Myself and Kendal Miller will host a special Live FreshDV Podcast this Tuesday, October 9th. We will be taking listener calls live, answering (or attempting to answer) your questions and comments. The Podcast will be streamed as it happens via FreshTV, and you will be able to reach us via telephone and possibly Skype for international readers.

It all starts at 9:30 PM Central Standard Time. If you missed geography class, that’s 10:30 for those on the East Coast and 7:30 on the West Coast. :-) So if you’ve got a burning question, rant, request, or just want to talk about recent news and developments in the digital video world…save the date and stay tuned for specific call-in details.

FastMac has announced an internal optical drive for Apple notebooks that features 2x Blu-ray burning. They anticipate it will be shipping within a month, and are offering a “special introductory price of $999.95″ for pre-orders at www.fastmac.com. They also offer a 2x Blu-ray standard tray-loading drive for G3/G4/G5 and Mac Pro tower owners, to the tune of $529.95. So if you’re tired of waiting for the market to sort out the hi-def DVD mess, here’s an option. Specs below.
Continue reading ‘FastMac Internal Blu-ray 2x Burner for Laptops’

From Camcorderinfo comes a Youtube link from the not-too-distant past…it’s an overview of how to edit two-inch quad video tape, reel to reel. It really makes you appreciate the power and convenience of today’s digital non-linear editing systems. You can watch the video below. Continue reading ‘Blast from the Past - Editing 2″ Quad Video Tape’

Digital Media Net has a tutorial on how to edit Canon’s oddball 24F footage using Final Cut Pro 6. Thanks to Digital Camcorder News for the link.

UPDATE: A response from Cineform in the comments below.
The following article is a review of Cineform’s NeoHD utility for removing 3:2 pulldown from the Canon HV20, and an opinion on the quality of the resultant images. Article contributed by Eugenia Loli-Queru.

Cineform is pitched as one of the best providers of a good and well-supported intermediate video format. Among their accompanied utilities you will also find HDLink, a capture and converting tool. We tested the tool for its 3:2 pulldown removal ability with the Canon HV20.

The application weighs just a few MBs and it is easily installable, although you might need to manually “register components” after installation (it’s a provided .bat file). It is comprised by the camcorder control widgets on the upper side of the window and three tabs on the lower side. Through the “Capture” tab you can view which clips are captured from the camcorder, from the “Convert” tab you convert existing captured files from your hard drive to another format, while from the “Export” tab you can write back to the camcorder’s tape.
Continue reading ‘Review of Cineform NeoHD for HV20 Pulldown Removal’

Cinematech reports that Chicago, IL is the first US city with a fully-outfitted 4K Cineplex. They were also one of the first cities to host a RED digital cinema 4K production. Coincidence?

We’ve talked about the HDMI standard and HDMI cables in the past here at FreshDV, but I was encouraged to look deeper at this recently by reader Robert Shaver. In the course of our conversation he passed along an excellent article link that addresses the origins of the HDMI standard, and why consumers are being mis-lead about the need for specialty cables.

“Companies have developed and very effectively marketed their co-axial, twin-axial, dual-shielded and triple-shielded cables to the confused DVI / HDMI consumer. Various dire consequences can result from the use of ‘cheap’ cables… or so the simple consumer is educated by such companies.

Figure 2 illustrates an HDMI cable, shown approximately at one-half scale, and Ethernet cables [9] following industry standards at approximately their actual sizes. The HDMI cable is substantially thicker and inflexible presumably because of shielding architecture incorporated within. This naturally increases the cost of the cable assembly.

But do HDMI cables have to be double and triple-shielded in such manner, when data is transmitted through wire pairs within in low-swing, differential, low-EMI manner? Or is such cable architecture necessary for the high data rates required for high-definition video transmission? Studies conducted most recently at ComLSI, disclosed in [4, 5], show that Cat-5e cabling can be just as good from a signal transmission and reception perspective over very significant lengths (25m+) as any advanced cable architecture. A prior paper goes farther, disclosing SXGA video transmission over 300 meters of Cat 5 cabling…”

Here’s a quick tip for Final Cut Pro editors. It can really save you some clicking when you need to check which filters are applied to a timeline full of video clips.

*Double click the first clip you want to check, this will load the clip into the Viewer window.
*In the Viewer Window, click the Filters tab
*Using your keyboard Up/Down arrow keys you can now quickly jump between clips on that track.
*Rinse/Repeat for clips on a different track.
*This tip unfortunately does not work for audio filters, you still must double-click each clip to check those.

HD For Indies has a preliminary report on the AJA IO HD. I’ve picked out a few interesting bullet points below, read the whole enchilada at Mike’s site.

- Can be used as a converter as long as it is hooked up to a computer
- It is designed for pro res PERIOD.
- If your machine is fast enough however it will support play out of anything from dvcpro hd to uncompressed
- Supports video output in the usual applications, however in color, it CURRENTLY only supports SD…for now.
- Does NOT convert frame rates, it works in hertz so that will be very tricky for 720p 60
- Ready to ship, just waiting for green light from apple
- Any speculation with redcode compatibility is currently only speculation

Finally, you can also read more about the IO-HD at AJA’s site.

Steven Spielberg’s Universal Studios office was robbed recently, and the thief allegedly offered at least some of the stolen goods to popular online sites for $2000. “Over 2000 production stills, plenty of sensitive paperwork including a complete production budget breakdown, possibly the script from Indiana Jones 4 and multiple computers were stolen from Spielberg’s Universal Studio office. The thief started contacting multiple entertainment websites including TMZ.com and offering the stolen goods for a sum of $2000.00.” It has been reported that the robber was later apprehended and is in police custody. No word yet on if the Indy 4 script may have hit the web.

A documentary in production, Transcendent Man follows visionary and futurist Ray Kurzweil as he performs his normal speaking schedule around the globe. Filmmaker Barry Ptolemy is lensing the doc, and he spoke with Studio Daily about the process. They are sourcing everything on P2 media using a stock Panasonic HVX200, capturing audio with my favorite wireless mic system the Sennheiser G2, and editing on an Avid.

Lately we here at FreshDV have been focusing a lot (har har) on Follow Focus systems and how to best utilize them on set. I thought I would combine all our recent follow focus related articles into one big roundup post for easier reference.

*Career First AC Bob Sanchez spent a day with the FreshDV crew and provided a unique insight into the role and techniques of pulling focus. That is available as a three-part video series entitled The Art of Pulling Focus:
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 1) - Kendal Miller interviews Bob Sanchez on what it takes to be a First A/C on a production set.
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 2) - A continuation of Part 1, Bob explains the tools and techniques he uses on a daily basis.
The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 3) - Go behind the lens as we block out scenes and Bob demonstrates his technique on a handheld camera rig.
*FreshDV’s review of five popular follow focus units appears in the October print issue of DV Magazine. You can read it online here.
*We have posted video reviews of those same five follow focus systems here at FreshDV, get a more detailed look at each unit.

*UPDATE: We have added a 720p HD Quicktime H.264 version of The Art of Pulling Focus Part 3 Demonstration. It is packaged up in a 450MB ZIP archive. Simply download, unpack, and play. FYI, the actual resolution of the clip is 1280×1440, as the Part 3 demo stacks two HD clips in a split-screen.

HD For Indies is hosting a video presentation by Mark Pederson of OffHollywood, taped at Tekserve recently. Mark talks about their involvement with Red Digital Cinema early on, learning to shoot with this new camera and format (“…take most of what you know about High Def and throw it out the window”), and how they have positioned themselves early on as experts in this new arena. He also discusses the tools the RED camera gives you, like a histogram and the “false color” mode, both which indicate clipping and exposure data. These and other tools contribute to the overall RAW digital negative philosophy of shooting with the RED camera…get the most dynamic range and data in the field, and make it pretty in post (my words). Mark also addresses the “disruptive technology” aspect of the new camera…how players in the industry are being careful with their statements about RED based on if it might have an adverse effect on their career. He briefly mentions RED plans for worldwide local service centers, which is also another major concern with this new camera system.

We’ve also added this to our continually-updated big bucket of RED-related links.

Imagineer Systems has reduced the license cost for two popular software packages. Monet v2.1.2 and Mokey v4.1.2 are both now priced at €4,050 / $5,590 USD node locked and €5,185/ $7,195 USD floating. Registered users can download the latest versions online. Contact Imagineer for trial keys if you wish to test drive the software.

(Thanks Randall)

UPDATE: A sixth Follow Focus review, the SGfollow focus from shoot35, has been added as of July 13, 2008.

FreshDV’s full review of 5 seperate follow focus units is in the October 2007 print issue of DV Magazine, and also available online at DV.com. While we had the follow focus systems in our possession we also took some time to capture video footage of the units in action. In these video clips, I walk the viewer through the major features of each follow focus system, mount the units to our test rig equipped with a 35mm adapter, measure gear lash, and finally use them to drive a 35mm PL-mount cinema lens. Each unit we tested has unique strengths and weaknesses, we encourage you to view each of these videos and look for a system that meets your unique needs and requirements.

 Introduction and Chrosziel DV Follow Focus Review [8:57m]: Download
 Cinetech Titanium SL Follow Focus Review [5:32m]: Download
 Redrock Micro Follow Focus Review [5:33m]: Download
 Petroff Mini Follow Focus Review [7:27m]: Download
 Indifocus Follow Focus Review [9:51m]: Download
 Follow Focus Accessories [2:16m]: Download
 Shoot35 SGfollow focus [4:13m]: Download

You can view the video reviews in either Quicktime MOV format (links above) or as Flash video streams (embedded below). Note that the above Quicktime versions are higher resolution and quality. You may also be interested in our informative three-part series on the role of a First AC and Focus Puller, also embedded in the player below.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Follow Focus System Reviews’