Working on Digital Video magazine and the conferences for Digital Video Expo, I know I'm distracting you from your work (Read this! Watch that! Go here!), but I promise, it's for your own good.
Sometimes you need to look up from your monitor or viewfinder and read an article or join a conversation or attend a conference. Looking up expands your knowledge, refines your skills and connects you with your community--so consider investing some time to learn about new technologies, hear about new applications and try out some new tools.
DP John Brawley has posted a second video of test footage using the newly announced Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.
He explains on his Vimeo page, "This footage was shot at ISO 800 and I did have to bring it up more than a stop (using the Antler BMCC plugin - see below) so it does look a little noisier than I'd like. I'm sure if I'd shot at ISO 1600 it would be better. The restaurant was very dimly lit with just few small practical bulbs above us."
Watch below.
Director Chris Grieder provides step-by-step instructions on VideoStatic for creating a cinemagraph music video just like he did for Kelsi Luck's "That's What I Like."
Writes VideoStatic, "t's a complicated and time-intensive process, and Chris' instructions are definitely aimed at those with a working knowledge of 3k/FPS/XML/AE/TIFF and other letters, so be prepared to go full nerd."
Read the full story here.
Magic Lantern have released new firmware that brings video recording to the Canon 50D for the first time. The hack allows for the DSLR to shoot video up to 1592 x 1062 pixels at 30 fps without audio.
Read more here on Engadget.
Watch AbelCine Expo's two-and-a-half-hour, comprehensive presentation on camera mounted recorders with explanations of the technology and applications. (via FilmmakerIQ)
AbelCine provides a video tutorial for setting up Convergent Design's Gemini 4:4:4 recorder and working with its footage.
They say of the recorder that it's "the most affordable ARRIRAW recorder" and go on to say, "the Gemini is very easy to use on set, but the post workflow can be a bit tricky."
Watch below.
Iain Anderson of MacProVideo provides a basic shooting guide for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera.
He writes, "You got one? Or it’s coming soon and you want to be prepared? Here’s the essential guide to how to operate a Blackmagic Cinema Camera, from lenses to menus to add-ons."
Read it here.
Canon showcases their range of Cine lenses with the short dance film "Rhythm of Life," shot on the Canon C500.
Watch it and a behind-the-scenes video with director Dean Hargrove and cinematographer Steven Poster below. (via Fstoppers)
Despite all the excitement over Magic Lantern's raw video hack for the Canon 5D Mark III, RedShark News argues that there's still room for compressed video.
They write, "While it's tempting to think that with the Magic Lantern EOS raw hack out in the open that normal, compressed video will never be good enough again, that's taking far too strict a line on it. The fact is that the conventional video output from cameras like the EOS 5D MK III is very good indeed with the exception of certain well-known issues like moire and rolling shutter."
Read the full story here.
James Miller shot the beautiful footage below using the Canon 5D Mark III and Magic Lantern's raw firmware.
The footage was captured at 1920x720 at 25p. It was graded in Adobe After Affects and edited in Adobe Premiere. Watch below. (via motionVFX Blog)
EOSHD.com lays out some basic facts about using Magic Lantern's raw hack on your Canon 5D Mark III.
They write, "Raw video recording on the 5D Mark III has been met with an overwhelming reception from users and a fantastic reception from most pros. Some are more guarded as they think their camera will blow up. What are the facts?
"Raw doesn’t cook your camera
"Uncompressed raw by its very nature is not processed in the camera. You do all the CPU intensive processing in post production with the raw sensor data. With the official Canon firmware the camera actually works harder as it needs to debayer and compress the raw data onboard the camera’s DIGIC 5 chipset, for 1080p video encoded to H.264."
Read the full story here.
EOSHD.com has pitted the Canon 1D C against raw 1080p footage from the Canon 5D Mark III. They writes, "I feel the 5D Mark III in raw is both amazing and feature packed relative even to the professional $12k and $15k C-series offerings let alone other DSLRs. It is a dream for anamorphic shooters, offering very clean 2.5K anamorphic images with a 1280p vertical resolution...The 1D C is of course top dog for resolution but the image cannot be graded with the freedom of raw, even from Canon Log. Colour and gradation, especially when it comes to skin-tones are better on the 5D Mark III with raw. The cleanness of the full frame 1080p mode is also excellent on the 5D Mark III in raw, ahead of any other DSLR on the market and so close to the $15,000 Canon C300 that in the real world it makes no difference.
Sean Hodgins has found a way to make his iPhone act as a time-lapse recorder when creating 6-second Vine video.
Explains Mike Szczys of Hack A Day, "The trick is in how the app itself works. It only records video when you’re touching the screen. So you record one second of video, then remove your finger and it ‘pauses’ the recording until you’re ready for the next scene. [Sean] automated this by adding a servo motor and a stylus."
Read more here.
DP Luke Neumann has tested out the RED Epic versus the Canon 5D Mark III raw. Watch his thoughts on it below in a video interview with Big League Film School.
Watch the below test footage from Vincent Laforet featuring Freefly Systems MoVI stabilization system. Perhaps most impressive is the shot that starts with 4:42 and features a Red Epic Infra Red camera being dropped from a balcony with a rope.
Watch below. (via Imaging Resource)
James Miller tests out Magic Lantern's hack for the Canon 5D Mark III, writing, "The 5D3 now has the ability to record a number of resolutions, limited at the moment by the speed of data written to the CF card. For now on a fast 1000x card I can manage 1920×1080 for a limited number of frames. At 1920×840 I can record until the 4GB file size is reached. This currently is about 1min at that resolution...Doesn’t the stock Canon 5D3 already produce 1920×1080 in H.264 format, why should I use this hack? That’s true and in many cases you really don’t need to change anything you do. You can simply use the latest firmware from Cannon and enjoy clean HDMI for monitoring and recording. But if you want something that has more detail and the ability to recover and balance highlight and shadow information then step right up an come paddle with the sharks."
Watch this video from the Kessler booth at NAB Show 2013 to see DP Tom Guilmette talk about shooting in extreme weather conditions, including doing motion control time-lapses throughout freezing nights in the mountain.
Watch below.
Dan Chung of News Shooter explores what Magic Lantern's Canon DSLR raw hack means in terms of actual production. He writes, "Does the 5D RAW hacked replace cameras like the C300, F3, F5 or FS700 in regular documentary or corporate production? Of course not. But used appropriately, it may have a place. If your shot is repeatable, you have time to redo it if something goes wrong, you don’t need the results in a hurry and are prepared to post-process, and you are not overly worried about potentially damaging your camera or invalidating your warranty, then give it a try. You don’t have to run the hack the whole time, so if you are a 5D shooter then it is a useful trick to have that doesn’t add any weight to your kit bag."
