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Saturday, September 01, 2012

Camera Quick Links

BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera

Black Magic Cinema Camera (BMCC) Beautiful & Befuddling | Vinvent Laforet | Blog
Vincent writes at length about the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera, praising the image; "I think that this camera produces one of the most beautiful images in the cinema/video market," but his biggest concern is the image sensor size, and the fact that it has an EF mount, making it difficult to find good, wide lenses to use with the camera:
The single most “befuddling” decision with this camera is the choice of such a small sensor size.   My guess is that it was one based on economics and how a larger sensor would not only be more expensive to produce, but also the fact that having to process RAW images from a larger sensor at 30fps would also lead to much more expensive internal hardware within the camera.  


Andrew Reid | Twitter
Awesome news from @brawlster the Blackmagic Cinema Camera is now shipping. Reckon I will get mine on the 7th-10th all being well!


Shooting with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera | Rick Young | Vimeo
Rick works through all the details of the camera, including menus and functions. He describes the camera as not being that difficult to use "I didn't look at the manual":
Filmed on location in Perth Australia, this is a real-world report to see just what this camera is capable of. Blackmagic Design have described this as a “cinema camera” - check out the images to see how the camera shapes up in terms of image quality, depth of field, colour rendition and the overall “cinematic” look.

Shooting with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera from Rick Young on Vimeo.


Is raw on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera worth it? Dispelling the myths
| Andrew Reid | EOSHD
Andrew explains why you shouldn't fear RAW:
What I don’t understand is why people want to enable ProRes on the camera when they can have ProRes later and delete the raw masters, or even 80Mbit H.264 at 2.5K resolution after just a few hours of transcoding.

First Hands on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera – Test Diary | Frank Glencairn | Blog
Frank continues his diary of experiences with the Blackmagic camera. Note that on Day 4 he shot some stuff with the BDCC and the Sony NEX-FS100:
Of course I could have gone way higher with the ISO on the FS100, but why compare ISO 16000 to ISO 800?Regarding the speed of the camera, the FS100 wins hands down because of way higher usable ISO. It’s the queen of the night, period.But the BMC gets a way nicer image out of 800 ISO, than the FS100.

Canon C100

Dan Carr | Twitter
Confirmed to me directly by Canon, the Hdmi output on the C100 IS 8-bit 4:2:2 uncompressed. There have been some confusions our there.


Canon Expands Cinema EOS Lineup With New C100 | Dan Carr
| Pro Video Coalition
Dan offers his thoughts on the C100...interesting that he likes the new placement of the LCD:
From an ergonomic standpoint Canon have kept things fairly similar to their other cameras and maintained things like the built in ND filters and removable side handle.  My biggest complaint about the C300’s physical design was the inclusion of the LCD screen as part of the removable top handle and this problem has been remedied by moving the screen to the back of the camera instead.

Canon C300

Philip Bloom | Twitter
Just hear from source that hardest HD channel in the world to please, SKY HD have approved the c300 for full acquisition if “DP is good!”


Canon Cinema C300 Night Shoot Collaboration | Rick Macomber
| Macomber Productions
Rick blogs about the latest short film he shot with the Canon C300, something that he describes as "an exercise in storytelling by night light":
I’m a big advocate of the monopod vs handheld unless there’s constant moving around and bending down. I like the look of a monopod because you can get a slow fluid movement while stationary, but at the same time it takes that shake out of the shot. And I was able to pull off my favorite trick: collapsing the monopod leg and using it as a counterbalance which can add somewhat of a glidecam feel to a shot. Of course this will only work with light cameras like the C300 or DSLRs.

Others

What new camera should I buy? | Matt Allard | DSLR News Shooter
The camera to buy is the one you like using, the one you’re comfortable with and the one that is in your budget. Go with what YOU want to buy and not what someone else thinks you should get. Don’t listen to all the bloggers and guys on Twitter trying to tell you what’s right. Make your own educated decision.


Sony Action Cam | Jeremy Stamas | Camcorderinfo
A look at the features, but not really a hands-on review of Sony's new Action Cam:
In the end, nitpicking about the price isn’t important. The Action Cam is priced competitively, period. And this puts it in a very good position to challenge the GoPro in the wearable market. Like we said, the Action Cam adds little to this genre that’s new, but that won’t matter unless GoPro or Contour or some other company has a truly revolutionary product in the works.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Random Thoughts

I'm dropping my daughter off at College today. Why am I paying for someone else to take a bunch of classes I'd like to take?

Twice I've watched webinars on Adobe Speedgrade, and I still don't have a clue how to do the basics in the program. That either says something about webinars, or about Speedgrade. Or maybe my attention span.

The more intrigued I become by the Canon C100, the more I wonder; didn't you say you couldn't afford the Sony NEX-FS700?

It's two days after appealing the take down notice I got from YouTube, and I haven't heard a peep from them, not even acknowledging the appeal, or explaining what the next step in the process is.

When I went to College it just seemed like another thing I was expected to do, and I didn't really care about any of it. Now it seems like an exciting, interesting place. Of course, now I'd take completely different classes...why did I ever think I should do a Bachelor of Engineering?

Something about the Sony Action Cam is appealing to me; or should I wait for the iPhone 5?

First the Sony NEX-VG50, then the Canon C100, and rumors of at least two more camera announcements by the end of the year? I'm not sure I can handle much more of this.

If you find yourself next to the College President at a cocktail party, it's probably a good idea to have first thought of something intelligent to say. And if you haven't, give him the name of someone else's kid.

I only really realized how cheap USB flash drives have become after seeing them in Target.

Avoid Target during the back-to-school week(s)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Quick Links

Lasst week I interviewed Tim Mangini for Filmmaker Magazine. Tim is the Director of Broadcast for WGBH's Frontline, and he is an incredible source of information. I came away with so much that, even with heavy editing, we ended up posting it in two parts, with a side bar that explains Frontline's typical production schedule:

FRONTLINE’S PRODUCTION SCHEDULE | Filmmaker Magazine
Episodes of Frontline have an average eight-to-twelve month gestation period from the time they are awarded to the time they go to air. “We might have some programs that go two or five years, and we have some programs that are done in a matter of weeks, but the average is eight to 12 months” explains Tim Mangini, Frontline’s Director of Broadcast.

DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION AT FRONTLINE: INTERVIEW WITH TIM MANGINI, PART 1 | Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker: So you don’t recommend cameras?
Mangini: Along the way we’ve certainly learned a lot about different types of cameras, and what they do and what they don’t do well. It’s hard for us to put together a set of cameras that you can or cannot use, but we do have leanings.

DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION AT FRONTLINE: INTERVIEW WITH TIM MANGINI PART 2 | Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker: Do you feel like you’re now moving away from DSLRs at Frontline?
Mangini: When Canon made the 5D they added the video capability almost as an afterthought. It was not, “Hey, let’s revolutionize filmmaking.” Well little did they know, they revolutionized filmmaking.


Ikan D5 Field Monitor Review | Rick Macomber | Vimeo
Rick has produced a very detailed review of this monitor:
Ikan's new D5 field monitor has a 5.6 inch IPS panel with 1280 x 800 HD resolution. It's amazing how fast technology is moving forward. HDMI and HD SDI with loop through capability seems commonplace now compared to just a couple of years ago. The HDMI input on this monitor is also complimented by a 3G-SDI input/output and an audio out jack for headphones. There are four 1/4 20 metal mounting threads on this piece of kit, one on each side for adding accessories or for mounting on an articulating arm.


REACTIONS TO THE CANON C100 | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine
DP's Rick Macomber and Paul Antico give their opinions of the Canon C100:
“I can’t wait to compare images with the C300 recording to both the SD cards using the AVCHD codec AND recording uncompressed HD to an external recorder. That will be a deciding factor for me. The money I’d save on the C300 I would spend on an external recorder and mounting rig if the image quality shows noticeable improvement."


Shooting Narrative Scenes with Two Cameras | RON DAWSON | Dare Dreamer
Shot lists. You should be using a shot list anyway, but it becomes even more important when shooting with two cameras. As much as possible, determine in advance what kind of lenses, framing and movement for each camera on your list.


The Stacking Myth | Ethan Winer | Audio Undone
Interesting article that explains why multiple audio tracks don't add to the noise level of your final track:
So when you combine them cleanly in a mixer, the relative distortion for each track remains the same. Thus, there is no “stacking” accumulation for distortion either. If you record a DI bass track through a preamp having 1 percent distortion on one track and then record a grand piano through the same preamp to another track, the mixed result will have the same 1 percent distortion from each instrument.


Sony Action Cam Tracks Down Go Pro Hero: The First Hands on Review
|  Matt Sweetwood | Unique Photo
A review of the new action cam from Sony, which is $198 'plain', and $268 with Wi-Fi:
Although small, this camera is no light-weight in terms of performance. Video rates include:  HQ 1080/30p, STD 720/30p, a surprisingly high quality VGA 480/30p, SLOW 720/60p and a SLOW 720/120p, the latter allowing for super-slow motion playback.  Throw in a Zeiss lens, image stabilization, 3+ hour battery life, a micro-SD memory card slot and a terrific Sony image processor and you have the world’s new leader in POV action video cameras


KineRAW Super 35mm 2K Camera Pre-Orders Have Begun, Prices Starting Under $7,000 | Joe Marine | No Film School
The Chinese camera that's compared to the Sony PMW-F3:
It’s looking like Kinefinity is going with a tiered structure for camera pricing, and the base package with HDMI only and without a lens mount starts at about $6300. For around $400 more, you can add HD-SDI which will give you monitoring only in 1080p for 3G HD-SDI and 720p in standard HD-SDI. Since this is a mirrorless camera which features a back PL mount just like the Sony F3, almost any lens in existence is adaptable, but the mount will need to be designed and manufactured.


Making Samsara, a Stunning Film That Puts Your Facebook Photos to Shame
| Lewis Wallace | Wired
I think a group of us is going to see this next week....might be interesting:
They visited 25 countries in their continent-hopping quest for astonishing visuals, at one point braving clouds of sulfuric acid vapor alongside workers in a dangerous sulfur mine. Then they spent another year and a half in post-production, editing down the 20 hours of footage they gathered into a 102-minute film that Fricke calls a “guided meditation on the themes of birth, death and rebirth.”


Baselight for Avid | Filmlight
Baselight has been available for Final Cut Pro 7, now there's an Avid version (and a 14-day free trial.) Available for $995:
The Baselight effect plugin can be applied to any or all clips in your timeline allowing you to add multiple grading layers to each shot. Each layer can act either as an overall primary colour correction or as a secondary grade restricting the effect to selected parts of the image. There is no limit to the number of layers you can 'stack' allowing you to build up complex corrections to obtain the exact look you require.


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Oh my! - Canon announces the C100

Canon has gone and announced the baby brother to the C300, the C100:
The Canon EOS C100 EF Cinema Camcorder (Body Only) inherits the design concept of the EOS C300, which put DSLR quality video in a groundbreaking form factor with the key features of a more traditional video camera. The C100 has been optimized for run-and-gun and one-man-band style shooting, a specialty of event videographers, documentarians and independent filmmakers. This camera is about 15% smaller than the C300, and yet its 1080p image will hold-up nicely beside that of the more expensive camera. The C100 even has a few features not found in the C300, like One Shot AF, Push Auto Iris, a built-in microphone and non-compression HDMI out with superimposed timecode and 2:3 pull down marker.

With built-in ND and half the price of the C300 (estimated $8,000) it will make an interesting competitor to the Sony NEX-FS700. I think this will be very popular; there are a lot of people that really wanted a C300 but had a hard time with the $16,000 price.

I've only had time to scan the info so far, but the only real downside to me - and it's not really a big one - seems to be the AVCHD compression format, and I don't think that would give many people pause, particularly as it outputs uncompressed video...

It doesn't have the high-frame rate of the Sony NEX-FS700, but I could live with that too...

B & H has a page up, but no price or ordering option yet: Canon C100


C100 | Canon Europe

The C100 fuses Canon’s proven video technology and lens heritage with the creativity of the Cinema EOS System. As an EF mount camera the EOS C100 accepts Canon's EF and EF-S lenses for DSLRs, plus the EF mount Cinema Lenses to provide videographers with a wide choice of creative shooting options.


Canon unveils EOS C100 | Canon Europe News
A new graphical user interface enables videographers to conveniently adjust standard camera settings using the LCD screen. Operators can fine-tune Gamma settings, with the camera displaying both ‘before’ and ‘after’ curves on-screen, while White Balance settings can be altered using the camera’s joystick lever, with a colour/plane graphic displaying the amount of compensation being applied in real time. Additionally, support for continuous, automatic focus and iris adjustment will be added by a firmware update in 2013, providing fast, smooth performance when used with specified models in Canon’s range of EF Stepper Motor (STM) lenses.


Canon EOS C100 announced – finally, the Sony FS100 gets a real competitor
| Nino Lietner | NinoFilm
While it shares much with the C300, it features the AVCHD codec instead of the add-on monitor/XLR part of the C300, as well as a flip-out screen at the back of the camera – much like we have grown accustomed to from other Canon DSLR cameras like the 60D or 650D.


Canon C100 leads to murky future for mid- to upper-range Video HDSLRs
| Vincent Laforet
I think this camera will likely put a noticeable dent in the use of mid- to upper- range HDSLRs for video production such as the Canon 5D MKIII and Canon EOS 1DX


Canon launch $8000 Cinema EOS C100 | Andrew Redi | EOSHD
...the major compromise is the codec which is now AVCHD at 24Mbit 4-2-0.
However HDMI is uncompressed so for effectively another $300 you can record broadcast standard material to a Blackmagic HyperDeck Shuttle in ProRes.
I really like the C100 at first glance. But will it be enough to compete with the FS700?


Canon C100 – Canon’s cinema camera for indie shooters | Cinema 5D
Basically it's a compact large sensor cinema camera just like the C300, but it lacks some of the C300's features.
The C300 is a stunning camera. Although there are other cameras that have a higher bit depth and codec quality, the C300 is lowligt strong and produces a very nice and sharp picture that competes with higher end cinema cameras.


Canon announces new Canon EOS C100 – the baby brother to the Canon EOS C300 and the Canon EOS C500 | Planet 5D
While I agree this is the lowest price of the EOS
line, many will quibble with the idea that this is priced for the beginning filmmaker. It very well could be a great price for some wedding filmmakers or schools that are looking to have low-priced cameras for their students. But then again, the HDSLRs are also in that category.


CANON INC. : Canon U.S.A. Adds Two New Cameras to the Cinema EOS System: the EOS C500 4K Digital Cinema Camera and the EOS C100 Digital Video Camera
| 4 Traders
Like its C300 sibling, the EOS C100 employs Canon's uniquely designed Super 35mm 16:9 CMOS sensor that captures individual R, G, and B channels for each full HD 1920 x 1080 frame. This high-sensitivity CMOS sensor provides creative depth of field capabilities for an excellent "bokeh" effect, and provides an ISO range of from 320 to 20,000, enabling the capture of images in low light with minimal picture noise.

YouTube says I've been bad....

YouTube thinks I've posted music illegally, which is ironic because I have; just not the video that they think.

But a bit of history first. A few years back I shot some video at a James Blunt concert. I posted it, and it got a few hits (nothing spectacular) and his label immediately protested it and had it taken down. Back then YouTube just sent you a notice it had been removed and told you not to do it again.

Actually, it was good that they did, because the video was appalling bad - think cell phone at a concert quality -  and it's removal saves me the embarrassment of having to admit I actually attended a James Blunt concert. (In my defense, it was a free concert with a bunch of acts, and I didn't go to see him - honest.)

But I digress.

The video that they are all upset about this time has some music taken from the Apple Final Cut Pro 7 sound library. Now it's my understanding that this music comes with permission to use it, providing you weren't repackaging it in another music library. [Editors note: If you know different, please email us!]

And oddly enough, I specifically used that music - rather than some 'found sound' I had of people playing covers of other songs - because I wanted to make something that was 'kosher.'

But it appears that either I am wrong, or have been mislead, as today - two years after it was posted - I got the following notice:

Your video may have content that is owned or licensed by Music Video Distributors. As a result, the video has been blocked on YouTube.
This claim is penalizing your account status. Visit your Copyright Notice page for more details on the policy applied to your video.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team


Cue righteous indignation and high dudgeon...

I have appealed the suspension (see steps below) and I also went and found the site of "Music Video Distributors" and sent them the following, carefully worded email:
Hi,
 I just received a take down notice on YouTube that Music Video Distributors claims the license on some music that was used in a video.
This music came from a library of music that came with Final Cut Pro 7 that I understood to be usable without a license fee provided it was not resold as part of a music library.
Is this not correct? What is the licensing arrangement that you have, or had with Apple?
Thank you.

I will post more...if I hear more.

APPEALING YOUTUBE'S COPYRIGHT THING

For those that haven't had the joy of having something questioned by YouTube, these are the current steps you take when you get the above notice.

1. Click on the link labelled "Copyright notice page" in the email. This brings you to the following screen.


2. At this Copyright Notice screen you can either acknowledge that you've been a bad boy and delete the video or replace the audio with music from YouTube's music library. OR, you can click on "I believe this copyright claim is not valid," which is what I did. Then you get this screen:



3. This screen lets you choose why you think you have been wronged - or are in the right. I particularly enjoy the choices 'I'm not selling the video or making any money from it' and 'I gave credit in the video.' It's like a multiple choice test, and surely they come back with 'Wrong Guess" if you choose those; but I didn't try them, even out of curiosity. If anyone has, please let me know what's behind those doors...

I chose "I have a license or written permission from the proper rights holder to use this material" which I think is closest to what I think the situation is. This brings you to the next screen:



4. Here you say "Yes, I'm sure of it," - just incase you were maybe guessing? This then brings you to the next screen, where fortunately you get a chance to explain yourself:


5. This is what I wrote for my explanation:
I own a copy of Final Cut Pro 7, which contains a library of licensed music. It was my understanding that this music could be used in productions (such as this one) provided you weren't reselling or creating some repackaging of the music in the library (which this clip does not do.)
Hmm..thinking about it now, I probably could have worded that better.

6. Finally, you put in your name, click continue, and you get a dialog box saying "Are you sure you want to dispute this claim" - because clearly they don't think you should be. I was really starting to think I needed a lawyer by my side reviewing everything.





Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Quick Links


Canon EF Mounts For All | Matthew Duclos | Circle of Confusion
Matthew looks at the Canon EF mount, and it's use by more camera manufacturers, including RED and Blackmagic Design:
A fine tool for still photography, the Canon EF mount is a bastard child to it’s cinematic parents. The resolution of the focus control is determined by the lens motors and other components that have nothing to do with the camera. The aperture can only be adjusted in 1/4 stop increments and cannot be pulled smooth for transition shots. Nothing devastating, but certainly isn’t helping the fight for the Canon EF mount to be the go-to motion picture lens mount.


BIRTV 2012: GL OPTICS ZEISS ZE CINEMA LENS CONVERSIONS FOR EOS MOUNT
| Dan Chung | DSLR News Shooter
A Chinese firm that converts Zeiss still photo lenses into cine style lenses for a reasonable fee, but you have to send them to China for the conversion:
Chinese firm GL Optics is going one further and adding a proper mechanical aperture to ZE mount lenses – as well as adding full cinema style modification with gearings, non-rotating lens front. This way you can have your cake and eat it – correct way round focus AND and manual aperture. The only other people I know who do this to EOS fitting lenses in the Japanese firm Technical Farm who do something similar to Canon zooms.


“In Rod We Trust” -My take on Zacuto’s “Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012″ | Nino Lietner | Nino Film
Having said that, a lot of factors always add a lot of uncertainty. The skills of a particular DP make a hell of a lot of difference in these tests and can make a camera look really good or not-so-nice. For instance, I think the F65 and the C300 could have fared much better if handled differently.


Audio Editing for Video Editors, with Kanen Flowers | Adobe
A free webinar this Thursday, August 30, 201210:00 AM - 11:00 AM US/Pacific
Presenter Bio: Kanen Flowers is the troublemaker behind Scruffy.TV and the host of popular podcasts That Post Show and Scruffy Thinking. He is also the writer & creative director of That Media Show as well as the web-series, HERO PUNK. Kanen has written code and founded tech companies. 


Choosing a Broll Cam, 5D2 or Nex5n | Sam Morgan Moore | Blog
Conclusion. The FS100 is a different class of camera from both the 5d2 and Nex5n.The Nex5n seems to come a clear second.One can only wonder if my Nikkor lens is a lot softer at 70 than 35.


Ep. 10 - Convergence with Carl Olson | Need Creative Podcast
In this 10th episode of the NeedCreative Podcast, your co-hosts Paul Antico and Jason Sidelinger were joined by Special Guest via Skype, Carl Olson of the Digital Film.TV Digital Convergence Podcast, to discuss the past week's events in indie filmmaking and technology, and to discuss where the indie "film" industry is going.


After Effects Roundup | Rich Young | ProVideoCoalition
A weekly woundup of After Effects tutorials and news:
Elementary by Kevin Schires is a new AE Script that creates shadows, reflections, and more for Element 3D, Particular, Plexus and other 3D plug-ins with 3D layers. If you prefer to do it manually, Peder Norby recommended Andrew Kramer’s tutorial 108. Particle Shadows for creating shadows for Element 3D


TEMPTATION: Abandoning Apple 'Blessed' GPUs for faster 'Divergent' GPUswith CUDA and OpenCL support | Bare Feats
More benchmarks; this time using 'non-standard' GPU's to accelerate Adobe software:
The gains of the 'atypical' GPUs over 'normal' Apple GPUs depend upon the pro app and function within the pro app. For example, if you are using After Effects CS6 to render Ray-traced 3D animations, there is much to be gained by switching to a CUDA compatible NVIDIA GPU. However, if you are rendering an OpenCL effect like Iris Blur in Photoshop CS6, you won't gain any speed over a Radeon HD 5870.


Super Hi-Vision 8K TV standard approved by UN agency | BBC
A new high-resolution television format has been approved by the UN's communication standards setting agency.Broadcasts in 8K will offer a resolution of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels - roughly the equivalent of a 32 megapixel photo.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Quick Links

First Hands on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera – Test Diary | Frank Glencairn | Blog
Frank is doing a daily blog of his experiences with the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera. First the unboxing, and now a low-light test:
DAY 2 – Breaking out the big gunsAs you might know, I have a nice set of vintage (late 1960s) Zeiss primes.I think they complement the BMCC very well, if you are out for a organic look. Here is a quick and dirty lowlight test between two thunderstorms.800 ISO on a Tokina 12-24 f4 at 12mm (hence the muddy edges).


5D Mark III or Blackmagic Cinema Camera? | Andrew Reid | EOSHD
Andrew Reid explains why the BDCC is a better choice than the Canon 5D; though I think it's still a little too soon to make a real pick:
Canon had a good run with the 5D Mark III but now what they need is a C100 for around $4000. Though I have never felt at a disadvantage with the 1.86x crop sensor on a GH2 over the FS100′s 1.5x, I am sure a Super 35mm C100 will look better to many people on paper than a 2.3x crop Blackmagic if the image quality and price is pretty equal.


More professional Panasonic GH3 with 80Mbit codec and preview of coming attractions | Andrew Reid | EOSHD
Andrew also looks at rumors of the Panasonic GH3:
The GH3 is going to be more professional this time around according to my source in Asia. It is moving up the line and will be more expensive as a result.The camera has a high bitrate mode of around 70-80Mbit. Panasonic have decided to put the features we need in the box rather than risk unreliability with a third party hack. This is a very good move.


Storytelling through Composition | Shane Hurlbut | Hurlblog
Many of you have expressed an interest in composition: what makes a good frame or a bad one. There are a few classic frames that I customize to give them flare. I think this will help all of you find your compositional voice. Remember that the best creative inspiration can come from not always following the rules.


In praise of bokeh: the dilemmas of TV filming | Paul Mason | BBC
A report on shooting a documentary with the Sony NEX-FS100:
Second - and this may be purely psychological, and may not last - we were able to run interview clips for longer because the picture, and the face, is more interesting. A head shot in an interview no longer felt like a dead shot.


Lyric-Lapse Music Video That Required 6 Hours of Work for Every 3 Seconds | Michael Zhang  | Peta Pixel
Interesting visual effect, though it gets a little bit exhausting after a while...
The magnitude of the effort is what’s truly impressive. The creators spent six months shooting the photos across two states. Every 3-4 seconds seen in the video required about 6-8 hours of work to create.


High Frame Rate Video Playback | Red
RED explains why you want to shoot and playback at high frame rates:
HFR can also make the viewing experience more enjoyable by reducing eye-strain and fatigue. Since our visual system is designed to process continuous imagery, discrete footage can sometimes be tiring during extended viewing — just as with flickering from CRT monitors or fluorescent lights. With 3D in particular, viewing fatigue is often cited as one of the biggest impediments to more widespread adoption.


Jag35 Version 2 Products | Jag35
Jag 35 says they have upgraded all their products and are having a sale (no affiliation):
Jag35 has upgraded all of our products, and we are giving users a chance to get their hands on these new products at the price of the current Version 1 products, before they go up to retail price on Sept 15. Build up your very own camera setup with the Jag35 Baseplate, the perfect starting point for building a rig to fit your needs, or get your hands on the new sturdier Full Shoulder Rig, for a discounted introductory price. Don’t let this opportunity pass you buy, get your hands on the gear that will let you shoot the best cinematic images and make the best movies. But hurry, because by Sept 15, these products will go up to their permanent retail price.


First the Camera, Then Lights, Action | Marshall Heyman | Wall Street Journal
Articles about Canon's latest film making venture. I'm not sure I really get the 'hook' of this project; do I really care if person A took a picture and then person B made a movie about it?
This year, Canon is expanding the program, now called "Project Imaginat10n." Ten films will be produced via a similar process. Five of them will be directed by already selected notables: actress Eva Longoria, actor Jamie Foxx, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, musician James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter.


Mystery of Neil Armstrong's missing 'a' | New Zealand Herald
Peter Shann Ford, an Australian computer programmer, ran a software analysis looking at sound waves and found a wave that would have been the missing "a." It lasted 35 milliseconds, much too quick to be heard. The Smithsonian's space curator, Roger Launius, looked at the evidence and found it convincing.


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Quick Links

Why is the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Such a Big Deal? | Joe Marine
| No Film School
If you’re shooting in RAW mode, you have even more freedom. The big reason this camera is so special at this price point is because it lets you focus on storytelling. You’re not compensating for the camera, you’re actually using the camera to push you to tell the story in a more creative way.


Lan Bui ‏@lanbui | Twitter
New @zacuto product coming soon... a proper iPhone case and system. Hey, stop photo bombing @philipbloom http://instagr.am/p/OxbC35MDLM/


Final Cut Pro X Tutorial Pt. 30 - Sound Effects Library | Dan Allen | YouTube
In this HD Voice tutorial for Apple Final Cut Pro 10 we learn about the Final Cut Pro Sound Effects Library which is available under the meny 'Final Cut Pro' - 'Download Additional Content' - We can then access it via the audio library, by either searching or using the sub-folders, then simply dragging and dropping into the timeline / storyline ADDITIONAL NOTE: be sure to turn off 'Copy imported files to FCPX Event' by right clicking in the event library and unchecking it from the 'import'


SmartGrips the Hand Grip with a Brain for Sony FS100, FS700, F3 and F65 Cameras | Cinescopophilia
The SmartGrips camera hand grips are individually hand carved out of solid block walnut and the buttons made out of tropical ironwood. Each SmartGrips hand grip has a brain in the handle providing easy menu activation under your thumb for your Sony FS100, FS700, F65, and F3 cameras.


Spike Lee’s Tips For Making Controversial Films & Dealing With Haters
| Dropping Knowledge | WhatsTrending
“If you want to be an artist, you have to have a tough skin,” Lee says. “You have to have an inner circle of peers…who — you respect their opinion and who respect you and know that they can tell you something honestly.”
He goes on to emphasize the importance of sorting out the positive criticism that can advance your work from the negative criticism that’s only trying to bring you down.


My First Job With Tony Scott | John David Miller | Cinematography
Certainly much of my work ethic is because of Tony and his army. Tony was a better leader than he was a director. I have never been around anyone who could get people to give more than what they thought they had to give than Tony Scott; he did it effortlessly. Tony was a true General that lead his army from the front lines.


The Future According To Films - INFOGRAPHIC | Tremulant Design
My first attempt at an infographic, to show a timeline of what films would have us believe is going to happen in the future


Turn Off the Phone (and the Tension) | JENNA WORTHAM | New York Times
My revelation — relearning the beauty of living in the moment, devoid of any digital link — may seem silly to people who are less attached to their devices. But for many people, smartphones and social networks have become lifelines — appendages that they are rarely without. As such, they can sway our moods, decisions and feelings.


New HD Moon Landing - Apollo Video Cameras Explained | YouTube