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How BlackMagic changed the game...

4/18/2012

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With the release of the new BlackMagic Cinema Camera, everybody focused on the device specifications. For me the real revolution brought by BlackMagic Design is the way they handle Workflow. Until now, Cameras tend to ignore post like if it was another world. At most, they released codecs and plug ins, but not much more. BlackMagic has a Post Production DNA. And they intended to erase many steps between shoot & Edit. Here is a little schematic I did to show you how much Workflow has been simplified in 20 years.
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One BlackMagic to Mesmerize competition...

4/16/2012

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It is obvious Canon, Nikon, Sony Red or any other Camera manufaturer out there didn't do much form Filmocracy those days. We expected a lot from C3000, Red Scarlet, D800, 5dMIII and they failed to blow us away. The real thing might come from BlackMagic design, known for DaVinci Resolve and Video Acquisition Cards. They unveiled the dream cam @ NAB today with their  Camera Cinema. 
It's just competition's biggest issue right now cause this baby Does 2k, 12 stops, EF-ZF Mount, ProRes, DNxHD, Adobe Cinema DNG files for less than 3000$... Don't be fooled by its iPad like simplicity. It is a beast that belongs to our time. We can trust blackMagic on their Shoot 2 Post reliable Workflow. And for the very first time, Thunderbolt connexion from Apple makes sense.
Available in July... Images there
The 5DMII of 2012 ?
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The Cinema Picture Profile

4/8/2012

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Most professionals are now using the Technicolor Cinestyle for Canon DSLR to flatten their image and get the best of it in post. Unfortunately, the picture profile tends to add much noise and banding on high iso. This is why I started to use the Cinema picture profile. ( Cineplus.ch 19$). I must say I am quite satisfied by the result. Of course, you get less informations available for color correction. But let's face it, we did not have much juice to squeeze out anyhow from a compressed H264 codec. The Cinema picture style has a soft filmic latitude and mostly preserves skin tones at every color temperature, for a smoother less noisy image.
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X2Pro... Tools only !

4/8/2012

7 Comments

 
It's needless to say that I don't share FinalCut Pro X skepticism. It's a great tool. Though, I must admit outputting audio for post is kind of a nightmare. "Roles" are nice, but this is not what my sound mixer expects from a pro oriented software. Until 10.0.3 there was the clumsy Automatic Duck Pro Export available. Not so convincing. Luckily, X2Pro (69.99$ App Store) is here. Many talked about it, fewer experienced it. We did it for a recent series and I must admit it works ( will bug with auditions, and multicam though ) ! But there are a few limitations. NO SOFTWARE OTHER THAN PRO-TOOLS WILL WORK. Some will import your session, other not, but none will understand the file properly. We tried Nuendo, Logic, Vegas, and even Soundtrack (Embedded files are mute ). So if your sound buddy does not own a Pro Tool license, I suggest he gets one... Until further update from Marquis Software. 
UPDATE : Chris from X2Pro send me a Nuendo workaround... Thank you guys !
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The Wieldy slider...

4/7/2012

1 Comment

 
Back from a Beijing shoot, I had the opportunity to buy a local brand slider from "Wieldy". The greatest asset of this device is its incredibly low price : 1800 RMB ( 280$ ) and for a decent 1m20 length. This is far way below what you can usually buy at your local store. And believe me, this is not one of those crappy piece of aluminum you could find on ebay. this is a robust design a little ( lot ) inspired by Cinevate's device. It rolls on 15mm rigs with smooth  wheels. This might be a choice for any indy director with no money in his pocket.... 
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