AV Video Multimedia Producer articles from June 2004

AV Video Multimedia Producer archives from June 2004

Terms of engagement.(Real Time)
June 1, 2004... IS YOUR COMPANY INVESTING IN COMPUTER-BASED training? International Data Corporation estimates that Internet-based employee learning will become an $18 billion business by 2005, suggesting that corporate clients are hungry for effective,...

Digital signage question.(Input)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... We are creating digital signage ads using a plasma monitor with a native resolution of 852 X 480. The ads are Flash SWF files played by a PC. Is there a best method to get the highest quality image on the plasma? For example, should we create...

Hitting a nerve.(Input)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Know that "The Last Word" is the first read by me in AVVMMP. It often hits a nerve, but this time ("Mayday for Payday," January 2004) Steven Klapow struck it better than my dentist ever could. I just wanted to pass along my solution to the...

In praise of clarity.(Input)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Your magazine is one of my favorites. You're able to blend shorter and longer pieces very nicely, while never disorienting the reader. I like the clear and concise color-coded headings and the straitforward reviews. The Test Pattern ratings are...

A far-flung fan.(Input)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... We have been receiving your magazine since 2002. It is an excellent magazine, full of interesting articles as well as useful audio/video advertising. It helps us in many ways, from hardware to software selection, to the evaluation of our media...

D-Day in 3D: Iomedia nets Telly for Museum video.(Awards)
June 1, 2004... The Iomedia creative agency, which specializes in blending 3D visualization and digital media for architectural and pharmaceutical clients, recently received a Silver Telly Award in the category of Outstanding 3D Visualization for its...

Medical video: Columbia U. wins festival award.(Awards)
June 1, 2004... A Columbia University Medical Center-produced video that has helped raise more than $1 million for Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York has won a prestigious New York Festivals 2004 Film and Video award. The 15-minute video. The Power...

Church future-proofs with HD.(Trends)
June 1, 2004... In Anchorage, high-def has become a religious experience. The Anchorage Baptist Temple--Alaska's largest Baptist ministry--has invested in six new Sony HDCAM cameras, five new Fujinon XA72X9.3 ESM telephoto HD lenses and one HA22X7.8BERM...

Understanding Flash MX 2004 Action Script 2: Basic Techniques for Creatives.(Books in Brief)
June 1, 2004... UNDERSTANDING FLASH MX 2004 ACTION SCRIPT 2: BASIC TECHNIQUES FOR CREATIVES By Alex Michael * Focal Press * 272 pp. * $29.95 Until Macromedia Flash 4 was developed, Flash presentations pretty much had two speeds: pla, and stop. With...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... JUNE 5-11 InfoComm 04 Atlanta http://infocomm04.expoexchange.com/ JULY 12-15 Macworld Conference & Expo Boston www.macworldexpo.com JULY 13-16 DV Expo East New York www.dvexpo.com/east/ JULY...

Camcorder extras: tripods, power sources, lights and other cool add-ons.(Production)
June 1, 2004... NAB 2004 MAY HAVE BEEN THE place to see new camera technology in action (see page 49), but the show also produced an equally bountiful crop of accessories for existing camcorders. Many of these products are suitable for a range of camcorder...

Sound design: creating big impact with a small budget.(Post-Production)
June 1, 2004... SOUND DESIGN EXISTS TO AUGment and enhance film, video and multimedia projects. In most cases, that involves the creation, manipulation and organization of nonmusical sonic elements. It reflects the imagination of the sound designer as he or...

Square pegs, round holes: don't look now, but the interfaces to your projectors and monitors are changing.(The Big Picture)
June 1, 2004... THE TRANSITION TO DIGITAL media has been a good thing in many ways. It's brought the cost and complexity of video acquisition and editing equipment down much faster than most would have predicted. Digital has made file storage, transport and...

Click mentality: interactive training takes a lot more than removing curricula from the classroom and slapping it onto a network or a disc.(Cover Story)
June 1, 2004... According to the United States Distance Learning Association (www.usdla.org), research indicates that distance education is an effective way to teach. It's not surprising because, in principle, interactive training makes sense. In a...

Intelligent Assistance.(Interactive-Training News)
June 1, 2004... * Intelligent Assistance has developed what president and CEO Philip Hodgetts refers to as "an iTunes for plugins and resources." Called Digital Media Hubs, these centralized resources will complement Intelligent Assistance's existing line of...

KIA.(Interactive-Training News)
June 1, 2004... * The motor company KIA has selected Optibase's MGW 2400 multichannel Windows Media encoding and streaming server to deliver corporate training to executives at KIA's training center in Osan, Korea. The aim of this new system is to enable the...

Helius.(Interactive-Training News)
June 1, 2004... * Helius has integrated the OneTouch Classroom Site Controller system into its MediaGate Router platform. This will allow distance-learning customers to deploy a single device at each site. The MediaGate Router product acts as a receiver,...

Hands-on HD: first-person advice.
June 1, 2004... If you haven't gotten your hands on HD, chances are many of you plan to later this year. When we asked our readers at the beginning of 2004 if they'd worked in HD, we found a 50/50 split between respondents who had and those who hadn't. We...

Executives assess the state of HD: a word from our sponsors.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... Marc Valentin, President, Thomson Broadcast Solutions Thomson is encouraged by the increasing adoption of HDTV sets by consumers throughout the world, but especially in the U.S. (where over 9 million have been sold), and we feel that 2004...

Get a very precise monitor, then watch it like a hawk.(Shooting)
June 1, 2004... Robert Primes, ASC Cinematographer Recent HD Projects: Baadasssss, MDs (TV Series), Forgotten Valor [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We've learned to do tests with film, study a film stock's latitude, use an exposure meter, make a very...

Sta focused.(Shooting)
June 1, 2004... Mike Strein ABC/NY Director, DTV development and media planning Recent HD Projects: The 76th Annual Academy Awards, Monday Night Football, The State of the Union Address [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The first thing that...

Shoot alternate takes for slo-mo.(Shooting)
June 1, 2004... Rick Yarmy Dark Spark Media/Royal Oak, MI Director Recent HD Projects: "Year of the Car" for Ford, "A Road to a Legend" for Chevrolet [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Initially we were in love with shooting 24p, but eventually with the...

Staying flexible is key to HD production.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... As a mobile production services company that facilitates more than 1500 live sports and entertainment events per year for a wide variety of clients, we always have to make careful choices about the equipment we use on our trucks. NEP cannot...

Workstation graphics: enabling HD content creation for film, video, post production and broadcast industries.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... The media industry is currently undergoing a major shift as content creation and delivery has become increasingly digital. Continued developments in application software and computer hardware continue to drive this transition as it's helped...

AAF is your friend.(Graphics)
June 1, 2004... Ross Shain Northern Lights Post/New York Senior Editor/Designer Recent HD Projects: MotoPig for VOOM, "Sling Shot" for Spanish Clementines [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During preproduction on a recent spot, we recommended...

Protect for 16:9 to avoid scene extensions.(Graphics)
June 1, 2004... Randie Swanberg R!OT Manhattan Senior Visual Effects Artist Recent HD Projects: Diet Coke "Telescope," American Express "Tribeca," Revlon "Sexy Story in Four Parts" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Unfortunately, whether he's...

Go 4:4:4 to avoid artifacts.(Graphics)
June 1, 2004... Andy Lesniak CREOCOLLECTIVE/Santa Monica CG Supervisor/DP Recent HD Projects: Without a Trace (VFX), Sony "Dreams" project for director/DP David Cornell [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the biggest issues in...

Choose aspect ratios carefully.(Editing)
June 1, 2004... Mike Walker Encore/Hollywood Director, Technical Operations Recent HD Projects: JAG, Carnivale, Without a Trace, Alias [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Making the transition from SD to HD means opening a Pandora's box of editorial...

Don't mix frame rates and do shoot anamorphic.(Editing)
June 1, 2004... Randy Magalski The Post Group/Hollywood Senior Editor Recent HD Projects: CSI, CSI: Miami, Law and Order (SVU and Criminal Intent) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mixing frame sizes is no longer much of an issue, but mixing frame...

Edit in the frame rate you acquired in.(Editing)
June 1, 2004... Zed Saeed DigitalFilm Tree/West Hollywood Senior Post Production Consultant Recent HD Projects: Provided the first FCP-Kona AJA HD system for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The single most...

The move is on to HD.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... Suddenly, HD is everywhere, but everyone has different needs. The trick is to understand the many varieties of HD, and to choose a solution tuned to your specific requirements. For DV professionals, broadcasters and independent filmmakers, HDV...

Go linear ... or not.(Finishing & Mastering)
June 1, 2004... Ron Heidt Crawford Post/Atlanta Senior Editor Recent HD Projects: The Concert for World Children's Day (ABC), Great Museums (PBS) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The questions you should answer to make a decision on whether to...

Calibrate your monitor carefully and often.(Finishing & Mastering)
June 1, 2004... John Perischetti Post Logic Studios/Hollywood Colorist Recent HD Projects: Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, Once Upon a Time in Mexico [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Most of the issues I see in HD mastering are the result of poor...

Know your downconverter before shooting.(Finishing & Mastering)
June 1, 2004... Jeff Cree Bandpro Film & Digital/Burbank HDVS Market Development Manager Recent HD Projects: Instructing camera crews for James Cameron's HD 3D Titanic/Bismark projects, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over and Once Upon a Time in Mexico ...

Go flay? Stay CRT? It depends ...(Displays)
June 1, 2004... Pete Putman, CTS Columnist, AV Video Multimedia Producer and Film & Video; President Roam Consulting/Doylestown, PA [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite the switch from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratios and a move away from tubes to...

Why not flip the aspect ratio to 9:16?(Displays)
June 1, 2004... Bill Marpet B Productions/NY Director/DP Recent Projects: "New York and LA Fashion Weeks," Full Frontal Fashion, "Donna Karan Brand Video" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We've pioneered shooting "vertically" for fashion shows...

BenQ: enjoyment in the High Definition age.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... A new generation of consumer electronics is defining the way consumers are entertained at home. Home entertainment products are now designed to enhance a digital lifestyle, from home theater viewing to presentation technologies. Expectations...

Streamline your render passes.(Storage)
June 1, 2004... Brian Welsh UVPHACTORY/NY Senior Producer Recent HD Projects: IDs for VOOM and Madison Square Garden [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The HD canvas is nearly six times denser in pixel information than the SD resolution screen--a...

Evaluate your network backbone and get ready to upgrade.(Storage)
June 1, 2004... Rich Torpey MVG (Rhinopost, Rhinoedit, Rhinofx, Meccanica and Tonic/NY VP, Engineering Recent HD Projects: Monsters, Bowling for Columbine, 100 Center Street [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To address the dual issues of moving...

Store and move footage on firewire drives.(Storage)
June 1, 2004... Conrad W. Denke Victory Studios/Seattle CEO Recent HD projects: Spots for Tulalip Casino, Spectres [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two of the most important issues to deal with for storage are size and bandwidth. One frame of...

You should still worry about keeping your audio and video in-sync.(Storage)
June 1, 2004... Jerry Gepner National Mobile Television/Somerville, NJ President Recent HD Projects: Design HD4, HD6, HD7 and HD8 high-definition trucks [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today there is no need for an HD production to look any...

Storage & Media management for HD workflows.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... HD has brought forward the need for a hybrid workflow that combines requirements in both the video and data realms. Maximum Throughput's Sledgehammer is the only system available today that addresses the needs in both these regards. Every day,...

The best of NAB: a roundup of the latest news, partner views and final pricing on hot new products.
June 1, 2004... It took us nine pages in last month's issue to cover the products slated for release at NAB 2004. Our post-show report is more compact by design. We've organized news into four central areas: Production (camcorders, lenses, VTRs/DDRs, stock...

ATI's All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro: this graphics card isn't the fastest, but it's no slouch either.(Test Patterns)
June 1, 2004... Very Good Summary: ATI's second-rung All-in-Wonder card provides excellent graphics performance and surprisingly capable AV features--all for a very competitive price Target Users: Video professionals Platforms: Windows 98/2000/ME...

Panasonic's PT-LC76U projector: an affordable powerhouse that performs like the big boys.(Test Patterns)
June 1, 2004... Excellent Summary: An amazing multi-purpose projector at a very reasonable price Target Users: Presentation professionals ********** I COULD VERY NEARLY CONCLUDE my task as reviewer by reporting but a single word in...

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003: full-screen video is finally a part of the package.(Test Patterns)
June 1, 2004... Very Good Summary: PowerPoint 2003 adds valuable new features, including full-screen video playback, an integrated thesaurus and support for additional media file formats Target Users: Corporate and professional presenters ...

NEC and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.(Product Development News)
June 1, 2004... NEC and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., best known for its Panasonic brand products, recently announced their joint development of an embedded controller in plasma displays for industrial applications. The controller, developed for...

InFocus recently announced the creation of ASK Proxima.(Product Development News)
June 1, 2004... InFocus recently announced the creation of ASK Proxima, which combines two brands, ASK in Europe/Asia and Proxima in the United States. The new brand will leverage the market recognition both brands have built in the education, government and...

InFocus.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... INFOCUS' new X2 projector ($999) builds on the popular InFocus X1's legacy and includes an extended lamp life. When using video, the InFocus X2 provides 1,500 lumens, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and automatic deinterlacing for smooth images....

Avid Technology.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... AVID TECHNOLOGY has extended Mac OS 10.3.2 (Panther) support for Avid Xpress DV. Avid Xpress Pro, and Media Composer Adrenaline systems running on qualified dual-processor and single-processor G4 and G5 CPUs. These releases also offer...

Imagine Products.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... IMAGINE PRODUCTS' new time-code break analyzer tool, TCDetective Pro ($99), is capable of detecting breaks as small as two frames on DV and RS-422 videotapes. DV tapes are especially susceptible to discontinuities (breaks) in timecode....

Sony Electronics.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... SONY ELECTRONICS' new 17-inch SDM-S74 ($520) and 19-inch SDM-S94 ($750) liquid crystal displays include two inputs--one digital and one analog--so users can connect multiple computers to one display, improving productivity while saving valuable...

Bodelin Technologies.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... BODELIN TECHNOLOGIES recently released its impressive (and lowcost) ProPrompter software ($199). ProPrompter Teleprompter software turns your PocketPC into a bright, easy-to-read text-scrolling device for live-hits, stand-ups or production...

Optelecom.(Tool Wise)
June 1, 2004... OPTELECOM'S high-resolution RGB/XGA video transmission systems (models 3654A and 9311) are designed for conference rooms and control center applications. They transport high-resolution RGB/XGA video signals with various sync configurations over...