Oh, I should have specified -- the final video is going to be at 24fps -- we shot at 30fps in order to get a subtle slo-mo effect. I believe we used the HVX's "Variable Frame-rate" feature to do this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 10:58 AM on March 13, 2008

I'm using 6.0.2, which is the newest. This is watching them from the bin -- there's been no reason to put them into a sequence, yet, as they're obviously messed up as soon as you watch them. I checked out their framerate in Cinema Tools, and it seems to check out -- I also experimentally tried conforming the clip, but that didn't help.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:15 AM on March 13, 2008

Oh, the same is true when we play them in Quicktime Player or another app.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:16 AM on March 13, 2008

Hey melorama -- I tried that out, but it doesn't work -- the clips themselves are reported by FCP as being 29.97fps, and the HD Frame Rate Converter tool claims that it can only operate on 59.94 or 50 fps files. So it looks like the footage was actually imported at 30fps. And we did record at a 24n timebase, I believe.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 1:34 PM on March 13, 2008

Hold on -- you're right in a sense. The frames are indeed duplicated, but it looks like the playback rate is still 30fps, so everything is playing slower, and the clips seem to end half as soon as they should. Looks like Final Cut is getting confused about the frame rate. Any clues for correcting this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 2:13 PM on March 13, 2008

melorama -- in terms of dumping the raw contents to a harddrive, do you mean the instructions under "Capturing over Firewire as if a P2 card Were a Tape in a VTR"?
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 2:22 PM on March 13, 2008

Whoops, turns out I was wrong! We actually recorded at 720/24P, not 24PN, with the frame rate set to 30 for a mild overcrank effect.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 2:30 PM on March 13, 2008

Ahah! I tried recapturing one of the 30fps clips with "Remove advanced pulldown" unchecked in Log and Transfer preferences, and it worked! However, while on the shoot we captured a batch of cards with "Remove advanced pulldown" checked, and then wiped the cards -- is there any way to reverse that operation, or do we have to resign ourselves to having lost that chunk of footage?
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 3:00 PM on March 13, 2008

Funny, I just went through the same question, and almost asked on Mefi too. I'd suggest browsing the websites of sneaker companies -- stores often have limited selections, but the company's websites (or other online stores) carry everything. I especially like Amazon, since they let you sort by "50-70% off"! For my money, Adidas is the best bet for "hip and flashy but not gaudy" styles.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 8:17 PM on February 28, 2008

Personally, I think you may be looking for something that doesn't exist. First of all, you enjoy caffeine because it's a stimulant, and stimulants are addictive, period (pretty mildly, in the case of caffeine -- withdrawal's basically a headache). Secondly, caffeine's a natural chemical that's been used by humans since the dawn of civilization as a "utilitarian" drug -- we take it because it gives us something that we can't get otherwise, and because that quality makes our lives better... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 8:15 PM on February 28, 2008

emelenjr -- I don't think there are any refurbs of the brand new units yet, since they just came out, and I'd rather have last week's model new when refurbished is only a few hundred bucks cheaper -- the clearance rate is already a great deal.

To be specific, though, I'm not looking for buying advice as much as I'm trying to get an idea of the real-world impact of the difference between the two models, given my usage.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 7:58 PM on February 28, 2008

Yeah, I've been to the MacRumors buyer's guide, and it's pretty helpful, but I wanted to get a more general feel for people's suspicions about how long we might have to wait for the revision. (It's frustrating, because I was ready to pull out my credit card today!) I'm hoping that bcwinters and zackola are right. Thanks, everyone!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 5:24 PM on January 15, 2008

Thank you, both of you -- those are excellent starting points!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 1:28 PM on November 16, 2007

I agree with Rykey and grumblebee -- this sounds like something that is caused by a clinical condition. Not that something is Wrong With You (many psychological "conditions" are really just ways of describing how people differ from one another, and I say this as a person who lives with one of them) -- but this sounds like something that a sensitive doctor could help you identify the source of, and additionally help you manage it in the future.

This isn't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 9:02 PM on October 29, 2007

I think that the answer would seem more obvious to me if we were criticising the clips themselves more directly -- for instance, in this parody of Project Runway we have our main character directly responding to original clips from the shows, which is much more direct form of criticism -- the same would be true if we used, say, the opening titles of Deal or No Deal in our piece. (We're not going to -- our fictional show has a different title.) The fact that we'll be using the clips as occasional... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 4:19 PM on July 8, 2007

LFS -- I've been looking into stock footage, but unfortunately nothing has the proper "look" of a TV game show audience -- i.e., shot on video, dramatic lighting, with the audience hooting and hollering in response to the action onscreen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 5:46 PM on July 8, 2007

Ah, that Stanford link is a great piece of backup. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 7:57 PM on July 8, 2007

The last one reminded me of The House of Stairs, but on a second reading of your description I don't think that's right, since it's scientists and not teenagers. Curious to know what it is, though!

And though I didn't recall the title of the first, I definitely remembered it from the Asimov "Short Short Stories" book -- I loved that collection when I was a kid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 4:32 PM on July 8, 2007

Thanks guys! I'll e-mail those of you who offered referrals, thanks! I would ask for a recommendation from my PCP if I had one -- I've gone to a few general practicitioners for Rx refills, but none of them were ones I particularly wanted to go to again.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 12:17 PM on June 20, 2007

Thanks guys -- these answers are all amazing! I'm going to try out the 2.5% BP, then ask one of you nice folks for a referral to a doctor if that doesn't work. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 1:50 PM on June 22, 2007

Thanks Melorama, that's a really great tutorial -- I definitely never would have thought of the burned-timecode reference movie myself. And yes, I have the exact same concern about handles -- they will make reconstruction in AE much harder, but without them I'm asking for trouble.

Unfortunately, if I were an independent editor I could certainly justify the purchase of AD from a time/money perspective, but instead I'm actually part of a comedy group / production team that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 7:06 PM on March 31, 2007

Oh, and I would use Motion (I'll actually be using it for a lot of graphics creation for the project), but in my experience it has slowdown problems when doing serious compositing, primarily because it always wants to try to render everything real-time. One of the big advantages of AE, in my limited experience, is that it can handle huge compositions and tons of layers without experiencing UI slowdown.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 7:09 PM on March 31, 2007

buxtonbluecat -- thanks for the input, excellent help, and I probably won't buy the model. However, I know that you're dead wrong on the last comment, especially for my purposes -- there are big differences between displays, and as I do video and photo work for 6-8 hours a day, and the few models I've found that meet my needs and my budget have other problems (the Dell "panel lottery", the Samsung's input lag, etc.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 7:58 PM on March 12, 2007

Wow -- thanks for all the great advice, everyone!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 8:25 PM on March 13, 2007

To make my question more specific: Assuming that I would be happy to delay purchasing a laptop for up to six months, is the wait worthwhile or should I quit holding my breath and just buy a different model now? (I don't care about whatever performance upgrades will have come about by that time -- form factor is all I'm interested in.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:27 AM on February 1, 2007

Ehh, basically it would be "not having a laptop", but I'm the sort who likes to have a desktop as a workhorse and keep the laptop purely for portability's sake, so I'm allergic to bulky laptops -- if I just had plain old laptop fever I'd just get a 17" MacBook Pro, but I'm committed to being able to, you know, use my lap.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:40 AM on February 1, 2007

Agree with sonofslim and MSN. Frames are occasionally useful in the sense of iframes, but if you're doing relatively simple Javascript/HTML design, they're by no means essential. (I've been doing minor professional HTML/Javascript coding for years, and have only once used an iframe.) Learn about them if you're curious, but if you're not, you can safely put off learning about them until you need them. (Frankly, I've never learned a new programming technique until it's become necessary for a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 3:02 PM on December 30, 2006

Hm, that's not bad at all! Though this Toshiba hack... tell me more!

If anyone has recommendations for ultra-small PCs as well, I'd love to hear them -- I used to adore my Toshiba Portege 3110CT so much that I bought another one the first fell apart -- unfortunately, the second was so old that it fell apart as well, so I've had to give up that particular model, unfortunately.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 4:06 PM on December 25, 2006

Ahh, gotcha ross.

simonw -- ooh, crap, now I'm drooling. Gotta say I would love to be able to run Boot Camp... on the other hand, it might not be that great as a writing only device -- rats, I'm torn. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 4:15 PM on December 25, 2006

Thanks for the tips, guys! An extra best answer to b1tr0t for the G3 tip, but thanks to everyone for the additional tips about the 12" G4. Now to just sort out my options -- hold out for an intel 12" MB Pro, get the $200 G3, or the $1000 12" G4? Decisions, decisions!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 6:49 PM on December 25, 2006

Ah, you're right about cold causing things to contract -- I always get that point backwards because of water expanding when it freezes, but of course that's because it's changing into a solid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:00 AM on December 2, 2006

And yes, hot water was the first thing I tried.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:00 AM on December 2, 2006

Devils -- there's holes in the top of the shaker, so that won't work.

The propane torch isn't happening, I'm afraid, though it definitely sounds like it would do the trick! Just a bit too hardcore for me. I'll try the pressure point trick -- I'm a bit worried about putting it in the oven, since I think it may have a plastic lining of some kind. (I can't remember, and of course I can't look inside to check.) I'll try lubing and more extreme measures of heating, though.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:35 AM on December 2, 2006

Hey, what do you know -- banging worked! I took a hammer and, holding it upside down, banged it all around rim -- after a few minutes it popped right off! Barracuda gets the best answer for the solution that worked, but some of the other solutions offered were so cool that I have to give them some credit as well. Thanks guys!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:41 AM on December 2, 2006

Ha! Excalibur -- that's great! And no problem, trip. To be a little more specific, I held it with the top against the ground, and struck downwards at the ridged area that's just above (when held rightside up) the bottom of the top half -- i.e., the ridge that you grab when you're pulling the two halves the part. It took some force, and a lot of blows all the way around the rim, but I could feel it loosening by the time I was halfway around. Frankly, I'm surprised it worked -- I was positive it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:46 AM on December 2, 2006

Oh, not at all, redpen -- I'm sure the problem will arise (to a smaller degree) again, so that advice is helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:49 AM on December 2, 2006

LeisureGuy -- hey, give me some credit! I know better than to make a wussy, watered-down, shaken martini. I am all stirring, all the way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 12:56 PM on December 2, 2006

What everyone else said. The drive belt is (on many turntables) quite easy to fix -- just remove the platter, and look for a length of rubber that should go around a spindle on the motor and the platter. If it's not that, it's probably

1) the tonearm has to be moved over the record
2) the motor or some other mechanism is secured
3) you're hosed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 10:54 AM on December 2, 2006

Hey! My sketch group made this. (I'm not the guy in the video, but I directed and edited most of it.) There's a higher-resolution version on our website, which will also also you step through it frame by frame if you so desire.
posted to MetaFilter by tweebiscuit at 6:35 PM on November 13, 2006

bob sarabia, three straight days of shooting -- hundreds and hundreds of photographs -- but counting writing, preparation, and editing, about two and a half weeks.
posted to MetaFilter by tweebiscuit at 5:23 PM on November 14, 2006

Also, a heads-up about any other 24p vs. 29.97 pitfalls would be helpful. For instance, if I need to mix interlaced and deinterlaced footage, what's the best method? Is it unsafe to copy-paste a frame-rate neutral clip (like a text generator or an image) from a 29.97 sequence to a 24p sequence? Etc.

Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 5:04 PM on October 1, 2006

Wow. Ok, I did some more reading, and now my head is swimming -- I wasn't even taking the difference between 24P and 24PA into account.

So I'll put my question a different way: Considering that we have a nearly-Internet-only workflow, what's the best combination of format, capture, and sequence settings to allow us to edit in 24p with as little trouble as possible? And will said settings require us to run the final output through Cinema Tools or etc. if we then wish to,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 5:25 PM on October 1, 2006

Wow, VM, that was extremely helpful! However, I'm still a bit confused. The footage we shot was in 24P normal, but FCP still lists its framerate as 29.97. According to the Ken Stone article that should make sense (since the 24p footage is embedded in the 29.97 framerate, right?) But when I look at the footage in FCP, it appears interlaced (i.e., I see jagged fields in certain frames). I tried sticking the footage in a 24p sequence, but the interlacing is worse, and oddly enough FCP does not list... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 6:09 PM on October 1, 2006

Cool information everyone -- thanks!

And yes, Harlequin, you're absolutely right -- I should have been taking power outages into account as well (not sure why I didn't.) My main goal was to eliminate computers on the level of calculators. Perhaps a better criteria would be "must have been running at least one calculation at all times for the duration of the period in question." (Thus excluding a very simple computer which calculates nothing until it receives... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 6:10 PM on September 20, 2006

Hey, thanks equalpants, I'll send one by.

And it's non-billable because this this contract isn't by the hour, it's for the job -- and on top of that, this specific fix is more of a "going the extra mile" task, which makes it tough to justify when compared against other work I could be doing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:15 PM on August 14, 2006

Ambrose -- yes, Photoshop files. By "at the top", I mean "at the top of the annotation", by which I mean "those little yellow boxes that the annotation tool creates." Basically, since annotation is mostly used for commenting on work you're going to send back, it always attaches your name to the note (similarly to Word's "track changes" feature), but since I'm using the tool for UI documentation, it's not really appropriate for my name to be all over a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 11:16 PM on August 14, 2006

That sucks -- yeah, the implementation seems pretty shoddy in both Photoshop and PDF. (Annoyingly, there's no other simple way to create a text box with an opaque background and a hairline in Photoshop, unless you do it using multiple layers, which was too much overhead for what i was doing, so I was stuck with the annotation tool.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 1:08 PM on August 15, 2006

Lucie and routergirl thirded.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 12:13 AM on August 15, 2006

Why not do the same thing in a bar? It seems to me that if you'd feel comfortable going up and talking to attractive guys in broad daylight, you'd feel even more comfortable doing so in the setting that's designed for it -- a dark, smoky (ok, it's New York, not smoky) bar, where people are expecting and seeking this kind of encounter. Whether or not you'd be more comfortable, they very well might be.

(Not that I'm saying that your idea is a bad one -- if the guy is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 6:54 PM on August 14, 2006

Thanks, Freaky and beerbajay -- I'll look into those options.

Our workflow is as follows: We FTP the video to a directory on our site, with a URL like this:

http://www.oldeenglish.org/videos/OldeEnglish.org_-_Name_Of_Video.mov

We then also upload the video to Libsyn, which gives it a URL along these lines:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/aconover/OldeEnglish.org_-_Name_Of_Video.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tweebiscuit at 12:06 PM on July 25, 2006