Notes On Video

Paul Antico sent in this report on his experience with the 10.9.3 update: I just downloaded 10.9.3 and tested it on my 8 core late 2013 "new" Mac Pro D700s and my 5" late 2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro. I have a 40" Seiki 4K  display hooked up to the Mac Pro HDMI port. You can now do "retina" on the 4K panel (HIDPI scaling) and it works ok in most situations. This means photos/video/visual content etc. are shown at native 4K resolution on a big 4K monitor or HDMI 4K/UHD TV, but the screen elements and UI remain at a normal size - say what you see on an iMac at 2560x1440 - but much sharper. It's quite nice, and how the Retina Macbook Pros work. It's not a straight 2x scaling (it actually scales to 5120x2880 and scales down to UHD resolution, but from a slight distance it looks as good as the Retina screen does on my Macbook Pro.) FCPX on those mentioned computers supports broadcast monitoring (HD, and 4K) via HDMI right out of the comp...

First, the good news: We have restored Adobe login services and all services are now online. We will be sharing a complete update on the outage soon. — Adobe Customer Care (@AdobeCare) May 16, 2014 Creative Cloud login offline for almost 24 hours (and counting) | Digital Photography Review A serious outage has taken login functionality offline for almost 24 hours, leaving subscribers to Adobe's Creative Cloud unable to access their accounts or do much of anything else - including downloading new apps. As yet, Adobe has been unable to offer any indication of how long the outage will last, but a message on the CC homepage states that the company has 'identified the cause [and is] working to restore the service as quickly as possible'. Adobe did offer this stop-gap solution: Creative Cloud Help / Creative Cloud Service Outage | Adobe Other News Stu Maschwitz decides to return his Panasonic GH4 In short: Poor low-light performance and a noisy, contrasty imag...

In response to yesterday's comments about the new Canon 16-35mm f/4 lens, reader Paul Antico writes: I read your lens article. I have like 8 or 9 lenses ranging from cheap (but excellent) rokinons to the canon f2.8 70-200 is II which cost like $2400. What lens do I use for video most constantly on my video cameras? The 24-105 f4L IS.  For video usually f4 or F 5.6 is where I want to be for most shots anyway to ease focus and allow a bit of depth. The lens looks nice, is relatively rugged, and has decent IS. It's a great all around stills lens too. And the c300/100 and my 5D3 have more than enough low light ability to compensate for the stop difference over 2.8. Only on set up shots or interviews do I really use anything else actually. For quick setups and being mobile or running around, it wins every single time for quality and a great selection of useful focal lengths. (I use the 17-55 IS on the c100 too but it's a horrible lens body with nice glass inside). Pa...

Canon today announced a couple of lenses; an EF 16-35mm f4 IS lens  ($1,199), and an EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 ( $299 ). Interestingly, the announcement of the 16-35mm f4 lens seemed to have prompted a rather ho-hum reaction; some saying they'd stick with the EF 16-35mm f2.8 , while others suggesting that the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 is a better deal. As someone who likes wide-angle lenses, owns the EF 16-35mm f/2.8, and has used the Sigma 18-35, I thought I'd weigh in on this new lens too! Firstly, like Stu Maschwitz , I think I'm going to stick with my f2.8. lens. It's a nice solid lens. The Sigma lens is nice too, but it's not quite as wide, it doesn't work on full frame cameras, and I didn't find that extra 1 1/3 stops a must-have feature when I was using it. The new Canon f/4 16-35mm lens includes IS, which is useful if you're moving the camera around, but other than that, this lens doesn't really stand out when compared to the other two. What i...

Jay Leno was the commencement speaker at Emerson College this year, and he offered some surprisingly good tips for those interested in going into show business. It starts at 9:25 Comedy lights up 134th Commencement | Emerson College The Andover, Massachusetts, native then gave graduates his “20 rules of show business in no particular order.” Those rules included: Never go on stage mad because “anger robs creativity”; when you get too comfortable, move on, saying, “you should always try to find the toughest audience”; and to not have a relationship with a partner who “doesn’t get it,” saying, “you need a soulmate, not a cellmate.” Product Review: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera | Photo District News In my testing, I found the ProRes movie files to be almost on par with the RAW footage I shot, but they took less work in DaVinci Resolve. Let’s face it though: If you buy this camera, you’ll probably want to shoot the 12-bit RAW video and while it takes some time to process the...

Check out the First Indie Short Film Shot on the 4K Panasonic GH4 | No Film School Aside from being truly funny, the film does a great job of giving an entertaining overview of Panasonic’s new camera. Really, Le Cas GH4 is one part indie short, one part GH4 camera test, and one part pseudo GH4/5D Mark III shootout. Editing Interview Footage – Tips and Techniques | Learning DSLR I got to watch Chris Fenwick who has been an editor for many years to cut one of my videos while we were at NAB2014. Warning this is a long video, but I think you will learn a lot like I did. HERE'S HOW MUCH EDITING WORK (AND HOW LITTLE TIME) WAS INVOLVED IN SNL'S EPIC BEYONCÉ SKETCH | CoCreate Starting from Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., we see the production unfold through the lens of the Adobe Premiere editing software interface, revealing a constant state of video flux until dress rehearsal, airtime, and the export of the post-production version. Apparently, sometimes the process is daunt...

Creating Moonshine Kingdom: An Interview with Milton Horowitz and Ryan Forte | Filmmaker Magazine Mooshine Kingdom director Milton Horowitz says that, like a lot of Americans, he grew up watching too much television. This eventually led to film school at Cleveland State University, where he met cinematographer Ryan Forte. “Ryan’s younger than me,” says Horowitz. “He’s 21, I’m 32, and even though we’re 11 years apart we still love the same types of films and the same movie techniques.” 4 years of film school in 12 hours: Vincent Laforet's Directing Motion Tour (and a chance to win a free ticket). | Story & Heart Blog Throughout the workshop, Vincent stresses the importance of communication. It’s a benefit to both the people in your crew as well as to the talent and those who support the shoot from a distance—via budget, schedule, post-production, etc.—that a director or filmmaker’s vision is precise and accessible. The Quiet Season – A First Timer’s Filmmaking Experi...

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE PANASONIC LUMIX GH4? – FILMMAKER JOE SIMON GIVES US THE LOW DOWN | News Shooter Do you think you can cut GH4 footage with other cameras like the Canon C300/C100? I think they will cut together just fine. I don’t think it will be a problem because it has such a flat setting. People think you can’t match stuff in post, but even the 5D with it’s vastly different look can be matched pretty close. WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE PANASONIC LUMIX GH4? – SKY NEWS CAMERAMAN ANDY PORTCH GIVES HIS PERSPECTIVE | News Shooter GH4 audio menu is getting better, but lacks the options of a broadcast camera. For example to split Ch1 to top mic and Ch2 to external. I remember a disaster with my 5D mkII when the cable was ripped from the camera in a scrum. The jack was left in the socket and no sound was recorded at all! Thankfully the GH4 has a headphone socket for audio monitoring so this shouldn’t happen now. Product Review: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera | PDN But there...

The Video Journalist Blackmagic Camera Rig and Workflow Guide (Part One): Getting your Rig Together on a Tight Budget | wolf crow But then the Blackmagic Cinema Camera appeared on the market, and I knew this could be the camera I was dreaming for a long time. The only problem was, it didn’t really fit into my way of shooting. I do mostly hand camera under a lot of time pressure. Things are always live and happening, no one waits for me. So I had to find a way to mobilize the BMCC and make it VJ-able for a small price. Hands-on with Sony's 2014 4K televisions | C|Net Compared against the Samsung HU9000 specifically, the X950B had better blacks and shadow detail, according to the demonstration. The X950B held up remarkably well against the ZT60 as it was able to get better white highlights than the now-discontinued plasma. PICEX HONG KONG: SHRIRO SHOW ION ACTION CAMERAS | News Shooter Andy from Shriro explains that the iON Air Pro differentiates itself by being designe...

Vincent Laforet on Directing, Cinematography and Knowing Your Craft | Filmmaker Magazine Laforet is currently undertaking a US workshop tour with the Directing Motion workshop, which will visit 32 cities over the next ten weeks. “I knew that there was a hunger for learning about the craft of filmmaking, and I thought this would be the natural next step,” says Laforet. “It’s a look back at everything that I’ve learned and applied, from both my work and working with other directors and cinematographers, and trying to condense that into how it relates to moving the camera and what’s in front of it.” Red Wants to Make the Dragon a Live 4K Studio Camera | Studio Daily Red is working to get as many Dragon cameras and sensors out the door as possible, but it did have some new tricks up its sleeve this year, including the Red 4K Broadcast Module ($6950), which adds an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 video feed to the Red Dragon. 5D Mark III raw versus Panasonic GH4 | EOSHD The GH4 is m...

IFFBoston: How Do You Interview Subjects? | Filmmaker Magazine At this year’s Independent Film Festival Boston, the panel “The Art of Documentary Film Editing: Case Studies” featured moderator Jim Hession, editor of Rich Hill, Lucia Small, director and editor of One Cut, One Life and Bryan Storkel, editor of Fight Church. An audience member asked the panel how they interviewed people and whether they prepped them beforehand, adding “Whenever I interview people, they’re always really bad talking to the camera.” Ask the Screenplay Doctor: How to Pitch a TV Series | New England Film One of my partners and I have begun creating a pitch for a new television show. We've great faith in the idea, but I've never pitched for TV before. Is there a different approach to presenting our ideas when it is time? Besides a treatment, should we have a "pilot episode" teleplay at the ready? Should we also have a synopsis of several episodes? What do you recommend? 8 Things I...

P.A. Workshop | May 10 | Boston | Massachusetts Production Coalition Learn the skills to work on major productions in Feature Film, Television, and Commercials as a Production Assistant through an intensive daylong training program. Through interactive sessions led by top industry production professionals, attendees will gain the tools to be a successful P.A. on set and ready to work on a range of productions. With hands-on training and presentations, we will cover essential topics, including: ○ SET ETIQUETTE: The Do's and Don'ts on Set ○ SAFETY TRAINING: Truck and General Set Safety Practices ○ P.A. 101: Resumes, Job Search, Networking and More Rule Boston Camera is offering several events this month : Rule Boston Camera offers a number of events, some free, some paid, including the following: Wed May 7 An Introduction to the ARRI Amira Sat May 10 Vincent Laforet's Directing Motion Tour (paid workshop) Other News VIDEO INTERVIEW: VINCENT LAFORET ON HI...

BMCC variant Speed Booster works on GH3 and GH4 to give 1.28x crop, near full frame | EOSHD I had hesitated to try this for so long, but finally today a brave EOSHD reader sent me a tweet saying he had fitted his BMCC Speed Booster (with protruding rear-glass) on his GH4. It just goes straight on. First a BIG disclaimer. Speed Booster adapters have adjustable glass which can sit closer or further away from the sensor to fine tune infinity focus. IFFBoston: Five Questions for Fight Church Director and Editor Bryan Storkel | Filmmaker Magazine The documentary Fight Church looks at the intersection of Christianity and mixed martial arts, and how pastors training fighters can reconcile their faith with a violent sport. The film premiered at IFFBoston. Co-director and editor Bryan Storkel previously directed and edited Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians, which examined a devout blackjack team. NAB 2014 VIDEO: RODE MICROPHONES TALK ABOUT THEIR LATEST ...

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K Review | Videomaker You do need to avoid low light scenes and will probably end up using an external audio recorder, but other quirks are easy to work around. If you are a producer that needs to upgrade to 4K and are tight on cash, for less than $3,000, the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K produces images that simply can't be beat.  F35 vs. Blackmagic 4K | DV User See the images below, I can happily say the F35 more than holds its own, I actually prefer it.The F35 seemed to render and capture the colors I observed more accurately. The combination of the F35/Zeiss yielded that right shade of orange 'out of the box'.The Blackmagic felt a little duller in terms of color (some of this is was due to 4:2:2 ProRes). While the Blackmagic could be color corrected to match more closely, on F35 the information was just there, it didn't need to be invented or tweaked. Hollywood, Meet Oculus Rift: Studios Quietly Toying With New Virtual Rea...

My Panasonic GH4 Has Arrived. My First Impressions | Erik Naso I did a quick grade and I mean a real quick one. Its a tad more blue in the shadows than I like and I kind of jacked up the green on the leaf but hey I’m moving fast today! As you can see the highlights hold on and have a nice white color. Thats a big deal and I’m really excited to push the GH4 around. GH4 4K and Slow Motion Samples | prolost First things first: Having held and operated the GH4, I’m more enthusiastic about owning one than anyone should be based on this hastily-shot footage alone. The camera is capable of much better. Other News So this adapter isn't really anamorphic; it changes the bokeh of the Sigma lens. VID-ATLANTIC CINEMORPH $40 ANAMORPHIC ‘LOOK’ FILTER FOR SIGMA 18-35 – A TASTE OF CINE GLASS WITHOUT THE COST? | News Shooter The new CineMorph Mod Filter for Sigma 18-35 marks another new departure for the firm. Fitted to the rear of the lens, it transforms the Bokeh effect...

Looks like the GH4 is going to be a hit, that's good news for Panasonic. Panasonic GH4 demands outpaces supply, production ramping up | Imaging Resource Panasonic Japan posted a message noting that orders for the GH4 have exceeded their internal expectations, and apologized to buyers who will have to wait for their cameras to arrive. They're beginning to ramp up production in order to fulfill the demand for the camera. Great first impressions of the GH4 from a user not familiar with Panasonic's Lumix camera line. Interesting that the author also doesn't see the point in buying the external Input/output box: FIRST USER IMPRESSIONS OF THE GH4 – BY W. ASHLEY MADDOX | News Shooter Recording media: I thought I had to buy a special card for it to record it 200 Mb per second, but it turns most of my current cards seem to work fine. If it continues to work with them, then Class 10 will be all I need to shoot 4K internally and also at the highest bit rate for 1080P HD...

This weekend is Independent Film Festival Boston 2014 . In addition to a whole bunch of screenings, there are four panels: MAKE IT (INDIE) IN MASS Who says only Hollywood blockbusters get made here? Filming in Massachusetts is a great deal at any budget. Find out all you need to know about appying for the tax incentive, working with unions, and the differences between shooting docs vs. narratives. ART OF DOCUMENTARY EDITING: CASE STUDIES Moderator: Garret Savage, President of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship DO'S AND DON'TS OF DIY FILM DISTRIBUTION Moderator: Erin Trahan, Editor of The Independent and co-editor of The Independent's Guide to Film Distribution DOCUMENTARIES AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF DECEPTION Moderator: Chico Colvard, UMass Boston Film Series curator And this is the current list of films with filmmakers (or documentary subjects) in attendance: Narrative Features: A FOR ALEX BENEATH THE HARVEST SKY BIG SIGNIFICANT THINGS DEAR WHITE PE...

I thought I was clear about what cards worked with the Sony FDR-AX100 in my previous posts , but an email from a reader suggests I wasn't as clear as I thought: Two days before a three week shoot my producer says he got the FDR-AX100 from B&H as a backup camera. He didn't get any cards, but I looked on B&H and had three cards that were listed as accessories, so I thought I was good. Of course, after meeting the producer, the cards wouldn't record 4K or even HD as XQD. I noticed on your blog you had a similar problem, but I have yet to see a confirmation that the Sony 64GB SDXC Class 10 UHS-1 card, in fact, does work. Your most recent post about the subject even further puts doubt in my mind. I would greatly appreciate it if you could confirm that card actually works. So just to be clear, I tried one SD card that the camera wouldn't work with, but it accepted this card: Sony 64GB SDXC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card . So far it seems to work fine; though I can...