In our last Gear In 60 Seconds video, I talked about my travel grip kit. Here’s an episode of GearIn60 that discusses the lightweight LED lighting kit that I use with my grip kit. I’ve included links below to each piece in the kit, if you are interested in building a similar kit of your own. Watch below…

GearIn60Sec_flycase2.mov

I’ve been loving shooting with these affordable ePhoto LED lights. You can find them branded through other companies as well, but they all seem to be based on the same design (CN600), and are commonly available for around $300 on Amazon and eBay. They aren’t perfect, as all things in life, you do get what you pay for…certainly the more expensive LitePanels brand LED 1×1 lights will give you a little better build quality and improved color accuracy. Indeed, one issue with these cheap heads is a green spike in the color temperature. But if you use them with the included minus green filter (magenta gel), you’ll find them to work well, very close to daylight balanced when corrected.

I have a set of two 600 LEDs, and use them often as key + rim for single-person talking-head interviews. I’m using a Lowel 250w generally as my background light, but will be adding a 3rd and 4th LED head to my kit soon. I generally use my Road Rags diffusion frames to turn the key LED into a softer source, and position that very close to my subject, about 2-3 feet away, just out of the camera frame. If I need to reduce contrast, I’ll position a RoadRags frame with reflector material just off the subjects cheek opposite the key, and fill in some of those shadows with bounce. Or you can use the black flag material in your frame to increase contrast the same way. The rim/backlight LED light is generally undiffused and I choke it down a little with the LED barn doors. If you get the battery-powered versions, they will run off a 14.8v V-mount battery (and RED bricks will do the trick), so if you are without power or in a run-n-gun situation you can handle that. And of course you still have the AC adapter for power. Speaking of, their AC adapter plugs are not really production-ready…I am just waiting for one of mine to get trashed on set. Way too weak of a design. So I’m looking for a more robust 3rd party power adapter to replace them with. Again, you get what you pay for.

At approx 85%-100% power at the LED 600 key light, I can generally shoot at around f/4.0 to f/5.6 on a Canon 5D MKII DSLR, at 320 ISO and 1/50th shutter. For a camera like the EX1 or EX3, you can shoot at around F/1.9 at -3dB gain, and 1/48th shutter. For the EX, this still delivers a nice effective DOF separation from your background when you zoom in a bit. So in my opinion, the 600 LED is enough for small interview setups, but the 900 or 1200 might be more helpful when you need more stop on your lens, or wish to shoot multiple subjects at a single time. And if you are looking to shoot larger groups of people, you should also consider the 24×36″ Road Rags II kit, which offers larger diffusion frames. The original 18×24″ Road Rags kit is what I’ve got, and it’s sized nicely for a single LED light…but larger lights and more people in your frame will begin to push the limits of what it can do effectively.

Gear List:
* Pelican 0340 Cube case
* ePhoto 600 LED Light (Alternatively: ePhoto 900 or 1200 LED Lights, or LitePanels 1x1s)
* Lowel 250-watt Pro-Light
* Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder (Translucent Rice Powder)
* FilmTools KleenSlate Markers

Here’s a few set pictures from a recent interview shoot that show this LED lighting kit in use.

For more info on these cheap ePhoto LED lights, watch Caleb Pike’s review below by DSLR Video Shooter.

Important footnote: When putting your kit together and packing for travel, I cannot stress enough the importance of carefully weighing your gear cases before you head to the airport. DO THIS. If you don’t have a good travel hang-scale, use a bathroom scale…first weigh yourself on the scale, and then pick up the gear bag and stand on the scale. Subtract your weight, and you’ve got the weight of your bags. I’d recommend that you weight them twice, and make sure you have at least 1-2lbs of overhead, in case your scale is off. If you are over the 50lb maximum by even a single pound when you check-in, or your bags/cases exceed the 62 linear inches maximum, you’ll pay exorbitant overage fees. Airlines have zero sympathy these days for overages. Each airline also has additional restrictions for international flights, so be aware of those weight and size limits.

You should also be aware that some airlines like US Airways charge ridiculous fees for more than two bags…currently it’s $25 for the first bag, $35 for the 2nd, and the 3rd bag is a whopping $125. This means that three normal-weight bags on US Airways would cost you $185. In my opinion, that is outright highway robbery, so caveat emptor when you are booking tickets. Or better yet, fly with an airline that gives a flying rip about their customers…fly Southwest. With Southwest you can check two bags free of charge, and the 3rd bag is a reasonable $50. But regardless of who you fly with, know their baggage policies and restrictions before you book.

Special thanks to Jesse Rosten for conceiving and creating the GearIn60 logo intro. Seriously, you want to work with this guy.

Like a lot of freelance shooters, I travel regularly for various projects. A common need when shooting on the road is a lightweight grip and lighting support kit. You need stands, lighting modifiers, and various odds and ends that you will inevitably use on-set, whether you are shooting interviews or narrative. And to avoid paying overage fees, you need it to be within the weight and size limitations for checked airline baggage; currently 62 linear inches (length + width + height) and 50 pounds or less for US airlines.

To that end, I’ve put together a simple three-point lighting and grip travel kit. Here’s a FreshDV Gear In 60 Seconds video that talks about the grip case that I travel with, with links below to each piece in the kit, if you are interested in building a similar kit of your own. I’ve also got another GearIn60 video that discusses the lighting kit I support with this grip gear kit, you can see that here. Watch the grip kit video below…

GearIn60Sec_flycase1.mov

Gear Links:
* Pelican 1750 grip case (under 62″ linear size)
* Lowel Gel File
* FilmTools Black C47s/Clothespins
* MSE RoadRags
* MSE MiniGrip
* MSE C-Stands
* Manfrotto Nano 6′ light stands
Or get the Matthews C-Vival Kit, which includes RoadRags, MiniGrip, 2x C-Stands, and the 1750 Pelican case.

In the next Gear In 60 Seconds video, I’ll talk about the LED lights I’ve been using on the road, and how I use the Road Rags to modify and control that light. Here’s a few set pictures from a recent interview shoot that show this grip gear in use.

Important footnote: When putting your kit together and packing for travel, I cannot stress enough the importance of carefully weighing your gear cases before you head to the airport. DO THIS. If you don’t have a good travel hang-scale, use a bathroom scale…first weigh yourself on the scale, and then pick up the gear bag and stand on the scale. Subtract your weight, and you’ve got the weight of your bags. I’d recommend that you weight them twice, and make sure you have at least 1-2lbs of overhead, in case your scale is off. If you are over the 50lb maximum by even a single pound when you check-in, or your bags/cases exceed the 62 linear inches maximum, you’ll pay exorbitant overage fees. Airlines have zero sympathy these days for overages. Each airline also has additional restrictions for international flights, so be aware of those weight and size limits.

You should also be aware that some airlines like US Airways charge ridiculous fees for more than two bags…currently it’s $25 for the first bag, $35 for the 2nd, and the 3rd bag is a whopping $125. This means that three normal-weight bags on US Airways would cost you $185. In my opinion, that is outright highway robbery, so caveat emptor when you are booking tickets. Or better yet, fly with an airline that gives a flying rip about their customers…fly Southwest. With Southwest you can check two bags free of charge, and the 3rd bag is a reasonable $50. But regardless of who you fly with, know their baggage policies and restrictions before you book.

Special thanks to Jesse Rosten for conceiving and creating the GearIn60 logo intro. Seriously, you want to work with this guy.

This fascinating behind-the-scenes 10-min doc shows how they pulled off these shots.

Back in May, I was DoP on a music video Directed and conceived by our very own Kendal Miller. We shot it on Red MX, and had very specific storyboards and angles of view that we had to execute throughout the three-day shoot. Along they way we made a quick, candid video about why you might want a Director’s Viewfinder on your next set. Watch below.

DirectorsViewfinder720pH264.mov

Abel Cine has been kind enough to develop and release a few scene files and image settings for the Sony PMW-F3 and FS100 cameras. There are recommended base settings, as well as looks intended to match specific cameras like the Varicam and the 5DMKII (including a Technicolor CineStyle image match).

You can find Abel’s FS100 settings here, and their F3 settings here. Excellent resource!

DaVinci has released the Lite version of Resolve, their $30k / $1k software grading and finishing suite, and NoFilmSchool has the details. DaVinci Resolve Lite has fewer features than the $1,000 software-only version, but what do you expect for free? Overall, looks like a great way to try out the software and grade less-complex projects. Here’s a direct link to the downloads page.

Jag35 has a podcast series called Making Film, and it’s hosted by longtime-friend of FreshDV Thomas Roberts.

About a month ago, Thomas interviewed FreshDV’s Kendal Miller about his background and evolution as a filmmaker and creative. Along the way they talked about what Kendal was learning as a filmmaker, what he is working towards, and his involvement in the early stages of FreshDV. You can listen to Kendal’s interview here (direct mp3 download).

A week or so ago, I had the opportunity for a similar interview with Thomas. We discussed how FreshDV got it’s start, and my own evolution as a filmmaker. We also talked a bit about my thoughts on Red Digital Cinema, web content theft, and my thoughts on film festivals as a viable means of growing as a filmmaker. You can listen to my (Matt Jeppsen’s) interview here (direct mp3 download).

Jesse Rosten haz it. Posted over at PVC.

Over at Reduser, Bruce Allen has some thoughtful predictions on the next revision of Mac Pro systems from Apple. This is a very interesting discussion, in light of what appears to be a more consumer/prosumer focus by Apple following the FCPx release. It’s a good thread of comments that follow as well, check it out.

The $5000 Sony FS100 camera has been shipping for a few weeks now, and reports that I’ve seen from users have been pretty positive. The camera appears to be an excellent affordable option for users who want the sensor capabilities and look of the $14,000 PMW-F3, but don’t have deep enough pockets. The F3 offers a PL mount standard, and one of the compromises of the FS100 is Sony’s new e-mount for lenses. Users are generally using adapters to utilize other varieties of lenses, Nikon, Canon, etc.

16×9 is now shipping another mount option for FS100 users, it’s a $870 Cine Lens Mount that allows you to mount standard PL lenses to e-mount cameras. The mount includes a 15mm rod support to bear the weight of heavy PL glass, and offers bayonet locking on both sides of the adapter. Users can also adjust backfocus with shims, should it be necessary to compensate for a lens that is off. It looks like a well-engineered solution to mount pro lenses to this affordable camera system. Very cool, check it out.

Quantel has a blog post up with an interesting info-graphic on the worldwide impact that 3D has made on ticket sales and theater upgrades. Check it out here.

In related news, there was a NYT article prior to the new Transformers 3D release in which Michael Bay went on the offensive against theater owners, complaining that they were underlighting 3D films to save on projection bulbs, and asking them to show Transformers: Dark of the Moon at full brightness.

Arri has just announced the latest SUP package for the Alexa and Alexa Plus camera systems. It includes a large number of important feature additions, tools like False Color in LOG C mode, peaking, and also now support for custom look files that allow you to “bake in” a custom or low-contrast look without the annoyance of recording to LOG C. Very cool. Read the full feature list below:

New features of SUP 4.0 applicable to both ALEXA and ALEXA Plus include…
• Custom looks via ARRI Look Files
You can now apply a customized look to all ALEXA outputs through an ARRI Look File,
which alters the way the camera image is converted to video color spaces. For example
ARRI has designed a Low Contrast Curve (LCC) Look File for those who do not want to
deal with Log C but would like more dynamic range in a gradable video image.

• New SxS PRO card options
Audio playback from SxS PRO cards is now possible. When playing back a clip, the
audio is output as embedded audio on REC OUT, MON OUT, and as an analog audio
signal through the headphones jack. A new option to disable SxS recording switches off
the compression and SxS boards inside ALEXA but still outputs the HD-SDI record flag.

• Auto White Balance
In addition to the white balance options already available, the new Auto White Balance
can automatically determine the red/blue white balance and green/magenta CC values.

• Anamorphic de-squeeze
The first ALEXA feature to be enabled with the purchase of a license key, anamorphic
de-squeeze allows images shot with 2x or 1.3x anamorphic lenses to be displayed in
their proper aspect ratio on set, either in the viewfinder or on a monitor.

• Peaking focus check
The new peaking function makes it easier to determine if an area is in focus or not by
highlighting everything that is in focus, either in the viewfinder or on a monitor.

• False color exposure check for Log C images
The false color exposure check available in the viewfinder and the monitor output will
now show accurate exposure levels for Log C images as well as Rec 709 and DCI P3.

• Fan improvements for hot shooting conditions
ALEXA now achieves silent running at ambient temperatures of up to +30 °C with the
fan set to ‘Regular’ mode. When it’s even hotter on set, ‘Rec Low’ mode runs the fan fast
during standby to pre-cool the camera, but slowly and silently during recording.

• Image comparison options for the camera operator
RETURN IN video has been enabled, allowing the camera operator to see a reference
image such as a second camera feed or a previz image with VFX elements already
added. In addition, a JPEG still image can be loaded from the SD card into the camera
and displayed for comparison with the live image.

New features of SUP 4.0 applicable only to ALEXA Plus include…
• Master/Slave lens motor control and 3D sync
When two ALEXA Plus cameras are connected in Master/Slave mode, the motors of the
slave camera will follow the motors of the master camera. 3D lens sync ensures that in a
Master/Slave setup, the focus, zoom and iris on the slave camera lens precisely follows
the lens on the master camera.

• Enhanced Lens Data System (LDS) integration
LDS information can now be displayed in the viewfinder or on the monitor, detailing the
lens being used and its settings. Even non-LDS lenses can be displayed, as long as the
lens profile has been added to the Lens Data Archive.

• Electronic level
A virtual horizon can be displayed on the monitor or in the viewfinder; its sensitivity can
be adjusted in five stages.

All new ALEXAs will have SUP 4.0 installed, and all existing cameras can be upgraded
to SUP 4.0. For more detailed information on SUP 4.0 you can download the “ALEXA
SUP 4.0 Release Notes” from http://www.arri.com/downloads/alexa. At the same place
you will also find white papers on “ARRI Look Files for ALEXA” and “ALEXA Anamorphic
De-squeeze”. Software Update Packet 4.0 can be downloaded from
http://www.arri.com/downloads/alexa

Goodbye, Bruce the Wonder Yak. I’m moving on to greener pastures. My thoughts on switching (back) to Premiere Pro.

Over at Creative Cow, there’s an excellent article written by FCP user who’s been immersed in the software for a decade. He talks about deciding to move away from FCP, and trying out Premiere Pro for the first time recently…and how simple a transition it was to move from FCP 7 over to Adobe’s NLE. He also outlines specific FCP features and their correlating feature in Premiere, which should be very useful information for anyone looking to switch NLE’s. If you count yourself in that group, I highly recommend you check it out.

It’s also worth noting that Adobe is currently offering a 50% off deal on the cost of Creative Studio 5.5 or Premiere Pro for NLE switchers. This is a very good deal for anyone looking to move to a different NLE.