VisionStudios

Computers

Curtis — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 23:30:47 +0000

Keeping computers updated and running smoothly can sometimes be a difficult job. This is where we can help. With over 11 years of experience maintaining, optimizing, and setting up Apple computer systems for television, feature film, small business and personal computing, you can be sure that we have the knowledge it takes to create and maintain a system that works great for you.

We create computer systems that eliminate many of the headaches that are so common today. By creating automated backups, synchronization between devices and remote support, we can greatly reduce maintenance costs and headaches for you.

Very often a quick call to our remote support will reduce the cost of expensive on-site callouts. Quite often computer problems can quickly and efficiently be diagnosed and solved remotely without interrupting your day or having you have to leave your desk.

Give us a call at 250 686-1540 to talk about how we can help you maintain your existing computers, business computers and networks. If you are looking to upgrade or design a new system, We can help. We Look forward to hearing from you!

Cameras

Curtis — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:04:00 +0000

I love shooting HD video and taking photos, and I love editing what I have shot. I have experience in outdoor Photography and Videography, and have built up experience with many different cameras.

Web Design

Curtis — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 06:35:21 +0000

Video on the web has become a booming business. Its arguably the most effective way to get your message across to your audience.

I have designed and built a variety of websites.

Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre

Curtis — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 06:07:26 +0000

The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is an aquarium and marine education centre focused on the amazing ecosystem of the Salish Sea.

This was an amazing learning experience for me where I helped to create a graphic interface for a touchscreen learning exhibit. It could be viewed overhead on a large HD monitor, or trigger playback on 3 HD projectors for a panoramic experience of being underwater in the Salish Sea.

Rodeo Riders

Curtis — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:13:53 +0000

In 2010 I had a chance to work on a very cool show with a talented crew. The show was called Rodeo Riders. I wore many hats on this production. Technical Director, Camera man, and Online Editor. I really enjoyed being part of the whole project from start to finish.

This is the clip that ends the show. Shot in Xeni Gwetin (Chilcotin Country)

About Curtis Robinson

Curtis — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:43:01 +0000

(Owner of VisionStudios)

I have had a very interesting and diverse career. After spending 5 years grooming the snowboard parks and race courses of Whistler Mountain I moved into a filmmaking career. I believe in following your passions, and this is where it led me.

I enjoy solving technical problems, and love to see beautiful images on the screen. I have built many edit systems for people over the past years, and worked on a variety of shows. Reality TV, Documentary, Action Adventure, Stop Motion Feature Film, and Commercials.

I love to learn, and this career has allowed me to do that constantly. It has taken me to some very beautiful locations, fishing, heliskiing, and the tops of mountain ranges as well as long hours in front of a computer.

I have a beautiful wife and 6 kids, and I love to spend time teaching and learning from them as well. I also have a passion for music, and currently practice playing the Marimba and Mbira.

I am currently building a Cob home (Clay/Sand/Straw) on 5 acre farm in Duncan B.C.

Please take a look through my site, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions to ask, or potential projects to work on. I would be happy talk with you.

Curtis Robinson

Curtis@Visionstudios.ca

About Vision Studios

Curtis — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:10:37 +0000

Vision Studios is a multimedia company offering services of digital video production, non-linear editing, web site design, web video compression, multimedia presentations, special effects, sound design, DVD authoring, Apple technical support (remote or onsite), and A/V technical support and consulting.
Established in 1999 by Curtis Robinson, Vision Studios is an active, dynamic and growing company. Our expertise comes from years of professional experience, as well as our aim to be at the forefront of constantly evolving technology. Our passion comes from our desire to create provocative, stunning and memorable visuals.
Our selected client list includes:

Geo Discovery, Bodoglife, Jumbo Dynamo Productions (Edison and Leo), Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Cisco Networks, Masthead Restaurant, Digicool.com, Nuuchahnulth Tribal Council, Resort Television Network, WhistlerBlackcomb, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Adventure West Resorts, Ocean Explorer 1, Elkin Creek Ranch, Coast Range Heli Skiing, Resort Municipality of Whistler, Whistler Bungee, Powder Mountain CatSkiing, Tommy Africas Bar, Domino’s Pizza, Hy’s Steak House, Ziptrek, Wildwood Bar and Restaurant, Whistler FlyFishing, Digital Redpoint, Brewhouse.

software update wont update os x, Smartboard Technologies

Curtis — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 05:40:42 +0000

Mac OS X 10.6.4 Update Fails

remove /etc/launchd.conf

It seems in a fit of incredibly poor software citizenship, the Smart installer sets a limit on the number of open files – for the entire operating system and all programs running on it. This file handle limit not only prevented my update from running, it caused me to get some fairly vague messages that had me thinking something was corrupted.

Once I deleted the /etc/launchd.conf file that Smart Technologies saw fit to spam onto my computer the update ran smoothly and completed without a hitch.

Bad Smart Technologies, bad

Restart Computer

After removing /etc/launchd.conf, restart the computer

Retest software update

Software update should work fine now.

Render Farm

Curtis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:24:27 +0000

Apple Qmaster Render Farm Setup

Tested Compressor and Qmaster render farm setup.

Here you can look at the settings and configuration of the setup that I am currently using, Nov 29/07

You need to install Compressor and Qmaster on all of the machines that you are going to cluster together.

I have installed Final Cut Studio 2 on all of the machines

You need to have a fast connection to your shared storage

I am running a small render farm using 2x MacPro 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Workstations and 1x Xserve 2 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon,

The computers are connected together with single Fibre Channel cable to a 10TB Xsan.

I have set the Shared Cluster Storage to a Folder on the Xsan, (volume01/admin/RENDERFARM)

All computers have read and write access to this folder (777).

In System Preferences you configure Apple Qmaster

Here are my settings in setup menu.

I have my workstation (STATION11) setup as Services and Cluster Controller.

Other computers in the cluster

The other client stations are set up to services only.

(Nas01 and Station12)

Here are my advanced settings

I have set my Cluster storrage to /Volumes/volume01/admin/RENDERFARM.

It is set to delete Old files after 1 day.

After you stop sharing you need to reset services before you restart again

Once you stop Qmaster services this button changes to Start Sharing. If you hold down the option key and click on this button it changes to Reset Services. I Reset services on all machines every time I shut down the services. If you don’t do this then often the machines do not show up in Apple Qadministrator > Qmaster Service Browser

Open Apple Qadministrator and check to see if the machines you have set up are showing up in Qmaster Service Browser

If they are not showing up, then Reset the services as described in the above step.

Create a new Cluster and choose a controller

Drag the Machines that are showing up in the Qmaster Service Browser up to the Services Window to assign them to the new Cluster.

If you ever want to remove a machine from the cluster that you have set up, go here and drag them back down to the Qmaster Service Browser Window.

Make sure to apply your changes

Apple Qadministrator Preferences

My Cluster isn’t hooked up to the internet, so I have left these Preferences like this, the security settings are blank

To speed up your rendering in Compressor make sure to change the Cluster Options from copy source to cluster as need to Never copy source to Cluster

Your new cluster should now be available in Compressor

Test your renders and see if the new cluster is working. try a 1min video and test to see how long it takes for your render.

Here is one of my Compressor settings that I use all of the time for web previews with timecode and ID BUG

Name: H.264 800Kbps 16×9

Description: H.264 for high-bandwidth connections

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 295.31 MB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 480

Height: 270

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop: (L: 0, T: 20, R: 0, B: 20)

Padding: None

Frame rate: (100% of source)

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: H.264

Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

Pixel depth: 24

Spatial quality: 50

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Key frame interval: 150

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

Average data rate: 0.688 (Mbps)

Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

Alpha: 1.000

Label:

Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

Text Color: r:0.0000, g:0.7331, b:0.0020

Font: Helvetica, 18

Here is a setting that I use for Hi Quality Previews of my HD content.

Description: H.264 for LANs/Intranets

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 1.07 GB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 960

Height: 540

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop: None

Padding: None

Frame rate: (100% of source)

Selected: 24

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: H.264

Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

Pixel depth: 24

Spatial quality: 50

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Key frame interval: 150

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

Average data rate: 2.56 (Mbps)

Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

Alpha: 0.500

Label:

Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

Text Color: r:1.0000, g:1.0000, b:1.0000

Font: Helvetica, 24

Watermark

Position: Lower Left

Scale By: 0.500

Alpha: 0.250

Repeat On

File Name: volume01:admin:User:Logo_1920x1080_IDBUG.psd

If I need to deliver the same content in a more compressed version I use this

Name: 960x540_Edison_Leo_Weekly_web

Description: H.264 for web

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 439.45 MB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 960

Height: 540

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop: None

Padding: None

Frame rate: (100% of source)

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: H.264

Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

Pixel depth: 24

Spatial quality: 50

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Key frame interval: 150

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

Average data rate: 1.024 (Mbps)

Maximum data rate: 1.024 (Mbps)

Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

Alpha: 0.500

Label:

Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

Text Color: r:1.0000, g:1.0000, b:1.0000

Font: Helvetica, 24

Watermark

Position: Lower Left

Scale By: 0.500

Alpha: 0.250

Repeat On

File Name: volume01:admin:UserLogo_1920x1080_IDBUG.psd

I am encoding video that has been exported from an Avid timeline in its native codec Avid DNX-36

To get this to work i needed to intall this codec on all the machines that I am using to render. put the components in Macintosh HD/Library/QuickTime/

Once you restart your machines they will now be able to play the Avid Files.

I have installed a FibreChannel card in the avid so that it has access to the Xsan.

We export a self contained movie from the avid onto a shared folder on the Xsan. This file is dropped onto a dropplet created in compressor. When the droplet starts up it asks what machine you want to use to render. Choose your new cluster.

I will run a benchmark test for you with 1 min of video encoded with this setting

Description: H.264 for LANs/Intranets

Estimated file size: 1.07 GB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 960

Height: 540

1 Machine rending alone

Name: 1minDNX36.mov

Job Type: Compressor

Priority: High

Time Elapsed: 0:17:22

Time Remaining: 0:00:00

Percent Complete: 100

Status: Successful

3 Machines Clustered

Name: 1mincluster

Submission Time: 29/11/07 6:12:44 PM

Owner: station11

Time Elapsed: 0:04:13

Time Remaining: 0:00:00

Percent Complete: 100

Status: Successful

Ive noticed that when using the cluster that the activity monitor is working much harder than 1 machine alone.

My slowest machine is ususally the one that is the last to finish the render. In this case Nas01 took about 20 seconds longer to complete its render.

Hmm… I wonder how fast it would be with 10 computers clustered together? Faster than real time?

Curtis Robinson

VisionStudios.ca

Services

Curtis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:32:00 +0000

Your company and your goals are unique.

That’s why we approach every project with a fresh outlook.

We know that the most important objective is to deliver your message effectively. This means presenting your ideas clearly, through multimedia images – the most powerful medium of communication that exists. We can tailor a budget to fit your needs, so you get the best quality possible, without any surprises. We’ll provide you with the multimedia tools that promote your products to the right audience.

We offer services of Apple technical support (remote or onsite), digital video production, non-linear editing, web site design, web video compression, multimedia presentations, special effects, sound design, DVD authoring, and A/V technical support and consulting.

Be sure to check out the showcase page!