Notes On Video

Review: Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera | ADAM GARSTONE | Definition Magazine Then, as now, I believed that it would sell very well, though I’m not sure to whom. It’s cheaper than a high-end DSLR, but a very different beast. It isn’t easy to use for fast paced documentary shooting, or events, or anything else you would expect in that £2000 bracket. It’s a cinema camera. Like the Canon 5D MkII, and the RED One, I suspect it will be a game changer. First Cut Pro is a handy, dandy online review and approval system | Scott Simmons | Pro Video Coalition The idea is simple: upload your edit to Vimeo, Brightcove or YouTube (those services are supported now but likely more to come), invite your viewers into the custom First Cut Pro viewing room and they can watch and comment on the video. Those comments are listed in the viewing room interface and the editor can then download those comments into an NLE friendly file that can be brought back into the timeline. PAPERLESS DIRECTIN...

Don't Forget , THIS SATURDAY, the Massachusetts Media Expo : This day-long event will feature over 50 exhibitors, a distinguished panel of guest speakers including: Doug Trumbull, Dorothy Aufiero, Todd Arnow and Mark Kamine. Directing and Casting Workshops will be held in the afternoon, and in the evening the premiere of Whitey Bulger: The Making of a Monster followed by a Q&A session with the directors and special guests. ‘New’ Canon SL1 / 100D and T5i / 700D fail to excite | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Though cute  the new entry level 100D (above) offers a 25% reduction in size at the expense of handling and no articulated screen. There’s seemingly no new functionality on this camera either in video mode, not even for stills! Owners of the 4 year old 550D from 2009 could be forgiven for not rushing to upgrade. Andrew hasn't liked anything Canon has done for years, but it seems others aren't that impressed: CANON LAUNCHES BUDGET HDSLRS: EOS 700D, AND EOS 100D | Ma...

Wacom Cintiq 13HD 13.3" Interactive Pen Display | B & H Wacom has unveiled a new pen display which has a 1920 x 1080 resolution and costs just under $1,000. You can't order it yet: 11.75 x 6.75" Active Area 13.3" Widescreen Display with HDMI Port Full HD 1920 x 1080 Native Resolution 250 cd/m² Brightness 2048 Levels of Pressure Sensitivity Another innovation in Camera Stabilizers? | Planet5D A camera stabilizer with an electronic mechanism: Another kickstarter project for the day  – this is an interesting take on the handheld steadicam – the The Supraflux Video Camera Stabilizer – which is unique because it has an electronic ‘brake’ to help control the motion without you needing to touch the device while filming (which of course can cause unwanted movement without tons of practice). UPDATED: GoPro Issued DMCA Notice to DigitalRev | F|Stoppers GoPro issues a DMCA, but it turns out it's at a site reselling their cameras: The letter th...

RED Epic - HDRx Tests (in 4K) | Neumannfilms | YouTube Shot in 5K on the RED Epic Lenses used: Tokina 11-16 and Nikkor Ai-s 50mm f 1.2. Graded using Neumann Films Presets (The Blockbuster Presets) and 4K Film Grain. Exported at 4096x2304 in After Effects. Greenwich Market - Sony PMW F5  | Don McVey | Vimeo Nice little short documentary shot on the PMW-F5 , though personally, I don't like the way everyone is creating things that look flat: Short documentary highlighting some of the people and products of Greenwich Market. Shot on Sony F5. Magic Lantern Users Complain of Overheating on Canon DSLRs | James DeRuvo | Doddle Well, all good things are about to have a crack in their armor from time to time, and it looks like the latest version of Magic Lantern is no different. Users of the popular third-party firmware for Canon cameras  have taken to the Magic Lantern forums and on Facebook have begun to complain about their batteries overheating on the Canon T3i/6...

Production Design on a Budget | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine On small budget productions, coming up with locations can be a challenge – especially if you need something a bit unusual. An upcoming music video for the band Run 8 Rider required that a single location represent three different time periods to tell its story. Using a borrowed house as the location, director Sean Meehan turned to production designer Riley Fearon to supervise the transformation of the location. Why I Am Grateful for Kickstarter (It’s Not Just for the Money) | Lanre Olabisi | Filmmaker Magazine So, why am I so grateful to Kickstarter? The Masterpiece Theater answer would probably sound something like this: Kickstarter is a great community that allows people to support great projects in coming to life. While this is true – that’s not what does it for me. How to Make Your First Film Halfway Across the World with No Money and Get Picked Up by Oscilloscope | Oakley Anderson-Moore It’s the...

Ep. 38 - "Filmmaking is Awesome" (with Jonathan Yi) | NeedCreative Podcast In this special 38th episode of the NeedCreative Podcast, your co-hosts Paul Antico and guest Michael Murie are joined again by Director/DP Jonathan Yi.  Jon's background, how he got to working for HBO, making commercials, and being a professor at NYU Advice about making a Demo Reel and how producers may choose you Working on the Canon team as a consultant to provide feedback on the launch of the C300, the history behind "Cinema EOS" How Colorists Will Thrive in 2013 – Google Hangout Interview with Patrick Inhofer | Tom Parish Patrick is a seasoned senior colorist and editor with more than 20 years’ experience in broadcast, cable, and (more recently) indie post-production.  He publishes an amazing newsletter every Sunday morning for fellow colorists. It’s the first thing I read on Sunday with my first cup of  coffee. Did Veronica Mars Ruin Kickstarter? | Sam Adams | Sl...

Why Apple Must Fear Roku | Andrew Wallenstein | Variety And yet as passable as the Roku-TW Cable deal is, it highlights a vulnerability to Apple: The longer iTV takes to get to market, the higher the risk someone is going to crack this market wide open before Apple even gets a chance. A Colour Grading Round Up For Virgin & Veteran Colourists | Jonny Elwyn | Blog If you’re a young colourist in the making then this 6 tip post from Reel Life Television will give you a decent structure to think about what you need to be learning; ranging from what apps and hardware to be investing in to the importance of taking breaks. Celebrating Ford and Wayne's Classic Western 'The Searchers' | Ryan Lattanzio | Indiewire "First, apart from being an American epic, 'The Searchers' also is a John Wayne Western; for many, even at this late date in film history, that's still an excuse to ignore it. Secondly, it doesn't go down quite as easily as the pictur...

Adobe to cut off boxed sales of Creative Suite, Acrobat | Electronista "As Adobe continues to focus on delivering world-class innovation through Creative Cloud and digital fulfillment, we will be phasing out shrink-wrapped, boxed versions of Creative Suite and Acrobat products," Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini Monitor Review | Daniel Freytag | Blog The big deal about this pocket-sized box is that it actually provides an SDI and HDMI output with 10 bit 4:2:2 video. It works with a wide range of software such as Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro 7 & X and of course DaVinci Resolve. It's a really nice option if you need to show a preview on an external display. The UltraStudio is only $145 ( $137.75 B&H ), which makes it a really nice solution for broadcast quality outputs. The NEW JVC GY-HM70 with some interesting features | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior The camera records on two SDHC or SDXC memory cards in the AVCHD Progressive format at 28Mbps. And its uniqu...

If you're in Boston on Saturday, March 23rd, this should be an event worth attending: Exhibition Hall (Calderwood Studio) 12:30 – 4:30 PM Showcasing the most complete range of film and media companies in Massachusetts. Exhibitors will include the Commonwealth’s top production companies, post-production and VFX houses, production suppliers, innovative products and media support organizations. Keynote Panel (Yawkey Theatre) 1:30 PM Doug Trumbull      . Visual Effects and Immersive Media Pioneer Dorothy Aufiero     Producer:  The Fighter Todd Arnow          . UPM:  Surrogates ,  Battleship ,  Furry Vengeance Mark Kamine        UPM:  Silver Linings Playbook ,  Ted ,  Shutter Island Moderated by: Lisa Strout, MA Film Office Director More Information

VOD for Everyone? Vimeo's Blake Whitman Tells Us About Opening Up Self-Distribution With Vimeo On Demand | IndieWire Vimeo's announcement today at SXSW that the company is launching a self-distribution service has the potential to be a major tool for independent filmmakers. Vimeo On Demand will allow any members of Vimeo PRO (a $199 a year service) offer up their work for rent or download, taking a 10% cut after credit card and Paypal fees. MEETING: Visual Storytellers February 21st |  BOSCPUG KANEN FLOWERS: HEROES, PUNKS AND A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE' Blackmagic Cinema Camera on set of HERO PUNK LEARN MORE ABOUT HERO PUNK In this presentation, Kanen will discuss the workflow around Scruffy.TV -- a collaborative, distributed company with editors, post, audio, color, compositors and VFX artists from around the world. He will discuss the workflow constraints, use of Dropbox and other tools for collaboration, his work on The Scruffy Show, HERO PUNK and other online cont...

How to Raise Seven Grand in Seven Days on Kickstarter | Sara Kaye Larson | Filmmaker Magazine By now it’s common crowdfunding lore that you should aim to raise 25% of your funds within the first couple weeks from people that you know. We were pretty much on target with that goal. But given that we ran a long campaign, our numbers were stagnant for days, even weeks, at a time, and we were left with the task of raising 50% of our goal in final seven days. In depth blog post with video BTS on new music video “Bitten by the frost” shot on the 1DC | Philip Bloom With a no-budget music video, you don’t have the luxury of a location scout or production manager. My main roles were Director, DP and Editor, but I also acted as script supervisor and  production manager. Rachel, Olly’s wife volunteered her mother’s house for bed scenes and the front door scene. My house was the bathroom, kitchen and TV location. Olly and Rachel’s local pub was the Cinema, Exotic Dancing place, M...

Building a Computer: Part 1 - Choosing Your Components | Brandon Vincent | Vimeo Brandon is doing a series on building a custom box that could run OS X. This is part 1: This is Part 1 of a 3 Part series of videos explaining how to build a custom computer. This part goes over the process of choosing your components, and what I've chosen for this particular build. The Power of a Short and Sweet Demo Reel | Shane Hurlbut | Hurlblog KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Try not to over-complicate a reel. Too much flash and quick cuts will make it seem like you are trying to hide something. Treat your reel like telling the story of what makes you tick. Convey your personality, your expression as an artist. This is so important to make it your own, so that your style comes across. Watch: Robert McIntosh's Aerial GoPro Footage is Absolutely Breathtaking | Joe Marine | No Film School Many people were a bit baffled why anyone would mod a GoPro to allow more manual controls and ...

BMCC vs Red Scarlet vs Sony F5 | Planet 5D From being onset and not looking at the footage in post production, the Sony F5 was the winner. It is a great ‘do all’ camera with an amazing image. Unfortunately, we can’t edit this footage in Premiere CS6 because there is no plug in that allows us to do so. The only way I could show the shots is with a screen shot via content browser. Anthony is going to see if he can get it into Davinci Resolve. Tutorial: Creating 3D Graphs in After Effects by Joe Mason | MICHELE YAMAZAKI | Tool Farm There are many ways inside of AE to add a third dimension to those boring old 2D charts. If you’ve got the time and a small budget, I would recommend a 3D plug-in such as Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator or ProAnimator in order to turn a flat bar into a full three-dimensional cube that can animate and grow to a corresponding value. The following screen captures were taken from animations created in Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator. Download a free demo of Zaxwerks 3D I...

Digital Bolex image quality – Exclusive look at sensor samples and footage | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Uncompressed raw is basically a direct sensor tap. The Digital Bolex camera features a Truesense Imaging CCD (ex-Kodak). As there’s no image processing pipeline, just debayering – the sensor pretty much determines the image from the camera.So by looking at a development rig with the same sensor, we get a glimpse of what the Digital Bolex can do. Infographic: SXSW 2013Did the Big Guys Crowd Out the Crowd Funders? (And Other Burning Questions…) | Amanda Farmer | Austin Freelance Writer How are the films chosen? Are there formulas? Trends? What type of filmmakers get accepted? Specifically: Do crowd funded, totally obscure indie films really stand a chance, when $200,000 is considered “Ultra Low Budget” for Hollywood films entering the same festivals?The upcoming SXSW Film Festival seemed like a perfect opportunity to do a little research. I spent a few days poring over the SXSW webs...

How to make an HD camera rig for less than $3K - including the camera! | Craig Marshall | Red Shark News Putting together a rig based on the NEX-VG20 ....I think I'd use the NEX-EA50 ... The VG20 sports a large 4 piece spatial on-board microphone with a ‘dead kitten’ blimp and full manual audio control circuits with auxiliary microphone inputs and a headphone output jack. Although the VG20 is equipped with an external stereo microphone input, there are no balanced XLR microphone jacks. Remember, Sony does not advertise the VG20 as a ‘professional’ camera. Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success | Jeff Lin From age 30 to 36, he’s living in an apartment in White Plains, NY trying to get something — anything — going, while his wife Jane supports the family of four (they also had two young children) on her modest salary as a microbiologist. He spends every day at home, working on scripts, raising the kids, doing the cooking. That’s a six-year span — six years! — filled with da...

Lightworks for OS X to be revealed at NAB | RedShark News They've been promising a Mac version of this NLE for a couple of years...could it be just around the corner? Note that this is a first showing of the OS X software and that it will still need to go through the same stages as the Linux version: probably a private Alpha, and then a public Beta. But because of the similarity of large portions of the code, testing on all three versions benefits each specific one as well. Review of the Sony NEX-EA50 camcorder | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior Philip gives the Sony NEX-EX50 a very positive review - about the only thing that it really lacks is built-in ND filters. Low-light isn't too bad either - maybe not as good as the more expensive cameras, but it's no slouch...and it's only $3,599... Sony NEX- EA50 Review from Philip Johnston on Vimeo . Canon Announces the Development of New High Sensitivity Sensor | CanonRumors I wonder how much ND you have to...