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FILM TAX INCENTIVES | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine
A recent panel on State Tax Incentives sponsored by the Massachusetts Production Coalition was centered on tax credits for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but much of the advice is applicable to other state programs. It’s important to note that while many states offer some form of tax incentive for filmmakers, there are several important differences between the various programs: whether it’s a rebate or a credit, transferable, has a cap [the state has a total limit per years for all credits], the minimum production budget requirements, and several other details.


Packing | Benjamin Eckstein | Blog
Benjamin thinks he has the packing of his gear all sorted out, so he wrote a blog about it:
A backpack is important to have.  When walking at length (like through an airport) it is great to have your most valuable items well supported on your back.  Make sure to get a backpack that can fit in most overhead compartments on airplanes.  I currently have the Kata Pro-V 410 PL.  To be frank, I got this as a warranty replacement for a Kata HB-270 which I had for a few years, but then the zipper broke. 


Cinematographer John Brawley: impressions of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera
| Rick Young | Vimeo
Having been involved with Blackmagic Design throughout the development, John has had an inside look at this camera from the early prototype stages though to the final release. John is experienced with many different cameras, from film to the extreme high end; his thoughts regarding the Blackmagic Cinema Camera provide insight as to where this camera fits in, considering the affordability and the level of quality which this camera provides.


Cinema DNG Plug-In for CS5.5 Retired from Adobe Labs | Adobe
The Cinema DNG plug-in for Creative Suite 5.5 Preview is no longer available. Please visit our blog for more information about CinemaDNG in Adobe video applications.
CinemaDNG in After Effects CS6 (and elsewhere) | Todd Kopriva | Adobe
A recent post on the Adobe Labs blog seems to have confused many people with this sentence:
“The Cinema DNG Initiative has been discontinued and is no longer hosted on Adobe Labs.”
What this is intending to communicate is simply that the experimental plug-in for CinemaDNG for Premiere Pro CS5.5 was removed from the Adobe Labs website. The CinemaDNG format continues to be an open format, and its development is not limited to Adobe.


SpeedGrade CS6 (6.0.4) Update | Eric Philpott | Adobe
Fixed: Rendered handles did not always correctly register in and out points
Fixed: Split screen view on MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Fixed: issue preventing certain types of CinemaDNG files from loading correctly


Drive-by Shooting: Using Your Car to Make Better Videos | Derek Beck | Vimeo
From the TrunkBy filming out of the trunk, it's easy to achieve a smooth tracking shot without renting expensive equipment. All you have to do is pop open the trunk and set up your tripod! To keep your shot steady, try putting some heavy sandbags around the legs of the tripod.


Zeiss ZF Primes – Lens Comparison | Den Lennie | F-StopAcademy
One of the things I love so much about Zeiss lenses is that they are incredibly well engineered. For example the end stops on the barrel of the lens have all been calibrated so that when you hit infinity it is physically the end of the lens. Unlike some other photo lenses that go beyond the infinity mark on the barrel of the lens and so that can be frustrating. This is especially annoying when you are under pressure and you are pulling your own focus because you rehearse a move then just go beyond infinity and you’ve lost focus.


Red Giant Has Released PluralEyes 3 and It Will Change Your Audio Syncing Life
| Joe Marine | No Film School
Serious Speed Boost - Syncs in seconds. Version 3 is 20x faster than Plural Eyes 2. Seriously.
New UI and Timeline – Have more confidence with a timeline and visual feedback. Users can identify problems before they happen, and watch the sync occur in real time. But don’t blink, because it will happen FAST!


Adobe Announces Photoshop Elements 11 And Premiere Elements 11
| STAN HORACZEK | PopPhoto
Premiere Elements 11 has a new UI experience, but it also gets a decent crop of new video effects like filters and transitions to help edited movies look more finished. Each piece of software will cost a familiar $99 individually, or you can get both for the discounted price of $149. 


Using the V-Bag on “Mobius” | Vincent Laforet | Blog
Vincent likes the V-Bag:
During the production of "Mobius" we had one such shot that could only be achieved by putting the camera directly on the ground.  Putting an expensive piece of equipment on the ground (especially your camera – the most integral piece of equipment to your shoot) can be nerve racking though.  And in the case of "Mobius" we were working with a prototype version of the C300 - so everyone was a little nervous to put it directly on the ground in the middle of the desert.

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