Notes On Video

Just got back from the Boston Meetup with Philip Bloom. I'm not sure what Philip had thought was going to happen, but it actually turned into quite a Q&A lecture, where he showed some movies and answered a lot of questions. Several attendees also showed their own videos. It was nothing like this video:

When the HDR-AX2000 and HXR-NX5U were announced, Sony quoted the US list prices as being $3,500 and $4,950 respectively. But when they came on sale, retailers were actually offering the HXR-NX5U for $3,999. The comparatively small difference (it's larger in other countries) makes the choice between them difficult because you get a lot of extra features for only $500 more. Now the price of the HDR-AX2000 seems to be drifting down a little, which isn't a surprise as the HDR-FX1000 - the HDV based pre-cursor to the AX2000 - retails for $3,199. Over the past couple of weeks I've seen it on Amazon for about $100 off, but right now, Amazon has a couple of sellers offering the HDR-AX2000 for $250 off the list price: Sony HDR-AX2000 Handycam camcorder

Marshall is known for producing high-quality field monitors. With rugged construction and features like false color and peaking filters, they are pretty much standard equipment for professionals. But monitors like the V-LCD70XP and the V-LCD651ST cost between and $1,150 and $1,600. Now Marshall are entering the budget market with the 7" M-LCD7-HDMI monitor. This is sold as a kit including the monitor, a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, standard HDMI cable, A/V cable, PC cable, battery, AC power supply, stand, hot shoe camera mount adapter, and remote. There's currently three models available that work with either Canon LP-E6 batteries (used in the Canon 7D and 5D Mark II) the Canon BP511 and the Nikon EN-EL3E, and each includes an appropriate after-market battery. What doesn't it have? This model looks suspiciously like a monitor being sold by some other vendors. It's construction and the quality of the screen may not be on the same professional level as some of other Ma...

In addition to Sonystyle.com, you can also now pre-order the Sony NEX-VG10 at B&H. Price is $1,999.99 with an approximate arrival date of September. B&H: Sony NEX-VG10 Interchangeable Lens Handycam

The Boston Final Cut Pro Users Group has been on a bit of a roll lately. While they’ve been holding monthly meetings for several years, things hit a high-point this past month with the Boston SuperMeet two weeks ago, a great “regular” meeting last night, and still to come this week are a Meetup with Philip Bloom on Friday, and two day-long workshops with Philip on Saturday and Sunday. How is BOSFCPUG leader Dan Berube going to top this? Seriously, if you live in Boston and you’re interested in video production and editing – even if you don’t use Final Cut – you should be going to these meetings. And though this weekend’s workshops are full, you can still come to the Meetup on Friday. Last nights meeting was another informative session featuring Patrick Inhofer on the "The Tao of Color Grading,” and Dean Schirm demoing Smoke for Mac . The meeting was held at Autodesk’s Waltham office, which is a really nice space, and there was even free food courtesy of AJA Video Systems ...

More information on Sony's just announced NEX-VG10: Engadget has a bunch of photos of the camera taken at an event in London: Engadget : Sony NEX-VG10 HD camcorder preview Sample video from Sony shot with the camera: DVCulture : Sony’s New NEX-VG10 Footage! Imaging Resource has an overview: Sony NEX-VG10 Overview And Philip Johnston thinks this camera may spell the end of the HD SLR revolution: Sionara DSLR time is running out…! but I think it's a bit soon to make such a prophecy.

It’s only been a few hours, but already the Internets are buzzing about the Sony NEX-VG10 , which was announced this morning: What does it mean to the HD SLR market? How will it perform? What about 24p?! When it comes down to it, the NEX-VG10 has two outstanding features; interchangeable lenses and a larger chip, the latter making for shallower depth-of-field when working at large apertures. But have they messed up a couple of important things? The camera only supports 1080/60i. There's no 24p, and it’s a bit vague on 30p (it appears the video file is 1920 x 1080/60i, but created from a 30p output sensor, so may technically be 30p) The lack of 24p capture might be their biggest mistake; lots of people buying HD SLRs want 24p – along with shallow depth-of-field – to get the “film look.” Sony's second mistake may be in pricing and bundling. Including a good lens makes sense, but means the bundle costs more than twice what the Canon T2i body costs. And people look at t...

Back when they announced the NEX-5 APS camera, Sony talked about an interchangeable lens HD camera using the same chip, but we all thought it would be close to the end of the year before they even announced that. Clearly Sony had other plans, as they have just announced the NEX-VG10, though it won't ship until September. Coupled with Sony's powerful BIONZ processor, the camcorder's ExmorTM APS HD CMOS sensor realizes high resolution video and 14 megapixel still images. Approximately 19.5 times bigger than the standard sensor found in conventional camcorders, the APS HD CMOS sensor enables an extremely shallow depth of field. This allows videographers to achieve cinematic results with stunning background defocus (bokeh). Users can also enjoy DSLR-quality photo capture with features like Auto HDR, Handheld Twilight, and Anti Motion Blur, as well as catch fast action sequences with a continuous burst rate of up to seven fps. It will come with an E-mount 18-200mm lens optimi...

createasphere has been offering some free webinars. The latest is: Life Without Timecode (Audio for HDSLR) Aaron Murphy, Audio Supervisor for shows like Top Chef, and Rode Microphones are going to be on hand. Aaron Murphy has been working in television since 1994 and now trains and hires other crew members to work in reality TV. Rode Microphone's VideoMic is a popular solution as an on-camera mic, but their expertise is not limited to on camera solutions and their perspective will be a valuable addition to this program. Topics to be covered: * Range of solutions based on style of production * Life without timecode * Workflow * Third party solutions When: Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 11:00 AM PST It's free (though limited to 500 people) but they also tend to make the webcasts available the next day. I DO NOT RECOMMEND REGISTERING At the moment I personally do not recommend using their registration system. Firstly, there's no guarantee you will be able to get i...

A documentary about David Lynch is being financed by online contributors, who will receive a limited edition self-portrait by David Lynch in return for donating $50. In addition to receiving Lynch's artwork donors will also receive newsletter updates and access to exclusive footage once filming has begun. This form of fund raising on the web seems to be taking off; the website Kickstarter provides a way for artists to make similar offers without having to create their own website and payment systems. LYNCHthree project NotesOnVideo : Kickstart your project

If you often embed YouTube video's in your blog or web page, you'll appreciate the new Custom Tool they have added to their embed code generator. Now, rather than just pick from the preset sizes, you can enter either a height or width and it will calculate the other value and adjust the object code for you. Great for me, because the width of this blog column is narrower than the current smallest size of 560 x 340. Of course, you could edit the object code yourself, but this tool saves you a minute or two! QuickOnlineTips : YouTube Video Custom Size Box Makes Video Embeds Easier