Sony Twilight Football in Australia By David Hague A few weeks ago, Sony did an almost simultaneous launch of a swag of new cameras, compacts and camcorders in far-flung and remote places around the globe. 'Almost' simultaneous because of time zone differences and far flung, because the Australian leg was held about as far from most centres of population as you can get - the Pinnacles in the desert sands 300Km (200 miles approx) north of Perth in Western Australia. ...Read More »

Going one better: RED editing and what Vegas 9 has under the hood By Mike Jones There's a substantial history of camera technology being released to the public before the technology of post-production has caught up. HDV springs as an obvious example where the long-GOP structure was fantastically efficient for image acquisition and recording but presented considerable issues for non-linear editing systems traditionally reliant on individual frames and not groups-of-pictures. AVCHD presents the same issue where shooting is easy but timeline performance is less than stellar. And Sony's XDCAMEX is a great balance of quality and efficiency but it's wrapping in an Mp4 format initially gave many NLE's considerable trouble. ...Read More »

Keying virtual backgrounds for "Hellevator" By Heath McKnight In the past two to three years, I've been relying more and more on using green screen and chroma keying for my film and video work. After working with visual effects (FX) artists, I began to realize there is nothing complicated when using software to key virtual backgrounds and sets in. ...Read More »

NAB 2009 Wrap-Up By Heath McKnight Though attendance at this year's NAB Show (National Association of Broadcasters) was lower than previous years, there were plenty of great announcements. And with 3D all the rage these days, many companies were presenting hardware and software solutions for users to get into 3D film and video production. ...Read More »

Sony Creative Software debuts Vegas Pro 9 at NAB 2009 By John Virata At NAB 2009 in Las Vegas, Sony Creative Software announced Vegas Pro 9, an update to the company's popular non-linear editing application that now features Direct XDCAM EX browsing and import capabilities as well as full support for Red Camera Company's RED ONE 4K video camera. The application features a customizable interface, and has also undergone a color scheme change from white to a more professional gray interface background. ...Read More »

Love Versus Evil By John Virata Alexis Dias, a filmmaker from Bangalore, India is back with a new film tackling the subject of terror and terrorism. Dias, who works in the country's tech sector, takes on the subject in his second movie, Love Versus Evil. As with his 2006 debut film, Do We Accept the Truth, Love Versus Evil has no dialog, with the story told with an intricate series of cuts and dissolves. Dias talks about the making of Love Versus Evil, as well as what societal subject that he will tackle next., and when he will make a movie with dialog. ...Read More »

NAB 2008: Sony Creative Software, Boinx Software and NAB 2008 wrap up By Heath McKnight Two of Sony Creative Software's major showcases at NAB 2008 were prosumer and professional Blu-ray authoring. Now that Blu-ray Discs (BD) are the industry standard, Sony is offering DVD Architect 5 to the indie filmmakers, producers and videographers. What's really cool is you can create one project file and burn either a standard definition (SD) or Blu-ray DVD. It's a free upgrade for Vegas Pro 8 users who are registered with Sony Creative Software. ...Read More »

Vendors to Visit in Vegas: MAXON 3D By Ko Maruyama Every year, broadcasters of all kinds gather in Las Vegas to see the new gear offered by the vendors who support the creation and transmission of what you watch and listen to. If you're an artist who is interested in creating broadcast 3D design, or even a producer who wants to know how easy 3D graphics can be to get delivered from your motion graphics department, then you'll want to check out MAXON's CINEMA 4D booth at NAB. ...Read More »

Cross-Platform Production part 2: Mac, Boot Camp, Windows & CineForm By Mike Jones Aside from moving media between partitions, the second major workflow consideration for cross-platform production is the video formats themselves. This relates to both the shooting acquisition format and the type of exchange and intermediate files to use in moving project elements. While formats like HDV, XDCamHD and DVCProHD may seem (and are even touted as being) universal, they can be handled by individual applications very differently with huge potential for frustration. ...Read More »

Sony announces PMW-EX3 camcorder at NAB 2008 By Heath McKnight Sony announced the latest camera in the XDCAM EX line, one year after the PMW-EX1 was introduced, the PMW-EX3. Like the EX1, the camera sports three 1/2 inch CCDs with full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) for maximum image quality. Unlike the EX1, the lens that comes with the EX3 can be detached and different lenses can be used. Interchangeable lens features are a must for many cinematographers. ...Read More »