Starting Off On The Right File, Part III

How to avoid seeing double in a Premiere Pro import

Michael Guncheon

In part two, I talked about bringing media into Final Cut Pro X that is laid out in a folder structure. I concentrated on RED footage for the most part. I picked that brand because it’s easy to show what can happen if you bring the footage in the right way: access to the RAW controls. By that I mean access to the RMD files that ride along with... Read more

High-Quality POV

Quality versus quantity with the Marshall Electronics CV-502MB Broadcast POV Camera

Dan Brockett

I use GoPros. I own three of them and I use them all over the place: From mounting them to the cold shoe on my A camera to placing them in a VO booth when shooting voice recording sessions to mounting them on cars, boats, athletes and even on dogs. GoPro was a pioneer in POV (point of view—I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t know that, but just in... Read more

Being Fluid

Learn to be open-minded and fluid during your shoot when circumstances change beyond your control

Dan Brockett

There are so many types of production. Producing a TV show or feature film takes the ultimate in planning, preproduction and execution to be successful, often with an army of hundreds or even thousands of crew, and months or even years of planning. But what about at the opposite end of the spectrum, what about your projects? I’ve been in production... Read more

Green Screen Technology From The Future (Maybe Not Really, But It Sounds Good!)

Reflecmedia Chromakey solution for green screen and blue screen is an incredible tool for portable, mobile and close-quarters keying. We explore the technology itself, as well as real-time keying in a Blackmagic ATEM switcher and in Final Cut Pro X.

PhotoJoseph

Green (or blue) screen capabilities have been around for a very long time. Traditionally, you have to perfectly and evenly light your green or blue background, place your subject far enough away to not cast shadows or pick up reflected color from the background, and the rest is easy. However, those two critical points can mean the need for an expensive... Read more

Starting Off On The Right File, Part II

Some problems ingesting—was it something you ate?

Michael Guncheon

Last time I talked about some of the issues that crop up because camera recording formats have increased in complexity. Gone are the days when it was just a simple process to import a .mov file. Okay, maybe those days aren’t completely gone. But with more and more camera manufacturers using folder-based structures to capture media, can we agree that... Read more

Starting Off On The Right File

How you import your footage matters

Michael Guncheon

I had thought of titling this post: “The journey of a thousand edits begins with a single file” but I thought Laozi was talking about something else, not getting footage into your software. Importing, ingesting, adding whatever you call it, the first step — bringing your footage into the edit project — can be done a number of ways. Doing... Read more

ProRes RAW Explained And Explored, With Real Samples!

Apple and Atomos teamed up to bring us ProRes RAW, a new desktop-editable RAW video format that can be captured to Atomos Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19

PhotoJoseph

At NAB 2018, Apple and Atomos introduced ProRes RAW, a whole new codec for capturing RAW video with unprecedented ease of use. In this week’s top Photo Moment show, we explain just what ProRes RAW is (and isn’t) and why you should care, how you’d use it and, most importantly, we look at some RAW footage captured on a Sony FS5 and see just how... Read more

Paying Close—Really Close—Attention

Spending some time at NAB watching 8k

Michael Guncheon

Last time I talked about my vision quest—or more specifically my HDR quest—at NAB. With over 100,000 attendees and myriad exhibit halls, it really helps to set out specific topics to focus on. It’s pretty much a given that anyone buying a TV set these days is choosing from a selection of UHD displays (manufacturers can’t make money building... Read more

How To Add A Wireless Microphone To Your iPhone

Adding a wireless lavalier microphone, such as one by Sennheiser or Sony, to your iPhone sounds easy, but it actually requires unexpected connections and converters

PhotoJoseph

If you’re using your iPhone to live stream or record any talking head videos, then you know that the camera is great, but the microphone isn’t. Adding a wired external microphone is an easy thing to do, but if you want to add a wireless lavalier microphone, it’s actually a lot more complicated than it would seem. This video shows you not... Read more

Hollywood Professional Association Tech Retreat III

Making sure a horse of a different color isn’t?

Michael Guncheon

With this post, I’ll wrap up my notes on the last day and a half of the Hollywood Professional Association Tech Retreat – a meeting in the desert of some of the top technical and creative talent in the media and entertainment industry. Thursday morning began with discussions on HDR (High Dynamic Range) and its many implementations. The panel consisted... Read more

Leaving Las Vegas

At NAB, storage was big as usual, and about that HDR ...

Michael Guncheon

I have been going to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention for a while. The annual gathering of over 100,000 people in Las Vegas is something I both dread and look forward to. Besides the crowds, the dread comes from trying to find a little focus walking the exhibit halls. Over the years, I found it helps to pick a few things to... Read more

Benro Camera Gimbal Adds New Spin On Design

Models with built-in control provide easy camera operation

David Schloss

At tripod maker Benro’s booth I took a look at an upcoming pair of gimbals that look like an excellent solution for cinematographers working with mirrorless cameras or DSLRs, thanks to the clever design and integrated tools for camera operation. Tentatively called the F1 and the F2, the two gimbal models are designed for mirrorless cameras/light... Read more