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High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.

YES, I am available for consulting
Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com

All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

bitchin' high speed photography 

Make Your Own Rig for Ultra-High Speed Photography - Photo Grandpa - Gizmodo

On the go so can't "properly" blog this, but it caught my eye -check out the galleries.

I've been getting more into photography for the last year some-odd.

-mike

Friday, January 29, 2010

More thoughts on iPad - v1.5 software, v2 hardware 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder

More thoughts on the iPad - who it'll work for and who it won't. Will it be as massively successful as the iPhone? Give it time - this'll be a slower burn than iPhone was, which was markedly better than a regular "smart" phone at the time. iPad isn't always arguably better than a netbook.

anyway, read on for more thoughts and a buncha links

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My pre-game analysis of iPad 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder

Wrote this one last night before the stuff today - and I gotta say, most of it holds up as written. Problems with any tablet, and specifically with some of the rumored plays Apple had in mind.

Holds up pretty well, covers some things not addressed in the post-announcement article.

Read the linked article over at PVC.

-mike

Apple iPad - what I REALLY think 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder

iPad! Long heralded JesusPad! Is it magically delicious?

Now that is has been announced, here's my analysis, device unseen.

Delicious yes, magical no, buying one probably not.

Read on for why over at PVC

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hey! I'm in on 50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers 

50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers |

MovieMaker Magazine


Woo Hoo!

...but I do virtually all of my writing over here now, at ProVideoCoalition.com

Monday, January 18, 2010

From Anne Frank to Stephenie Meyer: The Slush Pile - WSJ.com 

From Anne Frank to Stephenie Meyer: The Slush Pile - WSJ.com

an interesting read about the results of democratization of media - anyone can get "published" in terms of getting their voice out there, but in terms of getting Published, capital P, are sinking ever faster. Since the barriers to entry are so much lowered, and the publics appetite hasn't increased proportionately for content they'll pay for, the value of unsolicited work has fallen to effectively zero.

Article opens with:

In 1991, a book editor at Random House pulled from the heaps of unsolicited manuscripts a novel about a murder that roils a Baltimore suburb. Written by a first-time author and mother named Mary Cahill, "Carpool" was published to fanfare. Ms. Cahill was interviewed on the "Today" show. "Carpool" was a best seller.

That was the last time Random House, the largest publisher in the U.S., remembers publishing anything found in a slush pile. Today, Random House and most of its major counterparts refuse to accept unsolicited material.

and later continues with:

The agent says she receives 30 unsolicited e-mails a day from writers and people she doesn't know who are pushing unknown writers, and she hits "delete" without opening.


The Paris Review still publishes unsolicited work, but success odds are 0.008%...of getting a short story published. Once. In a magazine.

Same kinda thing for movie/TV deals - most producers won't look at unsolicited work - there's just too much out there.

Read on, this is interesting stuff and good to know.

If you are about getting your voice out there, you CAN - but can you get anyone to read/see it. Put it up on YouTube, just don't expect to get any money off of it even if it gets a million views. Put up a blog, but don't expect to get rich off of it - even in my best month of HDforIndies.com, I think I made about $800 bucks off of Google AdSense from folks clicking on the ads.

-mike

Friday, December 18, 2009

Finally, Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.7 for Mac - Canon - Gizmodo 

Finally, Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.7 for Mac - Canon - Gizmodo

REJOICE! REJOICE!

I'm importing 22,000 D300S RAW photos right now....

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009 - Photography - Lifehacker 

Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009 - Photography - Lifehacker

Thursday, December 03, 2009

OOOOOooooohhhh.....good one! 

chris and trish link to an adobe article on how to reconfigure your After Effects config files so you won't get gamma shifts on ProRes422 and ProRes4444 files.

GOOD ONE!

If you do any AE work, this will save you a LOT of pain and suffering.

ProVideo Coalition.com: Creating Motion Graphics by Chris & Trish Meyer | Founders

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Comparison of Red One and Epic-X S35 specifications 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies: "Specdown: Red One vs Epic-X announced features"

analysis of the points of differentiation between the Red One and Epic-X camera

Revised specs for Red Epic-X 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies: "Red Update - revised specs for Epic-X camera"

list and analysis of the new specs for the Epic-X camera announced last week

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

HHH - Hand Held Hollywood - iPhone stuff for us 

HHH - Hand Held Hollywood

One of my fellow PVCers found this - excellent.

-mike

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

FantasticFest Panels: on set VFX supervision for 3D 

FantasticFest Panels: on set VFX supervision for 3D

Jabbar Raisani from Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios talks about on set tools he uses as a VFX supervisor - some really good nitty gritty detailed info on tools to use, info to gather on set, report structure, etc.

-mike

Monday, September 28, 2009

FantasticFest 2009 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies: "I’m here covering FantasticFest 2009"

FantasticFest Day 1 - First Squad, Gentlemen Broncos, Rec 2, The Highball 

Oh yeah! I'm at FantasticFest covering it - everything from movies to a series of panels on shooting and posting stereoscopic, aka 3D moviemaking.

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies: "FantasticFest Day 1 - First Squad, Gentlemen Broncos, Rec 2, The Highball"

Future of 3D panel at FantasticFest 

Oh yeah! I'm at FantasticFest covering it - everything from movies to a series of panels on shooting and posting stereoscopic, aka 3D moviemaking.

The Future of 3D panel

My FantasticFest coverage at PVC 

Oh yeah! I'm at FantasticFest covering it - everything from movies to a series of panels on shooting and posting stereoscopic, aka 3D moviemaking.

Notes from Sean Fairburn on 3D moviemaking

Monday, September 14, 2009

Snow Leopard - go or no go yet? 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

how I decided whether to upgrade to snow leopard yet

Nikon D300S vs Canon 7D 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

specdown showdown, and notes/thoughts on my new Nikon D300S

More on D300S sustained shooting 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

gettin' nerdy with sustained frame rates and burst mode with my new Nikon D300S

-mike

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Red Rocket Testing - Rocketcine X Build 566 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

A walkthrough of the interface of Rocketcine X, Red's tool to use Red Rocket to accelerate .R3D file conversion to QuickTimes or still sequences.

Later builds are out, and an install glitch led me to a wrong assumption about Looks support.

-mike

video storage calculator roundup 

ProVideo Coalition.com: the EDITBLOG by Scott Simmons

does the headline need any more?

Good & Bad News about R3D in Color 1.5 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

full on, full res, full RAW native support of Redcode RAW .R3D files in Color? Yes. Slow? Waaaaaay.

At least in my test...

gotchas with Snow Leopard 

ProVideo Coalition.com: HD For Indies by Mike Curtis | Founder | HD for Indies

some caveats for editors about Snow Leopard

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