Sunday, February 24, 2008

HPA Tech Retreat - Day 3, etc.

Cameras, compression & concatenation; displays, distribution, & demos

Day 2 Revisited

Larry Thorpe and John Galt argued for a more nuanced view of camera resolution, such as MTF (contrast) readings at 200, 400, 600, and 800 TVl/ph, as well as a subjective description, in addition to the standard measurement of the limiting resolution and report on aliasing (see Day 2 pictures). I will be modifying my review methodology accordingly.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

PMW-EX1 - use regen timecode

Free run TC may confuse XDCAM Transfer

A post on the Cinematography Mailing List yesterday indicates that XDCAM Transfer may not see all the clips on an SxS card if the EX1’s timecode was set to “clock” mode, one of the free run options. Sony is reportedly going to address this issue with an updated version of XDCAM Transfer. For now, it appears the safe thing to do for now is to leave the EX1’s timecode in regen mode. UPDATE 2008-03-06: Version 2.5.1 fixes this bug.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

HPA Tech Retreat - Day 2 (abbreviated)

The website ate my homework.

I logged in to PVC and spent 90 minutes writing up the day’s events. Apparently I took too long: when I hit “submit” I was asked to log in again, and all my edits were lost. Oops. Yes, I should have copied my work to a nonvolatile file; no, I didn’t. I don’t have time to retype everything, so I’ll have to leave you with a few pictures and some URLs.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

HPA Tech Retreat - Day 1

3D, AudioScope, CES, and the Analog Shutdown

On this, the first “real” day of the HPA Tech Retreat, we were treated to 3D cinema demos and discussions, a CES review, a phased-array mic for sports recording, and more.

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Visual Effects • (1) Comments • Most recent comments by: Yanni, • Permalink

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

HPA Tech Retreat - Day 0

LCDs, Radiosity, and the AMPAS IIF

“Day 0” of the 2008 HPA Tech Retreat in Palm Springs offered four sessions; I attended three: Euredjian on LCDs, Poynton on Radiosity, and AMPAS on the Image Interchange Format.

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

EX1 Gammas

Those cine gammas I like? They’re not for everyone.

When I reviewed the Sony PMW-EX1 camcorder, I raved about its cine gamma settings, derived from the hypergamma curves in the F23, F900/R, and other XDCAM HD ‘corders. The email I’ve been getting indicates that my enthusiasm isn’t universal. Let’s explore the issue a bit further.

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

PMW-EX1 Update

A different PMW-EX1 has slightly different characteristics.

A few days ago I obtained a new, production-build PMW-EX1 camcorder, serial #103171. Its shipment had just arrived in the USA, so it’s a sample of what’s shipping now. While it’s 99% the same as the pre-production camera I reviewed, it has a couple of differences worth noting—having two samples gives a more rounded picture of the variations you’re likely to see in wild, free-range cameras. The analog is cleaner on the new camera, the Lens Info readout is somewhat more accurate, and the lens vignettes less. 

Cameras • (1) Comments • Most recent comments by: Eric, • Permalink

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Whither The HVX200?

Does the EX1 render the HVX200 obsolete? Don’t be too sure!

The PMW-EX1 is Sony’s answer to Panasonic’s HVX200: a variable-frame-rate, progressive-scan, multiformat HD camcorder using solid-state storage. The EX1 has higher resolution; it lets you shoot VFR in 1080p as well as in 720p; it betters the HVX slightly in both zoom range and latitude; it offers more image tweakability. Why would anyone bother with an HVX now that the EX1 is available?

There are plenty of reasons: the HVX200 does a lot of things the EX1 can’t. Back away from the bulleted feature lists and the bigger picture becomes clear. Despite superficial similarities, these camera fill different niches and serve different markets. 

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Production • (4) Comments • Most recent comments by: Dave, Scrambed2, Nuke, Anthony, • Permalink

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