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Sunday, May 13, 2012

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SpeedGrade Tutorials | Tutorials | Adobe TV
A selection of tutorials on SpeedGrade at Adobe's website, including:
Exporting to SpeedGrade
Creative Cloud and CS6 Tour for Video Professionals
Introduction to SpeedGrade
Rendering With SpeedGrade CS6
Secondary Color Correction in SpeedGrade CS6
What's New in SpeedGrade CS6


Premiere Pro CS6 - easy transition | Andy Field | LAFCPUG
In this forum post Andy lists the things he likes about switching from Final Cut Pro 7 to Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, which he describes as an "extraordinarily easy transition," with only one drawback:
this is the biggest difference -- you get the time hit on ingest with FCP7 - transcoding and re-wrapping video

with PP - you get the time hit on export - it doesn't use render files (if you chose to render in timeline - but it's not necessary) it basically transcodes everything on export to the format you want....this takes much more time than you are used to in FCP 7


GPU (CUDA, OpenGL) features in After Effects CS6 | Todd Kopriva | Adobe
More information on GPU acceleration in After Effects:
The GPU features in After Effects CS6 can be thought of in three categories:

GPU-accelerated ray-traced 3D renderer (CUDA on specific graphics cards)
Fast Draft mode, Hardware BlitPipe, and GPU acceleration of Cartoon effect (OpenGL with somewhat stringent requirements)
OpenGL swap buffer (OpenGL with looser requirements)


Camera Movement Then And Now | Mike Sutton | Wide Open Camera
Mike looks at how it's easier - and cheaper - now to accomplish different kinds of camera moves:
A Steadicam rig back in 1997 was $60,000 +. A Steadicam now a days is as little as $599. It was only the past four years that cameras like the 5D MKII allowed for very light weight rigs like the Glidecam 1000-4000HD series to become viable options for smooth run and gun shooting.


Any truly color accurate LED panels out there? | Guy Holt | Cinematography.com
A forum post from last year provides an interesting perspective on color accuracy in LED panels. The LED market is changing rapidly and there have been some improvements over the past year, but this is definitely something to keep in mind:
No, I don’t know of a LED Fixture using Phosphor White LEDs that is able to render color accurately. The problem is that, given the discontinuous nature of their spectral output, they simply are not capable of rendering colors accurately – that includes the Litepanels. If you compare the spectral power distribution graphs of LEDs below to that of a Tungsten source you can see why.


Music and Filmmaking’s Triangle of Power | Daniel McCarthy | Dare Dreamer
In this guest blog post by Daniel McCarthy, CEO of The Music Bed, Daniel argues that filmmakers - wedding filmmakers in particular - should be licensing music:
That triangle is the direct effect of the license. However, the indirect effect is really hard to quantify. When everyone is playing by the rules, it allows for everyone to talk freely and share freely. From a practical standpoint that means the filmmaker can now mention the artist in social posts and on blog posts, etc. And the artist can return the favor by sharing the films with their fans and followers.


Trees n' Stuff | Dan I | Vimeo
Nice little piece shot with the Sony NEX-FS100 at the Rutgers Conservatory nature park:
Camera: FS100
Lenses: SEL16mm w/ Fisheye adapter, Tamron 28-70 f2.8
Macro Color Grading: MB Looks


Once More For Safety: Why You Should Always Do Two Takes (At Least) | John Ott | Making The Movie
An interesting rumination on doing one more take, even if the first one was perfect.

This is probably good advice with professional actors; but if you're shooting non-professional talent - especially people who are nervous or uncomfortable in front of the camera - I rarely find that they improve as they do more takes:
What occurred to me recently is that the best directors don't just demand multiple takes from actors, they demand it from everyone involved in the film. Composers, editors, costume designers, cinematographers -- everyone. I don't think this is an accident, and it probably wasn't far from the joke Martin Scorsese made in that credit card commercial... after looking at the lackluster pictures from his nephew's birthday party he calls up and asks, "Hey Timmy, how would you like to turn five again?"


Apple, the Other Cult in Hollywood | Peter Burrows and Andy Fixmer | Business Week
Apple get's a lot of free product placement it seems:
The company’s gadgets were discussed or shown 891 times on TV in 2011, up from 613 in 2009, according to researcher Nielsen (NLSN). In the same year, iDevices appeared in more than 40 percent of the movies that topped the weekly box office, according to Brandchannel, which tracks product appearances. That’s nearly twice the penetration of the next most common brands in Hollywood—Dell (DELL), Chevy (GM), and Ford (F).


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