Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Review: Sony PMW-EX3 Removable-lens 1/2” 3-CMOS HD Camcorder

Under the skin, it’s an EX1. But goodness: what a different skin!

The US$8320 (street price) Sony PMW-EX3 is an eight-pound, high-definition “chainsaw” camcorder with three 1/2” CMOS sensors. It’s essentially a repackaged EX1—true 1920x1080 sensors, 1080 and 720-line XDCAM EX recording on SxS cards, variable frame rates, wide-latitude cine gammas, hugely tweakable—with an interchangeable lens mount, an impressive EVF, and improved ergonomics. Like the EX1, it makes stunning HD images, and like the EX1, it’s a handheld handful.

Cameras •
Hardware • (5) Comments • Most recent comments by: RC Fisher, Adam Wilt, RC Fisher, Ray Paunovich, Ray Paunovich, • Permalink

Friday, September 26, 2008

Form vs. Content

Never upstage the star of the show.

I sit down this evening to watch Professional Wrestling—erm, the first 2008 Presidential Debate. I’ve got KQED-HD tuned in, the local PBS channel on 9.1. Ray Suarez in the News Hour studio, neat and clean and perfect in every respect. Man, I love HD… until they cut to the feed from Mississippi. All of a sudden it’s Ken Burns & “The War” all over again: audio and video out of sync. Dang!

Motion Graphics •
Production •
Visual Effects • (3) Comments • Most recent comments by: Bruce A Johnson, Chris Meyer, Rob, • Permalink

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Review: Panasonic AG-HPX170P 1/3”, 3CCD P2 Camcorder

The P2-only HPX170 is a multitalented, smooth operator with improved picture quality.

The Japanese word “kaizen”, usually translated as “continuous improvement”, applies to Panasonic just as much as Toyota. Just as the HVX200 built on the success of the standard-definition DVX100, adding multiformat recording and multiple frame rates, the HPX170 takes the best features of the HVX200 and builds on them. The 170 makes a better picture. Added functionality, like HD-SDI, more frame rates, and Dynamic Range Stretch, makes it more versatile. Its lighter weight, refined ergonomics, and built-in waveform monitor make it an operator’s delight.

Cameras •
Hardware • (2) Comments • Most recent comments by: Adam Wilt, Notowitz, • Permalink

Saturday, September 13, 2008

One Man, One Vote

A short film, appropriate (?) for the season.

I’ve been unusually quiet of late because I’ve been embroiled in the final VFX, foley, finishing, and compression of a short film, “One Man, One Vote”. Have a look. Don’t worry: it’s only seven minutes long; if you don’t like it, it will be over soon enough.

Production • (2) Comments • Most recent comments by: Hugo, Chris Meyer, • Permalink

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Aperture 2.1.1 Won’t Preview Raw Photos

If you shoot raw stills, and use Aperture, don’t update to 2.1.1.

I use Apple’s Aperture to import, organize, and do simple processing on digital pix. I just updated to 2.1.1, and now the image import window won’t show raw images—only dashed rectangles (JPEGS still show up properly). The raw images’ metadata is shown correctly, except for the consistently goofball pixel size of 128x128. If I select raw pix blindly and import them, they show up properly once imported, but importing them blindly ain’t fun.

Aperture 2.1 didn’t have this bug; my Nikon D200 and D300 images showed up fine in the image import window. And I’m not the only one with the problem; Apple’s discussion lists are filled with similarly unhappy upgraders, mostly those using Nikons, but I saw Ricohs mentioned as well.

I can confirm that the bug afflicts Aperture 2.1.1 on both 10.4.11 and 10.5.4.

Solutions? I haven’t seen any evidence of a solution, but several workarounds have been suggested:

• stick with 2.1,
• roll back to 2.1 using Time Machine,
• use Image Capture (or Finder drag ‘n’ drop) to read in photos,
• shoot JPEGs.

Fortunately for me, I usually shoot JPEGs, otherwise I’d be hosed! Read my tale of woe, and maybe you won’t get hosed the same way.

Editing •
Post Production • (5) Comments • Most recent comments by: billS, billS, Adam Wilt, billS, billS, • Permalink

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

AJA Io HD drivers updated

Important fixes and enhancements in the version 6.0 driver

AJA has released version 6.0 drivers for the Io HD, AJA’s external video I/O box and format converter connected using FireWire800.

Version 6.0 adds a bunch of new features:

• Support for true progressive (in addition to PsF) 1080p capture and playback.
• Support for 720p/23.98 and 525i/23.98.
• Stand-alone mode for format conversion with no Mac attached.
• “Plug and Play” on FireWire without needing to reboot the computer.
• Simultaneous component and composite outputs.
• Audio delay controls for better A/V sync.
• Io HD’s LCD can be set to show timecode instead of secondary format.
• Better active output format listings in Io-using applications.

It also fixes a long-standing bug with frame-level metadata in ProRes422 captures: Io HD-captured ProRes now shows up as 10-bit video in Shake (and other apps that look at frame-level metadata), whereas before Shake saw the video as only being 8-bit. (The Io HD’s ProRes has always been 10-bit, but it didn’t look that way to Shake without an intermediate render in FCP.)

I had discovered the 8/10-bit issue back before NAB, and bothered the daylights out of AJA’s long-suffering support folks about it (with a tip of the hat to the unfailingly responsive and polite Rudy Van Kol), so the first thing I did when I saw the V6 driver was download it and test it. I can’t yet vouch for everything on the feature list, but I was able to install the software and upgrade the Io HD’s firmware just now without any problems, and I have verified the 10-bit metadata fix in Shake.

Huzzah, therefore, for AJA and version 6.0 Io HD drivers!

Editing •
Hardware •
Post Production • (0) Comments • • Permalink

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Accessorizing RED ONE

It takes more than a body and a lens to make a shooting package.

Today most of the items on our RED ONE order changed status from “Backorder” to “Completed”, so it seems like a good time to discuss kitting out the cameras for real-world use. 

Cameras •
Hardware • (0) Comments • • Permalink

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Review: Panasonic BT-LH1760 17” LCD Monitor

The highly capable 1760 is a worthy upgrade from the 1700W.

The $4500 Panasonic BT-LH1760 is a 17 inch, 1280x768 video monitor with multiple analog and digital inputs and a 100/120 Hz refresh rate for crisp motion rendering. It displays NTSC, PAL, 720p, and 1080i/p signals in both analog and digital, and offers a high-resolution waveform monitor for all video inputs, as well as a vectorscope, timecode, and audio level monitors for SDI inputs. It also has a wide selection of aspect ratio and safe-area markers available.

Hardware •
Post Production •
Production • (1) Comments • Most recent comments by: GlennChan, • Permalink

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