As promised, here's the video. The embedded feature is disabled by the group's youtube channel so here's the link http://youtu.be/5YSxQzKWzv8
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Super-nerd Rant
In today's software saturated, techno-savvy world we use computers at every turn to do just about anything. Next thing you know, our kids will have shoes that tie themselves and embedded chips in their brains that learn everything for them.
Ok, so these predictions are pretty ridiculous. However, we spend so much time looking forward to the next big trend-setting leap that we pretty much accept whatever crap is handed our way because a developer slaps a release together and calls it complete.
I'm a windows power-user. I say that because i know with fair efficiency exactly where and how i want my software to work. What really gets under my skin is when I have to deal with programs that install whatever they damn well please without so much as a user prompt letting us know
Now, I love Windows very much. I've been open to just about every platform: Linux, Mac, Windows, DOS. I've grown up using every one of them to varying degrees yet windows is my operating system of choice because:
What's my point? Windows is about freedom. For the most part, applications always come with a user prompt and we all assume everything is going to the location of our choice, correct?
However, with today's massive software footprints (Ahem, videogames in particular), I'm sure the developers realize that by default the people buying their software must have more than 1 hard drive to install things on. Except, for users like me who constantly browse through every nook and cranny of our hard drives and notice when things get placed where we don't want them to.
The most popular directory, notorious for filling up with folders of crap from installs is the Documents Directory (formerly, My Documents). Everything from game save data to factory and user presets to authorization files end up here from videogames to audio, video, imaging, you-name-it we've-got-it software.
Since the advent of 64-bit and the latest OS offerings from Microsoft, we've got a slightly different structure for how data is structured. A hidden folder at the root of the OS drive titled "Program Data" is the 2nd hotspot for misc file accumulation. And of course, last but not least, the notorious User directory "/*username*/AppData" Often filled with redundant files from the Program Data directory.
I'm sure i'm not alone when I say enough with the cluttering already! There are a few select programs avialable in alternative releases appropriately titled "mobile editions" essentially self-contained executables that don't require registry entries and a ton of files spread throughout your OS Drive to operate.
Personally, i've never had the pleasure of working with any mobile edition of software aside from some tiny misc programs that are meant to do specific little jobs. I'm talking about big boys like Sonar, or any of the software in the Adobe Master Collection. These programs attack your OS drive in ways you often have to spend hours searching away in options and configurations menus and even then sometimes don't perform file allocating the way you want them to.
For someone like me who has a lot of data to deal with on a daily basis, I require a level of organization out of my work on the computer that keeps things neat and tidy; so you can understand my frustration when I have to work with software installations or software in general that becomes counter-productive to my organization scheme.
We all remember Stardock's "Gamer's Bill of Rights". I hereby submit for the review of all power-users and windows gurus, peers and developers alike, a list of the
Let's take Steam for example which is a very big digital games distribution platform right now, the likes of which EA seems to want to compete with as they move their Origin platform out of Beta into the public as a finished platform. One thing you will notice when purchasing something online through these platforms is the clauses that state exactly what it means to "purchase" one of these software products, especially through these platforms. Note there is no brick and mortar store to return a physical box to. What we're talking about is EULA's or End User License Agreements. Not only does Steam have one as a purchase policy, but also the software you're purchasing through Steam.
What it comes right down to is the fact that both the purchasing platform and the software developer treat the game as their property 100% of the time, and you are given license to use it as long as you stay within their parameters; which you of course agreed upon when clicking the check box saying i agree before purchasing.
Just like the barter system, human perception is involved. You either agree to make the purchase or you don't. What happens now seems completely counter-intuitive to the whole concept.
I know most people don't bother reading them because they figure they understand the general idea of what the EULA is describing. However, most of these EULA's will state that your purchase is non-refundable, that because of piracy, they have to right to refuse refunds on account that they cannot trust what you or someone may do to the product to tamper with it once it is in your hands. Therefore, if the software does not work or operate to your expectations, it's your loss. It gets even more complex when it comes to bundled sales.
Don't get me wrong, i'm an avid user of Steam and I enjoy the purchases I've made on it. However, I myself have experienced this issue once. I purchased an Eidos game pack through steam which included a bunch of games for an extremely reasonable price! Great offer, great games; one issue. Upon trying to launch a game called Infernal, I get an error: Ageia PhysX SDK not installed. Please reinstall the game.
Well, since i'm on steam i just uninstall and have it re-download. I am again greeted with the same problem. Here's where we run into Right #2. If a publisher wishes to use some feature by a 3rd party developer such as the PhysX SDK, the least they can do is include the deployment of that installation file needed in the installation process or prompt the user with a link to download the latest version from a supporting site. I spent a couple of hours searching and trying to install said missing SDK needed just to launch the game and the game still to this day still will not launch.
Enter Right #1. Right now, i'm not completely pissed as all my other games in the pack work fine, aside from this one, but I do find it reasonable as on Steam the bundle pack still considers each individual product with it's own discounted price, therefore I should be able to get a refund for this game in particular and not feel shorted slightly however many dollars and cents it might be.
Steam's Refund Policy:
Excerpt from the Agreement page:
I'll try and save face on the topic of copyright and simply sum up my feelings and thoughts on it to the fact that how we view and treat Copyrighting today needs a drastic change. The ideology behind it is outdated especially in a world that faces issues that completely circumvent it's purpose like piracy and infringement at global scales. The end result is this - less and less cooperation out of fear and insecurity that someone somewhere is trying to pull one over on you.... Moving on.
Here's another good example of some violations of these rights. When it comes to Adobe, everyone knows Photoshop, that amazing image editing program that seems prevalent in just about any industry, consumer or professional, and everything in between. Adobe has really made a profound mark on the world with Photoshop's revolutionary way of working with digital imagery and the like. However, through the versions and releases it's been notorious for file clutter.
First off, let's take a look at how it installs. Simple enough when it comes to prompting for a location to put the program itself. Bare with me as I take the time to explain my particular computer's setup. I have a solid state drive is my Operating System Drive which has a mere 128gb of space. I state this because i have this drive to house my Operating system and ONLY my operating system (ideally). The latest version of Photoshop is CS5.5 which I pointed at a 2nd drive i have installed in my computer: the E Drive which I labelled Programs.
It's a fair 1 terrabyte 7200 RPM drive, it does it's job well. I choose my location on this E drive for Photoshop and photoshop installs effortlessly. It's after the installation that I notice stuff all over my C drive (The O.S.) Not only does Adobe go to great lengths to get all their various software to play together nicely, they go through great lengths to clutter up file space. I will mention this install of Photoshop was part of the Master Collection just for reference.
I can only choose 1 root location to install each of the products in the master collection; I therefore chose E:\Adobe\ as this root. Let's take a stroll through the C drive and see just how many different locations various folders have been created with numerous files.
I'm running Windows 7 X64 so let's take a look in C:\Program Files\ and see what's been added.
Apparently the first directory is needed to house "common" plugins that can be used across different software: mediacore is a much needed directory to housing after effects plugins by 3rd party software developers like Red Giant etc. This directory can grow quite a bit depending on how much 3rd party plugin acquisition some production facilities might get into.
The 2nd location, at the current updates released to date for all the Adobe software (including frequent Air and Flash releases etc..) sits at a whopping 179 mb. What the hell is in this folder? Apparently just Support files, legal documentation in over 28 languages, various configuration files and xml sheets, linguistics, etc.. Why this all has to be located on the C drive instead of the Root folder of the install the user was prompted for is beyond me, especially when asbsolute paths can be recorded in registry when updates need be applied that require access to these various locations and files.
That's only the tip of the clutter iceberg, That lovely hidden folder at the Root of the OS drive called "ProgramData" just got hit with an Adobe folder too.
C:\ProgramData\Adobe which right now sits at about 564 mb. One particular folder stands out here "CameraRaw" already weighing in at a decent 309 mb. Another folder just below it at 90 mb titled "CS5" just seems to house a JRE (java runtime environment) and it's license agreement data, which honestly never popped up once during install. there's a folder for Fireworks CS5.1 which houses 3 folders "EMStorePath", "Extensions", and "PreInstall"; and another folder for InDesign which hold extensions.
But wait, there's more! I'm sure every photoshop user has an ever growing brush collection, or presets collections of various types for everything from Gradients, Patterns, etc....
Just to get there, these don't get installed into the actual program's directory which is the first place one might think to look. Instead, they end up here:
C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1\Presets
which just up one directory also holds "Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Settings" where your workspaces etc.. are all stored.
This isn't even the worst part, just locating the directory: C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe took a bit of navigating to figure out which was actually useful to the application (Local, LocalLow, or Roaming). In this directory there are 37 folders! Right now it's not that hefty at just 61 mb but I have absolutely 0 presets, brushes, etc.. on account of not having transfered any of my vast collection in yet.
All the Adobe related Roots:
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like all that clutter on my C drive. I most certainly don't appreciate having to use an external location to install presets, brushes, etc... into OUTSIDE of the main program's directory. It just doesn't make sense. If they wanted to make it friendly to multiple Users on 1 PC, then create a directory structure within the application based on who runs the software each time. Is it really that much harder to do that instead of locating a zillion different files and directories in obscure places that only us power users would notice without having to resort to scouring the web / forums or calling technical support?
Enter Right #8. Adobe should be smart enough to still get their programs to cooperate nicely together even if all the necessary miscellaneous stuff were located in the root directory, hell clutter the crap out of that root directory wit JRE folders and License support files and Common Paths for whatever you need, but please just keep it in the root folder. OR, even better, ask the user where to store common presets and plugins etc... That would be great! I'm not trying to insult anyone, but this really would make digital life a whole lot easier.
Another aspect of the afformentioned Adobe insanity has to do with Premier Pro and media-caching. by default after installation media cache files are put into a single folder no matter what your project is.
Currently, when you launch Premier Pro and create a new project, you've asked about general settings, and then your Scratch Disks for Captured Video, Captured Audio, Video Previews, and Audio Previews.
None of these deal with the media cache that gets created when Premier conforms imported material. Unless you've navigated your way around Premier, they clutter up your C drive pretty quick ESPECIALLY when working with HD media. After just a couple projects My 128 SSD drive would have been filled to capacity. However, I took the time after installation before creating any projects to go to Edit > Preferences and take a look at the Media Tab. Here is where the user can select a specific location for all media cache, and/or whether or not to save the cache files next to the originals when possible. By default that checkbox is unticked. The media cache Database also gets quite hefty as well, and thus I specified a location for it off of my OS drive.
The final quirk to file organization with Premier is not with the project creation, it's the project's file structure. You can do a lot inside of Premier to tidy up your project, adding "bins" like folders to nest objects however you wish. However, you have to use the dialog for scratch disks to change and indepently specify the location of where to place the various files involved in a project. Most users that want to get started quick will most likely choose the "Same as Project" folder option. Which results in a cluttered project folder. I usually end up doing this as I need to start capturing video right away when a project comes in. I then spend minutes to an hour or so after the project has been created going into the folder and manually moving files around and re-locating them inside of the project at a later date.
I use Cakwalk Sonar extensively for my audio productions, and their project creation scheme is one I agree with and like. I wish Premier would act more like Sonar in this way. Sonar by default lets you select the project folder as the root folder for holding audio data, but it automatically assumes you want a directory to hold the audio in, while the project file itself resides in the home directory of your choice. It would be equally as awesome to see Adobe adopt that school of thought.
This tyrade could go on and on, i'm sure. But my final one is the age old CD prompt, and anti-piracy schemes that force online activation etc... Most of these have to do with PC games. I am one of those believers that the anti-piracy methods companies employe on their software are the reason PC gaming has gotten as shitty as it has. I've been an avid PC gamer and collector since I was little. My first computer was an i386 running DOS and my first game was a silly 2d ape vs ape where you type in the coordinates in X/Y and try to hit the opponent with a banana that exploded bits of buildings if you missed.
Game companies are so huge and so invested in giant projects now that their only leverage to gaining any profit off of their expensive investment is an equally expensive investment in security measures to keep their stuff from getting pirated, which is usually circumvented.
Enter Rights #6 and #7. We all remember the whole controversy of the Rootkit, and all the fuss about Watermarking and discs being required to be in the drive to authenticate. There's some anti-piracy security so full-proof they actually keep you from USING the software you purchased. These are the ones that irritate people beyond all measures of sanity.
If you're software is that prone to attack and has such a viable market, i can understand the necessity to want to protect your product and your business, but ultimately the business isn't about being a business it's about catering to others. You as the company are providing something specifically for someone else's enjoyment / utilitarian purpose, or otherwise. Don't treat your customers, neigh, your friends by association like they're potential scum who don't even care about your product, they just want to rip you off. Or, you may do so at your own company's peril.
I definitely am a firm believer that software companies invoke a lot of piracy out of user frustration (at one point). I won't get into the semantics, that's just unnecessary. I don't disagree that Piracy is causing a lot of issues, nor am I defending it. However, back in the days when sites that catered to gamers could go download a NOCD Patch for their game in just about every game on the planet wasn't just helping pirates get their hands on games they didn't pay for; I admit I've spent a fair share of my time scouring those sites for No-CD patches for the games I legitimately bought just so I wouldn't have to stick a damn disc into my drive to play it when I wanted to instead of having to hunt through a cabinet full of games.
I know I can't be the only one with these concerns. Please leave comments on similarities, arguments, or differences with anything I've discusses. Hell, make your own Bill of Rights and post it up in the comments below, I thank you for any and all. Even flamers!
Ok, so these predictions are pretty ridiculous. However, we spend so much time looking forward to the next big trend-setting leap that we pretty much accept whatever crap is handed our way because a developer slaps a release together and calls it complete.
I'm a windows power-user. I say that because i know with fair efficiency exactly where and how i want my software to work. What really gets under my skin is when I have to deal with programs that install whatever they damn well please without so much as a user prompt letting us know
"hey, we need to put this at this location because we feel it's best situated there.
Sincerely,
Software Development Team"
Now, I love Windows very much. I've been open to just about every platform: Linux, Mac, Windows, DOS. I've grown up using every one of them to varying degrees yet windows is my operating system of choice because:
- The software I want to use is available.
- The ability to modify and do just about anything with ease.
- Open development for 3rd party hardware (I don't see Apple selling their OS to just stick into any other computer and install... But we'll save that debate for another argument).
What's my point? Windows is about freedom. For the most part, applications always come with a user prompt and we all assume everything is going to the location of our choice, correct?
However, with today's massive software footprints (Ahem, videogames in particular), I'm sure the developers realize that by default the people buying their software must have more than 1 hard drive to install things on. Except, for users like me who constantly browse through every nook and cranny of our hard drives and notice when things get placed where we don't want them to.
The most popular directory, notorious for filling up with folders of crap from installs is the Documents Directory (formerly, My Documents). Everything from game save data to factory and user presets to authorization files end up here from videogames to audio, video, imaging, you-name-it we've-got-it software.
Since the advent of 64-bit and the latest OS offerings from Microsoft, we've got a slightly different structure for how data is structured. A hidden folder at the root of the OS drive titled "Program Data" is the 2nd hotspot for misc file accumulation. And of course, last but not least, the notorious User directory "/*username*/AppData" Often filled with redundant files from the Program Data directory.
I'm sure i'm not alone when I say enough with the cluttering already! There are a few select programs avialable in alternative releases appropriately titled "mobile editions" essentially self-contained executables that don't require registry entries and a ton of files spread throughout your OS Drive to operate.
Personally, i've never had the pleasure of working with any mobile edition of software aside from some tiny misc programs that are meant to do specific little jobs. I'm talking about big boys like Sonar, or any of the software in the Adobe Master Collection. These programs attack your OS drive in ways you often have to spend hours searching away in options and configurations menus and even then sometimes don't perform file allocating the way you want them to.
For someone like me who has a lot of data to deal with on a daily basis, I require a level of organization out of my work on the computer that keeps things neat and tidy; so you can understand my frustration when I have to work with software installations or software in general that becomes counter-productive to my organization scheme.
We all remember Stardock's "Gamer's Bill of Rights". I hereby submit for the review of all power-users and windows gurus, peers and developers alike, a list of the
User's Bill of Rights.
- Paying Users shall have the right to return software that does not work with their computers for a full refund, whether or not the registration of a cd key / serial number is involved.
- Paying Users have the right to demand that applications be released in a finished state, hotfixes and patches on release day are unacceptable, even if the application comes with an auto-updater utility.
- Paying Users shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for software will mean that the application will perform adequately on that computer.
- Paying Users shall have the right to expect that applications won’t install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent (this includes anti-tampering and security)
- Paying Users shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the software they own at any time.
- Paying Users shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
- Paying Users shall have the right to demand that anti-piracy security not intrude on the performance of their computer, software, in any shape or form.
- Paying Users shall have the right to demand control over the location of all installation files.
- Paying Users shall have the right to demand a physical install log file documenting file and registry alteration.
- Paying Users shall have the right to demand that paying for a whole new product version be reasonable in change from the previous product.
Let's take Steam for example which is a very big digital games distribution platform right now, the likes of which EA seems to want to compete with as they move their Origin platform out of Beta into the public as a finished platform. One thing you will notice when purchasing something online through these platforms is the clauses that state exactly what it means to "purchase" one of these software products, especially through these platforms. Note there is no brick and mortar store to return a physical box to. What we're talking about is EULA's or End User License Agreements. Not only does Steam have one as a purchase policy, but also the software you're purchasing through Steam.
What it comes right down to is the fact that both the purchasing platform and the software developer treat the game as their property 100% of the time, and you are given license to use it as long as you stay within their parameters; which you of course agreed upon when clicking the check box saying i agree before purchasing.
Just like the barter system, human perception is involved. You either agree to make the purchase or you don't. What happens now seems completely counter-intuitive to the whole concept.
I know most people don't bother reading them because they figure they understand the general idea of what the EULA is describing. However, most of these EULA's will state that your purchase is non-refundable, that because of piracy, they have to right to refuse refunds on account that they cannot trust what you or someone may do to the product to tamper with it once it is in your hands. Therefore, if the software does not work or operate to your expectations, it's your loss. It gets even more complex when it comes to bundled sales.
Don't get me wrong, i'm an avid user of Steam and I enjoy the purchases I've made on it. However, I myself have experienced this issue once. I purchased an Eidos game pack through steam which included a bunch of games for an extremely reasonable price! Great offer, great games; one issue. Upon trying to launch a game called Infernal, I get an error: Ageia PhysX SDK not installed. Please reinstall the game.
Well, since i'm on steam i just uninstall and have it re-download. I am again greeted with the same problem. Here's where we run into Right #2. If a publisher wishes to use some feature by a 3rd party developer such as the PhysX SDK, the least they can do is include the deployment of that installation file needed in the installation process or prompt the user with a link to download the latest version from a supporting site. I spent a couple of hours searching and trying to install said missing SDK needed just to launch the game and the game still to this day still will not launch.
Enter Right #1. Right now, i'm not completely pissed as all my other games in the pack work fine, aside from this one, but I do find it reasonable as on Steam the bundle pack still considers each individual product with it's own discounted price, therefore I should be able to get a refund for this game in particular and not feel shorted slightly however many dollars and cents it might be.
Steam's Refund Policy:
"As with most downloadable software products, we do not offer refunds for purchases made through Steam - please review Section 4 of the Steam Subscriber Agreement for more information.I dare any of you that haven't actually read anything akin to a legal document before to read through the Steam Subscriber Agreement. Actually sit down and read it. It's pretty appalling how "subscribers" are treated to be what they consider fair.
Steam Subscriber Agreement
Steam Subscriber Agreement
An exception is made for games purchased during a pre-order period if the request is received prior to the games' release date."
Excerpt from the Agreement page:
"D. Ownership.
All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Software and any and all copies thereof are owned by Valve and/or its licensors. All rights reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Software is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Software contains certain licensed materials and Valve's licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement."
I'll try and save face on the topic of copyright and simply sum up my feelings and thoughts on it to the fact that how we view and treat Copyrighting today needs a drastic change. The ideology behind it is outdated especially in a world that faces issues that completely circumvent it's purpose like piracy and infringement at global scales. The end result is this - less and less cooperation out of fear and insecurity that someone somewhere is trying to pull one over on you.... Moving on.
Here's another good example of some violations of these rights. When it comes to Adobe, everyone knows Photoshop, that amazing image editing program that seems prevalent in just about any industry, consumer or professional, and everything in between. Adobe has really made a profound mark on the world with Photoshop's revolutionary way of working with digital imagery and the like. However, through the versions and releases it's been notorious for file clutter.
First off, let's take a look at how it installs. Simple enough when it comes to prompting for a location to put the program itself. Bare with me as I take the time to explain my particular computer's setup. I have a solid state drive is my Operating System Drive which has a mere 128gb of space. I state this because i have this drive to house my Operating system and ONLY my operating system (ideally). The latest version of Photoshop is CS5.5 which I pointed at a 2nd drive i have installed in my computer: the E Drive which I labelled Programs.
It's a fair 1 terrabyte 7200 RPM drive, it does it's job well. I choose my location on this E drive for Photoshop and photoshop installs effortlessly. It's after the installation that I notice stuff all over my C drive (The O.S.) Not only does Adobe go to great lengths to get all their various software to play together nicely, they go through great lengths to clutter up file space. I will mention this install of Photoshop was part of the Master Collection just for reference.
I can only choose 1 root location to install each of the products in the master collection; I therefore chose E:\Adobe\ as this root. Let's take a stroll through the C drive and see just how many different locations various folders have been created with numerous files.
I'm running Windows 7 X64 so let's take a look in C:\Program Files\ and see what's been added.
- C:\Program Files\Adobe
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe
Apparently the first directory is needed to house "common" plugins that can be used across different software: mediacore is a much needed directory to housing after effects plugins by 3rd party software developers like Red Giant etc. This directory can grow quite a bit depending on how much 3rd party plugin acquisition some production facilities might get into.
The 2nd location, at the current updates released to date for all the Adobe software (including frequent Air and Flash releases etc..) sits at a whopping 179 mb. What the hell is in this folder? Apparently just Support files, legal documentation in over 28 languages, various configuration files and xml sheets, linguistics, etc.. Why this all has to be located on the C drive instead of the Root folder of the install the user was prompted for is beyond me, especially when asbsolute paths can be recorded in registry when updates need be applied that require access to these various locations and files.
That's only the tip of the clutter iceberg, That lovely hidden folder at the Root of the OS drive called "ProgramData" just got hit with an Adobe folder too.
C:\ProgramData\Adobe which right now sits at about 564 mb. One particular folder stands out here "CameraRaw" already weighing in at a decent 309 mb. Another folder just below it at 90 mb titled "CS5" just seems to house a JRE (java runtime environment) and it's license agreement data, which honestly never popped up once during install. there's a folder for Fireworks CS5.1 which houses 3 folders "EMStorePath", "Extensions", and "PreInstall"; and another folder for InDesign which hold extensions.
But wait, there's more! I'm sure every photoshop user has an ever growing brush collection, or presets collections of various types for everything from Gradients, Patterns, etc....
Just to get there, these don't get installed into the actual program's directory which is the first place one might think to look. Instead, they end up here:
C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1\Presets
which just up one directory also holds "Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Settings" where your workspaces etc.. are all stored.
This isn't even the worst part, just locating the directory: C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe took a bit of navigating to figure out which was actually useful to the application (Local, LocalLow, or Roaming). In this directory there are 37 folders! Right now it's not that hefty at just 61 mb but I have absolutely 0 presets, brushes, etc.. on account of not having transfered any of my vast collection in yet.
All the Adobe related Roots:
- C:\Users\*username*\Documents\Adobe 3.70 mb
- C:\Users\All Users\Adobe 564 mb
- C:\Users\*username*\AppData\LocalLow\Adobe .80 mb
- C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\Adobe 3.83 mb
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe 56.1 mb
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe Story 8.98 mb
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe 955 mb
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe AIR 37.5 mb
- E:\Adobe 10.4 gb
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like all that clutter on my C drive. I most certainly don't appreciate having to use an external location to install presets, brushes, etc... into OUTSIDE of the main program's directory. It just doesn't make sense. If they wanted to make it friendly to multiple Users on 1 PC, then create a directory structure within the application based on who runs the software each time. Is it really that much harder to do that instead of locating a zillion different files and directories in obscure places that only us power users would notice without having to resort to scouring the web / forums or calling technical support?
Enter Right #8. Adobe should be smart enough to still get their programs to cooperate nicely together even if all the necessary miscellaneous stuff were located in the root directory, hell clutter the crap out of that root directory wit JRE folders and License support files and Common Paths for whatever you need, but please just keep it in the root folder. OR, even better, ask the user where to store common presets and plugins etc... That would be great! I'm not trying to insult anyone, but this really would make digital life a whole lot easier.
Another aspect of the afformentioned Adobe insanity has to do with Premier Pro and media-caching. by default after installation media cache files are put into a single folder no matter what your project is.
- C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Premiere Pro\5.5\Metadata Caches
- C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache
- C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files
Currently, when you launch Premier Pro and create a new project, you've asked about general settings, and then your Scratch Disks for Captured Video, Captured Audio, Video Previews, and Audio Previews.
None of these deal with the media cache that gets created when Premier conforms imported material. Unless you've navigated your way around Premier, they clutter up your C drive pretty quick ESPECIALLY when working with HD media. After just a couple projects My 128 SSD drive would have been filled to capacity. However, I took the time after installation before creating any projects to go to Edit > Preferences and take a look at the Media Tab. Here is where the user can select a specific location for all media cache, and/or whether or not to save the cache files next to the originals when possible. By default that checkbox is unticked. The media cache Database also gets quite hefty as well, and thus I specified a location for it off of my OS drive.
The final quirk to file organization with Premier is not with the project creation, it's the project's file structure. You can do a lot inside of Premier to tidy up your project, adding "bins" like folders to nest objects however you wish. However, you have to use the dialog for scratch disks to change and indepently specify the location of where to place the various files involved in a project. Most users that want to get started quick will most likely choose the "Same as Project" folder option. Which results in a cluttered project folder. I usually end up doing this as I need to start capturing video right away when a project comes in. I then spend minutes to an hour or so after the project has been created going into the folder and manually moving files around and re-locating them inside of the project at a later date. I use Cakwalk Sonar extensively for my audio productions, and their project creation scheme is one I agree with and like. I wish Premier would act more like Sonar in this way. Sonar by default lets you select the project folder as the root folder for holding audio data, but it automatically assumes you want a directory to hold the audio in, while the project file itself resides in the home directory of your choice. It would be equally as awesome to see Adobe adopt that school of thought.
This tyrade could go on and on, i'm sure. But my final one is the age old CD prompt, and anti-piracy schemes that force online activation etc... Most of these have to do with PC games. I am one of those believers that the anti-piracy methods companies employe on their software are the reason PC gaming has gotten as shitty as it has. I've been an avid PC gamer and collector since I was little. My first computer was an i386 running DOS and my first game was a silly 2d ape vs ape where you type in the coordinates in X/Y and try to hit the opponent with a banana that exploded bits of buildings if you missed.
Game companies are so huge and so invested in giant projects now that their only leverage to gaining any profit off of their expensive investment is an equally expensive investment in security measures to keep their stuff from getting pirated, which is usually circumvented.
Enter Rights #6 and #7. We all remember the whole controversy of the Rootkit, and all the fuss about Watermarking and discs being required to be in the drive to authenticate. There's some anti-piracy security so full-proof they actually keep you from USING the software you purchased. These are the ones that irritate people beyond all measures of sanity.
If you're software is that prone to attack and has such a viable market, i can understand the necessity to want to protect your product and your business, but ultimately the business isn't about being a business it's about catering to others. You as the company are providing something specifically for someone else's enjoyment / utilitarian purpose, or otherwise. Don't treat your customers, neigh, your friends by association like they're potential scum who don't even care about your product, they just want to rip you off. Or, you may do so at your own company's peril.
I definitely am a firm believer that software companies invoke a lot of piracy out of user frustration (at one point). I won't get into the semantics, that's just unnecessary. I don't disagree that Piracy is causing a lot of issues, nor am I defending it. However, back in the days when sites that catered to gamers could go download a NOCD Patch for their game in just about every game on the planet wasn't just helping pirates get their hands on games they didn't pay for; I admit I've spent a fair share of my time scouring those sites for No-CD patches for the games I legitimately bought just so I wouldn't have to stick a damn disc into my drive to play it when I wanted to instead of having to hunt through a cabinet full of games.
I know I can't be the only one with these concerns. Please leave comments on similarities, arguments, or differences with anything I've discusses. Hell, make your own Bill of Rights and post it up in the comments below, I thank you for any and all. Even flamers!
-END RANT-
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Zombie Appreciation
I cannot seem to find enough time in the day to get to this thing! The last couple weeks have blasted by.
I suppose first things first: The first skit we filmed almost three weeks back was a Zombie skit in collaboration with Underpaid Heroes project with Troy Norcross. The whole thing was improvised on location, not to mention slightly less than legal it turns out!
Troy led the skit idea, It took us a while to get makeup done on 2 zombies. A few hours longer than expected running the whole production on account of the Navigator battery dying because of improvised lighting with the cars and 1 mobile spotlight being run from a power inverter (yay for homebrew videography)!
We tried to race through a lot of the shots with a tight time-table. Mok operated the Camera hand-held and I ran the Shotgun mic the same. There was hardly any time to plan out camera angles and really understand what the group wanted to do action-wise.
We ran out of time to really make sure we got all the shots we wanted to make the scene complete on account of it being after 3 AM by the time we shot the last bits. The next day we dubbed the tape to Premier and built a rough edit in just 30 minutes.
With only a mono audio source to play with there would be a limited pallete of real-world audio to play with and a lot of sound replacement. I refined the rough edit Mok had done and proceeded to the visual FX for several shots that happen in the skit.
Getting to Picture lock was fairly easy with the minimal VFX shots we had to work on. The final edit still needs bumpers and motion graphics for the titles.
While the picture was pretty much complete aside from those elements I headed to audio and proceeded to break apart the audio.
I quickly went through the audio from each of the takes to pull apart the vocals, and then find useful ambiance to overlay or if it included Foley for footfalls etc. I moved them into timing and copied the audio where necessary. I could only do so much with most of the audio, so I proceeded to then mark spots and add in sound effects for replacement, and then foley and sound effects for enhancement.
First, iZotope's Ozone 4 was used to analyze the entire audio track before any noise reduction was applied to capture the EQ profile of the Rode NTG-3 mic's on-location audio. The next step was the most time consuming.
I had to go through one clip at a time for each cut I made in the timeline to analyze and apply noise reduction for each separate take that followed the take from the video. Once the noise profile was captured for that take, I could simply copy the plugin to the next clip I cut. The plugin is very processor intensive so I had to bounce each clip after the noise reduction was applied.
We also had to replace quite a bit of Voice work from the on-location audio as it was too compressed and the impact noises with the gravel and dirt muddy up the mix. I setup my shotgun mic outside my room and had everyone record their parts to the video. I then applied the Ozone EQ matching profiles to the new material.
I still have to head into surround mix, and compose the underscore to the skit and then apply the final film grading and review before it's done.
So, I have to get back to my busy schedule. I will definitely be adding more up very soon of the other projects I've been working on. Now, off to gym!
I suppose first things first: The first skit we filmed almost three weeks back was a Zombie skit in collaboration with Underpaid Heroes project with Troy Norcross. The whole thing was improvised on location, not to mention slightly less than legal it turns out!
Troy led the skit idea, It took us a while to get makeup done on 2 zombies. A few hours longer than expected running the whole production on account of the Navigator battery dying because of improvised lighting with the cars and 1 mobile spotlight being run from a power inverter (yay for homebrew videography)!
We tried to race through a lot of the shots with a tight time-table. Mok operated the Camera hand-held and I ran the Shotgun mic the same. There was hardly any time to plan out camera angles and really understand what the group wanted to do action-wise.
We ran out of time to really make sure we got all the shots we wanted to make the scene complete on account of it being after 3 AM by the time we shot the last bits. The next day we dubbed the tape to Premier and built a rough edit in just 30 minutes.
With only a mono audio source to play with there would be a limited pallete of real-world audio to play with and a lot of sound replacement. I refined the rough edit Mok had done and proceeded to the visual FX for several shots that happen in the skit.
Getting to Picture lock was fairly easy with the minimal VFX shots we had to work on. The final edit still needs bumpers and motion graphics for the titles.
While the picture was pretty much complete aside from those elements I headed to audio and proceeded to break apart the audio.
I quickly went through the audio from each of the takes to pull apart the vocals, and then find useful ambiance to overlay or if it included Foley for footfalls etc. I moved them into timing and copied the audio where necessary. I could only do so much with most of the audio, so I proceeded to then mark spots and add in sound effects for replacement, and then foley and sound effects for enhancement.
First, iZotope's Ozone 4 was used to analyze the entire audio track before any noise reduction was applied to capture the EQ profile of the Rode NTG-3 mic's on-location audio. The next step was the most time consuming.
I had to go through one clip at a time for each cut I made in the timeline to analyze and apply noise reduction for each separate take that followed the take from the video. Once the noise profile was captured for that take, I could simply copy the plugin to the next clip I cut. The plugin is very processor intensive so I had to bounce each clip after the noise reduction was applied.
We also had to replace quite a bit of Voice work from the on-location audio as it was too compressed and the impact noises with the gravel and dirt muddy up the mix. I setup my shotgun mic outside my room and had everyone record their parts to the video. I then applied the Ozone EQ matching profiles to the new material.
I still have to head into surround mix, and compose the underscore to the skit and then apply the final film grading and review before it's done.
 |
| Not sure if zombie is zombie or clown... |
 |
| fast zombie = fast... |
 |
| Hit the deck! |
 |
| Kaplow! |
 |
| Who plow? |
 |
| Homie don't play dat. |
 |
| Horror scene, or eerie homo-erotic love scene? |
 |
| Yup, eerie homo-erotic love scene.. |
So, I have to get back to my busy schedule. I will definitely be adding more up very soon of the other projects I've been working on. Now, off to gym!
Monday, September 19, 2011
What did I miss?
Well I can see it's been a while since i've posted anything on here. No, I'm not dead; i'm Not lazy I swear; and no I'm not reading your mind.
I had to attend my Friend's wedding the first weekend in September, and boy was it hot! Fun weekend though, found some interesting carvings at the park where we went discgolfing:
This is all we had though. So, I set about cleaning after I had taken apart my graphics card.
There's the plastic cover that creates the tunnel for the airflow to direct itself into the and out of the heatsink, and a metal chassis piece that provides much stability to creating pressure and sealing contact against the heat producing components like the RAM and other bits that have thermal pads covering them. All the thermal pads were dried up and disintegrating so I cleaned all that off.
The only thing I worried about was the invisible layer of film residue left behind by the quick-drying isopropyl on the GTX480.
I took the time to cut up some pieces of thermal pads i had laying around from old hard drive kits, and replaced them over the RAM and components that were originally covered before. The pads I had were pretty thick so once I finished cutting them, I could put the metal chassis back onto the card and then worry about the heatsink and GPU itself afterward.
Mok explained to me the finer points of placing Thermal compound in patterns so as not to cause bubbles.
In this Quick link is an interesting video to show what happens with different types of thermal compound and the spreading process when clamping a heatsink onto the exposed surface.
Another thing to be aware of is how the Heatsink's contact surface is shaped (which isn't very easy to spot if u ask me).
The same guy that made the video also made this image for explanation.
So, chassis piece put back together, time to apply thermal compound and get this beast back together!
We got my PC back up and running and kept eyes on the temperatures of everything. While things were running quite hot at first they've since leveled out to more reasonable temperatures. Next time only 99% Isopropyl (license required).
Did I mention we got it up and running just in time to start importing and editing footage from a shoot we did a late night before? Anyway, I'll be posting a separate topic on that shortly, but first. The rest of this madness on computer cleaning continued later in the week when I found time to clean out and re-do the thermal compound on two of my server computers.
The first server computer I have is my previous build, an intel core 2 duo with a Geforce 7900 GT card, which I haven't touched since I purchased it. It desparately needed some new compound!
The RAM seated around the chip is completely exposed to the air and apparently doesn't get that hot (most likely due to the speed compared to newer cards - for example the clock speed on the GTX 480 is 1700 mhz), a card this old doesn't run that fast.
Back in it went, and then time for the CPU. It wasn't so tough, aside from the silly way they mount it! Had to use some unorthodox methods of push and pull, though I really liked the quick release screws with quarter turn heads. Very easy!
The last thing on the list was the case was removing the broken 200mm case fan.
Clearly cracked down the center, I'm not sure why. I think I got the case with the fan already broken as the case box was retaped several times when I purchased it from the local Best Buy. Ohwell, simple fix with some gorilla glue ought to fix this guy right up.
The last machine was an older server I put together running an AMD Athlon XP 2.4 ghz single core with 2 gb of RAM and a cheapo graphics card just for getting a video output. It's been an awesome machine for it's age and using it as a file and media server, even after all these years of abuse, it's running like a champ! However, the thermal compound is almost as old as it is, so I took the time to redo the CPU as well.
I refrained from taking pictures because it's just more of the same. Anyway, on to the next topic; next blog post!
I had to attend my Friend's wedding the first weekend in September, and boy was it hot! Fun weekend though, found some interesting carvings at the park where we went discgolfing:
Anyway, It's been a busy week or two since. Back and forth getting new projects going with friends, and trying to clean up and maintain the plethora of computers I have running can get a bit time consuming.
My main workstation needed some TLC, so my friend Mok and I took a compressor to it and blew out all the dust that I could, cleaned up as much dirt buildup and then proceeded to take apart my graphics card and CPU to redo the thermal compound on them.
Normally, Isopropyl alcohol should do the job on electronics... However, depending on what percentage you use and how much you use, it tends to leave a film, and for critical heat producing components this could be problematic.
There's the plastic cover that creates the tunnel for the airflow to direct itself into the and out of the heatsink, and a metal chassis piece that provides much stability to creating pressure and sealing contact against the heat producing components like the RAM and other bits that have thermal pads covering them. All the thermal pads were dried up and disintegrating so I cleaned all that off.
The Heat sink had most of the Thermal compound on it, and was extremely dried up, we could see cracks and dry spots on the heatsink as well as the GPU.
In this Quick link is an interesting video to show what happens with different types of thermal compound and the spreading process when clamping a heatsink onto the exposed surface.
Another thing to be aware of is how the Heatsink's contact surface is shaped (which isn't very easy to spot if u ask me).
The same guy that made the video also made this image for explanation.
So, chassis piece put back together, time to apply thermal compound and get this beast back together!
Did I mention we got it up and running just in time to start importing and editing footage from a shoot we did a late night before? Anyway, I'll be posting a separate topic on that shortly, but first. The rest of this madness on computer cleaning continued later in the week when I found time to clean out and re-do the thermal compound on two of my server computers.
The CPU compound was completely dry, cracked and in desperate need of replacement, a quick clean job (i'm getting used to this), and back in everything went.
I refrained from taking pictures because it's just more of the same. Anyway, on to the next topic; next blog post!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Shexy mods, clamor, and glamour..
Over a month ago, my computer screen decided to go dark. Now when I say go dark, I mean it literally just went dark. Most of the time when people have a computer screen that they can't see anymore they assume it just died. A quick inspection and some research online led me to believe the capacitors, resistor, or some part of the power inverter that powers the CCFL backlights went out, because the rest of the screen still works. I use the screen's USB hub to operate my kyeboard and mouse, and when I switch screens to my giant HDTV on the opposite wall (extremely hard to work with this particular orientation), the mouse and keyboard are fine.
The last throws of summer are in full swing, everyone wants to constantly hang out and enjoy what's left of it by gaming: xbox 360, or nerding: Magic The Gathering. Poke fun, mock, and belittle all you like... It's a fun way to pass the time. Mok offered to help me solve my screen issues and we took it apart to look at the power board.
First time we took it apart was sort of annoying since the plastic shell is a two piece snap-in that holds itself together. A butter knife did the trick eventually, and we ran into the other problem of having to try and get around the stem for the stand where it connects to the back of the screen. Once we got it off we disconnected 3 sets of connections that bound all the various components together.
While the particular fashion in which Samsung designed the screen can be annoying to work on because of the molded plastic back shell being cast through the metal bracket that holds the hinge and stem piece for the stand to sit in, we managed to get access to the the 2 boards in the chassis that house the electronics.
Disconnecting the power from the logic board allowed us to easily unscrew the power board and disconnect the two backlight connectors buried in the right side of the chassis. Once we got the power board out Mok and I immediately noticed one major problem with it.
Not only was the PCB around the resistor burnt black, but the original capacitor had faded beyond recognition and we thus set about replacing it. A quick stop at "The Shack" and later another visit to get a 60-watt Soldering Iron because of the heavy duty solder used on the board remedied the situation nicely. We also replaced 8 capacitors i had purchased online from a DIY mod site that matched the main ones that the board relies on. We stuck the board back in and despite our effort, were greeted with a dark but still functioning screen. So I ordered a whole new power board on eBay...
A couple of days passed... Busy with life things, like friendly gatherings, keeping up with my exercises...
Taking care of things at home... Lazy cats...
More exercising...
Oh... and some more friend time:
Before the board arrived, Mok came over and was curious to check out the backlights with me. We set about taking apart the entire screen.
For those of you that don't know how an LCD screen works. There's several layers to the whole thing. Here's how it goes. Below you can see the Panel which is covered with a diffusion anti-glare material.
Beneath the actual panel is several layers of Diffuser sheets, think of them as transparency sheets like those used in schools for overhead projectors, except they help to evenly scatter the light instead of being completely transparent.
Underneath those diffuser sheets is a large and thick panel that is somewhat diffusive.
This panel acts like a lens when light is emitted into it from it's sides, it illuminates the whole area scattering the light in all directions and as the light catches on the diffusive surface area, it brightens the whole thing.
These backlights are very tiny, long and thin. There are two sets, a pair on top and a pair on the bottom, which are powered by the power inverter board.
The logic board is connected directly to the LCD matrix panel which controls the various cells in the matrix.
And there you have it. While we had fun taking it completely apart and reassembling it we found nothing wrong with the CCFLs. Backlights had absolutely no burn marks, blackened edges or anything that would be akin to failure.
The board arrived, and I have some free time during the day to tackle a quick modification to the plastic shell with my dremel.
Now that I got the plastic piece completely cut out the shell could be completely removed from the chassis. I cleaned up everything and took it back inside to remove the old power board and put the new one in.
I quickly and easily took out the old powerboard thanks to the handy removal of that plastic section that bound the shell to the hinge.
Swapped out the old power board, put the new one in, screwed it in place, and reconnected the power to the logic board, and the two CCFL backlight sets.
Swung the chassis back on top of the screen and connected the data cable to the logic board for the display and the connection for the power sensor on the front bezel piece, plugged the thing back in to some power and tested it out. The whole thing lit up perfectly so I finished snapping together the shell, put the mount piece back on the hinge and stem and placed it back on my desk. I hooked my screen back up to my computer and now everything is back up and running!
The rest of this month has been rather slow. The usual daily exercising, routine job hunting, working on the final bits of the orchestra project commissioned by Trials & Memories which can be found on facebook. Lots of working on my novel project as well.
School should be back in session, summer is closing to its end, and my guess is if you're reading this late on a school night you're probably chatting with me on facebook! Hope everyone enjoyed their summer. Hopefully I'll have more buzzworthy stuff to post on here soon.
The last throws of summer are in full swing, everyone wants to constantly hang out and enjoy what's left of it by gaming: xbox 360, or nerding: Magic The Gathering. Poke fun, mock, and belittle all you like... It's a fun way to pass the time. Mok offered to help me solve my screen issues and we took it apart to look at the power board.
First time we took it apart was sort of annoying since the plastic shell is a two piece snap-in that holds itself together. A butter knife did the trick eventually, and we ran into the other problem of having to try and get around the stem for the stand where it connects to the back of the screen. Once we got it off we disconnected 3 sets of connections that bound all the various components together.
While the particular fashion in which Samsung designed the screen can be annoying to work on because of the molded plastic back shell being cast through the metal bracket that holds the hinge and stem piece for the stand to sit in, we managed to get access to the the 2 boards in the chassis that house the electronics.
Disconnecting the power from the logic board allowed us to easily unscrew the power board and disconnect the two backlight connectors buried in the right side of the chassis. Once we got the power board out Mok and I immediately noticed one major problem with it.
Not only was the PCB around the resistor burnt black, but the original capacitor had faded beyond recognition and we thus set about replacing it. A quick stop at "The Shack" and later another visit to get a 60-watt Soldering Iron because of the heavy duty solder used on the board remedied the situation nicely. We also replaced 8 capacitors i had purchased online from a DIY mod site that matched the main ones that the board relies on. We stuck the board back in and despite our effort, were greeted with a dark but still functioning screen. So I ordered a whole new power board on eBay...
A couple of days passed... Busy with life things, like friendly gatherings, keeping up with my exercises...
Taking care of things at home... Lazy cats...
More exercising...
Oh... and some more friend time:
 |
| S'mores anyone? |
 |
| Removing the front plastic bezel |
 |
| Snapping out the metal frame that encases the inner screen components. |
Beneath the actual panel is several layers of Diffuser sheets, think of them as transparency sheets like those used in schools for overhead projectors, except they help to evenly scatter the light instead of being completely transparent.
Underneath those diffuser sheets is a large and thick panel that is somewhat diffusive.
This panel acts like a lens when light is emitted into it from it's sides, it illuminates the whole area scattering the light in all directions and as the light catches on the diffusive surface area, it brightens the whole thing.
These backlights are very tiny, long and thin. There are two sets, a pair on top and a pair on the bottom, which are powered by the power inverter board.
The logic board is connected directly to the LCD matrix panel which controls the various cells in the matrix.
And there you have it. While we had fun taking it completely apart and reassembling it we found nothing wrong with the CCFLs. Backlights had absolutely no burn marks, blackened edges or anything that would be akin to failure.
The board arrived, and I have some free time during the day to tackle a quick modification to the plastic shell with my dremel.
School should be back in session, summer is closing to its end, and my guess is if you're reading this late on a school night you're probably chatting with me on facebook! Hope everyone enjoyed their summer. Hopefully I'll have more buzzworthy stuff to post on here soon.
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