The VaderVideo Blog Frames | Camera Imagery and Imagination Explained in Words

Adobe - 2 Years (and a Half) Later - Great Stuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 21:01:00 +0000

So here we are a few years later and Adobe didn't implode!

On the contrary! Adobe is doing just fine and dandy. As a matter of fact, I personally have been using this software collection more and more. Even for things I didn't want to.

Yes, here we are in 2015. The last post was sometime in 2013 and I have been slacking on the blog so to speak. I know! Here are some updates not just about Adobe, but also about the favorite industry I am in. Yes, you guessed right; the "stock footage industry".

Well, you may already know, or maybe not, but Adobe has bought into this wonderful industry! They bought a little company formerly known as Fotolia. Well, it is still called that with the main difference being that currently on the home page of Fotolia, there is the ever- and infamous Adobe icon. So why do you care? Why do I care?

Simply put; it's yet another revenue stream for my stock footage biz. Yup... imagine all of my stock footage available from within every app that can use stock footage, photo, illustrations etc. From Adobe of course, and only in the next gen of CC (currently CC2015 - maybe they'll call it CC2016 or something smart like that.) All I can say is YES! This will be super cool.

So you are reading this and haven't a clue what this all means. I get you. And I have a great solution for you as well to get on board. Hop on over to stockmediaartist.com and get an insider's guide to getting started in this industry. There is even an e-book available over there that can be used as a guide on how to get going in this particular biz. And yes, your's truly is the author. But I must warn you, it was written a couple of years ago, so some data may not be applicable today. I'll give a few examples of what such stuff may be:

1. Camera information - the industry has moved quite fast since the writing of the e-book. Hence, there is no way to keep up with all this. Hence, there is of course a blog to continue on for the e-book. As an example, you won't a whole heck of a lot about 4K in the book, yet there is explanations of how I did 4K before it even became prevalent. But it really makes no difference. The fundamentals haven't changed regarding content delivery, type of content etc.

2. Stock footage agencies listing - Yes. This has changed in regards to what I write towards the end of the book. But have no fear. You can find out more about the better agencies that have truly progressed over the last couple of years as well as some that are no longer.

3. As I said, the fundamentals of filming, photographing, producing, illustrating and all that great creative stuff has not changed, and most likely will never change. What changed or always will change, for the better we hope, are the tools. Whether equipment or software, they are getting so much more powerful. But always remember; it's the person behind the use of such equipment and tools that makes it all happen.

Adobe's Alien Invasion Continues Not on all Cylinders

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 03:52:00 +0000

Where is the Weak Link? Dammit!

Just to preface this, I am trying to stay positive as hell regarding Adobe and their Alien Tactics. But it is getting a bit old... rewind.... Just to preface this, I am trying to stay positive as hell regarding Adobe and their Alien Tactics. But it is getting a bit old... rewind...

That is how the average user feels when they try to contact Adobe's support, whether it be through online chat or via telephone. In a nutshell, Adobe's customer service/support is going awry and to put it bluntly, royally sucks.

I know. I know. I promoted the positive side of the Creative Cloud in the last video, but that did not cover the "what if something goes wrong with the installation or launching of app" issue.

To be honest, I had a couple of issues with Photoshop CC initially. Then with Premiere Pro. And yes. Both of those issues were resolved fairly quickly. But the pattern continues... Now it is with Dreamweaver.

Hey! I Really Mean No Harm

Yes, we are now running at about a 25% "oops, this Sh^t ain't workin' right". I am sure that this will all be resolved soon, but in the mean time, and for those that are impatient... well. Adobe's take is very laid back and we don't give a Sh^t at this point. They lack in any sense of customer service that makes any sense. It seems they had "How to say you're sorry class 101" for all their employees. But that phrase does not a problem solve.

It is so bad, that their peeps can't even do simple telephone transfers anymore. I was on hold for about 20 minutes after being told in the chat session that this problem was beyond them and that I needed to talk to the "real" tech support people. Come again? The "real"???? what???

So as a loyalist, I called. By the way a number that is nowhere to be found on Adobe's ginormous site. Was on hold as I said... then after going through the whole verification of me being a valid CC subscriber, and having stated my case, the fellow with a strong accent told me that he will have to put me through and connect me to technical support. What? I thought this was technical support!

So he politely asked if he could put me on hold while he connects me to the proper people. I agreed. Several minutes went by. He got back on the line and said "Okay, I am going to connect you now." Remember, this was about half an hour in now...

"Thank you for calling Adobe. Our office hours are from... blah blah blah... Please call back during these hours.'

End Game

At this point I am fantasizing about having the CEO of Adobe in my office, tied to a chair and making him experience the total crap his people are doing. Yes. It's a fantasy that I am sure many have had.

But this simple fact about lousy customer service is starting to nibble away at the giant. And it is unfortunate. You see, Adobe can not use the excuse of "growing pains" at this point. They are too old and experienced for this even happen. It shouldn't period! But the money people are on this simple issue already. And by money people I mean the investment community. You know. Those guys on Wall Street.

They are publishing some not so nice headlines:

It's Time to Go Sour on This Software Company

The Motley Fool Blog Network

Sell Adobe: Potential 25% Downside

Seeking Alpha

Adobe's Candy Coated Earnings Report

The Motley Fool Blog Network

and on a more positive note and perhaps a bit optimistic. Hey! 1 out of 4 ain't bad. Right?:

Adobe Systems: A Huge Upside in Creative Cloud

The Motley Fool Blog Network

As a side note. I am still very optimistic that all will work out eventually. I remember the same issues when CS 5 came about. Troublesome installations, apps crashing etc.. But man, they better get their act together quickly. It is frustrating to say the least.

Aliens from Another Planet are Really Behind Adobe Creative Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:40:00 +0000

The Internets are Currently Adobe's Enemy

The failed marketing and advertising campaign from Adobe regarding the simple explanation of the Creative Cloud is causing more noise than ever. Hearsay seems to be the culprit in most cases. The problem with hearsay is that it is exactly that, and not factual in most cases.

It is what we used to call the "jungle telephone". If one person told another person a simple thing, and was asked to pass it on, and then the same process was repeated again and again, well, we all know how gossip gets its own growth path of information.

Adobe is Run by Aliens?

If this is the case, and things keep going this way for Adobe... I think we will see some major conspiracy theories coming out about how Adobe plans to conquer the planet using their own embedded nano-hacks all while you rent this stuff from them. Hey! It has to get paid for somehow. But in reality, Adobe is run by beings from another planet and this is their method of implementing capitalism at its finest, and legal of course, all with the intent of taking over our little brains and turning us into their minions. Or something like that. Perhaps Adobe or ADOBE is an acronym in disguise. Alien Domination Organizing Brain Energy. Maybe not.

In any case, the "jungle telephone" is working really hard on the Internets and really needs to be quashed. Enough already! The misinformation, the misnomers, the quick jump to conclusions and worst of all, the worst excuses I have ever heard of "why not to do something" need to really go away now.

Yes, Adobe is a big company. Yes, Adobe needs to appease their share holders. And yes, Adobe is run by aliens. - Ah, I mean, don't mind that guy behind the curtain...

Update (06/25/13)

For more insight regarding the installation of plug-ins to the new CC versions:
Visit this cool info over at ToolFarm. You'll see, it's a snap really.

Can't wait to hear the commentary. :)

Adobe Creative Cloud Installation Issues and Solutions (Windows 7)

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:27:00 +0000

Installing Adobe Creative Cloud's Application Manager

If you subscribe to Adobe's Creative Cloud world, and you will sooner or later anyway, and you happen to run into some issues during installation, then you might want to read this. I will be posting resolutions to various issues as I run across them during the entire upgrade process of all my apps. Predominantly I focus on the Production Suite formerly known as CS6 Production Premium Suite, as that is where I am upgrading from.

The Infamous Adobe Application Manager - Install

This seems to be the "heart" of the Creative Cloud mechanism. Without AAM you can not install or use any apps from the ACC (love acronyms!). Of course it would also help if you actually owned a subscription as well. Yes, you can try it all out for 30 days if you wish to test everything first. But you still need to have login credentials to make even that work. So sign up one way or another. Otherwise what I will be writing about won't make any sense at all.

Once you have gone through the sign up process, upgrade process or whatever you want to call it, you will be prompted immediately to download the latest version of AAM. Even if you already have the CS6 version, you will get a new one. And this is where stuff may blow up on you. It has happened twice for me already. I first installed the AAM just a little of a week ago and it failed miserably, or so I thought. Then again today and once again, fail. The reason for yet another install today you ask? Updates! Yes, it was just 48 hours ago that Adobe released all new versions of their apps now named with a "CC" on the end. For example; instead of After Effects CS6, the new version is After Effects CC. And so the story begins...

Recovering Adobe Application Manager's Install Failure

Of course I am always weary when I get ambiguous messages along the lines of "installer failed to initialize blah blah". Come again? What? I always thought Adobe was bug free? Actually, this error seems to be quite common from what I have found, but no one posted a clean and concise fix for it. So I proceeded to once again do a "chat" thing. This is what I got (posted this on Facebook to keep all my fellow artists apprised):

So I am sitting in Adobe's support chat window now for at least ten minutes and this is what it keeps repeating: All representatives are actively assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 47 second(s) or longer. Thank you for your patience.

Hey Adobe, I just want install the damn Applications Manager and it keeps bombing out! Creative Cloud? Yes, creatively clouding our minds...

Yes! After the prior experience, I wasn't expecting much this time around either as this was the message I got about every 5 minutes or so:

info: All representatives are actively assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 47 second(s) or longer. Thank you for your patience.
info: All representatives are actively assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 47 second(s) or longer. Thank you for your patience.
info:All representatives are actively assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 47 second(s) or longer. Thank you for your patience.
info:All representatives are actively assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is 0 minute(s) and 47 second(s) or longer. Thank you for your patience.
info:You are now chatting with 'Vijendra'

It obviously took a lot longer than 47 seconds to finally get going with an agent, but to my surprise, this agent knew exactly how to resolve the issue. Have a look and do the steps in the transcript if you encounter the same issue:

Vijendra: Thank you for the details.
Vijendra:May I know from where you downloaded Adobe Application Manager?
Andreas: creative cloud! Where else???
Vijendra: Please click here to download Adobe Application Manager.
Andreas: stand by..
Vijendra:Please download Adobe Application Manager from the above link and try installing.
Vijendra:Sure, I will stay online.
Andreas: almost there = stand by
Vijendra:Okay.
Andreas: extracting files now
Andreas: says it's updating
Vijendra:Okay.
Andreas: nope... installer failed to initialize blah blah... now it wants me to get the "support advisor"..
Vijendra:Okay.
Andreas: should I?
Vijendra: May I know if you are logged in as Administrator to the computer?
Andreas: I am
Andreas: It is inspecting now
Vijendra:May I know if you have a 32 bit or 64 bit operating system?
Andreas: 64 bit
Andreas: win 7
Vijendra:Please do not download Adobe Support advisor.
Andreas: ultimate
Andreas: 32 gb ram I7
Vijendra:Please navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe
Andreas: hang on please, the instpector is still working and now has come back with:
Andreas: cpsid_82829s1: "A restart is pending," bootstrapper error has occurred. Click here for details and corrective actions related to this issue.
Andreas: However this is not the case - no restart is pending
Vijendra:Please ignore the Support Advisor message, let us go ahead and try resolving the issue you have.
Andreas: System Information : Operating System = Windows 7 Ultimate Locale = en
Andreas: Yes please.. going to the directory now
Andreas: am there now
Vijendra:Inside Adobe folder do you have a folder called OOBE?
Andreas: yes
Vijendra:Please rename that folder to OOBEold.
Andreas: done
Vijendra:Now please go ahead and try installing Adobe Application Manager and check?
Andreas: stand by please
Andreas: okay - no error this time.. now what?
Andreas: shall I try to get an app from CC
Vijendra:Please go ahead and launch Adobe Application Manager.
Andreas: doing so now
Andreas: signing in.
Andreas: to adobe CC
Vijendra:Alright.
Andreas: accepted agreement
Andreas: voila! So cool.
Andreas: me happy.
Andreas: :)

Save your Support Chat Transcripts for Later Use!

I referenced this again today to fix the upgrade failure. And yes, it worked again. So the moral of this story is:

1. Have faith. Sooner or later an agent will come into your chat session.
2. Email the transcript to yourself after you are done. This is of course a very cool feature (little button at the top of the chat session with Adobe) and might/will save you enormous time in the future when the same error or failure occurs.

Stay tuned for more fun with moving into the Creative Cloud.

Maybe this is why Adobe is Losing its Loyal User Base...

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:31:00 +0000

UPDATE (yes, it's Monday!)

(Reading this part only makes sense if you read the part starting at "Confusion" first)
So after calling Adobe 3 times and programming my number in for them to call me back via their auto-return-your-call-so-you-don't-have-to-sit-on-hold-for-eternity feature, I think their phone system went berserk. Either that, or it doesn't like my magic jack phone number. In any case, the fourth time I called I decided to just sit on hold after it said "Hold times are 36 to 48 minutes". Oh well, the music was nice. NOT.

Finally I got a sweet voice on the other end. Explained the situation and within less than 3 minutes not only was I correctly signed up, confirmed that I had "real licences" and on top of that even got a better deal than expected - $19.95/mo for 12 months, instead of the advertised $29.95.

I also brought up the issue of their lame-ass chat (this was after we were all done of course, didn't want to booger up my chances). I was absolutely surprised to hear that they have heard that so many times, but Adobe won't do a damn thing about it. Turns out (no big surprise here) that on weekends, we actually chat with Adobe peeps in India. Of course seeing their chat names was my first clue. However, considering they are working for Adobe and were able to immediately tell me that I had "Volume License Numbers" either makes them pure liars or quite simply lazy asses that don't want to help at all. In either case, Adobe should take note and read just how bad their "offshore" subs really are!

Tell me again why American companies should dump the whole sending work offshore thing?

Confusion?

You bet! In the prior post I wrote a little about how bad Adobe is at explaining the logistics of the so-called "Creative Cloud". They neglected to explain or point out a few things in turn causing the deterrence or even scaring off potential customers that may or may not have been Adobe loyalists. I actually had a pretty positive attitude towards the whole concept, having pretty much understood it, until today.

Today was a special deal. I was literally going to use that "special" upgrade pricing to the "Cloud" as I am, and have been a legit owner of the Adobe Production Suite since CS4 all the way to today's CS6.... or so I thought.

Hell, I paid for my upgrades every year to the tune of $600 plus bucks and have receipts, transactions and serial numbers to prove it! I need to point out that I usually don't waste a lot of time dissing companies or really ever want to. But the incident today really got under my skin and made me wonder just how many others out there are getting the same lame results. If the answer is a lot, then it's no wonder that Adobe will and perhaps already is suffering from the backlash.

Adobe Disorganized and Inconsistent on their Offerings and Licensing

So I proceed to their "Creative Cloud" signup page thinking this should be a no-brainer. I registered each and every Adobe product and upgrade, so my account should be loaded with information. And... well, the only item it showed was Production Premium CS5.5 along with its license. Which according to the terms and conditions of the CC upgrade for such users as me, should qualify instantly for that $29.95/mo for a year deal.

I click okay after entering my credentials and the next thing Adobe's CC sign up mechanism does is show that it is researching my account for qualified product. It came back with "You do not have any products that qualify for this offer". WHAT? And in turn gives me a 30 day free trial instead. HELL NO! I shall not download, install or do anything at this point as I don't want to bugger up my existing CS6 install.

Customer DIS-service and Caveat Emptor

I figured at that moment that I will need to call Adobe on Monday (tomorrow) because they are only available on weekdays, and find out what the hell is going on? And why is my CS6 not listed under my account? And.... and.... and.. But my thoughts got interrupted when a button suddenly appeared that asked if I wanted to "chat" with a customer service representative now? So I thought to my self... do I really need to be typing all this now? I was concerned that it would be some neophyte rep that has no real answers anyway.... aw, what the heck... and then all hell broke loose. Unfortunately I was correct about the whole customer service neophyte thing. Just what I expected - a scripted no good for nothing portal of uselessness and more importantly; totally unhelpful! Oh but they did give me the phone number page to call tomorrow.

The Transcript

I am attaching the transcript of this most useless conversation, and most likely an hour of my life that I will never get back, to make a point. It shows first hand how useless and scripted these so-called customer service reps really are that Adobe seems to pride itself on. But what's even worse? Have a look as the conversation progresses, at how lame sale tactics come into play as well as offerings that are nowhere to be found regarding the "Creative Cloud" for single user licenses. My guess is you will most likely also see just how annoyed I start getting after receiving lame-ass and totally useless repetitive boiler-plate responses. From what I know and to the best of my knowledge, I have been purchasing single user licenses since Production Suite CS4. After all, why would I buy a volume license when there is only me to use this stuff? All I can say is; "Adobe! Listen up! This is your front end and it looks really ugly from this side!"

So here's the complete transcript as it went down today: I have blocked out the serial numbers as they are valid, just not in Adobe's eyes....

General Info
Chat start time	Jun 9, 2013 5:22:40 PM EST
Chat end time	Jun 9, 2013 6:13:55 PM EST
Duration (actual chatting time)	00:51:14
Operator	Gangmei

Chat Transcript

info: All representatives are actively assisting other customers. There are 1 customer(s) in line ahead of you. Thank you for your patience.
info: You are now chatting with Ramakant_Soni.
Ramakant_Soni: Thank you for contacting Adobe, this is Ramakant. Please give me a moment while I look into the details provided by you.
Ramakant_Soni: Could you please elaborate your issue?
Andy: My license is: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Andy: pro prem cs6
Andy: Production Premium CS6 - according to the terms of CC this shoudl qualify and it says it doesn't
Andy: I shoudl be able to get the 29.95/mo deal for a year'
Andy: Instead it set me up for the one month free.. bogus?
Ramakant_Soni: Ok
Andy: so now what?
Ramakant_Soni: As I understand correctly, you want get discount for buying to Creative Cloud upgrade from your CS6 product, is that correct?
Ramakant_Soni: *to get
Andy: Yes... what part don't you understand?????
Ramakant_Soni: Definitely I will assist you with this.
Ramakant_Soni: May I please have your email address registered with Adobe?
Andy: vader@vadervideo.com
Ramakant_Soni: Thank you
Andy: and for some reason my serial number won't take on my account. I purchased this through Toolfarm.com
Ramakant_Soni: Ok
Ramakant_Soni: One moment while I look up your customer record.
Ramakant_Soni: As I can check in our record, it's a volume license product so I need to transfer this chat to our volume license department for the resolution. I request you to please be online while I am transferring this chat.
Andy: No it's not... it is a single license from toolfarm.com - or is adobe and toolfarm a messed up situation?
Ramakant_Soni: Are you talking about the same license (xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx, provide by you above)?
Andy: yues
Andy: yes
Ramakant_Soni: I am sorry Andy, but this is not a retail license. It's a volume license.
Andy: acTUALLY - LOOKS LIKE i GOT IT FROM aDOBE DIRECT AS IT WAS an upgrade from CS 5.5---
Andy: and I have a CS 5.5 registered online with adobe.. which also qualifies... this is total BS
Ramakant_Soni: As I can check in our record, it's a volume license product so I need to transfer this chat to our volume license department for the resolution.
Andy: here is my CS 5.5 xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Andy: That's just bull
Ramakant_Soni: Andy, I would like to inform you both serial number is for volume license.
Ramakant_Soni: *numbers
Ramakant_Soni: *are
Andy: I spend a ton of money on adobe products and this is the service i get?????
Andy: Why would I have a volume license when I am a single user??????
Andy: And this is why people are pissed off about the whole cloud thing.... Adobe can't even keep their serial numbers and licensing straight... I will blog about this on the boards of the stock exchange for sure!
Ramakant_Soni: Andy, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but as I informed you these are volume volume licenses and for this issue I need to transfer this chat to our volume license team. Please let me transfer this chat for the resolution.
Andy: Then get a damn manager on the phone with me now!!!!!!
Andy: 520-xxx-xxxx (my number blocked from view) - I am going to raise holy hell on this issue!
Andy: I spent multiple tranges of 600 bucks a year to keep upgraded and you are telling me this was all bogus.. I smell a llawsuit coming
Ramakant_Soni: Andy, I am not denying for assistance. I just need to transfer this chat to our relevant team for your issue resolution.
Andy: Get going then... I don't want to have people be passing the buck..
Andy: This better be the final person i speak with
Ramakant_Soni: And I am sorry as we are from chat support so we can't contact you over the phone but you can contact to our voice support at Adobe Support and Customer Service 1800-833-6687 (Monday–Friday, 5am–7pm PST)
Andy: get lost - I want this done now.. not tomorrow or this week.. Adobe seems to think we have all the time in the world to fix their screwups
Ramakant_Soni: Ok
Ramakant_Soni: Let me transfer this chat for the resolution now.
Andy: I can't believe that this is happening... ADOBE !
Andy: I am losing faith really quickly here!
Ramakant_Soni: Andy, could you please let me assist yourself? I have informed you that I just need to a transfer this chat quickly for the resolution.
Andy: I'm waiting,,,,,,,,,,!!!!
Ramakant_Soni: Thank you
info: Please wait while I transfer the chat to the appropriate group.
info: You are now chatting with Gangmei.
Gangmei: Hello! Welcome to Adobe Customer Service.
Gangmei: Hi Andy.
Andy: yeah yeah... let me guess - I need to re-explain everything again?
Andy: well?
Gangmei: I understand that you are interested to purchase Adobe Creative Cloud for discounted price, am I correct ?
Andy: Oh my god - is this the way it's gonna go down... I will explain one more time... I own valid licenses of Adopbe Prod SUite from Cs4 thru Cs6 - all I wanted to do is sign up for the CC under the dela at 29.95/mo ... but it seems the licensing is totally screwed up!
Gangmei: Andy, the product serial number you have provided is for Volume Licensing Product. Please be informed the 29.99 plan is only for Retail version.
Gangmei: Existing CS3 and above customers who have previously purchased any Creative Suite software through a volume licensing program are eligible to buy at the special price of $39.99 per user per month through Aug/2013.
Andy: Okay what part don't you understand? I didn't buy a frickin volume licence - I am a single user and have only bought single user licenses and upgrades over the years!!!!!!!
Andy: If what you say is true - then why does my adobe account show my cs 5.5 license??????
Andy: but it won't accept my cs6
Gangmei: The product serial number you have provided is for Volume Licensing Product, the 29.99 doesn't qualify for volume licensing customers.
Andy: and why didn't your system pick up that license to start with!!!!
Andy: this is bullshit!
Andy: I am going to raise holy hell and blog about how screwed up Adobe really is when it comes to their licensing and tracking of customers!!!!!!
Andy: I shall also get toolfarm involved and see if they wish to reconsider even dealing with Adobe anymore!
Gangmei: Creative Cloud for teams is $69.99 per user per month (with an annual commitment). However, existing CS3 and above customers who have previously purchased any Creative Suite software through a volume licensing program are eligible to buy at the special price of $39.99 per user per month through Aug/2013.
Andy: This is probably and exactly why the public is so pissed at adobe about the whole cloud thing. STOP THE BS MESSAGING.. I hear you, but that doesn't answer my quesiton of the how the hell I have a volume license as a single user???????
Gangmei: Could you please provide your Retail version serial number so that I can confirm and help you?
Andy: cs 5.5 as per your site:
Andy: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx purchased May 12th, 2011
Andy: CS6 upgrade purchased last April (2012) xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Andy: this was an upgrade through adobe.com,
Andy: \!!!!!!
Andy: Get it??????
Andy: CS 6 was purchased and downloaded on May 8th of 2012
Gangmei: Yes, please be informed, both the serial number you have provided is for Volume Licensing Product and it doesn't qualify for 29.99. You can either purchase Individual Adobe Creative Cloud which is priced 49.99 or purchase a Creative Cloud for teams introductory price of $39.99 for existing CS3 and above customers, whether you own suites or point products.
Andy: and as said - I have owned since CS4
Gangmei: Please click here to view the information :
Gangmei: http://www.adobe.com/store/en_us/popup/offer/ccm_complete_offer.html
Andy: Boy are you not listening at all?????? what the hell is your problem and what part of I DONT OWN A VOLUME LICENSE don't you get?????
Andy: How can I own a volume license as a single user - tell me that would you?
Gangmei: Andy, I have checked with the serial number you have provided above and it has indicated as Volume Licensing Product which is business licensing product.
Andy: SO you are basically telling me that you only know how to read a script - don't really have any method of figuring things out and ADOBE can not track their crap properly? Is that it?
Andy: You can probably check till you're blue in the face.. so how does that help me??? Is Adobe really going down the tubes this severly????
Andy: Is there no reasonable person available that can think on their own and realize this may be a total screw up on the licensing side? Is Adobe that anti-customer service now?
Andy: Is the only answer a regurgitated scripted answer that you copy and paste?
Andy: Do Adobe reps not listen to details of information anymore - or basically just make it up in hopes that we simply give up and shove more money up Adobe's butt?
Gangmei: If you still have doubt, you can contact your reseller and then confirm with them whether it is for Retail version or Volume licensing product.
Gangmei: As an existing customer of Volume Licensing Product, you can purchase a Creative Cloud for teams introductory price of $39.99.
Gangmei: I can transfer this chat to sales team if you are interested to purchase a Creative Cloud for teams introductory price of $39.99.
Andy: This is the feeling I get... without a doubt.. you don't listen, you don't care and all you want to do is sell, sell sell even knowing you are trying to screww me!!!!
Gangmei: May I transfer this chat to sales team ?
Andy: Go away! I will file a complaint on Monday with corporate.. this is pure and utter bullshit!
Gangmei: I am sorry, you felt that way.
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to vader@vadervideo.com at the end of your chat.
Gangmei: I want to assure you that Adobe does care for it's customers.
Andy: Oh and by the way.. you better read the whole transcript... you will see how foolish your responses are - they will be posted on all social networks..
Andy: Really? You really expect me to believe that after your "canned" answers????
Andy: Nice try.. but when this hits the threads on the stock trading sites I think ADOBE will think again..
Gangmei: Andy, for more information, I would suggest you to contact our Sales Team so that you can get more information about the price for Adobe Creative Cloud.
Andy: How useful.. my god.
Gangmei: I will help you with a link to view phone number to contact our Sales Team via a phone.
Gangmei: Please click here to view the phone number to contact our sales team :
Gangmei: http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html
Andy: Why - they won't listen either as they are only interested in sales...oh no... perhaps I shall email this transcript to the CEO
Andy: Let's see how he looks at this
Andy: See ya later.. As I have to wait until Monday in any case, I shall make it a day of nailing Adobe.
Andy: Wish you the best... no go away.
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to vader@vadervideo.com at the end of your chat.

Adobe! They call it the Creative Cloud - So What Now?

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:27:00 +0000

This week as many may have heard, Adobe announced its shift to what they call the new and groovy Creative Cloud.

Forget about the CS Suites altogether! They will soon be history as far as Adobe is concerned. The headlines have read along these lines just to name a few:

Is Adobe a Buy? (Financial Reporting)
Adobe Just Killed Your Ability To Pirate Photoshop (some Blog named RW for ReWrite)
5 Cool Features in Adobe Creative Cloud (PC Mag)
And my version - What the hell? Why can't Adobe explain things more clearly and remove the confusion? (Unfortunately this is not a link to any answers either.)

The big question really is; has Adobe made a suicidal or a totally genius maneuver? That is the billion dollar question. And why can PC Mag only come up with 5 cool features? Simply because they might not really (as has been for a long time) understand the reality of this situation. Who knows. I haven't read PC Mag for years now or basically ever since their reviews and articles were always swayed towards the guy advertising on the same pages of the article. I digress.

I suppose the humorous one is the pirating one. I never had to worry about that as I always paid for full licenses. In regards to the financial reports, well, that's another story altogether.

Back to the license thing. I really don't care what moron wrote this or why they came up with such a title. The key thing is, if that is the number one concern, then you shouldn't even be in any business that involves creating cool stuff. If you infringe on copyright by pirating software, you should be bitch slapped at the very least!

Why? You ask? You dare ask? If this is even a question, then get out now! Go do something else as a career. Something where the mundane will run your life.

For all of us out here creating goodies, visual eye-candy and so much more, we should never question having to pay for the right to use some software. Actually I insist on it as I would expect the same in return when someone uses some of my created goodies. Whether it is a project from After Effects, a photo, or my favorite, stock footage, I am a firm believer that this needs to be paid for! In turn, I am a firm believer that I must also pay for the rights to software that allows me to create this stuff.

Over the years I have had many offer me "free" or pirated software of a variety of applications. I always rejected such offers for several reasons:

I always would respond with; "I really don't want any trojans installed on my system. These f&&cking download places always have crap like that going on."
I really prefer to get support from a company and not feel guilty about it.
I simply hate to feel guilty about STEALING something from someone I have never even met! Yes! The conscious is kicking me into being rightful and proper on this issue.

Now, back to Adobe and their Creative Cloud. Will it be a successful or as successful as Adobe hopes it to be? Only time will tell. There are two sides to every story. And this one has strong proponents on both sides.

But there is one major problem that Adobe has yet to solve. They simply can't or are lost in translation. They puffed up their now crappy site with CC this, CC that and so on... but nowhere (and don't even get me started on the pretty useless faqs...) do they in simple explanation talk about the technical functionality of the system. For example, why can't they in big bold letters state that you don't have to be online 24/7 to use the products?

Or better yet, why not explain in plain English that the so-called "Cloud" is not really a cloud, and it doesn't produce rain. Adobe! Pay attention! You really screwed up in your messaging! You seem to forget that artists, designers and producers are not all super-tech savvy nor do they full comprehend that damn "cloud" thingy.

Go back to basics Adobe.... pretend that no one understands the concept and start from there. Spoon feed if you have to, but damn it do something. I am losing my ass on the stock market because you can't market or speak human!

We have the financial community, the stock market if you will, that is reacting in real-time to the announcement. Hence, they seem to be bullish on the whole idea. The stock is tanking slowly over the last few days since the announcement. See for yourself:

Source: Yahoo Finance - The day of this post.

We have the bloggers, the Facebookers, the.... ah who cares? They all have opinions.

But here is what I have found to be true:

Anyone that has been using this concept (yes, it's been available for quite some time now) really loves it.
Anyone that has not been using this concept is either weary, unsure, or somehow delusional in regards to its capabilities. I was one of these until I chilled and watched the replay of the MAX keynote presentation.
I admit, I think Adobe is on to something. Something bigger than we could have expected. After all, I was expecting Adobe CS7, not Adobe CC.
As far as the doubters on Wall Street, you know, the guys that want fast money by investing... well, most of these people haven't a clue about creativity nor do they have a creative bone in their body. They only know that they are in the market for a fast buck. And therein lies the problem. Hell, most of them don't even know what Adobe does. They just purchased the stock because it had a nice upward line/pattern:

Source Yahoo Finance - Look at it rise!

I would venture to guess that there are many shorting this stock today. Perhaps the competition, perhaps the "sheeple" day trader, perhaps the general non-creative investor. We'll see how it comes out next month when Adobe actually throws the switch. (June 17th I believe)

In any case - before judging this new delivery of software system, perhaps it would be wise to see and understand all the potential. I was quick to jump and be negative about it initially too. But in retrospect, as this will be the only option should I wish to continue using Adobe products, I am somewhat forced to like it. Actually, there are some really cool things coming down the pike, provided Adobe comes through with them. But re-read the bold and underlined type above... it is a somewhat forced process. I hate being forced, except when it come to ice cream.

Oh! And by the way - I do think their Creative Cloud artwork is pretty cool:

The Creative Cloud Artwork - I am sure this is copyright protected by Adobe. So respectfully I am not using it for self promotion, but purely in the journalistic sense.

What's wrong with the localized Indie world?

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:07:00 +0000

Why so many Indies fail not just at home, but also in the crowd funding world.

I am a cinematographer, editor, sometimes even a writer, but most of all a business person. Why do I even state the latter? Probably because without that knowledge, I would be like most indie producers that seem to not have much success with their projects. I emphasize the word "most" as there are some that are very successful. So what makes those "others" successful and the "most" not?

I can answer that and will try to keep it brief and to the point.... but first a little story.

I was recently approached about a project. A musical project, or should I say what I believed to be a music video. This all came via email. My first response was to ask two questions that immediately would tell me how serious, how planned and how organized this project would be:

1. What is the time frame?

2. What is the budget?

Of course I could also have asked; "Who did, or who will do the pre-production as well as the storyboard?"

But I decided to wait with that one until I received a reply to the first two questions. As it turns out, I never needed to ask the third question as the reply to the first two was somewhat as follows:

"It's a 'labor of love' and we want to do it like right away." - Basically two red flags in one simple line of response. "Labor of love" simply put is that there is no budget. "We want to do it like right away." means there is absolutely no planning whatsoever behind it. Because like, that's the way I see it.

I replied very politely and stated the following: "I do not do spec (as in speculative) work for others as this is the same as asking me to be an investor. For me to be an investor, I would need to see a business plan, or at the very least some quality pre-production work so that I can make a judgement call on whether or not I want to invest."

The reply; "No no, we don't want you to invest, but rather just shoot (DP) and edit it."

Need I say more? My time is in their opinion, worth nothing. Oh, and my equipment amortization happens magically without costing me a penny. This is how many of these so-called "Indie" producers see it. But the "real world" is a far cry from how they think it is.

Here is my further response; "This may be a labor of love for sure, but it is YOUR labor of love, not mine. My standard rates for shooting and editing are a gazillion per hour and half a gazillion per hour respectively. I pay myself that when I do a 'labor of love' for myself. So I ask, do you want to negotiate a discount?"

Of course the sarcasm just had to come in as I knew who I was dealing with and really wanted to once and for all make a point that there is one thing worse than work, and that quite simply is working for free. In reality, this would be worse than working for free as it would mean for me to even spend money on the project. My time, my equipment and my knowledge, which they believe I acquired all for free!

Now let's move on to the crowd funding model. You know Indigogo, Kickstarter and so on. Hmmm, there are so many projects that seem to have the same modus operandi or M.O. No wonder the statistics are what they are. Here are some hard facts from Kickstarter for the year 2012:

Total Projects Launched: 85,995

Total Successful: 35,911

Total Unsuccessful: 46,543

Total % without even getting a penny of the unsuccessful: ~11% (approx. 5120)

Source: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats

Are the projects not being funded for specific reasons? You bet! They are the same reasons I wouldn't "invest" in the above project. Philanthropy, as is common on the crowd funding sites works the exact same way as any other investment. The difference between being an investor vs. a philanthropist is very simply that the latter doesn't necessarily care about an ROI or "return on investment". But they both look for careful planning, structure and seriousness on any of these projects.

Bottom Line

If you are venturing into the "project world" of anything from producing an indie to creating the next widget, you MUST treat it like a business venture and take it seriously. An by seriously, I mean you need to be able to prove that you are serious, not just state it or talk about it.

You want to do business, you need to act like a business. Get prepared, plan, document and most of all, be serious and don't use words such as "like" in a sentence as; "It's a 'labor of love' and we want to do it like right away." That in itself makes you sound very un-serious and like, you know, a loooooooser.

Whether you are asking for a favor, help, support, or anything else that may involve time and/or equipment for any project, you are asking for someone to literally invest in you. In such case, the very least you should do is show respect by showing that you are serious and have a plan. Credibility is also a very helpful thing.

Why Sony Vegas will most likely never be a Mainstream continued...

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:15:00 +0000

A revisit and pseudo update to an ongoing software failure...

So literally just two blog posts ago I started venting about this, well, let's call it a tragedy. The tragedy - Sony Vegas Pro V12 (and prior) and possible even their consumer versions. Why even call it a tragedy? Well, when something looks so damn good to work with (their interface is awesome), get promoted to be the simple do it all, mix and match, load all things multimedia and oh, "we are Sony and can do no wrong" , and not to mention 3D which I could give a crap about, fails as miserably as this product - one just needs to vent and define it as a tragedy. This is based on first hand experience now for several years while always hoping that someday this would finally function without random crashes and bugs appearing and popping in as if they were "Murphy's" cousins. I digress.

So Sony Creative releases an update in the last couple of days. Being hopeful as most would be, I installed it. I am talking about V12 64 bit... fuggetaboutit.

This piece of software simply can have all the so called patch or fix releases it wants, but all that is happening is a simple stretching of a proverbial band-aid. As they tug on the band-aid to strongly towards one side, it opens a new wound on the other side. Useless! I wonder why heavy products such as Adobe After Effects, along with all the plug-ins can work so nicely, rarely have issues and make use of a true 64 bit process and memory while this software just seems to puke at any chance it gets?

One has to ask, was this software a bad version of a 32 bit app that has been patched to death and now the company can't retreat as they have gone too far? Do their technical support peeps all look like Van Gogh as they don't seem to hear any of the problem and bug reports. What the hell are they doing? Are they simply building a database of issues and are overwhelmed? As it still is the case, their best solution seems to be, Uninstall - Reinstall. Like that would make a difference and not an option (again) since this upgrade was just freshly installed!

Sony! Listen up! You are starting to lose it big time! You bought this company several years ago. You didn't pay much attention to it as all you seemed to think was that since you make cameras and such, you also needed to have some editing stuff. You acquired, but you didn't fund. A few years ago you felt it was necessary to finally make the "Creative Software" division more prominent so you threw a ton of money at it. But did that money actually work for you? Based on what we see out here, a big NO! This just proves that even if you are a big company with a ton of cash, simply throwing money at something doesn't necessarily mean it will be put to proper use.

This somewhat reminds me of how cheesy your remote controls for the Blue-Ray/Internet Ready boxes are. But that is yet a whole other story altogether.

You make awesome cameras. You have some cool hardware - but when it comes to software, perhaps you should consider farming that portion out. That is all. Maybe not... seems I am not a lone ranger on a quest...

See what other interesting articles one finds by simply doing a Google search using the phrase "Sony Vegas is a piece of crap".

If only the crashes had some consistency - that would be actually nice. But this P.O.S. simply has no consistency.

Being Careful in How One Uses Certain Words

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Every once in a while one gets the privilege to create from ground up a project. Simply put, you get almost all of the creative control (with a little help of course!).

Here was the challenge:

Create a "crowd funding" (money raising promotional) video production for the purpose of raising funds for a non-profit organization's project. The project goal - to raise a significant amount of funds to pay for a full sized (8 ft. plus) memorial statue of the "Buffalo Soldiers". The name of the project would be "For Duty, Honor and Country".

After a few revisions of a script (the narration), we came to a great starting point as this script also became the "story board" for the entire project. We were careful not to step on anyone's toes and to keep it real! This was probably one of the more challenging parts as there were several places where we could have done more harm than good.

As the story goes, this was about the "Buffalo Soldiers" that helped win the west. Their battles ensued over time with famous (and originally I used the term "infamous") and historically well known Native Americans know as Geronimo and Cochise. As you can see, we changed the term "infamous" in the final as this was not well received by certain parties. Fully understandable for many reasons. The point: Just one word could possibly offend. This was the challenge. Making sure that we stayed on track and also, due to the nature of the subject, kept our "noses" clean.

For me, this was a lesson in history. It is always interesting to learn new things, particularly when it comes to history. Or should I say the "real history" of events that unfortunately many school and history books simply glaze over and in many cases even tell the wrong story.

Obviously and most importantly in my mind was to treat this project with respect all around. It was important for me to ask the questions (the old elephant in the room scenario) on just how to phrase things so as to not offend any party. "What"; I asked; "is the correct term for the soldiers in that era?" What is the correct way to define the race in any era for that matter? Was it "Colored Troops?" as was used in many movies. Was it African-American? Negro? Black? I got all the correct answers from my collaborators, the current men and retired military of the non-profit known as the 10th Cav Troop B. Foundation, who also happened to be the client.

In a nutshell, this was quite simply "a really cool and fun project". I learned a lot about some of the unspoken history as well as got to know some really interesting (and extremely pleasant) people that have and know quite a bit about this history. Now that isn't too bad for a Swiss-American Caucasian fellow. :)

Why Sony Vegas will most likely never be a Mainstream Professional Product

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:17:00 +0000

I have been (to my own demise) been using Sony Vegas Pro since version 8. Now as the years have passed and the Vegas Pro guys actually got more money and credibility from the mother ship, Sony itself (a couple of years ago) it seems that they simply have lost their direction. Or maybe they are being forced into creating crap by the mother ship. Who knows.

The only thing I know is that I am migrating away from SVP as fast as possible. This fat, buggy and buggier by the version, expensive (anything that you pay for that doesn't function is expensive) and time wasting piece of dung needs to a) be put out to pasture b) needs to be totally revamped or c) get killed altogether.

It seems the guys that create this monstrosity are simply following suit to other big boys that have this attitude that an upgrade doesn't need to function better, remove bugs of yesterday, and be faster, but rather, add new bugs, make old bugs stronger and oh, by the way, make this a fat clunky piece of crap that loses functionality as you use it more.

There have been hints along these lines from several users over time. If you happen to look at the Sony Creative Support or knowledgebase, well, that's an oxymoron.

Report a bug - you get a generic boiler plate message back a few days later telling you to totally uninstall add a new user on you system with admin privileges and then re-install under that user. Perhaps they should stop at the uninstall part and leave it at that.

This typical response seems to be Sony Vegas' only solution. Does it work? Hell no! It is the most useless information, strategy, method, option, concept that could ever be contrived. The Sony guys seem to think that we all have time to tinker and experiment on their behalf. Perhaps this "boilerplate" concept was created to appease the user that blew a good 600 bucks to start, and then blew 300 more each year to keep up with the Jones' by constantly upgrading and thinking things will get better for sure with this new version. Hey, they changed the desktop icon... now that is improvement!

Sony, I hope you are reading this. I hope you take this to heart. I hope you actually take note and start really fixing things. I have reported to you diligently over the years about your damn memory leakage... (for those interested, just start up Vegas, open Task Manager and watch the processes, particularly the Sony Vegas one.... it just starts eating up memory even while sitting idle. God only knows why.)

But that's not all... you have trouble rendering to your own codec, particularly when it comes to simple internet mp4's. POS! (no, that does not mean Point of Sale)

You crash randomly almost as if someone, perhaps Sony's Other Brother (SOB) is spying on us and sees when we have stuff to get out on deadlines. You make the software puke like no tomorrow.

Then you invite companies to create plug-ins for you or you even team up with them so that before SVP even loads, we have to look at a crappy advert that makes the system crash. I knew blue wasn't my favorite color all along.

I may be ranting here... but I have had it with your shenanigans and your absolutely useless support fodder. Get real! Get some knowledgeable people involved. Listen to your users! Oh my god, that would be a concept in itself.

Oh and by the way, the BS parties (actual marketing soiree) that you throw at NAB every year... yeah, those are sometimes cool. But I wonder just what kind of magical machinery and software the presenters actually use, to be able to with good conscience, speak so highly of your software? Or is it that you simply pay big bucks for endorsements?

Yes, this may sound like a rant and another rant from a guy that has lost much time due to crashes (time is money), and that has spent way too much on upgrades over the years, and that was very optimistic until this last issue - new system, new install, cool GPU, lots of memory, awesome processor... and well Sony Vegas Pro 12 (whatever batch) - acts absolutely no different!

It's really too bad that it has to end this way. You actually have some neat features that no one else has. Too bad they are part of this atrocity that you call software.

The Unhappy Road of 'Puter Upgrades

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:41:00 +0000

On one of my other blogs (Shut Up and Shoot - the eBook Blog) I wrote a little article about some of the pitfalls that can occur when one tries to be smart and upgrade their editing bay to gain some rendering and previewing speed increases. Of course this story has to do with specifically upgrading the GPU card in hopes of truly gaining some speed in rendering, previewing and to be more specific with the Adobe CS6 Production Suite.

Of course there is this guy named "Murphy" that comes to mind. Check it out... it might save you some time and most of all aggravation.

EBook is published!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Head on over to StockMediaArtist.com (Shut Up and Shoot!) and get yours today! (Okay - you could just click on the link below and just order it here as well.)

(Note: You do not need a PayPal account to purchase. However, in such case your order may be delayed as an approval process for such transactions comes into play, as we have to manually approve such orders. Thank you for your patience. )

EBook to be Released April 14th! - Shut Up and Shoot!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:38:00 +0000

A preview trailer of the ebook coming out April 14th, 2012

Shut Up and Shoot

and Make Lightning Strike Twice

(How to Become an Out of This World Stock Media Artist)

by Andreas Hohl (VaderVideo)

Visit the site for Shut Up and Shoot!

Our 2012 1st Qtr. Ad - Making People Read Lots of Boring Stuff - Rehab Specialists

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:56:00 +0000

Just watch and enjoy...

Video Text:
People search the web every day for stuff.
During this process, they will most likely become victims of a crime.
A painful crime that we call; "we make you read lots of boring stuff".
So don't be a co-conspirator by making them "read lots of boring stuff".
They may become vigilant and retaliate, by making make you sit and watch a clock!
Don't victimize your customers for one more minute. That would not be cool.
Entertain them. Let them experience your new and improved multimedia self.
Just like we did to you just now.
We are.... the "we make you read lots of boring stuff" rehab specialists.
Whether for the web or for television,
VaderVideo, the guys to call when you need that special and cool multimedia stuff.

From Film to Fine Art

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:59:00 +0000

For years now I have been shooting lots of time lapse footage for the film and television industries. As the process to acquire such footage yields a ton of super high resolution stills, I always wondered what the heck can I do with these. For example, this piece of footage:

recently appeared in an MSNBC special by Lawrence O'Donnell titled "Erasing Hate" - Actually they used a couple of my pieces of my footage which was very cool to see. I mean, there is nothing more exciting than seeing or knowing that millions are seeing your stuff. Well, in any case, back to the stills that made this 4K piece of footage. Yes, 4K - that super large format. It is basically a series of super high resolution stills in a sequence - hence the time lapse effect. A lot of them.

Not long ago I had a visitor see some of my stuff laying around. She instantly honed in on the lightning pics. Keep in mind, I have these for "frames" of film to be used as footage. But she immediately told me that a gallery that she knew of, really could use some of this "fine art" on their walls and to sell. To sell? Yup, to sell!

The thought never really occurred to me as I had talked to several friends that also shoot this type if stuff as photographers as opposed to me, the "cinematographer". No difference really other than my camera stays locked down in place until whatever is over with. And that is the real difference I suppose. My fellow photog's are always changing focal length, direction, aim, lens, shutter speed, and are always hoping to get that one special shot, while missing most. I on the other hand, well, I really don't have a special shot that I hunt for, I tend to get that special framing and then shoot a sequence of shots all with the exact same settings. Remember - locked down!

Funny thing about my method - it surprises me pleasantly many times. When I go through the 700 to 1500 shots, there is always a really nice shot somewhere in the bunch. Of course that one or more nice shot is just a "frame" of footage in my mind. But now, that is no longer the case. Now I actually see and understand what the photogs are hunting down. And now I bring those "frames" to the world as limited editions as prints that are matted and sometimes even framed. Kind of cool I think. Oh, and yes there is a story behind each one of these prints. Just like the one here:

From New Releases Qtr 4 - 2011

The moral of this story is actually quite simple. Even though I think more as a cinematographer, the end result many times comes through as if I was a photographer. If you want to know more about these limited edition prints, visit my other site/blog at http://www.mopicfineart.com/.

Sony Vegas Pro 11 has arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:35:00 +0000

Yes sireeee! Sony Vegas Pro 11 has finally arrived and it's a doozy! I received the upgrade codes this morning and of course, as this is what I primarily use for editing, downloaded it immediately and installed it. Here are some findings:

1. Wow - it installed without a hitch. Some may ask; "Is that unusual?" - well, yes and no. Sony Vegas does have a few requirements to install it cleanly. For example - you must disable any and all anti-virus software for the process. It really will resolve any installation issues. I disabled many processes just to be safe. Believe me, I am talking from experience here as I have been working with Vegas since version 7. It's easy to do to... just go to your task bar, right click and open the "Task Manager" - selectively kill processes that you know are loaders, background mechanisms for other software etc.. Also, and most importantly, disable your anti-virus software for the installation process. You can do this via the actual software itself, or simply use "Run" -> "cmd" -> "msconfig" and disable stuff for the next reboot. If you do that, don't forget to un-set these again and of course reboot.

Read more about it here and here (10 tips for a faster computer)
for a few additional tips.

2. This upgrade came with some nice extras! Ever hear of Newblue's Titler Pro? A sweet titling "plug-in" for Sony Vegas 11.x - Check that out for sure. (Visit NewBlue for details about this product.)

3. Of course we must not forget, Sony's DVD Architect either. A powerful DVD an Blu-ray authoring and creation tool. The thing that really kicks butt on this is it quite simply is from Sony. They are the standard! Hence I have been able to play any DVD created with this software on any DVD player. I have not had that kind of success with other products. Of course I stopped using other products years ago due to the issues, and now only use Sony DVD Architect.

This may all sound like a sales pitch. All I know is that I use this stuff daily. I need this stuff. It is so far still the fastest tool to get productions out and on time. At least for me. Having seen the turmoil my friends and associates have gone through with some of the other products, I have stayed the course with Vegas. Perhaps it's because I know the software inside out. Perhaps it's because I use mainly Sony tape decks and cameras and know it will be 100% compatible.

Or quite simply, perhaps it's because Sony has put more energy into the Vegas division for the last couple of years and hence, started listening to us users. All I know is that the learning curve is fast for anything new that is introduced and quite simply that the logic for an NLE in this case makes far more sense than most NLE's. Of course that is my opinion only.

There is of course so much more to explain - but I'll let the Sony website take care of that. :)

Obnoxious or simply "How quickly one forgets".... yup!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:29:00 +0000

Today (as almost every day) I received a heads up about a new post from our photo friend Guy Atchley. Yes. That Guy. The one on TV locally here in Tucson. What many don't know is that Guy is an avid photographer too. I suppose newscasters need to do human stuff too to feel alive. - FYI - that was a joke. Actually Guy is a very determined photographer and also loves communication with fellow photogs. Anyway, back to today's posted link he put up (and it's a doozy - so profound):

7 Obnoxious Things People Believe About Photographers was a real reminder of just how obnoxious people can be towards professionals. I would even call it demeaning. But unfortunately this happens all the time. And believe me, it gets old really quickly. READ THE ARTICLE!

Train yourself to not be like this. Be respectful of any profession. That's all I have to say about that.

For those that like to watch videos instead of reading, here ya go:

As seen on....

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:52:00 +0000

Being in the stock footage industry, one never knows who is buying what and from whom. Sure we get information of sales on our collections. But that is about where it ends. But sometimes, one gets lucky and gets to see one's own footage on national programming.

Last night, while flipping channels I ran across a special from MSNBC. It was titled "Erasing Hate". Actually a pretty neat story about a former "skinhead" that changed course and now wanted to have all of his facial tattoos removed. A painful and long process. In any case - While watching I recognized something very familiar. No. I don't have any tattoos. But it seems that program bought some of my footage. I saw these two clips as they jumped out at me:

and

The latter was even a 4K format (super hi-resolution). It showed too. Whenever I see some of my stuff on the tube it quite frankly makes me want to film lots more. Oh yes! Lots!

If you ever need any really cool footage for your production, I can only recommend Pond5 Stock Footage. Why? Not because I am a contributor, but quite simply because they are now the largest in the world, and yet still give a hoot about not just us artists, but of course the customers as well.

2011 Monsoons are whipping a punch!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 19:02:00 +0000

So here we go again. The 2011 monsoon season started a few days ago. Of course this is now the busy season for moi. I chase these storms with vigor to capture nature's deadly beauty - a.k.a. lightning. Of course sometimes I don't have to go far at all to capture my sequences. For example, last night - basically in my front yard. Here are just a few still frames from last nights little cell, or was it?

Are we in a police state now? - Revisited - Photographer's Rights

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Watching this video set quite simply proves that "We the People" are losing our rights more and more due to the lamest excuses. The primary excuse is always "Homeland Security", "9/11", "Terrorists", blah blah blah blah.. Just recently (a few days ago) our president renewed the "Patriot Act" without even thinking twice. Lame! First off, the act contradicts itself in name. What the hell does an act that takes away our freedoms, and we are talking simple stuff, but oooooh soooo important, have to do with being "Patriotic"? Perhaps they should call it the "Parrot Act" instead. As this act simply makes regurgitating false information feasible and lends itself to be the excuse for abuse.

But these cops decided to make stuff up as they go. And then blamed it on the "Patriot Act", 9/11, terrorism, and all the buzz words of the decade. Not being smart or even realizing how bad they are treading on breaking the law themselves, these cops are digging themselves deeper and deeper and truly deserve a reprimand!

We as photographers have rights. Rights that are part of the essence of what the US stands for. And these idiot ego-maniac wannabe cops simply don't get it.

So as a refresher - here is the photographer's rights blog thing I wrote a long time ago that will empower you as a photographer, cinematographer or anyone that likes to take pictures of, particularly public stuff. You know. The stuff our taxes, our tax dollars pay for.

Want to experience a real irony? Go visit the Liberty Bell. You will be patted down and have to walk through a metal detector. Now that's freedom! NOT!!! Alright, they have finally lightened up on security a bit, but it may still take 45 minutes to get through the line due to this "American Way of Protection".

Isn't it time "We the People" told our fearless (fearful) leaders to back off and stop all these ridiculous knee-jerk over-reactions? Just sayin'

Hoodman Saves my Butt at the Long Beach Grand Prix - Easy on the Eyes while Shooting with HDSLR

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:24:00 +0000

As I mentioned in the prior post, there is a company by the name of Hoodman. And they have a kit. A kit named Cinema Kit Pro.

Hoodman makes all kinds of really neat stuff that allows us cinematographers to see even in the worst of bright sunlight conditions. As you all know, looking at the LCD screen of any camera in bright light is an exercise of futility.

I started using Hoodman products way back in the wee early days of SD. To this day, I still have the little strap-on "hoodie" that slips over the flip out LCD of my old Sony TRV-950.

Well. I ran into their booth at NAB 2011 again. Not literally, as I would have simply bounced right and out again due to the nature of the balloon tent thing they had set up.

But upon entering, I was introduced to an offer I couldn't refuse. A package deal! A deal on something I really needed and was immediately able to put to good use. A tool that literally saved my butt only two days later at the Long Beach Grand Prix:
(You can find these products here: hoodmanusa.com and selecting Cinema Kit Pro - clicking here will open a new window.)

The HoodLoupe :

The HoodCrane

The HoodMAG 3.0

Take these items, assemble them, and this is what you get (I call it the "VaderVideo Butt Saver"):

The Hoodman "VaderVideo Butt Saver" combined.

The eye piece (HoodMAG 3.0) is actually a magnifier made of real glass and is super comfortable (very soft) on the eye! It also rotates easily for the left eye or the right eye.

In this type of light, I would not see the screen without!

Of course this is most helpful while in video mode as well.

In any case - I still can see at this point. I didn't go blind due to the glare which would have been the case, no doubt.

It is important to understand that there is something special about the Hoodman Loupe - it is the real thing! Hoodman owns the patent on this concept and device. They use real glass, not plastic. Hence, any other product just won't cut it and is most likely overpriced anyway. We all know there are similar products on the market, but until I found this, there was just no way I would even have considered such a product.

The really cool thing about how this device attaches is, that it really doesn't. I know that sounds bizarre but, it is true. No sticky stuff, adhesives, velcro, gooey strips or any of that type of stuff needs to be attached to the camera which may actually cause more harm than good.

This device attaches perfectly every time with the HoodCrane, but functions perfectly when you quickly need to get it out of the way.

The "crane" has a quick spring release that allows you to retract the eyepiece up and out of the way with a simple motion. It then also lets you swivel it around and off to the side so it really is out of the way. All this without having to detach it!

Mounted and locked

Pull down the "release" and partially retracted up.

complete retraction up.

Loosen a thumb screw and swivel it off to the side.

Of course, if you do need to detach it, simply loosed the tightening screw as you would on a camera flash or any other shoe mounted device and voila! It's that simple, yet so sturdy and solid in design. Again - I love it because I didn't need to apply any additional glue, Velcro, gunk, sticky stuff yada yada and ruin my camera. In a nut shell - this is the most functional piece of equipment I have found that really does the job, and does it very well.

As a stock shooter I evaluate how equipment performs, how easy and fast it is to use and how well it does the job. This gadget outperformed all of my expectations! Oh, and it fits nicely and compact into my backpack. Now that is sweet!

So here is a ton of stock footage over at Pond5 showing some really kick-butt footage of the trial runs of the 2011 Long Beach Grand Prix.

But that's not all! Hoodman is also producing some rough and tough SD and CF cards for us guys that tend to toss them around, "run and gun" and quite frankly need reliability and sturdiness. Full metal jacket SD cards. Durable and reliable.Sounds like a title for a new movie. Doesn't it?

NAB 2011 - Meet Pond5's CMO - Dana Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:19:00 +0000

I am not one for hyping products or services, unless it is a superb deal!

I have now been a stock footage artist with Pond5.com for several years. I have to say, these guys have pulled off what was most likely the most challenging feat in the industry, ever. They have now surpassed all stock footage agencies in volume and size bar none! They are the largest!

As recently as a few weeks ago, Pond5 introduced stock photos to their arsenal. Prior to that, After Effects projects. Before that, music and sound FX. And this all started simply as a stock footage agency. They now have the complete realm of goods needed for just about any production you can think of. They are now the "World's Media Marketplace". Did I mention, they are the largest?

They are the proof that if as a business you treat your vendors, in this case artists, fairly, and you take care of the customer - you can't lose! Such a simple concept that so many companies tend to overlook once they grow. These guys however stay humble. They don't care about ego or anything else that could be detrimental to the company. All they care about is delivering the largest selection of multimedia goods to the world. Oh, and they also like beer.

So why would I bring up the beer. You see over many many years I have seen just about every marketing gimmick at a variety of trade shows. From magicians to "booth babes" - they all try to get your attention. The reality of any trade show, as an attendee is two things that you care or even think about: Your feet are killing you, and you are always dying of thirst. Well the Pond5 boys got it half way right. They supplied the beer in their booth every afternoon when people were really ready for one. Maybe, just maybe, next year they will have a bunch of chaise lounge chairs handy so the we can come over and take a nap after that beer. You know, so that we can rest our feet. :)

So without further delay, and for those of you that don't know, or have never heard of Pond5, here is a little message from Dana Tower of Pond5.com:

A sampling reel of footage from the 2011 Long Beach Grand Prix

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:23:00 +0000

I spent a good 12 hours shooting a variety of goodies at the time trials on Friday the 15th of April at the Long Beach Grand Prix. This has now become its own collection of stock at pond5.com.

Check it out:

Pond5 widgetgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

And here is a little promo vid:

The Avenue picks up the "Best of Arizona Award" - a film by Tucson local Alan Williams

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:18:00 +0000

So the 20th Annual Arizona International Film Festival ended last night with a bang! One of our own, a Tucson local, gets the award for "Best of Arizona" and was the final screening at the screening room.

The film, "the avenue" does an absolutely fantastic and humorous job at showing how our own 4th Avenue here in Tucson has been able to survive that nasty corporate America thing that happens not only to historical districts all over the US, but even in the smallest urban areas. What I am talking about is when corporate steps in and ruins a place where people used to love hanging out because it was pure "Americana" and easy going. I saw this happen in Huntington Beach, CA on main street by the beach back in the late 80's. It really sucked. The whole character of the "old Beach Boys atmosphere" died and became overly commercialized.

Of course if you were to ask our Mayor, well, that's another story and well depicted in the film. In a nutshell, some people really are out of touch with reality. But I digress. Thanks to all the wonderful owners, vendors and people - it seems as though 4th Avenue will survive this type of takeover. At least for now. And after all, there is one corporate "friend" that has also stood by the 4th Avenue cause - Dairy Queen. :) Now I want some ice cream dang it!

Exciting film project about to happen - really!

noreply@blogger.com (Andreas (Vader) Hohl) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:34:00 +0000

So there I was shooting for 12 hours at the Long Beach Grand Prix in California last Friday when I got a unique phone call. A friend of mine out of the blue called and asked if I wanted to be DP for a potential new show. At first I thought, he is pulling my leg as a birthday joke. But this was not the case. It actually is turning and moving very quickly into something pretty darn real. How do I know this? Well, assuming all goes well, I will once again be hitting the road next Tuesday to start this new project. So I ended up filming a race car driver a.k.a. the "Steering Wheel Guy" on Saturday in the OC of CA, drove back Sunday early, shot some stuff on the way too.. got back to Tucson about 2:30pm, took a quick power nap and then off into the editing bay. Here is the preview of what's to come and what we will be doing for the next couple of weeks.. Talk about "run and gun".

If all goes well, we will be putting up "dailies" and blogging about the whole event as we go. So stay tuned. :)

Update 04/22/11 - 6:00pm: It' ain't happening! At least my part. The sponsor decided to NOT go ahead with the project. I wish I would have known that sooner, then I would have enjoyed shooting stock at the beach instead of wasting time on this. I suppose the upside is I did make a pretty cool friendship with Ed Dellis. So it wasn't all a loss. :)
Update 04/25/11 - 8:00am: It may yet still happen. Sports marketing - go figure. :)
Update 04/25/11 - 2:00pm: It isn't going to happen. This leads to what will be a whole new blog entry about sports marketing, or should I say marketing in general.