CasablancaExpert

Using the Bogart HD Backup to Archive Just One Project at a Time

Here is another submission from the Ask the Expert category from the Casablanca Expert.com website:

QUESTION: MY Casablanca S4000Pro internal hard drive is 97% full.  I used the HD Hard Drive Backup to backup all 30 projects into the External LaCie hard drive but the storyboards and scene bins are still full.  What steps do I take to back up one project at a time and at the same time free up the space in to project?

ANSWER: My first comments won't really help you now, and likely won't be pleasing to hear... but it is strongly recommended not to exceed 90% of your hard drive capacity.  Some folks won't even go above 85% to ensure enough data space to complete the projects you have in process.

Now onto to your answer:Now onto to your answer: There is no formal method for archiving (backing-up) just one entire project (both Scene Bin & Storyboard, audio, etc).  You could use the Storyboard Archives (from the project Settings menu) but that only gives you the Storyboard, not any inserts, not the complete effects settings and only the top track of audio).

Some colleagues are using the Bogart HD Backup feature to backup just one or a few projects at a time onto an external HDD but there is not a means to do this with a hard drive as full as yours.  If you had a new (2nd) external HDD... first, confirm that you have your nearly full hard drive successfully archived on what I will call HDD#1

What you would/could do is to delete all projects on your internal HD except one.  Then archive this project/s onto the external HDD#2 with a different name (project name, etc).  Then load back the full HDD from HDD#1 and delete all projects except a different project, back that up to HDD#2 with a different name, etc.  After you have done this with each of your projects you would have all separate projects archived (backed up) with a different name... the full HDD with all 30 projects is actually what is being archived but since you only had one project in the internal HD that is what has been archived.

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You may find this following Casablanca Expert article of further assistance:  Using the Bogart HD Backup function

March Get Together 2010 -- Programs Announced!

Jim Meeker - the founder of the March Get Together (Casablanca Users Conference) has announced the specifics for the 2010 MGT.  You can read more about this upcoming event below... I am happy to once again be part of the 'faculty' for this event, presenting four different sessions. 

I will also be offering my 2-day Hands-on Intermediate Casablanca Workshop preceding the MGT 2010 (Sunday and Monday, March 7-8) - read more about that session on my website here: http://davenport.eventbrite.com/ and a new offering, an Advanced Casablanca Workshop directly following the MGT 2010 (Friday & Saturday, March 12-13).  More info to come on that special session.

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       (  There will be a way to save $50.00 coming....so stay tuned! )            

Hello Casablanca users,

I'm writing now because the 6th Annual "March Get Together" is just around the corner and I want everyone to know about it now so that they can plan to be here from March 8th through the 11th of this year.

This information is a little late this year because I had two strokes last fall and lost my ability to concentrate on getting things done.  Hospital life even for just a week is not very pleasant.   I'm now pretty much back to normal,  and getting the planning for the MGT back up to speed.

We have all the  speakers lined up to give you the latest information about our Cassie system and how to use it no matter  if you are a beginning hobbyist or a long time professional earning your living with video.

The "March Get Together" has always been about us learning from each other.  We are a family of friends who use the same equipment and software and share a love of video.   This is and always will be the root of what we do at the MGT.

More information will be coming to you in the near future; but for right now, let me point out some of the highlights of this year's event.   This is not the complete list as more is in the works and deals are pending.  So watch your in-box regularly.

The most appreciated and popular event last year was Roger Schutter's 3 hour session on how to make a short movie. He will be doing the same thing again this year but with a different script and subject. He is the master at this and we are so lucky to have him with us again this year.

Chet Davis   the "Casablanca Expert" will be back again with four different programs including showing us all about the new Bogart 3.0 and Smart Edit 9...how to get your stuff on the internet, A Magic Bag of Tricks, and will answer your specific questions in a live discussion from the floor. The subjects of titling and audio may come up as these are the most often asked questions at his workshops and seminars.

Chet will also be holding his special Two Day Hands On Workshop before the convention on March 7th and 8th.  Sign up for this separately by going to Chet's web site here http://davenport.eventbrite.com/.  Stay tuned for even more exciting possibilities from Chet.

Tom Koziol will show us what has become a blessing for his business in this lousy economy.   He has a subject to tell you about that is making money for him and picking up the gap in business when everything else is going downhill.  You don't want to miss this presentation.

Joel Brooks will be showing us the methods he used to create his music video "700 Miles"     How he created the pleasant "film look" and how to succeed with audio syncing in a music video.

Ken Smithers  will be doing three different programs for us this year.   He will show us how he uses the personalized story books from Heritage Makers to generate additional income. If you shoot weddings, this could be a HUGE money making opportunity for your business.

Ken will be discussing how to advertise and market your video business in today's tough economy by using cost effective advertising and networking tools.

Lowell Brockway and Ken Smithers will show you how they both use "Send Out Cards" to increase customer satisfaction, and obtain new clients simply by asking your existing clients for a referral.

Tim and Beth Thrift will be showing all the details of their   "Captured Moments" album process.   This is the same thing that was featured on one of Chet's famous "Webinars" recently and has proved to be a winner in adding a new stream to your cash flow.

The Tuesday night entertainment hour that started with our lost  friend, Kent Sorrells will again be continued by our resident magician Dale Bishop.  Dale promises to practice, practice, and practice even more.

Wednesday evening will be the "Show your Stuff" event where attendees may have parts of their work projected for all to see. If you have something you want shown that night please send me a copy of it ahead of time so that I can approve it and schedule time for it.  Last year many folks didn't send their videos  in ahead of time....and we had a last minute rush of confusion.

CAMAUDIO of Texas,  will be our dealer for the MGT. Seth Hampton will be bringing a trailer load of equipment to show and demonstrate as well as providing sales of MacroSystem products and software to all attendees.  He is providing most of the background equipment help and expertise for set up and operation of the event. As in the past we encourage all attendees to take advantage of the discount prices offered by the MGT dealer at the Get Together.

Waiting Word on prizes and awards.  There have been discounts, prizes and hardware items given away in the past and we are waiting for confirmation from MSDE and MSUS on what these will be this year.   Keep your in-box open for exciting word about these things soon.

Banquet scheduled for Thursday evening with all it's surprises.   Keep and eye tuned for news here.

More information will be sent to you soon, so please clear your schedule for the 6th annual MGT March 8th to the 11th, and remember Chet's two day hands on workshop March 7th and 8th....and it's all happening at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Davenport, Iowa.   Make your reservations by calling (563) 391-1230.

More information is coming soon.                                                                                                                                                                   
Jim Meeker
"The Old Timer"
Founder Of The
March Get Together
For Casablanca Users 

Myths About USB Connected HDDs (External Hard Drives)

First there was a call I had with a website member last week and then this week there was a thread on the Cassie Tips List Serv this week so I thought the topic worthy of further conversation.  For years the only way to get the video signal into our Casablanca video editors was either analog video cables (RCA/Phono or S-video) or DV (firewire) cable.  Although there were some systems using USB to move video we were unable to do so.

That remains the case with Casablanca Smart Edit - those editors working with the Smart Edit OS are not directly compatible with the newer camcorders which use USB to import video.  The newer Next Gen Casablanca editors (those running on the Bogart OS) are able to import AVCHD video via USB connections.

Then there is the topic of external HDDs (Hard Disk Drives)...the title of this article.

When you use the Bogart HD-Backup or the Storyboard Archives function onto an external HDD, you are saving the data file/s rather than the video itself.  This is the same whether you are using a firewire connection or a USB connection to the external Hard Drive. I found there are some in our community who are/were not aware that you can use the USB connection to an external HDD for these purposes. I, along with several others , have been using the USB connection to the external HDD when using the Bogart-HD Backup (which is found in the System Settings menu of Bogart OS Casablanca units, after you purchase and install this add-on software).

I have a streaming video from a previous Casablanca Expert Public Webinar in the archives that explain these archival functions here:  http://www.casablancaexpert.com/categories/webinarpost

Once on this webpage, scroll down to
Casablanca Webinar - General Session
Episode 15
Held Tuesday 9/08/09

  This is the rear of a LaCie external HDD - showing the connectors. With the Archive/Restore functions you could use either the USB or the PC Mac (which is USB-mini) cable for this drive

And this is the rear of a Western Digital 'MyBook' external HDD - showing the connectors. With the Archive/Restore functions you could use either the USB (the more rectangular which is known as USB Mini-B plug) or either of the two (6-pin) firewire cables for this drive

Set Your Casablanca Calendar & Clock

I know that it is/was a good idea, but just today I ran into a situation where it really made a difference.  It can really help when you are sifting through your files and need to ensure you select the one you really  want. What I am talking about?  Setting your internal clock... on your Casablanca video editor that is!

This is useful in latter versions of Smart Edit as the info (which is accessible when you click the tiny 'i' at bottom right corner of the Edit menu) will display the date/time of a scene.  It is automatically added when you import footage via fire-wire, but is also added automatically when you create a new scene, etc.

But where this internal clock/calendar is most helpful (I found out today) is when editing on the Bogart OS and exporting your file/s to upload to the internet.  I have this video I edited for my sons school and was getting it posted to the school's Facebook page (which I also voluntarily maintain).  I created a couple of different versions of this short video and wanted to make sure I was loading the latest version.  My internal clock was not properly set which meant I had to think more than I wanted to first thing this morning... so here is how you set the calendar/clock.

Click into the System Settings menu

Click on the 'Set Time' button and you will be presented with this menu:

 

Adjust the 'Year', 'Month' and then use the sliders at bottom to set the Hour and Minutes. If you are outside of Germany, I recommend setting the 'Format' to International. If you leave it set to Automatic, it may auto-modify the time if/when you are connected via Ethernet to the internet.

Again - if you are editing with the Bogart OS this comes in handy as the Scenes & Storyboards you export to the Media Manager are auto-stamped with the date/time.  And having the date/time correct allows you to more easily find the file/s you want to use when you bring them over to your computer for uploading to the internet.

Why the Difference in HDV Editing?

At Casablanca Expert.com I have a feature called 'Ask The Expert' where website members/ subscribers have the opportunity to ask questions that might not yet be covered in the more than 350 pages of articles, tips and tutorials.  From time to time I will feature some of these on the Casablanca Expert Blog here... like this one:

QUESTION:  I have two Casablanca units, a Prestige and a S4000 Pro unit. When I send HD footage into the Prestige after it accepts the footage the Prestige wants to convert the footage to SD from HD (I am using version 8.1). Can you tell me why that is happening? When I run the very same test on the S4000 it goes in fine.

Also on the Prestige you have only 1 option in project settings and that is HD. On the S4000 you have 2 options HD and HD Progressive does that sound correct?

 

ANSWER: Yes that is to be expected (not desired, but expected).  In the Casablanca Smart Edit OS when editing HDV, you would import HDV and then when finished importing that segment (tape or portion of a tape) the unit would take some time (hours... literally) to down-convert and create an SD (Standard Definition) version of that same material.

Part of the attraction to editing HD on the new Bogart OS is the fact that you don't have to deal with that long down-convert that was/is part of the Smart Edit approach to editing HDV.  There is no 'problem' with down-converting in your Prestige except for the time you must allot for the process.  When you are completed editing you have an SD version to use right away.  In Bogart you must take the time to down-convert the HD to SD (and frankly right now that is not providing such great results in Bogart -- see this previous blog post for more on that topic.

If your next question is, when will this be addressed... when will Smart Edit get the same speedy access to editing HDV as Bogart has? (guess you can surmise I have been asked that before)... the answer, I believe is that it won't. The ability for the new Bogart editors to process the HDV data more efficiently has to do with the new hardware / software approach.

And regarding the project settings, the answer is also yes, that is correct. The Smart Edit configuration does not provide for a Progressive version of HDV editing.  Wait 'til you see the new Project Setting options in Bogart OS 3...even more options for HD!

Note: If you're working with Progressive HD footage and editing it with Smart Edit - you would be wise to run the finished video/segments through the Movie Mode effect (under Special in the Edit menu) to de-interlace the effects.

Previous article of interest: Should I Down-Convert in my Casablanca or in the Camera?

Great Shareware (free) PC Software to Create ISO CDs

This past week, MacroSystem US released the long-awaited free update to Smart Edit 8 (V8.3) - read more about the update in this blog post.  I regularly have colleagues sharing how they find the whole process of downloading and burning their own CD of new Casablanca software so challenging. So I thought I would share a tool that I found in the past few months that makes that job much easier.

This freeware application is only available for Windows OS and enables you to burn an Image file to CD 'ISO Image CD Recording Wizard'  and can be downloaded at http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/

I recommend this as I have found this the easiest to use of the options tghat I am aware of... here is what you do to acquire the file and then burn it onto CD for installation onto your Casablanca.

1. First download the software above.

2. NTSC customers should visit the MSUS website and click on the file you wish to download (PAL customers please contact your reseller for download links)

Operating System

 BOGART OS:  http://macrosystem.us/index.php?pr=Bogart

SMART EDIT OS:  http://macrosystem.us/index.php?pr=Smart_Edit

Add-on software
http://macrosystem.us/index.php?pr=Add-Ons

3. Your computer will confirm if you want to save this file, click yes.
4. After the file is downloaded (larger files may take an hour or more),
5. The file will appear in the folder you requested (or on your desktop). Click on the file and it should open the CD Recording Wizard (function of the above software). Ensure that 'Source: Image File' is selected.
6. Place blank CD into computer drive tray - CD Recording Wizard should now say 'Media Available'
7. Click 'Next' and it will create/burn a CD for you of the software.
8. Eject the disc when complete and insert into your Casablanca video editor.

You may now install the software, software upgrade or update/s you wish onto your Casablanca.

NOTE: AVIO, Kron, Prestige can only use an Operating System (OS) installation CD to update/upgrade onto a Hard Drive where you already have an Operating System.  If you are working with a brand new hard drive (no previous Casablanca OS) you must first install the OS from a Smart Media Card.

If you are working with an Apple/Macintosh computer, members at Casablanca.Expert.com can read the steps on my website in this tutorial: Software Download: ISO Images & Mac computers

Smart Edit v8.3 -- Free Update Released in NTSC

Macrosystem US Releases Smart Edit 8.3 Update
MSUS has announced the NTSC release of this (long-awaited) Smart Edit update.  This software is free to any customer already using Smart Edit Version 8 (and has already been released in PAL)

Items addressed in this OS update:
-Wrong colors displayed while trimming and playing back scenes on a Claro fixed.
-Enhanced playback on Claro.
-Ksebara works now with DVD-Arabesk 3
-Playing in the Audio-Mix envelope begins near selected position.
-Title Effects with 4 lines of controls will now properly display in single analog mode.
-Moving the playback controls or the Trim menu up or down on the screen no longer shows a gray box where the menu used to be.
-Filters that won't properly work in the Effect Stack now will be blocked out.

-Improvements to recognizing USB thumb drives in the Backup Archives menu.

Links for your convenience:

Smart Edit V8.3 Release Notes (PDF)

Click here for the download links for NTSC Smart Edit 8 OS Software

Casablanca Wish-List / Survey Results Complete

On November 23, 2009 I launched a ‘Wish List’ sort of survey and invited Casablanca customers to share their thoughts and wishes.   There were 51 responses from around the globe. 

I have forwarded the results (a 10-page PDF document) on to the management at Macrosystem AG and the Casablanca distributors in the US, UK and Australia, in the spirit of continued collaboration and with constructive intent. 

Here are the questions I asked in the survey

1. Which Casablanca Editor do you use?

2. Which Operating System are you running on your Casablanca II (all Bogart models are assuming to be operating on Bogart V2)

3. What feature/s would you really like to see or do you need in the next Operating System (system features - not add-on software). This feature/s are important enough to your video editing that you would be willing to pay for an upgrade to receive them.

4. Bogart OS owners (S4000, S4100, S2000) - Which one or two Casablanca add-on software products do you need the most for your editing (products you used in Smart Edit but are not yet available in Bogart - if two, please list in order of importance)

5. What type of functions/effects/capabilities would you really like to see in a future add-on software product? (that you would be willing to purchase)

6. Any other constructive comment/s you would like to share with the management at Macrosystem?

7. Where do you live? (Country please)

8. Are you a member/subscriber of CasablancaExpert.com?

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CasablancaExpert.com website members can download and read the 10-page document here: Results of the December 2009 Casablanca Wish-List/Survey

Twelve Tips for Christmas: Tip #12

Casablanca Expert Chet Davis demonstrates how to use the Place Graphic function in the Smart Edit & Bogart OS Finish Menu to create a graphic 'watermark'

Length 5:28

(once you begin playback - click full-screen icon at bottom right of movie)

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Take advantage of the wealth of resources to help you master your Casablanca Video Editor - visit www.CasablancaExpert.com today!

Twelve Tips for Christmas: Tip #11

Casablanca Expert Chet Davis demonstrates how to add additional buttons to your DVD Chapter Menus in Arabesk 4

Length 3:54

Learn all about the intricacies of Casablanca DVD Authoring in Chet Davis' Tutorial DVD Set: Casablanca Foolproof Volume 2: Arabesk Intensive - click here for details & online ordering