We shot and edited this video on the Canon 5D MKII and 7D, and edited on Final Cut Pro 7 with color timing in Apple Color. We used the Technicolor Cinestyle picture style on both cameras. We shot the tracking shots on S22 outside Borrego Springs using a Kenyon KS-6 Gyro for stabilization.
Victory Hard-Ball Product Video
The product video for the launch of the Victory Hard-Ball shot by me and Mark Nevils. Shot on Canon 5DMKII and 7D cameras on the streets of Minneapolis, and at Victory headquarters in Medina, MN.
Spray paint animation by Josh Ferguson of Polaris, and final color timing by Crash + Sues in Minneapolis.
Music: Loaded Gun by The Dirty Love
RIP Steve Jobs
When Opportunity Presents Itself
If you watched yesterday's Indy 500, you witnessed a dramatic finish that was literally determined in the last corner of the last turn of the race. Rookie driver J.R. Hildebrand, who looked to have the race in the bag, took the final corner hot, got into the marbles (tire remnants that are left behind during a race that are very slippery) and crashed. Dan Wheldon quickly swooped in under Hildebrand, hit the gas, and took the checkered flag. A couple seconds changed everything for both drivers.
For Hildebrand, my heart sank. I remember yelling "NO!" at the TV, and couldn't believe how fast his fate was determined by pushing just a little too much on the throttle, or missing a line by an inch or two...oh well, that's racing.
Wheldon, on the other hand, quickly took advantage of the situation, steadied his line, and moved from second place to champion. Just like that.
I kept thinking about the importance of being prepared and aware of your surroundings so you can act quickly when you need to. The same can apply to being successful at work, art or building a career. What can easily be written off as someone being lucky is usually a case where someone was openly looking for opportunity, and when it presented itself, they were ready, and they acted. Purely an active vs. a passive action.
While most of us don't have crashing competitors of whom to take advantage, there are cues to opportunities that could benefit from your talent if you purposefully keep your eyes open and look for them. I think the active pursuit of opportunity combined with preparation for the moment is what makes the difference. Plus, there are plenty of prepared drivers behind you waiting to take advantage of your situation...they are prepared and looking to beat you to the finish line. There is no time to be passive, so get on it!
Watch the dramatic finish:
How about a Cup O Joe?
Image by By Julius Schorzman via Wikimedia Commons
I guess there is only one way to get back into the old blogosphere (if that's still what it is called) than just writing something. So what the hell is this Cup O Joe thing? First, grabbing a cup of coffee with some very cool people was instrumental in my networking and landing a job in Minnesota. All of my meetings at Starbucks, Kopplins or Spyhouse were great opportunities to get to know someone new, and they always led to another meeting, or at the minimum a cool idea session. From tales of pitching it all and moving to the Midwest with a couple months' savings to building a startup from scratch, everyone I met over coffee had a story to tell, and I keep in touch with most of them. I can honestly say that coffee played a major role in my moving back to Minnesota.
Cup O Joe was also the title of a weekly meeting a colleague of mine and I set up on Fridays at 3:30. The purpose of the meeting was to leave the computers and cell phones at our desks, grab a cup of coffee and just riff on ideas. Uninterrupted creative thought was the goal, and by Friday, our brains were pretty well fried from the week's worth of meetings, strategy sessions and shoulder-to-the-wheel work, so we were ready. We set aside an hour in our Outlook calendars to just let our minds play, and see where they led us. Constraints were barred, and the only instruments besides the coffee were pens and notebooks. It actually was rare that we were able to break away from the grind (pun intended), in fact, sticking to the schedule proved to be tougher than we would have liked. Sometimes it was a 5 minute conversation in the parking lot, or a break leaning over a cube wall. We found these little respites of creativity that helped keep things fresh, and pushed boundaries while we worked.
John Cleese recently spoke about creativity, and the importance of uninterrupted creative thought. "If you're racing around all day, ticking things off on lists, looking at your watch, making phone calls and generally just keeping all the balls in the air, you are not going to have any creative ideas." So true, but as artists with jobs, we have to find ways to make it happen, and often under tight deadlines. He then goes on to describe creating an oasis in the frenzied world so that your mind can do what it is meant to do, which is to think creatively.
That's what our Cup O Joe meetings were all about. Even though we missed more meetings than we attended, every Friday, at 15 minutes before 3:30, that meeting alert would sing out in our Outlook calendars, and remind us that we needed to take time to think, and unplug from the machine.
I hope that this new version of my blog will become a landing pad for some of that uninterrupted creativity that sometimes needs to live outside work. That is the plan!
Thanks for reading...we'll see what comes next!
PS - The header image of the steaming cup of coffee is a still from a video I produced for Victory Motorcycles, taken at Jeff Wolf's custom chopper garage in Osceola, WI. Yes sir, it was a cold one that day, and the coffee was good!
Canon T2i Test Footage
Disclaimer - Production Nerd Alert: I just purchased the Canon T2i, and shot some sample footage of my son finding snails in a nearby pond. I used the Canon 18-55 lens, and shot the video at 1080p 24 fps. I used the auto movie settings, and used the Zoom H4n for audio at 44.1khz.
For post, I used MPEG Streamclip to convert the file to 960x720 using the DVCPRO HD 720p compressor, and edited in Final Cut Pro. I then used Compressor to export for Vimeo using H.264 compression with AAC audio.
I am really impressed with the results, and had to subscribe to Vimeo who I feel have the best support for online HD video.
Canon T2i Test Footage from David Shelleny on Vimeo.
Getting a job using social media...well, sort of.
Recently, I changed career paths. When people ask how the opportunity came about, my short answer is that I landed the new job using social media (specifically Twitter). But, I also explain that is not as simple as stating that Twitter actually “got” me the job. It played a role in the process, which was important, but not the whole story. My hope is that by sharing some of the techniques I used to initiate my career change, you can get some ideas for your own professional pursuits.
My Story:
For a little over a year, I have been actively pursuing career opportunities in the Twin Cities. I had a great job in Illinois, with a great company. My wife and I had just decided we wanted to make a change, be closer to family, and try a new location.
Getting Out There, and Setting Deadlines:
Once we agreed on the plan, the first thing I did was commit to physically coming to Minnesota once per quarter. By setting hard dates, it was up to me to make sure I had enough meetings set up to make the trips worth while. Quarterly visits were often enough for me to get moving on our plan without disrupting my current situation, or going broke on airfare. To prepare for the visits, I used a number of tactics to make my trips worth while.
I used LinkedIn’s Advanced Job Search function to hone in on specific job keywords in the location where I was looking. When I found one that footed the bill, in addition to applying for the job (with the always important cover letter), I reviewed the company’s LinkedIn profile, the person that posted the position, and any other employees in a related department. I sent these people messages explaining my situation, and inviting them to have a cup of coffee at one of my upcoming quarterly visits.
Industry Associations:
In my field, the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) is a great source of information, contacts, and events. They have a very nice jobs board, which I frequently surveyed for opportunities. I also became a member, so I could get familiar with the other members and companies. I created a spreadsheet of the companies and members, and researched what they were all about, including twitter feeds, LinkedIn profiles, personal blogs, and professional histories. When I found someone interesting, I subscribed to their twitter feeds and blogs, started interacting with them, and eventually reached out to invite them for a coffee at one of my visits (starting to see a pattern?)
Twitter is a nice way to initially get to know someone. The types of people I enjoy following are those who share a nice combination of business and personal information. These are the people I actively searched for. Plus, by paying attention to who they followed and interacted with, I was able to find other interesting people in the industry who I could start following and interacting with as well. Soon, my network of Minnesota interactive marketing professionals started to grow, and I was meeting a lot of cool and smart people who I could invite for meetings. There was never a moment when there wasn’t something else to do to get me closer to my goal, and with each new company or contact discovery, a new relationship soon followed.
The Meetings:
The nice thing about conducting my search while I still had a job was that I could be patient. I was ready to give this initiative as long as it took to find the right gig, and was lucky enough to not have a financial or time deadline against which I was fighting. I approached all my meetings as a chance to get to know people in the industry from the Twin Cities, and to get a feel for what is going on in the Minnesota scene. I didn’t ask for jobs directly, or drill anyone for contacts. I listened to stories on how they made it, and in some cases asked for their thoughts and suggestions on my approach. In some cases, my new friend would say “you know you really should talk to X”. Drip after deliberate drip...my Minnesota network continued to expand. As I discovered more people, I would get in touch with them and set up a coffee at my next visit, and repeat!
Getting the Job:
One of these new contacts was also on the same path I was, and was making a change to a different career. Not only did we have a similar industry in common, we were trying to accomplish the same goal. Eventually, he landed a gig and was working when he received a call from his recruiter about an opportunity. He declined the offer to apply, but said that he “had the guy” for the job. I received a text message telling me to call his recruiter. I was “his guy,” and the rest is history.
Lessons Learned: It’s the Network
Personally, I think the power of these tools lies in the personal network you can build. Since I started this process, I have been lucky enough to build relationships with people I now call friends. These are people with whom I want to hang out, and now that I am here, I get to interact with them in real life.
What I learned in this process is if you want to get into a career using social media tactics, you can’t ignore the hard work of getting out there and building a solid network of like-minded people. If you know where you want to go, and what you want to do, find others that are already doing it and get to know them. Don’t concentrate too much on getting the job, but building meaningful relationships with the right people. If you repeat this process enough, and make yourself known, your chances of putting yourself into a position of getting lucky increases exponentially. Plus, you get to meet a lot of very cool and smart people in the process.
That’s how I did it. How about you? What social media tactics have you used to land a job? What frustrations have you run into? I’d like to hear your story.
A New Chapter: Victory in Minnesota
Starting Monday, I will be working with Victory Motorcycles, a division of Polaris Industries, on their social media initiatives. I am thrilled to be working with an extremely forward thinking company who is known in the industry for their superior products, and customer loyalty. It is an opportunity for me to use all of the skills I am so passionate about, including video production (on the road), story telling, and multimedia. To say I am excited would be an understatement.
This means today is my last day at Moneris Solutions, a company at which I have worked for 12 years in a variety of roles. It was at Moneris where I learned the importance of personal customer service, and that I had an addiction to converting dissatisfied clients into brand advocates by working with them instead of reciting policies. I didn't know it at the time, but all of my work on the front lines with our clients prepared me for this "new marketing" world of social media. I have been lucky and blessed to work with some of the smartest and hardest working people in the financial services industry, and I will miss everyone very much.
Accepting the job also means relocating to the Twin Cities, where I grew up. The kids will be closer to their grandparents and cousins, and we will finally get to spend more time with family, which is huge.
Plus, I am really looking forward to getting more involved into the Minnesota scene, which is one of the most engaged group of interactive marketing and social media folks around.
With no time to waste, I am loading up the truck and moving Saturday, and will be sharing time between Minnesota and Illinois until the house sells. So fire up the hotdish and coffee Minnesota, ‘cause here we come!
iPod Volume Levels: A Suggestion
We have all been there. You are sitting in a public place, plane/lobby/school and someone sits next to you with their ipod blasting their music. If you can pick out the artist and tune playing, the volume level has to be plenty loud for the user. Prolonged exposure to music at high volume can lead to long-term hearing loss, and with the prominence of iPods and earbuds, not only is the noise an annoyance to others, it can hurt the listener.
Cory Portnuff, and audiologist in Colorado did an interesting study on iPods and teenagers that showed that:
- Teens play their music louder than adults, and may have an inaccurate perception of how loud they are playing their music (no surprise there!)
- A typical person can listen to an iPod for 4.6 hours per day at 70 percent volume, or 90 minutes at 80 percent volume without increasing their risk of hearing loss
- Listening to music at full volume for more than 5 minutes a day can increase your risk for long term hearing loss
Hearing loss is permanent. Once the delicate hair cells in the inner ear that convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals are damaged, they cannot be repaired. That being said, everyone’s sensitivity is different, and what causes hearing loss in some, may not in others.
Apple lists a couple suggestions on their website about listening responsibly, thinking about levels, etc.
Apple also has a way to restrict the iPod's maximum volume on their iPods, which can prevent you or your kids from turning up the iPod too loud. I guarantee that if you check your kid’s iPod, this setting is in its default “off” position. This is a good idea, but it requires the user to take proactive action.
A Suggestion
What if Apple took things a step further by providing a visual “reminder” that the levels of which we are listening to are getting too loud. Nothing drastic, just a slight adjustment to the visual design with universal warning colors. Maybe this would cause us to think twice when we crank up the volume. I, for one, would appreciate the extra concern.
Just a suggestion, what do you think?
Production Notes: The Phantom Radio Signal
Anyone who works in production knows that when you are on a shoot, there are many details that need to be taken into account to ensure a professional product. Sometimes, no matter how much you prepare, a gremlin shows up in your video or audio, and you will have to deal with it. Hopefully, by sharing my stories with you, and how I recovered from them, you can learn from my mistakes, and prevent them from happening to you.
The Situation:
On a recent video shoot at a local sound stage, somehow, all of our audio tracks were “infected” with the static-like noise of a local radio station. The noise, which clearly had a DJ’s voice, commercials, etc. rendered all our audio tracks useless.
By the time I realized the audio tracks were contaminated (all 5 hours), I was back in my studio importing the footage. My first reaction was sickening terror, realizing we would probably have to re-shoot the entire program. This meant re-hiring the makeup artist, re-booking the studio, and putting the client through another day-long shoot. Many colorful words were uttered as I stared in horror at my monitor.
My Setup:
Camera: Canon GL2
Mics:
Sennheiser M101 Wireless Lav System (primary - right channel)
Sennheiser ME 66 Shotgun (backup - left channel)
Mixer: Shure FP-33
Cable: 6 Pin to XLR
Beachtek XLR Adapter
How did this happen?
We called the stage the next day, and they confirmed that a local radio station signal did have a tendency to “appear” in audio tracks. Their explanation was that it was usually caused by a faulty wire in the production chain. Translation: “There is no way in hell we are going to comp you studio time to re-shoot your video.”
Why didn’t I hear the distortion on the stage?
I didn’t hear the signal because I monitored the audio via headphones from the mixer, not the camera. The broken link in the chain was between the mixer and the camera, either the 6 pin cable, or the Beachtek unit. Had I monitored from the camera, I would have heard the signal, and we would have been able to correct it on the stage. Lesson learned!
Options:
We were left with two choices:
- Re-shoot everything, which required another day full day at the studio, a full day for the makeup artist, as well as a full day for the client. This was a tough pill to swallow, due to the fact that we would have to absorb the extra costs, and the budget was already stretched as far as it could go.
- Fix it somehow
The Solution:
In the end I was able to fix the audio tracks. Click the video link below to see a step by step guide on how I did it.
Now THIS is how you use Twitter for Customer Service
I use the company Influxis to stream all of my video content. Their service has always been fantastic, but last night the planets aligned, and I ran into issues logging in. Of course this always happens at the worst time, which describes my evening to a T. This was literally the last task I had to do before I could sign off on the beta test for a 9 month project!
I threw a line in the water (Twitter) and posted a question to see if anyone else was having the same issues I was. Well, it turns @RichardBlakely was listening, and what resulted could be used as a template for how to use Twitter for superior customer service.
These interactions make it very easy for me to stay with a vendor. Oh, and it is worth mentioning twice, this all took place between 11PM and 2AM!
(Click the image below for the timeline)
Accessibility...to the Core
One of the things of which I get the most joy is finding sources of inspiration in artists, designers, and musicians. When I see something that is truly beautiful, I usually go through two phases…the first being the “wow…I’ll just sit back and enjoy that beautiful thing” phase, which is usually followed closely by the phase of “I wonder how the hell they did that?” There are a lot of artists that absolutely astound and inspire me with their work, and one of them is Joshua Davis. But this story isn’t about his work…it’s about him.
A couple years ago, before I had even heard of Social Media, I was trouncing through the internet on one of my inspiration quests, and I came across Joshua’s site, praystation.com (which has since been morphed into his current site joshuadavis.com). If you haven’t seen his work, it is worth a look. To me, his combination of technology and art was the stuff I could spend hours going through. Once I started reading about how he creates his art, and how he tries to push his tools to the limits, well…I became an instant fan. How many layers can you have in an Illustrator document before you kill your computer? Ask Joshua…he can tell you.
I found out Joshua wrote a book about Flash design called “Flash to The Core: An Interactive Sketchbook”, and jumped over to Amazon.com to pick one up. To my dismay, at the time, all my searches for copies ended up with an “out of print” notice. I was out of luck. As a last ditch effort, I sent an email to his studio in New York, with the hopes that maybe an assistant could help me find a copy. To be honest, I expected a boiler plate message indicating that “due to the popular demand of Mr. Davis’ book unfortunately we are unable to…..blah blah,” but I figured it was worth a shot.
Instead, fifteen minutes later, my phone rang.
“Hi Dave, this is Joshua. I’m sorry you’re having some trouble finding copies of my book. I only have a couple copies left myself… but if you check eBay, you can still find some used copies.”
No assistant, no week delay in responding or straight up ignoring. It was the guy himself making a personal phone call to a complete stranger with a tip (that worked by the way) on how to find his book.
I was pretty floored. I can’t even get my cable company to commit to calling me back within a certain timeframe, and Joshua took it upon himself to call me personally so I could find an out of print copy of his book. It took him 15 seconds to call me, but it was his personal attention and accessibility that made the impression on me.
One of the cool things I see more and more with the onset of social media tools is the leveling of the playing field. The old barriers of business and celebrity are being knocked down and replaced with direct and immediate contact. What an opportunity for celebrities and companies to create more fans or ambassadors of their brand by these small, but meaningful connections. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but it does require a shift in thinking. Tools like Twitter are great new ways to provide accessibility and directly connect to your fans and customers, IF you choose to commit to the idea of a personal level of service like I received from Joshua.
We all know what it is like to have an experience that is so good, we tell others about it. Usually, it is not a huge event, but a small detail that stood out as a personal surprise. I’ll always remember the call I received from Joshua, and how special it made me feel. Oh, and by the way, the book is fantastic!
How about you? What surprises have you encountered that resulted in a story you like to tell?
Playing For Change
What an inspiring project. Mark Johnson uses music to break down barriers to bring peace, and unite each other...literally through song.
It is an awesome concept, captured beautifully. Try to watch this without getting a chill.
readXML: Another Great Tool for Video Cue Points
I use MS Excel for a lot of my scripting and animation. It helps me keep everything straight and organized, and prevents me from getting lost in a sea of cue points! One of the challenges I ran into when working on a recent project is getting my Final Cut Pro markers into an Excel spreadsheet so I can log my animation cues. After a quick search online, as usual, others have run into the same issue. Enter readXML to save the day.
With this project, I was converting video files to FLV files with embedded cue points. I was already exporting my markers to XML files so they could be converted to Flash cue points (using my new and improved conversion method - See my earlier post on ConvertCuePoints on how to do this), so all I needed to do was get them into a spreadsheet. This should be easy, right, just import the data using the “import” function of Excel? Nope.
readXML is a simple program created by Andreas Kiel that reads FCP XML files, and displays the information in an easy to read format. Then, it allows you to easily export clip and sequence information to your clipboard, so you can paste it into Excel.
Simple, easy, and useful. This tool helped me get the grunt work of marker conversion out of the way so I could concentrate on creativity. Oh, and the download is free! Thanks Andreas!
To download readXML, and for more information about the application, visit http://www.spherico.com/filmtools/readXML/index.html
This is just one of the excellent FCP time savers Andreas has on his website http://www.spherico.com/filmtools.
My Country Music Video
For a long time now, Tom Trinley, Bob O'Connell and I have been working on a documentary called Monumental Myths. The purpose of the project is to uncover the truth behind our national monuments so that the whole story can be told, not just what one group wants you to know. We interviewed some pretty amazing people, including James Loewen, Howard Zinn, Lonnie Bunch, and Adam "Fortunate Eagle" Nordwall.
We will be releasing the documentary in its entirety in the near future, but in the meantime, Tom put together a music video of the end credits rap song we wrote. We had way too much fun on this project..which we recorded in my old house's basement studio (with the impromptu bookshelf/moving blanket vocal booth.) Check it out!
Best Aspect Ratios For Web Video
Whether you are working in HD or SD, knowing the right aspect ratios to convert your video for web distribution is key. By choosing the right ratios, you can insure that you will get best picture possible.
Sometimes, you are restricted to the size of a web page window, but you still can choose a better ratio than simply picking one out of the air.
Below is a chart of the best ratios to use.
(Chart compiled by Robert Reinhardt)
You can also download the Best Aspect Ratio Chart (Excel).
Flash Video Cue Points With XML Part 2
For this example, we are using a virtual host against a jungle background. The host was shot against a green screen, and the background keyed out in post production. Because the video contains the alpha channel, the background is transparent, which is the effect we were looking for. In Part 1, we showed how to embed video cue points into the video, now we will create the mechanism to put them to work trigger Flash activity.
If you want to see the videos in action now, go directly to the new Compass Communication's website.
THE MAIN PROJECT:
1. In Flash, create a new project
2. Create new layers in this order (from top to bottom) actions, video, animation, background.
3. In the actions layer, on keyframe one, insert a STOP action command
4. Upload the background and place it on the stage the background layer
5. Select the video layer keyframe, and import the video (File→Import→Import Video)
a. Locate your flv file that contains the video cue points
b. Select deployment preferences (Progressive Download or Streaming are the most common).
c. Select your video skin. (In this case, we did not select player controls, as the video was frameless.)
d. Finish your import.
6. Place your movie where you want it, and give it an instance name of "vid". Test your movie to make sure the placement of the video is where you want it.
7. While the movie is playing, take a screenshot of the movie. This still picture will be needed as a reference when you create your animation, which is the next step.
CREATING THE ANIMATION:
8. Create a new movie clip symbol, and name it “animation”.
9. Add new layers in the clip in this order from the top down, actions, tempBg. (All your animation layers will be between actions and tempBg)
10. In the actions layer in frame 1, place a stop command
11. In the tempBg layer, import the background screenshot you captured of the main piece. Make sure to center the background (using align controls)
12. Lock the tempBg track. You now have a canvas on which to “paint” your animation.
13. Using your cue point spreadsheet as a guide, create animations in the timeline that correspond with each cue point. In the timeline, at the end of each animation, insert a stop command on the actions layer to prevent the animation from playing until the end. The animations will then be “on call” waiting for a cue point to trigger them. Fade in text, graphics, even video to emphasize points, have some fun with it!
LOGGING FRAME NUMBERS:
14. On your cue spreadsheet, insert a new column, and label it “frame”.
15. In Flash, log each frame number that corresponds to the start of each animation. For example, if the previous animation ended (with a stop command) at frame 20, the next animation would start on frame 21.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER WITH A LISTENER (AS2)
Meanwhile, back in the main timeline…
16. On the main timeline, select the keyframe in the “animation” layer, and drag the new animation movie clip onto the stage.
17. Give the animation an instance name of “anim”
18. Align the movie clip to the center of the stage using the align controls. They should line up perfectly.
19. Select the first keyframe in the actions layer, and open the actions panel
20. Insert the following listener code below the stop command:
var vidList:Object = new Object(); //CREATE A LISTENER OBJECT
vidList.cuePoint = function(cues) {
if (cues.info.name == "1") { //CUE NUMBER
anim.gotoAndPlay(2); //FRAME NUMBER
}
};
vid.addEventListener("cuePoint",vidList); //ADD THE EVENT LISTENER
21. For each cue point, copy and paste as many “onCuePoint” events as you have cue points. Using your spreadsheet, you should be building a list that looks like this:
var vidList:Object = new Object();
vidList.cuePoint = function(cues) {
if (cues.info.name == "1") {
anim.gotoAndPlay(2);
}
if (cues.info.name == "2") {
anim.gotoAndPlay(8);
}
if (cues.info.name == "3") {
anim.gotoAndPlay(14);
}
if (cues.info.name == "4") {
anim.gotoAndPlay(21);
}
};
vid.addEventListener("cuePoint",vidList);
SUMMARY:
Once you get used to putting in the cue point numbers and the corresponding frame numbers, you will be off and running! Test your movie, and make adjustments where you need to.
The animation is now synched to the movie. The possibilities are now endless…go and create!
Got any examples of your own using keyframes? Shoot me a link, I would love to see them.
Cold Today!
This is what happens when you combine some boiling water with -10 degree weather! Brrr!
Flash Video Cue Points: Adobe Air Shortcut
This is why I love the internet, and networking services like Twitter.
I recently published Flash Video Cue Points With XML Part 1. This post outlined my method of creating and editing event cue points using XML files. It has saved me a lot of time. My method was manual though, using a spreadsheet and calculations. Now, while I think it is important to understand how to calculate video frames into flash samples, if a shortcut comes along, I am all for it.
Jay Shaffer, a Twitter friend of mine, read the article, and commented about an Adobe Air product by John Skidgel called (simply) Convert Final Cut Pro Markers to Flash Video Cue Points Instead of doing all the manual work to convert the timings, you could 1) export your FCP markers, and 2) import them into the AIR application. The application then 3) converts the markers into the proper XML format for Flash. Genius!
Do I regret learning how to convert the timings manually? No way. Will I use a tool like this to save time on our projects, HELL YES!
Thanks John for the app, and Jay for the recommendation!
The Interwebs Presentation by Clay Parker Jones
Check out a very cool presentation by Clay Parker Jones
A refreshingly simple look at online marketing.