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

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.

When we asked FreshDV readers what they wanted to know about the XDCAM PMW-EX1, one of the many replies was “why does it carry the Cinealta badge?” That is a very good question. I believe that one way to answer it is to show the extensive menu options and settings available on this camcorder. The video attached to this post is a detailed 27-minute demonstration of the EX1 menus, from top to bottom, showing each toggle available and what options you can select for each setting. For a detailed walk-through of the Picture Profile menu and image control options, check out this video as well. You can download the Quicktime video manually, subscribe to our audio/video podcast feed, or watch the embedded Flash version below.

 Sony XDCAM EX1 Menu Systems Overview (70MB) [27:21m]: Download

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 our testing Midtown Video provided FreshDV with a EX1 camcorder with the 8GB SxS media card. Before the camera arrived, I downloaded the latest XDCAM Transfer software and SxS drivers. I also had to ensure that I was at the latest FCP version, 6.0.2, and I also brought my Tiger OS and Quicktime versions up date using Software Update (I’ve been a bit behind, these things make me nervous). I should note that I am using Final Cut Studio on a PPC G5 2.7 Dual. I did not have a computer with ExpressCard slot available for these tests, so the USB connection on the camcorder was used. It simply uses a standard USB cable with mini connector on the camcorder end. Footage shot was a mixed bag…most of the time the card ended up with a mix of SP, HQ, and overcranked 60p footage on it. But regardless of the format, the import procedure into FCP is the same. I wanted to note my experiences with that process. For starters we should note a few things about the camcorder.

Below the rotating handgrip is a small flip-up plastic cover that conceals a line of output connections…A/V, Component mini, and USB mini. The EX has both Camera and Media (VTR) modes, but you can connect to your computer in either mode. When you connect the USB mini cable to the camera and computer, the EX will ask on the display if you would like to connect to the computer…Execute or Cancel. You can use the jogstick at the top of the handgrip to select and click Execute. As a side note, this camera makes you feel really powerful…every confirmation action prompts you to choose “Execute!” The only way that process could be geekier is if the camera gave you a “Make It So!” option. But I digress… Continue reading ‘XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Final Cut Pro Workflow’

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 test the XDCAM EX was shot in a controlled studio environment using a DSC Labs CamAlign MultiBurst resolution chart. The test pattern was evenly lit at 45-degree angles by two soft light sources, the resolution chart surface measured an approx spot value of 78 IRE. The EX1 camcorder was locked off on a tripod with the zoom set to Z54 (the EX1 zoom range is Z0 through Z99) and the iris locked at f/6.7. The electronic shutter was locked at 1/125 for progressive modes and 1/250 for interlaced 60i. Picture Profile was set to Matrix Standard, Gamma STD1, and Auto Knee. Detail and Crispening enhancement settings were at 0 except where noted (those settings are fully adjustable in single increments from -99 to +99). We present here full-resolution uncompressed TIF frames exported directly from the FCP 6.0.2 timeline in three of the most useful formats the XDCAM EX1 offers.

 1080/24p: Download
 1080/24p Detail+50: Download
 1080/24p Crispening+50: Download
 720/24p: Download
 720/24p Detail+50: Download
 720/24p Crispening+50: Download
 1080/60i: Download
 1080/60i Detail+50: Download
 1080/60i Crispening+50: Download
 All 9 charts in one Zip file: 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.

If you read FreshDV daily, you already know that we are testing a Sony XDCAM EX1 this weekend, courtesy of Midtown Video. It’s a beautiful camera that makes incredible images, I have been very impressed with it’s performance. For the most part, this one lives up to the hype.

That being said, we all know that every camera has an achilles heel. That’s just the way it works…engineering is all about tradeoffs. And the XDCAM EX1 is no exception. As the EX uses CMOS as it’s imaging tech, it is subject to rolling shutter artifacts. We recently talked about how rolling shutter artifacts are cropping up in Red Digital Cinema footage…and I noted the same issues are evident in EX1 footage shot this evening. Right-click the download link below for a half-resolution example of this strobe artifact. It was shot on the EX1 @ f/1.9, 1/48, 9dB gain at 1080/24p HQ (XDCAM35/VBR). Selecting higher shutter speeds doesn’t help, in fact the artifact becomes even more apparent. 1/32 shutter doesn’t fix it either. So it’s definitely an issue to be aware of in your production work…perhaps the EX is not the best solution for a fashion show or wedding reception…or police car strobes.

UPDATE: Quite a few people wrote in to tell me that the issue reportedly goes away when the electronic shutter is turned off. So I tested the camera with a flash in all the different formats, shutter ON vs shutter OFF. Here are two studio test framegrabs that show this issue less prominent but still present in 1080/24p footage with the shutter mode toggled off. The downloads are full-resolution frames exported from FCP timeline as jpeg-12. I haven’t spent much time digging into the footage, but the camera looks to be catching probably 40% or 50% of the flashes mid-roll. Small flashes that don’t light the whole frame slip through more easily it seems. So maybe 1 out of every 2 don’t appear to get caught.

 EX1 Rolling Shutter Strobe Artifact [0:10m]: Download
 HQ 1080/24p @ 1/48 electronic shutter: Download
 HQ 1080/24p w/ electronic shutter off: Download

(Focus on this shot is off a touch, and I’m shooting through tree branches. Not perfect. But it clearly shows the issue I’m talking about)

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.

Jonny Lee, the creator of the $14 Steadicam and other unique indie-tastic solutions has come up with a Virtual Reality proof of concept program that works with a Wii Remote and sensor bar. It has obvious implications in the gaming world, particulary on the Wii platform. However, I see this as a potential tool for 3D artists and compositors. The ability to simple jog your head left or right to view and navigate around objects in a comp might be very useful. Here’s hoping someone picks up the torch and runs with this idea. You can download the software at Jonny’s site. Video embedded below.
Continue reading ‘Head Tracking for VR Displays with the WiiRemote’

Seam Carving for images got a lot of giddy press when it was demonstrated recently. As it should…the technology represents a paradigm shift (yes, I said it!) in the way images are cropped and resized. Researchers have now shown Seam Carving tech working on video footage. Sweet.

Create Digital Motion has some super slo-mo example footage up, it was shot with the Smooth Slow Record function that is available on newer Sony HDV camcorders.

“With the last batch of slow-mo clips I had some requests to further slow down the motion in post-processing. I don’t currently have any 3rd party retiming plugins, but it turns out that the 200FPS (240 for NTSC regions) is shot interlaced, so my previous tests were only displaying 100FPS progressive. To get the full motion from 200FPS on a progressive monitor I needed to slow the footage to 50% speed and de-interlace, a trivial task in any editor.

Even this low-tech retiming gives you an idea of how powerful 200FPS can be. I actually had an ND filter in place to keep the shutter speed relatively low and keep a bit of a dreamy look for this shoot (the minimum allowed, of course, being faster than 1/200). With full sunlight you’d have no trouble getting up past 1/1000, which would result in very little motion blur and allow very accurate motion tracking, and some exciting retiming opportunities.”

They also address the issue of the resolution hit that you take in the slow-motion mode, and have shared a few full-res framegrabs to illustrate this. I should note that it is clear from those frames that the footage doesn’t really have the detail to be useful beyond SD resolutions, but looks quite nice when downscaled.

In a Microfilmmaker Magazine feature aptly entitled “Fund-Raising For Your Micro-Budget Film”, authors John Gaspard and Dale Newton cover the process and legalities of courting investors, getting grant money, calling in favors, and other ways of raising funds for your film budget. On a similar note, I also recommend reading The DV Rebel’s Guide.

EXCERPT:

Of course, there are moments during the money-raising process that may cause you to feel panic or even desperation. During these moments, you may feel as though you would do anything for money. Anything. There are a few situations that do not qualify in the strictest sense as found money, and we recommend that you don’t succumb to these temptations when money gets tight:

* Your distant, ailing aunt asks for a second opinion, and you arrange an appointment for her with Dr. Kevorkian.

* You accidentally place your younger brother’s kidney up for auction on eBay.

* You enter a convenience store wearing a ski mask and carrying a prop pistol, and the goofy night clerk inadvertently gives you all the money in the safe.

(Via Camcorderinfo)

 Understanding Depth of Field - A Practical Primer [19:26m]: Download

Depth-of-Field. In simple terms DOF can be defined as “the distance in front of and beyond the subject that appears to be in focus.” Seems simple, right? But the myriad factors that contribute to a composition’s Depth of Field are often misunderstood (and frequently overly-simplified), leaving many filmmakers and photographers with a false understanding of the physics at play. And it goes without saying that when you educate yourself on the factors that contribute to DOF, you gain a greater level of control over your images, whether you are a cinematographer or photographer, professional or novice. A grasp of the basics of DOF become even more essential when shooting with a 35mm lens adapter system for video cameras.

That is why I am pleased to present the following 20 minute primer on the subject of Depth of Field, filled with practical illustrations and explanations of the physics at work in a lens, and simple examples that will help elevate your understanding of the subject. It thoroughly covers the topics of aperture size, focal length, camera-to-subject distance, circle of confusion (CoC), hyperfocal distance, and infinity focus. I believe that you’ll find it a very informative and approachable explanation of a somewhat arcane and confusing topic.
Continue reading ‘Video Tutorial: Understanding Depth of Field’

We’ve talked about the HDMI standard and HDMI cables in the past here at FreshDV, but I was encouraged to look deeper at this recently by reader Robert Shaver. In the course of our conversation he passed along an excellent article link that addresses the origins of the HDMI standard, and why consumers are being mis-lead about the need for specialty cables.

“Companies have developed and very effectively marketed their co-axial, twin-axial, dual-shielded and triple-shielded cables to the confused DVI / HDMI consumer. Various dire consequences can result from the use of ‘cheap’ cables… or so the simple consumer is educated by such companies.

Figure 2 illustrates an HDMI cable, shown approximately at one-half scale, and Ethernet cables [9] following industry standards at approximately their actual sizes. The HDMI cable is substantially thicker and inflexible presumably because of shielding architecture incorporated within. This naturally increases the cost of the cable assembly.

But do HDMI cables have to be double and triple-shielded in such manner, when data is transmitted through wire pairs within in low-swing, differential, low-EMI manner? Or is such cable architecture necessary for the high data rates required for high-definition video transmission? Studies conducted most recently at ComLSI, disclosed in [4, 5], show that Cat-5e cabling can be just as good from a signal transmission and reception perspective over very significant lengths (25m+) as any advanced cable architecture. A prior paper goes farther, disclosing SXGA video transmission over 300 meters of Cat 5 cabling…”

UPDATE: Official specs are out in the wild. Consider this article deprecated (good discussion follows however).

The long-awaited Sony XDCAM EX officially launches on Thursday the 6th at IBC in Amsterdam, and we’ll (hopefully) get a closer look at some real, detailed specs. In the meantime, here are the details we’ve been able to glean on this very interesting camcorder. A little bird told us…

*The official model designation of the XDCAM EX is “PMW-EX1″. In the past few months I’ve noted several instances in which Sony has used the phrase “EX series”. To me that is a clear indication that other models will follow. So perhaps we’ll see a feature-limited CMW-EX1 in the near future.

*The camcorder will feature three 1/2″ progressive chips, possibly CMOS since they have been noted as “new” and “low-power”. No specifics on whether or not they’ll be full native 1920×1080, or 1440×1080 like the XDCAM HD 1/2″ series of shoulder mount cameras. My guess is the latter, Sony traditionally seems to be very protective of “pro” series cameras, and probably wouldn’t risk undermining the XDCAM HD shoulder-mount series by putting too many gizmo’s in this offering. If the XDCAM EX does drop with full raster chips, that might pose a problem for NLE software. Does Final Cut Pro and the like even support XDCAM HD media at 1920×1080? Though I suppose in FCP you could just drop the clips into a timeline with ProRes 422 as the render codec. The other question about the chips…if they are in fact CMOS, will they feature a global (non-rolling) shutter design?

*The camcorder records to solid-state ExpressCard media, currently available in 8, 16, and 32GB capacities. It has two slots. At full HQ (35Mbps, VBR) you’ll get 2.5 minutes per gigabyte. At 25Mbps CBR, expect to fit 3.5 minutes per GB. So two 16GB cards will net you 90 min @ 35Mbps variable, and 115 min @ 25Mbps constant bitrate. Double that for 32GB cards, rinse, repeat.
Continue reading ‘Sony XDCAM EX Pre-Launch Specs’

Ticklebooth is one of my favorite sites as of late, they do a great job of cutting through the veritable deluge of web video and delivering only the cream of the crop. And this fan-created in-depth analysis of The Shining is no exception.

UPDATE:
Direct Link to Part 1
Direct Link to Part 2

 Nikon Lens Tests with SG Pro and HVX200 (LARGE) [2:16m]: Download
 Nikon Lens Tests with SG Pro and HVX200 (SMALL) [2:16m]: Download

Matt Garrett and Bruce Allen recently conducted a series of Nikon lens tests with a SGPro 35mm adapter mounted to a Panasonic HVX-200. They tested the 17-35mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 105mm f/2.0, 135mm f/2.0, and 180mm f/2.8 Nikon lenses. That’s quite a lineup of glass!

My first impression is that the footage is quite sharp, and exhibits a minimal amount of vignetting, both which are potential problem areas for 35mm adapter systems. We’ve arranged with Bruce and Matt to host the files here so all you video-hungry FreshDV hordes don’t drive up their bandwidth bill.

You can view the test results for yourself using either the 640×360 22MB small version, or the full-res 1280×720 version which weighs in at 367MB. Thanks guys, for taking the time to do the lens testing and sharing your results with the community.

TED Talks presents another fantastic “look what’s coming” app called Photosynth. The creator Blaise Aguera y Arcas shows some of the amazing possibilities, it really has to be seen.

“Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation.”

What’s really cool is that they are beautifully leveraging “the cloud”, the social community (in this case, Flickr) to source all the images that Photosynth then intelligently stitches together. Watch the video below.
Continue reading ‘Photosynth Leverages Flickr to Generate 3D Models’