#Lee Stranahan Course
21 messages in this thread
Has anyone out there taken the Lee Stranahan two day seminar? I am considering
taking one and am curious to find out if it is worth the $250 clams, or if I
would be better off purchasing videos or buying myself a new hard drive!
Also, If anyone could answer this question for me I would be most greatful.
How the heck do you purge an animation from ram after running it on a '4000.
The only way I have found to do it is to load a different animation (which only
helps if the new anim is smaller than the previous one) or to shut down the
toaster all together and return to the Workbench. It is very frustrating to
run an anim file and then not have enough memory to open Layout.
Can someone shed some light on this for me? The manual is incredibly sparse
concerning this.
Thanks………signed Struggling
Brandon, go to the seminar – definitely go! Sell organs if you have to raise
cash. The guy is excellent. Unlike most tutorials which seem incapable of any
form of continuity – Lee takes you step by step through all features AND does
it in an entertaining fashion. You'll learn about hidden techniques you didn't
even have an inkling about.
As to freeing up Anims – not quite sure – how about loading framestores?
Steve in NY
Brandon,
I can't comment on the Lee thing because I am sometimes involved in the
training…
but..to free up a LightWave anim, simple click on the Freeze button to
deselect it and it will free the buffers.
JG
Brandon,
Definitely worthwhile.
I am an industrial instructor (by day), and learned a fair amount of new
stuff the last one I went too, but I took notes on his instructional
style, which is what I intended to do.
It's also a great opportunity to meet others in similar circumstances to
yourself.
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
Brandon,
I took Lee's two day seminar right after I bought my Toaster 4000. I had no
previous experience with the Toaster.
His course was excellent and well worth the money. He even lets you bring along
your own VCR and tape the session. Between my notes and the tapes I can recover
information that I forgot.
One nice thing about attending the seminar is that you can ask questions. He
answers all questions.
The only negative comment I could make is that he covers a lot of information
is a short period of time. And he moves very fast. Qustions from the audience
will slow him down, so if you don't understand what he is doing, stop him with
a question. That is were being able to tape him is such a big help.
He covers enough information that could easily be turned into a five day
course.
When I asked the same question you did, many people told me that they would
attend his seminar a second time. I will go along with that.
Fred
Fred,
I second your motion to attend Lee's seminar a second time.. (especially
if it is in Bermuda, Feb 22-24th)
I took fair notes but I sure wished I'd known that you could tape his
seminar.
Hey what did you think about Lee' Last Word article (pg 140) in the Jan
Issue of VTU?
Do you plan to join the Conference Jan 17th in AmigaArts Forum con room
#1?
Burning the Midnight Toast
Patrick White
Patrick,
My wife and I celebrate our 30 wedding aniversary on February 23. I'm very
tempted to make that trip. Since she is also in the video business, it would be
a complete tax write off.
Didn't read Lee's article until you asked me about it. So, he doesn't like
Sequest. I know what he is trying to say. Everybody should be able to produce
their own TV show if they want. And he is right that special effects by
themselves don't make a film or program successful.
But, it takes a lot more than just owning a video camera. Script, actors,
director, editor, etc.
I produced a feature film back in 1964. Not a great movie, but not all that bad
either. However, through all these years, we have never been able to find a
distributor who could do anything with it. Many had promised, but nobody
delivered.
Television is the same. You may be able to put together a nice production, but
how to you get it on the air. Local cable companies will run the show if you
produced it through their facitities. We have several clients who have done
just that.
What we need is an underground TV network. Kind of like Max Headroom. Remember
that show? Maybe the cable industry will be the answer.
My own personal feeling is that anybody who wants to get into production,
should either get a lot of experience working on productions, or go to school.
Once you learn the basics, then you can do the experimenting.
What is the Jan 17th conference? I log on with Tapcis and unless I set it to
read the opening messages, I don't see them.
When I signed up for Lee's conference, I noticed in small print a notice about
bringing your own camera. It was at the bottom of the page in the magazine ad.
I called his office and asked if I understood it correctly. I was told that I
could bring a camera as long as there was enough room. The first day there were
about three of us with cameras. The second day it looked like a press
conference.
Fred
> 30 wedding aniversary on February 23
Congratulations on 30!
>What we need is an underground TV network. Kind of like Max Headroom.
Remember that show? Maybe the cable industry will be the answer.
Use to watch Max all the time. With 500+ channels soon to come to cable,
the sky will be the limit. With greater quantity will come proportionally
more quality and the reverse. Now is the time to set the standards.
What is your 1964 production about? I am thinking about taking some
classes on production, (editing, storybooking, etc.) Just need to make
the time.
<What is the Jan 17th conference?
It's a conference on DTV with some noted authorities in the Amiga/Toaster
community. I plan to attend. Hope to see you there. (I have more info
on it, just can't find my notes.)
Tomorrow at our Users group meeting, we plan to have a CD32 presentation,
(the weather permitting.) I plan to tape it. (I understand what you are
saying about Lee's seminars and taping. It's probably just a matter of
time til they won't allow it. I can understand why.
Take care.
Freezing in Louisville, KY with a -30 wind chill.
Burning the Midnight Toast
Patrick White
Patrick,
From under 7" of snow and -25 degrees (wind chill), this message is coming to
you.
I love this kind of weather and here I am inside. My wife drove me to the
doctor's this morning and I can start going back to work for about 4 hr. per
day, starting tomorrow.
The 1964 movie is called "Once Upon a Coffee House". It stars two people who
you have never hear of, but throughout the movie are guest musical and comedy
groups.
First is Jim, Jake and Joan. Joan is Joan Rivers. A complete unknown at the
time. Within months of completing the picture, she appeared on the Johnny
Carson show and the rest is history. So, I tell people that I discovered Joan
Rivers.
The film takes place at a Miami Coffee House and deals with Folk Music. We have
Oscar Brand as a guest.
Several of the extras went from our movie to stardom. Deanne Lund, Gloria Goff
(known today as Gloria Lorring).
All I need is someone who really knows how to hype and make this a success. Oh,
P. T. Barnum, where are you today?
The film was shot is 35mm. All union crew. Cost $125,000. Nobody believed that
we could make a picture for that little, so we had to tell distributors that it
cost $180,000, just so they would look at it.
Running time is 82 minutes. I've had it transferred to 3/4" and S-VHS, and
would love to release it in VHS for home use.
I may make it on to the DTV conference. I don't normally log on to real time
events. Runs up too much $$$ on the account. Although I do have a free account
that I just got with about $25 in credit. So, if you see me with a different
account number, it is still me.
Thanks for the aniversary wishes.
Fred
Fred,
Would you be willing to make copies of your copyright film available
for we CIS users to buy?
I've heard about all of the films that have been shelved over the years,
that I'd like to get the chance to see one that I might not see
otherwise.
Have you tried out those producers who put out movies that are
specifically intended for the home video market? You may end up with a
cult hit on your hands… What was that one producer called? Full Moon
Video, or something?
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster R/t!
Vance,
I was thinking of a retail price of $14.95. So, I would guess a $9.95 price to
CIS users would be reasonable. Let me know what you think.
I am not familiar with the distrubutors you mentioned. Do you have any address
or phone numbers?
Fred
Sure, I'd buy a copy for $9.95. You take VISA? *B^)
Nope. I had read about them in some cine mag awhile ago. They are
doing big business with direct-to-video, though. The easiest way to
find them, is to go to a video rental outlet and have them search for
videos with that production company name. They can search using just
words like "moon".
There are supposed to be several other independents out there doing
the same thing, but this one was the first to pop into my head.
Actually, we do take VISA, Mastercard or American Express. E-Mail me
your credit card number and ex. date along with your address and I'll
send you a copy of the film.
That sounds like an interesting film with J. Rivers. Take care. -40
below (with wind chill, without just -22) and 17" on the ground.
>You may be able to put together a nice production, but how to you get it
>on the air. What we need is an underground TV network. Kind of like Max
>Headroom. Remember that show? Maybe the cable industry will be the
>answer.
When they break the current cable limitation and have 500+ cable chanels
available I am sure there will be lots of interest for productions.
Maybe we should all start to produce stuff now so we will be ready when
the demand picks up.
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
(Any render time >0 needs acceleration.)
I just signed up for the LA classes. I was just wondering what kind of
material do you recive? The adds say that he hands out 50 pages of writin
stuff and a disk.
Thanx
Brad Hayes
CG&A
Brad,
You get a bound manual covering all of Lee's little hints, tips, and 'secrets',
plus a diskette containing some shareware stuff and a little code that makes
TPaint automatically generate beveled over-the-shoulder graphics, etc.
Jerry
Hey Jerry,
Thanx, I can't wait. 🙂
By the way a little tip of my own, for anyone who wants it. Well, you
know how you can only Shadow Map with a Spot light source. If some day you
want to use a Point light source with a Shadow Map; just change the cone
angel to 180. That's a raidi not a diamiter, so 180 will give you a full
sphere spot. You will also want to play with the Shadow Map Size…
I had just assumed everybody kinda' figured this out, untill a friend
of mine just about kissed my feet after I told him last week (and I
considered him a LightWave Expert). He was rendering a room and wanted
softer shadows. Wal-ah!
Brad Hayes
CG&A
Thanks for the shadow mapping tip, Brad. I'll freely admit that I learn
something new about LW virtually every time that I start experimenting with
it… Sometimes it's small and insignificant; sometimes it's major.
Jerry
Brad,
You will get a disk which I didn't find very helpful. Maybe I need more
experience with the program.
The printed pages gave some hints. It is at the office and I will have to look
through it to remember what all it covered.
My main interest was learning how to use Lightwave, but since the Toaster was
brand new to me at the time, anything I learned was worth while.
The main thing is the course. Take it. Bring a small Camcord and be prepaired
to take a lot of notes. Don't be afraid to ask questions. No mater how simple
it may seem.
I thought that I was the only one that didn't understand some of the simple
functions, since I had just bought the Toaster. But, once people started asking
questions, I realized that a lot of people need help. Areas that I understood,
some people couldn't grasp and areas that others understood I needed
explaining. Don't assume that you are the only one who is confussed by the
different functions.
Lee covers short cuts that you just won't find anywhere else.
Fred
To get rid of your animation just click on any effect. If you are using
the Get Small project as I would assume you would be to free as much
memory as possible, just click on the fade effect and it will replace the
animation in memory. Also thanxs for starting the discution of Lee's
class, I just signed up for the LA class (both days) and am very happy
with the responces you have got. I'll let you know how it when afterwords!
Brad Hayes
CG&A