Day Thirty: evening of August 31st 2009

Well it didn’t work, I went back to find an error message on the screen stating that it could not complete the burn. It was late, so I could not start another five hour burn, so I saved the project as a archival file which means that all elements are included and saved-clips, menus, special transitions, et al. That totaled up to just about a 9 gigabytes file. I would have to try again tomorrow, but I would try a different DVD media, just to play it safe.

If you buy blank DVDs, you have to make sure they are compatible with your burner. Over the years, the CD/DVD burners have been enhanced, improved and are able to handle just about any blank recordable media that you put into them. The CD or DVD blank media have codes that indicate maximum speed (8x, 16x, 52x), dual layers (DL), storage space (4.7 GB, 8.5 GB), read only (+R, -R), write or rerecord on (+W,-W) and combinations (which I didn’t see offered in the last Microcenter flyer). Guess what I used? A very old 4x +RW DVD. Maybe , I failed to set the speed correctly, I’m not sure. So, I’ll find another type of blank DVD media to try out.

In the morning, I went digging around and found a Spindle of dual layer 8.5 GB DVD and another spindle of single layer 4.7 GB Lightscribe DVD (note: Lightscribe is process that allows you to burn in a label into the DVD, some DVD have a printable surface that allows certain inkjet printers to print a label on it.) I chose the Lightscribe DVD because the DVD that I was producing only needed 4.5 gigabytes of storage (and I wanted to test out the Lightscribe software after the system update).

The DVD was burned successfully, and played on a standard DVD player. I loaded the Lightscribe drivers, labeling software, laid out a label with an image containing the three Kennedy brothers, and sent it to the Lightscribe LaCie CD/DVD recorder. I should have know that it wouldn’t work when I put the DVD in facing the wrong way. The light scribe surface should have been facing down. Just before I started the printing operation, I did a print preview and the disk image was black. I should have stopped, but I thought that it was a glitch, earlier when the program started the opening screen was black, so I thought that it was an image loading conflict. I was wrong. Twenty minutes later the label was done and there wasn’t anything on the surface. I had to do some house work, so I stopped and returned later.

The G5 tower doesn’t have the system update on it, so I hooked up the DVD player/recorder to it, installed the software, and created a new label. When I checked the ‘Preview’ of the design , it was there. I knew this would work. I copied the failed DVD onto a new Lightscribe DVD, popped new DVD into the recorder and printed out the label. It worked. Now, I just have to take it to the Post Office and mail it off to my relative.

No video games today, I’m not happy about that, but all in all, I’m glad that I completed the project and, got things up and running for my wife, in case she needs to produce some promotional DVDs about her program.

Day Twenty-nine: late evening of August 30th 2009

The Bears are up by seven with about 30 seconds left in the half and I’ve just checked on the DVD that is being created by iDVD. I’m happy with the progress because the originally projected completion time was about 11:15 pm and now it estimated at about 10 pm. Bears have scored to make it 16 to 3 over Denver, updated to 17 to 3 with 13 seconds left in the first half.

I haven’t produced any DVDs on the PC, my wife’s graphic design class allows me access to Final Cut Pro on a Mac. She has a G5 tower at home that I can use, and have used, to make a variety of DVDs for her. I’ve also used Quicktime Pro and iMovie. Both possess basic editing features, although iMovie allows you to string your clips together and has some transition and titling capabilities. When I was involved in an after-school-program, the instructors, had the students set up web pages with HTML (a web authoring language), and iMovie to create clips for special projects.

The editing for this project, was relatively straight forward. Find the commercial breaks and remove them. I took me a few tries to remember how the cutting tool works. As you move down the clip, the first cut happens to the right of the cutting tool, and the second cut is to the left of the tool. Change to the select tool, select the commercial block, delete the block, slide the remaining clip forward, and look for the next block. The nice thing about Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express is they are nondestructive editing applications. What that means is your original clip/video is imported into the application, but any operations, cuts, rearranging, transitions are not applied to it, but in essence a virtual copy of it. This edited version is what is exported to produce the ‘final’ clip/movie. That clip can be used in a DVD burning application to produce a DVD capable of being played in a standard DVD player.

So, I’m going to stop here, go upstairs check up on the progress of the DVD, and return to the TV, to either check out the DVD or watch the end of the Bears’ third preseason game (the major players are being shifted out of the game) with the Bears ahead 17 to 10 with four and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

Day Twenty-eight: late evening of August 29th 2009

No console gaming today. Other than ‘chores’, I spent the day working on my Mac Book Pro, checking the software after the update. I found some other software updates and applied them. That required further work and spending time making sure the everything was copasetic.

I managed to play a few games on the Mac. One game was an oldie-Oni. I was amazed that it worked at all, but it did. And, other than a quirk that appeared when the character refused to stop running, it was fun to see if I could still hit the combos. The other game was Call of Duty, and that was shock. It was hard. I haven’t played it since July, when I tried to do some on line play. I couldn’t get the hang of coordinating the keyboard with the mouse. But the software worked.

I, also, spent some time doing some editing of the two documentaries. I had to pull out my 400 gigabyte hard drive to use as a scratch disk to stores temporary work files while the editing is going on. That was where I found Oni, and all the old files of my wife and myself from as far back as 2000. It caused my Tech Tool Pro daemon to announce that there wasn’t enough open space on two of the three partitioned drives. I finished one documentary, tomorrow I’ll try to complete the other documentary, and burn the DVD.

There are times when installing an update is like throwing a small rock into a pod, then watch the ring of waves expand outward, diminishing , and slowly all is calm again.

Day Twenty-seven: late evening of August 28th 2009

I received Apple’s new operating system update, Snow Leopard, today. Naturally, I was obligated to install it immediately. I had read a few reviews and previews before it was delivered in the morning, and felt that I was prepared for the installation process. Of course, I was wrong.

Now my machine is relatively new, so there wasn’t that much in the way of software and files on it. I did a Disk Utility permissions repair in preparation for the install. One review mentioned that the operating system had some issues with older software, most notably Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 (CS3). The reviewer said that patches would be coming down the pipe in a short order. Although the reviewer cautioned some software might not be updated , most notably Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 (CS3). Well I have CS3 on my Mac Book Pro and I don‘t use it much, so I decided uninstall it. Why tempt fate?

Most of the press covering the release had positive things to say. It required less space on the hard drive. There were improvements to speed, especially native application (Apple software). It takes less time loading the operating system, although it took almost 45 minutes for mine to load. So the reviews didn’t say it would be that long. I’m sure it might be different on a different computers. I have a 320 gigabyte hard drive (about a hundred gigabytes or so is used), so that might require some shuffling on the hard drive. I don’t have an issue with the time, I blocked enough time so that wouldn’t be an issue. It’s what happened after the primary installation. The install disk has a readme file(didn‘t read), the install Snow Leopard (done), and install options (?) folder. Well, being the curious type, I open the folder and discover an install Xcode and an install additional system files. Xcode has utilities for developers, and I had to open the other install application to discover the content of it. It had a variety of system resources, but two stood out.

One was the print drivers, which would allow you the select any additional drivers or all the print drivers (over a gigabyte of drivers) This one feature that is a space saver-only the driver for the printer you are currently using are stored on your hard drive. If you need additional drivers, they will be downloaded by the operating system. Very cool, provided you have access to the internet.

Now the other resource is Rosetta. I understood this to be useful because it allowed your Intel processor to work with programs developed for the older Macintosh G5s. Great, I have some of those older programs and decide to install this resource. When the installation is over, a message comes up informing me that some of the resources (I suspect it is Rosetta), might not work well with the upgrade, and I should install an older system update (the 10.5.8 combo) to remedy the problem. Damn, I wouldn’t have loaded this if I’d know that there would be a conflict. I quickly copy the URL for the patch and go to the Apple Support location with the Combo patch. I start the download, and 750 + megabyte file begins to download at a rate so slow that it would take five or six hours. Is this because so many people were hitting the servers that the throughput was diminished? I don’t know, But why didn’t the three or four reviewers mention this? You know a little “forewarned is forearmed” advice.

I guess the above would be some kind of mellow rant. I haven’t done much in the way of testing with older programs. I did play a short session of Doom without any issues, but I wasn’t in an area that place any significant stress on the OS. I’m going to install version 2 of Final Cut Express to work on my relative's Kennedy videos. I’ll see if it causes a problem.

Day Twenty-six: late evening of August 27th 2009

So today, I tried to make good on the errors that I committed yesterday. The big difference today-no rush. I check the schedule to see what times (just in case) the program will be on. Next, I located any files that remained from the previous night recording and removed them (approximately 4.2 gigabytes) to free up space on the hard drive. I decided that rather than playing around with the auto record, I would begin a manual recording about a half-an-hour before the program scheduled to start. So I was able to do my exciting house work, like cleaning the vacuum cleaner’s filters, changing the kitty litter, and walking the dog. I managed to squeeze in playing Mass Effect, stopping before the ‘Boss Battle’ at the end that level. Then I can start the DLC (downloadable content) that I purchased the day before.

At 5:30 pm I began the recording. Two hours later I went back up and, to my great relief, the program was recorded. I went back to clean up after dinner (house work), before I began the conversion to an format to edit. Now the application that is supplied with the Elgato hardware has some simple editing capabilities, which I used to pare down the two hour recording to select the desired documentary. The tricky part happens after the clip is ready, what file format will I save it as? This application has around 15 video file formats. Some are particular to Apple software (e.g. iMovies), some handheld devices (e.g. PlayStation Portable), and video editing software (e.g. Adobe Premiere). I was going to work in Apple’s Final Cut.

The formats that would be tested are Quicktime Movie (.mov) format and the Mpeg4 (.mp4) format.

I started with the Mpeg format in the ‘File’ menu through the ‘Export’ item, then found the Mpeg 4 format in the list of formats. Now, a point of information, Jpegs and Mpegs are ‘loosy’ file format. There is a compression factor involved in the saving of the file (for an explanation Google search ‘lossy jpeg mpeg’). In essence, an algorithm is used to squeeze out redundant information, and compress the size of the file. The eyetv file for the two hour show was about 5 gigabytes, after the compression the file was about 180 megabytes, a big difference. But upon playing it back, I (and you) could see the loss of surface detail, especially on the face. It would be okay if you were going to play it at a reduced size on a computer monitor, but not on a television monitor. So that file format was out. I could have tweaked it a bit in the ‘Options’ offered when I was saving the file, but it would still show some image degradation. Well that left the Quicktime format (.mov). There is compression here, but the 5.4 gigabyte file was pared down to about 2.4 gigabytes. I think some this is done by reducing the number of frames. The smoothness is maintained, so you don’t really notice it. The sharpness of the image, even on the TV monitor, remains. So that is the way I went for the documentary. (Just a note, it took about an hour to convert the eyetv clip into the .mp4 file, and three and half hours for the .mov. That was a total of 4 and a half hours to create the two formatted clips for editing.)

Next step is the actual editing and burning of a DVD using iMovie and iDVD. That is for tomorrow and maybe the weekend. I hope to get the DVD to my relative early next week.

Day Twenty: five-late evening of August 26th 2009

Well I downloaded the new scenario for Mass Effect, and this afternoon I returned to play another one of my favorite role playing games (RPG). However, I was in the middle of one of the scenarios, and I must finish that before I can take on the new DLC. Luckily, I have attained the one prerequisites for entering that scenario. I was going to return to Mass Effect this evening, but I received an urgent request from a relative to record a documentary on MSNBC about the Kennedy brothers. The particular cable channel isn’t available there. The request was based upon my having done some video editing awhile ago, and the individual thought that I might help.

Here is where things begin to break down. It is unfortunately, quite common for all computers. The video-in card that I had in the Mac worked fine until I upgraded my operating System to OS 10.2. The card stopped working. I started by checking the Mac hardware, to see if it still recognized the board. To the best of my memory, I think the system information list showed that the slot was occupied, but the characteristics of the card weren’t displayed (manufacturer, model number, and similar information). I went to the manufacturer’s website, only to discover that the card did not work with the new operating system. It stated that a new driver for the hardware was being worked on, and if I left my email address they would contact me. I did and there has been no notification of any driver. That was over two years ago. Last year, I thought that I might be doing some more video work, so I started looking for a new video input device. I found an external one that worked with the Mac and could handle HD transmissions-the Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus TV tuner (video-in capabilities also). I purchased it, tested it out, and put it up until the project was ready. That didn’t happen, so I never used it after the initial test-over 8 months ago.

So now, the request, and I’m not sure about the where the hardware is. I know the software is on the Macintosh Dual processor G5. I begin my search and found the box with the hardware unit (including the cables and controller) right away. All is good, and I feel that I can handle the situation. I take the quick reference guide, follow the directions hooking up the cables, turn every thing on and low and behold the computer screen displays a small window with a program running- Hoorah! Then another window pops up telling me that there is a newer version of the software is available (I have 3.1 and the newer version is 3.1.2). Isn’t automation wonderful-not. I figure that the update is a minor tweak, so I download it and then automatically updates the software. I restart it and the channel doesn’t pop back on (the hair begins to stand up on the back of my neck). I still have time, but if something else goes wrong I might not be able to record the program. I check the preferences and make sure that I have the video-in signal sent correctly. Slowly I checked through the preferences, and then ran setup program. I got the signal back and I was on track again. I clicked on the program guide and updated the channels and found the station that was running the documentary. I was amazed at how extensive the program guide was.

Now for act three, I do a test recording for 2 minutes. I look for the file, and I can’t find it. At first I’m flummoxed, I using the open command and checking different folders with no success. I close the channel guide and look at the desktop. Aha, its on the desktop with the label ‘eyetv’. I open it and I can’t find the file, just another folder, so I open it. There is a list of files, see the Ghost in the Machine test file from 8 months ago, but no Kennedy file. I don’t recognize anything, so I close the folders and return to the application. When I open the program guide, I notice the title of one the channels (channel 4 to be exact) is similar to a file I saw in the archive folder. I go back and discover that the clip is the one that I recorded. I try recording again and the file appears in the folder with that programs name. Now I under stand, channel 4 is the portal used by the cable modulator to send the signal to the monitor, so whatever is on channel 4 is the title of the clip. OK, moving right along, I now know where the file will go. So I check the program guide for the time that the documentary is planned, and discover that I can trigger a recording much the same as the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). Hey, this isn’t bad, and I set the device to record the program. I set the computer to activate the recording at one minute before the program and stop recording five minutes after the end. Home stretch, the clock is on 7:58, and I’m watching the closing comments of the show before the documentary when the clock hits 7:59 pm, the recording starts, and the screen goes ‘poltergeist‘. Static screams out of the monitor’s speakers. What happened? I try checking inputs, and as I shut down the recording, I see that the channel on the monitor isn’t the channel I want to record. I start clicking on buttons and nothing happens. A dialog box appears on the screen, "You have lost the signal." Another window pops up with a suggested trouble shooting steps. I’m upset. Somehow the channel shifted to an empty channel, and the recording was ruined. Now what will I do? I email my relative and say that I have failed, but I think that the network will rerun it and I will try again. I reset the application, get the channel on again and manually start recording. Somewhere I read that the storage requirements are 1 hour requires 1.8 gigabytes of storage space. There is 26.7 gigabytes of storage space left. That is plenty of time. I can edit out the section I need.

I’m typing this while the channel is being recorded. I think the rerun will occur at 1 am. I’m finished here. One of the things that crossed my mind when I started this task had happened. Using software that you are unfamiliar with can lead to the very situation that I was in-a failed project. I had an interface that was new. I applied a patch without checking its affect on the application. I had a deadline that didn’t allow for much error, and/or some experimentation. The event reminded me of Murphy’s law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The initial smooth sailing in the beginning lulled me into a false sense of security. It has happened before, and even though I try to plan ahead, it will happen again.

"Sailor Beware, the North Star is lying. . ." Claire De Lune

Day Twenty-four: late evening of August 25th 2009

I guess I missed tonight’s Sark event on the PS 3. I wonder how the players in the PlayStation 3, or the Xbox 360, sniper event were chosen? I was proud of some of the long distance shots that were made. Some of it was luck, others were, well, completed using ‘Kentucky windage’. It brings to mind Disney’s 50’s TV series, Davy Crockett, and how he took into account the tendencies of his Kentucky long rifle to make an accurate shot. The website, microwaves101.com, attributes it to Sergeant York (the movie? or the person?). I’m sure that there are others who can produce other origins of the term.

Well even less tonight, I’m very tired, so I think I’ll go to bed as soon as possible.

Oh! Some new downloadable content is available for Mass Effect costing 400 Microsoft points.