Studio Monthly articles from February 2006

Studio Monthly archives from February 2006

Field of dreams.(editor's note)
February 1, 2006... Budget high-def cameras have come a long way in the past few years. "Budget HD" in general should be enough to cheer about, but surprising features and evolving color, resolution and compression schemes still have the power, incrementally, to...

CES bellwethers: 1080p display and high-def DVD.(quick cuts)
February 1, 2006... WHEN JANUARY ARRIVES EACH YEAR, GADGET FANS FEEL A FAMILIAR TWINGE THAT CAN BE only one thing--it's time for another Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. But the show is also an early indicator of which display and playback formats...

What I'm using now: Frame Thief.(quick cuts)
February 1, 2006... MICHAEL UMAN/LUIS BLANCO Co-Creative Directors/Co-Founders INTERspectacular New York Favorite Gear: Frame Thief List: $40. Why I love it: It is a traditional animation tool. You can do onion skinning and stop motion...

Blackmagic Design DeckLink[TM].(Advertisement)
February 1, 2006... Introducing DeckLink HD Pro The world's highest quality HDTV Dual Link 4:4:4 and NTSC/PAL video card for only $1,495! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Blackmagic Design's industry leading range of 10/12 bit Dual Link 4:4:4 products for HD...

Adobe Premieres new Production Bundle.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... After delaying the scheduled release of upgrades to its most popular pro software by an additional five months, Adobe has just released a powerful new Production Bundle that includes new versions of Premiere Pro, After Effects, Encore and...

Effects that don't Boris.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... Boris FX is shipping version 4 of Continuum Complete, a suite of native filters and transitions for Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Autodesk Combustion, Eyeon Fusion and Boris Red systems. ...

NAS gigs.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... Ciprico has added a new member to its DiMeda NAS family with the 10G NAS, which lets users share uncompressed SD and HD content over 10 Gb Ethernet. As Ethernet emerges as a preferred infrastructure for the multi-stream sharing and delivery of...

Going xStream.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... E-on software is releasing Vue 5 xStream (formerly known as xFusion), a suite of plug-ins that lets users integrate Vue environments into Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya projects. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With Vue 5 xStream, Vue 5 Infinite...

Cleaner New Year.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... Mac users can now enjoy the latest encoding tools within Autodesk Cleaner as version 6.5 of the software for Macs began shipping just before the New Year. Cleaner 6.5 for Mac brings extended format support and increased workflow flexibility to...

New Sound Toys.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
February 1, 2006... SoundToys Inc. (formerly Wave Mechanics) is shipping SoundToys TDM Effects for Mac OS X. The newly released SoundToys TDM Effects bundle replaces the UltraTools and UltraFX bundles, bringing all nine SoundToys plug-ins together into a single...

Apple Final Cut Pro 5: getting so much better all the time.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2006... Apple Final Cut Pro 5 is an essential pro editing upgrade for all serious users. For starters, there are performance enhancements in almost all areas of the program, as well as many vital new features internally. But what's equally as important...

Facilis Terrablock 24D: an affordable, cross-platform and reliable SAN.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2006... Our company AlphaDogs, a post-production studio in Burbank, CA, had been looking for a shared-storage solution for more than three years. What we needed was hard to come by economically--a cross-platform system, with real-time protection, that...

Dell Precision 380 workstation: great out of the box, but built for expansion.(ROI reviews)
February 1, 2006... What's the ideal workstation? If you run heavy duty, video editing programs (especially if you edit HD video or use processor-intensive plug-ins) or if you render complex 3D animations, you'll need all the hardware you can get. Your ideal...

Blackmagic Design DeckLink HD Pro: a PCI bridge for getting 4:2:2 footage into an NLE.(ROI Reviews)
February 1, 2006... Whether you are "future-proofing" a production, or simply taking advantage of that extra resolution HD provides your show, shooting in high-def can provide a lot of benefits. But how do you cost-effectively get your footage into your NLE...

Shoot slow-mo HD with the Panasonic AG-HVX200.(how)
February 1, 2006... STEP 1 Insert your media card Load a P2 card. Be sure to set the MEDIA switch to "P2." STEP 2 Set your time base In the RECORDING SETUP menu, set the REC FORMAT (P2) menu item to 720/24PN. This will set the time base for...

Focus has built the perfect case for live mixing. And it comes with everything you need, including free accessories.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2006... The ideal solution for churches and schools. Whether you're producing video for worship services, school sporting events, theatre productions, or video classes, there's never been a better time to buy an MX-4 or MX-4 DV Digital Video Mixer. Not...

Design an animated station ID.(how)
February 1, 2006... STEP 1 Understand the client's language (and I mean their language of design) As stations and networks expand their offerings, designers are faced with bringing more complicated concepts to bear on a single ID. Your first step is to...

Import and export SD and HD(V) content with the Grass Valley Turbo iDDR.(PRODUCT MANAGER TUTORIAL)
February 1, 2006... STEP 1 Import content into Turbo using Workstation mode With the Turbo iDDR (intelligent digital disk recorder) operating in its Workstation view, pull down the Clips menu and click on Import. You will see that you can import from another...

HD dreams: HDV often looks great, but not always. Here's why and here's how format supporters and their main competitor are responding.(issues)
February 1, 2006... I'm in a dealer's showroom, stuffed with equipment used by Hollywood DPs--ARRI cameras, DigiPrime lenses, etc. The owner shows me a prototype HD camera so new it's still in an unopened box. He hands me a cassette that looks like a shrunken...

Field sticks! Tripods that go the distance--on every budget.(TECHNOLOGY: TRIPODS)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... I've come up with my ideal tripod. After several months of field testing the latest releases from Cartoni, Miller, Sachtler, Vinten and Manfrotto/Gitzo, here's what I want: The speedy setup of the Miller or Sachtler one-point leg locks for...

When you need a great key, ULTRA is better than your NLE.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2006... Breakthrough Keying ULTRA 2's Vector Keying[TM] technology is superior to the primitive chroma keyer built into your video editing software. ULTRA delivers stunning realism and has single-handedly transformed keying from an occasional...

Studios to go: when you have to take the show on the road, a portable production system can pack a lot more value than mere flexibility.(TECHNOLOGY: MOBILE PRODUCTION)
February 1, 2006... The often unpredictable production style of many of today's reality TV shows, as well as the endless variety of corporate video and independent productions, all point to one thing: Agile systems that can go anywhere and produce anything are...

Direct to disk, Direct to Edit.[R] FireStore FS-4 now records DV & HD with confidence.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2006... Confident recording. Regardless of format. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Developed by video professionals for video professionals, FireStore FS-4 Direct To Edit[R] (DTE) recorders from Focus Enhancements feature the reliability and...

Getting it together.(ultimate kit)
February 1, 2006... With the introduction of file-based recorders and the coming of age of wireless microphones, productions demand more and more tracks to be able to manipulate audio after the fact. These portable packages were put together with this in mind. ...

Dealing with details.(WEIRD BUT TRUE TALES FROM THE STUDIO)(Cartoon)
February 1, 2006... 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. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...