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Video

Xpel Paint Protection – No More Rock Chips!

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As some of you know, my wife and I recently had a baby boy and I looked hard and long for a new vehicle to be the “kid hauler”.  I came across a 2005 Land Rover LR3 that was in better than pristine shape…..and I wanted to keep it that way.  I turned to a friend that owns a local detailing company, Pleasant Details (http://www.pleasantdetails.com) who now installs Xpel Paint Protection Film.  This film prevents the leading edge surfaces of your vehicle from rock chips, bugs, and minor road debris.

Shot some video for their website of the install on my vehicle.

Camera: Canon HV30 with WD-H43 wide angle
Lighting: Lowell
Slider: ZaZa Slider (DIY slider using Igus rail system)

Photography

Angel Oak – Johns Island, SC

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Angel Oak

Had an appointment out on Kiawah this morning. Had always wondered where the Angel Oak was and on the way to Kiawah I saw the sign for it. Had the camera with me and swung by on the way back. It really is an amazing tree. It is over 1500 years old and over 89 feet wide. The limbs are amazing. They grow so far and heavy that in some places they sit on top the ground. If you look to the left of the base of the trunk there is a lady holding a baby (to give you some perspective of the massiveness of the thing thing). Click the image for a larger view.

Fixes/Workarounds/FYI

Adobe CS5 and Red Giant Software Magic Bullet Looks 1.4

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I recently updated my operating system to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit in order to take full advantage of the new Adobe CS5 suite.  In fact, I wasn’t even able to install portions of CS5 because my machine was running Vista 32 bit.  Unfortunately, the programs that wouldn’t install were the ones I use most – Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photo Shop.  Somehow I managed to purchase a computer, when Vista came out, that had a 64 bit processor but only a 32 bit operating system.

To fix the first problem, I upgraded my operating system to 64 bit Windows Ultimate ($189 on Tiger Direct).

Once I had everything installed I started adding my plug-ins back into my programs only to find out that my favorite one, Magic Bullet Looks, from Red Giant Software, would not install on my new 64 bit operating system.  After checking the Red Giant site I found they were offering an upgrade to make their products work in the new 64 bit environment. For more information on that, check here. So, I purchased that and installed it.

Magic Bullet Looks said it installed correctly. It shows up in my Video Effects section. But now in Premiere Pro CS5 and After Effects CS5, when I went to apply “Looks” it would crash both programs.

I am running a ATI graphics card and after much digging around on the web found that there is an issue with the latest Red Giant upgrades conflicting with the latest ATI drivers.

So, long story short, if you are having issues with this as well (and don’t won’t to waste about 6 hours on digging around for answers as I did) simply roll your drivers back a release or two and Magic Bullet Looks, as well as their other plug-ins will run smoothly.