To provide Visual Effects, or not to provide?

I like your idea, I even toyed with that myself back in the day when I was into animation and VFX work more so then I am now.
 
I typed about 3 paragraphs as a reply, but thanks to the fact that I'm using a stupid-ass Mac (cause it was within arms reach), I just accidentally went back in my history (command-left arrow when I meant to go back just a word) and lost the entire post. Too bad, cause I had some great advice. Blame the Mac.

It's entirely too bad that you're not capable of understanding the machinery you use.

Tell you what... next time someone gets behind the wheel of a Mustang and drives it in to a restaurant, I'll make sure to tell them to blame Ford.

Anyways, Mattykins, there's two ways to look at what you want to get out of this. But the end result is the same - if you're getting what you want, then you're getting paid enough.

if you want to work on some good projects, flex your skills and earn enough to keep yourself from starving, then I would say make yourself available but look at the materials & script before you commit. That way you can back out of bad projects and keep your time for the good ones.

The other good part is that there are a lot of good films out there that suffer from poor production quality and could be fixed up to become hits. If you land one of those, you can make a name for yourself and spend the rest of your career charging whatever you like. In that case, it would be an investment over a direct gig, which is why you would want to "invest" in solid projects with good ideas that just need that extra bit of help.
 
mattykins,

I know I'll keep your name in the PM folder in case i need someone to do some advanced effects, personally, I think it's an awesome gesture, and I hope you can build you portfolio.

And dory_breaux, I love the sig. :)
 
It's entirely too bad that you're not capable of understanding the machinery you use.

There's something to be said for machinery designed in such a way that it can just be used with minimal groping by whoever sits down to use it. Which I know is Mac's aim, but somehow the Windows implementation seems to function better for exponentially more people, at pulling that off. Installed user base, you know...

Tell you what... next time someone gets behind the wheel of a Mustang and drives it in to a restaurant, I'll make sure to tell them to blame Ford.

If Ford saw fit to make their cars' most basic controls operate according to slightly - but critically - different standards and inputs than the overwhelming majority of cars with which consumer-level drivers are familiar...*and* in such a way that the operator can do irreversible damage by following the standard practices of that overwhelming majority...they might perhaps conceivably have a case.

Anyway, the fact that people do good work using both PC and Mac platforms, demonstrates that both are effective tools for the purpose. The rest is just whatever deplorable human instinct underwrites holy wars and sports-team fan loyalties.

/threadjack
 
There's something to be said for machinery designed in such a way that it can just be used with minimal groping by whoever sits down to use it. Which I know is Mac's aim, but somehow the Windows implementation seems to function better for exponentially more people, at pulling that off. Installed user base, you know...

The problem is that he's using shortcuts for another operating system. It CAN be used by minimal groping, but he's trying to use shortcuts for another system on one that doesn't recognize them. If he were to simply click his mouse where he wanted the text to be, then he wouldn't have had this problem. THAT'S how someone would have gone after it if they were groping around.

Anyway, the fact that people do good work using both PC and Mac platforms, demonstrates that both are effective tools for the purpose. The rest is just whatever deplorable human instinct underwrites holy wars and sports-team fan loyalties.

/threadjack

Absolutely. I used Windows exclusively for years and still use a Windows box at work. They're not bad machines. What bristles me is blaming the mac for responding differently to a shortcut that works on unix or windows. I understand that power users often use keyboard shortcuts to get around in their windows, it's far quicker than using the mouse, but at the same time, I don't blame the software or the hardware for reacting differently to a keyboard shortcut in another program.

For example, I use both Final Cut Pro and ProTools a lot. The zoom-in for Final Cut is Cmd-+, the zoom-in for ProTools is Cmd-]. So I learned both and taught myself different shortcuts to different programs. I still do it occasionally, but it's pointless to blame the engineers when each team has their own way of doing things. Ultimately, it's not a "mac is better than windows" thing, it's just a "wtf?" response to blaming the machine for not responding to a shortcut it isn't supposed to respond to (command is a different button than control, which is an underlying fundamental difference between the two systems. If he had bothered to learn that, he would have seen that control+left arrow still works).
 
It's entirely too bad that you're not capable of understanding the machinery you use.

Tell you what... next time someone gets behind the wheel of a Mustang and drives it in to a restaurant, I'll make sure to tell them to blame Ford.

Did you not read my car analogy in my "Stuck with a Mac..." thread? Your incorrect assumptions are off base. it has NOTHING to do with me not understanding machinery. It's the fact that it's ass-backwards from what I'm used to.

The problem is that he's using shortcuts for another operating system. It CAN be used by minimal groping, but he's trying to use shortcuts for another system on one that doesn't recognize them. If he were to simply click his mouse where he wanted the text to be, then he wouldn't have had this problem. THAT'S how someone would have gone after it if they were groping around.

I've been using windows for around 15 years. It's sort of ingrained into my head to hit alt-back arrow. Alt is where the command key is on the PC vs Mac. I use my mouse as little as possible. That's a choice that I make. I'm not going to change if I'm forced to use a Mac. I have a logical flow to my thinking when using a PC for whatever I'm doing. I'm not going to change that because it's the way it "should" be done. I don't believe that should happen.

Absolutely. I used Windows exclusively for years and still use a Windows box at work. They're not bad machines. What bristles me is blaming the mac for responding differently to a shortcut that works on unix or windows. I understand that power users often use keyboard shortcuts to get around in their windows, it's far quicker than using the mouse, but at the same time, I don't blame the software or the hardware for reacting differently to a keyboard shortcut in another program.

For example, I use both Final Cut Pro and ProTools a lot. The zoom-in for Final Cut is Cmd-+, the zoom-in for ProTools is Cmd-]. So I learned both and taught myself different shortcuts to different programs. I still do it occasionally, but it's pointless to blame the engineers when each team has their own way of doing things. Ultimately, it's not a "mac is better than windows" thing, it's just a "wtf?" response to blaming the machine for not responding to a shortcut it isn't supposed to respond to (command is a different button than control, which is an underlying fundamental difference between the two systems. If he had bothered to learn that, he would have seen that control+left arrow still works).
I'm not "blaming" the Mac, per se. The fact that it uses a different shortcut key is fine if that's what you're used to. I have no qualms whatsoever as to their UI design. It's not what I'm used to and I'm not going to conform to it. I'd rather use what I'm used to. Oddly enough, my Linux and Windows workflow are very similar. The only differences are when I install software and I tend to use a terminal for most of what I do.

I KNOW command arrow is your history control. It's not that I didn't bother to learn that. I spend the better part of a day learning Mac keyboard shortcuts.

Please don't try to insult me or be condescending in any way. I actually edited my post. My original post was a personal attack against you for your rude comments, but I've cleaned it up and am trying to remain civil.
 
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Guys, as much as I love DVXuser...I hate how everything becomes a battle...

I think I am beginning to understand why so many threads get locked. It would be amazing if you could stay on some kind of a topic.

That said, I totally give up with this post....can someone kill it?
 
Don't kill it. Clean it up. It's a good thread with good information for the OP.

I'm absolutely shocked at how much of an issue Mac vs PC is, honestly. PC people tend to just use computers because they just want something that works. Mac people tend to think of computers as being a part of them, so to speak. When I made my comment, I was completely kidding. Then 2 Mac people took it the wrong way, apparently. I apologize if I hit a sore spot with those 2 individuals. That wasn't my intention.

From now on, I'll lay off the whole Mac thing... :engel017:
 
I'm sure it was not Tom's intention to cause any DeTopicifcation, but it is the nature of most posts, so long as control is maintainable, then closing off threads is such a waste, when there is some good healthy nuggets of information to be had :)


Going back on topic, I too would like to see some of your work, do you have any links?

Thanks
 
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I don't have time to see if anyone said this already but I think the MOST IMPORTANT step before taking that dive is sitting down and getting straight in your head (and being honest), what your capable of pulling off in an acceptable amount of time. If you know exactly what you can or can't do your already better off than most.
 
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