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Film History & Appreciation | Iron Man 3, Marvel & The Future of the Superhero
Victoria Alonso, Marvel Studios Executive Vice President of Visual Effects and Post Production, began her career in the early days of the digital visual effects industry. We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Victoria about the Iron Man movies, post production's evolution, remote dailies and coloring on set, 4K & HFR, and keeping the modern superhero movie fresh.
05/10/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Matrox Video Systems | NAB 2013: Matrox Video Systems
At NAB 2013, Matrox Graphics' new Mojito 4K is a quad 3G-SDI 4K video monitoring card aimed at Adobe professional editing on the Windows platform. Also new is Matrox Monarch HD, an under-$1,000 compact video streaming/ recording appliance designed for users who need to simultaneously stream a live event and record a Blu-ray quality version for post-event editing. The company also debuted Matrox Avio F125, fiber-optic KVM extenders that separate dual HD video, keyboard, mouse, stereo analog audio and USB 2.0 devices from a workstation and plays back HD, 2K and 4K video without dropped frames at maximum distances of 4 km. KVM extenders are also now compatible with APCON IntellaPatch Series 3000 XE network switches.
04/26/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2013: JB&A, SNS, Square Box, Telestream
At JB&A's annual Pre-NAB Special Event, the media management company brought together a range of companies representing the entire production/post pipeline, to show off a range of workflow solutions. Some of those companies included Christie, which showcased its new Phoenix content management system; Square Box, which unveiled Version 10.0 of its CatDV Digital Asset Management software; Studio Network Solutions (SNS), which debuted EVO v5, major hardware and OS upgrade to its EVO shared storage server; and Telestream, which introduced new products and capabilities for its Vantge video transcoding and workflow orchestration products.
04/26/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2013: Panasonic
Panasonic used NAB 2013 to unveil a number of new products and technologies. Chief among them was the third generation VariCam, the first to incorporate Panasonic's new AVC-ULTRA video codec for native 1080/60p operation. The company also unveiled the AJ-PD500, its first P2 HD recorder with native AVC-ULTRA recording and built-in microP2 card slots - and the first to record in full-resolution, 10-bit 1080/60p (in AVC-Intra Class100). Also new from Panasonic was the the BT-4LH310, a 31-inch 4096 x 2160 resolution LCD monitor, an important piece in the move to UltraHD/4K production and post.
04/22/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Archiving and Back-Up | NAB 2013: Bob Zelin: The Evolution & Revolution
Calling Bob Zelin one of the industry's most respected voices of engineering and systems experience is an understatement. (We might also have to add "most feared.") For over 20 years, he has been at the leading edge of building next-generation post houses and broadcast facilities using the latest, greatest, and most affordable new technology. He's also been around long enough to have seen through an awful lot of hype, so when Bob drops the "R" word, it's because he really believes it's revolutionary himself. His coverage of the 2013 NAB Show is once again don't-miss reading.
04/22/2013
Author: Bob Zelin |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2013: Quantel Focuses on UltraHD Workflow
Quantel introduced a range of products that empower UltraHD/4K and even 8K production. Partnerships with AJA (for its Corvid Ultra video card) and NVIDIA (for its Tesla accelerator) have made Pablo Rio capable of high resolution work, including 4K at 60 fps. The company also enabled broadcast and post production workflows with enhancements with QTube, Enterprise sQ and Quantel revolutionQ. Quantel is also now involved in furthering FIMS (Framework for Interoperable Media Services), an initiative jointly managed by the EBU and AMWA to define standards for Service Oriented Architecture systems. With regard to Stereo 3D, Quantel also introduced SynthIA which enables interaxial adjustments in post as well as other manipulations.
04/19/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Adobe SpeedGrade | NAB 2013: On the Post Production Trail - Wrap Up
Finally at home from an eventful NAB, Dennis Kutchera sorts through his show notes to deliver to COW readers thoughts on 4K and HD, hints on Adobe's upgrades on Premiere Pro and Adobe SpeedGrade, and the advantages of FilmLight's Baselight.
04/15/2013
Author: Dennis Kutchera |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2013: On the Post Production Trail - Day Two
Take a look at the NAB Show floor through the eyes of Dennis Kutchera, who is hot on the Post Production trail. Day two finds him looking at Sony and Panasonic booths, the Autodesk Smoke 2013 presentation and some lust-worthy grading monitors.
04/10/2013
Author: Dennis Kutchera |
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Broadcasting | The Future of Television-HPA Tech Retreat Unites Techy Types
A who’s who of the country’s broadcast, film and TV post production industry convened in Indian Wells, California to listen to tech presentations on everything from Ultra HDTV to Mobile DTV and chew over the latest conundrums. Next year’s HPA Tech Retreat will take place Feb. 17 through 21.
03/11/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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RED Camera | House of Cards
Netflix is distributing all 13 episodes of its first season House of Cards at once, on streaming platforms. That's not all that makes this new political drama series unique. With David Fincher as an executive producer and director of the first two episodes, you'd expect a digitally-savvy pipeline and you'd be correct. In this story, Fincher's post production supervisor Peter Mavromates and assistant editor Tyler Nelson talk about how FotoKem's newly evolved nextLAB system played a role in streamlining the post pipeline.
02/06/2013
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | The Camera Is An Eye - Not A Vacuum Or A Gun
This article is intended to be a friendly guidepost for all shooters who wish to improve their craft. At the highest level, you, the shooter, are involved in one of the greatest art forms the world has ever known. At the lowest level, you, the shooter, are still involved in one of the greatest art forms the world has ever known. Find out how to channel your "Inner-Welles" and create the majestic poetry we all crave from your art.
02/05/2013
Author: David Allison |
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What Computer Should I Buy?
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What Computer Should I Buy?
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What Computer Should I Buy? | No Time To Waste!
Dylan Reeve, Post Supervisor & Finishing Editor for South Pacific Pictures pushes 250 episodes per year of New Zealand's #1 show, "Shortland Street" through the pipeline.
01/31/2013
Author: Dylan Reeve |
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Cinematography | Hollywood 3D Masters Talk Stereoscopy
A group of production and post production experts in 3D filmmaking sat down to talk about what they've learned from their experiences, how they define best practices and why they love 3D filmmaking. Creative COW was there to report on the conversation.
10/19/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Broadcasting | Rewiring, Automating and Scaling Up for Broadcast Post
How do 34 staffers produce 1,850+ Television spots & 600+ Radio spots...every month? Automation. Ryan Salazar also rewired studioZ's entire facility top to bottom for digital workflows that can still accommodate the HDCAM some of their clients still require. Combine that with a new machine room, 40 servers, eight Pro Tools suites, triple-redundant archive backups, and you'll find a facility that constantly rebuilds itself for the future.
09/27/2012
Author: Ryan Salazar |
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Sorenson Squeeze | IBC 2012: Sorenson Media Introduces Squeeze Premium
Sorenson Media has introduced Squeeze Premium, a version of its flagship Squeeze encoding engine that is now designed to work in a server environment. Developed in response to customer demand, Squeeze Premium shares many similarities with the desktop version - including user interface - which makes it easy to learn and use. At the same time, Premium frees up editors and computers in the post house environment, streamlining workflow and efficiencies.
09/10/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | Kallisti Media Produces 3D War of Wars
From Kallisti Media comes "War of Wars," a 3D documentary that combines historic stereographic stills taken during the war with modern day interviews with soldiers who recount their wartime experiences. Using stereographic stills to create motion imagery requires a toolbox of tricks, and Kallisti Media Editor Christian Glawe describes for Creative COW readers the post-production process - which relied heavily on Adobe software - to produce this compelling piece.
08/22/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | High Frame Rate Cinema
All eyes are on High Frame Rate cinema, the latest technology shift touted by such heavyweight filmmakers as Peter Jackson and Jim Cameron. But how many frames per second is ideal? How does HFR cinema change the workflow and the bottom line? This group of experts weighed in on why we should be excited by the opportunities of HFR cinema and what we can expect in day-to-day production and post workflows.
08/16/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Art of the Edit | Digital Dailies Trim The Bottom Line In Hollywood
Post production continues to adapt to ever-changing workflows. Digital dailies have gone from being a cutting edge technology to nearly de rigeur on the set. These prominent TV/film producers talked about how they've integrated digital dailies into their workflow and how it's improving the creative process and/or the bottom line. For post production companies, it's yet another evolution in technology that requires adaptation and accommodation.
08/10/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Blackmagic Design | Blackmagic Design President Dan May on Cintel Acquisition
On July 24th, Blackmagic Design announced its acquisition of long-time film/TV telecine, film scanner, and post production technology leader, Cintel International. Blackmagic Design President Dan May spoke with Creative COW's Debra Kaufman about what this means for the company's product line up as well as for the endurance of Cintel's R&D and the future of film.
07/26/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Indie Film & Documentary | StorageDNA Goes Down Under with DEEPSEA CHALLENGE
When director James Cameron took a solo dive to the deepest spot on earth, he turned to Sydney-based Digital Pictures to deliver a range of post production services. In turn, Digital Pictures relied on StorageDNA to help them create a cost-effective LTO-based conform system that handled massive amounts of 4K data.
07/12/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Stereoscopic 3D | Stereo D Converts Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to 3D
If you think that converting a motion picture from 2D to 3D is a post production process, think again. Stereo D just wrapped up the conversion of director Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from 2D to 3D, and the job began before a single frame was shot.
07/02/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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What Computer Should I Buy? | ProMAX ONE: Looking at the Hero
ProMAX has put together a beast of a creative workstation designed to serve a host of needs in production, particularly Post, and Walter Biscardi put the beast to a grueling test.
06/21/2012
Author: Walter Biscardi |
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Apple FCPX or Not: The Debate | High Noon in the Editors' Corral
A group of editors gathered at a Hollywood Post Alliance Sales Resource Group luncheon to debate the merits of today's nonlinear editing systems. In the process, they argued less over tools and complained more about an ever-changing workflow. And, yes, there are a few fans of FCPX.
06/01/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo | NAB 2012: AJA Video Systems
AJA Video Systems brought out the big guns at NAB 2012, including T-TAP, a powerhouse in a small, inexpensive package for delivering 10-bit 2K, HD and SD (with embedded audio) from any compatible Mac. Elsewhere, the company released firmware to support Avid DNxHD and offered a post pathway for the 4K output of the new Canon C500.
04/26/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Autodesk Smoke | Walter Biscardi: Yes, Autodesk Smoke 2013 Changes Everything
"From the moment I saw Autodesk Smoke 2013, I knew the entire post production world as we knew it had changed." So says Creative COW Contributing Editor Walter Biscardi in an overview that covers Smoke's new editor-centered (and Mac-friendly) interface, ease of use, support for FCP 7 and Avid projects and keyboard mapping, and advanced, integrated effects and color tools -- including several that had previously been available in Autodesk Flame. Oh yeah, a price drop to $3495. See why Walter says, "For the traditional editor, this is completely game-changing."
04/15/2012
Author: Walter Biscardi |
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Broadcasting | Modern VideoFilm Adds Harmonic MediaGrid Systems
Modern VideoFilm post production facility has found a rock solid way to handle high volume preparation of movies and TVs for delivery to a wide variety of platforms, from Web portals and satellite to cable and over-the-air in the form of the Harmonic MediaGrid, which serves as an incoming/outgoing cache for content that is delivered to and distributed from the facility via Signiant software over a fiber network at a rate of 10 TB per day.
04/05/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Art of the Edit | Company 3 Partners with FutureWorks
Company 3 - a Digital Intermediate powerhouse in Santa Monica, CA - joined forces with FutureWorks, a Mumbai-based post-production facility, in order to offer its color grading services to Bollywood's feature film and commercial clients.
02/07/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Broadcasting | JVC introduces HD 3D Production Analysis Monitor
JVC Professional Products Company has just introduced the DT-3D24G1U 24-inch HD 3D LCD production analysis monitor, the latest addition to the company's Vérité G Series product line, which promises to deliver precision adjustment of 3D images aimed at production and post.
01/06/2012
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Cinematography | 4K DI on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Re-teaming with director David Fincher after their successful collaboration on The Social Network, Michael Cioni and the team at Light Iron built 5K workflows for real time, full resolution post for Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The running time of the 4K print is 2:38, creating a data size larger than six 2K features combined. Cioni and Light Iron co-founder Ian Vertovec spoke to Creative COW's Debra Kaufman about how working that way in real time is even possible, working with David Fincher, and what frame sizes larger than 4K mean for all of us.
12/14/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Blackmagic Design | Blackmagic Design Simplifies Teranex Product Line-up
Blackmagic Design acquires Teranex Systems Inc., in a strategic move to complement their own efforts for providing extremely high quality image processing for broadcast, feature film and high end post production needs, with plans to simplify the Teranex product line and release the VC-100 broadcast image processor.
12/14/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Stereoscopic 3D | Grass Valley Adds 3D Editing Support
Grass Valley has added a comprehensive 3D toolset for its EDIUS nonlinear editing software and 3D support for editing peripherals to create a complete S3D post-production pipeline, with STORM 3G and STORM 3G Elite enjoying complete stereoscopic 3D I/O via the EDIUS timeline through a single 3G SDI source and/or dual 3G SDI signals.
11/21/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Broadcasting | AMD Releases SDI Link
Semiconductor designer AMD is fulfilling the promises made at IBC by shipping its AMD FirePro SDI-Link, a platform for GPU acceleration for live/on-air broadcast graphics and real-time video production/post-production pipelines.
10/21/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Art of the Edit | HBO's Digital Transition
HBO holds the highest reputation for television image quality, often based on an aesthetic very closely tied to their use of film. The stakes as they move toward digital pipelines are especially high as they very carefully consider their next steps, for both production and post.
10/14/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Film History & Appreciation | Coloring Game of Thrones
HBO's Game of Thrones is a rich palette of colour and display. Ireland's Screen Scene Post Production took on the task of enhancing the balance between worlds so vastly different, that colour play was a powerful component to straddling the extremes. Debra Kaufman looks into the slew of talent that brought these fantasy realms to light.
08/19/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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Apple FCPX or Not: The Debate | The Magnetic Timeline -- Thoughts on Apple's New Paradigm
With its June 21 release of Final Cut Pro X, Apple shocked the entire post-production industry. David Lawrence set out to understand just exactly what Apple had done to a tool that, for many of us, is the cornerstone of our livelihoods. The changes in FCPX are broad, deep and many. This article will focus on just one aspect of these changes -- the main NLE editing interface an editor uses for the bulk of their work -- the timeline.
07/29/2011
Author: David Lawrence |
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Business & Marketing | Post Houses: How to Get, Keep and Not Lose Business
On June 8, a packed room of sales and executives representing Hollywood TV/film post production houses attended a Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) meeting of the Sales Career Resource Group (SCRG) to discuss a topic rendered urgent in today's tough economy: How to Get, Keep and Not Lose My Business. Join Debra Kaufman as she details the evening's events.
06/15/2011
Author: Debra Kaufman |
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NAB Expo | Inexpensive archiving for tapeless media
Thousands of members of Creative COW were at the 2011 NAB Show, and we are pleased to bring you some of their reports. In this entry, blogged from NAB 2011, Shane Ross had a mission, which was to search for a reasonably priced archiving solution of tapeless media that all of us not-so-big production and post production people could afford. Look now at Prime CACHE-A and Pro CACHE-A, BRU by the Tolis Group, and Edit Bay Production Desktop with this talented editor.
04/27/2011
Author: Shane Ross |
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Adobe After Effects | Designing Conan
Title designer extraordinaire and longtime COW member, Rob Ashe, takes us inside the design of "Conan" on TBS. From the story of Conan's journey to his new TV home, through the show's title design and workflow engineering, here’s a look at Conan's new "beginning." Plus a trip through a single day, from prep, to post, to air.
03/16/2011
Author: Rob Ashe |
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Blackmagic Design | Bright Lights, Big Signage
"Activate the Space" builds on their experience in post and broadcast to rewrite the rules of digital signage for some of the world’s most visible stages and public spaces.
03/16/2011
Author: Chris Pelzar |
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Business & Marketing | Good post is good post
Tim Wilson says, "I'm always going to place my bets on the people trying to get it right, rather than the people who say it shouldn't be done at all." Creative COW Magazine's editor extraordinaire relates his musings on the latest technology and our reasons for always forging ahead into new innovations.
12/13/2010
Author: Tim Wilson |
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Blackmagic Design | Blue Ribbon for Best of Show: NAB 2010 -- Blackmagic Design
There may have been companies at 2010's NAB Show who brought more new products than Blackmagic Design -- but then again, with a dozen major new releases, there may not have been. There was certainly nobody who brought so many best-of-category products, several of which could merit Best of Show awards on their own, with the potential to truly transform advanced post and broadcast workflows. Simply put, we've never seen anybody come to the show playing for keeps in so many different ways.
06/23/2010
Author: Grant Petty |
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Broadcast Video | Best Nonlinear Editing System Report
As the three companies showing their best wares in the Nonlinear Editing System category vie for attention in the broadcasting and post-production world at NAB 2010, some of the glitter caught Walter Biscardi's eye, but others left him wondering if they can keep up. Read on for more insight on what he saw at NAB...
06/22/2010
Author: Walter Biscardi |
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Cinematography | More than Just Blue
While "Avatar" was changing filmmaking, Mark Smirnoff led the team at Modern VideoFilm as they built the production and post processes to make it happen.
05/07/2010
Author: Mark Smirnoff |
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Art of the Edit | Molecule Fueled Imagination
Film? Television? Production? Post? Visual effects? Animation? Stereoscopic 3D? Interactive design? By answering Yes, all of the above, The Molecule keeps its eyes beyond the horizon.
10/15/2009
Author: Chris Healer |
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DaVinci | Blackmagic & DaVinci, and What It Means
Blackmagic founder Grant Petty says that the company's purchase of DaVinci systems actually fits exactly what they have done all along: build the kinds of products they have needed for their own postproduction business, and being the kind of company they'd want to do business with. While important details are still being worked out, Grant has some very clear visions about how these practices can help rebuild one of the industry's most respected brands.
09/15/2009
Author: Grant Petty |
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Audio Professionals | ADR: Hollywood Dialogue Recording Secrets
Correcting dialogue is one of the most important parts of the old saying, fix it in post. They're part of a process called ADR -- Additional Dialogue Recording, or Automated Dialogue Replacement -- that has been going on since movies had audio, and is still being done today, from the smallest indie films to the biggest blockbusters. Here's an overview of the world of ADR, some of the Cows who are working in this field, and where to go when you are ready to ADR to your own productions.
03/03/2009
Author: Cowdog |
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Apple Color | One Team. Three Network Shows. Every Week.
Creative Cow Contributing Editor Zed Saeed has helped create pioneering Final Cut Pro workflows for major feature films and episodic TV production. This year, he and the team at DigitalFilm Tree faced their biggest challenge yet: posting 3 major shows, for 3 different networks, every week -- with the same small team that used to do just one. How do they do it? World-class workflow management.
12/23/2008
Author: Zed Saeed |
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Art of the Edit | Fix it in Pre : Workflow Starts Before the Shooting Does
Looking for smooth shoots even on extreme locations? Want a pain-free post? 24P, film look, Depth of Field converter, advanced compositing and sound design -- its all here. In this Creative Cow Magazine extra from the Workflow 3.0 issue, Carl Larsen shows you how to avoid problems through planning, along with invaluable tips for cinematic storytelling on a tight schedule.
11/18/2008
Author: Carl Larsen |
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Apple Final Cut Pro | The Forbidden Kingdom: Jackie Chan. Jet Li. FCP.
A Creative Cow Exclusive! DigitalFilm Trees Zed Saeed has helped create pioneering digital workflows built around FCP, custom-designed for large-scale productions. Their biggest challenge so far has come on The Forbidden Kingdom, an epic film partnering Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time -- with production and post in China, Korea, Australia, and multiple locations in the US. Heres a look at how they put it all together with FCP, Xserve, XML, Color, file-based workflows...and hard, hard work.
04/14/2008
Author: Zed Saeed |
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Adobe After Effects | Building a 3D World in After Effects
When a project requires a photo-realistic 3D world, After Effects isnt usually the first program that comes to mind. Typically a 3D modeling/animation program is necessary to create virtual 3D worlds, but in this article CreativeCOW contributing editor Bill O'Neil demonstrates creating a 3D world for a TV spot he was hired to direct and post for the Big Ten Basketball Conference.
08/10/2007
Author: Bill O'Neil |
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Motion Graphics - How Do I? | The World of Post Production
The old adage says 'cheaper, faster, better - pick any two.' But is it still true? David Roth Weiss isn't sure anymore. Still, there's something clearly missing in production circles. Veteran director/editor David Roth Weiss looks at what's changing in the world of post production - and what's not.
06/10/2007
Author: David Roth Weiss |
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Audio Professionals | Audio Techniques for Video Editors
Are you a video editor hoping to add more richness to your audio? In the world of video editing, its not uncommon for video editors to rely on others to perform audio post production on their projects. But in this article, well focus on ways that you can get better audio without having others do it for you.
05/13/2006
Author: Marco Solorio |
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