Studio Monthly articles from January 2006

Studio Monthly archives from January 2006

Make way for multitasking.(editor's note)
January 1, 2006... Andy Young, the subject of our cover story, is no stranger to multitasking. The secret to doing it well, he says, is to know how to prioritize. Young went to Madagascar with JVC's ProHD camcorder, threw it into some serious and extreme...

A film approach to video rentals.(quick cuts)
January 1, 2006... Responding to the growing shift toward digital/HD acquisition, former producer Cory Williams recently opened Alternative Rentals to offer a film-style rental house to those making the switch to digital acquisition that cannot sacrifice quality....

Post house Nice Shoes streamlines approvals online.(quick cuts)
January 1, 2006... After many years helping commercial clients breathe creative life into their ads, post house Nice Shoes is now helping agencies, corporations and broadcasters, as well as production and post houses breathe a little easier over casting decisions...

What I'm using now: Maxon Cinema 4D.(quick cuts)
January 1, 2006... AARON SCHRUMAN Designer/animator Splice Here Minneapolis Favorite gear: Maxon Cinema 4D List: Basic - $995; XL - $1,995; Studio - $2,495 Why I love it: It's an amazing program in the sense that you first open it up and...

Get nuked.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... D2 Software, a subsidiary of Digital Domain, is now shipping v.4.5 of its compositing system Nuke. New features include an image-based keyer and more flexible 3D workspace, as well as a new interface, support for Mac OS X and a new pricing...

EDIUS NX rides the PCI Express.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... For those of you who want to use the PCI Express interface on your dual-core CPU computers, there's a new editing option in town: EDIUS NX from Canopus, which mixes realtime HD and SD video editing in one PCI Express-based board. New pro...

I on DFX.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... Eyeon Software is now shipping v.5 of its DFX+ digital video compositor based on its film compositing system, Fusion. New enhancements include 3D compositions with lights, cameras and primitives; OpenGL acceleration with display views and an...

Endorphin for free.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... NaturalMotion, a developer of 3D animation technology based on Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS), is now offering a free version of its endorphin 2.5 software. The endorphin Learning Edition (eLE), available on the company's Web site, is a fully...

Alien on a diet.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... Alienware's got a new species in its powerful and otherwordly line of laptop systems. The Sentia m3200, the thinnest and lightest Alienware model at four pounds, features wireless technology, instant access to multimedia and extended battery...

Velocity gains with HDV and VariCam.(gear up)
January 1, 2006... Harris Corp., the new owner of Leitch products, is shipping version 9.1 of Leitch's VelocityHD nonlinear editing system with HDV support, variable frame-rate processing of Panasonic VariCam content and broadened SD format support. Version 9.1...

Grass Valley Turbo iDDR: FILLING THE NEED FOR MULTIPLE PLAYBACK STREAMS AND STORAGE.
January 1, 2006... Three DVRs in one box--that's the Grass Valley Turbo iDDR (Intelligent Digital Disk Recorder). Grass Valley has clearly been making inroads toward the more accessible video production market, and the Turbo iDDR is an aggressively priced...

Serious Magic ULTRA 2: FAST, CLEAN KEYS ARE ONE CLICK AWAY.
January 1, 2006... ULTRA from Serious Magic has a seriously stellar reputation as a great keying tool in the ubiquitous world of DV, where clean keys aren't always easy in the 4:1:1 or 4:2:0 color spaces. Version 2 makes that reputation even better. ...

Panasonic PT-LB30NTU Portable Projector: HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO.
January 1, 2006... If you're shopping for a portable projector, you know about tradeoffs. You can buy a projector with the brightness level you need, but it will probably weigh more than you want. Or you can buy a projector that's lightweight enough to lug around...

Apple iPod with Video: VIDEO-ON-DEMAND ENTERS A WHOLE NEW REALM.
January 1, 2006... If you've been working crazy deadlines and have somehow missed Apple's recent media blitz, here's a bit of news: The company's latest iPods now offer video support. Right after the initial launch in October, the critics laughed and quickly...

Blackmagic Design HDLink: AN ELEGANT WAY TO MONITOR HD VIDEO ON AN SD SCREEN.
January 1, 2006... Accurate monitoring during high-definition production is absolutely critical; an SD monitor just can't show you potential problems with your footage. From bad makeup jobs to product labels that managed to wander into the background, HD shows...

Light a product shot in under an hour.(how)
January 1, 2006... STEP 1 Choose flat, non-shiny sweep materials You're going to need a sweep that's wide enough to completely cover the background. My favorite surfaces are textured rubber industrial floor mats, but you can also use paper, Formica or...

Create confetti in After Effects 6.5 with AE's CC Particle World plug-in.(how)
January 1, 2006... STEP 1 Begin with colorful layers Confetti is generally multicolored. CC Particle World will base each generated particle hue on the colors already in the layer to which the filter has been applied. So always start out with a very...

Use Apple Soundtrack Pro filters to lower a voice in Final Cut Pro audio.(how)
January 1, 2006... STEP 1 Move your clip from FCP to Soundtrack Pro Send your audio clip form Final Cut Pro to Soundtrack Pro by control-clicking the audio clip in the FCP timeline (or browser). From the shortcut menu, select Send To>Soundtrack Pro Audio...

New Year's resolutions for me, you and the industry.(issues)
January 1, 2006... In addition to the usual "get taxes done earlier" and "exercise more" resolutions we all set at the beginning of each year, let me suggest a few video-specific goals for 2006. The first few apply to individual video professionals, but I also...

HDV for the long haul: can high-def footage, shot in a compressed format at 720P/30, survive the rigors of extreme conditions and remote travel and make it safely out to HD, SD and film? Documentary filmmaker Andrew Young, armed with JVC's GY-HD 100U, decided to find out.(TECHNIQUE: FLEXIBLE HDV)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... When Andrew Young got the assignment from the Bronx Zoo, and then National Geographic Television, for a shoot through a soon-to-be protected area of Madagascar, he took a long, hard look at everything involved. He would be going solo on shoots...

Dealing with new PAs on set.(snafu u.)(Cartoon)
January 1, 2006... THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT... IT'S ONLY ELECTRICITY. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BUT WHAT IF... "IF?!" LISSEN NEWBIE... THE ONLY DANGEROUS THING IS TYING INTO A BUILDING'S POWER. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YEAH?...

He ain't heavy ... (but he's a Vidiot).(hot house)
January 1, 2006... WHAT'S THEIR GIG? Not many people would admit to being a "Vidiot," but two brothers, Anthony and Michael Amoia, actually made it official, christening their New York City-based video post production/music composition company just that....