I’ve written a lengthy, ranty stream-of-consciousness article over at PVC that outlines my recent experiences while 1st AC’ing a few Red One projects. There are already volumes of information written on how amazing the Red camera is, so I’ve taken a few minutes to highlight the areas that I think need work. This is not to diminish what Red has accomplished, but more to inject a little bit of the reality of working with a Red on a production set with a tight time and money budget. Here’s an excerpt:

“On a recent shoot with a lot of interviews, we needed to capture reference audio to the Red. It worked fine, except that on playback most clips would fail to play, freezing with an audio error on screen. The workaround was to exit playback, and try to play the clip again. Sometimes we would do that as many as 8-10 times before the clip would finally play without error. We learned very quickly to disable audio capture when it wasn’t entirely necessary, so we could actually play back the footage for the director. This camera had not yet been sent in for the audio board upgrade, so I don’t know if that was related. But I do know that it was a very irritating, very time-consuming issue that sapped my confidence and slowed down our already compressed shooting schedule. These sort of simple details need to work every day, all day. Oh, and while we are on the subject of playback…can we have playback thumbnails already?”

Read the entire article over at FreshDV’s Channel at PVC. Subscribe to our PVC feed while you are there.

UPDATE: This issue applies to EOS 5D cameras, not the new 5D MKII.

So let’s say you are working along with you hot new Canon 5D MKII, and suddenly you start hearing a clunking noise and you can no longer see an image through the viewfinder. Chances are, your DSLR’s mirror just detached. Apparently in some cases the adhesive holding the camera’s internal mirror in place will, well, un-adhese. The issue has occurred with a number of 5D shooters, enough that Canon has officially announced that they are aware of the problem and will fix the issue should it happen to you. Here’s hoping it doesn’t.

(Thanks to Rick for the tip)

A French newspaper (English translation) is reporting that a National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) scientist has determined that a Mac Pro computer purchased in 2007 has been emitting cocktail of “seven volatile organic contaminants,” including styrene and benzene derivatives. Apparently the researcher is not alone… he has stated that numerous new Mac Pro owners have reported a chemical odor not unlike a “new car smell,” along with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and migraines.

It is my understanding that benzene is only toxic when ingested orally. When inhaled, as would be this case, the chemical is not directly toxic, but can irritate eyes, skin and the respiratory tract. Also, the article mentions that chemical derivatives were detected, so it may be overstating the risk (I am not a scientist). Furthermore, there is no data presented on the amount detected by researchers. Remember folks, chemicals aren’t inherently harmful, only certain chemicals at specific concentrations. So on the surface it appears that such issues may be an irritation to some, but not necessarily a significant direct health risk. However, the article goes on to quote “an expert in chemical risk” who states “Benzene can affect the bone marrow. Imagine a person works eight hours a day for two months by inspiring such vapors, sensitive people could very well develop leukemia.” Given a statement like that, I suppose it’d be worth checking into this.

The issue in question reportedly is limited to Mac Pro computers purchased before 2008, and the word on the street is that Apple has been informed, but has not publically acknowledged it, nor do they appear to be taking steps to contact potentially affected customers.

Mac Pro users… does your tower smell funky? Have you been experiencing any adverse health issues since it’s installation? If so, have you contacted Apple about it?

(Via ZDNET)

Users are reporting that the latest Apple update for Quicktime (v.7.4.1) fixes the After Effects rendering issue that cropped up in the 7.4.0 update. Read the comments at this VideoCopilot post for more info on the update. I’ve read conflicting opinions on if it was Apple or Adobe’s software bug that caused the issue, but the point is that it is fixed now. After Effects users rejoice!

Studio Daily contributor Scott Simmons has written a well-deserved rant on the history of errors in Apple Compressor. Having seen this issue crop up in my own system recently, I can appreciate his frustration. If you are having issues with Compressor spitting back an “unable to connect” error, you might want to read this article as Scott outlines a few troubleshooting options. He also makes a good point about third-party encoding solutions…if Apple isn’t interested in fixing this issue for good, it may be time to look elsewhere. I personally don’t wish to make a switch to another encoding solution; when Compressor works, it works very very well. And it hasn’t really given me any grief up to this point. But a known issue that has apparently existed across versions since 2005 is beginning to push users. If you know an Apple engineer, please pass the link along.

After Effects users are encouraged NOT to get the Quicktime 7.4 Software Update for Mac. After users update to QT7.4, renders in AE report the following error: “you do not have permissions to open this file (-54) (44::53).” I have not read if this also affects PC AE users. There is a lot of discussion on this issue at the Apple Support Forums, also some links to external AE forums from there. So this is just a quick reminder to tread carefully with updates if you have a rock-solid system.

UPDATE FROM KENDAL:
I recently had to downgrade QT to 7.3 to get AE CS3 to run correctly. When I downgraded everything ran fine, on 7.4 AE crashed on launch every time. Downgrading is a major pitb. Wish Matt had posted this a few days earlier :(

Update #2:
Mike Curtis is all over this as well, and mentions some issues with DRM or permissions that limits playback of movies you created, spotty reports of Sorensen conflicts, and even an Adobe engineer that mentions issues with Premiere Pro. There’s also the workaround if you’ve already hosed your After Effects install with the 7.4 update (read Mike’s post comments).

Update #3:
Kendal located a very detailed tutorial on how to revert from Quicktime 7.4 if you’ve inadvertently hosed your system with the update. Excellent info.

Did the Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 update cause P2 importing via Log and Transfer to stop working? Shane Ross may have the answer for you…he narrowed down his FCP issues to a plugin package.

“… At this point I yanked out the new drive and put back the old one. I ran the FX Factory Uninstaller. And guess what? I was able to import P2 using the Log and Transfer window! If you have FX Factory, uninstall it and see what happens. If not, it might be some other FxPlug plugin.”

UPDATE: Check the comments below for a update from FX Factory.

Useful third-party codec pack Perian may cause issues with Final Cut Pro 6. The Apple fix is simple…just trash /Library/QuickTime/Perian.component if FCP is crashing when attempting to transfer AVCHD footage.

Move over MacGyver, Rescue Tape is on the scene. It’s as if Super Glue and Gaffer Tape got together and gave birth to a fast self-fusing, waterproof, airtight, heat-resistant silicone tape that can be removed without leaving sticky residue. Looks like a useful addition to any filmmaker’s kit.

I believe the following to be REQUIRED READING for independent and low-budget filmmakers embarking on a project. Mike Curtis has written up a list of Things Not To Do (That Will Make You Hate Your Life Later), and he pulls no punches.

Go read it. Three times. Before you start your project. And if you aren’t sure you’ve got a proven workflow in place, hire Mike (or someone smart like him) to help you get things straight. Think of it as hair insurance…

Pixel Aspect Ratio probably means nothing to most people, up until it all goes south in a project. Get it right and you may breeze through life blissfully unaware. Get it wrong, and your footage and graphics can look chunky, distorted and just plain wrong.

If you would like to know more about the pitfalls of square vs non-square pixels and a host of related information, here’s a handy reference. After Effects gurus Chris and Trish Meyer of Cybermotion have shared Part 1 of a Pixel Aspect Ratio primer over at Artbeats (PDF). They cover the background details on the sometimes confusing array of resolutions and ratios in digital video, and offer a few AE specific tips as well. Stay tuned for Part 2 where they will dig a little deeper into the topic.

(GeniusDV has a related post on creating images in Photoshop for Video.)