HPA Tech Retreat 2011 Day 4

On this fourth and final day of the 2011 Tech Retreat, we learned about standards activities, 3D ghosts, camera arrays, automated audio “recognition”, a new method for making film protection masters, how bending a cable affects its performance, and a whirlwind tour through TV Tech history. Also: the death of tape… for real this time?

HPA Tech Retreat 2011 Day 2

Day 2 of the Tech Retreat covered the year in review, CES, cloud storage, broadcasting, pool feed audio, content protection, transcoding, stereo subtitles, and more…

Maybe Facebook Is Good For Something After All

I’m not really a huge Facebook fan, but I can recognize a bargain when I see one.  If you are on Facebook and you “like” Smartsound, they’ll send you a free music track on February 15th.  Hey, what can it hurt?  It’s not like they want you to play Farmville or something. 

What $300 Buys These Days

OK, folks, have a look at “Lazy Teenage Superheroes,” a funny, really watchable (and slightly NSFW for language) 13-minute riff on science fiction:

Film-Office Tax Credits Scandal!

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article about Iowa’s “alleged abuses of its film tax credit program.”  I don’t know how surprising this is, given that the Iowa film office apparently described their program as “half-priced filmmaking.”

It would be wrong not to note that the LA Times has a horse in this race - there is more than a hint of schadenfreud in this piece - but on the whole, this revisits well-trodden ground.  Jeez, even I wrote about it!

Not to pile on, but there is yet another article on the subject this morning from the New York Times (registration probably required), regarding New Jersey’s film subsidy program, which Republican Governor Chris Christie is looking to gut.  The intense problem of gauging these programs effectiveness is summed up in this one excellent paragraph, written by NYT reporter Michael Cieply:

Studies about the efficacy of film credits, which became widespread in the last eight years, have been maddeningly divergent in their conclusions, depending on methodology, the structure of the credit and, sometimes, who sponsors the report.

I believe we have a BINGO!

When I wrote about Wisconsin’s film subsidy program back in 2009, things were tough for state governments.  By all accounts, things are worse in 2011.  If I were a betting man, I’d wager that film subsidy programs are going to become an even more endangered species in the near future.

What do you think?

Gifts For the HDSLR Shooter in Your Life

For those of us in the industry who spend most of our life engaged in activities that many of our friends and family don’t really understand, shopping for us can be a daunting task.  Although warned to just get gift cards, sometimes our loved ones insist on getting something more personal.  The result can be a gift that never sees the light of day, is re-gifted or we have to make that awkward request for a receipt which never sets well… 

TecnoTur 6 (Castilian): interviews with Escuchalibros, RAMM Animation, and actress Carla Sánchez

TecnoTur episode 6 in Castilian (aka “Spanish”) is now available. In episode 6, we learn about Venezuelan actress/model Carla Sánchez’s latest projects, and we briefly discuss Allan Tépper’s book Unleash GoogleVoice’s hidden power for 3G, WiFi, and free international roaming. Then we present the 2nd part of our interview with Rafael Andreu of RAMM Animation, whose projects have included the Castilian version of Sesame Street (Plazo Sésamo in Latin America or Barrio Sésamo in Spain). Finally, we discuss audiobook production with Victoria Mesas García of Escuchalibros of Spain. Here are details about how to hear TecnoTur free, or become a subscriber.

Adobe’s US$99 Premiere Elements for Mac: a first look from a pro video perspective

Last week, I attended Experience Adobe CS5 Production on a Mac here in Miami. Interestingly, the seminar was organized by a local reseller called Enhanced View Services, although promoted via Apple Events, and the actual presenters were from Adobe and Apple. Even though there was a presentation from Apple before and after the Adobe presentation, I estimate that 75% was about Adobe’s CS5. Many ProVideo Coalition readers know that I have written several articles about Final Cut Pro workflow, and more recently, I’ve published several about Premiere Pro CS5, and I will continue to do so. In addition to saying hello to the people from Apple and Adobe and hearing even more about CS5, I really wanted to see whether there would be any mention of the new US$99 Premiere Elements for Mac, which had been announced earlier in the week… and if not, I wanted to ask questions about it. In this article, you’ll find out more about what happened at this event, and the surprisingly positive answers I got about Premiere Elements for Mac.

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