As to the LitePanels units, I spoke with Jaime and he said the following, "They're not cheap. Technology today is expensive when its the best and as more and more studios are discovering, LitePanels are the best out there. Let's look at Flourescents vs Litepanels. No heat and low power are similar but with Litepanels fully dimmable 0-100% you get virtually no color shift. The flos, however, are dimmable maybe 30% with flickering issues as well as huge color shifts to green."

"With Litepanels, there's no bulb changing with an average of 100,000 hrs of life or about 16 years. The flos average about 500-3000 hrs but usually last a fraction of that 1) because they get broken easily and 2) from the moment they are clicked on, they begin dying and that dying alters their optical values relative to changing color during their life. Most noticeably, if you change one bulb and not the others you will have different color temps so you will have to correct them thus developing different light outputs."

Another issue or challenge with Kino type technology that I've noticed and I have to tell you I've produced enough and been on enough set to see this is lack of projection in Kino lights. Don't get me wrong, I like the Kinos in certain circumstances but for example their ringlight projects up to 3 feet whereas Litepanels Ringlite will project 30+ feet! Add to that the part the e-crew hates, weight. Kino type units have ballasts that have to be used to power units whereas Litepanels can be powered from any battery from 9-30V, 100-240V AC anywhere around the world even off cigarette lighters in cars. All this equates to quick set-up and rigging for example a car shot can be rigged in about 2 minutes as oppossed to 20-40minutes for mini kino type units that don't project! We've used the mini's as eye and brow lights for drivers by attaching (read: gaff-taped!) to the headliner, windshield area and for police lights by gelling a mini w/ red and placing directly befind the driver's head. I've used them as an assist to a practical when I've had a character sitting at a computer in a darkened room like CTU and need to maintain the dark ambience but illumninate the character. I've used them as hair and hi-lites to add texture through glow on individual hairs to a character. You'd be surprised to see the difference between a simple angle shot of a woman without the hair light and adding a mini at a 45 degree angle above and behind a woman's head shining down onto her hair. (Caution! Do not do this with a Telly Savalas character!) I've used them off-camera to cast what appears to the audience to be a window's light on a wall behind a character. I've used them to deepen the shadows on a villian's face to make them seem more ominous and I've used them to brighten the sparkle in the eyes of a fanciful (for lack of a beter word) model just off-lens. (See this week's show Part 2 with George Dibie and the model we use. Look at her eyes.) IMHO, the mini is an indispensable lighting tool and I'm hopeing to get LitePanels to donate one for a contest we're putting together. Most of all, I'd ask Warren Shultz what he thinks of his.

I want to make it clear that I'm not selling Lite Panels over Kino or anything else that works which is why I wanted Jaime to ring in on this post. It's, from my perspective and pocket book, a good investment because we do enough production that the LitePanels save us alot and I mean alot of money through time and labor alone not to mention breakage.

Okee Dokee. I'll call Tiffen when we finish this week's lens special and see what Sandie the CIC says.

- A day on the set of 24. Watch whatever you want to but stay out of the way.

- A DSC Labs chart. We need one, but at $300+ it's probably not first on the list. Actually, I bet you could swing a bulk discount for the group here if you profiled their product and how to use it.

- just about any accessory, batteries, lighting. Many are expensive but anyone who is getting gear reviewed would pony up gear and/or short term discounts for viewers.

Here's a show suggestion that to me is probably most critical:
Get distributors who specialize in movies with budgets under $250k. What are they looking for, what genres work and what don't, what kind of money should a filmmaker expect to make back and how long will it take to get that money.

If a distributor's Son in Law wanted to make a movie in this category how would the distributor tell them to proceed? Frankly, I'm skeptical of distributors because I know their job is to get the most favorable deal they can from a filmmaker. Then they can drop your film in favor of the next new cool thing and there's nothing you can do because they have the rights for the next 7 years or so.

These guys have 50 DVD's on their desk at any given time and they might want to deal with one or two. Which ones and why? Can they point to examples we can go rent that have been financially successful for the filmmaker?

You may want to split TV vs. Movie into different shows. You could subdivide those into genres and budgets. Frankly, there's nothing I'd rather pay for than this info. There are a ZILLION books, videos and websites on technique. And I've already got them. I don't want to pay for product reviews unless I'm positive they are totally unbiased and products get RIPPED for what's not right about them. At that point dealing directly with manufacturers gets tougher.

But the business side is changing everyday. You could have a totally different price structure for that info. I'd pay $100 a month if I knew I'd get a constant update of the market. What's hot and what's not. Indie filmmakers can react much more quickly to trends than Hollywood can. So we should. :-)

Is this a great group or what! This is what I mean by a family. Great suggestions. OK, here's the deal. It's my site and I make the rules and pay the bills. So Joel, First Prize goes to you for the greatest response to me saying, "Tell me what you want and 2nd Unit will deliver". Tell me what Tiffin filter you want and you just won it. We don't have a deal with Tiffin; this is coming out of my own pocket but they did give me a couple dozen filters to look at so we're doing a short selection of filter reviews for you this week. And again, we call it as we see it. Some changes we saw were subtle while some were dramatic. I'm not paying or asking anyone else to pay for a "subtle" filter unless the change really works and makes a difference in their film. So, the reviews will recommend some of their filters and not others because I can't see using a $150 filter that's distinguishable on a 50 foot screen if your viewers more than likely will be seeing your films on a monitor or TV. Now if its an HDTV or if you are doing a feature for the big screen, that's different and we'll tell you when they make a difference on HDTVs and should be used on the big screen. And that pretty much goes to your statement, "I don't want to pay for product reviews unless I'm positive they are totally unbiased and products get RIPPED for what's not right about them". That's what 2nd Unit is all about. I just ducked in on Paolo doing the filters comparisons for this week's show and I think you'll like them! And before you ask, NO, what you see is what you get. There's NO correcting and they're all shot on-set as you'll see with equipment in full view of the "B" cameras that did the testing while the others rolled on the movie.

So, we'll do our part and you do yours. We'll think up the Innaugural 2nd Unit Filmmakers' Contest and have it for you by tomorrow and I'll put up the First Prize myself which is, since I'm such an advocate of better filmmaking and an ardent supporter of the DSC Labs chart, a $325 CamAligh Front Box Series HD Standard. That means you do your part and that's to spread the word about 2nd Unit.tv to get the contestants we need outside of the JVC 100HD forum. I pretty much never venture outside these walls because I simply don't have the time to. But if we're going to do this, if you're gonna make suggestions like that and throw the gauntlet down, we're gonna do it together and we're gonna do it right with enough contestants that people don't have a one-in-five chance of winning. You get enough people's shorts in here to where there's a real contest and we'll put up the cash and design the contest. How's that sound, bucko?!?!?!

How about down and dirty tips from the veterens? Like 1,001 emergency uses for gaffers tape? What tool is a must have? How to hang a light in hard to hang places? Sort of like, when you blow a fuse on a motorcycle, you can wrap it in the foil from a cigarette pack. Only video related :)

Wow, that's awesome. Thanks! I'm going to have to watch Paolo's demo very closely. I'll email you when I choose. Thanks again :-)

Jonathan, Paolo

So what about the interviews I suggested with some of the members of DVinfo, as I suggested?

Also like to add Nicolas Bartleet. He has done some wonderful work with a FX-1 and homemade 35 adapter for professional work.

P.S. about You Tube, I didn't mean sharing your video on sites such as You Tube or other, just meant a similar format of revenue generation, which I believe BrightCove is better for. (Just to make this clear, I am not saying go this route but that this was just a suggestion.)

However, it might be good to send out teasers on sites such as You Tube, My Space, Google Video, to market your site. Think of it as free advertising. They pay for the bandwidth, as Paolo mentioned, and you get the subscriptions.

I think other interview ideas are great and if you would like to see them, we can do that. There are challenges with this, however, becasue I don't know anything about them or what they do and I say that with, again, all the respect due them. Chris whom I've only met once briefly lives in Texas, I don't know DSE nor a Jim from Red nor most of the people on this board except those few with whom I converse and have worked. The people I deal with daily are typically from above and below the line of the the production side of the industry. These are really two different worlds that we're trying to bring together. So if you know some of these people and what they bring to the viewership, we'd be delighted to bring them into the programming.

Hey John.
Didn't mean to jump on my sandbox ;), it's been a pretty busy week with very long hours. Thanks for the suggestions.

In the beginning I loved the show. But, as time went by, the show became downright silly. After Leo left, the show had no technical content at all.

I know Jonathan will not let that happen. He's commited to increasing our understanding of technology so that folks can be better at their craft. Deep understanding is the key to folks moving into positions with greater creative responsibility.

Being able to "push the right button at the right time" will enable one to get a "job" and make money -- but building a life-long "career" requires constant learning. 2nd Unit will be providing you that opportunity. In a field where the fundamentals keep changing every few years -- this is a great service to the community. Contratulations on your first episode!

Yes congradulations

As a small contributor to that first show, thank you Steve. All credit goes to Jonathan to be the driving force behind it. BTW, it was very nice talking with you today.
We are shooting for an almost simultaneous release of Episode 2 and the re-cut version of Episode 1 today.
Hopefully the compressed file is right this time. I tried 4 times already :)

Thank you, guys so much for the votes of support. We've put...strike that...Paolo's put alot of effort into Week 2's episode using Adobe Premiere instead of his usual FCP because we committed to Adobe as a sponsor, the threory being that the Suite is easy to understand and move up- or into. Already in recutting the 1st week's episode that I originally did, I hope you can see vast improvement by RTFM and trying to think like an editor. I have to tell you, and it's not because Adobe is a trusted sponsor, once I understood the basics of editing, it was much easier and the results I think show it. I keep harping on the fact that the whole premise of 2nd Unit is foundation, foundation, foundation and I never took the time to get a good foundation with Premiere. I'm anxious to see what you all think of the second week's episodes. There's alot mote techie stuff in there as well as some of a movie we have in production right now.

Man is TV different from Internet. Kudos to those of you out there who produce in I-net deliverables. Now I know what my guys go through that come from the board to work on-set with us in a TV production environment.

Jonathan, Paolo,

My criticism, as I'm waiting for the streaming to download at a 6mb connection.

I'm finally checking your site out. I want to thank whatever web designer you're working with.

I can't stand the use of Flash for web, it's just plain annonying, but I do like the flash video format, it's pretty fast and quality is decent.

Second thing about your site, it's clean! It's informative! You get to read the teaser and than click for more.

Third, the design is constant, it doesn't change from one web page to another.

Now to the bad part. I'm still waiting for the download on the web stream. For video freeks like the members of DVinfo, they'll stick around for the download, for the newby just checking the web site for the first time, it's a BIG turn off! By newby, I mean anyone that's checking your site out, even people working in the profession would be turned off, if they didn't know what was being offered and they had to spend their time for a download.

Another bad thing, no search feature. I know the site is new but a search feature would be great.

Now for another suggestion, you might want to research into or do an interview with some IPTV hardware companies. They just might have a solution to compress video to a better format or know something coming down the line that might be interesting to the web community. (As you mentioned, you might not know anyone in the field but I'm sure you know someone that knows someone in the profession.)

Community forum, this part you should make free, not part of the subscription. A community will build a better loyal base for your site.

And Paolo and Jonathan, I know you guys must be working near 16-18 hour days to get this site running smoothly. I'm surpised you guys can still write back to the users on this site. That's what builds the loyal base. The dedication of a business to it's customers.

Ok, watching the video, I like it, but something seems off about the interview...I'm not sure if it's because this is one of the first interviews done for 2nd unit or if it's because I'm watching it in letterbox format.

Good luck.

I thought that's what this is. Or are we falling short on that somehow.

Hey John.

What drives us is the enthusiasm shown by all of you and the fact that 2nd Unit is getting very positive reactions from all kind of players in the industry. Yesterday I had the honor to be invited to a screening of "Cinematographer Style", a documentary directed by Jon Fauer and presented for the first time yesterday at the theater of the Academy of Motion Pictures. I tell, it's quite an experience to be in the same room with, among others, the cinematographers that shot "Easy Rider", "Ghostbusters", "Empire of the Sun" and "E.T."
Well, Jonathan didn't loose a minute and he kept telling everybody about what we are doing and we got some really great response from people above and below "the line". It's quite something to see it happening and it keeps us charged. Actually I stayed up all night to cut Episode 2, which is uploading as I write this. So...I hope the video makes any sense. We have a commitment to deliver the new episodes as expected, but I'm using the new freedom of the Net to revise the material after the first release. If you spot anything in the cut that should be fixed, please let me know.
Don't know what you mean but the new cut of Episode 1 will be available tonight, new and improved! ;)

Chris,

No disrespect to you, I meant for 2nd unit to have their own forum on their own web site.

It's like Cineform. They have a forum as well. Everyone on this board knows that the people of Cineform are on DVinfo. The users appreciate the help and support that Cineform and DVinfo offers. DSE from VAAST is on several forums, always helping with the members questions.

It's just that some people that might log on to 2nd Unit might not know about DVinfo. Some people are sticklers for staying on certain forums only. Loyal users. :)

Paolo, I think I figured out what it was about the interview that kind of threw me. I thought it might be the centering of the person, on camera, but it's the interviewer saying, "Right" every now and than. I think the interviewer needs to be a little bit more vocal. More talking, or not talking at all until the next question needs to be said, maybe it was the first time interview jitters, besides that the interviewer did pretty well. But than, maybe it's just me. I'll take a look at your new upload tonight and hopefully have something more of value to say.

One magazine I find useful reading is millionaire blueprints. Not that I'm a millionaire, but it's a great magazine that gives you info on how people became millionaires doing what they love. They also supply a resource/reference on the places that they used to do their business.
The ideas that the individuals used to market their business is the main thing that interests me. It offers a fresh idea on how you might be able to market your business. I like the July/August issue with Ken Roberts on the front cover. There's an article about Moosejaw which I find is great in their customer support. Check them out. I find the magazine is a little hard to find sometimes, but it seems to be gaining a wider distribution. If I had subscribed, I wouldn't have to hunt around for the magazine, but like I said, I'm the type that'll buy a product, if I find something useful.

Their link: http://millionaireblueprints.com/

I have to apologize. We expected to have the 2nd Episode up last night and it simply didn't happen. It downloads but doesn't stream ...YET. Please bear with us whilw we iron out the bugs. You have no idea how it pains me to say that. This thing is supposed to be perfect with all the brain trust we have here and the money I've sunk into this. All I can say is I'm sorry and we'll try harder.
Jonathan

JK- I don't think Chris took offense to your suggestion. It's just that the whole purpose of this site is to provide information to people and then have them go back home to their boards to discuss it. And it's working with 1200 views and over 100 posts in this JVC forum alone. Now I need to figure out how to get the other areas of the Board involved. I don't have the time to properly run a discussion forum. Our mission is to drive people to DVInfo because that's who's supported us from the first time we talked in Vegas about this. In fact, that was the one brief time I met Chris. Again, I can't run a discusision forum. That's for the experts to do like Chris.

Jonathan,

If I can be of any assistance with your streaming issues please don't hesitate to contact me via email for a direct number. Perhaps we can work it out together by phone.

Streaming a variety of video content is what we pride ourselves on.

Peace.

Jonathan,

Well, if you can't run one, at this time, than you can't do it. I know you've got lots of things on the platter and trying to keep them from falling off it is a big task.

Chris, I'm probably butting in, but how about a separate forum started for 2nd Unit? One that Jonathan can link directlry into DVinfo forum for 2nd Unit.

Jonathan, another thing, have you run Press Releases yet? It's seriously a good idea to get the word out about your site. Try something like PRweb.
I just read a press release for a company doing VOD (video on demand) on broadband tv. It's host is a Spanish model by the name of Estelle Reyna. Check out the Press Release at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/200606...N5bnN1YmNhdA--

Man, the stuff I'm saying is more for Taking care of Business section.

Anyway, back to topic, interviews with Robert Rodriguiz and that director of Clerks. I can't wait for Clerks 2 to come out. But both of them have become successful from independent films and have branched out into other fields like 3d effects companies, and comic books.

Another one with somebody that does news/documentory research, digging out the information for a news content.

Another one with someone in Entertainment Law. I know that people still have questions regarding Copyrights, Royalties, Model/Property releases, and Fair Use, even with the comic book link on Fair Use that was posted on DVinfo among all the other posts regarding these same questions.

We have Rodriguez and two top entertainment lawyerrs already signed onto the project, Rodriguez through Jaime Emmanuelli and the lawyers obviously through me. As for the separte area of DVInfo, I think that would be wonderful. Jarred asked me repeatedly to take over the JVC area of the DVXUser.comn board and I just didn't have the time. But with 2nd Unit, it all just sort of fits in. If Chris is amenable to that, I'll hire another person on to handle just that section or do it myself until I find the right one. Even though we happen to use the JVCs today, that can change literally tomorrow. Jody Eldred has me seriously looking at the 300 and 350 series Sonys and they already understood the benefit of suppoprting 2nd Unit. The whole idea is to have the entire board able to access these directors and producers and cinematograopgers and DPs and Gaffers and which camera they personally use is less important compared to how they use it and the light that flows through the lens. We had a 2-hour discussuon the other day on the way to Cinematographer Style at the Goldwyn to set the parameters for the 1st 2nd Unit film contest we're goiung to announce on Monday with judging provided by some of the largest names in entertainment. Someone suggested we make it only open to JVC owners. It took less than a minute to decide it would be open to all filmmakers so now the challenge is to advertise it board-wide. If Chris would help with that, that's be great. If ghe wants a separate 2nd Unit section, that's great too. Again, the emphasis in bringing information from top industry professionals to the filmmaker and heading them right back over to DVInfo for meaningful, stimulating dialoge between DVInfo users that will better their films. How we get that done is immaterial to me.

What a huge help. Thanks. I'll e-mail yo my contact info today. Again, not to belabor the point, I know broadcast TV. The Internet is proving a bit of a challenge for us here but with people like you and Paolo and the others who are helping, we'll get it done.

Hey Jonathon, take it easy on yourself man. I don't think anyone out here cares if you hit your release dates at this point. Take your time, get the process worked out and get a little more sleep. :-)

Well... as long as it isn't, like weeks or something. A day or two is ok. Don't kill yourselves, but no slackin either ;)

Thanks guys but once a Marine always a Marine. When it's all said and done (I still hate that saying almost as much as "At the end of the day") your word is all you have. I missed keeping my word once to a very close friend, Mike Pellagatti, a great, great cameraman to whom I can never apologize enough and it still grates on me so I take things like that very seriously. We have a very aggressive schedule and if it weren't for people like Paolo who's still our house guest after a week getting the start-up stuff ironed out, I don't know what we'd do. We'll get the kinks worked out, especially streaming and editing for the Internet which are worlds apart from television and then it'll become a relative routine but THANKS for your understanding. We've been working on recutting George Dibie's Part 2 all day today taking away alot of the talking head stuff and adding example footage insererts from a show we're shooting right now. And the support we've gotten from people like Ron Ayers over at LA's Abel Cine and Russ Abelein at Tiffin and Jaime Emmanuelli at LitePanels and the others, well, if you ever have a chance to support them, I wish you would. Their prices are in line with everyone else's s because the margins are so thin but the service you get before, during and after the sale are, in a word, Exemplary. And to Tom Simmons who's single-handedly running post on one of our network shows and handling everythig else at the studio on our other three, well, he's another big reason we can get 2nd Unit up and running for this and other boards and the 150k independent filmmakers out there. So again, thanks for the understanding and support and we'll keep at it.

As long as you're beating yourself up, my question would be why set such an aggressive schedule and publicly promote that before finishing even one show? It's tough to make a firm commitment on the unkown.

Having a public date that's not as aggressive as an internal goal date makes sense. Then you've created an overdeliver possibility.

Jim Jannard has an aggressive schedule for RED, but he's repeatedly said issues could come up and move the timetable back and he can't guaruntee any dates. He just has goals. He's a billionaire and customers are still excited. If he comes in late everyone knows that's a real possibility... but somehow I bet he's actually been conservative in his dates.

Setting and meeting aggressive schedules has been part of my life since the Corp and I'm only finding out now that there's more latitude in public life. You're exactly right in what you say proving once again that we all have things to learn which goes directly to why I decided to do this. In the end, the man who dies the richest dies the poorest for not giving all he has to those who need it most and I try to do just that through 2nd Unit. And just as I have much to give, I also have much to learn from you and all on this board and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. I don't know Jim Jannard but perhaps one day our paths will cross. I know I'm glad ours did and I look forweard to flying your rear end out here to do a show or two with us.

Joel's right, Jonathan. I've never met as much of a perfectionist as you but you need to slow down. Your site is absolutely fantastic but what gets me the most is that you and Paolo must be averaging 20 hours a day or more. Your gonna burn out and then we'll have none of what you promised us. I NEVER hung out on a board as much as I do here and what you're doing for dvinfo is nothing short of gracious. No that's not the word. I can't think of the word for what you're doing but it's great and I join the others who thank you. I just hope dvino appreciates someone whos giving and giving with nothing in return.. You and Paolo are one in a million.OK 2 ina million but ease up on yourselfs or else the site won't have a chance to get better. I can't wait to see more of thet guy in the video your shooting. What movie is that for?

I'll make you have an extra beer afterwards.

I'm with you on the idea of giving 110% and really doing something right if you're going to do it. The trick is to keep some of that private so that when the unexpected occurs you've already built that into the schedule. If nothing unexpected occurs then you have extra time to perfect things OR release early if you choose to.

After years of doing consulting work I learned painfully that I estimated many jobs with the mindset of "I can do that in two days". I learned later if I quoted two weeks and turned it in ten days later I was a hero and I could still see movies sometimes. But when I quoted 3 and hit 5 day then things weren't so hot. It's simply managing expectations. Then when people really did call with an emergency I could drop everything, help out, and end up with a client for life.

Similarly, I had a friend who started a monthly magazine and nearly killed himself trying to hit his dates. Ultimately he missed dates after he was taking money and needless to say that was a big problem. He should have done a quarterly thing to start and ramped up from there. Actually, in retrospect he should have written a book because of his particular industry was small and didn't have time sensitive material.

It's great to be the most motivated person around. In the end that really pays off, unless you have a coronary. :-)

Hey Johnathon, I am really impressed with 2nd unit. Sorry haven't kept in touch since NAB but hope you enjoyed the coffee.
I am looking foward to getting the dvd when it comes out.
Keep up the great work you're doing and maybe I can get out to LA for a shoot soon.

The coffee's a God-send, Joe. With the the last couple of days, it's keeping us goim'. I think I'll write to Starbucks and see if we can get a sponsprship...or you could! All kidding aside, Paolo pulled an all-nighter, literally, and it was all due to the Mighty Bean!

Well, you guys have gone and done it now. Chris has offered us a 2nd Unit space on DVInfos board. That's the good news. Here's the bad news. I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm doing. Any ides or recommendations?

You could hire somebody that does and get a good foundation to begin with and then update as necessary going forward.

And the new moderator for DVInfo's newest blocbuster site 2nd Unit is................Steven L. Noe from Chicago, IL. Steven L. Noe...Come On Down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats great now we can discuss 2nd unit here. Diffenitely hire someone Johnathon.
We should all introduce ourselves and goals we are trying to achieve. Keep us posted as to what is going on.

Jonathan,

Congrats on the forum here.

As to questions, ask the man (Chris) himself. I'm sure he'll be glad to help you anyway he can or some of the other moderators could help you out with your questions.

Use the forum to brainstorm new ideas for 2nd Unit productions.

I like some of the behind the scenes type shows that you see on MTV. You know those making the music video and how they did it.

P.S. whens the Rodriguez feature going to be up?

Ooh, another idea for your subscription base! Pay for clip downloads. Example on the idea: Korean stations have shows available for viewing, via download, and the cost is like 50 cents per show. Then you got Apple's .99 dls. Like I said, I'm the type that's not really into subscription but if I see something I'm interested in, I'd be willing to pay for it. Something your site is definately worth it's value. Example on the idea. It's something to think on. How about $1.00 downloads for streams. Price structure is up to you off course.

With the amount of shows you'll be producing, I think it'll be a good way for people on the non-subscription list. It'll be cheaper to join the membership. Just make it so that, as Amercian Express says, "Membership has it's privileges."

Maybe like live chat forum with some of the people you interview, free to members, cost to non-members. I know you don't want to go another forum route, but you could use IRC's with invite only to allow for certain people to join up in the chats.

Availablity to view live streams of interviews for members.

Some ideas.

By the way, all these useful suggestions from me, I should get free membership for life. Heh.

OK, Daniel, you're on. We need help with a pixelization issue. When dissolving between clips, the dissolve pixelizes the underlying material and looks like poop. We're putting together the contest as you know that we'll announce on Monday and did a short commercial as an example. Go to the www.2nd-Unit.tv webside and click on the dot in the "i" of "Unit" in the header to see the commercial and what I mean. There has to be some way, short of hard cutting the transitions, to fix this and not have huge files. Thanks.
Jonathan

There does? :-)

Smooth gradients of any type are probably the toughest to deal with. Perhaps there is a superior codec out there. Or maybe it's possible to vary the level of compression along the timeline so the areas in question have much less compression.

I'm very curious to hear the answer myself.