Notes On Video

I’ve been using Final Cut Pro for three or four years now. Prior to that I’d been using Premiere , but when Adobe – temporarily – abandoned the Mac platform, I switched. Coming to Final Cut , I didn’t spend much time really learning the program; I figured out what I needed to do - how to cut clips, apply transitions and effects, and add titles - and away I went. Over the years I picked up how to use the 3-Way Color Corrector (after going to a demo on using XDCAM with Final Cut Pro !) but I never spent any time learning more. And I never got beyond Final Cut ; I never did more than launch Motion , and didn’t even get that far with Color or SoundTrack . It’s silly really, having these programs and not being able to use them to their full – or any - potential. After attending a recent seminar and seeing a demo of new features in these programs, it occurred to me that it was time to spend a bit of effort actually figuring out how to use these tools. So I started with Motion . Motion is ...

Engadget has a gallery of images of Panasonic's 1080p twin-lens P2 camcorder taken at CEATEC . Unfortunately, the camera is in a glass case, so they aren't that clear. It appears that there were no demonstrations, and there's been very little word on this camera since it first popped up back in April . Is 3D the future? I'm not so sure, but perhaps Fujifilm's Finepix Real 3D W1 will be a harbinger of things to come: The camera's special LCD monitor displays the images in 3D (and you can buy a special 3D digital viewer as well.) Some of the blog reactions to the camera have been less than enthusiastic (the links below, not withstanding!) but the camera should be widely available shortly. Unboxed – Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1 Fujifilm 3D camera hands-on Fujifilm: FinePix REAL 3D W1 AMAZON

1. Two of the winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics this year are Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith of Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor." While CCDs are increasingly being replaced by CMOS in digital cameras, the CCD really started the digital image revolution. 2. Camcorderinfo.com doesn't review as many cameras as we might like, but they do get around to one or two...and they've just reviewed the Canon HV40 . Tape is not dead yet! The HV40 is the latest update to Canon's popular HDV small camcorder line, unfortunately it seems it's only a small update: the only notable advance is the support for true 24p (rather than 60i video with a 2:3 pulldown used in the HV30.) Since the HV40 is only a minor upgrade over last year's HV30, it seems that Canon isn't putting too much effort into its tape-based HDV models. The HV40's flash-memory counterparts have more sophistic...

Know your fonts? How about your cheeses? Play Cheese or Font and see how good you are at telling one from the other. (I played a little, and I think I was doing about 50% at best when I realized that I wasn't that good!)

1. Mike Kobal has posted some good examples of rolling shutter for the Nikon D90, Canon 5D, 7D and Panasonic GH1. For each he first does a very quick pan, and then a slower pan. All cameras have noticeable problems with the very fast pan, but the slow pan seems fine for the G5, 7D and the GH1: Rolling Shutter compared: Nikon D90, Canon 5D mark II, Panasonic GH1, Canon 7D 2. Canon USA has posted an interesting article on using the 7D for shooting video: Harnessing the Power of the EOS 7D’s Video System Traditional movies, shot on actual film, are shot at true 24 fps. Video from an EOS 7D, taken alongside actual film (which we anticipate will be done from time to time in Hollywood studios) is shot at an actual rate of 23.976 fps; it would have to be speeded up very slightly in the computer to exactly match film — normally, very easy to do. Keep in mind that even though the Mode Dial has settings for Tv (shutter-priority automatic) and Av (aperture-priority automatic), these are for sti...

This is not really video related (even though Flash is used to play back a lot of video on the web these days), but Adobe Labs has announced that Flash Professional CS5 will enable you to build applications for iPhone and iPod touch using ActionScript 3 . These applications can be delivered to iPhone and iPod touch users through the Apple App Store. A public beta of Flash Professional CS5 with prerelease support for building applications for iPhone is planned for later this year. Sign up to be notified when the beta starts . Some notes: The new support for iPhone applications in the Flash Platform tooling will not allow iPhone users to browse web content built with Flash technology on iPhone, but it may allow developers to repackage existing web content as applications for iPhone if they choose to do so. iPhone applications built with Flash Platform tools are compiled into standard, native iPhone executables, just like any other iPhone application. Application cannot load SWF files or ...

1. Canon Europe has posted some interesting technical information on the Canon 7D, and the WFT-E5 (the wifi transmitter that connects to the bottom of the 7D.) Inside the Canon EOS 7D: examining the technology and its benefits WFT-E5 - taking wifi possibilities to a new level 2. Everyone seems to be shooting demo reels with the 7D. The latest example is: "Vienna is not Beijing" - 4 to 7 A.M short 3. Danfung Dennis is a freelance photojournalist who has covered Afghanistan and Iraq since 2006. He used a Canon 5D to shoot footage for a video on Afghanistan: Obama's War . You can read an interview here . Here's what he said about shooting with the camera: I am using a new camera called the Cannon [EOS] 5D Mark II, shoots full HD video. I've custom built it so I can rig it onto a steady cam-like device, so that when I am running it will shoot a very smooth, steady picture. It's a bit tricky because [the Marines are] running, you're running, you're wea...

If you’re a Final Cut Pro user, there’s a lot of online tutorials, as well as forums that act as great resources. One source I had missed for information: Apple. They have some interesting stuff on their Final Cut Studio Resource page. If nothing else, it’s worth going to get the Alpha Transitions , Color Looks and Compressor Droplets that are available for free. The Alpha Transitions are very cool. After downloading them, they have to be "installed" and used in a particular way; this tutorial explains how to install and use an alpha transition: Using the New Alpha Transitions in Final Cut Pro 7 . Even if you don't like the examples Apple has provided, they show you how to use Alpha Transitions, and might get you wanting to create your own using Motion.

Amazon now has the VholdR ContourHD1080p available for pre-order. Expected delivery is November 16th, and they are quoting $329.99 Links the-gadgeteer.com: Capture extreme HD footage with the VholdR ContourHD Helmet Cam (includes press release) Helmetcameracentral: VholdR ContourHD 1080p Review: Delicious Full 1080p Wearable Video (includes more details specs) One interesting thing: ContourHD1080p has five video resolutions, the two highest are: Full HD - 1080p (1920x1280) Tall HD - 960p (1280x960) But 1080 is 1920 x 1080. Clearly the Full HD could be cropped down, but 1280 x 960 is closer to 720p, which is 1280 x 720.

It’s the end of the week, and with no Canon 7D in site, I thought I’d put together a little summary of interesting bits and pieces (about the 7D.) Blogs Dan Chung has a blog DSLR News Shooter that’s worth following and has some nice video examples: " Another Night in Beijing " is all evening shots, and includes information about how it was shoot too. His latest post is about Shooting China’s 60th anniversary parade with the 7D and 5DmkII and some other camera. Note that he reported some problems with overheating, but he was shooting in 720p. The video includes some interesting use of tilt/shift lens, slow motion, and time lapse. Another Dan is blogging about his experiences shooting an independent feature with two 7D’s at 7dcinema.blogspot.com . Disassembling You can see photos someone took disassembling a 7D (Why???!) at a Japanese site. Can't read the descriptions unfortunately!. And also a video of the carnage . Video out If you want to connect the camera to your t...

Is the overheating problem caused - or more frequent - when capturing at 720p and 480p? That's one of the things that seems to be common about the users that have had problems . In fact, two of them seem to have subsequently found that recording at 1080p in 24 and 30fps does not have the same problem. If that is the case, it could be due to the extra processing scaling the image down to the smaller sizes, or because of the higher frames rates (50 and 60fps) used in those two modes. Or it could be something else.

The Canon 7D has only just started arriving in the hands of users, and already there's a bit of a panic about an overheating issue. Three users on dvinfo.net report encountering the temperature warning (a red flashing indicator) during shooting. It appears that the camera initially keeps shooting with the warning, but may shut off. Canon's manual notes: * If you continue to shoot movies for a prolonged period, the camera's internal temperature will increase. This can degrade the image quality. While not shooting, turn off the power. * If you shoot under direct sunlight or high-temperature conditions, the (high internal temperature warning) may appear on the screen. If you keep shooting a movie with the warning icon displayed, the image quality might degrade. * If the icon is displayed and you keep shooting movies until the camera's internal temperature increases further, the movie shooting will stop automatically. Now it appears that these users were using the camera f...

If you’re looking for a helmet cam or a car-mountable camera, you’ve probably encountered the VholdR Contour camera. There’s already been a couple of versions of the camera; the original VholdR wearable camera costs about $200 and shoots in standard resolution video, and the ContourHD is selling for about $280, and shoots in 720p. Now they have announced a new version, the ContourHD 1080 , which shoots 1080p video, and will cost about $50 more than the ContourHD. It’s certainly an interesting camera, with it’s small size and laser aided focusing. On the down side, it has a fixed field of view (though on a helmet cam it’s not like you are going to be zooming in and out.) Users note the following: solid construction, seems robust simple, light and easy to use for outdoors, it produces good quality images poor low-light capabilities adapting to other camera mounts can be difficult poor sound and no video out If you’re looking to do active shooting, it’s certainly worth considering. I’m ...

There's a rumor that Canon will be increasing it's prices by 10% on October 1. As with all rumors, the details are somewhat elusive. Number’s between 2% and 25% have been mentioned (I’m pretty sure the 25% is wrong) and people in different countries have reported different numbers. It’s also been said that it applies to lenses, but not cameras. Finally, some posters have suggested that retailers have already put their prices up over the past few months. So who knows? But if you're planning on ordering any Canon gear in the next month, maybe you should do it tomorrow? Link Photorumors : 10% Canon price increase on October 1st?

I was explaining to someone today my thinking about the pros and cons of the 7D vs 5D Mark II. The big pro for the 5D is the bigger, full frame sensor. From the early reports, the bigger sensor on the 5D does slightly better in low light than the 7D’s sensor (which has smaller photosites.) Initial testers are suggesting that the 7D is about one stop noisier than the 5D. And if you like wide-angle lenses, then the full-frame sensor of the 5D is the one to get. And I do like to use wide-angle lenses. But it’s $1,000 more than the 7D. And if you are even partly serious about shooting video, then the 7D has it all over the 5D, with it’s 24, 25 and 30 fps (which is actually 29.97, rather than the 5D’s 30fps) as well as it’s 60fps 720p option. Another thing to consider is that next year, I’m pretty sure Canon will replace the 5D with a full-frame camera that can do the other frame rates. At one point it was thought that Canon might release a firmware update for the 5D MkII that would support...

I just bought a Sony HDR-XR500V (which is the same as the HDR-XR520V, but with a smaller hard drive.) I’ve been looking to replace a Sony HDR-HC1 (which is an HDV) camera, and this looked like an interesting option. I often shoot multiple camera events, and I’m constantly trying to improve the image quality (without busting the budget!) The HC1 is a good performer, but in lower light situations, it tends to produce a lot of noise and color is poor.   I also recently bought a Canon HF100 as a third camera, and it was really starting to show up the HC1.   A few notes about the XR500: As a semi-pro (by that I mean I’m not shooting holiday snapshots, but I’m not shooting professionally) this camera is not what I’d call a semi-pro camera. In particular, it’s lack of an audio input for using external mics, and manual audio gain control, mean that, as a primary or sole camera it won’t be good for many users. Documentary makers should probably skip it. Those looking for better audio options sh...

Just about as soon as it was released, people started complaining about the limitations of the video capabilities in the 5D Mk II. There’s two notable problems: • the lack of manual controls when recording video • no 24/25p recording The latter is a big problem for those in Europe, and those wanting to use this camera for content to be distributed on film, while the former is a problem for almost everyone. Now there’s some unconvincing rumors that there will be a firmware update in April that will “add a feature.” What is that feature? Who knows? But if they did add manual controls of some kind, I might be tempted to buy one of these beasts (at the moment I’m content to save my money figuring that the next camera will add those manual controls, and will be the better buy.)

First there was the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II, and now here comes the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1, the third DSLR to arrive with HD video. You can read the announcement here. The GH1 is a Micro Four Thirds system camera; it has interchangeable lenses, but because it’s designed around a smaller sensor the body and lens are smaller than the SLRs from Canon and Nikon. On the video side of things, the camera supports: full HD (1920 x 1080) video at 24 fps or 720P HD video (1280 x 720) movie at 60 fps using the AVCHD format (MPEG-4/H.264). You can see some sample videos on Panasonic’s site (though not at full resolution.) More importantly, auto-focus will work while recording movies, and you can manually set aperture and shutter, a feature lacking on the 5D Mk II that’s driving some users mad. Unlike the D90 and 5D Mk II, this camera also has a swivel LCD screen on the back, which could be really useful when using it as a video camera. On the other hand, the camera has a video viewfind...

I’ve recently started moving from tape based recording to flash based, first purchasing a Panasonic AVCHD camcorder, and now a Canon HF-100. I’ll admit to being nervous; tape is a great archive medium, and - it turns out - much easier to transfer and deal with than AVCHD files. WHAT IS AVCHD? When the first consumer HD tape-based camcorders appeared on the market, most of them used the DV tape format, but used a different compressor (MPEG2) to get the video onto the tape (the tape actually records a digital file.) This format was called HDV. As manufacturers have moved away from tape towards hard drive and flash based cameras, they’ve adopted a new compressor that is much more efficient, and can handle higher resolutions. This compressor is called AVCHD. It takes advantage of more horsepower available, producing files that are much smaller than HDV. The downside is that it’s not a great compressor for online editing. CONVERTING AVCHD ON A MAC Turns out that it’s a little more complicat...

Happy New Year! And if you didn’t get what you wanted at – insert holiday here – then maybe uncle CES and aunty MacWorld have something for you… But first, Canon has released firmware that it says fixes – or mitigates – the “black dot problem” in the 5D Mark II. First reports are encouraging. The firmware update doesn’t add any features – like the ability to manually set aperture and ISO while recording video…a feature people using the 5D MkII for video capture would just love to have. Unfortunately, I think they are wasting their time waiting…they will have to wait for the Mk III or the 60D for new features. iMovie 09 Apple didn’t announce much at MacWorld, but they did roll out iMovie 09 . While perhaps not a serious editing tool, it can be useful for quick editing, and they added one exciting addition; image stabilization New video stabilization in iMovie ’09 analyzes how much your camera was moving while you were recording, then automatically reduces camera shake. Stabilize on a ...