Rob Belics

Back in the early 80s and on I built my own computers using wire and individual chips. There was no hurry but tremendous pride in creating a machine no one else had. And it didn't cost me much either so I see where he could be coming from. Somebody had to make the first Arri or Panavision prototype and I don't see why an individual couldn't either if he took the time. Plenty of people build their own cars from scratch, too.

That's what it looks like to me. The tip of the contact would be what slides across the other points varying the resistance. You might be able to check this with an ohmmeter by measuring from that point to either side of the circle. It would vary as you turned it. It would also be a higher resistance on one side compared to the other unless you had it dead center.

They are ALWAYS working on that or at least appear to. I emailed them once about how several of their pictures didn't show up and cited one in particular. They fixed the one about a month later but none of the others.

I think you are saying this but just to make sure, even though a lab handles 300mm+ wafers does not mean they can create a single chip that big. Imperfections over such a large surface would make the yield so low that it would make each chip outrageously expensive or impossible. When chips are made, they might be able to get a 20 microprocessors off one chip but out of that number maybe five are dead due to these imperfections. At one time, "wafer scale integration" was floating around for using whole computer systems on one wafer but that never came about for the reasons above. Now I'm saying all this having been out of the game for a number of years. ;)

Yes, there are books out there that talk about this but it would take me a while to look them up. The two good ones I read were older but had good business sense written by indie producers; one by a well known horror producer who's name escapes me. Business sense is what you have to have more than dollar signs floating in front of your eyes. Dollar signs are what interest investors but that "special feeling" they get knowing they are investing in a movie is more attractive than you would think. You must keep in mind that most investors are looking for a return on their investment. Many of the "dot bomb" companies of a few years ago never would have gotten off the ground had they been overly concerned with keeping the larger piece of the pie to themselves rather than giving up a bigger piece just to get the funding needed to get going. Don't be afraid to give away 85 to 90 percent of the profits just to get people to give you money or work on your production. Chances are you will never make any money anyway so, essentially, you are not giving anything away and, if it does bring in millions, it will open many more doors of opportunity. Nothing breeds success like success and future investors will look at that on your next production. "Business Plans that Win $" by Rich and Gumpert was one business book that made great sense to me. Not a film book but the concept is the same.

The cowboy had the side of his face flagged in the reverse angle, correct?

All at the same time?

CMOS can produce a quality image but, apparently, more expensively and with its inherent limitations. Is an equivalent CCD camera cheaper or larger? Or is it the same size but higher resolution? There is only so much space available on any integrated circuit. Most of a CCD is dedicated to gathering light. More of a CMOS chip necessarily contains circuitry for converting and transferring pixel data. What I think I would do is concentrate on the abilities of each as far as handling the light levels as stated in the articles, assuming equivalent resolution. I wouldn't care how difficult it is to manufacture or the cost and methods to make it. If two cameras cost the same then it makes no difference to me along those lines.

Just from a quick read it seems if you are interested in quality go with CCD. If you need small, go with CMOS. Not that CMOS can't produce a quality output. As Alvin said, it depends on the conditions. But high end cameras would use a CCD.

Shouldn't this be on the Off Topic category?

Nope. I talked to the technical manager and he is definitely anti-digital projector.

I was just thinking that if "everybody" is using it, how many of that 80% grab it for only that reason.

Does that make one question how much thought is given to the choice of stock from an artistic point of view?

Local article about a new advanced theatre opening today about five minutes from my home. And not a digital projector anywhere :P

The local paper doesn't like it and neither does rottentomatoes.

For it's time?! The thing just came out four years ago.

My thanks, too, Tim. Hey...I just noticed the blogs button at the top! That's cool.

Following the lines of a typical Aquarius, I combine both the technical and artistic sides of me. I've worked in television and designed computers. I've worked with film and love to draw and paint. So I used to teach electronics for Control Data Institute years ago. I get the impression Full Sail is somewhat like CDI. The instructors might be very good at their jobs but some are just filling a teaching spot. Students can easily drift around all day but, if they apply themselves, they can learn a lot. Some of my students went to work for some of the best companies. Some of my students went to work at the best fast food restaurants. The problem was the former knew how to use me as a resource while the latter needed more hand holding but in no way were they incompetent or incapable. My class lasted from 8AM till noon. I had 120 individuals but no structured classroom time. They learned on their own as I wandered the halls helping them with their reading. I was very, very good at what I did and very knowledgeable of the subject. They killed me. I was overwhelmed by students from the time I showed up on the parking lot till the time I could pull myself away to go home. Even the afternoon students clammered for my help because their instructor was, uh, limited in his knowledge. Students found errors on the tests and in the books. It would take years to correct the errors only to create more. CDI only seemed to care about how much money they were pulling in because many of the students were funded by government retraining programs. If you talked to some of those students now you would hear what a wonderful experience they had. Others would tell you how crap the school was. I'm sure the former are the ones who had more of a passion for the subject and dug into everything while the latter were those who needed more guidance. (And, yes, many will always struggle with life). I don't agree that you need to work 16 hour days because you "might" do that on a production. It's a learning environment and you can't learn when you're exhausted. Though I get the impression Full Sail is better than all this, and more upscale, I can't help but feel the overall mood is the same from what I keep hearing.

Roberto, I've heard you work 16-hour days and have 3am classes? The equipment is good, and accessible, but that may mean 3am access? A boot camp mentality?

I think people who tout video are jealous wannabes cause they can't play the game. And I'm not even gay!

Personally I thought there was a stunning difference between the airport images and the HD shots. Film really stood out but you have to take into consideration the HD images were shot in low light.

Stefan was a senior taking film theory, I think, but I don't know if that's a major there. (red haired guy). Erin produced his shorts but does so for others, too. I guess I'm only assuming she goes there, too. I wonder if maybe Stefan even graduated by now. Anyway, I'm in St. Charles.

I haven't looked into this but they either have avoided specifying whos chip they use because it is not necessary from a marketing view or it is a custom chip. In either case you may have to call or email them to find out. This could be a case like embedded processors in, say, printers. What does HP use in theirs? Why should they advertise it? Of course it might be listed "somewhere".

Don't be late posting to forums.

You are in my back yard. Perhaps you know Stefan Block? Or Erin, uh, whatsername?