Luminoir

Tools for the remote editor - Use VPN and VNC to save time!

There are times you wish you could teleport to your office to make that small change and render the sequence/burn the dvd/export to the ftp.
Or, you might have set the project to render and headed out for dinner hoping to return to see it done, only to realize the NLE crashed 2 minutes in, leaving you with another 2 hour wait before you can do what you wanted to do.

Either way, there are 2 very important acronyms you need to know about to make your life that much easier.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)
VNC (Virtual Networked Computing)

Please read the links if you want a technical definition of the terms, what I will do here is a massive oversimplification of what they mean and how they make your life better.

Why do I need VPN?

First, if the computer you need to gain control of has a static IP, it is significantly easier for you to control it.

This is because the address you connect to will never change and you
can save profiles to connect to this IP, making it as simple as a
single click process to control your computer remotely.

However, static lines do come with a price premium, and a majority of users will
have their computers connected to a dynamically assigned IP.

If the computer you wish to access has a dynamically assigned IP, you need a VPN to gain access to it if you are not connected to the same physical network it is on.

How do I check my IP?

You can check your IP by opening /Applications/Utlilities/Terminal.app and entering the following command.

The output it returns will look something like this.

There are many other devices listed but I will narrow it down to the one that matters, the ethernet interface, denoted here as en0.

The part highlighted in orange is your IP. Generally, if your IP starts with 192.168.xxx.xxx, 172.xxx.xxx.xxx or 10.10.xxx.xxx, this is not your true IP assigned to you by your ISP, but one that your router has assigned to you.
These are private addresses reserved by IANA for use in private networks. Read here for more details.

You can find the external IP assigned to you by your ISP by using this online IP detection tool.

How do I know if my IP is dynamically assigned?

The most definitive way is to ask your ISP. The more cumbersome way would be to first take note of your current external IP, reset your ADSL/Cable modem and reconnect it a few minutes later.
Check your external IP again to see if it is different. If it is, you are probably on a dynamically assigned IP.

However, do not take it for granted that you are on a static IP, if your IP is still the same after resetting your modem, checking with your ISP is the more accurate way of ascertaining that.

My IP is dynamically assigned, so how do I connect to my server if the IP keeps changing?

There are a number of VPN solutions on the market. I use hamachi because it runs on Mac OSX, windows and linux, and is free.
I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of other solutions.

The role that hamachi provides is Network Address Traversal, which allows it to tunnel through routers and firewalls, as well as its mediation server, which determines the respective IPs of the server and client.

To install hamachi on the Mac, download HamachiX.

It is not the official release, but it comes with a graphical frontend that makes it more user friendly for non commandline users.

I use the commandline with hamachi but HamachiX makes installing the tap/tun drivers easier, so this is my recommendation.

HamachiX installation instructions

After installing HamachiX, open the application.

You will not be able to connect to any networks yet because the system components which operate behind Hamachix’s graphical interface have not been installed yet.

To install those, click Help > System Support > Install system components.

Then, click Help > System Support > Reset hamachi background process

Quit HamachiX and start the application again.

Configure Hamachi Network

Check the hamachi website for information on the maximum amount of networks and users it will support.

If you have a windows machine available, use this machine to create your hamachi networks.
The windows version of hamachi has more features and allows you to manage your networks and the members of those networks through a web interface.

The mac and linux versions of hamachi are v 0.9xx and are unable to re-assign network ownership to other users.
This becomes problematic if the computer which created the network is damaged/reinstalled/formatted/sold/stolen.

What would happen is that you would have a network where people can join (if they know the password), but you would be unable to evict or ban users as you would not have ownership of the network.
This can be a security risk if you give your password out freely to part-timers, freelancers or vengeful ex employees.

For more information on configuring hamachi networks using HamachiX, check this tutorial.

I recommend you setup one network for employee access only, and another for clients.

Another useful thing about VPN and VNC is that if you configure your client’s computers, you can remotely access their computer with their permission to show them how to fix a problem like installing codecs or upgrading their version of quicktime if they don’t know how to do it themselves.

You could also setup a separate network for your tech support to remotely help you troubleshoot your systems before they decide if they need to be onsite & save yourself from incurring unnecessary transport charges.

OK! The VPN is set up. I can see the server as if I’m in the office even if I’m at home or leeching Starbucks’ wireless. Now what?

Now you need to configure your VNC server. Leopard/Snow Leopard has a VNC server built in. If you’re on Tiger, use Vine Server.

Open System Preferences > Sharing.

Click Remote Management.

Click Computer Settings…

Select as shown.

Go back to the Remote Management page and Allow acces for: Only these users

Add the users you want to give remote access privileges to with the + icon.

The Server is configured! Now how do I control it?

If you’re on Leopard/Snow Leopard, you have /System/Library/CoreServices/Screen Sharing.app.
You should be able to see the server on the finder window and click Share Screen.

If not, just launch Screen Sharing and enter the Hamachi IP of the computer you want to control. Remember that it must have Sharing and Remote Management set up before you can control it.

If you’re on Tiger, use Chicken of the VNC.

I don’t want to have to start Hamachi manually. Can I make this do it automatically when OS X boots?

To install the hamachi boot scripts, download this file.

This file is provided by the original author who wrote this hamachi daemon installation tutorial. I would love to credit him but I cannot find the page I originally found it from.

Open Terminal.

Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the file.

To do this, type

cd

Put a space at the end of the ‘cd’ and click and drag the folder the file is located in on the Finder into the Terminal window then hit enter. From here you can enter the rest of these commands by copying and pasting them into the terminal.

sudo cp hamachi-boot-macosx.tar.gz /Library/StartupItems
cd /Library/StartupItems
sudo tar zxvf hamachi-boot-macosx.tar.gz
sudo chown -R root:wheel hamachi

This should result in a directory
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/

Containing the files
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/hamachi
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/hamachi_helper
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/hamachi_networks.conf
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/StartupParameters.plist
/Library/StartupItems/hamachi/README

Next edit the beginning of hamachi_helper to reflect which account you used to install Hamachi by replacing “hamachi_account” with the appropriate account name.

It is best to copy the files you are editing to the desktop or another folder, as you will be unable to save the file if you edit it directly. This is because the /Library/StartupItems/ folder has permissions set which prevent you from modifying files directly. The workaround is to copy them to a folder you have permissions for, making the changes, then moving them into /Library/StartupItems/hamachi/. OS X will then prompt you for your password and allow you to overwrite the file.

If you installed Hamachi as root, I believe the script will work if you set HAMACHI_OWNER=root and HAMACHI_DIR=/var/root/.hamachi.

After hamachi_helper works, change hamachi_networks.conf to contain the names of the networks you would like to sign on to. One network name per line, as many lines as you want. As far as I know there is no hard limit.

This package is designed to be run by SystemStarter during the boot process. However, you can test it manually by entering commands of the form:
sudo SystemStarter start hamachi
sudo SystemStarter restart hamachi
sudo SystemStarter stop hamachi

Test if this works by pinging the server’s hamachi IP, then restarting your server.

You can do this by opening Terminal and entering the following command. (All hamachi IP start with 5, replace xxx with the correct numbers)

ping 5.xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Can I control it from my iPhone?

At the moment, not through hamachi. Hamachi was originally freeware before they were bought by logmein.

Logmein has done very little to upgrade hamachi for the mac/linux clients which are still at v 0.9xx.
The windows version however has recently been upgraded to v2.

Logmein has a product which runs on the iPhone called logmein ignition, but this is not compatible with hamachi.
You need to install a different type of software to be able to access your server through the iPhone.

I don’t know if this will serve any purpose, but I have written to logmein to ask for the mac & linux versions to be updated so they can perform network ownership commands that the v1.xx versions of hamachi can.
I am writing another to ask that they develop a version that allows the iPhone to connect to hamachi networks.

If this tutorial was of any help to you, please take a couple of minutes of the time you WILL save and write to logmein asking them to provide updates to the mac & linux versions of hamachi and to develop the iPhone version.

If there are any questions I haven’t covered in this tutorial or in the links provided, leave me a comment and I will respond when I can.

In April 2008, I wrote a forum post in the Creative Cow forums about using automator to automate the creation of some image sequences for a football quiz show.

Tim Wilson eventually contacted me about making that post an article for Creative Cow.

Since then, I’ve continued using Automator to ease my workload of repetitive tasks but somehow the use of this timesaving tool never seems to have taken off.

I realize that this is in part due to the overly technical nature of my post and the lack of ‘proof of concept’.

To that end, here’s a video of how I’ve been using Automator, and a prepared excel spreadsheet, to automate graphic super replacement for an episode of Glitch, one of the shows I am currently working on.

I’ve recently been doing a few talent showreels and was asked to give some advice to an acquaintance with no editing experience how to get her showreel done with another editor.

The resulting email was so detailed I thought it would be a great template for me to send out to anyone thinking of cutting their showreel.

This might also be useful for editors to send to a talent before they cut their reel with you to save them money and you, heartache and frustration. Everybody wins!

Introduce yourself

• Put your name and contact details very clearly at the start.
• Whoever’s watching might not have the time to watch your showreel to the end and you want to make it easy for them to contact you if they’re impressed enough with the first minute.

Best foot forward

• Following on the point that most people might not watch it through, put your most impressive work first.
• You can start with a montage at the start to highlight the diversity of your work. This is for stuff that shows a different side of you that might not be included with your most impressive work at the start.

How you can save money

• If you are paying by the hour, be organized to save yourself money. Make sure all the editor needs to do once they meet you is to start cutting.
• Convert your footage to an editable video file format. Check with your editor what files he/she needs. They should tell you the file extension(.mov or .avi), and codec (DV-PAL,ProRes, DVCPRO50,IMX,DVCPROHD, etc).
• Ask whether they’re working on a Mac or PC. Provide them with the files on a harddisk. Make sure your harddisk is formatted as NTFS if you’re cutting on a PC and HFS for a Mac. Harddisks formatted as FAT32 can be read and written to on Mac and PC but cannot accept any file larger than 4GB. Video files will get that large easily.

Prepare the assets

• Do the conversion yourself if you can. If we do the conversion for you, we will charge you for the time and harddisk space at our full rate because of our opportunity cost.
• Learn to do it yourself and you can do it on your own time, instead of being charged by the hour to watch a render bar move.
• Before you spend hours converting everything, I recommend that you convert a small file first and send it to your editor to make sure it’s in the right format, and that it can be viewed in real time.
• Having a harddisk also means you can ask for a copy of all the video files and the project file when the project is completed.

Future Proof Yourself

• Negotiate about whether you get to keep the project file before you start, if your editor wants to charge more for handing over the project file, decide if it’s worth it.
• Having the project file will make adding material and recutting your reel easier. I normally give it to clients for free but some editors might not and it is their right to do so.
• Be aware of what Non Linear Editing (NLE) platform the project is being cut in. This could be Avid, Final Cut Pro, Quantel, Vegas, or Premiere
• Translation of project files between different software platforms is not completely seamless and you’d be better off working on the same platform, so make sure the NLE your editor is using is widely available in case you ever need to recut it with someone else.

Give yourself enough time

• Do not assume it will only take a couple of hours. Make no other plans on the day of the edit, and come early, especially if you have never worked with the editor before.
• We have the right to start charging from the appointed time, because we’re turning down work to be available to you at that time.

Have an idea of what you want

• Decide on your structure and sequence in advance. Have a rough duration in mind for each section/part of your showreel and select a music track long enough for it.
• Each definative section of your reel should be accompanied with a music change and a visual transition. Don’t let viewers confuse one piece of work for another because you did not signpost it properly.

Graphics, Effects & Supers

• If you want fancy graphics, bear in mind that it will take time and think carefully about whether it’s even necessary.
• It might make the overall look of the showreel more slick, but it might also distract from the strength of your performance.
• Remember, you’re selling yourself, not the skill of your graphics artist or editor. Also, not every editor will do complex graphics work unless you are willing to pay for it.
• If you insist on complicated graphics, I suggest you do that in advance, before the edit session, so it will be rendered and ready to be inserted when the edit session commences.
• Prepare graphic supers of your contribution to each project (eg Choreographer, Ballet in the Park, Singapore 2008, etc).Better to dig up dates, namecards and flyers for the information before you’re 10 hours into your edit and realize you can’t complete it because you’ve forgotten the name of the project.

Music

• Choose your music before you start. Pick different tempos and have fallback options in case your first choices don’t work.
• If you are going to have upsound (you’re speaking in the video), choose some music without vocals.

Be productive, specific and assertive

• Supervise the editor, let him/her know early on what you want and be clear and decisive about it. If you change your mind, say so immediately, so you can get back on track.
• Don’t be distracted and surf the net or check your emails while the edit is happening. It’s a waste of your money for the editor to spend time polishing up and color correcting a part that you’re going to cut out anyway.
• Listen. You may be in love with a certain piece of work, but if the editor recommends that you leave it out, find out why and decide. Few people get into conflict for its own sake, so there might be a good reason for that.

Pay on time

• We need to eat too. Some editors have been forced to hold the final cut hostage so they can receive payment.
• This is unneccessary, unpleasent, and we don’t enjoy it anymore than you do. Pay us on time and let’s avoid all that.

Any other tips I’ve left out? Feel free to add them in the comments!

Just concluded a 4 day editing workshop with Kris Trexler, and it was a great experience.

He had great photos of film and video technology from the days of tape splicing and hilarious anecdotes from his 40+ years of working as an editor. He also kindly brought footage from his sitcom According to Jim for us to work on and it was really impressive watching their logging workflow with Avid’s script view function.

I’ve not touched the Avid for 5 years and it was good to get reacquainted with what I did love about it. The timeline navigation, the speed of preview, the intuitive command key edge snapping, the timecode window, a WORKING trim mode. Kris had to remind me a few times to use trim mode because I was so used to working without it since FCP’s implementation of it remains sluggish at best and downright unstable at worst.

It was great fun and I’m looking forward to having an Emmy award winner to ask editing questions to for the next year that he’s going to be in Singapore.

Great move by Ngee Ann Poly to bring him here and we can only hope that more people like him would take the chance to come to Singapore to teach, while exploring what they would consider an exotic part of the world.

Pictures of the workshop after the jump

Editing Workshop with Kris Trexler (LA)

You will need to configure your control surfaces to output timecode to the application via MIDI.
It works only when your mix tool is open (opt 6)

TimeCode

I’ve been considering a move to the southern hemisphere for a while and was wondering if there are any kiwis out there that can shed some light on what working in New Zealand is like.

I understand animators are more in demand there at the moment, with Weta leading the way.

What are the opportunities like in Auckland and what’s the working environment like?

My new creative cow article is out.

http://magazine.creativecow.net/issue/the-games

Page 34