ProVideoCoalition Liveblogging the MacWorld 2009 Keynote

This is the placeholder for liveblogging the keynote. It is 8:53am, I’m seated (decently) and ready to go...i

I’ll keep updating this best I can, and I’ll start update again once...anything happens.

8:54 - just sittin’ here…

8:56 - Irony is realizing best seat ever at a keynote, but no Steve…

9:00 am - asked to silence phones, and upbeat music begins...as does a likely long stream of elipses…

Continues after the jump…

Mikey on the scene - blogging the MacWorld SF 2009 Keynote Live

Head’s up - I’m in San Francisco with my media pass to MacWorld San Francisco 2009 (MWSF), I’ll be at the keynote clickety clacking away. I’ll post as much as I can as live as I can from the keynote.
Rumor mills calling for new Mac Minis (likely), new 17” aluminum, fixed (ugh) battery laptop (sure why not), and new Mac Pro towers with Blu-ray. My friend and vendor I buy my Macs from has his own thoughts on the matter: Torrey’s Mac Pro predictions.

UPDATE 11:30am CST Tuesday after the keynote: oops, no new towers. Or new Minis. No wonder Steve stayed home. Here’s the link to my live coverage.

-mike

Color 1.0.4 Released - Red fixes

Short and easy:

“The following improvements have been made to Color 1.0.4.

XDCAM Clip Relinking Is Fixed

XDCAM EX, HD, and 422 clips now relink properly.

ISO Changes in the RED Tab Appear Correctly

Instances where the Color UI did not accurately reflect changes made to the ISO parameter in the RED tab of the Primary In room have been fixed.

Improvements to the Blur Node in the Color FX Room

Adjusting the spread parameter of the Blur node no longer causes the clip to scale up.

For more information, go to http://www.apple.com/support/releasenotes/en/Color_1.0_rn.”

Changing ISO on RAW footage is an important and powerful tool - now it (purportedly) works right. Just saw it, haven’t tested it yet myself…

Also, don’t forget, I do NOT recommend 10.5.6 at this time, esp. if you’re a Color user - see previous post…

-mike

Beware 10.5.6 upgrade, 2007 Mac Pro owners

Got an email from a RAID vendor, 10.5.6 apparently is having some issues:

We have also seen on 2007 Mac Pros where the PCI-express configuration (Expansion Slot Utility) setting does not ‘stick’, it reverts to x8, x1, x1, x16 speeds always.  So any PCI-express cards installed are affected also.

...so watch out. Dunno if it affects non-RAID setups, but is such a pain to roll back, if you have PCIe cards (RAID cards, HD-SDI I/O cards, etc.) probably best to wait. I’ve updated my MacBook and had no difficulties to date (last 24 hours).

Thanks to Dulce Systems for the heads up.

Rant on The Death of Indie Film as a Business Model

Went to dinner with an indie filmmaker last night. Here’s a rant based on that.

Synopsis: I think indie movie making as a business model is deader than fried chicken.

Hoping to make your little movie and make a living off of it, until you can get the next one going? Very unlikely, unfortunately.

As somebody mentioned in an email to me about this, moviemaking digital tools came along to help reduce (some) costs of moviemaking, but other digital tools came along that stripped away the marketability of those films even faster (bootleg downloads, too much content, competition for time from internet/cable/DVDs/games/etc.) and the math isn’t working out favorably right now.

Supporting evidence below:

Red updates Scarlet/Epic specs - “Mo Bettah”

Updated with exclusive charts and analysis Wednesday 1pm PST)
Red always talks about all specs, timetables, prices, etc. are subject to drastic change. So, they’ve already changed (read: “increased") the specs for the planned Scarlet and Epic cameras, and given a big wet kiss to existing Red One owners. Read on for the details after the jump.

TRULY native Red support in Final Cut Studio…finally!

Apple and Red have teamed up to support native (OK, rewrapped QTs, akin to how P2 is handled) .R3D support in Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 and Color 1.0.3. Red has a plugin to work with those new versions, including access to the 12 bit RGB data within Color...even letting you manipulate exposure, white balance, etc. on the native R3Ds in a 32 bit floating point space. Keep reading for either:

a.) to understand WTH all that means, or

b.) all the gory details if you do

....after the jump.

Red’s new approach - modular digital stills and motion cameras - 8 new models

Today Red announced 8 (yes, EIGHT) new cameras. Sensors range from 2/3” to 186x56mm (yep, that’s 7 1/3 by 2 1/5 INCHES), with resolutions from 3K to 28K, with prices from $2500 to $55,000 for the “brains” of the units (more on that below). Incredibly modular to a Legos or Erector Set degree. There’s a HUGE amount of information up on Red’s website here, but after the jump I’ve organized/summarized, have some analysis, and answers to questions not found on their site. Continues after the jump.... 

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