Film

NAB 2013: X-Keys

They're just a bunch of buttons but boy do they look handy.

By Scott Simmons | April 18, 2013

I know I probably shouldn’t get excited by something as simple as a bunch of buttons but I have to say that one of my favorite things that I saw at the 2013 NAB show were the X-keys Sticks from P.I. Engineering. These things are just a strip of 4, 8, or 16 buttons that I envisioned as an extra set of function keys. I know it seems silly but boy did I immediately see a big use for something like that. I’ve tried so many different input devices over the years but nothing seems quite a nice as buttons.

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NAB 2013: The TitaniumZ-5 from Small Tree

Need portable network storage for up to 6 editors?

By Scott Simmons | April 17, 2013

Not everyone in post-production has the need for shared storage and probably even less of those need portable shared storage but if you’re one of those that do look no further than the TitaniumZ–5 from Small Tree. It’s got some impressive specs and an eye-catching, yet useful form factor. It looks like it would be the perfect fit for certain editing situations.

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Dolby Announces Collaboration on No-Glasses 3DTV

By Kurt Gardner | April 16, 2013

Dolby Laboratories' Giles Baker, The Foundry's Simon Robinson and Cameron Pace Group's Vince Pace talk about their collaboration on the advancement of 3DTV without glasses. Each of them share their insights and expertise surrounding this exciting development. 

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Mark, Replace, Slip

On this week's MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | April 16, 2013

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training shows us a cool trick for performing a particular kind of replace edit in Final Cut Pro X.

Replace edits are quite powerful tools for swapping out one clip in a project for another or adjusting (slipping) an... Read More

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NAB 2013: The ProMAX ONE and ProMAX ONE+ powerhouse PCs

They're not MacPros though the look like one and are probably much faster

By Scott Simmons | April 16, 2013

One thing I noticed when walking the South Hall of the 2013 NAB show was there are quite a new more PCs in the various booths running various software demos. There were also quite a new vendors offering fast, customizable PC workstations. One of those vendors is ProMAX and their very MacPro looking machines are called the ProMAX ONE and One+. I loved the description of the machine from the ProMAX rep I talked to: It’s like a “higher end MacPro … it doesn’t run OSX.”

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NAB 2013: Avid Media Composer 7 and Lightworks for Mac

I took a few minutes and actually played with Lightworks Mac!

By Scott Simmons | April 11, 2013

We’ve already talked about Adobe and their next version of Premiere Pro but the other NLEs on the show floor creating buzz were Avid Media Composer 7 (here’s my take from their press conference) and … wait for it … Lightworks for Mac. That’s just an early alpha of the Lightworks Mac but it was running and I played with it. It’ll be fun to watch how the biz takes to it when the Mac version finally ships which should be later this year.

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NAB 2013: G-Technology and CalDigit

You can never have enough hard drives huh?

By Scott Simmons | April 11, 2013

Trying to get an idea of what’s new in storage we stopped by both the G-Technology booth as well as CalDigit. There were a lot of storage companies on the floor but these two are the brands that I use the most. G-Tech’s new G-DOCK ev is a very interesting product for the USB3 / Thunderbolt we live in.

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NAB 2013: DJI Phantom Quadcopter

Fun *and* useful.

By Bruce A Johnson | April 10, 2013

There were more radio-controlled helicopters at NAB 2013 than at a hobby tradeshow.  The DJI Phantom was among the least expensive and the most accessible.

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NAB 2013: Blackmagic Design Part 2 - 4K Switchers and Resolve Color Correction

There's more to production than just cameras...

By Bruce A Johnson | April 10, 2013

Pat 2 of the Blackmagic booth tour shows off 4K live production capability and the improvements made to the DaVinci Resolve color correction tools.

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NAB 2013: Blackmagic Design Part 1 - Cameras

Yeah, they have a couple...

By Bruce A Johnson | April 10, 2013

You might have heard some gossip about Blackmagic Designs new cameras.  Here are the details.

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NAB 2013: The new Blackmagic Cinema Cameras

I nosed my way in and asked a few post-production related questions

By Scott Simmons | April 09, 2013

While helping the FreshDV guys with their NAB 2013 coverage I took the time to poke my nose in on their interview with Blackmagic Design about their  new Pocket Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K. That little Pocket Cinema Camera is we very neat little tool. Will it be the death of the DSLR No. Will we get lots more footage in the edit suite since everyone will have one? Yes.

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NAB 2013: Tascam DR-60D DSLR Audio Recorder

Much better than recording on the camera...

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

Most DSLRs have dismal audio sections.  Tascam has a cost-effective solution to this issue.

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NAB 2013: Sound Devices

Some clever new enhancements for NAB 2013

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

Sound Devices President Matt Anderson shows off two clever additions to the product line.

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NAB 2013: Hoodman Part 2 - Custom Finder Kit

Another glare fighter!

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

Yet another clever way to cut the glare, this time for your DSLR.

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NAB 2013: Hoodman Part 1 - BMCC Hood

Cut the glare!

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

The big screen on the back of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera is a glare magnet.  Control it with this product from Hoodman.

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NAB 2013: Mole-Richardson Part 2: LED Bars

A lot of light in a small space.

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

Finally, both compact brightness and easy remote control in one light fixture. See if you can spot Ron Burgundy in this video.

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NAB 2013: Mole-Richardson Part 1: LED Retrofits

Retrofits for Baby Lights

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

Love your old Baby Lights?  Refurbish them for many more years of service as LED Fresnels.

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Copying Keyframes in Motion

This week on MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | April 09, 2013

This week on MacBreak Studio, I show Steve Martin from Ripple Training several different ways that you can transfer keyframes created on one object onto another.

It's easy to animate layers in Motion using keyframes, and to then adjust the animation by working in the... Read More

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NAB 2013:  Steadicam Curve

Miniaturization run amok?

By Bruce A Johnson | April 09, 2013

30+ years ago, I trained as a full-sized Steadicam operator, and have the bad back to prove it.  Now one of the smallest cameras you can buy has a flyweight Steadicam to go with it.

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NAB 2013: Dactylcam

Everyone needs a cable cam once in a while...

By Bruce A Johnson | April 08, 2013

I first saw a cable-cam at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.  Now we can all own one!

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