Author: Lee

I’ve Got The Encoding Blues

Since I have a bit of a break between DVD jobs and moving, I thought I would spend some time working on ROX season one.¬† I have all of the video on my computer, ready to go.¬† The problem is the sheer amount of episodes in season one, it’s staggering.¬† I’m trying to fit 20 episodes on 4 discs.¬† If they were all the same length, it would be easier.¬† My “corporate sponsors” have¬†provided me with QuickTime Pro which has helped.¬† I have found that .mov files have more flexibility than MPEG’s do, which is what the DVD format is comprised of.

I have started testing my newfound capabilities, but to my concern it is taking 6 hours every night just to encode the files.¬† This is just testing mind you.¬† The only thing I know of that would help would be a dual core processor and a memory upgrade, but that’s not cheap.¬† My “corporate sponsors” have informed me if I need anything to enable me to perform this task better, to just ask.¬† This is just such a big amount that I would rather not.

It’s not like I need the computer for other things at the moment, it’s just frustrating.

Season Zero Now Available! Coming soon to PSP (Just Kidding)


Insert Zero v3.7

Originally uploaded by LML Video Services.

I made the first version DVD set when Editor B and XY were in exile here in B-Town.  I then built a business around it!

After receiving input from J and Editor B, I revamped my original creation, and transformed it into something much, much better.  This set includes the first 7 episodes of the show, plus a few extras that I had never seen or heard before.

Due to copyright restrictions we cannot make any money¬†towards the sale of these sets, which doesn’t bother any of us.¬† As the ROX website boldly declares, “Losing money for over a decade.”¬† Read my last post for¬†my views on the subject.¬† I just want everyone to know this.¬† The cost, a mere $15, has been carefully calculated.¬† The shipping, if necessary, is Priority Mail and the exact charge.

Coming soon will be Season One.  I hope to have the entire series on DVD within 2 years.  All will be available on the rox.com website as they are released.

This is a MUST have for any serious ROX fan.¬† Be warned, the quality of the video is not the best, we have preserved it in digital form for your viewing pleasure though!¬† The discs are DVD+R’s, but can be put onto DVD-R’s upon request.

Reel Audio 101

    


Reel 2 Reel Audio Player

Originally uploaded by LML Video Services.

My first customer asked me if I could transfer some audio reels for him. I told him that I did not have the equipment and if he could aquire something I would try my best for him.

One day he shows up at my desk and brings me this.¬† It’s a very fascinating piece of equipment.¬† It plays audio tape that is on reels.¬† It is like a cross between a video projector and a¬†cassette tape player.¬† This tape is the same thing that audio cassettes have, just in a different form.¬† This piece also records onto the reels and from reels to, get this, 8 track!¬† It has many inputs and¬†outputs, which is good.

I did the best I could for him.¬† It was my first endeavor into the world of audio transfer.¬† I felt as if the work was sub-par and told him so.¬† I told him to pay me what he thought the work was worth.¬† He ended up paying me $50!¬† I was so surprised.¬† I thought maybe $20, but never $50.¬† I’m like Don from Don’s Guns in Indianapolis, “I don’t wanna make any money, I just love to sell ’em.”

Something¬†I am committed to in this business is being upfront and honest with my customers.¬† I also try to be very personable.¬† I have found these to be key values big business cannot provide.¬† I do not charge anything upfront, and I discount my services when I feel like I haven’t performed to a high standard for my customers.¬† I also give everyone a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee on all of my services.

I have done some advertising on the internet, newspapers and ad sites and found that word-of-mouth advertising is the best.  The only problem is the speed in which it works.  I have had lots of success at IU, where my wife works.  Not that many people seem to be interested at my place of employment though.  I guess we all make too much and have all the high tech goodies.  Ya right!

Symbols

  


Cherokee Star

Originally uploaded by LML Video Services.

This symbol means many things to me. First of all it is an artists’ representation of a Cherokee Star, which symbolizes the 6 different clans of the cherokee joining as one.

Second, it’s the logo of my business.

Third, I have this tattoo’d on my left arm. It’s very unique, just like me.

I am an art lover, and I know what I like. I love this Symbol.

Saving The Rainforest

As background, I work for Baxter Pharmaceutical Solutions, LLC.¬† Formerly Cook Imaging.¬† It is to my knowledge to be¬†the largest parental contract manufacturer of medication in the US.¬† We mainly handle liquid and lyophilized products.¬† Lyophilization is “freeze drying.”

The main task of my job is to create the instructions manufacturing needs to actually manufacture the product.¬† You may think to yourself, “this sounds easy.”¬† Think again!¬† Since it is a pharmaceutical company, it is highly regulated.¬† I’m not just talking about the FDA either.¬† There are many other regulatory agencies throughout the world, and believe it or not, most of them make the FDA look like a joke!¬† Such as the MCA, these guys don’t mess around.

Documentation is everything.¬† If it isn’t documentated, it didn’t happen.¬† These “instructions” I create, use a lot of paper.¬†

The average “batch record,” as they are called is 70 pages.¬† In an average week, I issue 30 of these.¬† This is where the fun begins though.¬† Inside our filling suites, where the medication is placed into a container, documentation can only be brought in after being throughly sterilized.

Sterilization can be done in a number of ways, we use 2 mainly.  Steam Sterilization and Depryogenation.  Depryogenation was described to me many years ago in an interesting way.  If I were to kill you, your body would still be here.  If I were to depryogenate you, nothing would remain.  Sound interesting?

To get back on track, pages are steam sterilized.¬† Most of you may know that when normal paper absorbs water, it ruins anything printed, typed or written on that paper.¬† Due to this limiting factor, we have special paper for this.¬† It is very expensive, and for some reason we can only get it in A4 size.¬† The paper has a slight cream color to it and is translucent.¬† It is very strong too.¬† The biggest surprise is the price, $2 a sheet!¬† Ya per sheet it doesn’t sound like much, but in quantity that’s a boatload.¬† One client we have uses 100 sheets of that per run.

Back to my main point.¬† The amount of paper this company uses has bothered me for a long time.¬† True it’s going to a good cause, but couldn’t we use recycled?¬† I have heard for a long time about a “paperless” system, and steps have been taken towards that, but nothing significant.

I know for a fact that Eli Lilly has went to a paperless system.  I have heard nothing but good things about it too.  It just feels bad that between 5 people, we use about 5 thousand pages a week!  I can only imagine what the company of 1000+ people uses.

So in the end, we are saving peoples lives, but are we actually murdering our future?

Work to live, or live to work?

I often think about this philosophical question.¬† Some people merely¬†have a “job” that they dislike or enjoy, others find meaning and self fufillment out of a career.¬† I on the other hand have a little bit of both.¬† You see I work for a large pharmaceutical company (Baxter)¬†during the day, but moonlight in something I have come to enjoy much more than the drug biz.¬† I run a small company, It’s name is LML Video Services.¬† I transfer home movies, audio, pictures, slides, you name it, to digital formats.¬† It has become extremly enjoyable to preserve memories for others.¬† It all started with ROX strangely enough.¬† So in the end it seems I work to live during the day, but live to work while at my other profession.