Notes On Video

On Thursday Adobe hosted another webinar in their CS6 series, this one on After Effects and featuring After Effects Product Manager Steve Forde . Steve focused on four primary areas in the demo: the Global Performance Cache, 3D Camera Tracker, SpeedGrade and 3D modeling. He also talked a bit about graphics cards and answered other questions from the audience. Global Performance Cache Adobe has made significant changes to the way After Effects caches rendering. The Global Performance Cache (which has it’s own tab in the timeline panel) is about “ understanding how something was rendered, when it was rendered, and do we ever have to do it again. ” Pointing out that in past releases – and in many other video applications – if you changed the top layer of the composition, everything has to be re-rendered. Steve said that in this release they wanted to minimize that need for re-rendering. “ A lot of information [doesn’t have to be] thrown away, so by using it, we can improve perfo...

A QuickStart Guide to New Adobe Premiere CS6 Features | Danny Greer | Premiumbeats It's Adobe CS6 release week, so here's a guide to new features in Premiere Pro CS6: 5. Trimming Many editors will tell you trimming is the heart of editing, and having the right tools is crucial. Trimming in previous versions was clunky and you were unable to trim numerically from the keyboard. Premiere CS6 features advanced trimming, with a new trim window and better trimming in sequences. It really shines now. You can use J, K and L keys to dynamic trim. Also, the timeline won’t stop playing as you trim, which is a major improvement. 3D camera tracker | Brian Maffit | Adobe.tv This video explains the new 3D Camera Tracker in After Effects (which does look pretty cool!): Learn how to use the new 3D Camera Tracker by creating a 3D project that adds animated text to a movie. See how the tracker works in the background to analyze a scene and then automates the addition of an animate...

GPU (CUDA, OpenGL) features in After Effects CS6 | Todd Kopriva | Adobe Adobe explains the OPENGL support in After Effects , though "We won't recommend a specific card, but more CUDA cores and VRAM help." This level of GPU acceleration simply requires OpenGL 1.5 or higher with Shader Model 3.0 or higher. Most ATI and NVIDIA cards meet these requirements, as do the Intel HD Graphics 3000 and Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipsets. If your GPU does not support these requirements, After Effects CS6 will use the CPU as it did in After Effects CS5.5, although there are some improvements for the CPU version of this feature in After Effects CS6, too. OpenCL and Premiere Pro CS6 | Todd Kopriva | Adobe And here's information for Premiere Pro CS6: What can Premiere Pro CS6 process with OpenCL? Everything that Premiere Pro CS6 can process with CUDA, with four exceptions: Fast Blur effect Gaussion Blur effect Directional Blur effect Basic 3D effect In our first iteration o...

MacBook Pro editors rejoice – new Premiere Pro CS6 supports OpenCL for renderless timeline not just NVidia CUDA! | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Andrew discovers that his MacBook Pro 's video card is supported by the Mercury Engine in Premiere Pro CS6: Previously even MacBook Pro users with high end (for the time) CUDA capable NVidia graphics found themselves without quite enough video RAM and in need of a hack to get it to work. That has all changed with CS6. I have a MacBook Pro 17″ 2011 with ATI Radeon card, running 64bit Lion and the performance in Premiere Pro CS6 is a big leap up from CS5.5, in terms of general responsiveness, editing, playback, FX, etc. MERCURY PLAYBACK AND THE 27" IMAC | Kanen Flowers | Scruffy Thinking But Adobe currently only supports two MacBook Pro cards. If your Mac video card isn't listed, you might be able to add it by editing the supported cards list for Premiere Pro : I use Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 almost exclusively these days. I use i...

Join the BOSFCPUG as we team up with our friends at SMPTE New England for yet another must-attend networking & socializing mixer to be held int he studios of National Boston Video Center at 115 Dummer Street in Boston! With special thanks to SMPTE member David P. Allen, the contributing Editor, Emeritus of Videography Magazine, we are pleased to present a special evening of retrospective and reflection with Ralph H. Baer, a distinguished Video Technologist, Inventor and Consultant. Ralph H. Baer , inventor, technical developer (with over 150 U.S. Patents) and consultant is the creator of the first video game console (Magnavox Odyssey) and considered by many as the "father of video games" In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventing the home console for video games and spawning the video game industry. SMPTE NEW ENGLAND & BOSCPUG PRESENT: "PIONEERS OF THE VIDEO INDUSTRY" DATE : Wednesday, May 23rd TIMES : 7:00PM - 9:00PM (Doo...

Nikon D800E video samples show stunning resolution in 1080p | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Andrew reports that the D800E  [$3,299] without the anti-aliasing filter is probably the one to get: I wasn’t expecting fine detail to be this clean on the E… Removing the anti-aliasing filter seemed like a recipe for disaster. But this footage is very encouraging. When you also bear in mind this is compressed footage from in-camera, rather than via the Atomos Ninja, it truly seems like a very nice result from the rare ‘E’ version. Lenses and putting the life back in – Why expensive is not always better | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Andrew also sings the praises of odd, old lenses: I have never felt compelled to look at MTF chart when buying a lens, rather, I look at the images it produces on Flickr. Here’s an example of something unusual… a vintage cinema lens, the Cooke Kinetal 12.5mm. It is far from technically perfect. The coating is 1950′s technology. There’s a rainbow all over the right hand ...

Red Scarlet, Testing for a Commercial in Madrid   | Den Lennie | F-Stop Academy Den is perhaps better known for getting his hands on prototypes of the Sony NEX-FS100 and NEX-FS700 . Here he talks about preparing to shoot with the RED Scarlet for the first time, and also about lighting: Light is Light is Light….. no matter what format you choose to shoot on. The fact that I’m shooting Red Scarlet will not have any particular impact on my lighting style. How intense the light is, what colour it is and how hard or soft it is will be up to the fine tuning on the day…. but the approach and principles remain unchanged. I’ll be using the Sony PVM 1741 to light with and check my ratios. Are Indie Movies Getting Too Pretty? | Jason Bailey | The Atlantic I think what he really means is that people aren't using image to enhance the feeling of the story; they're just making it all look pretty: What's more, should films like the Detroit-is-burning documentary Burn or its Su...

At today's Boston Media Makers  meeting there was a brief demo of Video Time Machine , an iOS app that let's you browse through video from the 1860's forward. It's really just a video browser and it's playing content from YouTube so you need a live connection to view anything, but it's free today, so may be worth downloading!

Firmware Updates to the Sony F65 | Andy Shipsides | AbelCine A look at the firmware update from Sony for their large cinema camera: Sony has been working hard on the F65 and has now announced some major updates to the camera. In the current beta version of the F65 firmware, SR Codec (HDCAM SR format) recording has been enabled in addition to F65RAW. The current firmware has some limitations and a few fixes were requested, so this is definitely a welcome update. Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 / In depth : Plug-ins | Adobe Adobe has a page that lists plug-ins for Premiere Pro CS6 : Third-party plug-ins and tools for Adobe Premiere Pro Enhancements to the powerful tool for professional digital video editing Add even more capability to your Adobe® Premiere® Pro software. Find the latest and greatest plug-ins available from third-party developers. Avid Media Composer or Premiere Pro CS6: Saying Goodbye to Final Cut | Richard Keating | Screenlight A Final Cut Pro X user decides it...

Do Filmmakers Really Need A Digital Camera As Beautiful As This One? | John Pavlus | CoDesign John Pavlus considers the design of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera ; as in how it looks, not what it does: The Blackmagic Cinema Camera looks more like an iMac crossed with a Polaroid than a piece of production equipment: all smooth aluminum curves and lush matte plastic, with a sheer touchscreen interface gracing the back panel. The aluminum body allegedly gives the camera a rugged solidity without excessive weight. Behind the Scenes with the Phantom Miro's | filmbot | Vimeo Shooting with the new "lower cost" Phantom high-speed camera: Shot on Phantom Miro M series Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 & After Effects CS6 Graded in Davinci Resolve Plugins- Red Giant Denoiser II Apple Mac Pro & Macbook Pro How one young filmmaker has embraced Final Cut Pro X | FCP.Co Comments from young filmmaker Chris Gatewood who is using FCPX: Since the introduction of FCP...

If you're in the Boston area you'll want to check out Rule Boston Camera's TEXPO event next month. Last year's event featured a wide number of exhibitors and was well worth attending: Where: Rule Boston Camera 395 Western Avenue Brighton When: Tuesday, June 5 5:00 to 9:00pm RSVP: TEXPOevent@rule.com UPDATES: www.rule.com

RED's 4K shootout canceled two days after its announcement | Jeff Blagdon | The Verge That was quick. The 4K shootout RED proposed died two days later: Just two days to the hour after RED challenged the world with a 4K camera showdown on June 4th, the company is pulling the plug on the competition. RED’s founder and CEO Jim Jannard announced the cancellation on his company’s site, saying "several companies have refused to participate" and "the grief and complication don’t warrant the effort." Color Correction - My thoughts | Chris Fenwick | One on One Rather than using a color correction tool, Chris explains why it makes sense to use your NLE or a plug-in to do color correction: So what is the alternative? Working in my editor, ON my timeline, using plugins. I find that this method of work saves me a LOT of time. Can I get the exact same results… probably not. Can I AFFORD the exact same results? NOPE. I can’t. I work in the real world where money is ...

The 5D Mark III Fix | CanonRumors It appears that the Canon 5D Mark III "light leak" has been fixed - with tape: LensRentals.com has received their first shipment of fixed 5D Mark III bodies. They did what any of us would have done, they disassembled one to see what the fix was. It turns out the fix is two pieces of black tape. Canon EFS 17-55 causing vignetting on the C300 | Paul Joy | Blog Paul originally posted that he saw some vignetting with this lens but thought it was caused by the lens hood, but now it appears it's not just the hood. He also tried a couple of Canon L lenses, the 16-35mm and the 17-40mm , and while they don't have the vignetting, they don't have Image Stabilization either: I’m still seeing some vignetting from this lens so I decided to try out Canon’s other wide zooms, specifically the 16-35 f/ 2.8 L and 17-40 f / 4 L. I really like the image from the 16-35, I’m not sure why it’s less exposed than the others, the metadata confirm...

Sony NEX-FS700 Pricing You still can't order it, but B & H is listing the prices for the Sony NEX-FS700   body only at $7,999 , and for the camera with 18-200mm ket lens at $8,599 . Delivery expected June 30. When Sony was saying that the price would be "under $10,000" I was assuming it would be $9,999, so I'm almost shocked to see it $2,000 under $10,000. Of course, I'm shocked again because I can't afford that either. Still, that seems like a good price and makes you wonder how much longer Canon can sell the C300 for twice the price (of course, we haven't yet got the full details on the NEX-FS700 and how it's image compares to the C300 .) FS700 Price Confirmed - It's Under $10k, but by Just How Much? | E.M. Taboada | No Film School More comments on the pricing, and some links to videos: Once the 4k upgrade details come out we’ll know more about just how it stacks up with other cameras in that market space. What do you think? I...

Four new Picture Profiles for The FS100 2.0 | Frank Glencairn | Blog Frank Glancairn has come up with more picture profiles for the Sony NEX-FS100: The FS100 finally received the 2.0 firmware update, so it´s time for some new profiles. My main goal was to get good looking skin tones at daylight. For other situations, play with the white balance till the skin tones are right and everything else should fall into place For best results: Adjust your black levels to Zero (you can even go a hair below, as I have learned) for every single scene. Becoming A Specialist VS. Jack (hack) Of All Trades! | Mike Sutton | Wide Open Camera Mike Sutton explains why it makes sense to specialize: You need to find your calling in a time where everyone claims to be an expert at every aspect of filming. In the world I live in only a focused professional gets the gig and when they do its at a prime rate. There is no bartering rates as a specialized pro. Your rate is your rate and because there is...