Steady Progress

I've been making steady progress towards finishing the wedding video. The DVD printer, ink-jet printable DVD blanks, and jewel cases have all arrived. I have gotten as far as opening the boxes to verify all the items are the ones I've ordered, but I have yet to install the printer and try it out on a few disks and paper. That will come with the wondrous, swiftly approaching four-day holiday weekend. I hope to have the DVDs mastered by Friday and packaged by Sunday. That will allow me to clear the 100GB+ of video files off my computer and onto my Lacie drive, freeing me to work on my reel and the video diary of Sue and Casey's cross-country trip.

Special thanks to Mr. Chad for helping me choose a printer and such. The model is Epson Stylus Photo R340 Inkjet Printer. It's a 6-tone printer designed for printing photos and discs. I'm sure I'll be bugging him for suggestions and help on many other video and printing related questions. Expect many shout-outs in the coming months.

I'm still debating on whether or not to start investing in a Mac and legit software to run on it. The advantages to building a PC are numerous: I can make a computer that is much faster than a Mac for 1/4 the price. They're much easier to upgrade, they run all types of software, and can play games. The downside is I can't run Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack, Pro Tools, Motion, or Adobe products that don't have half of their features stripped out just so they can work on a Windows platform. The other problem is I so fucking hate Microsoft that I'm willing to spend more money just to avoid having to install Vista on any computer I own. Granted, Apple isn't exactly championing consumer rights, but at least they aren't trying to cram the trusted computer architecture down people's throats... yet. The Direct X 10 stuff I've seen does look awful purdy, but if it comes at the expense of owning my computer vs. leasing it Microsoft, I'll have to look elsewhere for my gaming fun.

The thing that sucks most about having to pick one is the same problem with the current state of politics in America: I'm stuck between one of two options that are so close they might as well be the same. Sure, I could go with the Green Party or Ubuntu and be really proud of myself, but neither will help me get a decent editing suite up and running.

That's it from this side. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!