Mike Curtis

Mike Curtis writes and runs HD for Indies, a consultancy and website dedicated to using affordable digital technology for independent filmmaking. Mike started HD for Indies after a 15 year digital media career making content for everything from cell phones to cinema screens for clients such as Ford, Dell, Compaq, etc.. As a consultant, he focuses on production and post production hardware, software, and workflows to achieve maximum results at a variety of budget levels.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Panavision & Canon videos on “Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications”

7 part video series talks about how to understand how digital images are made and work

John Galt (Panavision) and Larry Thorpe (Canon), two well respected industry veterans, gave along talk at the Hollywood Post Alliance about how to really understand what is going on in digital cameras. It went over so well they revised & expanded it and did another one at Panavision, entitled Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications. This is looooooong, but HIGHLY recommended if you want to really understand what is going on. As a Red owner, I couldn’t help but notice that the press release mentioned something about “pixels aren’t resolution,” which is true, but clearly a response to the Red One’s 4K resolution. I haven’t had a chance to watch them all yet, so I can’t fairly state whether there is an agenda at work (it would be somewhat fair to presume that Panavision and Canon cameras won’t be looked on TOO unkindly), but these two guys are well known and respected, and have been doing this stuff for a long time. Chime in with comments about your take on it all - I’m prepping for a big client demo, no time to watch today…

-mike

(3) Comments • Most recent comments by: GlennChan, GlennChan, Dylan Pank, • Permalink



Monday, April 21, 2008

Top 5 Things at NAB ‘08

1.) Red Scarlet/Red Epic - one for home, one for SERIOUS D-cinema work. Scarlet is easily summed up - “3K for $3K” - with 3K sensor that can shoot up to 120 fps for under three grand, when it ships in 2009 it will be a tough price point to beat. Red Epic, meanwhile, with better quality Redcode RAW, and 5K resolution at up to 100fps for only $40K, should be an indie filmmaker’s new Must Have.

2.) Codex Portable - record dual link HD-SDI or even RAW formats the latest cameras using 4:1 wavelet technology, on a breadbox sized package you can sling over your shoulder. Add the virtual file system on top of that, as well as the ability to transcode material in-the-box, you’ve got a helluva solution for a damned attractive price.

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NAB 08 • (5) Comments • Most recent comments by: Grug, John Touhey, Mike Curtis, Damien Oliver, Chris Meyer, • Permalink



Monday, April 14, 2008

Red One News - Builds, Lenses, Accessories

Build 16 news, new lenses & details, new Pro Accessories

...so besides Scarlet, Epic, and Red Ray, there was (Oh Yeah!) news for Red One too. They have some new lenses, accessories, and firmware builds coming for the Red One. I got hands on with the big honkin’ 18-85mm zoom, and it is GOOD. I looked at the new 7” Pro LCD and I like it. Read on for the details that aren’t on the website.

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NAB 08 • (2) Comments • Most recent comments by: life insurance cover, Joe Bloggs, • Permalink



Monday, April 14, 2008

Red Ray - 2+ Hour 4K playback for under $1000…from a burnable DVD

4K from Red cameras or Red Ray DVDs play back at 4K, 2K, 1080p, 720p, or SD resolutions

On the show floor, I’ll try to clean this up later, but here’s the scoopage:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Playback device, 4K in, 4K, 2K, 1080p, 720p, or SD out from Red Disc, Red Express, or native R3D files from CF

RED / RED RAY

Favorite quote from Ted Schilowitz, Leader of the Revolution for Red:

“We consider 1080p Blu-ray to be a stopgap solution. The future is way beyond 1080p.”

Read on below for all the nifty details:

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NAB 08 • (4) Comments • Most recent comments by: life insurance cover, heaDsetter, Aaron Neal, • Permalink



Monday, April 14, 2008

Red Scarlet - 3K for $3K…at up to 120fps

....and sometimes 180 fps

Again, I’m on the show floor and working fast, so here’s the scoop on Red’s new professional camera that is high end consumer priced:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 3K for $3K, 2/3” Mysterium X Sensor, 1-120 fps (180 fps burst mode), up to 100 MB/sec Redcode RAW & RGB recording to dual compact flash, 4.8” LCD, 8x T2.8 Red Zoom lens (fixed lens), full auto or manual shooting modes, HDMI, HD-SDI (4:2:2 likely), FW800, Still mode, WiFi control, compatible with many Red One accessories (as shown on show floor).

RED / SCARLET

Here’s some of my own pictures of the prototype.

Read on the all the gory details:

more »


NAB 08 • (12) Comments • Most recent comments by: life insurance cover, fnick, Kakoloko, Jonah Lee Walker, Bernt, Gravnetic, Sunshine, Alex Everingham, Digigenic, agwah, • Permalink



Monday, April 14, 2008

Red’s new Epic camera - 5K RAW, 100fps, $40K

I thought he said “Red Effin’” - that woulda worked fine for me

OK, I’m on the show floor and furiously typing this up, so this is quick, rough, but info-laden -

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: $40K, 5K, 1-100 fps, Super35mm coverage, up to 100MB/sec Redcode (yes, MB not Mb), FW800 & USB 2.0, Redcode RAW & RGB to RedFlash, dual link HD-SDI, 2 XLR, upgradeable sensor, body, boards & mount, 6 pound machined aluminum body, hybrid stainless steel mount, compatible with MOST but not all Red accessories. Ships “early 2009”

RED / EPIC

Read on below for all the gory details.

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NAB 08 • (0) Comments • • Permalink



Sunday, April 13, 2008

Blogwad - press releases of interest for NAB 2008

Here’s a bunch of PR material on things that sounded kewl

So I’m digging through all 100+ NAB related emails, to figure out what is worth checking out this week. In no particular order, here is cut & paste PR copy of what caught my eye to check out. I’m not advocating anything in particular, other than just “this caught my eye.”

First item, goes without saying, is abusing my Exhibitor badge to be parked front and center Monday morning at Red’s booth, I have a 10am interview with Ted, which will have given me enough time to see what’s up in the booth to start drilling him on questions. OK, let the PR-speak commence - this is copy/paste, not my interpretation:

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NAB 08 • (1) Comments • Most recent comments by: Laptoper, • Permalink



Sunday, April 13, 2008

Long, AWESOME interview with James Cameron about shooting 3D

EXCELLENT interview with James Cameron, all about shooting 3D, in Variety. Detailed, GOOD, and dovetails/contrasts nicely with my notes from the 3D panel at NAB I attended yesterday.

James Cameron supercharges 3-D - Entertainment News, Technology News, Media - Variety

John August has a lengthy commentary as well where he calls James Cameron the Steve Jobs of 3D (and explains why he calls him that).

(0) Comments • • Permalink



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TRULY native Red support in Final Cut Studio…finally!

Mike Curtis | 11/20- 11:11 PM

Well, rewrappered QTs - as native as P2 is…

Apple and Red have teamed up to support native (OK, rewrapped QTs, akin to how P2 is handled) .R3D support…

How to Fix Apple Compressor

Richard Harrington | 11/20- 06:39 PM

New software to fix a cranky app

If you’ve ever had issues launching Apple’ Compressor software, you’re not alone. The software seems to frequently get…

Why Pro Res Should Be Your Only Res & The AJA IoHD Part 1

Kevin P. McAuliffe | 11/20- 09:24 AM

Unboxing the AJA IoHD, and setting up

I thought that for this next article series, I would take a look at Apple’s biggest addition to Final Cut Studio…

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