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Gareth Jones creates piece using 3D plug-in FreeForm | Mettle
FreeForm makes 3D movement in character animation much easier, especially head rotation. For example, the head can be placed on it's own layer, FreeForm applied, and the head can then be shaped in 3D using FreeForm's control points and tangents. A displacement map can also be applied in FreeForm to add more volume and detail.

VIrgin Media from Gareth Jones on Vimeo.



Product Review: Sorenson Media Squeeze 9 Pro | Larry Jordan
The application can take you as far as you want to go in improving the quality of your compressed videos. Keep in mind, however, that like any powerful tool, you will need to invest time to learn how to use it well. One of the things that impresses me about the Sorenson website is that they have already taken the time to provide the tools you need to learn the application.


A warning about OS X Mavericks from Adobe:
Adobe Premiere Pro @AdobePremiereThough #PremierePro CC supports OS X 10.9 (#Mavericks) please be cautious updating as some third-parties are not yet compatible.


Film Noise (Grain)
Last night, at the presentation by Vincent Laforet, he mentioned that he'd added film noise to a project, and someone in the audience asked him when he was going to stop doing that. Vincent's reply was that it might be something that only stays with the current generation.
Then I see this post today on Twitter:
Pop Photo @PopPhotoScott Kelby on DSLRs in 2023: Noise will be something that only exists if we add it to make it look like pictures out parents took.


Clint Regehr Winning Documentary | Sony
The documentary "State" documents four high school football players at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) pursuing dreams of a Texas State Championship. This is an interview with director Clint Regehr:
In terms of equipment, I used 4 cameras for each of the games. For the football action I used the NX5U and the FS700. I also used the FS100 and NEX-5N for capturing crowd shots and shots around the bench. The FS700 was my primary camera for shooting the football action at the field level. This camera is amazing. I purchased the camera because of its incredible super slow motion capability of 240 fps at full 1080p.



The Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera: A Review | Filmmaker Magazine
Regarding the Super-16 sensor, there’s been some concern voiced that it doesn’t have the same post-5D super-thin focus some digital shooters have become accustomed to. I honestly think that aesthetic fad is starting to wear thin (no pun intended).


VIDEO REVIEW: THE WALLY DOLLY | News Shooter
The Wally Dolly has been a firm favourite of news and documentary shooters, particularly British and Australians, for many years. It is highly portable and incredibly simple to set up. In this video review I show how to assemble it and also how it can make low angle dolly shots possible.


Getting Started with BulletProof: Presets | Red Giant
A video tutorial on using Red Giant's BulletProof utility.



ScopeBox | Divergent Media
Digital Scopes for Final Cut Pro X:
You get all of your "old favorites" - waveform and vectorscope - plus some new ways of visualizing your signal like the RGB histogram or Channel Plot. You can mix and match scopes, save layouts, and be confident that you're seeing every pixel and every frame of your signal.


Sony FS700; The Ferrari Profile | Sam Morgan Moore
Sam offers his preferred profile for the Sony NEX-FS700:
This is a profile for accurate shooting and using lights or reflectors when you need them.Its not for protecting the highlights – its for letting them blow without colour banding – or protecting them with lighting design


Not Just CGI: The Incredible Tech of Horror-Movie Monsters | Live Science
Computer-generated imagery might be replacing some of the shuffling zombies and rubber-suited monsters of yesteryear, but the technology of special effects isn't all in a central processing unit, according to Andrew Clement, the owner of Creative Character Engineering in Van Nuys, Calif.



Sony FDR-AX1 Digital 4K Video Camera Recorder | B & H
Sony's consumer 4K camcorder, the FDR-AX1, is shipping now and it's only $4,498.00. I'm sure that before I know it, every camera will be 4K and I won't be able to conceive of buying an HD camera, but today I think I'd wait on the 4K...at least until I can get a Mac Pro.



Pixel Problem with BMPCC | YouTube
Problems with a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera:
Bummer. Just received my Blackmagic pocket cinema camera and it has a ridiculous number of hot or stuck pixels. ISO at 1600 but problem persists, though less noticeable, at lower ISO.


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