Talk about workflow! Check out this article about the post team over at the Ellen show. Very cool. Also follow Ellen on Twitter - she’s quite entertaining and gives away some great prizes @theellenshow
“Tracker Productions, a video production company in Banff, Alberta, Canada, is using the JVC GY-HM100 ProHD camcorder to shoot spectacular 1080p HD footage of the Canadian Rockies for promotional, corporate and travel videos. Cascading waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, serene lakes and animals in their natural habitats are among the majestic scenes captured with breathtaking clarity by cinematographer and Tracker Productions owner Les McDonald.” Read the rest of the article here.
“Talk about a major free agent. Henry Selick, the acclaimed director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is leaving Laika, the studio behind his latest success, ‘Coraline.’ ”
Source:
http://www.collider.com/2009/10/06/coraline-director-henry-selick-leaves-laika/
Check out this article from Creative Cow yesterday - http://news.creativecow.net/story/862659
Image Engine, visual effects team for new film, District 9, gets a huge pat on the back for a job well done. Take a closer read here.
Engadget does a full run down of all the flashy Palm Pixi features. Eat your heart out Apple! (Just kidding, we LOVE you Apple)
From the makers at NEXTO DI comes the NEXTO NVS2500 Video Storage Pro, a new portable storage device featuring an LCD screen to actually preview footage, Sony SxS and Panasonic P2 compatibility, USB-OTG, an internal free-fall sensor, and extremely fast backup. This new device received DV magazine’s Black Diamond Award when it was first announced at the 2009 National Association of Broadcasters Show. Like its predecessors, the NVS2500 Video Storage Pro — or VS Pro — is a reliable, easy-to-use and extremely fast backup solution for when you are in the field or on location. It can back-up hundreds of hours of raw footage from hard drive camcorders, including high-definition, via USB or memory card so you do not need your laptop. You can back-up OTG (On-The-Go) wherever you are. But, what makes VS Pro stand out from all the rest is that it is the first licensed storage device to backup directly from a Sony SxS memory card. Users simply insert their SxS card into its designated slot in the hard drive and backup their footage. The device also works with Panasonic’s P2 and P2E cards (using an adaptor), Ikegami GFPAK via USB and all standard memory cards.
“When the marketing director at NEXTO DI told us about this new model they wanted us to launch in the U.S., we were all very excited because aside from what Sony and Panasonic makes for its products, there’s nothing else on the market that can backup directly from a Sony SxS card or a Panasonic P2 card,” says Doug Pircher, the general manager at International Supplies, distributor of the VS Pro. “The VS Pro also has so many new features that really addresses the needs of our customers. They want speed, convenience, reliability, efficiency and peace of mind, and the VS Pro offers all that and more.”
NEXTO’s VS Pro uses patented technology, called X-Copy, to give users the fastest backup speed possible. The VS Pro can backup an SxS card at an average speed of 80 MB/s; whereas the average backup speed of an SxS card using an SxS card reader and a laptop is about 20MB/s. So with the VS Pro, it would only take 3.4 minutes to backup a 16 GB SxS card compared to the 13.7 minutes it would take if you were to use a laptop with a 20 MB/s transfer speed. The maximum transfer speed of an SxS card is 100MB/s. Meanwhile, the average backup speed of P2 cards is 56MB/s, and 70MB/s for P2E cards. The VS Pro also features an eSATA, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface for fast transfer speed to and from the computer, which is ideal when downloading hours of raw footage.
In addition, the VS Pro allows users to preview their video footage via its 2.4″ Color LCD screen. The VS Pro supports video formats from a number of video products including XDCAM (XDCAM MPEG2 4:2:0), P2CAM (AVC-INTRA, DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO), Sony HVR Series (HDV, DV, AVI), Ikegami GFPAK (MPEG2 4:2:2), and Convergent Design (MPEG2 4:2:2). It also features a multiple backup function so when you insert a memory card into the device, you can backup simultaneously to the built-in hard drive and to an external hard drive, which can be connected to the VS Pro using a USB cable.
Another revolutionary feature is its internal free-fall sensor so in the event that you accidentally drop the device, it will automatically lock the data on the hard drive the second you drop it so you will not lose any footage. It also has internal shock absorbers to further ensure that your information will stay safe. The device automatically checks the integrity of your footage bit by bit to ensure 100% backup success. It will verify when backup is complete and if something is wrong with the video or file, you would know immediately. It will also notify you if the memory card is corrupt or if the hard drive is faulty.
The VS Pro can store all types of files from video footage to photos, data, music, movies and games, so it can easily serve as an external hard drive for backup at home or work. It is compatible with PC, MAC and UNIX. It is also so compact and lightweight, it fits in the palm of your hand so you can conveniently take your raw footage with you wherever you go.
The NEXTO Video Storage Pro will be available in 320 GB and 500 GB so you get to choose the capacity that best fits your specific storage needs. Prices start at $1,850. It is also forward compatible to 2TB if desired. The device comes with a two year warranty, a shock protection rubber jacket, USB cable, eSATA cable, FireWire cable, an extra AA battery holder, a car charger, and an AC adaptor. Auxiliary batteries are sold separately. For more information on NEXTO Video Storage Pro NVS2500, visit www.nextodiusa.com.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—August 25, 2009—GenArts Inc., the premier provider of specialized visual effects software for the film, television and video industries, announced today a floating licensing option for
institutional users of GenArts Sapphire™ on After Effects and Final Cut Pro host systems. The eagerly awaited floating license option offers significant flexibility, along with reduced support costs and more efficient resource allocation. The new floating license option – supported via the Reprise License Manager (RLM) – allows customers to maintain licenses on a centralized server and “check them in and out” to users on a local area network as they are needed. This new Sapphire licensing option provides the following benefits:
“GenArts Sapphire’s new floating license option is essential in helping us keep our artist productivity high and our support costs low,” said Saker Klippsten, Head of Engineering, Zoic Studios. “If a machine fails, we can have another one up and licensed immediately, keeping our artists working. In addition, floating licenses allow us to easily configure temporary workstations for freelance artists as they come and go. This new licensing option really saves us money while giving us much more freedom.”
“Post-production houses rely on GenArts Sapphire every single day to ensure stellar visual effects results in feature films, commercials and television shows”, said Steve Bannerman, CMO of GenArts. “Our new floating license option comes as a result of our continuing efforts to listen to our customers and deliver Sapphire in all the ways that meet their needs. We realize that our customers’ businesses have changed and larger facilities need flexible options for keeping costs low and productivity high. Whether it’s floating licenses, rentals or Web-activated serial numbers, GenArts delivers.
GenArts Sapphire’s new floating license option is available to users of After Effects and Final Cut Pro host systems for $2,499. However, existing customers may upgrade their current Web-activated licenses to floating for $800 per license. Customers may have any combination of floating, rental and serial numbers. For more information, see genarts.com/product/sapphire/float
Earlier this year, HD Studio reported on The Foundry’s experiments with technology that would remove the rolling-shutter artifacts often associated with images captured by CMOS sensors. The procedure was expected to help shore up the performance of The Foundry’s motion-tracking VFX software, which could be stymied by the appearance of wobbly CMOS artifacts, but response to early technology demos at NAB was so strong that the company quickly worked up RollingShutter ($500), a new plug-in for After Effects CS3/CS4 and Nuke 5.1 or later. Rolling-shutter artifacts occur because CMOS chips don’t update an entire frame at exactly the same time. The image is captured line by line, moving across the sensor in one direction, meaning that the picture may suffer from temporal artifacts. For example, a straight horizontal line may appear skewed as the camera pans past it, since the camera has actually swiveled some distance between the time that the top lines in the frame were captured and the time that the bottom lines are recorded. The effect can be seen to varying degrees on everything from cheap cell phone cameras to footage captured with pro cameras.
The Foundry’s RollingShutter plug-in aims to remove or minimize the effect, correcting skewing and distortion in a given scene by correcting the motion of individual objects in the frame. Frustrated cinematographers may be interested in running their footage through the software, but it’s really geared to VFX artists who need to remove those artifacts in order to effectively track motion in CMOS footage. Interested? If you want a copy, it may be best to buy it now — through August 31, The Foundry is running a buy-one-get-one-free RollingShutter sale. With two copies, you can use one in After Effects and one in Nuke, or one on a workstation and one on a laptop. For more information: www.thefoundry.co.uk
Following up on a promise made when it announced the $10,700 AG-HPX300 P2 camcorder in February of this year, Panasonic last week revealed details of its new Camcorder Studio System, which is slated to ship in October in several configurations that make the HPX300 and other P2 HD and DVCPRO HD camcorders studio-ready, starting at $9,900. The basic configuration, the 300Studio package, includes the AG-CA300G camera adapter, the AG-BS300 base station, and the AG-EC4G remote control. The upgraded 300StudioPlus package ($12,080) includes a better remote control, the AJ-RC10. The P2 Studio package ($10,898) includes a viewfinder interface box to display return video in the viewfinder. The P2 Studio Plus upgraded to the advanced AJ-RC10 remote is $13,078.
The base station connects to the camera adapter via BNC cables and power cable (supplying up to 70w of power), and has two HD-SDI/SDI and one composite video output. Cables are available in lengths of 164 feet and 328 feet. The lightweight camera adapter mounts directly on the back of the camera and is compatible with an optional battery plate for users who need on-board power. The AG-EC4G control unit comes with a 32-foot control cable (and will work with a longer, 164-foot cable). Panasonic says its functions include: gain up/down, output camera/bar selection (linked to auto knee), white balance A/B/Preset selection, AWB/ABB execution, shutter SS/Fix/Off selection and speed setting, iris auto/manual selection and adjustment, master pedestal, painting, camera menu operation, recorder operation (Rec/Play/FF/Rew/Rec check) and three programmable user buttons. Camera settings can be saved to SD cards and loaded on other cameras. Source
