I came across this video and thought I'd share it with you all...enjoy
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Five Things to Think About When Going HD
I get lots of email - too MUCH email to be honest. But I do get email from some great sources of information in regards to our industry. One such place is ProMax (http://www.promax.com/). They can help you build your edit system and much more. They don't seem to advertise systems that run Premiere Pro CS4, but I'll try not and hold that against them.
As someone getting very, very close to getting a new HD camera (the Sony XDCAM EX3 may soon be mine!), I'm looking at moving the majority of my workflow into an all HD environment. I've done a lot of homework, but I got an email from the folks at ProMax that listed five gotcha's for editing HD. It contains some really helpful hints, and I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. You may know some of this - you may not, but I hope it helps some of you who, like me, are leaving Standard Definition behind and embarking into the bright, shiny world of HD...
HD really is the future of video production and post. SD and DV are pretty much on their way out. It’s very hard to find a post house working with any SD and/or DV footage and most networks won’t accept any new content that is not shot and edited in HD. Having said that, to edit HD properly, you need to be prepared because there are some “gotchas” that if you don’t address before you start your project, you will have issues finishing that project.
Below is our list of the top 5 gotchas when editing HD:
Not getting the right amount or type of storage.
Make sure you have not only the right amount of storage (which depends on the type of HD you will edit), but also the right type. There are many choices out there, from SAS to eSATA to USB to Firewire drives. Each type has its positive and negatives. Other things to look into when getting a storage solution includes the speed of the drive (e..g 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM vs. 10K RPM) and how the storage solution is set up (such as RAID 0, 1, etc.). Picking the wrong solution for the type of HD editing you need to work on will make your project fail from day one.
Thinking all HD is the same.
All HD is not the same. If you are going to edit HDV, you can get away with a lower powered system running a Firewire drive. If you are going to edit XDCAM EX or DVCPRO HD footage, you will need a more powerful system to properly edit that footage. Thinking of editing uncompressed HD? Now you are talking about a high-powered system with lots of memory and storage space running in RAID mode. It’s important to note that all HD is not the same and you need to have a system properly configured for the specific type of HD you will edit.
Thinking you can use your SD images and motion graphics in your HD edit
Do you have a lot of Standard Definition images from previous projects that you want to use in HD? What about motion graphics you created in SD? How about stock footage that was shot in SD? You will need to up-res most of your footage that was SD to match the new resolution size of HD. Thinking you can just drop an SD footage, increase it’s size by 200% and think it will look great, is a big mistake that you don’t want to be caught making in the middle of your project!
Not having an archiving solution in place
HD takes up a lot of storage space. If you are working with a tapeless solution (such as XDCAM EX or P2) then you won’t have a proper backup of that footage in a secure tape. You need to figure out an archiving solution that protects the footage from any accidental deletions or hard drive crashes.
Thinking all NLE’s can author Blu-Ray DVDs
Not all NLEs can author Blu-Ray. In fact, depending on which platform you do your video editing on, you can be severely limited on the ability to author Blu-Ray DVDs affordably. Make sure you know all of your options before you start your project if your final delivery method needs to be in Blu-Ray.
And that's it - thanks ProMax!
As someone getting very, very close to getting a new HD camera (the Sony XDCAM EX3 may soon be mine!), I'm looking at moving the majority of my workflow into an all HD environment. I've done a lot of homework, but I got an email from the folks at ProMax that listed five gotcha's for editing HD. It contains some really helpful hints, and I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. You may know some of this - you may not, but I hope it helps some of you who, like me, are leaving Standard Definition behind and embarking into the bright, shiny world of HD...
HD really is the future of video production and post. SD and DV are pretty much on their way out. It’s very hard to find a post house working with any SD and/or DV footage and most networks won’t accept any new content that is not shot and edited in HD. Having said that, to edit HD properly, you need to be prepared because there are some “gotchas” that if you don’t address before you start your project, you will have issues finishing that project.
Below is our list of the top 5 gotchas when editing HD:
Not getting the right amount or type of storage.
Make sure you have not only the right amount of storage (which depends on the type of HD you will edit), but also the right type. There are many choices out there, from SAS to eSATA to USB to Firewire drives. Each type has its positive and negatives. Other things to look into when getting a storage solution includes the speed of the drive (e..g 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM vs. 10K RPM) and how the storage solution is set up (such as RAID 0, 1, etc.). Picking the wrong solution for the type of HD editing you need to work on will make your project fail from day one.
Thinking all HD is the same.
All HD is not the same. If you are going to edit HDV, you can get away with a lower powered system running a Firewire drive. If you are going to edit XDCAM EX or DVCPRO HD footage, you will need a more powerful system to properly edit that footage. Thinking of editing uncompressed HD? Now you are talking about a high-powered system with lots of memory and storage space running in RAID mode. It’s important to note that all HD is not the same and you need to have a system properly configured for the specific type of HD you will edit.
Thinking you can use your SD images and motion graphics in your HD edit
Do you have a lot of Standard Definition images from previous projects that you want to use in HD? What about motion graphics you created in SD? How about stock footage that was shot in SD? You will need to up-res most of your footage that was SD to match the new resolution size of HD. Thinking you can just drop an SD footage, increase it’s size by 200% and think it will look great, is a big mistake that you don’t want to be caught making in the middle of your project!
Not having an archiving solution in place
HD takes up a lot of storage space. If you are working with a tapeless solution (such as XDCAM EX or P2) then you won’t have a proper backup of that footage in a secure tape. You need to figure out an archiving solution that protects the footage from any accidental deletions or hard drive crashes.
Thinking all NLE’s can author Blu-Ray DVDs
Not all NLEs can author Blu-Ray. In fact, depending on which platform you do your video editing on, you can be severely limited on the ability to author Blu-Ray DVDs affordably. Make sure you know all of your options before you start your project if your final delivery method needs to be in Blu-Ray.
And that's it - thanks ProMax!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Great Websites to Check Out
I recently saw a post on LinkedIn about what websites we video professionals go to for information and tutorials. While my list is pretty long, some of my favorites are (in no particular order):
www.creativecow.net
http://prolost.com
http://provideocoalition.com/
http://www.studiodaily.com/main/
http://www.motionworks.com.au/
And this is just to name a few.
But the one site I visit on a regular basis and always with a high level interest and excitement is Video Copilot (www.videocopilot.net). If you don’t know the site, or its owner Andrew Kramer, get to know them. The site is jam packed with tutorials that I guarantee will make you better with After Effects. Andrew walks you through the steps in creating some of the most amazing stuff. You’ll look at some of the clips in the tutorial section and think, “There’s no way I can do that!” Really? Watch the tutorial and Andrew will show you how…and usually with no extra plug-ins other then what’s in After Effects.
And it’s not just the tutorials that are great. I own and use on a regular basis many of the products sold on the site. Riot Gear, Evolution, the Twitch plug-in, and the Designer Sound FX are all regular tools in my arsenal. I wouldn’t go into an edit without them. Also on the site are custom After Effects presets that allow you to do some really great things. I really can’t encourage you enough – visit this site…it will make you better. If you look at my demo reel (www.100acrefilms.com), you’ll see many of these tools used in it.
I can’t imagine anyone working in our industry not making the time to visit sites like those I listed. There is so much out there, and I think that no matter how long you’ve been working there is always something new you can learn. I spend a lot of time on the web, reading and watching clips about how to improve my skills. Even if it’s something I already know how to do, I’ll watch because every once and awhile I pick up some trick to do it quicker, or some other shortcut that helps me with some other task.
What sites do you visit? Where do you go to learn and grow your skills?
One last thing – for those of you who read this and live in the San Diego area, I’m starting up a Premiere Pro user group. If you’re interested in joining up (come on – I know you Premiere Pro users are out there!), then let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop. It should be a lot of fun – and hopefully very informative.
www.creativecow.net
http://prolost.com
http://provideocoalition.com/
http://www.studiodaily.com/main/
http://www.motionworks.com.au/
And this is just to name a few.
But the one site I visit on a regular basis and always with a high level interest and excitement is Video Copilot (www.videocopilot.net). If you don’t know the site, or its owner Andrew Kramer, get to know them. The site is jam packed with tutorials that I guarantee will make you better with After Effects. Andrew walks you through the steps in creating some of the most amazing stuff. You’ll look at some of the clips in the tutorial section and think, “There’s no way I can do that!” Really? Watch the tutorial and Andrew will show you how…and usually with no extra plug-ins other then what’s in After Effects.
And it’s not just the tutorials that are great. I own and use on a regular basis many of the products sold on the site. Riot Gear, Evolution, the Twitch plug-in, and the Designer Sound FX are all regular tools in my arsenal. I wouldn’t go into an edit without them. Also on the site are custom After Effects presets that allow you to do some really great things. I really can’t encourage you enough – visit this site…it will make you better. If you look at my demo reel (www.100acrefilms.com), you’ll see many of these tools used in it.
I can’t imagine anyone working in our industry not making the time to visit sites like those I listed. There is so much out there, and I think that no matter how long you’ve been working there is always something new you can learn. I spend a lot of time on the web, reading and watching clips about how to improve my skills. Even if it’s something I already know how to do, I’ll watch because every once and awhile I pick up some trick to do it quicker, or some other shortcut that helps me with some other task.
What sites do you visit? Where do you go to learn and grow your skills?
One last thing – for those of you who read this and live in the San Diego area, I’m starting up a Premiere Pro user group. If you’re interested in joining up (come on – I know you Premiere Pro users are out there!), then let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop. It should be a lot of fun – and hopefully very informative.
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