Over the last month or so, we’ve had the pleasure of playing around with an intriguing new product which should be up for sale next week. It’s called Proxymill (brought to us by our good friends at Imagine — www.imagineproducts.com) and what it does is fill a long the vacant gap in the P2 production pipeline: PROXIES.

If you’re not familiar with proxies, their concept is simple: a lo-res copy of source footage that is easier to edit, manage and track through off-line or dailes environments. The process is simple. Proxymill scans designated folders for new source footage and then creates proxies according to presets or customizable compression settings. This allows creation of iPod compatible, frame-rate correct H.264 (or any other Apple-native codec) video files.

Pair this little app with Imagine’s Shot Put Pro and you have an automatic P2 offload and proxy creation system. Simply plug in your card and the footage is offloaded, then proxies are created in designated folders. This is real-time folks and will allow you to leave the set with your P2 media and proxies for dailies review at the end of each day on set. Very cool.

In our tests the proxy workflow worked like a dream in Final Cut Pro. Edit with proxies, take clips off line and then relink to the original masters and you’re good to go. The reality and docu-series should find this tool extremely useful when working with hundreds or even thousands of hours of footage per episode.

Keep an eye out.

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DP Anthony Dod Mantle of 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire fame shoots a TV series for the BBC. The marks the Beeb’s first RED production after many proud years on video, 16mm and the like, according to High Definition magazine:

At the time plans for the Wallander series didn’t include the RED camera – it was thought that 16mm would be the format, but then the BBC banned the use of 16mm, which gave producer Simon Moseley a big problem. “As I understand it the reason for the ban on 16mm was because it is not as stable as it should be when it’s being scanned. So the result was that we had to look around for another format, we didn’t immediately think that 35mm was going to be too expensive partly because there were a lot of deals around at the time to give film a new life.

“We also started looking at the different digital systems and saw one set of comparison tests that had been made by a guy in Sweden. In these tests RED compared very favourably and we thought it was superior to the other digital formats like the Arri D20 and the Genesis. The thing about these other systems was they still required tapes and an amount of cloning that had to be done which would have meant using a post production house. If you use a tape based camera system it is more expensive.

More details after the jump:

http://www.definitionmagazine.com/cameras/wallander.htm

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24p, digital cameras, film, high-definition, new techology, production, RED

If you haven’t check it out already, go visit RED Centre, a podcast series from the visual effects gurus over at fxguide.com. Some of the recent shows guests include DV Rebel Stu Maschwitz and RED’s Ted Schilowitz. Twenty-two episodes and counting.

http://www.fxguide.com/redcentre

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4K, digital cameras, indie filmmaking, RED, podcasts

Scott Simmons’ Editblog takes a performance test drive with the new method for bringing RED clips into Final Cut Pro. You can download the new Log and Transfer tool here. You’ll also need FCP 6.05 or later which you can get through Software Update. The previous ingest choices were

1- Edit with the proxies generated by the camera in lower resolution. This necessitate a side trip to XML-land with tools such as Crimson Workflow and RED Cine.

2- Ingest all clips using the Log and Transfer tool in Final Cut Pro and convert .R3D to ProRes. This has two disadvantages- it takes a long time to transcode and you also lose the .R3D Raw advantage of additional color correction in post. Though you’re basically online and when you finish editing, you’re done.

So now we have a third option which is the re-wrapping of .R3D files as QuickTime. In theory this should give us the best mix of preserving the original format while getting into actual editing as soon as possible. For the Editblog’s full analysis, visit this page:

http://www.scottsimmons.tv/blog/2008/11/21/kicking-the-tires-on-the-native-red-quicktimes/

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24p, 4K, apple, final cut pro, high-definition, new techology, production, RED, video

Wildlife photographer Kennan Ward is using a RED One to shoot nature from Alaska to Antartica with a focus on California’s Pacific Coast. Some details:

“Worldwide, this is one of the most beautiful, most diverse areas that exists,” Kennan Ward said. “It’s so amazing what we have here.” The Wards will give a lecture/presentation, using still images to discuss migration patterns and the threats those migrations face with climate change. The show wraps up with another film, this one from the wilds of Alaska, which Karen Ward calls a “second home.”

“You can live in the wild there and be in places where there are genuinely wild rivers, where you don’t hear airplanes every day. There are still things there that are raw, just as the planet used to be.” The Wards are also hoping that if nature doesn’t do the trick in drawing big audiences, technology will. Kennan Ward, who does most of the motion shooting, is using one of the most advanced cameras on the market — the Red One, a digital camera that shoots beyond high-definition standards.

For more details and a chance to see some of the work, check out:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11099062

and for some sweet timelapse work shot by Ward in Alaska on the RED:

http://www.kennanward.com/alaska/Site/_.html

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digital cameras, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, photography, RED, 4K

Here’s an interesting look at one of the additional uses for a RED camera- as a still camera. Highly acclaimed underwater photographer Stephen Frink has this to say:

Most are talking about the RED as competition to 35mm film for cinema projects, or video that massively out-resolves existing high definition technology. But, there is also the camp that contends that it won’t be long until, for some types of photography, single frames from the RED will be competitive with the capture quality from still cameras. Imagine a sports shooter covering the 100-meter dash at the Olympics. Put the RED on a tripod and let it roll. Send the clip back to an editor and let them decide what the iconic, decisive frozen-moment-in-time might be. At the same time, there is video clip that can be used for the client’s website. RED for web is overkill perhaps, but it will be done. As bandwidth and hard-drives increase in speed and capacity, it all seems very plausible.

Given all the excitement and hype, I’ve been very eager to see the current state of the art in RED image capture, and when my friend George Monteiro (from Sea-Cam video productions) stopped by my studio recently (he was down to do a test shoot underwater in Key Largo), I asked him to e-mail me a few sample JPGs from the day. Obviously, within the context of a blog you’ll never be able to decipher image quality variables, but when I dug into the files in Photoshop I made a few basic deductions.

For the results of Stephen’s tests, follow this link:

http://stephenfrink.blogspot.com/2008/11/red-camera-early-test-data.html

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digital cameras, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, photography, RED, 4K

Yep- finally got around to writing a blog all about RED. We’ll continue to mirror posts here on Call Box, while Twenty398.com will be all RED all the time. Visit and read all about:

* The RED One Camera
* Scarlet DSMC
* EPIC Camera
* News and latest tips
* Avid, Adobe and Final Cut Pro RED Workflow
* along with commentary and analysis.

Check it all out at:

http://twenty398.com/

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

Here’s a nice little helper app that creates ALE (Avid Log Exchange) metadata out of RED .R3D files.

The Red16 EDL template works with Avid’s EDL Manager application and was provided by Avid to assist with tapeless workflows, in particular Red Digital Cinema workflows. This template allows tape names of up to 16 characters in length. This works hand in hand with MetaCheater’s Red Options to track the entire file name of a R3D file as a tape name.

Get it here:

http://web.me.com/jabezolssen/metacheater/main.html

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

RED Leader Jim Jannard announced that another massive change is coming to their just announced EPIC and Scarlet re-designs.

http://www.scarletuser.com/showthread.php?t=1953

What new toys do the mad scientists in Orange County have in store for us now? We’ll know December 3rd…

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

A new version of Monkey Extract for RED is out with some nice improvements. According to folks at Rubber Monkey, here’s what’s new:

Rename Reels
You can now rename reels or clips, changing the camera letter and / or reel number. For example, if you have two reels called A001, you can rename one of them to B001. The rename process alters all metadata and recreates the proxy files.

Thumbnail view of all footage
Select a directory of reels or clips, and the use the thumbnail view to select footage to copy or render.

Copy R3D Footage - from a timeline or thumbnails
For situations where the cut is finished, you can copy all the R3D files used to a new location. This is useful if you want to put all the used R3D files on a drive to send to a post house, and don’t want to send everything that was shot. Or if you want to keep all the R3D files prior to rendering and move the rest off to an archive disc.

Render footage without an EDL
Monkey Extract previously required an EDL to render footage. Now you can browse to a directory and render out an entire reel, or just a single shot.

DPX metadata fixing tool
Select folders of DPX files and update the log / lin, reel, and FPS data.

Other improvements:
- speed enhancements
- support for new DNxHD codecs
- support for latest Redline versions
- set Log / Lin, black and white points for DPX renders
- custom folder and filenames for rendered DPX and Quicktimes
- fix for RED 16 EDL issues
- fix for RSX and color settings issues

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

Gizmodo Australia reports on a New York Times photo essay created with stills from the RED camera. More and more this is becoming the practice as photographers are expected to shoot video simultaneously. With Scarlet and the DSLR’s that shoot video such as the EOS 5D Mark II around the corner it’s clear that the fields of still and motion photography are merging:

British photographer Robbie Cooper used stills from the video taken by his RED camera to show that look of total concentration achieved by kids as they play some particularly absorbing video games, including Grand Theft Auto IV and Call of Duty 4.

Cooper had the kids look at a reflection of the game in a plane of glass, and put his camera behind the glass so the kids wouldn’t be self-conscious about the giant fancy camera pointed right in their faces. This technique is evidently Cooper’s homage to Errol Morris’ “Interrotron” that the filmmaker used for many of his documentaries. The interplay between the real and unreal worlds is Cooper’s ostensible subject, but mostly the photos are just great to look at.

The stills are fantastic quality and it’s an odd bit of voyeurism to look straight into somebody’s eyes when they’re concentrating on something totally different. The other galleries on the site are all really impressive, but this one hit me hard: I’m sure that’s how I look right now, staring at my laptop screen.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/18/magazine/20081123-games_2.html

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

New FCP 6.05 released with more HMC150 and P2 metadata support- via software update.

http://www.apple.com/support/releasenotes/en/Final_Cut_Pro_6.0_rn/

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 Release Notes
This section contains release information about Final Cut Pro 6.0.5.

Improved High-Precision Rendering
If you render sequences using the high-precision video processing setting, make sure to update to Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 for improved reliability when rendering still images and footage in high-resolution formats.

Extended Metadata Support for the Panasonic AG-HMC150 Camcorder
Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 captures the additional metadata for footage recorded with the Panasonic AG-HMC150 professional AVCHD camcorder.

Improved Support for the Panasonic HDC-SD9 Camcorder
Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 provides enhanced precision and reliability when ingesting files from the Panasonic HDC-SD9 camcorder.

Improved Support for Metadata Imported from P2 Cards
Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 provides support for extended metadata that is captured on P2 cards.

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video, 24p, indie filmmaking, final cut pro, apple, slow motion

So, in the first week since RED’s big November 13th announcements of their updated Scarlet and EPIC cameras, we’ve seen a ton of discussion over at Reduser.net, Scarletuser.com and elsewhere. HD For Indies Founder Mike Curtis gives a great in-depth analysis of all the offerings and what they might mean for the future of the industry:

Red wants to build highly modular cameras that’ll shoot excellent stills and motion. A motion camera that shoots stills, and a stills camera that shoots motion, they say. They seem to be more biased towards motion, IMHO - there are no optical viewfinders to be found anywhere in the lineup (so no looking through the lens), and there are no uncompressed recording options, even for stills. Ted defends this saying users will be happy with what they get. Hmm. We’ll have to see, especially at the new incredibly high resolutions (and shallow depths of field!) these new systems will be capable of, pulling focus could be Mighty Tough, even with the new 1080p outputs (yes, two of’em) on Epic. My gut says most users will be satisfied most of the time..except for those wanting a dedicated DSLRs full functionality…

For more details from Mike, click here.

Meanwhile, DV Rebel Stu Maschwitz makes the case that RED’s broad approach may have overlooked the ideal camera he was wishing for:

I’ve mentioned before that what I like about RED One’s 4K resolution is that it makes a very nice 2K image. I don’t think films benefit much from 4K, and for my own filmmaking there are a hundred places I’d rather put my time, money and energy than into more pixel count than most audience members can perceive under the best of conditions. But a rock-solid 2K image requires some downsampling from a bayer-pattern sensor. The sweet spot for great-looking 2K RGB is between 3–4K bayer origination…

For more details from Stu, visit:

http://prolost.blogspot.com/2008/11/too-much-is-not-enough.html

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

So the big day has come, RED announced their new Scarlet and Epic camera specifications, after rolling their original concepts back into the oven for a re-think, as we chronicled here:

http://www.callboxlive.com/resources/?p=143

The camera specifications and sheer array of the accessories and configurations are staggering and may take weeks to fully digest. Here’s some of the major highlights:

Scarlet:

• 2/3″ to Full Frame 35mm chip
• Up to 120 frames per second in 3K
• Fixed lens to RED, PL, Canon, Nikon Mounts
• 3K-6K resolution
• $2,500(maybe even lower)-$12,000 for body
• Shipping Spring-Fall 2009

EPIC

• Super 35 up to 617(HUGE) chip
• Up to 100 frames per second in 5K
• RED, PL, Canon, Nikon Mounts; Linhof and Alpa mounts for 617
• 5K-28K(!) resolution
• $28,000(maybe even lower)-$55,000 for body
• Shipping Spring 2009-Spring 2010

RED’s never been a company to play it safe but even these announcements should be considered revolutionary, game-changing, earth-shattering, etc. But RED has made a track record out of re-designing the sky’s limits and ultimately getting a product out the door based on them.

The real challenges will come in delivering on all of these promises made and even more importantly offering broad, comprehensive support and logistics. If they can pull all this off off in mass quantities before the rest of the industry catches up, RED has positioned itself to be the next Apple (rather than the next DeLorean). Personally, I’m pulling for the former, we should be rewarding.

For more info go here:

http://www.red.com/epic_scarlet/

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

The good bloggers over at Gizmodo have picked up on something…. wonderful:

“The RED folks sure do like to tease out their upcoming products — and occasionally even lead folks astray — and it looks like they’re really pulling out all the stops for their forthcoming Scarlet and Epic announcements. That includes a slightly perplexing teaser image released a few days ago and now this new, even more confounding image, again posted on the Reduser forums by RED founder Jim Jannard himself. While speculation abounds, no one seems to have quite pegged down exactly what it is, or if it actually is something at all, so feel free to take your own shot at it in comments.”

More info here:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/06/red-teases-with-yet-another-mysterious-image/

and here:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21163&page=27

and remember- RED announces the all-new specs for Scarlet, EPIC and maybe a cool new missile launcher on November 13th.

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24p, apple, digital cameras, film, final cut pro, high-definition, indie filmmaking, new techology, production, RED, video

Here’s something kinda cool a new collection of presets for Compressor. If you’ve ever tried to make DVDs, web videos or any sort of transcode from a RED camera you know if can be quite tricky to get optimal results. Well for just 39 bucks, this could be your savior.

“CRAM for Compressor is a group of presets for Apple’s Compressor that helps you leverage the compression power already available to you without having to spend hundreds of additional dollars on other compression software, while still getting better results.

CRAM includes presets for high quality, clean and sharp web videos and superior DVDs. CRAM is customized for getting better results out of your HD footage and even includes settings particular to RED footage and special aspect ratios.

CRAM includes both the Compressor add ons and Droplets for each preset.”

To check it out for yourself, head on over to:

http://www.compressorpack.com/index.php

Technorati Tags:
24p, apple, audio, blu-ray, dvd, final cut pro, indie filmmaking, money, os x, panasonic, photoshop, production, video, dvd studio pro

We’ve just added some brand new training DVDs to our store:

Mastering the Sony PMW-EX3 is a 2-disc, 3 hour training DVD focused on the XDCAM EX 1080/24p camera.

It’s a disc designed to help anyone, from novices to experienced ENG shooters, get the best results from their EX3. The DVD provides real-world examples and suggested techniques that are simple to put into practice.

This is joined by another Sony disc. Mastering the Sony HVR-Z7U offers similar high level training targeted at the Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270. As with the EX3 disc, every possible topic you want to know about using these cameras is covered!

And remember, everything ships free with two or more items in your cart. Just enter coupon code shipweb at the checkout to redeem this offer.

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24p, apple, audio, blu-ray, dvd, final cut pro, indie filmmaking, money, os x, panasonic, photoshop, production, video, dvd studio pro

Just a quick note to let you know we’ve added some new stuff to our store:

Litepanels LED Micro- this is the perfect on-camera light for adding just the right touch of fill light to your subjects. Perfect for run and gun and interview projects, it’s that little extra eyelight that makes a subject look a lot more flattering and pro.

How to Setup, Light, and Shoot Interviews- a new training DVD we picked up to help with shooting interviews. This is bread and butter for a lot of shooters and this DVD gives tons of professional tips and tricks for setting up lighting and dealing with the most common situations. A must-have for anyone working with documentary, corporate or event video.

Finally, everything ships free with two or more items in your cart. Just enter coupon code shipweb at the checkout to redeem this offer.

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24p, apple, audio, blu-ray, dvd, final cut pro, indie filmmaking, money, os x, panasonic, photoshop, production, video, dvd studio pro

Stu Maschwitz- DV Rebel and all around cool guy writes about the sudden emergence of professional lens adapter gear for the new DSLRs with movie modes like the Nikon D90 and the Canon EOS 50D Mark 2. Exciting stuff, here’s an excerpt:

On August 29th I wrote: Mark my words, you will see rail-mounted D90s with follow-focus rigs and outboard HD displays. On September 27th I played around with some spare Redrock Micro parts in an attempt to imagine what such a rig might look like. Zacuto soon followed with mock-ups of their own. But Redrock Micro is doing more than just mocking up: tomorrow they will announce a new, shipping product, a cinematizing kit for DSLRs with video.

I love Redrock. They make great, affordable rigs with the DV Rebel in mind. The Redrock bundles for video DSLRs are being showcased at Photo Plus in New York, tomorrow through the 25th, in the Canon and Zeiss booths. They ship November 1.

More info here after the jump:

http://prolost.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-happening.html

Found an interesting story for all you Mac lovers out there over on 9 to 5 Mac. Is Apple about to redefine the very process of manufacture and deliver ultra cool MacBook Pros in one swoop?

The MacBook Brick is a block of high-quality, aircraft grade aluminum. It is the beginning.

The beginning of what?

It is the beginning of the new Apple manufacturing process to make MacBooks. It is totally revolutionary, a game changer. One of the biggest Apple innovations in a decade.

The MacBook manufacturing process up to this point has been outsourced to Chinese or Taiwanese manufacturers like Foxconn. Now Apple is in charge. The company has spent the last few years building an entirely new manufacturing process that uses lasers and jets of water to carve the MacBooks out of a brick of aluminum.

(Yes, this sounded a bit crazy to us as well. But our source is adamant so bear with us. He says Apple has built a manufacturing process that would make Henry Ford proud.)

This isn’t entirely new. Steve Jobs has always had a fondness for having his own plant to produce computers. In 1990, he built a totally automated plant in Fremont California (thanks PED) that could build NeXT machines with only 100 workers. It was a “plant with just about everything: lasers, robots, speed, and remarkably few defects.” Unfortunately, the demand wasn’t very high at the time. However, Jobs remarked, “I’m as proud of the factory as I am of the computer.”

Read more here:

http://9to5mac.com/macbook-brick

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apple, final cut pro, indie filmmaking, money, new techology, production, macbook, macbook pro