"This PNG contains additional data for Adobe Fireworks, which will be discarded upon save."

This prompt appeared when I had modified a number of files with Fireworks and then tried to execute a batch command in Photoshop on the files:

"This PNG contains additional data for Adobe Fireworks, which will be discarded upon save."

And although I clicked ok for the first file, it appeared again for each one--rendering the batch process useless. I couldn't find a solution in Google, so it seems that the only logical way to solve the problem was to run the batch using a Fireworks command instead. And it is just as easy to create a "command" in FW than an "action" in PS:

1. Open a file in Fireworks
2. Open the History dialog box
3. Make sure the History list is clear
4. Go through whatever steps you wantto modify the image as needed
5. In the History panel, highlight the steps that you want to set as the command
6. In the History options drop down select "Save as Command"
7. Give your command a descriptive name
8. Select File>Batch Process
9. Select the files you want to run the command against
10. In the next step (Batch Process dialog) open the Commands list and select the command you made.
11. Run it
12. Done!

NDF and DF problems in converting subtitles for use in Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro

It has proven to be extremely complicated to do subtitles for this project using DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro. The latest wrinkle was to export the STL file back into Final Cut pro using Subbits. The program works well--but is not well documented so a lot comes down to trial and error.

The subtitles STL file we created for DVD Studio pro worked out fine but when we took the exact same file and converted it to XML using Subbits, the subtitles slowly got out of synch as the film advanced. The solution required us to adjust the STL in Subbits using the "Recalculate NDF to DF" option (a completely undocumented feature in the Subbits manual). On top of that when you choose the option it prompts you with the alert: "This will shift all timecodes down from 30fps to 29.97 fps. Are you sure you want to continue?" but since we are using PAL this makes no sense.

However, chosing this option -- despite the erroneous warning -- solved the out of synch issue with FCP.

** Update: It appears that this solution only fixed one out of the 4 subtitle STLs that we were working with. The others simply needed to have the Subbits settings for the project set to PAL instead of NTSC. (Clcik Edit>Preferences>PAL). Don't have the time to figure out why the two STLs needed to be processed differently--could have been a FCP setting instead. All in all though I still say Subbits is the best -- and lowest cost -- solution to the problem. I hope Apple will just create a more logical work flow to work with subtitles in FCP and DVD Studio Pro in their next version!

Use Nero to make an ISO image

We have a DVD that we are creating and want to make an ISO image of it that can be downloaded over the internet. However, Nero Essentials doesn't make it very clear how to do it (I suppose to limit piracy). However a thread at this forum <http://forum.my.nero.com/index.php?showtopic=658> gave instructions on how to do it which I've modified below to cover Nero 7 Essentials (this version has a different interface than the one in the forum post) :

1. Open Nero Express Essentials
2. Click the arrow button on the far left of the Nero window to expose the Advanced panel (I had never noticed this arrow button before)
3. Place your DVD in the DVD player
4. Select "Copy Audio CD Tracks"
5. It will list the DVD track as a single track with a start, length, mode listing and the "Total" field will indicate something like: "1 Track, 343:25:23(3019 MB)"
6. Change the Output file format to "ISO image file (*.iso)
7. Set the name and path where you want the .iso to save
8. Click "Go"

Importing stl files into Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro

Surprisingly, the workflow to import subtitles into DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro are entirely different. After all, the programs are both from Apple so you would think that they would work well together.

In any event, we made hundreds of subtitles in .stl format -- because this is the preferred method to import subtitles into DVD Studio Pro. But Final Cut Pro requires an xml format for importing subtitles -- and DVD Studio Pro does not allow you to export their subtitles out!

So we had to find a way to convert the stl into the xml format for Final Cut Pro. Thank goodness for Subbits:

http://www.videotoolshed.com/?page=products&pID=12

For $200 it allows you to open various subtitle formats and then export them into other formats -- including Final Cut Pro, Avid and more -- including the xml format required for flash video subtitling. It's also a decent subtitler on its own. Great solution.
(Disclaimer--I am in no way related to the creator of Subbits -- as proven by the bugs listed below)

You can also use TitleExchange for conversions:

http://www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange/index.html

...and it even lets you convert 50 subtitles at a time for free. This can save you buying it for small projects, but can be very time consuming if you are in a large project and have iterations. TitleExchange is also a converter only--whereas Subbits includes a full featured subtitler.

A few more things (bugs) about Subbits. You'll find that it allows you to open files with other character sets--such as Persian-- but you can't view or edit the text in the interface --since the characters show up as rectangles. But it still does the conversion properly.

The Mac version also seemed a bit more buggy than the one for PC:

1. It converted diacriticals into HTML encoded entities.
2. It took the comma that separated the end time from the subtitle -- in the stl file -- and made it the first character in the subtitle. So all of the subtitles looked like this: ", We thought it would be best to..."

So make sure to test the free demo thoroughly before you buy it. I decided to buy the PC version since it seemed to read the stl files better than the Mac version.

Subtitling issues using stl files and DVD Studio Pro

We are working on a film project and are now in the process of doing the DVD authoring in DVD Studio Pro 4. There are a lot of subtitles so we decided to create an stl file using a spreadsheet. The structure is as follows:

Column 1: Start time <00:00:00:00>
Column 2: comma <,>
Column 3: End time <00:00:00:00>
Column 4: comma <,>
Column 5: Subtitle text

Once we are done with the file we copy and paste it into notepad and then save it as as .stl file using UTF-8 encoding.

Things generally have worked well with this process aside from one quite significant issue: If the subtitle starts with certain special characters -- in English this includes a quotation mark -- the character does not import into DVD Studio Pro -- it just disappears. In the case of Persian, the first character of every subtitle -- no matter what it was -- would not be imported.

Fortunately the fix is simple. Just make sure to add a space at the beginning of a subtitle that starts with an offending character. This seems to fool the importer into allowing the character to import.

After effects video tutorials

Here is a GREAT site to learn After Effects!:

http://www.videocopilot.net/