HD For Indies

YouTube - 24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot

What if 24 were set a decade (or more) in the past?

As a former dotcommunist, I LOVE this thing.

All the travails they experienced? Did all of'em with my clients...those were the days before clients had broadband.....ahhh.....

-mike

IndieMaverick.net: Filmmakers No Longer Have to Sell Their Bodies to Science to Raise Their Budgets:
"We at indiemaverick.net realised that thanks to new technologies the costs of filmmaking were dropping but there were few avenues to raise budgets of less than $1.5 million US. If you were a budding director such as Kevin Smith (Clerks) or Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise) looking to raise $50k to make your low budget feature the only options you had were friends, family or credit cards.

OK, I definitely agree with that part.

'Everyone has a home editing system and access to a camera now. It's a filmmaking revolution but the traditional ways of getting a film made haven't changed to accommodate this,' Hall says. 'You still need to raise a million dollars through a studio, production company or government body. Indiemaverick.net is looking to give those people left out of the usual funding avenues a way of raising their budget.'"

Sorta - think of it as paintbrushes and paint are cheap - but models still cost, and Oh Yeah - ya gotsta have some talent with the brush. One aspect is changing, and for certain kinds of projects (docs/reality a lot, big feature films less so) this can be a Big Deal in terms of delivered production value to the screen.

So how does it work?
Filmmakers provide their script, budget, poster and links to any previous films etc up on the website. Investors search for projects they are interested in, read the scripts, watch the previous films. When they find one they like they invest for as little as $25USD. Once the filmmakers reach their desired budget their monies are released and they go into production on their film. All profits the film makes are split 70 percent (investors) and 30 percent (producers). Indiemaverick.net takes no profit from the sale of the film. Filmmakers have total creative control over their project and can sell it wherever and to whomever they want. Indiemaverick.net does reserve the right to offer the film for download from the site once the film has completed any cinema or DVD run. Every investor receives a limited edition DVD of the film.


OK, as little as $25 at a time?


"If Indiemaverick.net was around earlier, Robert Rodriguez would not have had to offer his body for medical experiments to raise the $7000 he needed to make El Mariachi which went on to make $2 million at the box office. He could have just uploaded his script and reel to our site, sat back and waited for the money to pour in," says creator Shane T. Hall.

Ehh....sure. Not. The script was OK for El Mariachi. It was all about the production gusto and skill that made that movie. Remember, there's 3 movies: as written, as shot, as cut. Some movies are born (or, ahem, die) after the script, on the set or in post. What might have been banal on page can be brought to life by good talent. A great script can be knifed by less-than-adequate production value.

OK. So Shane's starter idea is definitely a good one - create a market for investors in smaller films.

Some of the problems:
-who is vetting these scripts? Are you waiting for the public to dredge through the majority of submissions that are crap? (which, in an open system, they will be). Who has time to read a bunch of scripts and then put in $25 in the hopes it will be made? This model is NOT going to work.
-development takes time and skill to separate the wheat from the chaff. I think the idea of having the public screen promising content is valid...but who pre-filters to save us the time? It'll have to be like YouTube in terms of letting popularity pull stuff to the fore. Who goes first? I'm calling all projects "AAA Man" or "AAAAAaah! I'm falling" and not Zebra or Xylophone Adventures.
-other companies are using public feedback, but LATER - such as after the movies are made and into the festival circuit. When you invest in anything, it isn't just the idea (learned this during the dotcom phase) - the team is more important than the idea. That's why Bruckheimer can make a zillion dollars on Transformers, but I predict Speed Racer will suck HARD. (Aside - since I think the Wachowskis jumped the shark already).
-other minor issue: if open to public for investing - great, everybody can see/rip off your idea

So - I like the market analysis that drives this, but the model isn't going to cut it...in my opinion.

Why write so much about it then? Because I've been thinking a lot about what differentiates changes in the tools of a business versus changes in a business.

SUNDAY UPDATE: the comments have been quite lively on this one, with comments and responses between Shane (the site creator) and others. One of the excellent points I forgot to bring up early on: the legality of this business model. I recall reading about another site that tried something similar previously (I think for a single, particular film) and got into trouble over the legality of offering up an investment opportunity publicly that wasn't registered with the SEC, or didn't screen for qualified investors, or something along those lines. I emailed Shane and we back and forthed a bit, at one point I suggested the following:

Hey -

didn't mean to sound totally ragging on it, just pointed out some problems, which could be done more constructively.

Let me clarify - I think striving to find new ways to fund movies is GREAT, but this approach has flaws.

I think there's some missing pieces in what you suggest, but there's a good seed living in there.

-mike
biggest issue:

3. As for vetting the scripts this is something we dont want to do. We believe the net is about democracy. If we choose the scritps then we are no different to every studio adn funding body. We want the public to choose. And as you said the more money they've raised the better people believe the film will be. Films are ordered by highest percentage of budget raised. The film closest to goiing into production by a percentile is at the top.


The biggest issue - what is the incentive for "the public" to go through these?

Way to improve:

-those who fund the most, THAT AREN'T AFFILIATED WITH THE FILM (that is of course a very hard distinction to draw)...hmmm....wait, try again:

-those who have invested the most in OTHER PROJECTS (total amount invested) should carry a heavier score/weight for their recommendations, based on money where mouth is.

-or at least, some kind of ranking for "total invested in films besides this one, amount invested in this film" would be good to know.

-in terms of investing, it is a far safer thing to bet later, when the product is closer to delivery, than early on, when it is just an idea the and team/concept/product are unproven. As with other venture capital, earliest money should be best rewarded. The first invested dollar is the greatest risk, therefore should get the greatest reward. Last dollar in gets lowest yield.

-as with all development projects, more money than originally anticipated should be expected. Completion funds net a lower yield than seed round investors - completion funders are more likely to get their money back - less risk, less reward.

-the most interesting folks to visit your site aren't the public, who might confirm or deny a suspicion that a property might be good, but potential investors for films. It'd be like playing the penny stocks for them. Or talent scouting. Or something.

All grist for the mill to figure this out.


I'm not down on Shane for trying to do this, I just think as present suggested it isn't going to work. That doesn't mean give up, just that it needs further work.

My comments didn't even tackle the legalities, which I think are their biggest problem right now.

Again, why discuss this at length if this isn't working? Because a new indie funding model would be a very good thing. It isn't worth most serious investors' time to put $50-$150K into a highly risky venture - moviemaking is, from a strictly fiscal point of view, a HORRIBLE investment. There's usually an emotional component to investing in a movie.

withoutabox.com has been trying to do more to help those who've already made a film, and good on them for working on it (dunno how well that has turned out).

But with all the new avenues of potential distribution beyond theatrical opening up, the catch is now how to get to proper distribution channels, market the product successfully, and recoup investment so that it can be a sustainable business model.

-mike

-mike

Labels: distribution

Got an email from my friends over at Alamo Drafthouse:

Beginning on January 1, teams can sign up at www.filmmakingfrenzy.com to compete in REWIND KINDLY, a filmmaking competition inspired by BE KIND REWIND sponsored by AMD and Dell. Teams will have until January 18 at midnight to complete and upload an up-to-five-minute, homemade, low-budget remake of a popular Hollywood film. It's free to compete and you can choose any movie under the sun to remake!

Submitted films will be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar on January 22nd and 23rd followed by the AMD/Dell Rewind Kindly awards ceremony and "best of" screening on January 24. After the awards ceremony, stick around for the first midnight screening of the movie we cannot wait to see: BE KIND REWIND.

First prize is a brand new quad-core Dell editing station with a 30-inch monitor and runner up is a Dell 17" laptop. The winning films will also be included in the Alamo Drathouse preshow for the duration of the BE KIND REWIND theatrical engagement. See www.filmmakingfrenzy.com for complete details.

Director Michel Gondry continues the surreal efforts of ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP with the imaginative comedy BE KIND REWIND. Jack Black plays a man who accidentally erases every movie at a local video store, then he and the video store employee (Mos Def) must reconstruct every film by acting them out. The movie opens at the Alamo South Lamar on January 25.

Labels: Alamo, contest, festivals

Vudu does movie magic, but is hamstrung by Hollywood

Yet another movie playing set top box, still mightily flawed.

We ain't there yet.

Call Box Training DVD: Panasonic P2 Workflow With Final Cut Pro and the HVX200

Heath McKnight reviews my buddy Noah Kadner's new training DVD on FCP and P2 workflow.

From Heath's coverage or what is, uh, covered:

Offloading clips from the P2 cards during a shoot (versus taking the P2 cards home and importing them later in to your NLE, much like you would with a tape; therefore it’s much more instantaneous when checking footage).
Exporting clips to a hard drive, including a FireWire drive.
Working with the P2 Store, which is a portable, battery-powered P2 drive for offloading clips.
Using variable frame rates (fast- and slow-motion) and how they’re recorded versus how they’re played back. There is a difference, and I had to hunt around for the way to do it right when I was recently cutting some slo-mo footage.
Keeping things organized in FCP, which I’ve learned over the years is far more important than most editors take into consideration.
Organization of P2 cards, so you don’t lose track of which card was shot on, which one has been offloaded to a drive, and so on. This can slow down a production, and Kudner gives great tips to keeping the cards organized.
Exporting from Final Cut Pro into Color. Check out my review of Call Box’s Color training DVD
An Editor’s shopping list, so you know which gear you’ll need when it comes to editing P2 footage within FCP.


-mike

PS-If I could get enough time/get off my lazy butt, I should be doing stuff like this too!

New York Cinematographer Jon Fordham's thoughts on Sony's F-23 Digital Cinema System

It is an awesome camera....awesomely expensive, but awesome.

Photoshop CS3 Color Correction: Correct and Adjust

Just skimming today - I wonder how much of this can be applied to video processing. OK, actually a lot of it, but how much in real time is a big question...

Silicon Imaging's SI-2K Digital Cinema Camera

Heath McKnight gets hands on with the SI-2K for a music video project, samples included. I like that saveable/reusable looks are actually working in this camera already.

-mike

Make My Logo Bigger Cream

Having come from an advertising/marketing background.

"You paid your neighbor's nephew's friend $50 for that logo...show it with pride!"

Ohhhhhhh, The Pain. I do recall it.

Rare is the client that doesn't want their logo bigger.

-mike

LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: NATIVE MXF SUPPORT IN FCP...SORTA

An analysis of What, with discussion of How.

Nice find/report, Shane!

-mike

Microfilmmaker Magazine - Reviews - Camera Review: GO-HD, Pg. 1 of 8

The little AIPTEK GO-HD camera caught a lot of my consumer geek friends' eye - 720p for under $300? How could it be?

Because it suxors. Suxors rocks, and hard, to be specific. Read on to understand some of the issues of why cheap cameras are....cheap.

-mike

Rayz O Lite - free half-hour course on programming awesome light rays in QC at DVcreators.net

Not for the faint of keyboard -
If you don’t have a propeller on at least one of your hats, you may be a little overwhelmed. Also, you must own OS X 10.4 or higher.

Sing it with me:

"She's a Super Geek! Super Geek! She's super geeky, neeyowwww....."

: )

Oh, what a ludicrous web we weave...

-mike

1394 Trade Association: Press:
The 1394 Trade Association today announced a new specification to quadruple the speed of FireWire to reach 3.2 gigabits per second.

The new electrical specification, known as S3200, builds upon the IEEE 1394b standard, preserving all the advantages of FireWire while offering a major and unprecedented boost in performance. The new speed uses the cables and connectors already deployed for FireWire 800 products, making the transition forward easy and convenient for 1394 product vendors and their customers. Because the 1394 arbitration, data, and service protocols were not modified for S3200, silicon and software vendors can deploy the faster speed FireWire quickly and with confidence that it will deliver its full potential performance. The S3200 specification is expected to be ratified by early February.

Read between the press release lines: FW800 caps out on Macs at 50MB/sec writes, 80 MB/sec reads...at best. Since you can get those speeds (and more) out of a single hard drive these days, time to push up the spec. eSATA has also become a faster option with port multipliers, so this is a needed step. Will Apple include this port (which is backwards compatible with FW800) on Macs in the future? I wouldn't see this happening any sooner than fall, and next January more likely as earliest Macs with it. NO WAY January MacWorld - the spec won't be done till the month after than, THEN products designed, tested, brought to market, etc.

A little light blogging today now that I'm back in Austin after Austin-LA-Austin-NYC-Austin-Missouri-Austin-parents'-sister's since the 10th. Whew!

Moonwatcher: Subscribe to HD Trailers with iTunes

My friend Charlie Wood put this together for fun - it is an RSS feed that you can use in iTunes that will show you all the new HD trailers from apple.com/trailers. This one is set up for 720p, we were discussing yesterday setting one up for 1080p.

Hint: 720p is the resolution that works on an AppleTV...

ProLost: ProLost Holiday Gift Ideas

I ran out of time to do my own, but here's Stu's list - Drobo to HV20 to War of Art (just read that, LOVE IT), Coffee Grinders, Magic Bullet Looks, all kinds of good stuff for the geeks on your list.

....or for yourself after Christmas....

: )

Season's Greetings Ya'all!!!*

-mike

*ya'all="you all" aka you plural. I'm Texan and stuff

Quick update - I've been on the road - was in LA last week, NYC this week, and Missouri next week, so blogging hasn't been happening.

LA was for Band Pro's event - saw the F23 and footage and learned more about improved features on it, talked to Michael Bravin about the forthcoming F35 camera (single 35mm sized sensor, otherwise similar to F23 but for price), toured 3ality, Technicolor, and more. I'll have a full report when I have time to write it up.

Cheers, and happy holidays to all, gotsta go get a Christmas present for The Girl...

-mike

Goodie Bag :: Trajan is the Movie Font

I used to do motion graphics and VFX work, some time before that I worked in desktop publishing (late 80s/early 90s) and I have slung a Trajan or two in my time. So this little video about the typeface Trajan's massive overuse really caught my funnybone just right.

Thanks to robogeek for sending this in.

-mike

PS - and yes, I do know what kerning pairs means.

: D

.:: BAND PRO FILM & DIGITAL INC ::.

Band Pro has their open house today, I'll be there.

If you spot me, please do come up and say howdy.

-mike

Hey all -

I'm in LA for the Band Pro event stuff going on for the next few days. I expect to learn a lot more about the F23, among other things.

Who else is here?

I'm in jeans and brown sweater with English words written on it (even though I got it in Spain, go figure).

See you tonight or over the next few days...

-mike

PS - if you're wondering what I look like:

For the Kona3/3x line :
Release Date 12/10/2007, TAR archive)
This release updates the KONA 3/3X to have OSX "Leopard" compatibility. The release also adds support for 720p50 and provides other improvements and fixes.

AJA Driver Compatibility as of KONA Version 5.0 is as follows:
FCP 6.0.x - Kona Driver version 5.0 (Leopard and Tiger OS compatible version)
FCP 6.0.x - Kona Driver version 4.0 (Tiger OS compatible version)
FCP 5.1.x - Kona Driver versions 3.1 through 3.4 (Tiger OS compatible versions)
FCP 5.0.x - Kona Driver version 3 (first Universal Binary version)


For the IO HD:


Io HD Driver Version 1.1 (16MB TAR archive)
(Release Date 12/10/2007)
This release updates the Io HD to have OSX "Leopard" compatibility. The release also adds support for 720p50 and provides other improvements and fixes. The archive includes software, release notes, user manual, and utilities. Please read documentation before installing software on your Io HD system. This software should not be used with any other AJA product (KONA, Io, Io LA, Io LD).


Enjoy! I'm off to LA tomorrow so can't play yet.

More on the LA trip later, you'll be interested. Promise.

: )

-mike

Electronista | Director: Microsoft fueling HD wars

Gist: by pumping money into studio specific deals to help prop up HD DVD, it keeps the market in a state of FUD so that neither format will win, leaving an opening for Microsoft to skip the shiny plastic stage and go straight to downloads.

Which we will keep, and archive...where?

Yeah.

Imax, AMC ink deal for 100 theaters in U.S.

Highlights:

-100 screens
-diigtal IMAX projection setup is $500K/screen....OUCH! Pricey. PLUS theater seating conversion.
-will be 3D capable
-traditional IMAX prints about $25K/each, 3D about $45K each. Digital will allow delivery on hard drives
-until 2010 to get all 100 installed
-"As part of the deal, AMC will cover the cost of retrofitting its auditorium with a bigger screen and reconfigured seats, while Imax will carry the cost of manufacturing and installing its digital-projection systems at $500,000 per theater. "
and
"Imax is betting that eliminating film print cost for studios will sharply increase a gross margins for an Imax release of a traditional 35mm movie, as the only remaining major cost to studios will be P&A. "

Interesting. Film print costs do add up. The high cost of IMAX display has pushed the format to certain kinds of shows - shorter, long shelf life, etc. If switch to hard drive based, that might free up some of those format restrictions. But it'll take time to recover the extensive setup costs.

Thanks to Paul (robogeek) for sending this in.

-mike

Buncha stuff that caught my eye, or at least my browser, my blog's unsifted subconcious:

Sure to be some repeats in here, but here ya go. Thanks to intern Adam Ross for putting this together this week.

===================
CAMERA STUFF
===================

PDW-EX1 brochure
PDW-EX1 brochure

First Look: XDCAM EX | Getting a feel for Sony’s new PMW-EX1 flash-memory camcorder.
First Look: XDCAM EX | Getting a feel for Sony’s new PMW-EX1 flash-memory camcorder.

Cineform-HCR-1.png (image)
Cineform-HCR-1.png (image)

HD Primer
HD Primer

New 1/2" 3 CMOS CHIP SONY HD CAMCORDER - The Digital Video Information Network
New 1/2" 3 CMOS CHIP SONY HD CAMCORDER - The Digital Video Information Network: "New 1/2' 3 CMOS CHIP SONY HD CAMCORDER"

Solution to Transmit HDMI 50 Meters
Solution to Transmit HDMI 50 Meters

Letus Announces “Mini” 35mm Adapter for Small Camcorders
Letus Announces "Mini" 35mm Adapter for Small Camcorders

Sony XDCAM Marches on with New Models
Sony XDCAM Marches on with New Models

===============
RED STUFF
===============

Audio Podcast: Red One Roundtable
Audio Podcast: Red One Roundtable

CineForm NEO 4K Beta, RedCine compatible, and available for trial. - Reduser.net
CineForm NEO 4K Beta, RedCine compatible, and available for trial. - Reduser.net

Scratch & Red offer PrePost system


Reduser.net notables
Reduser.net - View Single Post - Redcine - Long output times

Reduser.net - View Single Post - Redcine - Long output times

Reduser.net - View Single Post - Redcine - Long output times

Reduser.net - View Single Post - REDCine- Manipulating Color

Reduser.net - View Single Post - Render free paradise!

Reduser.net - View Single Post - Render free paradise!

Current Red>FCP Workflow Thinking- Almost Perfect. - Reduser.net

FCP with R3D editing problems thread.. - Reduser.net

NO 2k Quicktime PLAYBACK on MAC PRO? - Reduser.net

REDCINE - Unsupported Macs? - Reduser.net

RedCine feedback.. - Reduser.net

export log dpx - Reduser.net

REDCINE tip... - Reduser.net

REDCINE in my lap - Reduser.net

Bug?? - Reduser.net

Bug:Redcine macpro xt1900 no thumbnails - Reduser.net

Greencode? - Reduser.net

REDCINE Information - Reduser.net

color match - Reduser.net************

Shoot at Kerner Optical: RED 39, an F23, Greenscreen, and Tests Galore - Reduser.net

RED's Support Page
RED / Support All kinds of goodies, but at present only the operations guide (i.e. the manual for the camera) is downloadable without a login...which you have to be a camera owner to get. Durn. But read all about how the Red works in the meantime. NOT TRUE - this is from an older post and got folded in here by accident. You can download Red Alert, Redcine, the codec, and everything but camera firmwares from here.

OFFHOLLYWOOD shoots VFX on RED for Night at The Museum 2 - Reduser.net
OFFHOLLYWOOD shoots VFX on RED for Night at The Museum 2 - Reduser.net

Lumet Goes Genesis - Reduser.net
Lumet Goes Genesis - Reduser.net: "Lumet Goes Genesis"

Sharpening... ugh? - Reduser.net
Sharpening... ugh? - Reduser.net Comments #7, 8, 12, 13, 20 & 33 I found most useful.

==================
MAC STUFF
==================

Final Cut Pro: Unexpected Quit during AVCHD ingest
Final Cut Pro: Unexpected Quit during AVCHD ingest Don't have the Perian QT component installed if you want to capture AVCHD.

Leopard Report
Leopard Good ol' MacInTouch has a big gob of reader reports on Leopard. I'm running it in "testing mode" on my Mac Pro, but since I have my Kona3 in that box, and AJA doesn't have drivers out for it yet, no go...

-mike

MacInTouch Recent News
MacInTouch Recent News

Sounds like a possible bad run of laptop disks from Apple in MacBooks. Read on for details if you have a MacBook. I had a laptop drive fail. (Two, actually!).

-mike

Apple iMac 24" Computer Carrying Case
Apple iMac 24" Computer Carrying Case

Final Cut Pro: Dropped Frames--Causes and Solutions
Final Cut Pro: Dropped Frames--Causes and Solutions

Two Data Loss Issues Apple Users Should Be Aware of at FreshDV
Two Data Loss Issues Apple Users Should Be Aware of at FreshDV

Final Cut Pro: Choosing a Hard Disk
Final Cut Pro: Choosing a Hard Disk

Bottom 10 FCP Tips … revisited
Bottom 10 FCP Tips … revisited

===============
OTHER
===============

John Nack on Adobe: Photoshop, as seen through Johnny Cash
John Nack on Adobe: Photoshop, as seen through Johnny Cash

a.) This is Cool, not just Kewl, and

b.) YO, AVID! You reading this? Hint?

-mike

John Nack on Adobe: Simplicity vs. Power in Photoshop: ". (Think, 'The power of AND, not the tyranny of OR.')" - gee, where have I heard that before?

: )

google that phrase and you find that I wrote it, quoting Jim from December 2005. Nice to see good ideas getting out there

Indies Should Stay Away From Adobe Premiere?
Indies Should Stay Away From Adobe Premiere?

Sony CEO sees 'stalemate' in disc fight - Yahoo! News
Sony CEO sees 'stalemate' in disc fight - Yahoo! News: "The head of Sony Corp., Howard Stringer, said Thursday that the Blu-ray disc format the company has developed as the successor to the DVD is in a 'stalemate' with the competing HD DVD format, chiefly backed by Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp."

FreshDV October 30 Live Show Podcast Archive at FreshDV
FreshDV October 30 Live Show Podcast Archive at FreshDV

LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: WHY THE WRITER'S ARE STRIKING
LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: WHY THE WRITER'S ARE STRIKING

Blackmagic Design: Software Downloads
Blackmagic Design: Software Downloads: "This software update adds: Support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Support for Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 v3.1, Project presets for Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 v3.1, Support for Multibridge Eclipse and the new Multibridge Pro, Analog input anti-alias filter control on Multibridge Pro, Improved Digital Betacam support in Final Cut Studio 2, and general stability and performance improvements. Please check the included 'read me' for more information."

CinemaTech: AccessIT Hopes to Digitize Another 10,000 Movie Screens
CinemaTech: AccessIT Hopes to Digitize Another 10,000 Movie Screens: "AccessIT Hopes to Digitize Another 10,000 Movie Screens"

Slashdot | Sony Calls Current Blu-ray/HD DVD Format War a 'Stalemate
Slashdot | Sony Calls Current Blu-ray/HD DVD Format War a 'Stalemate: "Sony Calls Current Blu-ray/HD DVD Format War a 'Stalemate"

“10 MPH” Filmmakers Release DIY Handbook for Indies at FreshDV
“10 MPH” Filmmakers Release DIY Handbook for Indies at FreshDV: "“10 MPH” Filmmakers Release DIY Handbook for Indies"

FreshDV Overview of Arri, Lowel, Mole Lighting Kits
FreshDV Overview of Arri, Lowel, Mole Lighting Kits

LTO-3A
LTO-3A storage. Nifty.

74 HDTVs Resolution Tested
74 HDTVs Resolution Tested

Avid Media Composer Online-Offline P2 Workflow
Avid Media Composer Online-Offline P2 Workflow

Labels: blogwad

Report: Apple caves in Hollywood face off, will raise iTunes movie prices

Hmm.....if I get an iTunes version with the DVD? Sure, that's nice. Wait, the price is going UP for downloadable movies that:
1.) Don't look as good
2.) Aren't as ubiquitously playable
3.) don't include extras
4.) Aren't high def.

Two edged sword. Gets more folks into the game to make the format more viable, BUT at substantially higher price - WHOLESALE cost to Apple of $15, puts the purchase price up in brand new retail range for lesser quality product (that I can rip to AppleTV/iPod compatible with Handbrake).

The ONLY way this could turn out worth a damn is if they make 720p (doable on AppleTV) versions available at that price. Otherwise...bag it.

So hey - does this mean some movies will get cheaper as well? If the primo stuff is high priced....

But JEEZ, folks - Same as max retail price for a download? For lesser quality and quantity of content? WTF wants that? I'd rather HD PPV...

-mike

Labels: AppleTV, format war

HD EXPO's Red preso stuff

In QT or streaming, Ted's Red One preso. Standard stuff AFAIK, nothing new.

Labels: Red

The Compression Debate: In The Eyes of The Beholder | Studio Daily

PR war, but has some useful info for newcomers.

Panasonic Announces Deliveries of 32GB P2 Memory Card | Studio Daily: "Panasonic has announced the availability of the 32GB P2 solid-state memory card (model AJ-P2C032RG) for its popular P2 HD and P2 product line. Available at a suggested list price of $1,650,"

32GB? Rock!

$1650....oh.

-mike

Labels: cameras, P2

Cooke Optics Announces Lenses for RED ONE Camera | Studio Daily: "Starting in January, Cooke Optics will offer four standard Cooke S4/i lenses for the Red One camera that provide focal lengths from 15mm through 100mm and are engraved with red lettering. Called the Cooke RED Set, the new digital-cinematography lenses incorporate metadata capture technology that can be read directly by the contacts of the RED camera lens mount. The Cooke RED Set includes: the S4/ 15-40mm, T2.0 CXX Zoom Lens; S4/ 50mm, T2.0 Prime Lens; S4/ 75mm, T2.0 Prime Lens; and S4/ 100mm, T2.0 Prime Lens."

Read on. Not exactly clear how these are new/different than existing Cooke S4i lenses. No, I haven't researched it, so if anyone has (including any more info from Les or other Cooke folks) please let me know.

-mike

UPDATE:

Ah - more info from Cooke's own site:
The Cooke RED Set

"The Cooke RED Set is a special package of four S4/i lenses that offers a range of focal lengths from 15 to 100mm. You will be colour coordinated with special red engraved lenses to complement the RED ONE. Each lens is fully equipped with /i 'Intelligent' Technology. The Cooke RED Set includes: a Cooke S4/i 15-40mm, T2.0 CXX Zoom and Cooke S4/i 50mm, 75mm and 100mm, T2.0 Prime Lenses, a protective glass cover for the CXX Zoom lens and a rigid carry case to hold all four lenses. The RED ONE camera is fully /i compatible and will communicate directly with Cooke S4/i lenses via special contacts in the camera's lens mount. There is no need for additional equipment."


...so is just a subset of the Cooke S4/i lenses, with some purdy colors on'em. Otherwise - they are S4i's AFAIK.

==========

As long as we're talking Red:

December Update... - Reduser.net - more delays, but due to many fixes, and they are going to out-and-out REPLACE cameras 1-100...at no charge, not even shipping. BUT...delays in shipping of upcoming cameras in order to get this done. So I'm figuring I'll get mine...late February, early March?

Improvements, from Jim's post:

We have recently made significant improvements to many aspects of the RED ONE. That includes a new lens mount, better image quality by a new IR/low pass filter and moving it into a new location, better DSP, new sensor processing magic (instead of the new daughter board), a reworked mount system for the board stack, new(er) firmware, more features enabled... you get the idea. SO....


EVFs and Red Drives FINALLY in production.

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New mount... - Reduser.net - picture and discussion of the new PL mount, which has a backfocus adjustment.

Labels: lenses, Red

IRIDAS and CineForm Announce Full RAW and RGB Post Solution | Studio Daily: "IRIDAS and CineForm Announce Full RAW and RGB Post Solution"

Full integration into all Iridas apps for Cineform's RAW & RGB formats. Useful. More useful if Apple (working on it) and Avid (no way) supported it.

Labels: Cineform, DI

CineForm - Frequently Asked Questions

Cineform is planning on making a tiny (5x3x1.5 inches) recorder that can take HDMI in at all the standard sizes and frame rates and record directly to the Cineform codec, bypassing the very lossy HDV compression from HDV camcorders.

It would record to CF cards or to a connected laptop (or laptop connected drive) via USB 2.0.

They acknowledge the desire for HD-SDI and component inputs as well.

All for less than $2K. If the Cineform workflow is right for you (especially if you're a Premiere editor), then this should be a very welcome addition!

No ETA as yet, just a plan, and they are soliciting feedback.

This was announced weeks ago, apologies for not getting around to it- been way busy.

-mike

Over the weekend I saw No Country For Old Men, and YES, run-don't-walk to go see this film. Intense and haunting barely scratches the surface of it, and Javier Bardem has created a new icon in the pantheon of Scary Bad Guys That Might Be Real.

So I was delighted to see this article pop up about how the Coen brothers used Final Cut Pro to cut it, in their odd and wonky workflow fashion, where the tag team and switch off when one of them hits a bell. Yes, like a bellhop front desk bell.

Read on:

Videography - Cover Story

PS - you can also read on Videography.com my "Red for Real" article I wrote for them (also published on DV.com) - read it here

Hey all -

I was very pleased with how the presentation went yesterday. There appeared to be 80 to 100 folks there yesterday at peak (we rang long, about 2 1/2 hours) and Stuart English of Red showed up and graciously helped during Q&A (I'd feel a bit of a schlubb to answer questions about Red's plans when he's sitting 20 feet away, so I drafted him in on several questions, thanks very much, Stuart!).

As I mentioned in the presentation, here's the PDF of my Keynote presentation. It is large, at 38MB, since I built it with a bunch of uncompressed TIFF files.

I'd also mentioned other links to Red. At the end of all articles are usually some tags - clicking on the tag word (like "Red" at the end of this article) will take you to a page with all articles with that tag.

Here's all the articles I've tagged with "Red" , including some recent ones with full size, 4Kx2K, 48 MB, 16 bit TIFF frame grabs from various Red One shoots I've done, both graded and ungraded. I've written many other articles on Red prior to these, but didn't start tagging until the last year or so. You can use Google to search for those additional articles on Red One that are on hdforindies.com.

I've also written an article on DV Magazine's website and Videography.com about my first experiences with the Red, here's the version that ran on Videography. The version on DV also has pictures, so you might want to look at that version (the text is virtually the same on both).

I'm working on posting some videos from the Spain Red One shoot as well, I'll let you know in the near future about that as well.

-mike

Labels: Red

Hey all -

just a reminder that my Red One presentation is at 1pm today at 501 Studios, here's a link to the original post with all the details, maps, etc.

Zane points out the google map is WRONG - it is 5th and IH-35 - the map pointed to San Marcos, my sincere apologies!

Labels: Red, Red Alert, Redcine