HD For Indies

Avid Delivers Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro for Intel-Based Macs

Avid released new versions of Media Composer (v2.7) and Xpress Pro (v5.7). Big new features:

-Intel Mac support (hooray!)
-updated bundle of third party apps
-support for new formats
-can read AND write back to XDCAM & P2
-720p50 for Euro markets
-BIG new feature for Media Composer - ScriptSync for syncing script to the video clips (more below)
-new codec support - DNxHD 36, for low datarate (36 megabit) for offline editing at HD pixel resolutions at a bit over 4 MB/sec - not much more than DV's datarate. And it is full raster (no horizontal shrinkage) as well. This has LOTS of uses, I'm a big fan of cutting compressed HD for your offline, including seeing full resolution of your project and cutting at native frame rates.

The catch: gotta use a high powered Avid to get the footage in:

Using either an Avid DNxcel(TM) powered Media Composer Adrenaline(TM), or an Avid Nitris(R) system, customers can encode HD content to Avid DNxHD 36 in real-time.


It SHOULD be possible to convert to DNxHD in non-realtime after capturing in some other compressed codec, but how quickly that transcoding be done? With what tools? I don't have answers to that yet - if you do, please post in the Comments, as I'm insufficiently familiar with these Avid capabilities.

ScriptSync sounds pretty damned impressive, but I have yet to sit down and get a demo. If you are cutting to a script, ideally you want all your shots associated with the right part of the script. The old way was to play footage and click ins and outs - not terribly precise. The way this new product works is to scan the audio track of the footage, do voice recognition, and then correlates that text to the text of the script. If it works right, it will be a HUGE time saver for those cutting narrative content from scripts. Clearly, you'll need ot have decent quality audio for this to work, but it could be a substantial time saver. I need to play with it to see how practical it is, and I will soon. From their press release:

"Script-based editing has been very popular among customers because it provides an easy way to respond to directors, who often want to quickly review different takes of scenes based on the dialogue in the script."

Stuart Bass, A.C.E., 2006 Emmy nominee and ACE Eddie award winner for Arrested Development: "I can easily line up twelve takes of a single performance and evaluate each one in a thorough and organized fashion. It enables our team to evaluate different readings with greater speed, streamlining the storytelling process under extremely tight deadlines."

....

...the ScriptSync tool advances the functionality of Avid's script-based editing by automating the task of synchronizing scripts or transcripts with their respective media files, and eliminates the labor intensive process of manually inserting sync points. Once the script and media are matched, editors, directors and producers can quickly and easily review multiple line readings and select individual takes. With ScriptSync, script-based editing is significantly more accurate and more practical for everyday use.

Other new stuff in the bundled apps - Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.5 - faster encoding. SmartSound SonicFire Pro 4 - auto-creation of music with "Mood Mapping" to create a vibe and "match the mix and feel of music to the changing moods of any production." Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2 lets you apply filters directly in Media Composer (but not Xpress Pro).

Media Composer (software only) if $4995 list, you can add Mojo SDI or Adrenaline hardware.

Existing users can upgrade to v2.7 for $195 (& includes Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2). After June 30, goes up to $995.

For Xpress Pro, from the press release:

Avid Xpress Pro Software

Version 5.7 of Avid Xpress Pro software is available for $1,695 USMSRP. Customers with versions 5.5 or higher of Avid Xpress Pro software will receive upgrades to version 5.7 for $49.95 USMSRP. Customers with Avid Xpress Pro systems that precede version 5.5 can upgrade to version 5.7 for $149.95 USMSRP.

Native Intel support is a big deal - the latest laptops and towers are fast and powerful - but if you couldn't run the latest software natively, you couldn't use that power. And with eight processor Macs expected any day now, native support is an even bigger deal.

-mike

PS - I should have mentioned this before (I'm updating this Sunday) - Avid was kind enough to send me a copy of Media Composer 2.7 beta prior to its release for review/commentary, but I haven't gotten far enough into it to have salient commentary (SXSW then family crisis intervened in that time). I'll be testing this ASAP.

Labels: Avid, NLE

Just for convenience, these are auto-generated to keep track of the best selling DVDs, HD DVDs, & Blu-ray movies from Amazon available through my online store. Click any of these links to jump further down the page to the part you want. These are all based on Amazon's categorizations, which can be a little wonky. Don't see what you want? Just search for it.

Best Selling DVDs

Best Sellers below, or click to jump to: Action, Animation, Anime, Classics, Comedy, Cult, Docs, Drama, Horror, Scifi/fantasy, TV shows

HD DVDs

Don't see what you want?
Search for what you're looking for:

Blu-ray Movies

Don't see what you want? Search for what you're looking for:

Regular DVDs by category

DVDs: Action & Adventure



DVDs: Animation



DVDs: Anime



DVDs: Classics



DVDs: Comedy



DVDs: Cult (their category, not mine...I wouldn't call many of these exactly cult...)



DVDs: Documentaries



DVDs: Drama



DVDs: Horror - their category is screwy, don't blame me...



DVDs: Scifi & Fantasy



DVDs: Television Shows




Don't see what you want? Search for what you're looking for:


Have fun and enjoy!

-mike

Labels: Blu-ray, DVDs, HD DVD, online store

Funding Panel SXSW

Yo Indies! Wanna git yer movie funded? Read these notes, not taken by me.

-mike

Jim Pete - The Digital Video Information Network

"Jim and Jarred are in Wellington, New Zealand putting Red through its paces with Peter Jackson at Peter's post facility, Park Road Post.
Peter's Weta Digital are rumored to have 5 units reserved.
Very appropriate end users for Red and with such a significant skill base that could well be contributory to the final product, if they have not done so yet."


Well, God DAMN. Wish I were there.

Reduser's coverage of same here, but no further official info or deets.

UPDATE Ah - Proof! (PHOTO)
-mike

Labels: Red

AppleInsider | New Macs feature dual or "quad-core" processors, says Apple

"Every new Mac features powerful dual-core or quad-core Intel processors, the world's most advanced operating system, and more,' the company wrote on a section of its online store promoting Adobe's new Creative Suite 3.0 software


Earlier rumors had suggested that Apple was going to wait to team with Adobe and their launch of CS3 to roll out the quad core Macs - but CS3 got announced last week, and STILL no Quad Core OctoMacs as yet.

I'm figuring we either get a Special Event next week before NAB (unlikely), or Apple rolls out the OctoMac goodness at the pre-NAB Sunday press event, along with the next Final Cut Studio.

But OctoMacs are DEFINITELY getting close. The question now: how soon until we can lay mitts on them? It appears they've been delayed for whatever reason for substantial periods of time (maybe Leopard required? Unlikely.), so I'd HOPE they'd have them all stacked & stocked up and ready to go. Historically, Apple announces new tower Macs, says the first two models are immediately available (although in limited supply), the top end model will be available in "about a month" but takes 45-60 days, or if you order it with the new top end video card, it takes 60-90 days until you actually get it.

I say this from experience - I've been ordering "Day Zero" Macs for years - my dual 2.0, 2.5, and Quad Core G5's were all top of the line, order Day Zero (day announced), and all were considerably delayed. E.V.E.R.Y. T.I.M.E.

Apple HAS been getting better about having stock at announcement, and the Intel boards & CPUs have been out for months that we expect Apple to use.

But time's a marchin' on, we're getting impatient.

-mike

ProLost: NAB Pimpin'

Stu probably won't mind if I quote him verbatim from his ProLost blog:

When I'm not trying to distract whoever's holding the Red One prototypes with my patented "look, a blimp!" technique, I'll be pimping some goodies at NAB.

I've been working with Red Giant Software on the next generation of Magic Bullet tools. This is going to be a must-see. Red Giant's booth, Tuesday 4/17 10am and Wednesday 4/18 2pm.

I'll also be talking about The Orphanage's film effects work using Adobe After Effects, touching on my favorite topic: linear light compositing, at the Adobe booth. Tuesday 2pm, Wednesday 11am.


This should be good. Hopefully I can check it out Wednesday.

-mike

Moviemaker Dialogues: Film Bloggers Are Your Friends | Austin Film Society

Moderated by SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler

For filmmakers and film fans around the world, film blogs and Web sites have become an essential tool for the latest news, tips, and promotion for one's career. Especially for filmmakers who don't live in New York or L.A., a film web site can help boost awareness to the masses like nothing else. Learn tricks of the trade and the vital details on how you can navigate the ever-growing world of film blogging and reviewing online. Panelists include: Aaron Hillis (editor, Cinephiliac.com & contributor to Premiere.com, IFC.com, TheReeler.com), Joel Heller (editor, DocsThatInspire.com), Jette Kernion (contributor to Cinematical.com), and Mike Curtis (editor, HDForIndies.com). The panel will be moderated by AFS Board Member, SXSW Festival Producer, and Blogger Matt Dentler.


This will be April the 10th 7pm at the Austin Studios Screening Room, tickets are free but admission is limited to Austin Film Society Filmmaker & above members.

-mike

NAB event

Walter Murch will be there, an the full agenda won't be announced until shortly before.

Here's the deets from the LAFCPUG site:

Where? - Venetian Hotel, Palazzo Ballroom, 5th level.

3355 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV
When? - Wednesday, April 18, 6:30PM - 10:00PM (Doors open
5:00PM)
How Much? - $15.00 per person. Includes 2 raffle tickets
per person
Any raffle prizes? - Of course. $2.00 per raffle ticket
or 3 for $5.00
Who should attend? - Everyone who wants to learn more
about Final Cut Studio and meet others who know more than you
do.
Food and Drink? - Food (free) and Cash Bar will be available.

What's on the agenda? - It's super secret!

Film & Video | D.P. Claudio Miranda on Benjamin Button's Viper Workflow

Some choice selects:

-on why Viper was chosen: Fincher likes the workflow, the WYSIWYG factor, and Don't you sleep better knowing it's all good, all in the can, with no scratches?"

-time saved on reloads (none w/Viper)

-Benjamin Button has a 145 day shooting schedule (woah)

-no surprises in the workflow, was very smooth

-on shooting dark scenes:



F&V: Your relationship with David Fincher goes back some time. How did you end up as DP on this project?

CLAUDIO MIRANDA: Originally I was an electrician for him, and I was his gaffer on Fight Club and The Game. I was David’s Viper guinea pig on a commercial, Xelebri [which won the 2004 Clio Award Bronze for Best Cinematography]. I was a little skeptical, but we liked the results. The highlights were good. That experience was interesting.

David uses commercials to experiment with possible things he might do on films. After Xelebri, we did other commercials with the Viper: Nike’s “Game Breakers,” where we shot elements for CG, and “Beer Run” for Heineken [which won the 2005 AICP award for Best Cinematography].

Harris Savides was the original DP on Zodiac [which was shot with the Viper], but I shot two weeks of some additional scenes, such as a jailhouse scene. It was pretty simple. It went well enough that David asked me to do Benjamin Button, which is a huge movie to undertake. It’s a 145-day shooting schedule and a period movie that takes place from 1918 to almost present day. There’s a lot involved with the look of each period.

Why was the Viper chosen for this particular project?

David loves the workflow of the Viper. He likes seeing what he gets. He asked me once, “Don’t you sleep better knowing it’s all good, all in the can, with no scratches?” I’m looking at the answer print and I’m happy with what I see. He also raved about how much time they saved on reloads on Zodiac.

Zodiac has its own look, whether you like it or not. We’re not trying to make the Viper look like film. The Viper has its own look. It’s not HD – it’s its own thing.

Were you concerned that there might be holes in the workflow since feature film production with the Viper is so new?

Not really, since it had been successfully used on Zodiac. I did extensive tests with the Viper — durability tests to make sure it could survive.

Did you shoot 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 for Benjamin Button? And what lenses did you use?

We shot in 4:4:4 both for Zodiac and Benjamin.

There wasn’t anything too special with lenses or accessories. We used Zeiss DigiPrimes and DigiZooms. Zeiss DigiPrimes are what we’ve been using all along, [also] on Zodiac.

How did you light Benjamin? The Viper has shown that it can do well in dark lighting situations. Is it being used that way?

It’s really amazing – some scenes, I’ll put a light bulb in the middle of the frame and it looks fine. Some scenes are really beautiful. The way Viper reacts, the image looks like a painting in a way. One of my favorite scenes is a whorehouse scene, and the textures and colors that were produced looked really beautiful.

To say the Viper does well in low lighting situations – I think you can underexpose film beautifully, and Harris is the master of that. We’re not letting it go as dark as you can see in Zodiac. You start losing color detail. I’d rather step on it. You can print it down so much easier – I don’t think it looks good when you bring it up. We’re aiming at printing down.

But still, there are actually very dark moments in this movie – it is David, after all, he can’t let that go. The Viper does shine in those moments. There are advantages: if we go dark and we need more light, the Viper can go to a 315-degree shutter. Sometimes, if I need light on a slow-moving scene, I’ll go to a 270-degree shutter.


Workflow was Viper in 4:4:4 mode to S.two (as with Zodiac), and there is no DIT on set, since they are recording the raw output, not having to tweak and make destructive, one way decisions on set. I think this is one of the biggest advantages of this shooting style (as does Genesis, SI-2K, Red One, etc.) - you treat it like film in that you light & shoot now, make color optimization choices LATER when you aren't paying Brad Pitt to stand around.

This makes me wonder - is the total cost of the shoot reduced by spending a bit more for Viper/S.two up front but skipping the DIT and the time he'd cost on set? If anybody has any solid info on that, I'd love to hear it.

Claudio (DoP) would copy a frame as a DPX file to a thumb drive to tweak with Aperture and Photoshop and maybe Shake, then put on secure FTP for Fincher to check out. They didn't sweat calibration too hard - " If I can make it look good on a $2,000 machine, I know I can make it look good later down the pipeline. "

I so So SO think this kind of workflow is the future for those for whom film is not a realistic or desired option. It isn't as if Fincher can't afford to shoot on whatever he wants.

Watching Grindhouse last night, Planet Terror is shot on Genesis, Death Proof was shot on film - I don't think anybody noticed or cared about a difference in the look attributable to the acquisition format.

-mike

Studio Daily | The P2 Matrix - Navigating File-Based Workflow:

The presentation at the Lounge was short on details, but here's a cribsheet on what to expect from the HPX3000.

-2 million pixel progressive image block
-Using the AVC-Intra codec, get a 10-bit image at full 1920x1080 resolution, not 1440x1080
-Camera will be less than $50,000
-32 GB P2 cards will be 'about $1000' at year's end
-Because NLE support won't be ready at the camera's launch, Panasonic will provide tools that will decode 1920x1080 content and send it out via HD-SDI
-'By this time next year, there will be codec support in the edit packages ... and we're going to put that D-5 quality across FireWire.'"


The article then goes on to discuss some of the practical realities of P2 based workflow - backup, archiving, tracking that data, etc.

That is all REALLY good news. Although there is another camera within that price range that will record >10 bits @ >HD resolution that I'm KINDA interested in that I've been tracking...

-mike

Labels: cameras, hardware, high end, P2, workflow

Studio Daily | Q&A: Michael Caporale, 24p Digital Cinema

At one point the HPX2000s, as well as the HVX200s, were exposed to the elements for five days straight, at -35 and below, and they performed flawlessly. It got so cold that one of the lenses broke off a camera at the lens-mount because the screws got metal-fatigued and simply crumbled. This happened as the camera was being picked up%u2014and it wasn't a heavy lens. That's how cold it was. Yet, the cameras, the cards and the images stored on the P2 cards were not affected by the cold.

In another incident, a producer was juggling P2 cards in and out of a camera, so to prevent dropping a card in the snow, she stuck one in her mouth for a second and it froze to her tongue. The images on the card remained intact. That's about the worst that happened. We did not have a single problem either with the performance of the cameras or the P2 cards or the workflow - not one single crash, lost clip, corruption or anything in 110 hours of footage.


Woah.

This guy works closely with Panasonic so he's likely to say nice things about them, but this is a testament to how the cameras (HVX200 & HPX2000) can hold up in extreme circumstances. A friend of mine (Greg Bernstein) shot HVX200 in Alaska and it was so cold at one point he got color distortions - an ultra cold sensor perhaps?

-mike

Studio Daily | The Pros and Cons of HDV

GOOD series of videos talking about pros and cons of the HDV format. Included are:

-Scott Billups on using the XL-H1's HD-SDI output to record uncompressed and how that compares to a Viper.

-Jody Eldred talks about using Z1U on JAG & NCIS

-James Mathers on using XL-H1 underwater, and +/- of HDV format

-Terence Curren (& others) discuss editing options and issues when cutting HDV, and looking forward to Sony's pro HDV deck.

This is good stuff, I wish I could attend these events.

-mike

Studio Daily | Building the DI Theater

Nice article on the process and choices made in setting up a DI Theater.

[H] Enthusiast - Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: The War of the Formats

Good update on the status between the two, and a good primer if you haven't been keeping track.

Digital World Blu-Ray Outselling HD-DVD 70% to 30%

this article points out:
-over 100,000 copies of Blu-ray Casino Royale have shipped
-that's the first title to do so
-PS3 seems to be working - Blu-ray movies selling @ 7x the rate since PS3 launch
-Blu-ray has been about 70% of HD disc sales since January

The press vibe seems to be that Blu-ray is pulling ahead.

More pics are here
Just got back from dropping off Dianne (aka Kitty) after attending the Grindhouse premiere here in Austin with Robert Rodriguez Quentin Tarantino, and I had a GREAT time.

The premiere was at The Paramount, the beautiful nearly century old grand theater of Austin on Congress Avenue - ALL the good premieres are here.

Things kicked off slowly - it was supposed to start around 7, it was nearly an hour later before Rodriguez and Tarantino took the stage and riled up the audience - he said that they'd been blown away by the audience reaction of execs and talent agents etc. in LA a couple of days before, but any self respecting Texan could kick the shit out of a talent agent...and the crowd goes wild....ah, the blatant local hook - works every time.

: )

Speaking of Texas, this film is a big, fat sloppy wet kiss to Austin, the kind you give the boyfriend/girlfriend to be the first night you meet them after many beers and you're oh-so-happy to have met her/him. It's passionate as hell, even if the aim isn't quite accurate, it is the intent that counts.

I predict the Texas Chilli Parlour will never be the same, nor Guerro's. It's odd seeing all these places up on screen - I live walking distance from Guerro's, just ate there the other day. (The owners used to be neighbors of my parents, won't they be happy with this film). It was odd seeing my neighborhood up on screen - in one mundane shot when you see Kurt Russel's car lingering in the street, I laughed and nudged Kitty to point out the dry cleaners in the background - "Hey...." I said, "...my shirt's in there..."

Grindhouse, in case you've been hiding under a rock, is a big fat violent delicious mess of TWO movies. The first part is Terror Planet, and without going too much into it they have a complete blast with the whole "everybody's an infected zombie" thing. Tarantino cast himself in a part with the most appalling on-screen moment I can recall a director ever placing himself in - it just drips with ick-itude, you'll have to see it. His character is "Rapist 1" in the credits. Freddy Rodriguez puts himself on the map nicely, and the cast is chock full of name brand folks squeezed in all over the place - I won't spoil it for you. Rose McGowan, who in person is a tiny, exquisite delicate porcelain thing, has tremendous voluptous presence in the movie.

Rodriguez has been getting his action chops down better and better, but this film also scores big points for humor - there's some deliciously wonderful use of "Missing Reel" syndrome on purpose (as I mentioned in my Grindhouse 101 SXSW panel coverage the other week). He's intentionally digitally dirtied up the movie with scratches and blemishes as if it were an old print that's been through the ringer far too many times. But he shot this digitally, with the Panavision Genesis (he's been shooting 900/950 in the past) - and it doesn't really show - it's just "a movie" that you're watching. We're clearly well past the point where digitally shot is a detriment or concern of any real sort to 99.99% of the moviegoing public.

Rodriguez has added lots of humor, from sly to absurdist to gross-out, and it all works. The audience roared along with the film, thoroughly eating it up, and the ending was even more satisfying that I would have expected, yet still deliciously greasily cheesy within genre.

HEARTILY, HEARTILY RECOMMEND THIS FILM if you're a fan of going to see fun flicks. Not film, not cinema, not art, FLICKS.

The interstitial trailers are also a blast, with Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and others geting in on the action. It is interesting to see what got edited or covered up since the SXSW panel in Eli's - they covered up a few moments with "accidental" film glitches.

Tarantino then kicks into his part, Death Proof (which was shot on film) and he lingers on Austin even moreso than Rodriguez (who lives & shoots here). He sets major chunks of the movie in Guerro's and the Texas Chilli Parlour (both of which I drove past on the way home from the after party), and I kept having that odd deja vu moment seeing stuff a few blocks from my house up on screen (common for LA & NYC residents I'm sure).

Anyway, back to the film - after a normal, expected movie pace that builds to a peak early in the film, there' a lengthy expositional lull where four women characters (with Rosario Dawson included, sigh....) just hang out and talk FOREVER. They hang out, they drive, they go to check out a car and then mess around with it before the movie finally falls back into "Ok, where are they going with this? NOW I get it" mode. Then that lengthy slow interlude suddenly makes sense - Tarantino's been building up a currency, now he wants to spend it. I really enjoy that so much of what was interesting was NOT in the trailer for this part - kudos to the restraint of the boys on this.

The ending is also within genre but very satisfying in its simplicity and directness - the crowd went WILD for it.

See? No spoilers.

Afterwards, we hung out a bit out front then went over to The Belmont for the after party. Hanging out a bit out front, I saw Kurt Russell, Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowan, and several other actors arrive from the film and took a few pics (see link at bottom of article for pics), but felt too dorky fanboy to hang outside with my pocketcam to take pictures "for my blog" (wouldn't YOU cringe saying that out loud?), so we went in and hung out a bit. I'd seen some of the Texas Roller Girls going from the movie over to the Belmont on roller skates down the street - whilst still in their nice evening dresses - a very Austin moment I have to say!

Ran into Matt Dentler and chatted about an Austin Film Society panel thing I'm going to be on in a few weeks, I'll have more to say once details are figured out. Saw some more folks I knew, but Dianne was cold and I hadn't eaten so we jetted - I'll maybe catch Robert's DP to talk to him about Red stuff soon.

OK, late and to bed, just wanted to give a quick note on it.

But the kids are going to EAT THIS UP. This is one of those rated R movies that all the 15 year olds are going to be just DYING to see. It's violent, it's gross, it's silly, it's WONDERFUL - like the greasy nachos Kurt Russell is eating in his first scene - it may not necessarily be good for you, but it's DAMN fine eatin'.

This is going to do JUST FINE in the theaters (Knocked Up is my other pick for a big success this year too).

-mike

Labels: high end, review

....so I jump in my car to go get a late lunch at Freebird's Burrito down on Too-Trendy-For-Its-Own-Pants South Congress.

The girl working the register sees me wearing my latest NurdBoy shirt:


click on any of these pics for a higher res view

....and she asked "Do you have a camera like that?"

and I paused and said "Almost...but it's interesting that you ask that, since my job involves moviemaking and I've been running a site for three years..." (yadda yadda, fade scene).

So I'm driving home and remembering that I have these two old cameras. As I'm thinking about this, detouring around the street work in my neighborhood down the street by the creek, a possum waddles its way across the road - man I love the town where you've got critters 90 seconds from the trendy shop/restaurant/gallery neighborhood.

So I got home and opened up the cabinet where I keep them - I have two 8mm cameras that I rescued from garage sales in the family years ago - they are Curtis owned cameras, but from which side of the family or which generation I don't know.

Here's the first one, a "Cine-Kodak 8 Model 25":





But the real jewel is this one, a Univex 8 from Universal Camera Corporation. I just ADORE the art deco-ness of it:


and the exposure table with light conditions printed on the side:



Here it is with the little flip-up viewfinder deployed:



More & higher res pics of the cameras here.

So this got me thinking:

1.) HEY! Could I shoot something on this, and if I did, could I get the footage developed and telecined anywhere? Can anybody help me on this? Where could I get these things serviced? Esp. the Univex...

2.) Wouldn't it be fun to shoot a little short movie on one of these, and post it with all my toys, Just Because I Can?

3.) HEY! There's footage in there! What's on it? I have no idea if there's shot footage in there, if there is, it DECADES old. Has the camera been opened? Has it been ruined? No idea. Unlikely there's anything good on there, but if there IS...man I'd love to see it!

So I think that should be one of my little projects just for fun - if anybody out there knows an appropriate place to get an ancient camera opened up, pull the film & develop it if its good, and where can I get more film for these and get it developed/telecined?

I'd LOVE to shoot a short something on it - it'd be Rad Retro to shoot NAB coverage on this thing.

HUGE GRIN thinking of that - who wouldn't LOVE to get interviewed with that (recording sound on little pocket audio recorder).

So if you know anything about where I could develop & telecine truly ancient film, please email me.

...and who wants to make a little short movie some weekend on this with me in Austin?

More & higher res pics of the cameras here.

We live in such a digital, of-the-moment age, and obviously I'm boy-of-the-instant, that's-so-six-minutes-ago tech oriented, it'd be fun to go tech spelunking back to the image capturing Pleistocene era, just to see what delights could be found. It is such cheekily delightfully low tech but organic - look how tiny the lenses are! I SO want to shoot something on these.

-mike

PS - and I'm out the door with VIP tix to the Grindhouse premiere with Rodriguez and Tarantino in attendance, then off the the party thereafter where I hope to "accidentally" bump into Rodriguez and talk to him about Red One's imminent arrival. Yes, I suck. Bwahahahahaa......

:D

Labels: 8mm, cameras, OT

Apple Boot Camp 1.2 Beta

From VersionTracker:

What's new in this version:
Support for Windows Vista (32-bit)
Updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (synch), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera
Support the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player)
A Windows system tray icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions
Improved keyboard support - for Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, and French Canadian
Improved Windows driver installation experience
Updated documentation and Boot Camp on-line help in Windows
Apple Software Update (for Windows XP and Vista)

Product Requirements:

Mac OS X 10.4.6 or laterIntel-based MacA genuine installation disc for Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional (no multi-disc, upgrade or Media Center versions)


While I partitioned my drive and set up WinXP on my trusty Blackbook (that I write 99% of HD4NDs on), I find I never use it. Knowin I could is the benefit...

-mike

IRIDAS Announces Phantom Camera Support, GPU-based Demosaic - IRIDAS Press Release

Marijn Eken was kind enough to send me a link and point out:

They support Cine RAW real-time de-Bayering through the GPU! Doesn't say what GPU you'd need as a minimum though. I'm guessing a Quadro FX4500 is no luxury.

I immediately thought of Red. It would be great if these guys would join forces, but then again, maybe Red already has a similar thing going on with Apple and their upcoming grading product?

Cheers,
Marijn Eken


I recently got a chance to sit in on set with a Phantom HD as it was tested locally, and its 1000 fps HD capability was only offset but the cumbersome nature of the UI and the post production process (I still have a hard drive of unconverted RAW footage to mess with, been too busy of late).

From Iridas' press release:

industry's first GPU-based Bayer interpolation technology, RAW footage can now be displayed and played back in real-time without requiring file conversion, providing a significant savings in time and storage requirements. Together with SpeedGrade .Look files, this allows for a complete data and color grading workflow which is only 1/3 the size of regular RGB file formats.

....

Support for the Cine RAW file format will be included in all 2007 FrameCycler and SpeedGrade applications, including SpeedGrade OnSet and SpeedGrade DI. See it at NAB April 16-19, 2007 in the Las Vegas Convention Center at the Vision Research booth C11426.


I'm looking forward to seeing that. I'm also curious what the max supported frame size will be for playback and at what frame rate? Can I watch Phantom HD footage play back at 24p? 30p? 60i on these systems?

What about for the Phantom 65 and its higher resolution capabilities?

This is all good news.

Marijn asks about Red and I don't know if they are in talks with Iridas, but I hope so. They do seem to have some kind of a relationship with Assimilate and their Scratch product - Lucas from Assimilate graded the footage shown at IBC, LA, NYC, etc.

I've sat down for Scratch demo and it was VERY impressive.

I saw an Iridas demo a few years ago, but I didn't know enough to evaluate it as well and I haven't seen it lately, but I've been eagerly anticipating their Mac based HD product which has not emerged yet AFAIK.

My vibe on Iridas is that they were first out of the gate with a viable, production worthy GPU based DI solution

-mike

UPDATE 4/10/07 - Lin from Iridas was kind enough to email me with some more info:

I just wanted to confirm that we can playback RAW 4K at 30+ fps with our preview setting, which is fine for playback.

4K is close to real time (20fps+) with our high quality setting which is adequate for final rendering.

2K of course is all real time as is ARRI D20 3K, even with the high quality debayer.

Oh, yes, and it’s Universal Binary Mac, PC and LINUX.

More at the show.

Cheers,
Lin

Thanks Lin! "The show" being NAB, next week.

Vendor feedback always appreciated.

Labels: DI, high end, software

Studio Daily | Astro Offers Uncompressed HD Recorder/Player

-Astro HR-7401
-will show at NAB booth C4934
-uncompressed HD recorder
-single or dual link
-4:2:2 40 minute record time
-4:4:4 20 minute record time
-recording to removable drive packs
-has fibre channel (2Gbit SFP), Firewire, video outputs for transfer (IN WHAT FORMATS!)
-RS422 for Sony compatible deck control functionality
-26 lbs, half rack wide, 19"
-can gang four together for 3840x2160
-16 channels of audio in/out
-DVI/HDMI output options
-all the "usual suspects" for HD frame size/rate (fractional/whole rates), no 720p24 mentioned specifically

PDF brochure here

Mike's Analysis

Certainly sounds interesting! The capacity is a bit low for what I'd like to see, the size is reasonable, but the price is unknown.

Also unknown is whether the disk packs are fault tolerant or not (RAID 0 or 3/5?), and I'm especially curious what the native recording format is if we have FireWire & fibre channel options to access the data. Is it DPX? TIFF? Proprietary? What? Is there any metadata embedding? Clever audio in DPX header like RaveHD does?

Inquiring minds want to know, but will have to wait for NAB.

In the meantime, S.two already does all this.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, disk based recording, hardware, high end

fxguide - visual effects school - Adobe CS3 First Look & New Public Betas @ NAB

Monday at NAB you'll be able to download betas of Premiere Pro CS3 and After Effects CS3 - WOW.

Read on for the fxguide coverage of the new releases (that link at top).

Tidbits Bruce & missed in our original coverage (this from Bruce's notes in the Comments):

- you can paint on animations in Photoshop now
- Vanishing point tool in Photoshop can export DXF and 3DS models
- After Effects now supports 3.5 gb RAM per core on Mac. Of course, that doesn't mean that it'll make proper use of it, though!
- After Effects OpenGL now supports 32 bit per channel 4K (if your card can do it)
- all color management done by GPU


-mike

Remember all those funny quotes that Bruce the Wonder Yak displays in FCP if you let it sit long enough? Somebody found where they live in the code. I've covered this issue before- here's my favorites from when I blogged on this topic before.

DV - Features - Brighter Whites; Richer Colors, Part 1

When working in After Effects, tricks to make sure your videos and stills look their best. Chris & Trish are two of the most acknowledged experts in this area.

DV - Features - Brighter Whites; Richer Colors, Part 2

Labels: After Effects, post, software, tutorial

Studio Daily | Matrox Announces Support for Adobe Creative Suite 3

Matrox, longtime ally of Adobe, announced support for Creative Suite 3. Key features:
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium support
Windows Vista support
New progressive SD editing resolutions - 486p@29.97 fps and 576p@25 fps
Sony HDV 1080p support (HVR-V1 cameras)
Canon 24f and 30f mode support
Sony XDCAM HD 1080p@29.97 fps and XDCAM HD export support
Realtime color correction using RGB curves
Realtime Adobe garbage masks
Realtime sphere effect
Realtime time code filter

...which, as a longtime Final Cut Pro user, I notice they are adding support for formats FCP supported last year - 24f HDV, XDCAM HD (note not 24p), etc.

UPDATE/CORRECTION - Commenter Mike McCarthy wrote in to say:

Long time reader, first time commenter. Most of your info is great, but you are a bit off mark with this post. Axio already supported every format that you are complaining wasn't mentioned, they are just adding the obscure ones. (XD30p added to XD30i & XD24p, HDV24f added to HDV24p & HDV30i, progressive PAL, etc) The one thing that Axio has totally covered is format support.


Oops, my bad if that is the case - just to be 100% sure, if anybody has a link that shows all the formats supported, please post the link in comments and I'll update this article.

That said, Axio has already long done things FCP can't, like mixed format realtime editing, etc.

It'll be downloadable in August 2007 - which hints that should be approximately the release timeframe for Premiere Pro CS3.

PS - I hate this "everything is CS3" naming thing - it obfuscates what version you're actually working with - is this After Effects 7 or 8, etc.

-mike

Labels: Adobe, NLE, software

Creative Workflow Hacks � Blog Archive � Retrospect Orphaned?

Dale Bradshaw of Creative Workflow hacks (I have respect for what he does there) posted an article about the apparent impending demise of Retrospect. I used to use Retrospect with AIT based tape backup systems, but got so fed up with it I just started using FireWire drives instead for shelvable archives. They were cost competitive and sooooo much faster. You didn't need X GB free on your system to de-archive and then work with, you could just read it off the backup drive if you needed to get access to it. WAY faster.

Anyway, as I've gotten into working with uncompressed HD, the old "FireWire drive on a shelf" just isn't practical anymore, and I need to find a new tape based backup solution that holds hundreds of GB per tape and is reasonably fast. I've got a few options I'm checking out, and as clients ask I filter them towards the correct solutions for their needs.

Backup software is probably the least sexy software in the post production environment - it is like plumbing - you never really notice it until it breaks, then it is a MAJOR problem.

As we head further into the world of IT based image capture (first with P2 cards, then with the SI-2K, soon with the Red One), backing up large amounts of data, quickly and reliably, on a media that doesn't take up too much space, will be a necessity for anyone generating a lot of footage. In online editorial terms, 100GB/hr is cheap for high res masters. For long term archive of ALL the footage you shoot, that adds up in a hurry - "How many terabytes of data didja shoot last week?" suddenly becomes a question you'll hear.

So the slow death of a longstanding known solution is definitely a problem. I've heard BRU recommended, but has anybody used it? Have good/bad experiences to tell about it? Recovered data successfully after archiving stuff? How are the search features? I'm particularly interested in finding a solution that I can feed a list of files from my Red Pull List that I can then de-archive in bulk without having to type in names one at a time. All the selects for a feature? Eeek, that'd be SUCH a pain...

-mike

Labels: Red, software

RAIDaid 1.6 - MacUpdate

RAIDaid is a visual tool that helps you plan the optimum RAID configuration for your XServeRAID system.

It has an easy to use interface that allows you to view disk arrays in all popular RAID formats. You can now plan your RAID setup and configuration even if you don't have a RAID!

RAIDaid now allows you to create reports and customize them for your clients, making RAIDaid an ideal tool for all systems architects and sales professionals.


Handy for planning out what you'll get. Apple advertises their top end RAID with features like:
-10.5 TB capacity
-RAID 50 capability
-hot spare capability

Yet if you combine all those features, you find yourself down to less than 7TB of formatted usable space. Good things to know in advance...

-mike

Labels: software

It is late and I'm going to bed, but wanted to put out a quick note on this exciting topic (thanks to Bruce Allen for tipping me off on this). Update - Mac version 3rd quarter. Drat.

Adobe - Premiere Pro CS3, Upgrade from Premiere Pro 2.0, 1.5, 1 - make Blu-ray discs! Optical flow time remapping.

Adobe - Adobe AfterEffects CS3: Complete feature list - not as much new as I'd have liked. Bummer. But: shape layers, better color management, puppet tool looks interesting and creative; purportedly improved multicore CPU support and GPU acceleration, better disc caching. See this for new features.

DV Rack is now this: Adobe - Adobe OnLocation CS3

So I expect we'll see it at NAB but it won't be shipping from what I've been led to believe, but I haven't read all the news from today.

-mike

UPDATE

The above snippets were snarfed from an email from Bruce Allen of Boa Cinema as we back-n-forthed it. I asked for, and he was kind enough, to send in this longer explanation of features:

Mike:

Overall: I think we all wished for more features than we got here. The value here is in the bundling and integration, methinks. And, of course, it all being Intel-native if you're on Mac.

Premiere Pro CS3: - now works on Macs too (Intel only) - smoother time re-maps (using optical flow morphing, probably the same technology used in After Effects, which is from The Foundry) - supposedly some workflow improvements, doesn't look like anything too major DOWNSIDES: No mention of realtime multiple formats on the same timeline or anything like that. It's still behind Avid and FCP for editing, IMHO. That's sad, because with Premiere's ability to export the project intact to After Effects, you have a nice solution for doing a high-quality finish of your Premiere Pro project at minimal cost.

OnLocation CS3 - this is a rebadged DVRack (recap of features: turns your laptop into a hard drive recorder / broadcast monitor with nice bonuses, such as motion-activated recording, pre-record buffers, image flip for 35mm adapters, etc) - only advance is supposedly better integration with Premiere Pro, so you can quickly get clips recorded in OnLocation into your edit DOWNSIDES: The same as DVRack - PC only (Macs must use Bootcamp), HDV inputs have a delay, you can't record synched audio from a separate source and unless you are using a Blackmagic Intensity card in a SFF pc, you are still recording compressed.

Encore CS3: - now makes Blu-Ray discs and Flash. So you can have one project that can pop out a DVD, a Blu-Ray and Flash version of your reel, I guess... DOWNSIDES: No HD-DVD. No mention of more advanced Blu-Ray interactive authoring features.

Photoshop CS3: - fuller HDR support, masking tools, Live Effects layers (covered in the Beta, though) - the Vanishing Point tool has matured and now you can export your work as an After Effects 3D comp when you're done. This might make a nice way for doing 2.5D matte paintings, or it might not. Let's try it. - can import 3D objects and paint on them DOWNSIDES: This seems pretty solid, actually

After Effects CS3: - graph editor sucks less (you can edit x, y, z curves now) - faster - eg better cache system and multi-core rendering (hmm, did they buy Nucleo or do their own optimiziations?) - individual text characters now can move in 3D (great, the titles I did in a 3D program for the Ocean's 13 teaser have been reduced to a Text Animation Preset) - character animation tools and supposedly shape animation tools too. Cute. - the ICC color-managed workflow seems improved over 7.0, which took too long to set up - the Dynamic Link feature debuts on the Mac, which is nice - you can move After Effects projects into Premiere and Encore DVD with minimal rendering. DOWNSIDES: No 3D Objects. You can have true textured 3D objects in Photoshop, but not After Effects? This is sad. Also, the flowchart still sucks.

Adobe Soundbooth CS3 - designed for audio cleanup and recording voiceovers. Probably too weak for anything else, kinda like when Apple bundled PeakDV with FCP 2.0 - has a nice spectral view where you can see your frequencies mapped out and you can actually paint out glitches a la Photoshop (and higher-end audio restoration tools) - supposedly has some kind of AutoComposer scoring system. I don't know how well this one'll work for us. DOWNSIDES: Cannot do multitrack mixing or anything like that.

One big thing I skipped here is that CS3 seems to be trying hard to help filmmakers working on new media / interactive / internet projects. The tools are maturing - I mean, Flash video has closed captioning support now! If you're trying to make a film series that people can watch on their mobile phone or video device, you are in luck with CS3. More traditional filmmakers making stuff for the big screen will be a little disappointed, though.

Bruce


Thanks Bruce!

A few follow up comments of my own after reading his commentary:

-Soundbooth is called "Soundbooth" and not "Mixing Stage" - it seems they are aiming it at what it does OK - working with the human voice, not so much for music handling.
-After Effects - yeah, I would have like some more coolio new features
-Encore - OK, so at the moment, it appears if you want to make HD-DVDs, you're on Macs and Final Cut, if you want to make Blu-ray discs, you're on Premiere Pro on Windows for now, Macs later. The good thing about CS3 coming to Macs is that you'll be able to author either format on a Mac with (presumably) at least decent authoring tools for each. At least, I assume Encore is heading over, I know Premiere Pro is
-Premiere Pro/AE combo - should make it possible to do some really nice high color space 4:4:4 stuff. Bummer no codec & size mix/match on same timeline - that keeps popping up as a major feature we NEED these days. Higher end Avids can do it, Premiere Pro and Final Cut (at present) can't. My gut says both of these latter two will ship after NAB, Adobe first and Apple several months later.

OK, NOW I'm to bed (1:30am)

-mike

also, release dates:

Adobe CS 3: Bundles, shipping dates, prices - ProCreative - Macworld UK: "Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard, and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard will begin shipping in April 2007.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection for Mac OS X on Intel-based systems and for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista platforms will begin shipping worldwide in the third quarter of 2007."

Labels: Adobe, software

802.11n Gigabit Router by D-Link

Since Apple's new 802.11n wireless router lacks gigabit Ethernet, it isn't the optimal small networking solution for fast file transfers. But this D-Link unit does, so it may be a good choice for you.

-mike

Reel-Stream Mods the HVX200 at FresHDV

I found the info via FresHDV, so I'm linking to his coverage, I don't have time to do my own research on this one:

Today ReelStreem, famous for their Andromeda modification for the DVX100, announced that they would infact be offering a modified HVX200.


Go read all the specs over there.

Mike's Analysis: I'm glad they're doing this, I like their hacker mentality. Getting the full 4:4:4 RGB output is a good thing. Getting uncompressed output is a GREAT thing.

No pricing info that I've seen yet, but some issues/concerns:

-it is only a 960x540 pixelshifted imager - the claimed 2K resolution is scaled up, WAY scaled up - and not directly comparable to what is traditionally considered a 2K imager
-8, 10, 12, or 14 bit color depths - excellent to have all the options, but the crucial question is this - is the imager (which they aren't modifying from the HVX) capable of such subtlety?
-I like that they are essentially doing RAW capture off the sensor - a lot of the advantges that the Red One and SI-2K camera are doing.
-I'm a bit concerned about service/support since it is coming from such a small company - I'd rent one, I'd be cautious about purchasing one unless for a very specific project
-I love the indie DIY can-do attitude of this!
-"Up to 86dB" for dynamic range - hmmm....that's better than a lot of other stuff out there, and under what circumstances, etc. For comparison, folks have been excited about Red's claimed 66dB range.
-and you have to be tethered to a computer, specifically an Intel Mac running their software
-for some circumstances, this could be great - such as greenscreen
-the ability to work with the uncompressed source will help in a lot of ways, increased dynamic range one of them
-the data backup logistics for field shooting are even more complex than for P2 cards - if recording to a laptop, remember you can't bus power removable drives without AC power (no power over FireWire, even on "bus powered" drives - power only flows when laptop connected to AC power) EDIT - somebody corrected me and said USB 2.0 drives DO get power on a Powerbook - I don't have a bus powered USB 2.0 drive to check on my MacBook, somebody confirm FireWire/USB 2.0 power to bus powered drive WITHOUT AC power attached for me, OK?
-and oh yeah - you're still stuck with the original lens, which as Adam Wilt pointed out after our Texas HD Shootout last year, is well matched to the resolutions you can actually record with the HVX200 - the observed optical resolution was not anywhere near what these guys are planning on recording, and the lens has a lot to do with that. From Adam's
DV Magazine Texas Shootout! article:

"The HVX200 shoots both 1080- and 720-line formats, and it's sharper in 1080. While its resolution is only 540 x 540 (TV lines per picture height horizontally x TV lines vertically), the 1080-line recording preserves more of that resolution. 720p recording uses 960 samples/scanline, so filtering for recording causes detail near 540 TVl/ph to be diminished, whereas 1280-sample recording in 1080-line modes has a cutoff at 720 TVl/ph. 1080-line images show no graying-out of detail at all--the images retain considerable contrast at 540 lines, simply switching into aliasing at that point. "

-I'd gladly review one if they'd send it my way, however

-mike

Labels: cameras, DIY, low end

Studio Daily | Archion Announces Synergy HD4

Need fast storage for your Avid Unity setup? This might be what you need - 8TB for $20K, Unity certified.

-mike

Labels: Avid, hardware, storage

Online Extra: James Cameron on the Cutting Edge

Nice BusinessWeek article with Cameron talking about why performance capture and 3D will be Next Big Thing...hopefully.

He distinguishes between motion capture (mocap) and performance capture (perfcap), in that mocap only gets gross body movements, whereas perfcap can capture the subtle nuances of acting. Mocap is good for sports games, perfcap is good for acting performances.

-mike

Labels: 3D, high end

Studio Daily | A Monster Digital Dailies Solution

This guy got VERY serious about capturing all possible metadata on set. This is a very Mike Curtis kind of a solution, but I don't know about the price point yet, so it may not be Indies viable. But he's ON IT in terms of getting the metadata that is so painful to recreate later (I know this from my own VFX artist background) - all your lens settings, f-stops, etc. besides picture/audio. They also are trying to integrate camera reports, script notes, all that stuff - why have 3 or 4 paper systems that get scattered to the wind? Put it all in one place please! I'm sure there are interoperability issues involved, but I like this idea.

-mike

Labels: high end, software, workflow

Filmmaker Magazine | Winter 2007: ARE WE THERE YET?

Nicely done overview article on the state of HD. Some choice snippets:

The straight-talking Savides describes the situation bluntly: %u201CEverybody who%u2019s shooting this stuff is a guinea pig right now.%u201D
%u201CEverything is still R&D,%u201D he elaborates. %u201CI feel like these movies being made are just little experiments for the big conglomerate studios. They%u2019ll see what it%u2019s like, what%u2019s gonna happen, see the best way to handle it down the road.%u201D"

.....

For Savides, meanwhile, “the benchmark is still film.”

....

the Viper setup used on Zodiac was structured around random access hard drive capture.

......

both the sound recording and the slate were integrated into the capture

.....

the capture technician was also capable of offering the cinematographer a color-corrected demo of any given shot as it was being lit and photographed.

.....

INCREDIBLY CRUCIAL OBSERVATION:
Savides was asked to create a series of templates such as Day Exterior, Night Exterior, Day Interior, Night Interior — which he refused to do. He explained, “I couldn’t look at them. I didn’t want the look-up tables to bias my eye. I wanted to work with a neutral slate, and that neutral slate had to be that RAW file. It’s the only way I could understand what I was doing everyday. The look-up table would slant you toward whatever you made that look like.” Furthermore, “there’s no way that you could generate a look-up table for every scene in a movie with the scope of Zodiac.”

...

While the Viper has a recommended ASA of 320, he admits, “You can’t rate it. I wasn’t using my meter after a while. I’d say it’s between 500 and 800. But you do it by eye.”

....

“The toe [the sensitivity to dim light] of the Viper is extraordinary,” he says. “Not as good as the toe in film, though some people will say it is. But it’s not. It will get noisy. It gets very noisy in fact. You cannot do a night interior of a room like you can in film.


....and on and on.

If you're thinking about shooting a movie digitally, this is an incredibly useful and informative article.

And keep in mind, this is working with top-end gear. As you work your way down the budget process, the problems that he describes get worse and worse in terms of image quality.

I like how the Panavision rep defends compressed workflows - not that he's wrong, but guess what - the Genesis works with a compressed workflow.

The author closes with a comment about how when it all gets figured out and standardized, things will get pretty boring. But that's why I like all this stuff so much - its in flux, it is constantly changing, there's constantly things going on.

I can barely just read everything new relevant each day, let alone do significant amounts of research to test the latest gear etc. - there's no way for any one individual to even keep up with everything that's new. So for working professionals to do so is impossible. And that's the niche I'm trying to carve out for myself - consider me your digital flux manager.

: )

-mike

Labels: acquisition, disk based recording, high end

MacNN | Apple removes FCP crossgrade ahead of NAB - which is more supporting evidence that Apple is going to introduce something new at NAB.

Got an email from a reader who talked to an Apple rep who claimed a new higher end version of Final Cut, aimed squarely at Media Composer, would be rolled out at the show, with new better/faster codecs. My usual sources have been VERY quiet as to Apple's future product plans, so I don't know whether to credit this authentic or not, and if the story is true, it could be that the Apple rep didn't know and was just repeating the rumors from last year.

I don't know where Apple is with this. Apple still has plenty to fix with the basic version of FCP before launching into a bigger version, lets just see what NAB brings us - or more accurately, that big press thing Sunday morning BEFORE NAB, I'll be there. Avid has an event scheduled later that day.

-mike

Think Secret - Adobe Creative Suite 3 pricing revealed

6 bundles expected:
web standard & web premium - $1000 & $1600
Fash, Dreamwesaver, FireWorks, Contribute, Premium adds Photoshop Extended, Illustrator & Acrobat
design standard and premium - $1200 & $1800
Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Premium adds Flash & Dreamweaver
Production Premium (the video collection for Folks Like Us) - $1700, includes Illustrator, After Effects (YES new version), Premiere Pro, Flash, Photoshop, Soundbooth, & Encore. PC only at first, Mac version later (summer?).

Master Collection is $2500 and is everything.

Individual apps are priced as was except for Illustrator is now $600, PShop CS3 Standard is $650, Extended $1000.

All prices $1 less, I'm tired of typing "99".

: )

-mike

EETimes.com - Two bidders vie for JVC

I was busy last week when it came out that JVC is up for sale, there are two bidders at the moment for it.

-mike

News of the dead: Alamo Downtown to rennovate the Ritz on 6th street

My friend Wiley (that I haven't seen recently enough, hey Wiley!) blogged on the resurrection of the original Alamo Drafthouse Theater here in Austin - instead of closing down the downtown original location, they're moving a few blocks over to maintain the vibe but get a bigger (and 2nd!) screen in their new location over at The Ritz, which was a theater once upon a time anyway.

If you've never been to an Alamo, they are my favorite movie experience (just saw Zodiac at my neighborhood one today) - regular theater but with GOOD projection and sound, but also full bar and menu - beer AND pizza AND killer movies AND a great indie slate of stuff booked as well as mainstream fare - what's not to luv?

Parking will still blow like an [omitted], but at least the Alamo will still be around.

-mike

What started as an observation about the movie Zodiac grew and meandered into a meditation on our life's purpose and how we get there.

Whether you consider it interesting mental fodder for thought & discussion or meandering self aggrandizing bad personal blogging of the worst nature I'll leave up to you.

It is so off topic of our usual conversations I'm putting it over on my .mac page. The usual readers that I email with and know will probably like it (or at least tolerate it); newcomers coming to this site for HD info (or from Google "HD pron" searches) would consider it ripe for comment flaming - so Comments are off for this one. Anyone with something real to say, who doesn't just want to take a crack at me via Anonymous postings, you know how to get in touch with me.

Here's the link.

-mike

Labels: OT

Hey all -

I've been busy over on the new blog - AppleTVHacker.com - nearly 7000 unique visitors since I set it up last night (26 hours ago). I've got about 20 articles up over there already, a list of official AppleTV articles, an online store, etc.

It is fun and I'm learning all kinds of interesting things and writing about them, so check it out.

I need to get an Amazon Affiliate Store set up for HD for Indies STAT!

Goal for weekend.

-mike

Labels: AppleTVHacker

Status of several things:

1.) My Dad is out of the hospital and home, thank goodness, after 11 days in there. He should fully recover from his twice collapsed lung after the surgery, which was one of those non-invasive, probes & scope deals. Thanks very much for all the kind notes & emails, MUCH appreciated to know folks out there notice and care. After my Mom, sister and I took turns keeping one of us up there 24/7 for 11 days, we're all glad to get a chance for our lives to start getting back to normal.

2.) Donations - I hadn't yet said thanks to everyone for all their donations to keep HD for Indies up and going - or more accurately, to keep me up and going to have time to keep HD for Indies going. It isn't enough to drop my other work, but I heartily appreciate all those who took the time to kick in to the till. Nobody pays me (otherwise) for any content that gets written here, I cover my own expenses almost always to attend festivals, conferences, etc. unless I'm working for somebody else. If you haven't contributed I'd sincerely appreciate it if you did so using the "Make a donation" link at the top right of every page under the glaring red type. Here was my original pitch asking for donations, read on if you're wondering why you might want to.

3.) AppleTV - FedEx missed me whilst I was at the hospital this morning, so I drove way out yonder to the FedEx depot and got my AppleTV. I'll be posting about what I learn shortly at my new blog, AppleTVHacker. Unboxing pics, vids, etc.

4.) And yeah, if you didn't notice it, I've got a new, more consumer tech blog I started last night, AppleTVHacker. Add it to your daily read or RSS feed if you wish.

-mike

Labels: AppleTV, AppleTVHacker

CinemaTech: The site with no name: NBC and News Corp. announce new video joint venture NBC & News Corp. starting their own video download service with free, paid, and advertising supported stuff. Scott links to WSJ, NYTimes, & LA Times coverage, and comes up with six salient points that will be required for this to be successful.

I think he pegs it when he says it'll be interesting to see if two big companies can do something good without getting mired in the quibbling. As neither of these are software companies to begin with, I take that as a BIG strike against them in the Not Getting It category. Hopefully they'll hire smart folks, but will they let those folks execute on good ideas, or say "No, we're not comfortable with that."? I've seen it sooooooo many times in my own interactive development involvements in the past...legal, marketing, etc. get involved and step by step reduce usability and consumer usefulness of the effort.

-mike

Labels: online content service, online distribution, online video

AppleInsider | Starz sues Disney over iTunes movie downloads - here's a first - Starz is suing Disney, claiming Disney breached Starz' exclusivity clauses in their contract. Starz claims they had exclusive rights to sell movies like Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest online, claiming Starz had or should have had the right to sell it on Vongo, their online service.

This could get messy and expensive. Yet another reason to pay verrrrrrrry close attention to your rights management when you sell a project.

I have no idea who is in the right on this one, but there's money on the table, so blood in the water. Cap'n Jack ain't waltzing merrily (if staggery) out of this one nonchalantly...

-mike

Labels: distribution

Hey all -

as if I didn't have enough to do, I felt like starting a new blog just for kicks - AppleTV Hacker*

The URL is appletvhacker.blogspot.com until I can get it switched over to appletvhacker.com

On that site, I'll be sharing my latest reports and doodles and discoveries about what can be done with, and more importantly, TO an AppleTV. I'm not looking to figure out how to do illicit things, just clever things.

I've kicked it off with a round-up of AppleTV news today (pics, analysis, deconstruction hardware pron, etc.) since many AppleTVs are arriving today (Thursday), but mine isn't one of them. DAMMIT.

The joys of the interwebs - I got the site up and running in about an hour, wit