HD For Indies

ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt | Founder: "Three three-letter cameras: EX1, F23, RED
An unfair comparison of three entirely different cameras"

Adam Wilt digs in to check out how a $6500 Sony EX1, a $25,000 Red One, and a $250,000 Sony F23 compare when shooting some (quick, rushed, non-lab-grade-definitive) charts and tests.

An interesting read, well recommended.

Adam observes a bunch of stuff people are coming to understand about Red - shooting 4K for a 2K/1080 deliverable is best instead of just 2K for 2K/1080, Bayer patterns aren't quite as sharp as cosited sampling, and quality glass counts (edit - to further elaborate on the glass issue, Super Speeds, as tested, are great for low light, but not the sharpest glass available).

Speaking of Red, I plan on spending tomorrow catching up on writing about a bunch of stuff I've been doing with my Red since I got it and got to Los Angeles (where I'm living now). Since Adam did his tests with build 14 of Red's firmware, I got build 15 (2nd rev of it too) installed and running on mine. My favorite feature so far? 120 fps at 2K!

Holy g-damn sh*t, that is one HOT feature!

I'm doodling with some high speed footage now, and tomorrow I'll also write up some of the golden goodies I saw at what I think was the first ever Los Angeles Red User Group meeting (LARUG? La Rug?).

Stay tuned.

-mike

EDIT - to clarify, esp. since there have been so many trolls over there (who apparently get bored making up original fake email names pretty quickly) - cosited pixels CAN be more sharp than Bayer pattern - on a PIXEL FOR PIXEL basis. If you throw a bunch more pixels at it, then the overall optical resolution of a high res Bayer pattern based system can be higher than a 3-chip setup. As is the case with the Red One.

-mike

Labels: EX1, F23, Red

Adam Wilt continues to rock the reports from the HPA (that's Hollywood Post Alliance). I am jealous, I was out in LA last week for work related stuff but didn't have time to sign up and go down for HPA.

Adam gives a report from several days:
HPA Day 0
HPA Day 1
Day 2 - regretably short, the computer ate his homework.
HPA Day 3

He has also updated his Sony PMW-EX1 review as well here I consider Adam to be The Ultimate Word on the sub-$10K camera reviews out there. He is thorough and experienced. 6 pages of awesomeness.

More good stuff he wrote:
EX1 Gammas
EX1 Update
Why the HVX-200 ISN'T obsoleted by the Sony EX1 - good analysis
ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt: "2008 FAA rules on battery transport"
ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt: "PMW-EX1 Lens Fix"
ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt: "Sony’s Mac SxS driver doesn’t play well with the Duel Systems Adapter"
ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt: "P2 vs. SxS - an Unfair Comparison" - hey, they're the same price! But wait, you CAN fit tons more content (by recording time) on an SxS...
ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt: "Apple Pro Apps - Save Those Updaters!"

...and of course, everything else everyone else is writing over at PVC, including Chris & Trish Meyer, After Effects legends, on Creating Motion Graphics, and others as well.

I still need to do my PR piece about the site...so many things, so little time!

Labels: Adam Wilt, EX1, PVC

Adam Wilt, who joins me as another of the founders in the new Pro Video Coalition, does his usual bang up job reviewing the hot new Sony XDCAM EX camera, the PMW-EX1. He leads off his 6 page, in depth review with this:

The US$6500 (street price) Sony PMW-EX1 is a six-pound, high definition Handycam with three 1/2” CMOS chips. It resolves a true 1920x1080 image; shoots both interlaced and progressive; records 1920x1080, 1440x1080 (HDV-compatible), and 1280x720 formats; and offers variable frame rates from 1 fps to 30 fps (1080p) or 60fps (720p). The camera records using long-GOP MPEG-2 on dual SxS solid-state memory cards, and provides an SDI output with embedded audio and timecode. It is awkward to handhold, some controls are hard to use, and it lacks SD recording, but its excellent pictures, comprehensive image tweaks, and pin-sharp LCD make it a compelling HD camcorder.


Read on for all the nitty gritty details of what I think is shaping up to be my favorite new camera under $10K.

-mike

Labels: cameras, EX1

XDCAM EX Specifications and Links at FreshDV

Why should I replicate what Matthew Jeppsen has already done so well?

Get all your EX1 info here.

Tons of test footage, interviews, etc.

The EX1 is a NICE little camera, with some caveats - the 4:2:0 color sampling can be an issue for keys and color grading. The balance of the camera is AWFUL - holding it in your right hand, it wants to tip in BADLY. Wrists of Steel required (or will be developed). It doesn't have variable frame rates (UDPATE - WRONG - it DOES have variable frame rates - 1-30 in 1080p, 1-60 in 720p). BUT....it is a VERY sharp image, from a truly 1920x1080 sensor, recorded at truly 1920x1080, at 35mbit VBR MPEG-2 (better than XDCAM HD). Oh, and it is a half inch, not 1/3 inch, sensor - that I like too.

-mike

Labels: EX1

Sony XDCAM EX 1 HD camcorder Part 2

More on what may well be my fave sub-$10K indie camera of the moment. (You can probably guess what my fave $17,500 cam is. : ) )

EDIT - my favorite sub-$10K camera ON PAPER. It is a bitch to hold (all the weight off center), and I haven't shot with it myself, but the specs, and the image quality from what I hear from some folks I trust, is pretty good.

-mike

Labels: EX1

Some tidbits of interest from CES, and more good stuff about the EX1 from Matthew Jeppsen of FreshDV, Netflix's set top box, and more.

Canon Debuts First High Definition Solid State Camcorders: HF10 and HF100 - Canon

Sony Offers a Single HDV Model for 2008 - HDR-HC9 - Sony: "Sony has announced that they will release only one model in HDV category, the HDR-HC9, at least for early 2008. This decision only confirms the generally recognized fact that the tape-based HDV format has fallen out of favor compared to DVD, hard disk drive (HDD), and flash memory media using the newer AVCHD recording format." Retails for $1099. Even though this is a consumer camera, they are recognizing that HDV is/was a transitional technology.

Move Over HV20, Here Comes the Canon HV30 - Canon: "oday at CES, Canon announced the Vixia HV30 ($999 MSRP), the replacement for the popular HV20. The new HDV camcorder features an all-black design, a multi-angle Vivid LCD screen, and the ability to capture in 30P mode. Canon now offers a total of five camcorders in their newly christened “Vixia” high definition line-up.
“With the exception of those features, the product is the same as the HV20. Is it a revolutionary product? No."

XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Gamma and Color Matrix Presets at FreshDV More downloadable samples. Matthew & gang are really going deep on all this - all for our benefit. Much thanks!

XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Picture Profiles and Image Settings at FreshDV Video walkthrough of the menus. Good stuff if you want to see the nitty gritty.

MORE ADDED HERE: XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Night Footage Compression Examples at FreshDV: "One of the areas that the new Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 really excels is in native light sensitivity. Night shooting with the EX is relatively simple, as the camera seems to find illumination and color saturation in even the darkest of scenes. Here are a few examples of night footage shot with the EX1, including a 60p overcranked shot."

Wired News - AP News - netflix is going to offer a set-top box that'll download movies. thousands of titles available, vs. nearly 100,000 titles available on DVD. Devil in the details....will indie content be made available via this system?

2007 Best & Worst: Online movie gimmicks - latimes.com

As I Hear It - Choosing the Right Microphone: "An Overview of Popular Short Shotgun, Supercardioid, Hypercardiod and Cardioid Microphones

By Dan Brockett"

Long, GOOD. Good sound makes people think your picture look better. Good mikes are key. READ.

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The rumor sites are buzzing that new Macs are due at MacWorld - Penryn processors and Blu-ray for desktops, and an ultraslim/small laptop. I won't deign to let the rumormongers get traffic from here based on those rumors - it is their JOB to promote rumors, most often inaccurate, that simply drive traffic...and revenue. Here's what I think is likely:
-Penryn processors: they came out in November, so why NOT finally now? Newly optimized compilers could help get best results.
-high def optical discs in towers: Apple has been on the Blu-ray board since what, 2005? When Jobs got up on stage and announced, with then honcho of Sony, that Apple would support Blu-ray. Well, 3 years later, they...MIGHT. Blu-ray SEEMS to be stepping into the lead - Blu-ray disc sales surpass HD DVD substantially, even though the players cost more. BUT...Apple would have some homework to do. One of the rumor sites reported that Apple would have to rename DVD Studio Pro to Disc Studio Pro. Hardly. Currently, you can author an HD DVD formatted volume and burn it to a traditional DVD+/-R, either single or dual layer. Blu-ray is not presently supported - we'd need an updated DVD Studio Pro to support Blu-ray. SOOOOO.....if Apple has been supporting HD DVD (albeit in a limited capacity) - why would they completely shift gears? This bodes for the possiblity that they may offer a combo (does both) or two separate optical drives - get one or both HD formats. Remember, the Mac Pros have two optical bays - why else offer them if you aren't going to have two optical drives?
-Apple typically updates DVD Studio Pro with the rest of Final Cut Studio at NAB - in April. And HD optical support is really a pro video feature at this point in time...not a consumer feature, which MWSF is all about (consumer stuff, that is). So maybe optical drive updates will wait for NAB, unless Apple drops a surprise DVD Studio udpate on us. Doubt it. I'm thinking Penryn based boxes announced at MWSF, but perhaps a wait until NAB for HD optical drives and the software to take advantage of them. Unless we get a Blu-ray burner and can just use it for data backups in the meantime...or HD DVD and we can make HD DVDs now.

Much to think about.

As to rumors of an AppleTV 2.0....be nice, but dunno. A TV tuner, better HD support, and bigger hard drives would make it a more viable choice. As well as an optical drive to make it be a less limiting device...but that wouldn't be Apple's way. They did away with floppies and went all-USB early on - they tend to not look back.

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David Lynch on movie watching on iPhone (HARSH language included):


....spoken like a traditionalist. If you believe "watching a movie" is best in a theater, next best on a good home theater system, and doesn't count on a mobile device, then sure, he's right.

But I watch Lost episodes on iPhone and don't feel shortchanged - I got what I wanted out of it.

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BTW - if Apple has to PAY damn near retail for movies for downloads, can they at least release them in HD as well at that price????

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III Review of badass digital camera (still, not motion).

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Making Movies in the XXIst Century - quickie overview, is the HD4NDs ethos (mostly) in a few paragraphs.

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Australian Centre for Visual Technologies
| VideoTrace: Rapid interactive scene modelling from video: "VideoTrace is a system for interactively generating realistic 3D models of objects from video—models that might be inserted into a video game, a simulation environment, or another video sequence."

Pretty groovy.

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OK, enough for now....

Labels: blogwad, EX1

Matthew Jeppsen of FreshDV has been busy with a Sony XDCAM EX camera, the PMW-EX1. He has articles up with:

-samples on the Final Cut Pro workflow (soon to be updated with some email stuff we talked about - bypassing FCP misses some metadata that may or may not be useful to you)

-Resolution Charts

-Rolling shutter artifact samples - from the CMOS sensor

...and a bunch of other interesting articles to boot- check it out.

MONDAY UPDATE - MORE FreshDV EX1 coverage linked to here

-mike

Labels: camera charts, cameras, EX1