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Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Red.com - Or you can find the full review on Studiodaily.com
Conventional wisdom said it couldn’t be done, starting from scratch to build an affordable motion picture camera with a true 4K Super 35 image sensor, and a new compression scheme to somehow make all that data manageable. It would never have been possible without the tremendous passion, determination and enthusiasm of a man named Jim Jannard. Jannard, a billionaire as a result of his success with designer sunglass and sports apparel company Oakley, definitely has the chops as a businessman. However, it’s probably his hobbies, more than his business acumen, that inspired the RED Digital Cinema project. He’s long been an avid photographer, and also has a keen interest in cinematography. He’s said to have amassed a working collection of top gear in just about every professional film and digital format, both motion picture and still. Yet, it seems, he never found the one camera that could serve all his needs, and this yearning was the genesis (no Panavision pun intended) for the RED camera. While some asked "Why," Jannard asked, "Why not?" Why not come up with a digital cinema camera that shoots in the kind of resolution and functionality he likes to work in for stills? Movies, after all, are just a collection of still images strung together, so why not figure out how to tap the RAW output for motion photography, just as digital still photographers had been doing for many years? The benefits of working in RAW are many, and I believe a familiarity with these techniques is key to understanding how to get the most out of RED. This may require a certain amount of "re-education" for some cinematographers, especially those who might have gotten comfortable shooting HD and believing that what you see on the monitor is what you get. I think cinematographers with film backgrounds might be more comfortable in thinking of their RED camera displays as being analogous with the video taps they’re used to. Like a tap on a film camera, it’s useful for framing reference, but the image available on the negative is not done justice. It provides some good information, but you wouldn’t make lighting or exposure choices solely based on viewing the tap. There is so much more flexibility and overall dynamic range after processing the RAW image file. In fact, RED ONE has ASA and white balance settings on the camera body that really control nothing more than the display output and are totally nondestructive to the RAW image. Basically, the iris and shutter speed, or any filters you shoot through, are the only things impacting how the image is exposed, and you will not truly see what you’ve got, and what information is available to you, until you download the material from the camera and run it through the RED Alert software on your Mac (Note: REDCINE will be available for both the Mac and PC). I might suggest that cinematographers wanting to get a head start on working with RED while they’re still in short supply get a hold of a digital still camera capable of acquiring RAW images, as many are now able, then take images into a program such as Adobe Photoshop and get familiar with these kinds of tools. As the worlds of production and post continue to meld, cinematographers will need to understand how the material they shoot is processed in order to maintain creative control and authorship of the image. The SoftwareThe RED software facilitates this with a process that’s really quick and easy to use. A full 8 GB/four-minute Compact Flash card (the only recording option now available) downloads in less than three minutes. With the aid of a required Mac with Intel processors, it’s then opened up in RED Alert, a condensed version of the full REDCINE software, which lets you view and do a rough grade on the image with controls similar to Photoshop, including contrast, brightness, saturation and hue; you can change gamma curve. You can then almost instantly create various sized QuickTime viewing copies, ranging from low-res DV and HD to 2K (although full 2K files will have trouble playing back at their full frame rate on your laptop). You might be looking at only 10 to 12 fps, but it’s still a great way to quickly see what your image is capable of. I should note here that these QuickTimes are really only look-up files that need to reference the RAW data, and will require a more time-consuming render in order to create files for export to your NLE for editing. However, they’re a terrific way for a cinematographer to establish his look and virtually time his own "dailies." The beauty is that when it comes time to conform, the 4K images have never been altered and retain the complete dynamic range and creative options of the camera original, or "negative." So, yes, I’m a big fan of the images produced and the available workflow options, but I wouldn’t be a beta tester if I didn’t find a few annoying things to report. A Work in ProgressI was fairly warned by Jannard when I picked up my camera: "It’s not done, and may never be done." I was actually prepared for far worse and really have no big complaints. I was even given a $2,500 credit for any inconvenience. The truth is, it often feels like I’m a beta tester when buying any new gear, but it’s refreshing that RED acknowledges this and is willing to compensate us for our trouble. The problems have been minor, and the fixes have been coming quickly via firmware updates sent over the Internet. We simply copy the files onto the same Compact Flash cards we use for recording, then select upgrade. Having already performed several of these upgrades, I can tell you that it’s really very easy and seamless. At this time, however, the camera still lacks any audio recording capability, and only one viewing output can be enabled at a time (in other words, if the camera operator is using a viewfinder, there’s no monitor output available for the director or DP. There’s also no playback, but I have to believe it is coming, since there are VTR-like controls built into the camera body. With a background in film, the learning curve has been pretty short for me. It’s nice to be able to use the same lenses and depth of field I’m used to using when shooting 35mm. However, my guess is that the many filmmakers intending to move up from DV may have a little more challenging period of adjustment. With its shallow depth of field, and no auto focus or exposure mode, it may not be appropriate for the "run-and-gun" approach they might be used to. Although relatively inexpensive, the RED is a professional tool requiring a competent crew (i.e., a good focus puller) and quality support gear for best results. Jim Jannard has put the means to create very high-quality motion picture images within the grasp of almost any filmmaker, but this tool will need to be properly used to realize its full potential. |
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Dub FX
Live? It looks Austrian...Australian. In Youtube, to the right you'll see Dub FX Featuring Woodnote. That bassline and all the notes coming from the sax sound trip me the fuck out.
Friday, September 24, 2010
AK-69
I hung out with some buddies in Ageo last night, and OkonOmiyaki has never tasted better. The dudes voice in this track sounds wimpy, (try great) maybe a little homosexual.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A little something I found on - www.topline-2000.com
Growing Worms
Each species of earthworm has different requirements, habits, and needs. People who raise worms must be aware of these idiosyncrasies taking advantage of the worms nature where possible and staying one step ahead of them when their more feral traits, are less compatible with cultivation.
Those who try and fail, (whether with home vermicomposting or commercial) to keep a healthy worm population, probably have not done there homework or perhaps they have trouble with the concept of "enclosed ecosystems". The cure for the first of these problems is to get some books on the subject, read them, and apply the gleaned knowledge. The second is a tad more complex as it requires a rudimentary understanding of 'ecology' and the life sustaining interaction between the various plants, animals, and inorganics.
When one domesticates an animal, which worms are, the welfare of that animal becomes the moral, (if not financial), responsibility of the perpetrator. To properly care for any such animal, particularly those with feral habits, one must provide conditions which will be conducive to the animals well being. To be able to provide such an environnment, in a restricted area with highly concentrated populations, (abnormal but useful) without detrimental impact on the animals, requires extensive knowledge of the animal being raised. This knowledge allows one to stay a step ahead of potential problems, or to avoid those problems entirely by producing and maintaining, for the animal, an environment with which it is compatible. The handler/user is the one who put the worms in the box, bin, or pit...so that person is responsible for their welfare. Fotunately, it isn't really all that complicated...
In other words ya gotta be smarter than the worms to successfully raise them. I think it is safe to say that just about anyone willing to invest the time in learning about the worm variety they intend to raise and putting forth reasonable effort and dilligence in their care, should find that their worm populations will do very well indeed! It really isn't that big a deal.
Each species of earthworm has different requirements, habits, and needs. People who raise worms must be aware of these idiosyncrasies taking advantage of the worms nature where possible and staying one step ahead of them when their more feral traits, are less compatible with cultivation.
Those who try and fail, (whether with home vermicomposting or commercial) to keep a healthy worm population, probably have not done there homework or perhaps they have trouble with the concept of "enclosed ecosystems". The cure for the first of these problems is to get some books on the subject, read them, and apply the gleaned knowledge. The second is a tad more complex as it requires a rudimentary understanding of 'ecology' and the life sustaining interaction between the various plants, animals, and inorganics.
When one domesticates an animal, which worms are, the welfare of that animal becomes the moral, (if not financial), responsibility of the perpetrator. To properly care for any such animal, particularly those with feral habits, one must provide conditions which will be conducive to the animals well being. To be able to provide such an environnment, in a restricted area with highly concentrated populations, (abnormal but useful) without detrimental impact on the animals, requires extensive knowledge of the animal being raised. This knowledge allows one to stay a step ahead of potential problems, or to avoid those problems entirely by producing and maintaining, for the animal, an environment with which it is compatible. The handler/user is the one who put the worms in the box, bin, or pit...so that person is responsible for their welfare. Fotunately, it isn't really all that complicated...
In other words ya gotta be smarter than the worms to successfully raise them. I think it is safe to say that just about anyone willing to invest the time in learning about the worm variety they intend to raise and putting forth reasonable effort and dilligence in their care, should find that their worm populations will do very well indeed! It really isn't that big a deal.
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