Notes On Video

Addressing the Rumors | Kimberly Snyder | Kodak Kim Snyder , President of Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division, tries to address the ongoing concerns about film, it's future, Kodak's support of film, and Kodak's future: We are leveraging Kodak technology and intellectual property to bring an innovative digital asset management solution to market. It’s designed for content owners with assets of all formats created over the years. And we will soon be introducing a new film! A new member of the VISION3 family of color negative films will be added to your film choices. With the latest film technology in the can, you can keep rolling in the most challenging production situations – on set or on location – and maintain a high resolution image through post and distribution. Furthermore, with film still maintaining its archival leadership role in preserving the memorable images of the past centuries, we continue R&D towards expanding our archival film products to create...

There's been some discussion about what Walter Murch said about Final Cut Pro X at the Boston SuperMeet this week, so I've posted this segment which is the part where he talks about his reaction to Final Cut Pro X , what it lacked, why he thinks they did this, and what he hopes for in the future: I'm cautiously optimistic, but still a little traumatized by what happened over the summer. Because it makes you...you start to wonder, well...do they love us? - No. They like us. They say they love us. Later, he was specifically asked what he thought he'd cut his next movie on, and he said he didn't know.

Back in September, Wes Plate of Automatic Duck announced he was moving to Adobe. Automatic Duck's plug-in are one way to export from and to Final Cut Pro X  and were highlighted by Apple when X was released. At the time, Wes said that Automatic Duck would continue. They have now sent out the following announcement about the Automatic Duck product line: Automatic Duck news October 28, 2011 If you missed our mail last month you should check it out as it got a lot of people talking. Today we have a follow-up. Our web site has relaunched* and while the overall look of the site is similar there is a dramatic difference in how we are distributing our plug-ins. Starting today Pro Import AE, Pro Import FCP and Pro Export FCP (both versions, for FCP7 and FCPX ) are available at no charge. You read this right. Free. We are unable to provide support at the same level as we have over the years, but we didn't want these plug-ins to go away while they remain useful. So i...

There were about two dozen exhibitors at this years Boston SuperMeet , ranging from AJA and Blackmagic, through to Promise and JVC. There was a tricked out Sony NEX-FS100 at the Talamas Broadcast table, and Canon had a bunch of cameras; but no EOS-1D  X (I gather the twenty prototypes are in New York.) EditShare was there with their servers and Lightwave editing application. They weren't talking about the shipping date for the Mac version, but it's supposed to be next month. EditShare was doing an event in New York the same night and I asked the guys at the booth if they drew the short straw - they laughed...sort of. There was quite a bit to see, but here are the things that caught my eye: DataVideo TP-200 iPad Teleprompter I've been thinking seriously about buying one of these prompters, so it was cool to actually see the Datavideo TP-200  [$575] in person. I have seen another iPad based prompter in use, but this one is a little cheaper and I wanted to see ho...

I'm still recovering from last night, and am going to post a bit more detailed report later this afternoon. But to wrap-up the reports from yesterday: Walter Murch was just awesome. Well worth the price of admission. He had lots to say about all kinds of things, from Final Cut Pro X and XML (he loves the latter, not sure at all about the former) to 3D (doesn't like it) and the audio in Apocalypse Now (did you know it switches between mono, stereo and 5.1 in different places for effect?) He showed the timeline of his latest movie (edited in Final Cut Pro 7 ) with 55 audio channels! The channels are grouped based on their purpose. He did say that he could probably squeeze that down to about 20, but since Final Cut Pro 7 allows you to have up to 99 channels, he likes to keep everything separated so he can easily find things. I'm just scratching the surface here. It was a great night, even if I didn't win anything in the raffle.

Jem ends with "on November 3rd the story changes.." Dan gets up and says we are going to see some amazing things from Canon then. Marc-Andre Ferguson talking about Smoke on the road... You can edit with Smoke on a MacBook; as long as you have Thunderbolt and an external disk array. Smoke 2012 supports anything from RED Epic.you can use Final Cut Pro hot keys. You can get a 30 day free trial. If you are a student with an .edu address you can get a free 36-month trial! 8:08 Megan from Avid introduces Corey Tedrow to talk about fiture features and Andrew Weisblum on editing Black Swan. Avid has been on an openness kick for a few years now... They are adding support for AVCH and Epic files. Adding AJA and Matrox support. AJA has added DNXHD support to KeyPro. They are adding ProRes export support. Andy talks about building up the dance bar scene and working with the sound designer. He was also on set for some of it editing. Walter Murch is about to speak..and I...

I had been going to Twitter this, but that's not working.. 6:30 Dan Bérubé came on the screen in the vendor room to tell us the doors were opening! 6:40 Room is half full already. Oh, Dan thinks I'm Irish. That explains a lot... 6:45 I'm so technically challenged, any pictures will come later...much, much later! 6:50 the just opened with the Apple "Here's To The Crazy Ones" narrated by Steve Jobs. 6:57 everyone shake the hand of the person next to you...no hugging! 6:58 How many people use Resolve? Two people?! How many use Color? About a quarter of the room put up their hands; "Well forget it" Alexis talks Interoperability in Resolve 8.1 "Resolve is like Switzerland" Full round trip Finsl Cut Pro 7 to Premiere Pro CS 5.5.1 Resolve 8.1 introduces round trip to FCPX Can import FCP7 to FCPX with Resolve Lite. Only does video, not audio. Just demoed Trisha Myers (sp?) "instant Sex" look; a blur with contrast. ...

Canon EOS-1D X First Look Video | Dan Chung | DSLRNewsShooter At London's Canon Pro Solutions show Dan spoke to Canon's Mike Burnhill about the EOS-1D X . He's posted a 14 minute video of the demo/interview which is well worth watching. They discuss pretty much all the - hopefully - promising improvements in this new camera: There's some discussion of the new compression option (ALL-I and IPB) All-I makes every frame a key frame (to display the frame, software won't need to render the other frames.) This improves editing performance, but the file size is about three times the size of IPB. IPB is an updated version of the compression used in the previous cameras. Rolling Shutter should be reduced because they're doing a faster read-out from the chip (which was added to improve the frames-per-second still image capture.) Aliasing and moiré reduced because it's not line skipping. HDMI output isn't clean, but it doesn't drop-out when you go to r...

How-To Download Technicolor CineStyle | Technicolor | YouTube A short video that explains how to download and install Technicolor CineStyle on Canon DSLRs, the settings to use, and how to apply the LUT for CineStyle in your editor. These are the camera settings they recommend: Sharpness 0 Contrast -4 Saturation -2 Color Tone: 0 ISO (multiple of 160) Review - SONY FS100E Camcorder | Adam Garstone | HD Magazine A mostly positive review of the Sony NEX-FS100 , which interestingly seems to favor this camera over it's sibling, the PMW-F3 : The FS100 is obviously intended for film-makers – one big giveaway is the stud mounted at the focal plane so you can hang a tape measure on it for focus measurements. If you’ll excuse the pun, that makes it a more focussed product than the F3, which just seems confused as to its identity. The problem with this focus on film-makers is the recoding format – AVCHD just isn’t good enough to be shown on a screen 20’ high. Interestingly, the s...

Canon is offering some rebates on Speedlites and lenses , including $70 off the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens and $10 off the EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. There's not a whole lot I'd personally want, but if I had the money, I'd buy the Wide Tilt/Shift TS-E 17mm f/4L Manual Focus Lens for EOS !! Rebates expire November 23rd.

FCPX OMF Workaround | Jef Gibbons | Vimeo Jef demonstrates using the utility FOOLCUT_AE [$89] to get an OMF export from Final Cut Pro X to an audio application. You'll also need Premiere Pro and After Effects to complete the process. FOOLCUT_AE  transfers a FCPX sequence to After Effects , then you can export that to Premiere Pro , and then use Premiere Pro to export to OMF!! He notes: The hack does work, but as you see some clips are out of sync. It's just the audio that's slightly out on a couple of the clips. Most of the clips lined up perfectly, so you have to use the actual audio from the FCPX render to line up any clips that are slightly out. I should mention that the sync issues don't happen at all when going from FCPX to AfterEffects via foolcut, the software works perfectly for that. The move from AE to PP is where the sync gets muddled a bit. Boinx FxTiles | FxFactory | YouTube A tutorial for Boinx FxTiles , a set of effects and transitions th...

Three Ways Camera Assistants Have to Adapt to Digital Cinema in Order to Survive | Evan Luzi | the Black and Blue Some more useful advice for filmmakers and camera assistants: 2. You Should Invest in Digital Specific Gear The number one question I get asked by readers is what they should have in their toolkit. My answer is always dependent on what kind of cameras they shoot on. The tools you use for a film camera are different than the ones you use for a digital camera. There is overlap, of course, but there is also gear that is specifically useful for one format and not for the other. Netflix lost 800,000 U.S. subscribers in third quarter | Ryan Lawler | Gigaom According to management, the “ primary issue is many of our long-term members felt shocked by the pricing changes, and more of them expressed that by canceling than we expected. ” It's trading at 188 today, down from a high of 300 a share in July. Netflix ended the quarter with 21.45 million streaming customers, c...

Rule Boston Camera's LearningLab series continues this Wednesday with Steve Eliopoulos , Director/DP at Gravity Boston discussing his past two decades of shooting timelapse on film, and, currently, on today's DSLR systems including architectural timelapse where 16mm Bolex systems are left in place shooting for up to three years at a time. There'll be some technical discussion, some footage review and some hands-on. Time: 10am to 12noon with Breakfast RSVP: events@rule.com Showroom Demo at 12n with Haley Parizo: Sony NX70U Rain & Dust Proof Camcorder

Mini Review of the RODE Lapel Microphone (Well Recomended) | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior Philip really likes these RODE lapel mics [$249]: The microphone is an omni-directional polar pattern 60Hz to 18KHz and a sound pressure level of 94dB. I can hold my hand up and tell you that I am delighted with my two microphones, they come in an anti-trauma waterproof case and as you can see wind puffs are also part of the kit. For £150 per microphone kit the RODE system is the best on the sub-miniature marketplace and you will be hard pressed to find a more versatile microphone system on the marketplace. iPhone 4S Movie: The hand pressed Cappuccino | F9photo | Vimeo So not only was this shot on an iPhone 4S , but they used a Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly,  (which you can see in this picture [ProPic]). I wonder what a client would think if you showed up to shoot a project on your iPhone ? The 5 Smartest Financing Tips From the Film Independent Forum | Kim Adelman | IndieWire ...

GoPro announced the GoPro 2 , a new iteration of their wearable action camera. The new model features a higher-resolution sensor, new lens, faster image processor and WiFi capabilities, and is available in three configurations (as was the original). It will sell for the same price that the current model had been listing for. The original GoPro remains on sale, but the list price has dropped by $60: see: GoPro : HD Hero2 Philip Bloom has posted a quick video and some thoughts: GoPro release the improved in many ways “Hero 2″ The press release from GoPro appears below.

Or you can get it an: Amazon [$17.88] of on Kindle for $16.99

The agenda for the Boston SuperMeet has been set, and includes: In Conversation with WALTER MURCH This will be the FIRST public appearance by Oscar and BAFTA Award-winning editor Walter Murch since the launch of Final Cut Pro X. Editing BLACK SWAN and Avid Special Announcement - Andrew Weisblum, A.C.E. and Bob Russo, Avid AVID will feature ANDREW WEISBLUM, A.C.E., who will discuss his editorial workflow on BLACK SWAN. Canon EOS 1DX and the Present and Future State of DSLR Filmmaking: - Jem Schofield, TheC47.com CANON will join us again on stage by inviting filmmaker JEM SCHOFIELD of theC47.com, who will share with us his DSLR workflow and talk about the present and future state of Canon filmmaking. Blackmagic Design Davinci Resolve 8.1 - Alexis Van Hurkman Alexis Van Hurkman will discuss how, in the last nine months, DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design has changed his color correction practice. On the Road with SMOKE on Mac and ThunderBolt - Marc-André Ferguson, Autode...