computers Archives - Flick Harrison

August 23, 2015August 25, 2019

Trick iDVD into recognizing a modified video file

After many years working with iDVD, I’ve finally beaten the worst bug – I mean feature – of that clunky kids’ program.

The worst thing that could happen when creating a long iDVD project was to realize, after burning, that there was a typo in the credits or a sound glitch that you had missed in editing. Bad enough to go back and re-edit the footage, and re-output to an MOV file, that’s some time and effort. But the worst part was that when you re-opened your iDVD project, iDVD would throw up an error – “Modified Asset Warning.”

The only thing iDVD would fail on at that point would be to mess up all your chapter buttons. They would still be there, with their proper names, but they would all point to chapter one. This was unavoidable, even if you had named the file the same thing, all the chapter markers were in the same place, etc etc.

Since renaming chapter buttons and selecting thumbnails is so clunky in iDVD (my projects often have 40 chapters per disk!) it’s worth finding a way to avoid this error if you ever need to re-export a video file with minor changes.

I finally figured out that the reason it fails to accept the file is that the TIME STAMP has changed! This is truly the mark of an amateur program – good as it is. It assumes that if the file has been modified since you last opened iDVD, then there must be a mistake, and it doesn’t even bother checking the length, the file size, the placement of chapter markers – anything!

Notice the “modified asset warning” error message – click through to see an example – complains about the date stamp! It’s easy to miss if you don’t hit the dropdown triangle – the first time I’ve ever seen such a drop-down in an error message. No wonder I never noticed it before.

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August 27, 2014

App Store Fix: Unable to update free apps.

I couldn’t update iMovie today at the lab where I work. It just said:

“Update unavailable with this Apple ID

This update is for an app downloaded with a different Apple ID. Sign in with that Apple ID and try again.”

I tried deleting the half-downloaded app from the Applications folder, restarting the computer, and that fixed it.

But then it happened a few more times on other computers, and by the third time my fix didn’t work anymore!

After trying a few things, including signing out and back into the app store, restarting everything, re-indexing my whole hard drive on spotlight, deleting iMovie and copying a version that worked on another computer into the failing computer’s Applications folder, here’s what worked:

When I started the App Store update, it made another copy of iMovie in the Applications folder (in addition to the one I copied from another computer), with the same name. Bizarre, but whatever.

I noticed that Launchpad had a “downloading” strip in its icon. Clicking that in the dock brought up a page of apps, one of which was a blank square with “downloading” written underneath. So I clicked and held on it until all the apps started wiggling (with little x’s, iphone-style).

I deleted the delinquent app, then tried the app store again. Now it didn’t even show any need to update – everything works fine.

The end!

July 2, 2014

Introduction to Final Cut Pro @ VIVO Media Arts

logo VIVO has not disappeared, it’s just gone underground while the landlord laughs and the City of Vancouver steps in to the rescue.

I’m teaching my very popular Final Cut Pro X workshop there on July 12th, now EXTENDED by one hour to fill you up with Apply goodness.

Total 4 hours (Saturday, July 12th, 1-5pm) | $42.50 for VIVO members / $50 for nonmembers

Learn how to import, edit video, add effects and titles, and output to dvd, web, or master files on the once-and-future king of editing software. Stop paying for Adobe subscriptions and get back on the FCP bus!

Final Cut Pro X has finally overcome the clunky launch and now it does pretty much everything an editor needs it to do. (Beginner workshop)

Instructor: Flick Harrison

This Month | VIVO Media Arts Centre.

June 17, 2014

Improvised Visuals with Jeff Younger’s Devil Loops

I’m doing my first live improvised visual performance with Jeff Younger and some amazing dancers and performers tomorrow night at the Orpheum Annex!

TICKETS HERE

I’ll be playing with video from Ukraine, with live animation, and VJ-type live cams. I feel like someone has taken a DJ and said “here’s a guitar!” which is pretty fun but also terrifying. Come see me triumph or crash! It will be a great event!

The event is produced by the Railtown Cultural Eclective…

– Flick

June 4, 2014

Add audio transitions to your entire timeline in Final Cut Pro X!

I finally figured out how to do something that should have been a no-brainer in FCPX:

Audio-only crossfades in the whole timeline! Or add multiple sound-only dissolves at the same time to as many clips as you select.

Almost every time I edit, I need to add soft audio transitions between cuts. All of them. Even a smash cut that you WANT to be jarring can create an unwanted “pop” when the playhead jumps from one digital audio file to another.

One of the first things I learned working at CBC in the early 90’s is that a 3-frame audio crossfade is the best way to smooth out a sound cut without actually making a noticeable overlap.

One of my main reasons for avoiding Final Cut X for almost two years was the difficulty of adding audio-only dissolves. In FCP 7, you could select your whole timeline, hit command-shift-t, and there you’d have it.

FCPX official workflow is to right-click->expand audio/video, then drag the ends of the audio clips each way so that they are overlapping, then drag the fade handles inwards so that the fades overlap.

GIVE ME A BREAK! For hundreds of edits?! Do I have a sign on my back that says “Please give me carpal tunnel syndrome?”

SO I’ve been perfecting this workflow and thanks to Alex4D, and a little poking around, I’ve solved it.

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April 1, 2014

“Space, Baby” premiere at The Toast, Apr 17-19 2014

Come to the spectacular performance of SPACE, BABY.

April 17, 18, 19 – 8 pm
The Toast Collective
648 Kingsway
Tickets $10/15 at the door or at Brown Paper Tickets

Space, Baby is a multimedia performance inspired by the palate of 1960s sci-fi film which tells the surreal story of a lone woman searching her galactic memories in an effort to escape the realities of an ever-approaching future. The woman is a rogue astronaut witnessing her own past. She plays multiple versions of herself as seen through the lens of her changing memories. Using a forcefield of sound and imagery, the camp-aesthetic of films such as Barbarella, and the genre-bending of American Astronaut, Space, Baby is a multimedia performance about regret and forgetting.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Catherine Falkner
in collaboration with
Elysse Cheadle
Flick Harrison
Elliot Vaughan

February 11, 2014

Long-term archiving projects for Final Cut Pro X

I wrote this email to Larry Jordan, author of the famous + awesome training website for video editors. I was wondering how the new Library structure in FCPX 10.1 would hobble the economical archivist in me. Since I end up doing some explaining and pontificating, and his answer is very useful, I figure I should share it here.

It’s a big relief to know I can keep archiving projects in a way close to what I’ve been doing all along: minimizing the amount I need to backup, to the safest medium, with surest results and minimal work.

Libraries are noob-proof, but they are not power-user-proof. That’s good.

Hey Larry,

I love your website and I’ve found it helpful as I finally switch over to FCPX.

One thing I will miss from FCP7 and my 2 years on Premiere is the ease of permanent archives.

Continue reading “Long-term archiving projects for Final Cut Pro X”