http://provideocoalition.com/index.php en mjeppsen@freshdv.com Copyright 2008 2008-12-01T13:45:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/awesome_adobe_motion_graphics_research_project/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/awesome_adobe_motion_graphics_research_project/#When:13:45:00Z An Adobe engineer posted a demonstration of a sweet little research project recently. It’s a simple, consumer-oriented method of accomplishing complex motion graphics tasks. Here’s hoping we’ll see it soon in their products! Video below… Motion Graphics 2008-12-01T13:45:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/cmos_sensors_are_tastier_without_jello/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/cmos_sensors_are_tastier_without_jello/#When:09:00:00Z We’ve already seen some excellent video footage from the new Canon 5D MarkII DSLR camera. However, I’ve not really seen the sort of test footage that reveals CMOS wobble (the jello effect) or rolling shutter skew. While this isn’t a perfect test, I was encouraged to see a lot of motion in the following video shot on the streets of Beijing. It appears, anecdotally at least, that the 5D samples from it’s sensor much faster than the ultra-wobbly Nikon D90, and the camera sure looks like it would handle most situations with aplomb. Video embedded below. Cameras 2008-11-30T09:00:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/how_to_edit_canon_5d_footage_in_fcp/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/how_to_edit_canon_5d_footage_in_fcp/#When:01:46:00Z Canon’s new 5D Mark II DSLR with 1080p video mojo has been showing up in the hands of new users for the past few days, and the footage is hitting Vimeo faster than you can say “What’s a Scarlet?” One of the most pressing questions by Mac users is how to edit the compressed HD footage, which is captured as Quicktime H.264 files at 38.6 Mbits/sec. Reports suggest that FCP can edit the footage natively, but playback is likely to be choppy. That being the case, FCP users are recommending transcoding the footage into ProRes 422, for realtime playback and editing. ProRes is several times the bitrate of the MPEG-4 source files, but it should solve the playback issues. An alert reader dropped me a Tweet this evening however, and he’s got a great workflow idea for those that can’t justify the additional disk space that ProRes transcoding requires. His workflow uses the free cross-platform MPEG Streamclip app to transcode the source files into the 35 Mbits/sec XDCAM EX codec, which can then be played back and edited in realtime in FCP. A tutorial video is embedded below… Cameras, Post Production 2008-11-29T01:46:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/vincent_laforet_posted_another_canon_5d_mk2_video/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/vincent_laforet_posted_another_canon_5d_mk2_video/#When:09:00:00Z If this guy isn’t on Canon’s marketing payroll, they need a wake up call. I imagine that he’s done more to sell the new Canon 5D MarkII than any other entity out there, including Canon. Cameras 2008-11-27T09:00:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/beautiful_cg_work_in_a_porsche_spec_spot/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/beautiful_cg_work_in_a_porsche_spec_spot/#When:09:00:00Z Porsche Speed from Daan Pol on Vimeo. This spec spot by I ran across on Vimeo simply has to be seen. It took 4 months to render out the final composite… Motion Graphics 2008-11-26T09:00:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/red_renders_previous_koolaid_vouchers_obsolete/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/red_renders_previous_koolaid_vouchers_obsolete/#When:15:02:00Z The latest non-news on the Red Digital Cinema front is Jim Jannard’s coy announcement of yet another announcement date for their latest announcement. This one will be December 3rd. Predictably, the tagline reads “Everything has changed...” Well at least they are honest about it. At least people know what they are getting into when they plunk down cash months (or arguably years) in advance of product delivery to finance a concept in development. At least Red admits they can and will change specifications and targets, based on their whims and sense of the market, and not necessarily what their customers have requested. At least Red One owners are aware of the fact that their camera system will be left unfinished, frequently buggy, and still a moving development target for years. It’s hard for me to be frustrated when I’ve poured my own tall glass of Red-flavored koolaid, and knew exactly what I was doing all along… Hardware 2008-11-25T15:02:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/dymo_discpainter_review/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/dymo_discpainter_review/#When:05:10:00Z By Matt Jeppsen www.dymo.com $250 The DiscPainter by Dymo is a dedicated printer for CD and DVD disc media. Bundled with cross-platform design software, it’s a solid solution for both Mac and PC users. I’ve been using a DiscPainter for a few months now, and here are my experiences using the unit for my own production work on a G5 PPC Mac. Hardware 2008-11-01T05:10:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/imagineer_offering_up_to_90_discount_to_small_shops_one_day_only/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/imagineer_offering_up_to_90_discount_to_small_shops_one_day_only/#When:19:27:00Z Imagineer Systems is offering an incredible one-day Halloween sale for small production shops and freelancers. Details below… Visual Effects 2008-10-30T19:27:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/should_politicians_and_vips_get_special_dmca_exemptions/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/should_politicians_and_vips_get_special_dmca_exemptions/#When:16:05:00Z John McCain’s campaign has experienced first hand how much the burden of fair-use proof lies on the shoulders of the general public in today’s post-Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) world. Several of their viral videos that included remixes of music and video clips were pulled by Youtube automated software for copyright claims under the DMCA. In most of these cases, the videos ARE allowed under Fair Use, but that requires complaining and getting in line to be re-reviewed. Not surprisingly, the campaign has written a formal letter to Youtube, requesting an exemption from the accepted procedure and specifically suggesting human review of uploads from politicians. This is the same campaign that has received several (legally-toothless) cease-and-desist letters from recording artists. As a side note, the cease letter from “Heart” was rather humorous (warning, NSFW language). But I digress. Anyway, CNET writer Christopher Soghoian takes issue with the McCain campaign approach to this issue, suggesting that unless politicians suffer with the masses, the incentive for change will never gain footing. Here’s an excerpt… Legal 2008-10-21T16:05:00-08:00 http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/indie_hardware_cibola_complex/ http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/indie_hardware_cibola_complex/#When:20:30:00Z Building good hardware is not a trivial undertaking. We’ve all seen it time and time again as new companies go through the throes of taking a great concept all the way through the many layers of design and development, to a final shipping product (unfortunately, not always in quantity). We saw this play out for Red Digital Cinema, with their months of revised shipping target dates and hardware changes. Sony dealt with it when they had to fix widespread lens issues shortly after the EX1 launch. Even the mighty Apple has faltered recently with the somewhat buggy launch of the iPhone 3G revision. I’ll say it again; building good hardware is not an easy task. Even while companies miss the mark, what’s is interesting to me is that rarely is the original idea a bad one. In this article I’d like to take a look at several recent product launches from “indie-centric” companies. I’ll also discuss the reservations and deposits business model, a practice that seems to be largely constrained to these small businesses. I’ll sometimes casually refer to this as the “Red-servations” model of business. Obviously the concept of taking reservations in advance wasn’t innovated by Red Digital Cinema, but they really put it on the map with the development of the Red One camera. Read on… Business 2008-10-19T20:30:00-08:00