Video News

On May 7th Adobe released Creative Suite 6, and it’s pretty clear that their eyes are keenly focused on video production. While we’re still in the process of writing our review of the software suite, here are a few of the features we’re think video producers everywhere will be excited about.

Adjustment Layers in Premiere – Here’s the situation. You’ve edited together a very complex sequence of shots which features a drunk stumbling from home from a night at the local watering hole. The sequence is composed of several point of view shots cut tightly together, and sprinkled with wide shots of the person walking down the sidewalk. You want to make sure every POV shot is blurry and de-saturated so the viewer can see the world as the drunk sees it. Before, our only solution was to either apply the blur and de-saturation effects to each clip individually, or nest each chunk of shots and then apply the effects. Adjustment layers change this. They work just like they do in After Effects. Simply place an adjustment layer over the shots you want to affect, then apply the effects you want to the adjustment layer. It will transfer those effects to every clip underneath it in Premiere’s timeline. Now, if you have to change the amount of blur or desaturation, you only have to change the settings on the adjustment layer(s) and not each clip or clips inside of a nested sequence. To me, this feature is about six versions late, but better late than never!

3D Text (and Basic Shapes) in After Effects – Have you ever needed to do simple 3D text when working in an After Effects project? Unfortunately, After Effects could never do true 3D. Rather, it could place 2D objects in 3D space. That means if you wanted 3D text, you’d have to put 2D text in a 3D composition, duplicate it about a hundred times, then offset each layer’s Z position by one pixel. What a pain! Alternatively, there was a way to use the Shatter effect and turn off force and gravity to give pre-composed text a bit of extrusion. Still not very efficient. Finally, Adobe has added an extrusion option within the settings of 3D text/shapes. For those that only need very basic 3D tools, this may save you from spending a couple grand on 3D software.

SpeedGrade – Okay, this isn’t so much of a feature as it is a complete product. Adobe aquired IRIDAS, and included it in the creative suite for the first time in this sixth version. The first thing you’ll notice is that it doesn’t really feel like an Adobe product. The user interface is way different. Additionally, quite a few Adobe UI conventions that are ubiquitous in Adobe products aren’t there. The software itself, however, is great. Dedicated color grading software is being used more and more frequently outside of Hollywood. DaVinci, for example, can now be purchased for $1000 on OS X, where it used to be a $20,000+ system only. It only makes sens that Adobe wants to get in on the action. Considering the price for Adobe’s Creative suite hasn’t risen any (in fact, the Creative Cloud option looks like it’ll save you money), having a dedicated color grader is a welcome addition!

Obviously this isn’t a comprehensive list of new features. There’s tons more to look forward to in CS 6, so keep an eye out for our upcoming review!

The FinePix XP170 is an up-to-date version of the FinePix XP20 that is really becoming an evolving process and this time it comes quick since the FinePix XP100 and FinePix XP150 showed up just last January. The newest addition is a welcome one, more so by your friends and family since sharing photos with Android and iPhone users is as simple as the download of the FUJIFILM Photo Receiver. TheFinePix XP170 has a dedicated function for this, so it’s something you’ll have to try when you are pushing this camera to its fullest extent.

Able to go as far as you are is the hallmark of the FinePix XP line, so the XP170 lets you go big despite dust, dive into water as deep as 32 feet, ride the slopes at negative 14 degrees Fahrenheit and survive a six-foot drop. To really round out the ruggedness we look for operability in such conditions, there is one-touch recording and an anti reflection 2.7-inch LCD to provide good visibility outdoors and underwater.

Important video considerations with the XP170 are the 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, 14MP, H.264 format, max. resolution at 1920×1080, mini HDMI out, and no audio or internal memory to speak of, but there is an SD card slot.

Toss in 240fps shooting and all you need is footage worth watching in slow motion. The 5x optical zoom is appropriate for the size of the camera and if the CMOS-shift stabilization works as advertised, even your fully zoomed shots will look focused.

The small touches of a double lock battery compartment and water resistant lens should seal the deal for use in multiple environments – you’ll be comfortable that your battery is not at risk, and water can be easily shaken off the lens. I always appreciate an external battery charger and the XP170 includes one. Curiously, only blue and orange are available as colors for the XP170 which should be available for $280.

The fine folks at Fujifilm make it possible to have fun in the freedom that comes with a rugged camera.

(Looking for the press release?)

I had the pleasure of auditing a portion of the Videomaker “Basics of Video Production” workshop a couple weeks ago. There are many basic rules when it comes to video, and there is a wealth of basic knowledge that continues to be the foundation for great production. Though I had been exposed to all of this before, it had been years since I had seen the fundamentals of good video production laid out so methodically. It caused me to really think about the basics again.

As my experience has grown, I have developed a tendency to wing-it much more often than I would have when I was just starting out. The video portion of my scripts began to dwindle, and the fine details of the script were often left to be finalized on set. I was still proud of the final product, but as I sat in the workshop, I was reminded that proper planning, and a concise vision of what you want out of a given video project can really be the difference between good and great video production.

While there is no substitute for experience, remembering to follow those simple rules makes your chance of success so much higher, so write that script and edit it until it’s perfect. Make that storyboard a true reflection of what you want to see in your video. Keep shooting takes until the shot is right. White balance properly for every shot. If you think there might be some distracting backround noise, do your best to minimize it on the set. Move the lights that extra inch to get it just right, and help your talent give the performance you know they’re capable of, even if it feels exhausting at the time.

Take your time, because what only takes a few seconds in the field, can take hours to fix in post-production. Doing all these things will make the the video production experience much more enjoyable for you and your crew, and it will show in the results.

Greg has 15 years of experience working with video professionally, and has recently joined the Videomaker team.

Videomaker’s Intermediate Editing Webinar will take you beyond simple cuts and transitions and teach you techniques that will allow you to advance your basic video editing skills. Our web presentation focuses on multi-camera editing, simple compositing, filters and effects and more; helping you in your quest to create polished and professional-looking video.

Following the session, all registrants will receive a copy of a special report. Additionally, we will be including live Q&A throughout the event; our team answering your questions. This event starts at 11:00 AM (PDT) on Wednesday, May 16, so be sure to sign up soon!

Check out Videomaker’s weekly Webinar Training Series for other sessions taught by our experts. Our webinar series features a wide variety of video production and post production topics including Advanced Shooting, Green Screen and Special Effects, Documentary Production, Lighting for Video, and much more.

On April 20, long-time Videomaker community member Grinner Hester was shooting the third qualifying session of Summit Racing Top Sportsman at the 2012 ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee.  Things seemed pretty normal until 21-year-old Lizzy Musi lost control of her car. And, well, just see for yourself:

It’s almost impossible to believe that the footage of the crash was captured by a living, breathing videographer; Grinner’s dedication to capturing the shot is nothing short of astounding as he calmly keeps shooting even as the out-of-control race car is barreling down on him. Only at the last possible second does he leap out of harm’s way, jumping over the partition onto the racetrack as the wreck knocks his camera down.

Miraculously, both  Grinner and Lizzy emerged from the ordeal unscathed.

Even then, though, Grinner immediately gets back in the game. No sooner has the smoke cleared than he’s picked up his camera again to get back to the scene. And finding Lizzy Musi unhurt, he gets the first post-crash interview with her! Grinner’s remarkable dedication is a testament to the videographer’s craft — though, we’re just glad to see he made it out in one piece! Grinner’s video has since gone viral (and for good reason!), appearing on sites like Brosome and Jalopnik.

Grinner is a long-time and valuable participant on the Videomaker forums; some of you might know him for his work on the Streetfire Show.  As Videomaker Managing Editor Jennifer O’Rourke says: “Grinner is…. Grinner. He’s a nut, he’s radical, he’s Zen… he shoots wild video, races cars and sometimes… does them both at the same time. The other moderators admire and respect him… and are often in awe of him. He’s just… Grinner.”

Good job, Grinner!

Mobile Video Apps by Beata Dumaplin

Video making has never been more accessible than in today’s mobile world. Almost every digital device, from music players to smart phones, can shoot video. With the increase in video capture, we have also seen a growth in video editing software, especially for mobile devices. We took a walk around the Internet and found quite a few video editing apps.  Read the rest of this entry »

Finally! A mobile phone manufacturer includes a video editing app pre-installed on the phone! LG’s Lucid will come with an app called “Video Producer” which will allow you combine clips, add styles, select background music, overlay images and text, and, our favorite, TRIM CLIPS! For years, smartphones have had the ability to crop still images naively, yet the ability to trim down video clips has somehow always required a separate purchase. The LG Lucid has finally given mobile video shooters the basic tools they want (and need). The Lucid is running on Verizon’s LTE network and will cost a mere $80, which makes it incredibly appealing when standing next to other LTE phones twice its price. We can’t wait to take a more in-depth look at Video Producer. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new trend where we see video editing capabilities included natively in every mobile phone.

It’s an amazing time we live in where you can buy a mobile phone that’s as powerful as laptops were about five years ago. That’s exactly what we’re seeing with the HTC One X. Of course, high powered super-phones are being released all the time, but we at Videomaker want to make sure companies are being recognized specifically for advancing mobile video capabilities. The HTC One X is the worlds first phone that not only takes 1080p video, but allows you to shoot still photos while recording HD footage. To top it off, we’re not talking about 1920 x 1080 stills here. Rather, the One X will capture full, 8-megapixel widescreen images (3264 x 1840) without interrupting your video. Similarly, you can grab 1920 x 1080 stills from pre-recorded video with  a simple tap. Other features include the ability to adjust white balance, exposure, contrast, saturation, and contrast.

While live streaming from a mobile device might not necessarily be a new phenomenon, no one has implemented quite as simple a way of doing it as Color, a new mobile app developed by Lala co-founder Bill Nguyen and Verizon. The app makes streaming video footage from your mobile phone over an LTE connection extremely easy. From the demo we saw, once inside the application, starting a broadcast can be as simple as two taps. As soon as you hit start, your friends on Facebook will get a notification that you’re broadcasting live. You can select who can see the stream, and even send it out for the entire world to see. Broadcasts are currently limited to thirty second a piece, but we expect to see the limited duration to lengthen over time. Color is currently available to Verizon subscribers only, and can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.

UPDATE 12:54PM – We reported that Color is only available to Verizon subscribers. In reality, it’s available to everyone, but those not on Verizon will only be able to broadcast video (no audio).

When we heard about Nokia’s 41MP camaera atached to their new 808 PureView phone, we were left scratching our heads. Turns out Nokia is taking the mobile photographer/videographer quite seriously. In addition to the high megapixel count, The 808 PureView features a lens designed under collaboration with Carl Zeiss. Additionally, the phone offers 4x lossless digital zoom and a new feature called “Nokia Rich Recording” which basically boils down to very high quality sound (1,411 kbit/s). Normally, such a high megapixel camera has pretty atrocious low light noise, but Nokia claims that this isn’t the case with the 808 PureView. Finally, the 808 PureView sports full 5.1 channel surround sound playback. We can’t wait to get our hands on one to really put it to the test.