Danita Delimont

Save the Date – Stock Footage Webinar

Although shooting video with DSLR cameras may be intimidating and confusing at first we feel that with the right guidance and information everyone can learn to embrace it and produce quality footage. As we have been moving into the footage market over the past few months we have come across many experts, useful tools, software and hardware that have proven to be very valuable. We are encouraging all of our still shooters to get into this new market and we now can show you how to do so with just a short learning curve and a modest investment in gear.

We are pleased to announce that DanitaDelimont.com will be presenting a FREE 5 week online footage course for our contracted photographers starting April 5th.  Each Monday classes will be streamed live online from the Creative Techs classroom at Art Wolfe’s studio in Seattle and will also be available later for downloading from the Creative Techs website.

The program is titled “Producing Great Stock Footage with Your DSLR”. Each week we will tackle different topics and will have various experts and product representatives leading the discussions. We will be updating you as the schedule is finalized, but be sure to mark Monday, April 5th at 11:00 AM Pacific time and the following four Mondays on your calendar.  There are also seats available in the studio audience so if you are in Seattle, please attend the live session!

We look forward to helping you get acquainted with shooting and processing footage.  Let us help you to add a great new revenue stream to your business with much less effort than you ever imagined!

Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) Announced

EOS Rebel T2i EF-S

Canon recently announced it’s newest DSLR with 1080p footage capabilites, the Rebel T2i. This is the most advanced Rebel to hit the market so far, and should be a great addition to the family of Hybrid Footage/Still DSLRs.

Specs:

- 18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor

- DIGIC 4 processor with ISO 100-6400 (Expansion to 12800)

- Continuous shooting at 3.7fps

- Full HD movie recording with manual control and selectable frame rates

- 7.7cm (3.0”) 3:2 Clear View LCD with 1,040k dots

- iFCL metering System with 63-zone Dual-layer Metering Sensor

- Quick Control screen to change shooting settings

- Exposure compensation +/-5 stops (although viewfinder scale is still +/-2 stops)

- Select maximum value for Auto ISO

- External Microphone socket

- Movie crop function

- Eye-Fi connected functions compatibility

Seattle Area Organization Offering FREE Final Cut Pro Classes!

From the site:

It’s our first Final Cut Pro course! But we need your help. We need at least 1,500 people signed up in order to hold this FREE course. So sign-up and help  spread the word. The 5-week course starts Wednesday, Feb 17.

This course is our first test teaching Final Cut Pro in our worldwide classroom, if this first test goes well, we’ll be able to offer extended courses on this topic.

ENROLL HERE: Getting Started with Final Cut Pro!
Course Dates: Wednesdays, February 17 – March 17, 2010
Time: 11am Pacific (Seattle) [Other Time Zones]
Duration: 90-120 Minutes
Cost: The LIVE event is FREE to attend!

Feb 17, Final Cut Pro Course Overview.
Feb 24, Week 1 – Setting Up a Project (Interface & Preferences).
Mar 3, Week 2 – Importing, Managing, and Editing Footage.
Mar 10, Week 3 – Transitions, Effects, and Video Generators.
Mar 17, Week 4 – Media Management and Output.

Dave’s CES Update

Each year the Consumer Electronics Show is held in Vegas to showcase the latest in technological innovations. I attended CES again this year and spent some time reviewing the latest cameras and TVs.  And at the end of this missive I pass along the experience of a Canadian photographer who flew into Las Vegas with his camera gear through the tightest security yet!

Canon showed the new 1DS Mark IV, with its 2/3 sized sensor and 10 fps burst speed.  Be careful not to melt the inside of your flash with 30 shot bursts, as happened to the Canon rep.

The exciting news from Canon, and a bit of a teaser to you, is that they have indicated they will provide an Explorer of Light to instruct our Danita Delimont photographers in how to shoot HD video with the 5D Mark ll at our upcoming “Footage Forum” scheduled for late March in Seattle.  More on this in my next post.

I got to try the Steadicam Merlin unit at the Teffin booth.  The handheld units were very pricey at $850 and it takes some practice to get the delicate balance required to use them.   They only support up to 5 pounds and a supplementary vest unit is recommended for a DSLR with a big lens or a standard video recorder.  Their Marilyn Monroe model was creating quite a draw. (links throughout?)

Panasonic 153" LCD

3D HD TVs and 3D HD BluRay players were all the rage in the Central Hall.  Every major manufacturer showed their 3D offerings, literally hundreds of models.  I feel like I saw Avatar all over again!  They actually look quite good, although special glasses are required to watch them.  While manufacturers are settling on standards now, there are still several ways to create the 3D effect and all were touted as the best.  If a format war can be avoided, and if sufficient programming is forthcoming, I think they will be taking over the HDTV market in 2-3 years.  ESPN announced a 3D sports channel that will feature the upcoming World Cup in 3D for the millions who don’t watch soccer now, as well as NBA games.  There were many 3D moves previewed for release this spring and summer.  Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp anyone?

While most of the 3D fare to date has been animation and CGI material, I foresee a market for 3D stock footage developing in the years ahead.  Canon had no knowledge of any 3D products in the pipeline.  Panasonic announced availability of a 3D Video Camcorder for professional use with a list price of $21,000.  We will be monitoring the progress towards 3D and keep you informed.

Nikon’s big announcement was a CoolPix camera that can project images up to 40 inches in size (and as low as 5 inches).  There’s also a remote control in the package, so you can set up your own image slideshow on the go. The camera has a 12MP sensor, 5x optical zoom and a 2.7-inch TFT LCD. ISO levels can be cranked up to 3200 at full res.  The Nikon S1000pj “procam” is scheduled to be out in September and will probably set you back about $600.

Microvision, a Seattle based company,  demonstrated their WVGA resolution “Pico Projector”, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, with a spicy video by a Dr. Evil impersonator, and LG showed their projector attachment for a cell phone.  I played with a similar prototype cell phone HD projector at the IMAX theater in Seattle a few months ago.   I think they may be cool for small business presentations in dark meeting rooms, bars, caves, etc.

At the other end of the spectrum, Panasonic showed their 153 inch plasma with 3K resolution.  Very impressive!  It uses “mother glass” which is the full size sheet of glass that is cut into pieces for their smaller models.  The Mitsubishi 155” OLED was not on display at the show.

Ford/DeWalt Truck

I also marveled at the Ford/DeWalt Contractor truck which can take inventory of all the tools at the push of a button to be sure none are left at a job site, the Chevy Volt and its iPhone app with remote start, car location monitor, and lots of details on car status, and my personal favorite the MakerBot which is a 3D printer that can make parts (including its own replacement parts) out of ABS plastic for only $750!  An inventor’s dream come true.  The new $10 billion City Center development financed by Dubai was even more impressive than the show.  It is so big it has its own monorail, Dale Chihuilly store, and two world class hotels.

Finally, while dining with a Canadian photographer who flew into Las Vegas from Vancouver, I was filled in on the new security precautions for flights coming into the US.  He could not bring his camera gear as a carry-on and had to put his camera around his neck.  Fortunately he was traveling light and got everything else onto his person to avoid the restriction.  After practically being strip searched, he is now in favor of whole body screening equipment and profiling.  He thinks next time he may choose to FedEx his gear in advance!  Since the rules are still very much in flux at the moment and each airport is likely to have different policies for some time, you might spend some time researching this issue before you leave the US on your next trip.  If you have flown back to the US with your gear since December 24^th, PLEASE leave us a comment on this blog and let us know the details of your experience.

Canon 1D Mark IV

Canon 1D Mark IV

I introduce you to the newly announced Canon 1D Mark IV. It shoots 16MP at 102,400 ISO with a 45-point autofocus system, 10fps bursts and also has 1080 video. The sensor is said to be similar in size to a Super 35mm motion picture frame, although is has a 1.3x crop factor so it isn’t considered full frame.

It seems that video is almost the main focus of this camera. It has full manual exposure control, stereo mic input, and 1080p video that shoots at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second. So far the examples are absolutely amazing.

Philip Bloom got his hands on a pre-production Canon 1D Mark IV and took it to Prague to shoot some winter night time footage. What he came up with is nothing short of stunning. These are easily some of the most impressive shots I’ve ever seen from a DSLR. Hope you enjoy and find some inspiration.

PACA Update – Part 4

And the future is………

Possibly Red!  The Red Scarlet is now scheduled for release by January 1.  It will come in both a fixed and interchangeable lens configuration.  Expect to pay $4-5k.

The Red One is scheduled to be replaced by the Red Epic, which will have a 5-6k resolution.  Red has indicated that they will accept Red ONE cameras on trade-in for their full purchase price as a credit against the cost of a Red Epic.  How’s that for standing behind your product!

And don’t expect Canon, Nikon, and other DSLR manufacturers to be left behind.  Canon has already announced another firmware upgrade for the Mark II which will provide for various frame rates including the popular 24 frames per second.

Red Scarlet

Footage will be a harder format for the microstock community to produce.  It requires more skill and equipment to do it well. Few will have the patience or money to dedicate to this after they see how little they make on their stills.  Consensus at PACA was that stock footage currently has a longer payback period than stills, in the area of about 18 months, but also has a longer lifespan.

In closing, we have been acquiring footage clips for about 6 months and expect to have them loaded to the website in 30-45 days.  Next year will be the Year of the Footage Clip and we encourage you all to get with the program. Speaking of which, we will soon be announcing our plans to help beginning footage shooters with submitting and processing their clips until they get comfortable with the process.

Footage continues to be a bright spot in the otherwise not so rosy photography business.  To travel and nature photographers, it represents a very attractive and relatively easy way to increase the return from your travels.  We look forward to helping you to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

PACA Update – Part 3

Footage Workflow

Whereas Photoshop is the preferred software for high performance editing of stills, the software of choice for video is Final Cut Pro.  This is especially true for Canon 5D Mark all files.  The 5D uses the H264 codec created by Apple 4 years ago.  It uses a 4-2-2-compression which is more than adequate for HDTV.  When processing the file using software other than Final Cut is that the software will convert the H264 to its native codec and then translate it back into H264 when it’s done.  This could have undesirable effects on quality.  The end result could be better with more modern codecs but could also be worse.  When in doubt, stick with the original if you can.

(That said, since we are primarily a PC shop, we use Adobe After Effects with good results.  We are also looking into using i-Movie on a MacBook to do basic editing chores.)

To speed up your editing make a “proxy file” (a lower resolution and thus smaller file) to make your edits on.  When you have the EDL (your edit decision list) saved, substitute the full resolution file and run the processing.  Your edits will go faster this way.

The 5D uses Long GOP (Group of Pictures) coding, which takes a long time to process.  Do your batch conversions into proxy files overnight to save time during working hours.

DV Kitchen (http://dvcreators.net/dv-kitchen/) is an $80 program that will do this job.  Create .mov files for editing.  For example, you can export the original to Apple Pro Res HQ422 wrapped in the .mov extension.  We haven’t had time to try this yet but I was assured it works well.

Lightroom is a good program for managing the finished clips.  Capture 1 was mentioned as better than Light room for feathering clips.

A rule of thumb is that it takes about 4 times as long to edit footage as it does to shoot it.  This makes sense since you have to watch the clip first to see what to do with it.  You are already at 1X the time before you even begin making changes!  Next, make your time in and out decision, then color and other corrections.  Then there is also the keywording, which may require repeated viewing.

Some Inspirational Canon 5d Mark II videos

I went browsing through the Canon 5d group on Vimeo and found some incredible material. This is some very inspirational stuff if you happen to have a 5d or are in the market. It goes to show the possibilities are endless with some training and a little hard work. Enjoy.

Human Prints from julrom1 on Vimeo.

Eos 5D Mark II quick test from Stefano Bozzetta on Vimeo.

Night and Fog from Luke Humphrey on Vimeo.

Ian Provo / Coast Edit 2009 from Ian Provo on Vimeo.

Nostalgia (original version) from Edgar Maguyon on Vimeo.

PACA Update – Part 2

Footage Shooting Tips

While watching the stock footage shoot at the PACA International Meeting Sunday session, we got a chance to watch and talk with the participants for 3 hours as they went about creating several different stock footage clips.  Here is what I gleaned from the assembled practitioners.

The Red ONE is an extremely good camera for the price. They love it. However, it is not easily portable in the sense of travel photography.  The tripod is enormous and the ancillary gear such as hard discs, field monitors, etc. requires having a multi-person crew.  In addition to the 2 models there were 6 others involved in the shoot.

Focus is extremely important. The depth of field with a 135mm lens at about 15 feet was between 3 and 4 INCHES!  A turn of the model’s head and his beard went out of focus.  The 5D Mark all which was used to get the “B roll” shots had a much larger DOF and a different look because of the sharpness of the background.  This is both a limitation and a benefit of the DSLR hybrid that can be used for good effect.  Focusing the Mark all was very easy compared to the Red ONE.  The resulting “boca”, or area that is out of focus, is better with the DSLR.

Canon 5d Mark II histogram

Expose to the far right of the histogram whenever possible. The result looks overexposed on the viewfinder and on a monitor but can be easily corrected in post.  This technique saves the details that might otherwise be lost in the shadows.

Other tips included:

Think like you are shooting a silent movie (which you are!).  Tell the story without the sound.

Shoot multiple compositions whenever possible. Do a close up, a wide angle, leave room for copy in one version, etc.

Pans and zooms can be added in post if the original composition is created with this in mind. Shoot wider than you want for the final product and do the pan or zoom in post similar to the way you would do a crop in Photoshop or turn a still into a moving image.

Avoid logos and trademarks. These can be removed in post but it requires a lot of work.  There is a list of places and things that are problematical on the PACA website.

Get Down! The DSLR can get closer to the ground than a regular video camera and can also be more easily elevated with poles or booms to get unique perspectives.  Be creative, get unique shots.

Red Scarlet Update

Red Scarlet

Gizmodo just released some new details regarding the RED Scarlet. According to sources, it looks like it should be available this summer.

This camera is going to make serious waves in the video and photography industry. With DSLR hybrids currently ranging from $5-8,000 this gives dual shooters another option and in my opinion start the decline of the DSLR’s user base. There is too much bang for your buck in this beauty. You can use any frame of it’s 60fps as a still and would have a hard time noticing the difference between it and most Pro/Pro-sumer DSLRs. Interested yet?

For those of you that speak video tech here are some of the specs:

* Increased REDCODE data rates
* New FLUT Color, Gamma and Sensitivity Science. Now same as EPIC.
* More extensive modular system integration.
* Interchangeable Lens mounts including focus and iris control of electronic RED, Canon and Nikon lenses, along with Zoom data (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable)
* “Touch Focus Tracking” with electronic lens mounts and RED touchscreen LCD’s (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable and 8x Fixed)
* Two independent microphone level channels, balanced input circuits, 48V Phantom Power, digitized at 24-bit 48KHz.
* GigaBit Ethernet port
* Scaled 1080P at 60fps

For more info and all the detailed pictures of the camera and it’s accessories be sure to check the article over at Gizmodo.