I'm a switcher! :) Questions

bill4588 said:

1. how can i organize my photos in PhotoBooth so that they are all compiled into one folder with NO sub-folders (like roll 1, roll 2, etc). I just want to click on the 2006 folder and then have all my picutes ready in thumb-nails. can i do that?

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You mean iPhoto right?

Just turn off Film Rolls from the View menu and you won't see them anymore, even if iPhoto still uses them internally.

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bill4588 said:

thanks! that helped a little bit.

and as for the photos, i mean that i dont want to have them internally at all. because lots of times, i only take one or two pics at a time. So right now I have like 20 rolls with about 28 pictures and it's a pain to have to go through each roll and see if the picture im looking for is in there. is there a way to simply have every picture available in thumbnail form inside the 2006 folder?

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Periodically go in and use "Select all, create film roll" to collect your pictures?

I'm not aware of any way to turn it off in iPhoto 06. '05 didn't store them on disk that way and used dates instead which was even more annoying.

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bill4588 said:

thanks! that helped a little bit.

and as for the photos, i mean that i dont want to have them internally at all. because lots of times, i only take one or two pics at a time. So right now I have like 20 rolls with about 28 pictures and it's a pain to have to go through each roll and see if the picture im looking for is in there. is there a way to simply have every picture available in thumbnail form inside the 2006 folder?

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Sadly, I don't think so. I hate this too. iPhoto 5 used to do things differently. Stuff was in a year, month, day structure. The other thing that bugs me is while I'm glad iPhoto keeps a copy of my original photo when I modify so I can go back, there should be an option to "lock in" my changes and delete that file with 6mp + files...that takes up tons of space. I hope iPhoto Diet gets updated soon

In the iPhoto '06 preferences there is an option to turn off iPhoto's automatic organising - it allows you to put your photos in folders you create and name and add them to iPhoto without changing their location, iPhoto will just reference the location of the file. Personally, I use iPhoto so I don't have to worry about folders and stuff, everything you need to do with photos can be done via iPhoto and very easily at that.

The WMP application you downloaded, are you sure it's the Mac version? MS used to use the old .sit type of file but now uses the .dmg that the vast majority of apps use as a download file. Make sure you're getting the right program.

Congrats on the switch, it's going to take some getting used to but you'll get there.

I think you need stuffit expander

http://www.stuffit.com/mac/expander/

the download button is the HUGE green thing on the left side, somehow it's super easy to miss..... (I'm serious I was on that page for like 1 minute once trying to find the download link...)

Anyway, download that and you should be able to install WMP.

bill4588 said:

thanks for the iPhoto tip. but as to the WMP file, I'm not 100% sure it's the right file type (.stix) but I know for a fact that it says "for OS X" on the DL page.

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.sitx is for OSX however it's a much older format that used to be used before OSX got better with .zip files. Just let me go have a look on the Microsoft Mac page, I could swear they were using .dmg now.

Nope, you're right. Bloody MS not getting with the times - as you can see from the WMP for Mac site, it hasn't been updated since 2003. As the guy above me said you'll need to follow his link to get Stuffit Expander (Apple used to include this with OSX but stopped once everybody started using .dmg

Also, you could try the beta version of Flip4Mac's universal binary - it's running OK from what I hear. There's some info and a link to the download here.

I know this seems very round-about and annoying but it really could be fixed - MS could either update WMP for Mac so that it wasn't a three-year-old POS program (very unlikely) or both Flip4Mac and MS could get their heads together and release a version of Flip4mac that works with the most current wmv versions (also unlikely).

Oh and don't get me started on full screen only being a function of QuickTime Pro - that's just stupidity on Apple's behalf. I was given QTPro for a present but before then I used an applescript that gave me full screen abiilities. It's one of the things that just annoys the crap out of me.

Chundles said:

Also, you could try the beta version of Flip4Mac's universal binary - it's running OK from what I hear. There's some info and a link to the download here.

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You really shouldn't if you're not a beta tester. You can download the FLIP4MAC v2.0.2. It CAN be installed on an Intel-based Mac. To do this, just go into you Applications folder and then into ur UTILITIES folder. Next find INSTALLER. Type AppleKey+I for Get Info. Click the "Open using Rosetta" box and then drag the .pkg file you'll get from downloading Flip4Mac on to the Installer app. This will install Flip4Mac via rosetta. One it's done, you need to repeat the Steps with Installer but uncheck the "Open Using Rosetta".

Now go and Find QuickTime Player in your Applications folder and type AppleKey + I and click "open using Rosetta". Now QT can play WMV files.

Chundles said:

I know this seems very round-about and annoying but it really could be fixed - MS could either update WMP for Mac so that it wasn't a three-year-old POS program (very unlikely) or both Flip4Mac and MS could get their heads together and release a version of Flip4mac that works with the most current wmv versions (also unlikely).

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FWIW... Microsoft officially dropped support for Windows Media Player for the Mac last year and turned over development of the codecs to Flip4Mac. There should be a public version of the Flip4Mac beta shortly.

Be warned! Using monolingual on Intel Macs is dangerous, it has a bug that breaks rosetta (PowerPC applications) if you strip PowerPC binaries (most likely Rosetta itself HAS to be universal). I fell foul of it and had to reformat my internal hard drive.

These always seem to be the intial issues for switchers..

iPhoto's organization,

WMP

no full screen in quicktime..


iPhoto- is designed so you don't need to access the original files, you just use the program to organize, and if you want the picture itself, just drag it to the desktop out of iPhoto. Yes it makes a duplicate when you do that.

WMP-had it, deleted it. Flip4Mac is a much better alternative. Pretty much all the windows programs for Mac are terrible.

quicktime full screen-use VLC or Realplayer (am i the only one that loves real player for Mac?)

congrats on the switch

Also, taking out the languages and printer drivers seems like a lot of hassle to me, if you need more space, get a bigger HD.

quigleybc said:

Realplayer (am i the only one that loves real player for Mac?)

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I like it too, just wish I could figure out how to queue up videos in it so they would play one after the other.

I got sooo much space from deleting extra languages.

MacBoyX said:

You can download the FLIP4MAC v2.0.2. [...]
FWIW... Microsoft officially dropped support for Windows Media Player for the Mac last year and turned over development of the codecs to Flip4Mac. There should be a public version of the Flip4Mac beta shortly.

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Really, since a Universal version of Flip4Mac is already in beta, I doubt it's worth the Rosetta hassle to get the older version working in the interim. If you want some WMV support, try the Popwire codec--it's free, and while it won't handle WMV video embedded in web pages (from the sounds of it, neither will the Flip4Mac beta), it does ok with downloads. Between it and VLC (VLC also plays some WMV files, though it doesn't support as many WMV codecs as Popwire or Flip4Mac) you can do pretty well. Good enough to wait, anyway, if you ask me, unless you REALLY need your embedded WMV jones satisfied.

And really--just don't bother with MS's WMV player. It was a total piece of junk 3 years ago, and it's barely even functional now--I've seen more stable alpha-release shareware. So bad that, as said, even MS gave up on it and just paid Flip4Mac to let folks use their playback codecs for free.

Seriously, when MS dumps a product in favor of something that emulates it because it sucks so much, you know it's bad.

quigleybc said:

These always seem to be the intial issues for switchers..

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You forget iTunes' organization, which seems to come up even more often than iPhoto.

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Makosuke said:

Good enough to wait, anyway, if you ask me, unless you REALLY need your embedded WMV jones satisfied.

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What can you do to make embedded wmv files to play? An icon that looks like a lego block appears over the space where the wmv is supposed to play. What codec or piece of software do I need?

Sharewaredemon said:

I think you need stuffit expander

http://www.stuffit.com/mac/expander/

the download button is the HUGE green thing on the left side, somehow it's super easy to miss..... (I'm serious I was on that page for like 1 minute once trying to find the download link...)

Anyway, download that and you should be able to install WMP.

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Haha! Same here! I looks too much like an ad, so I didn't even really look at it.

Flip4Mac's beta works somewhat for embedded internet videos. You might have to wait until the download completes before you try playing the though.

sorryiwasdreami said:

What can you do to make embedded wmv files to play? An icon that looks like a lego block appears over the space where the wmv is supposed to play. What codec or piece of software do I need?

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Again, Flip4Mac should do this properly, but there is no legitimately available Universal version for Intel Macs at this time.

If you want to use it on an Intel Mac, however, you can follow the instructions posted above about running Quicktime in Rosetta, in which case the currently available non-Universal Flip4Mac codec should work. I'm assuming it will also play embedded video if you do this, though I haven't tried myself so I can't say for sure.

The Beta version being discussed is a private beta, and while it's floating around, downloading it isn't technically legal if you're not part of the beta program already.

sorryiwasdreami said:

What can you do to make embedded wmv files to play? An icon that looks like a lego block appears over the space where the wmv is supposed to play. What codec or piece of software do I need?

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if you follow my instructions above, and leave QT runing in Rosetta, they should work in Safari.

I've had alot of issues with Flash and Other types on Intel as well.