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Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware has a problem
Canon admits Version 2.0.3 firmware for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II causes a malfunction in which the manual recording level changed and made recording impossible. The correction is a new release Version 2.0.4 which is available from the Canon web site at:
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html
Thanks to Adam Forgione for sharing this information
Stunt Glider Pilot
To produce this video we removed the nose cone of the glider and constructed, in its place, a very strong camera platform facing the skilled stunt pilot. The music is “I Just Want To Get You High” by http://www.vincenthayes.com/ with Steve Yankee. This film is available for licensing.
Low Cost 3D Video
This is silent footage.
Ron Proctor and Amy Jo Proctor built a 3-D video system for only $250. If you have anaglyph glasses with a blue left lens and red right lens, you’ll see this video in 3-D.
Essentially, their system uses two Kodak Zx1 Cameras on a 6.5cm baseline. That’s similar to the human eye baseline. The cameras were started manually.
Then in a non-linear video editor, Adobe Premiere CS4, they overlaid the two tracks and set the compositing mode to “screen.” This is called “add” in some editors. They removed the red channel from the right, and then removed the blue and green channels from the left.
They said [ital] We also had to adjust the offset a little bit so the “focus” was on one of the middle birds. Whatever the two channels “line up” on will be the “focus,” also known as the “screen plane depth.” Whatever is in front of that will “pop out” and whatever is behind will “pop in.”
How Anaglyph Works
Anaglyphs are traditional 3-D images like we’ve seen for decades in print, movies and TV. Viewing anaglyph images through colored glasses results in each eye seeing a slightly different picture. In a red-blue anaglyph, for instance, the eye with the red filter sees the red parts of the image as “white”, and the blue parts as “black.”. The eye with the blue filter perceives the opposite effect. True white or true black areas are perceived the same by each eye. The brain blends together the image it receives from each eye, and interprets the differences as being the result of different distances.
Sony Introduces AVCHD Camcorders: HXR-NX5U and HDR-AX2000
LAS VEGAS (CES Booth 14200) Jan. 6, 2010 – Sony Electronics is expanding its line of solid state camcorders with two new models designed to broaden the shooting capabilities for professionals and consumers. The company is introducing its first professional camcorder that implements the AVCHD format, the HXR-NX5U, as well as a consumer AVCHD model, HDR-AX2000.
The professional HXR-NX5U model is part of Sony’s NXCAM family of video products for professionals. It features Sony’s Exmor™ CMOS sensor with ClearVid™ array, to deliver full high-definition resolution and low light sensitivity with low noise. The camcorder will record AVCHD up to 24Mbps, delivering 1920×1080 high definition images with both interlace and progressive modes along with native 1080/24P, 720/60p and MPEG-2 standard definition recording. Only the professional NX5U camcorder includes both HD-SDI and HDMI™ outputs, as well as two-channel linear PCM audio capabilities. Other unique features for the professional NX5U camcorder include 720/60P recording, built-in GPS function, SMPTE Time Code I/O and an upgrade option for 60i/50i switchable.
AVCHD technology has been widely adopted in Sony’s consumer camcorder line. In the professional market, Sony has already introduced one AVCHD-based model: the compact point-of-view (POV) camera and solid-state recorder combination, model HXR-MC1.
According to Sony, AVCHD is a highly efficient long-GOP codec based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Long-GOP image compression, a member of the MPEG family of codecs. This approach is consistent with Sony’s current line-up of MPEG professional camcorders, including the HDV™, XDCAM® HD optical and XDCAM EX™ series.
The new NXCAM model also shares the 20x optical zoom G lens used in Sony’s HVR-Z5U professional camcorder. The camcorder uses two types of consumer media along with an optional HXR-FMU128 128GB Flash Memory Unit for more than 11 hours of recording time at 24 Mbps. The HXR-FMU128 unit can be easily removed and simply powered through a computer’s USB connection, to make file downloading or editing easier and faster. Besides the Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media, users are also able to record HD content on class 4 or higher SDHC cards.
The new HXR-NX5U will be available this month, at a suggested list price of $4,950, which is the same as Sony’s highly successful HVR-Z5U. The HXR-FMU128 unit will also be available this month, at a suggested list price of $800. It can only be used with the professional model HXR-NX5U, not with the HDR-AX2000.
For High-end Prosumers
With both the HXR-NX5U and the HDR-AX2000 Handycam® camcorders, professionals and more adept consumer videographers can achieve a deep cinematic look with film-like movie quality and advanced color settings.
Recording full 1920×1080/60i high-definition video at up to 24Mbps, the HDR-AX2000 features progressive scan at 1080/24p and 30p, giving video film-quality motions for brilliant scene reproduction. Sony’s new prosumer camcorder delivers HD broadcast-quality images with the convenience of a non-linear recording format to Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media for editing and playback. CinemaTone Gamma™ and CinemaTone Color settings complement the 24P capabilities by providing the color and gamma range for an even more high-end feel and extra control over image expression.
The model uses three 1/3″ Exmor™ CMOS Sensors with Exmor derived technology to improve the color reproduction of video recordings and capture sharp, detailed images even in less than perfect lighting situations. Noise reduction is accomplished via the unique column-parallel analog-to-digital conversion technique and grid arrangement of the photo diodes, which are designed to provide high sensitivity, deep resolution, high-speed reading, and a wider dynamic range. The Exmor technologies combine to allow the new camcorders to perform significantly better in low-light environments with sensitivity of 1.5 lux.
The EIP processor is able to rapidly process the vast amounts of pixel data read from the three 1/3” Exmor CMOS Sensors, and record beautiful HD and colorful video. The Exmor CMOS Sensors were developed using some of the most advanced technologies in the semiconductor industry. They handle video data in 1920 x 1080p and 4:2:2 color space for high-quality signal processing before recording it to the dual Memory Stick PRO Duo media. Together, the EIP and Exmor CMOS Sensors imaging system allows both HXR-NX5U and the HDR-AX2000 camcorder to provide extremely high image quality with smooth gradation and detailed image reproduction.
The new camcorder uses Sony’s 3.2” (16:9) (measured diagonally) Xtra Fine LCD™ screen (921K) and Xtra Fine LCD electronic viewfinder (0.45-inch, 1,227,000 dots) for high-resolution and high-contrast images with remarkable color reproduction.
$300 Video Leads to $30 Million Contract
Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) on Youtube
Fede Alvarez from Uruguay uploaded this short film to Youtube last month (November, 2009). As he told the BBC’s Latin American service Mundo “I uploaded (Panic Attack!) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios.”
Alvarez directs commercials and specializes in Special Effects. He has recently signed a deal with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to develop and direct an original science fiction film to be shot in South America. “Panic Attack” has been compared to Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9″ documentary like depiction of a robot invasion.
Streaming Movies on TV
Samsung announces Internet connectivity on a variety of TV sets as well as several Blu-ray players. The Samsung TVs use Yahoo’s widget to access movie services like Amazon Video On Demand or Blockbuster On Demand as well as videos from Flickr, eBay and YouTube. Other manufacturers will surely follow Samsung’s lead soon.
Streaming movies on your TV set is coming of age. Blu-ray disc players and other devices can tap into online-movie services from companies like Netflix and Blockbuster. This may make obsolete video-on-demand from cable companies.
Lately I’ve been watching “instant download” movies from Netflix on my older laptop. While it’s not as nice as seeing the film on my TV, for $9 a month, I can watch as many films as a I want. And I can purchase a box that put Netflix movies on my TV. It’s a great service from what I’ve seen so far. Laptop audio sucks so I take a dual stereo mini plug to two rca cables into the TV set and turn to video input 3. The rich feature film sound is so much better this way. Now I’ll have to get one of the Netflix TV boxes.
A couple criticisms: 1. The “extras” you get with a DVD are missing. Interviews with director, screenwriter, actors and Director of Photography and the “making of” documentaries are interesting and fun. I often enjoy the extras as much as I do the film itself. For filmmakers these extras are like going to film school.. 2. One other thing that is lacking on these instant downloads is the DVD sleeve. I often refer to the DVD sleeve which includes a summary of the film including cast, date and a few other details. There’s no sleeve of course since there’s no DVD.
Despite these complaints, the Netflix offer of unlimited films instantly downloaded for $9 a month is hard to beat. 62% of Netflix subscribers have streamed movies and this number will grow. Netflix says they expect to keep DVDs for 5 to 10 years.
For more information on TVs and streaming movies, see the NY Times article
“Some TVs Go Directly Online for Streaming Movies”
Video in Print – Paper-Thin Video Screen
Video in Print is a new technology from Americhip that enables a paper- thin video player to be embedded in a magazine, book or other product. The video can be up to two hours in length. The device is a small LCD screen with a flash memory. When a page is opened, the video is triggered to start automatically. The lithium battery lasts for about an hour before you have to recharge it through the USB port. The USB port can also be used to put your own videos on the device.
These devices will be everywhere in the next few months. The player will make its debut in September, appearing in a CBS Network and PepsiCo joint ad in select editions of the US showbiz magazine Entertainment Weekly. The selected editions will go only to subscribers in Los Angeles and New York City areas.
For the wedding videographer, this device will be a perfect add-on. John Goolsby, a leading event videographer is already using the device. See http://videouniversity.com/forums/gforum.cgi?post=492612;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread
What do these TV shows have in common?
The Simpsons
America’s Got Talent
Moonlighting
and scores of current and old shows too.
The answer is Hulu. According to Neilsen Online, Hulu is growing faster than Youtube. Granted this is based on only one month’s comparison, but clearly Hulu is doing something right. Oh, by the way Moonlighting was an American television series that first aired on ABC from 1985 to 1989 with a total of 67 episodes. The show starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd as private detectives and was a mixture of drama, comedy and romance that is considered a classic spoof of television detective shows. Most filmmakers I know loved the show.
Even the music was special. The show’s theme song was performed by jazz singer Al Jarreau and became a hit. The show is also credited with making Willis a major star while providing Shepherd with a much needed critical success.
You can see 13 of the shows on Hulu
The show was innovative in a number of ways
Breaking the fourth wall
Moonlighting frequently broke the fourth wall, with many episodes including dialogue which made direct references to the scriptwriters, the audience, the network, or the series itself. (For example, when a woman is trying to commit suicide by jumping into a bathtub with a radio, Addison says, “Are you nuts? The network’ll never let you do that, lady!”) This technique had been used previously in shows like such as Burns and Allen and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, but Moonlighting was the first scripted TV series to weave self-referential dialogue directly into the show’s plot.
Fantasy
The series also embraced fantasy. In the second season the show aired “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice”, an episode that featured two lengthy and elaborately produced black and white dream sequences. This was highly unusual in the days of color TV. Why produce a show in black and white while, we have this wonderful color TV? That episode was about a murder that had occurred in the 1940s. David and Maddie are told about by the inheritor of a famous nightclub where the murder had taken place. That’s where the story starts.
It’s a great series you can watch on Hulu. But what’s this got to do with making money as a video producer? Plenty. If you’ve been reading our newsletter, you know how important I think it is to be aiming your video business toward the web. Start a YouTube Channel, duplicate it on Vimeo, work on promoting your web site, etc, etc.
Producers have gone from YouTube to TV. Just see
Fred on YouTube
You could too.
Aerial Crop Cams in Canada
The folks at Crop Cam take aerial photography down on the farm. Some cool photos show 320 acres of farmland from 2100 feet. I’m not sure why they do this. I guess they can watch the crops grow, but it is cool. I want one. Maybe they’ll give us one to review.
Kodak zi8 Beats the Flip Camera
The new Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera can capture up to 1080p HD resolution. It has an SD card slot and a removable, rechargeable battery. You get composite and HDMI cables, but you don’t need the cables, just swing out the USB arm. It even has stabilization which is very helpful in these pocket cameras. The picture looks very good in low light and it takes 5 megapixel stills.
The bundled software is not Mac compatible. The MSRP price of $179 does not include a optional memory card which holds 32 GB for 10 hours of videos. For more information see
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=15340&pq-locale=en_US
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