AJA’s KiPro records ProRes422 directly, without a computer

At NAB 2009, AJA announced the KiPro, which allows direct recording of Apple’s revered ProRes422 or ProRes422(HQ) in the field, without any laptop, from any SD or HD camera or vision mixer (“switcher”). I consider the KiPro to be a natural extension of AJA’s IoHD, and my only surprise is why AJA waited so long to release such a product. The KiPro has just about any type of input and output that we could possibly imagine, is controllable wirelessly from a laptop or iPhone, and records to two types of removable media: either ExpressCard34 (the type that fits into your MacBookPro) or its own Storage Module.

The advantages of recording directly to ProRes422 or ProRes422(HQ) are fairly obvious, since these two códecs are 10-bit, full raster 720p (1280x720) or 10-bit, full raster 1080 (1920x1080), with true 4:2:2 color sampling, and are immediately editable in Apple’s Final Cut Pro (or even with iMovie 09 if the ProRes422 códec has been installed on the machine). The file sizes of ProRes422 and ProRes422(HQ) are certainly higher than those used in most onboard camera códecs, but for high-end EFP, many producers will gladly accept that. In addition to the HD specs mentioned, the KiPro can also accept SD signals, and either record them as ProRes422 or ProRes422(HQ) in SD, or upscale to HD. When dealing with analog standard definition video, KiPro can properly handle PAL, NTSC with 7.5 ire setup, or NTSC without 7.5 ire setup, depending upon the source and destination. KiPro can also handle realtime cross conversion in any direction between 720HD and 1080HD. This is very welcome!

Professional Audio Podcasting seminar, April 14th in Miami

Now is your chance to attend a seminar about professional audio podcast production. You will learn the fundamental differences between tradtional radio broadcasts, live Internet radio, and audio podcasts… and the advantages of the latter; how to design your audio podcast format; the standard elements (intros, outros, bumpers, etc.); hardware and software to produce your audio podcast; how to conduct high-quality telephone interviews; audio editing of your podcast; compression versus normalization; how to add chapters and graphics to your enhanced audio podcast; how to upload your podcast; and how to create an RSS feed which is compatible with iTunes and other podcast aggregators.

The date is April 14th, and the place is Miami, Florida. Although there is a charge of US$100 per person, attendees will receive a coupon good for a 40% discount off of the recommended audio podcast production software for Mac. Click here for more information, or to register.

Übercaster: the most complete audio podcasting tool I know for Mac

Many of our readers know that I produce a podcast with the same name as my channel here at ProVideo Coalition. The TecnoTur podcast is currently not in English, but in Castilian, the most widely-used Spanish language (but certainly not the only one). I have three co-hosts in the program: Rubén Abruña, Tanya Castañeda, and Liliana Marín, and we have interviewees who participate on the phone from the USA, Spain, and various Latin American countries (so far). When I first sought to choose a tool for audio podcasting, I logically made an analysis of the available tools, taking into account some of the more demanding tasks I needed for the TecnoTur podcast. Of course, I looked at Apple’s GarageBand and a few other audio programs, but none came close to the US$79.95 Übercaster, especially considering our requirements. Übercaster is from Pleasant Software in Offenburg, Germany, and has the features I really needed, plus unexpected time-savers I appreciated later.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1: a first look from a videographer’s perspective

When I first heard about the Panasonic Lumix GH1 from my friend Steve (who saw a prototype and actually got to shoot with it at PMA 2009 in Las Vegas), I didn’t think too much about it. I incorrectly assumed that the GH1 was yet one more of those digital SLR photographic cameras that could also shoot HD video, although with more limitations than desired. But after investigating further, I realized that that first assumption was way off. The GH1 represents several steps forward in the ongoing development of truly hybrid photographic/video cameras, since it removes many of the limitations that other D-SLRs have imposed when used to shoot HD video.

Roxio Streamer: a free video streaming client for iPhone/iPod Touch

Roxio (a division of Sonic Solutions) has launched Roxio Streamer, a free application for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch which allows you to do true video streaming of video files from your Mac to your iPhone or iPod Touch. It doesn’t matter whether you are in the same home or building, or anywhere else on the planet where you have either WiFi or 3G access (3G, only with the iPhone 3G). Unlike downloading, true streaming will not fill up the iPhone’s (or iPod Touch’s) memory with the entire videos you watch. The videos you stream can be your own, those you have recorded with your TiVo, or with your EyeTV.

DVKitchen has become a must-have video encoding & publishing tool

I first bought DVKitchen before it even carried that name. Back in June 2008, DVKitchen had a different name, but wasn’t quite ready yet for me to write an article about it. Times change… and for DVKitchen, the changes have been extremely positive. Like other encoding tools, DVKitchen from DVcreators can prepare your video for the web and other devices… but DVKitchen is unique in helping you to determine your ideal settings for that task very quickly… and unique in saving steps in the process of actually publishing your video on the web, and even writing HTML code for you to get your video embedded in your customized player on your website, blog, or in forums. Even if for some reason you must use another tool to encode your video, DVKitchen is the fastest way to determine the ideal settings in that other tool. Without a doubt, the latest version of DVKitchen represents a quantum leap for video content publishers, whether they are planning to deliver video for the web, AppleTV, PS3, WDTV, or mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod, G1, or Blackberry.

Toast 10 Titanium Pro package: a great upgrade

With version 10, Roxio (now a division of Sonic Solutions) offers a Pro bundle of Toast, which includes a total of 12 applications, most of which are multilingual. As many veteran Mac users know, the Toast application was born way before MacOS X (10.0). Back then, Toast was necessary to do something as simple as burning a CD, since before 10.0, the MacOS didn’t include onboard CD burning. Although CD and DVD burning capability is now part of the MacOS X (with much less depth than with Toast), the Toast application has grown quite a bit to cover many other tasks. Without even going into the bundled applications yet, you may know that Toast 10 can now burn data CDs, data DVDs, and data Blu-rays, and span data over more than one disk. Toast 10 can also do simple authoring of video DVDs and Blu-rays, as well as create “AVCHD disks”, which is HD material burned on a standard single or dual-layer DVD, and is playable on some Blu-ray players, and on the Sony PS3. But I’m only beginning to describe what the base Toast 10 application can do!

Sony upgrades 3G HDV camcorders to universal, for a small fee

Readers of my recent articles in ProVideo Coalition, past articles in Latin American magazines, and those who have attended my seminars are aware of the many 25p production advantages over “24p” (23.976p) production, especially when the video is shot on HDV and the workflow is to take advantage of HDMI or HD-SDI capture. Up until now, producers in the USA (and other 60Hz American countries) who have chosen progressive Sony HDV cameras and appreciate the advantages of 25p had no choice but to go through “unofficial channels” to purchase the 25p/50Hz version of the camera. The ones I know are all very happy with the choice and with the workflow. However, they aren’t so happy that after spending so much extra for the camera and optional worldwide warranty, they still don’t have the flexibility of the 60Hz (59.94Hz) modes, in order to be able to shoot at “30p” (29.97p) or even “60i” (59.94i) for a slow-motion shot. Although most of them prefer 25p for their own productions, some of them are also often subcontracted to “shoot only” for other producers who aren’t so informed about 25p, and often request video to be shot at “30p” or “60i”. Fortunately, Sony USA has now recognized the need for a universal version of their 3G (3rd-generation) of HDV camcorders, which now encompass the HVR-S270, HVR-Z5 and HVR-Z7. See details about Sony’s upgrade program later in this article.

BoinxTV: “Say goodbye to post-production”

BoinxTV is a new product from Boinx Software Ltd. in Puchheim, Germany. You may have seen other products from Boinx, like FotoMágico, iStopMotion, iVeZeen, Mouseposé, and PhotoPresenter. BoinxTV was first launched in November 2008 and was quickly updated to 1.1 at the beginning of December. Like the infamous Video Toaster from NewTek, BoinxTV offers to convert your computer into a live production studio. One of the first noticeable differences is that BoinxTV is for the Mac.

iMovie Pro?

Even though I have never gone to a Macworld Expo (and now probably never will, since Apple will no longer present there), I have always enjoyed watching Apple’s infamous keynote presentations via Internet. However, being so familiar with Final Cut Pro, I never thought I would be blown away by the presentation about iMovie 09, which you will see later in this article. I was quite surprised when I heard who was going to present it (Randy Ubillos), by the new features in iMovie 09, and even more so by Randy’s astonishing comment, which I will visit later in this article.

HDMI capture in live multi-camera production

Thanks to the new HDMI input interfaces like Blackmagic’s Intensity and Intensity Pro, it is feasible to connect certain HD cameras with HDMI output live to a computer, and even dissolve between them without genlock.

Just install two Intensity (US$249 x 2) or Intensity Pro (US$349 x 2) cards into a MacPro tower computer, with Blackmagic’s included On-Air software. Compatible cameras include both HDV cameras and the new AVCHD cameras with HDMI output. This way (for live-to-disk 2-camera production), one can not only capture an “uncompressed” signal via HDMI, but also a “never-yet-compressed” signal. The only important limitation of the Blackmagic On-Air system is that you can connect a maximum of two cameras.

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