Studio Monthly articles from November 2008

Studio Monthly archives from November 2008

Title Sequence.(editor's note)
November 1, 2008... When do film titles become works of art? Not the titles of the films themselves (though, along those lines, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies and Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying...

16X9 now fits Sony XDCAM EX.(Spotlight on Lens Accessories)
November 1, 2008... 16x9 is debuting the EX 0.75 Aspheric Wide Converter designed for Sony PMW-EX1/EX3. The EX 0.75 employs an aspheric lens element to more effectively reduce geometric distortion and chromatic aberrations and improve off-axis wide angle...

Cut to reduce IR.(Spotlight on Lens Accessories)
November 1, 2008... Schneider Optics is introducing the TRU-CUT IR-750 filter, which is designed to eliminate light in the infra-red (IR) spectrum before it reaches a high-definition camera's sensors. The TRU-CUT removes the IR spectrum from the light path,...

Tiffen tackles far right of color scale.(Spotlight on Lens Accessories)
November 1, 2008... Tiffen is also tackling the IR pollution problem with the introduction of its new Hot Mirror and Hot Mirror IRND filters. The Hot Mirror Infra-Red Neutral Density (HMIRND) Combination filter addresses this issue in both the Near IR and IR...

Lens accessories designed for Sony PMW-EX3.(Spotlight on Lens Accessories)
November 1, 2008... Schneider Optics has developed a full line of Century HD lens add-ons ready to complement Sony's PMW-EX3. The Century .75X HD Wide Angle Converter (#OHD-75CV-EX3) is a newly designed, lighter weight optical tool for shooting situations that...

Compact switching solution.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... FOR-A is introducing the HVS-300HS HD/SD switcher, which features a compact main unit measuring 1RU, making it an ideal solution for use in flypacks or remote production applications that would benefit from its space-saving design. The...

Cross over switching.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Ross Video is launching the compact CrossOver series, which targets mobile or space constrained professional production environments. CrossOver comes in 4 configurations. The CrossOver 6 supports 6 Multi-Definition inputs, 2 keyers and has 6...

Double the panels, double the control.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Echolab is announcing the availability of dual-panel operation for the its Overture2 standard definition (SD) and multidefinition (MD) video production systems. Dual-panel operation allows production facilities to in-stall just one switcher...

Switching hub.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Media Links is launching MDMax, a central hub for integrated transport and switching, able to handle all the different types of video, audio and data signals used by modern broadcasters. Designed for large-scale operations, MDMax has been...

Robots assist the switch.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Broadcast Pix is introducing new camera control software for its entire range of Slate live video production systems. The new camera control software for Panasonic robotic cameras adds more power, and works with all Broadcast Pix Slate HD and...

Comprehensive view.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Vaddio is announcing its new ProductionVIEW HD, which integrates PTZ camera control and multi-format HD/ SD live switching with real-time graphics and effects into one easy-to-use control console. It features six inputs in any combination of...

Protective plug no dummy.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Neutrik USA has released a new accessory, the dummyPLUG (NDL). Since dust can build up, especially with larger audio consoles with several inputs that are not all necessarily being used at the same time, the dummyPLUGs are designed to protect...

Open codec camera system.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Ikegami recently displayed its new Flash-based GF Series tapeless HD ENG system at the HD World Conference and Exhibition, in New York. The GF Series tapeless HD ENG system has an open-codec HD/SD architecture, proxy video and advanced metadata...

Better 3D viewing from Sony.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... Sony Electronics is announcing a single-projector 3D adapter designed to work specifically with its 4K projectors in movie theaters. The new adapter uses the full height of Sony's 4K imaging device, with the ability to display full 2K images...

Not really skin and bones.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... The newest version of DAZ 3D's popular 3D male figure Michael 4 allows for final renderings that are nearly indistinguishable from photography. Derived from high-resolution real-life human photography and body scans which are combined with the...

CG textures for your title backgrounds.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... Artbeats new footage collection, Abstract Dimensions, features computer-generated (CG) textures designed as interesting, unobtrusive backgrounds for the placement of titles, text, ID bugs and other main elements. The clips evoke a variety of...

Nucomm's new broadcast receiver.(Spotlight on Switchers)
November 1, 2008... Nucomm is launching a new ProQ DTV IFB Receiver, which features dual UHF/VHF antennas, two advanced silicon tuners and 6th generation VSB demodulators. The ProQ is 5"x 1.75"x 8.5" and contains an MPEG Layer 1/Layer 2 audio decoder that is...

Precise workstation.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... Dell is launching its Dell Precision M6400 Covet, a next-generation 17-inch mobile workstation housed in a Vibrant Orange chassis with a standard edge-to-edge glass RGB LED display. The system supports up to 16GB of RAM, a 1GB graphics card,...

CS4-Friendly GPU accelerator.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... NVIDIA is introducing its new graphics accelerator for Adobe Creative Suite 4 software, the NVIDIA Quadro CX. This new GPU provides creative professionals with a faster, better, more reliable way to maximize their creativity. Quadro CX was...

Panasonic connects to CS4.(gear up)
November 1, 2008... Panasonic Broadcast is announcing that new production software applications from Adobe Systems Incorporated will offer native support of the company's AVCCAM camcorder line-up. The latest version of Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium (CS4)...

Focus Enhancements FS-5 DTE recorder; now sleeker, more synchronized.
November 1, 2008... In the time I've been writing for video magazines, I've had the opportunity to test just about every hard drive recording device ever released. Some were OK, some were terrible, but few have shown as much promise as the drives built by Focus...

Dulce systems PRO RX; RX for healthy storing.(ROI reviews)
November 1, 2008... My production company, Wonderdog Media, Inc., is home to three Avid suites, two Media Composer 3.0 suites (one with Mojo and Mojo SDI), and a smaller project suite with Xpress Pro Studio. As far as storage is concerned, I use a hodgepodge of...

Redrock microX: X marks and flips the spot on the m2 lens adapter image.(ROI reviews)
November 1, 2008... As a Redrock regular, I enjoy my M2 cinema lens adapter and use it every chance I get. But it always bugged me that the image was upside down. This made it hard to show video in the field, not to mention the issues in post and slating. Needless...

Use filters as transitions in Apple Final Cut Pro 6.(how)
November 1, 2008... STEP 1 PUT SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT INTO YOUR TRANSITION SELECTION Once you have exhausted your options for transitions under the effects tab, why not try some filter effects for unique transitions? Your Video Filters library is a virtual...

New plug-ins feature wider host support and tap into a growing pool of fourth-party developers.(PLUGGED IN)
November 1, 2008... While video-based applications like Avid, After Effects and Final Cut Pro have always had their standard built-in effects, there's always been a need to literally go outside the box to extend an app's creative functionality. Editors and motion...

Create animated titles with Motype.
November 1, 2008... One of the companies harnessing FxFactory Pro's plug-in creation architecture is Yanobox. Its first offering, Motype, is a useful and easy plug-in for creating dynamic text animations. In the following tutorial, you can see just how easy Motype...

The plug-in post Q + A (an excerpt); Trapcode's peder norrby.(Interview)(Excerpt)
November 1, 2008... Peder Norrby, the Stockholm-based founder and developer of the Trapcode suite of plug-ins, talks about what challenges, inspires and surprises him, from sustainable villages in the South Pacific, to flying spheres and musical colors. ...

Acoustically treat your editing suite.(train up)
November 1, 2008... STEP 1 CHOOSE YOUR ROOM LOCATION Location, location, location... Choosing the right location for your editing suite is arguably the single most important decision you will make and making the right decision could save you a ton of money...

Shelter Builds Up--and Out.(hot house)
November 1, 2008... Opening a post-production house an hour south of Los Angeles--arguably the media center of the world--might seem a little reckless. After all, clients who are centered in LA don't need to leave the city to find first-class facilities. So why...