nofilmschool » postproduction

Audio101: Learn About Submix Basics and the Power of the Bus

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:30:50 +0000

Just as digital imagery can be manipulated in post with a number of approaches — combinations of which may be used to achieve pretty much the same effect — working with audio is a malleable exercise. It’s become even more malleable recently thanks to innovative sound manipulation interfaces which provide a powerful palette for painting, re-painting, and un-painting sound. That said, some tenets of the basic audio interface design haven’t changed much in decades. One such basic is the submix. Check out a great demonstration of the undiminished usefulness — and power — of ‘subs’ below. (more…)

Remix, Isolate, and 'Photoshop' Audio with Celemony's Melodyne & Sony's SpectraLayers

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:40:39 +0000

Anyone who’s ever learned the basics of sound manipulation in a waveform editor, such as Audacity, knows how difficult it is to separate sounds from a mixed-down recording. I grew up with Sound Forge back when it was still owned by Sonic Foundry, and quickly came to understand how impractical it can be to isolate a clean vocal track from, say, a CD rip. A company called Celemony and their audio editing platform Melodyne is now making it incredibly fast, easy, and intuitive to do just that — and much more, like autotuning those isolated vocals for remixing. Meanwhile, Sony is likewise doing the “impossible” with its impressive frequency editor/clean-up tool SpectraLayers. (more…)

Float Like a Lily Pad, Sting Like an Iron: Updates on Light Iron's DIT Solutions & Todailies iPad App

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:47:10 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the grand opening of Light Iron’s New York facility. I met very nice, dedicated, hard-working (and patient!) people there, and got a chance to hear words from Michael Cioni, the post company’s CEO. I also got a chance to scratch the surface of some of Light Iron’s infrastructure — including its LILY PAD DIT station — which aims to empower the on-set technician, and crew as a whole, with a seamless media experience. In addition to the hardware, this experience is supercharged by the likes of Light Iron’s custom Todailies app, which will receive an upcoming upgrade as well. (more…)

Get Your Canon T2i/T3i, GH3, Nikon D800, & More Looking Like Film with FilmConvert's Newest Update

Joe Marine — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:42:45 +0000

During the NAB 2013 show, FilmConvert, the film emulation color grading program/plugin that actually maps color profiles to specific film stocks, was updated with support for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, GoPro HERO3, Canon 7D, and 60D, as well as newer profiles for the Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III. Now, in the newest update, they’ve added the Panasonic GH3, Nikon D800 and D7000, in addition to the Canon T2i/T3i. Read on for more about the update, including a new ability to apply film color and contrast separately. (more…)

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…)

NAB Video: Baselight and Rampant Designs

Micah Van Hove — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:03:44 +0000

FreshDV has a chat with Baselight about their color correction offering, attempting to bring their powerful grading tools inside the NLE via their new Plugin. Plus, Rampant Design showcases their ‘drag and drop’ overlay style elements for video with low rendering times: (more…)

NAB Video: Imagineer/CoreMelt, Digital Anarchy, and NewBlueFX

Micah Van Hove — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:00:54 +0000

Coverage of NAB with FreshDV continues with new possibilities in the post-production environment, including Imagineer/CoreMelt’s planar tracking Plugin SliceX, Digital Anarchy’s digital makeup plugin Beauty Box, and NewBlueFX’s 3D titling software Titler Pro. Watch the video below for information on some of most exciting post-production tools at this year’s conference: (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…)

Another DIY Bullet-Time GoPro Rig (This One's Handheld!)

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:10:36 +0000

We recently featured several practical but effective techniques for creating the (by now) famous Matrix-esque ‘bullet-time’ effect — accomplished, in more than one case, by using an evenly spaced array of GoPros and some post-processing elbow grease. Clearly, the availability and portability of such cameras is catching on beyond conventional ‘action cam’ uses, and inspiring creatives of nearly any budget to create shots only A-budget Hollywood productions used to be able to pull off. GoPros make sense for such arrays, because they are forgivingly frameable (and decently affordable as far as rentals go). Now, another project has demonstrated what’s possible with these simple but adaptable cameras — in this case, built into a rig that can also be handheld. (more…)

Film Looks the Easy Way: FilmConvert Now Supports Canon C300 and Arri Alexa, BMCC Coming Soon

Joe Marine — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:54:51 +0000

A solid color grade can very quickly take the edge off an image that looks “too digital.” If you don’t have much time to spend on said color grade, but you’d like to get a great look very easily, a film LUT that attempts to recreate some of the magic we get from Kodak and Fuji stocks could serve you well. We’ve discussed FilmConvert a bit before, but basically it’s either a standalone program or a plugin for the major Apple and Adobe products that uses the color science of the specific camera you’re using in order to precisely match the film stocks they have in their system. Now they’ve introduced another update, this time including support for the Canon C300 and the Arri Alexa. (more…)

4 Tutorials to Help You Improve Your Green Screen Skills

Justin Minich — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:43:16 +0000

We’ve all seen it: mismatched subject and background lighting, dancing edge pixels, and color spill; some of the hallmarks of a bad green screen composite. There are multiple factors to consider for a chroma key shot in preproduction, on set, and in post, and in the following videos Richard Harrington will take you through those factors and show you how to pull a good key and produce a believable composite. (more…)

Digital Bolex's Lab-Style RAW Software Will Be Your CinemaDNG Workflow Workhorse

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:09:02 +0000

By coincidence or not, it seems like each camera announced to use CinemaDNG as its RAW shooting format is poised to change the world in its own way. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera and the ~$3K Digital Bolex D16 seek to put quality acquisition tools in nearly anyone’s hands, while the future-bound Aaton Penelope Delta and open source Apertus Axiom bear their own technical notabilities (and nobilities). Clearly it’s time to really start wondering about CinemaDNG. As of now, the license-free format is being adopted by way more cameras than NLEs, and workflow questions, concerns, and schools of thought and technique abound. There’s hope and then some, though — just over the horizon the RAW processing software shipping with the Digital Bolex D16 just might change the world in its own way, too. (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…)

How to Make Your Own Portable DIY Bullet Time Rig

Justin Minich — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:00:59 +0000

When you hear the term “bullet time,” you probably can’t help but think of The Matrix. And if you’ve taken a gander at the behind the scenes footage from that film or similar productions, then you know that’s it’s an effect usually done in large warehouse studios, with a multitude of cameras on a huge rig, and run by a sizable crew, which all adds up to being quite expensive. Even renting a bullet time rig will more than likely be cost prohibitive, but with some elbow grease you can put together your own portable rig at a more indie friendly price: (more…)

Learn How to Do a 3D Match Move Using the Free and Open Source Program Blender

Justin Minich — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:55:14 +0000

One of the great features in Adobe After Effects CS6 is its built-in 3D camera tracker, which helps realistically integrate CG elements into footage that have a fair amount of camera or subject movement. But what if you want to do a 3D match move shot, and you can’t afford a copy of After Effects? Not a problem. Andrew Price of Blender Guru has a great hour-long video to get you started with 3D tracking and compositing CG elements in the free open source 3D program, Blender: (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…)

How to Do a Rotating Dolly Shot Around a 1,815 Foot Tall Building with Your DSLR

Justin Minich — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 04:34:21 +0000

There are a good deal of relatively inexpensive rigs out there that can help you achieve a nice dolly shot. For small-scale dollying you might use Cineskates, or for shots that require a greater amount of movement with larger subjects, you might go with Rigwheels. But there might be times when the size of your subject might make these tools — and even a full dolly track setup — inadequate for the job. But with a DSLR, some planning, and a little post work, you can put together a beautiful dolly shot of a tall building: (more…)

Homebrew Render Farming at Crunch Time with Imminent 'The Underwater Realm,' Plus New Trailer

Dave Kendricken — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:00:15 +0000

You may recall when director David M. Reynolds shared a guest post with NoFilmSchool readers, in the midst of what would become a significantly successful Kickstarter campaign — overfunded $40k beyond its $60k goal — for his project The Underwater Realm. Now, a year later, the film is less than two weeks from premiering for free on YouTube. Needless to say, the all-volunteer-multi-talented-hyphenates of Realm Pictures is working tirelessly to get the project finished. On top of this, they’ve shared a seemingly endless amount of insight into their process along the way, via weekly video blogs — including a recent look at their self-implemented render farm-style workflow, the sound design, and a bit earlier, a look at their amazing underwater shooting process. Watch these and a new trailer below. (more…)

Get 40% Off All Red Giant Software for the Next 24 Hours

Joe Marine — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:04:03 +0000

They hinted at it when they introduced their new short Tempo, but Red Giant (thanks RED for always making me want to capitalize anytime I see the word red) is now offering a giant sale (couldn’t help myself) on all of their products. Each and every piece of software in the store is now 40% off for the next day or so (less than 24 hours as of this writing). Click through to check out the details and some of the major deals. (more…)