Flixtime debuts a free site where users create custom, production-quality videos. Anyone with images, videos, and text can use Flixtime’s software to create, share, and download free 60-second videos on www.flixtime.com. Nearly two years in the making.

Users create high-resolution videos on www.flixtime.com using their own photos and videos, or by choosing from a library of royalty-free stock images provided by Fotolia.  AudioMicro also provides users with a selection of award-winning tracks, sound effects, and stock music. Flixtime videos are easy to produce with state-of-the-art technology that integrates the user’s choice of music, text, images, and videos.  All Flixtime video productions can be used both for personal or independent commercial use. Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout the decades, Lewis Carrol’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has been a staple for movie and television adaptations. The most recent adaptation comes from the vivid imagination of Tim Burton.

Shot almost entirely in front of a green screen, and comprised of thousands of digital effects, the movie incorporates live action, animation and 3-D effects in hopes of pulling the audience into Alice’s world of wonder. As interesting as the final product looks, peaking behind the curtain allows us to learn techniques that can be applied to our own special effects adventures. Here are some fun facts from behind the scenes:

– Since a lot of the characters were created digitally, the crew used cardboard cut outs, full-size models, and people donned in green with eyes stuck to various parts of their bodies. This gave the actors something to react to, as well as providing a guide for eyelines.

– Hours of green screen exposure caused the cast and crew to experience green screen induced sickness and fatigue. It became such an issue that Tim Burton had a special pair of lavender tinted glasses crafted to combat the sickening effect of the green screen.

– For filming the Red Queen’s (Helena Bonham Carter) ridiculously large head, the crew used a Dalsa 4k hi-def camera. The camera’s 4,000 lines of resolution allowed Carter’s head to be enlarged in post production without losing image quality.

– The movie’s producer, Richard Zanuck, and director, Tim Burton, decided it would be best to shoot in 2D and then transfer the film to 3D. This saved them from excessive production costs and the hassle of working with 3D cameras. It was decided that, in the end, “you can’t tell the difference.”

Time will tell whether the movie will successfully capture the imagination of movie-goers. However, regardless of box office success or failure, there is always something that can be learned from our fellow movie makers. The film premieres today in London, and will hit theaters March 5, 2010.

Oh, how times have changed. Just two short years ago, I was shooting on a Panasonic HVX200, previewing my footage on a Marshall monitor, and using a G35 lens adapter in order to achieve depth of field. These were wretched times in which one was forced to make a choice between quality and speed. On one hand, if I was trying to capture beautifully focused footage with a shallow depth of field, I would inevitably be running around like a chicken with his head cut off just trying to get my shots in the limited time my clients gave me. With all of the accessories hanging off my camera, it was not only awkward to carry, but difficult to manage as well. On the other hand, I could go out with just my HVX in hand and get some average shots with little hassle; with the caveat of never being able to know if I was truly in focus. It was a very difficult choice to make, but with my perfectionist tendencies, I found myself siding with the latter leading to numerous headaches and many near heart attack moments.

Fast forward just two years and we now have the dawn of a new age shining on us. The age of the DSLR, or digital single lens reflex camera. Instead of wild camcorder rigs like the one I was mentioned above, it is now possible to get the same depth of field with better resolution, frame rate options, and light sensitivity than even some HD camcorders have. Plus, all of this can be shot on a Compact Flash card which can easily be bought at your choice of any big box retail store. I say all of this as a result of having used a DSLR this past week to shoot some clips for a Videomaker Instructional DVD called Basic Editing. In the segment I’m working on, I wanted to make a mock commercial showing the benefits of small town life. What I came to find out was that shooting compelling and aesthetically pleasing shots with this camera was easier than I ever thought possible. Not only did I have a huge amount of frame rates, ISO’s, and f-stops to choose from, but I was also to easily focus my shots even with a high amount of depth of field. Read the rest of this entry »

The excitement of Super Bowl XLIV was viewed by millions, making it the most watched program in American television history[i]. Several professional photographers captured every moment of the action using Canon’s latest professional digital SLR camera, the EOS-1D Mark IV. With initial camera shipments beginning less than 6 weeks before the game, Super Bowl XLIV was the first major sports event where professional photographers had an opportunity to see for themselves how the EOS-1D Mark IV camera would perform. After the game, Canon U.S.A. chose to interview four of these professional photographers regarding their use of the EOS-1D Mark IV camera and from their comments, it is clear that for these photographers, the EOS-1D Mark IV camera aced its first big test.

“Shooting at Super Bowl XLIV with the EOS-1D Mark IV was a night-and-day improvement compared to previous EOS models. It blew them all away. The 1D Mark IV exceeded my expectations quite a bit,” said Daniel Powers, staff photographer, Gannett Co., Inc.

The EOS-1D Mark IV is designed to be the multimedia camera of choice for professionals across all photographic disciplines, with a new 45-point autofocus system, a 16-megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 4 Imaging Processors, and 14-bit A/D data conversion, all at up to 10 frames-per-second (fps), with the widest ISO range Canon has produced to date. “Overall, in my opinion, the EOS-1D Mark IV is the best camera Canon has put out so far. I would have no hesitation recommending it,” said Scott Audette, a contract photographer who covered Super Bowl XLIV for Reuters.
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A handful of the Videomaker staff as well as myself attended Macworld this year in beautiful San Francisco at the Moscone Center. I didn’t know what to expect, this is the first year Apple completely pulled the plug and did not attend the event. I had heard a lot of speculation leading up to Macworld, about a possible uninhabited show floor.

It was definitely smaller than years past. Only 250 exhibitors were on hand, down from 400 last year – a direct result of Apple’s decision to not attend. Most of what we saw at the event were accessories for iPods and iPhones, nothing really ground breaking in the video industry. Certainly after this event Macworld’s future remains in question – if we look at years past, Apple has pulled out of other Macworld Expo’s and they ultimately came to a screeching halt. Read the rest of this entry »

Well this was a long time coming. When Internet speeds went from dial-up 56kbps to broadband in the late 90′s, content providers the world over realized the huge potential for delivering video, information, and rich applications to users. This led to a huge boom in internet activity only rivaled by the introduction of quick and easy to use internet on cell phones. However as with any heavy traffic situation, you eventually get jams and the internet is no exception.

With the vast number of users downloading large video and application files over the internet, speeds and bottle-necking became a huge issue. Additionally, even with the vast improvement of internet speeds (up to 20 megabits per second today), there were still long wait times while downloading large files – which has become increasingly more common as games and applications become more complex and as videos achieve higher and higher resolutions. The problem didn’t stop there however. Even if a person could theoretically achieve internet speeds at 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) or more, getting those speeds from a router to a computer wirelessly would be impossible with current technology. At the moment, the fastest consumer option for wireless transfer is Wireless USB technology which can transfer at speeds up to 480 Mbps; half of the theoretical 1 Gbps speed coming into your home. Read the rest of this entry »