By this time, Apple’s latest offering is no news to everyone already. In fact, I was able to get my hands on one late last November (thanks Nica for lending me your unit!) and bought one (not for me, though) before the year ended. and here’s my much-delayed post on the super-thin experience.
Putting the warrior in Road Warrior
Its snappy, stable, and it still works like a charm.
It has been a while since Mozilla Firefox made headlines battling head-on with Microsoft’s IE monopoly; and since then the battlefield has changed with a lot of new players in the fray (Chrome, Safari, Opera). With their new update, team Firefox will not only have to compete with loading speeds, but also with simplicity, stability, security, and snazzy-ness.
Downloading and installation was a breeze. Since this is a beta, they won’t remove your existing installation, but your current Firefox data will be integrated to the new one. Heck, they even got my personas skin from the previous version. The add-ons are also there, but they are mostly disabled for stability purposes (since this is a beta).
The first thing people will notice in this version is a more minimalist look, more or less taken from the Google Chrome book, but still not losing its Mozilla identity (such as the big Back button to the extreme left). But if you wish to have your menus and bookmarks back, its just a right-click away. Loading pages will also show a clock beside the title in the tab, a nifty small feature I very much appreciate. Windows 7 users will also notice that Firefox takes advantage of the the new taskbar, where individual tabs are now revealed when hovered over.
Tabs utilize Windows 7's new taskbar
Another major feature introduced in this version is the tab grouping feature (Tab Candy), which makes you organize your tabs ala-Apple Exposé. For tab monsters, this is a dream come true: no more 30+ tabs dangling on top of your browser like an eyesore. You can opt to name and resize the groups as well.
For Firefox, its like reinventing the wheel
Stability-wise, I have been browsing crash-free for three days since downloading Firefox 4 beta, even under my crappy DSL connection that goes on and off every now and then. Mixing these conditions with several YouTube tabs loading, as well as a few interactive sites are browser disasters waiting to happen.
Firefox seems to be still very much in the browser game, with this beta as proof. I think I’d have to snag my default browser from Google back to Firefox for the time being…
I know this sounds simple, but as of late, people from one of the companies I have been working with were asking me how to change their Gmail password. For memory purposes, it can be advantageous to have the same password for personal and work emails; but from a security standpoint, it can be dangerous. Anyhow, here’s a step-by-step process with pictures on how to do it.
Google has a similar instruction set found here, along with extra tips on how to create a good password, and how to keep it safe.
Since one of the new requirements the UP Film Institute is adopting is to include subtitles in thesis films, things can be a pain-in-the-ass when using Premiere’s Title function, more so FCP’s built-in titling features (especially for short films with a lot of dialogue). What most students don’t know is the potentials of Premiere’s buddy, Adobe Encore, in DVD encoding, menu production and subtitling. Now you can have those subtitles that can be turned on and off just like the pirates in Quiapo, without the grammatically-appalling English!
First off, stuff you will need:
Now, the actual steps:
Making a new Encore Project
Import your clip as an asset
Type on your preview window
Make your subtitles visible
That basically covers it! Like any other track in Adobe Premiere, you can extend the subtitle clip across the timeline, or switch it around. You can also choose your fonts, as well as position the text wherever you want them to be.
[See also: Add Panasonic P2 support on Adobe CS3]
Since this semester we have seen the prevalence of thesis-takers using Canon 5D and 7D SLR’s for film production, there are a few things you need to know about editing film clips from here:
Importing clips to Adobe CS3
Unfortunately, there aren’t video presets for Canon 7D in both CS3 and CS4, so you’ll have to make one yourself. Its easy if you know the technical specifications of the footage. If not, go to VLC (download the latest version here) and play your video. While the clip is playing, go to Tools>Media Information and check the codec details tab. You’ll see information there such as your resolution, the codec, and the frame rate.
If while playing the clip in VLC you notice that the video stutters, it might be because you don’t have Quicktime installed. Quicktime (actually the H.264 codec) is needed to view your clips well, and you can download it here.
Now, the pretty-hard part (the instructions are for CS3 but will work at CS4 as well, with a few differences on where to find the stuff):
At this point you should be able to ingest .MOV files in your project already. Remember if you drag it in the timeline and you still see black bands around it (or the image seems to be too big) even if the zoom level is in “fit”, that means you have most likely the wrong resolution.
Other editing tips: