Studio Monthly articles from February 2005

Studio Monthly archives from February 2005

Feedback: bring it on!(editor's note)
February 1, 2005... I'm writing this just a few days after most of you received the first issue of Studio/monthly. Still, our inboxes are filling up daily with amazing feedback. Many of you have already contacted me or VP group publisher Scott Gentry to let us...

Panasonic scores big at ALLTEL sports complex: renovations at stadium cafes go wide with plasmas.(quick cuts)
February 1, 2005... Talk about trying to please the fans. In preparation for this month's Super Bowl XXXIX, hosted by the Jacksonville Jaguars at the team's ALLTEL football stadium in Florida, the complex has undergone a $60 million renovation that includes the...

Discreet flame.(What I'm Using Now)
February 1, 2005... TIM CREAN Partner/flame artist, Suspect, New York, NY Favorite gear: Discreet flame List: $2,499 Why I love it: In the completely insane world that I work in, Discreet flame continues to be a lifesaver. Although Discreet has...

Good things in a sturdy BOXX.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... BOXX Technologies is offering Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited software from Alias as a 3D software bundle to its series of workstations. BOXX workstations are optimized for media creation applications. Available in single- or dual-processor...

Hangin' with a lightweight.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... VFGadgets Inc. introduces the "Hang N Shoot" MiniDV camera car mount system developed by FTS (Film & Television Services) in Israel. This new system is user friendly, lightweight (17.08 pounds) and designed for use with MiniDV cameras, such as...

Objects in the round.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... MAXON and ArchVision are serving up an RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) plug-in for CINEMA 4D R9 that lets users of the animation package take advantage of the content in the ArchVision object libraries. With the new plug-in, users can add...

New flagship launched.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display of Amerca is showing its softer side with the NEC MultiSync LCD 70 Series monitor line, which replaces the 60 Series. Distinguished by a more rounded industrial thin-frame design, the 70 Series features an...

One serious bundle.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... Panasonic is including a full version of Serious Magic's DV Rack with its AG-DVX100A MiniDV camcorder in a bundled offer, dubbed the Serious Production Package. The Panasonic AG-DVX100A's features include enhanced 24p and 30p progressive mode...

Bearable lightness.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2005... Panasonic Broadcast's lightweight, yet heavy-duty, high-resolution PT-D7700U large-venue 3-chip DLP projector offers a 4000:1 contrast ratio and a 1400 X 1050 SXGA+ resolution in a native 4:3 aspect ratio, enabling it to work with existing...

Discreet 3ds max 7: a mature and solid performer with CS built in.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2005... 3ds max 7 from Discreet, announced at SIGGRAPH '04 and now shipping, includes several important new features and numerous improvements, making it worth the upgrade fee for existing Max artists and a tempting deal for those eyeing Max and...

Sony HVR-Z1U and HDR-FX1 HDV camcorders: a tale of two cameras, one a promising pro.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2005... In the wake of JVC's 2003 launch of the first consumer HDV camera, Sony has released the company's first "professional" HDV camera, the HVR-Z1U Professional HDV camcorder (also called "the Z1" by Sony marketing). Offering 3 CCDs, pro audio...

Sorenson Squeeze 4 Compression Suite: this big tent swiftly handles multiple video formats.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2005... If you compress video, you've probably accumulated a small battery of compression tools--each tailored to a specific task or file format. You may have different programs for DVD- and Web-based video, as well as multiple codecs for specific...

Imagine Products HD log and TEPX software programs: log and track footage effortlessly on the Mac and PC.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2005... Using your NLE system to log your footage is a huge waste of resources--why tie up your edit system just to sort through your footage? Imagine Products, Inc. has stepped up to the plate with a series of video logging products for both the...

New software increases video quality and saves production time.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... DV Rack is the first product that can prevent video disasters, let you shoot faster, and help you get visibly better quality from your camera. It's powerful software that runs on a PC or laptop connected to your DV camera and includes ten...

Cakewalk Sonar 4 Producer Edition: everything but the kitchen sync.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2005... Can feature-rich applications continue to add features without becoming difficult to use? That's the key challenge for the top audio production suites, which seem determined to pile on everything imaginable. Perhaps to guard against feature...

How to combine live action and animation using Flash and After Effects 6.5.(how)
February 1, 2005... STEP 1 Style your frames We start by creating style frames for the end page with the show information and A & E bug, and for the animated characters (Santa, his reindeer and sleigh). The end page was designed and illustrated in...

How to MPEG on the Mac with Optibase MovieMaker (part one).(how)
February 1, 2005... STEP 1 Install the board Install the Optibase MovieMaker 200SP "Publisher" board, which offers SDI Video inputs, Balanced XLR and AES/EBU Audio Inputs and the ability to record audio directly into Dolby Digital streams. Once the...

Deal with shifting light during tracking shots on outdoor shoots with the Canon XL2.(how)
February 1, 2005... STEP 1 Check white balance Make sure the camera already has a good white balance. STEP 2 Set proper exposure Check the proper exposure for the starting angle and the finishing angle and compare the number of steps to...

LCD rising front projectors using liquid-crystal panels haven't conceded anything to DLP technology--and may even have a few tricks up their lenses.(issues)
February 1, 2005... If you've been following the front projector market these past few years, you can't be faulted for thinking Digital Light Processing (DLP) is getting the lion's share of attention and liquid-crystal display (LCD) imaging technology is...

HDV, film and me why HD makes film an undead medium.(issues)
February 1, 2005... These past few weeks I've been focused on two formats, HDV and film. What about HDCAM, DVCPRO and SD? I know what those do, what they look like, and exactly how they fit into my future. I'm less sure where HDV and film fit in. I've been...

Budget HD HDV camcorders are now a reality and HDV options in desktop NLEs are following close behind. The future looks clear--and oh, so affordable.(TECHNOLOGY)
February 1, 2005... Defining HDV is the easy part: HDV is a desktop format that stores 16:9 high-definition video on DV tapes, and supports both 720p and 1080i (NTSC and PAL). It uses MPEG-2 compression for data rates of 19 Mb/s (720p) and 25 Mb/s (1080i),...

Race to the finish: small-format video and a desktop NLE capture the danger and beauty of the longest point-to-point race in the world--and save a cool million in post along the way.(TECHNIQUE)
February 1, 2005... A compelling new documentary traces the history, mile after excruciating mile, of one of the world's most infamous road races across Mexico, The Baja 1000, and the human toll it takes. The film, Dust to Glory, breaks new ground in a number of...

Grasshopper finds its artistic groove.(STUDIOS ON THE RISE)
February 1, 2005... THE COOL FACTOR Mindy Dubin is an artist. That's first and foremost the reason why New York City's Quiet Man post chose her to head up the company's new creative offshoot, grasshopper, as creative director/partner. The fact that she...

How to edit a variety of file formats with Canopus EDIUS Pro 3.(train up)
February 1, 2005... step 1 Let's start EDIUS Pro 3 and create a new project. The Project Settings dialog appears. The settings here determine the output hardware and format to use. Unlike other editing applications, the project settings in EDIUS Pro 3 do...

Dealing with corporate "talent".(WEIRD BUT TRUE TALES FROM THE STUDIO)(Cartoon)
February 1, 2005... Tom Beland is a cartoonist based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is also the creator of the Eisner Comic Industry Award-nominated series, True Story: Swear to God, published by AiT/Planet Lar, www.ait-planetlar.com. Have a production disaster...

Professional series.
February 1, 2005... Panasonic's new Professional Series plasmas boast phenomenal image quality, high contrast (4000:1 on SD models and 3000:1 on HD models) and multi-slot functionality, plus they incorporate significant improvements in peak brightness, displayable...