Video editors are constantly demanding more of their computer’s software. So it’s been interesting to note that in a coincidentally close space of a couple of days, two of the world’s largest software manufacturers released new operating systems. Windows released a sneak preview of their newest operating system, Windows 8, while Apple just released their newest iteration of Mac OS X code named Lion at their WWDC conference today.

Taking a close look at both operating systems, it is clear that the latest trend in Silicon Valley is to make operating systems for PCs that are either similar or downright copies of tablet and phone operating systems. The most visible example is Window’s newest operating system. It has adopted the colorful modern tile look of both its discontinued Zune player and its newest Windows Phone operating systems. Though this hasn’t fared well in the cell phone market (some carriers are calling Windows Phone sales “disappointing”), Windows is hoping it will catch on with PC users. That’s one steep hill to climb, but since Windows will no doubt be looking to avoid the type of drama surrounding the release of Vista, they have all the motivation in the world to get it right the first time.

Similarly, Apple’s announcement of Mac OS X Lion at WWDC 2011 showed that Apple is either trying to kill the mouse or is headed in a similar direction as Windows. Apple introduced integrated multi-touch “gestures” into their latest operating system allowing users to keep windows in full screen without closing them, t0 scroll a webpage quickly, and to keep windows organized all with the use of the computer’s trackpad. Though these are great features, one has to wonder how enticing the software will be for those working on a more traditional style PC like the Mac Pro. Nonetheless, it was interesting to note how similar the presentation for Lion and for Apple’s iOS 5 for the iPhone actually was. There’s no doubt these companies are trying to close the gap between cell phones, tablets, and PCs. The only question is, by joining the software from three very separate devices with three distinct uses, are they sacrificing too much for the PC user to be satisfied? Only time will tell.

In the summer of 2010 I directed, edited, co-wrote and co-composed music (among several other odd-jobs) for my first feature film, The Legend of Action Man, a comedy which we shot on a low-budget of $200. The question we got the most at the Q&As after our screenings was how we were able to pull off making a full-length movie on that low of a budget.

First of all, if you’re taking the true Independent “DIY filmmaking” approach, don’t pay for anything or anyone if you can’t help it; a majority of our little budget came solely from things we couldn’t make by ourselves (ie we have a scene with a functioning ice-cream truck in the movie). You’d be surprised how many people are willing to work for virtually nothing just to be in a movie, especially if people are going to see it. If we wanted to use a location like a restaurant or a business (or an Ice Cream Truck), we told them we would put their logo in the credits. In our case we got great discounts from the owners just from having their business featured in the movie (hey, just because you’re independent doesn’t mean you’re too good for a little product placement).

As for the cast, if we wanted to use an actor we’d promise them an IMDb credit, footage for their reel, a chance to see themselves on the big screen, and lunch (note: we didn’t always give them lunch). However, when it comes to pulling a tightly knit cast and crew together (and for that matter, one you don’t plan on paying), make sure you hire people that you trust and believe will really put their hearts into your project. Being a director is tricky; sometimes you have to be a little assertive, but you don’t want to be halfway through shooting and have your lead actor drop out!

I think what a lot of filmmakers today don’t realize is that we live in this unique digital day-and-age where filmmaking is so much more accessible and affordable: we shot with DV tapes, we cut the whole thing together on a laptop, we bought props and costumes at goodwill, we borrowed any equipment we could get our hands on and we squeezed every penny to make this movie. So the best advice I can give to you is finish that script, pick up a camera and just make your movie! Don’t get me wrong; making a feature film is a big mountain and an uphill climb, but its not impossible. Even if you have to make it on a shoe-string, if you have a story worth telling, a talented cast and you’re willing to make mistakes and work some long hours, you can’t help but make something that’s worth watching.

Andy Young lives in Austin, TX and continues to make low-budget independent films. His movie The Legend of Action Man is now available to buy on Amazon.com.

Well, it’s finally about to happen. Intel announced that they’re getting into the world of high capacity drives by releasing a new line of solid-state drives all the way up to 600 gigabytes. The new drives are the third generation of Intel’s SSD 320 Series. The new series is an upgrade to the high-performing X25-M SATA by using Intel’s new 25nm manufacturing process. With this process, Intel is able to shrink the size of the chips that the flash memory is held on making it possible to fit more flash memory within a standard 2.5 or 3.5 inch drive enclosure.

The new series comes in 40, 80, 120, 160, 300, and 600 GB flavors and will be using a 3 gigabit per second data interface for fast transfers. However, with 6 Gb/s SATA interfaces available, it’s curious why Intel decided to go with the much slower 3 Gb/s interface. The solid-state drives boast up to 39,500 input/output operations per second of random reads and drops to 23,000 IOPS of random writes for their high capacity drives.  Read and write speeds have also doubled from their last drives at 270 MB/s and 220 MB/s.

This announcement finally makes solid-state drives large enough to handle the typical HD workload at speeds much faster than any disk-based hard drive can achieve.  Though the drives are rather expensive going all the way from $89 for the 40 GB model to a whopping $1,069 for the 600 GB model, they can still be worth the cost for many who need better read/write times and reliability. Many of these drives will still be out of reach for the average video enthusiast, but this latest announcement from Intel shows that the technology is heading in the right direction. It’s no stretch of the imagination to think that someday a few years from now almost every video editor could be using a RAID full of inexpensive, 1 TB, solid-state drives.

We’re happy to report that Amanda Congdon is back on the Net with Amanda Across America, which is being hosted online by Blip.tv. She will be producing the show daily with only a video camera and an Internet connection, and the project has gotten some impressive sponsorships (National Resources Defense Council, Envionmental Countdown and Ford Motor Company) to make it all happen. The show will take place over the course of five weeks, taking Amanda from New York to LA.

Welcome back to the Internet, Amanda! We’ve missed you…

from a National Association of Broadcasters press release

WASHINGTON, DC – NAB today announced that its newest event, the NAB Post+ Production Show, will be re-branded as NAB New York for its upcoming second edition. NAB New York’s sub-theme will be Content Creation+ to convey the increased scope of the event, which will cover the professional audio and video content creation process from pre-production, acquisition and capture to post-production and content management.

“The NAB New York re-branding signals that NAB is refocusing and stepping up its efforts in support of offering an event of this breadth on the East Coast and in the Northeast,” said NAB Senior Vice President, Conventions and Expositions Chris Brown. “New York is a key hub for news, sports and advertising production and also has strong corporate, government and education markets. Following our successful launch last year, we’re confident that the re-branded NAB New York will become a must-attend event for top audio and video content professionals all along the East Coast.”

NAB New York, developed to complement and build on the highly successful NAB Post|Production World Conference, held at NAB’s spring convention, capitalizes on the partnership between NAB and Future Media Concepts (FMC). It is targeted to the New York and the East Coast audience and will train digital artists in cutting-edge production and post-production techniques and showcase the latest content creation technologies. For more information, go to www.nabnewyork.com.

Future Media Concepts, Inc. is the nation’s premier digital media training center offering classroom as well as on-site training nationwide. FMC is a leading producer of large-scale digital media conferences and expos. More information about FMC can be found at www.FMCtraining.com.

The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at www.nab.org.

Reprinted from a Hitachi press release:

LAS VEGAS, January 8, 2002 – The Home Electronics Division of Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. , www.hitachi.com/tv, unveiled its latest DVD camcorders today at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show. Three new DVD camcorder models now offer both DVD-R and DVD-RAM format compatibility. The DVD-R capability provides compatibility with most home DVD players. DVD-RAM offers simple in-camera editing and incredible durability as discs can be re-recorded over 100,000 times.

HIGH QUALITY VIDEO RECORDING
Hitachi’s DVD camcorders utilize the high quality and high efficiency of MPEG2 video compression technology. Consumers can select between extended recording time or increased recording quality. DVD-RAM discs hold a minimum of 40 minutes of the highest quality DVD video (20 min/side), one hour of high quality DVD video (30 min/side) or two hours of standard quality. DVD-R discs hold 30 minutes of high quality DVD video (single-sided) and can be played back on most standard consumer DVD players and DVD-ROM3 drives, but are not rewrite-able. Additionally, the top two models can record 1,998 JPEG still images at 1280 x 960 on DVD-RAM discs, while the entry model can record 1,998 JPEG stills at a resolution of 1024 x 768.
EASE OF USE
Consumers will appreciate the benefits of disc-based systems including random access and the compact form factor. Random access to any point on the disc avoids clumsy rewinding and fast forwarding. Hitachi’s DVD camcorders offer a visual “thumbnail” guide of small pictures representing each beginning of a scene recorded on the disc. Simply select the thumbnail picture and you can view the video clip. DVD-RAM offers the same capability when selecting still images. Additionally, since the camcorders only write to empty areas on the disc, there is no danger of accidentally erasing any scene.
With DVD-RAM, consumers can even edit their movies in the camera. This sophisticated system allows consumers to re-order scenes and add special scene transition effects, including fades and wipes.
COMPUTER FRIENDLY MOVIE EDITING
Utilizing a USB computer connection and Hitachi’s optional PC Editing Kit Software (DZ-WINPC3W), the DVD camcorders become external DVD home movie drives. Video can be transferred from the DVD camcorder to the PC for editing. After editing, the video can be transferred back to the DVD camcorder and recorded. This is where the strength of Hitachi’s multi-format DVD camcorders gives consumers an unprecedented capability:

Record video utilizing the rewrite-able DVD-RAM format
Transfer the footage to the PC
Edit the footage on the PC
Transfer the footage back to the DVD camcorder and record it onto DVD-R for compatibility with most DVD players
Or if available, the video can be transferred by placing the disc into a PC’s 4.7G byte DVD-RAM or DVD-ROM drive.
The top of the line DZ-MV270A also supports USB2.0, which has data transfer rates faster than standard USB1.1.
DZ-MV200A AND DZ-MV230A DVD CAMCORDERS
Hitachi’s DZ-MV200A features multi-disc format compatibility (DVD-RAM/R), 12x lens (240x digital zoom), 680k pixel CCD, EIS (Electronic Image Stabilizer) and 2.5-inch LCD screen. The DZ-MV200A features USB1.1 PC connectivity, an AV input, intelligent shoe for optional flash, Li-ion battery and remote control. The step-up model, DZ-MV230A adds a ¼-inch 1.1 mega pixel CCD for higher resolution images and variable bit rate recording for more efficient use of disc space.
The DZ-MV200A will be available for $899.95 in April 2002, while the DZ-MV230 is available in April 2002 for $999.95.
DZ-MV270A DVD CAMCORDER
In addition to the features of the DZ-MV230A, the DZ-MV270A also features a larger 3.5-inch LCD screen, Color Viewfinder and S-video input. The model also supports the new high speed interface, USB2.0, the next standard for future PCs, which provides users with a transfer rate that is up to three times faster than USB1.1. The DZ-MV270A will be available in June 2002 retailing for $1,299.95.