Best POV Action Camera Shootout By Douglas Spotted Eagle
We set out with 6 of the most popular models of action cameras in an all-out camera review. Our desire was to uncover the answer to the question "What is the best POV camera on the market?", and at the same time determine the strengths and weaknesses of the cameras being reviewed. The overall performance results were a little surprising to us... Could the GoPro be dethroned?
...Read More »
My first impressions of the new Canon C300 are simply - wow! By David Hague
The product manager at Canon for Pro video gear, Charles Montesin has sent us a unit to play with, with a 70~300mm EF lens stapled to the front. And this weekend is the Blues Festival in Echuca. A fantastic subject to test it with!
...Read More »
The Panasonic AC160 By Heath McKnight
The Panasonic AC160 really surprised me, and not because I wasn't expecting such high quality -- I was -- but because for the price point (between $4100 and $4799), I was sort of expecting a small camera, like the Sony NX5U or some of the smaller Canons. This is a larger, but not heavy, handheld camera that's about the same size as the Panasonic HPX250. Images are crisp in full HD 1080p, the controls are simple to use and it does well in low light with its 1/3-inch 3-MOS sensors, and you easily can customize looks. The multiple frame rate and recording options are also superb, helping make this a quality camera for shooters involved with film, run-and-gun video, documentaries and more.
...Read More »
Tamron 18~200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III VC E-Mount Lens By David Hague
The NEX 7 I have not seen before, but apart from one and a half little niggles, I am in love with this little beastie; it takes fantastic shots. And the niggle and a bit? The viewfinder as it brings up my left eye dominant issue is the big one. The half is as it has an auto LCD to viewfinder switch when you look through the viewfinder, if you wear glasses, sometimes it does 'sense' you unless you press hard against the rubber cup and this tends to smear your specs.
...Read More »
The Azden WLX-Pro Radio Microphone By David Hague
Viewers will put up with the occasional skippy frame, shaky image or even the odd out of focus, but lousy or stuttery or out of sync audio will never be tolerated and people will turn off. So to fix audio problems, the first thing to do is make sure you are using the right mic for the job, and for interviews, this generally means using a radio transmitter receiver and lapel (also called lavaliere) mic.
...Read More »
Filming the Fantastic By Ko Maruyama
"Filming the Fantastic" has been recently released in its second edition. The book by Mark Sawicki is not only a "guide", but a personal discussion about the ebbs and flows of visual effects trends, and stories of universal truths.Sawicki's book is a great read for directors, VFX supervisors, post-production teams, artists, and - naturally - those who gather around the eyepiece.
...Read More »
The RØDE NTG-3 External Microphone By David Hague
It appears there is no set standard for microphone diameters so in the case of the Panasonic AG-HMC41E (the others are a Canon XA10 and Sony NFX5) for example, when the NTG-3 is placed in the external mic holder it rattles around - not enough to simply slide through, but enough to be a worry.
...Read More »
Sony HDR-PJ760 Camcorder - Australian Exclusive By David Hague
Bordering between high end consumer and low end professional is the new Sony HDR-PJ760, and it has been packed full of every feature you could possibly think of. Auscam has been lucky enough (or we schmoozed better than anyone else) to get our grubby little hands on a real life version and it is more than fair to say we are impressed.
...Read More »
Final Cut Pro X: Setup, Plus Importing & Organizing Footage By Heath McKnight
It's been close to three months since Final Cut Pro X came out, and I wanted to write up some first impressions here regarding the setup of Final Cut Pro X, plus importing and organizing footage. I'll do another article on my first impressions of editing and exporting in the very near future. Right off the bat, I will say that this is a journey where Final Cut Pro (FCP) hasn't gone down before, and I'm actually excited about this new way of thinking when it comes to non-linear editing (NLE).
...Read More »
Field Test: Canon XA10 By Steve Turner
The XA10 has a boxy kind of look to it that speaks professional - functional rather than sleek. Landcruiser rather than Porche in its looks. Canon managed to get the test camera to us in time for two weeks camping and four wheel driving through Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges, some 700kms north of Adelaide. I used the XA10 for everything and gave it a serious workout. The results speak for themselves.
...Read More »
AV3's Get for Final Cut Pro By Heath McKnight
AV3's Get for Final Cut Pro is a dialogue search tool that makes it easy to search for soundbites, by using specific keywords you're searching for, and the metadata that Get creates when it analyzes your footage. You won't need to sit in the edit bay for hours taking notes and transcribing interviews! Get does the work for you, making it easier and faster to focus on video editing.
...Read More »
DaVinci's Resolve from BlackMagic Design By Kevin McAuliffe
On thing that I love about Post Production, especially at the Pro-sumer and above level, is that as computers get more powerful (and cheaper for that matter), we are now starting to get access to gear and applications that only used to be reserved for specialized machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and required an obscene amount of man hours to learn not only the hardware, but the software as well. Thankfully, those days are gone.
...Read More »
Colorista II By Kevin McAuliffe
When it comes to a program like After Effects, competing with Color Finesse 3 (that comes with AE CS5) can be tricky, but if there is one company out there determined to do it, it's Red Giant Software and their flagship color correction application Colorista.
...Read More »
NAB 2010: What Cameras were HOT? By Charlie Wade
Missed NAB 2010 this year? Lots of people did but I know you still want to know what was hot. For you who live for camcorder technology, here are six of the hottest cameras (or camera announcements in some cases) at NAB 2010.
...Read More »
Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation By John Virata
The big horsepower CPUs and graphics chips form the core of a workstation class notebook computer. A large screen, built in color calibration profiles, RAID capabilities, and a bevy of connectivity options also contribute. The Dell Precision M6500 in here for review combines the latest in mobile workstation graphics, the 1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M, with a Quad Core Intel Core i7 x920 2GHz CPU with 8 processor cores, 4GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM (16GB maximum), 17" Wide Screen WUXGA RGB LED LCD Panel with integrated camera and mic, and a Hitachi 250GB hard disk drive.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation By John Virata
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
Apple's Color 1.5 By Kevin McAuliffe
As everyone knows, the inclusion of FinalTouch (renamed Color by Apple) into Final Cut Studio 2 was shocking. A few months before Apple announced it, I looked at purchasing FinalTouch as a separate, stand alone application for a post facility I was working for.
...Read More »
My New iPhone By John Virata
Just bought an iPhone and want to know more about what it can do and how to fully exploit its use for your digital pleasure? My New iPhone by Wallace Wang is a pretty good book to get you started on learning things about the iPhone that you might not have known existed.
...Read More »
Sony Vegas Pro 9 By Jeffrey P. Fisher
When a software program matures into its ninth iteration, you expect big things from it. I've been on-board Sony Vegas when it was an audio-only, version one application. It's been really interesting to be a part of the software's growth. As my go-to app for many years, I was excited to give the newest version a test drive. This review looks at Sony Vegas Pro 9.0b 32-bit (VP9), the second (free!) update since its release at NAB earlier this year.
...Read More »
Best POV Action Camera Shootout
We set out with 6 of the most popular models of action cameras in an all-out camera review. Our desire was to uncover the answer to the question "What is the best POV camera on the market?", and at the same time determine the strengths and weaknesses of the cameras being reviewed. The overall performance results were a little surprising to us... Could the GoPro be dethroned?
...Read More »
My first impressions of the new Canon C300 are simply - wow!
The product manager at Canon for Pro video gear, Charles Montesin has sent us a unit to play with, with a 70~300mm EF lens stapled to the front. And this weekend is the Blues Festival in Echuca. A fantastic subject to test it with!
...Read More »
The Panasonic AC160
The Panasonic AC160 really surprised me, and not because I wasn't expecting such high quality -- I was -- but because for the price point (between $4100 and $4799), I was sort of expecting a small camera, like the Sony NX5U or some of the smaller Canons. This is a larger, but not heavy, handheld camera that's about the same size as the Panasonic HPX250. Images are crisp in full HD 1080p, the controls are simple to use and it does well in low light with its 1/3-inch 3-MOS sensors, and you easily can customize looks. The multiple frame rate and recording options are also superb, helping make this a quality camera for shooters involved with film, run-and-gun video, documentaries and more.
...Read More »
Tamron 18~200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III VC E-Mount Lens
The NEX 7 I have not seen before, but apart from one and a half little niggles, I am in love with this little beastie; it takes fantastic shots. And the niggle and a bit? The viewfinder as it brings up my left eye dominant issue is the big one. The half is as it has an auto LCD to viewfinder switch when you look through the viewfinder, if you wear glasses, sometimes it does 'sense' you unless you press hard against the rubber cup and this tends to smear your specs.
...Read More »
The Azden WLX-Pro Radio Microphone
Viewers will put up with the occasional skippy frame, shaky image or even the odd out of focus, but lousy or stuttery or out of sync audio will never be tolerated and people will turn off. So to fix audio problems, the first thing to do is make sure you are using the right mic for the job, and for interviews, this generally means using a radio transmitter receiver and lapel (also called lavaliere) mic.
...Read More »
Filming the Fantastic
"Filming the Fantastic" has been recently released in its second edition. The book by Mark Sawicki is not only a "guide", but a personal discussion about the ebbs and flows of visual effects trends, and stories of universal truths.Sawicki's book is a great read for directors, VFX supervisors, post-production teams, artists, and - naturally - those who gather around the eyepiece.
...Read More »
The RØDE NTG-3 External Microphone
It appears there is no set standard for microphone diameters so in the case of the Panasonic AG-HMC41E (the others are a Canon XA10 and Sony NFX5) for example, when the NTG-3 is placed in the external mic holder it rattles around - not enough to simply slide through, but enough to be a worry.
...Read More »
Sony HDR-PJ760 Camcorder - Australian Exclusive
Bordering between high end consumer and low end professional is the new Sony HDR-PJ760, and it has been packed full of every feature you could possibly think of. Auscam has been lucky enough (or we schmoozed better than anyone else) to get our grubby little hands on a real life version and it is more than fair to say we are impressed.
...Read More »
Final Cut Pro X: Setup, Plus Importing & Organizing Footage
It's been close to three months since Final Cut Pro X came out, and I wanted to write up some first impressions here regarding the setup of Final Cut Pro X, plus importing and organizing footage. I'll do another article on my first impressions of editing and exporting in the very near future. Right off the bat, I will say that this is a journey where Final Cut Pro (FCP) hasn't gone down before, and I'm actually excited about this new way of thinking when it comes to non-linear editing (NLE).
...Read More »
Field Test: Canon XA10
The XA10 has a boxy kind of look to it that speaks professional - functional rather than sleek. Landcruiser rather than Porche in its looks. Canon managed to get the test camera to us in time for two weeks camping and four wheel driving through Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges, some 700kms north of Adelaide. I used the XA10 for everything and gave it a serious workout. The results speak for themselves.
...Read More »
AV3's Get for Final Cut Pro
AV3's Get for Final Cut Pro is a dialogue search tool that makes it easy to search for soundbites, by using specific keywords you're searching for, and the metadata that Get creates when it analyzes your footage. You won't need to sit in the edit bay for hours taking notes and transcribing interviews! Get does the work for you, making it easier and faster to focus on video editing.
...Read More »
DaVinci's Resolve from BlackMagic Design
On thing that I love about Post Production, especially at the Pro-sumer and above level, is that as computers get more powerful (and cheaper for that matter), we are now starting to get access to gear and applications that only used to be reserved for specialized machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and required an obscene amount of man hours to learn not only the hardware, but the software as well. Thankfully, those days are gone.
...Read More »
What if Dropbox offered time tracking, versioning, & more?
Answer: You'd have something like the just-released GridIron Flow 2.0. It can save your butt, for free. Why would you not start using it immediately?
...Read More »
Colorista II
When it comes to a program like After Effects, competing with Color Finesse 3 (that comes with AE CS5) can be tricky, but if there is one company out there determined to do it, it's Red Giant Software and their flagship color correction application Colorista.
...Read More »
NAB 2010: What Cameras were HOT?
Missed NAB 2010 this year? Lots of people did but I know you still want to know what was hot. For you who live for camcorder technology, here are six of the hottest cameras (or camera announcements in some cases) at NAB 2010.
...Read More »
Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation
The big horsepower CPUs and graphics chips form the core of a workstation class notebook computer. A large screen, built in color calibration profiles, RAID capabilities, and a bevy of connectivity options also contribute. The Dell Precision M6500 in here for review combines the latest in mobile workstation graphics, the 1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M, with a Quad Core Intel Core i7 x920 2GHz CPU with 8 processor cores, 4GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM (16GB maximum), 17" Wide Screen WUXGA RGB LED LCD Panel with integrated camera and mic, and a Hitachi 250GB hard disk drive.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
Apple's Color 1.5
As everyone knows, the inclusion of FinalTouch (renamed Color by Apple) into Final Cut Studio 2 was shocking. A few months before Apple announced it, I looked at purchasing FinalTouch as a separate, stand alone application for a post facility I was working for.
...Read More »
My New iPhone
Just bought an iPhone and want to know more about what it can do and how to fully exploit its use for your digital pleasure? My New iPhone by Wallace Wang is a pretty good book to get you started on learning things about the iPhone that you might not have known existed.
...Read More »
Sony Vegas Pro 9
When a software program matures into its ninth iteration, you expect big things from it. I've been on-board Sony Vegas when it was an audio-only, version one application. It's been really interesting to be a part of the software's growth. As my go-to app for many years, I was excited to give the newest version a test drive. This review looks at Sony Vegas Pro 9.0b 32-bit (VP9), the second (free!) update since its release at NAB earlier this year.
...Read More »
Vegas Pro 10 Available Now
