The creators of the Opencut RED footage editing contest had a smashing success as we profiled a little while back here. Now they’re back with some interesting twists:
We submitted for a Guinness World Record with OpenCut 1 “Susannah.” We had 51 separate entries submitted, so we filed for “greatest number of cinematic film edits from a single set of source media.”
Registration for OpenCut 2 in going on now. We’ll be attempting another new world record: “greatest number of commercial spots from a single set of source media.”
Posted July 16, 2008 9:31 am by Noah Filed under: 24p, General, HD
This is pretty cool- still in 3D CAD form but you can see how this 3K camera is shaping up from the folks who brought you the RED One 4K camera. For full size renders, head over to RED:
I recently came across this article suggesting Super 16mm be used for indie projects. Read that first and then read my response below.
I’ll put up well shot footage from an HVX200 any day of the week against Super 16mm. And the lovely thing is that for $5995 for the camera plus a couple of P2 cards I’m done spending money on getting an image. I don’t have to grovel for film stock short ends, I don’t have to cut a take short because I’m worried I’m running out of money. If I really want that filmic shallow focus look to my HD, I can always grab a Letus Extreme or RedRock and use 35mm lenses.
I don’t have to grovel with some decades old film lab to get a cut rate on negative processing, telecine, neg cutting, printing etc. And best of all I don’t have massive costs backloaded onto my production. I can spend money for production and know I have a viable project in post the moment I finish shooting. Call up any film lab and ask them how many negatives they’re holding in their vault from folks who haven’t paid up their accounts- bet they won’t say…
Furthermore, there are few if any film festivals left in the world which won’t project HD or SD digitally. And let’s be honest the *only* reason left to actually acquire a project on film is for theatrical distribution. Which is like 1000:1 or worse odds these days for an indie production.
And on top of that any decent film lab can make a 35mm print from an HD source that will equal or better something shot Super 16mm. If I really have the dough to shoot film I’ll shoot 35mm Panavision or ARRI with a high end set of prime lenses and lovely 1,000 foot loads fresh from Kodak with a juicy DI at EFILM. In short- Super 16mm is pointless, pointless, pointless for the indie producer. Was I unclear?
Here’s an application that’s Windows only and might just save your hind quarters if you’ve accidentally erased an SxS card, P2 Card or digital photo card and need to restore it. Solid state workflows can lead to data loss. If you need to recover lost footage, try Card Recovery.
Exclusive SmartScan technology completes those impossible recovery tasks that other software cannot touch — SmartScan quickly locates and restores files that other recovery software could never find.
Using CardRecovery is safe and risk-free. The software performs READ-ONLY operations on your memory card. It doesn’t move, delete, and modify the data on the card to avoid causing further damage or overwriting. It recovers the photos and movie clips from the source memory card and saves them to the destination location you specify.
CardRecovery Features
* Recover deleted photos from memory cards.
* Recover lost photos from memory cards.
* Recover photos from formatted memory cards.
* Recover photos from damaged, unreadable or defective memory cards.
* Recover pictures from removable storage including floppy disks, Zip disks etc.
* Recover images, audio/video, MP3/MP4 files from cellular phones, MP3 players, PDAs.
Call Box is pleased to announce our latest DVD, this time we show you how to make a special edition DVD from the ground up.This DVD is for experienced users of Apple’s DVD Studio Pro. Indie filmmaker and industry expert Noah Kadner takes you through the process of making a Special Edition DVD.
Working directly with DVD Studio Pro and Apple’s Final Cut Studio Noah shares his secrets for making DVDs with all the extras. This disc features over an hour of original content broken down into interactive learning modules.
With this training course, DVD Studio Pro users will have the tools they need to make complex discs for fun and profit. Learn the tips and tricks to make it happen.
Ok well it’s not full Blu-Ray in DVDSP just yet but here’s the next best thing. To make this work you need a Blu-Ray burner, such as this nice little 6X number from MCE:
You also need a copy of Toast Titanium 9 and then this new HD/BD plug-in for Toast 9 gives users the ability to author high definition video content on to Blu-ray, or even standard DVD discs.
Take high-def video footage from AVCHD camcorders, TiVo and EyeTV and create Blu-ray discs that can be played on any standard Blu-ray set top box or Playstation3 game console. Did you invest in HD DVD? The HD/BD Plug-in even supports HD DVD formats and disc players. For more information, visit this link:
Ok so first you have to win some festival awards or at least be an official selection. Then you have to *gasp* be on Windows. That said here’s a very cool application that will make the creation of festival laurels for your movie’s poster, DVD box, etc very simple.
EZLeaves is a FREE application that allows to quickly and easily generate custom festival laurel leave images. Features include:
Choose from four different laurel leave styles
Use any system-defined font
Export to JPG or BMP
Define up to 10 lines of custom text
Full control over the height and font settings of each
line, or you can use one font and color for all lines
EZLeaves runs on Windows and requires at least 1024×768 desktop resolution. For more information, visit this site:
“The Call Box Guidebook to the EX1 is an informative and enjoyable instructional DVD on this powerful new Sony HD camera and Noah Kadner’s experience and easy going manner make it fun to watch. Being a visual learner myself, I was able to comprehend some of the more complex subject matter much more quickly than slogging through the typically dry user manual. The DVD is well organized, easily navigable, and provides in-depth instruction that will enable aspiring shooters to be both more creative and productive. If you’re going to be working with the EX1, it would be to your advantage to check it out”
Posted June 23, 2008 9:05 am by Noah Filed under: General
Here’s something interesting. An app that gives you native MXF in all QuickTime applications including FCP. Calibrated Software’s unique solution successfully joins the separate video and audio P2 MXF files so that Final Cut Pro sees them all as ONE file - complete with TimeCode and Reel Name. PullDown can also be removed or added for select frame rates. And you’re not just limited to Final Cut Pro, you can also natively import files in Compressor, Motion and Sound Track Pro.
Not only that but they have also unveiled a DVCPROHD decoder for Windows. This is something our friends across the aisle have been requesting for a long time. Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode is a multi-threaded DVCProHD QuickTime Codec(Decode Only) that enables you to view QuickTime DVCProHD Movies in QuickTime Player and other 3rd party applications that support QuickTime. Check out both at Calibrated:
We just did a deal with my good friend Barry Green over at DVXuser.com to carry his latest DVD. This disc is really amazing and I’m thrilled to have it in our store. In fact, we’d been talking about doing our own Call Box DVD for a long time on Sound. It’s something I personally feel very strongly about.
Good sound= good movie or at least the potential for good more. Bad sound= home movie, or worse. When I saw Barry’s disc I realized we couldn’t do one better no matter how hard we tried so here we go! Click here to check it out.
“Winner of the Videographer Award for Excellence in Instructional Video!
In film and video, sound is 70% of what you see on the screen. Nothing makes a production seem amateur more than having bad audio. But it’s also one of the easiest things to get right! Through detailed explanations, hands-on demonstrations, and tongue-in-cheek cinematic illustrations, Emmy-winning producer Barry Green and professional sound recordist Matt Gettemeier guide you through fundamentals for getting great sound in your film or television project.
They’ll get you on your way to professional-sounding audio, from two very simple but extremely important recording techniques which will solve nearly 80% of your audio problems, to choosing the correct microphone for your project and the right way to handle your microphones on set, to building a basic audio kit and using it properly. You’ll learn the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. You’ll learn simple techniques to overcome problems such as echo and background noise. You’ll learn how to properly mic and boom a scene.
Then, once you’ve got great audio recorded in the field, David Jimerson explains the basics of audio post production, walking you through an edit and demonstrating audio sweetening techniques to really polish your soundtrack.”
This question comes up a lot- how does one label a DVD-R? I would never use a print on inkjet disc- because they smear with just a droplet of moisture nor stick on labels because they peel and jam. Instead- I’d go for one of three technologies- depending on budget and how professional the labels need to look:
1. Sharpie. This is cheap as dirt and works like a charm for sending to replication houses and for internal backups. But not so much given to clients- looks decidely ghetto for that…
2. LightScribe- this is a type of DVD burner than works with special media and lets you burn a monochrome image directly onto the disc surface. Looks a lot more pro than Sharpie for clients and has no issues with peeling off.
3. Rimage Everest Thermal transfer printers. The only printer I would even consider. These are quite expensive but worth every penny. You can easily create a full color DVD with a printed surface that exceeds the image quality of most replicated discs but with zero risk of peeling, fading or smearing. This is the way to go if you want to do one-off discs that look as pro as can be.
Just wanted to put out a little something interesting here. I recently picked up an Olympus LS-10 digital audio recorder to use for my in-person interviews. This thing is amazing and would be a great addition in terms of quality in specs to cameras out there today- such as oh say the RED Scarlet. The size of a pocket tape recorder but records full 96Khz/24bit audio as uncompressed WAV!
I tested it outside our apartment in Mexico City. I wanted to record the sound of the “camotero” which is a little guy pushing a cart selling boiled sweet potatoes. He has a train whistle attached to the side of his cart which makes an eerie sound. And we can hear this all evening long as they make their way through the neighborhood. Nothing sets a scene like good audio. Take a listen:
Here’s a cool new app for FCP if you’re interested in native MXF editing for P2 and XDCAM. Check it out.
The MXF4QT component series is our flagship for direct and fast access of MXF assets on the Mac. There is no more need to convert compatible MXF media to the QuickTime file format. Instead we use the real strength of the QuickTime technology by providing MXF format components that integrate seamlessly into the powerful multimedia architecture of Mac OS X. No other standard desktop computer system provides this kind of open MXF integration.
In addition you can use our free MXF Info Light utility to perform basic analyzing of MXF assets. The tool can be used independently from our MXF4QT products and allows you a deeper look inside your MXF media. MXF Info Light is based on our exclusive, unique, and independent MXF analyzer that we use internally for development and support.
Here’s a new technology you’re likely to see in video and advertising sometime in the future:
DimP, a direct manipulation video player, lets users drag items on the video screen to move forward and back instead of just via a scroll bar on the bottom of the video. This is not only more fun, but it also allows users to scroll through video to where they want to be “at least two times faster,”
In a paper presented by Pierre Dragicevic, Gonzalo Ramos, Jacobo Bibliowicz, Derek Nowrouzezahrai, Ravin Balakrishnan, Karan Singh from the University of Toronto, the authors present their method for browsing video by directly dragging content by “1) automatically extracting motion data from videos; and 2) a new technique called relative flow dragging that lets users control video playback by moving objects of interest along their visual trajectory.”
Call Box is sponsoring a brand new contest to win a free Letus Extreme Lens Adapter! To enter all you have to do is fill in your contact information and describe your ultimate training class. For more details, click here.
The Extreme allows you to use 35mm lenses with your camera, enabling a new world of creative opportunity. You’ll be able to choose from the vast range of 35mm lenses and enjoy greatly improved optical quality and 35mm style depth of field. It’s the perfect compliment to our training DVDs to help take your production to the next level.
The Letus 35 Extreme offers best of class performance and only 1/2 stop of light loss. Compared to other 35mm lens adapters available at any price, the Extreme is simpler and more efficient. The Extreme is available for the DVX100, HVX200, EX1 and most other types of DV and HD cameras.
Posted May 23, 2008 8:25 am by Noah Filed under: 24p, General, HD
Flickering light sources in your footage? Ever made this mistake and wished you could fix it? My friend Jesse over at Busted Skull has this to say about it.
When shooting high speed video (or film), it’s common to run into problems with flickering lights. In addition to all of the usual suspects such as fluorescents and the like, fixtures that we don’t normally think of as being “flickery”? such as smaller tungsten bulbs and all household incancesdents actually flicker quite a bit at high speeds.
Of course the best solution to this is to use flicker-free sources, but sometimes there’s no choice but to shoot with flickery lights, and in those situations the deflicker tools that are part of the Furnace kit from The Foundry can work miracles.
Here is an example of a clip shot at 300fps with a Phantom V7.3 under stadium lights and what I was able to do with it.
As someone who’s been working at a tech consultant on the net for years while trying to make a living, in my case selling training DVDs, I found this post interesting. This comes from Marcelo Lewin over at Pixel Heads:
Marcelo attended Digital Hollywood and learned a lot about monetizing your content, however, it seems that most people feel the only way to monetize your digital content, that is, your web videos, podcasts, blogs, website content, etc. is to get sponsors and/or advertisers.
That set my mind thinking that there has to be other ways to make money. So below, I’ve started a list of ways that may (or may not) work. It’s a starting point. If you have other ideas, please email me and I will add it to this blog entry.
Pay Per Episode - Charge for each episode, say, 25 cents or 10 cents. Each customer can download whatever episode they want.
Subscription (yearly, quaterly, monthly) - Charge for access to your content with a subscription, much like cable.
“All you can eat” Day Pass - Charge for a 1 day “all you can eat” pass to access all your content on the site.
Sponsorship (Pre-roll, Post-roll, Instertitials, Overlays, Host Read) - This is like TV in the 50s. “This week’s show sponsored by….xxx brand.”
Ads (Web Page Banners, Companion Ads, PPC ads) - Sell web page banners for your web site, have companion ads that show up as your video plays, or sign up to Google’s and/or Yahoos Pay Per Click ads).
eCommerce
Product placement - Place product in your video, such as a “diet coke” that a character in your show drinks while speaking.
Product placement with hot spots to store. - Same as product placement, but make it hot (usually works only in Flash) so that when a user clicks on a product inside a video, it links them to a store to purchase it.
Show notes with products linked to store. - Same as product placement with hotspots, but link the products in the show notes.
Affiliate programs - Think “Amazon.com” affiliate program. There are thousands of others for you to hook up with. For example, you have a show where you review cameras. Sign up for a camera affiliate program and link any products you mention to that affiliate program store.
Live Shows - Charge for live shows of your pre-recorded shows.
DVDs (Standard Def and Blu-Ray) - Package up your shows and sell them through DVDs.
Expertise
Podcasting consultation - You are creating a bunch of podcasts. Lots of people want to do this. Why not teach people how to podcast?
Subject matter - You have a show on training dogs? Well, start charging people to train their dogs.
Seminars - Create seminars on either podcasting and/or subject matter (as defined above) and charge people to come learn.
Speaking engagements - Start speaking in conferences and shows and charge for that.
Hyper Syndication with Revenue Share - Distribute your digital content through many sites (such as MySpace, YouTube, etc.) and share in the revenue of the advertisement.
Show “fan” products for sale. - Have a popular show? Create t-shirts, coffee cups, etc. and sell them.
Download for “burn to DVD” option - Charge for an option to download a DVD ready version of your show so that they can burn it to DVD.
Build your own feed (from different shows, episodes with keyword search) - Charge for the ability to allow users to pick different episodes from different shows in your network and create a feed that automatically updates.
Sell your shows through Amazon unbox - Strike a deal with Amazon Unbox to sell your shows through.
Rent your videos through Netflix - Same as #14. Strike the deal with Netflix.
iTunes rental / purchase deal - Same as #15. Strike the deal with Apple.
Production services - You create a lot of shows? Why not offer those services to other companies that need / want to create shows.
Tip Jar / Donations - Ask people for donations via Paypal.
Custom Content - Add content to your site from other websites that is complementary to yours and charge that company for the impressions (CPM) to their content.
