News for June 2012

Synaesthesia for Filemaker Server…

While Synaesthesia was originally conceived as a single-user application, it was built using the Filemaker framework. Filemaker is a popular database software solution, and is most typically used in a server/client environment. That is, multiple people can log in to a single database (hosted with Filemaker Server) and make changes simultaneously. It’s a very effective system (and very popular within the film industry).

We now feel Synaesthesia is mature enough to be used in a multi-user environment, and with that in mind, we are in the process of optimising the current version for use with Filemaker Server. With that in mind, we are going to be rolling out a limited beta version of Synaesthesia specifically for Filemaker server.

If you are interested in the power and capabilities of Synaesthesia and already have a Filemaker Server system, we want to hear from you. Go to our Synaesthesia for Filemaker Server beta signup page and let us know some details about your setup. We aim to start the beta programme in a few weeks time.

Posted: June 28th, 2012
Categories: Synaesthesia
Tags: , , , , ,
Comments: No comments

Second Light Tech Lab lecture slides…

Below are the slides from the lecture Jon Thompson and I gave at the FACT centre in Liverpool on June 19, 2012 to a small group of enthusiastic students. The event was organised by First Light, and the students still have several more interesting lectures to look forward to.

Jon talked a great deal about getting into the industry, as well as many great anecdotes from his time in the industry. We talked about our work together on Earth and The Bengali Detective. For my part, I covered post-production, the benefits and pitfalls, and how it applies to any size production.

Posted: June 22nd, 2012
Categories: Articles
Tags: , , ,
Comments: No comments

Synaesthesia 1.0 update and price drop…

Synaesthesia, our film production & logging software has been updated. The latest version fixes a number of issues with shooting mode that were discovered on a recent multi-camera shoot, where Synaesthesia’s shooting mode was used to retrospectively log their clips (more on that at a later date).

The update adds the ability to apply a “template” to file paths in exported documents (accessible from the preferences window). So you can now for example, have Synaesthesia automatically change all file paths from  /Volumes/Data/file.mov to n:\file.mov if you need to send the file to a Windows user.

Finally, we’re announcing a permanent price reduction of Synaesthesia. Effective immediately, the new price will be $199 per user license (anyone who purchased a license in the last 30 days will be credited the difference).

Get the new version here.

Posted: June 18th, 2012
Categories: News
Tags: , , , ,
Comments: No comments

Standard data transmission speeds…

The following table shows the data transmission speeds of common interfaces.

Note that you should always use the slowest interface for reference. So for example, if you copy a file across a gigabit ethernet to a drive connected via USB 2, you should refer to the USB 2 speed only.

Also bear in mind these are theoretical maximums, and real-world speeds will vary greatly. For example, although 802.11g has the same theoretical speed as 802.11g, the latter is far more stable in the real-world.

Posted: June 15th, 2012
Categories: Articles
Tags: ,
Comments: 2 comments