Chameleon for Mac or Equivalent?

[phuckbunny]

Looks like Chameleon works on Windows only. Anyone know of a comparable software for Apple?

[Hammer]

All you need to do is get Virtual PC and you'll be able to run any PC program on your Mac.

[phuckbunny]

Thank you, I forgot about that! Behind the times...

[razor]

Thinking about getting into the gallery game PB?

[mynameisjim]

Save yourself some time and get the whole suite PB.

[phuckbunny]

I'm thinking I should experiment with it, Raz, why not. Blogging is more my speed but I need to try everything once. I gave up on my tgp after a few months when blogging started making more sense. I'll be giving it a whirl within the next month and will probably post free site and gallery links for reviews from my cozy friends.

Jim, I'll get the whole bundle, not a big investment.

Will report with any progress I make, if any.

[Lana]

All you need to do is get Virtual PC and you'll be able to run any PC program on your Mac.

I dunno. Virtual PC is the predecessor of Parallels, and Parallels is supposedly an upgrade for Mac's running Intel chips. I've installed Parallels and it's a pretty wobbly program. It's slow. SP2 doesn't really work right after download. It's just not the same as a real PC. You've got to partition your drive and files are a mess. Maybe I'm not doing it right but there's some pretty unhappy people on the Mac and Parallels boards. Good news. If you've got a newer Mac on an Intel chip, the new Leopard ($129.00 upgrade) has "Boot camp" which flips you to a PC seamlessly. I haven't bought it yet, but what I've read it's awesome.

[sojproductions]

You're right it is wobbly, i still use both pc's and macs and last tried being 'clever' with the mac about a year ago, its ok with one or two operations but when you start multi tasking with various programs it will fall apart, they never did get it quite right, you are much better spending a couple of hundred on a dell or a used pc on ebay, you can run both together and network them, the 'pulling your hair out' hours saved would be worth the outlay.

[Hammer]

I used Virtual PC for many years and it's not the perfect solution and certainly I'm much happier now that I have both PCs and Macs, but Virtual PC works just fine for running simple PC progams like Chameleon.

[porn punk]

It's maybe cheaper, or at least and less aggravating, in the long haul to pick up a Cheap Windows laptop PC (desktop for that matter) at a locale wholesale electronics store (Frye's or some similiar place) and transfer the files you need. Most files are compatible with programs on both computers now unlike they were when virtual pc first came out, although you made need to tweek the final files.

Just an opinion

[anotherF]

Buy a cheap PC they cost nothing these days!

[Lana]

I agree. Having both machines is the way to go.
To get a decent wmv for the site, I've got to export through QTpro to Dv format then take that over to the PC and convert through Windows Media Encoder. It just can't be done properly on a Mac even with Parallels.

[phuckbunny]

Off to the Best Buy Bargain Bin I go.

[czechbabe]

Originally posted by Lana
I agree. Having both machines is the way to go.
To get a decent wmv for the site, I've got to export through QTpro to Dv format then take that over to the PC and convert through Windows Media Encoder. It just can't be done properly on a Mac even with Parallels.

Lana, wouldn't Flip4mac http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv.htm be good for you on the Mac?

[KickAssVic]

i wouldn't mess with vitual pc or parallels - if you have an intel chip mac, use bootcamp and run windows native. if you don't have an intel chip mac, either get one or get a cheap pc.

[Lana]

Lana, wouldn't Flip4mac http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv.htm be good for you on the Mac?

Yeah, but not really. Again, it's just not the same. I've ordered Leopard/Bootcamp, it seems the way to go.

[czechbabe]

OK, that's interesting to know, I was going to get flip4mac to work with Final Cut Express. I bought a new 24 inch iMac a couple days ago running Leopard and its pretty sweet. Not so much faster than my 3 year old G5 but very quiet and the monitor is drop dead gorgeous. At first I felt a little disappointed with Leopard but then after playing with it for a while it started to sink in just how many small changes have been made to turn it into a gorgeous work environment. No experience so far running Windows on this machine. I gather it was called Windows because sooner or later any computer running that system gets thrown through one.

Today I have to do a 360 mile drive to look at a content management system for mobile content. Who said porn was all about spending time in exotic locations with beautiful people!

[Lana]

I just found this out. I you try to create a wmv file through QTpro you will usually get an error message saying "mismatched audio samples" or something like that.
Here's the work-around. Export out of Final Cut to dv format. Click the options tab the under audio and change from 48khz to 44.1khz then output.
Then import the dv file to QTpro and output to wmv.
Works like a charm.

[LincolnLog]

buy a cheap pc.

You dont even need the monitor or mouse or keyboard.

You can remote desktop control the pc if its on the same network.

Advantage 1: its a native pc, so stuff should run the way they are supposed to, and faster then emulation.

Advantage 2: your running it from your mac remotely from a window. save space and stay in your mac environment.

Ill post details on setting it up.

L

[KickAssVic]

the only downside, linconlog, is that you're setup is not as mobile. but otherwise, i like it.

flip for mac is quirky

aren't there plenty of WMV encoders for mac, though - i think we use sorenson or something or other.

lana, if you want to ask our video enditor / encoder questions (we are mac based) send me a pm and i'll give you his contact info. also, there's a person named "Bankei" on the YNOT.com message board who is an expert.