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It seems like in trying to reach out to more than just professional editors, Final Cut Pro X might have lost their main clientele of professional editors. Released in late June 2011, some are calling FCP X Apple’s biggest mistake.
It’s not that the software has bugs (which it does); it’s just missing vital and mostly favourite features completely. They’re just gone. The biggest problem here seems to be the incompatibility with projects that are on previous versions of FCP. They don’t open on FCP X. What else? There’s no external video monitoring. Support for EDL, OMF and XML is practically nonexistent, meaning transferring of files is nightmarish. More problems. FCP X shows you all your media, all the time. And this isn’t something that can be disabled. Big problem! As some of the professionals point out, working on projects for competitive companies (which happens often) at the same time means you can in no way allow company representatives to sit in on an edit session, lest they might see folders for their competition. As a professional, that’s a bit of a job hazard. FCP X is missing the option of using multiple tracks on the timeline. Their version of the timeline is so far removed from the traditional, it’s almost unworthy of being called that! Imagine not being able to layer your edit? Not ideal. It is also missing the multicam toolset. This list could go on for a while. What we hope for is that Apple soon makes the changes needed, and makes FCP usable again.
In all fairness however, most of the biggest concerns with FCP X are those only a professional editor would have. For a not-so-niche editor, FCP X will make life a little easier, although after making a few necessary changes! There is still an upside, albeit not as long a list as the cons. Upgrading Final Cut to 64 bit means it is much faster, and enables more options. FCP X displays shots in “events” (formerly called bins) as footage is being transferred, so they can be viewed immediately. Clips can even be copied onto a timeline while the media is being transferred. Once the transfer is complete, FCP automatically redirects media to the program. It also uses the same program as aperture and iphoto and categorises shots as 1 person, close ups, wides etc. There are a lot of other ‘intuitive’ tools that make an editors life easier.
It is an almost entirely new user interface, built up practically from scratch. And it looks good, we’ll admit. Here’s hoping for a new and (much) improved Final Cut Pro X. Until then, we would recommend sticking with Final Cut Pro 7, especially if you’re a pro editor, and hoping for the best. If not, FCP X might still work for you. Come have a chat with us at Visual Impact, and check out the product.
Visual Impact, in association with Monster energy drink, hosted its 2nd annual Student Networking Event. The goal of this event is to provide a platform wherein media students from various schools and disciplines can get acquainted with each other, in an informal sort of setup.
 Grooving Students The event was planned so as to allow for many different ways for guests to get to know one another. There was a photo booth set up, courtesy Visual Impact, with a carton of props for people to play dress-up and take photos. The foosball tables, also provided by Visual Impact, proved quite successful in getting people to mingle. Monster was generous enough to bring Xbox consoles for interactive gaming as well.
 Mo shooting event Thanks also go out to Stolichnaya Vodka and El Jimador tequila, for ensuring everybody was in high spirits, and stayed that way. Fittees clothing came out and showed their support by providing us with some of their wears to hand out to guests.
The event started off with DJs PsymanSays and Skrum spinning some vibey tunes, giving the guests time to indulge in all these activities, while warming up for the highlight of the evening; a performance by the well known band GoodLuck. Their music caught the attention of everybody present, and they made sure they held on to it by exuding charisma on stage, and even got people from the crowd involved. All of this was thanks to Wild & Marr, for providing us with a state of the art JBL sound setup.
 Students dancing to Goodluck At the end of the evening, Visual Impact handed out external hard drives to two lucky winners that were chosen from a draw. All in all, it was an evening filled with drinks, food, music, networking and lots of fun.
As a film student, I had the opportunity to film my final year music video project at Visual Impact Studios in Cape Town who let me use their massive studio by making a trade exchange agreement with me and working themselves into my non-existent budget, just like the rest of the 16-strong team that offered their services free of charge on this shoot.
The video concept was of a large array of mixed scenes shot in front of an infinite white background. After 3 months of careful preparations and even massive re-writes 24 hours before the shoot actually took place, we entered the studio at 8pm on Friday 18th March and began to touch up the floor with paint supplied to us by the Visual Impact.
At 6am on Saturday the 19th of March the crew began to arrive and work started swiftly.
Lights were set up, talent was being prepared by the make-up and costume teams as camera crew was testing different camera angles. Within an hour the set was ready and shooting of the first scenes was underway.
There were about 6 costume changes before lunch, all of which were filmed under an intense spotlight. We even had the opportunity to get creative and light up a pair of shades covered in cigarettes.
The set saw a range of interesting moments; there were women in latex lingerie giving bones to a very well trained staffy by the name of ‘Baggage’, Samurai swords, police officers and robbers, the kkk, political activists and even priests with scantily clad girls chained to them and of course, the band in all their performing glory.
But the shoot didn’t go off as planned and without any glitches.
Unfortunately from the moment we got in we had two serious problems.
Our professional monitor screen decided to pack out within the first 15 minutes, leaving us to evaluate every shot solely by looking at the LCD display on the Canon 7D we were using.
Our second problem was that the stereo we had didn’t want to play the CD we had the music on, and we could not begin filming unless we had music to sync every scene to.
Thankfully we had music gear and guitar amps at hand so we eventually plugged a laptop into a guitar amp and we had sound.
The rest of the shoot was fun for everyone involved. Everybody was there to make a contribution as a creative spirit and they all saw their bit through till the end… 26 hours later!
I’d like to thank Visual Impact and everybody involved for their relentless support and help in making the vision become footage.
By: Luca Aversa
Sony launched the PMW-F65 at NAB this year, with Super 35mm 8K CMOS sensor.
Sony are astounding audiences at NAB with their new cameras at the moment. We at Visual Impact definitely want to get our hands on one of these. The PMW-F65 is Sony’s preliminary 4K camera with some awesome specs. They haven’t released a price yet. FCP.co has this to say: “120fps, 4K resolution and a rotary shutter to prevent that rolling shutter problem, this is one very nice piece of kit.”
This is what Sony has to say:
The F65 is a top-end motion picture camera. It features a true step-change in sensor technology, using a 20.4 Mega pixel CMOS sensor and a unique Double Bayer pixel orientation for full green resolution. The F65 runs up to 120Fps, creates HD/2K or genuine 4K resolution (4 times HD) images with a wide colour gamut, excellent dynamic range, and high sensitivity.
A dockable SRMemory recorder attaches to the camera to record directly on to an SRMemory card of 256 GB, 512 GB or 1TB capacity with data security at 5 Gbps.
PRELIMINARY TECHNICAL INFORMATION
This is preliminary information prepared for NAB 2011. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
Super 35mm CMOS sensor with 20.4 Mega pixels
The F65 features superb image quality in HD/2K and True 4K. A unique Double Bayer pixel orientation with double the number of green pixels to red or blue pixels makes the camera especially sensitive and ideal for visual effects and green screen work. There is a choice of format composition as required, including 1.85:1, 1.78:1, 1.66:1, 1.33:1, 2.35 spherical, 1.3x anamorphic, or 2x anamorphic cropped. The F65 has a wider dynamic range, better S/N ratio and higher sensitivity than the F35 camera. It offers filmic colour reproduction with a wide colour gamut.
Compact and light-weight
Smaller and lighter than the F35, the F65 allows for even easier handling for applications such as Steadicam.
Records on to SRMemory with dockable SR-R4 SRMASTER Portable Recorder
The SR-R4 is a 4K recording system specifically designed for Sony’s new top-of-the-line F65 cinematography camera. It takes full advantage of the ultra high-speed SRMemory platform to record super-rich RAW data from the F65 at speeds as fast as 5 Gbps.
SRMemory is unique – nothing can match its combination of capacity, sustained data throughput, security and portability. It opens up completely new ways for end-users to work. With huge transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps, SRMemory media also has massive capacity up to 1TB for long recording times.
Wide range of interfaces for on-set workflow
The F65 provides 16bit RAW output (19Gbps) compressed to 5Gbps for recording onto SRMemory in the dockable SR-R4. Other interfaces include HD-SDI and HD viewfinder output with LUT, camera remote connector, LAN connecter and ARRI Lens IF.
Rotary shutter
The rotary shutter eliminates the rolling-shutter effect common to CMOS sensors.
Built-in ND Filters
Four Neutral Density Filters are built-in.
Render Module
The SR-R4 docks directly to the Sony Render Module, which performs real-time double de-bayering of 16 bit RAW data shot using the F65 camera. Provides signals in 4K: 444/422, 10/12bit, 24P to 60P. It can also produce 2K/HD ultra-high quality output from the down converted 4K original.
Records at up to 120 FPS
The camera features higher frame rate recording up to 120P, which is especially useful on productions such as commercials that require a slow motion effect.
Thunderbolt Enabled MXO2 Devices
Matrox announced Matrox MXO2 devices featuring the all-new Thunderbolt™ technology developed by Intel® and brought to market with collaboration from Apple.
 Thunderbolt technology is a high-speed I/O technology running at 10 gigabits per second that brings together high-speed data transfer and high-definition (HD) display on to a single cable. It is currently available on the Apple MacBook Pro line.
“Our original vision for the Matrox MXO2 product line was to bring audio/video connectivity and encoding functionality outside the computer to provide video professionals with portable, future-proof solutions,” said Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marketing at Matrox. “Thunderbolt technology builds on that vision, giving our customers the ability to take advantage of the latest and greatest connectivity technology with our MXO2 products.”
The full range of Thunderbolt technology enabled Matrox MXO2 devices will be available from authorized dealers worldwide in July 2011 at prices starting from $649 US (£460, €530), not including local taxes. Matrox Thunderbolt adapters for all MXO2 devices can be purchased as an add-on at $299 US (£199, €249).
A live demonstration of the Matrox MXO2 devices featuring Thunderbolt technology running with Final Cut Pro on the new 15-inch MacBook Pro will be featured at NAB 2011 in booth SL2515.
Key Features of Matrox MXO2 Family
- Convenient form factors for use in studio, on set, in the field, and in OB vans
- Works with laptops and desktop systems
- Connects via PCIe, ExpressCard/34, or Thunderbolt technology
- Broadcast-quality HD/SD video and audio input/output
- Extensive application support including Adobe CS 5.5 Production Premium, Apple Final Cut Studio, and Avid Media Composer
- 10-bit HDMI input, output, and monitoring with the unique Matrox HDMI Calibration Utility
- 10-bit realtime hardware up/down/cross conversion on capture and output
- Matrox MAX option for lightning fast H.264 encoding
About Matrox
Matrox Video Products Group is a technology and market leader in the field of HD and SD digital video hardware and software for accelerated H.264 encoding, realtime editing, audio/video input/output, DVD/Blu-ray authoring, streaming, scan conversion, capture/playout servers, clip/still stores, and CGs. Matrox’s Emmy award-winning technology powers a full range of content creation and delivery platforms used by broadcasters, post-production facilities, project studios, corporate communicators, and videographers worldwide. Founded in 1976, Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Launch of the PMW-TD300 shoulder-mount 3D Camcorder enables users to take advantage of proven solid state workflow and capture 3D content more flexibly on the move.
Sony is adding new dimensions to its 3D offering with the introduction of two single-body 3D camcorders for professional applications: the HXR-NX3D1E and the PMW-TD300.
The shoulder-mount design of the PMW-TD300 promises to bring greater flexibility to live shoots, freeing the operator to focus on image capture.
“This new camera will address many of the needs in live 3D production, working in the field as a perfect complement to the HD cameras currently used in 3D rigs by leading production companies and giving creative professionals a more flexible and mobile option for getting the right 3D shot,” said Olivier Bovis, Head of AV Media, Sony Professional, Sony Europe.
The PMW-TD300 features a dual 1/2-inch Exmor 3CMOS sensor design with full HD 1920×1080 pixel resolution. The camcorder is based on the XDCAM EX recording platform, allowing users to take advantage of a proven solid-state workflow for maximum flexibility.
When recording in 3D, left and right eye signals are simultaneously recorded onto separate SxS cards (four SxS card slots in total, two slots for each view). Its shoulder-mount design brings stability in ‘run and gun’ shooting environments, allowing professionals to worry less about ergonomics and concentrate more on getting the right shot.
An inter-axial distance of 45mm delivers a wide range of shooting zones to capture quality 3D images, especially for near-side shooting with a 1.2m minimum convergence distance. A newly developed dual-lens system allows for full synchronisation with high accuracy in focusing, zooming and iris adjustment.
The camera is switchable between 2D and 3D modes. The 2D view is recorded onto a single card, with 2D redundancy achieved through parallel recording onto L/R cards. (Images recorded on the left and right cards are slightly different, because different lenses are used.)
The PMW-TD300 will be available in Autumn 2011.
“This is a useful course for anyone who wants to start a career in the film business” – is how Nhlanhla Manisi, a VI Academy student described the 9th Introduction to HD course. VI began offering the Introduction to HD course in 2009 and was then in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. Since this time over 150 students have completed the course, with many of them finding employment within the film and TV industry. “The course is aimed at giving students a foot in the door, equipping them with real skills that allow them to add value to a film and TV production” says Paul Lensen – VI Academy director.
The course was made possible by a discretionary grant that was especially awarded to the VI academy because of its strong track record in offering meaningful industry related skill training.
 “All the courses that are offered by VI are credit bearing and carefully aligned with the relevant Unit standards as described by the NQF. It was important to us that the learner graduating from our skills programme was able to earn credits towards a diploma as well as gaining valuable practical knowledge” says Lensen. Mzuvukile Ncedini describes the course as the “perfect balance between theory and practical” and this certainly true with learners covering everything from set etiquette to rigging and de-rigging HD camera, lighting and sound recording for ENG crews.
All learners are assessed individually by trained assessors (industry experts), with leaners receiving valuable feedback on their specific level of competency. Areas that require improvement and further learning are discussed, with an “Action Plan” being put in place to ensure that learners are able to meet the required standard, before a certificate is issued.
Unique to the course is the “Value-add” of between one to two weeks of skills transfer through the VI academy Internship programme.
The VI Internship programme is a “work related experience” that many aspiring film makes are keen to be a part of. “Nothing can replace the experience of working in busy real-life environment rental floor, with high end equipment, demanding clients and tight deadlines”, remarks Marius van Straaten – VI Managing Director. Students from the Netherlands, Korea as well as locally, have been part of the programme and we give learners attending the VI Academy an opportunity to put into practice what they have learned.
“Perfect balance between theory and practical” says Mzuvukile Ncedini and while we can’t teach everything in 4 days – it certainly sets many aspiring film makers in the right direction.
If you would like to learn more about the exciting courses VI Academy has on offer, please click here.
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Okay. Hands up, anyone who has ever seen anything like this:
My guess is that about 85% of people reading this will have had their hands up. Which would be very silly, as I can’t see them. The other 15% are lying. This has happened to everyone to a certain extent. Perhaps not a 70-year-wait, but you get the idea.
Intel, in co-operation with Apple, has launched a new system, Thunderbolt, which is currently fitted as standard in the new MacBook Pro range. Thunderbolt’s main selling point is the fact that it offers significantly faster transfer rates than FireWire, USB
 Thunderbolt Port Macbook Pro 2.0, and even the snazzy new USB 3.0. This opens up a bunch of options not available to consumers before. Apple and Intel seem to be aiming this tech at the video production market. Thunderbolt is based on the Mini DisplayPort connector developed by Apple. This is electrically identical to “normal” DisplayPort connectors, but uses a smaller connector that is more suitable for use on laptops and other consumer devices. It is expected that Thunderbolt’s use of this connector will drive wider acceptance.
The original plan was to make use of optic fibre for the cables, but a decision was made to use copper wire instead. This not only
 Thunderbolt Connectors | Lightpeak Cables brought the production cost down, but also enables the cable to be used as a power supply, like USB. There are still optic fibres in the pipeline, so watch this space.
Thunderbolt is based on two fundamental technologies: PCI Express and DisplayPort.
PCI Express is the technology that links all the high-performance components in a Mac. And it’s built into Thunderbolt. Which means you can connect external devices like RAID arrays and video capture solutions directly to MacBook Pro — and get PCI Express performance. That’s a first for notebooks. Thunderbolt also provides 10 watts of power to peripherals, so you can tackle workstation-class projects on the go. With PCI Express technology, you can use existing USB and FireWire peripherals — even connect to Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks — using simple adapters.
The main thing to focus on, I reckon, is the speed. Thunderbolt can do 10Gb/second in both directions, simultaneously. 10 Gigabits is about 1250 megabytes, or 1190 mebibytes if you’re all keen on binary. That’s a hell of a lot of information to move in a second. Your average full-length movie (completely legal, of course) is compressed to either 700MB or about 1.4GB. Even your highest-quality Blu-Ray rips, which can be up to 14GB in size, are no problem. My math suggests that 14GB would shift in about 11 seconds. Quick. About twenty times as fast as USB 2.0. Of course, The top speed will also depend on your CPU speed, so don’t go getting all huffy if it doesn’t actually hit that speed.
So, essentially, here are your features:
- Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port
- Bi-directional
- Dual-protocol (PCI Express* and DisplayPort*)
- Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices
- Daisy-chained devices
- Electrical or optical cables
- Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization
- Uses native protocol software drivers
- Power over cable for bus-powered devices
As mentioned earlier, the entire new range of MacBook Pro laptops utilise this technology, from the 13-inch all the way to the top-spec 17-inch, and are all available at Visual Impact. Mac is pretty much the choice for A/V professionals, so the combination of processing power, versatility and portability, coupled with the potential of Thunderbolt, will most certainly be appealing. Go! Click here to buy one!
By Rhynardt Krynauw
All of us have, at some point, seen some lunatic jump out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane and film his (and this is why women pay less for insurance) rapid and inexorable descent to terra firma. In days past, one would have to use, at the smallest, a handicam the size and weight of a brick. In the last few years, however, technological advances have allowed camera manufacturers – like every other gadget manufacturers – to drastically shrink their products, while not having to compromise on video quality. This means that we can take cameras anywhere and everywhere in pursuit of footage. Today, we will look at interesting applications of this portability, and look at one of the top exponents of this market, the GoPro HD Hero.
The Hero is tiny. 42 x 60 x 30mm tiny. It also weighs less than a slab of chocolate, clocking in at only 94g naked. If you add the waterproof (down to 60m) housing, it gets up to 167g, which is less than, well, a slightly larger slab of chocolate. Packed inside this is a 5MP stills camera, capable of doing single shots, three-shot bursts, or taking a shot every 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds until it runs out of memory. You should have quite a bit of time with that if you opt for the 32GB SD card. Video comes in 1080p / 960p / 720p HD at 30 and 60 frames per second (60 fps in 720p). The battery can last up to 2.5 hours and, even at top resolution you can get more than four hours of HD video on a 32GB SD card. The SD card isn’t included in the kit, but they’re readily available and getting cheaper by the day. The Hero comes with an adhesive mount, all the relevant cables, and a waterproof housing. The slightly lower-spec Hero 960, which has everything but 1080p mode, has a few more mounts, and there are various sports packs (1080p) available which offer yet more mounts and brackets.
Your standard uses for the Hero, in the various kits, would include:
- Surfing, whether board- or chest-mounted (you’d need a Chesty mount for your chest, sold separately)
- Skydiving, typically helmet-mounted
- Motor racing, whether attached to the windshield, front bumper or roof, or even the driver helmet
I propose more uses. The Hero, as I witnessed at RAMfest, is ideal for recording yourself abusing your guitar. The adhesive mounting, or even the suction cup mount in the Motorsports pack, is great for sticking on a guitar. Below the bridge for the pick hand, on the headstock for the fretting hand. I saw a guy with both, so I predict some pretty frenetic intercutting in that music video. Same thing would work for a bassist, or above a piano keyboard (especially handy here is the 127° view that can be filmed) and I imagine the curved mounts may even work on a saxophone or a violin. Perhaps not drums, unless mounted a safe distance away. That would make as much sense as sticking it on the front of a crash-test dummy.
Which suddenly sounds like a really cool idea.
In addition, I think that virtually any sport or activity where speed is involved would be a great place for your Hero. Street luge, skiing, paragliding, rollerblading, mountain biking; what the hell, try badminton. This camera is so versatile and portable you’ll be filming everything you do. Scuba diving, or just lounging creepily around the local swimming pool in a Hawaiian shirt and brown aviators, will work too, because of the waterproof housing. Extreme ironing. Extreme arm-wrestling. Wife-carrying. Ferret legging. I’m not even making these up. Google away. These “sports” need some idiot filming them from uncomfortably close. Why wait another day?
Get down to Visual Impact and have yourself a little look. You can pick up various permutations of the 1080p setup, and snag some SD cards right there. Best of all, you get full 1080p HD video from less than R3000. Go out, film or photograph ridiculous antics and let us know. You could see your footage on this blog. I do not take responsibility for any daft things you attempt to do, but make it interesting. I’m off to find a crash-test dummy.
By Rhynhardt Krynauw
Marius van Straaten from the Visual Impact Academy presented a digital and film course during February 2011 at the AFDA film school in Cape Town. The course was designed to prepare final year students for the ever changing digital world, as well as provide instruction on managing an Arri SR2 camera and accessories. Julian Guillaume from CineHD co-presented the course and offered an extensive contribution. Julian brought to the course his experience as a cinematographer, HD technician and extensive knowledge on testing cameras and formats. Julian was able to share his expertise after he recently tested the new Panasonic 101 and Sony F3, super 35mm cameras.
Other contributors were Stefan Nel, Jacques van Tonder and Jared Haviga from Media Film Services.
Stefan Nell clarified the role and qualifications required to be a DIT (Digital Image Technician), camera technician and data wrangler. Stefan Nell is one of the foremost Phantom high speed specialists in the world and has represented South Africa on a number of international productions.
Jacques van Tonder recently wrapped from Judge Dredd and offered the students unique insight in to life in the digital department.
The third year AFDA film school students were offered training on a number of digital formats as well as 16mm film advice and techniques. Visual Impact Academy’s Marius van Straaten says that “It was a great group of students and a pleasure to teach them.”
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