Notes On Video

Zacuto EVF Zacuto continues to release information about their upcoming EVF in dribs and drabs. The Zacuto EVF is a 3.2” high resolution monitor that is used in conjunction with the optical Z-Finder models. The EVF is compatible with all cameras with an HDMI output. It will be available in three models; two include just the LCD panel, but don't include an optical viewfinder; you add-on a Z-Finder Pro or Jr. EVF Snap $675 a small onboard monitor. EVF Flip-Up $775  adds a Z-Finder frame built into the unit that can be flipped open to 180 degrees. Z-Finder EVF $805  EVF Snap model and an optical viewfinder. All EVF’s include a standard hotshoe EVF mount, HDMI cable, rechargeable battery, battery charger, lens cloth and protection case. Additional mounts will be available for purchase; the mount needed will depend on your shooting needs. Zacuto : Z-Finder EVF DIY Optical Viewfinder Instructables has a tutorial on creating an optical viewfinder for your SLR us...

3D Blu-ray popular in Japan and growing in the UK Japanese research firm BCN reports 57% of all Blu-ray units sold before Christmas were 3D-enabled. Meanwhile Sky UK's 3D channel has more than 70,000 subscribers and some 140,000 British homes are equipped with 3D TV’s. Blu-ray Disc Reporter :  Blu-ray 3D demand booms in Japan Attaching the Panasonic VW-CLT1 3D Conversion Lens Colin Barrett at SimplyDV has put together a video that shows the process of attaching the VW-CLT1 3D conversion lens to the Panasonic HDC-TM900 and aligning it . This involves first screwing the attachment to the front of the camera, and then manually adjusting the lens alignment; which he demonstrates in the video. It's not terribly complex, but it does take a few moments. Panasonic VW-CLT1 Colin seems to think that the optional 3D converter is a great way to get your feet wet in 3D without having to dive in to a full 3D camera (like the Sony HDR-TD10 or JVC GS-TD1 .) Admittedly, you c...

Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Oliver Peters reviews  DaVinci Resolve for the Mac for Videography ; Whether or not the toolset is to your liking is strictly a matter of taste. I wish it had a plug-in architecture, as some of the more exotic results you can get by using filter effects in Apple Color or a with a filter like Red Giant Magic Bullet Looks just aren't available. There is a built-in blur tool, but it isn't as smooth nor achieves as extreme of a blur as many other types of Gaussian blur filters. Videography :  Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve for the Mac The note about blur caught my attention, because I had just read the second post in  Patrick Inhofer's series on his experience learning Resolve (coming from an Apple Color background) and one of the things he says is: I’ve done (what I consider to be) lots of great work in Apple Color , and I love working with diffusion – but these blurs are just silky. There’s a quality that’s hard define. But having ...

Sony PMW-F3 The first Sony PMW-FF3 cameras have reportedly arrived in the US for QA and will ship soon. Delay for Canon EOS to Micro 4/3 adaptor FreshDV reports that the $700 adaptor that Birger Engineering is developing that will provide electronic aperture control of Canon EOS lenses on the AG-AF100 has been delayed. It was to ship in mid-February, but it is now expected at NAB in March. The article also talks about manual solutions for aperture control with EOS lenses. FreshDV :  Birger Canon mount for AF100 delayed till NAB Helmet Cam StillMotionBlog explains the construction of a helmet cam used to shoot an athlete's point-of-view for an open to an upcoming NFL event. They ended up using a skate helmet, a Canon T2i, a 15mm fisheye lens and a wireless transmitter. StillMotionBlog : Constructing the Helmet Cam DIY DSLR Adjustable Shoulder Rig The DVRebellion has posted a video on how to make a DIY shoulder rig for a DSLR. It cost ~$80, and they list all...

Microsoft to the rescue for H.264 on Chrome! Google created a stir by announcing that they were no longer going to support H.264 in Chrome . Now comes Microsoft to the rescue with a plug-in for Google Chrome on Windows to provide support for H.264. Dean Hachamovitch , Corporate Vice President, Internet Explorer has posted a fairly lengthy blog post explaining why they are doing this, and also their ongoing support for H.264. One interesting factoid; at the very end is a note that "Microsoft pays into MPEG-LA about twice as much as it receives back for rights to H.264." IEBlog :  HTML5 and Web Video: Questions for the Industry from the Community NotesOnVideo :  Google to drop H.264 support from Chrome Marshall V-LCD70XP-HDMIPT Marshall Electronics says that it's 7" monitor, the V-LCD70XP-HDMIPT is the World's 1st camera-top LCD monitor with integrated HDMI Loop-Through. It ships next week. MarshallMonitors :  V-LCD70XP-HDMIPT Who Owns Y...

The Future for Projection is 4K We haven't really gotten to 4K in video recording yet, but Sony wants you to know that 4K projection is here. They have a white paper on Why 4K?, and a list of theaters that have already installed their 4K digital projectors. Even though the limitations of 2K are visible from a distance of 1.5 PictureHeights, there still must be some distance at which 2K projection "satisfies"viewers by providing a visibly seamless picture. At this threshold distance,4K no longer delivers an advantage. At the relaxed reference of 44pixels per degree, the threshold distance is 2.30 times the Picture Height.Viewers sitting closer than 2.30 Picture Heights can see a benefit to 4K.Viewers sitting farther than 2.30 Picture Heights will see no benefit. Sony :  Does 4K really make a difference? [PDF] whitepaper Sony : Theaters with Sony Digital Cinema 4K DP/30 Interviews " True Grit " Cinematographer Roger Deakins I have to emotionally conne...

Availability Sony has evidently told one UK store that the first UK deliveries are scheduled for 11th February. Commercial shot with PMW-F3 Crews.tv has a short write-up on what may be the first commercial shot with the PMW-F3 .  DP Donny Duncan had been going to shoot the commercial with a Canon 5D , but after seeing the P MW-F3 at a pre-release event, managed to persuade Sony - as well as the client - to let him shoot it with the pre-production PMW-F3 . Crews.tv:   F3 on Vodafone TVC Zacuto Rigs Zacuto has customized a couple of rigs for the PMW-F3 : "I'm very impressed with this camera and its extreme low noise, robust construction, on-board XLR audio jacks and all of the right outputs. It all makes this an extremely powerful cinema camera." -  Steve Weiss, Product Designer and Director Zacuto :  Sony F3 – Zacuto’s First Look Video PMW-F3 Accessories List AbelCineTech has put together a list of accessories for the PMW-F3 , includin...

Here in the Northeast we're pretty much sick of snow and ice, but there's still another six weeks of winter to go, so with that in mind, maybe you want to think about getting your camera sliding rather than your car! Using Sliders Peter Bohush likes smooth camera moves, and he's written up a piece on sliders, and added a video to go with it which shows using the slider, and also has some examples of slider shots. He likes Igus sliders, which are inexpensive; and you can get some of their models on Amazon; just watch out that some Igus models don't have a screw-whole on the top of the carriage (you have to do that for yourself!) NewEnglandFilm :  Camera Moves Using Sliders - The Dolly Alternative Amazon : DryLin® W16-C Linear Motion System with clamp for Camera Sliders  [$207] Amazon : DryLin® W1080-A Linear Motion System for Camera Sliders [$131] Igus :  Camera and film technology Chad Soriano bought an Igus slider because he couldn't afford the mo...

Sony CLM-V55 LCD Monitor Yves Simard at Crews.tv has posted a review of the Sony CLM-V55 LCD Monitor (which won't be available until March.) He includes a video showing it working on a Canon 5D Mark II, and though there are a few gripes (a little vignetting on the sides, no false color for exposure, lack of hot buttons ) it looks like a very nice monitor; color reproduction is good, okay sound viewing angle is very wide,color peaking for focus and he said it's mostly usable outside in bright light as well. It only has HDMI input, but for DSLRs users, that's probably fine. Marshall's 5-inch V-LCD50-HDMI [ $516.35 @ B & H ] offer's more features - including false color - and looks a little more rugged, but if pricing on the Sony is lower it may be worth considering. (No price has been announced by Sony yet.) Crews.tv : SonyV55 DSLR Monitor Panasonic HM-TA1 Review FiveFwd publishes a short review for a Flip competitor; the Panasonic HM-TA1 [$8...

optimizing for performance: Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects Adobe recently hosted a one-hour session about optimizing for performance of both Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects . They've made available a screen recording of the event, as well as links to additional information. They also include a reminder to install the latest updates! blogs.adobe.com :  optimizing for performance: Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects blogs.adobe.com :  CS5 Production Premium updates: After Effects, Premiere Pro, AME, Photoshop, Bridge, Camera Raw Boris FX Releases Boris AAF Transfer Version 2 Boris has released Boris AAF Transfer Version 2 , a set of two Apple Final Cut Pro plug-ins for transferring sequences between Final Cut Pro and Avid editing and finishing systems. One of the plug-ins exports Avid-compatible AAF format files from Final Cut Pro to Avid editing and finishing systems. The other plug-in imports AAF format files from Avid editing and finishing systems...

Editor Tariq Anwar has received three award nominations; the ACE (American Cinema Editors) Eddie, BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and Academy Awards for his work on the film " The King's Speech. " Turns out he edited it using Lightworks . There's an interview with Tariq at the Lightworks website where he talks about how he got his start, editing, and Lightworks . The most enjoyable thing for me is in the shaping of a film after the assembly stage. It’s amazing how malleable it is during the editing process, and then to make the material work in a way that wasn’t intended - either by luck or by judgment - is very exciting. Also I love editing with a full FX track and temp music. Finding the right score and the appropriate place to use it is a great part of the picture cutting process. Lightworksbeta :  In the spotlight: Tariq Anwar

Removable LCD for the GoPro One of the problems with some of the small wearable cameras is that it's hard to frame them - or know if you actually recorded what you wanted to shoot - because there's no LCD display. Now GoPro is introducing the LCD BacPac , a $79.99 removable LCD screen for their HD HERO cameras. Attaches to 1080p HD HERO cameras featuring the rear HERO Port Simple one button design allows for easy on/off and playback control Normal speed, fast forward, and fast reverse video and photo playback Integrated speaker with volume control  Included with the new LCD BacPac are four new housing backdoors that can be attached to both the existing HD HERO waterproof housing as well as the HD Wrist housing which enables the HD HERO to be worn on the wrist. The new backdoors allow both housings to fully enclose the HD HERO camera plus LCD BacPac within the respective housings. Furthermore, the LCD BacPac is compatible with all existing GoPro mounts, when attac...

Sony has posted a video on their 4K roadmap. This is a video of lecture by  Hugo Gaggionoi , CTO, V.P. of Technology, Sony Broadcast & Professional Solutions. Hugo gave amost exactly the same lecture at a recent SMPTE meeting in Boston. This talk makes it clear that Sony is going after RED . There are even a couple of veiled references to RED; specifically a reference to the fact that some people who claim to be doing 4K really aren't because they are using a single chip camera with a Bayer pattern. (check the video at about 7:10) Sony comparison of current chips Sony's F35 does dofull color sampling for HD (1920 x 1080) but doing that for 4K is difficult - or maybe expensive - because you'd need either three 4K chips or one really huge 26.5MP chip. Sony's own "4K" roadmap includes a new sensor called the Q67 that has 17.7M Pixels (4K x 2K) in a new color filter orientation, giving 100% of green, 50% blue and red, which they say is 67% of the i...

James Cameron talks up higher frame rates James Cameron tells The Wall Street Journal that he wants higher frames rates and brighter projection for Avatar 2 to reduce the problems that some people have with 3D: And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems. WSJ :  James Cameron Explains Why the 3D Experience Will Be Better On ‘Avatar 2’ The Art of Cinematography A short article (and video) arguing that Roger Deakins should win the Oscar for best cinematography for " True Grit ." HollywoodReporter :  This Scene Alone Should Win 'True Grit' Cinematographer Roger Deakins an Oscar Sony HD cameras making movies HDVideoPro reports on the making of TRON , which was shot using a Sony F35 , and The Lion's Share , shot on the Sony F23 HDVideoPro :  With sophisticated digital tools, the production tea...

Rode Videomic and Rode Videomic Pro Compared Vimeo user Carl has posted some videos comparing the Rode Videomic Pro  [$229] with the Videomic  [$149] and a lavalier mic. Listen and let me know what you think. From my own conclusions there is quite a difference. I recommend you turn up the volume up on your computer/tv to compare the two. There is a distinct loudness and hiss to the VP but that has disappeared from the VMP, albeit making the VMP much quieter. Vimeo :  Rode Videomic, Videomic Pro and Lavalier Test Vimeo :  Rode Videomic & Videomic Pro Audio Test +20dB Vimeo :  Audio ONLY test of Rode Videomic and Videomic Pro Problem with the Canon EOS E1 plug-in for Final Cut Pro Jeremy Garchow explains a problem with the plug-in, and a possible work-around. Basically, the log and transfer plug in will not restore a project if the file path has changed from the point of the original log and transfer. The E1 plugin can't recognize the clip and vo...

As part of the Great Frame-Rate Debate , Larry Thorpe told the story of how Lucasfilm persuaded Sony to support 24p   Well, it started in the 80's and the 90's when I was part of SMPTE and then the CCIO, and we were trying to make 60 fields a universal world-wide standard. [If you'd raised] 24p at that time, I would have shot you. I just wouldn't allow any discussion of 24. Until the world decided "well we're not going to unite on 60," one region would remain 50, the other region would remain 60, we could agree on the spatial sampling, which is ultimately what we did. We got the world standard on the sampling, but not the field rate. And then at about that time this was emerging, we were contacted by Lucasfilm , who had been working with Digital Betacam and they said "You know, we hadn't realized that digital imaging was advancing so fast, this is standard definition but it's quite incredible." They had resurrected a Star Wars...

The second part of my notes from, The Great Frame-Rate Debate, held at last year's Public Television Quality Workshop . The panel featured director and special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull , SMPTE Fellow Mark Schubin and industry veteran Larry Thorpe, and was moderated by Bruce Jacobs . What about 30p? There’s some people who say it does have enough of the [24p] look. I’m not one of them. It looks different certainly, to me it does not look like movies, it looks like some attempt that somebody made to get a movie type look. I should note that in the opposite direction, for several years now at the international broadcasting convention, the European Broadcasting Union and the BBC have been showing things at 120, 150, 300 fps and showing the tremendous increase that you can get in dynamic resolution by doing that, and they would like us to be shooting everything at very high frame rates and then doing something like what Doug was talking about and go down to whate...

AJA Ki Pro Mini Shipping Last Friday at the San Francisco SuperMeet , an AJA representative said that the Ki Pro Mini would be shipping in a week. Today they've sent out a press release saying it's shipping now. Ki Pro Mini is the smaller, lighter version of its breakthrough portable tapeless recorder that captures to 10-bit Apple ProRes 422 codec directly from the camera. US MSRP for Ki Pro Mini is $1995. AJA : Miniature 10-bit 4:2:2 file-based recorder mounts easily on digital cameras and accessories JVC GY-HM750U JVC has announced the  GY-HM750U , and update to the GY-HM700 . This $7,450 pro camcorder is now equipped with a 68-pin chassis connector that allows various modules such the KA-AS790 ASI adapter to be attached without external cabling--ideal for live microwave broadcasts. New features include: Simultaneous recording on both SDHC cards for instant backup or client copy 20 second Pre Rec (retro cache) function prevents "missed shots" ...

Lightworks is an NLE (Non-linear Editor) that has had some success in feature film editing, and was acquired by EditShare last year, who decided to take it Open Source. That's right, you can download it and run it; for free ! Free you say? ! Well, I'm all over that. Unfortunately, at the moment Lightworks is only available for the PC, though they have said that they are working on a release for the Mac and Linux. As luck would have it, I don't currently have anything running on my PC that will edit video (I primarily run Final Cut on my MacBook.) I do have a copy of Premiere Pro 1.0 running on an old PC, but I haven't bothered to reinstall it on the Dell laptop. Figuring it's always handy to have a video editor - and free is just the right price - I decided to install Lightworks and give it a go. This will be the first of what I hope will be a short series on how that goes. Installation You have to register at the Lightworks Beta website - it's fr...

Roger Eberts column about Maxivision reminded me of a panel discussion, The Great Frame-Rate Debate, at last year's Public Television Quality Workshop . The panel featured director and special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull , SMPTE Fellow Mark Schubin and industry veteran Larry Thorpe, and was moderated by Bruce Jacobs . The panel made it clear that 24fps was mostly an accident. Mark told the history of how 24 came to be because when sound was added they needed a constant speed; it didn't really matter what the speed was. Trumbull, known for amongst other things his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a big fan of higher frame rates, though he acknowledges that the "film look" is what many people expect to see. Douglass Trumbull, Larry Thorpe and Mark Schubin Why 24p? There is absolutely nothing special about 24 frames per second. There is no particular psychological reason for it [...] Sound required a constant frame rate. It did not require...

Google's Decision to Drop H.264 in Chrome; two weeks on Larry Kless does a good job of wrapping up what we know - and don't know - about Google's decision to drop H.264 from Chrome . He also covers a lot of the reaction on the web to the decision. While's there's no conclusion, it does fill in some details about the decision, and - perhaps - make's it seem less monolithic and more a decision by one part of Google (i.e. the Chrome team) to push forward in a particular direction. ReelSEO :  Fear and Loathing in Online Video: The Video Codec Conundrum Continues Redrock Panasonic AG-AF100 Rig Bundle Redrock Micro has put together a bundle specifically intended to the AG-AF100 . Cost is $1,878.50. Redrock :  Studio Bundle for Panasonic AG AF-100 Title Sequence Design The Art of the Title posts an interview with MK12 partner and creative director Ben Radatz. MK12 were the title and motion graphic designers for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace . I...

If you're going to be in London on March 1st, the Converge Festival  will feature Richard Jobson, Philip Bloom, Kevin Shahinian, Robin Schmidt and Danfung Dennis (who's movie “ Hell and Back Again " just won the World Cinema Cinematography Award for Documentary Filmmaking at the Sundance festival.) Converge Festival

Film composer John Barry passed away yesterday in New York. He was 77. Barry composed music for a huge number of movies, including several Bond films (including Diamonds are Forever ), Midnight Cowboy, Born Free and Dances With Wolve s. The Playlist : R.I.P John Barry (1933-2011) IMDB : John Barry

Oscar Picks Distributed on iTunes The Los Angeles Times reports that studios have increasingly been using iTunes and other DRM online methods of distribution to let Oscar voters see movies. In the past, DVDs were sent out, but these often fell into the hands of pirates. Sure, DRM can still be broken, but the studio's think that the lack of physical media and simple gate-keeping is likely to prevent unintentional distribution: In cases where discs get pirated, the actual uploading is typically done by someone several steps removed from the recipient, often without that person's knowledge, according to studio executives and law enforcement officials.   LosAngelesTimes :  Studios seek to cap piracy threat from thousands of DVDs sent to awards voters every year Mark Zuckerberg On SNL Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance on Saturday Night Live during Jesse Eisenberg 's opening monologue. The bit played up Eisenberg's playing Zuckerberg in The Social Network , and ...

Panasonic AG-AF100 (AG-AF101) Review Philip Johnston  over at HDWarrior  has put together a 20 minute plus video review of the Panasonic AG-AF101 . He's had the camera for a couple of weeks, and has already posted some bits and pieces about it. The review starts on a troubling note; " When I first got this camera, I wasn’t that impressed with it. Sometimes it could produce fantastic pictures, and sometimes it was a bit noisy ." He goes on to explain that after taking some time to get to know the camera, he's figured out what to do to make it work properly; notably set Gamma to Cine-Like V and Matrix to Norm 2. These two options, he explains, give "far better pictures." He also notes that the auto-focus is not too clever and that it hunts when you least expect it, so he leaves it off. Philip provides a good over-view of the options of the camera, and talks about what he likes about it. The big plus of the camera, as he sees it, is the ability to ch...