2011 NAB Show

From broadcasting to broader-casting, the NAB Show is the premier event for content professionals. If your idea of a masterpiece is a well-designed content management system that truly maximizes assets, a flawless live sports broadcast that goes around the world in crystal clear definition, revolutionary software that renders natural 3D environments, or blog content that becomes a movie and has an extremely profitable second life as a mobile game — the NAB Show is the ultimate place to find everything necessary to bring your vision to life.

NAB SHOW LIVE

NAB SHOW FAST FACTS:

• 90,000+ media and entertainment professionals
• 150+ countries represented
• $35+ billion in purchasing power
• 500+ skill-building conference sessions
• 1,500+ companies covering 80,000+ net sqm
• 1,300+ members of the press
• 80+ years of industry leadership

Conferences April 9-14 – Exhibits April 11-14 – Las Vegas Convention Center – Las Vegas, Nevada USA

More about NAB Show: www.nabshow.com

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Martin in Cameras, News Leave a comment

Stabilize your shots with AE Warp Stabilizer

Warp Stabilizer is a new option for stabilizing unsteady footage. It comes with the new After Effects 5.5. It removes jitter caused by camera movement, making it possible to transform shaky, handheld footage into steady, smooth shots. It replaces the previous stabilizer as it is much easier to use. Warp Stabilizer contains technology to correct unstable parallax by using a subtle warping of the image.

Introducing AE 5.5 Warp Stabilizer: Learn how to stabilize hand-held footage to look as if it had been shot with a complicated, expensive camera rig with the new Warp Stabilizer in After Effects CS5.5

Warp Stabilizer Basic Parameters: Learn more about the new Warp Stabilizer’s Result and Smoothness settings, Stabilization Method, choices for how to treat the borders of an image, and automatic scaling options.

Outsmarting the Warp Stabilizer: The Warp Stabilizer’s ability to automatically distinguish between foreground and background requires user intervention on some shots, such as a greenscreen stage with tracking dots in the background. Learn how to work around these issues.

Warp Stabilizer Instant Gratification: See how to quickly apply the new Warp Stabilizer to footage for instant gratification, including setting the Smoothness amount as well as choosing between Smooth Motion and No Motion.

Warp Stabilizer Advanced Parameters: Explore the new Warp Stabilizer’s advanced settings, including its innovative Synthesize Edges option. In the process, you will learn how to make custom adjustments to compensate for problem footage.

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Martin in Editing, How-to 3 Comments

Pimp Your Production

Let me present the first two episodes of Kessler’s webs series: “Pimp Your Production”, featuring Ryan Connolly of Film Riot. Witty, funny and entertaining, Pimp Your Production is also a great source of information showing you tips and tricks to get the most out of your productions.

PYP – Episode 1: Jib Shots

How to transform a dull, stagnant establishing shot into something dynamic and dramatic.

PYP – Episode 2: Return of the Dolly Shot

For years, Hollywood directors have known the dramatic power of the dolly shot to transform a mediocre scene into a powerful visual experience. In the second episode, Ryan Connolly, takes you through the ins and outs of the dolly shots, when to use them and how to get the most out of your equipment to insure you get that perfect shot every time.

About Pimp Your Production:
Produced by Kessler U, PYP is a great source of information showing you tips and tricks to get the most out of your productions. You can follow Kessler Crane on twitter: twitter.com/KesslerCrane

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Martin in Cameras, Gear, How-to, Techniques Leave a comment

Interview with The Bridge director Marlon Torres

Marlon Torres, based in California not only excels as a Cinematographer but also as a Film Director. I had the chance to interview Marlon last week about his last film The Bridge and I have to say that it’s amazing to think that with only a $7,000 budget, Marlon and his team make this extraordinary 30 minutes movie. A Brilliant job!

Cameraman: Hello Marlon, first of all thank you for the interview. Let’s start by telling us a bit more about yourself and how you got started with your last movie The Bridge?

Marlon: Hello, my name is Marlon Torres and I am an independent filmmaker based in the San Francisco bay area. I specialize in writing, directing, cinematography, and visual effects. I spent my first two years out of college primarily as a CG artist. It’s a rough job. Long hours sitting in dark room. Not the life I imagined seeing myself in. Read more

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Martin in Interviews, Video Leave a comment

Pacifica Fog shot with a Panasonic DMC-GH2

The Panasonic GH2 is able to capture HD video and it has the ability to control the movie shooting process, in terms of frame rate and shutter speed. Videographers will see an improvement in the quality of the highest quality output – the 1080i output is derived from 60p or 50p capture. The new 18.3 MP CMOS Sensor is capable of much greater output speed than its predecessor GH1, bringing a lot more benefits.

This is a video shot by cinematographer Marlon Torres with his new Panasonic DMC-GH2.

Marlon Torres’s impressions

The camera is very light and compact. It feels durable but no where near the professional bodies of my 5D Mark II and 7D. It startled to drizzle at the end of the shoot so I decided to pack up and leave. If I was shooting with my weather-sealed 7D, I probably would have stayed until the sun went down.

Image quality is impressive. It is sharper than any of my Canon DSLRs and has a nice natural colors out of the camera. I was using the 14-140mm kit lens and got very sharp images from 14mm to about 120mm. It did start to soften above that. I was happy to see that there was no moire in the very detailed areas but was slightly disappointed with the micro jello when shooting at 140mm.

Overall I’m very happy with the camera and looking forward to pushing it to its limits in future projects.

More information about the Panasonic DMC-GH2 here

About Marlon Torres:

Website: www.torresstudios.com
Twitter: twitter.com/torresstudios

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Martin in Cameras, Panasonic Leave a comment

How to shoot a fast car with a DSLR

Martin Steinmann takes us behind the scene to this nicely filmed photoshoot made with a Canon EOS 550D, a Glidetrack and a Gyros KS-6.

Some time ago I was invited to shoot a „Behind the Scenes“. Knowing that things would be a bit rough, I asked myself: should I bring my trusted HV30 or give my daughter’s 550D a chance? I did not regret my decision. Filmed and edited using Canon 550D (T2i) and Final Cut Pro

Martin Steimann’s Blog: www.martinifilm.de

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Martin in Behind the Scenes, Canon, DSLR Leave a comment

Life as a News Cameraman

Chris Parkinson
Interviewed by Cameraman.com

The life of a News cameraman can be far from easy. British Cameraman and Editor Christian Parkinson, based in South Africa, gave us this interview about his job working in International News gathering.

Cameraman: Hello Chris, please tell us a bit more about yourself and how you got started as a Cameraman.

Chris: Like many Cameraman, my route into the profession was slightly bizarre. I studied History at University and then became a salesman with a local Cable TV Channel. While failing miserably at selling ad space I started to develop an interest in TV Production. Through a quirk of fate I ended up presenting the Sports section of the local News and used that to beef up my CV. I then managed to blag a job at Britain’s Channel 5 News as a Runner (making sure the Presenters had scripts etc). Read more

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Martin in Interviews Leave a comment

How to get the best of your wedding video

Cameraman Michael Neuman from Visual Masterpiece takes us on his latest wedding video filmed with his wife Rebecka. On this behind the scenes video he explains how to get the best of your wedding video using Canon HD DSLR Cameras, Cinevate Sliders and a Glidecam 2000 stabilizer.

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Martin in Behind the Scenes, Canon, DSLR, Video Leave a comment

Hands-On the WEISSCAM HS-2 MK II

Hi everybody, I was looking some videos made with the WEISSCAM HS2 and I found director Raif Kurt from Turkey, Istanbul that uploaded some cool videos last week using this Digital High-speed Camera.

The WEISSCAM HS-2 is the newest, uncompressed digital high-speed camera for frame rates up to 4.000fps. It is developed as a standalone camera aiming especially the needs of cinematographers. Coming with an easy workflow, two Streams (RAW + HD) via HD SDI, two formats (4:3 + 16:9) and cinema-style images, it is designed to offer you the freedom of shooting either in HD or RAW mode.

Raif Kurt’s Antigravity Video – 1000 fps

The WEISSCAM HS-2 has a full Format Super35 CMOS Sensor with a global shutter. By using the Interchangeable Mount System (IMS) from P+S Technik you can attach nearly every lenses on the camera (PL Mount, Nikon F-Mount, Panavision Mount, etc.) and also change the Mount within a few seconds.

Raif Kurt’s Super Slow Motion Human Drop Video – 2000 fps

The output of the WEISSCAM HS-2 offers two Streams at the same time and uses the HD SDI interface for both signals. With the Weisscam „RAW IN HD SDI“ mapping, you are able to transport the RAW files via the worldwide standard and fast HD SDI single and dual link interface.

The HD stream offers YCbCr in 4:2:2. You can choose between linear standard curves like ITU-R 709 or log curve for a higher contrast range within the HD SDI image.
The RAW stream is a 12Bit uncompressed Weisscam RAW file and gives you the freedom to debayer in post production.

Raif Kurt’s BoomBalloon performed by Alexandra Kis Bandiova – 1000 fps

In conjunction with the WEISSCAM DIGIMAG DM-2, you are able to record both formats via HD SDI: YCbCr and RAW.
An intelligent master/ slave DC/DC power management, saves the camera from any short circuit and makes it needless to turn off the camera for a battery change.

Raif Kurt’s 61.8 Percent Water performed by A. Kis Bandiova – 1000 fps

A lot of mounting possibilities allows you to connect additional accessories like onboard monitor, lens control system, etc. and power them by the several outputs of the DC/DC board.
The very fast boot up time allows you to be ready for shooting in less than 7 seconds.

Other videos made with the Weisscam HS-2:

Weisscam HS-2 Demo 2010 by Ben Cain / Negative spaces

Weisscam Tests by Polemico Pictures

Blubbies by Pierre Tirier

Specifications:

• Super 35 format CMOS sensor
• > 1.400 fps in 2K
• 2.000 fps in 1080p
• 4.000 fps in 720p
• 12 bit RAW uncompressed
• 10 bit YCbCr 4:2:2
• Output: HD-SDI single and dual link for RAW (fast & standard) and HD & Gig E
• Two Stream Camera (RAW and HD)
• Super 35mm format
• > 600 ASA sensitivity
• > 10 T-stops dynamic range
• 36GB onboard memory
• Interchangeable lens mount
• 24 Volt DC

Recording time:

• 1280×720 60p approx. 02:31 single link
• 1920×1080 30p approx. 02:34 single link
• 1920×1080 50p approx. 00:49 dual link
• 2048×1536 25p approx. 01:00 single link

For more information, features, workflow and specifications go to Weisscam.com:

For accessories and gear go to PsTechnik.de

You can follow Raif Kurt on twitter or go to his website at Hangaristanbul.com

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Martin in Cameras, Weisscam Leave a comment

Making Of The Nuit Blanche

I discovered today an amazing short film directed by Arev Manoukian. Nuit Blanche is a short film produced by Spy Films featuring some very cool slow motion 3D effects. Shot in the classic Film Noir style, this film has a wonderfull soundtrack composed by Samuel Bisson. The cinematography was also made by Arev Manoukian and the camera operator was Jay Pavao.

The film was shot on a green-screen set in Toronto. The two principal actors were shot separately in a four day time and they only met the last day. Each actor was shot as a separate layer so they could place them afterwards wherever they wanted.

Manoukian used a DVCPRO HD camera for the 24 frames-per-second live-action shots and the Photron APX for slow-motion sequences filmed at up to 2,000 frames per second like the slow-motion car crash. They actually broke real glass on set at over 2000 frames per second and added later on post-production 3D glass. This way they could get real reflections from the scene. Finally dirt was added to the pieces of glass to make it more natural.

The Post-Production

The editing was made with Adobe Premiere and for the 3D they used Maya, Mental Ray, 3Ds Max and V-Ray. The compositing was done with After Effects and the matte paintings with Photoshop and mapped in 3D.

About Arev Manoukian

Raised in Montreal by a family of artists and engineers, Arev Manoukian plays with art and technology to tell stories in ways that challenge his imagination. Ever Meticulous in his work, Arev thrives on being involved in all aspects of filmmaking, from pre-visualizing his concepts, to cinematography and music. He recently turned one of his day dreams into a short film, the stunning hyper-real fantasy Nuit Blanche. The film recently won the Grand Prize at the LG Film Festival in Toronto and the coveted Golden Nica at Prix Ars in Europe. It has been highlighted in magazines such as Wired, Shots Magazine, Motionographer, and Stash Magazine. Nuit Blanche is being screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival and SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles.

The Final Movie

Directed by: Arev Manoukian
Produced by: Stephanie Swedlove & Arev Manoukian
VFX by: Marc-Andre Gray
Music by: Samuel Bisson
Starring: Michael Coughlan & Megan Lindley
Cinematographer: Arev Manoukian
Casting: Jeff Marshall
Assistant Director: Andrew Cividino
Production Designer: Arev Manoukian & Marc-Andre Gray
Art Director / Costumes – Dan Levy
Camera Operator: Jay Pavao
Camera Assistant: Max Armstrong
Gaffer: Alan Poon
Editor: Arev Manoukian
Compositor / Animator: Marc-Andre Gray
Effects Supervisors: Marc-Andre Gray & Arev Manoukian
Additional Compositing: Arev Manoukian
Matte Painter: Pat Lau
Colourist: Andre Chlebak

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Martin in 3D, Making of, Video Leave a comment

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