nofilmschool » apple

5K Apple Retina Displays Coming? New Wallpaper for OS X 10.9 'Mavericks' Shows Up

Joe Marine — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:54:48 +0000

Intentional or not, Apple’s new software releases often hint at what may be coming down the line. When they revealed their newly redesigned Mac Pro and their new desktop release, OS X 10.9, which they are calling Mavericks (since they seem to be running out of feline-related names), they also posted a promotional wallpaper to their website which just so happens to be double the horizontal and vertical resolution of current Mac displays — leading to speculation that they are preparing Retina models. (more…)

Apple's Redesigned Mac Pro is Unlike Any Computer You've Ever Seen

Joe Marine — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:02:52 +0000

Radically different, but powerful. Even though many video professionals would probably have preferred seeing NVIDIA GPUs, the new Mac Pro is the first professional computer from Apple to support workstation-class graphics cards (dual internal AMD GPUs to be exact). Many were expecting a smaller device with limited expandability, and Apple delivered — and then some. They are definitely going to be reliant on Thunderbolt 2 (which should be twice as fast as Thunderbolt 1) for any PCI-E devices, and the only part of the system that is definitely expandable internally is RAM. If that sounds appealing, click through for an introduction to the fancy new system. (more…)

Macbook Air Gets Major Battery Life Improvements, 13-Inch Model Now Tops Out at 12 Hours

Joe Marine — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:20:57 +0000

Apple didn’t just take the wraps off their new revolutionary Mac Pro mini-tower – they also made some serious internal improvements to their Macbook Air line. While the Macbook Air has always fallen somewhere in the middle in terms of being a fully featured laptop and a beefier tablet, the new models certainly make a case for their existence based on battery life alone. (more…)

Apple Unveils New Miniature Mac Pro with Dual Integrated Workstation GPUs

Joe Marine — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:22:14 +0000

Today at the WWDC, Apple took the wraps off the new Mac Pro they’ve been working on that will be released later this year. It’s certainly a departure from anything we’ve seen before at the professional level — so read on for more photos and details of the new machine. [Update]: Be sure to check out the newest post detailing more of the features. (more…)

If Apple Unveils a Radically Different Mac Pro at the WWDC, Will Anyone Actually Want It?

Joe Marine — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:11:16 +0000

[Update]: the new “R2D2″ Mac Pro is here. By the time some of you read this, we may already know whether we are getting a new Mac Pro at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Put aside for a moment if it even makes sense to keep investing in Apple on the pro end. A new Mac Pro, in whatever form it takes, is going to fill a specific need for specific people, whether you think people are crazy for being loyal to Apple or not. The Mac Pro has been a workhorse in the creative industries for some time now, but the lack of updates has sent many people in many different directions. There has been some information floating around that points towards a very different design with limited expandability. If Apple decides to go in that direction, however, will any professionals — the market Apple would target with this computer — actually want one? (more…)

Intel's Thunderbolt 2 Now Official, Doubling Bandwidth & Enabling 4K Video Display

Joe Marine — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 03:20:32 +0000

Intel has finally made Thunderbolt 2 official after talking about the new spec at NAB 2013. While adoption hasn’t been nearly as high for Thunderbolt as it has been for USB 3.0, that hasn’t stopped Intel from pushing development forward to much faster data rates. Originally a 10Gbps format, the new Thunderbolt 2 doubles the bandwidth to 20Gbps, or 2.5 Gigabytes per second. This will also mean good things for those trying to work with 4K video, as the newer format is made to support the viewing of 4K material. (more…)

Benchmark Battle: USB 3.0 vs. Thunderbolt (Results May Surprise)

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 30 May 2013 03:56:16 +0000

Both USB 3 and Thunderbolt leave the transfer rates of yesteryear in the dust, with doubled speed in the works for USB 3.0 for a current-Thunderbolt equivalent 10Gb/s and doubled speed coming for 20Gb/s Thunderbolt rates. But in the meantime, the question stands: how does USB 3.0 compare in actual performance to Thunderbolt, and should you be in a rush to upgrade? Thanks to the guys over at Macworld, we now have some practical benchmark tests pitting the protocols against each other. Click below to see how USB 3 measured up. (more…)

Coen Brothers Switching from Final Cut Pro to Adobe Premiere with Their Next Film

Joe Marine — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:05:03 +0000

Though there have been some seriously divided opinions on the new Adobe Creative Cloud-only strategy, there is no question the company has made a dent into what was once Final Cut Pro and Avid territory. The Coen Brothers, Academy Award winners for Fargo and No Country for Old Men, have been editing their own films since they began their careers (under the name Roderick Jaynes), and they’ve been using Apple’s software until now: their newest film, which has not begun shooting, will be edited on Adobe Premiere. (more…)

LumaForge Introduces 4kFLOW, an Affordable 'End-to-End' 4k Platform Based Around FCPX

Micah Van Hove — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:00:22 +0000

It looks like Apple’s campaign for winning back professional editors is attempting to gain more traction, as today LumaForge announced a system that promises to bring an affordable workflow for capturing, processing, and delivering 4k footage. While the platform is cooperating with several companies including Adobe, Blackmagic Design, Autodesk, and RED — their workflow for editing and finishing looks like it’s based on Final Cut Pro X. Read on for more details. (more…)

ProCutX, an iPad Control App for Final Cut Pro X, is Now Free for a Limited Time

Joe Marine — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:36:18 +0000

We’ve seen a few apps capable of controlling different programs on your computer with an iPad. A recent app that caught our eye, ProCutX, is capable of controlling Final Cut Pro X with your iPad, and replacing many of the functions normally done with a keyboard. For a limited time (possible only a few more hours), the full app, which is normally around $25, is now free on iTunes. Click through for a video walk-through of ProCutX. (more…)

Apple Sets Sights on Professionals, FCPX Version 10.0.8 Adds Support for Sony XAVC and Alexa Log C

Micah Van Hove — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:28:47 +0000

Apple has been losing its grip on the professional editing market ever since Final Cut Pro X was launched in 2011 to much skepticism. With Avid and Adobe welcoming a lot of FCP7 refugees, Apple is now once again targeting those customers with its latest free update to FCPX. The major features include support for Sony’s new XAVC codec up to 4K resolution, and the option to display ProRes Log C files from the Arri Alexa in Rec. 709. Also included in the free update are various fixes to both Compressor and Motion. Get the full details after the jump. (more…)

Need a New Laptop? Apple Just Cut Prices and Increased Specs on Retina Macbook Pros

Joe Marine — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:23:40 +0000

If you’ve been waiting on a Retina Macbook Pro, now might be a better time than ever to take the plunge. Apple recently cut prices on their 13″ Retina Macbook Pro, and also updated its capabilities at the same time. They’ve also brought some spec upgrades to the 15″ Retina Macbook Pro for the same base price, and the Macbook Air saw a price slash of its own. Check out all of the new deals below. (more…)

Your iPad is Now a Controller for Apple Final Cut Pro X with Pixel Film Studios' ProCutX

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:08:43 +0000

The keyboard can certainly be a powerful and efficient control surface for non-linear editing, especially with the mastery of hot-keys and short-cuts. Despite this, some editors desire a more visually intuitive way of interfacing with their NLE. There are those that prefer specialized color-coded editing keyboards or keyboard covers, while others swear by their tactile controllers. Those can go for around $80, but what about using an infinitely configurable iPad to take the place of one of these consoles? We’ve already seen one iOS app capable of controlling a wide range of video software, but with a new iPad app called ProCutX, Apple editors have yet another way to turn their tablet into a Final Cut Pro X console. Check out some images and details below. (more…)

RØDE's New smartLav iOS Lavalier, VideoMic Upgrade, Plus Apogee's iPortable Recording Studio

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 20:57:28 +0000

We recently posted about RØDE’s iXY microphone and Rec app for iOS devices. While perhaps not suitable for everyone’s needs (or inversely, budget), it marks another step toward a lone multi-purpose tool handy to the crafty filmmaker — the iOS iPhone/iPad. While I’ll never own one, even I have to hand it to the iLeatherman. In a pinch, it’s a light meter, it’s a GoPro, it’s a shot designer, and with iXY and RØDE Rec, it’s a dual-system audio recorder, too. Now, RØDE continues its drive to make iOS a viable field sound-rec system with the smartLav lavalier microphone — as does the Apogee ONE, a like-minded iPad portable ‘recording studio’ system. RØDE has also upgraded its VideoMic for those run-and-gun shooters unsatisfied with smartphone sound — check out the details of each below. (more…)

Apple's Mac Pro Discontinued in Europe, Here's a Modular Design That Could (But Won't) Replace It

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:56:04 +0000

It’s no secret that the ‘new’ Mac Pro isn’t here yet, but if it’s not coming anytime soon, you’re going to be Mac Pro-less in Europe for the foreseeable future. That’s because the Mac Pro does not comply with a new European regulation set to go into effect March 1st. No one really knows what’s coming in the next version, though we had a terrific guest post talking a bit about what the new Mac Pro could be like. But what if Apple went even more radical (but still functional) with their new design? Peter Zigich, a designer, has taken a stab at what he thinks would be a perfect replacement to the current model: a modular Mac Pro that isn’t one-size-fits-all, but accommodates a wide range of professional and consumer applications. (more…)

Twitter Launches Vine, the 'Instagram of Video' (in Lieu of Owning the Instagram of Pictures). End Saga?

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:32:43 +0000

Twitter is “the internet’s SMS.” Instagram is the Twitter of pictures. Some app somewhere is prophesied to be “the Instagram of Video.” I’ve used epic words for social media’s ‘cinemaminigram’ before, because it’s apparently that big of a deal — or it may just be YouTube. Then again, if Instagram is Twitter for photos, but Facebook nabbed Instagram — all while ‘Instagram for Video’ is still out there — what’s a Twitter to do? The next best thing, or better: Twitter has just dropped Vine for iOS. It’s a lot like Instagram, but for 6 second looping videos. Given that Twitter already is, well, the Instagram of words, this app could be the ‘IoV.’ Is this saga at the beginning of its end? (more…)

Dude, You Gettin' a Dell? Former Apple Editors Choose 'Yes, Bro' over Mac Pro for Performance

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:18:26 +0000

Something weird is going on. We know the Mac Pro hasn’t had a substantial upgrade in some time. We know that something is looming over the horizon, but we don’t know what, exactly. We also know that Apple will probably over-charge us for it (or it wouldn’t quite feel right for anybody). And while it may not be fair to fault a machine that’s still quite hefty and robust for losing to brand new ones in spec tests and benchmark performance — just what are we waiting for here? Should we even be waiting for it at all? How much incentive to hold out for Apple remains when you can build your own Mac Pro, build your own specialized editing PC — or, for instance, as a recent StudioDaily feature shows many video editors are doing — switch to powerhouse Dell solutions? (more…)

Can't Afford a GoPro? You Already Own One. Just Add G-Form's G90 Indestructible iPhone Case

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:37:49 +0000

The iLeatherman* for filmmakers is very real. Case in point: let’s say you can’t afford the $400 GoPro HERO3 (or justify the purchase for whatever reason), but you still need a tiny HD rig that laughs in the face of danger, damage, and almost certain death — and you do own a smartphone. Meet G-Form’s waterproof/impact-resistant technology — your freefalling iPhone will survive a 100,000+ foot drop from space with it. The thing about that of course is, that same smartphone also has an HD video-capable camera built into it… you can see where this is going. Say ‘hello’ to G-Form’s G90 ‘Action Sports Camera’ cellphone cases — including variants for Android models. (more…)

Your iPhone is a Light Meter, Waveform Monitor, and False-Color Display with $5 Cine Meter App

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:38:19 +0000

Talk about your digital leatherman: The number of ridiculously handy — and practical, and portable, all in one — apps for filmmaking on mobile devices is probably one of the greatest tech-vantages we’ve got going for us these days second to low-cost high-res acquisition. Uses range from lighting plot diagramming and shooting scheduling all the way to Canon DSLR control via Android and RED control via iOS — there’s an app for all that, and more. Now, thanks to Adam Wilt of Pro Video Coalition (and a lot of other great stuff), your iPhone is now more of an asset on set than ever before — and that’s because his new $5 app Cine Meter turns your iOS device into a light meter, waveform monitor and false-color display. (more…)

Want an Interactive Master Class with Legendary Spielberg Color Timer? There's an App for That

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:41:14 +0000

Is it possible we’re losing something through the non-destructive way in which we decide the final look of our shots? The answer, quaintly enough, is absolutely yes — but what, exactly? Simplicity. True finesse in color timing is something Dale Grahn (Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Munich, Apocalypse Now: Redux) knows a lot about, and in a true chemical timing sense — which says a lot about the power of bold and minimal control over imagery. Lucky for any of us looking to learn from the experience, Mr. Grahn is asking you to match his own color grades by way of a new iPad app — and in the process interact with the very essentials of color grading. (more…)