Notes On Video

Rapture Weekend Film Challenge Philip Bloom has issued another weekend film challenge: Your film is simply about the end of the world…do what you want! Make it fun, scary, silly, epic…It’s up to you…this should be a blast to make…I am going to try to make one too!! Keep it short and punchy…no more than 3-5 minutes, less is fine! PhilipBloom :  “The end is nigh” Rapture Weekend Challenge London DSLR Meetup May 26 If you're in London on May 26, Philip Bloom is also holding a DSLR meetup "just to the right of the London Eye." I will show people who need to be shown how to do timelapse and I will guide people through how to do HDR bracketing timelapses too. This is free, done for fun! PhilipBloom :  London DSLR meetup on the South Bank. Learn how to shoot timelapse and HDR timelapse Adobe Road Show: June 2-21 | Los Angeles | San Francisco | New York Join Creative Suite video experts for a free, in-depth seminar on Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium ....

Report from the Single Chip Camera Evaluation Snehal Patel attended a screening of the Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) - a series of tests comparing different digital cameras - and has written up a fairly extensive set of notes of his impressions of the cameras. His impressions seem to be similar to other reports I've read, with the Sony PMW-F3 performing particularly well - for the price - though the Arri Alexa  is probably the overall winner, and the Canon DSLR's didn't do that badly, even if they weren't quite as good as the better cameras. Sony PMW-F3 - SURPRISE!  This is the one camera that continually made me sit up and take notice.  It's incrediblly affordable for the kind of ability it has.  I've seen earlier footage from the F3 which I thought was very "video-like" (it's a term I like to use which means that the image reminds me of NTSC-style interlaced video even when the camera is set to shoot like film in 24p, etc.)  But when ...

Never mind tomorrow's Rapture, it seems that some industry people are still shocked to learn that film's day is done. UK Cinematographer Ed Moore attended a talk last night given by Cinematographer Roger Deakins , and tweeted: Roger Deakins produced an audible gasp from the crowd by very plainly stating he doesn't see why he'd ever shoot film again Odd that the crowd was so shocked, given that for the last three or four months, all that Roger has been talking about is the end of film: ...it gives me more than I can get with film. It's not because I can do it digitally, and it's not because it's easier, it's because it gives me more options. - Roger Deakins Jan 2011 I don’t personally think film emulsion is going to be used for very much longer at all. I know people have been saying that since — well, since I started in the business — but I really think this year and next year will be it, really. - Roger Deakins Feb 2011 I'm probably going to use...

[ Oops, I accidentally deleted this post, and had to recover it, - Ed. ] Last night was, as John Rule introduced it, the first annual Rule Boston Camera Pub Night , though he then corrected himself and said he was hoping it would be a monthly event. Free pizza, free beer and a talk about camera gear? Where do I sign up?! For this first Pub Night was well worth attending, not just because of the free beer and pizza. The main presentation was given by Sony PMW-F3 specialist, Joe Schimizzi , and Joe really seemed to know his stuff about the camera. He was able to answer questions on just about everything, from recording options, upcoming lenses and firmware updates, to why the Sony PL lenses don't seem to fit on other PL mount cameras (they were supposed to, but Sony is aware that there's a problem with some mounts.) Joe Schimizzi They had two PMW-F3 's on display, one with the kit PL lenses, and one with an Angenieux Optimo lens. Sony PMW-F3 with Angenieux Optimo ...

Atomos News & Updates Atomos , makers of the Atomos Ninja and Samurai ,have a news section that features a report from NAB, as well as articles on: STRIPPER 1.0 , their reverse telecine application that recovers progressive video from material that has been output as an interlaced signal. Most if not all major makers of video cameras apply this technique to 24p, 25p and 30p footage that is output through HDMI. Support for HDMI : It’s worth repeating this.You will probably find that the framerate you have your camera set to record to is not the same as the video signal coming out of the HDMI connection . Camera Compatibility Does the Ninja work with DSLR cameras? Atomos : News+Updates Atomos Ninja Review If you're thinking of getting a Ninja , Gorilla Pictures has a - short - review "in-progress": I really wanted to put it in a real world test so I took it on a job with me to Hong Kong for a solid week of shooting.  Initial feedback is it’s a brilliant too...

If you're in Boston tonight, May 19 , stop by the Rule Boston Camera "Pub Night" with a discussion and demo of the Sony PMW-F3 . MAY 25 BOSFCPUG + BOSDSLR MIXER : FCP X RECAP + ADOBE CS5.5 Featuring Philip Hodgetts on FCP X and Yan Shvalb for Adobe on "What's New in CS5.5 Production Premium"

Thinking of Using Kickstarter to Finance Your Project? Filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen offers 7 tips: Through trial and error on over a dozen kickstarter projects, hours of lectures at Emerson College, and countless meet ups, phone calls and emails with artists and innovators, I’ve refined a “best practices” list that I share when I decide to get involved with a project. NathanielHansen :  7 Things to Consider BEFORE you Launch your Kickstarter Project Movie Nerd Humor Cracked.com has a really interesting article looking at the " 5 Annoying Trends That Make Every Movie Look the Same ," and what's interesting - apart from the fact that it ignores that movie studios have always been derivative - is how technically nerdy the article is: To be fair, it's not necessarily laziness per se. Your average colorist has to grade about two hours of movie, frame by frame sometimes, in the space of a couple of weeks. It doesn't take that many glances at the deadline bearin...

About ProKit 7.0 - released May 17 This ProKit Update fixes the following minor issues: Improved support for PopOver style tooltips. Improved support for Font Smoothing. Addresses an issue with an unwanted gap between a menu and submenu. Fixes leaks and improves stability for the color picker and timecode interface in Final Cut Pro and Motion. Improved compatibility when importing assets from older versions of Soundtrack Pro. Fixes an issue with the scrubber appearance in Logic Express and Logic Pro. Addresses AppKit related crashes in Motion. This update is recommended for users of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, iPhoto, Aperture, Final Cut Express, Logic Pro, MainStage, Logic Express and iAd Producer . Apple : ProKit Update Unfortunately, I installed the update last night, and Motion continued to crash regularly for me!

Rule Camera Boston is having a Pub Night this Thursday, May 19th 6:00pm - 8:00pm Pub Night is an opportunity each month to gather some industry folks together for a beer and take a closer look at the latest gear in a casual, relaxed environment. Joe Schimizzi , Sony's F3 Specialist will host the FIRST MONTHLY PUB NIGHT with a hands-on tour of the Sony PMW-F3 . Q&A will follow along with a chance to test the camera for yourself. Space is limited : RSVP: events@rule.com

Camera Recorders Abel Cine has posted a chart showing the specifications for different camera mounted HD recorders. The chart includes details on recording format, media, inputs and other information. AbelCine :  Camera-Mounted Recorders Comparison Sony HXR-NX70 First Impressions Philip Johnsto n at the HD Warrior got to play with the Sony  HXR-NX70 for 45 minutes and loved it (he's also already ordered his own.) The camera performed flawlessly and it was great to be able to set your gain to 0dB giving you a very punchy picture indeed. I am a big audio buff and having balanced XLR inputs is a joy. HDWarrior :  Sony HXR-NX70 camcorder “1st Play” Who Doesn't Love A Good Apple Rumor? Is Apple up to something? Could a big announcement be coming sometime around May 20 or 22? Or maybe just iCloud ? Rumors suggest something is up. AppleInsider :  More evidence suggests Apple has plans for 10th anniversary of retail Avid has announced that the follow...

A friend works as a Real Estate Agent, and recently he was representing a property that an owner wanted to rent. When putting together the listing for the property, the agent took some photos of the property because, as he says, the clients often provide terrible pictures. A month or so later - before the property was rented - the owner changed his mind and decided to sell the property. The owner also decided - as was his right - to choose a different agent and agency to sell the property. Because he works on commission - and the property hadn't been rented - no money was paid to the original rental agent for the work he'd done in listing the property. A few weeks later, the rental agent happened to notice that the pictures he had taken were being used by the new selling agent in their listing. When he contacted the agent, they said that the owner had provided them... ...and when he contacted the owner to find out why they had provided his pictures to the new real estate...

I often get asked my opinion on cameras. Unfortunately, just as often I don't have a clue about the cameras that the person is asking about; but I'm always willing to offer an opinion! A friend recently asked my opinion of the Canon G12 vs the Sony NEX-3 . He was looking for a camera for personal use; something that would take good stills but also take some video of the family. He'd looked at the NEX-3 at a Best Buy and felt it was kind of clumsy with the large lens sticking out of the small body, and it didn't seem very rugged. Here is an edited version of my carefully considered opinion. Notice that I sort of tried to steer him in one direction: I think the G12 is nice. I checked the video specs and it supports 720p, which is the same as the NEX-3 . The NEX-5 supports 1080p, but for casual use, 720p is pretty good. The G12 is a really excellent still camera, with some video capabilities. I actually thought about getting an earlier model - the G7 I think ...

Where's Those Thunderbolt Accessories? An interesting article at MacWorld about the difficulty in finding Thunderbolt cables, never mind Thunderbolt devices: How slow was the USB roll-out? We reported on the original iMac in our July 1998 issue; our really big round-up of USB devices didn’t appear until July 1999, eleven months later. So sure, buy those Thunderbolt iMac's , they'll eventually be useful; just don't hold your breath for wide availability of Thunderbolt devices... MacWorld : Waiting for Thunderbolt Low Light Test Kevin Ritchie has posted a short video comparing four cameras in low light using skin tones; the Canon 5D Mark II , 7D , Panasonic AG-AF100 and Red One MX . The subject was lit using only a small LitePanels LED at 50% approx 4ft away. Due do the camera's different light sensitivities I have lined up the comparisons based on the subjects skintone exposure or IRE on a waveform monitor.This video is being used a part of my present...

I checked out the Virtual NAB show today, and it was everything I feared it would be; a collection of videos and materials you might expect to find on the web anyway, a few interactive chats, and not much else. Perhaps most disappointing was that there were only eight companies represented, the two most interesting were Canon and AJA, and Canon didn't really announce anything that exciting at NAB anyway. No Sony, no Redrock or Zacuto. No Panasonic. Now if one of those had been represented, I might have had some questions for them! Most of the time, company reps only answer pretty obvious questions anyway; by the time a product has been out for two months, any question the company is willing to answer has already been answered somewhere on the web! I don't think "Virtual Trade Shows" are going to catch on; not if they continue to be as pointless as this was. NAB Virtual Show

At one of the sessions at the MIT Media in Translation conference, one of the speakers said that several people he knew who had switched to Premiere when 5.0 came out, were moving away from it due to problems with stability; long project load times, and random crashes. The comment was made almost in passing, but I was rather surprised as I hadn't heard any reports of problems with Premiere 5.0. I queried the speaker, and he said that what he'd heard might be considered anecdotal, but several people he knew had become frustrated enough with Premiere to stop using it. So; Premiere 5.0 users? Problems? No problems? I'd be interested to hear. [ UPDATE 8:00PM Todd Kopriva from Adobe posted a comment noting that users should install the three updates they've issued for improved stability: Adobe : Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 (5.0.3) update: performance improvements, bug fixes, and Quadro 5000M and 4000 CUDA support ]

Changing Lenses Philip Johnston at HD Warrior  talks about dealing with dust on sensors of interchangeable-lens cameras. He offers tips on how to clean the sensor, and also where and how to change lenses to reduce the chance for dust. He even recommends using a portable Film Changing Room to reduce dust, though unless you're in very dusty situations, that seems a bit extreme to me! He makes an interesting observation about the Sony NEX-FS100 : Lastly the new Sony FS100 seen above will be far more prone to dust as the sensor apart from being Super 35mm is fairly close to the front of the camera itself. HDWarrior : Cleaning the sensor of an interchangeable lens camcorder Preditor: Producer + Editor Noting that as the industry changes, rolls are often being combined, Oliver Peters looks at the Producer/Editor, or Preditor [ though I seem to encounter more Editographers, Editors + Cinematographers .] The best part of the piece is his advice for those who want to get into ...