Thursday, January 31, 2013

Is the end of compression in sight?

Is the end of compression in sight?:
Is the end of compression in sight?
Compression is, as every schoolchild knows, bad. Even so, there are more reasons than the obvious why it can be a questionable idea to involve a lot of mathematics in the storage of images.

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    Simian Debuts New State-of-the-Art Video Player and Enhanced Presentations

    Simian Debuts New State-of-the-Art Video Player and Enhanced Presentations:
    Simian, the global leader in creative workflow and media management solutions, takes video sharing to the next level with the latest update to its groundbreaking media sharing platform, which includes a state-of-the art HTML5 video player. Along with a sleeker, more user friendly design, the latest enhancements to Simian’s Reel Presentation module make it possible.

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    Camera Formats And Media Trends, What Do They Mean To You?

    Camera Formats And Media Trends, What Do They Mean To You?:
    We book hundreds of shoots every month for clients all over the world. We gather all the data about the specs of the shoot and plug it into our database. At the end of a 30 day period we run the report and publish it in our newsletter for your benefit. Are you taking advantage of this? Well, here is how you can benefit from our data...





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    Taking a look at Amazon Elastic Transcoder | Blog | GridVid.Me

    Taking a look at Amazon Elastic Transcoder | Blog | GridVid.Me:
    There is a lot of buzz today in the online video community about Amazon’s recent entry into the cloud video transcoding space. Of course, this is nothing entirely new for Amazon Web Services; popular cloud encoding services have run on Amazon EC2 infrastructure for years now. With Elastic Transcode, Amazon takes a step up the cloud stack, offering a Software-as-a-Service that competes directly with GridVid.me, Zencoder, and other popular cloud video encoding services.

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    Apple to Stop Mac Pro Sales in Europe March 1st

    Apple to Stop Mac Pro Sales in Europe March 1st:
    According to multiple sources, Apple has issued a statement saying that it is stoping the sale of Mac Pros in Europe and select countries beginning on March 1st, 2013.
    As of March 1, 2013, Apple will no longer sell Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries because these systems are not compliant with Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1, Second Edition which becomes effective on this date. Apple resellers can continue to sell any remaining inventory of Mac Pro after March 1. Apple will take final orders for Mac Pro from resellers up until February 18th for shipment before March 1 2013. Countries outside of the EU are not impacted and Mac Pro will continue to be available in those areas.
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    Friday, January 25, 2013

    Useful Tools for Editors: Welcome Back Home edition

     Useful Tools for Editors: Welcome Back Home edition:
    One of my favorite blog categories / columns has always been the ongoing Useful Tools for Editors topic that has been a part of my coverage of our little industry since I began the Editblog many, many years ago. It was a part of my original site and then I moved it over to Studio Daily for a number of years. I'm no longer blogging for Studio Daily on a regular basis so it is time to once again move the Useful Tools for Editors column and bring it back home to the Editblog on PVC. There's so many useful tools these days I'll try to do a semi-regular round-up of them ... that is unless one comes along that is so cool it can't wait. Do you have a useful tool for editors? Then contact me and tell me about it.

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    The Foundry Launches Hieroplayer

    The Foundry Launches Hieroplayer | AWN | Animation World Network:
    HIEROPLAYER is a VFX review and playback tool built for artists. It gives NUKE users the power to playback every shot on the VFX timeline in context on their own workstation. This cost-effective tool is priced at £200 including one year’s maintenance.

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    Which harddrive should I buy for video editing?

    Which harddrive should I buy for video editing? | Jonny Elwyn - Film Editor:
    I often get asked by producers which harddrive they should buy for the projects I work on for them. I thought I’d write up a quick blog post that explains which harddrives are best for video editing and why, and some of my preferred drives to use for different tasks.

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    Download Free DaVinci Resolve Film Print Emulation LUTs

    Download Free DaVinci Resolve Film Print Emulation LUTs:
    If you’re looking to give your DaVinci Resolve grade a ‘film look’ then these free film print emulation LUTS from Juan Melara will add some real finesse to your project.

    Another step in the Commodity Hardware Revolution

    Another step in the Commodity Hardware Revolution:
    Not too long ago, I was asked to write up my predictions on storage and networking technology for the coming year. One of those predictions was the rise of new, combined file system/logical volume managers like ZFS and BtrFS.

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    Understanding Color Gamuts, Working with ACES in Resolve & More...

    Understanding Color Gamuts, Working with ACES in Resolve & More... | Jonny Elwyn - Film Editor:
    In this ten minute video tutorial, colorist Jesse Borkowski explains what ACES color space is, how to work in it and how to set up a DaVinci Resolve project to correctly work in that color space with CinemaDNG footage.

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    Dave’s Monster Video Editing Computer Build

    Dave’s Monster Video Editing Computer Build:
    OK, I have never done a computer build before, so many of you wrote in that I have to try it, it is easy they say, well let’s see how easy it is. If you are watching this to know how it is done you might turn this video off now, I have never done this before.

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    Saturday, January 19, 2013

    Editing with the New iMacs

    Editing with the New iMacs:
    OK. I’m impressed!
    Last November, the day they went on sale, I ordered a 27″ iMac to replace my main editing system. (Click here to read about the system I ordered.)
    It arrived the end of December and, as these things tend to work out, as soon as I unpacked it, I needed to give it to our talented production assistant to do some web database work for the last two weeks. (First, its a tribute to the admiration I hold her in that she was even able to TOUCH this system and, second, I felt like she was using a Ferrari to ferry kids to and from school.)
    Finally, she went back to school. Now it was my turn. While I haven’t done a ton of work with it – yet – I want to share what I’ve learned.

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    Avid Media Composer: Batch Importing

    Avid Media Composer: Batch Importing : AVID Tutorial:
    This tutorial for Avid Media Composer/Symphony covers the basics of batch importing in Avid, and includes replacing a file with another file so it will auto-update across sequences, renaming clips in your bin then finding the original imported file name, batch importing with an alpha channel, importing a file with audio then replacing only the video portion, caveats to batch importing (the importance of file duration), and batching importing groups of clips that have moved from their original location.

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    Import RED media into Avid Media Composer using ALE files

    Import RED media into Avid Media Composer using ALE files:
    There are a few ways of importing RED media into the Avid depending on your workflow and if the DIT is providing transcoded media.
    RED source files contain a lot of metadata which is useful during certain phases of post production. Because AAF and MXF media don’t retain this information once transcoded, an Avid Log Exchange (ALE) file is created during the transcode process.
    Importing the ALE in addition to AAF and MXF files will provide all of the camera metadata.

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    Plugin Manager

    Plugin Manager:
    Jared Glass, a TD with Triggerfish Animation Studios in South Africa (the studio behind Zambezia), has released into the wild a plugin manager for Nuke called, well, Plugin Manager.
    For those who use Nukepedia and other sites to download Gizmos and Plugins only to find out that there’s little for them to do with the stuff if they don’t know code, this is the tool for them.

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    DCI Converter

    DCI Converter:
    My goal was to match the conversion done in After Effects when using the "DCDM X'Y'Z'(Gamma 2.6) 5900K (by Adobe)" profile, but other programs seem to perform this conversion differently. Rather than debate whether I was doing it right or wrong, I decided the best thing to do was make my code visible and open for commentary and include a document describing the steps I was taking. You can see it here on GitHub.

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    SSDs vs. hard drives vs. hybrids: Which storage tech is right for you?

    SSDs vs. hard drives vs. hybrids: Which storage tech is right for you? | PCWorld:
    In times past, choosing the best PC storage option required merely selecting the highest-capacity hard drive one could afford. If only life were still so simple! The fairly recent rise of solid-state drives and hybrid drives (which mix standard hard drives with solid-state memory) have significantly altered the storage landscape, creating a cornucopia of confusing options for the everyday consumer.

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    7 Recommended No-Budget Post-Production Tools

    7 Recommended No-Budget Post-Production Tools | Filmmaker Magazine:
    Being an independent filmmaker means we are often times working with very little money but still making our projects happen. We use any tools and tricks we can get our hands on to help us finish or enhance our films. Of course these have to fit within our budgetary constraints. Here is a list of post production tools that are affordable for the no budget filmmaker.

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    ShotOnWhat?

    ShotOnWhat?:
    Our goal at ShotOnWhat? is to create the largest collection of technical information that exists for Film & Television productions. If it has been seen on TV or shown in a theater, we would like to gather as much technical information as possible about the cameras, gear, post, sound, VFX and any other associated elements or processes, notes and trivia from the production. We are making the information searchable, cross referencing it a bit, and creating some trending to observe long term shifts in technology.

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    After Effects and the state of GPU computing

    RedShark News - After Effects and the state of GPU computing:
    As we saw back in December in Eyeon's informative video, GPU computing is a very powerful technique that, during the last year or two, has begun to break out of a niche. The original application of graphics cards was, obviously, video games. 3D rendering software such as Max and Lightwave have been using games-oriented graphics hardware to produce approximate previews of the scene for some time. More recently, the world's most popular operating system learned how to draw its user interface using more features on the graphics card, saving the CPU from spending its valuable time working out which window is on top.

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    Preference Manager for Windows Beta 2 released

    Preference Manager for Windows Beta 2 released:
    We've just released the second beta of Preference Manager for Windows. This is a Windows port of our popular tool for managing preferences and settings for your editing system.
    We've listened to your feedback and this version contains fixes for several issues including improved Windows 8 compatibility.





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    Sunday, January 13, 2013

    Offline to online with 4K

    Offline to online with 4K « digitalfilms:

    df_4k_wkflw_01The 4K buzz  seems to be steam-rolling the industry just like stereo3D before it. It’s too early to tell whether it will be an immediate issue for editors or not, since 4K delivery requirements are few and far between. Nevertheless, camera and TV-set manufacturers  are building important parts of the pipeline. RED Digital Cinema is leading the way with a post workflow that’s both proven and relatively accessible on any budget. A number of NLEs support editing and effects in 4K, including Avid DS, Autodesk Smoke, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro X, Grass Valley EDIUS and Sony Vegas Pro.

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    Friday, January 11, 2013

    How to Create Dailies in DaVinci Resolve 9

    How to Create Dailies in DaVinci Resolve 9 | www.creativeplanetnetwork.com:
    Andy Shipsides of AbelCine goes over how to create dailies in DaVinci Resolve 9 in the two-part tutorial found below. The first part focuses on syncing audio both manually and automatically, while the second part explains how to add a LUT, change raw settings, add burn-ins and create an output format.

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    Thursday, January 10, 2013

    Still Waiting on a New Mac Pro? 2012 iMac Beats Mac Pro in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere

    Still Waiting on a New Mac Pro? 2012 iMac Beats Mac Pro in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere - NoFilmSchool:
    Oh where, oh where is Apple’s “Pro” line of products going? Okay, I admit the words don’t work as well with the song as the actual lyrics, but it’s still a fair enough question to ask.

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    Monday, January 7, 2013

    פתרון לקידוד פורמט ProRes על מערכות ווינדוז

    מערכות פוסט מבוססות מאק נהפכו לאפילו פחות נחוצות. אם עד עכשיו היתה סיבה להחזיק מאק בסטודיו רק כדי לקודד קבצי Apple ProRes אז עכשיו גם המשימה ה(עד עכשיו אקסקלוסיבית) הזו גם נלקחה מהם.

    הכירו את תוכנת AnotherGUI. אמנם האתר שלה נראה שעוצב בשנות השמונים, וגם התוכנה עצמה לא בולטת בממשק מרהיב, אבל היא עושה את העבודה. בגדול, התוכנה יודעת לעשות כל מה שFFmpeg (או האחות היותר מקצועית שלה FFmbc) יודעת לעשות.
    למי שלא מכיר, FFmpeg זה רכיב תוכנה שנמצא בהרבה תוכנות המרת וניגון הקבצים המוכרות והגדולות, כמו VLC, Rhozet, Sorenson ועוד. זו ספרייה שמכילה דקודרים ואנקודרים (codecs) שיודעים לנגן ולקודד את רוב פורמטי הוידאו הנפוצים פחות או יותר, כולל את אלו שנמצאים בשוק הפוסט המקצועי - ProRes ו DNxHD. עד כאן, יתרונות התוכנה ברורים. אבל, יש לה כמה חסרונות. הראשון והבולט מכולם הוא שאין לה GUI (ממשק משתמש) העבודה עם התוכנה היא מתוך שורת פקודה (cmd, console). עוד חסרון הוא חוסר היציבות שלה. אמנם בגרסאות ישנות היא תעבוד בסדר, אבל כדי לעבוד עם הפורמטים החדשים צריך להוריד גרסאות בטא ואפילו אלפא, שבהן חוסר היציבות מאד מורגש. יחד עם FFmpeg נמצאים GStreamer, FFDshow, AVISynth, MEncoder ועוד, כספריות אודיו/וידאו שעליהם מבוססות תוכנות המרה שונות. בדרך כלל תוכנות ההמרה משתמשות בכמה ספריות במקביל, כל אחת לביצוע קידודים שונים על מערכות הפעלה שונות.
    כאן נכנסת AnotherGUI לתמונה. התוכנה הזו מספקת את הממשק החסר של FFmpeg. ההבדל בין AnotherGUI לבין תוכנות ההמרה האחרות שמשתמשות בFFmpeg, הוא שלזו יש פריסטים (presets) לפורמטים מוכרים בשוק הפוסט והיא מוכוונת מערכות עריכה. לדוגמא, פרופיל ProRes נמצא בתוך משפחת קידודי FinalCut. תחת משפחת Avid נמצאים כל טעמי DNxHD.
    עוד אנקדוטה מעניינת על ProRes היא שהשמועות בתעשיית התוכנה אומרות שאפל היא חברה נוראית לעבוד מולה. לחברות התוכנה נראה שאפל עושה הכל כדי למסור את רכיבי התוכנה באיחור וגם אז, זו משימה מאד מורכבת לעבוד איתם. האנשים שמאחורי FFmpeg, כולם מתנדבים שתורמים מזמנם החופשי לפרוייקט בקוד פתוח הזה, מצאו דרך לקודד לProRes למרות אפל ולא בעזרתה.
    FFmbc הוא פרוייקט עצמאי לFFmpeg ותומך בכמה פורמטים נוספים מתחום הברודקאסט. FFmbc תומכת בפורמטים של שרתי שידור, מצלמות מקצועיות ופורמטים של סטרימינג מקצועי. וכן, גם היא מופצת בחינם. לסיכום. AnotherGUI היא תוכנה אטרקטיבית במיוחד בשוק הפוסט ולדעתי האישית, עוד מסמר בארון של מחשבי מאק בשוק הפוסט.
    כלי זה, יחד עם כלים כמו MPEG StremClip, Handbreak ועוד, כולם חינמים ובקוד פתוח, עוזרים להפוך את המקצוע לנגיש וזמין יותר לכל.