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Knowing Your Scopes: When to Trust Your Eye and the Most Useful Scopes of All

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:48:40 +0000

Depending on the acquisition system, waveform monitors and vectorscopes can guide quality control of your imagery from shooting all the way down the pipeline to grading, mastering, and compression for delivery. Scopes can seem a little intimidating and esoteric to the new user, but getting the basics down can really help in owning your image. Recently, Alexis Van Hurkman over at ProVideo Coalition has answered some key questions about scopes: find out which ones he considers the most indispensable below, plus when it may be a good idea to trust your own pair of eyes in making adjustments — even when your scopes are reading ‘A-Okay.’ (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…)

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…)

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…)

Will Post Houses and DITs Be Extinct by 2017?

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:41:00 +0000

The media management and quality control handled by the digital imaging technician and post house is nearly universally vital in modern filmmaking, where each digital camera brings its own varying formats, workflows, and quirks. This need for DITs and post houses, however, may evaporate just as quickly as it has arisen — at least according to the predictions of Michael Cioni. As the CEO of post house Light Iron, he has helped pioneer RED workflows at the highest level of filmmaking, so his word is not to be taken lightly — particularly since he’s predicting the end of what his and any other post house does as we know it by 2017. Furthermore, what cameras (and therefore camera teams) will have to take care of themselves is staggering, especially taking a look at the duties fulfilled by today’s high-end DIT carts — including those assembled by Light Iron itself. (more…)

J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Hosting Free Avid Post Production Webinar on 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:45:30 +0000

Unless you’ve completely ignored any and all exposure to mainstream media over the past five to ten years — particularly television and cinema — you’ve probably heard of Bad Robot. With productions like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Lost, Alias, and Cloverfield, there’s no doubt they exert major force on both popular culture and blockbuster art. All of which makes it very exciting to report that the next Avid Pro Video Webinar will feature none other than the post team of Bad Robot themselves, bringing you behind the scenes of their processes and workflows — and from the looks of things, specifically regarding CEO J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness. (more…)

Is 5DtoRGB the DSLR post-production solution we've been waiting for?

Ryan Koo — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:48:14 +0000

As part of today’s free Adobe workshop on HDSLR feature film workflows (I’ll update that post with a link to the archived presentation), one of the commenters brought to my attention a promising DSLR post-production plugin called 5DtoRGB.¹ I’ve called DSLR color-correction on a Mac a clustercuss, not just because of the 4:2:0 color space, but because of Quicktime gamma inconsistencies (often related to YUV to RGB conversion). Rarevision’s 5DtoRGB plugin, currently in beta, just might be the solution to these problems.