Filmmaker V3 and it's comprehensive user manual err.... quick start.

[ScreenFoo]

Well, thanks to Inkman's post about FM and the 1430, this is the best thing since the old camera as far as film quality goes.  (Thanks Mike!)   I thought the 1100 was nice after laser, but it won't take long before I'm truly spoiled with this thing. 

So far, I am slowly working into the output options--specifically nesting jobs.

So far, (to my FM inexperienced eye,) it seems rather willy-nilly as to how it handles nesting--I seem to have to make the media size in the program the exact size of what I want to output or there is no possibility of nesting because of all the white space--even with "remove whitespace" checked.   Played just a little with the tile, gap, and overlap and didn't get anything different to happen.

Even the 4-C double pocket design I tried playing with @ 8X4.75 should easily nest on a 13x19, but I kept getting two pages auto-nested with two plates on the left side of each page--plenty of room for the other two and then some space according to the bounding boxes.  If I then right click and hit "auto nest" it all goes on one page as it should.

Any hints on settings or options to try? 
Thanks in advance.

[ScreenFoo]

Other thing that struck me this morning playing with settings--why do they offer a roll option for the 1430?  Is anyone running roll media with a 1430 and FM?

[inkman996]

Man I make it a point to not try to make this program do anything it says it can do. User manual pffft its a nightmare to use if you do not have a lot of RIP understanding to start with. I gave up trying to understand anything with in the guts of the program, as for roll no way! these medium size format printers cant handle rolls well, that is for the bigger machines.

As for nesting I do it all manually in the graphics software, I prefer that anyways. Because I need certain amounts of excess film for taping to carrier sheets.

[blue moon]

no time, so I'll be brief.
roll is a no go on the 1400 series, look into a 48xx for that. Used ones are becoming available at a very reasonable price!

There is a setting that tells it if the images should be nested or printed individually. You'll have to play with it and see what happens. For the most part I send everything as "page" and then combine together manually. You will have to restart the program and possibly even a computer for the changes to take affect. It takes several tries some times. 'not sure what the deal is . . .

In Illustrator, I select 13x19 or 17x22 and control the print size with the artboard size. If the eliminate white is enabled, it will print your artboard only. Also, this is not in the manual hold down CTRL key to move art from one page to another!!!

pierre

[ScreenFoo]

Kinda figured that on the roll thing, but you never know what will work until you try, and it breaks something. 
Unfortunately, most 4800's and 4880's I've seen around here are going for near a grand.  I'd just buy new at that price.

The control key thing was absolutely driving me nuts.  Thanks.
The nesting seems decent when I get it to work--it just struck me as odd that right clicking and selecting 'auto nest' works, while the option 'auto nest' doesn't seem to work--yet.
I'll start fiddling and rebooting inbetween printing.  Story of my life.   

[blue moon]

I found one for $350 with extra ink and only 3600 prints on it. Jay just bought one for $500. It did take about a year of searching the craigslist to find it at that price, but you are not in a hurry. 1400 will serve you well until one comes up for sale.

if you drop me an email with your contact info, I can walk you through some of the features when a I get few min.

pierre

[ScreenFoo]

Sounds great, I appreciate it Pierre.

[Spreading Ink]

Does Filmmaker allow for multiple linearization files?  For instance if you linearize your printer at 45 dpi - can you also have a separate linearization to apply to the que for 55dpi?

I am interested in upgrading our rip, but wondering if this is a feature that is supported?

[blue moon]

Does Filmmaker allow for multiple linearization files?  For instance if you linearize your printer at 45 dpi - can you also have a separate linearization to apply to the que for 55dpi?

I am interested in upgrading our rip, but wondering if this is a feature that is supported?

you would have to create another queue with a different linearization settings, so yes it can be done.

pierre

[Spreading Ink]

Perfect thanks - this is what I was looking for.  Pierre in your experience with this rip do you see noticeable differences between the linearization of your printer at 45 vs 55 lpi?  I have two different 9800's and a 4800 as well so I am interested in upgrading to this rip so we can set up different queues for each of the printers and run them all through the network, but I also wanted to be able to linearize the output from each printer at different lpi's to get the most accurate films possible regardless of which printer handles the printing (hence a need to be able to linearize for each queue).

What printer are you running with this rip?

[blue moon]

Perfect thanks - this is what I was looking for.  Pierre in your experience with this rip do you see noticeable differences between the linearization of your printer at 45 vs 55 lpi?  I have two different 9800's and a 4800 as well so I am interested in upgrading to this rip so we can set up different queues for each of the printers and run them all through the network, but I also wanted to be able to linearize the output from each printer at different lpi's to get the most accurate films possible regardless of which printer handles the printing (hence a need to be able to linearize for each queue).

What printer are you running with this rip?

we are using a 4800, but I've never checked the 45lpi output. I can do that later today and let you know . . .

pierre

[ScreenFoo]

I'm setting up manual spot, manual process, auto spot, and auto process queues to start.  Seems like the multiple queue setup is excellent if slightly bewildering. 

Thanks again for running me through all the settings, Pierre.  For those wondering, I am still at 'manual' nesting, and go in to see what I can improve from auto nest.  Seems like it's worth the time to make sure everything comes out right.  And one thing that does impress me, past a small right margin that didn't show up in the display (set it to 1/4" now as mentioned,)  the preview seems very accurate.

[Spreading Ink]

I am planning on downloading the trial version tomorrow and comparing it against our current rip - likely be about Wednesday before I will know too much though.  Anything tricky I need to look out for in the setup?  I read through the 'errr ummm quick start manual' over the weekend, didn't seem overly difficult, but again without having the software in front of me - it may be more unwieldly than the manual seems.

We used to use a version of Fast rip years ago - it's been a while though and our printer setup is totally different now than it was then (I think we have a 2200 and a 3000 back then). 

Pierre - if you have any pointers to share, please feel free to send them to me.  I have been working stupid hours lately (I think it was a good 80+ last week) and anything that saves a little time is well welcomed

[blue moon]

I am planning on downloading the trial version tomorrow and comparing it against our current rip - likely be about Wednesday before I will know too much though.  Anything tricky I need to look out for in the setup?  I read through the 'errr ummm quick start manual' over the weekend, didn't seem overly difficult, but again without having the software in front of me - it may be more unwieldly than the manual seems.

We used to use a version of Fast rip years ago - it's been a while though and our printer setup is totally different now than it was then (I think we have a 2200 and a 3000 back then). 

Pierre - if you have any pointers to share, please feel free to send them to me.  I have been working stupid hours lately (I think it was a good 80+ last week) and anything that saves a little time is well welcomed

it's been a while since I installed, but from what I remember, the installs and getting going was always pretty easy. The problems always started later when trying to adjust things.
Give it a shot and if you get stuck I can walk you through it over the phone.

pierre