CompuServe Messages

Gary, As you may have seen from an earlier post I was having problems with the Quantum HD that CB sent with the Flight Recorder (the unit has "Quantum Evaluation Unit" stamped on it). It would lock up every second time it played a certain clip. Well, after a lot of head scratching, cable swapping, defragging, FLyer re-formats, and general frustration I decided to recapture the clip, and now it appears to work flawlessly. But then again it was working just fine last evening before I shut everything down, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what gives tomorrow. Just in passing, one of my clients who was in the studio earlier today to post a TV spot, after seeing a short demo of the FLyer, he asked if I would mind using the it to post two 15 second versions of the :30 we just finished in the linear Bcam/MII edit bay. He was extremely intrigued with the possibility of moving clips around for fast changes. He books travel excursions to Mexico and Hawaii and has lo-ball airfare prices that require frequent updating. By having fast turnaround on different versions of essesntially the same spot, we can change prices and destinations quite easily. The only hangup I have at this point is the extremely awkward way that the present Flyer software handles "insert-video-to-audio" type edits. While I am able to play audio clips withinn a video sequence, I can see I'll be spending huge amounts of time changing the in/out points of the video clips to get the CG pricing footage to match the announce copy. Incedently, I am creating original CG keys over footage on my other Toaster using Montage, and running straight to BetacamSP, then digitzing from that source to the FLyer. So far the results are acceptable, but unfortunately the TBC I am using (TBCIV) doesn't have any way to handle Betacam component for input, so I have to use the composite out of a portable (BVW35) whcic is not nearly as crisp as either a properly transcoded Bcam-to-composite signal or the composite output of my other Bcam source deck (BVW15). Since my two systems are in different rooms, I'll have to either snag a decent bcam transcoder or wait until 4.0 ships and I convert the main edit suite over to the FLyer. I am extremely tempted to run a direct cable from the output of my main edit bay Toaster into the other room to capture Flyer CG overlay footage without having to go BcamSP in between. If I get ambitious and can work out the delay timing considerations I'll post a note to let everyone know how it turned out. On the whole, I am very pleased with the quality of the Flyer and hope to see 4.0 installed quickly. I am anxious to start getting a return on my investment, and stop paying for the privelege of bug catching for Newtek. I do babble on at times, please forgive. Frank