motion Menu Panel. Encore will register the new length and all is good.

Adobe Encore Blu-ray menu buttons selection/highlight not visible

 Another troubleshooting of Encore this time with BD. Preview works great, everything is just fine. Build the project, open with BD player and... NO BUTTONS visible. No selection, no highlight...

The bug is in the Menu Color Setting. Anything that's not Automatic or 100% opacity does not work. Here is an Adobe forum page about it.

Now, another thing that might turn off the highlight color is "Export Highlights in Rich Color." If that's turned on, turn it off. Make sure each menu page has this option turned off. Encore will preview it correctly but the option sometimes is sticky and hard to get off of it. Select all Menus and turn it on and off a few times, then do it one Menu at a time.

Also, forget using an app the likes of Leawo for playing/checking Blu-ray packages on your Mac. It's not accurate and will make you doubt your build is correct.

For example: at the end of a menu the app stops everything. Not the case with a burned disc played in a set top Blu-ray player.

The app just becomes irresponsive and does not show any buttons with a looped menu that has background music. It will be fine on a burned disc played back in a regular Blu-ray player.

The buttons are not positioned properly. Not to worry, it will be fine again when played back from a disc on a set top player. 

Adobe Encore Error Message: "frame values not permitted by indicated format"

 Another cryptic message by Encore CS6.

"frame values not permitted by indicated format".

As it happens the culprit in my case is the caption file.

The film asset is 23.98, Encore conforms the timeline to the asset.

The caption file (.scc) works fine with a 29.97 Timeline and asset, but it generates the error on a 23.98 Timeline/asset.

Fix: I imported the .scc into Annotation Edit set to 23.98 and exported it to .scc. The roundtrip worke, the exported file did not generate the error.

Photoshop Power User Tips - Layer, Smart Object, Replace Content and Relink to File

 When you have an image embedded into a Photoshop project as Smart Object and you have resized it and done some work on it. How to swap for another image all the while keeping the work you've done?

Easy: Select the smart object/layer, in the Menu, go to Layer, Smart Object, Replace Contents and Select the new image.

That's it! And it's powerful. That's particularly handy when doing BD or DVD chapter menu pages with thumbnails.

In addition, Relink to File will create a link as oppose to embed the image into your project.

Adobe Encore - Internal Software Error Message On Build

 I was ready to build my project when Encore flashed the following error:

" adobe encore internal software error: /Volumes/Builds/Amawat/Main/XcodeProjects/AuthorCore/../../Sonic/DVDCreator/FormatLib/Vobulator/TitlePlanner/CVOBUPlanner.cpp, line 332"

What a mouthful! I Google the whole thing and it looks like there are a few different things that can generate the error. This eehelp forum posts from god knows when was helpful in putting me on the right track.

As it happened the culprit was an end marker too close to the end of the movie/file.

This last marker is too close to the end.

Moving the marker back one notch and the build flew right through.

This is good.

Buyer Beware: Crappy (and expensive) SMR Hard Drives On the Rise

I noticed some sneaky behavior on the part of Western Digital while shopping fr a 4TB bare drive. I've used WD Red NAS 4TB for a white for archiving and I like them overall with a OK price/performance ratio.

I was surprise to see on the comparison table between regular Red NAS and Red Plus NAS that the former was SMR and the later CMR. Really?

CMR is the Conventional tech, SMR is the Shingle tech that's not as good, with slower performance and not as reliable.

The old regular WD Red was CMR, but now it is SMR, and is sold at the same price, for a lesser tech, even though SMR is less costly to produce.

If you still want CMR (you should) you have to upgrade to WD Red Plus for $10 more. Nowhere does it say which is what. Hello WD? The giveaway is the large cache on the SMR drive for identical capacity.

So no more WD Red regular SMR for me. I haven't bought the Plus version either, I switched instead to Seagate Ironwolf for the time being.

Price is identical to the WD Red Plus but it's often on sale for $99.99. Performance is fine, it also runs quieter and cooler than the old WD Red.

Seagate clearly states the tech in the description, WD please do the same, lack of transparency is eroding consumer's trust in your brand.

For more info on SMR and CMR tech, read this excellent article by ArsTechnica.

For more info on WD Drives, see this blog page:

For more info on Seagate Drives, see this webpage:

Final Cut Pro 10.4.10 Refuses to Update

Tried everything with the App Store today. It shows Updates available for FCP (10.4.10), but the Update button does not work, not for FCP, not for Motion, not for Compressor. Nothing happens. What a pain Apple.

Had to delete FCP (10.4.9) and install from the App Store (Cloud icon.) That installs the whole app to the current version, it just takes much longer.

But why? Why?

Adobe Encore CS6 asking for a Serial Number at launch

 Encore CS6 is asking for a serial number at launch even though I am a CC sub. That's new.

Adobe offers this help:

https://helpx.adobe.com/encore/kb/cant-write-image-fie-larger1.html

Basically sign off and sign in again to "sync" the apps.

I tried to sign off and back in a few times and nothing worked. I tried to sign in with Premiere CS6 instead of Premiere CC and it started in trial mode.

But then that didn't help Encore.

At that point I contacted Adobe and spent a minutes with a rep, no help.

" We do not support encore anymore , so please visit http://community.forum/ Please contact  1800-833-6687.  If you want me to connect you with our subject expert the please share your contactable number, preferred timing to call and your time zone."

I left my phone number and timing info, and I tried one more time to sign off and back in.

I launched Premiere CS6, it asked if I wanted to start in trial mode or sign in. I did sign in and then I launched Encore and this time IT WORKED!

I cancelled my phone support request.

All right, back to normal now!

Encore CS6 on macOS 10.14.6 Mojave.

Holly Molly!!  Pro Video Formats update from Apple today! Version 2.1.2

Final Cut Pro update next?? Soon... ??!! TODAY!! FCP 10.4.9 update for Mojave and Catalina.

Link to Pro Video Formats 2.1.2 on Apple.com is also here: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2050?locale=en_US

Doesn't look so different from 2.1.1, "Canon" name dropped from the XF-HEVC codec, no mention of MXF this time.

If you want to know which version is installed on your computer, follow Apple's instructions: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207249

I have multiple versions on mine, probably because I have a backup disk currently connected, so it shows all the old versions as well. Most current 2.1.1.

What's new in the App Store?

Final Cut Pro X 10.4.9, Motion 5.4.6 and Compressor 4.4.7 updates! That's what!

Final Cut Pro: How To Move A Clip Without Affecting Connected Clips

A very powerful modifier In Final Cut Pro, when you want to move a clip WITHOUT affecting connected clips. Because of the Magnetic Timeline behavior, any connected clip will move together with the adjusted clip, which is GREAT most of the time. Some other times I want connected clips to stay where they are.

To do that, hold down the Grave Accent (`) key and drag the clip to another location in the timeline using Select or Position tool. It also work with the Trim tool which is my favorite. Hold (`) and drag the clip with the Trim tool will modify its start/end point without moving any connected clips. FANTASTIC! Try it! It'll save you loads of time.

Check: https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/connect-clips-ver7a77ef9e/mac

And open the submenu: Edit clips in the primary storyline without affecting connected clips.

Pro Tools Not Loading, Stuck Scanning Plug-ins

A common problem with Pro Tools not loading and stuck at the "Scanning Plug-ins" level is a corrupted Plug-in or a stray 32bit plug-in.

Plug-ins are stored in System HD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins, or in System HD/Library/Application Support/Digidesign/Plug-Ins.

I checked that no plug-in was 32 bit by showing the Kind column in the Finder window. Kind: Pro Tools Plug-In (32bit) will point at the culprit(s.) In my case all plug-ins were 64bit.

So I remove all plug-ins (I moved then to the Unused folder) and restarted Pro Tools, it automatically re-installed the default plug-ins. I then moved back the unused plug-ins one by one, actually manufacturer by manufacturer into the plug-ins folder and tried laughing Pro Tools for each batch until it froze again. In my case that was the WaveShell that caused the hang.

The fix was to update Waves Central, and in Settings select Clear Central cache. On Wave Central relaunch, I then selected Repair. The Wave Shell and plug-ins got fresh installs.

That's it, that fixed the problem for me, back to editing and mixing!

Tips For Location Sound Recording In The Time Of COVID-19

Here are a few tips when recording sound on location.

- Protect yourself: don a mask and possibly gloves, else wash your hands regularly, stay 6ft apart.
- Do not use lavaliers microphones.
- Use directional "shotgun" type boom microphones.
- Position yourself upwind.
- Protect and clean the equipment.

The best equipment at the moment is a shotgun microphone on a shock mount with a long enough boom to be 6ft away from the subject.

Outside you must use a windscreen, that's difficult to clean, so wrap it loosely in a soft plastic bag or a large piece of plastic cling-wrap. The hit on sound quality is not too bad.

Stay as far as your microphone allows (most long shotgun have more reach than short ones), and boom from above. The largest particles fall on the floor, so miking from below is not a good idea.

Try to keep the air / breeze in your back, so that it doesn't carry the particles towards you.

At the end of the session, remove and throw away the plastic wrap.
Before packing, clean the boom and hard surfaces with alcohol or soapy water (check manufacturer guidance.) Remove and discard your gloves or sanitize/wash your hands.

Stay healthy!

Check out the Schoeps Covid-19 page.

Adobe Hardware Recommendations for Premiere

Adobe has published this page of hardware recommendations for Premiere and AE users:
https://helpx.adobe.com/content/dam/help/attachments/hardware-recommendations.pdf

Of interest:

- GPU should have at least 4GB VRAM.

- PP and AE will use all GPUs available (including eGPUs) for rendering and export. More GPU = more speed rendering and exporting. Notice they didn't specify NVDIA or AMD. On Macs, Metal implementation is better, but still not there 100% for what I can experience.

- As before, three drive optimal configuration: System Drive, Media Cache Drive, Media Drive. The fastest the drives, the better. NVMe flash > Sata Flash > Spinning Drive for both System and Cache. RAID Array best for Media.

- Intel i7 and i9 (Quicksync capable, best for h264/h265 encoding/decoding*) or AMD Ryzen recommended. 8 cores optimal count.

- 32 RAM minimum, 128 for high end systems. PP and AE are RAM mongers.


* That's nice and dandy, that said pro editors do not cut with h264/h265 Media.

* For h264/h265 exports with Premiere/AME, I did not see much of a difference between my Mac mini i7 4 cores and my Xeon 6 cores MacPro. OK that was two years ago and maybe I should try again. On the other hand, the Mac mini did smoke the MacPro when encoding with Compressor. See the older post here.

COVID-19

Work slowed to a halt because of the pandemic. Stay safe!

As a reminder:

1) Wash your hands regularly with water & soap.
2) Avoid touching your face.
3) Clean surfaces regularly, especially keyboards, mice, controllers, monitors, phones, cameras, microphones, door knobs, handles, desks, tables, etc.
4) Get outside at least once a day (unless it's not recommended depending on your conditions.)
5) Maintain 6ft distancing with others. (That's a three seater sofa length worth.)
6) Don a mask in public space, keep your distance.

LA County Ressources Page with lots of good infos here: https://covid19.lacounty.gov

Documentary Filmmakers, Do You Want Your Post-production To Go Smoothly?

Here are 10 organizational tips to make sure the post-production on your new project will go smoothly and not slow down to mollasses or cost a small fortune:

1) Shoot everything at 23.976fps. OK, except for high frame rates to be used as slow motion.

2) Stick to the same frame size, format, codec, picture profile, LUT as much as possible. Expose properly, strive for consistency.

3) Take the time to set your camera(s) properly so that the same clip name is not repeated at nauseam across days and cameras, no one wants to deal with a gazillions of "Clip0001".

4) Record Time Of Day time code, and jam-sync your cameras and main sound recorder several times a day. Imperative after powering-off, battery swaps, power outages. If that's not possible, use whatever clock your device has, and manually adjust the timing information on each piece equipment so that they are in close proximity. Watch for the pesky 12hrs. difference.

5) Always record proper temp audio (decent signal, not saturated, not garbled) on all cameras. That's another way to sync the footage in post if timecode is missing or wrong. Use a decent microphone on each camera, do listen.

6) Always record PCM uncompressed audio at 48k and at 32bit or 24bit if you your recorder allows it. Else 16bit.

7) There is no need to record 12 tracks of audio when 11 of them are empty. Learn how to use your sound recording equipment and turn off any empty/useless track.

8) Be generous with Preroll and Post roll. 

9) Offload your footage with a proper offloading software like Hedge, and keep camera cards structure intact.

10) Organize your footage in folders by day: 2020_01_30, 2020_01_31, and by device/card: A001 (camera A, card 001), A002, B001 (camera B card 001), S001 (sound card 001), etc.

Is Vimeo Not Reseting 5GB "Plus" Weekly Quota In Time?

It's Monday January 20, 2020 in Los Angeles, I uploaded my last video on January 17.

Vimeo alerts: "You've used 81% of your weekly storage limit, Upgrade". "Quota 4GB of 5GB, Upgrade". "Your weekly limit will reset on January 18 at 11:50 PST."

"WILL RESET ON JANUARY 18" ??? What? Hello?

Single External Rotating Drives Speed Wall

I often have to explain to friends and clients that no matter the connections on your SRHD (Single Rotating Hard Drive), USB 3, Thunderbolt, whatever, the read/write speed is limited by the drive itself.

See this BMD Disk Speed Test on a Thunderbolt connected 2TB LaCie Rugged portable drive. The port is capable of up to 10Gbps, 1250MB/s data transfer speed.

Lame speed due to the limitations of the hard drive itself. It has a USB-C connector as well, and the speed is exactly the same. As of today, single rotating drive won't give you anything above 130MB/s at best.

If you want more speed, you can only get it with a SSD or a Raid drive array.

As a reminder, the max speed of the various connecting protocols are tabulated below:
USB 2.0 480Mbps (60MB/s)
USB 3.0 / USB 3.1 gen1, 5Gbps (625MB/s)
eSATA 1.5Gbps (187.5MB/s), 3Gbps (375MB/s), up to 6Gbps (750MB/s)
USB 3.2 / 3.1 gen 2 / Thunderbolt v1 two channels 10Gbps (1250MB/s)
Thunderbolt v2 20Gbps (2500MB/s)
Thunderbolt v3 40Gbps (5000MB/s)

A single rotating modern drive is the limiting speed factor using all but USB 2.0 protocols. As a reminder USB 2.0 was implemented in 1996!! eSATA in 2004. Hard drives have some serious catch up to do.