New Tool: Film Rate Calculator

We've just released a new online tool to our Resources section, Film Rate Calc.

This tool enables you to calculate the amount of film required to shoot for a certain amount of time, and vice versa. This is really useful in planning the most efficient use of your film and should be in any script supervisor's toolkit.

We also offer a mobile version for those on the move. It's aesthetically designed for the iPhone but should work on any modern phone browser.

As always, we appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve our tools. Just use the link at the bottom of each page to tell us what you think.

Minor site updates

I made a couple of minor updates to the site last night and this morning.

Firstly, and most importantly, I have fixed the contact form. I had no idea it was broken and I think it had been like that for quite some time. I apologize to anyone who was unable to contact us for that time.

I have also made some updates to the Footage Calc app based on feedback I received through the feedback form that is now at the bottom of every page.

Changes:
* Fixed a bug that caused the wrong resolution to be displayed.
* Added support for ProRes codecs.
* Added support for various Avid DNxHD and Meridien codecs.

We now have a non-iPhone version here.

I am also working on improving browser compatibility on the whole site. I haven't had any reports of incompatibilities yet but I have noticed a couple of areas that could possibly cause issues.

As always, we encourage you to give as much feedback as possible because it enables us to make our services even better for you.

New site feature: Feedback

We've made a minor update to the site today. Every page now has a link at the bottom that allows you to submit feedback about that particular page.

We want to hear from you about how we can improve our site and the online services we offer. We figured that the most effective way to obtain feedback was to make it as quick and simple as possible so you do not have to login, enter any personal details or navigate away from the page. It's very simple.

Please note that the feedback form is for site feedback only. If you want to contact us about anything else, use our contact form instead.

Red Giant releases Magic Bullet Looks

Red Giant Software has just released Magic Bullet Looks, the latest edition to the Magic Bullet family of color correction tools.

What makes Magic Bullet Looks different from other tools is its interface. It doesn't deal with Primary Ins and Secondaries, it follows a very logical model of a camera, starting with the lens, going through the body and coming out at the end.

The genius behind this is Stu Maschwitz, who writes on his blog:

"When you drag tools out from the drawer, an image of a camera appears. Some tools, such as lens filters like Diffusion and Gradient, only operate in one category of the camera. Others, like Exposure, work anywhere in the chain. The camera diagram reminds you that you're building a simulation of how light travels through a camera and is modified by film stocks and post-processes such as Bleach Bypass (neg or print), custom film stocks, and color correction."

As if that wasn't enough, it also offers over 100 look presets for simulating various film stocks and effects. If you've used Magic Bullet Editors, you know how useful these are.

Pricing is $399 or $99 if you already own Magic Bullet Editors or Magic Bullet Suite. If you purchased Magic Bullet Editors on or after April 11th 2007, you can claim a free upgrade here.

Apple announces Leopard release date

Apple have just announced the release date of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: October 26th, with it available for pre-order today.

Anxious to show that they delay was for a reason, they have listed every single feature on their site for you to peruse at your leisure.

Worthy of note:
* New Finder (long overdue)
* Updated OpenGL
* Multicore Enhanced
* New Airport Menu (now shows locked networks)
* Self-Tuning TCP (tunes network settings for optimum performance)
* Improved printer support. Support in Tiger was good but had lots of room for improvement.
* Tagged Downloaded Applications. Leopard asks for permission before opening downloaded files. Sounds a bit like a Vista feature, but we'll see how irritating it is once it ships.
* Library Randomization. Hackers often hack a specific memory address to execute a system function but Leopard relocates system libraries to random addresses.
* AutoFS automatically mounts and dismounts network volumes on separate threads. This means that the system no longer hangs for 10 mins (literally) when a network drive is disconnected for whatever reason.
* Improved 64-bit support. Steve showcased it at the Keynote. He opened a 4 GB image file in both Tiger and Leopard side-by-side. The Tiger one took a very long time to open and the Leopard one was near-instant.

This is in addition, of course, to the features already announced. And even without the new features, Apple updates always improve system performance. You'd expect them to get slower with time but they actually get faster.

My upgrade strategy is to try it out on my laptop that I use for general stuff first, and if something happens it's not a major loss. I then upgrade it on my other laptop that runs video editing and visual effects applications (again no major loss if it breaks). Assuming all goes well and it is compatible with the apps I am using, I then upgrade one desktop machine before upgrading the rest. Finally, I upgrade the server (that's always a headache) and all is done. We want to upgrade as soon as possible to make use of the performance improvements Leopard offers. These would increase our productivity a lot (our ultimate goal) without compromising quality and without a major financial investment.

Update: To clarify, when you pre-order you will get it on your doorstep on October 26th with the free delivery option. It is actually being shipped out before the 26th for those that pre-order. With that in mind, ignore the options for faster delivery on the checkout page.

Vue 6 xStream for Mac released

I've been waiting for this day for ages. The Windows version has been out for a while but the Mac one's only just come out. The standard version of Vue 6 has been out for a while for both platforms but I've been holding out for the xStream version.

This software lets you create breathtaking 3D landscapes incredibly easily. It has a technology called Ecosystems that allows you to duplicate objects with random variations such as scaling, rotation, etc, making the objects look more natural. It can also change the densities of the objects based on the elevation of the ground they are on because in real life, trees get thinner as the ground gets higher. It has a lot of really great features that I won't go into now but they're listed in detail on e-on Software's Vue 6 page (not to be confused with eyeon Software).

The xStream version takes that one step further by offering integration with your favorite 3D modeling package. Now you can create a complex atmosphere with sunlight and fog and integrate it seamlessly with your models.

This software was used for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and probably 3 as well) and ILM have publicly endorsed the software, and that's a pretty big endorsement.

They offer a free Personal Learning Edition for you to play around with, as well as some pretty cool movies on their site. I suggest you check them out because this software's pretty amazing.

Trial page: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/?page=try
Vue 6 xStream page plus videos: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/vue_6_xstream/

Panasonic HPX3000 camera announced

Panasonic has announced the HPX3000, a shoulder-mounted 1080p camera. It doesn't appear to be a successor to the HVX but a spinoff targeted at studio work, hence the $48,000 price tag.

The big difference between this and the HVX is that it shoots full raster 1080p, meaning that the footage you shoot is exactly 1920 x 1080 pixels and not subsampled to something lower like 1280 or 1440 pixels. That's only if you shoot using their AVC-Intra codec though. DVCPRO HD is not full raster so shooting in this codec will result in subsampling, which reduces quality. Still looks pretty good though, but not as good as it could.

I'm wondering where it stands with the Red. You buy the Red for $17,500 and once you've got lenses and accessories, you're at about $30-40k, which is still less than the $48k of this camera AND you have more than one lens. And of course, the Red shoots 4K. If you have a project coming up soon, this might be a good camera to hire rather than a Red because the current cameras aren't feature-complete and I heard the post production workflow needs some extra work. This camera, on the other hand, is from an established brand and is fully supported by Final Cut Pro (6 only).

If you are looking to buy a camera in the near future, my advice is to wait until early next year. I heard that Red should have shipped the pre-ordered versions by then and you'd have a better idea of whether or not it's the best thing since sliced bread by then.

The Panasonic HPX3000 ships later this month.

New Final Cut Pro update in the works

There's a post over at HDForIndies (great site, can't recommend it enough) detailing some of the things on display at IBC.

It's worth a read and gives a little info on the Red presentation and some new Sony cameras but the part that caught my eye was also the smallest paragraph:



This is good but it also makes me a little uncomfortable. Yes, you can edit HDCAM 50P directly but you're tied to Apple's proprietary codec which means no sharing between software packages running on other operating systems, and the big thing that has kept me away from ProRes: it's only just come out so are there any issues/shortcomings with it yet to be revealed that will make me regret converting my footage?

But don't get me wrong: supporting it in this way is much better than not supporting it at all. The more formats supported, the better for everyone.

Panasonic to introduce new 32 GB P2 cards

Panasonic announced yesterday that it would commence the shipping of 32 GB P2 cards in November. These would retail at $1,650 with the older 16 GB cards presumably staying at $900.

Panasonic proudly points out in its press release that it has quadrupled the storage capacity of its P2 cards in just one year. I remember the days when the 8 GB card was $1200. Back then it was a rip-off but now I think 32 GB is pretty decent for that price when you consider that a 40 GB Firestore is about the same price. The Firestores, however, have the disadvantage that they are not solid-state which means that they can be damaged if they are jostled and bumped in the field (which is very likely on most shoots).

They say that with 5 cards, you can get 2.5 hours (3 on 24p) on AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD and 5 hours (6.5 in 24p) in AVC-Intra 50 or DVCPRO 50 modes. If you already have installed the firmware update required for the 16 GB cards, you're fine, if not, you'll need to install it before you can use the 32 GB ones.

The full press release is here. Looks very promising.

ProLost: The Film Industry is Broken

Stu Maschwitz has a great post over at ProLost about the need for a universal color grading format for sharing data between applications. Kind of like an EDL for color.

He makes a great point and it would be a great asset to the industry but sometimes standardization isn't good. What if the worst package on the market is the one creating the standard, locking out the advantages of its competitors? And with a rigid standard in place, how much room will there be for future innovation?

I don't think any one company should set a standard. It should be the result of a consortium of all the companies (or at least the largest ones) or else an independent third party.

Maybe a standard format isn't the way to go, but Stu is right in saying that something is needed.