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Blogwad! NAB Edition

Hey all –

so it is Tuesday morning and I’m FINALLY at NAB, sitting in the press room. Going light this year – my trusty D300S, pad and pen, three chords and the truth. I put the big bag with the laptop and extra lens and crap around my neck and said bag that. So typing on the press room PCs. God Bless The Cloud.

So here’s a bunch of stuff I’ve snagged of interest recently, in no particular order, since I’m going to go dive onto the show floor as soon as I possibly can.

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Hitachi Working On Glasses-Less 3D LCD – Hitachi 3d lcd – GizmodoHitachi Working On Glasses-Less 3D LCD – Hitachi 3d lcd – Gizmodo

http://gizmodo.com/5515785/hitachi-working-on-glasses+less-3d-lcd

Hitachi Working On Glasses-Less 3D LCD – Hitachi 3d lcd – Gizmodo: “We’ve always said glasses would prove the barrier for most people considering buying a 3DTV, but it’s not yet known whether the parallax barrier technology can actually compete with what we’ve seen from Panasonic, who’s the only manufacturer with a 3D plasma out.”

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Solar Path Recorded By Pinhole Camera Over Six Months – Mr mallon solar path – Gizmodo: “Between the months of June and December last year, ‘Mr. Mallon’ was filming the sun’s activities on a single film cell, which lay forgotten in his back garden. This is the beautiful result.”

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Phantom Flex Camcorder Shoots 1080p Video at 2,800fps – Phantom flex – Gizmodo: “This particular one has a 4K 2,560 X 1,600 CMOS sensor with 12bit color depth. As mentioned before, when shooting 1080p it films in 2,800fps, but you can get 1,560 when pushing the resolution even further.”

Mitch from Abel posted about this last week, been meaning to check it out further. Of course will be checking it out at NAB.

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MacBook Pro 15-inch Core i7 Benchmarked: It's So Fast – Macbook pro core i7 benchmark – Gizmodo

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Canon 5D Mark II used to shoot entire House season finale, director says it's 'the future' — Engadget

I call bullshit.

The rolling shutter, the sampling fuckups, etc – this is bogus, and the director doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Now, will smaller cameras be the future, ones that can shoot stills and video? Quite possibly. But for high end narrative network broadcast television, I promise you – next season’s pilots will not be shot entirely on a 5D Mk II.

PROMISE.

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Sony produces 7.4-inch OLED display for professionals, prices it accordingly — Engadget: “We’re still waiting for the OLED revolution to make our monster LCD HDTVs obsolete, but until it finally gets here we’re left covering niche devices like this, the 7.4-inch PVM-740 professional monitor from Sony. It has a 960 x 540 resolution, can be connected directly to camera systems, is rack-mountable, and is said to ‘deliver superb high contrast, high color images, even in ambient light.’ That we’ll believe when we see it, but given the $3,850 MSRP”

Adam covered this, right?

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Engadget: “In the Tech Specs section that went up with this morning’s MacBook Pro refresh, there’s a fourth video output listed: ‘HDMI output using Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (optional).'”

Probably $29, probably May.

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Apple – MacBook Pro – Meet the new MacBook Pro family.

Core i5&i7 processors (higher clock speeds, Turbo Boost, Hyperthreading), faster GPUs, longer battery life, aluminum unibody, etc.

2.4-2.66 GHz i5 on all, with optional i7 on 15&17″ models.

13″: $1199 2.4GHz i5, 4GB/250GB, $1499 2.66 i5/4GB/320GB
15″:$1799 2.4GHz i5/4GB/320GB, $1999 2.53GHz i5, 4/500GB, $2199 i7 2.66, 4/500/512MB VRAM (all others listed before are 256)
17″ $2299 2.54GHz i5, 4/500/512MB, step up to i7 is BTO for $200 more

BTO options include up to 8GB RAM, 128/256/512GB SSD (for $200/650/1300 more), and that’s about it for hardware options.

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REDCINE-X V2 – REDUSER.net

Buncha stills and relevant comments from the Red team throughout. Support for the (I think) Euphonix control surface, modularity for plugins (using what – OpenFX?), saved looks, stillstore, and a ton of the things they talked about for Red One that never quite got here….till now.

Download link goes live wednesday.

-mike

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Calibrated Software: "Calibrated{Q} Import components are cross-platform QuickTime components for NATIVE Importing and Playback of select MXF or MP4 Files in QuickTime Player and CatDV on Windows & OSX, and in Final Cut Studio 2 & 3 Applications and other QuickTime enabled applications on OSX."

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Star Wars: Uncut

A zillion DIFFERENT sweded shots cut together to remake a scene from the original Star Wars.

TRY AND TELL ME you didn’t smile just thinking of this.

-mike

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Epic Reservation: “Stage 2 EPIC-X package will be $28,000 less $8,500 for keeping your RED ONE. So, a net price of $19,500.
Stage 2 EPIC-X package will include : an EPIC-X S35 MYSTERIUM-X brain with a PL mount, a 5′ touchscreen LCD, a REDMOTE, a SIDE CF MODULE, a MODULE ADAPTOR, a BASE I/O MODULE, a PRO BATTERY MODULE, two REDVOLT batteries, and a travel charger.
The standard M-X sensor upgrade cost for a RED ONE is $5750. If you take delivery of your EPIC-X package and have (or have had) an M-X sensor put into the corresponding RED ONE, the net cost of the M-X upgrade will be $4500. A credit of $1250 will be applied when your EPIC-X package ships or when your upgraded RED ONE ships, whichever comes later.
Your decision to take part in the Stage 2 EPIC-X program must be made by May 1, 2010. The fully-refundable deposit on a Stage 2 EPIC-X package is $5,000 and you will have until June 1, 2010 to complete payment of the deposit.
Each RED EPIC-X Stage 2 package will ship in order of its corresponding RED ONE delivery date.”

I’m going Stage 2 – meaning I’ll keep my Red One body (upgraded to MX as soon as I can) and also get the Epic as well. Further cleverness not revealed….bwahahahahaaaaaaaa…….

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The World Would Be Better If Everyone Watched This Video – Pale blue dot – Gizmodo

Carl Sagan’s pale blue dot.

Made Of Awesome.

——————–

Avid | Media Composer Software 5: “Directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size)
Work natively with QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264
Edit video and audio by dragging and dropping elements in the timeline
Keep high-end finishing projects in-house and gain great color precision with HD-RGB support (including dual-link I/O support with Nitris DX systems)
Monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini
Mix and match frame sizes and aspect ratios – in addition to formats, frame rates, and resolutions – in the same timeline
Take a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done
Import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices
Capture to and edit XDCAM HD and DVC PRO HD formats from baseband without additional hardware
Access low-res XDCAM proxies for offline work, with full-quality audio
Import text-based ancillary data and embed it in the video signal with the new “Data Track” and SMPTE 436M support using Nitris DX- and Mojo DX-based systems
View stereo audio tracks as single channels in the timeline for easier handling
Create high-quality sounds and mixes with support for RTAS audio processing plug-ins
Natively access and edit 4:2:2 MPEG-2 media from the new Canon cameras using AMA

Directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size)
Work natively with QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264
Edit video and audio by dragging and dropping elements in the timeline
Keep high-end finishing projects in-house and gain great color precision with HD-RGB support (including dual-link I/O support with Nitris DX systems)
Monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini
Mix and match frame sizes and aspect ratios – in addition to formats, frame rates, and resolutions – in the same timeline
Take a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done
Import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices
Capture to and edit XDCAM HD and DVC PRO HD formats from baseband without additional hardware
Access low-res XDCAM proxies for offline work, with full-quality audio
Import text-based ancillary data and embed it in the video signal with the new “Data Track” and SMPTE 436M support using Nitris DX- and Mojo DX-based systems
View stereo audio tracks as single channels in the timeline for easier handling
Create high-quality sounds and mixes with support for RTAS audio processing plug-ins
Natively access and edit 4:2:2 MPEG-2 media from the new Canon cameras using AMA
Work Directly with RED Using the Newly Improved AMA
With Media Composer 5, AMA (Avid Media Access) has been completely reengineered, so you can work natively with more file-based media formats now and in the future. With the new and improved AMA, you can speed up RED workflows by directly accessing RED files (.R3D) in Media Composer without having to prepare them through MetaFuze (all footage is scaled to HD frame size). Plus, you have access to its full metadata and color management data too.

Edit QuickTime Formats Natively
Get native access to all popular QuickTime formats, with full access to clip metadata. Thanks to AMA, you can natively access and edit any movie that can be played in Apple’s QuickTime Player (including Apple ProRes and .mov files captured by Canon 5D and 7D cameras) right in Media Composer – no transcoding, rewrapping, or logging and transferring required.

Drag and Drop Video and Audio to Edit
Get comfortable – with Media Composer 5, you can truly edit the way you like. In addition to the standard way of editing, you can also now directly manipulate elements in the timeline to edit video and audio. Drag and drop clips anywhere you want on the timeline to rearrange sequences. And grab a clip’s in or out point and drag to trim a scene, dialog, or music.

Get Full-Quality HD-RGB Processing
Keep those finishing jobs in house, and deliver the highest quality color and effects work, with support for full-quality 4:4:4 HD-RGB color space processing in Media Composer. With the higher resolution detail, you can perform color correction, keying, and effects work with greater precision and ease. And if you have a Nitris DX-based system, you can digitize, process, monitor, and output (output in Symphony systems only) projects in HD-RGB, using the two HD SDI connections to handle the high-bandwidth resolutions.

Monitor Video Externally through Matrox MXO2 Mini
If you don’t have a Nitris DX- or Mojo DX-based system, Media Composer 5 opens the door to third-party workflows, enabling you to monitor video externally using the Matrox MXO2 Mini interface, which is available for Mac and Windows systems. When paired with Media Composer software, MXO2 Mini becomes a dedicated, high-quality monitor-only solution for file-based or workgroup production, so you can view your video work in real time without any major expense.

Yeah! Nice.

Whither art thou, Apple? Feels like all your efforts are going into iPad – wherefore art thou, FCP updates, new towers and laptops? 12 core Mac Pro? Hello? Hello? Tomorrow maybe? No press conference yesterday=sadness.

——————–

Released – RedUser iPhone app – REDUSER.net: “Released – RedUser iPhone app
No more Mobile Safari; absolutely free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/code-…366359884?mt=8″

Now if they only had a “find relevant posts” option….

—————-

Calibrated Software: "Calibrated{Q} Import components are cross-platform QuickTime components for NATIVE Importing and Playback of select MXF or MP4 Files in QuickTime Player and CatDV on Windows & OSX, and in Final Cut Studio 2 & 3 Applications and other QuickTime enabled applications on OSX."

——-

Star Wars: Uncut

A zillion DIFFERENT sweded shots cut together to remake a scene from the original Star Wars.

TRY AND TELL ME you didn’t smile just thinking of this.

-mike

——-

Epic Reservation: “Stage 2 EPIC-X package will be $28,000 less $8,500 for keeping your RED ONE. So, a net price of $19,500.
Stage 2 EPIC-X package will include : an EPIC-X S35 MYSTERIUM-X brain with a PL mount, a 5′ touchscreen LCD, a REDMOTE, a SIDE CF MODULE, a MODULE ADAPTOR, a BASE I/O MODULE, a PRO BATTERY MODULE, two REDVOLT batteries, and a travel charger.
The standard M-X sensor upgrade cost for a RED ONE is $5750. If you take delivery of your EPIC-X package and have (or have had) an M-X sensor put into the corresponding RED ONE, the net cost of the M-X upgrade will be $4500. A credit of $1250 will be applied when your EPIC-X package ships or when your upgraded RED ONE ships, whichever comes later.
Your decision to take part in the Stage 2 EPIC-X program must be made by May 1, 2010. The fully-refundable deposit on a Stage 2 EPIC-X package is $5,000 and you will have until June 1, 2010 to complete payment of the deposit.
Each RED EPIC-X Stage 2 package will ship in order of its corresponding RED ONE delivery date.”

I’m going Stage 2 – meaning I’ll keep my Red One body (upgraded to MX as soon as I can) and also get the Epic as well. Further cleverness not revealed….bwahahahahaaaaaaaa…….

——-

The World Would Be Better If Everyone Watched This Video – Pale blue dot – Gizmodo

Carl Sagan’s pale blue dot.

Made Of Awesome.

——–
Avid | Media Composer Software 5: “Directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size)
Work natively with QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264
Edit video and audio by dragging and dropping elements in the timeline
Keep high-end finishing projects in-house and gain great color precision with HD-RGB support (including dual-link I/O support with Nitris DX systems)
Monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini
Mix and match frame sizes and aspect ratios – in addition to formats, frame rates, and resolutions – in the same timeline
Take a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done
Import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices
Capture to and edit XDCAM HD and DVC PRO HD formats from baseband without additional hardware
Access low-res XDCAM proxies for offline work, with full-quality audio
Import text-based ancillary data and embed it in the video signal with the new “Data Track” and SMPTE 436M support using Nitris DX- and Mojo DX-based systems
View stereo audio tracks as single channels in the timeline for easier handling
Create high-quality sounds and mixes with support for RTAS audio processing plug-ins
Natively access and edit 4:2:2 MPEG-2 media from the new Canon cameras using AMA

Directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size)
Work natively with QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264
Edit video and audio by dragging and dropping elements in the timeline
Keep high-end finishing projects in-house and gain great color precision with HD-RGB support (including dual-link I/O support with Nitris DX systems)
Monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini
Mix and match frame sizes and aspect ratios – in addition to formats, frame rates, and resolutions – in the same timeline
Take a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done
Import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices
Capture to and edit XDCAM HD and DVC PRO HD formats from baseband without additional hardware
Access low-res XDCAM proxies for offline work, with full-quality audio
Import text-based ancillary data and embed it in the video signal with the new “Data Track” and SMPTE 436M support using Nitris DX- and Mojo DX-based systems
View stereo audio tracks as single channels in the timeline for easier handling
Create high-quality sounds and mixes with support for RTAS audio processing plug-ins
Natively access and edit 4:2:2 MPEG-2 media from the new Canon cameras using AMA
Work Directly with RED Using the Newly Improved AMA
With Media Composer 5, AMA (Avid Media Access) has been completely reengineered, so you can work natively with more file-based media formats now and in the future. With the new and improved AMA, you can speed up RED workflows by directly accessing RED files (.R3D) in Media Composer without having to prepare them through MetaFuze (all footage is scaled to HD frame size). Plus, you have access to its full metadata and color management data too.

Edit QuickTime Formats Natively
Get native access to all popular QuickTime formats, with full access to clip metadata. Thanks to AMA, you can natively access and edit any movie that can be played in Apple’s QuickTime Player (including Apple ProRes and .mov files captured by Canon 5D and 7D cameras) right in Media Composer – no transcoding, rewrapping, or logging and transferring required.

Drag and Drop Video and Audio to Edit
Get comfortable – with Media Composer 5, you can truly edit the way you like. In addition to the standard way of editing, you can also now directly manipulate elements in the timeline to edit video and audio. Drag and drop clips anywhere you want on the timeline to rearrange sequences. And grab a clip’s in or out point and drag to trim a scene, dialog, or music.

Get Full-Quality HD-RGB Processing
Keep those finishing jobs in house, and deliver the highest quality color and effects work, with support for full-quality 4:4:4 HD-RGB color space processing in Media Composer. With the higher resolution detail, you can perform color correction, keying, and effects work with greater precision and ease. And if you have a Nitris DX-based system, you can digitize, process, monitor, and output (output in Symphony systems only) projects in HD-RGB, using the two HD SDI connections to handle the high-bandwidth resolutions.

Monitor Video Externally through Matrox MXO2 Mini
If you don’t have a Nitris DX- or Mojo DX-based system, Media Composer 5 opens the door to third-party workflows, enabling you to monitor video externally using the Matrox MXO2 Mini interface, which is available for Mac and Windows systems. When paired with Media Composer software, MXO2 Mini becomes a dedicated, high-quality monitor-only solution for file-based or workgroup production, so you can view your video work in real time without any major expense.

Yeah! Nice.

Whither art thou, Apple? Feels like all your efforts are going into iPad – wherefore art thou, FCP updates, new towers and laptops? 12 core Mac Pro? Hello? Hello? Tomorrow maybe? No press conference yesterday=sadness.

——–

Released – RedUser iPhone app – REDUSER.net: “Released – RedUser iPhone app
No more Mobile Safari; absolutely free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/code-…366359884?mt=8″

Now if they only had a “find relevant posts” option….

——-

EPIC Dynamic Range… – REDUSER.net: “EPIC Dynamic Range…
Today… we tested EPIC dynamic range with the following test systems:

1. DSC DX1-102db v1 OSG chart

2. Stouffer chart

3. Arri DRTC

All tests show 13.5 stops or greater.

For those that missed my post on another thread… EPIC has a REDCODE mathematically lossless compression option (2.5:1) that records to onboard SSD module (not to CF).

Lots of good news going into NAB.

Jim”

Graeme added:

It’s not just the overall DR though, it’s the character of the noisefloor, the DR, and low noise throughout the range that makes M-X better.

Graeme

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A few new things… – REDUSER.net: “A few new things…
Came out of the oven functional today.. can you spot them?”
(Jarred Land)
see link for pics
1.) 64GB CF cards
2.) record button on CF reader
3.) side grip with record and LCD

————
RED STATION – REDUSER.net: “The RED STATION modular reader system will begin shipping April 14th.

The RED MAG 2.5′, RED CF, and BASE STATION are priced at $250 per module and $250 per Base.

Each Module can be used independently or linked together as a system, using E-SATA, FIREWIRE 800/400 or USB2.0.”

(Jarred Land posted)

pics on the link

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EPIC is alive… – REDUSER.net: “EPIC is alive and shooting incredible images… actually, the best we have ever seen.

Jim”

pictures on the first page and scattered throughout the many, many pages of this thread. Other good tidbits to know: Epic brain weighs 5 pounds, boot time is 12 seconds currently (probably will trim a bit before release – time not weight).

-mike

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EPIC Schedule Update… – REDUSER.net: “We expect the Tattoo EPICs to be out in May.

Given our commitment to debug and enable most features before shipping production models, we expect a 2-3 month shakedown of Tattoo which puts Stage 2 delivery somewhere in the neighborhood of July-August. A lot depends on what happens throughout the Tattoo period.”

Based on prior estimates vs actual shipping, I’d say odds are improving on whether I can get mine (upgrading from Red #417) in calendar 2010. Hope so, though.

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Proxy Module… – REDUSER.net: “Proxy Module…
RED is increasing the workflow flexibility on Epic and Scarlet with Proxy Modules… the first of which is an H.264 Module.

This module encodes a 1080P stream (high quality scale from full frame) and records to Compact Flash in a rear module. The module also offers secure password protected streaming over dedicated WiFi and ethernet to iPhones, iPads, laptops as well as broadcast to the internet.

This will be beneficial for on set viewing, instant dailies, offline editing, easy file transfer to remote locations, dailies review and collaboration services with such companies as Pix, or live broadcasting for realtime media distribution.

The modules will also support full metadata and XML for editorial.

Availability will be September 2010 and the price will be $2500.

Jim”

mike comment – in light of Alexa’s native onboard ProRes recording, this bodes well for the possibility of future ProRes or DNxHD modules….

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RED FOCUS – REDUSER.net: “Self-Powered illuminated PL Mount Diascope for setting PL Backfocus/ Flange distance on the RED ONE / EPIC / SCARLET cameras.

$1900 Alone, $1500 for new/existing owners of the RED PRO PRIME set.”

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EPIC News… – REDUSER.net: “5K 2.37:1 is now 120 fps.

Jim
____”

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EPIC Reservations Begin… – REDUSER.net: “We are now taking orders for Stage 2 of the EPIC program.

http://epic.red.com

Jim”

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Avid native R3D support… – REDUSER.net: “Great news from Avid.

Now you can directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size). Work directly with RED using the newly improved AMA. With Media Composer 5, AMA (Avid Media Access) has been completely reengineered, so you can work natively with more file-based media formats now and in the future. With the new and improved AMA, you can speed up RED workflows by directly accessing RED files (.R3D) in Media Composer without having to prepare them through MetaFuze (all footage is scaled to HD frame size). Plus, you have access to its full metadata and color management data too.”

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Panasonic Takes Micro Four Thirds Design To AG-AF100 Pro Camcorder – panasonic AG-AF100 – Gizmodo

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Say Tweet Again Twitter T-Shirt – Headline Shirts – Funny t-shirts, graphic tees, and political tshirts

Amen.

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Bad 3D Will Be the Death of 3D – 3D – Gizmodo: “if we as an industry choose this 2D to 3D post-production conversion, it’s the end. As quickly as it got here, that’s how fast it will go away.”

-Jeff Katzenberg (the guy begging to get more 3D screens in)

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Quantum Dots Could Make Dark, Grainy Cellphone Party Pics Obsolete – Camera phones – Gizmodo: “Placing the quantum dots on top of the electronics means more pixels can be crammed into a given area and less incoming light is lost. Moreover, photodetectors based on quantum dots produce less noisy images, so the picture is sharper even if the number of pixels is not increased.”

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MacBook Pro updates almost upon us? Screenshot of new model numbers offers hope — Engadget: “Now, as for a specific launch date, the best we have so far is that April 13th rumor, but with a tips box buzzing with rumors, we’re starting almost feel confident in seeing a new MacBook Pro this century.”

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YouTube – The next 4K digital mag for A?ton Penelope described by JP Beauviala ! [with english subs]

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How the AJA Ki Pro Took Repossessed Tapeless | Studio Daily KiPro in action. I really like this gadget in theory – I haven’t used one myself yet.

-mike

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In-Three on the Workflow Behind 3D Conversions | Studio Daily I’d posted a link to a Gizmodo article that mentioned the most basic way to do it – roto out layers – but Studio Daily article here hopefully goes further into detail (and yeah I haven’t read it yet)

-mike

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DI in a Day? Proceed With Caution | Studio Daily Oh, GAWD. Now every producer will think DI should only take a day…

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TP2_English post conform-y thing…I think

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creativeLIVE – A Live Worldwide Creative Classroom– worth looking into for free classes on stuff? Maybe? Thoughts anyone?

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EETimes.com – Quantum film threatens to replace CMOS image chips

this could be aBIG DEAL in time

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YouTube – Arri ALEXA camera – thefilmbook

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Out Of The Dark Ages?|?HD User Magazine

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Arri Alexa CU on Location Shoot in L.A. on Vimeo

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DLP Cinema Enhanced 4K

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Christie Introduces New 4K DLP Cinema? Product Line for 2010

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Kommer Kleijn: “ArriVision 3D 35 mm film shooting” good retro fun

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Technicolor sets first film-3D deployment

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Light Field Photography with a Hand-Held Plenoptic Camera

Deep. Ha.

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The 10 Most Expensive iPhone Apps

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The Most Expensive iPhone Apps (worth paying for)?|?Edible Apple

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IOD calc for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

InterOcular Distance calculator

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YouTube – PIXELS

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ProLost – ProLost Blog – iPad for Filmmaking, Day Six?Report

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If You Use Foursquare, You Are an Annoying Jackass – Foursquare – Gawker: “it’s just another narcissistic assault on decent society by urban-dwelling iPhone users.”

here here

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The Great Cable Rip-Off, For Visual Learners – Visualizations – Gizmodo: “Expensive cables are a big rip-off. No surprise there, we wrote about it at length in our ‘The Truth About Monster Cable’ trilogy in 2007. (1, 2, and 3.) But if you’re a visual learner, Mint.com offers this helpful infographic.”

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Boing Boing: “For the first time, people were able to pretend that their standard of living was provided, free of downsides, by little elves that lived in the wall. All benefit, no detriment. Action without consequences. In other words, this is the point where everybody went a little bit bonkers.”

I’ve been thinking about that kind of bonkers a lot lately. Hybrid cars – OK, electricity is cheap, great. But in terms of net human effort/resources consumed over lifetime of vehicle, total-cost-of-ownership analysis, is it still a Cool Thing To Do? What if you power comes from messy coal burning power plants? That kinda thing – more gnomes and distant effort, not one’s own.

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How 'Avatar' changed the rules of deliverables: “Creative decisions involving light levels also led to additional versions. 3D projection and glasses cut down the light the viewer sees, so ‘Avatar’ also had separate color grades at different light levels, which are measured in foot lamberts.”

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Massawyrm butts heads with CLASH OF THE TITANS!! —
Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
: “Above all, this stands as THE defining moment we watched 3-D actually destroy a film and stand testament to the terrible, terrible idea of adding it in post-production. It is an effect so bad that it is all most of us can talk about.”

I heard this 3D job was shopped overseas, in a hurry, at the last minute – you get what you pay for, folks! At this relatively early stage in the game of modern 3D, it takes a team like Cameron/Pace to pull it off beautifully. Quick – name another LIVE ACTION 3D movie that pulled off the 3D really well, and not annoyingly?

Thinking….thinking….anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

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Tron remixed trailer and titles – Boing Boing

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A 3D Music Video, No Glasses Required – Doubtful comforts – Gizmodo

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OWC Enterprise-Class SSDs

interesting to see what’s up with SSDs

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Final Cut Studio 6 versus 7: “For reasons that remain a mystery for the moment, the newest (summer 2009) version of Final Cut Studio is significanty slower than previous version — at least where Compressor and Motion are concerned. Hopefully, this will be addressed by Apple’s software engineers in a future point release.”

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For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path – NYTimes.com: “In the last few years, stock agencies have created or acquired so-called microstock divisions. They charge $1 to $100, in most cases, for publishers or others to rerun a photo, often supplied by an amateur. And Getty made a deal with Flickr in 2008, permitting Getty’s photo editors to comb through customers’ images and strike license agreements with the amateur photographers.

“The quality of licensed imagery is virtually indistinguishable now from the quality of images they might commission,” Mr. Klein said. Yet “the price point that the client, or customer, is charged is a fraction of the price point which they would pay for a professional image.””

How long until this is the case for stock footage? We’re getting there fast. The goal is a “good enough” image that satisfies the client at a given price point. With rapidly advancing technology that requires less and less expertise, why not pick from 100 amateur sunset shots rather than hire a pro?

Not happy about it, but it is definitely happening.

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Op-Ed Columnist – The Sandra Bullock Trade – NYTimes.com: “If the relationship between money and well-being is complicated, the correspondence between personal relationships and happiness is not. The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after work and having dinner with others. The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting. According to one study, joining a group that meets even just once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income. According to another, being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year.”

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The Best 3DTV: Samsung UN55C7000 vs Panasonic TC-P50VT20 – Panasonic TC-P50VT20 – Gizmodo: “Total that all up for a family of 4 and you are laying out a hefty $3700 for the Samsung or about $3350 for the Panasonic.

And don’t forget that you’ll need to find something to watch-the only option right now is the execrable animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens, which gets old pretty quickly. At the moment, that’s the only 3D Blu-ray available,”

So yeah. Wait. PS3 gets a 3D update this summer, but you’re still short on content. 3 networks will start with 3D content this “summer” exact dates I don’t recall. But wait, as a consumer.

-mike

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ignore the code: Some Users Want Terrible User Interfaces: “Pride in their ability and job security are two reasons why people may prefer such user interfaces. Some complex user interfaces may also give people the perception of having more control. Another reason why people sometimes avoid simple devices is that they perceive them as being made specifically for children, or for ?stupid? people.”

comment on above

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The Impossible Bloomberg Makeover | UX Magazine:

“The pain inflicted by blatant UI flaws such as black background color and yellow and orange text is strangely transformed into the rewarding experience of feeling and looking like a hard-core professional.
The more painful the UI is, the more satisfied these users are.
The Bloomberg Terminal interface looks terrible, but it allows traders and other users to pretend you need to be experienced and knowledgeable to use it.”

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Things have improved the last few years, but this is the same gut reaction I used to get when I’d sit down on a traditional “heavy iron” post tool and try to get some things done. This also reminds me of the Avid/FCP UI split – Avid is just soooooooo un-Maclike. The more I use it, I do respect many of their choices in terms of “it prevents you from accidentally doing something you don’t want to do” at the cost of “how the hell do I do something basic” if you don’t already know how.

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The Good, The Bad, The Weird – Movie Trailers – iTunes

I saw this film at FantasticFest a few years ago, I am DELIGHTED to see it coming for a wider release!

It is FANTASTIC fun, and RUN DON’T WALK to see it if it comes to a theater near you if you ever liked a Western film.

Creative and with better stunts than any 5 Hollywood movies.

-mike

*and by HFS, I am NOT talking about Hierarchical File System

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WHEW! If you read to here, you get free InterWebz or something. I realize there are some repeats, but I can spend 10 minutes here cleaning this up, or 10 minutes on the show floor…hmmm…bye.

-mike

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