December 19, 2007

Adobe Media Player - Live on Labs

It's not just a glimmer on the horizon anymore, the Adobe Media Player prerelease is now available on Labs. A fine way to navigate your favorite video assets and streaming channels with style in a well-done AIR application. As expected, it's hardware-accelerated and down with the H.264-izzle. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to use AMP myself and bog down a bit 'o broadband at the homestead.

Posted by sfegette at 09:26 PM | Comments (4)

April 26, 2007

Drew Keller's NAB Breakdown

Microsoft Studios' Drew Keller cuts a fantastic breakdown of his perspectives at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show this year, covering all the big news items from the show. This is a great, balanced look at the highlights from his point of view, and I found the insight into the Adobe presence, products and announcements quite refreshing (particularly as I wasn't able to attend NAB this year myself).

Check out the video at Drew's Vox weblog (Adobe highlights are in the last third of the clip, if you're specifically interested- but I strongly recommend watching the whole run as his commentary is fantastic). Great video!

Posted by sfegette at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2007

Premiere Pro and After Effects - Now on Labs

Right in line with the NAB show's industry-wide press storm, Adobe Labs today features two smokin' hot new prerelease programs for video freaks- both After Effects CS3 and Premiere Pro CS3 prerelease builds are live on Labs and ready to first assault your network/download bandwidth, and then take on your spare processing cycles with aplomb. Also in today's news, the Soundbooth beta 3 build has been released on Labs. It's a audio/video storm up there today!

Although After Effects has remained a video-tweaking stalwart on both Mac and Windows platforms for it's entire lifespan, Premiere Pro dropped Macintosh support two releases ago in favor of Windows-only releases. And quite a bit happened with Premiere in that Windows-only span that Mac users missed out on entirely - the application really took on a more serious, bad-ass side that was (in my opinion) lacking in it's previous Mac/Windows incarnations. Fortunately now you Mac-bretheren can check out what the PC folk have been freaking on for all that time- as the Premiere Pro CS3 prerelease isn't just for PCs anymore, but is also Intel Mac-savvy.

A note on availability
Both prerelease programs are for the English version of the applications. I'd also check out the system requirements for Premiere Pro and After Effects to make sure your hardware is up to snuff- video is a pretty taxing media type to work with on any machine.

Also- although Premiere Pro CS3 prerelease will be available to everyone, the After Effects CS3 prerelease program is open to former After Effects and suite owners only - check out the FAQ for more details on whether you qualify.

The products aren't complete yet and not all functionality is in place, so as with all the Labs programs, make sure to send the teams your feedback and thoughts on the new bits on both the After Effects forums and the Premiere Pro forums.

So what's holding you back? Go warm up those broadband connections and get crackin'!

Posted by sfegette at 03:23 PM | Comments (4)

February 21, 2007

Adobe & Photobucket - Video Editing for the Masses

Well, it's been speculated for some time, but Adobe just announced it's partnership with Photobucket, to integrate Flex-based video editing capabilities into the popular photo and video hosting site. As noted in the release, this should be the first of many such partnerships over the coming months, and I'm really looking forward to digging into the Adobe RIA-powered editing experience, myself.

TechCrunch wrote up their assessment a couple weeks ago and JD has pointers to more current discussions/screenshots, but you can read the official press release as of this morning, fresh off the wires. Enjoy!

Posted by sfegette at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

The Rise of Flash Video - Part 3

Digital Web Magazine has just published Tom Green's third installation of his 'Rise of Flash Video' series- the first two being so popular they darn near brought down the servers. Part 3 is all about tackling your first FLV project, a step-by-step primer walking through preflight considerations for your video project, encoding (a subject we both tackled in considerable depth here together), using the FLVPlayback component, and finally- publishing your SWF.

If you've still been dragging your feet on getting started with Flash Video, you may want to recap with part 1 and part 2 of Tom's series, then dive into his most recent opus to get all hands-on with the process. Video is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent mediums to publish content on the web, don't get left behind when it's so dead-simple these days!

Posted by sfegette at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2006

Got FLV Chops? Win a MacBook.

So are you itching to test your FLV authoring chops against the best in the business with some real-world incentives backing it up? If so, get surfing on over to the Friends of Ed website, and get started on your entry to their recently-announced FLV'ED contest.

The top dog will walk away with some great prizes- specifically a spankin' new MacBook, 3 FoE books, a copy each of TechSmith's products Camtasia and SnagIt, and gskinner.com's most excellent Flash asset management extension, gProject. Runners up get 3 Friends of Ed books, and they apparently will be offering a few 'spot prizes' for significant entries, so flex that originality muscle and wow the judges early. No telling what those prizes will entail.

The rules and guidelines seem pretty straightforward, and you've got until New Years' Eve (December 31st for the calendar-unaware) to submit your entry. What are you waiting for? Pick up that camera, fire up Flash and get crackin'. There's prizes to be won!

Posted by sfegette at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2006

Free DV eSeminar Series - Got Video?

If your video kung-fu is slacking of late, there's a great series of digital video eSeminars coming up that you'll want to get onboard with. Did I mention they're free? Or complimentary, for the more politically-correct. Here's the lineup (I'll be presenting the 11/8 AE/Flash session, FYI):

You can sign up for any/all of these sessions here.
What are you waiting for?
Mash on that link and get registered, already. ;-)

Posted by sfegette at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2006

Tom Green on Flash Video

Sometimes it's nice to take a step back and look at how far we've come with web-based video over recent years, and Tom Green has just posted part 1 of an excellent article titled "The Rise of Flash Video" over on Digital Web Magazine that does exactly that. Give it a read- good stuff!

Posted by sfegette at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2006

FLV Encoding Demystified - New Article

If you've been stumped by the Flash 8 Video Encoder's settings, or wondered why your FLV videos stutter, jump or otherwise choke on a broadband connection, you'll want to read this article I recently co-wrote with Community MX's Tom Green - "FLV Data Rate and Bandwidth... Demystified" - which is now up on both the Adobe Design Center, and Community MX.

Both Tom and I have been speaking on Flash, After Effects and FLV fairly regularly this year, and when comparing notes at TODCon '06 in Orlando earlier this year, were astounded at some of the wild-and-crazy settings people were using to encode their FLVs, and the varying misconceptions as to what the settings actually encompassed. But more concerning was the amount of people who just got frustrated with basic Flash Video because it 'didn't just work' the way they'd expected it to. Well then- this article should answer most of the questions we've heard in our respective travels so far, and we both sincerely hope it helps clear things up and get you posting more video on a regular basis.

And of course, if you happen to catch either Tom or I at conferences/speaking gigs and have more questions, don't be shy- come on up and say hi!

Posted by sfegette at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2006

New Video Article live on the MDC

Well, actually it's a more permanent reprint of a similar article that ran in the Edge newsletter recently, but you may not have seen it there - 3 quick tips for rookie video producers. Pretty straightforward stuff for video pros (color-matching multi-camera shots, removing buzz/hiss from audio, and nesting workflows in After Effects for more efficiency), but invaluable when you need to pull usable footage out of a quickly-shot reel.

I'm just noticing it's been a LONG time since I've blogged, too- apologies for the cone of silence recently. I've been working pretty hard on a 'secret project' the last month or two, and speaking regularly throughout (most recently at the Adobe Ideas conference in Tokyo, Japan last Friday). Man, time can fly when you're having fun... ;-)

Posted by sfegette at 12:32 PM | Comments (1)

June 07, 2006

FLV vs. RSS - maintaining balance

Jon Udell made an interesting post about a screencast conundrum he's having on his site, and JD felt I'd have opinions/guidance (usually more of the former... heh!). What are the best practices to support both browser-based playback of media content alongside RSS-referenced downloadable video files for alternate devices (iPod, PSP, iRiver U10/etc.)? I can only give my suggestions here as the subject is very open to preference/audience and other variables - but here goes.

Generally speaking- MP4 video/MP3 audio seems to be the most universally-supported across devices (although H.264 is gaining ground, it's still got a ways to go). I also strongly favor - as you probably would have guessed - Flash Video for browser playback simply due to it's ubiquity, it's hard to argue with the installed user base. ;-)

How I would implement a solution for both delivery means, were I posting videocasts (which I'm not- yet), is largely akin to what I've done with audio podcasts on this blog in the past - use a Flash/SWF/FLV solution for in-browser playback, and point the RSS enclosure tag to the media file (in the case of audio- MP3) on the back-end so podcatching software can grab and manage it. Audio is easy- MP3 is an accepted standard between devices, browsers and Flash. However, FLV presents an issue in that it can't play back outside a SWF wrapper (and although playback engines such as WimpyFLV exist for direct desktop playback of FLV files, they're not available on alternate devices). So that being said, I'd recommend encoding an alternate MP4 version of my vidcast (MP4 video, MP3 audio) at 320 x 240 resolution (reasonably standard) for the download file referenced from my RSS enclosure tag.

Cellphones/handsets generally use the codec/playback engine supported by the handset itself, which is largely either Real/.3gp or .MP4, and you should also know that some devices (such as the miniscule iRiver U10) have fixed frame rates you may need to consider, particularly if you're a video star in Korea. :) The U10's 15fps requirement isn't a bad one in general, as it's thrifty on file size and not so horrible for general video. Your mileage may vary, though. What devices are your readers/listeners/viewers using, generally speaking? That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself.

So... that's my initial response to the problem.
How are you - or more accurately, ARE you solving this problem today?

Posted by sfegette at 10:18 AM | Comments (5)

May 21, 2006

After Effects and Flash recap

Kim Cavanaugh just posted a great summary of Tom Green's Flash and After Effects session, during which I tag-teamed with Tom pretty heavily on a whole slew of points. We may have to do this again at future conferences, as between the two of us I think we covered a LOT of ground in both applications- and got a lot of people thinking about how they can use After Effects to spice up their Flash (and Flash video) projects. I always say- Flash and After Effects are like peanut butter and chocolate to me. Two great apps on their own merit- but combined... tasty and delicious. House-rockin' fun.

(Kim, major props for all your note-taking... ;-)

Posted by sfegette at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2006

Brightcove Commercial Preview Launches

My old boss Jeremy Allaire's new venture, Brightcove, just announced a free commercial preview today (running through August 1st '06). Brightcove enables easy distribution, browser-based management and monetization of internet-distributed video channels. Final pricing structures for Brightcove's services will be announced before the end of the commercial preview, but is expected to include free use for ad-supported content (given that you're accepted into Brightcove's advertising network model), pay-per-view/rental and unrestricted paid models at final launch. Their Premium service is expected to allow you to sell and manage your own advertising (outside Brightcove's own ad network) as well, should you choose to manage your own advertising.

Did I mention the Brightcove management console (requires joining the preview program, of course) is a pretty sweet example of Flex in action as well? Well, it is- there you have it. ;-)
Plus, FLV versions 7 and 8 are what Brightcove's internals require for uploading videos, so I'd consider it a very Flash-savvy service. Kudos!

So- if you're looking to publish and monetize your video assets in a broadband channel quickly, I'd definitely suggest checking out the FAQ, and getting involved in Brightcove's preview program. Looks like a lot's on the horizon at Brightcove- a rather bright future for Jeremy and crew indeed.

Posted by sfegette at 12:46 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2006

Flashforward 2006 Slides Posted

For those who were interested in a quick post-conference recap, I've re-posted the FlashForward 2006 slide deck for my Optimizing Video session, although note these are really just illustrations, pictures and bullet points that serve as a backdrop- the real presentation is what comes between the slides, both on the mike and in After Effects... ;-)

http://adobe.breezecentral.com/optimizingvideofortheweb/

(note: you'll probably want to hit 'Pause' and key through the slides at your own pace- Breeze tends to... well, Breeze thru 'em quite rapidly. I also recommend re-zooming your window to get it at full resolution.)

I'm on tap to present an updated version of this session at TODCon '06 in May along with another session focusing on the Flash side of the process, so if these slides pique your interest, make sure to show up and witness the full dog-n-pony show live and in person.

Posted by sfegette at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2006

My FFWD session slides - coming soon

Thanks to everyone who packed into the Adobe tech room at Flashforward Seattle for my session on optimizing Flash video this afternoon- it was a blast! As usual I ran a bit long on time, but not too long- but there's so much to say on the subject of optimizing video I could have probably rambled on for another hour. Let me know what you want to hear about next, of course.

Since so many of you asked for them afterwards, I'll do my best to convert and post the slide deck from my session at some point next week before I'm off again to South by Southwest in Austin- although the real guts of the preso is in my hyperactive babbling and After Effects hacking. In that respect, the slides may still be handy and useful to those who didn't attend, but those who were attending today- you got the best parts of it in person and this should help supplement your note-taking well. Keep posted.

I'm currently dropping off all my optical gear at the hotel before heading back out to the Flashforward film festival, which should be a complete blast. I've only heard rumors, as this is my first Flashforward, but given how well the event's been running so far I fully expect my expectations to be eclipsed. The only regret I have so far is that I mainly took video gear this time out, so I haven't contributed yet to the FFWD Flickr group, slightly more embarrassing given the fact that my own photostream has been at a standstill for about a month. Promise I'll get on that shortly, too.

I'll be wandering around doing 'pickup' interviews of random attendees tomorrow (for a side-project I haven't fully crystallized just yet - be sure to come over and say hello if you see me) and sitting in as many sessions as I can, but for tonight- I'm all eyes and ears. Blow me away, you Flashforward filmmakers!

Posted by sfegette at 07:09 PM | Comments (5)

February 27, 2006

Which FLV encoding solution is best?

A question I hear frequently is 'which codec/encoder should I use for encoding my FLV files, and why?' Well, I usually just answer 'use your eyes, they're always the best judge'. And if you need a great place to do exactly that right now without encoding it all yourself, I'd have to say run- don't walk- to FlashVideoFAQ.com. Seriously.

Thanks to Elliot Mebane (Roguish) and a whole slew of folks helping him out with content, support and hosting (full credits listed on the site), you can easily compare both the Sorenson and On2VP6 Flash Video codecs as output from three different applications (Flash 8 Encoder, Flix, and Squeeze), across a wide variety of video files/types/styles/etc. As codecs will behave differently based on the video you're actually encoding, it's very helpful to be able to compare different types of video along with the codecs used, to get a better idea of how each does it's 'squeezing' and where you'll get the most mileage. The handy split-pane view and zooming features really let you hone in on what's happening at a low-level in your frames.

Hats off to Elliot and all his compadres for such a great comparitive resource to have at quick disposal! I'll be referring to it in my Wednesday Flashforward preso on FLV optimization, so get the jump on it now- if you haven't already. ;-)

(Personal revelation- I was rather surprised to find, in more cases than I would have guessed, that the Flash 8 encoder actually does a nice relative job- even without 2-pass VBR encoding at it's disposal. Good news for video freaks on a tight budget!)

Posted by sfegette at 02:18 PM | Comments (2)

January 13, 2006

viliv P1 Personal Media Player

Nice! The viliv P1 PMP has a new site up where you can check out the specs and more screenshots (thanks to Scott Janousek for the link). Claiming to be the first PMP supporting Flash (wasn't that title claimed by the iRiver U10, which also supports Flash Lite 1.1 SWFs?), the viliv P1 has a much more PSP-esque form factor and display (480x272 resolution- which theoretically should have more detail/clarity than the PSP for flash-media based video files).

Further, the P1's 20/30 GB drive options (and CompactFlash slot) offer far more storage capacity and potential than the PSP at it's best (1 GB and 2 GB Memory Sticks being the current max for PSPs, with larger capacities coming soon), and a click-wheel interface more in line with the video iPods. 5.1 surround support is a nice touch too, for those times when you need the larger-screen experience. The P1 will support MPEG 1 L2, MPEG 2, OGG, MP3, WMA AC3 and AAC audio/video file formats. On first glance, this could be a deal-breaker for me, as there doesn't appear to be MPEG-4 support (which is the current 'common' codec I'm using to move vids between my PSP and video iPod).

Although it'll be hard to beat the gaming experience of the PSP with the Flash Lite 1.1 spec (despite my fondness for it), the added flexibility and ease of development will undoubtedly make gaming content much easier to generate (and re-generate from existing Flash content/games/etc), so this could end up being a non-issue.

All in all, a very nice PMP device- although there's precious little information up on development specs/Flash support specifics on the site (paging Bill Perry?), the P1 could become a serious contender for my pocket space in short order. Has anyone picked one of these up (prototype or not) and tried it in meatspace? If so, please drop some comments in below- I'm very interested in this device as yet another 'crossover' PMP for my arsenal!

Posted by sfegette at 09:37 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

August 25, 2005

FOTD 14: Dreamweaver 8 - Flash Video

In an earlier FOTD, we looked at the workflow for importing and converting Flash Video in Flash 8, and today, we're going to look at how you can use the resulting FLV files in your Dreamweaver 8 sites using the new Insert Flash Video feature. Well, it's not an entirely new feature, as the Insert Flash Video command/feature was known in the MX 2004 era as part of the Macromedia Video Kit - a separate product/purchase- but it's now rolled into the product as a full-fledged, official (and also updated) feature of Dreamweaver 8. Time to explore- let's dive in.

First, to be clear- this Dreamweaver 8 feature is strictly intended for embedding pre-encoded video clips into web pages quickly and easily- not encoding video to the FLV format, which is accomplished via Flash 8 or the Flash 8 standalone video encoder (all part of the Studio 8 suite of tools). To customize the user experience beyond the steps in this FOTD, you'll need to delve a bit into Flash- but if you've read this far you're either interested or already on board, right? :)

Anyway, so you've got an FLV video file on hand that you'd like to place on your Dreamweaver site. Just open the page you'd like to insert it into, place your cursor in the right location, and select 'Insert > Media > Flash Video...'

insert_menu_screenshot.jpg

... and you'll be presented with the Insert Flash Video interface:

main_insert_dialog.jpg

Let's step through the elements/options you'll find here.

First up, you can choose between Progressive Download Video (i.e. the FLV file sits on a web server and is progressively downloaded/played by the Flash video object in your page), or 'Streaming Video' (i.e. a Flash Communications Server-based FLV file which is streamed directly to the player). If you don't have access to a Flash Communication Server, then you'll probably use the first option most commonly.

Next, you'll enter the URL to your FLV file on the server. Pretty straightforward.

The 'Skin' menu will let you choose from the preset Flash Video player skins that ship with Dreamweaver 8. You can also customize these skins and create your own, but that's a much more involved subject I'll cover at another time (as well as during my Flash Video session at the MAX 2005 conference, if you're attending this year).

The 'Width' and 'Height' parameters are simply the height and width of your FLV file. You can always click the 'Detect Size' button to autofill these based on the FLV file you're embedding, but if you decide to resize the video here, make sure to click the 'Constrain' checkbox so when you change one of these values the other will be updated correctly to keep the aspect ratio of your video unaltered. There are many creative reasons to squeeze and/or stretch video, but this isn't exactly the best way to do it (always recommended to export the FLV at the final size you'll be using it at, that way the Flash Player isn't spending processor time and horsepower converting the video's size at the expense of smooth playback for your site visitors.

Auto Play, when checked, will simply tell the Flash Player to start playing the movie as soon as enough of the FLV file has progressively downloaded to ensure it will complete without pauses or 'hiccups' (note that this also can be affected by network speed and other considerations, so it's never an exact science). Auto Rewind will return the 'play head' to the start of the FLV file when it's finished playing through the entire file.

The final step is an interesting one- you can have the Insert Flash Video process include a small blurb to prompt users to download the Flash Player if they don't have it installed. A handy addition that will help make the experience smoother in the edge-cases of browsers without the Flash Player pre-installed (do they still exist?)... :)
I should also note that Dreamweaver 8 will also detect the codec (Sorenson or On2) used in the FLV file, and write the object code (and generic player detection code) appropriately- Flash Player 7 for Sorenson and Flash Player 8 for On2 VP6 (the new video codec introduced in Flash Player 8). This really helps optimize the user experience, behind the scenes, without needing to lift a finger- just let DW8 do the heavy-lifting for you.

Once you've selected your choices above, just click the 'OK' button, and you're done! You'll see a grey(ish) box with a Flash Video icon representing the object in your page, however- you'll need to preview your page in order to see the actual Flash video and player in context. When you upload to your remote server, however- make sure to also upload the two new 'dependent' SWF files in the same directory - one 'player' SWF (either progressive or streaming, based on your choice), and one 'skin' SWF containing the interface elements for the player controls (again, based on what you selected in the Insert Flash Video interface).You won't need to jump through hoops to change properties of the object if you'd like to change settings, however- the Property Inspector will always give you direct access to the important settings if you've got the object selected as so:

flv_propertyinspector_halfsize.jpg
Property Inspector - Flash Video Object
(click for larger view)

And that's basically it- you've just inserted a Flash Video file into your Dreamweaver page- no fuss, no muss, fun for the whole family. If this has piqued your interest, make sure to check out my prior post on the Flash 8 Video Import Wizard, as it covers the encoding options you have available when creating FLV files in Flash, and helps 'round out' the workflow in this FOTD. And stay posted- there will be more on Video coming up in these posts, and if you're going to be at MAX 2005, I'll be presenting a session on Flash Video and Dreamweaver that will get into much more depth on the subject.

See you again tomorrow for another Flash 8 feature!

Posted by sfegette at 12:20 PM | Comments (33)

May 31, 2005

Macrochat - Advanced Flash Video

If you're online in roughly two hours, don't miss Kevin Towes' Flash Video Macrochat (registration required) at 4pm PST/7pm EST. Learn all about building custom video progress/seek bars, transitions, masking and effects, synchronizing cue points with Flash events), creating a thumbnail viewer, and tips on converting, scaling and optimizing your video for various target bandwidths. Looks like some good stuff- bang that link and register! Did I mention that it's free? ;-)

Posted by sfegette at 01:54 PM | Comments (2)

May 01, 2005

PSP Accessories

I've had a PSP for a week or so now, and am somewhat surprised at how quickly it integrated into my synching/media workflows- especially on the Mac platform (which hasn't always benefitted from Sony's proprietary media handling and PC bias). However, it certainly wasn't turnkey out of the box. Although I do love the PSP games (Lumines, Untold Legends and Wipeout:Pure being my faves), the media capabilities of the PSP are what I really get excited about. I do lots of side work on video clips (compositing/fx/motion graphics) and being able to tote around proofs/comps of work in progress is priceless. Christian Cantrell had asked me what accessories I'd consider must-haves, so here's a rundown of what I'd recommend for first-time PSP users (bias towards Macs as that's what I use the most, of course):

Hope these recommendations help if you're just thinking about diving into the wonderful world of PSPs afresh. My gamertag/nick on both XLink KAI and XBox Live is 'ihatei', so drop me a note if/when you're online and wanna play...

Posted by sfegette at 11:56 AM | Comments (23)

January 28, 2005

Audi USA and Flash Video

While on the subject of cool Flash Video sites, have you visited auto manufacturer Audi's official US site lately? Great example of integrated Flash video in action... check it out.

Posted by sfegette at 12:36 PM | Comments (1)

January 12, 2005

MacWorld Keynote Impressions

I've been getting IM'ed a lot last day or two about all the new Apple announcements during Steve Jobs' MacWorld SF Keynote yesterday.
(although I'm completely cross-platform at work, I prefer Macs at home where I do more audio/video work). That being said- here's my post-keynote braindump from yesterday (edited down significantly)...

- Final Cut Express HD.
Did this announcement really surprise anyone? After Final Cut Pro HD was released as a free upgrade last year, I and many others had a strong suspicion they'd be making users of their two lower-level NLEs upgrade to get HD resolution. However, it's still a great 'prosumer' NLE solution at a good price for those looking to graduate from iMovie.

- iWork
iYawn. Consisting of Keynote 2 (presentations) and Pages (word processing), this productivity suite is still missing a dedicated spreadsheet and database application to be a contender against Office. But at $79, the bar isn't nearly that high to begin with. However- as JD reported yesterday, Keynote 2 adds export to Flash, and import of SWFs by way of the QT import filter (which can grok much of the v5 SWF format). Okay, now that's a bit more interesting... :)
Pages seems pretty straightforward- as with other iApps the Apple value proposition seems to be the volume and elegance of their 'starter templates' and less on huge feature sets. Nice looking, though.

- iPod Shuffle.
Jury's still out here, although if you follow the rumor mill sites, this also shouldn't have come as a shock. On first glance I'd have no use for one (as a 40GB iPod owner). The part I can't get over is the lack of control- I would go crazy without being able to browse/play by genre/artist/album/playlist on the fly. However, the cheap price and micro-small footprint are pretty compelling arguments to the contrary... ;)

-Mac Mini
Hate the name, love the box. In fact, I'm purchasing one- not for myself but for my wife, who's about beat her old Powerbook into the ground, and doesn't require tons of horsepower. No audio in that I can see (only headphone/line out jack), which means you're stuck with a separate USB or FW interface if you need audio-in capability (or perhaps an iSight). Makes sense, tho - in the interest of keeping costs down. Time will be the ultimate judge, but this is really the first Apple solution to the 'cheap PC' dilemma available in quite some time. We shall see whether the shrewd strategy of wooing PC users thru the iPod translates to actual sales or platform conversions now, indeed.

- iLife '05.
Good stuff. I'm not sure this is as much a 'revolutionary' upgrade as as an 'evolutionary' upgrade, but it's still a great suite for the price to bring strong media editing and management down to a consumer level. Highlights include:

1) GarageBand's new pitch correction and 8-simultaneous-input capability (on that note- what happened to the rumored audio interface that was to be announced?). But it doesn't stop there, MIDI input (sweet), notation view, an instrument tuner, and 'save as loop' features round things out nicely. A new orchestral Jam Pack (i.e. loop library) was also announced, which (based on a quick review) sounded rather well put together. This app is finally getting to where it can finally play well with other audio editing/DAW systems, and is my favorite app in iLife right now.

2) iMovie adds support for HD video and 16:9 aspect ratios (again, not much surprise there) and lots of performance enhancements/expanded transition libraries. The 'Magic iMovie' feature sounds frightening on a creative level, however- connect camera, hit a button and have iMovie capture, place, and export your automatic iMovie to iDVD for burning. Not being a fan of push-button art, this isn't too scintillating for me, but iMovie's still great for general consumers looking to do something with all those DV tapes.

3) iPhoto 5 adds a long-needed feature- calendar-based searching of your photo archives - along with RAW format support, additional book sizes and styles (including paperbacks), and some performance enhancements (always nice). Not a huge upgrade in my opinion, but solid nonetheless.

4) iDVD adds many new themes, a Map view (showing DVD components and their relationships more directly), better drag-and-drop support for clips, and (as with iMovie) a 'OneStep DVD' feature allowing you to connect a camera and stick a blank DVD into the drive and let iDVD do the work. This may work for archiving or doing 'preview discs' of uncaptured footage on tape, but honestly I see these one-button solutions as a recipe for creative disaster. On the other hand, you can also archive a project as a Disc Image now, which could be quite handy for making backups too.

5) iTunes appears to be the unchanged since the recent update (v4.7) which added iPod Photo support and (secretly) iPod Shuffle support. But it's free anyway and you probably already have it installed, so not much to add.

My iLife summary- still a solid suite, but it's new feature curve is starting to flatten over time.

Well, there you have it- my post-keynote braindump. Comments?

Posted by sfegette at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2005

TiVoToGo

Yesterday the much-anticipated TiVoToGo transfer service was launched by the wildly-popular DVR manufacturer. Alas, it's only available on PCs (of which I've but one), although eventual Macintosh support is hinted at in their press release, which gives me hope as a new
DVR owner and home Mac user myself.

The skinny? If your TiVo DVR is connected to your home network and you have the TiVo Desktop 2.0 software installed on your desktop/laptop machines (which enabled viewing of Mac/Windows-based MP3 and image files on your networked TiVo box in v1), you can transfer shows recorded on your DVR directly to your computer(s) for remote viewing. Once transferred, you can also burn shows to DVD (using Sonic's MyDVD software- sold separately for Windows)- which to be honest, is the feature I'm after personally. Given TiVo's excellent support of Apple's iApps (iPhoto, iTunes) so far, I'd hazard a guess that iDVD/DVD Studio Pro integration is the Mac path they'll pursue for the same. There appears to be very specific, limited codecs supported by the service, as it reportedly also disables the transferring/burning of Macrovision-encoded streams such as Pay-Per-View or commercial content, for obvious reasons.

I'll be watching the connected devices space a lot more in the coming year, so if you have any great links/references/suggestions/etc. for new TiVo owners who aren't afraid to hack (of which I'm now one), please post a comment! In particular, if there's any way to get a bash prompt across the network (my limited attempts have only worked by using the serial port on the back of the DVR itself, not the network), I'm all ears.

Posted by sfegette at 10:07 AM | Comments (2)

December 06, 2004

Flash Video Duo

Just got forwarded a great use of Flash video on the Discovery Channel website by Scott Morgan in our support group- you can soar the skylanes along with Tilly the eagle. Being a flight nut myself this is pretty cool - even without the Flash connection.

Also, have you noticed the new Amazon Theater feature smack-dab in the center of Amazon.com's homepage? Tres cool example of Flash video integration on a rather well-known and high-volume site. 'Tooth Fairy' is their current featured short film, although I liked 'Agent Orange' the best for some reason. Not sure if either of these has already made the rounds, but they're both absolutely worth an eyeball...

Posted by sfegette at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2004

State of Flash Video

A quick link to 'blog- Creative Mac's Charlie White interviews Macromedia's Chris Hock and Jim Guerard on the state of Flash video- past, present and future.

Posted by sfegette at 03:05 AM | Comments (1)

September 09, 2004

New 'timeslicing' camera from Sony

Slightly OT by way of Yahoo News- Sony just announced the new Cyber-shot M1 camera, same miniscule 'deck of cards' footprint and a 5.1 megapixel yield, but this one has a new twist- capturing 5 seconds of QVGA video before and 3 seconds after a still image is shot. I can't count how many times a 'candid' shot I thought was priceless at the time ended up being about a second late when finally downloaded to my desktop- this should address that sort of annoyance rather well. The new MPEG-4 encoder allows for roughly 27 minutes of 30fps VGA video w/stereo audio (assuming 16-bit audio, tho it wasn't called out specifically in the press release) on an (optional) 512MB Memory Stick Duo. Translated- if you bump up to a 1GB Memory stick, that's almost an hour's worth of VGA video on a very usable 5.1mp digital camera, that easily slips into your shirt pocket. This won't displace my bulletproof Nikons in the short-term, but I'm definitely hoping to see more high-end cameras offering this type of video 'time-slicing' feature in the near future- sounds incredibly handy.

Posted by sfegette at 11:29 AM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2004

Flugtag and Flash Video - Tomorrow!

Interested in watching home-made, human-powered flying machines launching themselves off a short ramp into the sky (or more often- the water)? If so, this is the event for you. (And if not, it's probably still worth watching.)
Red Bull has agreed to broadcast their Saturday, July 31 (1 PM PST) Flugtag event in Portland, Oregon live using Flash Video and the all-new FVSS Live streaming service from VitalStream. You'll be able to switch between three live camera angles during the event, as well as watch clips on “aircraft” construction- and the teams who are competing.

So- if you're even remotely interested tomorrow- just click the link above and enjoy watching crazy inventors and homespun aviators attempt to fly- while the Wright Brothers are undoubtedly rolling in their graves. (Note: in case you can't view the event live, it will reportedly be archived for later viewing.)

Posted by sfegette at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)