MML @ Brown Consultant Web

Cinema 4D in Grad Center

I'm trying to boot up the computers in Grad Center to Tempwork, so that I can access Cinema 4D. However, when I go to System Preferences> Startup Disk and then click on "Tempwork" and restart, it keeps loading up the MC33 boot instead. How can I get around this and/or access Cinema 4D, which only seems available on one of the computers? Thanks for the help!

Brian

Pro Tools FAQ, Part 2

EL116 TA Megan Hall has written down some of the Pro Tools/MBox problems that frequently occur in the MML. This, coupled with Arvid's description of plug-ins, should give you a better picture of what's going on audio-wise in the MML this semester. Please familiarize yourself with these issues.

Click "Continue reading..." to see Megan Hall's FAQ doc.

A Few Tips For Pro-tools

1. I can hear sound through the m-box, but the sound isn’t showing up on the screen.
a. First, check to make sure you’ve selected “line” on the top knob instead of “mic.”
b. If this doesn’t work, unplug the M-box and restart the computer. Plug the M-box back in once you’ve rebooted and started pro-tools again (The program is a little buggy. Sometimes it needs to recognize the M-box before it will display the sound.)

2. When I play my audio through the M-box, the sound is really scratchy or tinny.
a. The plugs we use for the M-boxes sometimes don’t load the purest sound. Try putting the ¼ inch cord half way into the mini-cord connecting into the M-box. Jiggle the plugs around until you get a better sound.
b. If this isn’t satisfactory, you can load sound directly into the computer and then import it into pro-tools. See below for instructions for loading sound into a different program.
3. When I try to record into Pro-tools, I get the error message “ -9060 was encountered”
a. This is telling you that pro-tools can’t handle Norton Anti-virus
b. Click on the half yellow/half black circle on the right side of the menu bar at the top of the screen.
c. Select “Norton auto protect” and “turn auto protect off” The window will ask you for the MML password. It is the same as the name- mml_temp.
d. Now you should be able to record!

4. I keep getting the error message “9035” what do I do?
This means you’ve saved your sound somewhere other than audiomidi _HD.
Don’t do that! Also, go to “set-ups”- “Disc allocation- and make sure the
“Round Robin button isn’t checked. This button loads your sound into separate
hard drives.

5. When I try to bounce my sound, pro-tools stops in the middle.
This means you need to readjust your “CPU Usage”
Go to setups- playback engine- increase the CPU usage to 85%

SAVE YOUR SOUND!!!!!
-use an external hard drive or burn data to disc. Stuff gets erased in here.

Digitize Sound using Non-Digidesign Software

1. First, go to the apple on the menu bar-system preferences- sound-input. Select “line in” as the input.

2. Take your mini-disc and mini cord. Plug one side of the mini cord into the “headphone” jack of the mini-disc player. Plug the other side into the input jack on the right side of the computer (next to the jack for the headphones). Plug your headphones into the headphone jack so you can monitor the sound.

3.Now, open the “audio” folder at the menu bar on the bottom of the desktop.

4. Select “sound studio”- file- new- label the sound- select 16 bit sample size and “mono” for channels.

5. Start playing the sound on your mini-disc.

6. Make sure the levels are showing in the monitor.

7. Select the “the soft play-thru” box so you can monitor the sound as you load it into the program.

8. When you’re ready, press the red “record” button at the top of the program.

9. The cursor will move forward, but you won’t see the sound waves until you press stop.

10. Once you’re done loading the raw sound that you want, press stop.

11. You will continue to hear the sound loading through the program, but the recording will stop.

12. Stop your mini-disc.

13. Go to file and save the sound
Save in “audioMidi_HD”
Select AIFF for format.
14. Quit sound studio

15. Open Pro-tools. File- new session- save in Audio Midi_HD”- select 16 bit depth

16. Go to File- new tracks

17. Select 1 new track

18. If you can’t see the tracks, go to “windows”- show edit.

19. Go to “file”- import audio to track

20. Find the sound that you saved from Sound Studio (search in Audiomidi_HD)

21. Double click the sound. It will move into the bottom portion of the window into the “regions in current file” display

22. Click on “convert”- the sound file will appear in the display to the right- “regions being currently chosen”

23. Select “done”

24. When pro-tools asks you to “choose a folder”- select “audio files” and press “choose”
-The sound should then appear in its own track.
-Plug your headphones into the m-box and press the space bar on your keyboard. You should hear the sound.
25. Woo-hoo! You’ve successfully imported sound into pro-tools.

Grad VideoEditing updated to FCP 4.5 HD

Grad VideoEditing towers' software have been updated...most importantly, FCP 4.5 HD.

Wendy reserves Grad MML on 10-8-04 and 10-15-04

On October 8 and 15, Wendy Chun has the Grad MML reserved from 11:00am to 5:00pm...as part of yet another digital media extravaganza...

Capturing VHS into FCP

So if you'd like to get VHS material into FCP, here's what you need to do!
First, in Audio/Video Settings in the FCP menu, go to Device Control Presets and change the setting from FireWire DV to Non-Controllable Device (make sure it shows up with a check mark next to it). Then, on the deck itself, switch the mode from F-1 to L-1. You should then be able to capture directly by hitting Capture Now in the Log and Capture window.

list fcp keeps dying

fcp on station 2 keeps freezing. it always seems to do it at a specific spot in my clip so does that mean its me???

CAVES UNDER PROVIDENCE

i don't care if the mafia and or rats are below providence in a tunnel, i would really like go there. please, who knows how to get there? lily_kerrigan@brown.edu

lily

Pro Tools plays project, no sound from MBox

This is a problem encountered by the EL116 Professor Beth Taylor, TA Megan Hall, and their students....

Question: When I boot my computer and run Pro Tools, the Mbox appears to be working but it is not playing any audio.
The usb light is on and Pro Tools looks like it is playing as the transport is moving and I see levels in the meters.

Answer: Workaround is to unplug the USB cable and plug it back in. Reports are that this only occurs after a CPU bootup.

ID:27136 Created:08/12/2003

Firewire outs at List video

Are there firewire cables to hook up external drives on video editing 1,2, and 4 at List? I can see one sticking out on three through the base of the tower, but can't find ones on the others....

decompressing dvd files?

someone (a friend of mine) came in with material he shot over the summer on hi-8 then had transferred to dvd. i couldn't figure out a way to decompress the video files, or even get it to play on the external monitor so he could record it onto minidv. i ultimately suggested he just use a miniDV deck hooked up to a dvd player, but there's got to be an easier way, anyone?

Pro Tools FAQ (in progress)

Arvid was kind enough to install a selection of freeware plug-ins for Pro Tools onto the NetBoot image for us. I deployed the new image today.

Arvid also wrote up a blurb about the new additions. We'll be adding to this document, and have it serve as a Pro Tools/Audio FAQ of sorts. Click on "Continue reading..." below to see Arvid's text.

Arvid Tomayko-Peters
MML - Audio Software Added 9/21/04

Pro Tools Plugins:

Northpole: Resonant Filter/Distortion/Delay - simple but fun

Plugsound Free: Soft-synth consisting of a small library of samples. Unfortunately no custom sample loading is possible in this free version. To use, put it on a stereo Aux track and create a new MIDI track. Set the output of that track to "Plugsound > Channel 1"

Bombfactory plugins: Given away free by Digidesign Consists of:
BF76 - vintage compressor
BF Clip remover - repair clipped audio sources (Audiosuite (non-realtime) only)
BF Tuner - chromatic tuner
Several types of vintage meters for stereo correlation, gain and noise
Funk Logic Masteuerizer or something like that... - simulates bad analog gear or moronic recording engineer! ok...

Fromage: Another filter thingie which sounds cool.

Inspector: A really handy mastering plug that gives you an RTA, pan meter, Big levels, and other warning displays. Best put on end of signal chain on master fader in Pro Tools.

Also Installed:

Ceclia: Sound manipulation/twisting/destroying environment based on csound (but you don't need to know any csound). The author of this document uses cecilia all the time and it is still very fun and unpredictable to him.

Basically you open it, go to File > New > and select a module to run.

On the main window there is a button that says "To Load". Click this to select an audio file to use as the source (depending on the module and what it accepts as input you will get two of these or none). To hear this audio file unprocessed in Quicktime, press the little speaker button next to it. Then play with the graph/sliders in the other window and try to figure out what they do. (Make points by selecting a line and licking in the window, etc)

To hear what you did, go back to the main window and press the "Output" button and select DAC (for the preview mode) then press play and give her a few seconds to start playing.

When you want to save select Disk from Output button and put in a good name for your file. Then Click play and it should be rendered and placed on the Tempwork volume, from which you can move it anywhere you want, and import it into Pro Tools, audacity, etc.

There is excellent documentation available from the Help menu in Cecilia

and a little tutorial (written for the OS 9 version, but still pertinent) is here at Macmusic:

http://www.macmusic.org/articles/view.php/lang/EN/id/3/

Thanks.

Problem With MBOX

There is a problem with ProTools, well not with ProTools but with the MBOX's in the Grad Center MML. What has happened is the MBOX is not outputting any sound to the computer. However the MBOX is working, because on the MBOX when turning the Input channel to playback, you could hear what was being inputted in to the MBOX... however there was no signal coming out on Protools.. Everything was right, the inputs in the mix window were on the right channel... Just for some strage reason the computer wasn't picking up the mbox...

FCP Freeze Up in List

I have restored this machine so this behavior should go away. Please let me know if FCP or this machine freezes again.
Ed

slide scanner @ list

to use the slide scanner at list (on machine #5) you need to local boot the machine (don't hold down the n key), and then scan slides, and then save to tempwork.
then you can netboot the machine (hold down n) and use photo shop or other programs to edit the image...
this is just until we have a new netboot image with the slide software on it.

FCP unexpected quitting

here at list #3, final cut HD kept "unexpectedly quitting" i moved the person working there to a different machine but have no idea what was going on.

MC33 Game Lab session 9-20-04, 7-10pm

There will be a MC33 Game Lab session tomorrow from 7-10pm in the Grad MML. To use the Game Config, please download and read the following FAQ.

MC33.Lab.FAQ

Scanner Software Missing?

Has the scanners in the Grad Lab been installed. The first machine I tried couldn't find the scanner, and the other didn't have the software. It let me use this demo version but it had all these watermarks. Anybody have a clue about this issue?

tunnel under providence

So, where exactly is that tunnel under provdence? How wouuld I get to it?

PLEASE, I MUST KNOW!

Video/Headphones

one reason the headphone jack may seem not to be working could be due to the fcp settings. in the fcp menu, select audio/video settings. for audio, try changing between built-in audio and firewire dv. that should resolve the lack of sound problem.

Training Handout

This file is the training handout for today's General MML Training Session:
Download file

fcp response

i tested out some speakers in the headphone jack here at the gc and it seemed to be working fine.

the display on the screen was the time code. if you want to turn that off you need the remote for the vhs/minidv. press menu - select "dv mode set" - turn "time code" to "off". many people like to have it on while working though.

as far as the delay, i dont know about anyone else but i thought that was normal

VideoEditing Problems (Audio, Counter Display)

1) First of all, the headphone jack boxes don't seem to work in final cut pro. Are they not being used anymore, or should they work and they just don't?

2) Second, there was a small display on one of the monitors that read "Count 00:10". I assume this was from the VCR because it didn't show up on the computer screen anywhere, but i couldn't figure out how to make it go away.

3) Thirdly, there seemed to be about a 5 frame delay between the video and audio on the computer and the video on the sony monitor. This was annoying because the video was on the monitor, but the audio was coming from the computer, so everything looked like it was kind of off, though it was hard to tell what exactly was going on.

consultant on duty sign

here's a link to the consultant on duty sign.
print, fold, enjoy.

Download file

Edrex.Listserv.Fall04.Broadcast.2

==============================
RE: Shift trades -- please make sure to _publicly_ reply to the MMLab-L listserv about which shifts (include time, date, which Lab) you are taking so Ed can track changes.

==============================
Training Session info. Bring your IDs with you so we can fill out I-9 forms.
***Tuesday, 4:20~6:20pm, in the Grad Center Classroom***
***Wednesday, 7:25-9:25pm, in the Grad Center Classroom/MML***

==============================
Click on "Consultant FACEBOOK" (top right link) to see pictures and names of your fellow Consultants. Who's missing, and how we can we get a picture of you in there?

Hello Folks,

==============================
RE: Shift trades -- please make sure to _publicly_ reply to the MMLab-L listserv about which shifts (include time, date, which Lab) you are taking. Ed is tracking and making note of the shift changes, and he won't be able to do it if e-mails are being exchanged directly between Consultants.

==============================
Secondly, please see below for Training Session info. Please read the Consultant MANUAL (keep in mind that there are some minor changes, I'll tell you what the changes are in the meeting.) Bring your IDs with you so we can fill out I-9 forms!

***Tuesday, 4:20~6:20pm, in the Grad Center Classroom***
Arvid
Elisabeth

***Wednesday, 7:25-9:25pm, in the Grad Center Classroom/MML***
Kate
Thomas
Jen
Maria
Brian
Julia
Nathan
Eric

Lily, I need to work out when I can get you up to speed. Is there anyone else we need to coordinate a free time to train?

==============================
Thanks to Ed for taking the pictures. I've posted our "Facebook" on the Consultant Web (Blog).

Thank you all,
Edrex

Edrex.Listserv.Fall04.Broadcast.1

I am posting the message body of message broadcasts I send out via the listserv, so that it is included as part of the searchable knowledgebase of the Consultant Web Blog.

First day of work will be this Monday, Sept. 13.

Click "Continue reading 'Edrex.Listserv.Fall04.Broadcast.1'" below to see the message body.

Consultants,

Gentle reminder: we still have the following shifts available in the Grad MML--

-Wednesday, 12pm-3pm
-Thursday, 4pm-7pm

We have temporarily assigned those shifts to Katelin Crook, but we don't know if Kate can actually take those shifts. Kate? Also, Thomas Greenwood might chime in and volunteer for those shifts.

======================
To reiterate RE: MML Consultant communication....

(a) Send e-mail to "MMLab-L@listserv.brown.edu" regarding shift scheduling and more urgent messages.
(b) Questions, answers to those questions, and broadcasts will be posted to the Consultant blog.

The MML website, the easiest URL to remember -- http://www.brown.edu/cis/mml -- has a login link in the bottom-right corner.
The login will be your first name's first letter + last name,
the temporary password is "mml"....

You may post messages through that interface...and at the bottom left is a link labeled "View Site," which will take you to this page:
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/CIS/blogs/mml-consult/

Contact information has already been posted to the blog, the link is on the right-hand side labeled "Consultant CONTACT INFO." Note that John Gruen, Thomas Greenwood are the Substitute Consultants we can count on to help us out when we can't make a shift.

======================
First day of work is this Monday, Sept. 13.

Nathan, Elisabeth, Lily, Eric, you must come in through the STG entrance. Directions are found here:
http://www.stg.brown.edu/contact/stg_directions.html

======================
During your shift, login to your workstation as

username: consultant
password: mml

Fall 2004 New MML Software

OS X 10.3 (Panther)
5 extra keyserved licenses of Max/MSP/Jitter (Total licenses: 10)
Macromedia Director MX 2004
Cinema 4D version 9 (including Body Paint, Sketch and Toon)

Fall 2004 New MML Hardware

eMacs - 1.25 GHz G4/160 GB/768 Megs RAM/CD-RW & DVD-R Burner
HP LaserJet 2300dn B&W duplex printer
Vantec card readers
Sony Trinitron Video Monitors with Stereo Sound
JVC dual miniDV-VHS deck
On order: (VideoEditing) G5 Towers 2.5 GHz/250 GB/1G Ram/CD-RW & DVD-R Burner, due October 28. Deployment period -- Winter Break.