HD For Indies

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.

----

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.

----------

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.

---------

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????

----------

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

----------

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

--------

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.

--------

OK, enough for now....

Labels: blogwad, EX1

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

I've been getting busier of late, but here's some info that I snagged along the way during the week:

Cameras

Film v. Genesis Comp: "Independent Genesis vs Film Comparison"
Post

After Effects Basic Training: "In this Free Video Training Series, you'll learn everything you need to know to start using After Effects today. This is not an overview of the software, this is a real training series that covers advanced techniques for Motion Tracking, Color Keying and even 3D Title Design."

Silverado's Apple and RED Blog: AJA IO HD Unboxing and Setup

My friend Torrrey Loomis shot me a link to his unboxing pics of his new AJA IO HD - I'm looking forward to testing one of these myself.

-mike

Sonnet - FireWire 800 ExpressCard/34: Faster FireWire Connections

Possibly useful in a Red field config?

RED

Somebody asked how to edit 4K on this thread here:

What is the recommended editing system for doing 4K on the red one? - Reduser.net

...and I went off on them, stating that 95% of folks don't need to worry about 4K, ever, here:

Reduser.net - View Single Post - What is the recommended editing system for doing 4K on the red one?

These two posts are status updates from Red:

Current Software/Firmware Build - Reduser.net

Some new info... - Reduser.net

....I don't recall if I blogged about it previously that Red announced another holdup on production, this time to fix a board and dramatically improve the PL mount (there have been some issues with cameras 1-100). I'd like to get my camera sooner rather than later, but I'd MUCH rather it work better, so the delay is for the best in the end.

Other

The Dark Country - A camera department diary

Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock - suspense, camera angles, style, editing, basics: "How to turn your boring movie into a Hitchcock thriller... "

YouTube - BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype - www.bumptop.com

very slick functionality that extends the desktop metaphor to a real, you know - top of a desk. Piles, either tidy or messy, sorting, flicking, etc.

Is pressure pen based, but you could get a lot of this benefit with a multi-button mouse with a scroll wheel.

New Guinness advert: Giant domino village - Telegraph not HD, just way way cool

Blu-Ray Laser Phaser! - The World's Biggest Show & Tell - offbeat, tech, diy - if ya gots that much spare time on ya hands....

Labels: blogwad

Blogwad! is back! Thanks to Gideon and Orion for assembling this. There's some interesting Red news noted below - another delay to improve the camera, and my friends at Offhollywood held a public screening of a filmout from their Red Ones, as well as a ton of samples from footage they shot.

As for my Spain footage, it has been a busy week with client work and I'm out of pocket for the weekend, so next week.

Cameras

Sony V1 200fps Smooth Slow Record Testing at FreshDV

Final Cut Pro 6: 1080p24 workflow for Canon HV20 camcorder

Few links to Sony XDCAM EX

Ingenioustv.com
Ieba.wordpress.com
Sonybiz.net

Panasonic HPX500 shoulder mount P2HD camera

Heath McKnight reviews the HPX500.

Short version:

Is everything the HVX200 wants to be when it grows up:
-HD-SDI out
-4 P2 slots
-4 XLR audio inputs
-2/3" sensor
-same res as HVX - just a bigger version
-720pN modes, variable frame rates
-interchangeable lenses, professional B4 mount
-Heath mentions 1080i but not 1080p modes - if true, bummer
-$14K
-does NOT, however, include a lens, so that will SUBSTANTIALLY add to the cost

Beware the Tapeless Camcorder - New York Times: "Beware the Tapeless Camcorder"

Argument against tapeless camcorders for the consumer.

Software/Post

MacInTouch: timely news and tips about the Apple Macintosh: "Amazon slashed prices on Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' - just $109 for the client version and $189 for the 'Leopard' family pack"

DeckLink 6.6 - MacUpdate: "WHAT'S NEW Version 6.6: 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, Analog input anti-alias filter control on DeckLink HD Extreme, Improved Digital Betacam support in Final Cut Studio 2, and general stability and performance improvements."

Intensity 1.8 - MacUpdate: "WHAT'S NEW Version 1.8: 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, and general stability and performance improvements."

SilverFast HDR 6.5.5r1 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker: "SilverFast HDR is high-end imaging software from LaserSoft Imaging which is now available for 48 bit raw data processing for Macintosh. SilverFast Ai combines an intuitive user interface with highest professionality"

Beautiful After Effects Scripting at FreshDV

Final Cut Pro 6.0.1: About transferring AVCHD footage

Imagineer Announces Planar Tracking Solution for AE at FreshDV

Creative Workflow Hacks � Blog Archive � Final Cut Pro to After Effects Scripting without the hassle: "Today is the first public release of the AE CS3 stand alone version of FCPToAE."

ProLost: Magic Bullet Looks: Getting Started Magic Bullet Looks is available and looking sweet

A Lighting Reproduction Approach to Live-Action Compositing: "a process for compositing a live performance of an actor into a virtual set wherein the actor is consistently illuminated by the virtual environment. The Light Stage used in this work is a two-meter sphere of inward-pointing RGB light emitting diodes focused on the actor, where each light can be set to an arbitrary color and intensity to replicate a real-world or virtual lighting environment. "

Getting Rid Of Camera Shake, Rattle and Roll | Studio Daily: "ProDAD, a German video-editing solutions company, has introduced a video plug-in application that eliminates shake from high-definition video images."

RED

RED 4k out to 35mm! - Reduser.net

Offhollywood's Red Filmout - Reduser.net

OFFHOLLYWOOD'S first Red Feature Film & more! - Reduser.net

Candles in Manhattan - Reduser.net

HERE'S ALL THE SAMPLES: Reduser.net - View Single Post - OFFHOLLYWOOD'S first Red Feature Film & more!

Great news! A Production Hold. - Reduser.net: "We are on a Production Hold. But this time, we think you will appreciate it."

Reminder to Owners using Beta Builds ( 4k 16:9) - Reduser.net

30 sec of 2k ProRes footage! Leaves, motion... - Reduser.net

RedRelay | A Host for Red Digital Cinema Camera Footage

RED Ready - Reduser.net: "RED #11 ready to travel anywhere you want to shoot. Located in Austin Texas, at GEAR Inc."

Red also available for rent at GEAR in Austin

RED #20 and #21 Rental Procedures - Reduser.net: "RED #20 and #21 Rental Procedures"

RED available for rent at Silverado

Smokin' Joe Carnahan: THE RED

Other

ProLost: Hue are you?: "Today's entry is entitled 'Skin Tones,' and in it he explores and verifies the claim that the miriad of human ethnicities all tend to land on the same axis of the vectorscope"

Xsan Tuner: Use Final Cut Tasks on PowerPC-based Macs

Superhuman Cinematography | Film & Video

Interview about process and technique. Interesting.

Macworld: News: MacProVideo offers Pro Tools 7 tutorial videos: "Video training company MacProVideo has released the first in a new series of videos for audio professionals. “Pro Tools 101: Mastering Pro Tools 7” is a 5.5 hour video covering the fundamentals of editing, recording and mixing music in Pro Tools."

Mike Minkler and Bob Beemer Get out the Grit for American Gangster | Studio Daily: "Collecting Authentic Elements for a Funky Period Sound Design"

Video Tutorial: Understanding Depth of Field at FreshDV: ". I believe that you’ll find it a very informative and approachable explanation of a somewhat arcane and confusing topic. This excellent video tutorial was created by Justin Snodgrass of snodart.com, and is shared with permission here at FreshDV. Justin is a young filmmaker with a passion for screenwriting and storytelling. "

Focus Enhancements Adds FS-100 160GB Recorder to DTE Model Lineup | Studio Daily: " The new FS-100 160GB model sets a new standard for long-form DVCPRO HD recording with up to 6.5 hours of recording in 720p24PN mode, 5.25 hours in 720p25/30PN mode or 2.5 hours in full frame rate 720p/1080i mode."

johnaugust.com � 2007 Insomnia Film Festival: "2007 Insomnia Film�Festival"

Apple sponsored 24-hours film festival

Beware the Tapeless Camcorder - New York Times: "Beware the Tapeless Camcorder"

Argument against tapeless camcorders for the consumer.

MacNN | Broadcom chip offers HD video for handhelds: "Broadcom chip offers HD video for handhelds"

New chip for portable devices can encode and decode HD.

Slashdot | Samsung Unveils 64-Gbit Flash Memory Chip: "The chips can be combined to create a 128-GB flash storage device capable of holding up to 80 DVD movies or 32,000 MP3 music files."

LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: INTERESTING P2 CHALLENGE: "The company I work for needed some DVCPRO HD 720p60 footage converted into slow motion. From 59.94 fps to 29.97fps...a frame by frame transfer that makes for very smooth slow motion."

Labels: blogwad

Another week, another round of Blogwad!

CAMERAS -

Mini35 Converter Gives HDV Camcorders A Better View | Studio Daily - P+S Technik's New Converter Puts 35mm Lenses on HDV Camcorders

VideoMaker Learning Section - Assortment of relevant resources.

POST -

DMN @ SIGGRAPH 07 – Realviz introduces Moviemento - Realviz, one of the leaders in “mocap” software displayed one of its new products at this year’s SIGGRAPH.

A Look at xRez Studio's Gigapixel Panoramic Photography - Visual effects based on gigapixel panoramic photography.

Creating color vignettes using Apple's Color - You can produce some excellent looking work with Apple's newest addition to Final Cut Studio.

Apple's Color - Color blows Final Cut Pro’s 3-Way Color Corrector out of the water!

DMN @ SIGGRAPH – eyeon’s Steve Roberts on Fusion - Fusion 5.2 was announced with a host of new features.

Editing 101: Compositing video with a still image - Premiere Pro CS3 expert Jeff Schell makes the White House fountain move in this tutorial.


OTHER -

Flash Player supports H.264 video | The Universal Desktop | ZDNet.com - H.264 and AAC audio support to be added to Flash player. What limitations you may or may not have beyond that not known, but that is definite progress. More stuff to be hardware accelerated full screen playback=good.

Adobe - Adobe Press Room: For immediate release - HDTV Quality Web Video Reaches the Masses with Industry Standard Video Codec in Flash Player.

Flash Player 9 gets beefed up with H.264 support - The beefed-up Flash Player will also include hardware-accelerated, multi-core fullscreen video playback—a "must" for anyone who loves watching more than 5 minutes of video on their computer screens.

AppleInsider | Intel leaks details of Mac Pro-bound Xeon chips - "Intel Corp. plans to launch its Penryn-based quad-core Xeon family of microprocessors on November 11, which may provide Apple with an opportunity to boost the specs of its high-end workstations ahead of the holiday shopping season."

PC World - Paramount's CTO on Why His Studio Is Dumping Blu-ray - Alan Bell discusses why HD DVD is his studio's exclusive high-definition format.

kaourantin.net: What just happened to video on the web? - Detailed rundown of H.264 support in Flash Player 9.

iMac Aluminum versus Others - 3D GAME SHOOTOUT!

iMac Aluminum versus Others - Cinebench 10 and Motion 3 - 'PRO' BENCHMARKS!

iMac Aluminum versus Others -After Effects and Photoshop - ADOBE PRO BENCHMARKS!

Real World Speed Tests for Performance Minded Mac Users - Recent Speed Tests.

-------------

Mike's running commentary

If I had time I could probably write an entire article on the supposition that perhaps the inclusion of H.264 in Adobe's Flash player is a quid pro quo for Apple to add Flash support into the iPhone. Maybe.

Aluminum iMacs - not a bad machine. I'd love to run my FCP test suite on it to see how it holds up. As an offline edit box that lacks true video out - not bad. With 1TB FW800 drives available....

Color - does lots.Workflow still tricky in places, not as easy or perfect. But improving.

HD DVD switch - maybe it isn't just the money as rumored - he puts out a not bad line of reasoning. But he ducks with the whole 'we don't talk money' line of thought as to whether they were paid to dump blu-ray. Even with all his reasoning, are you seriously telling me they'll make money by supporting fewer formats? There's pros and cons to both formats - Blu-ray may scratch easier, HD DVD holds less but costs less. Blu-ray interactivity does lots but hard to program, HD DVD interactivity simpler but easier to program. HD DVD has stabler spec with required connectivity, Blu-ray...doesn't and doesn't and is still a moving target.

I really don't care as much which one wins now (since I have both players, and Final Cut Studio 2 supports HD DVD and Adobe Creative Suite 3 supports Blu-ray on Intel Macs), I just want a clear winner sooner rather than later. And this move delays a clear winner, as Blu-ray seemed to be gaining the lead with 2:1 sales advantage of late on media (content not blanks) sales.

-mike, and thanks again to Andy Nelson who has been helping me all summer and is returning to school starting next week. And to my other intern Geoffrey Frost who wrapped up last week and will be renting out his HVX200 and Brevis 35mm adaptor in Austin soon.

Labels: blogwad

Acquisition -

DV - Columns - Production Diary - "Shaken Not Stirred"

Josh Oakhurst : An Ongoing Case Study In Art and Commerce - "How I Shot the Two Stop-Mo Spots"

What’s The Matter With HDMI? at FreshDV - "Audioholics has a nice in-depth article on the origins of the HDMI cabling standard (and how the designers screwed it up so badly). Despite it’s issues, the standard is rapidly becoming widely adopted, so it’s important to know the limitations."


Cameras -

Sachtler Offers New Fluid Heads for MiniDV, DV & HDV | Studio Daily - "Sachtler, a Vitec Group brand, is delivering two new fluid heads for MiniDV and HDV camcorders."

ISO... today - Reduser.net - "Today, we believe the RED ONE camera should be rated at ISO 500."

State of Imaging - "Imaging sensors, the heart of any camera, have evolved quite a bit in recent years."

Canon HV20 mode tests - "Canon HV20 comparitive mode tests against Nikon DSLR"

P2 Contents Management Software | DVCPRO P2 Series | Broadcast and Professional AV - Now for Mac.


Post -

Tips on Configuring Mac OS X for Final Cut Pro at FreshDV - "Splice has a solid set of useful tips to consider when configuring your Mac editing boxen for use with FCP Studio."

DV Mag Takes a Close Look at Color at FreshDV - "I noticed the following Apple Color article via the excellent AE Portal blog. Oliver Peters has a nice writeup for DV Magazine on Apple’s grading application, you can read it online here."

How to Remove Unwanted Objects using After Effects at FreshDV - "Here’s another fantastic Creative Cow video tutorial, this one on Simple Object Removal. You’ll need Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, and ObviouFX free CopyImage plugin (for both Mac and PC users)."

AppleInsider | Apple stirs controversy with iMovie's '08 overhaul - "Hailed as a breakthrough in movie editing by Apple chief Steve Jobs, the complete rework of iMovie for iLife '08 has angered some customers who found that many longstanding features had suddenly gone missing."

Planning and Creating a Visual Effects Sequence - Three-part series taking a specific sequence of shots and going through what was done to put them together

Advanced Final Cut Pro Techniques: ProRes 422 - More about ProRes 422

Filmmaker Magazine | Summer 2007: RE-EDIT - "Jamie Stuart walks us through how he used Final Cut Studio 2 to make his latest short film."


Other -

Addonics Announces 4-Port eSATA RAID5/JBOD PCI-E 8x Controller | Studio Daily - "Maximum Data Throughput, Advanced SATA II Feature Set for Power Users, and Hi-Def Video Production"

Splice Here - This blog is the work of Steve Cohen, motion picture editor working in Los Angeles.

Editing organazized Another blog, this one by Alexandre Gollner, editor, designer and ideas man.

Macworld: News: NetCom offers eSATA-based RAID 5 - "External Serial ATA (eSATA)-based storage system capable of working as a hardware-based RAID Level 5 array"

BOXX Presents 800-Core Rendering - "Improve Your Quality of Life"

BOXX Technologies demos renderBOXX 10100 render farm - "System supports up to 200 Quad Core XEON processors for a total of 800 cores"

LaCie Launches 5TB SATA RAID | Studio Daily - "LaCie announced the 5TB Biggest S2S 5-disk RAID designed for digital content creation applications. Thanks to its eSATA 3Gbit/s interface and direct eSATA-to-SATA connection, a single LaCie Biggest S2S is capable of reaching burst transfer rates of over 200MB/s*."

Studio Network Solutions Announces Ellipse Fibre Channel HBAs for Mac OS X | Studio Daily - "Studio Network Solutions (SNS), a premier provider of optimized audio/video shared storage products and developer of the globalSAN iSCSI initiator for OS X, today announced a major extension to its product family by unveiling the Ellipse™ and Ellipse Enterprise Fibre Channel HBAs."

MacNN | ATTO intros new SAS host adapters - "ATTO Technology has announced the ExpressSAS H380 and H308 SAS host adapters, additions to its existing family of SAS adapters"

Review: SoftRAID - "SoftRAID provides a variety of features not found in Apple's utility, including far more robust status reporting and error handling."

AppleInsider | New iMacs post modest gains over predecessors (benchmarks) - "New iMacs post modest gains over predecessors (benchmarks)"

Aluminum and glass: A review of the new iMac - "If you've been holding on to your Power PC Mac and waiting for the right time to make the big switch to Intel, the appearance of the new iMac marks an excellent opportunity."

iMac Aluminum versus Others - "We are busily testing the new 2.8GHz iMac Aluminum against various other Macs."

iMac Aluminum versus Others - part 2 - "INSIGHT: This test, which puts as much as a 30% load on the GPU, is definitely faster on the new iMac 2.8GHz with the Radeon HD 2600 GT. But the Mac Pro with the Radeon X1900 XT is the strongest Motion 'engine.'" Scroll down to the Motion 3 tests -that is the only valid test for our kinda stuff

Netflix promises instant viewing for Macs - "We're committed to giving all of our members access to our instant watching feature."

AppleInsider | Apple asks developers to rate latest Leopard pre-release - "Having already delayed its next-generation Leopard operating system by several months, Mac maker Apple Inc. is now seeking feedback from its developer community on whether the quality of the latest pre-release builds is up to par with the shipping version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. "

Startup hopes to challenge iTunes through Google ads - ...good luck with that.


Updated Articles -

Own a Piece of HD for Indies History - new items on eBay...

---------------------------------------------------------------

The next meeting of the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group (lafcpug) will
be Wednesday, Aug 22 at the Gallery Theatre in Hollywood beginning at
6:45PM. It will be Compression Night.

Join us as we welcome Compressor Guru and author Brian Gary and Apple's
Brian Hoffman as they take us on a "How2" tour of Compressor 3. Also
scheduled to demo will be John Diel and Coby Rich who will show us Sorenson
Squeeze 4.5.

Brian Dalton will show us clips and talk about his hugely popular video
podcast, Mr. Deity and how he does it.

Not enough? Red Giant Software will show off Magic Bullet Looks, Primatte
Keyer for FCP and Trapcode for FCP and Motion.

Plus another round of Stump The Gurus and of course, World Famous raffle,
where this month we are giving away thousands of dollars worth of prizes.

For complete details on the agenda including directions to the Gallery
theatre, visit the lafcpug web site.

LAFCPUG

A $5.00 donation will be respectfully requested at the door.

Labels: blogwad

Another Friday, another Blogwad!

Acquisition -

Organic Motion Launches Markerless Motion Capture System | Studio Daily


Cameras -

How V3 Imaging and CBS Sports Added Depth to the Final Four | Film & Video

&ProLost: Taming the Toy

Post -

How to Record Realistic Sound Effects at FreshDV

General Specialist: The Reason AE CS3 is Faster On Windows than on OS X

Sony and Side Effects to Develop Cell-Based Solution | Studio Daily

7.1 – Surrounded Or Overwhelmed? | Studio Daily


Other -

Mac Rumors: Airport Extreme Updated With Gigabit Ethernet

I'll have more to say about Apple's new RAID card, new iMacs, and other stuff soon enough.

Thanks as always to Andy Nelson for putting this together.

-mike

Labels: blogwad

More blogwad -yes, some things are going on behind the scenes that you aren't seeing.

Cameras -

720P and 1080P... losers - Reduser.net - Will the RED One lose 720/1080? There's several threads on this actually, and I chimed in with about 1/3 of what I had to say on one of them, if I have time I'll add more.

Canon HG10 is World's Smallest Hard Disk-Based HD Camcorder - Gizmodo - "Canon jumped into the hard disk camcorder market today with its HG10, the company's first high-definition hard drive camcorder and the world's smallest, weighing 19.92 ounces with the battery inside."


Post -

Final Cut Pro 5 export to Compressor annoyance solved - "Apparently, the sequence you are exporting MUST be in the main Browser tab."

Getting your sequence from Premiere Pro into After Effects and back - "Use the awesome Dynamic Link to bring it all back into Premiere Pro for rendering my DVD file."

Editing 101: Video Editing for Beginners - "If you're new to video editing or Premiere Pro, Jeff Schell walks you through the basic building blocks of Premiere Pro CS3."

Mac OS or Windows? The Great After Effects CS3 Smackdown - "Attempting to determine the faster OS on identical hardware"

Advanced Final Cut Pro Techniques: ProRes 422 - "Apple’s ProRes 422 codec is a 10-bit HD/SD compressed format that has been proven to be just as high of quality as the original footage, and in some cases it is better."

Speed up your Mac - "Plus upgrades and maintenance tips,"


Other -

MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.4GHz notebook computer - "Offering ultra-bright LED displays (light emitting diodes), faster processors, a 1920 x 1200 17-inch display option for those working in high definition aspect ratios, and much more."

PS3 to receive tuner, DVR capabilities before March 2008 - Engadget - "We're also hoping next year to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder." -Sony's Warwick Light

Labels: blogwad

All of the preceding said, Andy is still coming in daily, so I had him dig out last week's Blogwad! to give you something to do.

: )

-mike

=================

Cameras -

CCI Analysis of Red’s High ISO Images at FreshDV - "Camcorderinfo has released their initial analysis of the Red images."

MacNN | JVC intros HD3 cam with 60GB drive - "JVC on Thursday expanded its Everio cameras with the HD3, a new model that it says will bring HD video to more people."

1st problems in the field... - Reduser.net - For the record - original reduser post read and blogged from iPhone - schweeeeeeeet!!!!!!

Gonwest Productions shoots Breaking Point, Discovery Channel documentary with Panasonic AJ-HDX900 DVCPro HD Camcorders - "The Koppel Group/Discovery Production Airs In October"

Post Logic's New Image Science Executives on Color-Centric Workflows | Film & Video - "More Cameras, More Problems for Digital Cinematographers"


Post -

Toolfarm Tutorial: Using the AE CS3 Puppet Tool with Motion Particles - "When I first played with After Effects CS3, one of my favorite new tools was the Puppet Tool."

ILM's Scott Farrar on Transformers, and the Transformation of Digital Effects Work | Film & Video - "How a Long Career in the VFX Trenches Led to Better-Than-Real Robots"

The Editblog Avid ScriptSync demo -
"Check out a demo of the biggest new feature in the newest Media Composer release, ScriptSync."

Red Giant Releases Trapcode Products | Studio Daily - "New versions of the popular Trapcode motion graphics products called Shine, Starglow, and 3D Stroke."

Apple Color: Auto Balance Feature - Apple color tutorial video by Walter Biscardi.

Color Correction Techniques for Greenscreen Compositing - Some helpful greenscreen tips and techniques.

First Look: SmoothCam & Background Processing - The Future of Final Cut Pro - "SmoothCam is a great, very easy to use effect that gives great results on it's presets almost every time."

Apple Mac Pro 3.0GHz Quad - "Apple and Intel have created quite the desktop..."


iPhone -

Safari exploit gives hackers full control over iPhones and possibly PCs and Macs - Engadget - "Oops, researchers just unveiled a pretty serious security vulnerability in the iPhone."

Notes/Tips on Converting DVDs/Video for the iPhone - "This page is a catch-all of iPhone owner notes/tips on converting DVDs/Videos for use on the iPhone."


Other -

Researchers develop multi-gigabit WiFi - Engadget - "High-speed wireless data transfers at a staggering 15Gbps at a one meter range."

A Discussion With David Newman - Podcast with David Newman, CTO of Cineform

The State of Wireless HDMI and WirelessHD - "Two competing technologies aimed at wirelessly connecting HDTVs to our entertainment setups: Wireless HDMI and WirelessHD."

Cable Without a Cable Box, and TV Shows Without a TV - New York Times - "HOW would you like to use your video game console to tune in “Big Love” on your television? Or perhaps use your DVD player to download “The Departed” while you watch a ballgame?"

mikenote - this is SO happening right now, and I've got 3 gadgets in the living room to prove it.

Labels: blogwad

Once again it is Friday, time for another exciting round of Blogwad!

Thanks as always to Andy for helping me put all this together.

Acquisition -

Photos: Slingbox beams into CBS newsroom | CNET News.com - "Replaced more than 20 of its cameras affixed to the tops of local bridges, freeways and buildings that use microwave technology to relay video back to the station with smaller cameras combined with a Slingbox Pro."


Cameras -

RED ONE "Acapulco" in use... - Reduser.net - "This is Mark Neveldine (Writer, Director and Camera Operator on 'Crank') giving 'Acapulco' a test drive. He is bad-ass on wheels. Camera as tested weighed about 18 pounds." -Jim

Skew... - Reduser.net - Jim talks about the Red and camera skew, defining the term and explaining how it affects images from the Red One.

Shutter Speed Vs. Shutter Angle at FreshDV - "If you have ever wondered what the difference between the way a video camera calcualate shutter by fractions of a second and the way a film camera calculates shutter in degrees, then this article by Stuart English at Reduser.net is just for you."

Home - EasySlate slating system - "System includes 3 Slates and a Back Focus Chart."


Post -

Final Cut Pro 6 -Yeah yeah yeah, we've seen a million reviews of FCP 6 by now. But Heath digs a little deeper, and shows off codec tests comparing HDV, PhotoJPEG, ProRes, and ProResHQ, as well as a demo of SmoothCam in action. Worth reading/watching.

Daniel Pimley's Homepage - A media calculator for audio-visual professionals. Calculate data rate, file size or duration - handy for DVD projects, too.

Panalog After Effects Plugin - "Implements some
of the panalog conversion functions in AE."

Toolfarm - Plugins, Software Sales and Distribution: All fired up for IBC: The Foundry previews major Nuke release, plus Furnace for Final Cut Pro at Toolfarm.com - "The Foundry will be offering sneak previews of the next major release of its compositing application Nuke."

DOUBLE ULTRA PanaLog4Lin - More Panavision goodies. Was researching and came across this stuff.

Coloring the Fiesta - "Using After Effect to color correct a movie."

Frantic Films to Debut New Software Solutions at SIGGRAPH | Studio Daily - "Along with a new version of Deadline, the company's popular render farm solution, Frantic Films will unveil several new developments throughout the conference."

Transformers Movie - Special Effects - "Hand-rendered metallic uncorkings of real-life cars, trucks and helicopters represented uncharted territory for the gooey-alien experts at ILM, each transformation taking six months to imagine."

Video Podcast: Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 with Jeff Schell - First look at the new Premiere Pro CS3.

Side Effects releases Houdini 9 Public Beta | Studio Daily - "Side Effects Software is pleased to announce the public beta launch of Houdini 9. The new User Interface is easier to learn and designed to match the UI standards of the CG industry."

LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: Sheffield Softworks - NEW PLUGINS - "ELECTRONIC MAKEUP ARTIST and GRAPHIC NOVEL LOOK."

FilmLight Develops Noise and Grain Reduction Software | Studio Daily - "The software relinquishes the need for hardware noise reducers while providing significantly greater control and flexibility."

ProLost: Today's Color Before/After - Stu Maschwitz, creator of coloring tool Colorista, gets hip deep into Apple's new Color application - "It turns out everything I wrote about it after NAB holds true. It is both awesomely powerful and infuriatingly quirky." I concur - amazing power once you're inside it, frustrating limitations encountered.

Motion Controlled Backgrounds on for CG on The Ark | Studio Daily - "Employing motion control for many of the background environments and managing to create and render virtually the entire 1920x1080 short on just his laptop."

NaturalMotion Releases morpheme 1.1 | Studio Daily - "The latest version of its powerful animation engine and tool chain. Featuring new network management and navigation tools, source control support and frame buffering capabilities."

Five Questions with... VFX Supervisor Jean-Marc Demmer, Eight VFX | Studio Daily - "VFX Supervisor Jean-Marc Demmer steps up to answer Five Questions."

Vertus Releases Fluid Mask 3 | Studio Daily - "The new version of Vertus’ award-winning image editing software is the professionals’ choice for rapid, powerful and intuitive masking and high-quality image blending."

ReelFlow 4.3 Released along with Cinema4D Plug-in | Studio Daily - "Fluid and dynamics simulation tool ReelFlow--used on Poseidon, X-Men 3, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Ice Age 2."

A Complete 4K Workflow: Panel Discussion | Studio Daily - Video of the in depth panel discussion. Sponsored by Dalsa, so Dalsa & Codex specific, but GOOD STUFF in there. The Dalsa, SI-2K, and Red all have similar workflow challenges, here's how one vendor pair deals with the challenges.

Building the Perfect HDV Key at FreshDV - "Creative Cow has a great article by Tim Wilson on pulling great chroma keys using HDV formats. Good info."

SCRATCH at the Core of the Creative Bridge Digital Workflow - "Mobile Digital Lab & Theater is housed in a 36 foot custom digital trailer with ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH Data-Centric Workflow Solution at its core."

We interview Michael Buday from Syncvue - How SyncVue and Skype can be used for reviewing footage over long distances.


Apple -

AppleInsider | RBC report weighs in on Apple's iPhone, iPod roadmaps - "Apple Inc. may be planning to manufacture 8 million iPhones before the end of 2007, ahead of second-generation models that reportedly include more storage capacity and brandish higher-resolution displays."

AppleInsider | Multi-touch video iPods to arrive in August - "Apple is preparing to launch a next-generation video iPod in August that features a touch-screen panel similar to the iPhone, according to DigiTimes."

Three Best Notebook Drives for the MacBook Pro - "250GB 5K Notebook Drive versus The Two Fastest 7K Notebook Drives."

iPhone Widget List - The Master List of iPhone Widgets and iPhone Applications - LOTS of widgets!

SeeqPod Music - Online music search/player that works great on the iPhone.

Sideloading Comes of Age - "Weeks after the iPhone's debut, there’s finally time for reflection, perspective, and even (gasp) rational thinking."

AppleInsider | Apple iMac makeover appears ripe for summer, says firm - "There's an 80 percent likelihood that Mac maker Apple Inc. will set aside a day this summer to introduce a complete redesign to its signature iMac desktop line, analysts for Piper Jaffray investment research said this week."


Other -

One Llama | Discover Music - Another online music finder and player, but with a visual twist. Find new music graphically!

15 Must-Have Freeware Programs for Filmmakers | Free Geekery - Free and useful apps from Pre to Post.

Five Ideas That Will Reinvent Modern Computing: IMAX At Home - News and Analysis by PC Magazine - "Cluster computing for projectors."

CinemaTech: 60Frames Entertainment: Model for a New Kind of Studio? - "Brent Weinstein, head of United Talent Agency's digital division, is starting a new venture called 60Frames Entertainment, and has an initial bankroll of $3.5 million."

Disney movies on Xbox - "About 35 Disney movies, including 'Aladdin' and 'Armageddon,' are now available on the MSFT Xbox. There had previously been 192 movies from Warner Bros., Paramount, Lions Gate, and New Line, and 179 TV shows available on Xbox."

LITTLE FROG IN HIGH DEF: Lies I tell you. LIES! - More like lies that editors tell everyone.

“The West Side” - Another experiment in self-distribution at FreshDV - "Is this the new way for indies to garner attention and make a name without necessarily getting into a film festival? Is the online viral effect enough for a young filmmaker to build a reputation?"

CinemaTech: What's the Economic Value of User-Gen Content? - A look at the "economic potential of user-generated content and the impact that UGC content could have on established media companies as it competes with their big-budget movies and TV shows for viewers' time."

Film Studies 101 - Very cool mosaic poster built from historic movie frames.


Updated Articles -

Drive Failure Article Updated - Anybody interested in keeping up with what to do if a laptop drive dies, I've updated the article on my misadventures.

Labels: blogwad

Yep, it has only been two days since the last one, but the goal is to have them every Friday to give you something to mull on over the weekend.

Here's what has happened in the last couple of days. Regular "other" blogging taking a back seat while I work on other things...like getting my primary laptop back up and running.

How They Did It: Live Free or Die Hard | Film & Video - "Wow, your CG cars looked so nice in that shot. Well, there is no CG car."

Warner's second thoughts: Total HD pushed back until 2008 - Warner: "There is no expiration date on the viability of this concept, so we're not in a rush to do it. We'll do it when it makes sense and when it's right."

Ultra HD (2K and 4K): Cinematographers’ Perspectives - Opinions from several cinematographers and an FX artist on the Ultra High Definition movement.

ADS Pyro AV SDI2DV Capture Device - Honest review of the less-than-impressive device.

Matrox DualHead2Go Digital Edition - External dual-display device gets upgraded to Digital Edition.

60-Second Q&A: Alexander Buono, Producer/Cinematographer, BSF Film, Santa Monica, CA - How they shot a feature length documentary on the HVX200.

NHK Develops 33-Million-Pixel Imager - 8K by 4K "Super-Hi Vision!"

HD Projection Technology Shines Bright - JVC and Gennum making "significant advancements."

EditShare Adds Final Cut Project Sharing - Handles any format, no workflow interruption, and new protection features.

HD Data Recording Goes Portable - Mentions Codex Portable, DFR4K Digital Field Recorder, and the RaveHD Cube.

Studio Daily Blog Sony offers rebates on HDV lineup - "$300 discount on the venerable 1080p/24p HVR-V1U, HVR-Z1U, and the HVR-A1U cameras. Also available is a $100 rebate on the HVR-M25U HDV VTR, a $100 rebate on the LMD-2030W 20″LUMA HD monitor, and a $150 bonus rebate on LMD-2030W monitor and HVR-V1U or HVR-M25U VTR joint purchases."

HD for Indies Updated Articles

Just the my laptop drive died article - looks like a dead drive, probably not Software Update related (just happened at same time), at this stage I've ordered another drive to try a board swap (thanks to reader advice). If that doesn't work, THEN data recovery service.

iPhone -

Quicktime Pro, Components, and the iPhone ... at Podcast Academy - Some helpful info on optimizing video for the iPhone.

DLO | Store | iPhone gear - Nice cases for your iPhone. ALTHOUGH - my Jam Jacket is getting a little stretched out - I take iPhone out to put it in the dock to recharge and look purty on my desk, but it is getting loose at the top and bottom edges (by top and bottom of screen edges) - like a pair of shorts that the stretch-um was gotten worn out.

Thanks again to Andy for organizing this, I just tweaked and edited a bit.

-mike

Labels: blogwad

Once again, it is time for another fun-filled action packed round of Blogwad!

I'd like to do these every Friday, but sometimes they slip, especially when life gets crazy busy. So this took until Wednesday - so be it. We'll put together a shorty on Friday and hopefully keep it on schedule thereafter. A new feature of the Blogwad! is a list of articles from HD for Indies that I've updated since they were originally posted. I often write essentially a first-and-a-half type draft and spasticly slam "Post" and within minutes or hours go back and fix the most obvious errors of frothy-blogging syndrome, but I also very often go back and substantially amend, correct, and/or add to prior articles just to have it all tidily in my own place. Unfortunately, unless you go back and check everything, you'd never know.

So at the end of each week there will now be a list in the Blogwad! (yes I like putting it that way) of updated HD4NDs articles so you'll at least KNOW you're missing something good. ; )

Let us begin with a really great chunk of info Michael Horton and crew have put together for our benefit:

Sixth Annual FCP Supermeet

The Sixth Annual FCPUG SuperMeet (Podcast) - 9 Podcasts covering Slow Motion Music Videos, the Red One, Blackmagic Design, and more. LOTS OF GOOD STUFF IN HERE! This would normally be its own post, but I've had some chaos to deal with. Spend an hour or two watching, learn LOTS. Here are links to each and a brief description, thanks (as usual) to Andy for putting these links together, it does take time.

1. - Building the SuperMeet Magazine and Introduction of FCP UG Leaders - Daniel Berube and Michael Horton discuss producing the SuperMeet, building the SuperMeet Magazine and then take you directly to the Palazzo Ballroom for the introduction of FCP User Group leaders from around the world. Some good fun and gives you a taste of what the SuperMeet is all about.

2. - SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 4.5 - Michael Horton welcomes everyone to the SuperMeet and then hands over the mic to Stephanie Joyce of SmartSound who shows off the features of the music scoring app, Sonicfire Pro 4.5 with "Smart Recall" and "Mood Mapping."

3. - JVC GYHD 200 and Slow Motion Music Videos - Craig Yanagi, National Marketing Manager for JVC Professional Cameras, shows off the JVC GYHD 200 with all the bells and whistles attached. Then Craig introduces DP and editor Tim Dashwood of Toronto Canada who shows us how he easily synched the audio for a slow motion (60P) music video he shot using the GYHD 200. Also includes how to use your iPod as a timecode slate.

4. - Red Digital Cinema Camera and the Red Team - Leader of the Rebellion" Ted Schilowitz introduces the Red One Digital Cinema Camera, introduces members of the Red team, announces the Red Pocket camera and discusses workflow with Final Cut Pro.

5. - Sony XDCAM EX, FirmTek, OurStage.com, Automatic Duck, Quantum, and that SuperMeet Feeling - Filmmaker Rick Young of macvideo.TV talks to Sony UK Marketing Manager Carl Pring about the Sony XDCAM EX on the show floor at NAB. Then moves a few city blocks down the show floor to FirmTek where we learn about their storage and host adapter solutions. We then run back to the SuperMeet where Rick talks to OurStage.com, Automatic Duck, Quantum, and then takes you on a tour of the very crowded lobby where over 27 SuperMeet sponsors showed off their toys to the enthusiastic crowd.

Mike's Comments on XDCAM EX: XDCAM EX looks REALLY promising. With fast Macs and FCP 6's ability to transcode long GOP content automatically to ProRes for rendered content (cross dissolves, titled footage, color correction, Motion tabbed, etc.), the editing hindrances of HDV (which is kissing cousin to XDCAM HD, which is a sibling to XDCAM EX just written to different physical media AFAIK) are fading pretty fast. XDCAM EX (I think I heard) is stated (??) to do 35 megabit VBR MPEG-2, which with a full raster 1/2" 1920x1080 imager/s ought to look pretty damn good (so long as the in-camera motion isn't moving at Michael Bay on 6th cappuccino type speeds). BUT....Apple has to support the format first. Actually, Sony has to ship the cameras first, stated to be late/r this year. So here's to hoping by next NAB at the LATEST we'll see an announcement of support and working FCP (7? They grow up so fast, sniff....) for this exciting and promising new format. With the "render back" quality issue addressed in FCP 6, and especially at the $8000 price point and MUCH MUCH MUCH more afforable media, this should be a SERIOUS threat to Panasonic's P2 format and the much beloved HVX200 camera (I belove the HVX's extreme shooting frame rate/size flexibility and color reproduction and P2 workflow, I not-so-belove the P2 media's price point, even after the recent drop).

6. - Blackmagic Design - President of Blackmagic Design, Dan May introduces the Multibridge Eclipse, the Intensity Pro Card and answers the question "What Blackmagic product do I need when working with what media?" He is joined by Philip Hodgetts of the Digital Production Buzz.

7. - Walter Murch Pt. 1 - Sound Mixer and Film Editor Walter Murch takes us through the Post Production Workflow on Francis Coppola's movie Youth Without Youth, defines "Editing," talks about the beginning of his career with Francis Coppola and how he came to use Final Cut Pro. Part 1 of 3 parts.

8. - Walter Murch Pt. 2 - Mr Murch continues our tour of the Post Production process on Youth Without Youth. In this Part 2, he shows us his cutting room in San Francisco, his workstation and how he edits. He discusses the "writing" aspect of editing and reducing the first assembly. We also get to see a bit of his Editing Suite in a "decayed Villa" in Bucharest, where Youth Without Youth was filmed.

9. - Walter Murch Pt. 3 - We move to Bucharest, Romania where the music was recorded, sound fx recording and cutting begins and a three day re-shoot. We then move to the final stages of the movie at Francis Coppola's winery in Napa Valley which doubles as a mixing stage. Walter then takes us on a tour of the human brain where he attempts to answer the question, "Why on earth do we do what we do?" We wrap up with a few questions from the audience.

===========

More Blogwad-y Goodness

Creating Node Trees in Color and the special case of interlaced video (Final Cut Studio 2) - Good hints on the ColorFX room in Color, especially for interlaced video.

Macworld: First Look: From the Lab: Update boosts MacBook Pro scores - Software update increases low performance.

Think Secret - Next-generation iMac tracking for August - Rumors on a slimmer, brushed metal iMac.

Studio Daily Blog - Useful tools for editors - Super Command+Tab!

Cinematical Seven: Tips for the Indie Filmmaker - Cinematical - A few general filmmaking tips.

Like AE? You'll LOVE this! - DVXuser.com - Nice and fun shorts films with lots of motion graphics.

AppleInsider | Apple pushing for multi-touch trademark - Apple calls dibs on "multi-touch."

Going HD Part 4: Beginning Post - Tips for beginning HD editing. UPDATE - Part1, Part 2, Part 3

ARTICLE UPDATES -  HD For Indies posts that have been updated recently.

Working with 24P from Canon HV20 - Updated with Windows product info and notes on IRE clipping.

Steven Soderbergh calls Red One 'camera I've been waiting for my whole career' & will 'change everything' - Updated with Jim Jannard's CML comments.

And, as an added treat (dessert? Ice cream for everyone!) here is:

iPhone News -

Macworld: Podcasts: iPhone - Podcast review of the iPhone's first week on the market.

Macworld: Editors' Notes: The iPod of phones - How the iPhone revolution parallels the iPod, and what that means for future phones.

iPhone SERIAL HACKED, FULL INTERACTIVE SHELL - Hackint0sh - ...and how they did it!

Insurer May Jump in to Cover iPhones - Yahoo! News - No Applecare (yet) leaves iPhone insurance open to third-parties. Mikenote - rumor is AppleCare is coming in 1-3 months, and WILL cover accidental damage, dunno about loss....remember, RUMOR.

MacNN | RIM's CEO sees iPhone as "dangerous" - How the iPhone is killing the cell phone business...but it's just so pretty!

iPhone Hacking News Update: iPhoneInterface Tool is Out!! at iPhone Unlocked - For ringtones, custom icons, and potentially custom apps.

Apple: No BS iPhone Review - Gizmodo - 13,500 words. Take it or leave it. Mikenote - and I have to say they start out with potentially very good advice for non-frothy diehard Macnerds - wait. I'll have more to say along those lines soon, I'm thinkin' of a "My first 2 weeks with iPhone" type article to be written. Friday is two weeks. A good quote from the article: "Wait for What?
Look, I'm not saying wait for version 2.0. You don't need new hardware to love the phone; version 1.1 should do it. Wait until Apple updates the software. That was a hard to write, since I'm thumbing through my own iPhone like a teenager with his first Playboy. " Nicely apt metaphor. : ) -mike

Intern Andy Nelson organizes the blogwad from all the stray links of the week and adds his own appropriately pithy/snarky summaries, I pester and organize/edit over his shoulder. Thanks Andy!

I'd also like to say thanks to Geoff Frost, the other intern, whose contributions are not as obviously visible on the blog except for his recent HVX workflow article he wrote and I added onto in my usual pestery form.

-mike

Labels: blogwad

City May Seek Permit and Insurance for Many Kinds of Public Photography - New York Times Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks.(more on this later - mike)

DIY C-Stand Tutorial at FreshDV For the independent filmmaker on a cheap or low budget the fact that a good C-stand can cost upward of $175 each can be a bit of a downer. Well for those do-it-yourself filmmakers here is a great little solution for around $30 + a little elbow grease and some time you can build your own C-stands.

Adobe - Creative Suite 3, Creative License - Take as much as you want More details and info and case studies on Adobe's CS3.

Ikegami and Toshiba Provide Details of Advanced New Tapeless ENG Camera, Editing and Production System | Studio Daily All-New Tapeless HD ENG Solution Includes Digital Camcorder, Field Recorder, and Studio Deck Using Flash Memory For Efficient Workflow From Acquisition to Archiving

OT: I Am Bloxorz, Destroyer of Free Time Possibly one of the most addicting games on the internet.

An Open Letter from your Sound Department - A Production Sound Manifesto written by audio professionals "This letter is being written by audio professionals to help directors and producers understand how good sound can be recorded on the set. We want to help you make the best film possible." A MUST READ for any filmmaker. (Was blogged last week in my audio entry.)

Making the Movie: CineGear Expo 2007 Great blog which includes a great CineGear 2007 post.

Codex Digital announces ground-breaking portable field recorder No larger than a toaster, the Codex Portable’s cutting-edge design is packed with powerful, ground-breaking features, and the industry’s most advanced technology – creating brand new opportunities for single and multi-camera production. The Codex Portable can record from virtually every digital camera from HD to 4K. It is quick to deploy – on set, at a sports event or up a mountain – and takes production workflow to unprecedented levels.

IRIDAS Extends RAW Support to ARRI D20 Camera | Studio Daily IRIDAS, who introduced the first live playback of RAW files earlier this year, announced support for real-time de-Bayering of ARRI D20 digital camera footage.

HV20 1920x1080 4.2.2 Uncompressed - Reduser.net Add the incredible quality of HDMI to your computer. Intensity features the latest HDMI technology for the highest quality capture and playback on Windows or Mac OS X computers. Now you can edit using big-screen HDMI televisions and video projectors, or capture uncompressed quality from HDV cameras all for only $249

Cinematech's Scott Kirsner on Alternative Distribution at FreshDV Variety columnist and brains behind Cinematech, writer Scott Kirsner spent some time with the FreshDV team recently and dished on alternative distribution options for indie films and where the market is heading. Great podcast.

David Mullen ASC on Directing Methods at FreshDV "A post by David Mullen over at RedUser.net caught my eye. He’s talking about various organization and directing methods used by some of the directors Mullen has DP’d for." - FresHDV

Download-to-DVD now an option for Apple, CinemaNow, others Commercial video download sites like CinemaNow and the iTunes Store will soon have the option of allowing customers to burn copies of downloaded movies to DVDs that will playback in standard DVD players, thanks to an amendment recently approved by the DVD Copy Control Association.

Labels: blogwad

I'm bringing back the concept of the Blogwad - everything that I either didn't have time to properly address during the week, or that didn't merit it's own post, or that came in on Friday and therefore gets lumped in with the rest of the blogwad.

I've at least broken it down into categories - post software, post hardware, acquisition, cameras, general...and iPhone, since there's so much going on with that.

POST SOFTWARE

IRIDAS Extends DualStream Stereoscopic Technology across Product Line | Studio Daily - very niche, but good to know

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Click-thru Tutorial: Magic Bullet Looks | Studio Daily

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Click-thru Tutorial: GenArts Sapphire | Studio Daily

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Interview with Automatic Duck's Wes Plate

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Getting Intimate with CineForm Intermediate Part 2 (I trust you can follow the links to part 1)

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Creating Node Trees in Color and the special case of interlaced video (Final Cut Studio 2) -good Ken Stone tutorial, thanks to a sharp eyed reader for sending this in.



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POST HARDWARE

MacNN | MacBook Pro 17" Hi-res: Best LCD yet

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MacNN | Overnight 200GB, 250GB laptop drive upgrades - if you don't want to do it yourself...but what about data backup and data integrity and security?

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Matrox MXO 2.0 review

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ACQUISITION

Codex Digital Announces Portable Field Recorder | Studio Daily

9 pounds, carbon fiber, rubber weather seals, HD to 4K, size of a lunch box, powered by standard batteries, can do dual link 4:4:4, has Infiniband, Ethernet data connections, can do 10 gigabit optical I/O, 8 channels of audio, wireless MP4 video output, Red One RAW output (!!!), this sounds incredibly cool, useful, and improved - I should write more on this later...

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short version - 4K capable S.two to be shown at CineGear

Press release:


S.two Corporation’s DFR4K™ Digital Field Recorder announced at NAB 2007 will premier at Cine Gear Expo 2007.

New 4K capable portable recorder will feature in movie making workflow demonstration with the Dalsa Origin 4K camera.

Reno, NV—June 22nd 2007— S.two announces it will demonstrate for the first time its new 4K recording solution at this week’s Cine Gear Expo. The new DFR4K™ features full integration with Dalsa Origin 4K cameras using InfiniBand Fibre connections. The coupled systems will be shown on the S.two stand #T4 at the Wadsworth Theatre and Grounds June 22-23, 2007.

The DFR4K plays Dalsa 4K images in real time up to the maximum supported frame rate of the Dalsa camera. This closely coupled integration with Dalsa Origin cameras adds all the capabilities of the camera plus all the on set convenience, productivity, efficiency and robustness that S.two has shown on many completed feature films, the most noted of late being David Fincher’s ‘Zodiac’.

An Industry “first”, the 24V DC powered DFR4K™ production units allow the camera to be free of location logistics so that true ‘run and gun’ style movie making can be done in 4K resolution.

This debut showing of the DFR4K™ prototype heralds a complete set of DFR4K™ products for all extended resolution cameras and projects allowing a full choice of palettes for the discerning filmmaker. S.two extended definition workflow will be fully adapted for 4K movie making including offline, archiving and post integration. The DFR4K™ extended definition workflow is added to S.two’s HD, HD RGB, 2K and 3K products supporting other leading cameras.

“As the leading uncompressed digital film recording company, S.two is pleased to be able to provide our field portable, field proven, compact DC powered recording solutions to higher resolution users, bringing our un-rivaled on set experience and reliability to an emerging 4K market” states Steve Roach, Vice President, S.two. “The DFR4K™ provides 4K users a proven end to end workflow with the same benefits S.two has supplied on multiple movie projects around the world.”


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CAMERAS

Ikegami and Toshiba Provide Details of Advanced New Tapeless ENG Camera, Editing and Production System | Studio Daily

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Press release:

DALSA and the Digital Cinema Society (http://www.digitalcinemasociety.com/) are co-hosting a 4K presentation at the Cine Gear Expo, the industry's premiere film, video and digital media expo. The event which takes place on Saturday, June 23rd will explore 4K for production, post, and projection. Various samples acquired in 4K RAW with the DALSA Origin camera, edited in HD with Apple's Final Cut Pro, then conformed using EDL into the final project for color correction and creation of the DCP will be projected in 4K via the Sony SXRD Projector.

Following the screening, James Mathers, President and Co-founder of the Digital Cinema Society, will moderate a panel made up of Cinematographer David Stump, ASC; DALSA's Rob Hummel; Sony's Andrew Stucker; Denis Leconte of Pacific Title, as well as Directors Anurag Mehta and Joe DiGennaro.  The presentation is a great opportunity to find out the benefits and challenges of Digital Filmmaking at 4K resolution.

The time slot is 10-10:45 AM on Saturday, the 23rd at the Wadsworth Theatre at Cinegear.  Note:  You must be registered for the Cine Gear Expo - Free of Charge Until June 15: For more information on Cinegear, visit http://www.cinegearexpo.com



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Zacuto to offer turnkey HD camera packages with Redrock M2 adaptors

Press Release:

Zacuto and Redrock Micro today announced Zacuto will begin offering turnkey digital camera solutions equipped with the Redrock M2 adapter.

"We've had great success providing camera packages setup for the Redrock M2 and have gotten to know it very well," said Steve Weiss, Marketing Director at Zacuto. "Offering our customers complete packages including Redrock's M2 made perfect sense to us. We are thrilled to be teaming up with another US manufacturer."

"Zacuto is putting together fantastic camera packages for digital cinematographers," added James Hurd, Chief Revolutionary for Redrock. "We're delighted to be working with a company that maintains a strong reputation for quality, expertise, and customer service."

Zacuto targets their cinema bundles to customers requiring a complete camera package and have a budget ranging from $20,000-$30,000. The Zacuto cinema solution bundles will include a Zacuto-branded Redrock adapter kit, Panasonic HVX-200 camera, Zeiss Nikon-mount lenses, tripod, Zacuto support system, fitted Zacuto case, and other needed accessories.

Redrock's M2 35mm lens adapter is always available directly from Redrock's website, available with other Redrock accessories including the award-winning microFollowFocus, microMattebox, and microRemote. Redrock pricing starts at $995 for complete SD solutions, and $1,295 for HD solutions.

Redrock and Zacuto will both be at Cinegear Expo 2007 in Los Angeles June 22nd and 23rd. Redrock will be in Booth 30 (located near Panasonic and JVC booths). Zacuto will be located at Booth 77.


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GENERAL INFO

Proposed Amendment Would Ban All DVD Copying - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

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Cinematical Seven: Tips for the Indie Filmmaker - Cinematical

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Shooting Animation Verit-Style for Surf's Up | Studio Daily

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HD DVD Production - white paper details on HD DVD structure/setup

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Apple`s Safari for Windows offers simple interface, good performance but not essential

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MacNN | Apple patent: power adapters for security

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Mac OS X 10.4.10 Released

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YouTube to Test Software To Ease Licensing Fights - WSJ.com

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CinemaTech: Could new RealPlayer spark legal action?

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SoftRAID 3.6 doesn't work under 10.4.10 - so don't upgrade yet!:

"SoftRaid 3.6 does not recognize 10.4.10, and will not allow access to preferences for changes or statistics. The only option is to close the software. To paraphrase the error message, it says that I don't have the proper OS installed and that I should install 10.4.X.

I sent an inquiry to SoftRaid, LLC about this and I received an answer back in under 5 minutes as follows:
'Either go back to 10.4.9, wait until 3.6.2 is out, or ask to be on the beta list for 3.6.2. This is caused by Apples hack to make a 10.4.10 possible, which violates their naming standards.'"


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IPHONE

iPhone data plans to surface before launch day - Engadget
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AppleInsider | New iMac, iPhone hints turn up in Apple software update

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AppleInsider | AT&T exec: iPhone data plans to be announced June 29th [Updated]

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AppleInsider | Apple retail stores to close, re-open ahead of iPhone

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AppleInsider | AT&T recommending "Crowd Control Devices" for iPhone launch

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AppleInsider | Apple gets new EU extension; iPhone dock; 7.6 percent Mac share

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Apple - iPhone - A Guided Tour - new on Apple's site.

EDIT 9:45PM - I'm watching this right now on my HDTV via my AppleTV (the file is Apple TV compatible, natch). My garage got burgled today - my trusty mountain bike (Bridgestone MB-1, heavily modified over last 16 years) got stolen, and my car pilfered. Drat it - so much for my comfy neighborhood vibe - alarm to be used EVERY time I leave the house from now on. But anyway, feel better sitting home tonight and locking all the windows, etc. Back on topic - the iPhone has more little features I hadn't noticed before, so that's good. A silent ringer dedicated button. Speaker and microphone both on bottom (odd!). Another speaker up by your ear. Sleep/wake button is nice - can still receive calls and listen to music, but the big screen is off to save battery. The speaker on the bottom is for speakerphone mode - nice! Conference calling is nice and easy - I could never figure it out on any other phone system before without going to the manual. Lots of subtle quality UI touches. The cost is starting to not matter as much seeing all this - this is how it ought to work. If they released a phone with no video, no audio, and just the UI in a smaller form factor..it'd sell just fine. can surf multiple simultaneous pages - keep'em open. Email on iPhone can read/view JPEG, PDF, Word, Excel, RTF, HTML, etc. The keyboard is "smart" they say as it catches typos, etc. They suggest starting with your index finger and then advancing to thumbing - "in about a week you'll be typing faster on the iPhone than on any other phone" - so get ready for a learning curve. Still only being demo'd in vertical keyboard only mode - I've always been wondering when they'd get a wide mode keyboard mode - I have fat thumbs (and all that...oh never mind). Stock widget is exactly like the OS X widget. Google Maps - it doesn't seem to be self-aware of where you are as some has hoped - you have to tell it where you are. Traffic updates can be live - nice! YouTube - yeah, gotta be on WiFi from what they seem to be saying. Has an airplane mode - no WiFi, Bluetooth, or cell signals come out of it in this mode (well thought out!). Set your ringtone - they don't mention loading your own, but part of me wants to use this one (NSFW).

Whew!

That'll hold us for a bit...

-mike

Labels: Apple, blogwad, cameras, Cineform, codec, Color, disk based recording, Final Cut Studio 2, hardware, high end, iPhone, Kirsner, Mac, NLE, plugin, post, post equipment, tutorial, workflow