FEATURE: DEUCE OF SPADES - How I made a period full feature film all by myself on ZERO budget
- Thread starter Deuceofspades
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Deuceofspades
Veteran
UPDATES
Great spotting session yesterday. We took about 4 hours to spot the first half of the film (one hour worth of footage).
The film is now divided into 8 reels, so basically we covered the first 4 reels yesterday.
Pros said they will also give me an M&E mix
) so if DOS ever ends up being overdubbed in foreign languages, we'll be ready .
M&E mix = music and sound effects mix without dialogues.
I wonder what DOS would sound like in Japanese:
"Aaaaaassssooooooooo sushi yamashiro toyota Johnny Callaway arigato?"
:grin:
Great spotting session yesterday. We took about 4 hours to spot the first half of the film (one hour worth of footage).
The film is now divided into 8 reels, so basically we covered the first 4 reels yesterday.
Pros said they will also give me an M&E mix
) so if DOS ever ends up being overdubbed in foreign languages, we'll be ready .M&E mix = music and sound effects mix without dialogues.
I wonder what DOS would sound like in Japanese:
"Aaaaaassssooooooooo sushi yamashiro toyota Johnny Callaway arigato?"
:grin:
Ted Spencer
Veteran
Carraway...
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Tomorrow is "D" Day . Tomorrow we convert the first reel and export it. :thumbup:
After much investigations and phone calls I now have a plan of attack. Looks like converting Vegas into Nuendo files is doable. I am not going to go about it the same way Adam did. I found a slightly imrpoved way and will test it tomorrow. if this works, it will give hope to all those who still edit in vegas. Cause now you'll be able to have your cake AND EAT IT TOO.
Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.
Below: Once reel 1 is out of post house I'll be able to finally rest...
(yeah, right!)
. Tomorrow we convert the first reel and export it. :thumbup:After much investigations and phone calls I now have a plan of attack. Looks like converting Vegas into Nuendo files is doable. I am not going to go about it the same way Adam did. I found a slightly imrpoved way and will test it tomorrow. if this works, it will give hope to all those who still edit in vegas. Cause now you'll be able to have your cake AND EAT IT TOO.
Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.
Below: Once reel 1 is out of post house I'll be able to finally rest...
(yeah, right!)
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Dang! Vegas took me for wild ride last night. Didn't like me pasting audio files back into nested project timeline and went NUTTS. Lost two day's worth of work.
:badputer:
Never give up! never surrender!! But I figured out what pissed it off so when i redid my work I went about it the smarter way
and also as they say "practice makes perfect" so the second time around, what took me 6 hours to do last time only took 2 and I did it even better.
I was able to successfully import all my individual tracks to REEL ONE and save it and it opens fine now. :love4:
Next step: To save it, with all related media files, to an external drive. Today Sound engineer comes over with his lap top to execute conversion for Nuendo. Turns out he already owns the Pro Convert software so I will not have to purchase it afterall. If it works real good, I might buy it nevertheless, for the next film, cause if it does work good I might stay with Vegas. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you guys posted 
:badputer:
Never give up! never surrender!! But I figured out what pissed it off so when i redid my work I went about it the smarter way
and also as they say "practice makes perfect" so the second time around, what took me 6 hours to do last time only took 2 and I did it even better.I was able to successfully import all my individual tracks to REEL ONE and save it and it opens fine now. :love4:
Next step: To save it, with all related media files, to an external drive. Today Sound engineer comes over with his lap top to execute conversion for Nuendo. Turns out he already owns the Pro Convert software so I will not have to purchase it afterall
. If it works real good, I might buy it nevertheless, for the next film, cause if it does work good I might stay with Vegas. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you guys posted If it works real good, I might buy it nevertheless, for the next film, cause if it does work good I might stay with Vegas. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you guys posted
Ooh, is there a Deuce of Spades Part 2 in the works? Maybe titled Deuce of Hearts? ;o)
Deuceofspades
Veteran
UPDATES.
So far not so good.
Attempts failed last night. Pro Convert script made for vegas failed, not sure why. I got a call in to them now.
But there are more troubleS ahead of me. Using the Panasonic HVX with vegas is kinda like a can of worms, and now I just opened it.... Yeeepeeeee...
I am unable to figure out how to save my project with all sound files attached to it and NO video files. What's worse, I couLd not even save ANY sound files yesterday. the Project was saved with "copy media with project" box checked and it saved all the VIDEO and NO audio whatsoever.
:badputer:
I figured that much.
I put my thinking cap back on and go back to the black board now. Perrone and I picked brains over the phone for an entire hour last night, to no avail. Today I am pestering both David and Barry in the hopes they might have a recipe. Raylight is MIA, their phone support is closed today. TODAY?? WHY TODAY??? Cause I REALLY, REALLY need to talk to them TODAY, that's why LOL.
Sigh.
So there you have it. Reporting from indie filmland, took a bad hit yesterday but still flying, although one wing barely attached to fuselage...rogar-Sick(DBG):
Sure hope I'll live to tell the tale.
On a better note: here is one of the shots I took 2 weeks ago with the canon 7D. It really tells my story: NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER, AND NEVER BRAKE FOR NOONE OR NOTHING.
So far not so good.
Attempts failed last night. Pro Convert script made for vegas failed, not sure why. I got a call in to them now.
But there are more troubleS ahead of me. Using the Panasonic HVX with vegas is kinda like a can of worms, and now I just opened it.... Yeeepeeeee...
I am unable to figure out how to save my project with all sound files attached to it and NO video files. What's worse, I couLd not even save ANY sound files yesterday. the Project was saved with "copy media with project" box checked and it saved all the VIDEO and NO audio whatsoever.
:badputer:
I figured that much.
I put my thinking cap back on and go back to the black board now. Perrone and I picked brains over the phone for an entire hour last night, to no avail. Today I am pestering both David and Barry in the hopes they might have a recipe. Raylight is MIA, their phone support is closed today. TODAY?? WHY TODAY??? Cause I REALLY, REALLY need to talk to them TODAY, that's why LOL.
Sigh.
So there you have it. Reporting from indie filmland, took a bad hit yesterday but still flying, although one wing barely attached to fuselage...
rogar-Sick(DBG):Sure hope I'll live to tell the tale
.On a better note: here is one of the shots I took 2 weeks ago with the canon 7D. It really tells my story: NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER, AND NEVER BRAKE FOR NOONE OR NOTHING.
Deuceofspades
Veteran
IT'S OFFICIAL, BARRY GREEN IS A HERO. MY HERO
I just heard back from him and he played around with vegas and P2 files for a bit and figured out what the problem was. The solution was so simple, it was just a matter of selecting a different option "create trimmed copy of source media" and Vegas will render all the clips as wave files and place them exactely where they are supposed to go in the timeline, removing the .mxf files..
OH MY GOD...
I am so happy right now I want to give Barry my first born.
And my second one.
And my third one...
:love4:
(Don't worry Barry, I don't have kids and not planning to start kid production now or ever hehe)
But seriously, it is undeniable that I don't know how i would have done this film without the amazing technical help from this forum's members, which is why I have a special THanks mention to dvxuser.com in my film credits :thumbup:
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
I just heard back from him and he played around with vegas and P2 files for a bit and figured out what the problem was. The solution was so simple, it was just a matter of selecting a different option "create trimmed copy of source media" and Vegas will render all the clips as wave files and place them exactely where they are supposed to go in the timeline, removing the .mxf files..
OH MY GOD...
I am so happy right now I want to give Barry my first born.
And my second one.
And my third one...
:love4:
(Don't worry Barry, I don't have kids and not planning to start kid production now or ever hehe)
But seriously, it is undeniable that I don't know how i would have done this film without the amazing technical help from this forum's members, which is why I have a special THanks mention to dvxuser.com in my film credits :thumbup:
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Barry_Green
Moderator
Glad to have helped!
PerroneFord
Deals in Lead
IT'S OFFICIAL, BARRY GREEN IS A HERO. MY HERO
I just heard back from him and he played around with vegas and P2 files for a bit and figured out what the problem was. The solution was so simple, it was just a matter of selecting a different option "create trimmed copy of source media" and Vegas will render all the clips as wave files and place them exactely where they are supposed to go in the timeline, removing the .mxf files..
You are going to need to send me a PM or call me to tell me more about this. As I told you, it worked for me, but I was not using P2 MXF files, so I am wondering if you were doing something different.
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Yeah, the problem is with the panasonic file storing system and vegas. but we found a way around it and it is very GOOD.
3 out of 4 reels are now packed up and ready to "ship" sorta speak, and today I finish the fourth one. This represents the first half (1 hour) of my feature. While post house starts to get busy on first half I will take another week to finalize 100% second half and get picture lock on it. I am VERY close, just a matter of one last round of micro tuning. :thumbup:
Note that I have generated the editing event lists but we have not yet tested the conversion of Vegas data to see if it will be readable by Nuendo. I will keep you posted on that.
Friday night Patrick told me that for a mixing job like that, the chatrge woudl probably be around $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 :shocked:
I almost became instantly catatonic. LOL
To think that I am getting this for FREE... Blows my mind. Granted the price to pay is TIME, cause it probably is not going to get done fast... I worry about it dragging forever or not ever getting completed... I do trust Patrick though, which is the only reason I am going for it. I guess meanwhile, we still have some light underscoring to compose and record, Color correction to complete, CGI to finalize, title treatment to finish, credit roll to do , DVD authoring, DVD cover...
Probably enough to keep me busy for 4 months anyways...
3 out of 4 reels are now packed up and ready to "ship" sorta speak, and today I finish the fourth one. This represents the first half (1 hour) of my feature. While post house starts to get busy on first half I will take another week to finalize 100% second half and get picture lock on it. I am VERY close, just a matter of one last round of micro tuning. :thumbup:
Note that I have generated the editing event lists but we have not yet tested the conversion of Vegas data to see if it will be readable by Nuendo. I will keep you posted on that.
Friday night Patrick told me that for a mixing job like that, the chatrge woudl probably be around $300,000.00 to $400,000.00 :shocked:
I almost became instantly catatonic. LOL
To think that I am getting this for FREE... Blows my mind. Granted the price to pay is TIME, cause it probably is not going to get done fast... I worry about it dragging forever or not ever getting completed... I do trust Patrick though, which is the only reason I am going for it. I guess meanwhile, we still have some light underscoring to compose and record, Color correction to complete, CGI to finalize, title treatment to finish, credit roll to do , DVD authoring, DVD cover...
Probably enough to keep me busy for 4 months anyways
...
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Yes my dear, i think MOnday we are testing the conversion process, and once I have this whole thing figured out I will give you a call and I will share everything I found out with you.
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Continuing the tedious process of preparing the audio files for export. there was some progress made MOnday, we were able to convert a mock project successfully from vegas platform to Nuendo mac platform !!!!!!!!
Of course, when time came to do the same with the BIG project aka REEL ONE - we got error messages so I am now in the process of figuring them out and fixing accordingly. Funny how one little file can make an entire project fail.
Sigh.
I feel we are VERY CLOSE though, any day now... Keep your fingers crossed for us.
This is where all my efforts have been focussed this week. Saturday I film Timothy Luke McReynold's interview and he gets to see the film for the first time :cheesy:. Timothy is my lead man, aka JOHNNY CALLAWAY himself. I look forward to seeing him and filming his interview. It's the last one left.
Below: Lead man Timothy Luke as seen in DEUCE OF SPADES - photo taken with my new Canon 7D three weeks ago hehehehehe...
http://www.vimeo.com/7642629
!!!!!!!!Of course, when time came to do the same with the BIG project aka REEL ONE - we got error messages so I am now in the process of figuring them out and fixing accordingly. Funny how one little file can make an entire project fail.
Sigh.
I feel we are VERY CLOSE though, any day now... Keep your fingers crossed for us.
This is where all my efforts have been focussed this week. Saturday I film Timothy Luke McReynold's interview and he gets to see the film for the first time :cheesy:. Timothy is my lead man, aka JOHNNY CALLAWAY himself. I look forward to seeing him and filming his interview. It's the last one left.
Below: Lead man Timothy Luke as seen in DEUCE OF SPADES - photo taken with my new Canon 7D three weeks ago hehehehehe...
Deuceofspades
Veteran
UPDATES:
DEUCE OF SPADES receives major press coverage in FRANCE - with an unbelievable 12 page spread feature story, particial front cover AND center fold 18X24 poster !!!
See the feature story here:
http://www.deuceofspadesmovie.com/amcah_0110.htm
Meanwhile, we still strive to make the Vegas to Nuendo conversion work and are now very very very close. I feel that we should be able to have success within the next couple days... Wish us luck. It has been a very tedious process, to trouble shoot each error message, figure out what it means, how to solve it and try again. but the good news is we got all of them worked out except one last one... Doing more tests tomorrow!!
Tonight I drive up to visit fellow dvxuser PAUL SAGE who has offered his help to test exporting of Vegas clips and EDLs into FCP or other MAc platforms. I look forward to meeting him.
More hoops for me to jump through!!
Interview shoot went well last Saturday but did take 6 hours. We then screened the film for both my lead man and a fellow filmmaker from India. Both were extremely moved by the film and shed quite a few tears during. At the end of screening, fellow filmmaker Adita stood up and tried to speak but he couldn't. He was very overwhelmed. In fact I have never seen anyone so overwhelmed after seeing DOS. Tears started rolling down his face as he finally was able to say: "I have never been touched by a film so deeply, as I have by your film. And I have seen many indie films. I can only hope that one day I am able to make a film with that kind of depth."
As for my lead man he was completely blown away. Grabbed me and lifted me in the air and started spinning, wouldn't put me down LOLOLOL...
I was happy.
If only 25% of all viewers end up feeling that way, I'll have it made LOL.
DEUCE OF SPADES receives major press coverage in FRANCE - with an unbelievable 12 page spread feature story, particial front cover AND center fold 18X24 poster !!!
See the feature story here:
http://www.deuceofspadesmovie.com/amcah_0110.htm
Meanwhile, we still strive to make the Vegas to Nuendo conversion work and are now very very very close. I feel that we should be able to have success within the next couple days... Wish us luck. It has been a very tedious process, to trouble shoot each error message, figure out what it means, how to solve it and try again. but the good news is we got all of them worked out except one last one... Doing more tests tomorrow!!
Tonight I drive up to visit fellow dvxuser PAUL SAGE who has offered his help to test exporting of Vegas clips and EDLs into FCP or other MAc platforms. I look forward to meeting him.
More hoops for me to jump through!!
Interview shoot went well last Saturday but did take 6 hours. We then screened the film for both my lead man and a fellow filmmaker from India. Both were extremely moved by the film and shed quite a few tears during. At the end of screening, fellow filmmaker Adita stood up and tried to speak but he couldn't. He was very overwhelmed. In fact I have never seen anyone so overwhelmed after seeing DOS. Tears started rolling down his face as he finally was able to say: "I have never been touched by a film so deeply, as I have by your film. And I have seen many indie films. I can only hope that one day I am able to make a film with that kind of depth."
As for my lead man he was completely blown away. Grabbed me and lifted me in the air and started spinning, wouldn't put me down LOLOLOL...
I was happy.
If only 25% of all viewers end up feeling that way, I'll have it made LOL.
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