Shake & Video

[user_deleted]

OK...saw the announcement that Apple is dropping Shake to $499. Jaw dropped. Immediately downloaded the trial version to play with. You know the drill...tired of compositing wet dreams...now I get the real thing. After about 4 hours of going through the tutorials I have a few questions for you grizzled Shake vets, so please be gentle:

1. I expected the learning curve to be steep...but typically how long does it take to get your mind wrapped around this monster?

2. I've read all the doom & gloom vs rose-colored posts across the net re: the expected death or continued life of Shake. Heck...for $499 I'm not all that worried about it, given it's capabilities in the current version. But as a guy who does all video work and zero film, is it worth it?

3. I understand video fields and the principle of interlacing...but no matter what I do, any video that I send into Shake comes out looking like crap. I've read through the manual's wisdom on how to treat NTSC video about 10 times...and I have to confess I just can't get my mind around it. I've tried mutliple combinations of settings and nothing seems to change. So can someone give me a simple step-by-step for loading a video file and then rendering that same file after some compositing has been done. I'd also be interested in how you get the slo-motion video to work...but I don't want to be greedy. (OK. I confess...I'm greedy. Help me, please!).

4. What are the top two or three things you love and hate about Shake? So far...I really like it and at this point, if I can get the whole video thing worked out it's pretty much a no-brainer that I'll be buying it (and by extension, spending the rest of my summer glued to my computer and forsaking all outdoor activity. I assume that eventually I'll become like those frickin' pale-skinned Morlocks from The Time Machine).

Thanks in advance for the wisdom, advice, warnings and insight.

[user_deleted]

Bueller?

Anyone?

[user_deleted]

Ok...seriously. 78 views and not a single comment or suggestion?

Have I violated some unwritten law of the Shake forum?

I'm beggin' fer some direction here....a nugget...a crumb...anyone????

[user_deleted]

i think Shake is quite easy to learn, but hard to master especially with those c programming code, unless you alreay got some basic programming knowledge. however, the programming part is good to know, but not a must, you still can be a pro compositor without the programming.

you can do the slow motion within the file in node, look at the speed and speed ramp button at the bottom.

for NTSC, what do you mean by crap? i think Shake is better to deal with still sequences than quicktime. but you should have no problem to get ntsc video into Shake with quality drop, use full res, interlace. use the broadcast monitor to judge your video, not the computer screen.

i think shake is a compositing tools, for fancy eye poping effect, after effect, motion will do the job better.

thanks
ckeong

[user_deleted]

QUOTE
Have I violated some unwritten law of the Shake forum?
I'm beggin' fer some direction here....a nugget...a crumb...anyone????

no, your post is quite reasonable, it's just that it's difficult to give a meaningful answer to your questions..
but here's a crumb anyway..

QUOTE(wahoorob @ 06/23/06, 04:12 AM) [snapback]240555[/snapback]
1. I expected the learning curve to be steep...but typically how long does it take to get your mind wrapped around this monster?

took me around 2 months to feel confortable.. read the full manual. twice.
then just play around.. takes a lifetime

QUOTE
2. I've read all the doom & gloom vs rose-colored posts across the net re: the expected death or continued life of Shake. Heck...for $499 I'm not all that worried about it, given it's capabilities in the current version. But as a guy who does all video work and zero film, is it worth it?

well, what kind of video work?

QUOTE
3. I understand video fields and the principle of interlacing...but no matter what I do, any video that I send into Shake comes out looking like crap. I've read through the manual's wisdom on how to treat NTSC video about 10 times...and I have to confess I just can't get my mind around it. I've tried mutliple combinations of settings and nothing seems to change. So can someone give me a simple step-by-step for loading a video file and then rendering that same file after some compositing has been done. I'd also be interested in how you get the slo-motion video to work...but I don't want to be greedy. (OK. I confess...I'm greedy. Help me, please!).

well, i cant really put it better than the manual.. read it again, try, google if you get lost, then post here what you mean by "looks like crap"
basically you'll have to decide if you want to keep it interlaced (with the correct field order) or convert to frames.

QUOTE
4. What are the top two or three things you love and hate about Shake?

love it because it can do nearly everything and gives beautiful results, sometimes get annoyed because of keyframes handling.. hardly ever hate it.

++ christoph ++

[deke-kincaid]

QUOTE(wahoorob @ 06/26/06, 04:40 PM) [snapback]240894[/snapback]
Ok...seriously. 78 views and not a single comment or suggestion?

Have I violated some unwritten law of the Shake forum?

I'm beggin' fer some direction here....a nugget...a crumb...anyone????
People just like to ask this question or something similar(AE vs Shake, Combustion vs Shake, DF vs Shake, etc...) on the forums every other month, so people just get bored of answering the same question over and over again. Search the forum

[user_deleted]

Thanks for the input. I truly appreciate it. I'm in the process of ordering the Paolini book for more help. The more I play around with this program the more intrigued I am. The nearly unlimited versatility it presents is staggering...and some of the imposing features are beginning to take on a manageable feel.

I've read that Gnomon has some Shake dvd's. Have any of you used them or know of anyone who's used them? Their Maya series is outstanding, so I'm guessing this one's excellent as well.

Work I do: primarily local commercials and athletic highlight videos for schools & colleges. Hoping to grow my skills into something much more. I'm proficient in Final Cut Pro, Lightwave, Motion and have been learning AE 6.5 and Maya(along with solid Photoshop and Corel Painter IX skills).

The video issue - figured that one out. I was trying to read too much into Chapter 6 re: working with interlaced video and got some settings goosed up. I took a break, drank a gallon of Diet Mountain Dew...got back in the saddle and the very, very simple answer jumped off the screen and slapped me silly. Never underestimate the value of reading the manual after a good night's sleep when you're hyper-hydrated with caffeine.

Again. Thanks for the kind words and direction.

If you don't mind me asking a couple of more personal questions:

1. What do you do professionally?
2. Where does Shake fit in for you?
3. What other apps do you use frequently?
4. How long have you been doing what you do?

Peace!

Wahoo