Using an open source replacement firmware you can turn your $60 Linksys WRT54G into a feature rich router that would easily be worth over $600. All with variants of the OpenWRT firmware.

- The DD-WRT firmware is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many 802.11g wireless routers based on the Broadcom chipset

- No special hacking is needed. If your supported device is listed then you can simply download the firmware for your router and by using the web based upgrade feature found on every router you can flash it to accept the new feature rich dd-wrt firmware.

- The list of feature os too long to mention, but for a quick tease you will have VLAN, VPN Server, and QOS available to you, just to name a few.

- Visit www-dr-wrt.com for all you need to bring some serious routing power to you $60 router.

Proxy files have been around pretty much since the creation of non-linear computer based editing systems. Professional full-quality video has always taken up large amounts of hard disk space. And due to the large price tag that was associated with hard disks in the early days of non-linear editing, it wasn’t cost effective to edit video in full quality. So instead, editors would capture footage in lower resolution/quality. Edit their segment in that lower quality. And after the segment was finished, the editor would then “batch capture” their segment full resolution.

When an editor selects their segment and tells their editing software to batch capture at full quality, the program digitizes all the footage that was used in the segment. Doing this saves hard disk space because everything you leave on the cutting room floor is ignored.

Even though hard disks have come down dramatically in price, we still see proxy files being used in the video editing industry today. With High Definition content becoming more the standard in TV and film, we are seeing new reasons for people to use proxy files in editing. Higher resolution video comes with it, higher demand for faster and faster processors. So a person with a system lacking in CPU speed might find it faster to edit using proxy files, and only finish in full resolution.

Avid Xpress Pro, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Premiere Pro all support editing with lower resolution proxies, and batch capturing in full resolution later. For the purpose of this demonstration I’ll show how to use proxies with Final Cut Pro.

When working with DV, you can capture in the lower resolution format natively. When you’re in the “Log And Capture” window, open up the “Capture Settings” tab. From the drop down menu next to “Capture/Input”, select one of the DV to OfflineRT selections. There should be 4 there. NTSC, NTSC Anamorphic, PAL, and PAL Anamorphic. Once the footage is acquired, you edit that footage as you would normally. Except the sequence you edit in must be set to the same preset as the one you chose when you captured the footage. If you are using the latest Final Cut Pro, it will automatically detect those settings, and ask if you want to switch over your sequence settings automatically. Click yes.

HDV is handled differently. I can’t speak for the workflow in other programs, but in Final Cut Pro, you must initially capture in full HDV resolution, and then convert that footage into a proxy. After you have captured the footage you want to convert, select all your clips in the bin window. Then select “Media Manager…” under the “File” menu. Under the “Media” section in the window that pops up, you want to click on the first drop down menu, and select “Recompress”. Then in the drop down menu next to “Recompress media using:” you select the OfflineRT HD setting that applies to your footages. The numbers to the right of each preset represents the framerate of the preset. Under the “Project” section, make sure that both checkboxes are checked. Select where you want to save your files under the “Media Destination” section, and click OK. Then choose where you want to save your project file and click OK. If you have a lot of footage or a slower computer this may take some time to convert. After the footage has imported, you can edit normally. Except the sequence you edit in must be set to the same preset as the one you chose when you captured the footage. If you are using the latest Final Cut Pro, it will automatically detect those settings, and ask if you want to switch over your sequence settings automatically. Click yes. You can then delete your full resolution media off of your hard disk.

Once you are done editing your sequence, batch capturing in full resolution is easy. First select the sequence that you want to work on in full resolution, and then open the “Media Mangager” under the “File” menu. Under the “media” section, select “Create offline” in the first drop down menu. In the second drop down menu select the full resolution format that you will be using. Then choose where you want to save your project file and click OK. In the new bin window that opens, select the sequence that you want to re-capture. And then select “Batch Capture” under the “File” menu. In the window that opens, select the preset that you chose as your full quality setting in the previous menu. Click OK. If you get any error messages in relation to drop-frame or non-drop frame tapes, just click ok. A window should then come up that will ask you to select a tape that you want to digitize. Insert the tape that you selected, and click continue. It will digitize that footage automatically. Excluding any footage that you aren’t using. Once it is done, open up your sequence, and you should now have full resolution footage attached to your sequence.