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cmgoodin

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Everything posted by cmgoodin

  1. James, The 744t does not support every firewire to IDE interface chipset out there. Perhaps the interface in your external hard drive uses a chipset that is not supported by the 744t firmware. Has your machine been updated to the version 2.0 hardware compatibility? That will help as will the latest firmware update 2.03 for the 744t. Make sure you have the latest hardware and firmware updates installed to use external HD drives. ---Courtney
  2. Jeff, I think the best would be Member Activation. If you set it to Member approval you will not know if the member applying for membership is a real person or a phony name entered by the Spam Bot. With the Member Activation, they have to enter a valid email address and then click on the reply message. Most spam bots don't give real reply email addresses since they don't want to be traced. So that may work for you. At least it will be better that what you have now. -----Courtney
  3. Jeff, Many of these posts are by script Bots that know your particular Group Software Signup. If you you change the sign-up to include typing in a PIN or Number from a distorted graphic (that can't be easily read by OCR) that can still be read by a human, It eliminates a lot of these spamBots that scour the usenet groups for places to spread spam. Many high end sites use this method to block the phony sign-ups. ---Courtney
  4. Typical Flash memory Write Cycle life is about 100,000 times with today's wear-leveling controllers. So to burn out it would have to continually write and erase the same sector more than 100,000 times. If the buffer is continuously rolling in the Zaxcom mini recorders, it would mean that whatever length of time the flash would take to fill x 100,000 and after that length of time on it could suffer burn-out. you will probably loose the SDRam card or break it before that happens. ---Courtney
  5. Just what we need in today's complex workflow. Another Monkey Wrench.... 1 Bit recorders were created as a marketing tool to avoid payment of royalties to Sony Phillips over the PCM format used in CD's. It uses (according to my calculations) about 42 Megabytes per minute per channel of data storage. Plus it can't be used in it's native format in any digital mixing or DSP based digital filtration software or hardware. It must be decimated and converted to PCM before any manipulation is done so what is the point? Future Proofing audio? are they expecting the human race to evolve in the future to be able to hear frequencies above 17khz and below 20 Hz? or be able to hear over a dynamic range of 140 db? I personally think we humans are heading in the Other direction thanks to exposure to iPods and Rock and Roll.... ---Courtney
  6. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    Noah, I am tired of re-stating my reasons or having you dismiss them. Nomenclature is precisely the problem with ROLL or TAPE. It is not just an annoyance. The problem in making metadata work is to have Unambiguous fields. If the Nomenclature makes the field ambiguous then the values placed in that field become arbitrary and worthless as a reliable means of interchange.. Since ROLL or TAPE doesn't refer to anything finite in the File based recorder it can't be relied upon. People and manufacturers are putting different things in that field. That makes it ambiguous. In your example you state just putting the number of the media turned in for telecine. (I have pointed out that this media number may not be known at the time of recording since disks may be burned later and you won't know what files end up on what disk). Some machines automatically put a number based on the Date in the TAPE field and don't let you enter your ROLL/Disk number.  For example if you get 3 disks of recordings on a feature from different recorders. One of them has the value 0131 in the TAPE field. Another has 12B and another has 0201. Does the 0131 mean it is Roll #131 or was it shot on January 31st. and the next roll will be numbered 0201 or will the next roll be 0132. It is ambiguous. the 12B value came from the second unit guy who is using a different machine that Allows him to enter his disk number. The DATE field in the EBU BWF file is standardized even in its layout on all machines that record in BWF. It is always there in the bext metadata, even if there is no iXML data. It requires no user data entry so it doesn't take any time away from the mixer's duties on the set. Dates are universal across all languages and numbering systems. It would be the logical field to use as the primary sort field instead of the now Ambiguous ROLL or TAPE. field. In the case of multiple units recording on the same day they could easily be differentiated by the machine name in the BWF metadata or by the unit number in the USER BITS of the timecode. I think those are plenty of good reasons stated for using Date recorded as the primary sort field instead of the Now Ambiguous TAPE field. ---Courtney
  7. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    The proper forum for those specific questions and for more authoritative answers are the digidesign User Conference at http://duc.digidesign.com/ Today's workflows are a superkludge because people are naturally resistant to change. They know how to do something one way that has worked successfully for them in the past and feel no need to learn a different way. As a result of technology advances we find people tyring to apply their old methods of work to the new technology and ignoring new features or automation that was designed to streamline work but ends up being a roadblock because we don't understand it's design concept or are unwilling to give up old practices. Workflows are also a Kludge because the designers of the various tools have come from different disciplines. Post sound tools came from both the multi-track Music studio recording industry and the Film post world where synchronization with an image was a primary concern and things were traditionally kept lined up based on mechanical means. (sprockets and sync blocks). And those disciplines are filtered through yet a third and fourth technology of Video and Computer software both of which have a history of how things were done in their respective worlds. Guiding all these divergent technologies to a common goal is not a simple task but I think through communication and education workable standards are attainable. Let me know how the seminar in NYC turns out. Also if anyone is putting it on tape for viewing online please post that information here and on RAMPS. ---Courtney
  8. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    Noah, All of what I described is doable today with existing software and properly entered metadata in BWF files. I hope they have some good speakers at the seminar in NY. If you want to view the video of the CAS seminars from last June where Scott Wood from Digi demonstrated may of the fieatures I described in Pro-Tools 7.2. check out the CAS flash video here: http://www.cinemaaudiosociety.org/seminars/workflow3.php  Although it hadn't shipped when the video was recorded, Pro-tools 7.2 is available now. There is resistance to entry of metadata in proper fashion, as is shown by several comments in the seminar. However the technology is there if people are willing to learn how to use it and agree on a few common methods for entering and working with the metadata. If you are using modern recording tools but using a workflow that you have used for years when syncing and editng 35MM Mag or multitrack linear audio, you can always make it work, but you are not using the tools to their maximum capability. ---Courtney
  9. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    All telecine operators I have talked to have told me that putting time code across midnight in the same folder and in some cases on the same disk is to be avoided. You are proposing putting all the shoot day's files in a single folder regardless of time of day (or night). This is what creates problems in telecine it doesn't solve them. The DV-40 puts all the files in the folder into a virtual timeline based on the time code. Then it chase-locks that virtual timeline to the SMPTE edit controller. If you put takes before midnight in the same folder as those after midnight they will be arranged on the timeline in reverse order. putting them in separate folders based on the Date will prevent this problem. I'm sorry I don't see any pitfalls in using the Date as a folder name as long as you consider the Date as the primary locator then the Time Code as the secondary. There will never be any confusion especially when "Split" days are involved. What was a production day (from call to wrap) is not now(in a non-linear workflow) useful information in locating material. It was when there was no metadata possible and things were stored on Linear Rolls that were marked sequentially. And of course you can emulate that old workflow using file based recorders, but it involves the old method of logging everything and referral to logs to manually locate things. it mandates storage and retrieval of the original recording media in order to use those logs. It also relies on "Burn in TC" on the dailies to locate and cross reference the audio manually.  Today's Editing workstations are designed to store and use the metadata within the files to locate them and align them on the timeline automatically. No manual syncing or cross referencing to logs should be necessary provided the correct metadata is contained in the files. The software should be able to find all the iso channels from the Date and Timecode in the metadata. If not, then from the scene and Take in the metadata to find the appropriate tracks, then use the embedded timecode to align them to picture. This is the whole concept of the automated workflow that everyone is trying to achieve. However without a workable standard of metadata across platforms and machines, this will not become an attainable goal. This is why storing the Roll number in the Metadata Scene field and the Date in the Roll number field, may work if you are doing things the old way and you use a hand-written log to cross reference things. It however throws a wrench in any possibility of using machine automation to handle the storage and syncing of all the elements of a production. ---Courtney
  10. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    Noah, I think you are confusing the point. This thread is about entering the TAPE field in the Metadata. It is not about how you organize your folders. The ROLL or TAPE field in the metadata must be entered at the time the file is recorded. It is used in a database to locate files. Those files can be in any folders with any names. Those folder names that you or the machine uses are of no consequence further down the workflow where all the files end up in different folders organized however other people see fit. There is no reference in the file's metadata that says what folder you used when recording. So whether you use the DAILY folder in the SD machines or the SCENE folder it doesn't change the value entered in the TAPE fieldof each file's metadata. Using the Date and Timecode as a locator allows you to locate files without any possibility of duplication, and without regard to what folders were used originally. The files will always be arranged chronologically and files will be arranged in the order shot. IF you are shooting a dramatic film where you may shoot 5 to 10 scene numbers during the production day and not necessarily shot in numerical order, it can be confusing to use the SD Scene Folder option. It makes it difficult to track which folders have been burned to disk and it makes mid day break-off a bookkeeping chore. So the Daily folder is currently the only viable option for folder organization on anything that you want to enter the Scene and Take Numbers into the Metadata. In the Current 744T firmware you cannot name a folder something like ROLL#1 and then record in it. You can only rename folders after they are recorded and you can't record in a folder after its name is changed. ----Courtney
  11. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    While many are getting creative in what they put in the Tape/Roll Field, as long as you have a workflow established and communicate what you are putting in the ROLL filed it can work. The problem is Roll used to mean something and we all knew what to put in it.  It also represented the primary means of locating the original sound recordings. Now that we have digital file based recording and the ability to Clone those files ,there is no need to return to the actual original production media. So now Roll not only has no meaning,(because there are no actual Rolls) it's usefulness is rendered moot. So my point was why does it remain the primary sort field and media locator in AVID and Pro Tools. Some Recorders allow you to enter a "Tape or Roll #", some don't use the field at all and some automatically fill the Tape field with a number (usually the Date) which the user can't alter. (Tascam and SD machines do this) So it may be beyond the control of the mixer to make sure that there are no duplicate "Tape" or Roll fields (a source of confusion come time to edit) Deva didn't have a Roll field in it's metadata until the last firmware upgrade. Why not just use the Date (either in the User Bits or in the Date Stamp in the Bext Chunk) as the primary sort field. No extra thought or special communication necessary. and All machines that record Broadcast WaV files have this data built in. ---Courtney
  12. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    Darrin, The problem is not with the Roll Number or Disk number you write on a DISK or put in the upper corner of your sound log. The Problem is putting that roll number into the metadata of each file on that Disk. With many machines you may not know what disk a file is going to end up on until the end of the day.(if it ends up on a disk at all) Plus, with all the backups, some on Hard drive some on CF, the files may not end up on the same media and Roll becomes meaningless in terms of locating the files. By the time it gets to post, all the files may end up in different folders on a server somewhere. So using a Roll number to sort or locate them becomes problematic. Problematic because the sound mixer does not know how to determine a Roll number when the files are being recorded on 3 different media with different capacities simultaneously. The Roll or Tape number was a holdover from the days when all dailies were digitized off Daily Tape Rolls. Either analog or digibeta from the Telecine transfer. With file based ingest, Roll or Tape numbers become confusing or meaningless. EDLs need to evolve to reflect this paradigm shift. They have always had problems because they always assumed contiguous time code on each roll. That is the problem with crossing midnight using time of Day code. Which is why the editors always specified each tape roll to have REC RUN time code. Great if you are only shooting one camera, but not good as a means of auto-syncing up multiple cameras and double system sound. ----Courtney
  13. cmgoodin

    Roll number

    Take, During that seminar we proposed that they stop using the TAPE or Roll field as a primary organizational field in Pro tools and in the AVID since they are meaningless in a non-linear world that doesn't record on Tape or divide recordings into Rolls. We all seemed to agree on the shoot date and Time Code. If AVID, FCP, Pro-Tools and any other software based synchronization tools would just use the USER BITS in the time code arranged as the date + Media/disk Number or Take Number mm:dd:yy-tt that field is available in the current BWF spec and the User bits are carried along with the Time Code in LTC and VITC. No metadata is even required and the User bits of SMPTE Time Code have been Standardized for more than 15 years. ----Courtney
  14. No Jim, the sample Cantar files I have are from version 1.68 Firmware and uses iXML 1.5.  The problems come from the fact that the iXML structure is not prescribed and by definition, there are no requirements to include any field and the fields can be in any order. That coupled with the fact that each manufacturer seems to use a different way of ending a field. Cantar uses a line-feed and some spaces, Deva uses a single carriage return, Metacorder uses Carriage return & Line feed followed by Tabs,(which makes the most readable display). SD uses CR&LF and no Tabs, etc. Plus some Mfg, like Fostex fill note fields with a string of blanks, (that's a no-no), and leave no slack space at the end of the chunk to allow for editing or additions. Also, there are 2 <Note> tags that can appear in 1.5 one is a general note and one is a speed related note.  The tags should have different names to speed up parsing so you don't have to determine what the note is by looking at it's surrounding data. Manufacturers are free to make up new tags for their specific needs, so making standard software that interprets the iXML data is a daunting task. Sure you can easily display all the data for a file in an INFO screen, but parsing the data and interpreting it for including in a database is much more complex than it needs to be. A simple flat file (non-hierarchical) list of tags and their values that are standardized would have been a better choice. (like that in the bext chunk). I now have a version of BWF-Widget PRo that scours both the iXML and bext chunk for the fields it supports, but it is a bit daunting to offer editing and updating of data when there is no prescribed standard between machines. And since there can be duplicate fields in both bext and iXML and differing data. It creates a paradoxical problem in interpreting which field may have the correct data. In other words it's a big mess. Ad to this the push for MXF file structure (yet another wrapper with more duplication of metadata) and it makes stability and accuracy of metadata a tenuous goal. ---Courtney
  15. Crew, Got the files thanks... As I expected, DEVA is using yet another flavor of iXML No 2 versions alike..... ---Courtney
  16. Hi, Crew. Yes could you upload a couple of short files (I just need to look at the metadata) They should be BWF files 2 or 4 tracks 24bit 48k with any metadata turned on. If you could name a couple of the tracks with unique names and perhaps add a note if there is such a thing. Record about 5 seconds and mirror to a DVD-RAM or any other media that will allow you to send them via Internet. You can go to my www.ProPrompt.com website and use the UPLOAD SCRIPTS button to upload your audio files to my ftp site. Or if they are short enough (< 5MB) you could attach them to an email and send them off to me. If you have some takes that are 10-20 MB use the upload on the website. Thanks... I am updating BWF-Widget Pro and trying to make some sense out of the mess that is iXML.  ----Courtney
  17. I need a couple of short 2 or 4 track DEVA Files that were mirrored using the latest firmware that supports iXML. The files can be 5 to 10 seconds long. I would like to have files that have a Note, & or tracks named in the Deva. I am working on examining all the different meta-data flavors on all the recorders. Howy has not posted any sample files that contain an iXML chunk. ----Courtney
  18. Don't try to use version 2.0 with these drives to record in real time. It will seem to work with no errors reported. The files will all be there on the DVD-RAM, however when you try to play the files they will all be garbage. (except for 2 Track 16 Bit 44.1k).. With anything else is drops a byte or 2 here and there and causes block alignment errors when you try to play them back. I.E. Static and/or Distortion. These Drives use the Prolific 1394 Bridge chip set which is not fully compatible with Version 2.0 firmware. 2.01 will correct this compatibility problem as well as add a couple of other chipsets to the list of compatible 1394 drives. 2.01 will fix some already discussed bugs as well, (like Take Re-set on power down) and a couple of others. ---Courtney
  19. Douglas, Any of the new Mac Minis (Intel Core Solo or Core Duo) will work fine with windows XP. The latest version has the faster Core Duo in it and the $799 model comes with a larger hard drive. You might want to upgrade the memory since they all come with only 512MB. also the faster one comes with a DVD burner. (although won't burn DVD-RAM) (some can read them though) Another thing to consider is That if you are going to use Boot Camp to create a second Windows partition. Make it a FAT32 partition . That way both the MAC and the Windows apps can write to it. Parallels (I think) just allows direct access to files on the Virtual Windows Drive only. No access to the Mac HD or to external Firewire Drives at this time. (they say they are working on this) So sharing audio files between Mac and Windows Applications using Paralells may be problematic unless they are copied to another USB drive first. Most DVD burning software will not work under Windows running under Parallels. I think Windows running in Boot Camp does support burning though. ----Courtney
  20. These various playback issues that sound as distortion or ghostly static are usually caused by PCM data Framing errors. PCM data in WAV files is stored in an interleaved fashion. with 2 or 3 bytes for each channel for each sample. (depending on whether it is 16 bit or 24 bit) When the D to A converter is mis-framed it gets off by 1 byte so each sample contains the low-order byte from the neighbor channel instead of it's high order byte. Since there is no clock or framing signal the D to A has no way to know when this happens.  It can also happen with software errors miscalculate the starting byte of a file or mislabel a file as 16 bit when it is 24 bit. etc. It can also happen in serial transmission of PCM data when a byte gets dropped or doubled. Usually pretty rare but can happen. ---Courtney
  21. You are all forgetting that the evolution of the Video Camera from Imaging device to CamCorder was done to eliminate the need for a Sound/Video Recordist, that was tethered to the camera. It was sold to many TV station owners on the premise that they no longer had to send out a 2 Man News crew. The Cameraman would record the Video and Sound inside the camera thereby eliminating the need for a separate recordist saving them 50% of their crew costs. Most consumer and pro-sumer camcorders assume they will be used by this crew of 1, so manufacturers pay little attention to any methods needed to sync-up or even accomodate off-board audio. The new Mini Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Camcorder dosen't even have an external audio or mic in. And of course no Timecode. ---Courtney
  22. Hey Crew. I can see how you might need to re-arrange tracks for an animated character interacting with live action. I used to use SAW from iqsoft. It worked pretty well for that kind of stuff and could build a playlist from several files with multiple cue points in each file. It worked well, and SAW was a very small and fast editor. (it was written in assembler) Today I think it has become as bloated as Pro-Tools though. ----Courtney
  23. Just curious, Scott. What kind of editing do you end up doing on playback tracks? Other than placing Beeps, I can't say I've ever needed to edit a music track. (on a computer) And recorded VO or puppet voice tracks usually have to match back to the original master, so cutting them would destroy the relationship to the original Time Code unless that code is on an audio track and you do multiple slates. I used to have to splice on leader to 1/4" tracks that were prepared poorly. But haven't done any editing to playback tracks (recorded by others) since I went to digital. ---Courtney
  24. Ramsey, The latest version of BWF-Widget Pro allows you to not only edit Metadata, but it comes with BWF-O-Matic (when you purchase registration). BWF-O-Matic can Join or interleave the Mono files into a Poly. and you can choose which tracks to join and in a different order than how they were recorded. So you could pull in just the Iso tracks into an even numbered Poly file. BWF-O-Matic allows you to add blank tracks if you need to maintain even track counts for older Avids. Time code it maintained as is any proprietary chunks from the Boomrecorder files. Read more about it here: http://www.bwfwidget.com/html/bwf-o-matic.html It is Windows only so if you want to run it on a MAC you need some virtual PC version and Windows installed. Or Boot Camp if you are on an Intel based Mac. ---Courtney
  25. This is the sneaky little secret of the production world. After watching Haskel's movie"Who Needs Sleep", I sat down and tried to figure out what has put us in this delima more and more. As the movie points out, a lot of great films were made in the past with decent 10 to 12 hour work days. But it doesn't address the cause of the current abusive hours. I think I can trace the origin of the problem to a couple of contract changes over the years between the IA and MPAA. Three give backs by the IA over the last 12 years or so have formed the "Perfect Storm" of abuse able to be practiced by the producer. Although these causes all relate to Union Pictures, they had the same effect on Non-Union pictures except the exploitation can be even worse since there can be no organized revolt. 1. The article XX which was the negative pick-up rule that allowed Studios who were signatories to the Union Contract, pick up Non-Union produced pictures for distribution by the Signatory companies. That concession allowed the major studios to change their business model completely. They became more Distribution companies and Facilities rental companies. They hired "Independent" producers to create all the properties they had in their pipeline. By keeping the production "Independent" at least on paper, they were free to force the Unions to give even more concessions since then, each movie contract had to be negotiated with the Unions separately and they could always threaten to make the picture without a Union crew. The result was a lot of "side letters" that waived a lot of the terms already agreed to by the signator production companies. 2. The next major concession contributing to the hours problem was the loss of the specific Saturday and Sunday as overtime days. We went to an "any 5 out of 7" rule for straight time vs. Overtime. In other words the producers only have to start paying Time and a Half and Double time on the 6th and 7th consecutive day of work regardless of which day of the week it was. With this new rule, we lost synchronization with the calendar week. 3. The concession of Night Premium on many productions (commercials etc) was the final straw that caused the problem. This served cause the production to lose synchronization with the Solar Day.... Now with no hard Calander or celestial sync points the producers were free to do something sneaky. Change the length of a Day. Since movies and TV shows are budgeted based on "Production Days", they found they could stretch the length of the day (including production time and rest time) to more than 24 hours and still technically comply with the union contract. The contract has terms that dictate minimum turn around times, or rest times but they assume a Day is 24 hours. The producers were using the any 5 out of 7 rule to shoot 16 to 17 hours then give the 10 hours off, or sometimes 12 hours off because the Talent had that in their contract. So the "Day" including Work time and Rest time would end up being 26 to 28 hours long. This of course causes creeping call times and since the night premiums were not a deterrent and there was no fear of running into a calendar based escalation of pay, they were free to create a 5 "Day" week that was over 130 hours long (instead of 120 hrs. for a calendar 5 day period) They end up getting the last day (rest period) which should be at Time and a Half for the full day at straight time (up to 9 or 10 hours). Over the course of a 3 month shoot schedule they pocket a lot of dough and we loose a lot of sleep and have no Weekends left. I think the unions (and non-union crews) should enforce the laws of Physics and say that a "Day" will be no longer than 24 hours. That includes Work time Plus any required Rest time before the next call. After you cross over the 120 hour mark (including work and rest time) in a week you start a new Day that has a minimum call of 8 hours and is at Time and a Half. If they started enforcing the 24 Hour Day interpretation of the current contract I think a lot of the 16 hour days would disappear and the production schedules would gain days on the end. ---Courtney
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