Sunday, November 16, 2008

Confession:  I Don’t Get The RED.

What’s all the hubbub about?

OK, so here is where I shoot myself in the head, but I just don’t get the clamor around the RED cameras.  Yes, I can appreciate their fabulously advanced technology.  Yes, I admire their clever naming schema (whoever came up with the “Mysterium” sensor should get a big raise.) And the accountant that invented “$17K to start...$50k to actually shoot frame #1” is a genius as well.

But…

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The 5 S’s Of Scinematography

With apologies to Joseph Mascelli

Anyone that has gone to school for film or video production should be aware of a book entitled “The 5 C’s Of Cinematography,” by Joseph V. Mascelli .  It is a timeless classic, jammed full of essential knowledge for anyone that wants to be a shooter, editor or director.  It also has one of the catchiest titles ever bestowed on a textbook, which I am shamelessly ripping off for this post.  This post is about video production - live remote production - and the joys of the job.

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Any News on November 4th?

FCC Opens Up “White Spaces”

Wow, that Kevin Martin never ceases to amaze.  First he becomes the first Republican populist. Now he has stood up to the National Association of Broadcasters - along with the other four members of the FCC - to create a plan to allow use of “white space,” unused television broadcast channels, as capacity for new unlicensed personal wireless services.  Many people have called this new service “WiFi on steroids.” Now, the NAB hates any movement towards loosening it’s bulldog-like grip on bandwidth.  To be sure, there are other groups in this fight as well, not the least of which is users of wireless microphones, but at the base of it I sense this as a power struggle.  And as a long-time employee of several broadcast organizations, you’d think I’d side with the NAB, but not this time.  I trust that Silicon Valley and their suppliers can design and build compliant, non-interfering devices that could make iPhones and Android devices look silly by comparison.  Now they will get their chance.

Hang onto your hats.  This is going to be an exciting time.  And the NAB?  I think they’ll survive.

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Saturday, November 01, 2008

REVIEW: Adventures In Anycasting

Remote Multicamera Isn’t Just For Trucks Anymore

It really wasn’t all that long ago that multicamera field production required a 50-foot truck, a dozen people, and lots of electricity, patience and aspirin. 

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Everybody Got Your HDTVs?  Good.  Now Throw Them Out.

Quad-Def, Here We Come?

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

This Makes the Sony EX1 and EX3 No-Brainers

The Cost Of Storage Comes Tumbling Down

If you have read Adam Wilt’s review of the Sony EX-3 camera, you know how impressed he is with it.  I have had a similar opportunity to review the EX-1and think they are both exceptional steps forward in low-cost, high-quality high-def cameras.  The one problem that bugs me - and, honestly, it applies to all solid-state-based recorders - is the cost of the media, and the concomitant inability to use the recording medium as a cost-effective archiving medium.  Seriously, who can afford a hundred SxS cards, or fifty P2 cards? 

I previously blogged about the best rumor I heard at NAB 2008:  That 32Gb flash memory cards would be $5 by the next NAB. We haven’t gotten there yet, but it seems more likely with every passing week.  And now, news from Down Under that could turn the EX-world on it’s head - that with the use of a simple Kensington 7-in-1 ExpressCard Media Reader, inexpensive Sandisk SDHC cards become usable in the EX-1 and EX-3!  This Webpage has all the details. Could the dam finally be breaking open?  Could solid-state recording finally make workflow sense for the small operator?

Stay tuned - I think this one is going to be big.

A tip ‘o the hat to Ron Shook for the initial info!

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Friday, October 10, 2008

REVIEW:  Vantec NST-D100SU NexStar Hard Drive Dock

A Great Way To Have Segregated Storage

It used to be that segregating project assets was a real pain.  Sure, some of us (and you know who you are!) would install removable hard drive cases, but confess:  Most of us never went to the trouble.  As a result, one hard drive (or several) would become a morass of media, project files, graphics, and all the assorted detritus that goes along with non-linear editing.  But help is here.

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Monday, October 06, 2008

LIVE from Iowa!!

Or at least semi-live…

I’ll be spending the week in lovely Des Moines, Iowa, presenting at and participating in the Iowa Digital Television Symposium, put on by my great friends at Iowa Public Television.  You can see the schedule of presentations here. I’ll post daily updates of highlights, and all presentations are archived in audio form (many with downloadable PowerPoint presentations) for later listening.  So stay tuned for great information!

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