Notes On Video

Amazon Studios is running various competitions through the year for scripts, tests movies and other pre-production work. It might be worth looking into, though note that by submitting a work you are giving them a free 18 month option on that work. And if you are thinking of submitting something, they've just made available a free music library of 2,000 tracks. Of course, there's a caveat to that too; you can only use them for work uploaded to the Amazon Studios site. Amazon Studios : Music Library

Sony NEX-FS100 review Alister Chapman -  with the help of Den Lennie - does a video review of the Sony NEX-FS100 , and compares it to the PMW-F3 . He doesn't really care for the kit lens, and notes that while the LCD panels of both cameras is similar in resolution, the FS100 has an extra layer over it for the touch sensitivity, which may have been one of the reasons why they tended to over-expose the footage on the FS100 . One thing we discovered, not mentioned in the video is that when you use a full frame lens, like the Nikon 50mm. You must ensure that the E-Mount adapter you use has an internal baffle or choke. If it doesn’t you will suffer from excessive flare. If you don’t need 10 bit 4:2:2 then it is hard to justify the additional cost of the F3, both cameras really are very good. Despite some other reports else where I felt the build quality to be very good and the buttons, while small, are big enough and well placed. If you do want autofocus then you will be plea...

NOTE : This is intended to be a review of the Push Pop technology, not the actual content of the book . I was intrigued, so I downloaded the interactive book " Our Choice " app from Apple's iTunes store. It's $4.99, and if you have an iPad , I'd recommend checking it out. It works pretty much exactly as demoed in the TED talk previously metioned . If nothing else, it will make a great demo to any non- iPad owning friend! Unlike iBooks books, which are purchased separately, but are read in the iBooks app, the Our Choice app is a single application that only displays the Our Choice book. On iTunes , it's listed as being 52.8MB, but once I opened the book and started paging about, it seemed to be downloading the later chapters in the book, it displayed a progress bar as I skipped to those chapters and I hate to wait until it had finished to view them. This took a few minutes to complete, but once done that first time, jumping to those pages is instan...

Technicolor has released the CineStyle Picture Style for Canon EOS DSLR's that had been previewed at NAB. It's free ! The Technicolor CineStyle ™ is a Picture Style (profile) for Canon EOS DSLR cameras that optimizes the dynamic range in the image by leveraging the capabilities of the Canon imaging chipset. Cinematographers and their post-production partners will have greater flexibility in color grading and finishing their projects. Technicolor : CineStyle From the FAQ: Q: Can it be used for all Canon EOS cameras? A: Although the Technicolor CineStyle was designed and optimized for the Canon EOS-5D Mark II camera, the Technicolor CineStyle can be installed and used on any current Canon EOS DSLR camera. Q: What does it do to the image? A: When the Technicolor CineStyle is selected in the camera it puts the standard H.264 REC709 color space into a log color space. Video images are recorded in log space. Still images are also converted into the same log color spac...

When Apple released the iPad , I kept expecting them to come out with some way of authoring digital books (other than the ePub format supported by iBooks .) I thought they might create something like iWeb , but for creating interactive content. Well, nothing so far, but a small company created by some ex-Apple employees has come up with something. Push Pop Press describes themselves as a publishing platform. Little information is available about the authoring tools, or what they'll charge for them, but they do have an actual title out; Al Gore's Our Choice . The choice of book is interesting not because of the subject matter, but because Al Gore is on Apple's board. You can see a demo of the book in this TED talk: Push Pop Press TED Talk from Push Pop Press on Vimeo . PushPopPress UPDATE : I played with the app and have written about it here .

Panasonic AG-AF100 Review Jay Holben reviews the Panasonic AG-AF100 for dv.com . He praises the image quality and sharpness, as well as the HDMI and SDI ports, though he finds a few drawbacks: Micro 4/3” is the smallest entry in the “large-sensor” category. At 17.8 mm x 10.0 mm, it is 53% smaller than the Canon EOS 5DmkII sensor, 28% smaller than a 1.78:1 extraction from Super35mm film, 27% smaller than the RED One’s sensor and 24% smaller than Canon’s APS-C HDSLR sensor (EOS 7D, Rebel T2i, Rebel T3i). and he's disturbed by the use of AVCHD as a compression format. He also doesn't like the ergonomics of the body; ...it falls in a frustratingly odd middle ground where it’s not a palm-style camcorder and it’s not a shoulder-style design He concludes by saying that at $5,000 it's not an HDSLR killer, but that it really strikes at the higher-end large sensor cameras. dv.com : In Review: Panasonic AG-AF100 A Time And A Place Evan Luzi at The Black and Blue blog reco...

The Adobe Audition for Mac beta will no longer be available as of May 2, 2011 and will no longer work as of May 14, 2011 Soundbooth & Adobe Audition upgrade options: If you own Adobe Soundbooth CS5, CS4, or CS3, or Adobe  Audition  CS3, CS2, or 1.5 you are eligible to upgrade to Adobe Audition CS5.5 for $99USD*. In both cases, cross-grading is available. If you do not own one of the Adobe Audition or Soundbooth versions listed above, Adobe Audition CS5.5 costs $349USD*. Adobe : Adobe Audition CS5.5 * Prices listed are the Adobe direct store prices

Switroniz has announced the PT-XF3 , an 8-inch powertap from male to female that adds a 4-pin XLR female connector, allowing the Series-7 EX-L96 battery to plug into the Sony PMW-F3 . The EX-L96 is a 96-watt battery that features a 4-LED gauge and an on-board powertap to power any 12-volt accessories. It offers 50% more power than the Sony OEM BP-U60 battery (or up to four hours recording). Switronix : EX-L96 B & H : EX-L96 14.4v 96W Lithium-Ion Battery Pack [$249.00] B & H : PowerTap Male to Female and 4-Pin XLR Female [$34.95]

Yesterday Philip Bloom posted a low-light test with the Sony PMW-F3 , NEW-FS100 , Panasonic AG-AF100 (AG-AF101) and the Canon 5D Mark II . The AG-AF100 did not fare to well. Philip has since tweeted: Confirmed. My bloody shutter was on too high on af101. Retesting now low light af101 still not as good. but its better! - @PhilipBloom He's redone the test, and will probably post the corrected results shortly. Vimeo : Low light test: FS100 F3 5DmkII UPDATE 9:00PM EDT : The corrected video is up. according to Philip the incorrect shutter "cost a stop." Vimeo: Low light test: FS100 F3 5DmkII

Philip Bloom teases with PMW-F3, NEX-FS100 and AG-AF100 tests Philip has a Sony NEX-FS100 to play with "for a couple of days," and he's already posted a very initial impression and a slow-motion video: After just 30 minutes of shooting with the FS100 it’s nothing like Nigel Cooper paints it as. It feels well made and the buttons are just fine! Yes, the form factor is different and it is missing some key features. The Hassleblad style is interesting. Today he went out shooting with three cameras; the Sony PMW-F3 , Sony NEX-FS100 and Panasonic AG-AF100, and he's teased us with a 30 second clip, inviting people to guess which camera was used for which shot. Most interesting to me is the variety of guesses; I'm not sure what that says either about the cameras, or the people viewing the content! Take a look, and take a guess. [ Wow! My guess was way off; admittedly I didn't download the uploaded file, I only looked at the web video. ] He's also poste...

Slow motion at 150 fps with the Sony NEX-FS100 Philip Bloom got his hands on a Sony NEX-FS100 and has been playing with it. His first test was done using the Super Slow Motion feature, and though it doesn't rival the high frame rates of the Phantom Flex , it's still pretty impressive: Test film using the super slow motion feature of the Sony FS100. It takes 3 second clips and turn them into 12 seconds at 60i at just over SD and up rezzes them. I then brought them in as 30p and conformed to 24p giving me effectively 150 FPS. Vimeo : The Bloom Danube: Sony FS100 Smooth slow motion test At the moment Philip owns a Panasonic AG-AF101 and Sony PMW-F3 , and is promising a comparison of the three cameras. Finally, the Film Courage website did a webchat with Philip this past weekend, where he told them; how often he is satisfied with his work, why he left a safe and secure job for the unknown, how he has gone about building his website and his audience, and his thoughts on D...

Entry Deadline: April 27th!! The 24 Hour Film Race 2011  challenges filmmakers everywhere to create short films in just 24 hours from April 29-30 , 2011. Boston will have its own premiere screening and competition to decide who will represent Boston against the other top films in the 24 Hour Film Race 2011 . In order to be eligible for the competition, everyone must pay the Entry Fee which is US$99. The Final Entry Deadline is April 27, 2011 . 24 Hour Film Race : How It Works 24 Hour Film Race : Boston

Canon has announced that the latest firmware update – Version 1.2.5 – for the EOS 7D DSLR is now available for download. Firmware Version 1.2.5 for the EOS 7D incorporates the following improvements and fixes: Fixes a rare phenomenon in which there were rare cases where movie files taken could not be opened when repeatedly shooting movies with specific CF cards. Fixes a rare phenomenon in which there were cases where "Err 02" appeared when repeatedly shooting still images with specific CF cards. Fixes a phenomenon that occurred when using high-capacity (32 GB or greater) CF cards: If either a CF card with only a little available space remaining or the battery was removed and then re-inserted into the camera, and then the user attempted to start shooting movies immediately, shooting would stop. Improves the writing/reading speeds when using UDMA 7-compatible CF cards. Fixes a phenomenon that occurred when Custom Function C.Fn 4 -1 was set to assign IS start to the AF st...

Google Continues Patent Battle For WebM Google wants WebM to be the Web's open and freely usable video format. The only problem; it may infringe on existing patents. To that end, Google has started the WebM Community Cross License Initiative , whose members license any WebM-related patents to each other. So far, 16 organizations have joined including Mozilla and Samsung. Absent so far; Microsoft, Panasonic, Philips and others who are a part of MPEG LA , the patent holder pool for H.264 . CNET : Google's WebM patent pals agree to share New England Features Blog Justin Fielding at the New England Feature Films blog is attempting to compile a list of indie (under $250K) movies being made in New England: NEFeats.blogspot.com Lloyd Kaufman Interview Cinespect interviews director, producer and screenwriter Lloyd Kaufman, the co-founder of independent studio Troma , the film festival Tromadance and the director of The Toxic Avenger . He's also the author of “ Make ...

Nikons replacement for the D5000 , the D5100 has now been released. This camera is impressive as it has almost 2 whole stops more dynamic range - in DxOMark tests - compared to the Canon 7D and 5D Mark II : 13.6 stops of dynamic range compared to 11.7 for the Canon 7D and 11.9 for the 5D Mark II . And they've finally got their video act together with 1080P video at 30, 25, 24 fps and using H.264 instead of Motion-JPEG. But then they go and botch it up with odd functionality and limitations. The manual controls in video mode seem a little off. Andrew Reid of EOSHD tweeted "Confirmed no D5100 manual control in video mode," though  DPReview clarrifies: Shutter speed, aperture and ISO are usually set automatically, and you can press the AEL button during recording to lock the exposure. In the PAS modes you can apply exposure compensation up to +/-3 EV, either before or during filming. In A and M you can also control the aperture the camera uses for filming - altho...

Death of DVD; No Hope For Blu-ray? BTIG Research concluded from the results of Google searches that consumers are moving away from physical ownership of content [ or maybe just paying for it - Ed ]. Steve Jobs smiles. MacWorld : More proof DVDs are a dying medium Netflix poised to become largest subscription entertainment business . "Even if Netflix is shy of estimates, it will likely show enough growth to propel it ahead of Comcast at 22.8 million video subscribers and beyond the 20.2 million subs at Sirius XM Radio." HollywoodReporter NAB Field Monitor/Recorder Roundup . NoFilmSchool looks at products from Atomos, Sound Devices, Convergent Design, and Blackmagic. NoFilmSchool James Cameron to buy 50 RED Epics! What's he need all those for?! Engadget Flip Alternatives . With the Flip going, going, gone, The Wall Street Journal looks for alternatives from Kodak and Sony: Finding a New Flip Upcoming Making Media Now 2011. Theme: Re-defining collabo...

Migrating from Google Video Last week Google sent out emails to users of Google Video , notifying them that the site was being shut down and that content should be downloaded before access was terminated on APril 29th. Now Google has changed their minds and announced that they are working towards migrating the content on Google Video to YouTube . Google Video users can rest assured that they won't be losing any of their content and we are eliminating the April 29 deadline. We will be working to automatically migrate your Google Videos to YouTube. In the meantime, your videos hosted on Google Video will remain accessible on the web and existing links to Google Videos will remain accessible. If you want to migrate to YouTube now, here’s how you do it... Google : An update on Google Video; Finding an easier way to migrate Google Video content to YouTube LTO Tape backup Shane Ross searched NAB for some form of inexpensive backup, and found the expensive CACHE-A and the slightl...