Canon Rebel T2i / EOS 550D

The intertubes are buzzing today with the announcement of the Canon Rebel T2i (also known as the EOS 550D in Europe).

In short, it has an APS-C format sensor that is similar to the Canon 7D (which means it’s roughly the size of a motion picture film frame, for “filmic” depth of field), accepts EF and EF-S lenses, and shoots video at a pleasing variety of frame rates and sizes with “full manual control”:

• 1920 x 1080 (Full HD): 30p (29.97) / 24p (23.976) / 25p
• 1280 x 720: 60p (59.94) / 50p
• 640 x 480 (SD): 60p (59.94) / 50p)

The good folks at Digital Photography Review already have online a still-image-focused 13-page preview based on a pre-production unit (if you’re seeing only 1 page, use the popup at the top or the Actions > Previous/Next buttons at the bottom to navigate).

Price? $800 without lens; $900 with.

Adobe Community Leaders Summit

Last week, Adobe invited a variety of well-known people in the industry to come get a closer look at what they’ve been working on, and to provide feedback on their direction. To Adobe’s credit, this was no “preaching to the choir” session; many of those invited were FCP and Avid editors, and several current users gave Adobe personnel an earful both publicly and privately. It was also made clear to us that no specific product versions or release dates were being discussed, and that we couldn’t repeat anything that had not already been mentioned publicly (reminds us of the old Zen Buddhist saying “Those who know don’t say; those who say don’t know"). However, this event gives us an excuse to aggregate into one place a number of emerging technologies Adobe has already murmured about, for those who haven’t had the chance to keep up…

User Interface Design for Hollywood

We’ve all noticed the really bad “you’ve got mail” computer and data display screens that pop up in Hollywood movies. What we tend to miss are the really good ones, which are realistic. (Fun fact: Stanley Kubrick insisted that all of the displays shown in 2001 be plausible, including reflecting the correct state of the planets etc. at the point during the trip when they appear.)

One of the best designers of these screens is Mark Coleran (who currently designs real-world user interfaces for Gridiron Software, including Flow). Mark was recently interviewed by both NPR and Spark, where he shared some insight into his craft. (I’d suggest following the above links in order, as it starts with the eye candy and ends with his unabridged analysis.)

Interesting is that there’s been a lot of backlash to his NPR interview, as some have used him as the public face for all of the bad movie screen design that is out there. Some of the criticism is unfounded; some of it is simply the result of the common situation we all face in delivering what the client wants, for better or worse. As Mark recently commented in his defense on an After Effects forum, “I and the others who do and did this stuff spend a long time trying to haul it back to reality. Perhaps the story aspect is a post-hoc rationalization, but the requirements are very different.”

Regardless of whether or not you like the result, Mark is one of the best After Effects artists out there, with a fantastic emphasis on both detail and efficiency. If you ever get a chance to see him talk live about screen design, do so.

Masters of Visual Effects - Online

Matt Silverman, Creative Director of Bonfire Labs, is a certifiable After Effects old-timer (although he also has experience in many different systems), particularly known “back in the day” as being a roto expert in addition to an all-around top-shelf motion graphics and visual effects artist. Several years ago, he took it upon himself to enlist some of the best users in the field to construct a set of timeless, concept-based, software-agnostic visual effects training videos. These VHS tapes are long out of print, so Matt has started to digitize them and place them online. The links for Series 2 (covering compositing, keying, tracking, paint, and rotoscoping presented by Ron Brinkmann, Stu Maschwitz, and Scott Stewart) are below; watch them while you can:

Free (and heavily discounted) Footage

Previously, if you registered at the Artbeats.com web site, you would receive a monthly newsletter that included a link to download a free stock footage clip each month - not a bad deal. But today, I visited their site and was surprised to find that they’re now giving away a free clip every day! Register for their site and remind yourself to visit each day to get your clip. I don’t know about all the other clips, but today’s clip was available in your choice of HD, SD NTSC, or SD PAL. They also include on the same page daily specials to buy select HD clips for $25 each (normally $299 each).‬

In the past, I’ve lamented how stock footage has gotten more expensive through the years; I’m thrilled to see deals like this appear to help bring down the costs. (In that spirit, if you’re not already a member of iStockphoto, you can click here to get a 20% discount off 50 credits.)

Tim Burton at MOMA; on Charlie Rose

Love him or scurry away from him, Tim Burton is certainly one of the most original, out-of-the-box filmmakers we have right now. MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) in New York is currently hosting an exhibit of his work through April 26 2010. I’m not able to make it to New York, but in the meantime, I just caught a replay of his Thanskgiving interview on Charlie Rose (perhaps my favorite interviewer). It contains a great discussion of filmmaking and creativity in general, with many references back to his childhood plus early employment at Disney.

Apple + Tablet = New Video Distribution Outlet?

As a long-time Apple user (and - full disclosure - Apple stockholder), I’ve learned long ago to take Apple rumors with a grain of salt. However, combine patents (some going back to 2005), leaks from developers, and the rental of a big hall for a special event in late January, and you start to feel something might actually happen - although it’s certainly not a lock. Personally, I’m thrilled with the speculation that the rumored “iPad” iSlate iPad will be more about media than computing. 

After Effects, ProRes, and Gamma Shifts

Adobe’s yeoman After Effects documentation guru Todd Kopriva maintains a highly useful blog over on Adobe.com.

Today he just posted instructions on how to modify the After Effects CS4 QuickTime gamma rules XML file (did you even know such a thing existed?) to allow proper round-tripping using ProRes4444 without getting those gamma shifts that cause many of us to rip our hair out.

The post also includes links on how to make ProRes 422 roundtrip, and general background information on gamma shifts and After Effects.

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