OWC Mercury Pro Blu-ray Burner: Rip/Burn Blu-rays on a Mac

It's pretty clear to me at this point that Apple has no plans of offering a Blu-ray drive built-in to the Mac. Sure I could be wrong, but they have made no mention of Blu-rays in quite a while. After all, they sell and rent movies on iTunes and in a way Blu-ray movies are competition to that download/streaming model. Although there aren't many options to watch a Blu-ray movie on a Mac, there are still some reasons why you might want a Blu-ray drive on a Mac. First off, having a Blu-ray burner means that you could burn your own Blu-ray movie and data discs. Blu-ray discs hold up to 25 GBs of data per disc. That's a lot when it comes to archiving and transferring lots of information. Also since just about every digital camcorder being produced today has the option of recording in HD, it gives you a way to make High Def home movie blu-ray discs. I just got a brand new 12 core Mac Pro and I started looking at Blu-ray options for it.

 

OWC Does both External and Internal Blu-ray Drives

I'm starting off with a Mercury Pro External Blu-ray Quad-interface Drive review unit. This drive can connect via Firewire 800, 400, USB 2 and eSATA.

That pretty much covers all the connectivity options that I would care about.  The drive was very simple to setup. Take it out of the box, plug in the power and an interface cable and turn it on. That's it! Although the Mac OS doesn't provide the necessary support to play a Blu-ray movie, it does provide the necessary support to see the drive as a standard storage device for both reading discs and burning them. I popped in my copy of Avatar on Blu-ray and it showed up on the Desktop like any other disc. 

 

Ripping Blu-rays

  

The next question many will have is what does it take to rip a Blu-ray disc? First off, you need to read up on copyright and know that I'm not a lawyer and nor am I'm sanctioning violation of any copyright laws. However, as far as I can tell (my interpretation) you are within your right to "backup" a movie disc that you PURCHASED (not rented) for your OWN PERSONAL USE.  With that said, I wanted the option of Ripping a Blu-ray disc to take with me on the go or to watch via Apple TV if I choose to. Avatar is a perfect example! While this movie is available on iTunes and even includes a Digital Copy with the Blu-ray disc, both the iTunes version and Digital Copy are NOT high def. If I want to watch this movie via high definition without having to load the disc, the only way to do so is to Rip it. In the past I've used Handbrake to rip my entire DVD collection. Handbrake doesn't yet Rip Blu-ray movies, so I had to find another solution. The first application I came across is a commercial one called Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper. There may be free ones or even better ones out there, but this one seems to do everything I want and has an interface that I like. 

It's easy. Just put your Blu-ray disc in the drive and fire up Pavtube. Choose the Blu-ray disc using the BD/DVD Folder button and then choose your output destination and preset. All the usual suspects are there including iPhone/iPod, Apple TV HD and even iPad HD. Yep, Android is there too along with several other presets.

Then you just click the Convert button and be prepared to wait! Ripping a Blu-ray is no trivial task in terms of system resources. Even on my 12 core Mac, the 2 hour 42 minute movie is going to take over 3 hours to rip in Apple TV H.264 1280×720 resolution. Also the estimated file size for this movie is going to be a 4.66GB .MP4 file. Of course depending on the length of the movie, the preset you choose and the speed of your system, your mileage will vary. 

Continue reading “OWC Mercury Pro Blu-ray Burner: Rip/Burn Blu-rays on a Mac”

What a Fantastic Week in the Nordics!

photo by Jason Levine

i'm on the road and literally on the go in the airport. However, I wanted to take a moment to thank the thousands of you that came out to our Adobe Creative Suite 5 tour in Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and of course the beautiful Copenhagen! I had a blast presenting the latest tips and techniques including a sneak peek at our NEW Digital Publishing solution featuring the iPad. 😉

photo by Jason Levine

 

It was also fun having Julieanne Kost on the tour with myself, Jason Levine and Greg Rewis.

The crowds were amazing and when I walked into the Cinemaxx in Copenhagen I literally said "whoa!". It was PACKED!

 

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to coming back to the region soon.

My Web Gallery for Client Image Selection

click the image above to enlarge

It's no secret that I manage my photos using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. Whenever I do a model or client shoot whether I'm shooting tethered into Lightroom in the studio or shooting to a memory card in the field and importing the shots later, they end up in Lightroom. I do my non-destructive adjustments using Lightroom's Develop Module. Before I do any compositing and further retouching using Photoshop CS5 Extended those initial images are posted online in a private gallery for the model/client to review and make their selections. 

While Lightroom has had built-in web galleries since day one, none of the ones that come with Lightroom automate the process for receiving the client picks. A couple of years ago I discovered a really cool Lightroom Web Gallery Template/Plugin by The Turning Gate and I haven't looked back.

The Turning Gate Highslide Gallery

I'm so used to using this template that I often forget when I'm presenting Lightroom, that it doesn't come with Lightroom. Once you download this plug-in and install it, it shows up in Lightroom alongside all the rest of your Web galleries. You can customize the look and feel of your gallery pretty extensively. You can then either upload your gallery to your FTP space directly (hosting is NOT included with the plugin) from Lightroom or Export a folder of your web gallery and upload it via any other method that you use to get files to your space.

The one caveat is that your web server/space has to allow you to be able to run PHP scripts. Luckily most web hosting packages do! This FormToMail script is necessary to process the form that the client uses for their selections to send back to you via email. It's very transparent on the clients end. They basically see a web page with all the images that you provided. They can click to make them larger (again sizes you specify) and they can check off the ones they want. At the bottom of the web page is a spot for them to enter their name, email address and comments. At that point they hit the submit button and you get an email (to the address you configured in the plug-in/script) containing the choices they made. 

You can get the Turning Gate Highslide Gallery here for $25. They also make a pretty cool Client Response Gallery with less features for $10 here.

I couldn't imagine using Lightroom without this plugin!

10 Random Adobe Illustrator & InDesign Tips

10 Random Tips for InDesign Users – Part One

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FQ-syUYIZw

 

10 Random Tips for InDesign Users – Part Two

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnrHOmFwgoA

 

10 Random Tips for Illustrator Users

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlfYELj_-ec

 

Check out more of my Tips and Techniques at CreativeSuitePodcast.com and from my App "Learn the Creative Suite with Terry White" on the Learn

LaCie Rugged goes 1TB

It still amazes me when I think about the fact that we've reached a point where we can carry around 1TB drives in our pockets. I typically carry an external drive or two in my laptop bag for carrying extra files, Windows 7 Images for Parallels, bootable backups and to backup my shots after my shoots before I leave the studio. Until the 1TB 2.5" drives came out this meant carrying two or three drives to accomplish this. Now I can carry one! I got the LaCie Rugged 1TB to put to the test. I wanted one drive that I could partition into three partitions and of course I wanted one that was bus powered over Firewire 800 (and USB when needed).

The LaCie Rugged meets those requirements. It has a triple interface with Firewire 800, 400 and USB 2 ports on back. Although it's bus powered, they even supply a USB to power cable for those situations when your single USB port isn't providing enough power, you can plug this cable into a second USB port to power the drive. They also provide FireWire 800, 400 and USB 2 cables.
Although the bright orange color stands out (you'll have no problem seeing it in your bag or maybe even a dark room), I ordered the optional 3 pack of sleeves to change the color of the drive.

You get black, silver and purple in the sleeve pack. Even the purple/blue is a little more subdued than the orange.
 

So far so good

In my short time of using this drive it seems fast (5400 rpm speeds) and quiet. I had no problems cloning my boot drive to one of the partitions that I made and loading up the other two partitions with the files I need to carry. Also they call this drive "rugged" for a reason. It's meant to be traveled with. It has a rubber outer case (the sleeves) and it's one of the only drives I've ever seen that advertises a maximum "drop distance" although they clearly state that you should avoid dropping it while it's running (duh!).

 

Maximum Drop Height :  up to 2.2 meters in non-operating mode (dropping is not recommended in operating mode)

While this is not the first LaCie Rugged drive I've purchased (I got my daughter one for her Time Machine backups when she went off to college), it's the first one that I've gotten for me.

You can get the 1TB LaCie Rugged here for $199

You can get the 3 optional sleeves in Black, Grey, Purple here for about $17

Thanks for Attending My Westcott Top Pro Tour Event Last Night

If you attended my 2010 Westcott Top Pro Tour Event last night I want to take this opportunity to thank you! It was a blast doing this event and seeing everyone so engaged. I not only had fun but yes I learned a lot too. The evening started off with John from Westcott showing the 6 different lighting patterns and how light affects your subject. Although I've been doing this for years, I've never heard it or seen it explained that way and it clicked with the audience. I now have a whole new appreciation for my gold reflector. 🙂 Then it was my turn to show my complete end-to-end workflow when photographing a model. Once again I had the beautiful Shannon Bayless as my subject and not only did I shoot, but I gave the audience an opportunity to shoot with each of my setups.

We then got into image selection and management with Lightroom 3 as well as the final retouching techniques that I use in Photoshop CS5. This was the first time that I've been able to walk a class through the exact things that I do during a shoot all the way from Makeup by Renata to final client image delivery via Lightroom. I ended up going over my time by about 20 minutes and the telling sign for me was not a single person moved to leave 🙂 So I guessing you guys were getting something out of it.

Thanks again to Westcott for putting this tour together and I look forward to more opportunities like this to share my workflows with you.

 

Gear mentioned last night

Nikon D700

Nikon 70-200mm VRII f/2.8 lens

Westcott Spiderlite TD5

Westcott Modern Vintage Backgrounds

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

Wacom Intuos 4 Small <-It's the one that's always in my bag. Yes, i have a medium and medium bluetooth too. Yes I like all 3. If I had to pick one it would be the bluetooth one.

1TB Portable Backup Drive

The Turning Gate Client Response Gallery for Lightroom 3

Model/Property Release Apps for iPhone/iPad – Contract Maker Pro (more customizable) & Easy Release (native iPad and iPhone version)

The long USB cable that failed me during my tethered shoot 🙂 All kidding aside I've been using this cable for about two years now and it has worked flawlessly up until last night. I have already replaced the one from last night with a new one that I had ordered and forgot to pack. Cables that you're winding and unwinding day in and day out don't last forever. My lesson learned is that I will now always have TWO of these in my camera bag as you never know when one is going to die.

 

Be sure to check the Westcott Top Pro Tour Schedule for the one coming to your area.

Getting Started with DSLR Video for Photographers – Part 5 of 5

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD8rIl2JKg0

In the final installment of this series, Adobe Worldwide Evangelist Jason Levine takes you through the process of exporting/rendering your DSLR video/stills creations using the 64-bit Adobe Media Encoder. He'll talk about some of the most common formats for going to mobile devices, iPods, blu-ray discs as well as common formats for Web delivery. You'll learn about background rendering and the ability to 'queue' multiple versions of your video edits. Also featured: using *presets* in the Media Encoder for your favorite destinations (like YouTube, Vimeo, HDTV, etc)

Download a FREE fully functional 30 day Trial of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and work right along side Jason.

Continue reading “Getting Started with DSLR Video for Photographers – Part 5 of 5”

Thanks Germany & Switzerland! Great CS5 Masters Tour

 

Yes, I even got to present in a real Castle! – Schloss Lenzburg Switzerland

photo by  Markus Dobbelfeld

Last week I wrapped up the Adobe CS5 Masters Tour with the last stop in Schloss Lenzberg Switzerland! I have to thank my overseas audience for a great tour. It was great seeing so many of you in Munich (sadly I didn't make it to Octoberfest or Photokina), Düsseldorf, Vienna, Hamburg and Zürich. We had a back to back world-wind schedule and as much as I loved the locations I visited, I didn't get a chance to enjoy the sites as much as I would have liked to. Nonetheless I had a great time!

photo by  Markus Dobbelfeld

 

See more of Markus' shots here.

Continue reading “Thanks Germany & Switzerland! Great CS5 Masters Tour”

The New Apple TV: New Users Might Love It, Old Users Might Hate It

I've been a fan of Apple's "hobby" Apple TV since day one! I've got more than a couple of them around the house. 🙂 When Apple had their annual iPod event this past September it was rumored that we might see a smaller, more affordable Apple TV and the rumors were true. Apple introduced a much smaller and more more affordable Apple TV. This new box is sooooooo tiny. It's also less than half the price of the model it replaces. As we know, that's rare for Apple products. When the announcement happened I was traveling on business, so I had to rely on various web reports during my breaks to follow the news. The one thing I kept trying to figure out from the scattered reports was, "what did this new one offer that my existing one didn't?" After all we're used to new technology having more bells and whistles to make you want to upgrade. I kept seeing the reports on size, price and Apple's new TV show rental prices as well as Netflix and AirPlay streaming, but that was it. Yes, that was it! This new Apple TV seems to take away as many features much as it adds. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of Apple TV and I think they will sell more NEW Apple TVs than ever before at the new price point, it's just that I'm not compelled to run out and replace the rest of my existing ones. Let me tell you why…

 

What you get

Like I said, it's SMALL and it runs much cooler than the previous model. One of my Apple TV's is located in a cabinet (this is the one that the new one replaces for me) and I often wonder if the heat build up will fry it? So I'm pleased to see the new one take up less space and run cooler. You also get the new shinny silver aluminum remote. I didn't even take mine out of the box because my Harmony One Remote works just fine with this new model too. On the back you'll find an HDMI port, Optical Audio, Ethernet (there is also built-in 802.11n WiFi) and a USB service port. There is one LED indicator on the front and the power supply is built-in so there is just a power cord and that's it. Nice!

Once you have it setup this is where you'll find the biggest differences from the old to the new. 

 

Out with the OLD Apple TV

The original Apple TV with current interface above

 

The New Apple TV is all about Streaming!

There is no user accessible internal storage. Rumor has it that there is 8GB of flash memory, but I imagine that it's reserved for buffering streaming content. So unlike the previous models there is no way to store TV shows, movies, podcasts or music on the device itself. You'll either have to stream it live from the internet or a Mac/PC on your network (see AirPlay below).

 

In with the NEW Apple TV

The NEW 2010 Apple TV above

 

As a matter of fact Apple has made it clear that it's all about streaming in the new menu structure. YOUR content is now buried under "Computers" instead of being mixed in with the other media choices like TV shows, Movies, etc. Also since there is no storage, there is no requirement to "Sync" with a computer. Unlike the previous model, this new one relies on iTunes Home Sharing if you want to stream your content to the device from your computer. So as long as you are logged in with your Apple ID on your computer and your Apple TV, your content will appear under the Computers section. This is not the end of the world, it will just take some getting used to for previous Apple TV owners. New Apple TV users won't think twice about it.

It seems so un-Apple like to not see any imagery from your library on this screen above

Once you drill down into your computer you will then see your content stream by as usual.

 

 

Rent vs. Buy

Renting makes sense and that's what the 2010 Apple TV is all about. There is NO option to "Buy" content directly from your Apple TV. This will be another thing that existing users would have to adjust to. You can rent movies and TV shows (currently only from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America). TV shows are only $0.99 to rent the HD versions as opposed to buying them for $1.99 for the Standard Def version or $2.99 for the HD version. I really really like this model because the only reason I ever bought TV shows in the past was because there was no option to rent them. I usually only watch them one time after buying them and only buy them because I forgot to TiVo them. As far as movies go, I also rent 99% of the time and this has not really changed on Apple TV. The only thing you can't do is BUY a movie (or any other content) on Apple TV. You can still buy iTunes content on your computer and stream it, but not directly from the Apple TV itself. While many would argue that if it's (a movie) good enough to buy, you probably want the Blu-ray version anyway. Nonetheless, I'm still surprised that Apple doesn't at least allow a "Buy" option of any media they sell and have that content download on your computer instead. Clearly this is possible via Home Sharing since both devices are tied to the same account. So why have to get up go over to the computer to buy something and then go back to the Apple TV just to watch it or listen to it? This would be especially useful for things like music and music videos. By the way, there is no option to access the iTunes store from a Music perspective at all on the new Apple TV. You can only access the music sitting on your computer. 

Continue reading “The New Apple TV: New Users Might Love It, Old Users Might Hate It”