User Profile for go2rba_dotmac

MegaPEG.X Pro SD 3.1.6 (Mac OS X)

Slightly OT re: the higher priced MegaPeg Pro HD 3.1.6  

I bought the higher priced "future proof" MegaPeg HD Pro 3.1.6, and based on an intensive 5 day session trying every conceivable method, I find that it cannot produce basic NTSC SD, 29.97i DVD Mpeg 2 streams. This is not to say it does not produce a watchable file... But that the file, while maintaining better color accuracy than Composer (which always boosts gamma inappropriately), the mpeg 2 stream SEEMS to ALWAYS deinterlace the video, no matter what the template or custom setting, and further do some bizarre implentation of a reverse 3/2 pulldown or some other oddity, and does all this very badly. Clean at the frame level (better than Composer) but very, very staccatto in playback. Being old enough to have shot regular 8mm film at 18fps, which, at high shutter speeds, can be quite choppy and mechanical looking - not unlike MegaPeg Pro HD when doing SD. I was very happy to see the color accuracy, as well as the controls presented to tweak things like brightness and gamma (HELLO QUICKTIME DEVELOPERS) in the created mpeg stream. However, the mpeg looks like, to put it another way, what we used to call (in the days before digital intermediates) skip frame printing, which makes smooth action look like a rapid series of jump cuts. This is what the unusable video from this $300 package looks like, but not quite so drastic, merely unusably annoying. BitVice, while tending toward higher bitrates, is MUCH better, as is Compressor, for that matter, in that the resultant mpeg streams plays back like ordinary SD video. No staccato, supremely annoying motion as provided by MegaPeg Pro HD. I actually accidentally bought Mpressionist as well. Unfortunately, that program needs an interface. All told, $600 wasted, and here's hoping the company, which uses a relatively unique installer, could provide a relatively unique "get a refund" de-installer, maybe for $30, the digital equivalent of a "restocking fee." DO NOT bother with this initiative, which seems to have great promise, but is so very beta (or less) with too many bugs to work out for a "commercial" product. I will try it on some HD soon, to see if the uselessness continues. [alert admin]

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Saturday, April 08 2006 @ 01:24 PM PDT

BushQuote 1.0b5 (Mac OS X)

The horror...  

Such a sad state of affairs when the former verb "quote" has been so misused by the undereducated masses it has become a noun in our cancerous language. While you may "quote" a "quotation," to hear and see the process of the lowered standard of education makes one weep for the monosyllabic future. Such a good thing the word "vote" will still be with us. We can just hope some might know how it works. [alert admin]

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Saturday, July 17 2004 @ 08:40 AM PDT

Drive 10 1.1.5 (Mac OS X)

Limited at Best  

I purchased Drive 10 to attempt to diagnose a problem with a Maxtor Maxline Plus II drive, 250 GB, 7200 RPM, ATA 133. This drive is cutting edge, not available in most stores, but is the most robust IDE drive Maxtor claims to produce. Sort of... When this Maxtor "died" it had almost no data on it. In short, it had been in a box for a couple of days. Drive 10 does NOT recognize the drive, and can NOT effect any repairs of ANY kind on it. To the paperweight stack must go this Maxtor, as there is no warranty card when buying through an OEM integrator. I emailed Micromat about the lack of support for the drive, and never got a reply. Disinterest is the rule at this company. Richard Brown [alert admin]

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Monday, May 03 2004 @ 01:53 PM PDT

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