Notes On Video

It’s not exactly video related, but I’m currently helping a client with some audio issues. They have a contractor coming in and providing wireless mics and projection equipment for a monthly meeting, and they’re thinking it might be cheaper to do the job themselves. For the audio they have two wireless handheld mics and a lavaliere going into a mixer, which is then connected to house speakers. Mixer The mixer the contractor uses is a Mackie 1402-VLZ3 Fourteen Channel Mixer with 6 XLR Mic Inputs ($399.99) A nice little box with multiple inputs, and it even has sliders! Given that the client typically only has three sources at their events (the three mics) they could get by with the Mackie 802-VLZ3 8-Channel Compact Audio Mixer ($199.99), even if it has knobs instead of sliders. Mackie 1402-VLZ3 However, an eight-input mixer doesn’t mean eight individual inputs. The 802-VLZ3 has 2 mono lines and 3 stereo line inputs. So that’s really five channels, and if they decide they ...

It's Friday, February 8 2013, and everyone in the Northeast is battened down and waiting for the biggest snow storm of the season. And while I still have power - and the internet! - here's the news of the day. Canon C100 stuff It's been an interesting week for Canon C100 news. I'd just put up a report on Filmmaker ( Canon C100 or C300: Which One to Get? ) about the Canon C300 vs the C100 image, speculating whether the Atomos Ninja would really make a big difference in image quality when Paul Antico emails me to say he just got one and tried it with his C100 and felt it was making a big difference in image. Exciting. ( Canon C100 Does 4:2:2 with the Ninja Video Recorder ) I must admit that if I had the money, I'd buy a C100 . Yes, it doesn't do 4K or overcranking, but for 99.999% of what I'll be doing over the next few years, it will be more than sufficient. The only problem is that it's outside my camera budget. The Canon C300: Field Tes...

Well, this looks cool. It's P roCutX for Final Cut Pro X , an iPad interface for controlling Final Cut Pro X that actually looks cooler than the interface of Final Cut Pro X . But $24.99? Hmmm.. I must admit, I purchased another - sort of similar -  iPad app that controlled Final Cut Pro 7 , and used it exactly twice. It wasn't because it didn't work, it was just that I could work very well with the keyboard and mouse...switching to the iPad didn't really seem like that useful. So yes, I find it intriguing, but I'm not certain that if I bought it I would actually do anything more than try it out once, go 'that's so cool,' and then never use it again....which is about the story for half the apps I've ever installed on my iPad .

You Don't Have to Go to Film School to Make It: A List of Film Schools 2013 Sundance Directors Attended | BRYCE J. RENNINGER | Indiewire 64 filmmakers responded, and the results may be surprising. 29 said they had no formal training in filmmaking. Some learned skills in design or photography school or as journalists but had no formal film school education.  The most popular film school from the filmmakers we surveyed was NYU, which had seven respondents. My Review of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera | Daniel Freytag | Blog It's a nice camera with nice images. But it's not that unicorn what everyone expected. I think there are simply to many disadvantages to use it for my productions. It has some nice things like 10-bit SDI out, 2.5K RAW recording with 13 stops of DR but on the other hand it has a huge crop-factor, it doesn't have 50/60p and the battery solution is not optimal. Canon EOS 1DC test short “Hyber Nation” & review | Nino Leitner | Blog Last but...

Using a Home Projector for Rear Projection | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine The projector mentioned in this article, the Vivitek D950 1080p HD (at $899), did an amazing job:  I was amazed at how bright the projector was; given the size of the image (about 40 feet across) and the fact that the curtain wasn’t a real projection screen. The room was darkened, but it was still quite impressive.  1. Write the Feature. 2. Make a Short. 3. Get the Feature Made. (Coming Soon: a MANCHILD Short) | Ryan Koo | No Film School This section isn’t easy to write, because I can hear this hypothetical comment ahead of time: “Wait, you got us all to give you money so you could make your movie and now you say you need MORE money?” Sure, but I’m not asking for more money on Kickstarter; we’re looking to raise more financing to make MANCHILD by augmenting the Kickstarter funds with traditional independent film financing. Most Kickstarter campaigns only cover part of a film’s production...

Cinematographer Ben Smithard (My Week With Marilyn) on choosing Sony’s F65 for Belle | Chris Patmore | movieScope The Sony is better than a lot of other digital cameras and is probably the closest to film that I’ve ever seen. I really hope that the F65 becomes a standard because it’s a great camera and it would be good for the film industry to settle on something, because there’s a lot of money swilling around the pot that could be better used somewhere else. F55/F5 RAW support (in addition to F65RAW) | Sony Sony releases support for Sony's F5 and F55  in Premiere Pro: This plug-in adds support for Sony RAW MXF files in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 products, allowing viewing and editing capabilites. What's New: F55/F5 RAW support (in addition to F65RAW) THERE AND BACK AGAIN: LEARNING TO LOVE (AND HATE) THE CANON 1DC | Andrew Wonder | Blog Now putting the 1DC in the real world it becomes harder to see the differences that 4K brings to the table. Yes it appears sharp...