It’s NAB, and Blackmagic have once again announced some exciting new cameras. Blackmagic has developed a bit of a reputation for announcing cameras with amazing specifications at incredibly good prices. They may not be as refined as the cameras from Sony, Canon et al., and they may not always ship on their announced dates, but if you’re a shooter on a budget you have to look at Blackmagic’s camera offerings. Blackmagic’s first camera was the Cinema Camera. Despite its unusual shape and user interface, this camera was a hit because of its high dynamic range, reasonable price, and its support […]

In the late 1890s, Frederick Hill Meserve, the son of a Union solider, started collecting photographs from the Civil War. Collecting images — particularly those of President Lincoln — became something of an obsession, and he eventually acquired the largest single collection of Lincoln images. Meserve’s collection was used as the basis for the penny, the portrait on the $5 bill, the Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore. The collection is vast — over 70,000 items — and became a family project for five generations. As if this didn’t sound more amazing than the plot of National Treasure, it gets better: Dorothy Meserve […]

Late last year Panavision introduced a new lens line, the Primo 70. These lenses are specifically designed for use on larger sensor digital cameras and, according to Panavision, cannot be used on film cameras. We spoke with Dan Sasaki, VP of Optical Engineering at Panavision, about the development of these lenses, and how they differ from film lenses. Filmmaker: What was the impetus for developing digital lenses? Sasaki: Our Primo 35 lenses have been around since the late ’80s, early ’90s, and they are designed to work with film cameras. The Primo lenses have what’s called the blue line shift on […]

ARRI has announced a smaller ALEXA camera, the ALEXA Mini, that can record 4K UHD video. With a design described as “optimized for use on brushless gimbals, multicopters, and other specialized rigs,” the Mini has a lightweight carbon housing and is 7.3” long, 5.5” inches high and 4.9” inches wide. There’s also built in WiFi connectivity, a new internal sensor mount to ensure a stable flange focal distance when using heavy lenses, and motorized, remote-controllable internal ND filters, With a 4:3 sensor the Mini offers 4:3 and 16:9 recording modes as well as an automatic de-squeeze mode for anamorphic lenses. Frame rates from […]

For over a year the FAA has been fighting a rearguard action against the proliferation of drones. The agency has had regulations in place stating that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) — also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones — can’t be used for commercial purposes, and they have mostly pursued a policy of “educational chats” for people who have caught their attention (typically videos on YouTube that get picked up by the media). Their bark hasn’t been without some bite, too. In one case they fined a pilot $10,000 for flying a drone through the University of Virginia. Interestingly, […]

Red Giant has released a new short from Seth Worley called Old/New. Over the past few years Worley has produced a number of imaginative short films on a limited budget that tell a great story and also – somehow – manage to demonstrate the use of Red Giant’s software. Cue the announcement of new software from Red Giant. Red Giant has also released Magic Bullet Suite 12, their collection of color correction and finishing tools. This release brings new features to the applications that make up the suite, as well as a new product: Magic Bullet Film. One of the focuses of this […]

Documentary films often rely extensively on archival film, and dealing with different archive sources and the variety of formats involved can become a significant headache. For The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers, co-producer and editor Nimrod Erez had to deal with hundreds of sources and dozens of video formats. As editor and co-producer, Erez ran the post-production department, overseeing the additional editors brought in to work on the picture and seeing the movie through grading and final picture. The film will be released this year and is the second and final part to follow The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers, which was released in 2013. The […]

I’ve been using wireless microphones for years. Even if you’re doing an interview with someone ten feet away from the camera, it’s just so much easier to use a wireless mic than have to deal with cables running everywhere. But one of the dirty secrets of wireless mics has been that they have been using open spectrum which wasn’t officially designated for that purpose. Fifteen years ago, when I bought my first wireless system, it was a Sony unit operating in the 700 MHz spectrum. Then in 2007, with the transition to digital television, the FCC went and reorganized the […]

As expected, 4K has dominated the TV news at CES, with manufacturers announcing models that are bigger (Samsung) thinner (Sony) and have even higher resolution than 4K (Sharp.) But while the manufacturers continue to build bigger and better displays, it’s in platforms and streaming services that the real changes seem to be happening. Platforms Back in June Google unveiled Android TV, a platform to compete with the likes of Apple TV and Roku. Sharp, Sony and TP Vision have all announced TVs based on Android TV. The platform will also be coming on a set top box from Huawei and […]

There are a number of things that are different about Red Giant’s effects package Universe. It’s offered as a subscription, but you can get access to a sizeable number of effects without paying a thing. Members of the Universe community get to vote on effects that are being added to the set. Universe is cross-platform, works with a variety of software applications and supports GPU acceleration. You can even try out the premium effects for free with your first month of use. The effects and transitions of Universe support a variety of environments: Adobe After Effects (CS5.5 and higher) and […]