Notes On Video

There's some good rebates on different consumer camcorders that are running (some are up today!) The Canon HF21 and the Sony HDR-CX500V seem like particularly good deals. Note: if you're looking at the Canon's I'd recommend the HF21 over the R10 and R100. I've listed B & H and Amazon prices, which in all but two cases are the same. Note that Amazon no longer directly sells some of the models. Canon VIXIA HF R10 Flash Memory Camcorder (Black) [$100 off until 6/12, $439] $439 at Amazon  - Rates 3/5 stars. (7 reviews) Though it's HD, one reviewer says it: captures in 1664 x 936, then upconverts it to a 1920 x 1080 Canon VIXIA HF R100 Flash Memory Camcorder [$100 off until 6/12. $399] $399 at Amazon  -  Rates 3/5 stars. (9 reviews) Though it's HD, users complain it's noisy in low light Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder [$100 off until 6/12. $887.39] $887.39 at Amazon -  Rates 5/5 stars (only 7 reviews) **  Canon VIXIA HF21 Du...

Writer/Director Michael Goi with guest speakers producer Mark Gragnani, lead actress Amber Perkins and Marc Klaas. Michael will talk about how to accomplish a feature film within limited budget, how to shoot from the POV of the various mobile, computer and web-based cameras and how he wrote the script entirely based on real occurrences, and what aesthetic choices to be made for a film that raises awareness. Also includes pre-release screening of " Megan is Missing ." Cost: $25 ($10 off with Student ID) Saturday, June 19, 2010, 6:00 to 9:30 pm French Institute Alliance Française Florence Gould Hall Theater 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022 StudentFilmmakers.com: Low-Budget Feature Filmmaking Seminar and Benefit Screening with Michael Goi, ASC

The PHYX Cleaner plug-in can rebuild pixelated chroma (color) channels, restore lost information in gradients, convert fields into progressive comb-free frames, buff-out skin blemishes, and remove high and low frequency jagged noise. Features: Chroma Reconstructor : Rebuilds pixelated chroma (color) channels, repairs blocky colors, and removes unwanted sub-sampling artifacts. Deband : Restores lost information in gradients, and increases effective color depth up to 32-bits per color. Deinterlace : Converts fields into progressive frames free of comb-like artifacts using field reconstruction and Optical Flow. Digital Make Up Kit : Smooth skin blemishes in post-production. Fast Noise Reduction : Spatial noise reduction engine that removes high and low frequency noise (fine and large noise) from images. PHYX Cleaner runs within the FxFactory platform and is available for $199 USD via the Noise Industries website (http://www.noiseindustries.com). A trial version is now included wi...

Was it just yesterday that I was reacting to the negative message of the book " The Shallows " (subtitled; What the Internet if Doing to our Brain ) by proposing to change to the way I link to things in articles? Because just this morning on NPR I heard an interview with author Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus , which "forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last." It seems that we used to watch Television and accomplish nothing,  but now we're all on the Internet blogging about watching television, and that's much more productive!  Or something like that; I admit I wasn't paying close attention. So it looks like everything's okay. ...I still plan to put the links at the end of the articles...at least for the moment. LINKS NotesOnVideo: Do Internet Makes Us Dumb? Amazon.com: Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected ...

DocumentaryTech has an interview with Boston resident Nathaniel Hansen about his latest project and using Kickstarter.com - the crowdfunding website - to raise money. “Documentary can’t just be the traditional release method, where you do the project, release to a festival, and maybe get theatrical or DVD. I think these days, to create a better audience, you need to engage them throughout the process.” DocumentaryTech: On the road to make a successfully crowdfunded film, and lessons learned so far Kickstarter.com: Home Page

Free webcast June 15th, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM EDT Join Autodesk Certified Instructor Barry Goch as he takes you through a project from start to finish using the creative finishing tools found in Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS® X. Discover powerful finishing tools and learn how to take your project to the next level using features such as the paint module, 3D text effects, and Action, the 3D compositing environment in Smoke. Barry Goch is an experienced studio level Online Editor and Finishing Artist as well as an Autodesk Smoke Certified Instructor. Createasphere : Creative Finishing with Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS X

Western Digital WD TV Live Plus Western Digital just announced a new version of the WD TV Live Plus. The "big" addition is that it has added NetFlix support, and unfortunately it still doesn't use WiFi. WD : WD TV Live Plus Digital Convergence Episode 19 - Rodney Charters, ASC Rodney Charters is the DP behind the popular Award winning Fox series "24" starring Kiefer Sutherland. In this episode of the Digital Convergence podcast, Rodney opens up with his insider take on film education, 3D technology, DSLR video, and the business of the film industry and episodic television. 16x9 Cinema : Episode 19 Canon Filmmakers Live I don't really know who Canon Filmmakers is, but they've organized Canon Filmmakers Live for Sunday July 11, 2010, 10AM - 5PM in Philadelphia. Speakers/Presenters include Philip Bloom, Dave Williams, John Hyland and others. Cost is $95. Canon Filmmakers Live CineFringe 2010 Is looking for short films from across the gl...

I've been playing a lot with a wearable camera, except that I've been "wearing" the camera - a ContourHD - on my car. It's a lot of fun, but one of the big problems is getting the framing right. Since the camera has no LCD display, it's very hit-or-miss getting the picture to look good. I'd previously seen the Drift X170 Action Camera and was intrigued because it has a tiny LCD screen, but it's only standard def. But now Drift has come out with the Drift HD170 , which supports 1080p recording and still has the integrated LCD screen. There's also a remote control! The camera will be available in July with an MSRP of $329. LINKS Drift Innovation : Drift HD170 product page Vimeo : Sample Videos NotesOnVideo : ContourHD VholdR 2800 Windshield Mount Kit

I'm a little skeptical about the hype surrounding Nicholas Carr's book " The Shallows " and it's thesis that the Internet is making us all dumber - maybe that's because I never thought we were that smart to begin with. BUT, it's evidently provoked some discussion about hyperlinking, and an article at Salon.com by Laura Miller does a great job of making the case for not putting linking inside an article. Instead, the article advocates putting links at the end of an article, in much the way that they used to do it in books. In-text links, it's argued, are often used for jokey links that don't really add anything to the story, and perhaps more importantly, can make the writer sloppy; A sentence that's written to include hyperlinks won't necessarily make as much sense without them. You write differently when you know you can't dodge explaining yourself by fobbing the task off on someone more eloquent or better informed. I think there...

Richard Harrington, co-author of From Still to Motion : A photographer's guide to creating video with your DSLR  is also author of Photoshop for Video . He reports that the 4th edition is just off to the printer with "new layout, more video and more 3D." It's expected in July and you can pre-order at Amazon for $364.64 Photoshop for Video (4th Edition) Meanwhile, over at the on the From Still to Motion Facebook page, Rich gives these reasons for using the Canon 7D rather than the 5D : Having TRUE HD monitoring on set was critical. 5D drops to SD when recording. In a controlled lighting setting, sensor size made no difference. Depth of field was proper and not overly deep The crop factor was welcome for lenses as it extended the reach Facebook: From Still To Motion

Singular Software has posted the second beta release of PluralEyes for Premiere Pro . PluralEyes automatically synchronizes audio and video clips without the need for timecode, clappers or any special preparation.  PluralEyes supports Final Cut Pro , Vegas Pro and is now in beta for Premiere Pro . Singular Software : Downloads

I was most excited when I got an email from Zeiss with the above title. Unfortunately, you have to be in Berlin or Singapore: June 10 to 11 : Digital Cinematography 2010 , Munich, Germany Check out the lenses at Arri, Band Pro, Cinegate, Chrosziel and others. June 15 to 18 : Broadcast Asia 2010 , Singapore Carl Zeiss cine lenses can be seen at Expandor, Cine Equipment and other booths.

Apple has some developer demo pages up for HTML5 features (supported in Safari ...) The video page shows controls scaling and masking video, as well as rotating it into a perspective-like view. Pretty neat. In Safari 5, HTML5 video can deliver an even richer, more accessible experience. Watch video embedded with the HTML5 video tag in full screen. If the video includes closed captions, simply click the closed-captions button in the controls to display them. Captioning is particularly interesting; unfortunately, I've searched around and have been unable to find a coherent explanation of how you actually make a caption work with video. Apple : Safari Technology Demos  HTML 5 Showcase: Video Apple : Explanation of Demo: Video Effects

Sony and 3D World magazine have announced the judging panel that will choose the winners of the 3D Film Competition they are running. The panel includes 3D World editor Steve Jarratt; Buzz Hays, Executive Stereoscopic 3D Producer, Sony 3D Technology Center in California; Jonathan Davies, Head of 3D Production at The Moving Picture Company; writer and director Julian Napier; Lee Danskin, Training Development Director at Escape Studios. The competition runs until 9th July. For full details on how to enter, check out the microsite: www.3dworldmag.com/sonycompetition . The winner will be announced at SIGGRAPH on 25th July.

Thinking of buying one of those new, sleak, cool looking Sony NEX-3 or NEX-5's? Well put down that credit card and back away from the "Add to Cart" button! DPReview has taken a look at them, and they weren't really impressed, noting slow start-up times, confusing interface and limited controls. For video it doesn't get much better, as they note that the cameras have very limited video control with no aperture control or exposure lock . Maybe we should wait for the Sony Interchangeable Lens HD Camcorder . DPReview.com : Sony NEX-5/3

Wednesday, June 16th meeting, 6:30 pm to 9 pm Free BBQ 5 pm to 6:30 pm. Hosted by Sony Broadcast . Registration will be closing soon: Register for 3D session and BBQ today! Speakers: Gary Mandle, Sr. Product Manager for Display Systems at Sony, will discuss 3D display technology and show various examples of upcoming hardware. Bill Lange , Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will discuss his experiences with real world 3D acquisition and display varoius samples. Location: Rule Boston Camera 395 Western Avenue entrance for parking Boston, MA (Additional parking is available in the shopping plaza across the street on Western Avenue.)

Using the Canon 5D on set Joshua Caldwell at Hollywood Bound And Down has written about his experiences using the Canon 5D on Anthony Zuiker's Digi-novel Dark Prophecy, where he worked as second camera and editor. They had previously used the RED camera, but were handicapped by the amount of light needed, and were looking to cut down the budget - and the time required to light - so decided to look at the 5D. Having used it before on Mateo's Live at Swing House , I was very aware of its low-light capability and amazingly shallow depth of field. By going with the 5Ds we could probably shoot on two cameras, doubling the amount of footage we'd be able to capture, while still staying at a relatively low budget (camera department wise). Also, because of it's low-light capability, we would require less lights, which means less lighting time, which means more time shooting, which = happy boss. He goes through the problems with rigs, follow-focus and HDMI monitoring. Ultimat...

I'd been looking for replacement headphones to use with my iPhone , and I don't really like the in-ear headphones that are all the rage...then I saw Sony's new DR-V150 headphones , that had an in-line remote control and microphone for iPod and iPhone , and was only $30, and I thought ahhhh! Unfortunately, $30 doesn't buy you much in the way of headphones these days; that should have been my first warning. The other mistake I made is that I was imagining these headphones would be like the Sony MDR-7506's I've used, which are very cool (but almost three times the price, and have no remote control or mic.) Anyway, I've had the DR-V150's for a few days, and this is what I think of them: The Good News The mic seems to be okay; people understand me, and no one has said "what's the matter with your phone?" The audio quality is reasonable too, though not amazing; it's fuller than the $20 headphones I have ( everything is relative! ) Un...

Sony has announced updates to their consumer video and audio editing software: Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 video editing software, DVD Architect 5 DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring software, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 audio editing and production software and ACID Music Studio 8 music creation and mixing software. Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 New features include: image stabilization, GPU accelerated rendering, slideshow creator, expanded color correction tools, DVD burning from the timeline, enhanced device explorer and Blu-ray authoring. The program now allows up to 10 video tracks and 10 audio tracks. Users with a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA video card are able to encode to the Sony AVC format using GPU-accelerated rendering. Acid Music Studio 8 New features include audio and MIDI mixing console, enhanced remixing tools, and Zplane elastique Audio Timestretching and Pitch Shifting which allows users to perform dramatic time stretches and pitch-shifts of Beatmapped t...