Blackmagic: We’re ready to remove the Band-Aid!

Despite years of diplomatic prodding on my part, both via articles in ProVideo Coalition magazine and private emails, Blackmagic has still avoided and postponed offering RGB on its HDMI outputs. [If you’ve read my articles regarding HP DreamColor connectivity, you already know that the DreamColor engine demands digital RGB (not YUV/component) and true progressive (not interlaced or even PsF).] As a result, until Blackmagic updates their products (hopefully via a firmware and software update), you’ll have to spend an additional US$495 for an HDLink Pro 3D DisplayPort which will take the SDI signal from either the DeckLink HD Extreme 3D card or the UltraStudio 3D external interface. And that also means an additional SDI cable, an additional power supply, an additional power outlet, and having to make additional adjustments in another device. If you agree, please sign the online petition I’ve created.

How the Blackmagic Cinema Camera will indirectly take sales from AJA, Matrox, and MOTU

What are you talking about Allan? AJA, Matrox, and MOTU don’t manufacturer or sell cameras! How will the Blackmagic Cinema Camera take sales from AJA, Matrox, and MOTU? The reason is related to the DaVinci Resolve grading software that Blackmagic is including with the camera at no extra cost. Even though Apple bundled Color (which was an updated version of Final Touch) with Final Cut Pro 7, very few people I know actually used it, and it is effectively dead since Final Cut Pro 7 is no longer available for sale, and Apple doesn’t supply Color with Final Cut Pro X. Things will be different with Blackmagic’s inclusion of DaVinci Resolve with the camera, because almost all users (i.e. anybody who shoots in RAW mode) will need to grade their footage. Given DaVinci Resolve’s excellent historical reputation and the fact that purchasers of the camera will get a free license, many of them will likely want to invest in learning to grade with it, rather than spending cash on some other grading application. In this article, I’ll explore why this situation will mean less sales for AJA, Matrox, and MOTU.

AbelCine updates its free Field Of View Comparator for Blackmagic Cinema Camera

We applaud AbelCine for updating its unique interactive Field of View Comparator to include the recently announced Blackmagic Cinema Camera. This camera’s sensor size joins many other sizes and even some specific camera models from manufacturers and brands like Arri, Canon, Panasonic, Panavision, Phantom, RED, and Sony. Of course, the AbelCine Comparator continues to include standard HD sensors including 2/3“, 1/2”, 1/3“, and 1/4” used by several manufacturers. Just select one sensor size or camera model on the left side, another on the right, and select the lens’s native focal length in the middle, and voilà… Ahead in this article, you’ll see some examples which compare the field of view of a Super35mm sensor, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera sensor, a 1/2” HD sensor, and a 1/3” sensor.

Sony quietly announces the NX30 camcorder, a little sister to the NX70

Although during the past year I’ve written quite a bit about the Sony NX70 (officially, the HXR-NX70) here in ProVideo Coalition magazine, I haven’t yet published my review on it because I only received the NX70 loaner unit yesterday. While I prepare the review of the NX70 in the next couple of weeks, I feel compelled to let you know that at NAB 2012, Sony quietly announced the NX30 (HXR-NX30), a little sister (i.e. smaller and lower cost) to the NX70 which apparently shares the same sensor and almost identical specs on its lens. From my perspective, the NX30 is clearly focused by Sony to overtake the market space currently occupied by the Canon XA10 and the Panasonic AG-HMC40 (price/size/progressive/electric zoom/balanced audio inputs), about which I’ve already written a few times. In this first look at the NX30, I’ll highlight the NX30’s unique characteristics, make some initial observations & comparisons, and include some videos about it.

Make your iMac matte without spending money or applying any screen protector

For many years, those of us who prefer the Mac platform and a high-quality matte display have had to avoid Apple screens that are glossy (highly reflective) or use an invasive screen protector, which I dislike. Since several years ago, Apple began offering iMac computers exclusively with an ultra reflective screen, many have avoided the iMac in favor of either a tower (Mac Pro) or a Mac Mini. Many ProVideo Coalition readers will recall two of my 2011 articles which covered how STAFF HDTV/Alta Definición from Guatemala re-purposed its older Mac Pro tower for its DaVinci Resolve grading suite, and then found better performance in the editing room with a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac Mini together with a Pegasus disk array. At that time, they chose the Mac Mini over the iMac since they wanted matte monitors (not glossy). I have just become aware of a free, simple, non-invasive, and easily reversible approach to making an iMac become much more matte without using any screen protector.

AJA announces T-TAP, the US$249 palm-sized, self-powered bridge from Thunderbolt to HDMI or SDI

As I have covered in great detail in several prior articles here in ProVideo Coalition magazine, the most complete and most reliable method of connecting your critical video monitor to your computer based editing system is via a professional a/v i/o interface, like those Thunderbolt models now offered by AJA, Blackmagic, Matrox, and now even MOTU. However, most of them are more than what many editors need today in the tapeless acquisition, file-based era. Often editors no longer require any audio or video input at all, since the material primarily arrives in file-based format. That’s why AJA decided to design and build a simpler, lower-priced, self-powered, output-only device called the T-TAP at NAB 2012. The outputs are SDI and HDMI. This article will cover all of the specs (even some vital ones that AJA hasn’t yet published), applications, recommended connections, and define whether the T-TAP is appropriate or not for use with HP’s DreamColor monitor.

For broadcast news, “Starbucks is the new microwave!”

If you’re involved in traditional broadcast news, you know that the most popular established way to send your urgent remote stories back to the TV station is via microwave. For those unfamiliar, I’m not talking about a microwave oven, but a microwave transmitter often installed inside of a news van (OB truck), and often with a parabolic antenna on top. At NAB 2012, a recurring theme was: “Starbucks is the new microwave!” or some variation thereof, for urgent (but not live) news packages. Of course, if you’re in broadcast news in Colombia, South America, then the phrase might be: “¡Juan Valdez es mi nuevo transmisor microonda!”. Obviously, this refers to the free WiFi service available at Starbucks (at least in their USA locations) and at Juan Valdez in Colombia, together with the comfort of editing (optionally) and uploading raw news footage or edited packages from a very cozy environment. Let’s review a couple of such examples from NAB, and compare Internet café WiFi upload speeds to that of “4G” LTE in the USA.

iPad video journalism comes of age at NAB 2012

Ever since I saw the 3rd-generation iPad (2012), I began to have visions of its use for video journalism. Many of ProVideo Coalition magazine readers sent me private enthusiastic comments about my pre-NAB iPad articles like Avid now lets you edit video on your iPad for US$4.99. Should you?, Why an iPad is like a 4×5 view camera, and why you’ll need a black “focusing cloth” and later part 1 of my review called 1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybrid XLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica. While I was translating/localizing brochures for Avid Latin America just before NAB 2012, I became aware that they were going to launch iNews Command for iPad. On the NAB 2012 floor, I saw several iPad video journalists. Ahead you’ll find several photos, a few videos, and comments about various iPad video accessories.

NAB 2012 applause! Blackmagic’s cinema camera uses HFS+ formatting rather than weak FAT32

As some of my colleagues at ProVideo Coalition magazine have already reported, at NAB 2012, Blackmagic announced its first digital motion picture camera, officially known as the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. For US$2999, Blackmagic gives you the camera, a license of DaVinci Resolve (US$995 value) and a license of UltraScope (US$695 value). Supply your own Canon EF or Zeiss ZE lens and recording media. I applaud Blackmagic for making one of the two best possible decisions regarding the formatting used on the removable SSDs (solid state drives), and for using standard códecs/file formats. Unlike what many traditional photo and video camera manufacturers have chosen to implement (the weak FAT32), Blackmagic chose to use HFS+ (aka HFS Plus or Mac OS Extended). In this first look, I’ll review the differences and advantages of either HFS+ or UDF over FAT32, and point out some other details, i.e. the audio connections and file formats.

At NAB 2012: Jordan, Okada & Tépper join Laporte and Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly

At NAB 2012, I was honored to be invited by Leo Laporte to participate together with Larry Jordan, Daryn Okada and Alex Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly. This episode 295 was streamed live from the Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday, April 17 2012 and is now available for immediate streaming or download. We discuss many of the new developments at NAB 2012, in general and with respect to the Mac. Alex Lindsay even comments about the potency of the coffee he allegedly consumed during his yet unconfirmed trip to the 24th century during the creation of a yet unannounced feature, as covered in a recent article here in ProVideo Coalition magazine. This episode of MacBreak Weekly has a duration of 1:41, calculated especially for fans of palindromes.

1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybrid XLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica

Over the past few years, the market has become flooded with USB microphones, but most have been condenser models, and only a couple have been dynamic. Those dynamic models have been USB-only. There has been a need for dynamic USB microphones that were also hybrid (XLR balanced analog + USB digital, together with onboard zero-latency monitoring), especially since the external converters are both costly and bulky, and USB-only microphones are —by nature— more limited in terms of applications. In this part 1, I’ll clarify when dynamic microphones are preferred over condenser models, where USB-connected microphones “fit”, cover Audio Technica’s first hybrid dynamic models, and offer three comparative recordings between our reference Heil PR–40, the legendary Shure SM58, and the new ATR2100-USB, which is one of two handheld hybrid dynamic models from Audio Technica.

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