He continues, “People find it charming and interesting to learn about our $60,000 budget and all the crazy offbeat ways we saved money. Because when you have a sky’s-the-limit budget like the big VFX films, it’s not that impressive to make all those space ships and explosions. I mean, of course they can do that. But when people see how we did it — with our homemade, thrift-store effects — they’re hooked.”

Made on a Mac

Kobler edited and authored the entire “Guerilla Film School” DVD and did much of the post-production work on “Radius” using Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Logic, Compressor, Soundtrack, LiveType and QuickTime on a PowerBook G4. (Because the project began almost four years ago, the main “Radius” editor used Avid, although even then Kobler did supplementary editing in Final Cut Pro.) Throughout the months of intensive labor, the director relied on his PowerBook as a versatile, portable studio.

“My PowerBook worked great for editing the movie and DVD, so I started using it for everything: compressing video for our website, editing trailers, downloading QuickTime clips from artists, emailing feedback.”

“When I got my PowerBook I never looked back,” says Kobler. “It worked great for editing the movie and DVD, so I started using it for everything else: compressing video for our website, editing trailers, downloading QuickTime visual FX trials from artists, emailing feedback to them.”

Kobler enthusiastically advocates the platform. “The Mac is so much a part of the entire production of this film,” he says. “It’s ideal for independent filmmakers because you’ve got inexpensive hardware, the mobility to work where you want to and the ability to create a commercial-quality product — including DVD-9s — with almost no learning curve.”

Café-Happy with Final Cut Pro

As the author of the “Final Cut Pro for Dummies” series, Kobler knows his editing software inside out. “I think Final Cut Pro is the best overall program I’ve ever encountered on a computer,” he says. “It’s thorough, well-designed and intuitive. In 15 minutes I can teach someone the skills they need to edit a movie — and of course you can do so much more when you learn the advanced tools.”

Adds Kobler, “What’s really exciting about Final Cut Pro is that you get all these extras like Compressor and Soundtrack and LiveType. The package has everything you need to make a film. And I just got Motion, which I can’t wait to start using.”

For Kobler, the right work environment is essential to keeping his creative juices flowing — another reason he prizes his Mac. “Final Cut Pro runs really well on my PowerBook,” he says, “so I can go to Starbucks or on location and do the exact same work I do in my studio at home, without having to make any compromises. Having that mobility was a big factor in this project, especially since it went on for so long. It’s depressing and lonely to sit at home by yourself, so I was constantly going out to cafés to do my work.”

DVD Studio Pro Delivers

Kobler used DVD Studio Pro to author the menus and scripting logic for both “Radius” and the making-of DVD. “I had never authored a DVD,” he relates, “so at first I went out for bids. But I was getting quotes of $5,000 for a two-disc DVD — and that’s not to create content, but just to set up the menus and pointers. So I decided to do it myself. And the drag-and-drop authoring in DVD Studio Pro is so simple, I learned it in a day and a half.”

He’s pleased with the sophisticated result he was able to achieve. For example, says Kobler, “‘Guerilla Film School’ has two commentary tracks. Cycling between multiple tracks is the kind of thing you find in only a fraction of Hollywood DVDs.”

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