Apple has released a download for Windows users that enables users to view and play ProRes files. Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows can be downloaded here.

Multitouch displays are becoming more and more prevalent, and undoubtedly will hit the editing marketplace sometime in the near futire. Splice Here asks a simple question…how would you use Multitouch?

After reading last week’s Real World Video Compression article that compared four Mac compression tools, I suggested a more comparative test that took time to standardize encoding settings to level the playing field. In the initial shootout, default templates and encoding settings were used for the most part. That’s not to say that the initial test isn’t useful information…in fact, it may be more useful to the majority of users that just want a “set it and forget it” approach to encoding (apologies to Ron Popeil for borrowing his catchphrase). But for more advanced users who will immediately begin pushing knobs and digging into the encoding templates, a comparative test is invaluable for determining what kind of quality and encode times you can expect from each solution. And reviewer Andy Beach has done just that with his latest update to the article.

“As we look at the results, here were the things that stood out for me - all the times were closer to one another than the last test. True, Compressor still took the longest, but it definitely closed the gap. Both it and Episodes times fell and were more consistent this go around (notice neither had an extremely long run as they did before). Visual Hub’s time did increase, which I expect, though not very much.”

“In an overall quality comparison, I also thought Episode came out looking best, followed by Visual Hub and Compressor. There is a sharpness to the image (both video and gfx) in the Episode Pro encode that the other two don’t have (again, check out the full screen to really see the difference).”

I recommend that you read the full Mac Encoder Shootout Redux article here. Thanks to Andy for listening and revisiting this test!

 Avid DS New Features Conference Call [24:52m]: Download

Ever since Avid Technology acquired Softimage in 1998, they have been steadily improving the DS Nitris hardware/software post-production package, adding tools and features to further bring DS into the Avid fold. With their latest version 10 release, Avid has announced a number of improvements that users should find compelling.

Gone is the Avid DS Nitris naming, henceforth the product is referred to simply as Avid DS. Gone also is the proprietary hardware acceleration, instead v10 will lean on an off-the-shelf AJA Xena 2K Dual Link HD card for capture and display. Formats now supported include 720p at 23.976 fps, as well as 1080p50 and 1080p59.94. DPX can be conformed at HD, 2K, and 4K resolutions, and realtime up/down converts are possible. Avid Interplay integration is now in place, and in addition to the Symphony based color corrector, there is now a realtime secondary corrector. Finally, options for LUT support are a boon for film projects. These and a host of other improvements all come despite the fact that Avid has reduced the turnkey pricing of DS v10 + HP workstation + 8TB storage to below $60K.

FreshDV was a part of the initial conference call that announced this latest update, and Avid has kindly granted us permission to post a recording of that call here. So check it out if you are a DS Nitris user and wish to get up to speed quickly, or simply want to learn more about DS. You can download the attached mp3, or simply subscribe to our podcast feed in iTunes.

UPDATE: Long-time Avid user Scott Simmons has posted a few thoughts on this update as well as the exclusion of native Red .R3D support.

 Film Master Red Workflow Interview [16:39m]: Download

Digital Vision recently announced they would be adding native support for Redcode RAW footage in their grading/finishing app Film Master. The following is an audio podcast discussion with Simon Cuff, President of Digital Vision. Simon takes time to answer FreshDV’s questions about the specifics of their .R3D support and talks about how Film Master and Data Conform can be used both in the ingest and final finishing process.

To listen, subscribe to the FreshDV podcast feed.

Red One behind the scenes photo by Stu Maschwitz of Prolost. Used with permission.

Engadget tipped us off to an Instructables article that shows you how to add a CCD eyepiece to a set of binoculars. The parts list seems relatively inexpensive, the CCD camera module is probably the most costly item on the list.

Real World Video Compression has posted a Encoder Shootout between three common Mac software compression options, and one hardware assisted solution. The disparity in price between the tools tested is enormous…with VisualHub at under $25, and Episode Pro nearly $1000. Much like the pricing, the speed and quality of the results were varied.

“…on the Macbook Pro, the Turbo264 was the clear winner, coming in at realtime for the encode for both versions. Surprisingly however, Visual Hub came in second at fairly close to real time. Both Episode and Compressor did about the same coming in at 2 to 4x depending on the encoder and setting. Interestingly enough, each took a great deal longer on one encode, but not the same one (compressor struggled with the iPhone clip, while Episode choked on the Apple TV one). Arguably, I can guess that both Episode & Compressor are doing multi-pass encodes by default, while Visual Hub is doing a single pass. I’m not sure about Turbo as its offloading the encode process to the external DSP, but i’ll throw a guess that it’s single pass until i learn otherwise.”

It is very important to note that this test relied only on default templates for each tool. The author made no attempt to establish a baseline set of encoding options and settings, so the results shouldn’t be read as a definitive answer for which tool is the best performer overall. To the authors credit, he makes this clear…it is a shootout of “quick and dirty” default settings only. While it’s an informative test in that regard, I wish he had also performed a comparative test with identical settings for each tool. Perhaps it will be revisited in a future article…

UPDATE: Andy has expanded on his encoder research by performing a more comparative test and taking time to optimize each software solution. You can read about his findings here.

Recently FreshDV launched the first part in an exclusive multi-segment training series on directing. These intensive FreshDV Film School Director’s Course video tutorials delve deep into what is required of a director and assistant director, both on and off set, and what areas those on that career path can concentrate on to achieve their goals. The discussion is hosted by FreshDV’s Kendal Miller, and Chicago filmmaker Joe Martin brings his unique perspective in teaching the role of a director.

Part 1 was a 15-minute introductory video that discusses the basic qualifications, job description and overall tasks a director is responsible for in a production.

Part 2 deals with the script revision process, both in pre-production and on set. Whether a script change is sparked by a creative choice, a budgetary concern, or to fix a shooting problem, the Part 2 video segment covers the basic protocol and tangible essentials of how you can handle this in your next production.

Part 3 digs deep into the pre-production responsibilities of a Director and Assistant Director. Joe and Kendal discuss the process of breaking down a script by scenes and shots, assigning scene numbers, and building the day to day schedule. They show a sample script breakdown sheet and other necessary forms. Independent filmmakers by and large seem to have the attitude that planning doesn’t matter…but as Joe says in the video, pre-production should be 80% of a project. These tips and techniques will help you get a handle on the planning and pre-prod process, and help you come in under budget and make your shooting schedule.

Part 4 deals with daily production schedules, timesheets and the venerable callsheet…Joe’s “most beneficial information you can generate.” Joe and Kendal discuss planning, accountability, and working with the other members of a filmmaking crew to effectively reach the common goal…completing the project on time and budget.

In Part 5, the discussion transitions to the role of a Director and A/D in the casting and auditioning process. Joe talks about how he likes to run an audition and help faciliate the process, as well as what to look for in an actor’s audition. They also talk about making the offer to your actors, further table reads, and what to look for in the performances. These tips and concepts will help you better cast the roles in your next production.

Watch all five segments in the playlist below or at FreshTV, and please stay tuned for the next installment of this extensive series.

If you enjoyed this tutorial series, please tell a friend or post the link in your favorite forum. Thanks for watching.

dev.xscriptorium.com is a new resource for Adobe AE users, you can freely download scripts, expressions, project files, and presets. It’s a community-sourced website, so you can share your own project files and resources as well. Check it out.

AskMrVideo has an interesting post up that talks about a recent Same-Day-Edit project for a corporate retreat. They distributed cheap Flip Video Ultra camcorders to participants, and used the crowd-sourced video and photos to create a highlight of the day’s events. It’s an interesting twist to the idea of an SDE. You can watch the video below.

Back when ProAppTips was a free resource, broadcast editor Shane Ross recorded a screencast video tutorial on how to use Apple Compressor to uprez Standard Definition footage to 16:9 720p HD. The steps he lays out will leave you with the best possible quality without using third party tools like Red Giant’s InstantHD. You can watch that tutorial here (direct video link). The steps shown in this tutorial can be used to uprez any other type of source, and not just to DVCPROHD. Compressor’s intelligent motion estimation engine generally does a pretty good job at these tasks, so don’t be afraid to try it out the next time you need an uprez. You may be pleasantly surprised at your results.

For more cool tricks that you can do with Compressor, check out our previous coverage of various post-production slow motion techniques.

Finally, it looks as though some of the original ProAppTips video tutorials are now hosted over here. Check it out for Apple/FCP specific tutorials on Sub-Frame Audio Editing, saving Bins/Favorites, tips on mixing Multi aspect ratios, Editing non-standard FCP codecs and more.

 AJA IoHD Production Set Case Study [4:02m]: Download

Earlier this year, FreshDV conducted a week of intensive HD camera reviews. We comparatively tested the Panasonic Varicam, HPX-3000, HVX-200, Sony F900, XDCAM PDW-350, and XDCAM PMW-EX1 in a real-world production set environment. Additionally, we shot these cameras next to a RED One camera, with a 35mm Arri for baseline film stock comparison. It was a grueling production schedule to complete all our tests in the short allotment of time we had, and to further complicate matters we wanted to capture each HD camera in a high-quality master codec as well as it’s native media/format. This would allow us later to compare the two and rule out differences in codec/compression artifacts vs. sensor/processing noise. For that task, we opted for Apple’s ProRes 422 HQ codec, which was close enough to lossless for our needs. AJA was kind enough to provide an IoHD unit to handle ingest and ProRes capture, and it greatly simplified our workflow. In addition to ably handling all the ingest duties, the IoHD was very useful for monitoring on our Panasonic BT-LH2600W HD broadcast monitor. You can read a case study article over at B&H that outlines our workflow on set, and we shot some behind the scenes footage from the set as I worked with the IoHD.

View the video embedded below, or high-res at FreshTV. You can also download an iPod/iPhone compatible version via the attached link, or simply subscribe to our Audio/Video podcast feed.

Thanks for the following companies for their support in making this test possible: Resolution Digital Studios, Zacuto, Schumacher Camera, Fletcher Chicago, Abel Cine NY, Lakeview Productions, and Midtown Video. Stay tuned at FreshDV for our test results.

We recently mentioned that Adobe was soon going to announce native support for RED One footage. Over at Adobe Labs, they released a sneak peek at how the workflow looks. Here’s an excerpt:

“To get to the Red Importer dialog box, you simply double click on any clip in the Premiere Pro Project Panel and the Red Importer Dialog window will open (normally double clickin on the Project Bin sends that clip to the Source Window). There are various settings, but the one that you will use most often is the Global Settings. Here you select your Frame Size like 2048×1152 and then tell the importer how you want it to treat that video. You have various settings like Full, ½, ¼, 1/8, and so on. For my 17” MacBookPro , using ¼ for 2K and 1/8 for 4K as a “working res” was an excellent editing experience for a laptop dealing with 2K files. Remember, these are not proxies, since Red uses a different encoding method for their R3D files, scaling down the video still keeps the picture very clean - not the typical scaled artifacting you would normally see with other encoding methods.

For example, once you select “Apply Global settings” , this will tell the Red Adobe Importer that whenever it sees a 2048×1152 clip to treat it as 512×288. You’ll need to set up a Preset in Premiere Pro and set your frame size to 512×288. Again, when you export, you simply tell the Exporter to change the Frame Size to 2048×1152.”

You can watch a 2-minute intro video (QT link) or a 20-minute overview of the entire workflow (also QT). There are obviously certain caveats and limitations, at this point the importer plugin is a beta. But this is very promising stuff both for spot-checking shots in the field and editors back at the studio.

(Tweet via Jason Diamond)

Over at ProVideoCoalition, Art Adams has a few tips for your first day on the job as a 2AC or camera assistant. He talks about the essentials of set etiquette, what your responsibilities may include, and explains the typical order of events.

“After the lighting is completed the actors come back and rehearse with the camera, and then the scene is shot. Once the director has the takes that he/she wants, the crew should immediately drop into blocking mode to block the next shot. The sequence should always be:
(1) Block
(2) Light
(3) Rehearse
(4) Shoot
(5) Repeat until wrap
Find out which actor marks are in the shot and pull them before the camera rolls, or replace them with tiny pieces of black tape so the camera won’t see them as marks.”

He also discusses how to properly slate a shot, the proper way to handle lenses, and why you should never run on set. This is a good primer for those learning the role of a camera assistant.

For more information on the role of a First AC (and focus puller), watch our three-part series entitled The Art of Pulling Focus. One, Two, Three. In it, career 1AC Bob Sanchez talks about the tools and techniques he uses on the job, and wraps up with a fly-on-the-wall demonstration of his unique method of pulling focus with a speed crank.

From Microsoft Research comes this unique approach to “automated” compositing. Unwrap Mosaics is a semi-automated method of extracting a sequence of images from moving footage, and presenting that extract as a single flattened (and distorted) mosaic image. This can then be painted on and manipulated like any still image. When re-rendered back into the sequence, the result is a convincing composite job. This technique doesn’t work in every situation, but for specific types of shots it does an impressive job. I could see this being rolled out in consumer video editing software on a limited level. See it in action below.