Notes On Video

Audio Recorder Roundup: Zoom H4n vs. Tascam DR-100mkII vs Tascam DR-40 | E.M. Taboada | No Film School A look at these three audio recorders, with the DR-100mkII coming out slightly on top: Over the course of many tests I thought the DR-40 and H4n were very similar in the kind of sounds they picked up, with perhaps the DR-40 having slightly (as in ever so slightly) more white noise. The DR-100mkII seemed to have a slightly cleaner sound than the other two, but tended to not pick up lower frequency sounds quite as strongly. [...]I would pick the DR-100mkII. I liked the sound coming out of it, and really dug the input level knob. How to Guide Your Documentary Interviewee | Todd Grossman | MasteringFilm Great article on things to think about when interviewing a subject: Another interesting technique is to consider what tense they will be answering in. Most sit-down interviews happen after the fact, and are more or less recaps of an event from the past. This can give the viewer a ...

Yesterday Adobe hosted a webinar with Adobe Product Manager, Al Mooney . Mooney began the demonstration with an analogy: “If Premiere Pro was the car, and the Mercury Playback Engine was the engine, then we had a beautifully engineered engine, but the car wasn’t quite as good.” So this release, to further the analogy, is all about tidying up the car. To that end, they focused on two things: Improving the user interface. Improving the editing operation as a whole, focusing on the rhythm of editing, removing frustrations and adding new features that editors need. It all sounded good, though maybe a bit like the Final Cut Pro X demo. The Adobe CS6 Production Premium software According to Mooney, “the minute you launch it, you’ll immediately notice the redesign.” They removed unnecessary noise, clutter, and "chrome" (the gray space around the interface elements.) There’s “a lot less gray and a lot more video.” If you don’t like the new default layout, you can go back t...

Thursday’s SMPTE-NE meeting at WBZ Boston was a panel discussion of the new, the exciting and the scary at NAB this year. The Panel was moderated by co-founder of Avid, Peter Fasciano . and featured Bob Lamm of Broadcast Pix , Willis Peligian of the Willis Group, lighting expert John Gates of Gates Service Group, and Boston Creative Pro User Group’s own Dan Bérubé . (l to r) Dan, John, Willis, Bob & Peter Bob noted that the business is becoming more "computerized." IT based companies are talking to broadcast people in terms that are familiar to computer people rather than to video people. He said that “File-based Work Flows” was a popular phrase at the show. He also noted that there were a lot of people from overseas. He pointed out how inexpensive configuring SD installations has become, and that SD remains a viable - and in some cases the only - solution for a lot of small installations. This is particularly true outside the US. “Most of the people I’ve me...

Adobe is offering a series of webinars on CS6 , starting today with: Editing Faster Your Way with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 10:00am Pacific Time Join Adobe Product Manager, Al Mooney, as he demos the exciting new features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6—the powerful non-linear editing system that sits at the heart of Adobe CS6 Production Premium, connecting all of your media as it flows in and out of post-production. See how Adobe® Premiere® Pro CS6 combines incredible performance with a sleek revamped UI, and a host of powerful new creative features, including Warp Stabilizer for stabilizing footage, dynamic timeline trimming, expanded multicam editing, adjustment layers, and more for a fluid editing workflow. Sign up for this live Ask a Video Pro Session. Fine out more at: "Ask A Video Pro" Webinar Series | Adobe

NAB 2012: Lightworks | Scott Simmons | ProVideoCoalition Scott offers a few thoughts on Lightworks , the free NLE that's a little different: I mentioned repeatedly to the Editshare guys that once a Mac version is ready we will see a lot more interest but they said they’ve seen over 250,000 downloads of the current Windows version. I think they are quite proud of that download number and Lightworks looks to be a pretty big part of the overall Editshare strategy going into the future. I’m not exactly sure what that strategy is but apparently someone at Editshare does since Lightworks lives on. Sony FS700 Hands-On . . . & Where are the Power-Zoom Lenses? | Eric Reagan | Photography Bay A few thoughts on the NEX-FS700 , though it's more of a first-look than a hands-on review: The hand-grip is definitely beefed up from the FS100 for a much more solid feel – again, a needed improvement. Notably, there’s now a zoom rocker on the hand-grip, which led to a brief argument b...

I May Never Buy a Camera Again | RON DAWSON | Dare Dreamer Interesting thoughts on renting vs. owning: I guess what I’m saying is this: think with your head, and not with your heart when it comes to making an investment in something as expensive as a camera, especially when they change as often as they do. I’d be more inclined to invest my money in great glass that you can use on multiple cameras. A Zeiss CP.2 cinema lens can be used on everything from a T2i to a RED. No matter what kind of shoot you’re doing, a good lens will come in handy. NAB 2012: Quantel new Pablo and Neo Nano | Scott Simmons | ProVideoColaition Quantel's "cheaper" (~$50,000) color grading solutions: The Pablo control surface really is a thing of beauty and if you ever get the chance to lay your hands on one by all means do and you’ll see what I mean. It is very well engineered and feels amazing under your hands. The new Neo Nano is stripped down in size removing the keyboard, tablet, transpo...

Looking Inside the Canon1DC DSLR 4K Capture Project “The Ticket” | Shane Hurlbut | Hurlbut Visuals Blog post on shooting Po Chan’s film “ The Ticket ” using the 1DC: We purposely cast the Prius Taxi Cab to not only be eco-friendly, but to showcase the power of the camera’s size and its sensor. We loaded our three actors; Po, our director; Mike Svitak, our 1st AC; and me into the cab and drove around the streets of Los Angeles. I was in the hatchback of the Prius on a Kessler Cine Slider, using a Small HD DP-4 to gauge my exposure and frame my shot. The lens was the new 24mm Cinema Prime at a t1.3. My personal favorite new products from NAB - Part 1 | Daniel Freytag | Blog Daniel highlights some things you might have missed in the NAB coverage over the last week; the SmallHD HDMI clamp , Bebob Rigs, Livestream broadcaster , and SmallHD DP7 : Yes, there was another product from SmallHD, which I really liked today. It is a new 7" OLED monitor with an unbelievable pictu...

Sony's fall and Japan's hang-ups | Brooke Crothers | C|Net Brooke lived in Japan from 83 to 93, and offers a list of reasons why he thinks Japan is having difficulty competing in technology; and why Sony is having financial problems: Software: Japanese companies have never had a firm grasp of the importance of software. Or the art of fusing hardware and user-friendly software into an appealing coherent whole, a la Apple or even a company like IBM and its mainframe culture. And this is a corollary to the obsession with monozukuri. When I lived in Japan, the message was clear: software really isn't that important. It's only hardware that matters. It seems odd that Sony is having difficulties. But when you think of the number of products they make compared to, say, Apple...perhaps one of their problems is too much diversification? I don't agree with his final sentence: Well, I really can't think of any Sony product that I would want to buy today. How times ha...

NAB 2012: DSLRNewsShooter panel on ENG shooters 'Going Large' with Philip Bloom, Den Lennie, Rick Macomber and Matt Allard | Dan Chung | DSLR News Shooter Boston's own Rick Macomber joined this panel of ex- and current ENG shooters who are now shooting with DSLRs and other large-sensor cameras: I am joined by former and current ENG news shooters Philip Bloom, Den Lennie, Rick Macomber and Matt Allard to discuss how large sensor cameras have helped each of them further their careers. We also talk about the uses for shallow depth of field in factual programmes and where the future lies. DaVinci Resolve v9 Highlights | Peter Chamberlain | Lift Gamma Gain A list of the highights in the new release of DaVinci Resolve : Log grading includes contrast and pivot with low and high range controls Composite RGBA clips using embedded Alpha Stereoscopic 3D floating windows include position, softness and rotation Separate 3D monitoring controls for GUI/SDI/WFM mesh Camera Raw ...

NEX-FS100 Firmware V2.0 | Sony | Website The v 2.0 firmware update for the Sony NEX-FS100 is now officially available from Sony US. Added 50Hz recording system (PAL): 1920x1080 50p, 50i, 25p and 1280x720 50p. Camera Profile (camera settings can be saved to and loaded from a memory card). Additional 4x and 8x Expanded Focus magnification: (with user selectable focus area). Selectable ISO or GAIN sensitivity display. Selectable Focus indication in FEET or METERS (E-mount lens only). Selectable Shutter indication as EXPOSURE TIME or SHUTTER ANGLE. Added the following Aspect-Ratio markers: 2.35:1, 1.85:1 and 1.66:1. Display ON/OFF button enables Zebra and/or Histogram overlay onto video output. Compatible with the new A-Mount to E-Mount adaptor, model LA-EA2. One push Auto-IRIS and continuous 15-point, Phase-Detection Auto-Focus operation with most Alpha A-Mount lenses is available. Lens metadata is displayed onscreen and stored real-time to image file. Out of the Black: Bla...

Canon stopping EOS 5D Mark III shipment (?) | CanonWatch It appears that Canon might have suspended shipments (though unless confirmed by Canon, these sorts of reports should be regarded with skepticism): Canon Canada has begun informing dealers that shipments of the EOS 5D Mark III have been suspended while the company sorts out a solution to a metering error problem that can occur in dark environments when the top LCD backlighting is switched on. FCPX Multicam - 7Lions - Born2Run | Chris Fenwick | One On One Odd that Chris posts this as he has hardly been a fan of Apple and Final Cut Pro X : FCPX 10.0.3 with the new Multicam tool was released the day before the shoot and I decided to give it a go. To be honest… I don’t know a better tool for a job like this. The 20 angles synced up perfectly and Paul and I actually had a blast cutting the piece. After a few minutes the technology sort of dissolved into the background and we were just picking shots and tricking out the cut. ...

NAB 2012: Matt Allard talks in detail to Blackmagic about their $2995 Digital Cinema Camera | Matt Allard | DSLR News Shooter A video interview with Tim from Blackmagic: It has a Micro 4/3 sensor which utilizes a crop that is slightly smaller (16.64 x 14.04mm) than the whole sensor and marries that with either a Canon EF or Nikon lens mount. Footage is recorded at 2.5K (2432 x 1366) in 12bit RAW and the company claim a dynamic range of 13 stops. Digital Bolex D16 vs. Blackmagic Cinema Camera (comparison table) | Nikita Pavlov | Blog A table comparing the features of these two similar cameras (except that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera will be out sooner): Well, I knew that putting my money in Digital Bolex Kickstater’s project just few days before NAB is risky. But then I saw prices of Canon’s C500 and 1D Cinema, and I thought that there couldn’t be two miracles in one time. And I can always sell Digital Bolex and buy that 5D Mark III. Seems like there is a place for two miracl...

An abbreviated NAB update today... BLACKMAGIC SURPRISES WITH CINEMA CAMERA ANNOUNCEMENT | Michael Murie | Filmmaker DP’s are probably aware of Blackmagic Design’s capture and playback devices such as the HyperDeck Studio or UltraStudio SDI. They may have even heard of their Davinci Resolve color grading software. But I don’t think anyone expected Blackmagic to announce a digital camera, which is what they did yesterday at NAB. BLACKMAGIC DESIGN LAUNCH $2995 2.5K LARGE SENSOR DIGITAL CINEMA CAMERA | Matt Allard | DSLR News Shooter Blackmagic Design have announced a high spec digital cinema camera at a breakthrough price of $2995 US. We have spoken at length to Blackmagic today and will have more detailed info later. Blackmagic Cinema Camera - John Brawley | Vimeo I wanted to see how the camera would perform in low light. Again, using the EF mount "R" series Leica lenses, I went for a walk down my local street just as it went towards dusk. It was hand held, and I on...