Shooter

Canon 5DIII

2012-03-02T10:21:00.001-08:00

Canon announced the new 5D Mark III on March 2. I say that in the past tense because they annoucned in Asia and Europe and that was last night to us so I've been able to read a lot of blogs about the camera. As you can see in the pictures, the 5DIII has been put into basically a 7D body with 7D controls.

The two biggest surprises are the 5DIII is not a big jump in technology (no recording in raw, no clean HDMI, etc.) which make the Nikon people very happy with their super fast 36MP D800.

The other big surprise is the price: The 5DIII is $3500 bucks, which is a thousand dollars more than the Mark II and only $1000 less than the price of an FS100, considering to have a functioning video camera you still need a $400 Zacuto VF. When the 5DIII is available at the end of March the street price will be around $3200 bucks but still a pretty steep jump. So, what do you get for that extra $1000 bucks?

A lot of things... if you're a still photographer. For the video person here's the list:
Headphone jack
Time code
Dual card slots
Better image quality with new processors
Faster by 2 stops: Noise level on MIII at 6400ASA same as MII at 1600ASA
Video clips are now 30 minutes instead of just 10 minutes.

I've only had heating issues with 7D's but now with the body switch and the 30 minute recording the camera might even get "hot" even faster.

Here's the official Canon press release:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/about_canon/newsroom/press_releases?pageKeyCode=pressreldetail&docId=0901e024804686e2#

TV Logic VFM-056WP

2012-02-29T15:36:00.001-08:00

So, I walked into Abel Cine looking to buy a Marshall monitor with HDMI loop thru. The salesman said I didn't want that, I wanted the TV Logic VFM-056WP. I decided to go over to Filmtools and again asked for the Marshall and that salesman said I didn't want that, what all the kids were using was the TV Logic VFM-056WP.

The Marshall I was looking for was a 7" for a $1000 bucks. The TV Logic was only 5.6" and was $1500. So, why so much?

The TV Logic hass everything you want in a "ViewFinder Monitor". It has false color, zebras, focus assist, built-in waveform and vectorscope, markers, audio, TC display, tally, etc. And it has two things the Marshall doesn't offer:

First is resolution. While most monitors these days are 800x500 the TV Logic is 1280x800, which means you can actually judge focus using it. Plus, it has a special feature for zooming the image when used with a DSLR.

And second, and the big reason, is instead of just an HDMI loop thru it actually converts the HDMI signal into HD-SDI. No more dealing with HDMI cables that slip out and are only good for 25 foot runs. Now you can loop out with a BNC connector.

All this in a package that weighs less than a pound and can be powered by mains or the battery of choice. It broke my heart to spend that much for a small monitor but I paid the $1500. I've already used the HDSDI loop thru twice. It works pretty darn good...

http://tvlogicusa.com/product/vfm056.php
http://www.abelcine.com/store/TV-Logic-5.6-inch-High-Resolution-Compact-LCD-Monitor-VFM-056WP/
http://www.filmtools.com/tv-logic-5point6-inch-lcd-w-waveform-monitor.html

Sachtler Ace Tripod

2012-02-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

So, I walk into Filmtools looking for a DSLR monitor and there's the Sachtler Ace tripod. It has a 75mm claw ball, takes a Manfrotto type quick release plate (which is nice when working with DSLR's) and I've been looking for a lightweight DSLR tripod.

How much and the answer is $535 bucks. For just the head I ask? No, head, plate, sticks, spreaders plus it comes with a bag. I paid $13,000 for my Sachtler 30 so how can I pass up a $535 Sachtler?!!!

The Ace has 3 levels of friction plus 5 steps of counter balance. I was working with someone who had just bought a Sachtler DSLR tripod for $1200 bucks and it doesn't have any springs. I've used my Ace a few times and while the aluminum sticks aren't my favorite the "composite" fluid head works great... especially for $535 bucks!

http://www.sachtler-ace.com/
http://www.filmtools.com/sachtler-ace-tripod-system-1001.html

Canon C300 Footage

2012-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't get to go to the Canon C300 event here's some behind the scenes of one of the films they showcased. It's especially interesting because they shot both location and green screen on stage.

If you watch carefully you'll see the cameras are just prototypes with the various controls labeled in green tape.
http://www.cinemaeos.usa.canon.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=canon%20c300&utm_campaign=Project+A

And here's a link to the entire media gallery:
http://www.cinemaeos.usa.canon.com/media-gallery.php

How CBS Sports Uses GoPros On Live Sports Broadcasts

2012-02-23T10:27:00.001-08:00

This BLOG is literally a nuts and bolts of how they get a signal from the camera, to the truck and into your TV. It's the most thorough blog post I've ever seen on the subject and if you do live events it's a must read.

The blog covers both GoPro and GoPro Hero2 cameras, how to power them with A/C, what converter boxes to use, how far you can push a HDSDI signal and what to do if the run is longer than 300'.

http://www.tomguilmette.com/archives/3405

Canon C300 Event

2012-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

OK, if you missed out on all the other Canon C300 events but still want to get your hands on this camera and shoot some footage here's your chance. Canon will be hosting the free "Touch & Try: EOS C300" at their brand new Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center tomorrow, February 23rd.

Users will get some hands on time with the C300 and the technical staff will be available to answer questions. Registration is required.

Register here or contact Canon Learning at 949-788-2314 or email at canonlivelearning@cusa.canon.com

The workshop is at:
Canon Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center
6060 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/events_calendar/event_details/cll_events/20120223_hollywood_try_c300_pro_cll.shtml

New Adapter & Firmware for FS-100

2012-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sony has announced new lenses, new firmware and an auto focus adapter for the FS-100.

The $400 buck LA-EA2 adapter allows you to attach A-mount lenses to an E-mount camera and have continuous auto focus using "Translucent Mirror Technology". Read it loses almost a stop of light.

You can buy the adapter now but you can't use it on your FS-100 until February when the new firmware will be available. The firmware will also give you:
* PAL recording
Camera profiles can be saved and read from a memory card
4x and 8x expanded focus magnigication
Selectable ISO or GAIN display
Selectable Focus indication in feet or meters
Selectable Shutter indication
Added 2.35:1, 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 aspect-ratio markers
On/off button for zebra and/or historgram overlay
And there will be an new 28MB AVCHD bit rate for 3D.

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=LAEA2#reviews

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/13604.html

VMI Hosts Panasonic Event On Tuesday

2012-02-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Nothing to do on Valentine's Day? VMI is hosting a Panasonic event from 10:30a to 12:00p. Panasonic's Bernie Mitchel will be on hand to demonstrate the full line of P2, AVCHD and 3D cameras, including the HPX-250, AC160, 3DP1 and the AF100.

I'd like to say I have better things to do on Valentine's Day than go to a camera seminar but actually I'm shooting Tuesday.

And besides, I think I've bought my last Panasonic camera after Panasonic Service made me pay for a repair on a camera that was under warrenty. Suddenly, the viewfinder wasn't part of the camera. Hmmm...

RSVP at https://vmivideo.dmplocal.com/main/index.php?p=surveysystem.respond.intro&survey_id=74

AVID Reports First Profit In 4 Years

2012-02-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Shares of Avid Technology jumped 25% to over $12 bucks a share and over 1 million shares changed hands in yesterday morning's trading. Why? Avid reported a quarterly profit for the first time in 4 years.

Gross margins are up 54% while operating expenses fell 7%. The profit estimate was 16 cents a share but actual returns were more than double at 38 cents a share.

I'm sure all the people at Avid want to thank to Apple and FCPx...

The D800 But Where's My 5DIII?

2012-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Monday Nikon announced the 36 MegaPixel D800. The one cool video trick it does is uncompressed video out the HDMI but the Panasonic G2 can do that already.

But what I was excited about on Monday was Canon was supposed to be announcing the new 5D Mark III, although it may be called the 5Dx to named like the 1Dx. They've had prototypes shooting footage in Africa. Supposedly, it can oversample giving the camera an effective 39 MP.

http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/new-dslr-announcements-set-to-slug-it-out-this-week/?utm_source=Daily+News+Template+version+2%2F8%2F12&utm_campaign=2%2F8%2F12&utm_medium=email

Black Magic's $995 TV Studio

2012-01-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

The ATEM Television Studio is Black Magic's lowest cost TV studio in a box (scroll half way down the page to find it). The ATEM has a switcher with up to six camera/vtr inputs, 2 still store channels, and 8 channels of digital audio. The output of the ATEM is mpg4 and quality of the mpg4 file is adjustable for live streaming or recording to hard drive. There is also an HDMI and SDI output for monitors.

I spent a day working with it and although you can use the mouse I found myself using the keyboard as the switcher, using the number keys to set preview and the enter key to make transitions.

The actual hardware is single space rack mounted unit that's just an inch thick not including the heat sync. It has four HDMI inputs and four SDI inputs, although only six are usable at a time. And the output can be HD (both flavors) or SD.

So what's the downside? The audio seems the weakest part. It has no analog inputs so you need some kind of analog to digital adapter. When I used it this created a four frame audio offset (audio first) so everything is barely out of sync. You have to use some kind of audio delay device.

But the image quality is good, we were able to use 3 different model of cameras and they matched well plus the ATEM didn't seem to mind different camera frame rates. In a test we had one camera shooting 24p and the rest 60i and the switcher cut beautifully.

This is the future of multi-camera TV, it's just that 5 years from now we'll have it built into all our laptops and be able to use our wireless iphones as cameras. Here's a great blog about the for you potential webcasters.

http://www.studiotech.tv/studiotech-the-television-studio/

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/atem/models/

Rode DSLR Mics with Built-In Recorder

2012-01-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

Rode has a pair of new mics specifically built for the DSLR market, each with a built in microSD recorder.

The VideoMicHD is a cardioid shotgun with 3 different recording options: 2 channel mono, 2 channel mono with one channel attenuated 20db for clipping problems and a balanced audio signal. It also has a mini-plug input.

The VideoMicPro doesn't seem to be very pro at all but still is able to record.

But doesn't this give you all the disadvantages of dual system sound with none of the advantages? And how do you adjust levels when you're recording without shaking the camera? In fact, I don't see an level control anywhere? I just don't get it...

http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/rode-announces-a-pair-of-dslr-centric-microphones/

JVC 4K Camcorder at CES

2012-01-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

JVC launched the new GY-HMQ10, a 1/2" CMOS 8.3 million pixel sensor camcorder that captures and records 4K (3820x2160) at 24p, 50p and 60p. It records 2 hours of AVCHD video to SDHC or SDXC cards at a bit rate of up to 144Mbps. That's a lot, like what my F900 puts out.

The f2.8 10x zoom is glued on the front (no interchangeable lenses) and although it's being called a consumer camera it has XLR inputs with phantom power. Also how many consumer cameras allow live monitoring/projection via four HDMI terminals.

This won't be the last 4K camera from JVC. It is expected 4K pro cameras will be announced at NAB.

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/13621.html

Film Slowly Fades To Black

2012-01-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

Within the last year, ARRI, Panavision and Aaton have all ceased production of their film cameras to focus exclusively on the design and manufacture of digital cameras. According to ARRI, the company has only built film cameras to order since 2009. Panavision built its last Millennium XL in 2009.

Film Craft, a lab in Detroit, closed its doors after 90 years of business, leaving one film lab (Astro) in the Midwest. And despite Cinesite, Kodak is slowly fading to black as they prepare to file Chapter 11.

I've been predicting the end of film since the Ikegami EC 35 with it's fancy Plumbicon tubes but now that the end is actually here it's kinda sad. I'll miss the sound of film purring through the gate.

But I won't miss the weight of a Platinum with a grand on my shoulder...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kodak-prepares-chapter-11-bankruptcy-278689

http://www.ikegami.com/br/products/sdtv/ec35.html

New Adapter & Firmware for FS-100

2011-12-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

Sony has announced new lenses, new firmware and an auto focus adapter for the FS-100.

The $400 buck LA-EA2 adapter allows you to attach A-mount lenses to an E-mount camera and have continuous auto focus using "Translucent Mirror Technology". Read it loses almost a stop of light.

You can buy the adapter now but you can't use it on your FS-100 until February when the new firmware will be available. The firmware will also give you:
* PAL recording
* Camera profiles can be saved and read from a memory card
* 4x and 8x expanded focus magnigication
* Selectable ISO or GAIN display
* Selectable Focus indication in feet or meters
* Selectable Shutter indication
* Added 2.35:1, 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 aspect-ratio markers
* On/off button for zebra and/or historgram overlay
* A new 28MB AVCHD bit rate for 3D.

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=LAEA2#reviews

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/13604.html

$500,000 Phone Camera Movie

2011-12-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

OK, you knew someone would shoot a feature film with a phone camera but who could have guessed it would have a $500,000 budget and star Gena Rowlands?

The point of the article is that phone cameras will democratize Hollywood... if you have a half a million. But I do like the camera set up...

http://thenextweb.com/video/2011/12/27/olive-the-first-cinema-film-shot-on-smartphone-but-will-it-democratize-hollywood/

Philip Bloom review of the Canon C300

2011-12-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Philip Bloom gives his review of the Canon C300 after shooting with it for a few days. It reminded me why I live in sunny SoCal and not rainy France.

I'll cut to the chase, he basically likes the C300 but has 4 complaints:
1. No XLR's in the body of the camera, just the monitor
2. Monitor connects to the camera with cables that have to be factory repaired
3. Slo mo is 720 not 1080
4. It's only 8 bit.

I concur. Plus you can't turn off the info on the screen without turning off the frame lines.

Watch the actual 17 minute review video. It's more exciting than the 7 minute test video...

http://philipbloom.net/2011/12/24/c300review/

Magic Lantern HDR Upgrade for Canon DSLR's

2011-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

The new "Xmas Update" of Magic Lantern has two great new features, FPS control and HDR video. Frame Per Second control allows you to lower the frame rate down to 4fps with a shutter speed as low as 1/4 of a second. This also makes HDR possible.

HDR records two frames, one exposing for highlights and one for shadow detail. The frames are then combined in post. The Magic Lantern firmware doesn't combine the frames, just records them.

So what's the down side? HDR is great for high contrast scenes with not-so-fast moving subjects. That means it doesn't work for anything that really moves. Also, this update is only for the 60D, T3i and T2i so if you own a 5D or 7D you're SOL. Most important, downloading the firmware immediately voids your warranty.

For more information on how it works go to:
http://news.doddleme.com/uncategorized/magic-lantern-firmware-rocks-canon-dslrs-with-hdr-upgrade/

Here's the link to the upgrade:
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Release_2011Dec22

RC Helicopter

2011-12-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

I was shooting a real estate video for a friend who's a realtor and she also hired an RC helicopter guy to take some stills.

Now, being a camera guy and helicopter pilot I was very interested in this device and the images it took. The helicopter was battery powered and surprisingly quiet for all those blades spinning around.

There was no monitoring on this helicopter, just send it up and point and shoot. Then, they'd bring it back down and check the little Canon Powershot to see what they got. The lightweight copter bobbed like a cork in the wind and it would have been impossible to get any kind of usable video much less hold the horizon. Even just taking stills, the shooting ratio was about 25:1, they took about 125 shots to get 5 usable images and I don't think my friend ended up using a single one.

There's a bunch of these kind of helicopters on the market and some even have a monitoring solution but having seen the results without stabilization I think they're all pretty weak. But it sure was fun to watch them fly!

Play with a Lytro camera picture

2011-12-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Lytro light-field camera not only records color and intensity but the direction the light is coming from. There's only two buttons on this camera: On and take a picture. You zoom by rubbing your finger up and down the casing.

There's no focus, you shoot now and focus later. Try it for yourself...

http://mashable.com/2011/12/20/lytro-camera-design/#30555Pack-and-play

Epic/Scarlet

2011-12-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

RED was at the ICG 600 Mega-Digital event for the first time with a mini-training session for the Epic. It's fun to sit in a session with DP's, operators, assistants and DIT's, each with their own concerns and questions. Not only did we have a chance to shoot with the Epic (the Epic is the one with hump) but question them about the upcoming Scarlet (no hump).

As you might remember, the Scarlet was supposed to have 2/3" chips but the popularity of the large sensor DSLR made that camera obsolete before it was manufactured. Instead, RED was testing a batch of Epic sensors, found some too slow for 5K and are using these "rated" chips for the 4K Scarlet.

Speaking of speed, it's slow... for today's cameras. The original RED One was really slow but a couple of years ago RED came up with the MX chip. The Epic/Scarlet is as fast as the MX with a top floor of 800ASA but everything above that is noisy plus now the other manufacturers, notably Canon, are much faster.

And while we're looking at the front you can see what audio types will hate, the two unbalanced mini-plugs. That's the only audio ports on the camera.

The biggest advantage of the Epic/Scarlet is 5K/4K resolution but who's using it or asking for it? Unless you're shooting features you're delivering 1920x1080 for broadcast and less for the internet. .r3d files are huge, the SSD cards and associated hardware is expensive and transcoding those files can literally take days. Seriously. I've heard of people easily shooting 200MB to 1TB a day. This requires some kind of full time data wrangler.

If you use the raw .r3d files, everything frame has to be graded and color corrected. Most producers I work with want an image then can edit with now, not something they have to transcode and grade first. Many current RED user only use the 2K proxy files to edit but these Quicktime files are not available on the Epic/Scarlet at this time.

The Epic/Scarlet can shoot higher frame rates but you pay a price: The faster the frame rate the smaller the frame size. In other words, to shoot 48fps you're at 3K, 120fps you're down to 1K which is less than 720p camera (I don't know why film types use "width" pixel count and TV types use "height" pixel count).

More important, the RED doesn't downsize, it crops, so your FOV changes as you speed up. To you that means the focal length of your lens gets longer. Go twice as fast and you effectively zoom in by 2X so you're 18mm lens becomes a 36mm, so don't think high speed and wide angle. Use HRDx and everything doubles again.

The HDRx doesn't work with motion shots. HDRx works by storing an A frame at standard exposure and an X frame exposed at a higher shutter speed at the same time. If it's a still frame, HDRx works like a charm. If you have any motion, camera or talent, you get this ghosting from the blur of the A frame. It just doesn't work. But you could use the A and X frames separately like the shot above of someone driving out of a tunnel into the sunlight.
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/hdrx-the-impossible-shot/

Finally, let's talk price. The Epic-M package runs $58,000, definitely Alexa territory. But unlike the Alexa you get everything you need to shoot, except AC adapter. The Scarlet body starts at $9750 but you don't even get a viewfinder. RED sells a basic package is $14,015-15,515 depending on mount. And this is a very basic package, just enough to shoot. .r3d uses lots of memory so you'll need more than one SSD and each 128GB RedMag is $1800 bucks a piece. Even this basic Scarlet package price doesn't even include a viewfinder and, of course, no glass.

Speaking of lenses, the Scarlet come in four flavors: You can get an Aluminum (Al) mount or, for those who swap lenses constantly, a Titanium (Ti) mount and either of these can be for PL or Canon EF lenses.

RED has realized that many lower end/Scarlet type users aren't going to want to spend tens of thousands on glass and has made using Canon EF glass easy. The DSMC Side Handle has all the dials and buttons a DSLR user is familiar with and makes it easy to adjust f-stop and go through menus.

Design wise, RED has really thought out the design of the camera (besides audio) and I'd really like to buy American but is it what producers are looking for with all the other cameras in the market?

Here's what Philip Bloom has to say about the Epic/Scarlet:
http://philipbloom.net/2011/11/20/scarlet/

I wrote this a month ago as I was still collecting information. Now, there's a new development:

http://philipbloom.net/2011/12/10/nomoreepic/

iphone vs. Canon

2011-12-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

I post a bunch of iphone accessories for fun and I hope people don't take it too seriously. Not that the 4S doesn't take a nice picture, it does... for a snap shot camera. To show the real difference between the 4S and a Canon 60D I snapped a couple of shots of Claudia, our talent du jour on a commercial I shot last week.

The above shot was taken with my 4S. Sharp, in focus and overexposed. I had Claudia under a 4x4 frame with Opal so she's a half stop under the background and and still she's hot... in more ways than one. More importantly, everything is from the lens to infinity is in sharp focus.

Same shot with nothing changed except the camera: The Canon 60D with the Tokina 11-16. I tried to match the wide lens of the iphone and note that even with the extreme wide angle I'm still able to get the background soft. I also love how the 60D is fighting to hold the detail in the reflector kicking her.

With a real camera I can switch lenses. Here I went with the 24-70 and look at the separation from the background. So, does the iphone 4S take a nice picture? Sure, but it doesn't compare with a 60D in the hands of someone who knows how to use the camera.

Mobislyder

2011-12-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Here's something fun for Friday, the Mobislyder. It's shown here with an iphone but it handles any small camera including a GoPro which does get you thinking.

I think it's only a friction slider but what do you want for $129 bucks...

http://www.glidetrack.com/mobislyder/mobislyder.html

Sony 18-252mm Lens

2011-12-05T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Sony SCL-Z18x140 18-252mm Zoom has arrived for the F3 camera. Sony has been promising a motorized zoom for the F3 and had previewed this lens at PhotoPlus Expo.

There are some things that really stand out about this lens starting with the incredible focal length range. 18-252 gives you everything you need for 99% of most shoots and all in a 5 pound lens.

But there's always a downside, in this case the speed of the lens. It's a T3.9 at 18mm but quickly ramps to a T6.8 fully zoomed in. I think that's unacceptable for anyone shooting indoors or at night but this lens would be great for sports or nature shooters.

But the most interesting thing about this lens is it can be fully automatic like any home movie camera. It has manual/auto focus, manual/auto iris, manual/servo zoom plus built-in image stabilization. Like the article asks, "Could this be the first 35mm motion picture point and shoot?"

And I don't think this is going to be cheap. Sony lists their 18x140 at $12,200 so who knows what the 18-252 will go for?

http://www.fdtimes.com/news/sony/new-sony-18-252-mm-zoom/
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-SCLZ18X140/

iPhone 4S vs. Canon 5D MkII Shootout

2011-12-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

iPhone 4S vs. Canon 5D MkII Shootout. The title says it all.

Well, not all. I think everyone can see the difference but it's amazing how good the iphone looks. Maybe it will be closer when they come out with the iphone 7 with the APS sized chip....

http://www.rosenblumtv.com/2011/10/iphone-4-vs-canon-5d-mkii-a-side-by-side-comparison/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rosenblumtv%2FzmJc+%28Rosenblum+TV%29

Tokina 11-16

2011-12-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

The first lens I bought for my 60D was the Tokina 11-16mm. It’s sharp, fast (f2.8) and the reason I could buy a “Super 35mm” sized sensor camera.

Although I like the deeper depth of field of a APC-C sized sensor, the 1.6 crop factor makes every lens longer. The super wide Canon 16-35mm lens becomes a semi-wide 26-56mm equivalent. But the Tokina's 11-16mm becomes a 17-25mm basically filing the role of the Canon wide angle zoom.

How good is the Tokina 11-16? Ken Rockwell thinks this lens is better than any Nikon wide-angle and Ducloss takes this $750 lens, gives it a new outer shell, adds an aperture ring and sells it for $3500 bucks… and they can’t keep them in stock!

You can’t use this lens on the 5D, I know, I’ve tried. It’s OK at 16mm but any wider and it vinnettes and I don’t mean just a bit. At 11mm looks like a circle wide. But the Tokina fully covers a Super 35mm sized chip.

This lens must have been originally designed for the Nikon. Even though my Canon version focuses in the right direction (far/clockwise, near/counter clockwise) the zoom still goes the wrong way. Drive me crazy but it’s still a great lens.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/11-16mm.htm

http://ducloslenses.com/Duclos_Lenses/PL116.html

Sun Mask for Zucuto Z FinderPro

2011-11-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

Bought a new Z Finder Pro to go along with my Canon 60D. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the Zacuto loop-type viewfinder and how the magnifier can burn the LCD in just a couple of seconds.

Zacuto has come up with a simple solution that could help this problem called the Sun Mask . It’s a little 16x9 matt that fits in the eyepiece that blocks at least 50% of the light hitting the magnifier yet leaves your view of the LCD unhindered. Zacuto charges $3 bucks for a little piece of paper that costs .30 cents but think of what it could save in burns.

And everything that’s old is new again. When the Zacuto viewfinder first came out you basically glued a little frame to your camera and the viewfinder snapped onto it. Then, Zaucto came out with the Gorilla plate, a more elegant but heavier solution.

The Gorilla plate really doesn’t work with the 60D’s flip out VF so you can still buy the old plastic frame for $6 bucks and can use the viewfinder in any position. The downside is you can never "close" the LCD screen but when do you close the LCD on a 5D/7D? And I still use the Gorilla plate when I'm shooting normally to take the stress off the little plastic LCD hinge.

http://store.zacuto.com/Z-Finder-Sun-Mask.html

My Canon 60D

2011-11-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm now the proud owner of a Canon 60D. After shooting extensively with both the 5D and the 7D I decided I wanted the deeper depth of field that comes with the smaller “Super 35” sensor.

Although I love the look of the ”Full Frame” (full still camera frame) sensor of the 5D, the shallow depth of field can be both beautiful and challenging. The smaller sensor give you a fighting chance to ride focus when you’re working wide open but still give that large sensor shallow depth of field look.

The real disadvantage of the APS-C size is the 1.6 crop factor that makes every lens longer. For example, a 24mm lens becomes a 39mm. It’s hard to find a sharp, fast, reasonably priced wide angle zoom then I found the Tokina 11-16 which I’ll cover in a later blog.

The 7D, 60D, T3i and T2i have the same exact sensor and processers and record the same signal, so why the 60D?

To start, I wanted a flip out LCD. I’ve put my head in the dirt too many times to frame a low angle shot with the 5D/7D fixed LCD and I wanted the ability to see the VF from any position just like any other video camera I've ever owned.

While the T3i also has a flip out LCD and is cheaper than the 60D, it doesn’t have the full set on controls of the 5D/7D/60D, most notably the big Quick Control Dial. And the big multi-function Multi-Controller star button is easier to access than on the 5D/7D.

Finally, on the 60D the dial locks and has a special position just for video so you don’t have to constantly hit the “Live View” button. You turn the camera on and it’s ready to shoot video.

As with most things, there’s a down side: You can’t take stills in movie mode unless you’re rolling video. Stop recording and you have to move the dial to a still photo setting. Luckily, I’m usually either shooting stills or video or trying to grab both at the same time.

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_60d

Making of "In Your Arms" Music Video

2011-11-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Talk about tenacity, 1357 hours to shoot 2460 frames using 288,000... and no green screen. Here's the making of video which is much more interesting to me than the actual video.

Or you can watch the music video first...

Canon C300

2011-11-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

I went to the Canon C300 event at Paramount which took up stages 1 & 2 plus the theatre. First, let me say I rate everything by how good the parking and the food was and both were very good. Now, about the camera.

The Canon C300 has the best picture of all the mid and low end ($20,000 and less) cameras I've seen and can easily compete with the Epic. The only nicer picture I've seen is the Alexa. It's the queen of latitude.

The C300 is without a doubt the cleanest looking camera I've seen at high ASA's. While you might push other cameras to 1600 ASA, the Canon looks clean at 3200. In fact, it looks pretty clean at 12,000. Even 20,000 ASA only looks like 9db of gain.

The C300 only weighs 3.5 pounds, is built to use all the Canon EF glass and has everything a shooter would want in a camera including built in ND filters and full size XLR's. It's the perfect camera, right?

Well, to start, how many times do you need to shoot at 12,000 ASA? And look close, the XLR's aren't built into the camera, they're actually in the separate LCD screen.

I'm a real button pusher and I think I went through every single button and menu. I got to meet one of the designers who asked me for feedback and as an operator my major complaint to him was you couldn't turn off all the info from the screen and leave the frame lines, it was all or nothing.

But these are all just nit picking. What really surprised me was the 8-bit mpeg2 recording format... with no other outboard option. I really thought Canon was going to come out with some sort of Canon Raw, especially at the $20,000 price point. And it's limited to regular shooting speeds, no high frame rates for slo mo.

The C300 doesn't compete against the Sony FS-100 (pictured above) like I thought it would. The FS-100 is also 8 bit (and who cares because all monitors are 8 bit) but has the option or recording uncompressed 4:2:2 outboard.

At $20,000 it's competing against the Sony F3 and the Scarlet. The Scarlet is recording 4K, both good and bad because I don't know any client who's posting in more than 1920x1080. The F3 can record 10 bit 4:4:4 outboard, but again, who's posting 4:4:4? Maybe the 8-bit mpg2 format is what producer's need but I can get just about the same thing from a $5000 FS-100.

Finally, a quick word about the new Canon Cine glass. These are primes that compete with the best lenses and are just about as expensive. Each prime costs $6700 bucks so you can get a Zeiss CP2 for less than $4000 and for just a thousand more than the Canon you can have a Cooke. Enough said.

So, do I like the C300. Yes,it would be my first choice if it was $5000-8000 bucks but at $20,000 they may have missed the market.

http://cinemaeos.usa.canon.com/products.php?type=Camera&model=C300

Mini Mac for Pro Editing

2011-10-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

You say you're looking for the cheapest editing system you can get and still cut 1080 HD video? Check out this Guatemala Edit System.

It uses the The Mac Mini. These things start at $599 and can have dual core i7 chips, 8 GB of RAM and have the new Thunderbolt I/O ports.

Thuderbolt features two 10 Gbps channels of data transfer. That's 12X faster than FireWire 800 and 20X faster than USB 2.0.

You can daisy chain six peripherals thru Thunderbolt including an Apple Thunderbolt display. And because Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, Mini DisplayPort devices plug right in. Plus, the Mac Mini has a HDMI port.

My first edit bay cost $250,000 and if I made a dub, I could do a dissolve. Now, you can have an edit system with 100,000 times the power for the price of a case of D2 tape stock.

http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/atepper/story/mac_mini_for_pro_video_editing_a_field_report_from_guatemala/
http://www.apple.com/macmini/
http://www.apple.com/displays/

Canon EOS-1DX DSLR

2011-10-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Canon's revamped it's 1D into the Canon EOS-1DX with some real improvements including Intraframe compression, free run and record run time code, manual audio control while recording, a faster imager (read higher ASA) and longer record times. Its slated to be available in March 2012.

The time code allows you to sync up audio recorders and multiple cameras. ISO settings range from a new low of 50 ASA (great for working outdoors) to a whopping 204,800 ASA, which is useful for law enforcement and other field uses.

The 4 GB/Fat 32 is no longer a barrier. You can now record for almost 30 minutes and there's dual CF card slots. Plus, Canon claims to have made changes so there's less moire. It better be a lot less with a price tag of $6800 bucks.

Oh, and it also takes still photos, I think...

Read the press release: http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/prc/Canon-U-S-A-Introduces-The-New-Canon-EOS-1D-X-Digital-SLR-Camera-Re-Designed-From-The-Inside-Out_13497.html

German Octocopter with a Red Epic

2011-10-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

OK, here's something crazy: A German Octocopter with a Red Epic attached. It's not the helicopter that's crazy.

In fact, I saw this local guy flying this little electric helicopter with a small Canon "point and shoot" camera that also records video (did I mention it was electric? Very quiet).

No, the crazy thing is putting a brand new Red Epic on one of these fixed pitch helicopters. It's one thing to put a $150 camera on one, but as a helicopter pilot, I'm here to tell you that if the engine fails on that German drone it will drop like a anvil and there will be lots of pieces of Red Epic everywhere.

Maybe that's why the German helicopter never flies higher than 4 feet above grass...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/11/german-video-effects-company-builds-camera-drone-for-the-red-epi/

Canon Opens Tech Center at Sunset Gower

2011-10-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last week Canon opened the Canon Hollywood Professional Technology and Support Center inside Sunset Gower studios. The facility plans to offer "comprehensive product repair" starting later this year for Canon 5D's and 7D's now in wide use in production.

Canon wants to make it a one-stop-shop that will include two camera body and lens adjustment rooms, calibration equipment, a vast spare parts inventory and experienced staff. Live workshops and training sessions will also be offered.

It will also be Canon's Research and Solution Engineering Department to engage studios, production houses, networks and rental facilities to beta test upgrades and new cameras.

Canon Press Release

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/about_canon/newsroom?pageKeyCode=pressreldetail&docId=0901e024803b2337

Tascam DR-40

2011-10-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

If you've been shooing with DSLR's you've probably used the Zoom H4n audio recorder.

Now, there's new contender, the Tascam DR-40. What's the big differences for recording audio?

1. Price, the DR-40 cheaper, less than $200 bucks.
2. Dual Recording Mode captures a safety track at a lower level to avoid distortion, sort of like recording channels 1&2 at 0 db and 3&4 at -3.
3. The DR-40 has locking XLR inputs. Working with the Zoom always makes me nervous because the cables don't lock in and a kick out is possible.

But I've used the Zoom a bunch and is it better the devil you know?

http://tascam.com/product/dr-40/

Dana Dolly

2011-10-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

At DV Expo I also saw the Dana Dolly. It's your typical skateboard wheel dolly but what separates the Dana Dolly from the competition are the Track End Brackets.

They are flat on one side for laying on the floor, apple boxes, counter, etc., have junior receiver on the other side for mounting on standard stands and are designed to hold 1 1/4" pipe. That's Speedrail to you and me so you can cut track any length you need.

The complete Dana Dolly kit is $600 (the show special was $550 so they will deal) but the real deal is you can get the Track End Brackets for $70 bucks each.

For lighter cameras and for travel they have a Dana Dolly Jr. The complete Jr. kit is $400 (show special $350). These Track End Brackets and U bolts for accepting all kinds of pipe so you could buy cheap pipe on the road and toss it at the end of the shoot.

http://danadolly.com/

Litepanels Sola 600

2011-10-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

At DV Expo I had the chance to play with Litepanel's Sola 600. The is a direct competitor to Arri's LED fresnels and you couldn't have two more different design philosophies.

The Sola 600 is made of carbon fiber/plastic material and seems like it's not as well made as the Arri BUT (and notice that's a big but) it's much lighter than the built-like-a-tank Arri. The Sola 600 weighs less than 10 pounds while the Arri weighs 14 with active cooling and a whopping 24 pounds using passive cooling! The Arri would be great in the studio but there's no doubt I'd be taking the Sola out on location. Plus, the Sola seems to burn cooler and you can easily handle it when it's powered.

The Sola 600 also has a nifty little LCD screen in back to tell you what's going on but it would be useless if it's hanging in the air. Up in the grid the Sola can be controlled through DMX.

One of the big differences between the Arri and the Sola is color correction. Arri has a tungsten balanced Arri L7T, a Daylight balanced L7D and on the Arri L7-C color temperature can be change electronically at the head or through DMX. The Sola's daylight balanced and requires color correction filters.

The Sola 600 has the light output of a 600 watt tweenie and it has a great spot/focus range from 70 degree flood to 10 degree spot (Arri is 15-50). At $2850 it costs about 4 times as much as a Mole Tweenie but you can run 6 Sola 600's on the same amount of power as 1 tungsten tweenie, you'll never have to buy a new bulb for it and you'll never burn your fingers.

Litepanels also has a Sola 400 that is priced at $1500 bucks... but no fancy LCD screen.

Canon Aperture Ring Patent

2011-10-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Canon has applied for an Aperture Ring Patent and bringing back the physical ring on the lenses.

The new lens design separates aperture adjustments between movie capture and still capture. When capturing movies, aperture changes are made via the lens ring. When the mirror is down and capturing still images, aperture changes are made via the camera body.

There are also numerous other features that could be built into these lenses (e.g., programmed/remote focus pulls, smoother/slower AF adjustments, etc.); however, this patent application was limited to a specific feature-set tied to this new aperture ring.

Mosaic Engineering 5D Anti-Morie/Aliasing Filter

2011-10-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

The name of the Mosaic Engineering 5D anti-morie/aliasing filter is self-explanatory. The filter really helps with morie and aliasing problems but you can't use this filter with a wide angle, the edges get very soft.

Supposedly you can install and uninstall in just 20 seconds but I'd hate to have to do this in the field every time I wanted to use a wide angle lens. The MSRP is $385 bucks. Check out Philip Bloom's review.

http://www.mosaicengineering.com/products/vaf-5d2.html
http://vimeo.com/29069158

iPhone 4S

2011-10-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

I've been holding out for a shiny new 5 but it's looks like I'm going to have to get a 4S. It's got a new 8 MP still camera but the big news is the 4S shoots 1080p video instead of 720.

Plus, Apple says the "backside illuminated" CMOS sensor will capture 73 percent more light, the 4S has a sharper f2.4 lens, noise reduction and a built-in image stabilizer. They also claim white balance is 26% better, whatever than means.

And it can also make phone calls...

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Big Canon Nov. 3 Annoucement

2011-10-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for this third shoe to drop. First Panasonic, then Sony and now finally on November 3 Canon is announcing a new product in Hollywood.

The Hollywood location is a giveaway that it's something for the motion picture types rather than for the still photographers, although some speculate this might be the a new mirror-less 5D MarkIII. More likely it will be something completely new to compete with the AF100 and the FS100.

Now, if they've only given it a name that's two random letters followed by 100...

Final Cut You Tube

2011-09-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

YouTube is adding an integrated YouTube editing program but it feels more like a color correction feature. You can stabilize hand-held footage, rotate videos and boost the colors and contrast. The “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature will allow for one-click color correction.

YouTube’s team also collaborated with Picnik to provide new aesthetic effects. This makes it possible for you to add filters, such as black and white, lomo-ish and cartoon to your videos. There’s even an option to swap out your audio for something else by choosing from a number of available tracks. And if you have a video with too much footage at the beginning or end, you’ll be able to trim some of that out as well.

Popular videos with more than 1,000 views and videos with third-party content will only be saved as new videos once edited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G-n9p28Yh8w

Canon FD to NEX Adapter

2011-09-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm close to pulling the trigger on a FS100 (I'm waiting to see the new 5D which supposedly will come out in October).

I have a few Canon FD lenses from my old still camera that I'd like to use on the FS100. These lenses are fast, sharp and unlike the newer EF lenses, FD lenses have a physical f-stop ring. As a bonus, Ducloss will de-click FD lenses for $60-100 bucks, depending on the lens.

B&H sells an adapter for a whopping $212 bucks and Amazon sells one at $30 but I found an adapter on ebay for $20 bucks. On a still camera FD lenses are normally wide open for focusing and then change f-stop when the trigger is pushed.

These adapters allows you to change the iris manually for use on a video camera. Now, I can't wait to see the lenses on the FS100...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/737807-REG/Novoflex_NEX_CAN_Adapter_for_Canon_FD.html

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Adapter-mount-NEX-VG10-Original/dp/B003Y302CG

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=canon+fd+lens+to+NEX+adapter&_sacat=0&_odkw=canon+fd+lens+to+Sony+FS100+adapter&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

Canon EF to F3, FS100, AF100 Adapter

2011-09-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Philip Bloom was at IBC 2011 and saw the prototype of an adapter that allows the use of Canon EF lenses with the F3, FS100 and AF100. The trick is being able to adjust the electronic iris in an EF lens.

The prototype control box is just a knob and display and can control the iris in 1/8th stop increments. The cable that connects to the adapter is hard wired because there isn't room for a lemo in the adapter.

Another box to hang somewhere but it works. Now, how much will it cost?

http://philipbloom.net/2011/09/09/ibc-2011-new-canon-ef-mount-that-controls-iris-for-f3-fs100-and-af100101/

Pre-Order Your Sony F-65

2011-09-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

"Band Pro is now accepting pre-orders for the new Sony F65 digital cinema camera. With Sony's F65 Introductory Pack you can be one of the first to get their new 4K camera when it starts shipping in January 2012. And, with the full compliment of accessories that are included in the pack price of $85,000 you'll be ready to shoot 16-bit 4K footage out of the box.

The Sony F65 Introductory Pack* includes:

Sony F65 Camera Body with Mechanical Rotary Shutter
Sony HDVF-C35W Color Viewfinder
Sony SR-R4 Digital Recorder
1x Sony 256MB SRMemory Card
Sony SR-PC4 Data Transfer Unit

The Sony F65 camera utilizes an 8K digital sensor to generate a next generation 4K image."

Will the F65 give the Alexa a run for it's money? $85,000 grand seems expensive until you remember the base price of the optical Alexa will be around $135,000. 14 stops of latitude is hard to beat but so is an 8K chip...

http://www.bandpro.com/products.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&category_id=75&product_id=189

Teradek HDMI WiFi Encoder

2011-09-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

The Teradek Cube is a camera-top wireless HD video encoder that connects to a camera's HDMI out and streams video over WiFi. This means that any device that receives WiFi, like a laptop, ipad, iphone, etc. can be a monitor.

The Cube looks like a solution to eliminate camera tethering on long dolly moves, running footage, steadicam shots, hand-held operation, jib-arms, and crane shots... or even just on sticks.

Thanks to Robin Banando for the link!

www.filmtools.com/teradek-hdmi-encoder-wifi.html

Apple Makes FCP Studio Re-Available

2011-09-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post 2 blogs in a day but Apple put Final Cut Studio back on sale and I'm guessing it's not because FCP X is such a winner.

FCP won't be available at the website or Apple store (which are more for regular consumers) but you can order it from the 800 number for $999, $899 for education users. This would lead me to believe they'll still be supporting FCP7.

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/01/apple-puts-legacy-final-cut-pro-studio-back-on-sale/

World's Largest Stop Motion Animation

2011-09-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the World's Largest Stop Motion Animation and I mean large. That's a real person in the shot. It really is amazing considering everything is full size.... and it was shot with a cell phone

Be sure to check out the making of which is more interesting than the actual video.

http://www.core77.com/blog/videos/worlds_largest_stop_motion_animation_video_20142.asp?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+core77%2Fblog+%28Core77.com%27s+design+blog%29

Rays for Free

2011-09-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for cheap stuff for the blog and what's better than a free. Well, free for 15 days. DFT give you 15 days to test the software on your system before purchasing a license.

Digital Film Tools has a plug-in that adds "light rays" to any image. One license costs $99 bucks but you can use that one license cross-program in FCP, Photoshop, Avidd, Lightroom, Aperature, etc.

And at $99 it's still cheaper than setting setting up parallels with a 12K and smoking the room or having a crew waiting for the sun to be right to get shafts of light...

http://www.digitalfilmtools.com/rays/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G4N_H1DkgAo

Cheap LED Light Shootout

2011-08-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Cheap Video LED Light Shootout compares 5 of the more popular small LED lights.

A couple of personal remarks about the shootout: First, the prices are off. It lists the NG 126 at 70 Euros or about $102. I bought a couple of these for $35 a piece on ebay.

Second, the article starts out by saying these LED's used to be a sad gimmick and showing up with these would hurt the reputation of any self-repecting DP. I disagree, years ago Rodney Charters showed me how he was using cheap little LED's when I operated on 24.

Thanks for sending me this Robin!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/61pXnz/frankglencairn.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/the-cheap-video-led-light-shootout/

"Gorgeous" Kinefinity KineRAW S35 2K Cine Camera

2011-08-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

Here's the "Gorgeous" Kinefinity KineRAW S35 2K Cine Camera, a Chinese knock-off of the Alexa. This 2K digital cinema camera with a Super35 CMOS sensor and PL mount can record "dual RAW" to a 12 bit DNG for CinemaDNG based workflows or GoPro-Cineform RAW on removable SSD drives. Plus, it outputs just about everything for monitoring.

Here's the fun part, the price will be less than $8000 bucks. Sure, people are worried about reliability but at $8000 you can buy a boat load of 'em for the price of one Epic or Alexa. And all the connector labels are already in English.

Be sure to watch the video at http://vimeo.com/28233165 It's "gorgeous". I shouldn't make fun of his choice of words, his English is much better than my Chinese...

http://www.kineraw.com/kineraw_s35_1.html

Why your eyes are terrible light meters

2011-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've seen this optical illusion before but it's the first time I've seen video . Here's the illusion as a still image. The squares labeled A and B are exactly the same color (use the color-dropper tool in Photoshop if you don’t believe it). I still don't believe it.

Watch the video, you'll think it's an effect: http://www.petapixel.com/2011/08/17/amazing-optical-illusion-shows-that-our-eyes-are-horrible-light-meters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetaPixel+%28PetaPixel%29

3D Basics

2011-08-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

If you're going to the MCAI 3D Meeting tonight (see yesterday's blog) be sure and brush up on your 3D basics. Here's some simple definitions to start you out:

Interocular distance is the distance between your eyes or the lenses (you're eyes are about 2 1/2" apart).
Zero parallax is where the screen is.
Positive Parallax is everything deeper than the screen.
Negative parallax is everything in front of the screen.
Convergence is how much your eyes cross.

The real trick is focus the camera on the convergence plane and hopefully that's not more than 20% into negative parallax. Or just have a deep depth of field like most 3D films...

If you understood that you're good to go. If not:
http://web.me.com/abeato/sd3dcalculator/Stereo_3D_Fundamentals.html
http://mcai-oc.org/

MCAI 3D Meeting, Wed. August 17th

2011-08-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

This month's Media Communications Association International meeting brings you Alicia Reed from JVC and her special guests who will talk 3D, from cameras to workflow. They promise you'll get the chance to play with the GY-HM100 ($2395) used by CNN as well as the shoulder mounted GY-HM790 ($8995).

Here's the details:
EVENT: HD & 3D UPDATE / Monthly MCAI Meeting
DATE: Wednesday Aug 17, 2011
TIME: Event starts at 6:00 PM with networking over refreshments and food. Program starts 7:00 PM
LOCATION: OC SOUND STAGE http://www.orangecountysoundstage.com/
17518 Von Karman, Irvine CA 92614
Just East of Main Street in the rear of the Von Karman Business Center
Free parking on site
COST: MEMBERS of MCAI pay $5! All others pay $15 at the door or $12 if you pre-register online at OC New Media Meetup Group http://www.newmedia.meetup.com/82/

Wish I could be there but I have a prior commitment at the local.

http://mcai-oc.org/

ALEXA Simulators

2011-08-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Want to get you hands on a Alexa? Now you virtually can with the Alexa Simulators for the Alexa and Alexa Plus.

The Alexa simulator was on my blog before but now they have the Plus simulator and you can play with the both yourself in the privacy of your own home...

http://arridigital.com/technical/simulator

Arri L7-C Fresnel

2011-08-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

At the Alexa training I also had a chance to use an Arri L7-C. If you were to see the light coming from this fresnel you wouldn't think it was coming from a LED light. The light from the spot/flood is what you would expect from a fresnel but instead of a sled moving inside the light, the lens slides like an ellipsoid.

Unexpected was the weight or maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised because it's overbuilt like most Arri lights. It's a little smaller but a little heavier than a baby 2K and puts out about 1K's worth of light but without the heat. Those fins really work and it's very cool. And very cool!

The L stands for LED, the 7 is the 7" fresnel and the L7 models are T for tungsten, D for daylight or C for controllable. The C model has a built in dimmer plus you can control both the Tungsten to Daylight color temperature and green to minus green color correction. All can all be controlled DMX.

Projected price is around $2300-3000. It's costs a lot of money to be green but on the other hand you never have to buy another globe or worry about burn-outs.

http://www.arri.com/l-series/index.html

Video Resource's F3 & FS100 Event

2011-08-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Video Resources and VMI sponsored "Shooting Tips and Tricks with the Sony PMW-F3 and NEX-FS100 Large Sensor Cameras" yesterday at VR. It was a great opportunity to test the cameras side by side without being in some convention hall.

The main presentation was given by Shahpour Nosrati-Fard, a Sony Senior Sales Support Engineer who, as you might expect, really knew the finer details about both cameras. The focus (no pun intended) was on the Sony F3. Some of the things not printed on the front of the brochure are:

Sony finally agrees the little vf sucks and is coming out with a loupe for the side monitor.
S-log is only available 444 and that dual link upgrade will run you another $4500, plus external recorder.
The F3 only records 4:2:0 8 bit to the internal SxS cards
Sony has a SxS to SDHC card adapter that was designed for "emergency" use.

People are using the adapter to avoid buying the expensive SxS cards. But with the SDHC cards there is no hot swapping, no salvage function and you can't record slo-mo even with the required Class 10 cards.

Trey Solberg, a DP who has been shooting with Blackstone Media's F3 also spoke on using the camera in the field. They have the Sony K package primes but use the RED short zoom most of the time. They also have the adapter to use Nikon glass and Trey is very happy with his Duclos'ed 80-200 f2.8.

I finally got a chance to test the glass that comes packaged with the FS-100. This zoom is an amazing 18-200mm for only $600 bucks but you get what you pay for. The f-stop at 18mm is f3.5 but at 200mm it's a whopping f6.3. This f-stop change is very linear and you can watch the f-stop go up and down as you zoom in and out. When you zoom it looks like you're turning the iris instead.

The FS100 has the same sensor as the F3 and also records 4:2:0 8 bit AVCHD but without the benefit of the F3's image processing (so says Shahpour). A really cool thing I didn't know is the FS100 has a HDMI 1.4 that can output a RGB 444 8 bit signal. The good news is most monitors are only 8 bit so that's great. The bad news is there's no recorder on the market today that records this signal.

Very informative and thanks to all involved including Brad Hagen, Naomi Rivas and John O'Donovan... especially for the tacos!

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWF3L/
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-nxcam/product-NEXFS100UK/

ALEXA Pocket Guide

2011-08-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the Arri Alexa Pocket Guide which has some great information. Some of the highlights include:

Grey scale mapping. Note how the 18% grey card never really changes. What changes is how the latitude is shifted... the wrong way. According to this chart you should shout 160 at night to get the most latitude in the blacks and 1600 during the day to protect the highlights. That's crazy talk.

All the codecs available and almost all can be recorded straight to the SxS cards including 12 bit 444. The only output that needs an outboard recorder is the uncompressed ArriRaw. Did I mention it's uncompressed? I don't think any other output of any camera is not compressed.

The Alexa uses false color for exposure. I miss the option of have zebras. You can frame and focus with zebras on but with false color on it would be near impossible to run and gun... which is exactly when you'd want to judge exposure through the viewfinder..

I couldn't find any images from the Alexa but the RED also has false color. It's like some 60's psychedelic acid trip. Here's the normal frame:

And here's the same frame in false color. Yikes!

There's a lot more in the Alexa Pocket Guide at:
http://www.arridigital.com/sites/default/files/2011_04-21a_ALEXA_Pocket_Guide.pdf

ALEXA PLUS

2011-08-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday I attended training for the Alexa Plus at Arri in Burbank through Local 600.

The training was very comprehensive, covering every switch and connector plus discussing every menu item. And that's a lot of menus! We covered things ranging from how to record ArriRaw using the Codex mag to how to field change the cooling fan... the only moving part in the camera.

It was interesting to hear why certain choices were made by the engineers. Many people in the class use the Alexa on a daily basis and it was even more interesting to hear their experiences, feedback and questions.

So what's new with the Plus? More connectors, a built-in position and motion sensor (important for visual efx) and built-in lens data system. But the most obvious difference is the built-in remote control feature so an AC doesn't have to hang a bunch of RC boxes off the camera to remotely pull focus.

Here's a few of the things I learned in the class that aren't on the front page of the brochure:
1. The built-in remote control is designed to be used with the Arri Wireless Remote System and won't work with a Preston.
2. Although the Alexa carries two SxS cards the camera won't "span" the cards. You might as well just have one card in the camera.
3. It uses a whopping 85 watts power in standby... before you start powering accessories.
4. It was designed as a 2K camera even though the sensor is 3K. The sensor is 4x3 and the 3K will come into play only if you're shooting anamorphic.

So, what's the good news? It's simple to use. Record 444 straight to the SxS cards without any out-board recorder and the Pro Res loads straight into your NLE.

More importantly, it makes a great picture, especially in dark with 14 stops of latitude. Why does it have so much more latitude than other cameras? It takes two readings/images of each frame at different exposure levels.

Arri is careful to point out this isn't HDR, which is what the RED does. HDR takes two sequential images which is fine for a still life but when you try to combine two moving images into one frame you get blur and ghosting. The Alexa takes it's two images simultaneously so it is the exact same image, just at two different exposures.

Those are some of the main points. I'll be covering false color and other Alexa tidbits all this week.

http://www.arridigital.com/alexaplus

Sony A77 DSLR

2011-08-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sony is starting to leak images of it's new Sony A77 DSLR which should be officially announced next month.

The exciting news is the AVCHD 2 codec which is a robust 28mbps rather than the usual 24.

Said to be priced around $1000 bucks it's probably got the smaller sensor like the 7D so the 5D remains king of the full sized sensors.

http://philipbloom.net/2011/08/03/sony-enters-the-video-dslr-revolution-finally-a-bit-late-but-not-too-late/

Jita Cam

2011-08-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

The JitaCam is called the "360 degree jib in the air". This jib can be mounted in the grid/ceiling and can be remotely operated from a 1000 feet away.

This means the JitaCam can use zero floor space and be completely out of the way of both performers and audience. It can also be mounted on the floor or on top of anything that will support the weight. Because the operator doesn't have to physically be by the jib it can mounted to scaffolding without needing a place for the operator to walk when swinging the arm.

It also means let it snow because the arm operator and camera operator are nice and warm in the truck!

Check it out at http://www.jitacam.com/

The Great Camera Shootout 2011 Part 2

2011-07-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the second part of Zacuto's Great Camera Shootout 2011 entitled "Sensors & Sensitivity".

Fair warning, it's techie but if you just want to see image comparisons here's the tests you want to see. Go to: 6:45, 9:00 and 21:50. Very interesting for anyone who uses cameras.

http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011/episode-two

Color Grading in FCPX

2011-07-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

16 free Color Grading Tutorials and how to do it in FCPX.

Even if you don't use FCPX some of the tutorials are good for explaining what is color grading and the correct order of steps.

I was taught to always "Push and Pull". When you push something in one direction you got to pull something else in another. Push the blues, pull the skin tones. Push the brightness, pull the contrast.

http://vimeo.com/user6379404/videos

iPhone SLR Mount

2011-07-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

At first I thought this was outlandish but an iphone SLR Mount may just be the future. Who says the next DSLR's won't be as thin as a credit card?

Now, if they can do something about the inverted image...

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/iphone-slr-mount/

Cameraman Boot Camp

2011-07-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the way you learned to be a camera op?

FCPX Review From POP

2011-07-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a Review of FCPX without the emotion. Author Oliver Peters shows what's new, what's different and what's lost with the new FCP.

I think my favorite line is the last, "FCP X is ready for prime time now, although Prime Time might not be ready for it!"

Thanks to Matthew Kendall for sending this.
http://www.2-pop.com/article/108832

Follow Focus Made of Legos

2011-07-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

Want a follow focus but too expensive? Got some of your kid's legos laying around? Then, you can make yourself a Lego Follow Focus.

Check out the video at: http://www.petapixel.com/2011/02/12/follow-focus-made-entirely-with-lego/

Sony F35 Now 12-bit

2011-07-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sony is offering a free 12-big upgrade for the F35. It can record 12 bit to both the SRW-5800/2 deck and the SRMASTER field recorder which records 12-bit signals to solid state memory cards.

12 bit is over 68 million colors as opposed to over 1 million for 10 bit.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-highend/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-show-highend-hdcamsr.shtml

ProMAX "FCP7 to AVID" Webinar

2011-07-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

ProMAX is offering a "Switching from FCP to AVID" Webinar tomorrow, Thursday July 21 at 10-11a PST.

ProMAX is the place I bought by first FCP system (FCP1.4 on a Power Mac 4 tower) and now even they want you to switch. What is the world coming to?

You have questions? They have answers... maybe. Log in at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/195681994

"Plot Device" Red Giant Software Demo Reel

2011-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Red Giant software came up with a clever way to demo the various looks available using their software.

When the $10,000 video hit the web at the end of June, it started making the rounds at film studios and agencies, and calls started coming in. 27 year old director Seth Worly, who produces videos for a Christian Ministry, is planning an August trip to Los Angeles and has lined up meetings with CAA, UTA, WME, some management firms and producers. Now, that's clever...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hollywoods-hottest-short-film-plot-212275?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Ffilm+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Movies%29

New NLE For DSLR's

2011-07-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Not happy with FCPX? Want a new open source collaborative NLE that's designed for DSLR's and doubles as a distribution platform?

Maybe you want Novacut. The trick is you have to Kickstart it...

http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2011/7/4/hate-fcp-x-try-novacut-but-youll-need-to-kick-start-it.html

Crabby Cam

2011-07-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Caption A: I've been working with this new operator but he's a little crabby.
or
Caption B: These days, anyone with a camera thinks they are a DP... and will work for crap!

Please post your own caption and we'll see who's the funniest!

Patrick Fitch sent me this shot.

Rube Goldberg Photography

2011-07-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Very cool...

But these guys have way too much time on their hands...

Film And Tapeless Shooting Ratios

2011-07-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'll cut to the chase. We shoot more now and we don't cut between takes. Better for the performance. Makes me glad to be a cameraman and not an editor.

Or is that the other way around? Now, we shoot more and an editor has more choices although he's got to search through more stuff...

http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/?p=6001

SketchUp Pro 8

2011-07-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

As if Google doesn't make enough money, they offer SketchUp Pro 8. It's a pre-viz tool that's pretty cool... except it costs $500 bucks!

Google offers a trial download.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bJ3s_cUV3s

Stolen Duclos Lenses

2011-07-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Duclos Lenses was recently broken into and 30 nearly finished 11-16mm conversion lenses were ripped off. I've included a Lens List pdf so if you come across an Duclos lenses please check the serial numbers.

Having had a camera stolen from me once this kind of stuff really pisses me off.

http://matthewduclos.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/setback/
http://www.hotrodcameras.com/2009/11/hot-rod-cameras-new-duclos-tokina-11-16-received-on-11-16/
http://matthewduclos.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/stolen-dl-list.pdf

Teleprompter iPad App

2011-07-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple more iPad Apps in including a screenwriting app and another slate. But the one that caught my eye is the Teleprompter app.

Note the iPad actually being used as the monitor. The software allows you to use the iPad with or without the mirror, just using the ipad above or below the lens or as a stand alone.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9BlgWT/www.coolhunting.com/tech/apps-on-set.php

http://www.bodelin.com/proprompter/

New RED Epic Price: $58,000

2011-07-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Epic's price tag was supposed to be $40,000 but some how the cost of a RED Epic Package crept up to $58,000. That's 3.5 times the price of a Red One. I think if I was spending that kind of money I'd get an Alexa.

On the other hand, it's American made...

http://www.red.com/store/epic/product/epic-m

http://www.filmmaking.net/blog/show_article.asp?id=150

Avid "Crossgrade" Extended

2011-07-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

Avid has announced it will extend it's $995 promotional price of Media Composer 5.5 through September to FCP users. Avid also says since the FCPX rollout, sales of Media Composer has doubled.

This is probably due to Apple taking FCP7 off it's website. You can't buy it anymore. Period. It's now FCPX or nothing.

If you're a small user, well, maybe you'll learn to like X. But the big boys will switch. For example, Dinsey owns 2700 licenses for FCP. FCPX works though an itunes account which means Disney would have to have 2700 individual itune accounts that can't talk to each other. They ain't going to do that.

If the big boys switch, then so will all the after market people. So, we will end up switching.

I personally don't like Avid, they caused me problems (read, cost me money on a job) way back when I owned a post business. I guess I'll keep using my FCP as long as possible. And then, maybe I'll look at Adobe...

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/13276.html

Master Chef Fake Crowd Scene

2011-07-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like someone at Master Chef has been reading my blog about how to add people to a shot. I'm just damn proud.

They wanted to show that thousands of people were clamoring to be on the show just like American Idol. Well, not so much, so they added in more crowd. Now, if they could just digitally add ratings and viewers...

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/22/masterchef-fake-crowd-shot-photo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+entertainmentweekly%2Fausiellofiles+%28Entertainment+Weekly%2FEW.com%27s%3A+The+Ausiello+Files%29

Lytro's Light Field Camera

2011-06-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's an over-used phrase but the Lytro's Light Field Camera really could be a game changer.

I've always said that everything can be fixed in post except focus. With the Light Field camera that's no longer a problem.

http://www.lytro.com/cameras

Zacuto's Camera Shootout 2011 Part One

2011-06-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to Zacuto's Camera Shootout 2011: Part One. This year Robert Primes, ASC compared 12 pro large sensor cameras and part one specifically looks at dynamic range and latitude.

You don't have to watch the full 30 minutes. What you really want to see is:
The Shadow Detail Test at 12:16
The Highlight Detail Test at 17:56
Over and Under Exposure Latitude at 21:26.

What's interesting is how the different camera's latitude range is divided between shadow and highlight. It reminds me of the adage, "Expose for the highlights in video, expose for the shadows in film".

I'll cut to the chase: The Sony F35, Alexa and Red MX are the big winners and probably in that order, although it's really hard to see noise and detail on a highly compressed web video.

On the other hand, some of the cameras are one tenth the price of the big boys but give 90% of the picture quality... and you can light around that difference.

Unfortunately, they don't rate the ASA of the different cameras. The test was shot at 320 ASA (maybe so film could be included) but I'd really like to see the same tests at 800 ASA.

http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011/episode-one

DIY Equipment

2011-06-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Trying to save some money on camera support gear? Get out your PVC cutter....

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7g7nma/www.abracadabravideos.com/DIY/DIYpage1.htm

Viewfactor

2011-06-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Remember the old America the Beautiful film at Disneyland? Ever wanted to do Circle-Vision 360 yourself but thought it was too expensive? Now you can.

Saw this at the Viewfactor booth at CineGear Expo. There's but nothing about on the website but still... pretty cool. Now, if they just made something for "bullet time"...

Spintec Rain Deflector

2011-06-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Saw the Spintec Rain Deflector at Cine Gear. What a great gadget for shooting in rain or mist.

A little expensive at $1725 bucks but I guess if you have to have one, you have to have one. I think you can rent it for $225 a day. But $225 bucks buys a lot of Rain X...

http://www.innovision-optics.com/prod/spintec.shtml

Alexa Studio

2011-06-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

The Arri Alexa and Alexa Plus is going to be joined by a third model, the Arri Alexa Studio.

The Studio incorporates 2 major differences. First, it has a 35mm sized 4x3 chip for shooting anamorphic. And second, the Studio will come with an optical viewfinder for the old school film types. They were still showing the mock-up at Cine Gear.

Arri claims that it's easier for the operator to judge focus with an optical viewfinder rather than electronic but now that the A/C's have a monitor and people back at video village are watching large HD monitors I think everyone on set can judge focus.

http://www.arri.com/press/press_english/press_release.html?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=668&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1781&cHash=74419939d9

SpyderCrane Mini Crawler

2011-06-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Creepiest thing I saw at CineGear was the SpyderCrane Mini Crawler.

The SpyderCrane was designed for confined areas, able to get through doorways but it looks really great for getting a lift on uneven ground or slopes.

http://www.spydercrane.com/mini%20crawlers/mini_crawlers.html

Old School TV Cameras

2011-06-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Eyes of a Generation is a great site for those interested in old time TV equipment... and no cracks! Although I do have to admit I think I ran a TK-47...

Although, I do have to admit I think I ran a TK-47...

http://www.eyesofageneration.com/cameras.php

Sony F65

2011-06-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sony enters the 4k market with the F65. They'll give RED a run for the money with this camera with an 8k sensor. The F65's got a 20 Megapixel Super 35 sized sensor with an active image area of 18.3 Megapixels with a 1.9:1 aspect ratio.

I got my hands on it at CineGear and it basically feels very F35ish.

The battery looking thing is actually a dockable SRMemory Card recorder. The capacities available are 256 Gb, 512 Gb 1TB. This is where the data rates don't add up. A memory card recording at 24 fps will store about an hour of footage in 4K16bit RAW and up to 8 hours of HD.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/digitalcinematography/f65.html

a Sony FS-100

2011-06-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here's something impressive I saw at CineGear. I also saw this Sony FS-100. That chip is the same one as the F3, which is 40% larger than the chip on the Panasonic AF-100.

Is the picture quality as good as the F3? In a word, no. But the 100 is $6000 and the F3 $16,000 and the picture difference isn't worth $10,000 grand.

But they did dumb down the FS100 to get you to spend the extra money. The F3 is 10 bit, the 100 is 8 bit. The F3 has HDSDI for outboard recording and the 100 only has HDMI. As an operator, my biggest pet peeve is the 100 doesn't have behind the lens ND filters. But strangely, the 100 records full 1080 at 60 frames where the F3 can only record slo-mo at 720 lines.

The F3 also has a zoom rocker switch and the 100 doesn't, although the 100 has the e-mount which allows for both auto-focus and auto-iris. Birger Engineering also showed their follow focus/lens control which fits between the lens and the camera body which allows yout to control focus and iris thru the lens' electronics I bet this ends up as an iphone app before long.

Here's an AF100 Overview by Able Cine and a bunch of good stuff at Cinema 5D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ol3Lx2gvo0&feature=related

http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?category_name=fs100

http://www.birger.com/

RED Scarlet/Epic Light

2011-06-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

New test footage from the Epic Light renamed back to the Scarlet again.
RED Scarlet Test Footage on reduser.net.

The Scarlet does have the 2/3" chip so depth of field is forever but I do like the way the RED handles the highlights. Take a look, look takers...

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?59527-Scarlet-8x-internal-120FPS-test

Technicolor CineStyle

2011-06-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Log space comes to the Canon 5D. Technicolor as been working with Canon USA to create CineStyle which puts the standard H.264 REC709 color space into a log color space. This includes both video and stills.

What does this mean to you the user? Like all log space recordings, the image looks very low contrast and washed out on the monitor but all the detail is recorded, especially in the shadows.

This also means that you have to color correct every shot you take. No wonder Technicolor is giving it away. And by last Saturday, according to the Technicolor guys at CineGear Expo 35,000 people had downloaded CineStyle.

Even if you were at CineExpo it was easy to miss the sign that directed you to Technicolor where they were showing off CineStyle and what you could do with it, especially using Technicolor's DP Lights on-set color correction system. Technicolor has a suite of new products, including DP Lights, Share Vue, Your Vue, Movie Slate and CineStyle.

CineStyle will work on any DSLR but it is optimized for the 5D II, which is what they see being used as a second camera in work they are taking in shop.

And check out some examples of log space shooting at Phillip Bloom's blog.

http://www.technicolor.com/en/hi/cinema/filmmaking/digital-printer-lights/cinestyle

http://www.technicolor.com/en/hi/advertising/commercials/digital-printer-lights

http://philipbloom.net/2011/05/10/various-example-of-technicolor-cinestyle-for-canon-dslrs/

Continuity for iPad

2011-05-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Know any Scripty's? Continuity is probably not ready for prime time but one to keep your eye on this app. iPad only.

http://continuity.n00bdev.com/

http://www.ipadappsdude.com/continuity-utilities/

Chinese 3D Porn

2011-04-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Finally, proof that 3D is not a fad: Chinese 3D porn.

You can't even make up stuff like this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/apr/06/china-3d-porn-film-released

TechnoJib

2011-04-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Looking for something like a TechnoCrane but lighter, cheaper and can be operated by one person?

The TechoJib comes in two sizes: The TechnoJib 15 with a 9' reach and the TechnoJib 24' with 15' of extension.

The jib can telescope out at a rate of 5' per second, fast enough to knock any grip or talent to the ground in less than 3 seconds!

The west coast contact is http://www.telescopicjib.com/

AE: Creating An Audience With One Person

2011-04-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

A neat little After Effects tutorial.

http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/creating-a-full-audience-with-depth-from-one-person/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aetuts+%28Aetuts%2B%29

Luminair ipad/iphone app

2011-04-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Luminair ipad app almost makes me want to be a Lighting Director again. No more dimmer board 'cause you carry it around in your pocket.

Thru DMX you can control a Universe (512 channels) with a single ipad. 512 channels sounds like a lot but these days lights use multiple channels, 23 channels for a moving light and 3 channels for each LED light. But these are grouped so you can change colors instantly with a simple picker.

I was talking to an LD for the Food Network who now has to use two separate Universes to light his show. He has one ipad/Universe just for moving lights and another ipad/Universe for LED washes and tungsten sources.

Plus, he has two more in back-up running blacked out in case the primary ipads freeze on him... which has happened to him on a live show. I've been there! He simply unblacks the back-ups and runs the show on those. So, a dimmer board with 1024 channels and a back-up dimmer board for $2400 bucks... the price of 4 ipads.

While he runs his own board in the booth, his gaffer is on the floor with the iphone app, focusing lights, etc.

Manufacturers are just starting to make lights with built in routers so each is like a mini-computer that can be controlled wirelessly. Then all you have to do is figure out how to make those lights battery powered and we'll never have to run a cable again!

Check out the videos on the website and on youtube. This one will lead you to a bunch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5yJQ8RzIZ0&feature=related

http://synthe-fx.com/products/luminairipad
http://synthe-fx.com/products/luminair

More on FCP X

2011-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Larry Jordan gives a better report on the new FCP X. He brings up a bunch of stuff I never knew like no matter how much ram you have in your computer FCP 7 was never designed to use more than 4GB.

FCP X is a whole new animal but that triggers bigger questions such as will my FCP 7 project open up in X? Like Larry says, it's not only what they're talking about but what they're not talking about.

http://www.larryjordan.biz/app_bin/wordpress/archives/1452#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed

Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle

2011-04-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

OK, this is a little cheaper. Still uses the expensive but fast SSD (more expensive than cards) but the drive unit it cheap, just $345.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hyperdeckshuttle/

FCP X

2011-04-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Why is it called FCP X? Because it's not a new version of the old FCP. It's completely new, made to take full advantage of newer computer technology. Plus, it's only $299.

Note there's no mention of "Studio". No Color, no Soundtrack but perhaps that's all ready built in. Available in June.

http://philipbloom.net/2011/04/13/new-apple-64-bit-final-cut-pro-x-announced-for-299-available-in-june/