Cowdog is one of the new breed of web-savvy hounds that frequent the Net.
Armed with his trusty and long-lived Radio Shack TRS-80 and 1,200 baud modem, he is
quick to log in and take a bite out of a problem or chase down an
answer for his friends. He is also quick to
fetch sticks and all he asks is a bowl -- well, a BIG bowl, actually --
of his favorite drink Lindeboom Bier Oud Bruin, Dutch dark beer
direct from the Lindeboom Brewery in Holland. (Yes, it really exists,
visit www.lindeboom.nl or click the bottle at right for a trip to the brewery's Neer, Holland website.)
Cowdog's
doghouse is filled with the latest digital wonder toys and he's
becoming proficient in integrating Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Pro, Audition and Encore DVD. "I love
Audition because I'm really into audio -- you do know that dogs have
incredible hearing, don't you? Humans have their backward-masking and
other audio tricks but us canines can cut in things that humans can't
even hear. Very cool for relaying messages around the planet to other
dogs."
Lately,
Cowdog has been doing sidework for Animal Planet -- mostly voiceover
and walk-on parts -- to earn extra money to get a new laptop. "I've
got my eyes on a new Intel laptop because Kathlyn won't let me use her MacBook Pro anymore. She says that she's tired of wiping the snot off the
keys and the trackpad after I nose around on it for a while. I've been
working on my first documentary series for 'Animal Planet' called Great Canines of Historyand the first episode is an exposé called 'Uncovering the Truth about
Lassie.' It's been a labor of love and contrary to popular fable ...
Lassie is 100% Scottish lass, not laddie. And she likes my hat. She's
such a babe!"
During
a recent major dog show held in Europe at the world famous Matterhorn,
Cowdog won "Best of Show" in the "Canines that Edit Digitally"
category. "It was a big victory and I was up against some pretty
rough competition. There was a Chihuahua that worked for Mexican
television that had a remote field editing system and a high-speed
access that allowed him to cut hot news stories in the field and upload
them direct to the studios without delay. Really impressive. But I
think that I edged him out when I showed the judges that I could
integrate the entire Adobe product line in an integrated project that
ended up on DVD and the web, as well as burning the broadcast master
for Swiss television that night. It really impressed them -- and a certain Saint Bernard that I've been dating since."
Speaking of that "certain" Saint Bernard, rumors of wedding bells in Cowdog's future abound. "He
came home smelling of stale beer -- he still has trouble holding the
tooth brush between his little canine fingers -- but he was floating
around like he was on a cloud," says Creative Cow director, Kathlyn Lindeboom, "he's definitely in love." Kathlyn is someone who should know, as she raised him from the time he was a pup. Still, Cowdog insists that "...like
George Clooney, I have too much going on to want to settle down right
now. Besides, Curtis and Abraham need me to show them the ropes -- [note: Curtis Thompson, Cow technical consultant; Abraham Chaffin, Cow Sys Admin and systems development]-- and so we've been hitting the singles scene together. The guys have
really taken some pointers as to wooing the fairer sex and Curtis seems
to have fallen under the spell of a certain someone whose identity he
guards like a junkyard dog. Some insist that I'll find myself shortly
under Struedel's spell because she had that special 'something extra'
that intoxicated me from the moment I met her. Who knows? She may get a
ring around my finger but I've got a keg around her neck, so who's
really the one coming out ahead in that arrangement, eh???"
Favorite drink: See above, first paragraph
Favorite band: (tie) Keef Hartley's Dog Soldier, Temple of the Dog
Favorite food: Kibble and beer ("...in my own make-shift take-off on 'Gravy Train'")
Favorite song: "Me and you and a dog named 'Boo'" (Lobo)
Favorite movie: A Boy and His Dog ("I like Don Johnson, he likes beer too.")
Favorite TV series: The Super Bowl ("for the beer commercials and wardrobe malfunctions.")
Favorite book: Garfield books ("I love to rip out the pages -- it's good for dental hygiene.")
Favorite Cow forum: Audio Professionals ("I hear alot of things in there that you guys miss.")
You can find Cowdog interacting in various forums here in Creative Cow, where he is usually in trouble or smelling of beer.
Visual Effects Supervisor William Powloski helped create one of the most eye-popping worlds ever seen on TV, as part of a feature film aesthetic on a TV budget and schedule. Although it was canceled after only two seasons, it remains one of the most beautiful and innovative programs to ever air on US television. In an extended version of the original article in The Visual Effects Issue of Creative COW Magazine, here is an exclusive look at how he and his team helped pull it off.
Correcting dialogue is one of the most important parts of the old saying, fix it in post. They're part of a process called ADR -- Additional Dialogue Recording, or Automated Dialogue Replacement -- that has been going on since movies had audio, and is still being done today, from the smallest indie films to the biggest blockbusters. Here's an overview of the world of ADR, some of the Cows who are working in this field, and where to go when you are ready to ADR to your own productions.
The tools for creating 3D stereoscopic movies are now amazingly affordable. A few challenges remain, but you can easily see the possibilities. In this Creative COW Magazine article Christopher Werronen takes you through the process of making a movie destined for Stereoscopic 3D.
Sound business advice is more precious than ever, and you can find TONS of it from the businesspeople at Creative Cow. Our very own Cowdog has gathered some of the best tips for building your business from around the Cow, including getting deadbeat clients to pay you, creating strong contracts, protecting your onscreen talent from accidental explosions...and a reminder that, as far as the client is concerned, everything is YOUR fault.
On-set circumstances changing fast? Improvise! In this Creative COW Magazine article Mark Allen discusses how he overcame the complications in a recent short film production by improvising the visual effects.
The 'W' in COW stands for 'world,' and we really mean it. Here are reports from Cows in Russia, India, the Netherlands and Canada about what they do, and what they're working on.
A wild ride of an edit: shot on film, projected onto five screens. In this Creative COW Magazine article Mike Sullivan discusses some of the problems such as lighting and color interaction he faced in a project he did for National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming.
When your corporate clients are as big as Wembley Stadium, a small camera will not do. Besides, Rick Bronks was not interested in HDV or in tapeless shooting that cost more than tape. Enter XDCAM HD.
In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, Matt Montemayor gives a behind the scends look at BravesVision, the in-house video production team for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Matt describes the parts and process that makes the whole show happen from the switchers and software to the stats display and the largest HD display in the world.
Elvis Presley Enterprises took its video production in-house - into Graceland, one of the most famous houses in the world. But with 14TB of archived film and video, they're already running out of room...
In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, George Cohn discusses his real world experience in real estate video production and how 'No' gave way to curiosity - and then to profit.
The 3 newest DVDs in the Creative Cow Master Series, training even artists can afford. Learn secrets of advanced rotoscoping and compositing, real-world motion graphics that you can start using right away, and the CS3 tutorials you need to take your work to the next level from true masters from the craft.
Creative COW Magazines Music Video issue featured a look at the making of Poets of the Falls Carnival of Rust, one of the most imaginative music videos we have seen. Created in Helsinki, Finland by director Stobe Harju and director of photography Eki Halkka, you can read about the making of Carnival of Rust in our free Music Video issue, and here in this magazine extras page you will find links to the videos, interview podcasts, more on the band, their music, as well as the music videos of Stobe and Eki.
With HD, Thomas says he ''has the ability to finesse color, exposure and contrast in the color correction suite. I used to look down my nose at video but RAW 4:4:4 is more creative, efficient.'' In this Creative COW Magazine article, Thomas Burstyn takes a look at the Arriflex D-20 as he films Sci-Fi's Tin Man.
In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, Laurie Pepper discusses her adventures in the movie making industry and her late husband Art Pepper, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time.
Don't be afraid of digital workflows, says Mark. And don't be afraid to spend money on the right camera. In this Creative COW Magazine article, Mark Wagoner discusses workflow when working with the Panasonic HPX500 in comparison to the HVX200 and other cameras.
A major player in some of the biggest commercial campaigns in the last 25 years shares his experiences on one of the biggest: the Max Headroom campaign for Coca-Cola. They're lessons you can learn too.
Andrea found herself with her hands more than full during an unplanned personnel shortage at WJLA, Washington DC affiliate of ABC: so, responsible for creating all the news promos for the sweeps run of the ABC affilate, 11 times daily, she leveraged all her best methods. What happened at 5 PM on the last day of sweeps? Lets see...
Are your spots persuasive enough? Operators are standing by to tell you! Tips for business and commercial production success - cash generating secrets proven in the fire! In this article from the Creative COW Magazine learn how to get a direct response from your work.
For years, I've known David McGiffert as an FCP user making his own documentaries. But I had no idea that he had over 40 Hollywood features under his belt until I saw his name in the credits for 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' He wouldn't tell me any of these stories. He finally broke his silence and gives Creative COW readers the story.
Here are some tips from a guy who has worked with Ringo Starr, Sting and many others. Sure, there's the easy way. Then there's Doug's way...obsessive, but still on a budget.
In this Creative COW Magazine article independent filmmaker Bryan Kinnaird takes you on a journey through the production process of the Villikon Chronicles and shares what it has taken for him to become the filmmaker he is today.
After we remarked in the January/February 2007 issue that this would be the year of the COW, Barbara Summer Burstyn wrote to tell us about the film she and her husband Tom had made, with cows playing a central role in its theme. Its a fascinating story that sheds light on the challenges of documentary filmmaking.
Ken Martini has advice for building a remote production truck - and a business - that's ready for anything. In this Creative COW Magazine article Ken discusses what it takes to have a successful video production truck outfitted with all the tools you need.
Navigating the challenges of independent productions. Low budgets don't have to mean low quality. They do mean that you'll have to work harder, longer, and smarter. What you lack in money and crew, you have to make up with hard work and passion.
Have a bunch of Media 100 projects archived that you'd like to have access to, again? Media 100 breaks out of its shell at long last, releasing new versions of their editing system that are software-only, or that can run on cards like the AJA Kona.
In this Creative COW Magazine article Michael Hanish gives some great free tips, tricks and techniques on how to do professional audio and avoid all the headaches that can go along with it. Michael covers video shoots, music, performances and more real world environments where you can apply this helpful training.
The audience for low resolution, small format video is exploding, while HDTV adoption is slower than predicted and excitement over high-definition DVD formats is barely a blip on the radar. Where do we go from here?
Matt Hall reveals an easy method for creating multi-screen display video presentations for use in trade shows, concerts and other events and situations.
By following Matt Hall's instructions in this article - and cross-checking your own settings in Adobe After Effects against Matt's settings - you can learn the secret of multi-screen display presentations.
JMU faced many challenges on the way to a working HD facility. In this Creative COW Magazine article, John Woody discusses some of the struggles and triumphs experienced at James Madison University.
People write long and detailed books on this subject for good reason: it is complex, infinitely variable, and much more an art or alchemy than a science. But even artists and alchemists have a starting point which varies depending on the intended outcome. So with that in mind, here are a few questions you can use to help you find your own starting point for capturing live music for video.
Networked File Sharing Without the Complexities of SAN Administration - If you have been looking at networking your studio but aren't sure about how you'll handle some of the complexities of SAN adminstration, then EditShare may be for you.
A talk with Markus Rothkranz: producer, director, filmmaker, storyteller, effects artist, model maker, matte painter - well, let's just say that he does most everything...
A very common question that surfaces on the Creative Cow forums is one that deals with formats, data rates and
storage requirements. So thanks to our friends at Creative Media Partners in
Burbank, California, who have compiled the information, we'd like to offer it for use by our members...
Cowdog is one of the new breed of web-savvy hounds that frequent the Net.
Armed with his trusty and long-lived Radio Shack TRS-80 and 1,200 baud modem, he is
quick to log in and take a bite out of a problem or chase down an
answer for his friends. He is also quick to
fetch sticks and all he asks is a bowl -- well, a BIG bowl, actually --
of his favorite drink Lindeboom Bier Oud Bruin, Dutch dark beer
direct from the Lindeboom Brewery in Holland. (Yes, it really exists,
visit www.lindeboom.nl or click the bottle at right for a trip to the brewery's Neer, Holland website.)
