Comments for Mike Afford Media Blog

Comment on PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel settings in After Effects (CS4 vs CS3) by Vikrant Batra

Vikrant Batra — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:07:20 +0000

Dude,

Thanks a ton, I know now that I wasn’t crazy that I noticed , 720*576, 768*576, 1024*576 and 1050*576

Vik

Comment on PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel settings in After Effects (CS4 vs CS3) by Mike

Mike — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:39:25 +0000

Thanks for the comments Dejan.

You say the 18px “represents a part of blanking line time”. But remember those are TV (non-square) pixels. We’re not really adding anything more, just making the appropriate adjustment for square (ie computer) pixels.

Comment on PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel settings in After Effects (CS4 vs CS3) by Dejan

Dejan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:11:25 +0000

&181;s – should be micro seconds

Comment on PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel settings in After Effects (CS4 vs CS3) by Dejan

Dejan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:06:25 +0000

Good explanation and reasonable from some point of view. To my opinion Adobe made a mistake.
When converting analog video to digital 13,5Mhz sampling frequency is used. Analog video line is 64&181;s “long”. Only 52&181;s is active (just picture, without blanking). Therefore digitized video would be 702px “long”. According to ITU-R 601 digitized video is 720px, which is 53,33&181;s and 18px more. So we are already digitizing more then just active line. Those extra 1,33&181;s (18px) represents a part of blanking line time. I don’t see any sense to add some more pixels. And if you do add 20px to “square-pixel” width (768 -> 788) then pixel aspect ratio would be 4.1026:3.

My question here is why did Adobe did this? Is it because of mistake equipment manufacturers made and it’s some kind of compensation?

How I’m dealing with this issue in “square-pixel” application and Adobe workflow? Simply adding this extra 20px on left and right and 15px on top and bottom so my frame is 788×591 px (4:3) and 1050×591 px (16:9) to stay with my perfect shaped circle. I know some clipping occur on top and bottom and some KB or MB are added to my file, but it’s better than black stripes on left and right or even streching.

Comment on Newton plugin for After Effects – Pinball simulation by DBCJare

DBCJare — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:29:38 +0000

This is so sick! I wonder what other applications this could have. I think i might want to experiment; you’re already off to a start with a pinball animation.

Comment on Newton plugin for After Effects – Pinball simulation by Eric

Eric — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:13:16 +0000

I cannot express how impressed I am with this.

Comment on Little Howard, Lady Gaga and a massive pork pie by Harry Hayfield

Harry Hayfield — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:14:12 +0000

I had no idea that you were involved in Little Howard as well as your past contributions. Just like Horrible Histories, it is a kid’s programme that adults can enjoy just as much. The episodes I have enjoyed the most are “Am I Art?” and “Can I defeat Sian Lloyd?”

Comment on Wordpress Weather Widget (almost) by Weather Widget Revisited | Mike Afford Media Blog

Weather Widget Revisited | Mike Afford Media Blog — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:37:08 +0000

[...] first had a stab at this kind of thing a couple of years ago but removed it when it broke the blog completely…! This new version seems a bit more stable, [...]

Comment on PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel settings in After Effects (CS4 vs CS3) by BarryW

BarryW — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:58:18 +0000

Yes, the BBC commissioning page was quite useful for explaing this to people.
There’s also the odd problem of 544 and 704 width DVB.
Channel 4 uses the 704×576 standard with what apears to be 1 pixel each side.
The 544×576 (used by most satellite encrypted SD channels and More4) is a bit of a mystery. I’ve found that if 16 pixels are removed left and right and 10 pixels removed top and bottom a circle looks reasonable circular.

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by Mike

Mike — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:38:09 +0000

I think you may have a point Noah.

By the way – NEMNEWS is much better than BBC News!

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by L Noah

L Noah — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:05:51 +0000

I agree with L Howard… the new Flannel isn’t as good.

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by Andy

Andy — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:16:43 +0000

Flannel Alan was always so much better in the old days, when a Marathon was still a chocolate confectionary and not an excuse to run 26 miles, when you could easily catch the bus.
Personally I think its political correctness gone mad and I wouldn’t be surprised if soon, we will see Flannel Alan, being totally replaced by Non-allergic hand sanitising lotion Stan. The bath will of course be replaced by some sort of shower cubical…..mark my words.
I bet they bring in a side kick, such as “Hand drier Harry” to try and keep up the viewing figures but it’s a lost cause.

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by Kerrie

Kerrie — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:28:02 +0000

reboots are terrible! flannel alan Original is great, boo! the CGI spacey one! go back to the original now the puppety type flannel alan + 1 way you could make it better is to give him a girl friend like “tabatha tea towel” or something.

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by Donalbain

Donalbain — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:53:13 +0000

I like the new Flannel Allen. It has lasers. Lasers are cool!

Comment on Title sequence for ‘Flannel Alan’ by H Read

H Read — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:19:58 +0000

I think the new series is great Mike. Particularly the very brave decision to replace the random high-pitched screeching with properly thought-through dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, I think more could have been changed, like getting rid of the flannel, andthe bath, but I can wait for those to go. I can wait a long time.

Good work. Now can you have a crack at the presenters of Top Gear please.