Notes On Video

Blackmagic Cinema Camera: A Minimal Kit Guide | IAIN ANDERSON | MacProVideo Grab a 240 GB drive from Blackmagic’s approved SSD list. I use the Kingston SSD V+200, which can record for about 2.5 hours. To guard against hardware failure, a second SSD isn’t a bad idea, though some brave souls have shot direct to 2.5” spinning disks. One other option on set would be to use a Thunderbolt cable to record direct to a Mac laptop from the camera with the included Media Express app. TOP 10 EDITING MISTAKES TO AVOID | VideoMaker 1 – Poor Audio Mix One of the most obvious editing errors is the need to fix your audio mix. Almost every edit has two primary audio components: voice and music. Both play important roles in your productions. The voices communicate content. They impart information and tell the story. SIGMA PRODUCES FIRST F/1.8 CONSTANT APERTURE STANDARD ZOOM LENS | Mat Gallagher | News Shooter It seems Sigma is pushing the boundaries of lens design once again with the intr...

Blackmagic Camera Post Workflow | Derek Johnson | Hurlblog In our second post on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, we are going to look at some workflow options for getting both the CinemaDNG and ProRes files out of the camera and into the NLE of your choice. Keep in mind there are many factors that dictate how you will approach post workflow – storage space requirements, speed, hardware, software, quality and final delivery – just to name a few. 4K recording for Sony NEX-FS700 (two options) | F-Stop Academy With an optional advanced firmware upgrade, the NEX-FS700E will output 4K bitstream data over 3G HD-SDI. The HXR-IFR5 interface unit has a 3G HD-SDI input and will transfer the RAW 4K data to record on to the Access Memory Card in the AXS-R5 recorder NAB2013 - BLACKMAGIC CINEMA 4K & POCKET CINEMA CAMERA | Andrew Wonder Blackmagic took NAB by storm Sunday night when it slipped to attendees (and then the internet) that they would be showing a new generation of cinema c...

HOW WE DID IT: SNL “HISTORY OF PUNK” | Alex Buono Right away we knew we wanted a grungy 16mm handheld look, with hard contrasty lighting and strong primary colors that screamed that late 70s period. We certainly weren’t going to shoot with an actual 16mm camera – no time for processing on this schedule and I don’t think there’s even a lab in New York that still processes 16mm. My first thought was to use a 4/3” sensor camera like the Black Magic, with some beat-up old 16mm lenses. Note that Alex is also going to be doing a "Art of Visual Storytelling" workshop series around the country this summer: Visual Storytelling Tour Females Beware: It’s a Feeding Frenzy for You in the Ocean of the Film Industry | Evan Luzzi | The Black and Blue Amber’s story doesn’t have a dramatic ending. No, this ending is more like an ellipsis — incomplete, but suggestive — that implies females will have to learn how to toe the line between a professional relationship and a personal one ...

H6 Handy Recorder | Zoom Interesting new recorder announced by Zoom: The world's first handy recorder with interchangeable mic system XY mics capture remarkable stereo depth and clarity Mid-side mics provide continuously variable stereo width Four XLR/TRS inputs for external mic/line connections Up to six channels of simultaneous recording High-definition audio of up to 24-bit/96kHz And if you're looking for a portable recorder to use with your DSLR, or other video camera, the new Tascam DR-60D ($349) looks really interesting too. Records Up to 4 Channels Simultaneously Screw-On DSLR Camera and Mount to Tripod Operates on 4 AA Batteries Up to 24-bit, 96 kHz PCM Recording Two XLR/TRS Combo Mic/Line Jacks B & H has posted a look at the recorder here:   Hands-On Review: the Tascam DR-60D The full Panasonic GH3 review | Andrew Reid | EOSHD At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking the GH3 isn’t a huge step up from the GH2 in terms of im...

Ep. 42 - "NAB 2013 Super Wrap Up" (with Matt Allard, Rick Macomber & Rob Ruscher) | NeedCreative Podcast IN THIS EPISODE:In this 42nd episode of the NeedCreative Podcast, your host Paul Antico is joined by a fantastic panel of shooter/DPs including Matt Allard of Al-Jazeera English, Rick Macomber of CBS Boston, and Ron Ruscher of 522 Productions, who all report on their experiences at NABShow 2013. Matt and Rick in particular helped shoot over 60 video reports from the show floor (all available on www.newsshooter.com), and Rob combed the floor as well for the latest in indie film production gear. This is all about gear this week, and it's a blockbuster. Coloristos #11: "NAB 2013 Highlights" | Podomatic In this Episode of the ColorCast, the Coloristos discuss highlights for colorists at NAB 2013, including DaVinci Resolve 10, SpeedGrade CS7, Smoke 2013, the Scratch 8 preview, Mistika 7.2, and the new Baselight One Deskside and Slate Control Panel. ...

This is the gadget from NAB I want... I've been trying to get a camera up in the air - whether with a kite or a jib or what-have-you - for a long time, with not much success. So this under $1,000 quad copter that takes a GoPro Hero, the  DJI Phantom Quadcopter , really appealed to me when I first saw it (just a week or two ago.) And now at NAB they are showing a little gimbal for the thing which will also cost under $1,000. NewShooter has the demo:  NAB2013: DJI INNOVATIONS PHANTOM AERIAL COPTER WITH NEW GIMBAL UNIT Oh! I want one! Massachusetts Production Coalition Seminar Series | Screenwriting Tomorrow, Saturday, the MassProdCoalition seminar series of 2013 gets underway: Join us for a great collection of Seminars this year with topics developed from feedback in our first series. Each seminar will be an opportunity to learn from a panel of accomplished professionals in a relaxed and intimate environment. The seminars include time for audience Q...

Stunt Driving with the Biscuit Rig, Jr: Interview with Engineer and Driver Robert Nagle | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine  I had a really interesting chat with Robert Nagle about stunt driving and this special trailer rig they have built: Robert Nagle studied mechanical engineering and racecar design before becoming a professional race driver. But when he found out that some of the other drivers were working in the film industry, it piqued his interest. Said Nagle, “What I found was that it fulfilled a creative side of me that I didn’t really realize was there.” NAB 2013 - Tokina New Cinema Lenses | FreshDV | Vimeo First Samyang, and now Tokina is getting in on the Cine lens business by repackaging the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens with de-clicked aperture, T ratings, new mechanicals and in Canon and Nikon mounts. The optics are unchanged but it's an all-manual lens (not auto-focus etc.) The price is "under $2,000." Shipping around August. They are also showing a ...

NAB News Sites It's the middle of NAB week, and if you're looking for NAB news, make sure to check out News Shooter (aka DSLR News Shooter.) They've been doing a good job of posting interesting pieces like this: NAB 2013: REDROCKMICRO SHOW ONE-MAN BAND AUTOMATED SLIDER, GOPRO CAGE AND BLACKMAGIC CAGE and also  NAB2013: RED PROVIDES DRAGON MAKE-OVER AND NEW GLOBAL SHUTTER MOUNT . Wide Open Camera has also been covering the event;  Area 48 Phosphorus LED Soft Light. Wide Open Camera NAB 2013  &  Small HD High Bright Monitor. Wide Open Camera NAB 2013 . Definition Magazine has some special free online issues for NAB covering the Blackmagic cameras, ARRI and Zeiss announcements... Freytag Film has also posted several pieces on NAB products. Other NAB News Media Composer 7: Avid Brings Their Flagship NLE into the High Resolution Future and Lowers Price | Robert Hardy | No Film School Lastly, Avid has dropped the price of Media Composer to $10...

Perhaps the biggest surprise of NAB this year is Blackmagic's announcement of a 4K version of their Cinema Camera. Using the same housing as the original, and only $1,000 more, this camera features a couple of notable improvements over the original (beside the 4K capability.) The sensor is now a Super35 sized sensor, and the camera has a global shutter, which should reduce image artifact issues that appear with fast motion and flashing lights. Blackmagic also announced a smaller Pocket Camera that will sell for $1,000, which will have an amazing 13 stops of dynamic range, but I'm not sure I'd rush out and buy that one. Both cameras will reportedly ship in July. You can pre-order the  Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Production Camera 4K  [$3,995] and the  Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera [$995] from B & H now. The pocket rocket…Blackmagic downsizes the BMCC and does a 4K upsize of the orginal ! | John Brawley What BMD have done with this ca...

Sony News at NAB 2013 | sonyelectronics | YouTube Sony didn't really announce that much it seems - other than the pricing for the 4K 65" and 55" monitors: A quick round-up of the newest products and technologies that Sony announced at NAB 2013. For more real time updates from the show, follow #SonyNAB Sony announces compact 4K digital cinema camera. | Jason Wingrove | Propic Sony may be showing a prototype of a compact 4K camera, but I don't think they announced it/ The new Sony PMW-400 | HD Warrior Sony’s new PMW-400 shoulder-mount camcorder is the latest addition to its widely used XDCAM HD422 line-up. Ideal for live production or ENG, the new camcorder uses a 2/3-inch Exmor™ Full HD 3CMOS sensor to capture beautiful images with high sensitivity1 and low noise. Sony Sues RED for Patent Infringement by RED ONE, EPIC and Scarlet Camera | ERIC REAGAN | Photography Bay On the eve of NAB 2013, Sony released a statement that it has filed sui...

12 Things to Think About Before Committing to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera for Your Film | Micah Van Hove | No Film School I’ve shot with 4 different Blackmagic cameras so far, and each LCD screen seems to have its different quirks, dead pixels being the constant, so potentially expect to see some. However, the real problem with the BMC screen is that it’s completely unusable in daylight or in any situation where light is hitting the screen, and the included sun shade is not a solution by any means. BLACK MAGIC CINEMA CAMERA USERS GUIDE | The Delivery Men Filming with this camera is pretty simple, make sure highlights are below 100%, focus and press record. That was refreshing. Although the footage doesn’t look very good while you are filming, once you get it on the computer it’s beautiful. The color reproduction, dynamic range and motion rendition are awesome.  Freelance Taxes #3: 50 Deductions You’ll Want to Take to Save Money | Evan Luzi | The Black And Blue 5. Ca...

How the Hackintosh Suddenly Caught FireAnarchy amid the abdication of Mac Pro | Mark Christiansen | Pro Video Coalition This is the story of one man’s experience assembling and running a Hackintosh. For anyone unaware of this illicit, but not yet forbidden alternative to the Mac Pro and altnerative systems from Apple, it is a custom-built computer - one which would straightforwardly run Windows or Linux - with an installation of a slightly modified (hacked) Mac OS that will boot on non-Apple hardware, in clear violation of the terms of the Mac OS. Sony F5 & F55 Scene Files from AbelCine | Andy Shipsides | AbelCine The Sony F5 & F55 cameras are shipping in quantity now, and we’ve gotten a lot of requests for some custom scene files. I’ve put together five files in our usual flavors. They are designed both to change the cameras’ look and make matching the two cameras easier. The cameras handle colors very differently due to their different Color Filter Arrays (to learn m...

Testing Rode’s new Reporter Microphone | Daniel Freytag | Blog Thanks to the combination of a redesigned head and a low positioned membrane the sound is very resistant to wind. Rode itself says in a video that 'you can be in a hurricane and still don't get any wind noise'. I didn't have a hurricane at hand that but you get the idea how resistant it is. Review of the Blackmagic Micro Four Thirds Cinema Camera | Philip Bloom | Blog So…I recommend the MFT over the EF BUT is this a blanket recommendation? No. Everyone’s needs and circumstances are different. When I say I recommend it, I mean it is my choice of the two…if you own no MFT glass at all and lots of Canon glass it’s hard to justify going that route. EOS-1D C Firmware After NAB | CanonRumors I received a screenshot of the firmware being tested a few days and just got around to it today. The screenshot shows all the various frame rates available to you for the EOS-1D C. The biggest addition is the ab...

When I was young - before the internet - you could go through April Fools Day without encountering one joke, trick or jape. Now it seems you're deluged with things...it's just not the same (and by the way, yesterday's piece on the Sony Action Cam was not a joke...maybe I shouldn't have posted it that day.) Lesson: tech companies should not roll out new products on April 1st. Hopefully the following are mostly true, though I'm not 100% certain. NAB 2013 Schedule and “something very special” coming to this blog Part II | Vincent Laforet | Blog Vincent posted this on Sunday, so I think I'm safe. He claims he's been working with a "game changer": I feel the same way about the device that I shot with a few weeks ago – and haven’t felt that way about ANYTHING I’ve seen or shot with since the Canon 5D MKII (The RED Epic is close – the only reason it didn’t make the list was due to the fact that it’s simply not affordable to the amateur market.)...

I just bought the Sony HDR-AS15  [$269] Action Camera. I nearly bought the GoPro HERO3 : Black Edition  [$399], but ultimately decided on the Sony for a couple of reasons. Here’s why: Firstly, I couldn’t get my hands on both units, so I had to make the decision based on reading reviews and watching example videos on YouTube, and then taking a guess about which one was the better one to get (for me.) Secondly, I have spent a little time with the GoPro Hero 3 , primarily helping a friend trying to update the firmware and turn on the Wi-Fi mode. We did take it out and use it to shoot some video during that process, but I didn’t get to review that video afterwards. What’s to like about the GoPro Hero 3? Believe me, it wasn’t an easy decision to not buy the new GoPro Hero 3 . It’s really defined the action camera scene, and the new release has improved low-light performance, and has increased resolution; offering 2.5K , and even 4K (both with the $399 Black model). It’s p...