For those that need to re-install Final Cut Studio or even remove it entirely, check out FCS Remover. It simplifies the entire process and ensures you get all the nagging preference files, installer receipts, codecs and support folders. Thanks to Scott Simmons at Studio Daily for locating this handy tool.

Triggerstreet has a great post up that talks about four well-known films and how the scripts were written in such a way as to tell the story on a deeper level with the camera, that is, “writing the shots.” These examples are a must-read for writers and directors.

The Sony HVR-Z1U and HDR-FX1 HDV cameras are basically an identical camera with the exception of a few key features. They are built on the same 3-CCD system, tape transport, and 4.5mm to 54mm lens (32.5mm to 390mm equivalent 35mm FOV). Z1U is the “pro” model and adds XLR audio, a 50Hz mode, and a number of additional menu settings and firmware-related tools (addl. Cine gammas, etc). For a complete breakdown of the two models, check this chart.

The point of this post is not to address the featureset of two HDV cameras that are getting somewhat long in the tooth, it is to talk about something that I haven’t found anywhere online before. One of the differences between the two cameras is the fact that the Z1U shows a numeric zoom scale on the display. With the lens at full wide it displays Z00, shows Z50 at about half zoom, and Z99 at full telephoto. In contrast, the FX1 simply displays a visual zoom scale indicator on screen. The only way to accurately return to a certain focal length is to use the physical zoom ring, which has a limited scale of mm markings on it. This scale matches the markings on the Z1U’s ring, which can be correlated to the internal numerical percentage scale. In recent testing it became necessary to determine what that correlation was, so without further ado here are the equivalent Z-numbers that relate to the Z1U’s zoom ring markings (and therefore also correlate to the markings on the FX1).
Continue reading ‘Sony Z1U Equivalent Zoom Percentage Scale on the FX1′

Snapper is a unique application for Mac users that allows you to do a number of useful things with audio files on the fly. By simply selecting audio files in Finder, you can quickly pull out snippets of audio, export files to various formats, split stereo channels, drop a selection into Pro Tools, and much more. It’ll convert files on the fly to AIFF, WAV, BWF, mp3, or m4a (hello, Wedding and Event iRiver users!). The best way to understand is to watch Snapper in action, check out the 100-second demonstration video.

(Via MultimediaShooter)

This DVinfo user has fitted his camera with the HV20’s full zoom-through Canon WD-43 wide angle converter and a Canon XHA1 lens hood gaff taped on. It’s a unique solution that looks surprisingly sleek.

Stu Maschwitz has a in-depth post up where he talks about the latitude of current Digital Cinema cameras, and how the Rec709 colorspace (i.e. video) handles highlights vs film’s highlight handling. Where it gets sticky is how a clipped highlight in video maps to the highlights on film. If you are shooting with the Red One or another such camera and wish to output to film at some point, this is a must-read. Short on time? Read the compact summary. Here’s an excerpt:

“Shooting with RED One and monitoring Rec709, if you put 18% gray at 45% IRE, you’ll capture 2 stops over 18% gray, plus some headroom.
Want to match Panalog? Underexpose by 3 stops for 5 stops over 18% gray, plus headroom.”

For more experiences with the Red One from the field, read this Studio Daily article on the production of 3 Days Gone. Two interesting notes…they used a P2 recorder on set to capture and review dailies, and ProRes proxies of the 4K footage for editing.

As with any new technology, there is a learning curve and some pain for early adopters. One of the issues with the CompactFlash media workflow introduced with the new Sony HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U camcorders is the fact that CF cards are formatted in FAT32, therefore they have a 4GB filesize limitation (that’s about 20 minutes of video). Much like Panasonic’s method of spanning P2 cards, these new HDV camcorders simply split the recorded M2T clips at 4GB for rejoining later. Sony has released a software utility for PC users that can address this rejoining process, as well as provide renaming assistance if you’ve managed to record clips on different cards with the same filename. My understanding is that it’s basically a standalone import utility that will automatically re-join split clips as it pulls them off the cards. You can download it here.

There is also a new Final Cut Pro plugin from Sony that enables access to the CF media from FCP’s Log and Transfer function. Again, this is a very P2-like workflow. One minor difference is that the Log and Transfer Preview is inactive. Once files are selected, the software wraps the M2T streams into Quicktime and automatically joins 4GB-spanned segments as it transfers the clips. I have to say that I am quite impressed that Sony has delivered this particular plugin so soon. It looks like a simple and trouble-free workflow for Mac editors. You can download both versions and instructions here. We have continuing coverage of these two camcorders here.

Here is a short tutorial that covers the basic steps necessary to prepare a Final Cut Pro sequence for color finishing in Apple Color.

Final Cut User has the news on Apple’s Xsan 2 announcement, as well as the possibility that they are dropping Xserve RAID in favor of a 3rd party solution. Read all about it here.

This is a very short but very interesting demo of an experimental technology that Adobe’s Photoshop division is playing with that allows you to selectively control depth-of-field and focus points in post-production. Maybe someday we’ll see this trickle down into VFX.

Via Scott Simmons comes a link to one finishing company’s comparison test of Apple ProRes SD codec vs Uncompressed. This comparison was done on Standard Definition footage.

“When playing at speed, 1st Generation 10bit is indistinguishable from 3rd Generation ProResSD. I can’t see the edit…When paused on identical frames and quickly toggling between 1st generation Uncompressed and the 3rd generation ProResSD - levels and chroma are rock solid steady, but there is a oh-so-slight softening of the image. It’s slight enough that most my clients won’t be able to see it. Heck, I barely see it.

ProsRes SD is an impressive codec. While only doubling the storage space of DV it gives 98% of the quality of Uncompressed. Good enough for finishing purposes? Yes. I would not use it for heavy compositing where every drop of detail is essential. Unlike the HD variant, which I’ve heard is rock-solid through (at least) 10 generations, the SD variant’s ‘lossy-ness’ does exist after 3 generations.”

Over at kenstone.net there is a FCP tutorial on how to get best results when outputting Standard Definition DVDs from PMW-EX1 sourced HD footage.

Sony’s HVR-Z7U is finally in stock at B&H, pre-orders should ship out in the order they were received. We have previously covered this camera thoroughly here. And if you’ve missed the first Z7U user reports you should definitely read the comments on this recent post, particularly in regards to it’s reported lack of rolling shutter vertical skew. That is good news indeed.

The crew over at Cinevate have announced a series of instructional videos and tutorials that thoroughly cover the Brevis 35mm Adapter system. They’ve launched it with three clips that discuss the basic adapter system and design philosophy, the basic setup and backfocus procedure, and how to collimate the 35mm lens. Future topics will include:

Image/Oscillation Tuning (including CF2, CF3 tips)
Rails setup/options
Mattebox use
Cleaning/Swapping CINEFUSE Imaging elements

I anticipate that the series will be very helpful to both new and experienced users alike.

Following the news of Blockbuster, Best Buy, Netflix and Warner Brothers backing Blu-Ray, it appears that the blue-laser has won the HD disc format war. According to multiple sources, Toshiba is pulling the plug on HD-DVD manufacturing and marketing. All that’s left is an official announcement from the consortium of HD-DVD backers. While this development is bad for early adopters who chose HD-DVD, it is a Good Thing for the industry and consumers in general. Regardless of the differing features they offered, having two formats to choose from has stalled adoption of the high-definition discs. I personally know a number of production companies that have been waiting for a clear winner before going ahead with plans to deliver HD content to clients. I, for one, welcome our new Blu disc overlords.