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On a current job the client wants the videofiles on an external harddisk in FAT32. One of the problems with FAT32 is of course that it doesn’t allow for file sizes of 4GB or bigger, which translates to roughly 20min of DV material, and less on better codecs.

One way would of course be to use Final Cut, iMovie or QT Pro to mark each 15 minute segment, and export that to the external harddisk. This means a lot of button pushing, when there are hours of material to be transferred.

Doing a longer search on Macupdate did not come up with any easy solutions. So here is a step by step guide for non-geeks. Those who know their way around UNIX will probably know of a quicker solution…

Solution

1. Fire up OSX’s Terminal (Go to programmes > Utilities > Terminal, or just do a search from Spotlight)
2. Enter this command (copy & paste works; this will make the Finder restart and then display also hidden files): defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
3. Download the manual install version of QTCoffee - look for the .dmg file, or the “manual install package”.
4. Open the disk image file (double click on the just downloaded file.)
5. Open the QTCoffee folder.
6. Open the bin folder
7. Open a new finder window (pressing Command-N or from the file menu)
8. Open your system disk
9. Open the bin folder
10. From the other finder window, drag the file “splitmovie” to the newest window
11. In the Terminal enter defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder This restarts the Finders and hides the system files again.

Now you are done with the installation part. Now, if you want to split a video file, simply enter the following code into the Terminal: splitmovie /volumes/sourcedisk/original.mov -duration 10:00 -self-contained -o /volumes/targetdisk/split.mov Sourcedisk is the name of the disk that contains your source footage, target is the name of the targetdisk and duration is the length of each segment (in this case 10:00 minutes). Afterwards you can drag and drop the split files from the finder.

If you need to split AVI files, you can have a look at Explicit.

It is easy to lose track as to which version of Final Cut should go with the plethora of Quicktime and Mac OS versions. But help is at hand.

Jon Chapell at the Digital Rebellion has put together a nice recommendation of which Final Cut Studio/Final Cut Pro versions go best with which QT and Mac OS versions:

Final Cut Pro Version	Mac OS Version	QuickTime Version
6.0.3	10.4.11 / 10.5.2	7.4.5
6.0.2	10.4.11 / 10.5.1	7.3.1
5.1.4	10.4.9	7.1.6
5.0.4	10.4.9	7.1.6
4.5	10.3.9	6.5
3.0.4	10.2.8 Update 2	6.2
3.0	10.2.8 Update 2	5.0.6
2.0.2	9.2.2	5.0.1
1.2.5	9.2.2	4.1.3
1.2.1	8.6	4.1.1
1.0.1	8.6	4.0.3
1.0	8.6	4b16

Just came across a one-page site by Jan E. Schotsman which offers a couple of video tools for the Mac, and at zero cost.

Fix your video

The JES Deinterlacer does a fine de-interlacing job, but despite its name, it does more. It lets you slow down the frame rate, interpolating the in-between frames. Click here for a comparison between iMovie and the JES Deinterlacer. Feature list:

• Deinterlace movies (half height/normal height/double frame rate/blend,adaptive/simple).
• Change field dominance (for PAL films with fake interlace).
• Reinterlace from one or two movies.
• Standards conversion (PAL<->NTSC or custom).
• Inverse telecine.
• Trim, shift, simple color correction, noise reduction.
• Change encoding (RGB gamma, video range/full range).
• Fix jagged edges.
• Pitch preserving sound track for half speed.
• Change movie speed, reverse movie.
• Interlaced in/out, progressive in/out.
• Includes utility to view and edit image description extensions and movie and track geometry

Clean up your video

If you have noisy video, the JES Video Cleaner may be the quick tool for you. It also allows for removal of logos. I imagine this must be great for cleaning up consumer camcorder footage with a burned in date.

• General noise reduction (adaptive)
• Remove logo
• Average two movies
• Remove cross-luma
• Remove periodic brightness variation

Vintage computing

If you still run OS9, he has a helper program that allows for transfers > 2GB.

And if you have an old Power Mac, he offers a program for uncompressed capture of SD video.

Finally, Jan has a little app to fix the blue cast on a monitor under Mac OS 10.4.

Sometimes you have to produce photographs from films, so-called frame grabs. In Final Cut Pro this entails several clicks for each frame, something that becomes tiresome after a while. Also, if your material is anamorphic, you have to resize it in a separate programme, adding yet more clicks.Enter Movie Frame Grabber, a simple programme for the Mac.You drag a QT into the blue window, then you chose the frame you want, hit “Save Frame” and you are done.Much easier than using QT or FCP.One thing I noticed - and I am torn between calling it a feature or a bug - is that each frame gets exported in the same size as your windows is sized. I.E. When you have a 600×400 QT file, but your window is, say 605×605, you get a square picture. The good thing is that Movie Frame Grabber does a decent job of uprezzing. So if you need some quick framegrabs, this is a big time saver.

Wishes

What I would love are the following future features:

• De-interlacing
• Automatic naming and numbering of exported frames.
• Option to export in native QT size (with option of having 16:9). Option of having 25%, 50%, 200%, 400% sizes. Throw in some advanced resizing calculations, and this could become a powerful tool that people would spend money on. This reviewer included.
• Display of current window size.
• A Text saying “Drop QT file here” instead of the blue screen — this threw me off at first; blue screen to me suggested that I would have to plug in a DV source.
• Support for keyboard control. Space = start/stop. Arrow left/right = one frame advance/back.

That said, great little - and free - program.(Review at Macupdate.)

Up to last year, Apple has released a new version of its powerful editing programme every new NAB. Thus, expectations are even higher as to what they will present today. There doesn’t seem to be a live feed available, but the nice people at MacRumors will have a live text feed.

I wish there was a QT version somewhere - it is just not the same reading about it, or seeing/hearing it. Especially when it comes to Apple presentations.

Over at the Apple discussion board, I stumbled upon this gem:

I’m a film editor who’s had the privilege to work on $100 movies to $100 million movies.

Story is king. If your story is working, and crafted well, and paced properly, you can get away with almost whatever you want. For instance, when I cut scenes, I cut for performance… I don’t toss out takes because the glass of water was full in take one but empty in another. 9 times out of ten, even the seasoned filmmakers I’m working with never see the continuity errors because the performances are working.

Occasionally I work with first time directors, helping them with their first short. I see two main mistakes. First, they think that if someone knows how to operate [an editing station], that they are an editor. This is simply not true. I know how to use a chisel, but there is no way [...] I could sculpt the David. Editing is the same: knowing what buttons to push is the least important part of editing. Knowing how to tell a story well is everything. In fact, I know one Oscar winning editor who spent many years never touching the equipment at all. She chose the cut points, and had her assistants do the physical cutting.

The second main mistake amateur filmmakers make, IMO, is that they are not vicious enough when cutting their material. Every single frame of film you project should be conveying new information to the audience. If it’s not, get it out.

The same applies to the craft of cinematography. On discussion boards around film-making I often read questions from wanting-to-be directors on what camera they should buy, which lens they should use. Ocasionally I take the time to point out that if they want to become directors, they should not concern themselves about equipment. They should spend all the time they can on the story, developing the characters, working with the actors to achieve his/her creative vision.

Rather than buying a semi-professional camera, I advise to hire in a professional DP. S/he will not only bring superior equipment, but - most importantly - experience to the shoot. Take a good story and a knowlegdable DP, and you will have something in the cutting room to work with. Your chances of getting your film into a festival and ultimately to actually sell it, have tremendously increased.

Or you can spend all your money on a second-rate camera (never, ever believe the hype that the new HDV camera for $10.000 is as good as a $100.000 camera. But that is another blog…), and end up having to both direct and shoot on your first film. Not a good idea. Leave the technical worries to someone you can trust, and concentrate on your job: story telling.

Movie tip: Living in Oblivion by Tom DiCillo. 

A Lunar Blue offers a wide variety of animated backdrops for use in videoproduction. From time to time they give away one for free. This month they include one in HD. Click ‘ere.

On the norwegian language site video1 I found a nicely compiled list of recources of OSX software. All levels of experience catered for. For those who are not fluent in Norwegian, here it comes:

Newbies

iMovie

• Apple iMovie Support
• Apple iMovie Tutorials
• The “Unofficial” iMovie FAQ
• Lynda.com - iMovie Video Tutorials

more…

I love Macs, but this parody is very funny.

(Most jokes apply more to the old OS9)

Over at Ripplecast you can watch a free tutorial on how to smoothen shaky pictures within Shake. Personally, I use iStabilize, which is amazingly simple to set up and use.