Notes On Video

It's not all C300's and Scarlet X's here at NotesOnVideo. In fact, I don't even have the budget to dream about those cameras, so let's talk about something I might be able to afford... One of the most popular video's I've posted on YouTube is oddly enough this little piece on the Canon XF100 [$2,995] XF105   [$3,999] taken at last year's Canon Expo in New York. [ Yes, I have no idea why it had 57,000 views either...-Ed] I think people must assume I work for Canon or something, because I get questions about the camera, like the one's below. And even though I've never even used the camera, I'm happy to take a swipe at answering them: Hi there... here are some questions I have about this camera: 1. Has it got a good zoom? How much? It's pretty good. 10x (30.4mm-304mm, 35mm equivalent] I don't know how smooth the zoom is on the camera (or whether that's important to you.) I'm told that it has the same lens block as t...

5D Mark II Firmware 2.1.1 Sighting | CanonRumors A link appears on Canon USA site, but it's not live...yet. Confirmed, Panasonic bringing 25p to the GH2 | Andrew Reid | Tumblr And a firmware update for the Panasonic GH2 is expected in December: I contacted a source at Panasonic about what the ‘new video mode’ is on the official GH2 firmware update that is coming in December. It is a 24Mbit 1080/25p output stored in a AVCHD 50i wrapper, meaning you can finally extract a clean high bitrate 25p (progressive) feed from the camera for PAL broadcast work. ARRI Alexa Now Has in Camera Support for Avid DNxHD Codec | Cinescopophilia An update for the Arri Alexa : The ability to record native Avid DNxHD, as MXF files in-camera, creates a unique proposition for the 35 mm digital capture industry and is another first for the ALEXA camera system. Autumn Trail - Shooting for Fun | Jon Palfrey | Blog A short video shot with a Glidetrack slider, with an interesting shot at 1:10...

Hands-On Impressions of the Canon EOS C300 | Angelo Lorenzo | No Film School He did get to handle the camera at the announcement event, but this is really a summary of his thoughts about the C300 vs the Scarlet , the image quality of the demo's shown, and a conclusion that we really need more than 2K. The C300’s base sensitivity is rated at 640 ISO or 850 ISO (if you’re using Canon Log color) and spans a full 12 stops even at 20,000 ISO (higher ISO settings are known to reduce exposure latitude). A Canon rep pulled me aside to hint that their spec sheet is conservative, with 13+ stops in the field. What is the point of the Canon C300? | Phil Rhodes | HD Magazine The Canon 5D Mark II not withstanding, Phil believes that "Canon really do seem to have a talent for failing to do the obvious thing at the obvious time," and that the C300 is too expensive and/or too late. He's heard that the image quality is very good, but has concerns about the compression and ou...

SMPTE/New England's next meeting is Wednesday, November 30 Please join SMPTE New England and The Boston Avid Users Group as we welcome Steve Sarafian of Sony for a presentation on tapeless workflows utilizing Avid’s AMA plug-in. Mr. Sarafian will focus on the theory and practical applications of this technology allowing direct access and editing of Sony metadata and media on Avid editing systems without the need to transcode, copy, or import your footage. Steve’s presentation will covers topics including: XDCAM and XDCAM EX – AMA workflows Metadata and Logging with XDCAM Browser Working with XDCAM EX spanned clips HDCAM SR - Working with the SRW-5800 file based workflows SR-R1000 and the SRR1 SRMaster Recorder AMA Plug in. XDCAM Station - AMA workflow with a hybrid Optical Disc/SxS deck. Wednesday, November 30, 2011 Doors open at 6:30pm Presentation at 7:00pm Avid Headquarters 75 Network Drive (off Middlesex Tpk., near Rte. 62) Burlington, MA 01803 Tel. 978-6...

Everyone has been waiting a long while for Redrock to ship their microRemote follow-focus system, but they've just sent out an update that suggests they are closer to shipping: The microRemote is Alive and Well and (Almost) Ready to Rock This is an update on the Redrock Micro microRemote system. We know you have been patiently waiting and wondering the status of the microRemote . Since our last update, we have been working tirelessly to perfect the microRemote performance and features while maintaining its extraordinary affordability. Now, we have some breakthrough news to share with you. How Far We've Come First, a little background. As you may know, the microRemote has already been demonstrated and used at many events to rave reviews. Users have reported microRemote performance is on par or better than their own current wireless focusing systems costing 10 TIMES the microRemote . Everyone loves the revolutionary iPhone/iPod Touch interface, a groundbreaking adva...

The Boston Avid Users Group is meeting next Tuesday at Powderhouse Productions . If you're interested in attending you might want to hurry over to the registration page as there's only a few seats left (particularly in the General Admission category.) How do you make consistently entertaining television programs on tight budgets and tight deadlines? Ask Rob Kirwan at Powderhouse Productions. At our next BAVUG meeting, Rob will discuss how Powderhouse grew up with Avid and how they use Avid products such as Media Composer, Symphony and Interplay in their current setup and workflow. He will also touch on how the products have changed production models, business, etc. Rob will also discuss his theories of editing style and how Powderhouse uses those theories in every program they produce to create a consistent product. Powderhouse Productions 212 Elm St Somerville, MA 02144 Tuesday, November 15, 2011 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (ET)

Organizing Media in the Event Library | Connor Crosby | Final Cut Whiz Customizing the appearance of the Event Library and organizing media in Smart and Keyword Collections: Keyword Collections are – you guessed it – collections made from keywords. To create Keyword Collections, simply click on the key icon (found between the Event Library and Timeline). Now select a clip you want to apply a keyword and type it in the text box on the popup window. Final Cut Pro X allows you to create shortcuts for keywords by typing words next to the short keys (look at image below). Using Roles to Manage Complex Projects | Larry Jordan | Blog On a related note, this post is from last month, but I think I missed it. Larry explains the role of 'roles' in FCPX : These are a new kind of labels which allow us to flag clips by type. Roles can help us in two significant ways: tracking and managing clips during the edit and exporting just the clips we need. This article talks about the first ...

In case you haven't been following me on Twitter , I'm now writing a column for Filmmaker Magazine's website on Cinematography. You can find the second piece, which was posted Tuesday, here: REACTION TO THE CANON C300 AND RED SCARLET-X . This is an exciting new challenge, and I plan to cover a wide range of topics in this column. And if you have ideas for topics, let me know! Also, there's no plan's to change this blog, or reduce the frequency of posting here, so you'll still find the usual collection of news and feature items here! - Michael

Adobe to lay off 750 workers, restructure around digital media, marketing | Christopher Trout | Engadget Just last week Avid did some restructuring and laid off some workers, and now it seems Adobe is sailing through some troubled waters too. Maybe I'll have to switch to Final Cut Pro X after all! According to one of the two press releases, the master of Flash plans to continue offering the Creative Suite as well as expanding "tablet-based touch apps" and cloud-based software. Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts in Adobe Premiere Pro | Richard Harrington | Blog In this video Richard Harrington covers customizing your keyboard in Premiere Pro CS5.5 . Low Light FS-100 | Brasil Filmes | Vimeo Shot with the Sony NEX-FS100 using Canon 50mm 1.4  [$379],  Canon 16-35mm 2.8  [$1,659] and Sigma 10mm 2.8  [$649] LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt SSD review | Michael Gorman | Engadget It's taken longer than expected, and they may be more expensive than we'd h...

RED Announces New Scarlet X 5K Camera and Pricing | Daniel Bruns | VideoMaker A look at the Scarlet announcement: The more serious issue is that the camera only films at a maximum 6 fps in 5K mode, effectively making that resolution worthless for video (though useful for still photography). Even so, it does include the ability to shoot at 23.98 fps in 4K which should make many professionals happy and even at 120 fps when shooting at only 1K. Did Canon Just Steal the Future of Filmmaking? | Louis Bedigian | Forbes Some people - especially RED fans - take issue with this article about Canon and RED's announcements. Interestingly, it also talks about Sony too (though I'm not sure I agree with those conculsions either): Sony had a stellar opportunity here to step in with a lower-cost model and take control of the market, but it completely missed the boat. The company has been taking losses in nearly every division. If RED holds onto its market position, and if Canon takes a...

Sony SAL1650 on NEX-FS100 | Shawn Lam | Blog Shawn plays with the Sony SAL1650 16-50mm F2.8  [$699.99] lens on a Sony NEX-FS100 and compares it to the Konica Minolta 28-75 f/2.8  [$799.99] and Tokina ATX-Pro 28-70 f/2.6-2.8 . His conclusion: Buy it! I’ve been waiting to try out the Sony SAL1650 16-50mm F2.8 lens since it was announced in August. My interest in this particular lens is for use on my Sony NEX-FS100, for which I had not been able to find a suitable wide zoom lens. There aren’t too many 16-50′s on the market yet (B&H is still not showing any inventory) so rather than wait another few months (like I expect to for Sony LA-EA2 FS100 firmware) for someone else to review it, I decided to see if I could beg, borrow, or buy an SAL1650 that I could test on one of my two FS100s. UPDATE 6:00PM : Removed incorrect link to Konica Minolta lens: that lens is now discontinued, and is not the same as the current Sony/Minolta 28-75. Sony NEX-FS100 Q&A - Lens Adapte...

Last week I reported on buying the Adobe Production Premium Suite , and how I had gone for delivery on DVD rather than downloading. see : Buying Software Online . Funny thing happened. The discs arrived [ ahead of time too! ] and I went to install them and the MacBook Pro wouldn't read the discs: it just spit them straight out. Spat out the second disc from the set too. I tried a different disc just to be sure it wasn't the drive, and that disc loaded fine, so either the discs are faulty, or this drive doesn't like those discs. I will have to try them in another computer when I can. In the mean time; what to do? Well, I downloaded the trial version of the entire Suite from Adobe's website, put in the serial number from the box when it asked whether I wanted to run in trial mode, and everything went fine! Seems I didn't need those discs after all! Note: The download file was just under 9GB. The download took a little over two hours. I don't know how mu...

10 Things You May Not Know About The Canon EOS C300 & Future Of Cinema EOS | Dan Carr | Blog Some interesting facts about the C300 : Inside the C300 is a system of 4 glass ND filters which have 0, 2, 4 and 6 stops of light blocking capability. The filters have to be used individually they cannot be stacked together and they are electronically moved into place at the push of one of the side buttons on the camera. If you happen to be on location and the electronic motor system breaks, Canon have designed a a small hatch on the right side of the camera that can be opened to allow a screwdriver to turn the gears and change the filters. Scarlet, Canon C300, and “Super 35” | Stu Maschwitz | Prolost The slightly different sensor sizes of several "Super 35" cameras: The Scarlet X has a larger sensor than the Canon C300, but you won’t be using it all to make movies. You can only achieve 24 fps at 4K and below—where the window you’re shooting to is actually smaller than t...

An In-Depth Tut orial for Using a Light Meter to Find Your Camera's Exposure Latitude | Angelo Lorenzo | No Film School Yesterday I was playing with a Canon EF lens on the Sony NEX-VG20 using an EF-to-NEX mount adapter; no more fully automatic mode for me! So maybe it's time to buy a lightmeter and figure out how to do exposure properly...this article explains how to: Don’t know your camera’s limitations? Experimenting with a new in-camera gamma curve or picture style? Renting a camera you haven’t used before? You’ll want to run this test to see where you stand with exposure latitude. Canon 4K mirrorless DSLR available within 12 months | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Now that Canon has announced the C3000 , it's time to speculate about the next camera: I also think that this full frame DSLR with be mirrorless. In order to work with PL mount lenses, a DSLR cannot have a mirror in between the mount and the sensor. Also in a cinema orientated DSLR an optical viewfinder is total...