Importing MXFs into Final Cut Pro

I think filmmaking is the only profession where the word "cheat" is used to mean a positive thing. Shane Ross has figured out a way of importing MXF files from Panasonic P2 cards. This is a way of importing P2 footage without having to go through Final Cut's "Log and Transfer" dialog. You just drag it directly into Final Cut and there it is, ready to be used.

In order to enable this functionality, you must install Panasonic's free P2CMS utility. The P2CMS utility allows you to view MXF files natively in QuickTime. Because Final Cut is built upon QuickTime, it also inherits this functionality. Presumably it should be backwards compatible with FCP 5 as well.

One caveat is that when you import, you will get a dialog saying that the media is not optimized for Final Cut Pro, so depending on the speed of your machine, you might have to constantly render everything. But this is good if you want to cut out the Log and Transfer step.

New tool: Aspect Ratio Calc

We've just added a new online tool to the site. Aspect Ratio Calc allows you to calculate the aspect ratio of various film and video formats. It also offers you the ability to work out the pixel width or height of the footage based on the aspect ratio.

This tool is very useful in ensuring that you are meeting the standards specified by your broadcaster or distributor, and also to make sure that you are delivering at the correct resolution and aspect ratio when creating CG footage from scratch.

It is available in standard and iPhone versions. We also have tools for calculating the disk space taken up by video footage and calculating the number of film reels needed to shoot a certain number of hours of footage. See our Resources section for more details.

Blogwad 12/13/07

Here are some of the headlines that caught my eye recently:

Oscars go long with songs - 59 songs are in the running for an Oscar nomination this year.

ProTools LE controlled with an iPhone - Someone has managed to create a hack that allows you to control ProTools LE in real-time from an iPhone. Looks pretty cool. Complete with video.

YouTube a conduit for "D-Boys" auditions - A Japanese talent agency is using YouTube as a means of auditioning actors.

Sony sets sights on new camera - Sony is to release the F35 next year as part of its high-end CineAlta line. It's got a Super 35mm sensor and will record a 10 megapixel image. It is planned to retail for $250k for the camera body (no lens or accessories). Sony also says it has a 4K camera in the works but it will take a while. "We don't want to do a low-end 4K camera system" - which is clearly a dig at the Red camera. It will be interesting to see what Sony brings to the table.

New trailers for Youth Without Youth - Two new trailers up for Francis Ford Coppola's new movie. I can't wait to see it.

AJA releases new Leopard drivers

Just a quick note to say that AJA has released new drivers for its popular KONA 3 and Io HD lines. These primarily add Leopard support but also add a couple of small new features, so they're recommended for Tiger users as well.

KONA 3
This release updates the KONA 3/3X to have OSX "Leopard" compatibility. The release also adds support for 720p50 and provides other improvements and fixes.

AJA Driver Compatibility as of KONA Version 5.0 is as follows:
FCP 6.0.x - Kona Driver version 5.0 (Leopard and Tiger OS compatible version)
FCP 6.0.x - Kona Driver version 4.0 (Tiger OS compatible version)
FCP 5.1.x - Kona Driver versions 3.1 through 3.4 (Tiger OS compatible versions)
FCP 5.0.x - Kona Driver version 3 (first Universal Binary version)

Io HD
This release updates the Io HD to have OSX "Leopard" compatibility. The release also adds support for 720p50 and provides other improvements and fixes. The archive includes software, release notes, user manual, and utilities. Please read documentation before installing software on your Io HD system. This software should not be used with any other AJA product (KONA, Io, Io LA, Io LD).

[via HDForIndies]

Sahara budget revealed

The LA Times has managed to obtain details of the budget for the movie Sahara. If you don't remember, Sahara was an action-adventure movie that came out in 2005, starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. It lost $105 million at the box office and is regarded as one of the biggest flops in Hollywood's history.

The production costs came to $160 million but the producers managed to save a lot of money by shooting abroad. Some of their Moroccan crew were paid the same amount for a week's work as their US counterparts would be paid for a day. They were also given tax breaks and financial incentives by foreign governments.

But some of the other costs were shocking. They spent $105,556 on bottled water in Morocco alone. How many bottles does it take to spend that amount of money? I did a Google product search and found a site offering 24 bottles for $7.13, equaling about $0.30 per bottle. So, at that price you would need at least 355,307 bottles of water! The actual amount would probably be much higher because they would most likely buy wholesale in bulk, which would cost even less per bottle. Remember that this is only in Morocco and doesn't include any water costs in any of the other locations. Crazy.

Even this was a small cost compared to some of the other things in the budget. The strangest thing is that the "usual suspects" - special effects, post production, actors' wages - were the smallest items on the balance sheet. The main problem was that they would shoot complex sequences costing millions of dollars that ended up being cut from the final movie. The film also suffered because the high production costs meant that creative control became a secondary consideration in scenes with product placement.

A very interesting read. I'd recommend checking it out sooner rather than later, as Paramount are very angry that the budget was leaked and it may end up being taken down.

New site design

We just launched our new site design. The old design was variable-width which meant that sometimes it looked a little strange when viewed on very large monitors. Our new design maintains the same width, solving the issue and looking more attractive at the same time.

We also have a brand new home page which is designed to give you quick access to the most popular pages on the site. In addition, we have split our service section into individual pages, allowing us to fill them with a lot more information than before. The purpose of the new design was to make the site more professional and increase its usefulness and we think this was achieved. Help us improve it even further by telling us what you think of it, either in the comments section of this post or on the feedback link at the bottom of every page.

Please note that there may be some issues over the next few days as a result of the upgrade and we appreciate your patience as we attempt to fix them, but overall the transition has been very smooth.

Tool bug fixes - improved browser support

I made a few bug fixes today to the web tools we offer. I had had a couple of reports of them not working at all for some people but I couldn't work out why that would be. Turns out that MS Internet Explorer differs slightly to Firefox and Safari on how it processes certain aspects of Javascript code. These issues are now fixed and the tools will work for Internet Explorer users now.

I also improved the XML validity of the mobile versions so these should be a little less browser-fussy now.

I owe it all to a little tool called ie4osx that allows you to run Internet Explorer 5 and up on an Intel Mac through Darwine. It's really useful for me because you don't have to install an entire operating system just to use one program. It comes highly recommended

The tools are located in the Resources section of the site.

New FXFactory patch fixes Final Cut Pro P2 import bug

Noise Industries has released FXFactory 2.0.1 to fix the P2 import bug with the new Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 patch, as reported earlier.

The patch also introduces some new features including three new plug-ins for FXFactory Pro.

Apple now has a support document acknowledging the issue, and revealing that it only applies to FXFactory and is not an issue with the overall FXPlug framework.

[via Little Frog in High Def]

Scorsese creates "The Key to Reserva"

This is a really great Hitchcock tribute by Martin Scorsese. He supposedly found a 3 1/2 page lost script by Hitchcock with a page missing and wanted to create a movie from the script as a tribute. It's fake obviously - it's actually a wine commercial - but it's still a pretty good short film and very enjoyable to watch.

The Key to Reserva

[via HDForIndies]

Academy offers matte painting exhibition and panel discussion

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is opening a matte painting exhibition in the foyer of the Linwood Dunn Theater, celebrating the works of such artists as Peter Ellenshaw, Albert Whitlock, and Matthew Yuricich.

For the uninitiated, matte painting is the process of painting a background to be inserted into a shot via the matte process. This allows filmmakers to create vast, expansive backdrops without having to physically build a massive set. Originally performed with oil paints on glass, nowadays it is generally performed inside a computer but some artists prefer to paint on canvas and then scan it into a computer. I have used it myself on several occasions for replacing blown-out skies and can boost production values considerably.

There is also a panel discussion with prestigious matte painters and camera operators, hosted by Academy governor Craig Barron.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. The exhibition is free and the panel is $5 for the public and $3 for Academy members and students. Both events open on Monday December 10th 2007.

Read more about the exhibition
Read more about the panel