“As someone who does Same-Day Edits at almost every wedding, the day is usually segmented into 20-30 minute blocks of time, so this works perfectly with the 8GB card workflow. For example, at most weddings my assistant and I will each shoot about 10-20 minutes of prep. We meet up before ceremony and I dump both of our cards at that time and back them up.

Out here in Southern California, almost all of our non-Catholic ceremonies are about 20 minutes long, which means they can be easily covered with one 8GB card in HQ mode. Again, this makes importing ceremony footage for SDE and back-up very easy. Likewise, the cocktail hour and grand march/first dance can also usually be fit on one 8GB card. This is all I need for my SDEs, so once I have all of the footage from these 8GB cards, I have my second shooter switch to the 16GB card for the bulk of the reception while I edit for the SDE.”

For wedding videographers that have been apprehensive about migrating to HD and/or solid-state, this article may help dispel some of the confusion and hesitation. Speaking personally, Daniel has a good workflow in place and this solution seems to fit his needs perfectly. Perhaps it will fit yours as well.

For more info on the Sony XDCAM EX1, check out our repository of EX1 links and resources. And as always, purchasing the XDCAM EX1 via our B&H linkage helps to support FreshDV at no additional cost to you.

* Uncompressed wireless system for both HD-SDI and SD-SDI video.
* Multiple formats of video with two channels of embedded audio.
* Latency less than 1ms.
* Transmission range up to 100 feet (30m) through walls and up to 150 feet (50m) in line-of-sight conditions. Use in actual production may vary.
* Conservative 11w power consumption.
* Ships with an IDX V-mount, allowing a direct attachment to an IDX battery for rear mounting on a camera. It can also powered directly by DC.
* Sleek and lightweight: weighing just 1.7 pounds, and no visible antenna.
* Wireless transmission via MIMO/OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), operating between the 5.1-5.8 GHz frequencies. No special license is required.
* Selection of four manual or auto-select frequencies with 256-bit encryption.

Norman Hollyn:
“…the three things that caught my eye, have to do with distribution realities and how they impact production choices. The first was from Lerner, who was commenting on how the international film market is getting more selective in what they will buy from indie filmmakers.”

Says Lerner:
“What we have done, like most of the big independents, is we moved our target from the straight-to-DVD movie to more theatrical films. Today, with the exception of “event” movies, we are doing the same movies as the studios, just with less money.”

Mark Gill goes on to talk about the niche for indie film budgets under the “kill zone” between $50 and $100 million…studios claim a return of just 1% from films in that range, contrasting sharply with the 35% return on $100 million+ budgets. You can read the original article and Norman’s further analysis here.

(Via Final Cut User)

“…AJA Video is adding RED-specific video outputs for some of the unique frame sizes that the REDALERT and REDCINE software applications can produce. This additional support for RED will be included in the version 6.0 software driver for the award-winning KONA 3 video card. The version 6.0 software update will be a free upgrade for KONA 3 users, and will be available for download in late May of 2008.”

The following frame sizes will be offered as video playback options within the
Apple Final Cut Pro>A/V Devices tab in Version 6.0 of the AJA KONA driver software:
2K
* 2048×1152 - outputs the image to 2048×1556
* 2048×1024 - outputs the image to 2048×1080
Note: These 2K frame sizes can be output to either a 2K DCI spec projector or to a 1920×1080 HD video monitor using the AJA KONA 3 real-time 2K crop feature.

1920×1080
* 1536×864 - outputs the image to 1920×1080
* 1536×768 - outputs the image to 1920×1080
* 1024×576 - outputs the image to 1920×1080
* 1024×512 - outputs the image to 1920×1080
This real-time image output automatically centers the picture and fills the rest of the frame with black.

More info at aja.com.

Since CoreMelt plugins are 10-bit, naturally they have written a few white papers on how to leverage these plugins and effects to complete 10-bit finishing workflows in Final Cut Pro. Here’s a writeup on how to finish Red Digital Cinema footage within FCP, retaining maximum color information. For more details on 10-bit codec and effects pitfalls, read this article.

ShotPut EXpress features Single card (manual) and Multiple card (auto) modes. Simply insert the SxS card into a PowerBook or Notebook’s ExpressCard slot and ShotPut EXpress makes secure, verified copies of the SxS card’s video contents (the BPAV folder) in up to three (3) locations. ShotPut EXpress makes a printable activities report log of all the file transfer activities. This text file shows all the details including names of cards and files, the copy destination names, file sizes, duration of each transfer and aggregate transfer time, date, etc. A great way to document and organize your project and billable time.

Fast Copying: Perform copies at top speed without the overhead of Finder or Explorer.
Automatic or Manual Copies: Manually select one or more drives to copy. Or use the auto offload mode to sequentially copy SxS cards upon insertion.
Easy Folder Naming: Save time and improve consistency and organization by auto-naming the copy folders.
Improve Workflow: Make up to 3 simultaneous SxS card copies at the same time.
Reformat Cards: After offloading is finished, automatically Erase the BPAV folder contents and Rename the card so it’s ready to return to the camera.
Security: Verify byte-to-byte comparisons of your media copies to ensure integrity of the files.
Verification Report: Create a record of file transfer activity, how the copies were named, time, date, etc. Save complete details for project organization and billable time.
Print Offload Log: Offload results are presented in a text file, printable with the click of a button.
Session Error Checking: Prevents overwriting of existing folders and duplicate offloading of the same card.
Progress Bar: Displays overall percent completion and file-by-file progress during the copy process.
Copy Cards or Disks: The BPAV contents of any mountable volume (drive) can be copied.

You can purchase ShotPut EXpress for Mac or Windows via Imagine Products.

(Via Film Flap)

“I believe that Godard got it exactly backwards. Cinema is not truth 24 times a second, it is lies 24 times a second…It’s all illusion, but the prize goes to those who make the fantasy the most real, the most visceral, the most involving. This sensation of truthfulness is vastly enhanced by the stereoscopic illusion.”

“…A 3-D film immerses you in the scene, with a greatly enhanced sense of physical presence and participation. I believe that a functional-MRI study of brain activity would show that more neurons are actively engaged in processing a 3-D movie than the same film seen in 2-D. When most people think of 3-D films, they think first of the gimmick shots — objects or characters flying, floating or poking out into the audience. In fact, in a good stereo movie, these shots should be the exception rather than the rule. Watching a stereo movie is looking into an alternate reality through a window. It is intuitive to the film industry that this immersive quality is perfect for action, fantasy, and animation. What’s less obvious is that the enhanced sense of presence and realism works in all types of scenes, even intimate dramatic moments.”

Another interesting sidenote in the interview is the 4K discussion…in lieu of 4K resolution, Cameron would prefer twice the framerate (48fps) at 2K.

“…people have been asking the wrong question for years. They have been so focused on resolution, and counting pixels and lines, that they have forgotten about frame rate. Perceived resolution = pixels x replacement rate. A 2K image at 48 frames per second looks as sharp as a 4K image at 24 frames per second … with one fundamental difference: the 4K/24 image will judder miserably during a panning shot, and the 2K/48 won’t. Higher pixel counts only preserve motion artifacts like strobing with greater fidelity. They don’t solve them at all.”

Here’s a bit more discussion on that topic.

Geeks.com sent us over a Kodak Z885 for a review, one of their 8 megapixel digital cameras they carry on to their store.

Description
The Z885 is an 8.1 MP camera, with a 2.5″ LCD screen. It features a 5x optical zoom, 32MB internal flash storage, SDHC support, digital stabilization, JPEG capture, MPEG4-SP VGA capture, A/V output. It uses two AA batteries to power. In the box we found the camera, batteries, a USB cable with a proprietary port on the camera side, a hand-strap, a dock for Kodak’s printers, a CD, and a getting started guide.

The top of the camera has a dial button where you can select between “Favorites”, “video” mode, scene mode, auto mode, manual mode, ISO mode and image stabilization mode. Next to the dial you will find the on/off button, the flash, the burst/timer button and a mono speaker. On the back side you will find the zoom in/out rocker button, a “delete” button, an “info” button, the 5-way operational joystick, menu, review and “share” button. On the side you will find the USB port and the SDHC port. A mono microphone with no windscreen is found next to the 36ñ180 mm (35 mm equiv.) f/2.8ñ5.1 lens and the flash.

Usage
The usability of Kodak’s cameras has been improved a lot in the latest generation of their cameras. It’s very easy to figure out what is what and how to get there. The software allows for presets of white balance (although no custom white balance is possible), several algorithms for focusing and exposure, sharpness levels, redeye removal support, sensor orientation, power management and color mode (high color, natural color, low color, sepia, black and white).

There are over 20 scene modes for those who can trust the camera to pick the right settings, although the true benefit of using the Z-series from Kodak is their manual mode. In it, you can select focusing distance, ISO, exposure, aperture and shutter speed.

HDR photography
My favorite feature of the Z-series is exposure bracketing. With it, the camera captures three images with a single shutter click, but at different exposures. Then, you bring these images to applications like Photoshop or Photomatix and with some lite manipulation you can add new details to your picture. Or, you can artistic with it and create some crazy looking pictures like the one below. I believe that this Z885 camera is the cheapest camera on the market that supports exposure bracketing. You will have to pay $450 to get the Powershot G9 if you want the same feature from a Canon, for example.

Before and after:

Video
The Z885 only shoots VGA video at 30fps, or at QVGA resolution. Quality is not too bad and it has the added bonus to save the video in MPEG4-SP of 3.5mbps instead of MJPEG. This means that you will fit more VGA video with this camera than any other camera in the market that uses MJPEG. Unfortunately, there is no exposure compensation for when shooting video. If VGA is not enough for you, you can consider upgrading to the Z1085 or the Z1285. These 10MP and 12MP versions of the Z-series have all the features of the Z885, plus 720p 10mbps HD recording (the Kodak V-series have a 13mbps high quality HD mode, but they don’t have any manual settings).

Conclusions
The Z885 is a good camera especially for the mere $110 it costs. Picture quality is pretty good, it has manual controls, battery life is acceptable, stabilization, and even exposure bracketing. You can’t go wrong with all that and at that price. The only feature we would have liked added (except HD video with exposure compensation support), would be custom white balance.

Rating: 7.5/10

FreshDV guest-contributor Eugenia Loli-Queru is a Senior News Editor at www.OSNews.com. You can catch up with her online at eugenia.gnomefiles.org.