Hot Mac News

[dojoboy]

Jaguar update (10.2.4) now available; under "Other Enhancements" is a notation referring to quartz rendering now being compatible w/ Sid Meier's Civ3.

[Panag]

Worldwide Developers Conference

Join developers from around the world to explore first-hand the next generation of technology innovations from Apple at Worldwide Developers Conference 2003, May 19-23 in San Jose, CA.
Whether you're a longtime Mac programmer or recent platform Switcher, an IT manager or commercial developer, content creator, Open Source coder, web manager, systems administrator or in-house developer, WWDC 2003 offers an expanded agenda that will help you make the most out of Apple's innovative technologies and the robust and flexible Mac OS X platform.

WWDC is your opportunity to meet fellow developers and benefit from the rapidly growing Mac OS X community, to network and learn the things you can only learn talking face-to-face with your peers and Apple's technical architects and engineers.






Conference Features
Come to WWDC 2003 and benefit from:

150+ hours of the latest information
Strategic overviews, in-depth technical sessions, hands-on labs, and feedback forums.


Comprehensive technology tracks
Apple Developer Tools, Application Frameworks, Core OS, Graphics and Imaging, Hardware, and added for 2003 are two NEW tracks: Enterprise IT and QuickTime — Develop, Produce, Deliver.


Interaction with peers and Apple staff
Apple Campus Bash, Internet Cafe, Birds of a Feather Lunch Groups, and Early Bird Sessions.


WWDC Exhibitor Fair
Expanded for 2003 to include tools for QuickTime developers


Apple Design Awards
Recognizing "best of breed" Mac OS X products


WWDC session videos
Access to all sessions after the conference, both online through ADC TV and on DVD ROM
WWDC 2003 Registration & Pricing
The early registration price is only US$ 1295! For pricing information, visit WWDC 2003 Registration & Pricing.

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Never attended a WWDC?
Check out what you've been missing by viewing sessions from from last year's conference. Log on to Apple Developer Connection Member Site and select any of the "WWDC 2002 Sampler" sessions from the "View ADC TV" menu.

Not an ADC member? Join as a free member to view the sessions today.

hi ,

more info at http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/

its about time we start to expand the MAC CIV lobby group , ......

have a nice day

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by dojoboy
Jaguar update (10.2.4) now available; under "Other Enhancements" is a notation referring to quartz rendering now being compatible w/ Sid Meier's Civ3.

Hmm ... so when will computers start shipping with 10.2.4 pre-installed instead of 10.2.3? And how will active Quartz rendering make Civ III better?

Gatekeeper

[Panag]

TITLE
Mac OS X: About the Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 107362
1/6/03
2/14/03


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOPIC
This software updates Mac OS X 10.2.3 to version 10.2.4.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCUSSION
This information is available in:
Français | Deutsch | Español | Italiano | Nederlands | Svensk




Important: Read Before Installing


1. You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through other means. This precautionary statement does not apply to the normal installation of application software.

2. To install Mac OS X 10.2.4, you must enter the password for an Admin account. The password cannot contain a space or special characters typed by pressing the Option key

If you need to change an Admin account password, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then choose View > Accounts. Select the account name and click Edit User. Type the current password and press Return, then type the new password in both text boxes. Click OK when you are done.

3. The installation process should not be interrupted. Monitor progress by clicking the Detailed Progress disclosure triangle. If a power outage or other interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below) from Apple Featured Software to install.


Installation

There are two ways to update to Mac OS X 10.2.4.

Automatic Software Update Installation

You may have been referred to this document by Automatic Software Update. For more information on this feature, see technical document 106704, "Mac OS X: How to Update Your Software".

Because some updates are prerequisites for others, you may need to use Software Update more than once to get all desired updates.

Standalone Installers

An installer is also available from Apple Featured Software (http://www.apple.com/swupdates/).

There are two versions of the update installer available:

Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update updates Mac OS X 10.2.3 to the new version. This document describes how to use this installer.

Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update (Combo) updates Mac OS X 10.2, 10.2.1, 10.2.2, or 10.2.3 to version 10.2.4. If you need to use the Combo installer, see technical document 107363, "Mac OS X: About the Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update (Combo)".


Enhancements

Enhancements delivered with this update include:

Digital Hub and Audio Enhancements

Further improves an enhancement introduced with Mac OS X 10.2.3, in which files and folders specific to Mac OS file systems are no longer copied to the disc when burning a CD.
Improves audio quality for FireWire audio devices.
Enhances support for mLAN devices.
Adds support for LaCie d2 48x12x48x disc burners.
Improves the way voice-activated applications work in Classic.
Addresses an issue in which audio may not be sampled when using some Mac OS 9 audio applications in the Classic environment.

Printing Enhancements

The Paper Size pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog now has submenus if the selected printer has several margin settings for a paper size.
Includes software for Brother printers that work with Rendezvous.
Addresses a potential security issues with the CUPS printing software; for more information see technical document 61798 "Apple Security Updates."
The Shared Printers list now appears by default in the "Format for:" pop-up menu in Page Setup dialog boxes.


Networking, Modem, and Internet-Related Enhancements

You may turn on or off the ability to log into AFP servers using an Admin account password.
Allows for use of a hardware Ethernet address with the ifconfig command in Terminal.
Improves results when copying large files (4 GB or larger) to a Windows file sharing (SMB) server.
Addresses an issue in which connecting to an AFP or other server could cause a Finder window to open displaying the contents of the Volumes directory, instead of the target volume.
Addresses an issue in which the Web browser selection could unexpectedly change to a different browser after updating your default browser.
Addresses a potential kernel panic situation when receiving a phone call on the same line that connects a DSL modem to the Internet.
Includes sendmail version 8.12.6; for more information see technical document 61798 "Apple Security Updates."
Dialing with the modem sound turned on produces sound on a portable computer.
Rendezvous-enabled computers that have personal web sharing turned on appear in the Safari Rendezvous bookmark collection.


Address Book and Mail Enhancements

Addresses a situation in which an application making use of Address Book could unexpectedly quit when certain text is deleted from the Show People search box.
For German-localizations: addresses an issue in which sent messages in Mail may be deleted even if the "Delete sent mail when" preference setting is Never, except for sent messages transferred to a different mailbox.
Address Book remains open after closing all of its windows.
Address Book edit mode now includes an Undo feature.
Resolves an issue that could occur when quitting Address Book after creating a new group.
Improves Address Book formatting for Irish and Japanese addresses.


Finder Enhancements

Addresses an issue that could occur when dropping items near the far left or top of the desktop in which existing item icons are "pushed away" from the dropped items.
Resolves a situation in which the Finder could become temporarily unresponsive after closing a Get Info window.
Improves behavior when pasting a custom icon over an existing custom icon.
Dragging an alias from the preview column to the Trash no longer deletes the original item.
Improves wording in the progress indicator window when copying a large file to an iDisk or WebDAV volume ("5 seconds remaining" could previously for much longer than five seconds).

Other Enhancements

The Traditional Chinese Input Method now includes Hanin; using Hanin with either Zhuyinfuhao or Pinyin results in significantly more accurate typing.
Reduces issues that could be caused by a damaged font within the Fonts folder of the System Folder used by the Classic environment, even if Classic is not running.
Sherlock allows for typed selection of search results.
Addresses an issue that could lead to a kernel panic when logging out.
Addresses some situations in which Apple System Profiler 3.0 may unexpectedly quit.
Addresses an issue in which the computer may not sleep when idle after disconnecting a FireWire or USB device.
Selecting several items in a dialog list by Shift-clicking now works better in some Mac OS X (Carbon) applications.
Turning on Folder Actions no longer results in increasing amounts of disk space being used.
The Classic environment no longer draws the Mac OS 9 desktop picture on both monitors if you are using Display preferences to arrange your displays while Classic is starting.
Addresses an issue in which the Classic environment could unexpectedly stop on a portable computer while the computer is in sleep mode and certain USB devices are attached.
Resolves an issue in which System Preferences could unexpectedly quit if the Speech preference pane was open, Speakable Items was on, and sound was detected by the microphone.
Improves compatibility with Firaxis Civilization III when the application's "Quartz text rendering" option is selected.
The computer sleeps as expected if certain Ethernet cards are installed but the network port configuration is turned off in Network preferences.
Addresses an issue with Disk Utility (10.3 v88.11), that could result in some disk repair utilities inaccurately finding issues with the "HFS wrapper" of a newly-formatted disk; the issue would not cause data loss.
For Swedish-localizations, addresses an issue in which some advanced calculator conversions could result in zero.


hi ,

front civ 3 page ; with a link to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107362

version "four" seems to do it rather perfect

have a nice day

[Panag]

how to update

TITLE
Mac OS X: How to Update Your Software Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 106704
1/31/02
2/20/02


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOPIC
This document explains how to use the Software Update pane of System Preferences to update your software.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCUSSION
Periodically, Apple releases updates to your computer's software. Using the Software Update feature of System Preferences, you can get updates immediately or schedule when Mac OS X checks for updates. Because some updates are prerequisites for others, you may need to use Software Update more than once to get all desired updates.

Update now

To get updates immediately, follow these steps:


1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
2. Choose Software Update from the View menu.
3. Click Update Now.
4. In the Software Update window, select the items you want to install, then click Install.
5. Enter an Admin user name and password.
6. After the update is complete, restart the computer if necessary.
7. Repeat these steps to see if more updates are revealed. Because some software updates are prerequisites for others, you may need to repeat these steps several times to complete the software update sequence, which is described in technical document 106713: "Mac OS X: Chart of Available Software Updates"
8. Optional: Make software you do not need "inactive." You will most likely encounter some updates that you do not need, such as support for languages that you do not speak. When you choose not to install an update, you will still see it each time you use Software Update. If you want to hide those, see technical document 106705: "Mac OS X: Making a Software Update Item Inactive or Active"

Schedule an update

Software Update opens and looks for updates immediately after you log in to your computer on the scheduled day, assuming that you are connected to the Internet. You can set this to happen daily, weekly, monthly, or not at all. Follow these steps to set a schedule:

1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
2. Choose Software Update from the View menu.
3. Click the radio button for Automatically.
Note: If you do not want scheduled updates, click the radio button for Manually, then skip to Step 5.
4. Choose the interval you prefer (daily, weekly, or monthly) from the Check for Updates pop-up menu.
5. Close the System Preferences window.

[Panag]

featured software - updates

Nederlands | Deutsch | français | Italiano | Español | Svensk




Title/Languages Available Posted Download (EN-NA)
Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update
Z 2003-02-13 40.6 MB
Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update (Combo)
Z 2003-02-13 76 MB
Final Cut Express 1.0.1 for Mac OS X
EN-NA 2003-02-12 12.2 MB
iPhoto 2.0 for Mac OS X
Z 2003-01-31 32.1 MB
iMovie 3.0.1 for Mac OS X
Z 2003-01-31 81.8 MB
Safari Public Beta
Z 2003-02-12 2.9 MB
iCal 1.0.2 for Mac OS X
Z 2003-01-05 11 MB
iSync 1.0 for Mac OS X
Z 2003-01-02 5 MB
Admin Tool Update 10.2.3 for Mac OS X
EN-Z, FR, DE, JA 2003-01-06 6.2 MB
Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.3 (Combo)
EN, FR, DE, JA 2002-12-19 78.7 MB
Final Cut Pro 3.0.4 for Mac OS X
EN 2002-12-05 35 MB
Mac OS X Server Update 10.2.3
EN, FR, DE, JA 2002-12-19 59.4 MB
DVD Studio Pro 1.5.2 for Mac OS X
EN 2002-12-05 5 MB
Power Mac G4 Firmware Update 4.4.8
EN 2002-11-26 1.2 MB
PowerMac SuperDrive Update for Mac OS X
Z 2002-11-8 2.7 MB
iMac SuperDrive Update for Mac OS X
Z 2002-10-23 1.2 MB
PowerMac SuperDrive Update for Mac OS 9
EN-Z 2002-12-05 2.5 MB
iMac SuperDrive Update for Mac OS 9
EN-Z 2002-11-26 1.5 MB
iPod Software 1.2.1 Updater for Mac OS X
Z 2002-10-02 5.1 MB
AirPort 2.1.1 for Mac OS X 10.2
Z 2002-10-02 [ 3.6 MB ]
AirPort 2.0.5 for Mac OS X 10.1.5
Z 2002-10-07 [ 3.6 MB ]
AirPort 4.0.7 Firmware for Mac OS X
Z 2002-10-08 [ 728 KB ]
Search for Downloads


Type the name of a product, an update, or a date (yyyy-mm-dd)


Most Popular
Mac OS 9.2.1 Update
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Updates by Product
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Recent Downloads
See a list of the most recently posted updates (approximately five weeks) available for downloading.
Language Codes Explained
See a list of Language Codes used on this page and in other software download documents.

Automatic Software Update
Most of the updates available for downloading are also available through the Mac OS Software Update feature.

Older Software Downloads
Software updates for earlier versions of Mac OS and Apple hardware are available by browsing the Downloads Web site. You can look at the Older Software Downloads page for a list of all software released prior to 1998-01-01.

Software Download Help
Help on issues related to downloading software from this site is available in the technical document titled "Common Error Messages When Downloading Files".

Help with the Knowledge Base itself is available in the Knowledge Base Help.


hi ,

https://www.info.apple.com/support/downloads.html

dont forget to update now , .....

have a nice updated day

[Gatekeeper]

Zones out half-way through ...

[Panag]

Powerboob G4 ; good things come in a small package

a review from PC magazine ;



Product: Apple PowerBook G4 12-Inch
List price: $2,098
Specs: 867-MHz Power PC, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, DVD-R/CD-RW drive, 12.1-inch display (1,024 by 768 pixels), GeForce4 420 Go graphics, 802.11g (draft spec) wireless, Bluetooth, wired Ethernet
Company Info: Apple Computer Inc., 408-996-1010, www.apple.com



Road warriors whose needs center on images, music, and video should pay close attention to the $2,098 (list) Apple PowerBook G4 12-Inch, the smallest PowerBook yet. This PowerBook has no significant drawbacks despite its small size, and its multimedia capabilities are just about the best you can expect from a small notebook.

Inside the 1.2-by-10.9-by-8.6-inch (HWD) anodized aluminum case, Apple has fitted a slot-loading DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive, a full-size keyboard, a 12.1-inch, 1,024-by-768 display, an 867-MHz PowerPC processor, an nVidia GeForce4 420 Go graphics processor, and a 40GB hard drive. All this comes in a 4.6-pound package (5.1 pounds road weight with transformer).

Bluetooth wireless connectivity is standard, and our test unit came with optional 54-Mbps wireless Ethernet that is aimed at compliance with the upcoming 802.11g specification. All I/O jacks are along the left side: modem, Ethernet, one FireWire, two USB, proprietary video-out, headphone, and microphone.


You don't get a PC Card slot or a dedicated SD card slot (both handy for off-loading photos or filling up your MP3 player), or USB 2.0 (Apple users prefer FireWire, the company says). To drive an external display, you must attach either a monitor dongle or a TV (composite and S-Video) dongle. That's an annoying drawback if you plan to use the system as a presentation machine.

The system has three integrated speakers. In a rare burst of honesty for a notebook maker, Apple says the third speaker boosts the midrange; other makers flirt with the laws of acoustics and claim their tiny third speakers are subwoofers.

Fit and finish are first-rate. Apple's design delights the senses. Most appealing is the nearly seamless case and clean underside, unmarred by the serial number-voltage/world approvals and Windows-inside stickers that afflict PC notebooks. Some design elements bump up the cost, though.

One cost-adder is the cute yet too-clever-by-half 0.5-pound transformer that comes with pop-out hooks for coiling the 6-foot cord (useful); a power tip that glows yellow when charging, then green (intuitive and unlikely to be confused with other lights on your notebook); and a complex, proprietary 6-foot extender cord that requires you to remove, then carefully set aside the transformer's wall-plug prongs when you connect the extension. This is clearly overkill, since a $3 extension cord would work just as well, but it wouldn't have Apple's beautiful glossy white coloration. If you're proud to own an Apple, you'll love the backlit logo on the back of the lid; some will note you just paid two grand and change to do free advertising.

In use, the PowerBook delivers the goods. The keyboard feels great. The included, mostly well-integrated iLife multimedia applications continue to be a step ahead of their PC competitors. Sure, Windows XP downloads and views photos automatically, but only iPhoto variably resizes your thumbnails. iMovie has a new feature colloquially called the Ken Burns effect, named after the PBS documentarist who created "movies" by panning around and zooming in on still images of the Civil War.


iDVD creates DVDs easily. (The middling video score on our multimedia ratings reflects the system's 40GB drive and 12-inch display rather than any shortcoming with iMovie.) Microsoft Office is included, but only a trial version. As expected, the PowerBook reads data effortlessly from USB memory keys and PC-created CDs.

Speed comparisons are difficult with Macs because they don't run our usual suite of benchmark tests, but we believe you'll find performance to be more than adequate. On Photoshop tests, the PowerBook outran a desktop 733-MHz Power Mac G4 (which includes Apple's L3 cache, a feature that is not in the portable). Running informal battery tests with the system at nearly full power, we got 2 hours 55 minutes from the 0.7-pound lithium ion battery pack.

If your life is all play—movies, music, videos—or if your work involves the things others only play at, the Apple G4 12-Inch is as good as it gets in less than 5 pounds. And for mainstream e-mail, Web browsing, or word processing, you'll find the G4 as capable as any Windows notebook.

hi ,

and this baby rocks

have a nice day

[FlameFlash]

any word on when MOO3 launches for Mac?

[Panag]

Originally posted by FlameFlash
any word on when MOO3 launches for Mac?

hi ,

the best place to find anything for mac games ; www.apple.com/games/


have fun

have a nice MAC day

[Panag]

hi ,

more MAC and MOO3 info at the following ;

www.insidemacgames.com and www.moo3quicksilver.com

have a nice day

[Panag]

MIKE WENDLAND : at 12 inches , new apple laptop goes a long way

MIKE WENDLAND: At 12 inches, new Apple laptop goes a long way

February 18, 2003

BY MIKE WENDLAND
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

My new 12-inch Apple PowerBook G4 is one hot laptop -- literally.

Blame it on the slick, slim anodized aluminum case, which noticeably warms up when the machine has been in use for a half-hour or so. One of the posters on my Mac blog (www.mac-mike.com) said he measured the heat from a 12-inch PowerBook that had been on for seven hours in a retail display and recorded 84 degrees.

Another reason for the warmth: The 12-inch PowerBook doesn't have a built-in fan. But, I think the resulting silence that provides more than makes up for the heat issue.

Declaring 2003 the Year of the Laptop, Apple's Steve Jobs introduced the 12-inch model -- Apple's smallest -- last month, along with a 17-inch version, the largest. Both computers are less than an inch thick.

Starting at $3,299, the 17-incher is expected to appear in Apple stores later this month. The 12-inch machine is already shipping.

Overall, the 12-inch PowerBook G4 is the finest laptop I've ever used. I like it so much that I bought it.

The price starts at $1,799. For that, you get an 867 megahertz processor; 256 megabytes of memory; a 40-gigabyte hard drive; a slot-loading combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW); built-in wireless Bluetooth capabilities to connect to mobile phones, handhelds and printers, and a claimed five-hour battery life.

I get more like three hours from the battery. But I also use Apple's new Airport Extreme wireless networking that connects me to the Internet and the other computers -- Macs and PCs -- in my home network system. The always-on radio transmitter and receiver that maintains the Wi-Fi connection is the reason my battery drains faster.

The new PowerBooks use the faster 802.11g wireless protocol, which moves data at up to 54 megabits per second, compared with the 11 mbps speeds of the older 802.11b Wi-Fi standard.

For business and power users -- who move a lot of files around on the Wi-Fi network -- Airport Extreme's capabilities will be very welcome.

I chose to have my PowerBook installed with Apple's SuperDrive, instead of the standard combo. For $200 more, the SuperDrive records and plays back CDs and DVDs, something unheard of in a super lightweight laptop. There's also a built-in 56k telephone modem and an ethernet connection for hard-wired networks.

What won me over is the size. I want something easy to carry and full-featured but I don't need another desktop. That's what the 17-incher seems to be, a desktop replacement. The 12-incher measures 10.9 inches wide, 8.6 inches deep, 1.18 inches thin. Even the square, one-piece AC power adapter is small.

While the 12-inch unit is near perfect for my needs, there are some things Apple could do to improve it. It can't take more than 640MB of memory and there's no L3 memory cache, a more efficient memory feature standard on many laptops. There's no PC card slot, either. But those are not, in my view, major shortcomings.

About the only thing I'm disappointed with is that the 12-incher doesn't have the lighted keyboard feature. That would be as cool as the 12-incher is hot.


Contact MIKE WENDLAND at 313-222-8861 or mwendland@freepress.com.


hi ,

, some comments on the article , .... the heat , well if you leave in the middle of the winter ( or summer ) behind glass when the sun is out and doing its job a piece of black plastic its normal that after a couple hours its going to be hot , ..... the same in those display cases with xenon lamps , .....

a 17 inch was left running for 6 hours and the temp ; 19 degrees celsius , .....

so what did they do with that comp , ......


the woman really love the 12 inch , its small and handy on top of that it fits in a large handbag , .....

have a nice MAC day

[Panag]

DVD time capsules

By Bija Gutoff
The Video Art Works studio is lodged in a picturesque converted 1880 water-powered mill in Sandy Hook, CT (population: 700). But there’s nothing old fashioned about the productions of owners Bill and Marleen Cafarelli. They use DVD Studio Pro and other software and hardware to craft DVDs that keep them booked for 40 weddings a year.

Clients are lining up because of their DVD artistry and because, as Bill puts it, “VHS is dead. Two years ago, we had three clients who asked about DVD. This year, it was every single person who came in the door — and we’re including it in all our packages.”

“For a television show like Dateline,” adds Bill, “it may take 40 people two months to make a 15-minute piece. Marleen and I can make a 1 3/4-hour DVD movie that we shoot and edit and author all by ourselves. DVD Studio Pro has leapfrogged us way ahead of our competition. It’s a very powerful application that lets us produce work as good as what you can rent at Blockbuster. That’s why people come to us.”



They come to Bill and Marleen for award-winning wedding DVDs that do more than preserve the memorable day of bride and groom. These seasoned pros create elegant movies that their clients treasure as family time capsules — and that their industry recognizes as harbingers of what the medium, with the right tools in the right hands, can accomplish.

In Love With Video
Bill and Marleen have stayed in the front of the field for 15 years. But they slipped in, you could say, through the back door. As a commercial pilot, Bill was comfortable with technology. But it was Marleen, a flight attendant, who discovered video. “I had a huge interest in photography,” she says. “I traveled all over the world taking pictures and did all my own developing.” After a single two-hour class in videography, “it was an instant love.” Soon she was videotaping houses for realtors. And when her sister’s request for a wedding video led to a rush of new jobs, Bill grabbed a camera and began shooting, too.

A Video Art Works DVD usually opens with a one-minute trailer edited to fast music. It then covers the day itself, from the chaos of preparations to the ceremony, photo sessions, reception and dancing. To these signal moments, Bill and Marleen add photo montages, music and other video segments.
Photos by Gille Rousseau

Mixing Stills, Video & Motion Menus
“What makes DVD Studio Pro such a cool program,” says Bill, “is that it lets us combine multiple still images, video and menus that incorporate motion in one very easy-to-compose system.” When they do a two-camera event, they edit to achieve a true movie effect that intercuts actions and reactions. “We’ll have bride and groom dancing to the first song,” says Bill, “then cut to people crying as they watch.”

You could, of course, just play their richly layered DVD movie straight through. But, as Bill says, “with DVD Studio Pro, we can do so much more. I import all the video and still frames and music, then I build a menu structure that’s unique to each wedding. The program lets us create chapters, so you can jump to the bride getting ready or the vows.”

Each chapter has normal, mouse-over and activated states, so you see when its status changes. Bill likes to match chapter titles to the color of the bride’s flowers. And he’ll insert action — like a 10-second movie of the groom placing the ring on the bride’s finger — to show that a chapter is launched.

Wearing Lots of Hats
These features take Video Art Works productions to a sophisticated level. “You know, we’re just the local videographers in this little Connecticut town,” says Marleen. “In a small business, you wear a lot of hats. Of course we shoot and edit and author the DVDs — but we also write and design brochures, answer the mail and take out the garbage.”

Adds Bill, “If these Apple tools like DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro were not so easy to use and so well integrated, it would be almost impossible for two normal people out here in videoland to do all these things. That’s the biggest reason we use the products: we don’t need a staff or expensive technical support… we can do it all ourselves.”

Next page: A roomful of hardware ;

Four Power Mac G4s
The quaint Video Art Works studio packs a load of computer hardware. Bill and Marleen use four dual-processor Power Mac G4s, each fully loaded with 1.5 GB of RAM, four 120 GB hard drives and built-in DVD burners. There’s a PowerBook G4 and some older Mac models. Two machines are running Mac OS X. Three external FireWire 120 GB hard drives back up and move projects from one machine to the next. They also have Epson 2450 and 1200 scanners, Hewlett-Packard laserjet and deskjet printers, and, for photos, a Canon S800 deskjet printer.

Equally well-stocked on the software side, they use Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express for editing, compositing and complicated multi-layer imaging. DVD Studio Pro is the tool of choice for authoring menus and assembling the finished product. They use Adobe Photoshop for titling and photo montages, and Adobe Premiere for non-linear editing and third-party special effect plug-ins like snow and rain.



To keep their fingers flying, Bill turns to his Wacom drawing tablet while Marleen has modified her Power Mac G4 keyboard with Final Cut keycaps. They have a host of video equipment, including Sony DSR 300L and DSR 250 high-end three-chip DV-camcorders, four Sony DSR-30 decks wired into the Power Mac G4s with FireWire for camera-to-computer input and output, and various lights, tripods and wireless microphones.

Artistic DVDs
As the availability of advanced tools like DVD Studio Pro pushes the boundaries of what people like Bill and Marleen can do, event videography is earning new stature. “It has taken a while,” reflects Bill, “but people are beginning to view our DVD work with the respect they show professional photographers and musicians, who are considered artists.”

Bill is a vocal advocate for DVD at shows and conferences. “The most important thing people in our industry can do,” he says, “is learn to author and produce DVDs and keep up with the trends of the electronics industry, so they can deliver what consumers want.” In his view, the superiority of the medium is self-evident. “With DVD, you’re not limited to the length of a CD or the small hard drive in a laptop. You can throw a 4.7GB disc in your machine and play two hours of gorgeous video with audio, charts, graphs, photos and menus that jump. It’s a blast.” As the self-confessed nerd of the pair, Bill is always ready to try new features. “DVD Studio Pro is so powerful, there are whole areas I haven’t even explored yet,” he admits. But he likes its simplicity as much as its power. “DVD Studio Pro is a marvelous program to use because it’s so easy. When I first opened the box, I learned it in 45 minutes. The display makes sense, and it’s elegant and fast. But when I realized its possibilities — to make chapters and jump between cool menus and video segments — I was dumbfounded.”

He especially appreciates the menu system. “The way you can import a single Photoshop document with all the pieces you need for the menus you’re going to create in DVD Studio Pro, that’s just phenomenal.”


hi ,

with the price of an empty DVD from HP now below 2 USD or EURO , you just cant say "no" , ......

but still there is one drawback , ...... most companies sell single sided DVD's and single sided burners and readers , ...... so the space on the back is lost , .....
however that is to be changing at a very slow rate , ....

have a nice day



Rivaling Hollywood
Marleen sums it up this way: “DVD Studio Pro gives us the ability to create a most incredible wedding DVD that rivals anything Hollywood can do.” “One year ago,” adds Bill, “you couldn’t get the features to do this on any program a normal person could buy or use — only hard-core Hollywood programmers had access to them. Now, Apple has made this product available to people like us… and our clients’ mouths are dropping when they see what we can do.”

People are dazzled by the cherished keepsakes born from this marriage of artistry and technology. One client called his daughter’s wedding DVD the most wonderful thing he had ever seen. “He saw it as a time capsule,” Bill explains, “of all the people who are so important to them, with their expressions and voices and gestures, for years and generations to come.”

[Panag]

DVD time capsules , part II

While weddings take place in a single day, Bill and Marleen spend months creating their DVD of the event. After the event, couples send in supplemental materials like printed invitations, favorite songs and family photos and videos. “When it’s all collected, we spend about two days just looking at everything,” says Marleen.

“Then we begin to develop the story we’re going to tell, using a spreadsheet with edit decisions, time codes, scene descriptions,” adds Bill. “We use Final Cut Pro to capture everything in the computer, label and organize it, build the story, and edit to a final length. I insert chapter marks for all the menus I’m going to build in DVD Studio Pro.

When I’m happy with it, I click to make a standalone QuickTime movie, then I convert the file to the MPEG2 format. Next, I import all the media and menu content into DVD Studio Pro. To put together the menus, I start with a template and then I customize it.”

Bill does all authoring — creating buttons, assembling images and video segments, and so on — in DVD Studio Pro, and says this part of the work goes very fast.

[Panag]

Harvestworks makes technology accessible to artists

By Stephanie Jorgl
NEW YORK CITY — Harvestworks brings together audio, video and interactive artists, providing technological access and education to creative minds. The non-profit organization plays host to 15 Artists in Residence and gives production services to an additional 360. The total number of artists who use its facilities — including for classes — is 600.

Harvestworks offers classes in synth-building, MAX/MSP, Jitter, Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, and grants studio time to artists who have a vision they want to make into reality. And one of the most popular of newer classes is the one teaching DVD Studio Pro.

DVD Studio Pro Installations
“Artists are doing DVDs with DVD Studio Pro to facilitate their art installations,” says director Carol Parkinson. “They aren’t necessarily even authoring very dense projects with it, but they’re looping, they’re adding, they’re enhancing their own work. And what’s of interest to them is the durability and the ease of use in the gallery’s installation settings.

“It’s really changed the installation artists’ equipment needs. And the gallery can handle it too, it’s very easy, so it’s very popular,” she adds.

“At Harvestworks, we keep on top of the technology, and make sure the artists know about it and have access to it. We are very interested in becoming a point place to explore interactive technology,” says Parkinson. “We even do a Max night school. It’s an investigation — we want to see some results in this area.

“The surround thing is exciting and DVD is exciting,” says Parkinson. “Our job is to make that exciting technology accessible to the artists and to get them in here to use it and do things with it. And there are more people wanting to learn DVD surround now because of DVD Studio Pro.”

Harvestworks has been around for 25 years. Throughout its history, the artistic hub has stayed on the cutting edge of technology, teaching sound synthesis, interactive programming and instrument building, and exposing artists to new technologies.

Harvestworks has relied on Macs since its inception, and currently its five core staff and 20 freelance instructors and editors use 15 Power Macs to inspire artists to push the limits of technology.


The Studio at Harvestworks. Artists and students get access to everything from Macs to ProTools HD.

Moog Approved
“They’ve gone from being a place where you could borrow a modular synthesizer, to being a place where you can use the latest digital stuff. It’s evolved. It’s not a big organization, but what they do is very useful,” explains the genius inventor of the Moog synthesizer, Bob Moog, who has been on the advisory board for Harvestworks since its inception.

“They have classes and they support artists who couldn’t expect to get support from the commercial side of things. I think that’s part of what makes New York a really great city — that we have things like Harvestworks.


Tech & Arts Director. Carol Parkinson encourages others to push the creative envelope forward with technology.

“In New York, with organizations like Harvestworks, there’s a great support network for experimental musicians doing something for which there is a small audience,” he adds. “But that small audience is the kind of audience that then incubates ideas that become more important culturally.

“Thirty years ago, you had to have a Synthi 100, and there were limited numbers of them. Today it isn’t like that,” he says. “It’s very democratic today. Talent has always been the scarce commodity. The talent and the tradition of Harvestworks is what’s important.”



Teaching Interface Design
“Being here in New York and in the downtown arts community, I think the public-access synthesizer studio was also very open to anyone coming through the door, if they were interested in the technology,” says Parkinson. “You could rent a Buchla for $5 per hour. We held classes where you could build synthesizers. Since 1996, we’ve taught interface design using Max.”

Parkinson, an engineer at heart, has dedicated herself to teaching others to reach for the newest, most cutting-edge tools to expand and develop their projects. As technology evolved, Parkinson has done everything at Harvestworks, from bookkeeping and teaching to soldering circuit boards and building her own instruments.

Possibilities for Performance
“We usually offer things before the community says they need it, because we know it’s good,” says Parkinson. “We really know that surround sound and DVD will enhance electronic music. If you look at the PowerBook concerts phenomenon, you realize that sonically, surround sound will take that electronic music and blow the audience away. Then with interactivity, you have a whole new interest in performance because now you can really develop an interactive system.

“I have a trombonist who is developing a little circuit board with sensors so she can get out of her chair, get rid of the stomp boxes in front of her, and start moving around and relating to the audience really quickly,” she says. “She doesn’t want the technology to get in the way of her response and her ability to communicate with the audience. So, there’s a lot of room for experimenting and for instrument modification — a lot of help for the concert stage.”


Next page: The Harvestworks web site ;


Classes in Sensor Building
This is the second year that Harvestworks has offered a class in sensor building. The students get a kit, they breadboard, test, program and download their program to the circuit board.

“They actually develop a working interface, but they still may need help,” says Parkinson. “In the residency program, we have a funder who is interested in research and development of music performance systems. And we’ve been working with them for the past four years.

“So, that’s created a base of composers with knowledge of where they want to go. Now it’s time to get those artists and composers to do the programming,” she says. “So, we hope we can widen the base of the people who are doing this kind of thing.”

Harvestworks Online Gallery
Harvestworks maintains a database of musical works, Composer Contact. Musicians represented come primarily from its artists-in-residence program. The site features more than 100 works from 60 artists in genres including new music, jazz, classical, popular and ambient.

“These are professional composers who are working in the field,” says Parkinson. “They may be working on the edge, they may be using extended vocals or extending their instrument. But some of them are not so experimental. By reading the information on the website, you can get an idea of who you’re going to be working with, you can listen to their music and you can contact them directly.

“For visual artists, we have a section of the site called ‘Visual Contact.’ Those artists are mostly video and installation artists, and their works are viewable in the form of QuickTime samples, that are streamed from a Mac server running Mac OS X, ” she says. The Creative Contact Internet database was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and the New York State Council on the Arts.


Tellus Tools. Showing off the talent of Harvestworks artists.

The TELLUS Collection
The organization also publishes TELLUS, an audio media magazine and CD compilation that profiles and provides samples of Harvestworks artist work. “Our most recent release is TELLUS Tools, a double 12-inch vinyl record in a special edition of 500 sets," says Parkinson. "Twenty five copies of the edition are sold with an original print by conceptual sound artist Christian Marclay.”

The TELLUSTools LP is packaged in a gatefold cover designed by Marclay. The vinyl compilation contains sound art works by Nicolas Collins, Kiki Smith, Catherine Jauniaux & Ikue Mori, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Louise Lawler, Kohondo Style, Ken Montgomery, Christian Marclay, Isaac Jackson and the Bonus Break Artists.

All of these works were previously published on TELLUS, the Audio Cassette Magazine, which documented the development of audio art from 1983-1996. Excerpts from the sound works are available online.

“Even though money is hard to come by these days, now is an exciting time, especially with the interactive stuff,” says Parkinson. “The more we can get artists programming their own technology, it makes it more personal, and it makes them develop it for themselves. It’s an exciting time to be doing this.”




Artists Have Their Say
“Harvestworks is the BEST,” says Andrea Polli, visual/audio/interactive artists and associate professor for film and media at Hunter College. “They are consistently five steps ahead in terms of technology for sound and new media art. They have to be, to provide resources to artists on the cutting edge of the field.

“My first experience with Harvestworks was in a production residency where I worked with sound engineer Leslie Lavalanet,” says Polli. “We were trying to mix the very organic sounds of experimental vocalist Carol Genetti with very digital sounds coming from my PowerBook. Somehow Leslie worked some magic in ProTools and created an incredible mix of our two very diverse voices.

“Without Harvestworks, I would never have been able to produce the professional-quality recordings of my work that have been played all over the world,” she adds.

Polli had the opportunity to work with sound and new media artist Taketo Shimada on the creation of a web interface presenting video of some of her live performances for the Harvestworks Creative Contact site. “The Creative Contact site is a fantastic resource for artists to show their work and also to find out about the other work out there,” says Polli. “Taketo is a genius with Flash and in half a day had put together the perfect interface to showcase my work.”

Recreating a Storm
Polli is currently working on “Atmospherics/Weather Works” with meteorological scientist Dr. Glenn Van Knowe. He and his firm MESO have recreated several storms that occurred in the New York area using a realistic atmospheric modeling system.

“I’m taking that data and re-creating the storms in sound using my PowerBook, ProTools and Cycling ’74’s Max/MSP,” explains Polli. “I’m really excited because the premiere presentation of this work will be in 3D, in a space in New York designed for spatialized sound, Engine 27.”

Visitors to the exhibit will be able to experience the movement and flow of the storms all around them through a 16-channel sound system.

Harvestworks Nutured
“I’ve been using Harvestworks as my recording studio for almost 20 years,” says Ellen Zweig, filmmaker, composer and performance artist. “When I first went there in the 1980s, it was entirely run by women and the engineers were all women. I worked with Connie Kieltyka and Brenda Hutchinson. This whole thing was mind-blowing for me.

“I had a lot of experience, as a performance artist, working with engineers who thought that they knew how to do the live mix better than the artist,” she says. “They screwed up quite a few of my performances. So I was thrilled to work with these competent and creative women who respected me. And wow did they have ears!

The Film Fest Circuit
Zweig is now working on a series of short videotapes, “HEAP,” experimental portraits of Westerners who have some relationship to China, including a piece she just showed at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, called “(tongue tongue stone) G. W. Leibnitz.”

“Right now I’m working on another film about Robert van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat who was also a scholar — best known for his mystery books about Judge Dee, a magistrate in ancient China,” says Zweig.

The tape will have footage from China, the Netherlands and a scene shot in the Staten Island Chinese Scholar’s Garden with an American learning to perform a Peking opera character.

From Adobe to Final Cut Pro
“I started out working with Adobe Premiere, which was a good program in its way, but I prefer Final Cut Pro,” says Zweig. “It works in an intelligent way to give you a video-editing system that recreates — in a way — the system we used to use with analog. So, it’s comfortable to use, mostly logical and fairly quick to learn.

“I’ve always used Macs — I’m one of those loyal Mac people. I started using a Mac for writing and email, but having a whole video studio on the desktop has changed my life,” says Zweig. “I was making large-scale, expensive installations. When the funding dried up, I just sat down at my computer. First, I wrote a novel. Then, I started making video.”

She uses a Power Mac with a 17-inch display, running Final Cut Pro. “For the sound on my videos, I’ve been working with Ron MacLeod who is incredible,” says Zweig.


hi ,

soon we shall be able to make games like CIV and PTW ourselves , ........ soon

have a nice day