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Cooke Optics

by Robert HowardHere at Cooke Optics we’re currently basking in the golden glow of our brand new Academy Award® of Merit – yes, that’s an Oscar® statuette – which we received this February in recognition of our continuing innovation in the design, development and manufacture of motion picture camera lenses. From Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy...

Submitted by Robert Howard

Published 01 March 2013

4K or not 4K, that is the question

Peter Savage goes all literary to show how our industry draws on Shakespeare and Keyne. 4K or not 4K, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of a much larger workflow Or to take arms against a sea of other formats And by opposing end them. 2K, to sleep No more--and by a sleep to say we end That format,...

Submitted by Robert Howard

Published 01 March 2013

Creating the illusion: Green screen lighting

The illusionIf good cinematography is about creating the illusion of three dimensional reality, on a two dimensional screen. Working to create reality using background plates offers a whole new variety of technical issues that need to be addressed with skill if it is going to be successful. In this article I will touch on some of the basic issues t...

Submitted by David Morphy

Published 01 March 2013

Ask the experts: What lens?

Ask the Expert with Paul Sargeant, Procam TVWhen choosing the right lens for your project, there are a huge range of options to choose from that depend entirely on your individual project and your needs. You need to think about the quality of filming you require, where the content will be placed, what camera you will be using to shoot it and how yo...

Submitted by Peter Daffarn

Published 01 March 2013

Three legs good... better, best

by Kieron SethFluid SticksWhy do exhibitions and open days still exist in the social media mad world? Why do manufacturers and resellers maintain show rooms when information is immediately accessible online?Simple: no matter which ‘celebrity’ DOP endorses a particular product, there’s no way to log on to assess how any camera balances on the should...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 March 2013

Ask the Experts: What Workstation?

Investing in a new computer workstation or high end PC for use with digital video/or and media production can be a daunting task. With so many different manufacturers to choose from, and with a practically endless list of components to select from customers can be left with literally millions of possible choices. Scary if you aren’t a hardware guru...

Submitted by Mike Leach

Published 01 February 2013

Plan Bs Playing with Fire Gets the DaVinci Resolve Treatm...

London-born rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director Plan B first hit the hip hop scene with his critically acclaimed debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. Since then Plan B has released a further two albums, made on-screen film appearances and picked up scores of industry accolades including Best Male Solo Artist at t...

Submitted by Dan Moran

Published 01 February 2013

Bob Pank looks at Editing and the Cloud

By Bob PankHistorically video editing has been one of those operations shaped by technology. For decades it depended on VTRs to play and record. You had to go to an edit room, usually darkened and with loads of buttons and winking lights, to get your edit done by a video editor. It was not cheap. Then, with video stored on computer discs, editing w...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2013

The evolving face of post production

By Will StraussIn the latter half of 2012, Assimilate made an interesting announcement about payment options for its Scratch and Scratch Lab software products. Instead of buying a license outright, it said, now you can choose to simply rent either of these Digital Intermediate (DI) ‘dailies’ tools for any period of time from a single day to three m...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 February 2013

Maximizing the Efficiency of Multiscreen Video Delivery

By Shawn SaleemAs consumer demand for video content anywhere, anytime, and on any connected device continues to grow at a rapid pace, today’s pay-TV operators are in need of next-generation technologies that will lower the cost of multiscreen content delivery while enabling them to adapt to new business models. Advanced content networking ICs resol...

Submitted by shawn saleem

Published 01 February 2013

Is film a brand

In 2000 George Lucas announced he wanted to make Episode 2 of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. It was going to be about 90% CGI so he wanted to shoot the live action sequences using video. It is said that as he had just had a very expensive divorce and needed some money which is why he embarked on making these prequels! Then there was no video camera...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 January 2013

Ask the Experts - 3d with BSkyB

This month we had an exclusive opportunity to talk to Cara Cheeseman, Post Production Supervisor for all 3D content, both internally and externally, at BSkyB. The 21 questions are gathered from a variety of industry professionals with an interest, some sceptical and some fanatical, in 3DWhen it comes to 3D conversion... creating 3D images from 2D s...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

A LONG VIEW BACK AND FORWARD

Peter Savage looks backwards and forwards to assess our industry, taking a uniquely long viewWell, here we are again. It’s the end of the year and with the usual party invitations means Christmas must really be upon us. So, in timely annual fashion, I have an opportunity to look back at 2012 and forward to 2013 for all things broadcast. A booming s...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

Twas the issue before Christmas;

As it’s nearly Christmas, I figured, what better way to honor the end of anther year than to celebrate everything that has gone before? To do that, I’ve picked my favourite production technology innovations of 2012. But, as we’re fast approaching the festive season, I’ve compiled them in the form a Christmas shopping list. Yes, I know. It’s genius....

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 January 2013

3d Screens

Often exhibitions such as IBC and NAB can be summed up as progressive – slightly better products but nothing really new. Sometimes there is a breakthrough such as Ampex’s introduction of the VTR in 1956. The early years of digital production and post tools were rich in totally new things. At the time I worked at Quantel and seeing inventions like P...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2012