Mike Curtis at HD For Indies has an extensive writeup on all the major announcements at the MWSF keynote. He covers the specs of the new MacBook Air, wireless Time Machine backup, the latest OS and Quicktime updates which were just released, HD movie rentals, Apple TV’s new lease on life, and much much more. Excellent coverage.

Thanks to Flippant News for pointing out this great article by accomplished film editor Walter Murch. It delves deeply into the underlying motivations and cues in great sound design. Not to be missed! Here’s an excerpt.

“This metaphoric use of sound is one of the most flexible and productive means of opening up a conceptual gap into which the fertile imagination of the audience will reflexively rush, eager (even if unconsciously so) to complete circles that are only suggested, to answer questions that are only half-posed. What each person perceives on screen, then, will have entangled within it fragments of their own personal history, creating that paradoxical state of mass intimacy where—though the audience is being addressed as a whole—each individual feels the film is addressing things known only to him or her.”

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

The Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 is equipped with three half-inch CMOS image sensors, which not only perform well in low light but also deliver surprising depth-of-field. The EX’s Fujinon fully-manual lens can be adjusted down to f/1.9 and sustains that aperture throughout the entire range of the zoom. Bear in mind that shallow DOF is either a blessing or a curse, depending on what you wish to accomplish. For dramatic filmmaking, it can be a very effective tool at drawing focus to specific areas of the frame and de-cluttering backgrounds. Your focus puller may have to work hard, but the results can be brilliant. But for fast action and sports applications shallow DOF can be a curse. This footage from the EX1 shows exactly how shallow that DOF can be. For a very detailed explanation on the mechanics of DOF, watch this tutorial.

 EX1 1/2 inch Sensor DOF Example Footage [1:43m]: Download

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

After shooting with the XDCAM EX1 for a few days and reviewing gigs of footage, Kendal and I have a lot to talk about. This audio podcast is a discussion about my personal experiences and tests with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 camcorder. We open with a discussion about the evolution of shooters and how they tend to seek upgrades as they evolve in their craft and hit the ceilings and limitations of their gear. We then cover the EX1’s ergonomics and layout, menus and image control, lens and handling, the SxS workflow with FCP, transfer software and metadata, codec and compression (and how it fares against DVCPRO HD in initial comparisons), and finally CMOS sensors and all the good and bad that comes with this variety of imager. You can listen to the discussion via our normal Podcast Feed, or download the MP3 manually below.

 Sony XDCAM EX1 Discussion [1:06:49m]: Download

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

Ahh, the Final Cut Pro vs. Avid debate. Much like the Mac vs. PC flamewars, this debate is destined to rage for as long as the two software packages exist. I believe this is because the choice of editing software is largely subjective and based on what you specifically demand out of a system and what your post workflow requires. So while I have built a Mac/FCP editing system and workflow for my work, I would be loathe to crown it as generally better than Avid, or any other NLE for that matter…too many variables exist, and everyone’s needs are different. I’m finding it better for ME at this point. That’s why it’s refreshing to read personal accounts like this one, an ACE feature film editor who is used to working with Avid but was forced to use FCP for a specific project. He lays out some of the differences between the two NLE’s as well as his specific likes and dislikes. A good read.

(Via Scott Simmons)

Most independent filmmakers are familiar with the story of how director Robert Rodriguez created a feature for only $7,000. His film called El Mariachi was eventually picked up for US distribution and reportedly went on to earn over two million. It launched Rodriguez’s career and paved the way for larger budgets in the ensuing chapters of his Mariachi trilogy, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. In the following two videos, the director shows scenes from El Mariachi and talks about how they accomplished so much on such a meager budget (they only shot 25 rolls of film!). Welcome to 10-Minute Film School, class is in session! For more indie flavor from this director, check out his Rebel Without a Crew book. Continue reading ‘10-Minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez’

This audio podcast is a discussion with video guru Adam Wilt about his experiences with a pre-production Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 prototype camcorder. The interview was recorded prior to the holidays, but we feel it remains relevant and informative even with some of the changes made in final EX1 production models. Adam talks about the camera’s ergonomics and handling, display and evf options, image controls, latitude and sensitivity, CMOS rolling shutter issues, his opinions on the HDV format and HDV vs XDCAM, the EX1 codec implementation, on Mike Curtis running, lens operation, the requisite vignetting discussion, sharpness and resolution, the SxS workflow and data wrangling, HD-SDI output and colorspace, and finally Adam’s picks on what areas the EX excels in, and what drawbacks it brings to the table.

You can listen to the interview via our normal Podcast Feed, or download the MP3 manually below.
Read more about Adam Wilt and his extensive DV research at adamwilt.com.

 Adam Wilt XDCAM EX1 Interview [41:31m]: Download

As this is turning out to be Sony PMW-EX1 Week at FreshDV, here is another timely tidbit of EX-related news. We mentioned the Vortex Media XDCAM EX training DVD a while back when B&H did a long Q&A with the trainer behind the DVD title.

And thanks to a heads up from FreshDV reader and EX1 shooter Daniel Boswell, I’m happy to report that the training dvd is in-stock at B&H and shipping. Daniel’s initial comments on the series are positive, he says that the content is presented from a practical shooters perspective. So if you are looking to get up to speed on the new Sony EX1, this educational title looks to be a good option. Read on for a full description of what it includes. Continue reading ‘Vortex Media XDCAM EX1 Training Series is Shipping’

Apple has announced updated MacPro computers with eight-core standard configurations and a new system architecture. The systems consist of two Quad-Core Xeon chips running at up to 3.2GHz. The case will handle up to 4TB of internal storage. No high-definition burner option from Apple yet. They state in HDV rendering tests that the new 8-core 3.2GHz Mac Pro is:

* Up to 1.8x faster than Power Mac G5 Quad
* Up to 1.4x faster than Mac Pro Quad-core 2.66GHz
* 1.2x faster than the previous-gen Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz

Stated performance gains are even higher for HDV Encoding, ProRes Rendering, ProRes Encoding, and AE CS3’s Nightflight benchmark. See for yourself here. The Apple Store is updating right now, but I imagine will repoen soon for those that are looking to upgrade soon. A standard eight-core config will cost $2799.

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

One of the areas that the new Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 really excels is in native light sensitivity. Night shooting with the EX is relatively simple, as the camera seems to find illumination and color saturation in even the darkest of scenes. Here are a few examples of night footage shot with the EX1, including a 60p overcranked shot. I have included a half-resolution H.264 version to show the context of the “full scene.” Each H.264 version is paired with a clip excerpt that has been preserved in it’s native XDCAM format. This gives you a short native-format full-resolution clip that you can drop in your editing software of choice and tweak, push, destroy, whatever. The only compression difference between these full-rez excerpts and what came directly off the camera is the addition of a text overlay to document camera settings. I have confirmed this by overlaying them over the source clips with a composite difference mode applied. So here’s a chance to analyze how the XDCAM SP and HQ codec performs at night in both slow and fast motion scenes. Note how the vertical lines in closeups of the overcranked shot seem to distort/lean…we’ll have more on the EX’s vertical skew in a article coming soon.

 720/24/60p Overcranked Night Run Full (Compressed H.264) [0:25m]: Download
 720/24/60p Overcranked Night Run Excerpt (Native XDCAM HQ) [0:08m]: Download
 1080/24p Night Traffic Excerpt (Compressed H.264) [0:40m]: Download
 1080/24p Night Traffic Excerpt (Native XDCAM HQ) [0:10m]: Download
 1080/60i Night Alley Full (Compressed H.264) [0:38m]: Download
 1080/60i Night Alley Excerpt (Native XDCAM SP) [0:10m]: Download

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

A tip of the hat goes to Paul Harrill of Self-Reliant Filmmaking for linking this article at ESPN with interviewing techniques and tips that could prove useful to filmmakers and videographers. It was written by veteran journalist John Sawatsky.

The 7th annual FCPUG Macworld “SuperMeet” will be held January, 16, 2008 from 7:00PM - 10:00PM (doors open at 5PM) at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, CA. Presenters will include Apple, Rebel’s Guide author Stu Maschwitz, Alex Lindsay of Pixel Corps, Noah Kadner with an Sony XDCAM EX1 demonstration, and Bay Area filmmakers Jason Mitchell and Mabel Valdiviezo. Trainer Steve Martin will also be sharing FCP tips and tricks.

A number of vendors will be on site with gear and products for you to play with, and of course there is always the amazing SuperMeet raffle…currently at $40K worth of prizes. If that wasn’t enough, the first 250 people to arrive will get a $250 goodie bag. I’m told that space is limited to just 150 more spots, so purchase your $10 tickets now.

Here is yet another example of how DRM ultimately screws the end user and potentially drives people that are willing to pay good money for content to less-than-legal methods of acquiring it. This is the story of a user who subscribes to Netflix’s streaming movie service. When he upgraded his PC with an HD monitor, DRM said no-no.

“When I tried to launch a streaming movie, I was greeted with an error message asking me to “resetâ€? my DRM…
When I called them they confirmed my worst fears. In order to access the Watch Now service, I had to give Microsoft’s DRM sniffing program access to all of the files on my hard drive. If the software found any non-Netflix video files, it would revoke my rights to the content and invalidate the DRM. This means that I would lose all the movies that I’ve purchased from Amazon’s Unbox, just to troubleshoot the issue.”

It always amazes me at the steps companies make to ensure their content will be as hard as possible for users to access…in their haste to protect content from piracy, they potentially drive even more users to piracy out of sheer frustration. Fortunately, some major companies are starting to see that DRM hurts more than helps. A number of labels have dabbled in DRM-free digital music, and it seems that Sony BMG is the latest to agree that DRM can be bad for consumers.

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

For this color reproduction comparison the XDCAM EX was shot in a studio environment using a DSC Labs ChromaDuMonde chart. The test pattern was evenly lit at 45-degree angles by two soft light sources, aperture on the EX1 was adjusted on each shot to ensure the center gray chips were exposed at 50%. Picture Profile Matrix and Gamma presets were shot individually, and then mixed in typical configurations (Cinema Matrix + Cine1 Gamma, etc). All footage was shot at 1080/24p HQ-mode. Other Picture Profile settings like Black levels and Detail enhancement were at 0 or factory defaults. The following 40MB zip archive contains 16 full-resolution uncompressed TIF frames exported directly from the FCP 6.0.2 timeline.

 Sony EX1 Color Matrix and Gamma Preset Comparison Charts: Download

Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.

This article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.

In our continuing review coverage of the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1 camcorder, we present here a 5-minute demonstration of the EX1 Picture Profile menus and options, showing the extensive control users have over color Matrix, Gamma curves, Black levels, Knee, and Detail settings. For a detailed analysis of the regular camera menus, watch this previously posted video. If you’d like to see what the different factory Gamma and Matrix presets do, look at these charts. You can download the Quicktime video manually, subscribe to our audio/video podcast feed, or watch the embedded Flash version below.

 Sony XDCAM EX1 Picture Profile Image Settings (15MB) [5:39m]: Download