Notes On Video

SpeedGrade CC (7.2) Update | Adobe This update focuses on performance enhancements and bug fixes for the Direct Link workflow.  Adobe Premiere Pro CC December 2013 Release | Adobe This release brings multiple performance enhancements to Premiere Pro, and several new features. Planar tracking and camera solver with Mocha, After Effects & Plexus | AEScripts In this tutorial, Mary Poplin of Imagineer Systems uses mocha Pro and After Effects to design a dynamic animated, tracked graphic. Digital-Transition Doc Side by Side Gets Archived … on Film | Studio Daily Kodak is publicizing the decision as a testament to film's continued viability as a stable preservation medium, especially when there is no time-tested equivalent in the world of digital archives. Developing a Concept for a Video | Photofocus Don’t try to reinvent what already exists. You need to closely examine what’s already in the web video universe or competitive marketplace. Videos A Gu...

Sony has announced the HXR-NX3 ( $3,495, expected in January ). This isn't a large sensor, inter-changeable camera, and it doesn't have 4K, so it won't get a lot of coverage, but it's a good general purpose professional level camcorder. I'm not sure if it replaces the HXR-NX5 ($3,795) . Here's a couple of videos: Shot in Istanbul by DP Den Lennie, this video demonstrates the beautiful results that can be achieved on our new HXR-NX3 handheld HD camcorder. Boasting leading lens, sensor and LSI technology, in addition to built-in WiFi technology which allows it to be connected with devices such as smartphones and tablets, the HXR-NX3 is ideal for the professional videographer. We go behind the scenes with DP Den Lennie in Istanbul as he explores our new HXR-NX3 handheld HD camcorder, to beautiful effect. Boasting leading lens, sensor and LSI technology, in addition to built-in WiFi technology which allows it to be connected with devices such as sma...

2013 – 10 things which have impressed me – and some that haven’t! | EOSHD 1. Magic Lantern  Magic Lantern’s achievements have always been pretty incredible and they’ve been doing this for a few years now. However 2013 saw thee first major image quality improvements which you absolutely had to shoot with. Raw video especially was a revelation. (SR5) Sony sensor revolution: First “non-Bayer” sensors coming in 2015. | Sony Alpha Rumors Sony is heavily investing in a brand new sensor tech that will likely find his way in production cameras as early as 2015. I already told you a couple of weeks ago that Sony developed a 54 Megapixel sensor with on sensor PDAF. Well today I have been told by a very trusted sources that this sensor is also the first that has not been designed with a classic RGB (Bayer) pixel structure. ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE WRONG WITH YOUR SCREENPLAY IN ONE HANDY INFOGRAPHIC | FastToCreate 01 The story begins too late in the script 02 The scenes are void...

Chase Jarvis posted a video of his latest adventures - with a DJI Phantom. Interestingly, he sent it up with a Sony RX100 II , because he wanted better footage than you get with the various action cameras (that's something I've been thinking about too!) He was also excited to use the WiFi feature of the camera to remotely monitor what it was shooting. So they attached it to the Phantom and took it flying...in Iceland....over water. Now, he says "we've been flying it around in Seattle with the GoPro, it's been fun, but we're also thinking that we could upgrade the camera a little bit." So you're probably wondering; why didn't he take it flying with the RX100 II in Seattle, before going to Iceland? I was wondering that too. I was also wondering whether the camera (which is $748) could be carried by the Phantom. Strangely enough, earlier in the day I had done a Google search to find the maximum payload weight for the Phantom. The post I had f...

The D16 Ships This Week! | Digital Bolex We’re pleased to announce that the Digital Bolex D16 will begin shipping to backers starting this week. If you are a backer, we will contact you shortly to verify your shipping addresses and contact details, so please make sure that emails from digitalbolex.com will clear your spam filter. Anamorphic sample footage shot with the SLR Magic Anamorphot – and which lenses go best with it? | EOSHD The new SLR Magic Anamorphot 50 jointly developed with the help of EOSHD is here in it’s final non-prototype form and I’ve shot the above video with it (Sony FS100). This should give you an idea of how the flare moves around during a shot and the general anamorphic aesthetic you are able to get with the adapter. Slating like a Butler | John Brawley "Doesn’t anyone know how to slate? Don’t they know how they can influence the beginning of a scene? That they can set the tone for the actors? Why are they taking so long to announce the sl...

After Effects | Creating an Animated Crumpled Paper Effect With TrapCode MIR | Lester Banks Inspired by the opening animation for Community, Trevor Penner set out to create something similar in After Effects and walks through how to create a crumpled paper animation with the use of TrapCode MIR. TrapCode MIR lends its self well to this effect, allowing you to get a 3D look right within After Effects using a custom paper image as a base. Trevor also rounds out the look of the animation using RedGiant’s Mojo. 'How To Qualify Your #Documentary For An #AcademyAward' by @HunterWeeks for @OldFolksRock | Film Courage Attention, Documentary Filmmakers: Here Are 9 Tips for Finding and Securing the Archival Material You Need | IndieWire 1. Beware the internet. "Everything is being pulled from the web and then, under deadline pressure, [filmmakers] are trying to find out who owns it. Usually, those filmmakers end up having to hire a very experienced research clearan...

Inside Canon Japan 2013 | Creative COW In November 2013, I went on a Canon Optics Press tour to Japan with a small group of journalists, to meet with and interview a number of leading Canon executives. We also enjoyed a hitherto-rare event: a tour of Canon's optics factory in Utsunomiya, which has ordinarily not been open to outsiders (even several Canon employees on our trip had never been) where we met many of the people responsible for making those lenses and saw the processes that go into creating them. Say Goodbye to Old 5.1 Audio and Hello to the New Immersive Sound Standard | Cinescopophilia Now, Study Group 6 has developed a system for the next-generation ‘immersive’ and ‘personalized’ audio system, which will allow TV audiences to be ‘enveloped’ in the sound as it traces the source of the audio track both laterally and vertically across the screen. SC6Dual TRRS input and headphone output for smartphones |  RØDE The SC6 is an input/output breakout box for...

Only 7% of U.K. Films Earn a Profit, Claims BFI Report | Filmmaker Magazine Only 7% of British films released from 2003 to 2010 were profitable, claims a BFI report issued this week at London’s Screen Summit.  Visual Effects on a Budget – Don’t Fix It in Post | Filmmaker Magazine Visual effects supervisor Scott Squires appeared this week in an online webinar for Moviola.com entitled “Visual Effects on a Limited Budget.” His number one tip? – Don’t fix it in post. The Best Thunderbolt Expansion Peripherals for Editors | Jonny Elwyn So I’m thinking of upgrading my trusty MacBook Pro later next year, but it only comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 Thunderbolt ports and an HDMI port. So I’ve already begun looking into how to expand it’s usefulness through all these nifty Thunderbolt peripherals you can get these days. Here is an epic run down on some of the best available Thunderbolt devices. The final part of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera review…includes a look at...

10 MYTHS ABOUT MAKING IT IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY | Studio System News #3 BEING AGGRESSIVE IS A KILLER IN THE INDUSTRY. You would think, after reading #2, that being aggressive WOULD be a killer. After all, the “don’t” in that myth was someone who was very aggressive. But he wasn’t just aggressive; he was obnoxious. Aggressive is calling again when you don’t get a call back, getting your project made even though there are doubters, or putting your hat in the ring for a job that might be a bit of a reach. IS TV THE NEW CINEMA? From 'Scandal' to 'House of Cards,' Pundits Continue the Debate | IndieWire TV is good enough now, as Nussbaum says here, that it's no longer necessary to grade on a curve. Yet embracing the notion of the Third Golden Age (GA3) often seems to make people less rather than more critical. Safe in the arms of PBS or HBO, they relax and accept things that they would be tensely be on guard against if they were watching a network. ...

This just came in; a new slider company. Looks like a pretty solid system... Minneapolis, Minnesota – Trost Motion today announced the availability of a new kind of camera slider, tough enough for antarctic expeditions but so precise that it can be used for long lens and macro photography. Although it weighs only 15 pounds, a Trost™ can support fully-kitted RED and Alexa packages up to 560 pounds. Camera motion is so precise that it opens a new world of product photography – slow tracking shots across the face of a wristwatch, the bubbles on top of a caffe latte, or a gemstone set in a ring – all of these shots become possible and repeatable. Trost™ sliders can also be combined in a 2-axis configuration, giving camera operators remarkable flexibility and lightning-fast setups. “The design of the Trost™ slider was informed by three principles,” said Derek Trost, Lead Designer at Trost Motion. “Smooth, flawless camera movement; durability and reliability in the field; and a s...

New Blackmagic Camera Specific Metabones Speedboosters | Cinema5D Another look at the new Speed Boosters for the Blackmagic cameras: So, what do these adaptors offer in terms of increased light sensitivity and angle of view? The Blackmagic Cinema Camera Speedbooster offers a 0.64 angle of view increase, and a 1 1/3 increase in light sensitivity. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Speedbooster offers a 0.58 increase in angle of view, and a 1 2/3 increase in light sensitivity. 10 Common Elements Of Award Winning Screenplays | Raindance Film Festival 2. Heroes Have A Second Problem To Solve In your bog-standard Hollywood movie, the cliche is of the action hero shot in the chest, the bullet stopped by an object in their chest pocket. Usually this is a copy of the Bible, or a picture of the girl they left behind. SNL Editor Adam Epstein: 6 Pieces of Advice for Editors and Other Creative People | Tribeca Film 1. WORK CLEAN Oh, hi there – it says here that you’re an “artist”...

Continuous Three Light Setup with Special Effects Lighting | The Slanted Lens A really interesting tutorial, both on lighting, creative visual effects, and types of fog : Today on The Slanted Lens we will use a continuous three ight Setup with Special Effects Lighting to create lighting for a superhero shot using a simple set, smoke and cookaloris or cookie. We will demonstrate the different hang times of the three Rosco smokes. We will show how to make a clookie or cookaloris and how to use it. We will show our lighting breakdown for the shot. Last of all we will show a very simple way to fly a cape. This has been a great shoot. I have a better understanding of the different Rosco smokes and how to use them. I hope you will find this helpful. Turbo.264 HD – a quick and dirty guide for Mac based editors | Matt Davis Turbo.264 HD by Elgato is a Mac application sold as a consumer solution to help transform tricky formats like AVCHD into something more manageable. Rather than de...

I don't make a practice of picking out continuity issues in movies, and I know how hard they can be to eliminate. Still, it can sometimes be fun to find them....particularly if something doesn't leap out at you right away and you have to go back to recheck whether what you thought you saw actually happened. Such was the case the other day as I was watching the first Colombo episode:  Prescription: Murder . In one scene, a character (actually, the murderer) picks up the phone, and then hangs it up, and the chord very obviously sweeps around the front of the phone. Actually, the chord almost stands out too much; it's reasonable to assume they put the handset on the "wrong" way so that the actor could easily pick it up - now there's a funny little prop staging detail that probably wasn't even picked up on until they came to shoot the scene. Anyway, he hangs up (frame 1): And about five seconds later (during which we're assuming no one made ano...

This week FxFactory released Cineflare's  Final Cut Pro X Hand Held Effect , a plug-in that turns your video into...well a bit of a mess if you're not careful. You can add whip pans, lens focusing, zooms, and bumps and jitters. All to give you that classic camera-operator-wasn't-ready kind of feel. The idea is that you apply it to a locked down shot to make it look a bit messy. And since you're doing it in post, you can play with it as much as you like. I find that very appealing, because making something look naturally accidental can be very difficult and time consuming. So why not do it in post? And it's $49, which isn't too bad. My only gripe; it's only for Final Cut Pro X , and even though I have Final Cut Pro X it's not my editing tool of choice at the moment. Of course, you could recreate the effects yourself using After Effects or Motion , but a plug-in will save you some time.

I upgraded my iPhone 4 to iOS 7 last weekend, and since then I’d been unable to use Messages to send texts through the iMessage interface (I could send regular SMS messages). I did some searching on the net and found some different articles that had a variety of suggestions for fixing the problem. These boiled down to: Turning off Messages and FaceTime in Settings Resetting Network Settings That didn’t work, and some other suggestions (like backing up and restoring the entire iPhone , or using a Jailbreaking utility) weren’t particularly appealing, and seemed more of a last resort. But I was awfully close to doing just that when I tried using the Restore iPhone... option in iTunes (with the iPhone connected to my Mac.) That was when it told me that I needed to first turn off the Find My iPhone utility. That was interesting, because other instructions had talked about turning off Messages and FaceTime, but hadn’t said anything about the Find My iPhone function. I tu...

It's Friday, so I guess we all have to run out and spend money! There's been articles about the best time to buy different gear, whether it's best to rent or buy, etc. etc. I'm not sure I can provide any advice except this; if you aren't going to be shooting with it in the next 30 days, don't buy it. Buying things before you really need them doesn't make much sense - often you find out you didn't need the thing much at all. At least, that's what I've found. B & H Sales B & H has a bunch of "special" sales over the weekend: There's a wide range of stuff there, the most interesting to me are (but there's a lot more listed): Canon 32GB VIXIA HF G20 Full HD Camcorder $899 Rokinon T1.5 Cine Lens Kit for Canon EF $1,299 (That's $300 off. I'd do this, but I already have the 35mm and 85mm lenses!) Canon CN-E 24mm T1.5 L F Cine Lens $4,970 (save $250. There's similar savings on other Canon Cin...

This is a really good cover - and ukulele too! Have a great Thanksgiving!

EOS C300, EOS C300 PL Firmware Version 1.1.1.1.00 Please note that we suspended download services for Firmware Version 1.1.0.1.00 that was posted Tuesday November 13, 2013 due to a discrepancy in color balance. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience. Firmware Version 1.1.1.1.00 corrects this color balance discrepancy. Any cameras that are running firmware version 1.1.0.1.00 should be updated to firmware version 1.1.1.1.00. Firmware Version 1.1.1.1.00 incorporates all the functions and modifications listed below: EOS C300 Cinema EOS Camera & EOS C300 PL Cinema EOS Camera 1. Fixes a phenomenon where the previous Firmware Version 1.1.0.1.00 offered incorrect color balance. 2. Ability to move the magnification viewing area around the LCD using the MAGN Function. 3. Support for a 1440x1080/35Mbps recording mode. 4. ISO up to 80,000 has been added. 5. Added functionality to support the optional Canon GPS Receiver GP-E1. 6. A Key Lock menu setting has been added w...

Landon Van Soest Crowdfunding for Artificial Retina Documentary Light Darkness Light | Filmmaker Magazine I haven’t had a lot of luck with crowdfunding in the past and thought my project could get lost in the ether on a site like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. My film was one of just a few initial projects when Crimso launched so I was able to have a personal connection with the site administrators, and they featured us in a lot of their own outreach and marketing efforts. Big League Cine Summit | Big League Film School.com What Is Big League Cine Summit? Starting December 10, 2103 For three days you will have access to presentations by top cinematographers on specific topics and techniques. Each day will feature a set of presentations that you can access. You will discover information and techniques that the pros use that goes far beyond what you can get from any tutorial. This is the inside stuff! Click on the button below to see the presentation topics. Exclusive review ...

“Directors These Days Really Have to Understand the Business of Film”: Producer Christine Vachon in Wroclaw | Filmmaker Magazine These days when there’s a lot of downward pressure on the budgets of the movies we make, when we have to be more and more inventive about how to make our films work with the amount of money we have, we really need to be able to chart the audience. I only succeed as a movie producer if my movies make their money back. And the only way I can do that is to have an idea who the audience for my films is, and how to reach them. DaVinci Resolve 10 Adds Editing to its Toolset | Filmmaker Magazine But now Blackmagic is finding that the newer colorists have some editing background and for small changes “would like to just finish a project in Resolve rather than have to go back to the NLE.” When should you use raw - and when should you avoid it? This is the definitive answer | Red Shark News Shooting raw video seems to be a very loud and persistent buzz f...