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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Eurofurence-DVD's LiveJournal:

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    Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
    6:48 pm
    The Show must go on!
     After taking a rather long break from any Eurofurence-related things, I'm back and working on the Eurofurence 11 DVD set!





    Currently, the production is still in it's early planning stage, which means:

    - CI (Audio-Visual Design, intros, animations, graphic tools) are being planned and designed
    - Permission to publish material of the various artists who performed on stage are being performed

    detailed plans for the DVD or a possible DVD set will be made as soon as we've been able to contact all the artists about copyright / permission to publish material, since the amount on material we may or may not use for the DVD may have an impact on our current plans with the DVD.


    Technical details: We will refrain from using any double-layer media in the future as the disaster of last year was the result of our last minute fallback plan which had to come into action after being dropped by a professional DVD duplicator. DVD-R single layer, however, has shown to be a very reliable medium, so we're planning to use that for the Eurofurence 11 DVDs.

    NOTE: If you still own an Eurofurence X DVD set which contains a double layer DVD which does not play, you're welcome to contact us and have the defective DVD replaced by two DVD-R single layer DVDs.
    Friday, August 5th, 2005
    6:27 pm
    A message from Cheetah:
     I was wondering: Would there be any interest in having the old EF5 Video released on DVD?

    The quality of course is WAY below the EFX video ... it was all done with analogue recording, analogue video capturing in MJPEG. We were technically only able to release it on VHS back then, and I suspect some of the old tapes might be already fading ... so, a DVD would still look a lot better than the remaining VHS tapes.
    Since I'll be busy on remastering the EFX DVD anyway next week (to get rid of the nasty incompatible DL Disk, so people not being able to play it will finally get a working replacement), I could also give the old EF5 material a look. I wonder if I'll still be able to read the old backup tapes ..

    So, dear reader, would you pay 10 EUR for a nostalgic EF5 DVD-R? (Single layer, compatible with almost all players)? Any requests for special features?
    Monday, July 25th, 2005
    7:47 pm
    The DVD - some infos
     So, most of you know that the DVD was on sale at EF 11. Some of you also know there were problems. What's been going on with that?

    The initial plan was to sell three single layer DVDs, glass master printed. That would've provided a maximum compatibility.

    The biggest problem: We couldn't send it to a European DVD duplicator because of copyright issues. The Variety Show had a few soundclips that are under international copyright, and the Pawpet show had a few parodies of songs, which in itself generates a big problem when it comes to distributing those. We knew that from the start.

    So we went to look for duplicators in Eastern Europe and finally found someone who'd do this: a company in Poland. Although they didn't want to press and duplicate the three single layer DVDs we wanted to sell, they offered us a package consisting of one single layer DVD and one double layer DVD so we could stuff everything on it. Hence we decided to scratch the plans with the three single layer DVDs and to combine two DVDs into one Double Layer DVD.

    When we finished the DVD and sent the masters to them, we still had three weeks. After one week, they found out that something with the Double Layer DVD was wrong. From what I've learned, Cheetah even got the software they're using to try and reproduce the error and eventually fix it. Cheetah resent the masters, fixed and working, and he sent image files and everything they needed in time to have the DVD produced for EF.

    A few days before the convention we've learned that for reasons unknown to us, the Polish company couldn't do it. In my humble opinion, they just had a strange sense of doing business since it seems they just weren't interested in working with us. They probably were glad when we told them we'd cancel the contract.

    So that left us sitting there, just a few days until the convention, with a single layer DVD image and a double layer DVD image, and no time to look for another duplicator. In fact, we didn't even have time to re-author the DVD so we could at least sell three single layer DVDs. All we could do to save the project was to burn it ourselves, so we invested in a pile of DVD writers, a DVD printer and loads of DVD-Rs and DVD-R DLs. Kudos to somewolf who spend an entire weekend feeding 6 hungry DVD writers.


    In a nutshell: Yes, we know there are problems with some DVD players. The DVD will hardly work in any laptop (unless you have a brand new drive that supports DVD-R DL). We apologize a lot for the inconveniences, but as you can tell, this was the only way to save the project. There wouldn't have been a DVD at all if we hadn't produced them by ourselves.


    -BBF, producer of the EFX DVD
    Wednesday, July 13th, 2005
    7:40 pm
    Latest news
     Everything's finished.... except for the DVD itself.

    Lesson learned: Dealing with eastern Europe companies sucks big time. Apparently, the polish duplicator cannot read the golden masters we provided. Of course we provided DDL image files as well, but some dickhead over at that cheap DVD shack decided they don't need our money and they don't have to push the two extra buttons it takes to make a DVD out of an image file.

    There will be some improvising going on; we're trying to make a small series of DVDs on DVD-R and DVD+R DL.
    Monday, June 27th, 2005
    10:31 pm
    Yay!

    Disk 1 of the EFX DVD-Set is reaady for production.

    It features:

    - The Phantom of the Pawpetshow Feature
    - Alternate Viewing Angle: Backstage Camera View
    - Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack
    - Audio Commentary Track
    - Optional German Subtitles
    - Trailer
    - Production Gallery
    - Animated Chapter Menus

    Total running time: Approx. 90 minutes.

    The second disk will be featuring two hours of convention highlights
    and another 90 minutes of Uncle Kage's Story Hour. And hopefully I'll
    get it finished until Tuesday.

    Does anybody here have any experience in properly preparing a DVD-9
    for production?
    Tuesday, June 21st, 2005
    2:10 pm
    Well, since I can't post to [info]efx_dvd, I'll post my updates here. Hey, BBF, if you read this, feel free to copy-and-paste :) Same goes for yesterday's entry.

    I didn't want to work directly on the USB hard drive that we use as a medium for data transfer. It get's very hot when it's in operation, and I'd really like to keep the stuff on it as a backup. So ... I had to free another 30 Gigs on my main PC. I discoverd that I've got TONS of unsorted crud scattered all over my drives. Deleted lots of it, and swiped the remains onto one big pile, to make room. Took me two hours, including copying the backstage video from the USB disk.

    Well, I managed to get the backstage infrared camera footage synched and edited last night. This went faster than I had feared. And Premiere didn't crash on me. That's truly a premiere :)

    However, all other things did. It was a really hot summer afternoon, and I had to open my PC's case, and place a REALLY large fan in front of it for extra cooling after it crashed and rebooted every few minutes. No fun.

    I found out my MPEG encoder supports hinting for letterboxed video. So, I put the main show video on my encode batch list again. I also switched from 3-pass to 5-pass encoding. I'm really curious if that'll bring an extra quality boost.

    Additionally, I put the backstage video on the encode list. Only very little bandwidth is available for it ... I hope it won't turn out too bad.

    All in all, my PC will have about 9 hours of encoding to do while I'm at work. I really hope it won't overheat or flake out on me in the middle of the process. It crashed once during the first 20 minutes ... while I was in the shower this morning, so at least, I could restart it. Let's pray it WON'T do that again. Or my timetable will be really screwed.

    Let's also pray that my bandwidth calculations are allright.

    A low-bandwidth DIVX version of the show is being uploaded to Eisfuchs right now, so he can prepare the subtitles. The upload will propably take about 10 hours. I HATE ISDN! GAAAAH! And Eisfuchs is in the middle of moving. I hope he'll find the time.

    I'll definately skip bowling today (again ...) and try my luck at finishing my edit of the commentary track as soon as I'm home from work.

    I'm already looking forward to the time when I'll be able to think about something NOT related to Eurofurence for a change :)
    Friday, May 6th, 2005
    1:03 am
    The next step...
     We did it, let's head home!


    Well, not quite.

    The movies all are completed, and the last batch of work will be brought to audio-wizard Jaryic, who will apply his special magic music wand to make the sound crispier, crunchier and better than anyone else. :)

    By the time he's finished, we'll do a little DVD authoring (which doesn't take too much time) and then the whole thing goes to the duplicator... IF WE FIND ONE, that is. :)
    Friday, April 22nd, 2005
    10:52 am
    Current status:
     The production of the DVD slowly but steadily nears the point where we can say "It's done!".

    Currenly the plans are to release a box containing three DVDs:

    DVD #1: EFX - The movie (highlights and overview)
    DVD #2: The Phantom of the Pawpet Show
    DVD #3: Uncle Kage's Story Hour

    PLEASE NOTE!! The plans may be subject to change without warning.

    The status of the DVDs:

    DVD #1: A few shots from the dance and the ending credits are missing. This will be done during the next few days. After that, the entire DVD goes to Jaryic who's going to master and refurbish the audio tracks.

    DVD #2: Some minor tweaking needs to be done, but the whole thing basically is finished.

    DVD #3: Finished.


    Things are looking good here! We'll keep you updated.
    Thursday, April 14th, 2005
    6:01 pm
    Even though I haven't posted any updates in quite a while, there has been progress. In fact, the production took a major leap towards the finish line.

    - Additional shots have been made last sunday.
    - The previous concept of a highlights show has completely been cancelled.
    - The new highlight show is about halfway finished.
    - The Pawpet Show and Kage's Story Hour are completed, including sound engineering.


    Now, what still needs to be done?

    - I have to finish the last half of the highlights video.
    - The highlight video has to be mastered by Jaryic when it's finished.
    - I have to finish the Game Show and the Furry Music Café.
    - The Fursuit Show has to be mastered.
    - The Fursuit Contest has to be mastered.
    Friday, April 8th, 2005
    3:26 pm
    What's up with the DVD?
     I'm still working on it, and I'm getting very close to finishing it.

    However, things have been re-arranged and shuffled around a bit, so it's not so easy right now to say what's finished and what isn't. More in this later!
    Friday, March 11th, 2005
    5:16 am
    A general overview of the current status of the DVD production:

    Items to be included on the DVD:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour
    - The Fursuit Contest
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    Item Status:

    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera): Edit finished. Audio mastering / remixing currently in progress (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Fursuit contest: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)


    Finished items:

    DVD menue design and animation
    EFX logo design and animation
    Fursuit contest logo design and animation
    Story Hour logo design and animation
    Fur wants to be a millionaire logo design and animation
    Akeela's Barbecue logo design and animation
    Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (14 out of 14 clips)
    Akeela's Barbeque
    Rhondil's Performance


    Items to-do:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)
    Sunday, March 6th, 2005
    1:10 am
    A general overview of the current status of the DVD production:

    Items to be included on the DVD:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour
    - The Fursuit Contest
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    Item Status:

    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera): Edit finished. Audio mastering / remixing currently in progress (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Fursuit contest: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)


    Finished items:

    DVD menue design and animation
    EFX logo design and animation
    Fursuit contest logo design and animation
    Story Hour logo design and animation
    Fur wants to be a millionaire logo design and animation
    Akeela's Barbecue logo design and animation
    Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (14 out of 14 clips)


    Items to-do:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)
    Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005
    3:29 am
    A general overview of the current status of the DVD production:

    Items to be included on the DVD:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour
    - The Fursuit Contest
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    Item Status:

    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera): Edit finished. Audio mastering / remixing currently in progress (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Fursuit contest: 100% of video editting finished. On hold until the final animations have finished rendering.


    Finished items:

    DVD menue design and animation
    EFX logo design and animation
    Fursuit contest logo design and animation
    Story Hour logo design and animation
    Fur wants to be a millionaire logo design and animation
    Akeela's Barbecue logo design and animation
    Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (6 out of 14 clips)


    Items to-do:

    - Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (8 out of 14 clips)
    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)



    On another note: The damaged hard disc has been replaced. Let's hope the others won't give up as soon.
    Sunday, February 27th, 2005
    6:58 pm
    A general overview of the current status of the DVD production:

    Items to be included on the DVD:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour
    - The Fursuit Contest
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    Item Status:

    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera): Edit finished. Audio mastering / remixing currently in progress (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Fursuit contest: roughly 80% of video editting finished.


    Finished items:

    DVD menue design and animation
    EFX logo design and animation
    Fursuit contest logo design and animation
    Story Hour logo design and animation
    Fur wants to be a millionaire logo design and animation
    Akeela's Barbecue logo design and animation
    Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (4 out of 9 clips)


    Items to-do:

    - Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (5 out of 9 clips)
    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)
    6:04 am
    A general overview
     A general overview of the current status of the DVD production:

    Items to be included on the DVD:

    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour
    - The Fursuit Contest
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    Item Status:

    - The Pawpet Show (Phantom of the Opera): Edit finished. Audio mastering / remixing currently in progress (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Uncle Kage's Story Hour: Edit finished. awaiting Audio mastering / remixing (done by Jaryic and Cheetah)
    - Fursuit contest: roughly 40% of video editting finished.


    Finished items:

    DVD menue design and animation
    EFX logo design and animation
    Fursuit contest logo design and animation
    Story Hour logo design and animation
    Fur wants to be a millionaire logo design and animation
    Akeela's Barbecue logo design and animation


    Items to-do:

    - Fursuit Contest: Intro-animation 'Contestants' (8 clips)
    - Interview Timothy Albee / Xiraco Cutdown
    - Akeela's Barbeque
    - The Furry Music Café
    - Rhondil's Performance
    - Fur wants to be a millionaire
    - Around and about EFX (miscellaneous snapshots)


    This seems to be an awful lot of work, but actually, it's not that bad. And as long as the remaining harddiscs last, things will progress rather soon now.
    Saturday, February 26th, 2005
    9:07 pm
    Update on the harddrive
     Yesterday, one of the WD2000J harddrives of my PC has crashed (it was only about two weeks old). A couple animations and lots of uneditted clips have been lost, but I can recover everything easily. It's gonna be a bit of work and time, but it could've been much worse.

    The delays caused by this crash won't be too bad.
    6:41 am
    Bad news
     One of the 200G harddrives has failed. None of the really important data is lost, but I have to copy about 10h of material to the PC once more.

    I'll try to recover data in a few hours, but I need some rest first, it's been a long night.
    Thursday, February 24th, 2005
    8:55 pm
    Fursuit Contest
     Some more animations are done, and the edit of the Fursuit Contest has begun. More on this later.
    Wednesday, February 16th, 2005
    2:12 pm
    A few previews of the titles, credits and animations for the DVD:

    ( Click here for more... )
    Sunday, February 13th, 2005
    2:33 pm
    Rendering is a very time consuming thing.
     I'm currently rendering logo animations for the DVD. This is a very time consuming thing, it takes about 10 hours to render the animations for Uncle Kage's story hour, and these are still very simple. And considering that rendering an animation reveals a lot of little errors that need to be fixed and re-rendered, it's getting more obvious how a person can spend an entire week or more just for a simple animation.
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