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FAQ


David Mullen ASC

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As Tim mentioned, there's the beginnings of an FAQ in the Library section. Please post questions you think should be in a FAQ there.

 

Ultimately, I'll re-type up the list of questions more uniformly and then figure out how we should fill in the information and then how to display it. So for now, don't expect answers in the FAQ -- it's under construction.

 

Remember, this is for Freqently Asked Questions so we can stop answering them every month and just refer people to the FAQ.

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I'm starting a feature soon that runs to mid March. After that, I may tackle the FAQ so keep posting ideas under the Library section (not here.)

 

What I'm thinking of doing is privately asking some regular contributors to help out answering them. So if anyone has some free time right now and wants to email me some answers, I'll store them until I get a chance to work on the FAQ.

 

I'm planning on merging all the answers into one text document, editing it, and then posting it as one big Q&A document. Or actually, maybe a couple of big documents broken down by major subjects. Hopefully that can be key word searchable. I'll probably list whoever answered the question so that if some answer seems rather opinated, at least one can blame them, not me. Or I'll edit the answer to be less controversial. Something like that.

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What I'm thinking of doing is privately asking some regular contributors to help out answering them.  So if anyone has some free time right now and wants to email me some answers, I'll store them until I get a chance to work on the FAQ.

Happy to have a go at a few of the relevant ones, David. Though time is always a limiting factor.

 

Maybe a clue as to what length/detail would be a good recommended "house style" would be useful. Most FAQ documents seem to give one-paragraph answers, but some of the ones suggested here such as

 

Physics and Chemsitry of Film and Lenses (Gurney-Mott Theory, refraction, optics)

DI and HD Post Paths

HD Costs vs Film Costs

etc . . .

 

. . .almost demand a book each.

 

Others would fit well into the one-paragraph framework.

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Physics and Chemsitry of Film and Lenses (Gurney-Mott Theory, refraction, optics)

DI and HD Post Paths

HD Costs vs Film Costs

etc . . .

 

. . .almost demand a book each.

 

Well, there's a difference between what people WANT and what they'll get... I agree that the point of an FAQ is not to be a textbook, or a substitute for one, just to keep us from repeating the answers to the same questions. One of the more annoying things on forums is when someone doesn't want to read a textbook but wants you to explain a subject in detail that would normally take a chapter of a book. That's not the point of a web forum.

 

I'd say that in general, the answers should be no more than a few paragraphs long, enough to give a basic introduction to the subject. Beyond that, you could list some book references or website links.

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Will it be capable of displaying pictures?  I've been working on a "How do I load my K-3?/How do I modify my K-3 so it doesn't scratch?" topic with pictures.

A few illustrative pictures would be OK if Tim let's us use his web space for them rather than a link to an outside one. I don't want a link that goes dead.

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I agree that the point of an FAQ is not to be a textbook, or a substitute for one, just to keep us from repeating the answers to the same questions. 

 

Exactly. The FAQ's are answers to frequently asked questions.

 

It will also be possible to edit and expand them down the road, so the first published version of any particular FAQ is not necessarily the 'final' version.

 

Images can be attached to FAQ's and hosted within this forum. If images are attached to a post, they can still be displayed in a post, but it's a little tricky. here's how:

 

- Create a post and attach an image

- View the post, and then select to view the attached image

- Right-click the image as displayed and select 'properties'

- Copy the URL of the image, which will be a cryptic filename generated by the forum

- Edit the original post and paste in the image's URL you just copied.

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Just a suggestion...

 

Scott Norwood wrote up a pretty inclusive FAQ for rec.arts.movies.tech (http://www.nyx.net/~snorwood/faq2.txt) I would strongly suggest consulting that FAQ and referencing people to it as well. There are a few others ou there too. If anything they can at least help in outlining an approach to each answer. No purpose in doing work that's already been done.

 

- G.

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someone doesn't want to read a textbook but wants you to explain a subject in detail that would normally take a chapter of a book.
Totally agree, David. Your forbearance in responding to many of these is remarkable!

 

There really are plenty of sources for almost any question, already on the internet. Scott Norwood's faqs is an excellent text which I hadn't seen before. Well spotted, George. Even diagrams in the text, thanks to non-proportional fonts.

 

But it's always worth finding a different viewpoint on things. So a faq here, which includes links to other useful definitions (such as scott's page) would be the best way of gently urging the lazy reader to surf around and get more than one answer.

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