ATTN: Footage Shooters!

There is a free set of tutorials for Final Cut Express 4 available online done by Izzy Hyman.  There are 9 lessons with a total of 2.5 hours of tutorial.  A few of us in the office went through these tutorials and learned almost everything we needed to know for submitting quality edited clips.  It breaks down the editing process and color correction in a few short and easy to follow segments, and even teaches a lot of keyboard shortcuts to further simplify post-production.

You can find this tutorial and many others at: www.izzyvideo.com

The Final Cut Express tutorial is on the products page at http://www.izzyvideo.com/learn-final-cut-express/ and just follow the instructions on the page. The tutorial is available to download in it’s entirety in the zip file called Learn_FCE.zip.  Also download the sample videos  from the link at the Chapter 1 table of contents called ch01media.zip.  He uses these clips to create a fully rendered video and you learn by watching the tutorials in QuickTime, while copying what he does step by step in Final Cut Express!

This is a very powerful and useful tool for our mac users! Take a look and start editing… Good Luck!

9 days before our first class was scheduled to start, we received an email from owner Craig Swanson as follows:

“I’m sorry to do this. …there are some big changes coming up for our classroom in April.  Chase Jarvis is now a co-owner of our online classroom, and we’re having to adjust some schedules around some big events that he is part of rolling out.”

Needless to say, this unprofessional behavior is unacceptable to us and we are now looking for alternative ways to conduct and deliver the seminars. We will let you all know as soon as suitable arrangements have been made.

In the meantime, please don’t stop shooting and submitting your footage! If you have not yet started, talk with Danita or Jeff Lawrence about how to submit your clips. The web site is still going live with footage on April 5th as originally planned and we are adding clips as soon as they are ready.

While we were hoping to save the following announcement for our April 12th seminar on editing footage, we are pleased to announce that we have made arrangements to provide our photographers with extremely reasonable pricing on post production of footage clips! Remember when you used to send your film in for processing? Well now that same convenience is available for editing your footage clips! Just send in raw footage in clips of 60 seconds or less and you will get back time edited, color corrected, and keyworded clips ready for submission to us for immediate uploading. And if you need special effects like zooming or panning added in post, this too can be done at low cost. Just contact us for pricing.

We hope this hasn’t caused you any inconvenience. We’ll keep you posted!

Photo © Larry Ditto / DanitaDelimont.com

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Most striking was the general attitude towards stock footage.   Last year it was the future.  This year it is very much the present!  More agencies are putting their toes in the waters and more and more resources are available to allow still photographers to acquire footage capabilities.

The Canon 5D Mark II, and similar hybrid DSLRs have been well accepted by shooters and buyers of stock footage.  The image quality is good enough for all but the largest presentation formats, such as theatrical releases of movies, and is quite acceptable for TV and web use.  I learned several advantages DSLRs have over traditional video equipment as well as techniques to work around some of the limitations of these hybrids.  More on that next week.

We also watched a stock footage production shoot featuring a Red ONE camera, 2 models, and extensive lighting.  The shoot was staged in the lobby of the Eden Roc hotel around the lobby bar.  It allowed me to see firsthand what goes into a typical shoot.  You may have heard that making the transition to video can be a daunting challenge and to watch how an on location shoot with talent and lighting works makes me agree with this assessment.  I would never want to try this style of shooting with my 5D!

The good news is that the type of stock footage we are adding to our site does not require this level of technical sophistication and complexity!  While some people are shooting elaborate studio type video with very high production value, our travel and nature photographers are presented with a much simpler and easier proposition – let Mother Nature supply the talent and lighting – just focus on the composition, exposure, and focus!   I will give you more details about this in an upcoming post.

There was a lot of good information on the footage workflow.  In addition to getting tips on software and procedures, we also located several resources that can take over with some of the “post-production” tasks that you may not be ready or willing to do yourself.  We even located a vendor that is now providing us with samples of their post production capabilities.  Their work looks great and they can quickly turn around clips from our EDL (Edit Decision List) and even supply the metadata.

Finally, I picked up some scuttlebutt about the upcoming Red Scarlet and Red Epic that will be appearing in the near future. Stay tuned!

Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact Video Camera Shotgun Microphone

Rode VideoMic – Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphone

Rode Stereo VideoMic – Camera Mounted Microphone

And for our 5D users…

BeachTek Audio Adapter

The DXA-5D XLR adapter also features dual transformer-based XLR inputs with phantom power and built-in level meters.  There’s also a built-in headphone jack so one can finally monitor the audio and trim controls permit the user to dial-in proper signal levels.  Extra cool….
This XLR adapter includes a nice LCD display which shows the state of various switches and battery life and also shows audio levels from -54 dBu to -33dBu so verifying proper audio recording levels will be a snap!

Forums / Tutorials

Here are some links to help you get acquainted further with audio recording in the field.

Sound Recording Tips by Philip Bloom

DPReview thread on Audio

The Sweet Sounds of HD Recording Great-Sounding Audio with the Canon EOS 5D MkII By Kevin Reylek courtesy of B&H.

Chuck Westfall talks about the sync issue with other devices