cstanton

The current "New Yorker" cover.

Stian, These models are excellent. It looks like the deck railing is penetrating the pontoon of the airplane facing the viewer. [attachmentid=21877] Curtis

Uh-oh, I may be getting into a bit of self-analysis here. This is strictly my opinion and my response to the image: To me, the round irises are cute and lend a suggestion of innocence to the character. They seem slightly incongruous for a tiger. If that's the effect you're after, it could be interesting and round irises are fine. In my mind, tigers have an essence of mysterious majesty about them and the impression of cute innocence dilutes that quality. [attachmentid=20593] Curtis

Unless it was an artistic decision to have round irises, he might look better with elliptical cat irises. They'd match his stripes. Curtis

It's been fun and my pleasure, Curtis

Cory, I lowered the pitch of the thud portion of the footsteps without preserving their duration, which blends them together a little and, I think, makes the rhythm of the initial steps less obvious. I also reduced the volume of the first thuds. Bug Voice, Steps & Music (H.264--2.06MB) I don't know what sample rate you prefer so I've again included uncompressed 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz files: Audio Track (44.1 kHz--3.61MB) Audio Track (48 kHz--3.9MB) Curtis

Cory, I hear sort of a "shave and a haircut" kind of rhythm to the first stomps before the bug raises himself. I think it detracts from the sinister nature of the clip. I could add a little more base to the thump portion of the steps and lower the volume even more before he puts his full weight on his legs. It might blur the effect somewhat. Curtis

You could try selecting Reset Settings, a menu item in the Help Menu. It will change most of your preferences back to the default settings, but it also sometimes restores blank rotoscopes. Here's another thread on the subject with additional possible solutions: Blank Rotoscope Thread You can also try switching from DirectX to OpenGL or visa versa. Curtis

Cory, The footsteps in this version are a little more subtle. Tweaked the music a little and mixed a little thunder with the music at the end of the video--I thought it might help transition to the credits and kind of book end the thunder when he rises to the top of the frame close to the beginning. Bug Voice, Steps & Music (H.264--2.06MB) This is probably not the final version, but I've also included an uncompressed WAV file of this version: 48kHz, 16 bit stereo. You should be able to download it (right click the link and select "save link as..." or "copy to folder," however your browser phrases its download function) and import it into Premier. It should sync with the video when the beginning of the audio clip is aligned with the beginning of the video clip. The audio tracks in your editor might default to 44.1 kHz which might throw it out of sync, but you should be able to change the sample rate of the audio tracks. Bug Audio (WAV file--3.93MB) I'm open to changes and suggestions, but I'll be out of town again from sometime tomorrow afternoon until Monday night. Curtis EDIT: I've added a 44.1 kHz WAV file Bug Audio (44.1 kHz WAV file 3.61MB)

Cory, This is the first pass of the complete sound track. I added a few footsteps for the bug's left legs for steps that I couldn't see. I allowed the heart beat music to continue for 10 seconds past the video to allow for a musical background for the closing credits. Complete Sound Track (H.264--2.1MB) Does the footstep pattern sound too much like a typewriter? I could increase the volume on the clicking portion of the steps or tone down the thumps, or both. Curtis

OK, finally, the bug voice, 1st pass, without the watermark H.264 (1.84MB) (onward and upward)

Cory, This is the first pass at the bug voice. Bug Voice 4.56MB (H.264) It's been one of those days and I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. On top of everything else, my editor regressed to a demo version for some reason, may have been a MS update or something, don't know. Anyway, I'm posting this first pass of the voice for comment with an Avid watermark dead center. I'm told I have to repair or re-install the software, probably re-install, to re-register. I'll back-up everything and do that tomorrow (big sigh.) Curtis

Cory, I just wanted to let you know that I started on your audio track this morning. There are three tracks to the bug voice; I finished the first track and started the second. I have to switch to some "real word" stuff. I should be able to get back to the voice tracks later this afternoon (Pacific time.) I hope to have the first pass of the voice, footsteps and music tracks all posted sometime this evening. Curtis ps: nice dool

Cory, I just saw this clip--it looks great--I'd be glad to re-do the audio. Is this the SIGGRAPH version? I assume you'd like it pretty much the way it was including a music track? Would you like me to create the closing credits? If so what is the final format and compression? I won't be able to get to it until later this week, but I'll try to have the first version done by this weekend at the latest. When do you have to turn it in? Curtis

One more suggestion based on personal preference: I use Sound Forge 7 (they're now up to version 8) for audio effects and Acid Pro for music and mixing. They both can handle audio effects; Acid Pro can handle unlimited tracks while Sound Forge can only handle a single track of stereo or mono. Sound Forge has the advantage of being able to apply effects to a segment of any length on the track rather than to the whole track. There is also Sound Forge Audio Studio 8 and Screen blast Sound Forge which are less expensive. Sony Audio Products Acid Pro is a loop based music creation program that provides lots of flexibility, but you are on your own when it comes to finding the appropriate loops and building multiple tracks of loops, one shots and beat mapped clips to create your masterpiece. It can be fun. Both programs allow you to import a video clip so you can sync your audio to the video. Sonicfire Pro 4 by Smartsound is another type of music creation program that is designed specifically for adding music tracks to video. It uses music tracks that are actually complete pieces that are broken into segments so you can create your own arrangements and variations. The music can be lengthened or shortened and it always preserves a proper beginning and ending. The CDs of music tracks are a little expensive, but you can buy single tracks online. The program assembles all of your music tracks into a library that is divided into various categories that makes it very easy to find what you're looking for. You can ask it to list only the tracks you own or all of the tracks online as well. You can listen to samples of the online tracks and buy them on the spot through the program--very artsy/capitalistic. The advantage of Sonicfire over a loop based program like Acid Pro is that the music can be stretched or squashed to match your video scene--very cool--and much faster than working with Acid Pro. The advantage of Acid Pro is that you have much greater flexibility in "composing" your own music. The program has the ability to change the beat of a track to match the entire piece and you can change the beat of the entire piece to match the video. It can also change the "groove" from, say, 16th note swing to blues, hip hop, funk, jazz, etc. Acid Pro 6 includes a media management data base and is more sophisticated than previous versions in helping you to manage your musical components. I also use Acid Pro to add voice over and effects (usually created in Sound Forge) to the audio track. Acid Pro has the ability to record, but I usually record and edit in Sound Forge because of its greater flexibility of being able to work with segments of a track and it's very easy to see what you're doing on the wave form with only a single track taking up the entire screen. And, if you're recording voice over or whatever in a home studio, Sound Forge has very effective noise reduction software. You can find lots of free sound effects on line. Find Sounds is a good place to start. They allow you to search for keywords by minimum resolution and minimum sample rate. I usually start with a high resolution and sample rate and then lower them if I can't find what I'm looking for. Google for "free sound effects" and you'll find lots more sites. Acid Pro comes with something like 1,000 loops and a number sound effects one shots, some of which you can play from a soft synth keyboard. Curtis