#Mac qustions
19 messages in this thread
First of all thanks to AlanI, JKJ, and LeeS for some great suggestions
for using Bones Pro. The project came out ok under a very tight
deadline. OK. Can anyone tell me if a Mac CD-ROM could read a CD
mastered by a PC based system if the CD is ISO 9660? I've got some
large images I need to get over to a Mac and since we've got a CD
writer at work, I thought this would be an easy solution. I was
going to put both .TGA images saved from Studio and .TIF 5.0 formats
in hopes this will work. Also, while on the Mac subject. Are there
any screen saver utilities for the Mac that will play a QuickTime
movie? And, what's the best way to convert a FLC or an .AVI to a
Quicktime? Can Premier for Windows? Any help would be great.
Unfortunately I don't have a Mac to really test anything on. Ana are
you listening?
All you need to do is to write the gold master in HFS/Yellow Book
format as opposed to ISO 9660. You can obtain special drivers for the
Mac that will allow it to read ISO 9660, but it defaults to HFS.
Paul, I actually did it today to ISO 9660 and it worked fine. Would it be
better to use the HFS/Yellow Book format? Thanks though.
DM
Well the ISO 9660 format is strictly a PC format but lots of CDRom Readers for
other systems will read it. As a general rule Macs choke on 9660 disks unless
you happen to be writing in Hybrid Yellow Book mode. Newer Macs are utilizing
dual format drives that will read both 9660 and HFS, ala being able to run dos
apps.
What software are you using to write your CDs and what type of writer do you
have?
I'm glad it worked for you regardless. If you ever have any specific questions
feel free to ask. I have quite a bit of experience mastering CDs for
PC/Mac/Unix/Irix etc. and have a pair of 900E's in house.
Take Care, Paul
Paul:
I'm trying to evaluate a few CD-ROM writing solutions. The price of the
Pinnacle-Micro is at $2,000 but I suspect you get what you pay for. I've heard
a bunch of negative comments from owners. I've heard better things about the
JVC models. Do you have any suggestions? My desire is to put a ton of 2MB +/-
TIF image files on disk for archive but also for retrieval at any typical
CD-ROM drive in our office, we are a DOS/Windows shop (soon WindowsNT). I
would also like to store animation files and various multimedia shows for
CD-ROM playback. Suggestions on brands, software would be most welcome.
Thanks for any insights.
Bob
Check your e-mail, I have lots of suggestions but we'll probably do better in
e-mail mode.
Paul
Paul, BTW, We're using a Kodak PCD writer at work using Quick Topix/Windows as
the software. It doesn't even have an option for HFS/Yellow Book. I have heard
that Q-Topix is less than an ideal package. Got a favorite? I did exactly what
RobertR wants to do. Saved a bunch of TIF's to CD both for backup and so they
could be read by the print service bureau. We also use the CD writer as an
archival medium. It's worked pretty well so far. I'd be interested in hearing
anything more you've got to add.
DM
Dave and Paul:
Could you provide more info on your setup for writing CD's? Which model?
Ballpark price? Speed? Which software package offers the best bang for the
buck? Thanks in advance.
Bob
Bob,
I have a note here to write you an e-mail, I try not to endorse things on the
forum, but I'm in the middle of changing my residence so it'll be a day or two.
If you have an immediate specific question or two, e-mail it to me and I'll
respond ASAP.
Paul
Paul:
Moving, eh? A nice spot on the beach I hope.
Some CD-ROM questions:
Would I be satisfied with a double-speed writer vs. quad-speed? What would be
the minimum cache buffer size I should look for? Some systems use dedicated
hard drives, what's the advantage? Are there any formats which I shouldn't live
without (ie. Yellow Book, Red Book, CD-XA, CDI, ISO 9660)?
Thanks for your help. Hope the move goes well.
Bob
Paul, you are right, most modern macs can read PC CD-ROMs.
BTW, have you read about the new Nomai MCD? I think that most people looking
for external removable storage, except those searching for CD pre-mastering,
should take a SERIOUS look to this under-$600 technology. IMHO, this is going
to become the standard in external online storage (bye, bye, SyQuest) if it
lives to the promises. Here are the news. I think you may find this interesting
for future reference:
Nomai MCD
Nomai (best known for delivering 5.25" cartridges for SyQuest drives), in
cooperation with partner IBM and others, has come out with a new kind of
storage device called the MCD. Depending on the mechanism, an MCD stores either
540 or 680 MB of data on a single 3.5" cartridge. To achieve such high
capacity, the MCD employs technologies new to removable-media systems: PRML
(partial response maximum likelihood) data channels, which provide more
reliable writes, and MR (magneto-resistive) heads (680 model), which allows for
greater data density. A laser servo aligns the heads by tracking a reflective
strip embedded in the media, so more data tracks can be packed on each disk.
These high-capacity technologies, combined with data transfer rates as high as
8.5MB per second mean that you can store digital video and play it back from
removable media. Available for less than $600 in the second quarter of 1995,
$70 per cartridge. 750MB and 1.2GB 3.5" models expected in 1996.
(Source: MacUser, March 1995)
Are these good news or what? 🙂
ana /krazy images
I have read a number of articles associated with the MCD device, sounds really
nice.
Also keep in mind the new CD standard will hold 2+gigs per disk. Really Nice!
Unfortunately even though the new MACs will read the ISO9660 format as long as
the Mac file system divides all of its files into data and resource forks, the
only way to produce true crossplatform disks is to divide the disks in two and
put duplicate file systems. Resulting in only a couple of hundred megs worth of
storage on each disk. We're really looking forward to the newer higher density
media. Since we started writing multi-platform disks we've pulled in a
phenomenal amount of work from really strange places.
Writable CD players make really nice storage devices with low cost media, but
the lower priced units also create ALOT of flaws when writing to disks.
Premastering is an artform unto itself. To reach our current level of
proficiency has taken me over 18 months of non-stop training and studying.
After a year and a half, I've just recently reached the point where we can turn
around a true multiplatform master without any flaws or file problems. It's
been alot of fun but I never would've dreamed it was so complicated.
Paul
Sounds really interesting, Paul. I will have your name in mind if I ever need
to publish a CD title (which is not going to be to far in the future 🙂 I am
not sure, however, about what you tell me about the Macs. I can get a PC CD,
i.e. the 3DS CD, on my PowerMacs and access any of the files I can access with
the PCs. Nothing is hidden, directories appear as folders (with their true
names) and archives appear normally, extension included. I can point a GIF file
and Photoshop will automaticaly startup and will open the file without a
problem. Just like in a PC. I even can run executables, if I use SoftWindows,
directly from the CD. So what is your meaning for true crossplatform disks? I
am totally lost with this one, now.
The new CD standard is going to be great, and the new 3.5 CDs are going to be
even better. If they get to the 2GB mark, they will be able to get at least 1GB
on the 3.5". The Nomai MCD sounds really exciting indeed. In fact, sounds so
exciting to me that I will be the first in the block with one of these units.
Or maybe a couple 😉 Fortunately, I sold my MO drive just a week ago.
ana /krazy images
Actually the problem is the other way around. 🙂 Although Macs have always
been able to read ISO 9660 in an emulation mode. (( I was doing it on my MAC 5
years ago)), PC's can not read MAC disks. I'm also under the understanding that
Suns can't read MAC HFS disks either. SGIs can read them but doesn't
necessarily like them.
In the MAC file system, every file has two parts, the data and the reource
fork. The data fork contains data for the executable and the resource fork
contains the actual executable code. Some files may contain only data and
therefore have no executable code. Due to this file implementation, two
physical entries are necessary in each file directory, and the two files are
then linked by an associated file flag which makes them appear to the user as a
single logical file. Although this file system design is supported under
ISO9660, PCs and Suns get lost when trying to read forked data. To solve the
problem you simply master in a "Mixed Mode" dividing file systems into two
areas, MAC and PC.
Take Care, Paul
Ah! So it goes in the other way. Macs can read and work with PC disks, but PCs
can't work with HFS volumes, even if the have been written according the
ISO9660 and that's why you have to do mixed mode CDs in order to make both
platform to read them. Is this correct?
ana /krazy images
You're welcome, David. I'm glad your project came out OK.
I don't know about screen savers on the mac, but here are a couple
Quicktime ideas. DeBabelizer is my favorite conversion software, it
reads flics, but it runs on the mac. I dl'ed qtime.zip from this
forum. It has Animetix's Qtime.ixp -I'm planning on testing this
later this week with a 3DS animation exported via quicktime to my
Avid editor on the mac. The notes say this ixp makes files playable
on the mac, but I haven't done it yet -sorry.
Thanks for the info on DeBabelizer. What's it run? If you'd let me know how
your tests come out with Qtime.IXP that would be great.
DM
DeBabelizer:
Lite (has all of the basic file conversions) list for $129 -street maybe $95.
Toolbox (adds significant processing capability and more exotic -SGI formats
etc.) list for $399 -street maybe $275.
I don't have any lit. on the products here with me, so I can't elaborate on the
differences between the two packages, but I could follow up.
I haven't gottem to the qtime.ixp yet, but I'm hoping for friday.
-Paul