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How to get your films on the iTunes Store

This is very cool. TuneCore is a company that acts as an intermediate between indie musicians and Apple, allowing them to put their content on the iTunes Store for a flat fee per month. They've now extended this to video content.

I actually think their video deal is better than their music one because you just pay an up-front fee and then any money made on the film (after Apple's cut) goes to you in full. The fee varies according to the length of the content - for example, a 60 minute film costs $550 and a 90 minute one costs $770. The deal is non-exclusive, can be canceled at any time and you retain all rights to your content. Note that your content must be approved by Apple first.

This is a great way for independent filmmakers without a distribution deal to get their projects out to a large audience. More details are available here.

Categories: Industry, Useful sites, Indie
0 comments Posted Saturday September 13 2008 4:31 PM Permalink


Escape Studios delivers online CG learning tool

I just received this in my inbox. Escape Studios, a London-based visual effects facility well known for its excellent CG courses, are now offering a system to study various CG courses via the internet. Previously the barriers to their courses were that you had to take the course in London (and if you're not a citizen, visas complicate things) and that you had to commit a period of several months to the course. You can now learn from anywhere in the world, at any time and take as much time as you like to complete the course.

The courses take the form of HD video tutorials and they are currently offering Maya Core (an introductory course) and Renderman as course options. Maya Core is 1,999 GBP (around $3,500 at today's exchange rate) but each module is available separately for 400 GBP (~$700). Renderman Freelance (for individuals) is $995, Renderman Commercial (for companies) is $3,995 and Renderman Education (for schools) is $3,995. Renderman certification is also available for an additional $100.

With over 600 videos for the Maya Core course alone, it looks incredibly detailed. Should you run into problems, you can ask an instructor a question or seek help from Escape's online community. They are offering a demo area with 2.5 hours worth of footage for free (after registration) which is definitely worth a look.

And if you're looking for work in the visual effects industry, I fully recommend their job site. It's UK-centric but they are now starting to branch out into other countries.

Categories: Industry, Visual Effects, Useful sites
0 comments Posted Monday September 8 2008 3:28 PM Permalink


"How the West Was Won" restoration

The BBC has an interesting article detailing the on-going process of restoring the Oscar-winning 1962 John Wayne epic How the West Was Won.

This movie posed particular challenges because it was printed for Cinerama release, which meant that there were three different film rolls playing through three different projectors at the same time. Then add to that the fact that each film roll had deteriorated differently (often with physical warping and buckling of the film) - there is a real challenge.

Categories: Color Grading, Industry, Visual Effects
0 comments Posted Saturday July 26 2008 3:04 PM Permalink


iTunes App Store RSS feeds

As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit disappointing that Apple hasn't offered up RSS feeds for iTunes App Store applications. Well, the kind folks at Pinch Media have decided to fill that gap, offering up their own feeds. They've got four feeds listing New Applications, Recently Updated Applications, Top 100 Free Applications and Top 100 Paid Applications.

While I was on their site, I also spotted another article detailing how the percentage of free apps is falling. This doesn't really surprise me but it is a little disappointing. All of our apps so far (both web apps and desktop apps) have been free - I am running a business but I don't like charging people for something I don't feel is worth paying for. That's not because I feel the quality of DR's apps is poor, just that the functions they perform fall into a very narrow category (e.g. FCS Remover). I will undoubtedly create certain paid software applications in the future but these would be larger applications with more wide-ranging uses and not small utilities for a single purpose. It disappoints me to see people offering "flashlight" applications (basically just a white screen) for $0.99 when you could just open a blank Safari page for free to achieve the same effect. It really cheapens the store, as do the applications with loads of symbols in front of their name (e.g. "!!!!!!AAAAAAAAA++++++ Application" just to get their apps to the top of the alphabetical listing.

Unless your app is very popular (or very expensive) you will lose out because Apple won't even write you a check until you hit $250 (which is quite a high threshold compared to other revenue schemes such as Google AdSense), and if you're past the cutoff date for that particular month, you have to wait until next month to receive your check. The small apps are free money to Apple because Apple can earn interest on the money while the developer is trying to reach $250 and in some cases, they may never end up having to write that check. I know Google makes tens of millions every year from small sites that never reach the $100 threshold.

DR apps will come, I promise. Just not this month. Maybe late next month, when I should have fewer time pressures. Come the end of August, I should have some more time to work on things like this and work on improving our other apps like FCS Remover and Preference Manager, in addition to creating a few new ones that I have in my head. In the meantime, we still have the web apps.

Categories: Apple, Industry
0 comments Posted Wednesday July 16 2008 5:45 PM Permalink


Rough cuts

Shane Ross has a great post about "rough" rough cuts and how frustrating it is when producers cannot see past a lack of audio or sound effects, or a dodgy transition. What is worse is when the producer gets it into his or her head that you are trying to pass that off as the end product, despite your protestations to the contrary. That has happened to me and is a nasty situation for all involved.

I think the key is to make the producer comfortable with you. Normally these kind of problems go away on the second or third project as the producer realizes that you can do the job and are not a cowboy, and they get familiar with the way that you work. I also find that a comfortable producer will give you a lot more creative freedom (I prefer to see scripts as a guide rather than a rulebook for example) and in return you will take advantage of that freedom to return a better product, so it is mutually beneficial.

Categories: Video Editing, Industry, Analysis
0 comments Posted Monday June 2 2008 11:41 PM Permalink


R.I.P. Sydney Pollack

Didn't expect to read this... Sydney Pollack just died of cancer, aged 73.



Read more...

Categories: Industry, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Monday May 26 2008 10:55 PM Permalink


Autodesk acquires Realviz

This is very interesting. Autodesk (Maya, 3ds Max, AutoCAD, flint, flame, Lustre.... the list goes on) has just acquired the assets of Realviz. Realviz Stitcher (for combining multiple images into panoramas) and ImageModeler (creating 3D models from still images) are very popular in the visual effects industry and have been used on several high-profile features such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

A quick visit to Realviz's site reveals that its products have already been Autodesk-branded. I see this acquisition as a good thing because it is clear that the purchase is not a defensive move and that Autodesk does genuinely want to develop the products further. I would particularly like to see Movimento, ImageModeler and MatchMover incorporated into Maya in one form or another.

Autodesk also announced today that it had completed the acquisition of Kynogon, makers of Kynapse artificial intelligence software.

Update: VFXWorld has an exclusive interview with Marc Petit, Autodesk's SVP about the acquisitions. He confirms that the products will be integrated into existing product offerings such as Maya but will also be available separately.

"We are seeing some fundamental changes in the way movies, television programs and games are produced. Being able to gather 3D data from 2D material can help at many stages of the production process. We see it in pre-visualization, where it's easy to build 3D environments or virtual sets by stitching pictures together or derive 3D models very quickly from set photos using image-based modeling. Games now require a lot of facial animation. Animators can rough out facial animations using a webcam and optical motion capture. Adding assist cameras on location to capture scenes from multiple points of view is a good insurance policy for post-production. Of course, you can extract camera moves to enrich the post-production process but you can also rebuild sets in 3D from these multiple points of view. Multiple cameras enable optical motion capture of actors in non-intrusive ways without the need for suits or dedicated stages. The performance of an actor can then be modified or augmented during the post-production process using regular 3D tools such as Maya or Flame. Moreover, combining all of these technologies with spatial image-based lighting allows for highly realistic integration of CG elements with live action. We believe that weaving these technologies and products more tightly into our existing portfolio should lead to some interesting new capabilities and will provide for a more efficient production environment."

Categories: Industry, Software, Visual Effects
0 comments Posted Wednesday May 7 2008 2:49 PM Permalink


NAB 2008 Summary

If, like me, you couldn't possibly keep up with all of the goings-on at NAB and decided to wait it out until the end, here is a short summary of the biggest announcements (or the ones most interesting to me anyway) in bitesize form.

RED
New low-end portable camera Scarlet
  • 3K
  • Around $3000
  • Early 2009 release
  • New Mysterium X Sensor
  • 1-120 fps (180 fps burst)
  • 100MB/sec Redcode RAW and RGB recording via dual Compact Flash
  • 4.8 inch LCD
  • Fixed 8x T2.8 lens
  • Auto and manual shooting modes
  • Wi-Fi control - this one opens up many possibilities

PVC Scarlet write-up

New high-end camera Epic
  • 5K (up from 4K)
  • I have heard both $30,000 and $40,000 quoted (up from $17,500)
  • Early 2009 release
  • New Full-Frame S35 Mysterium X Sensor
  • 1-100 fps (up from 1-60 fps)
  • 100MB/sec (up from 36 MB/sec) Redcode and HDMI recording
  • 6 lb body (down from 10 lbs)
  • RAW and RGB recording to Red Flash
  • Wi-Fi control
  • Fully upgradeable
  • You can get a full $17,500 credit for your Red One if you upgrade

PVC Epic write-up

New playback device RED Ray
  • Early 2009
  • 4K in
  • 4K, 2K, 1080p, 720p, SD playback
  • Can play back content from a regular red laser disc
  • Plays native R3D files from Compact Flash
  • 4 HD SDI and 4
    HDMI connections for 4K
  • 2 HD SDI and 2 HDMI connections for 2K
  • 2 hrs of 4K with 5.1 audio on a regular DVD
  • FireWire 800 for connecting external hard disks or cameras
  • Under $1000

PVC RED Ray write-up
Scott Simmons at the Editblog has several photographs of the various RED products.

Sony
PMW-EX3
  • Around $13,000
  • Uses SxS cards (similar to P2)
  • Removable lens
  • 1080i / 720p switchable
  • Genlock and timecode inputs
  • Shoulder-mounted
  • Available late 2008


F35
  • S35-sized sensor
  • Extensive depth of field controls
  • Greater dynamic range than the F23 (800% more)
  • PL lens mount allows regular 35mm film lenses to be used


Panasonic
P2 Varicams (AJ-HPX3700 and AJ-HPX2700)
  • Now uses P2 cards exclusively. 5x P2 slots available on each camera
  • 2/3" CCDs
  • Full-res 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC Intra-100 recording
  • Variable frame rates in 1-frame increments
  • Available fall 2008


AG-HPX170 solid-state camcorder
  • Improves on the successful HVX200
  • 1/3" premium-quality CCDs offering increased sensitivity and lower noise
  • 13x lens with 28mm wide-angle setting (widest in its class)
  • 12-60 fps in 720p-mode
  • P2-only; no tape deck
  • Much smaller and lighter than the HVX200
  • Available fall 2008

Here is a great summary from DVXUser.com.

AJ-HVX200A camcorder
  • Successor to the hugely popular HVX-200
  • Incorporates the same lens and CCDs as the new HPX170 but with a tape deck for transitioning from a MiniDV workflow

Here is a great review from DVXUser.com.

64 GB P2 card
  • More than 4 hours of DVCPRO footage
  • More than 2 hours of DVCPRO50 or AVC-Intra 50
  • More than 64 minutes of AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD
  • Available fall 2008


AJ-PCD35 ExpressCard P2 drive
  • Allows P2 cards to be used in machines with ExpressCard ports
  • Can transfer from up to 5 cards at once
  • Available late 2008


Imagineer Systems
High-end finishing system mogul
  • Monthly subscription includes hardware, software and maintenance. Annual hardware upgrades
  • Open platform allows content sharing and management between multiple applications
  • Editing, compositing and grading integrated to allow you to switch from one to the other without rendering
  • Software "plugs in" to the architecture to perform certain tasks such as mogul/roto and mogul/comp with similar interfaces
  • mogul/serve shipping at NAB, other products to be determined

Studio Daily mogul interview

Matrox
MXO 2
  • Inputs: Component HD/SD, SDI HD/SD, Embedded SDI audio, Y/C, Composite, XLR audio, RCA audio, AES/EBU, HDMI, Embedded HDMI audio
  • Outputs: Component HD/SD, SDI HD/SD, Embedded SDI audio, Y/C, Composite, RCA audio, XLR audio, AES/EBU, HDMI, Embedded HDMI audio, Direct 5.1 surround monitoring
  • This does not have a DVI output like the MXO so it cannot output to a Cinema Display
  • Dynamic RT acceleration and hardware up/downscaling
  • Designed for HDMI monitoring with calibration and 1:1 pixel mapping
  • Black burst and tri-sync for HD
  • $1600
  • Released July 2008

Differences between the MXO and MXO 2 (PDF)
Shane Ross's write-up

Categories: Industry, Hardware, Cameras
2 comments Posted Saturday April 19 2008 9:59 AM Permalink


Toshiba to drop HD DVD

BBC News is reporting that shares of Toshiba have risen over speculation that it will scrap the HD DVD format. Toshiba was one of the pioneers of the format and has stood by it even after it was eclipsed by Blu-ray.

The article states that Toshiba is "reviewing its business strategies" but no decision has been made about HD DVD's future yet. This reflects a change in Toshiba's attitudes as it used to answer a firm "yes, the format will continue" when asked.

I hope Toshiba kills it sooner rather than later, as not only are they hurting themselves and the industry, but they are prolonging the inevitable. I think the major complaint about Blu-ray - price - will become a non-factor in the future as the industry can now focus its resources on one format to bring down prices, instead of splitting them between two. Also, technological improvements over time and increased demand will lower production costs and bring down prices as well.

Some people are wondering if it will all be in vain, as the download industry is just starting to take off. That remains to be seen but I don't think they are ready to directly compete with discs yet though.

Update 2/19/08: It's official. Toshiba has now suspended production of HD DVD players and recorders but will continue to clear out its inventory until March. This is a lot earlier than I had originally expected, so well done Toshiba for not drawing it out.

Categories: Industry, Analysis, DVD
0 comments Posted Monday February 18 2008 11:12 AM Permalink


Apple pulls out of NAB 2008

AppleInsider is stating that Apple has pulled out of NAB 2008.

Last year, Apple's main competitor in the video editing field, Avid, announced that it was not going to attend the conference, amid industry speculation as to its reasons.

In Apple's case, it is not necessarily a bad thing and does not mean that we will not see new video-related products. Setting up a stand at big trade shows is expensive and Apple have reached the stage where their brand is so strong that they do not need anyone else to help them market it. This was illustrated last year by the announcement of the iPhone at Macworld in January overshadowing all of the announcements at the CES show happening at the same time.

I repeat: this is not necessarily bad news. I quote Steve Jobs from this year's Macworld keynote: "All of this in two weeks. And there's still 50 to go."

Categories: Apple, Industry, Analysis
0 comments Posted Thursday February 7 2008 4:54 PM Permalink


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