Notes On Video

The Cheap Sony 4K SonyAlphaRumors has a picture of an upcoming cheap  4K camera from Sony that may sell for less than $5,000. Cheap, of course, is relative. This isn't really news; the idea of a camera like this was previewed back at NAB, as Cinescopophilia points out . I'm quite sure that Sony will come out with a 4K camera that looks like this; the question was never 'if,' only 'when' and 'how much?' But before you get too excited, note that this camera is basically the same body as the  HXR-NX5U and  HVR-Z5U . These cameras have a FIXED lens, and 1/3" sensors. This is not the 4K replacement for the NEX-FS100. It could still be a nice camera for documentary work, though the image better be worth the extra $$ compared to the price of the HXR-NX5U. Other News When a Camera Manufacturer Hates Me… | ProVideoCoalition Art Adams responds to being called out by Jim Jannard in his final post to Reduser: I have a lot of respect for RED. T...

As I previously mentioned, I haven't really done any serious lens testing before, so I've been doing some research on the topic. So far I've found the following references/resources: Lens flares | Too Much Information All lenses were at their wides aperture and pointed to a 500W spot light that was about 4 meters away. I shot the tests on Sony NEX-FS700. The only colour correction I did on the footage is set the shadows and highlights to 0 and 100 IRE respectively. Controlled, comparative, repetitive & meaningful bokeh tests | pbase The distance for the main object was 0.5m for all 50mm lenses, and 1m for 105mm Sigma (with and without TC) and Sigma 50-500. White christmass bulbs were at 3m distance. Object shot (HO steam model loco) was chosen for huge contrast, tiny details and very shiny parts that provoke easily CA and blooming. That way one can nicely judge other lens qualities besides bokeh. What the Heck is Bokeh? | Rick Denney Test condition...

Foreign Incentives Help Crush Once-Booming F/X Biz in U.S. | Variety While the city’s vfx business may not be entirely lifeless, it’s certainly bleeding out. It was severely wounded by several factors: failure to organize when it could; globalization; low labor costs abroad; and most of all, foreign subsidies. Chances are it will survive only as a much-weakened remnant. Video: An Inside Look at Storyboarding with the Coen Brothers' Storyboard Artist | No Film School It’s my job to get what’s inside a director’s head on the paper. It’s not my job to create the shot. It’s my job to interpret their language into a visual language. It’s very important that I get as close to the image that’s in their brain on the paper, so that everybody when they walk on the set is making the same movie — they’re not all imagining what’s going on. The Costs of Working with 2K and 4K Uncompressed Footage | wolf crow As you can see, the costs of storing uncompressed footage goes out of han...

Upcoming Free webinar : Storytelling from Indie to 3D with Avid Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock Shares His Secrets Thursday, August 29, 201311 am PT / 2 pm ET Acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and producer Jeremy Chilnick recently completed One Direction: This Is Us —a highly anticipated film that combines 3D concert footage with Morgan’s trademark documentary style. See how an Avid workflow helps Morgan and Jeremy collaborate Get a behind-the-scenes tour of their creative working environment Learn the storytelling secrets behind Morgan’s success Get your questions answered in a live Q&A with Morgan Be Natural: Interview with documentary filmmakers Pamela Green and Jarik van Sluijs | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine If somebody thinks that they know the story that they are going to tell at the beginning, they better think again, because once they look at the footage it becomes something completely different. CLEAN DJI PHANTOM QUADCOPTER WITH GIMBAL AND INTERNAL FPV TR...

As expected, Sony announced three new E-mount lenses (useful for the NEX-FS100, NEX-FS700, NEX-EA50 and NEX-VG30 video cameras.) The first lens isn't really a new lens. The  Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS Lens (Black) ($298) appears to be just the existing silver lens in a black covering; which will look a lot better on those black video cameras! The second lens (above) is the  Sony Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens ($998) . It includes Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, and is probably a very nice lens, though it will probably appeal more to still photographers. The last lens is the  Sony E PZ 18-105mm f/4 G OSS Lens ($598) . This will probably be of most interest to those with E-mount video cameras because it includes Optical Image Stabilization, a constant f/4 maximum aperture, Internal zoom and focus design to maintain a constant lens length with a non-rotating front element, and powered zoom:  The internal zoom operation utilizes Handycam...

Camera Drone crashes into crowd – malfunction or pilot error? | planet5D Well, this is bothersome, as I'm thinking seriously about getting one of these things... In the video below, you see there appears to be a ‘contour‘ kind of camera (small cylindrical camera somewhat like the goPro) and suddenly, it alters angle and dives right into the crowd… the gentleman filming shouts that it hit some man in the face.planet5D has so much to offer Colour Grading with LUT’s in Premiere | James Miller | Philip Bloom Getting Started: It’s Important to load adjust layers in the right order. Sometimes if you’re using too many adjustments, you may cut some weird clipping issues. In this example case of Philip’s ‘Hiding Place’, I started by marking the cuts as I was not working with the native edit. Although I still do lots of grading to locked down edits that have been supplied as Prores masters. How to convert your dslr to a pinhole camera | Behind The Shutter I wonder how this wor...