Dean Velez is offering free After Effects project files. Currently the list includes the following downloads:

Water 7.0
Fire 7.0
NAB Class 7.0 - Particles
NAB Class 7.0 - Colorizing Footage
NAB Class 7.0 - Colorizing Logos
NAB Class 7.0 - Creating an Alpha Channel for the Lens Flare Effects
57 6.5 Projects
Lesson 9 “Monster Vision” Preview
Lightning 7.0
10 3D Light Projects
Beginners After Effects 7
10 Space Scenes

(Via General Specialist)

There is an old thread at DVInfo where Canon XLH1 users have been posting presets and image control settings. If you shoot Canon H1, you might just find this info useful. On the 2nd page one of the users has even put up comparison images. Handy.

From available documentation it is inferred that the same level of image control options will be available on the soon-to-be-released XH A1 and XH G1. I believe this is what Canon calls “Total Image Control”

(Via Photoethnography)

It’s a good thing that Dr Evil’s sharks use red laserbeams, because blue laser diodes are in short supply at this time. You already know this…blue lasers are used in HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives and players to read the new hi-def DVDs. Well, it seems that Sony is diverting their blue diode sources for use in PS3 console manufacturing, and the company that currently produces 80% of blue lasers is only able to attain a 30% yield rate. The bottom line? Richard Baguley sums it up nicely:

“This won’t mean the players will disappear, but it may mean that prices will stay high until the shortage is fixed sometime early next year. It may also force some manufacturers to forgo launching new products until then: if they can’t get the lasers, they can’t build the players.”

(Via Camcorderinfo)

VideoGuys were quick to notice when Sony posted features and specs from the new version of their NLE, Vegas 7. Sony posted the info, then pulled it a day later, so this is something of a inadvertent leak. Vegas users will be happy to see several of the new features. Here are a few of note (visit the VideoGuys post for a full list of features or to pre-order the software):

Vegas 7
*XDCAM SD/HD support
*Improved HDV playback performance
*Enhanced hardware support for Blackmagic Design DeckLinkâ„¢ and AJA
*Cinescore software plug-in support
*Enhanced HDV, SD/HD-SDI support (wonder what that actually means?)
*Direct export to Sony PSP and render to iPod®-compatible formats (new export presets, I guess)

DVD Architect 4
*Scripting support (nice!)
*Random playlist playback
*Keyframeable transformations, crop, and effects
*Buttons on video
*4:3 and 16:9 preview settings (it did not have this feature previously?)

Sony Vegas 7 and DVD Architect 4 will be officially announced at IBC in a few weeks.

Mike Curtis is knee deep in the test results and footage from the Texas HD Shootout. If you missed it, the Shootout was a comprehensive side by side comparative test(s) of the Sony HVR-Z1U, JVC GY-HD100U, Panasonic HVX200, Canon XL H1, Sony F350 XDCAM and the Panasonic Varicam. It was organized by HD For Indies/Mike Curtis, with the help of Adam Wilt and Chris Hurd.

There is a massive amount of footage and data from these tests. Mike intends to create DVDs or DVD sets for a nominal fee, and is soliciting feedback on exactly what people are interested in. So head on over to HD For Indies and leave Mr. Curtis some feedback if you haven’t already.

My personal opinions? The primary market is probably Independent Filmmakers (doh) so I see price as a major barrier. Somewhere starting in the area of $25-$50 per DVD seems reasonable and fair, particularly for a SD comparison DVD. Make the general comparison results available and affordable.

However, I believe that those making hard decisions about equipment will want non-MPEG encoded footage for comparison. A data DVD should be paramount. Including editable media on the data DVD would be a wonderful option, even if it came at a higher price point. That way filmmakers have the option of doing color correction tests in their workflow, seeing how specific cameras and codecs can be pushed, etc. A data DVD-R with high definition footage from a plethora of cameras would be worth much more to me than simple side by side comparisons that have been output to MPEG-2 DVD, simply because I can potentially learn more from it. And such a disc should be priced at a premium, at least relative to the SD DVD.

Another consideration…unauthorized copying. There are always going to be a small subset of customers that copy the discs and pass them around to friends. It’s not right or fair, but you can count on it happening. I believe that is a given, and to some extent there is nothing that can be done to prevent it. Price things too low and you aren’t getting paid for your time. Price things to high, and there is more incentive for unauthorized duplication. Somewhere in the middle is a happy medium where the majority of people realize it’s not worth their time to rip the discs, and feel they are getting excellent value for their dollar. Just a thought.

Once again, visit HD For Indies and leave Mike Curtis some feedback on this project. I believe that he’s sincerely interested in what you, the consumer, wants to know.

There has been some heavy speculation over at the Sony HDV Info Forums lately about a possible Sony VX2100 replacement.

The camcorder that is rumored to replace the venerable VX line is reportedly the HDR-FX7, and it is suggested that it will ship first in Europe sometime this fall (October?). One poster speculates that Sony has been sitting on the camera for a while now, and is waiting for Canon to announce pricing on their latest HDV camcorders before Sony prices the FX7.

The FX7 picture that was reportedly leaked appears to support the following speculated features:
*3 CMOS imagers (three imagers means no need for bayer pattern filter)
*HDV 1080i on MiniDV tape
*20x optical zoom
*Same LCD position as the VX2100, with a 1″ larger screen
*Larger, 62mm filter threads
*Firewire, USB, and HDMI out, but no XLR connections (
*3 custom assignable buttons, much like the FX1.
*2-position built-in ND filters, like the VX2100
*Expanded Focus button, like the FX1
*Slightly more ergonomic hand grip than VX2100 (angled forward)
*Seperate zoom and focus rings, most likely servo
*Roughly the same size/weight as the VX2100, with smoother lines.

To further feed the rumors, one of Sony’s Japanese sites reportedly lists the Sony VX2100E/J as “discontinued”. And there has been talk for some time on various forums about the FX1 line being discontinued.

In my opinion, the features suggested above are not at all a long shot, and would make sense in a VX/PD replacement. If Sony is indeed trying to woo the VX-2100 and PD-170 faithful into migrating to the HDV format, the rumored FX7 would need to sport pretty decent low light capabilities. The PD and VX lines are greatly revered by event shooters in particular for their stellar low-light performance, and a replacement would need to offer at least similar capabilities to make serious inroads into that market.

Additionally, removing the FX1 from production and adding the FX7 would be consistent with how Sony has historically structured it’s prosumer product offerings. You have the HC line at the low end, FX7 in the mid $2K price range, and the Z1U on the high end. Makes sense to me.

A friend of mine is one of the editors that helped create “Under Our Skin: The Untold Story of Lyme Disease“.

“It may be the fastest growing infectious disease in the United States, yet each year, thousands are misdiagnosed. In this upcoming documentary feature, we investigate the shocking human, scientific, and political dimensions of Lyme disease.”

The trailer is currently featured at Apple’s Quicktime Guide, and is very compelling. Check it out.

Vid-Freaker is an interesting screensaver project for Mac OSX that takes footage from a given directory and slices, dices and juliennes it into a video mashup of sorts. Neato.

The experimental screensaver is available as a Universal Binary, check the included README for install instructions. There is also a download mirror at versiontracker.

Cyberlink’s BD/HD Advisor is an application for Windows PC’s that will test and report on the readiness of your system to playback HiDef DVD content.

You might be suprised at what specs are required to play the discs. On a slightly-dated notebook I’ve got, the test for both formats gave me a big thumbs down for various reasons, including the CPU being not beefy enough. This notebook has a Pentium 4 HT running at 3GHz.

(Via Camcorderinfo)

Former broadcast industry executive Tore Nordahl recently published some predictions on the AVCHD format in the professional and broadcast space. He believes that AVC will replace HDV, and in the very near future. In a recent essay entitled “Will Panasonic lead the professional HD camcorder market with AVC in 2007?”, Nordahl opens with the bold statement “HDV is in trouble.”

“Panasonic never joined the “HDV club” choosing to tough it out with the HVX200 DVCPRO-HD P2 camcorder (with success) while developing its AVC technology. Panasonic’s decision not to spend on HDV R&D will pay off big in 2007, when I expect to see several Panasonic AVC-based HD camcorders both for semi-pro and pro use.”

Nordahl goes on to note that earlier this spring Sony and Panasonic announced the joint AVCHD H.264 format. With potentially double the encoding efficiency of HDV, he predicts that AVC can easily outperform HDV in the 20Mbps datarate arena.

Mentioning the HDR-SR1 and HDR-UX1 high-end Sony consumer model announcements, he predicts Panasonic professional model AVC announcements by October 2006.

Nordahl has stated “Panasonic is fully committed to AVC in the longer term for their entire HD camcorder range.” and cites evidence from the latest National Association of Broadcasters convention:

“At NAB-2006, Panasonic announced their new AVC-Intra 50Mbps video payload compression in their yet to ship AJ-HPC2000 full size fully professional HD camcorder.”

He predicts that AVCHD will make inroads very soon in the prosumer and professional space with flash memory-based camcorders, as well as models offering recording to Blu-ray and hard disk, stating:

“I expect Panasonic to announce a HVX200-type camcorder with AVCHD CODEC and mini-Blue-ray Disc recording, in addition to SecureDigital and/or P2 soon. Panasonic badly needs a semi-professional HD camcorder line-up by end of 2006, not to lose market share.”

“Look for new semi-professional AVCHD models selling for as little as $3,000 from Panasonic.”

So what do you make of all this? I’m personally inclined to opine that the rumors of HDV’s death are greatly exaggerated, and that AVC is a long way from replacing anything in the competitive 1/3″ imager market. Though I do see AVC making inroads in the consumer market, and in cameras under $1500. Canon’s recent HDV announcements only serves to legitimize the format and cement it’s usefulness for years to come. HDV is the new DV, and I believe that it’s here to stay for several more years.

Legislation similar to the United States DMCA is about to be introduced in Canada. Michael Geist is posting a list of DRM-related considerations that should be addressed by Canadian lawmakers, in his 30 Days of DRM.

“The 30 Days of DRM highlights some of the exceptions and limitations that the government should include if a Canadian DMCA is introduced. Contribute to the discussion through the 30 Days of DRM Wiki.”

The first 10 days of topics include Region Coding, Interoperability and Public Protection, and Security Research, among others. Consider forwarding this to your legislators, Canada.

(Via Slashdot)

Shane Ross has posted some production notes from his current project, as well as a plugin for Final Cut Pro that emulates Magic Bullet’s Color Reversal, but renders ten times faster.

“…thanks to the help of Graeme Nattress, I was able to make it a plugin. Here it is for you to enjoy. Now, it crushes the blacks to get the deep color, so if things are too dark, bump up the BLACKS lever and MIDS lever until you get it right.”

Sweet. Thanks, Shane.

The new Apple Mac Pro systems require the use of fully buffered, error correcting server-level memory, which means that DIMM’s cost roughly twice as much. It also seems that the use of memory-chip heat spreaders are necessary to keep the chips cool and reduce system fan noise.

Barefeats has done some analysis on the Mac Pro Quad, and as always they are presenting the test results for your consideration. They found that in some applications there are performance gains when the system memory is spread/installed across BOTH card risers (quad channel mode). Additionally, they suggest that not all memory is created equal, and it might pay off in heat dissipation performance if you choose to go with high quality or OEM memory.

As a side note, what is the minimum suggested Mac Pro memory config? It is suggested that 2GB-4GB is the sweet spot, but not more than 8GB unless you can absolutely prove the need for that much RAM (most probably cannot, those that can already know).

(Via HD For Indies)

We mentioned FlipClips a few months ago, Flipbooker is an alternative company that offers a similar service. It looks like FlipClips might offer a few more options.

The crew behind StealThisFilm is seeking production assistance for Part 2 of the multi-part film that takes on filesharing and P2P issues. You can check out what the current needs are at the wiki, and help yourself to a copy of the film while you are at it. Alternatively, they are accepting donations.