MAC OS 10.4.8

Q::I’ve used os x for some time now and the one thing that i’ve yet to see fixed is the finder becoming unresponsive whenever there’s a stoppage in the network.

Basically whenever my internet connection disconnects while i’m connected to a server or when transfering a file, the finder locks up and has to killed or even better yet the computer has to be restarted. This is similar to when having a network drive connected at startup not be connected and it stalling your start up by some time. Please help :)

Octavio
Los Angeles, CA

This is my number one Mac complaint also. I consider it a major problem with the Finder and like you I anxiously await a fix from Apple! What’s happening is that the time-out setting is set for an extremely long time, which is essentially forever while you’re sitting there watching the spinning beachball of death.

BURNING MOVIE DVDS

Q::I want to know how to take an ISO file that is a movie and write it to a DVD so it will work in my DVD player.

Michael
Kentville, NS

Sean’s note: An ISO file is essentially an image of a CD or DVD, and it’s essentially the blueprint for unpacking the data onto a new blank disc in a way that that disc will then be identical to the old CD or DVD. The trick is, you need a piece of software that can decode the ISO and burn it to the blank media. If you have Nero or Roxio installed on your system, you simply look for the option that specifies that you’re burning from a disc image, instead of starting a new disc from scratch.

If you don’t have a full disc burning suite already installed on your system, don’t panic: there are a few freeware files that will allow you to burn ISO files to disc, so long as you have a burner in your system. A couple of programs you can try: ISO Recorder Power Toy (http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm), and CDBurnerXP (http://www.cdburnerxp.se/).

FINDING VISTA’S TEMP FILE

Q::I used to know where the temp files were hiding…eg.. local/temp but now I don’t. Where are they located in Vista?

James
Huntington, WV

Open the System Properties control panel, under the Advanced tab, press the Environment Variables button, then check the Temp and Tmp variables for the User and System. The system temp files are stored in C:\Windows\TEMP. For the user the temp files are in \AppData\Local\Temp

VIDEO EDITING

Q::I have always wanted to get into editing video and i am ready to take the step and want to buy the equipment. like video cam, proper computer, software etc. Before I waste thousands of dollars, where do i begin?c

Frank
Kirkland Lake, ON

Get a DV cam and a Macintosh.

Sean’s note: The first thing you have to figure out is what type of video you want to do — if you’re interested in podcasting, you can get by with a much more minimal setup on both the hardware and software end, but if your goal is to do high-quality projects for possible theatrical release (either short films or full-length), then you’ll definitely want to pay more attention to getting quality components.

As far as the camera goes, you want a modern camera with a FireWire connection to the PC. Despite the advent of DVD and hard-drive based cameras, I’m still a big fan of MiniDV cameras: it’s easy to transfer the footage to the PC, you can get high defintion quality on MiniDV tapes, and it’s easy to swap them out when you’ve used up the tape. If the goal is to edit up your footage, DVD camcorders aren’t ideal as it’s sometimes difficult to bring your footage into the editing program of your choice. And with hard drive camcorders, once you’ve used up your available hard drive space you have to start deleting content from the drive, or spend time transferring it off the drive…and if the drive fails, you have to send the camera to the shop. I’d also suggest making sure that you’re getting a camera that will record in native 16:9 mode, even if you’re planning to record in standard definition resolution…it’s the standard aspect ratio of almost all screens being made these days, and you want to make sure you have a camera that’s capable of shooting for those screens.

As far as the editing software is concerned, you can accomplish a lot in fairly basic editing packages, like Adobe’s Premiere Elements, iMovie…and even Window Movie Maker (if you must). If you’re planning to step up and do more professional-level stuff, you almost certainly want to look at Final Cut Pro if you’re on a Mac, or Adobe Premiere Pro if you’re on a PC. I personally think Final Cut is a lot easier to use than Premiere, but it’s really a matter of personal preference…take a look at both options in the store if you can, to see which one appeals to you more…it’s a lot of money to blow on software so you want to be sure you will be comfortable with the software.