the digital celluloid

I AM STILL A 'MAT'.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:15:00 -0800

HAPPY 2012…

And my hope that the Mayans were wrong….hahaha..

It has been a while since I last write anything on my blog. I was busy editing two major feature films in Malaysia - "Dari Kerana Mata", a debut film by Melissa Saila and "Spilt Gravy On Rice", also his debut film by Dato' Zahim Albakri, both are slated for release in 2012. It was a great journey with both films (of different genre) and can't wait to see it on the silver-screen soon.

Here I am now, back in Singapore with my family and continuing my training routine and also to be part of a "commissioning video project" for one of the museum here, slated to be completed by June 2012. More info on this soon..

I get to watch few great TV shows and also anticipating for the "revived" children's TV Show, "Mat Yoyo".

Here, I am providing my professional views about the new "Mat Yoyo" children's programme on Singapore SURIA channel and soon in 3 other languages locally.

I was very disappointed. First of all, I feel that it was not targeted for 4-12 years old. My 8 years old daughter was watching it and asked me, "Dad, why does the camera move so fast?" I think she meant the camera movement (that was MTVish style) and the pacing (editing) of the show and too fast (remember - 4yrs old?). My question is, does the producers and creators understand how much time does a child need to retain and process every information they watch, hear or see? Does the graphics used, readable for kids or adults?

I think what was lacking was "The Stickiness Factor". Please refer to the book by Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point" and understand HOW "Sesame Street" became a very successful show all around the world for more than 40 years! In the book, it shows the most logical and simple way, how they achieve that "Stickiness Factor" and injected a positive virus (literacy) to the children. It is just about trial and error. It is about concrete research and involving the right people.

The (Sesame Street) producers thoroughly tested their episodes on young children (or the focus age group) to make sure that the content holds their attention. The lesson to learn here is that focus groups and consultation from within your target demographic, are one of the powerful ways to learn how to influence those key members of society that will especially influence the masses.

According to Gladwell, there is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it.

But I don't think, the makers did look for it in the first place. Well, I maybe wrong. This was my first impression of watching "Mat Yoyo" and it isn't fair to compare with "Sesame Street", which has more structural programme-style and a massive team of creative "child-doctors" (I so call the makers!)

I am also wandering, if this programme had the Ministry of Education involved, what was the ideology, education formula or study-system that was used to produced this show? Is it used in the schools system now, or just a make up?. It seems that this new show was the exact replica of the old show, just a little more colourful, no *Mat Sentul (the original host cum entertainer/magician - thats where the 'Mat' word came from!

(*Note: Also, the word 'Mat' - pronounced as 'mart' is commonly use to refer to someone of a brotherly figure, such as 'Mat Rock' (a male rocker), 'Mat Salleh' (an Englishman), 'Mat Pet' (druggie)..etc.. Mat Sentul was also a filmmaker himself and and made a few of the "Mat" series film in the 60s.)

The success of the former "Mat Yoyo" show wasn't about the show itself, but the weekend workshops the kids went through. The TV Station (formerly Singapore Broadcasting Corporations) started the "Children Television Workshop" for the kids between 5-16 years old, to train them in singing, dancing, acting and even the martial arts! It was this group of "graduated" kids that made the show alive and entertaining. These kids had a strong foundation on "performing" and not just being in front of the lights and camera and not knowing what to do, unless instructed.

And to reveal my longest kept secret, I was among those kids and till today, I am still involved in film and television industry because I was exposed, nurtured and groomed at that early age (it was just that I couldn't sing well or dance back then, or else i would have been the next "Singapore Idol"!) So, I ended up being the voices on popular children-radio storytelling shows in the early 80s.

I have also setup a "Mat Yoyo Generation" group on Facebook, a few years back, with almost 2,000 fans in it. The cool thing in this group, is that there are also the "ex-Mat Yoyo" kids from the old children shows. We shared old stories, photographs and never seen before VHS-video footages with the group.

Join us at http://www.matyoyo.com

Coming back to the present "Mat Yoyo". My first thought - it was really a BAD idea to revive "Mat Yoyo". It will not be the same without Pak Mat Sentul. They could have adapted, revamped and changed it to a new format children show for the 4 languages and used the internet as a comprehensive "supporting media" to continue form the show itself. A very good example is "Blues Clues", another "sticky" show after "Sesame Street".

Take a look at this (extracted from "Mat Yoyo" official show page)

The basic aim for the new "Mat Yoyo" is to:

1. Promote wholesome and educational entertainment for children
2. Create popular "local icons" which Singaporean kids of all races could associate with
3. Encourage children's inquisitiveness and imagination through creative learning
4. Discover and nurture budding child talents
5. Inculcate positive values and personal development

Just bear in mind that the "Generation Z" are the so-called 'internet generation'. The only "challenge" the makers has for this show, is to provide a much richer and bigger educational-entertainment, compare to the ones they can find online, just by the click of the mouse (which the "cats of Mat Yoyo" will definitely like to chase after!)

I was glad I was part of the older generation of "Mat Yoyo", cos it made me the person I am today, but I was not happy that people like myself (or any other in the group) was not given the opportunity to get involve in the focus group, if there was one in the first place.

But that's ok. No harm done.

And maybe I was wrong about all these...

Maybe the kids found it entertaining and learned something from it… argghh.. now I feel old, but no doubt.

I am still a 'Mat'!

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Thank You Steve

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:54:00 -0700

October 5, 2011 - The day that all Apple fans, friends and family shall not forget. We lost our hero!

I was awaken by my ringing iPhone, very very early in the morning (7am Malaysian time!). My partner-in-crime, Imri Nasution was the other line, "Go on the internet now! Steve is dead!" I quickly snap open my iPad2 and as my default homepage was www.apple.com, there it was the news on Apple's landing page!

I thought I was dreaming and switched on the TV and watched Bloomberg News and true enough, it was all over the news. Is this real? Is he really gone? The same exact feeling I had was when the news of Michael Jackson's death. I was still groggy since I only had my 2 hrs of sleep. I gulped and when on to sleep, trying to wake up from this sad news.

2 hours later I was awake again and indeed, I was not dreaming.

My idol, my mentor, my inspiration and the man I owe my career to, has pass away!

Flashback.

When my company started in 2000, we were all still running on a PC that I personally built from scratch (yes, that was my thrill-ride!). Most of our edit jobs went through the Adobe Premiere v7.0 on a Pinnacle card. Then that very one day, the PC decided to give reformat itself when we were about to complete a project (finally found out that a virus did it!). Some of our precious projects were gone just like that. We were so frustrated and had to recut the entire project from the start. I almost gave up hope on doing what I love to do.

My partners decided to look for another system to purchase, for really crucial and SERIOUS work and to cut the chase, they bought our very first Apple Power Macintosh G4 Dual-800Mhz (aka QuickSilver), without my knowledge. I was away at that time and they were already fiddling and editing on Final Cut Pro v2. By the time I got back, I was delighted to see the new "beast" and straight away get my hands dirty. (Note: Prior to this, we had loan an iMac Blondie and wanted to cut a DV feature, but I "hated it" since it cannot play the video in realtime! The drives wasn't capable enough back then, so it became a joke that I use to hate Macs!)

Days became months. I started to learn new things on the Mac. I went on to find out about WHO and WHAT makes a Macintosh, a MACINTOSH - from the makers to every bit of information I can find about it. Coincidentally, my teacher and mentor, Mdm Normah Nordin, kept some old MacWorld magazines and I started digging into the World of Apple....
(View the full collections here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjw4Xdsm)

As my company grows, more Apple products came into our life - Macbooks, Macbook Pros, Mac Minis etc.. we became a believer in Apple. Back then, if I were to tell anyone I bought an Apple computer to do my editing job, they all go, "Where did you get the money to buy those expensive computers? You can make a real cheap and good editing system with a PC!". We just ignore them and continued with our intuition and do our best, with the Apple products. In 2003, I've decided to go one step further (or closer to meeting Steve Jobs) - I enrolled as an Apple Trainer for the Professional Applications (Pro Apps) and along the way up the ladder of success, I also got to see one of the largest poster of "To The Crazy Ones" at one of the Apple HQ and was inspired by it.

I made lots of new friends from the Apple community and staff, learn to share knowledge and eventually, my life and career started to embrace everything Apple! My self-confidence boosted eversince I became a trainer and have trained numerous budding editors along the way. Seminars after seminars and workshops keep rolling in to the company. This was the turning point of me and the company!

Now, I could buy myself more "big boys toys" or gadgets to play with; something that I couldn't afford, just 2 years back. Then, I met my wife and everything is history. If it wouldn't be for Apple, I may not be even writing this story for me to share.

All these flashes of memories came rushing in, when the news of Steve Job's death was confirmed. Then, it sunk in. I could not do anything right yesterday; just staring the news headlines on TV and the internet. I went through our dusty rack and found an old Macintosh SE. I wore my black Apple's polo-T (wish I had a turtleneck) and went outside to take a photo of myself, holding the Macintosh SE in my arms.

This was the closest thing I could do, since my chance of meeting the creator of my tools, has pass on. All I wanted to, was just to shake his hands and say, "Thank you, Steve!", but I remember an Apple staff once told me that "you will only get to meet your creator, when the time comes".

And I think his time has come instead, to meet his creator.

To Steve, A BIG THANK YOU to what you have done for us and I sure do hope you're all well up there. I will stay hungry and stay foolish, to move on with my life and career.

One last thing....

Here's my tribute video of "To The Crazy Ones" that I've included you, in connecting the final dot.

Here's an updated poster of it, with you in it:

** Note: For a limited time, here is my gift to the Apple community! You can download the high-resolution version (about 80MB) and print it out as HUGE as you want it to be and be proud of the hero of our era:

OPTION+CLICK ON THIS LINK TO DOWNLOAD POSTER

From 2012, October 5 will now be an "Apple Day" holiday for me, to remember my hero!

Note: The set of pictures below was taken circa 2002-2003 at our old office near Bukit Indah, sharing the space with Centrestage Performing Arts, courtesy of Mdm Normah Nordin.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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FCPX and the future

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:53:00 -0700

.... of editing (the way I see it!)

Firstly, I apologise for not writing the last review, (dated 23 June) of FCPX in English, 'cos every editor, trainer and hardcore fans of FCP had their say. So, repeating them again, will bore you. I was trying to relay the same message, only in a "comical" way, to my Malay readers, fans (yes, I do have fans! hahaha!), who were either professionally trained or personally taught by me. If you did try to Google translate it, you'll just get confuse! Don't.

I had enough of those controversies and complaints of everything that Apple has "changed in post" and so, now I've decided to write my honest opinion, on using FCPX, base on a few projects I have done with it. (Can't show it cos of copyright issues!)

Flashback.

On the 1st April 2011, I had a naughty idea. What if I can create an "April's Fool" joke for FCP users out there, into thinking that I have the latest FCP software "leaked" from a known source.

I had like 2,000 over downloads and some was even swearing at me and not to speak to me ever again and a few I met at NAB 2011, laughed about it and fell for my prank (did you!).

With a little knowledge of Apple-scripting, I made a small app that literally "freezes" your Mac as shown:

(Note: The last line says "April Fool"!)

I had to think hard in giving it a name and thought "FCP 8" or "FCP 9" seems too easy and a dead giveaway and so I've decided to use "X", to represent an unknown version number (not 10!).

I can assure you that nobody, even those who had signed the NDA told me anything about it, nor did I saw or read any speculation on the software at the time of the prank. So when it came out, WHAM BLAM!!! My jaw dropped!

Not only that, the follow-up article on 6 April 2011, a few days before the NAB Show, there was a hard rumours about the new FCP will be announced during the event. Did you notice the "icon" I created?

Here, take a look. The old FCP "unveiling" what it seems to be a "colourful" icon behind it?:

Compare that with the actual released icon of FCP X:

Double-coincidence!?

It makes me think and wander. Is this a sign? I was dumbfounded when this happen and stayed low for a while.

Again, I repeat, I did not get any kinda "leaks" or "info" from anyone; it just came to my senses as "how" and "what" it shall be - perhaps my subconscious mind is telling me something. I am a great "believer" (not belieber!) that is why these things happen quite often (the next winning 4D number is 8899).

Anyways, flashback to present (or press the 'Home' key!).

FCP X has been a love-hate relationship, for the past few weeks. The first week was trying to figure out how it works. After purchasing great tutorials from Ripple Training (highly recommended), I put myself back into the editing stance.

When FCP first arrived in Malaysia circa 2000, it was a very early version (I think it was version 1.2). We loaned it from a local Apple Office, along with a Blondie Blue iMac G3 to test it out. At that very same moment, we were editing our Malaysia's first digital feature, shot entirely on a DV Canon XL-1 camera, edited on Adobe Premiere v6 with a home-built 233GHz PC!. So we thought, why not give it a try.

That was the very first time we ever saw Final Cut Pro and I had to call the Apple office just to ask the technician, how to "turn on my Sequence" (cos on Premiere, its always there whenever the program starts!). We tried to capture our clips via firewire and everything works perfectly, until we tried to play it back on the timeline.

It was horrific! The clip on the sequence skipped and jumped while playing back and everything was out of sync! I thought I made a mistake and tried to restart the iMac again. The same results. I did not like it and was not impressed by the results.

So, we decided NOT to edit the entire film on FCP. Luck was not on our side. We could have been amongst the early filmmakers, who edited an entire movie on FCP 2 on an iMac G3!

We had to put our money back to a machine that crashes 10,000 times and gives us headaches, backaches and heartaches - The PC, but manage to complete the movie and travelled over 14 international festivals!

Much later, we found out that the iMac drives was running at 4,200rpm and the RAM was too small to start with. If only we knew...

Fast-forward in time.

Versions after versions, updates, bugs, more updates, stable versions; who would have thought, that FCP will become our main workhorse for projects from as small as a music video, to as big as a 35mm feature film projects in Malaysia and around the region.

I had so much faith in it that I took a bold step into becoming among the few Asians to be an Apple Certified Trainer in 2003 and till this very day, I have no regrets about it. In fact, I am proud to say that "my vast experience had taught me well" and so, I believe FCP X has a brighter and positive future - at least it works the first time I tried using it… hahaha…

In May 2009, I wrote an article about my conceptual thoughts on the future of editing. And what do you know, triple coincidence? The future is here now.

I am beginning to like the way Apple is trying to change the editing concept. FCP X is a "storyteller's" tool and not a "technician" or "operators" tool.

Have you ever wandered what the early generations of film editors must have said, when they first saw the world's first computerized Non-Linear Editing System? They have been editing on a Steenback or Moviola and then all of a sudden, BAM, a computer?

I had arguments with a profesional film editor here in Malaysia and told me that FCP cannot (huge CANNOT!) be used to edit films and Quicktime is a lame format etc… and when I did manage to cut a 35mm movie with it with no problems, that person poofed!

This will be the same case for us today, except that we have been in the computer era for quite some time and got accustomed to it and thus, we learn from experience and know what is best for us.

If Malaysian citizens can have "BERSIH" (Clean), a coalition for a clean and fair electoral process, I want to stress out the same for current FCP users (who dislikes FCPX).

Be fair:

"If you don't like what you see and don't think it will work for you now, then move on to something else. Try other systems. One day, when you think FCP X is ready for prime-time and you want to come back, you're mostly welcome. No one is stopping you to leave nor anyone is holding you back. Editors are here to stay 'cos we are storytellers and no matter what buttons or mouse we push, scrub or skim, it's' the MAN behind the machine that matters! So keep your mind and body healthy and may you lead a better life and continue your editing career. Rants makes you grow older - my grandma used to say!"

Now, shoo! Go edit and make stories!

*Damn... I'm seeing wrinkles already! Arghhhh!!!

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Ada Apa Dengan FCPX?

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:50:00 -0700

(For the benefit of my Malay readers, I am providing a personal review on FCP X in Malay! Sorry, me English no good! Haha... anyways, I've added links to reviews by other users in English, after the jump!)

Ada Apa Dengan FCP X?

oleh Isazaly Mohd Isa, Pelatih Profesional Apple

(Kemaskini: 29 Jun 2011 : 4.30am)

Akhirnya, setelah sekian lama menanti bagaikan tiada hari esok dan esok untuk siapa, FCP X muncul, bagaikan sakti! ("X" disebut "sepuluh" dan bukan abjad "x")

Anda mungkin terlonjak-lonjak dan terus mencari kad kredit anda, untuk membelinya di Apple App Store (macam saya ni, terkecuali, kerana ini "makanan" saya!) dan sambil menyanyi lagu "Meniti Titian Usang" dari kumpulan Search.

CHUP! WHOPP DOUBLE-CHUP!!!

Sebelum anda tergesa-gesa pergi membeli FCP X di App Store, ada beberapa perkara yang anda harus tahu. FCP X adalah sofwe penyuntingan dari Apple yang BARU dan bukanlah UPDATE dari FCP 7 yang anda ada sekarang. Dengan membelinya, ia TIDAK AKAN update sofwe lama anda, tak kiralah FCP 1 ke, FCP 3 ke... kerana FCP X adalah sofwe 64-bit (selama ni 32-bit je dik oi! Amenda tu? Bak kata orang tua, lagi besow nombor tu, haq lagi lajoo!). Dan ianya cuma boleh digunakan dengan komputer Mac (processor Intel) dari Apple sahaja. Sorry member-member PC....

Berikut adalah format-format yang diterima oleh FCP X setakat ini:

Format Video Yang Diterima

Apple Animation codec
Apple Intermediate codec
Apple ProRes (semua versi)
AVC-Intra
AVCHD (termasuk AVCCAM, AVCHD Lite, and NXCAM)
DV (termasuk DVCAM, DVCPRO, and DVCPRO50)
DVCPRO HD
H.264
HDV
iFrame
Motion JPEG (hanya OpenDML sahaja)
MPEG IMX (D-10)
Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2
Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2
XDCAM HD/EX/HD422
Format QuickTime

Format Audio

AAC
AIFF
BWF
CAF
MP3
MP4
WAV

Format Imejan

BMP
GIF
PNG
PSD (statik atau berlapis)
RAW
TGA
TIFF

PALING BEST

FCPX lajoo giler, terumata bila guna i5 or i7 Intel Processor! Sungguhku tak percaya....
FCPX gunakan AVFoundation dan bukan Quicktime lagi. Quicktime digunakan dalam era 90-an dan banyak masalah kritikal bila digunakan dalam projek-projek besar seperti filem cereka (terumata warna video yang berbeza-beza!)
Rupa dan wajah FCPX yang gelap untuk memudahkan penyunting melihat apa yang harus dilihat dan tidak mengganggu ketenteraman mata.
FCPX harga murah USD299, lebih kurang RM1,200.
FCPX menggabungkan Soundtrack Pro dan Color didalam satu sofwe (ada baik dan buruknya!)
Grafik dalam FCPX semakin canggih, terumata kalau beli Motion 5 sekali - baru je USD49.99 (RM 200). Gempaq!
DV, HDV masih boleh capture dalam FCP X video melalui firewire, tetapi cuma konsep "Capture Now" sahaja!
Yang paling BEST, saya dah guna FCPX (lihat gambar dibawah), jadi apa yang saya cakapkan ni semua, berdasarkan "pandangan pertama"..

PALING TAK BEST

FCPX memerlukan kad grafik yang mempunyai Open-CL sahaja. Sila klik link untuk pastikan anda ada kad grafik yang sesuai atau terbang duit anda!
FCPX hanya untuk projek-projek yang baru MULA dan juga akan BERAKHIR disitu sahaja! Bermakna, suntingan, mewarna, bunyi dan final mix, semua boleh dibuat dalam FCPX. Sekiranya anda perlu untuk export OMF (audio tracks) untuk mixing di tempat atau komputer lain, anda perlu cari kad kredit anda dan beli BENDA ini.
TIADA EDL (Edit Decision List) atau XML (Extended Markup Language) EXPORT!! Bermakna, makan, bangun, tidur, edit, tidur semula, bangun, edit, semuanya dalam FCPX sahaja! Uwahhhh....
FCPX tak boleh PREVIEW ke broadcast monitor!!! Kalau boleh pun, itu cuma "extended desktop" sahaja.. (macam monitor komputer biasa je! Kualiti bukanlah yang sebenarnya.)
Anda guna RED Camera, ALEXA, Viper? Jauhkan diri anda dari dadah dan benda ni, walaupun ianya boleh edit dalam resolusi 4K (ProRes)!
Nak sambung Projek FCP 7 ke FCP X? Lupakan sahaja!

Walau apa pun, ini adalah cobaan pertama Apple untuk "Menukar Segalanya Dalam Penyuntingan", ia adalah permulaan yang berani. Namun masih banyak lagi yang harus diperbaiki. Sekarang ini, pihak Apple menerima banyak cacian dan cemuhan, tetapi anda mesti ingat, apabila FCP versi 1 berada dipasaran dalam tahun 1998, tiada siapa yang menyangka yang ianya akan merubah industri penyuntingan sepenuhnya. Kemungkinan ini akan berlaki, sekiranya Apple merubah segalanya (atau menambah fungsi) pada versi seterusnya. Lagipun, "it's the MAN (or minah) BEHIND THE MACHINE!"

Yang pasti, anda tidak akan terus "meniti titian usang", sampai ianya pecah dan ranap! Yang baik kita telan , yang buruk kita jadikan teladan. Yakin, hati terus yakin, dengan harapan, pada ketentuan Tuhan....

Salam 1Sinema, 1Malaysia, 1Singapura, 1Brunei, 1Indonesia dan 1FCPX untuk semua pembaca.

Untuk keterangan mengenai sofwe ini lebih lanjut, sila layari: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/

p.s. Untuk sesiapa hendak mencuba FCP X, sila hubungi saya.

Bayaran kecil akan dikenakan.... (alah... setakat nescafe tarik dan roti canai nasi lemak je!)

For other reviews in English, please refer to these links.
(Updated on Jun 29):

Larry Jordan on FCPX controversy

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FCP X Uncensored

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:40:00 -0700

We were there. We've seen the sneek peek, but somethings are yet to be disclose and expose.

We went back to our hotel and talked about it and so I thought, we might as well record our conversations and share it with you. Our opinions are strictly personal, so please, do not sent us "hate-mails".

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The new FCP. For real.

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:29:00 -0700

Hang on tight, 'cos this time it's for real and not my April Fools prank I pulled off earlier!

There has been some last minute "changes and cancellations" of presentations/speakers at the next Supermeet in Las Vegas on the 12 April at Bally’s Hotel and Casino Event Center. This year marks the 10th year of FCPUG (Final Cut Usergroup) existence and still growing strong.

Some presenters were cancelled by Apple's demand for exclusivity. So, what else could it be? If everything fall into place, we might see a glimpse of the new Final Cut Pro. Make sure to follow my updates on the SPECIAL NAB 2011 BLOG as I will be attending NAB this year and of cos Supermeet, which has now been SOLD OUT!

Here are my top 10 "AWESOME" wishlist for the new FCP:

1. 64-bit (this is double-confirm!)
2. Support more codecs and resolution up to 8K (maybe 24K?)
3. Native editing, especially for R3D, H264, MXF, MTS files (without conversion)
4. Better data management and conforming workflow
5. More professional compositing tools to create rotos and mattes
6. DPX and CINEON data export
7. Better titling tools
8. More realtime GPU performance
9. Stereoscopic 3D tools and workflow
10. Intergrate Color into FCP directly

What else do you like to see? Do leave your comments and wishlist below.

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FCP X Leaked! (an April Fools prank)

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:26:00 -0700

Got this from a good, reliable source.

It's not a virus or trojan for sure, 'cos I've opened it! :)

Anyway, you've got the best anti-virus Mac-hine in the universe!

====================================================

Brudder,

This is it. For your eyes only!

One liner: IT NOW HAS A JAW-DROPPING INTERFACE DESIGN!

You've just got to see it to believe it.

WARNING:

1. Mac must have a minimal of 4GB RAM to run the app.

2. Runs only on INTEL CORE 2 DUO and beyond.

3. Must have fast internet access (min 10MB/s). It uses CLOUD storage for the software and that's why it is small.

4. The link will not be up for long, so be extra quick!

5. Somebody will get screwed for this. (And definitely not me! I've covered my trails.)

DOWNLOAD DMG HERE

Note: Free users, click "Slower Download" GREEN BUTTON at bottom right hand corner of page.

Download, copy app to Applications (its icon-less for now!), start app and be amaze.

Buzz me once you've tried it and let me know if it rocks!

your Mac guru,

XXXXXXXXXXX <---(name has been deleted to protect his identity).

=====================================================

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Surprises in 2011.

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:17:00 -0800

This is my first blog in 2011?! Wow. Time flies and its already March.

I have been very busy lately. Commuting back and forth between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is sometimes tiring, but whenever I'm back with my wife and daughters (in Singapore), everything else doesn't matter.

Currently, I am completing the final stages and post-production for a digital feature, "Dari Kerana Mata", a film debut by Melissa Saila. This film was shot entirely on the Canon EOS 5D and its been looking good. It's a semi-musical comedy starring Awie, Sazzy Falak, Vanida Imran, Fasha Sandha, Rozita Che Wan and many more. There are also special appearances by the veterans of Jalan Ampas and Studio Merdeka. It's a fun-family movie to watch, so don't miss this when its out later this year.

Here are 2 shots, from the movie, that I can show you for now:

See the full gallery on Posterous

At the same time, I've got 2 more offers for film edits, which I can't mention any of it yet. I'm kinda torn in between the two and some told me to take BOTH and to plan well. I can do it, I know, but it seems there aren't many assistant editors who are willing to take up the challenge. Either they think its a "oh-my-god-it-must-be-difficult" kinda work or just want to stay safe and be happy with what they're already doing. So, do you want to be an apprentice film editors? Apply within. :)

2011 will be a great year. Apple just announced the iPad 2 (I still haven't got one!). Its' an amazing thing and already thinking of getting one when I get to Las Vegas for NAB this year. Yes. Las Vegas again. Last year I was on holiday there with my family.

(Picture of Me & Nyla, youngest daughter. Nope. This ain't Paris. It's Las Vegas!)

There are a lot of rumors going around about the NEW Final Cut Pro and some even have seen it. "Awesome", "jaw-dropping", "amazing", "mind-blowing"; that is all I know for now. I know Randy Ubillos, the father of FCP, would not let us down and judging from his body-language and speech synthesis (don't ask!) during his presentation of the iMovie for iPad 2, I knew its gonna be a the greatest Final Cut year and I hope to catch some "glimpse" of it when I'm there in Vegas. I'm not too sure, just guessing. This time, I won't be alone. My partner from Kino-i will be tagging along for the first ever company trip to Las Vegas... yayyy!

There seems to be many surprises coming out this year and we've just only got started. It the rumors are true, that means I have to start saving more this year.

If you're visiting NAB, don't forget to get your early-birds deal here: http://lvsupermeet2011.eventbrite.com

Do say hi if you bump into me.

See you in Las Vegas and I will update any happenings in NAB 2011, on a separate blog right here.

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How to make the coolest FB profile picture.

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:49:00 -0800

Here's something for Facebook fans (and experienced Photoshop artist!):

A photoshop template (.psd) to create the COOL facebook profile page like mine:

Or some of these here.

You can go through the provided guide or download my PSD template that I've created and use it.

The template was created with version CS5 and not I did not test it with other versions.
It might work though. The guide to use it is written within the file itself. You'll see it when you open it.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

[UPDATED - January 28]

NOW INCLUDED 4 VERSIONS OF THE PSD TEMPLATE - ONE OF THEM WOULD FIT YOUR NEED, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE FILL UP YOUR PROFILE DATA, THE PICTURE STREAM TENDS TO BE "DISJOINTED" WITH THE PROFILE PICTURE....

Download and hope you enjoy making your NEW "cool-looking" facebook profile page.

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Countdown to Encounters Film Festival

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:49:00 -0800

That day has finally come.

Still felt like a dream to win the Civic Life: Where The Heart Is short film competition.

And the prize was an all paid trip to Encounters Film Festival in Bristol, UK.

So, as a THANK YOU gift to all my friends and family for all the encouragement, moral support and believe, I will share the journey on a "special exclusive blog".

I may not be a good "anchor-person", but I am sure to bring you some interesting stories while I'm there.

Click here to read updates and news from the festival.

Enjoy!

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Portable and featherweight RAID drive.

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:00:00 -0800

When come to selecting a hardisk, I would ask myself these question: "Do I need to carry it around with me on everyday?" or "Do I need a large capacity drive?" or maybe "Do I have a budget?" ... ahh my favourite would be "Is it heavy?"

Ever since the digital video revolution, I have worked with various brands, sizes and capacity. The earliest I can remember was my 100MB Zip-100 iomega SCSI external drive (see image)! This was circa 1995-1996. I still have a few cartridges lying around but could not do anything with it, since the "reader" was already faulty. It was the "best storage device" I had back then, but i need to find a power source everything I need to retrieve the files and of course my "old PC" with the SCSI board to link to the reader!

But 100MB can literally store only 27 seconds of DV clip! Yup. ONLY 27 seconds PER cartridge of 100MB!

That means 1 hour of DV will fit about 120pcs of the 100MB disc! Imagine if I had 10 over projects?! It's just too bizarre to think about it now. Phew...

Flash-forward November 2010.

I was involved in a film competition and needed to find fast, reliable and portable hardrive to be used on-location - to offload video files that will be shot on location.

Most large capacity drives eg. 1 TB (terabyte) are either large, heavy and most CRUCIAL thing will be the need of a power supply on location. But what if, my location is in the middle of a desert? That was what I had expected to happen and it did.

Enter "DataTale AIR" drive. The hardrive was on loan by macking domain, one of the best Mac reseller in Kuala Lumpur. I can't thank you enough to them for providing us this unit for our competition, but sadly, we didn't win! (It could have been a great story!)

When I first received it, I thought it must be like one of my WD drive which needed power to start it up, but I was wrong!

All I need was to hook up a firewire 800 (included), turn the power on and BOOMZ! The 1TB drive mounts onto my Macbook Pro. I do not need ANY power supply... I repeat.

NO POWER SUPPLY WAS USED TO BOOT UP THE 1TB DATATALE AIR DRIVE.

It has two internal 2.5-inch SATA (500GB x 2) and connects via eSATA, Firewire 800 or USB 2.0. Somehow, the weight and size reminds me of my 100MB Zip-drive, but this time, it is a 1TB drive.

Just look at the size comparison with all the firewire drives that I owned.

The drives have been pre-stripped with RAID 0 earlier by the supplier and can also be stripped as JBOD, RAID 1 or as a span drive. The first thing I did was the "DiskWhackTest" with the AJA Disk Utility. It shows the Read/Write data speed of any drives that it can read.

Here are my results (I used a 2K resolution -1GB file sample for this test from my Macbook Pro):

And then I compare it to my WD 1TB Studio Edition (named zaleeMYBOOK)

and my CalDigit 2TB (RAID 0) drives:

I do not like to speculate nor I am here to endorse what is the best hardisk you should buy.

I shall leave the "Benchmark Test (XBench)" that I have done here, for you to decide.

All that I can say, if you are looking for a large capacity drive (eg. 1TB), needs it to be portable and lightweight (BIG PLUS!), you are not sure if there are any power supply around for you to use with the drive and lastly, budget is NOT an issue, then this Data Tale AIR is for you.

*Note: I cannot guarantee its stability yet, since I have only tested it on the field for only 2 days. There are always Pros and Cons for a hardrive and whatever test that I have done was solely out of curiosity. Nevertheless, I think I'm gonna get one soon!

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Seeing RED : An EPIC encounter with Ted Schilowitz in Singapore

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:43:00 -0700

“I have to say that when I held EPIC, fired it up and saw the images… I died and went to heaven.” - Jim Jannard

Be among the first in Asia to see the RED EPIC camera, powered by the new 5K Mysterium X sensor.

Ted Schilowitz, Leader of the Rebellion for Red Digital Cinema will be in Singapore to show you what this amazing camera can do. On top of the EPIC demo,there'll also be a screening of RED MX footage. Singapore based company, Widescreen Media will be talking about their experience of shooting Stereoscopic 3D feature films on the RED and will demo Stereoscopic-3D (S3D) footage shot in Singapore and overseas.

They will also discuss workflow and post production options for S3D with RED. AV8 Media will also be on hand to discuss training and system integration for Stereoscopic 3D.

Don't miss this chance to see the future of digital film making.

Date:

4th November, 11am - 1pm

(RSVP here on Facebook event page)

Venue :

The Cathay Hall 2

The Cathay Cineplex

Levels 5 & 6

The Cathay

2 Handy Road

Singapore 229233

(Nearest MRT Station: NE6 / NS24 Dhoby Ghaut)

Brief outline:

Introduction and keynote address by Ted Schilowitz
Demonstration of EPIC
Screening of RED MX footage
Introduction to Stereoscopic 3D by Widescreen Media
Demonstration of Stereoscopic 3D workflows with RED and Iridas
Training and Integration overview by AV8 Media
Q & A

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Corridor of Life.

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:41:00 -0700

This was the shortfilm that I've made for the recent "Civic Life: Where the heart is" competition in Singapore and had received the "Jury Prize Award".

Please do watch the rest of the interesting entries

here: http://www.civiclife.sg/competition-gallery-vote.php

Here is an online interview about my film:

http://sindieonly.blogspot.com/

In my next blog entry, I will share the "secret" behind the making of this short piece. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my facebook friends and family, who have supported my little film.

Please leave your comments or interesting experience that you might want to share about your memories along the corridor. And tell your friends to share them in here too! Let us share the joy and happiness that we once had, during our childhood days.

The corridors are now open again!

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A story on storage.

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:42:00 -0700

It seems like ages since I last update my closet.

Firstly, I am now a dad to a beautiful girl named Nyla Zara. She is now 8 months old. (That's probably how long since I last update this blog!)

Ever since she came around, my life has changed quite a bit, but work gets busier than ever. I manage to quit smoking! Yes. A big achievement for me.

Another achievement for me, I have been invited to write an article on the not-so-recent SuperMag. You can click the link and download it the FREE 300 pages of PDF - full of tips and tricks from the Pros. I had received tremendous comments, both good and bad, about my article and very happy to have contributed. Thanks to Daniel Berube (BOSFCPUG) and his team for the great effort and the invitation.

Playing the dad role, gave me less time to check out whats happening in the filmmaking scene, particularly the new "toys" of the industry. Indeed, digital SLRs has taken the industry by storm! (See pictures of me assisting a DOP friend setting up his new gears for his Canon 7D)

And up next, digital VIDEO cameras with interchangeable lens and stored onto SDHC cards! I've seen Sony's and Panasonic's prototype and could say they look awesome. (Not sure if they shoot awesome as well!). At the end of the day, all boils down to one BIG problem that is YET to be solved - where do we store our precious dailies or footages?

1. FRUSTRATION - We know how frustrating it is, if we run out of disk space, when we off-load the footages from the cards for editing or backup. The worst part is that, these drives tend to get hiccups and one day just give up on you! Arghhh... the worst nightmare that could happen to anyone. Recently. I manage to help "recover" a producers hardisk and saved his career! If it happens to me, I might as well retire from this field.

#TIPS: Always have at least 2 identical backups of your dailies, no matter how "not-so-important" your project is. Do not mix your personal projects (photos, music etc) with that of your edit jobs.

2. DETERMINATION - Which is better? A hardisk? DVD? Blu-ray? LTO-Drives? If I had the budget, LTO-Drives would be my choice. It is expensive, but if in the long-run, its worth it. Of cos for now, the only choice we had was to archive it on a consumer firewire WD drives. And these drives need to be store in a cool temperature and needs to be boot-up every now and then to avoid the hardisk head to get stuck!

#TIPS: If you accidentally bumped your hardisk, you might want to check its condition ASAP and prepare to do a backup to another drive. It is even critical if you accidentally bumped it during transferring!

3. HOPE - One thing I really do hope for, was for Solid State Drives (SSD) to become cheaper and have larger storage, then perhaps this would be my alternative choice, since there are no moving parts in an SSD, it should last longer.

#TIPS: Spend more budget on buying dedicated SDHC cards for that specific project and never recycle them. That way, you store your dailies or footages in each of those cards - still cheaper than buying an SSD or an LTO for now!

Think of it this way, if the contents that hardisk was your only wedding footages and one fine day, it gets corrupted, how would you feel? Well, mine is safe inside this!

And that's my goal and hope for now!

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My lil' FCS Utility.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:50:00 -0800

Here's an early Christmas gift from me! Ho.. ho.. ho..

This is a little utility that I've created using Automator and some applescripts, after I've discovered that some of my clients, whom have no advance knowledge on how to "manage" their files and media, on every project completion.

I have also found that some of them still have their "Capture Scratch" and "Render Files" contents hidden somewhere on their Mac and some of it were there since FCP version 5! Whoa..

I have this lying around on my machine since FCP 6 and today I want to make some editors smile. I am not really a programmer, nor I know about coding, but I guess I had a "dream" and made this come true. It has been tested by me and some editor friends on Leopard and Snow Leopard (up to 10.6.2).

Download FCS Utility
version 1.1
[UPDATED: 1800hrs, 28 Nov 2009]
A small PDF manual is included this download as well.

DISCLAIMER:
The application downloaded from this site is provided free 'as is' and without any guarantees or warranty. You have also agree that I will not be held responsible for any damage or losses of any kind, caused by the use or misuse of this application. I will also be under no obligation to provide support, services, bug-fixes or corrections.

So what does it do?
It MOVES your files or media inside the selected folders (that was created by default by the Pro Apps) into the Trash, and which you can later empty trash and regain your hardisk space. Is that simple! And it's FREEEEEEE ....

STEP-BY-STEP (ooo baby...):
1) Unzipped the file and dropped it into your Applications folder.

2) Make sure you have all your other Pro Apps quit. You can then start the application, like any other applications on the Mac and soon, you'll be brought to a "splash screen" like this:

3) If you decide you've made a mistake, you can click "Cancel" now, or click "OK" to continue the search. If you click "OK", the application will go to work!

Note: It will start searching ALL drives for these folders:

- Capture Scratch
- Render Files
- Audio Render Files
- Autosave Vault
- Renders
- Retiming Cache Files
- Soundtrack Pro Documents
- Waveform Cache Files (*added on 28 Nov)

If it finds the contents available in these folders, you will see a similar list like this (click image to enlarge):

4) Let's say I just need to delete all the "Audio Render Files" for the 'PAIN' project it found, I will deselect the rest and click the selection box on the left column. This utility will later MOVE your contents inside of the selected folders, usually by your project name. By default, the utility will select ALL folders it finds (click image to enlarge):

Then click "OK" to continue. If you decide to cancel at this stage, don't worry, there'll be a "CANCEL" button later.

5) Another "WARNING" dialogue appears:

Make your wise choice. No turning back now.

6) Once done, you will see this screen:

The selected media files and its folders have been MOVED TO TRASH (open your Trash bin, it'll be there!) and will stay in there, until the "garbage truck comes and picks it up"! (Or in an Apple-sense of the term, you should EMPTY-TRASH manually. (WARNING: If you have ongoing projects and you're unsure about it, then you should think twice! Haven't I warned you enough? Ho ho ho...

If you wish to quit, select the "QUIT" button, but if you wish to move some other files into the Trash, click the "CONTINUE" to start from the process again! Duh..

LIMITATIONS
This utility will only find the folders and files from drives that currently you have an ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILEGED. Trying to move files to trash from protected drives or directory WILL RETURN AN ERROR like this: (sorry NORMAL users)

Although this application is provided free, if you find it useful, please donate a buck or two (five bucks would buy my newborn girl a bib!), hit the "Make A Donation" button on the right of this page (under my profile) and spread the love!

But, If it doesn't work for you, I'm sorry, perhaps you should look for a real programmer.

Comments and suggestions are mostly welcomed, even if you decide not to donate! The elves would know what to tell Santa.

Happy Cutting!

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Wave Got Balls!

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:39:00 -0700

In 2007, when FCS 2 was launched, I was at NAB and was browsing through the Color booth and saw an interface that allows you to control Apple's Color software with much precision (just like the Pros are using on the Da Vinci!), instead of just using the mouse.

The advantage? You can adjust ALL 3 Shadows, Midtones and Highlights concurrently versus the mouse when you can only adjust one thing at a time. This is possible only if your hands and fingers are wide enough to touch all the 3 balls!. But when I asked about the pricing, it was way beyond my budget!

Then very recently, my friends at AV8 Media Singapore, loaned me another unit, but a more simpler unit, called the "Tangent Wave", so I went back home to test it out with my 17" Macbook Pro.

By the way, it was a very light piece of hardware; I think it was lighter than my Macbook Pro! Cos it's all plastic.

The big black box contains the main interface board, 3 red trackerballs, a USB cable and a CD (just a soft copy of the manual?) and yes, no external power is needed to use this device! Like you don't need a power for your mouse? Duh...

The red trackerballs are then slotted into all 3 of its intended hole and snapped into place. These balls will act as a "precise control device" that allows you to control the differential lift, gamma and gain of a color, optically, in the Shadows, Midtones and Highlights in Apple's Color. The upper dial above the tracker balls are called the "Master Dials" (looks like a jog and dial from a Digital Beta recorder), will allow you to rotate and adjust the master lift, gamma and gain independently.

So, I plugged it into my Macbook Pro and started up Color 1.5.
The 3 OLED displays shows up:

And I start fiddling around the balls. Nothing! I guess it must be an interface driver, so I went to their website, downloaded the latest update for Color 1.5 and installed it.

Soon after, I launched Color again and boomz!
This shows up:

Now I'm getting somewhere. The OLED also shows a sign of life! Eureka..

In Color's user Preferences, there are some settings which you can fine tuned the Wave.

- Encoder Sensitivity: This parameter controls the speed with which the rotation of knobs on a control surface changes the value of their associated Color controls.

- Jog/Shuttle Sensitivity: This parameter controls the speed at which the playhead moves relative to the amount of rotation that's applied to a control surface's Jog/Shuttle wheel.

- Joyball Sensitivity: This parameter controls how quickly color balance controls are adjusted when using a control surface's joyballs to adjust the Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight color controls in the Primary In, Secondary, and Primary Out rooms. The default setting is 1, which is extremely slow. Raise this value to increase the rate at which corrections are made with the same amount of joyball motion.

But I'm truly sorry that I was too engrossed using it and had no time to shoot a video of it and that is the only way that I can truly show, what is really happening. Stills is a no answer to reviewing this product.

Personally, I'm fell kinda awkward using it, cos I've been too comfortable with using the mouse for color correction, but I do find it a very cool tool, especially you can "multi-task" with both of your hands and have more exercise for your fingers.

The real Pros will agree to this rather than using a mouse. It gives your more precise control. The mouse would sometimes "slip" and it is much more affordable when I first heard about control surfaces for Color. If you're into serious setup for Color, this is a good start (if you can't afford Da Vinci or have a space to keep one!)

One thing for sure, this thing got balls-literally!

For more pricing details, please contact your friendly agent in Singapore
@ AV8 Media Singapore.

(Note: This is not really a review but just my first hand experience within a day! Sorry, if you've expected anything great cos this is really the first time I actually use a control surface for Color!)

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Convert Quicktime MOV to Flash FLV?

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:58:00 -0700

I recently receive a call from friend in distress asking for a little help - To convert quicktime MOV files to an Adobe Flash compatible FLV file.

There are a few applications out there that could do just this, but most of them aren't free.

If you have Final Cut Studio 2 (or 3) installed and your Compressor is version 3.0.5 and above, this is something cool for you! (UPDATED: I have not tested this on the latest version of Compressor 3.5 and it works!)

I've created "droplets" from Compressor, to allow you to export a "compatible" FLV files (which is actually a H.264 codec, so this is like a "cheat" for flash!). This FLV file can later be played or streamed from any flash player or flash-based websites that is using Flash version 9. I have not test it on other version though. If it does work for you, then you're lucky.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Requirements:
MUST HAVE COMPRESSOR v3.0.5 and above from FINAL CUT STUDIO.
This is NOT a standalone application. Shall I repeat?

How to use the Droplets:

1) Unzipped the files. It should contain 2 droplets file:
a) H.264 for Flash 4/3 - Use this to convert 4:3 format video to 640 x 480
b) H.264 for Flash 16/9 - Use this to convert 16:9 format video to 640 x 360

2) You can place it anywhere on your Mac. My suggestion is to place it on your desktop for easy access. Soon you know why...

3) Find your SOURCE Quicktime files, drag and drop the ".mov" file, ONTO the droplet of your choice.

4) A window will soon pop-up:

5) Click "Submit" when you're ready to Export.

I hope you like this tutorial and as always, donations are always welcome. Why? Cos I think its about time for me to have a "bigger" space for these tutorials.

Enjoy!

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DIY 35mm DOF for my Canon HF10

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:19:00 -0700

When I presented on behalf of Kino-i, the Mini35 by P+S Technik (ver.1) to the film industry in a "Malaysia Digital Revolution 2002 Seminar", it soon became a hot favourite gadget among the local filmmakers, which later embraced this technology in making commercials, features and great looking music videos. It was a giant leap in making "video to mimic those that was shot on film", which vastly became a viral-technological-film-term - "the film-look". Oh wow!

Here are two of the videos I found on YouTube (coincidentally I was involved in both of them.. *wink*.. I just got lucky, ok! I did not plan this.) :

(by Kino-i)

(by Red Communications. Read the full article I wrote in 2003 here.)

Of course, there have been numerous project that used this technology and had indeed evolved to a much better version. Various smaller companies began to take advantage of this and started making their version, based on the same concept. This article will be based upon the advancement of this film technology. Over the years, the only way to create a "film-look" was, to actually shoot on film - with the 35mm celluloid by Kodak or Fuji!

Yes that's right! There's no other way, my friends! Personally, I would get really ill ('sick' would be inappropriate!) whenever someone came up to me and ask me, "Zalee, how can I make my video look like film?" I seriously wanted to reply, "Duh!", but that would be too rude and I might not be writing this article now, 'cos people would hate me already! So, don't hate me yet. Anyway...

Think of it. This is 2009! And that was only 7 years ago.... erk! Where were you?

Time flies. And so does my money spending on such film-technology (sorry honey, but I can't help it!). Optics got better. The definition in quality gets higher (hence HD) and the sensors they've invented, were really astonishing. Just take a look at what the guys at RED are doing; they've even invented a future 28K sensor version by Spring 2010 (that's a mind-numbing 28,000 pixel horizontal resolution, compare to a HD that is only 1920 pixels horizontally)! Boy, wish I knew what it'll be use for. It sounded so science-fiction to me! Of 'cos, if money wasn't an issue, I would have bought everything that RED has invented.

Reality check.

Although those technology have been available almost in every filmmaking region that I know of, that doesn't stop any serious "film geek" in finding ways to get something similar or build a "cheaper" alternatives. And thanks to the internet knowledge-sharing community, I was able to learn how to make my very own 35mm adaptor for my personal Canon HF-10!

(Note: Some of the materials were mainly bought from Daniel's Jetsetmodels and some from ebay too! Thanks to Daniel for sharing the info with the community!)

WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED. IF YOU HAVE THE DOUGH,
BUY A READY-MADE ONE AND SAVE ALL THE TROUBLE!
(But, nevertheless, if you're a film-geek, go there and
learn from the site and DIY one for yourself!

Here are some websites you can purchase
ready made-ones, suitable for your camera:
GT35Pro (Singapore based) Jag35 (US based)
EnCinema 35mm (US based)

Since late December 2008, I started purchasing the parts, one at a time, whenever there's extra cash in my pocket. I only manage to complete purchasing all the parts by March 2009 and ended up spending a total of roughly RM683.32 (or around USD200+) without lenses. But I later realized, I don't have the proper tools to complete the assembly.

I was in Singapore this past week and thanks to my friend, Dinie, an experience Art Director for commercials and films, introduce me to Mr. Rahman of Artison Asia, whom Dinie nickname him as "Master". Well he is!

He builds his very own motorized lazy-susan that can could carry the weight of a whole car, for under USD3,000, a few 35mm camera-rigs made out of aluminum-modular-systems, a cool-looking directors-viewfinder out of an old Minolta camera and the lists goes on. I was amazed at this man's talent!

(Note: I can't show his DIY stuff 'cos someone might get his design and make tons of money out of it! He builds it only for his company use.)

One thing for sure, he is also a "film-geek"; the only thing is that he has a REAL workshop, with all the tools you can think of! And so, I brought over all the parts to his workplace and began assembling it.

Here are the series of pictures during the assembly, which took almost 3 hours:

Dinie helping me to glue-gun
the focusing screen.

The completed focus-screen
module in my hands.

The focusing screen module goes into this
- the Canon EOS macro extension tubes.

Rahman (in blue) and Dinie,
posing for the final soldering moment.

The Complete Assembly
(not finalized, but its working!)

And here is my INITIAL TEST of the adaptor (using a 50mm 1.4 FD lens). It's not that great yet, but it works!

I shall shoot more static shots tomorrow - girls in bikini and sunbathing on the beach (hope soft-porn is acceptable here... *wink*)

(Note: I accidentally scratched my focusing screen! It's noticeable at
the beginning of the shot (top right hand corner). If anyone is kind enough to donate me a new Canon Ee-S focusing screen or some donations to me,
I would be more than happy.

UPDATE: There seem to be some "infinity focus" issue and will need
to modify the focal-flange a little. More video coming up!

UPDATE 2: Just got myself a 'rod-support' from GT35pro for my lens.
Here is my final setup. Now for the real test. A "secret" project!

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The all new Final Cut Studio is gonna rock da post-house!

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:26:00 -0700

The wait and rumors are over! It's finally here.

The new Final Cut Studio 3 Final Cut Studio!

And while writing this, I am still halfway reading all about it. Also, some of my past predictions in my last blog, was dead on!

WIth over 100 new features in the new version and the brand new pricing. Now anyone can afford a high-end post-production tool.

Some of the great new features includes:
FINAL CUT PRO 7
- Sharing your timeline with an iChat user (good for remote editing with client)
- New speed change tool (will not move the clip when adjusting Speed changes)
- Improved marker support that allows you to export the list

MOTION 4
- 3D Shadows and reflection
- Camera Depth Of Field
- Adjust Glyph tool for serious font animations
- Multi-touch gesture support

SOUNDTRACK PRO 3
- Voice-level matching
- Noise reduction enhancements
- iXML export support

COLOR 1.5
- 4K support and RED Raw support
- Importing DPX files support

COMPRESSOR 3.5
- Blu-ray disc support
- Image Sequence support

New FCS version retails for USD 999 (about RM3k++) and upgrades from ANY Final Cut Studio is USD 299 (about RM 1k++). Hope it will get here in Malaysia real soon and I get to share it with the Malaysia Final Cut Pro Usergroup here in Malaysia.

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Log and Transfer issues with AVCHD solved?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:57:00 -0700

There has been a few issues recently, amongst AVCHD camera users, using the Log and Transfer (L&T) window that occasionally crashed or did not mount and detect their raw material from the camera.

Among the known issues were:

1) When L&T starts, it'll take around 5-10mins for the video materials to load into L&T.

2) An error message "...Invalid structure... etc.. etc.." pops up. (see below)

3) L&T crashes and spits out this error message (see below)

I manage to find a temporary solution for now and has worked on a few problematic FCP and I really not sure of what the real problem was.

WORKAROUND:

Turn OFF the Airport network and start FCP - L&T window
and everything is fine again!

The "bug" can be repeated and that the Airport was the "culprit". Why? I'm not sure for now. I'm currently running Macbook Pro 17" 2.66GHz with Final Cut Pro 6.0.6

Whatever it is, at least I can edit my holiday video now.

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the digital celluloid

I AM STILL A 'MAT'.

Thank You Steve

FCPX and the future

Ada Apa Dengan FCPX?

FCP X Uncensored

The new FCP. For real.

FCP X Leaked! (*an April Fools prank*)

Surprises in 2011.

How to make the coolest FB profile picture.

Countdown to Encounters Film Festival

Portable and featherweight RAID drive.

Seeing RED : An EPIC encounter with Ted Schilowitz in Singapore

Corridor of Life.

A story on storage.

My lil' FCS Utility.

Wave Got Balls!

Convert Quicktime MOV to Flash FLV?

DIY 35mm DOF for my Canon HF10

The all new Final Cut Studio is gonna rock da post-house!

Log and Transfer issues with AVCHD solved?

FCP X Leaked! (an April Fools prank)