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cf/x frequently asked questions (f.a.q) compatibility Q: are your plug-ins compatible with OS X Panther (10.3), OS X Tiger (10.4), and OS X Leopard (10.5)? A: yes. some plug-ins, however, have become slightly unstable with newer OS releases. We urge you to download and test the plug-in before purchase. Q: are your plug-ins compatible with Intel-based Macs? Q. are your plug-ins compatible with iMovie 4? A. yes. Q: are your plug-ins compatible with iMovie 5 HD? A: yes Q: how about iMovie 6 HD, then? A: if you upgrade to 6.0.1 or above: yes. if not, see below. A: 6.0.0 -- well, there you got us. the plug-ins themselves work, but a bug in iMovie (yes, iMovie, not the plug-in) will prevent you from configuring the plug-in. instead, iMovie crashes. there is a work-around, though:
disable the preview (see red circle above), and you can configure the plugin as before. WARNING!!!!! Q: I have an Intel Mac, and when I start iMovie it says 'there is something wrong with <plug-in name>' A: some of our plug-ins still run only on PowerPC Macs. on Intel Macs they do run, but require you to force iMovie into 'Rosetta Mode'. first you need to enable Rosetta for iMovie. see here. then you need to turn it on. see here for how to do that. Q: are the plug-ins compatible with iMovie 08? A: Apple has discontinued support for plug-ins in iMovie 08, but has provided a free download of iMovie 06 for those people that want to continue to use plug-ins. this means that you cannot use the plug-ins with iMovie 08. Q: do your plug-ins work with Final Cut Pro/Express? A: no. iMovie and FCP/FCE are radically different applications, and our plug-in (as much as we would have liked them to) do not work with FCP or FCE.
installing a plug-in Q: i downloaded a plug-in, but my Mac can't do anything with the '.sit' file. A: to save dnowload time our plug-ins are compressed with a tool called 'Stuffit' for a very long time, all Macs came with an uncompressing tool pre-installed. this tool is called 'Stuffit Expander', and it can be downloaded for free from here.
purchasing a registration key Q: how do i purchase a registration key? A: please go to the product page of the plug-in you wish to purchase. click on the 'add to cart' button. repeat until you have added all the plug-ins you want. then proceed to check-out. (please click here for more detailed instructions) if there is no 'add to cart' button for a specific plug-in (e.g. 'Edge Detect (Pencil)'), this plug is free and therefore cannot be purchased.
Q: i don't have a PayPal account / credit card A: we use PayPal as our clearing provider (i.e. they handle all payment transactions). PayPal provides a safe, and trusted, method for paying over the internet. we are aware that not everyone is entirely satisfied with PayPal, nor that everyone has a credit card that can be used to pay for the plug-in. however, to keep our prices down, we must simplify and economize our business processes. therefore, we currently use PayPal exclusively for all our payments, and there is no other way to purchase our plug-ins. we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
registering Q: you say the plug-in is free, but when i try to install, it asks for a key! A: you are probably trying to install the plug-in through iMovie's cmd-I "install plug-in" function. a bug in iMovie will not let you do that (our free plug-ins do not know how to ask for a code, so they are not at fault). you must de-install the plug, and then install as described in the manual.
Q: i purchased from you but didn't receive a key (yet) A: please verify that you have
Q: the plug-in tells me that the registration code is not valid A1: you have tried to enter a registration code that is intended for a different plug. if you have purchased multiple plugs, make sure that you have the correct code. the registration dialog will tell you the correct first five letters that help you to distinguish the various registration codes. A2: a registration code is only valid for some time. if you need to re-register a plug after this time, you need to obtain a new registration code. you can obtain a new free code from us. please send us the old registration information. A3: please verify that you have typed in your name exactly as in the registration email. the registration name is case sensitive!
Q. you say that the key is only valid for six months. do i have to purchase a new key after that period? A: no. although a key is only valid for half a year, the plug remembers that it has been registered. should something terrible happen to your Mac and you need to re-format your drive, your keys may have timed out. in this case, we'll provide you with new keys at no extra cost. simply email us a copy of the original registration email.
Q: i have lost my registration code but need to re-register A: this is bad, because we only keep our records for about a year. we'll try to help, though. please contact us and provide your name, and email address. we will send a new registration code to you, provided the email address originally registered with us matches, and we can dig up the records from long-term storage.
Q: how do i remove the 'please register' after i applied the effect? A: please be advised that the 'please register' message does not disappear from any clip that you have applied the effect before registering. after you register a plug-in, the 'please register' message will no longer be displayed for all subsequent applications of the effect. but it will remain on all clips that you have applied the effect before you registered it. you'll have to undo the effect, and then re-do it with the registered plug-in.
Q: how can you afford these prices? A: to put it simply: we really can't. we are a small company that produces iMovie plugs to increase our revenue. our plugs are labors of love, produced out of necessity while working with iMovie. we use our own products. and we sell them at these prices in hope to attract business for our customization and art services. the revenues generated by these plugs may cover the cost for our web site. and, if we are lucky, we may even recoup some of our development costs. but mainly, we want you to know about us, so that you turn our way if you need something cool done quickly, professionally, and, above all, artfully.
Q: can i use the same registration code for different users? A: although this is technically possible, we would urge you not to do this. if two or more people use the plug-in, please purchase a license for each of them. it is your honesty that we are dependent upon. each license you purchase gives our families some more security. thank you for your support.
Q: can we purchase a site licenses? A: we would be delighted to arrange something for you. please contact us.
Q: do you have volume discounts? A: certainly. please contact us for more information.
Q: i like your plug-ins so much i want to give you something more in return - even for the free plugs. A: thank you. you make our world go round. our site at http://www.imovieplugins.com has a 'donate' button for kind people like you. you can also click on the 'donate' button on the product page.
using a plug-in Q: my clip frame (where i set the active area) is only black A: either your clip begins with a black frame or you have not selected a clip to apply the effect to
Q: i used the color picker, but clicked outside it. now it's gone and I can't exit the dialog! A1: this in annoying bug of the color picker. but you can get out of it. here's how: switch to the finder (or any other active application). now switch back to iMovie, and the color picker is back on top. A2: simply press 'esc' to exit the color picker, and try again.
Q: the plug-in does everything it says it does - but not the one thing I am looking for A: we can curtail any of our plugs for your specific needs. Please contact us for more information.
Q: the plug-in is a bit slow for my needs A: our plugs use a standard build form that facilitates rapid development. this has a slight impact on some pixel-intensive effects. we can hand-tune a specific plug for you. please contact us for more information. or, you could buy a faster Mac. that is always a cool solution. Q: i have created a still frame (e.g. from a picture), and want to apply the plug-in. but after application (which is unusually fast), i only have one frame of animation. A: this is a bug in the plug that unfortunately was part of our core code base, and thus has propagated to many plugs. when you encounter this, please let us know, and we'll update the plug asap.
starting iMovie Q: iMovie tells me 'Something is wrong with the plug-in xxxxx' A: don't you love this precise information? we hate it, too. sadly, iMovie is not very stable, and if you have lots of plug-ins installed, this message is bound to appear once in a while. usually, it is safe to simply ignore the message. if it persists, and always with the same (registered) plug-in, please contact our support. Note:
Q: iMovie doesn't show the plug-in A: make sure that you have installed the plug-in file in the folder: ~/Library/iMovie/plug-ins/ or ~/Library/iMovie/plug-ins/cfx/ ('~' being your home directory) If you are running iMovie 08, please be reminded that this version does not support plug-ins.
Q: when rendering, the clip has great quality, but when rendering is done, everything becomes all blurry. A: this is a known limitation of iMovie. although all cfx plugs render at full quality, some movies are shot using lower resolutions (e.g. 320x240). after rendering a frame in full quality, iMovie then scales the resulting frame back to the original quality. when re-displaying it, iMovie yet again scales the frame up to the display's resolution, sometimes resulting in a blurry image
Q: will there be more plug-ins coming soon? A: Maybe. As of iMovie 08, Apple has discontinued plug-in support, and developing new plug-ins currently is not a financially viable venue.
Plug-in specific crashes with chroma-key (movie and static), multiple movie, picture in clip (any), blend, and other high memory-bandwidth plug-ins: this problem is well-known, but requires Apple fixing quite a lot (which, to be honest, won't happen anytime soon). the problem is an incompatibility between Apple's 'Cocoa' technology (used for iMovie itself), and Apple's 'Carbon' technology (used for all plug-ins). chromakey is a memory-intensive plug-in, and forces memory issues in the Cocoa framework. Your best bet are
none of these work-arounds are satisfactory, we know.
Making movies Q: how did you make the demo movies? A: we find that many of today's hand-held photo cameras (as opposed to video cameras!) offer enough features to shoot short movie clips. all our demo footage was intentionally shot using a low-cost digital still image camera which sports a movie function (the Canon IXUS V3 to be precise). the results are excellent (well, at least good enough for home and office use). we also use this low-cost camera to shoot demonstration and tutorial footage.
Services Q: i really like you logo and/or web design. can you do some artwork for me? A: this is what cf/x is all about. we would love to work with you. please contact us so we can discuss the details. you might also find the information presented under the 'services' tab illuminating.
Q: sure, i think some of your artwork is cool - but can i see some more of your artist's work? A: of course. please go to our services tab and choose the 'art' section. there you will find some example work from our artist.
Apple, iMovie, Final Cut Pro are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Canon and IXUS are registered trademarks of Canon Inc. all contents © 2003 - 2008 by cf/x and christian franz |
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