| Tarn: | Hi everyone! Welcome to the second FXhome webchat
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| timbuk2: | yeah, hi guys
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| Tarn: | in this room only FXhome staff can speak during the discussion
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| | that way it won't get too crazy, and you can see our answers easily
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| | if you wish to discuss anything, you can do so in the #fxhome room
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| | you can switch rooms using the tabs at the bottom of the chat
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| | if you want to submit a question you can do so now
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| timbuk2: | we'll try and answer them all, or as many as possible
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| Tarn: | your question will go into a list and we'll try to get through as many as possible
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| | you can only submit a single question at a time - if you submit another it'll override your existing one
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| timbuk2: | right, better get to the first question tarn :)
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| * | schwar gets ready
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| Tarn: | right, first off we'll go with chrisbhot's question about EffectsLab updates, and what our plan is for them
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| * | Tarn hands it over to schwar
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| * | schwar gulps
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| | right, updates it is then
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| | we are hoping to add quite a few features to the program before we get to a "final" version
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| | these will be released in the little updates, like the ones we've done already
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| | it will take a little while to get to what we consider to be a "final" version
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| | but we are working on the program full time at the moment
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| timbuk2: | yeah, if you check the news post, there was an update released yesterday
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| schwar: | even after this "full" version there will still be updates
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| Tarn: | the updates are based on plans we already have for new features, as well as your direct user feedback
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| schwar: | indeed
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| timbuk2: | if you all really want something added to the program, we'll do our best to encorporate it for you
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| [20:08] | Webkroa Consulting asks: When is it gonna be possible to download effects, for use in EffectsLab DV, from FXhome.com?
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| schwar: | well, the downloads will come in 2 forms
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| | presets and stock media
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| | presets is what we are working on right now
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| | this will extend the current effects in the program
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| | allowing for hundreds of default emitters, lightswords or muzzle flashes
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| timbuk2: | as well as presets for new features which you will see in the "final" version
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| Tarn: | this will make it even easier to use, as it will enable you to set up a particle effect to look exactly as you want it with a single click
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| | for example, you could just select 'rain'
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| schwar: | these presets, which you can make yourselves, should be the first thing to appear
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| | after this there will be some more effects added in to the interface
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| | lens flares are on the way
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| | and clash/energy ball effects
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| | all of which you can make presets for
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| | on the stock media side... the old alamdv2 effects are already being converted
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| | but more on that later :)
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| Tarn: | in fact, we'll go straight to an FXvault question now...
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| [20:13] | Redhawksrymmer asks: How is the FXVault service going to work and when have you planned to release it? What would be the prices of the stock footage and what kind of stock footage will you offer?
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| Tarn: | Redhawk appears to have cunningly asked three questions in one
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| schwar: | heh
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| | malone, you wanna take this one?
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| malone: | FXVault is gonna be a far larger web project than we've tackled so far
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| | it'll be similar in many ways to the AlamDV2 plugin section, but way more powerful
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| | we are still in the design stage so we dont really have a release date for it, but we plan to have it up and running asap
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| schwar: | we will be aiming to keep the prices really low
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| malone: | the vault will contain a massive range of stock footage, some produced by us, some produced by other fxhomers
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| schwar: | this will include music
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| | sound effects
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| | videos
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| | everything you need
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| Tarn: | a general filmmaking smorgasbord
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| malone: | there will also be special deals for Chromanator and EffectsLab users
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| [20:17] | Exclamation asks: What type of stock footage will be available for ELdv?
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| schwar: | well, we hope you'll be able to influence the answer to that
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| | sollthar already has a range of stock footage and he is one of the people we've invited to sell on the site once its ready
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| | he has the same vision for helping new film makers as us
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| | and as you all know, he is an all round fantastic guy!
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| | :)
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| | there will be a free section just for EffectsLab users
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| | this is where you'll be able to get converted AlamDV2 plugins
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| | i expect
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| timbuk2: | its early days, nothing is set into stone
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| [20:20] | rrfproductions asks: Will Sollthars stock footage be free ? (I hope so)
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| schwar: | no, not free
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| | sollthar (and other selected people) will be working hard to make stock footage
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| | so they will need to make some money
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| Tarn: | Sollthar seems to be quite the star. I feel like we're being overshadowed at our own event.
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| schwar: | but unlike other stock services where footage is $199 for a single shot
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| Tarn: | stock footage is usually hugely expensive
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| malone: | the vault will have a special reseller system that will allow resellers to charge what they think their footage is worth
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| | you can guarantee sollthars footage will be unbelievable value
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| [20:22] | Brettsta asks: Will there be a single unified price for access to the stock footage, or is each piece going to be separate?
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| schwar: | there will be set prices we select probably
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| | the reseller will then select which band it fits in to
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| | so the $9.99 band, the $14.99 band etc
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| | they'll also be able to offer packages of effects
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| | for additional discounts
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| Tarn: | we hope that there will be kick ass bundled packages
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| | The Sollthar Collection
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| timbuk2: | heh
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| Tarn: | The Twisted Studios Collection
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| schwar: | i'm sure many of the resellers would give this stuff away if they could
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| | but you know he is trying to make a professional feature film
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| | which costs a lot of money ;)
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| Tarn: | before we move on, don't forget you can still submit questions whenever you like
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| | type your question into the box at the bottom of the chat
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| | and we'll get to it as soon as we can
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| | right, back to EffectsLab for a while
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| [20:27] | Hybrid-Halo asks: How was the decision to go 'program generated' effects in EffectsLab (Sabers,Particles and Muzzleflashes) made and why?
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| schwar: | Basically because you guys need professional power.
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| timbuk2: | better quality, and diversity
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| schwar: | AlamDV2 was never going to cut it against professional software
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| | for quality mainly
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| | you guys are getting more and more advanced all the time
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| Tarn: | AlamDV2 was quick and easy to use, but it was missing the third important factor: quality
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| schwar: | and we needed to provide you with top quality tools
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| | the output of EffectsLab is broadcast quality
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| | and the next version of Chromanator will be as well
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| | with one of the best masking systems around
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| Tarn: | generating effects properly within EffectsLab gives you vastly more options, too
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| | once you guys get used to the new interface I imagine we'll see some amazing stuff
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| timbuk2: | yeah, wasn't there a silly figure on the amount of possible different muzzle flashes
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| Tarn: | I expect schwar had a statistic of some sort
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| schwar: | heh, there are billions and billions
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| timbuk2: | you'll notice since the beta version we have also tweeked these effects, so that they become better and better
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| [20:31] | TimmyD asks: Don't the system generated particles sometimes look less realistic than the real flashes, and sometime look a little too good for some footage we may be working on?
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| Tarn: | this depends on the skill of the filmmaker ;)
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| schwar: | you can add grain with the grading tools
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| | it does depend on how you composite the effects
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| Tarn: | indeed, the grading tools should enable you to match it to almost any background footage
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| schwar: | many people keep the effects too saturated and contrasty
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| Tarn: | especially when working with home video cameras, which tend to be quite desaturated
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| schwar: | this is the first thing you should look at if its standing out
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| Tarn: | so a big bright colourful effect can stick out
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| | we will be covering this kind of thing in future tutorials
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| malone: | you can use footage of real flashes as well if you want, so EffectsLab gives you the best of both worlds
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| [20:33] | Exclamation asks: Will ELdv have motion blur options available?
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| timbuk2: | as we're on the subject, there will be more grading tools added to the "final" version, yes
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| schwar: | motion blur is a hard one, we have several kinda of blur being added to the final version
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| | but motions blur performed on individual effects is hard
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| | i will be looking in to it if people want it
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|
| [20:35] | Obi Wan Kenobi asks: When will the 'clash'-system be out? Within six months? I would like to use them for lightsabre fights!
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| schwar: | yes
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| | it will be the first thing i work on with tim after the presets system
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| Tarn: | you know how we don't like giving out dates :)
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| schwar: | so it shouldn't be too long before you can make your own clashes
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| | we are thinking of making a single clash/energy ball engine
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| | like the muzzle flash engine
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| timbuk2: | yeah, we've still got a few bugs to sort through before continuing to add new features
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| Tarn: | like with the muzzle flash system, which can also be used for other things, we're hoping the clash system can be useful for other effects too
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| [20:37] | jstow222 asks: Is there a possibility of a feature allowing effect adjustments made by users to be saved for use later on?
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| Tarn: | this is the preset system, which is what we're working on currently
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| schwar: | yeah, this is gonna be added to the effects tab in the program
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| Tarn: | you'll be able to save presets for specific effects for use in other projects, as well as share them with other users
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| schwar: | the top half will be the different effects
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| | the bottom half will be the presets
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| Tarn: | so if you see a cool effect in somebody's movie, and if they're willing, they would be able to send you a preset to recreate it
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| malone: | we hope there will be a huge trade in presets as people discover funky new settings
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| Tarn: | similar to how people made plugins for each other back in the day
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| | except, of course, once you download a preset you can then tweak it as much as you want
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| schwar: | and make your own versions of it
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| malone: | and these will be a lot simplier to create
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| schwar: | interface shots will be up next week
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| timbuk2: | yeah, no more plugger, hurrah! :)
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| schwar: | and the beta testers will be testing it asap
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| Tarn: | it should be a very fluid system and extremely useful
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| schwar: | yeah, its gonna make the program really powerful
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|
| [20:40] | Redhawksrymmer asks: How is CSB Digital's current economy situation? What is required to start the production of DigiGrade, and how can we fellow FXHomers help?
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| Tarn: | first off, we prefer to be called 'FXhome' these days :)
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| schwar: | well, money wise we are better than we were, but still way under what we need for the main release
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| | part of the delays to the programs has been the amount of time needed to sort money and secure funding
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| | the programs will have cost about half a million dollars to make once we release
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| | and for 4 guys our age thats a LOT of money
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| | sales of alamdv2 and chromy paid for a lot of this
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| | but a large amount is from outside investment
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| | we are not about to fall at this end stage so don't worry
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| | but anyone able to convice their school to buy lots of copies will help us lots :D
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| | and there are always the t-shirts :D
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| timbuk2: | yeah, we've already seen people have bought them, hope they're cool
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| Tarn: | yes! The t-shirts are great, Jonne and Redhawk are already wandering around looking like the coolest people on the planet with their FXhome t-shirts
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| schwar: | we've been sent pics!
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| | we've not got ours yet
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| | maybe they'll get here tomorrow
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|
| [20:46] | Brettsta asks: Should we expect to see the product line available in stores in the near future?
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| schwar: | not the near future
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| | but in the end we will aim to be in the shops
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| | its the only way we'll make the money needed for future projects
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| | and to keep fxhome online
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| | so lets hope that'll it'll be released in the shops one day
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| | but it'll be much more money if it is
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| | and, depending on the distributor, the price might have to go up
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| | so anyone getting it online now willhave the best deal possible really
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| | it can only go up from here
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|
| [20:49] | Mellifluous asks: Do your future plans involve marketing your products to professional editing houses?
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| schwar: | yes they do
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| | we will be offering a commercial licence
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| | which is lots more money, specifically for professional users
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| | we will be targetting all the main effects studios with the press release
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| | bet George would have liked EffectsLab for EP3
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| Tarn: | yeah, you wouldn't have had those odd triangular lightsabers if ILM had used EffectsLab :P
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|
| [20:52] | TimmyD asks: Where does the money that you guys take in go to development? Does this cover electricity costs and the like? It seems like writing code doesnt cost half a million, where does this money go?
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| schwar: | firstly you've got wages and tax
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| | 4 years of it
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| | you then have research and development
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| | this requires both hardware and software
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| | remember we make this for the PC and the Mac
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| | and then you have the server, legal, accountant costs
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| | its a lot of money
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| malone: | and i eat a *lot* of cake
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| schwar: | and we only broke even one year that we've been going
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| Tarn: | most of it goes to cake, and then wages
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| schwar: | heh
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| | its a shocking amount of money to all of us
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| | its not something we like to think about too much
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| malone: | and we don't see all the money we get from sales, a lot goes to the tax man and a lot goes to the credit card processors
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| schwar: | basically we made lots of mistakes as well
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| | the free upgrade from 2003 onwards cost us about $100,000
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| | in sales
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| | that was the worst mistake
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| | but then, we could not go back on something like that
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| timbuk2: | You guys have stuck with us, and we are very thankful for your loyal following
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| Tarn: | back then we never expected the development to take so long, so it shouldn't have been a problem
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| | but then we decided to redesign EffectsLab to make it the program we wanted it to be, and that you deserved
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| schwar: | we are running out of time
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| Tarn: | we're going to switch to support questions soon
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| schwar: | will give some quick answers now
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| [21:01] | Webkroa Consulting asks: hmm...I only get more and more confused...Will it cost money to download new effects for EL?
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| schwar: | Nope, presets and alamdv2 stock footage will be free to owners of the program :)
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| [21:02] | feelthapain asks: What do you think would be the earliest date we could expect tarn's great ;) tutorials?
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| Tarn: | As soon as possible :)
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| * | schwar looks at tarn
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| Tarn: | I didn't pay him to ask that, I promise
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| timbuk2: | heh, a likely story
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| Tarn: | currently we're a bit busy with support and working on EffectsLab, but as soon as the schedule frees up slightly you can expect tutorials to start appearing
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| | I hope to get the first batch up in the next couple of weeks
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| schwar: | right, time for 1 more question i think
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| Tarn: | you can already find three tutorials in the quickstart guide that came with the program
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| schwar: | we'll try and fill in the rest we missed in the logs for the chat which we put up
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| [21:05] | Redhawksrymmer asks: What is your final goal in the so far epic FXHome story? Is there even one or will you just keep going along the track? If, so then I'll be with you. We should organise a party in Norwich some time. :)
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| schwar: | Firstly, there are several other goals.
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| timbuk2: | to rule the galactic empire, wasn't it? :)
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| schwar: | These will come to light in the future once we can afford them :)
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| | they are all community based, so we hope you'll all be there with us
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| Tarn: | needless to say, some you may expect, others will surprise you :)
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| schwar: | there will be a party this year
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| | in Norwich for anyone who would like to come
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| | after the release of Chromy and EffectsLab
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| | when we're nearer to the date we'll post up details :D
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| timbuk2: | right, now i think we;re going to switch to a few support questions which some of you might have
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| schwar: | if people want to sumbit support problems they are having
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| | we can try and work on those now
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| [21:09] | pingpeppy asks: How do you use the particle system to make fire etc.?
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| schwar: | right, firstly flames will always work better in stock footage
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| | thats isn't to say they don't work as a particle effect, but they work better with stock footage
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| | like tarn did in the teaser trailer
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| | we will be adding some textures which should make better fire effects in a future release
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| Tarn: | a combination of CG fire and real fire can work really well
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| | even the professionals will tell you to use real fire, though
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| schwar: | for now its best to use the smoke textures with a sparkle testure i would think
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| Tarn: | the balrog in LotR was real fire elements, composited on
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| | and the volcano planet in Episode 3 has lots of real fire elements too
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| | this is the kind of thing that will be covered in depth in the upcoming tutorials
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| schwar: | set the colour gradient to go from yellow to a darkish red.. and make the transparency go from about 50% to totally transparent
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| | you probably want to randomise the speed and the size lots
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| | and the colour a bit
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| | and use an add or screen render mode
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| Tarn: | this is also something that the presets will make easier, as if one person creates a cool flame effect they can share it with everyone else
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|
| [21:13] | Landon asks: Why doesn't EffectsLab support .mpg format?
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| schwar: | the main reason is because its not a good editing format
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| | its the same reason we don't support .asf and .wmv
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| | some people has been able to import standard mpeg files by converting the suffix to .mov - if it will open in quicktime player when you do this then it'll probably open in EffectsLab
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| [21:15] | Exclamation asks: What would be the difference between what I have and a commercially licenced version of ELdv?
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| schwar: | yes, 2 main differences
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| | 1. There would be no requirement to credit FXhome as there is with the standard version.
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| | 2. There would be a dedicated support forum.
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| | but this would come at a price
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| | although sales to effects studios would help us
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| | our main audience is the new film makers
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| | we enjoy making tools for people who can't afford expensive software
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| | and we won't turn our back on that
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|
| [21:18] | Obi Wan Kenobi asks: Is there a way to create lightning with the particle-system? If there is, how do I do it?
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| schwar: | there isn't a way to currently create lighting in EffectsLab, we will be looking in to it in the future
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| | probably after the first full release
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| Tarn: | more importantly, shouldn't Obi Wan be hiding on Tatooine by now?
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|
| [21:19] | thyphoon asks: do you support lower depth resolution under 32bit screen ? like photoshop ?
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| schwar: | we currently only support 32-bit video cards
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| | i read that there are some people using a 32-bit video card for their main screen, and a 24-bit for the second and the program will not launch
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| | i'll be looking in to this
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| timbuk2: | yeah, the majority of the stuff we do requires the red/green/blue and alpha channels to work
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| schwar: | we will also be testing the program on 24-bit systems in the future, but its not something we can say we will be supporting
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| | we will continue to try
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| [21:21] | TimmyD asks: Is there any way to retain sound on more than one layer of the video?
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| schwar: | no
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| timbuk2: | this would require sound mixing, which is hard to do
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| schwar: | the program isn't a sound mixer
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| Tarn: | not only hard to do, but also not the point of the program
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| schwar: | maybe a future version will be
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| | but at the moment this is not something we are considering with EffectsLab 1
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| timbuk2: | at least its one step up from alamdv2 :)
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|
| [21:23] | chrisbhot asks: How do u change the colour on the lightsabers?
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| Tarn: | you can access the full colour options in the Blade Glow section
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| | doubleclick on the Blade Glow track name on the timeline
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| | you can find all this info in the manual, or in the quickstart
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| timbuk2: | the default is green, as tarn said, you just double click on that
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| Tarn: | the Quickstart guide is useful for learning the basics of the program
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| | if you run through the tutorials at the back of the Quickstart you should then be familiar enough to work out the rest yourself
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|
| [21:26] | Exclamation asks: Will a "time" control be added to any one of the programs, so that you can speed up, and then slow down a piece of footage with a speed/time graph rather than just using chromy to speed it up for the whole clip?
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| schwar: | this is a hard one...
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| | there is only one effective way to do with - optical flow
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| * | timbuk2 screams
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| schwar: | this is one of the most hardcore of graphics ideas
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| | the programs which do it correctly cost major money
|
| | the more simple ways of doing this are rather poor
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| timbuk2: | and requires a lot of processing power
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| schwar: | and give bad results
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| Tarn: | 5 minutes left guys
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| schwar: | we will look at optical flow in the future i'm sure, but it won't be something we consider at the moment
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|
| [21:29] | Mantra asks: Hi guys! Do you still have aspirations to make your own films as well as running your FXEmpire? :-)
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| Tarn: | FXempire...I like the sound of that
|
| | moving into filmmaking is something I'm sure we'd all love to do
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| | I came from a mostly filmmaking background to work here, so it's certainly something I'm interested in
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| schwar: | we have many ideas
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| Tarn: | if we do ever go in that direction, you can guarantee we'll do it in a fairly unique and unexpected way
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| schwar: | but at the moment focus must remain on the programs
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| Tarn: | indeed
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|
| [21:31] | Exclamation asks: Will all the stock footage be effects related (like fire) or will some just be footage (like of pyramids)?
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| schwar: | its gonna be a mixture i'm sure
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| | same with the audio/music
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| | everything you could need
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| timbuk2: | anything you guys think will be useful
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| schwar: | for compositing and scene setting
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| Tarn: | we'll be looking to keep to a high standard, though
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| schwar: | while offering everything for DV NTSC and PAL
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| | moving to HD as well once the standards are a little more sorted
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| timbuk2: | guess we'll have to go on a holiday to get the pyramid footage :P
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| Tarn: | if there's enough demand for something, like a Malone Category, then we'll certainly investigate the possibilities
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| malone: | ive already coded it in :)
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| schwar: | heh
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| | i bet you have
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|
| [21:33] | chrisbhot asks: Can you import still images into Effectslab?
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| schwar: | nope, not at the moment
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| | its a video program, but if people really want to work on images (there would be restrictions) i will work on adding it in
|
| | we should do a news article on this
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| | see if people really want it
|
| | and therefore if its a MUST for final release
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| | or something which can just be added in the future
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| Tarn: | ok, final question guys
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| [21:36] | Mellifluous asks: Now that you've ditched the name CSB Digital, can you finally reveal what CSB stood for?
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| * | schwar looks at malone, tarn and timbuk2
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| [QUIT] | Tarn (~javaevent@fxhome.com) (Leaving: )
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| [QUIT] | timbuk2 (~javaevent@fxhome.com) (Leaving: )
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| [QUIT] | malone (~javaevent@fxhome.com) (Leaving: )
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| [QUIT] | schwar (~javaevent@fxhome.com) (Leaving: )
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