Post-production 3D just hurts

Autor brendon | 11.04.2010 | Category Rant

The first time I saw Avatar was with a friend and his kids, for a kick we went to the 3D version and I have never been the same since. I shortly proceeded to drag my extended family along to a second 3D session and observed similar awe and amazement from them over the experience. My decision; from now on its 3D or couch viewing!

I now think that is a little short sighted. As with pre-avatar 3D a lot of movies were recorded in two dimensions and then using computers had the foreground and background forced to one of several 3D panes with some special effects rendered into 3D. Since watching Avatar I have seen both Alice in Wonderland & Clash of the Titans but by both was left disappointed with a slight headache to boot.

Neither of these films was recorded in 3D but had the depth “bolted on” in post-production and you can see the difference. Until studios record the entire movie in 3D, they just won’t get the same effect as avatar had and they risk putting the population off stereoscopic viewing.

RDP to MCE without effecting TV

Autor brendon | 31.03.2010 | Category 7, MediaCenter, TechStuff, VISTA

One limitation of my setup at home is that all television channels go through the Media Center so when I need to do maintenance I have to interrupt my wife’s programs.

While not officially supported by Microsoft, there is an excellent modification that The Missing Remote has published. A simple batch file installs a different DLL for Terminal services that allows the console to remain logged on while up to 2 other users log into a separate RDP session.

Now I can do any management and monitoring or changes necessary without having to submit a “TV-Outage Request”. :-D Very cool.

Who Switched off the lights??

Autor brendon | 27.03.2010 | Category Rant

In my personal contribution to Earth hour, I have switched off the lights for the http://brendon.davis.to landing page.

Remember - Reduce, Re-use & Recycle!!!

SQL SBS Built-in command

Autor brendon | 08.03.2010 | Category TechStuff

For all those times I can’t remember how to access the built in MS SQL Database on Windows SBS Server. Use built-in authentication and the server address of \\.\pipe\mssql$microsoft##ssee\sql\query.

Now you can modify the memory and processor, log files, etc.