While this wasn’t mentioned in the press release at all from Panasonic I attended. I was shooting some pre-show segments in the hall and picked up a 2008 Panasonic Catalog and sure enough there was listed an HVX200a right before my very eyes. I thought perhaps something goofy was going on and then sure enough it was tagged as “NEW” for 2008. Not sure where Panasonic is going with this but they mentioned new CCDs with improved S/N and smear. First thing tomorrow we’ll be stopping by the booth to get the scoop on this one guys. Stay tuned to the FreshDV home page video coverage starts tomorrow morning.

FreshDV’s coverage of NAB 2008 is made possible by the support of the following companies:
Cinevate | DSC Labs | Imagineer Systems | Letus | Redrock Micro | Videoguys | Zacuto

Continuing with Panasonics announcements from their press conference the newly announced HPX-170. I’ll reserve any thoughts on these cameras until I can get my hands on them tomorrow, but my initial response is that this camera will not be the HVX200a or HVX200 replacement. Anyone else vote for a new form factor??

PRESS RELEASE

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 13, 2008) – Panasonic unveiled here at NAB the AG-HPX170, a fully solid-state P2 HD handheld camcorder. A full production quality tool, the solid-state handheld camcorder enables high definition and standard definition recording, the widest zoom lens in its class, and a HD-SDI interface for connection to baseband production and distribution infrastructure, all in a lightweight 4.2-pound body.

Fully solid-state, the two-slot HPX170 is a 1080p capable camcorder that offers the compelling advantages of P2 technology including: no moving parts unlike tape, hard disk drive, or disc-based systems; instant random access to recorded HD or SD content; a faster IT compatible file-based workflow; and the ability to operate in harsh environments with resistance to temperature extremes, shock and vibration.

Building on the success of the AG-HVX200, the HPX170 is equipped with new advanced 1/3-inch 16:9 3-CCDs and a high-performance digital signal processor with 14-bit A/D conversion and 19-bit processing to deliver broadcast-quality, independent frame recordings. The HPX170 offers a 13X Leica Dicomar zoom lens with a 28mm wide-angle setting (the widest in its class) and a cam-driven manual zoom for smooth, easy and precise operation. For added flexibility, the camera provides auto or manual focus and iris.

The multi-format camera records in 20 HD and SD formats; in a variety of 1080i and 720p formats in DVCPRO HD, in 480i in DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO, and in 480i in DV. It’s switchable between 16:9/4:3 aspect ratios. The HPX170 offers a 20-step frame rate selection in 720p mode for variable-speed shooting in the 12fps to 60fps range to acquire fast- or slow-motion in-camera effects. For added creative flexibility, professionals can select from a variety of advanced gamma functions and settings including a CineGammaTM mode.

With its two P2 card slots, users can record up to 64 continuous minutes of the highest quality DVCPRO HD recording using currently available 32GB P2 cards. Record times will double with the release of Panasonic’s 64GB P2 card in the fall. Other user-friendly recording modes include hot swapping for non-stop recording, loop record, pre-record, interval and one-shot recording. A time/date stamp function makes it ideal for use in law enforcement environments.

The HPX170 is equipped with an HD/SD-SDI output standard for live feed productions as well as for editing and monitoring. It also has IEEE 1394 and USB 2.0 interfaces for fast P2 content transfer into NLE systems, and offers a composite output, component output (mini D-terminal) and a time-code setting via IEEE 1394. The camera also features a built-in stereo microphone and two-channel XLR audio input terminals supporting 48V phantom power supply with a selectable mic/line; and manual audio level volume (two-channel). Other convenient operational features include clip preview on the camera’s 3.5” color LCD monitor; instant recording startup, scene files, assignable user buttons, focus assist and a camera remote function.

The AG-HPX170 will be available in fall 2008. It will be covered by Panasonic’s five-year limited P2 HD warranty*.

About P2 HD

P2 HD all solid-state products offer high-definition recording without the mechanical wear and environmental limitations of tape, hard disk, and optical disc based systems. P2 HD ensures the highest
reliability, especially in challenging conditions of extreme temperature range, shock, and vibration. P2 HD products provide a significant reduction in maintenance costs, longer useful product life, and immediate access to recorded video (no need to digitize, ingest or create proxy video files) and metadata. P2 HD provides the reliability of solid-state production; the immediate connectivity to existing IT infrastructures; the speed, ease of use and portability of P2 cards; and interoperability with leading NLE systems.

About Panasonic Broadcast

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems.  Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North
America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations.  For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company’s web site at www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

*To lower total ownership costs, Panasonic offers a five-year limited warranty (Panasonic Broadcast’s normal 1-year basic warranty plus an extended warranty for years two through five upon product registration).

FreshDV’s coverage of NAB 2008 is made possible by the support of the following companies:
Cinevate | DSC Labs | Imagineer Systems | Letus | Redrock Micro | Videoguys | Zacuto

Well gang the madness has started i just stepped out of the Panasonic Press Conference where they announced two new P2 based AVCintra Varicams, and two handheld cameras the HMC150, which we all new was coming and a newly announced HPX-170 which I will detail more in depth later. We will try and have video footage of these cameras up as soon as possible on Monday their press release is below:

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 13, 2008) – Recognized worldwide as the industry’s premier digital cinematography camera, Panasonic’s VariCam HD Cinema has established itself as an indispensable acquisition tool delivering the distinct, prized look of film. Here at NAB 2008, Panasonic takes a quantum leap forward with the introduction of two advanced tapeless VariCam implementations in the new VariCam 3700 (model AJ-HPX3700) and VariCam 2700 (model AJ-HPX2700) P2 HD camcorders.

Much more than a marriage of Panasonic’s popular solid-state recording technology and VariCam capabilities, these new 2/3” P2 HD models greatly advance digital filmmaking with features including master-quality, full-resolution 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra 100 recording; variable frame rates in 1-frame increments; HD-SDI output of 23.98PsF/24PsF; and a multi-gamma function including Film-Rec for the prized VariCam look, which closely matches the latitude of film stocks.

The benefits of P2 HD solid-state acquisition assure exceptional reliability and a faster, file-based workflow in any shooting environment in which the VariCam 3700 or VariCam 2700 is utilized. Moreover, both P2 HD VariCams are backed by Panasonic’s industry’s leading five-year limited warranty*.

A fully solid state implementation of the highly-regarded DVCPRO HD VariCam, the VariCam 2700 offers  2/3” native HD resolution 3-CCDs and produces cinema-quality, independent-frame 1080 and 720 images with 4:2:2 10-bit sampling in AVC-Intra 100. The camera also supports recording in a more bandwidth efficient AVC-Intra 50 compression as well as the ubiquitous DVCPRO HD. Designed for sports, documentaries, independent films and other projects where versatility is essential, the VariCam 2700 offers intuitive operation with advanced gamma setting, variable frame rates (from 1 fps to 60 fps in 720p mode), as well as two separate HD-SDI outputs.

The new flagship model of the P2 HD VariCam line, the VariCam 3700 offers full native 1920×1080-pixel acquisition and independent frame recording with 10-bit/4:2:2 sampling. The HPX3700 2/3” 2.2 megapixel 3-CCD camera also offers a 4:4:4 RGB dual-link live output to deliver pristine images ideal for composition of visual effects even while recording. Tailor-made for feature films, television episodic and commercial production, the VariCam 3700 records in full-raster 1920×1080 resolution in AVC-intra 100, and records in AVC-Intra 50 and DVCPRO HD as well. Its variable frame rate function has a range from 1fps to 30 fps in 1-frame increments, and it is equipped with three HD-SDI outputs (dual-link plus monitor).

Both the VariCam 3700 and VariCam 2700 are switchable between 59.94-Hz and 50-Hz recording. Five P2 card slots allow continuous recording, card selection, hot swapping, loop rec, pre-rec, interval rec and one-shot recording. With five 32 GB P2 cards installed, operators can record up to 200 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 at 1080/24p, 400 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 at 720/24p, 320 minutes in other AVC-Intra 50 formats, and 160 minutes in other AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD formats. Recording times will double with the release of Panasonic’s 64GB P2 card later this year.

Additional image-enhancing features found in both camcorders include 14-bit A/D processing, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) to maximize lens performance, Dynamic Range Stretching (DRS) for wide variations in lighting, unique shutter angle settings, built-in scan reverse, and full control of matrix and color correction for precise image matching.

- more -

The VariCam 3700 and VariCam 2700 share a high sensitivity of F10 at 2,000 lx. The new P2 HD VariCams incorporate 48-kHz/16-bit, four-channel digital audio recording.  Text memos and shot markers can be added. Proxy data recording is possible (with the optional AJ-YAX800G board). Other valuable features include scene files, user buttons, user menu and focus assist functions, and newly-designed two-wheel (ND and CC) optical filters. A new color viewfinder, model AJ-CVF100, designed for both P2 VariCams is planned to be developed for release at the beginning of 2009.

The AJ-HPX3700 and AJ-HPX2700 will be available in fall 2008.

About P2 HD

P2 HD all solid-state products offer high-definition recording without the mechanical wear and environmental limitations of tape, hard disk, and optical disc based systems. P2 HD ensures the highest
reliability, especially in challenging conditions of extreme temperature range, shock, and vibration. P2 HD products provide a significant reduction in maintenance costs, longer useful product life, and immediate access to recorded video (no need to digitize, ingest or create proxy video files) and metadata. P2 HD provides the reliability of solid-state production; the immediate connectivity to existing IT infrastructures; the speed, ease of use and portability of P2 cards; and interoperability with leading NLE systems.

About Panasonic Broadcast

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems.  Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North
America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations.  For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company’s web site at www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

*To lower total ownership costs, Panasonic offers a five-year limited warranty (Panasonic Broadcast’s normal 1-year basic warranty plus an extended warranty for years two through five upon product registration).

Rumor has it that today Sony is announcing a successor to the XDCAM PMW-EX1. The EX3 is supposed to offer a pro viewfinder, shoulder support (ala the Canon XL1), and various Genlock/timecode i/o options. Here’s a smattering of links, blogs and pictures on this camera…we’ll be covering the announcement this afternoon. Stay tuned.

FreshDV’s coverage of NAB 2008 is made possible by the support of the following companies:
Cinevate | DSC Labs | Imagineer Systems | Letus | Redrock Micro | Videoguys | Zacuto

Assimilate has announced a new product aimed directly at users of the Red Digital Cinema camera. Scratch Cine is a tool that handles .r3d files and is designed to handles dailies and ingest tasks like one-light grading, tape and file exports, and metadata handling. No pricing details have been announced, we’ll try to get some details at NAB.

(Via Studio Daily)

I was looking for some lightweight NLE/cutting software solutions recently. Obviously Windows users have Windows Movie Maker, and Mac users have iMovie. Neither are particularly lightweight, and both have a number of feature restrictions. So in the interests of sharing info, here are a few other NLE options. Note that I haven’t had time, resources, or the inclination to thoroughly test all these software packages. Please report back in the comments if a particular solution was helpful or if you experienced any issues.

SimpleMovieX
www.aeroquartet.com/SimpleMovieX/
Free “unlimited trial” for Mac. Simple editing, similar to Quicktime Pro’s interface. Has some unique features like batch processing, auto commercial detection in TV recordings, and long-GOP keyframe detection. Demo version is full-featured, but has “slower saving.” No trial time limitation.

ZS4
www.zs4.net
Free for Mac/Windows/Linux, Ubuntu, Gentoo, etc. Video Editing/Compositing. HDV formats aren’t supported directly, but there are workarounds. Lightweight, and a Portable version is available here.

Jahshaka
jahshaka.org
Free for Mac/Windows. Editing, compositing, 3d. Looks like a very interesting option, seems quite modular and flexible.

Cinelerra
cv.cinelerra.org / heroinewarrior.com (multiple versions explanation here).
Free for Linux, Ubuntu, Gentoo, etc. Mature, full-featured digital video editing software.

Kino DV
www.kinodv.org
Free for Linux, Ubuntu, Gentoo, etc. Mature standard-definition DV editing.

LiVES
lives.sourceforge.net
Free for Linux, BSD, Unix. Windows and XBOX support via bootable live CD. Mac/Darwin support if you care to compile your own.

KDENLIVE
kdenlive.sourceforge.net
Free Linux. Seems slightly limited in scope, DV editing.

Avid FreeDV
www.avid.com/products/freedv/
Free for Mac/Windows. Avid FreeDV is no longer available from Avid, but you can still find some mirrors here and there.

VirtualDub
www.virtualdub.org
Free for Windows. Not really an NLE, does capture, processing, encoding, and has extensive filter support. The Swiss Army knife of video processing.

Avidemux
fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
Free for Mac/Windows/Linux, etc. Simple editing tools. Not really so much of a full-featured NLE as a suite of tools for working with streams and formats. A Mac alternative to VDub.

ffmpegX
homepage.mac.com/major4/
Free for Mac. Not an editor, does split, demux, crop, etc. Better at encoding, filters, handles subtitles, author DVD folders, etc. Good addition to any editor’s toolkit. Another VirtualDub-like option for Macintosh users.

Update:

DVJ Imaging
djv.sourceforge.net/index.html
Free for Mac/Windows/Linux, etc. Professional movie playback and image processing software for the film and computer animation industries.

Blender
www.blender.org
Free for Mac/Windows/Linux, etc. A mature OSS project that provides a complete suite for 3D content creation (and a great sequence editor, apparently).

Just a quick note for a fellow media blogger in trouble…Scott Simmons of The Editblog has been having intermittent web host issues for the past few days. I’m told they are working on it and will have things back up in due time. We’ll be looking forward to it…Scott is an accomplished editor and always has something interesting to say. Meanwhile, he’ll will be a guest on the Digital Production Buzz podcast tomorrow (Thursday) to talk about “What’s wrong with the young FCP editor.”

As spotted on bash.org:

sterano: Whats the difference between Raid_0 and Raid_1?
Steve: In Raid_0 the zero stands for how many files you are going to get back if something goes wrong.

From the Apple Press Release comes the following information regarding the long awaited Final Cut Server:

Final Cut Server Now Shipping
CUPERTINO, California
April 8, 2008

Apple® today announced that Final Cut® Server, a powerful software solution for media asset management and workflow automation, is
now shipping. A scaleable server application, Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets, allows searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes and enables viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a PC or Mac®.

“Whether producing a 30-second spot, the nightly news or a major motion picture, Final Cut Studio is the choice of editors around the world,� said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “With the introduction of Final Cut Server, collaboration just got a whole lot easier for millions of editors, producers and clients who work with Final Cut Studio.�

“For the past few months we’ve been using a beta of Final Cut Server to manage our entire workflow pipeline, 24/7, and it held up beautifully,� said Evan Schechtman, CTO of Radical Media. “Best of all, Final Cut Server integrates seamlessly with our home-grown solutions so it’s actually adding new value to systems we’ve relied on for years.�

Final Cut Server automatically catalogs media and generates thumbnails, poster frames and low-resolution clip proxies for quick browsing in user specified formats. A cross- platform client enables a PC or Mac to use Final Cut Server’s broad search capabilities, which extend from simple keywords to complex combinations of IPTC, XMP and XML metadata. Final Cut Server also configures a range of highly specific access controls that define user permissions on an asset or project basis.

Final Cut Server scales to support workgroups of different sizes, ranging from a two- person post house to a multi-national news organization and can automate as much, or as little, of the production pipeline as needed. A configurable event-based response model tracks job status, monitors media changes, and automates review and approval notifications and complex sequences of tasks—all through a series of simple menu selections.

Tightly integrated with Final Cut Studio® for a seamless extension of the workflow, Final Cut Server includes Compressor 3, Apple’s industrial strength digital encoding and compression tool, which delivers pristine format conversions for publishing to DVD, broadcast television, the Internet, Apple TV®, iPod®, iPhone™ and other mobile phones.

Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Server is available immediately through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US) for one server and 10 concurrent client licenses, and $1,999 (US) for one server and unlimited client licenses. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Server can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutserver. Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

One of the production disciplines we talk about here at FreshDV is the all-important planning process. Hours put into a project on the front-end can literally save days when you are in the field. Unfortunately, pre-planning is all too often overlooked and marginalized…talk to anyone that has worked in production and they’ll tell you the horror stories. This article by Simon Wyndham talks about working with your client to clearly define their needs and expectations, as well as taking care to plan effectively for the location and shoot. It’s a good basic primer on how to approach a challenging shoot and (hopefully) turn it into a quality production that fully meets the needs of the client and properly impacts the intended audience.

“…while clients are often willing to spend less and less on video production, they still expect the same high quality. At the same time we, as the video producers, still have to pay bills. In other words, our overheads do not decrease just because clients have decided to pay less for the same work! The way around this conundrum is embedded within the entire video production process. At the end of the day it all comes down to project organisation, and importantly, project clarity.”

On April 1st, gaming megasite IGN released a “World Exclusive Trailer” for The Legend of Zelda movie. It was of course an elaborate prank, but the trailer was very convincing and effective. The project was produced by Rainfall Films, Pre-Production began last summer and post took 3 months.

Filming took place in September. The trailer was shot 720p HD on two Panasonic’s HVX-200 cameras, one with the Redrock Micro 35mm adapter to achieve a film-like look. Footage was transferred via P2 media cards to a MacBook Pro laptop and 1TB LaCie firewire drive. A wealth of footage was shot, well beyond what was needed for the trailer (the entire three minutes could have been made from Link and Ganon’s swordfight). In the end, no one wanted to leave Hyrule - but after three days of filming, production wrapped.

You can watch the trailer and behind the scenes video below. Continue reading ‘Behind the Scenes on the IGN Legend of Zelda Trailer’

As you know we are gearing up for our NAB 2008 video coverage. This year we are offering more coverage and we want you to join the FreshDV team. Let us know what you would like to see or what questions you would like to have answered and we will do our best to get those answered for you. Go ahead and start compiling those wish lists now and email them to kendal@FreshDV.com and mjeppsen@FreshDV.com, and we will do our best to get the coverage you want. Also if you will be in Vegas keep an eye for us and make sure you say hi, we would love to meet you.

If you are one of the ones who took the leap of faith and updated to Quicktime version 7.4.1, you may have noticed that certain codec export choices have simply vanished. Gone! Oh noes! Where is my Sorensen and Motion JPEG option? Fear not, they are still there. Like a cancer aids it’s host, Apple was just helping you out by gently pushing you in the direction of newer, more improved codecs (*cough*H.264*cough*). In 7.4.1 they added a new QT Preferences checkbox and left it unticked by default. You can restore your precious export options by going to System Preferences > Quicktime > Advanced and ticking the “Show legacy encoders” checkbox. The codecs that Apple didn’t invite to the QT 7.4.1 weekend kegger are:

BMP
Cinepak
Component Video
Graphics
H.261
H.263
Motion JPEG A
Motion JPEG B
Planar RGB
Sorenson Video
Sorenson Video3
TGA
TIFF
Video

There is a specific support doc on this issue here. And if the 7.4.1 update is causing you problems, you can always revert using these instructions.

From Season 12: Canada on Strike. Continue reading ‘South Park on Internet Distribution’

Motu has announced Windows support for their V3HD do-anything-DVCPROHD i/o solution. With the new firmware and drivers, Adobe Premiere CS3 users can take advantage of the V3HD’s ingest and video monitoring options. Download Windows drivers here.