The first part of his series has been posted: “How To Create A Bootable OS X Firewire/USB Install HDD”. David writes:

“This tutorial suggests a long term strategy designed to produce a problem-free install, and a quick reinstall if problems should arise again — with the proviso that you spend a one time spare afternoon preparing the necessary files and materials. The strategy is intended to produce long term results and far less down time.”

You can read it here.

You can read the entire article here.

Can this be true? The license agreement first appeared around 2003 - did we miss something? The answer, as we learned tonight on the Digital Production Buzz, is a resounding maybe.

Philip Hodgetts has been doing some research and tonight we interviewed him to get a better picture of the problem. You can listen to his complete interview here. (TRT: 7:01, 2.4 MB, QuickTime)

KEY SUMMARY - PROFESSIONAL USE

Note: This is not legal advice - for that, see your lawyer. However, this is our understanding of the problem, with a link to learn more.

A license fee for H.264 use is probably required for professional use if ALL the following conditions are all met:

1. The video program must be encoded using the H.264 codec. (Other codecs are not covered by this license agreement.)
2. You sell the program. (If no money changes hands, no license fee is required.)
3. The program is sold to the ultimate end user. (If you are compressing files for use by someone else, say, digital dailies, no license fee is due.)
4. These programs must be in excess of 12 minutes. (Shorter programs do not require a license fee.)

If required, the license fee is very small: $0.02 per disc sold or about 2% of gross revenue, whichever is smaller.

RELEVANT URL

Where to obtain information about a license:
www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/AgreementExpress.aspx

Listen to Philip’s interview and decide for yourself what your next steps are going to be. For me, I’ll be spending time on the MPEG/LA website.

Larry

Click here to view: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYE5N9cpwTE

Larry

As I was leaving the Object Matrix booth, I met Paul Phillips, the U.K. Managing Director for Active Storage.

When Apple decided to get out of the RAID business a few years ago, Active Storage hired many of the engineers from Apple’s team to create a new RAID system designed specifically for the Mac.

In this interview, I talk with Paul about what Active Storage has done and how they’ve optimized it for the Mac.

Click here to listen to the interview. (TRT: 5:46 — 2.4 MB — QuickTime)

Larry

As I was walking the aisles of the Broadcast Video Expo in London last week, I discovered a company called Hocus Products. They make a wireless lens focus puller for smaller cameras - everything from a Canon 5D to a Sony EX3.

In this audio interview, I talk with Pete Hoare, the developer of the product, to learn more.

Click here to listen to the interview: (TRT: 3:43 — 1.5 MB — QuickTime)

Larry

Larry

LIVE BROADCAST TO SMART PHONES

As a sign of our changing times, Julia Ruttner sent me a note that Dolce&Gabbana are doing a first-ever live broadcast for the iPhone and Android mobile devices on Feb. 25. As we move to larger and larger TV screens in the home and smaller and smaller mobile devices in our hand, the production challenges of making a program look good on both screen sizes boggles the mind. None-the-less, it should be an interesting show.

WHO: Dolce&Gabbana and D&G F/W 2010 Women’s Fashion Show from Milan Fashion Week

WHAT: Broadcast live for the first time on iPhones and Android Mobile Devices

WHERE: live.dolcegabbana.mobi

WHEN: D&G - Thursday, February 25th at 10am EST
Dolce&Gabbana - Sunday, February 28th at 8am EST

If you are an independent filmmaker and want to share what you are doing with the world, let me know and I’ll help.

Larry

NEW ZEALAND FILM MAKER

My name is Dale Stewart, I am 24 years old and I am living in Auckland, New Zealand. I am a young, up-and-coming film maker within the country. I started my career with two short films and both have done very well.

I am currently in post-production for my first feature film which is fully funded by myself. It is a horror film called [ COMPOUND ] and began shooting in Feb 09.
Here is the first, full, trailer.

I recently completed an interview with Fangoria Magazine. Here is the interview.

Being from New Zealand I have had a lot of support from the New Zealand media and people within the film industry. Ive been recommended by a friend of mine to contact your website to how I can get some more buzz out for my film which is nearly complete.

Dale Stewart

Tools on Air describes itself as “A TV Station on a Mac.” Currently, they are only distributed by NMR in the UK and have only been shown at the Broadcast Video Expo in London in February. However, they will be attending NAB 2010 in Las Vegas in April, so those of us attending that show will have an opportunity to see them.

This product has the potential to completely alter the options for live video production on the Mac. Prior to this product, QuickTime limited the number of live video streams it could record to one. Tools on Air has found a way to increase that to sixteen HD cameras or video feeds, plus the ability to switch between video feeds live, add graphics, and create multiclips for Final Cut Pro.

Listen to this interview with Neil Anderson, Business Manager for NMR, about what Tools on Air can do and decide for yourself.

Click here to listen to the interview (TRT: 6:20 — 3.0 MB — QuickTime movie).

Larry

* The session on Saturday is designed for students and new users.

* Sunday is for more experienced Final Cut Pro folks.

Click here for a full list of what I’m talking about, along with instructions on how to register. (Thanks to Adrian Brett for making this weekend possible!)

If you are anywhere nearby, I’d love to see you.

Larry