Hello YNOT Masters! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Little John, of Little John Multimedia. I’m a multimedia artist, Mac veteran, and newbie adult Webmaster. YNOT has already been an invaluable resource for virtually everything I’ve needed in getting my project(s) off the ground, so I volunteered to write a column for YNOT News covering the Mac beat.Hello YNOT Masters! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Little John, of Little John Multimedia. I’m a multimedia artist, Mac veteran, and newbie adult Webmaster. YNOT has already been an invaluable resource for virtually everything I’ve needed in getting my project(s) off the ground, so I volunteered to write a column for YNOT News covering the Mac beat.
I thought writing a column would be a great way for me to give something back, as well as get some exposure and get established. Over the next few months, I’ll be covering Quicktime, the iLife apps, third party hardware and software, the tenets of design, and the application of the “Mac Way.” As a newbie Webmaster, I’ll also be chronicling the adventure of entering the adult Webmaster trade. And I’ll do all of this while balancing a flaming pineapple on the head of my penis! So let’s get started!!
Here’s a rundown of my rig: I’m running an older G4 tower, with a dual 1GHz G4 processor upgrade. I’ve got 2 GB of memory, with the original 20 GB HD, and a 100 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD for video. I have a Pioneer DVD-R burner in the upper bay, a Zip drive in the lower bay, and a Plextor CDRW external on FireWire port 1. I’m using a Canon Optura 10 digital camcorder that plumbs into FireWire port 2. I’m running Mac OS 10.2 Jaguar, Quicktime Pro, Roxio Toast, and Macromedia MX Studio for Mac.
Let’s start with a basic overview of the modern Mac and what it can do. There are three key hardware components built in that make a Mac the most efficient content-producing machine available. They are the G4 processor, FireWire (a.k.a. iLink, IEEE 1394), and the SuperDrive (DVD-R). The G4 is important because it has what Apple “marketers” call the Velocity Engine. The Velocity Engine is a 128-bit vector co-processing unit that devours multimedia data like Anna Nicole Smith at a Pizza Hut lunch buffet. It is optimized for video compressions and rendering PhotoShop filters. Before the G4, compressing a 2 GB raw video file into an mpeg meant hitting “Export” and going fishing. Thanks to G4s, I can now get the same compressions done while taking a dump. Amazing!
Next you have your FireWire port. This is the input for your digital camcorder and other digital multimedia devices.
Last but not least we have the SuperDrive. Apple’s SuperDrive is a Pioneer DVD-R disc burning drive. It will read write and rewrite DVD-R, DVD-RW, CDR, and CDWR media. Once you’ve captured, edited, and mastered your beautiful bean footage, this drive enables you to produce DVDs and the various CD-ROM formatted media. Hooo-wahh!
The hardware goodies are cool, but it’s how it’s tightly integrated with software that really makes a Mac a Mac. I have two words… iLife and Quicktime. The iLife apps include iMovie, iDVD, and iPhoto, and the now famous iTunes. With these tools, Apple has provided the adult Webmaster with everything you need to create erotic artand produce content that’ll make John Ashcroft’s buggy fuckin’ left eye pop right out!
Quicktime has been and looks like it will continue to be the most important and powerful multimedia software title in the entire computer industry. In the “Pro” version (which costs a whopping $29), Quicktime functions as a conduit for a myriad of applications and formats. It imports and exports dv, avi, VideoCD mpeg1, DVD mpeg2, mpeg4, Flash swa, mp3, ac3, and aac audio, and a myriad of other formats. Once you have a file open in Quicktime, you can do anything with it, and produce content that anyone with any computer on any platform using any application can use. That’s software horsepower that Microsoft can’t touch.
iMovie is an Apple’s entry level video editing environment. But don’t let the phrase entry level fool you. iMovie is powerful software. With it, you can control your camera (once it’s plugged into the Firewire port), import video in scenes, edit the scenes together with a vast array of wipes, fades, watermarks, and titles, and export your movie in either Quicktime or DV format. Use Quicktime to format for the Web and VCD, and dv for DVD. At all points you’re covered. All of this can be done in an amazingly simple and easy to use interface.
Once your iMovie is complete, you can bring it onto iDVD and burn a DVD disc that is compatible with virtually every set top DVD player on the market as well as WinDVD, and other software players. There are several pre-finished menus and interfaces to choose from as well as options for building your own. With a few simple steps, you’ll be twiddling your thumbs waiting for your DVD disc to pop out of the SuperDrive ready for labeling and packaging.
iPhoto completes the suite as it relates to adult Webmastering. Like the other iApps, iPhoto enables you to import, manipulate, and finish your content in a simple and easy to use interface. iPhoto supports virtually all of the digital still cameras on the market with simple plug and play operability. Plug in your camera, launch iPhoto, and let the program do its job. It will import the photos from your camera and create a “roll.” You can do basic crops, watermarks, and red eye removals and export your photos however you wish. It will keep your rolls in a catalog for easy organization. It is an invaluable tool for “Pre-PhotoShopping.” For the photographer who needs organization – iPhoto rules.
Roxio’s Toast is an important part of the puzzle for disc burning. While Apple’s OS burns discs just fine, Toast adds VCD capability to Quicktime with Mac-like ease. To create a Video CD, and VCD compatible mpgs, I simply take my .mov formatted video, and drag it to the Toast window.
For the adult Webmaster, Studio MX completes the circle. It’s just as functional on the Mac as it is in “Windoze,” and enables you to take all this great content you’ve shot, edited, mastered, and ritualistically danced around, and put it on the Web for the world to enjoy!
In my next article, we’ll get into the nuts and bolts of creating video content for your site and hard copy for your store.
Peace out ‘til next time!
Little John’s Web sites can be viewed at http://www.littlejohnmultimedia.com and http://www.littlejohnamateurs.com and he can be reached at webmaster@littlejohnamateurs.com.
