Apple’s got the FCP 5.1.3 update out, it’s supposed to fix a few (minor?) bugs. Mike Curtis has a good summary. If you run across any new insect infestations courtesy of the update, the rest of us that are afraid to update yet would sure appreciate a heads up…
Update: Yeah, more bugs…specifically, issues with Colorista and Automatic Duck.

It’s completely unsubstantiated at this point, with the exception of an image (wait…there’s a picture, so it must be true…right?), but rumor has it that Canon is set to announce another HV-series camcorder with the 3x CMOS chip’d HV50. Purported specs will include a 18x zoom, 1080i/720p/24p and a 5 megapixel still capability. Mosey on over to Digital Camcorder News for a gander at the image today’s rumor is based on.
UPDATE: Yep. It’s a fake. Page two of this thread at DVinfo explains. Nice photochop job though…

Sony is running a media rebate offer of sorts on purchases of select HDV camcorders (and not just Sony cameras, oh no). “…purchase any brand of select professional HDV camcorder and receive 5 FREE Sony DigitalMaster video tapes by mail.” DigitalMaster media are Sony’s top of the line tape stock intended for HDV applications where dropouts need to be minimized, prices generally hover around $15 per tape.

The offer applies to the following camcorders: Sony HVR-Z1U, HVR-A1U, HVR-V1, Canon XL-H1, XH-G1, XH-A1, JVC GY-HD100U, GY-HD200U, and GY-HD250U, providing the purchase date of the camera is between August 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007. So dig out your proof of purchase and get yours here.

Steve Mullen has a look at the interesting new JVC GZ-HD7. Part one of his analysis. Part two is here.

We mentioned this unique camcorder just a few days ago.

Some time ago, independent journalist and Video Blogger Josh Wolf was jailed for disregarding a court subpoena and refusing to turn over video footage of a San Francisco public demonstration to a federal grand jury. The footage in question was shot by Wolf in a public location, and prosecutors believe it will may identify certain individuals that are believed to have broken the law in the course of the public demonstration against the G8 Summit. The grand jury also is seeking to get Wolf to testify against specific individuals present at the demonstration.
Continue reading ‘Interview with Jailed VideoBlogger Josh Wolf’

Panasonic Announced new 2/3-Inch P2 Camera - does a lot of formats and framerates, records DVCPROHD to P2, costs $14K (lens?) - specs rundown and commentary by Mike Curtis.

Panasonic Ships 24P AJ-HPX2000 P2 HD Camcorder - records DVCPROHD and AVC-Intra HD to P2, costs $30K sans lens - (previous announcement) article at Studio Daily.

Panasonic Introduces World’s Smallest Pro 3-CCD High-Def Camcorder, the AG-HSC1U - records AVCHD to 40GB external recorder or 4GB SD card, costs around $2K - article at EventDV.

Panasonic Announces 16GB P2 cards with 32GB cards to follow - 16GB P2 cards ship 5/07, 32GB supposedly by the end of the year. No word on pricing.

As you probably have heard “Inland Empire”, the latest film from polarizing director David Lynch, was sourced on Standard Definition DV using the venerable Sony PD-150. Lynch took four years to make the film, which is now playing in select cities. Filmmaker William Speruzzi of This Savage Art recently screened the flick, and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. He has a few insightful comments…Here’s one of them:

“I salute David Lynch for drawing up his own blueprint for how the next twenty years could potentially play out. He bends and breaks film grammar and language to suit his own needs and if we ever needed deconstruction in film, the time is now. I know there are naysayers that are convinced that this is a step backwards but it is truly a step ahead. Taking control of your vision and putting it out there. Shit, we haven’t seen this much innovation and balls since the 70’s.”

Boing Boing is reporting that AACS processing keys in use by both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray video discs have been extracted by hackers, and a crack released by Doom9 forum member “Arnezami”. Both new High Definition disc formats were previously broken by hacker “Muslix64″when he/she found a way to extract the disc volume key. This new crack actually bypasses the volume key step and allows full access to the encrypted content through use of the processing keys, meaning in essence that ALL AACS “protected” discs are now vulnerable.
Continue reading ‘AACS Content Encryption for Blu-ray and HD-DVD fully hacked’

FresHDV Test Bench Review
Visual Departures Steadybag
By Matthew Jeppsen
February 1, 2007

$42 - $70
Visual Departures, Ltd.
www.visualdepartures.com

The Steadybag is a simple camera support system for film or video cameras, similar in concept to a bean bag and available in several sizes. I have been using both the 3lb and 7lb models for a few months now. Originally I was only going to review the smaller model, but after they kindly overnighted the 3lb review unit to me and I had a chance to use it, I was impressed enough to immediately purchase the larger 7lb model at B&H.
Continue reading ‘FresHDV Test Bench - Steadybag by Visual Departures’

efplighting.com is a very useful and informative resource for learning the craft of lighting. Newly-launched, they are currently featuring tutorials on how to light people, with room and food/product lighting tutorials to follow.

The tutorials are top-notch, with a number of high-quality images that show both the setup/gear and the finished product. Each step is broken down, each light explained and the effects of it shown. They go a step further and explain the equipment that is being used to brace, clamp, and reflect as well. And if you think that you need a ton of gear to learn something, don’t worry. For instance, the “Quick Interview” tutorial shows how to get stellar results out of a single light source and large diffuser. Obviously a full 3-point setup with multiple sources would work best in a perfect world, but you might be suprised at how nice the results look. Go learn something.

EventDV has an article featuring Phillipines-based wedding videographer Jason Magbanua. Jason is a self-described “unapologetic wedding videographer” and together with his staff of 4, produce over 100 weddings yearly. Their work has garnered multiple awards. He elaborates further on the “unapologetic” comment…“I do this not as a stepping stone to something ‘bigger,’ nor do I view broadcast or film work as the holy grail of the profession. There will always be video professionals who look down on weddings and consider it the lowest rung on the ladder.” What they don’t realize, he says, is “that wedding videography in itself is multi-disciplinary.”
Continue reading ‘All Weddings, No Apologies - Studio time with Jason Magbanua’

Brian Gary has written a handy tutorial over at kenstone that explains in detail how to install and use Telestream’s Flip4Mac Studio Pro plugin to Apple Compressor for encoding Windows Media Video directly from the Mac application. At the end of the article he references On2 Technologies Flix and the free Real Export plugin from RealNetworks…both operate within Compressor in the same manner as the Flip4Mac plugin.

Camcorderinfo got their paws on the tightly-guarded new GZ-HD7 camcorder from JVC, and have posted a preliminary First Impressions Review. It sounds like a pretty unique package, particularly for a “consumer” camera. 3 CCD, Fujinon 10x optical zoom lens, zebra display, optional conversion lenses, and five recording hours of 1920×1080i HDV to the built-in 60GB hard drive. Pricing is expected to be around $1800.
Continue reading ‘First look at the new JVC GZ-HD7 HDV camcorder’

My review of VariZoom’s excellent S-2010F On-Camera LED Light Kit is in the March issue of DV Magazine. If you haven’t got your copy of DV in the mail yet, you can read the review online at the DV website.

I found the S-2000 series of LED lights from VariZoom to be a affordable and quality product that compare very favorably with much more expensive on-cam LED kits (cough*litepanels*cough). They offer many advantages over traditional tungsten lighting…40w output with zero heat emission, on-board diffuser, long battery life without a belt and tether, dimmable with no color shift, 3200K/5600K color temperature, the list goes on. As you can probably tell by this point, I’m pretty happy with the lights. We’ve purchased several of the kits and use them exclusively for our on-camera lighting needs. B&H has them for just under $380.

UPDATE: I understand that Varizoom is no longer stocking this item. Fortunately, the original mfr SWIT has other dealers. It looks like Broadcasting Supplies in Canada has the S2000 model, with the D-type power connector. They also ship to the US. I spoke with a rep, and they are going to look into getting the S2010 models as well (uses a camera battery adapter for power), and will update their catalog when the LED kits are available.

For non-North American countries, you can reference SWIT’s online dealer locater for a local affiliate that may have the light kits.

Music wants to be free…and we all want a pony. Just a few days ago, Steve Jobs shared a few thoughts on music and DRM. His comments have fueled a maelstrom of responses from the likes of Mike Curtis, DVD Jon, John Gruber, and The Economist to name a few…it seems that everyone has a take on the issue. And some very insightful commentary at that. Read on for a few fresh links and commentary…
Continue reading ‘Steve Jobs on Music and DRM’