MORE Mac BS

[jtval 0]

Ok, It's been 18 months since I bought my mac.

Here are the positive things I can say about it:
I has NEVER crashed on me.
It powers up and down very quickly
It does not generate a lot of heat when runnign for long period of time.

But we all know Im not here to talk about how awesome this computer is.


-I still haven't edited a year end video due to the "inititive" nature of the machine.
-I STILL cannot merge folders. Even though quade said its as easy as drag a no drop.
-I gave up on the bullshit "TIME MACHINE" due to it filling up my 1 GB external harddrive after a few backups. I DONT WANT TO RECOVER the data, I want to BACK IT UP.
To me that means- doing a comparative look at the "back up folder" and the folder you and droppng in. It should reconginze that even though some of the subfolder have the same name that not all of the files are the same...THEN, IT SHOULD MERGE.
I searched the MAC forums and everyone said you need to run a diff program. Mac doesn't MERGE.
I had a few suggestions to use automator, run scripts, use sync utility, use path finder.

Problems with those suggestions:
I dont know how to use automator and I cant find a tutorial.
Scripts? same thing
Sync utility? WTF is that. I THINK i have to creat it in automator.
pathfinder: I downloaded it and it would not open. Pretty much what Ive come to expect from MAC.
I started trying to record with the AWESOME on board program (garage band) only to find it to be lame and not as intuitive as CUBASE.

I STILL have to come back to these forums to learn how to rotate my photos. Pretty fukn lame. Its not as easy as selecting all and clicking a 90* rotate button twice. I STILL DONT REMEMBER HOW TO DO IT AT ALL ON A Mac. I USE PHOTOSHOP (an ADOBE product)

I figured out how to stop Itunes from dupicating all my music. But I haven't found a way to get Imovie to see the file in the HD instead of duplicating it and adding the file to its own folder. (same for Iphoto) what a waste of space.

I use EXCEL (an Abode product) and it very often opens to the point where the workbook it too large for my to see the bottom of the workbook. So, I can't scroll thru pages. I have to drop my screen resolution al the way down so the book is small enough that I can shrink it and close it. Then, I bump my res. back up.

I hear Windows 7 is nice this time of year. Anyone know of a Mac exchange program? FUCK THIS POS! I'm getting out as soon as I can afford it.

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[airtwardo 7]

Powers down quick though right?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[mwabd1 0]

I have had mine for quite a while and it has it's quirks.

The most annoying thing is the password keychain, I still can't make it quit.

.......I hereby reject your reality and instead choose to insert my own!

[jtval 0]

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The most annoying thing is the password keychain, I still can't make it quit.

I know what the keychain is, but what do you mean you cant make it quit?

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[virgin-burner 1]

i'm quite fond of my iphone and wouldnt wanna miss it, except for the fact that it only works together with itunes to feed it, but the couple of opportunities i've been playing with a macbook.. have made me steer clear away from it.

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[LouDiamond 1]

Automator tutorials

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[stratostar 5]

I have a g4 powerbook and use it only for the ilife suite. I don't know what one your using, but my wife has a macbook pro as well.

So I have no idea what all the problems your talking about are. That said... I have never had a problem moving files around via drag and drop. iworks ( I think) is a office like program my wife has for excel like work and it is nice.

As for your year end video, I can't understand that you have not got it done, imovie is simple to use and does a very good job for end product and making dvds. I don't use Gband.

IMHO, it seem people who are used to a PC world and then move to mac find it overwhelming, only because they are so use to having to over think how to do something, most mac stuff is pretty simple without as many steps in the PC world.

As for back up, I just use an external HD and drag and drop it. There are a lot of things that are hard to understand about mac, mostly because they use their own "slang" and not called the same as the PC world.

I use both and going back in forth is at times stressful. Each has their good & bad. I love imoive hd 6, but it has it's limits, great for simple TDM vids and smaller productions. Currently I'm now trying to learn vegas pro 11 and find it a pain in the ass, but I have no training on it and don't know all the buttons and features, so I ordered DSE's new book and hope that will walk me through it and make it easy to get going.

IDK, maybe before you chuck it out the window of your moving car.... have you thought of or tried to go to the apple store and take a few classes they give for free on the things you are having issues with and not rely so much on forums? I'm a hands on learner for sure and that is why trying to learn vegas from a book or short internet videos is a pain in the ass for me, but there is no where or anyone I know who is using it I can go hang out with and ask questions and learn hands on from.

Anyway I understand and feel your pain, best of luck and check out the free classes of you can.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[normiss 798]

Being upset with Apple because you don't know how to drive their product is just silly.

They are awesome machines. Learning the OS can make them even better.

[Amazon 7]

The moral of the story is...

Leave the Mac to the people it was designed for..... those who can afford to hire the fan-boys to do all the "intuitive" things for them

[jtval 0]

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Automator tutorials

I would have if they made it that simple. I USED to use you tube for tutorials all the time. I don't know why I didn't think of it for automator. The Mac tutorial left me with more questions than answers. The first video in the U2B list explains that garage band won't import a file that starts with a capitol letter. Even more annoying. But, It looks WAY easier to understand.

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I have a g4 powerbook and use it only for the ilife suite. I don't know what one your using, but my wife has a macbook pro as well.

Macbook pro

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So I have no idea what all the problems your talking about are. That said... I have never had a problem moving files around via drag and drop.

Really? Why is it that, when I do that, the FILES inside the folder REPLACE the existing one. I've lost quite a bit of data doing this. (luckily, I back up most of my stuff) But, what I am saying is real. MY Mac WILL NOT Merge/sync/join or otherwise combine the contents of two folders.

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As for your year end video, I can't understand that you have not got it done, imovie is simple to use and does a very good job for end product and making dvds. I don't use Gband.

Because, Mac's way of duplicating every file that you open with their iProgram is ridiculous. I have an external harddrive with 8 yrs worth of video. Why can't I plug that in and open a MAC program and just point to the file? I had to use premiere...for mac...which has its own set of problems when using iDVD to burn a disc. NO AUDIO on the dvd. So, instead of idvd or dvd studio pro (which also wouldn't do what I wanted)I used encore.

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IMHO, it seem people who are used to a PC world and then move to mac find it overwhelming, only because they are so use to having to over think how to do something, most mac stuff is pretty simple without as many steps in the PC world.

I've tried for 18 months to go simple. Mac IS NOT easy. How is it easier to double every file you drop onto your Harddrive? For example, using iPhoto, I wanted to rotate all of my photos. I had to import, rotate, export then delete the original files. On a PC all I do is open in WMV, which points to the files, and rotate twice. DONE. That's just one example of how intuitive PC can be. Mac wants to own everything you do. So If I, edited a photo in iPhoto it would copy that file. THEN, If I wanted to add that photo to my iMovie project, it would AGAIN copy that file. That's an easy way to Fill your hard drive with one project. The whole process is a waste of resources.

I'm also not a fan of iMovies organization. Though, It's possible I don't understand the program. I only use it for easy tasks because I don't want to waste 500GB on a 30 minute project.

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As for back up, I just use an external HD and drag and drop it. There are a lot of things that are hard to understand about mac, mostly because they use their own "slang" and not called the same as the PC world.

I addressed this above. MY Mac may be the only one in the DZ.world that does not do this be I assure you it does not combine folders. It only replaces them.

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I use both and going back in forth is at times stressful.

Yep. I use PC at work. Mac at home...with no training other then U2B videos. Can be stressful to do simple things like rotate batch photos.

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IDK, maybe before you chuck it out the window of your moving car.... have you thought of or tried to go to the apple store and take a few classes they give for free on the things you are having issues with and not rely so much on forums? I'm a hands on learner for sure and that is why trying to learn vegas from a book or short internet videos is a pain in the ass for me, but there is no where or anyone I know who is using it I can go hang out with and ask questions and learn hands on from.

First, Not a bad idea about the moving car. I didn't know they offered classes. I knew they would answer questions but, I didn't know they offered classes. PREEMPTIVE answers are WAY better than reactive ones.

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Anyway I understand and feel your pain, best of luck and check out the free classes of you can.

I will check it out...after I get back from my trip.
For most of the last 18 months I have been traveling so I'm not sure I would have been able to make any of those classes. After April I should be able to .

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Being upset with Apple because you don't know how to drive their product is just silly. They are awesome machines. Learning the OS can make them even better.

I've stated specific reasons why it is not an awesome machine. I don't know what else you need but it does not work for me. I'm glad that you love it, but I don't. At this moment I think the one suggestion that is closest to becoming a reality is throwing it out my car window...as I drive my car through the Apple store front Talk about irony. Crashing Windows, so I could throw the Mac out of mine. I'd have to yell out the obligatory "LEEEEROOOYY JEEENKINSSSS" as I drove through.

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[LouDiamond 1]

Before you chuck it out the window let me know. I have a couple of windows/PC laptops sitting in corners collecting dust, perhaps I can trade you one of them for your Mac?

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[faulknerwn 38]

Ummm. To rotate pictures, apple a to select all, double click and try open in preview. Select all again, go to the menu rotate left, and quit. They are all rotated. I wrote an automated script for one of our camera guys that spins em 180. Took me less than 5 min to figure that out and it's drag and drop. I'll email it to you of you want

And iMovie is crazy easy to use - what is your specific problem other than wanting to store movies in a different location than iMovie wants?

[jtval 0]

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Ummm. To rotate pictures, apple a to select all, double click and try open in preview. Select all again, go to the menu rotate left, and quit. They are all rotated. I wrote an automated script for one of our camera guys that spins em 180. Took me less than 5 min to figure that out and it's drag and drop. I'll email it to you of you want

Thanks. That's awesome but, you already described it.
I did that once or twice in preview but I had some issues. It wouldn't rotate them all the same. Some turned 90* some turned 180*. I'm okay with using PS but, I wouldn't mind seeing what the script looks like, if you don't mind e-mailing me.

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And iMovie is crazy easy to use - what is your specific problem other than wanting to store movies in a different location than iMovie wants?

The BIG problem was while I was importing my 'tapes.' It's kinda of cool that iMovie creates a new file everytime you stop recording. But, It breaks each of my videos into a thousand pieces.(in paces that I didn't stop recording.)
I understand it's a tape/timecode issue but it's still a PITA. Instead of a 60 minute tape having 60ish jumps on it, it ends up with 290 video clips. (number chosen at random to demonstrate my point.) A LOT of those video clips are 0:00 seconds long. So, once I get my Premiere running on my PC again I can import them the way I want while, still using half the space.

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[faulknerwn 38]

I'll dig it up in the morning. I like that it splits them myself. Makes editing easier. If you don't hear from me by lunchtime email me again - I probably forgot :)

[jtval 0]

Yea. I can totally see how it would be good for digital imports but the tape has been a PITA. Thanks.

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[jtval 0]

OKAY I'm TRYING. I'm REALLY TRYING to like and to use the Mac automator.


Can someone tell me how I am supposed to "batch rename" files?
I used this tutorial.

but I CANNOT rename them.
I have a bunch of files from today. I want to rename them
"17 Mar 12 WINGSUIT" then add sequential #'s.
I can not get it to do that without typing in each file name, which is totally redundant.
STILL, not liking mac. I would love to be able to highlight all, right click and rename. Mac doesn't do that.

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[quade 4]

I'm doing this 100% from memory. Not that I'd need to even look it up. It's just that easy.

Step 1. Open Automator and use a new workflow.

Step 2. In Finder, open the folder with the files in it, drag and drop them in the Automator window.

Step 3. In Automator, choose Finder Action, Rename Files. Drag and drop that under the files you previously put in the Automator window.

Step 4. From the Rename Files section, pull down the menu item you want.

Step 5. Run.

When all else fails, rtfm or at least Google it. At last count there were 1,234,987 web pages and YouTube videos out there to explain it.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Renaming+Mac+files+with+Automator+#

The naming scheme you've described is somewhat less than usefull as your files won't naturally sort chronologically by name across months and years. A smarter naming scheme might be yyyymmdd_name_xxxx.ext

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[format 1]

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When all else fails, rtfm or at least Google it. At last count there were 1,234,987 web pages and YouTube videos out there to explain it.

Oh how I LOVE the fact that there is over a million Mac users who wants to help a fellow citizen.
They've been fucked, then filmed and ultimately they feel good about it.
So do I

What goes around, comes later.

[jtval 0]

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I'm doing this 100% from memory. Not that I'd need to even look it up. It's just that easy.

Step 1. Open Automator and use a new workflow.

Step 2. In Finder, open the folder with the files in it, drag and drop them in the Automator window.

Step 3. In Automator, choose Finder Action, Rename Files. Drag and drop that under the files you previously put in the Automator window.

Step 4. From the Rename Files section, pull down the menu item you want.

Step 5. Run.

When all else fails, rtfm or at least Google it. At last count there were 1,234,987 web pages and YouTube videos out there to explain it.

Nope your method didn't work either.

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http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Renaming+Mac+files+with+Automator+#

While I can definitely appreciate sarcasm, there is no manual and I DID a google search. Which I linked in my previous post. THAT method did not work either.

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The naming scheme you've described is somewhat less than usefull as your files won't naturally sort chronologically by name across months and years. A smarter naming scheme might be yyyymmdd_name_xxxx.ext

Yea, not a bad idea. thanks.

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[quade 4]

I don't know, maybe the machine just hates you.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[oldwomanc6 52]

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I don't know, maybe the machine just hates you.

ooooh! Malevolent animism... It does exist.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[Calvin19 0]

I'll gladly take it off your hands. I'll even pay shipping.