a blog for and by digital imaging specialists
Hey Tech,
Art directors being art directors love to finger point and my screens take a few amount of the abuse. I’ve found that the Anti-Glare screen on the laptop just refuses to look like new again. The Eizo cleaning kit does an OK job but I’m wondering if there’s anything better out there. Some marks I like! Like my daughters custom decal.
Ever been humming along in C1 only to have your selected changes, deletions etc. all of a sudden switch from group mode to single one-by-one madness? Well techs, shift-cmd-e is your friend now. Otherwise known as “Edit All Selected Variants” in (unsurprisingly so) the Edit menu of C1, this shortcut saves me when the AD or someone else has hit the keyboard in C1 without really knowing what they are doing. I get calls on this all the time from other techs, and it did take me a bit to figure out it wasn’t a bug after all, although deleting the prefs file with restore “normal” mass edits. It’ll also wipe all your other settings too, so just use the shortcut and try not to gaff tape the AD’s hands away from the keyboard.
A few short words on the new Lion OS:
Wait.
(Was that short enough?)
C1 just got fairly settled in with 6.2.x on 10.6. To go screwing around with a new OS on set is just plain crazy. Think printer drivers, Canon’s SDK etc. Don’t mess with this one for awhile yet.
Lastly, I hope you’re getting in some fun time this summer too.
Fishing anyone?
Attention all you 8 core users out there! You’ve probably had some pretty consistent lockups and crashes with C1 6.2. I know I have, but I had only upgraded my retouch station, so I could live with the uncertainty, something that I could never tolerate on a capture machine. Phase today released 6.2.1 with directly addresses the 8-core instability. I’m downloading as I write this, but I anticipate no further problems.
I will let you know if for some reason things do not go as expected.
Update: seems fine so far, can’t get it to crash yet…
Now that Apple has just updated the MBP’s with Thunderbolt, we’ll see how long USB lasts as the tethering connection of choice. In the meantime, I’ve found these usb cables and extensions from usbfirewire.com that are pretty cool. Besides the right angle connector (all angles are available) I like the gold plated connections and robust cable sheath. The 26′ extension is passive, but I haven’t had any problems tethering the 5DMKII at all. The extension is also beefy, with a green led that shows when you’ve got a connection and it also has “signal cleaning” chips. How much those chips help, I’m not sure, but overall these cables are a big step up from the run of the mill mini usb cables I’ve used before.
Hey Guys
As my stable grows I’ve been looking for ways to save a buck here and there.
I’ve always been impressed with CarbonCopyCloner but annoyed that I need to type the password each time. Sure its probably a good thing and a feature but on set its the last thing I want to do. So I started looking at writing a script that I could run anyway after a couple wasted hours I searched the bombich site and found something I could alter.
To use, create a Task that runs once a month at night and call it something. Copy the below applescript as an app once you add your admin password and then your golden.
property ld : "/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask."
on run
set taskUUIDs to every paragraph of (do shell script "ls " & ld & "* | awk -F. '{print $5}'")
set scheduledTasks to {}
set theChoices to {}
repeat with theTask in taskUUIDs
set taskPath to ld & theTask
set taskName to do shell script "defaults read " & taskPath & " cccTaskName"
set taskDisabled to do shell script "defaults read " & taskPath & " Disabled"
if taskDisabled = "0" then
set taskPid to do shell script "ps ax | grep -v awk | awk '/" & theTask & "/ {print $1}'"
set scheduledTasks to scheduledTasks & {{name:taskName, pid:taskPid}}
set theChoices to theChoices & {taskName}
end if
end repeat
set theChoice to first item of (choose from list theChoices with title "CCC Scheduled Tasks" with prompt "Choose a task to run immediately")
repeat with theTask in scheduledTasks
if name of theTask = theChoice then
do shell script "kill -USR2 " & pid of theTask password "YOURPASSWORD" with administrator privileges
end if
end repeat
end run
Thanks Mike
Great App so do donate to him for the great work.
http://bombich.com/
Well this is turning out to be an interesting year, first Phase came out with C1V6 ( I know, technically that was in Dec. ‘10), now they’ve released a whole new series of backs with “retina” quality displays and USB 3.0 support. With Resolutions from 40 to 80 mpix, this is the most exciting Phase news out in awhile and I can’t wait to try these things in person.
More to come, but had to get it out there now.
Well wandering around the Apple Store SoHo just got me in trouble. Seems I’ve now got a new 500GB, 7200rpm G-Drive Mini, because, you know, having about 20+ external HD’s is not enough. Actually, I always seem to be running out of storage no matter where I am, hence the G-Drive purchase.
I’ve always been impressed with G-Tech’s hardware, always good solid machined parts and for this Mini, a real aluminum finned heatsink like OWC has on their fine series of 2.5 enclosures. Even more so, I am psyched about this built-in elastic sleeve on the Mini’s case that allows a cable to stay with the unit, no matter where it goes. A small detail that shows someone is really thinking about this design. The FW800 cable that it comes with is also of the metal ended variety that I’m sure gives a much better connection than the gameboy style plastic ended ones.
While it’s really hard to get amped up about portable storage these days(I am on set darn near every day of the week with this stuff), I must admit I am very impressed with the effort put into this Mini by G-Tech.
Been on set lately with a maxed out 12 core tower with all the goodies, striped ssd boot, massive internal raid etc…and yes, this thing is one fast machine, but what’s cracking me up today is this:
Yes Virginia, it’s THAT big!
I first came across these cases in NYC at Tekserve a few years back and was impressed by the construction and utility of a pouch that offered ample protection for a sleeve and could be packed into a case of gear without much worry that the laptop would survive. I often pack cases so that each capture case will have everything needed for capture, i.e. monitor, laptop, backup hd’s, cables etc. That way if one case gets lost on a trip the whole shoot doesn’t go down because a critical component was in the missing case. The only thing I would change about them is ordering a strap for the iPad case next time, as I frequently grab it on the way out the door as a stand alone case and the strap would be very handy.
Waterfield makes all kinds of cases for Apple products and I’d definitely recommend them to anyone who needs to protect their gear while on the go.
Waterfield Designs
Hey Techs, it’s been awhile since the last post–funny how becoming a father along with a never-ending workload has made time both scarce and precious. Suffice to say that I now have a burgeoning junior tech on hand that is the light of my life. I do hope you all are doing well out there in Techland in spite of everything the economy continues to throw at us.
Along with the myriad of uses the iPad has on set, I think it’s also a fantastic promotion tool. Case in point is this beautiful app by my friend Cameron Davidson that showcases some of his amazing aerial imagery of my dear NYC. Cameron has shot for many magazines such as Vanity Fair and National Geographic, and I know of few others that even come close to his aerial work. Do check it out if you get a chance. The app is $1.99 and available on the app store here. (Of course you know to navigate over to the App Store on your iPad to download it, but I just wanted to remind you.)
Again, all the best and stay busy. Even if it’s learning new software or new tech, in this field knowledge really is power.
