Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

Yosemite HD – Shot on the 5D Mark II

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[vimeo http://vimeo.com/35396305 w=640&h=360]

Here’s a nice timelapse short that further demonstrates that the 5D Mark II (even after it’s recent price drop) has still got it.  It’s worth hitting the full screen in HD for the 4 short minutes it takes.

This video is a collaboration between Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty. All timelapses were shot on the Canon 5D Mark II with a variety of Canon L and Zeiss CP.2 Lenses.

[via Planet5D]

Apertus Axiom Camera: Open Source 4K Camera

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Apertus Axiom

The Apertus Axiom Camera is an open source project that looks to produce a 4K camera with a Super 35 sensor, Cinema DNG files, 150fps at 4K, a global shutter and 15 stops of dynamic range.

The plan is to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the fall to crowdfund the project at a target price “well below $10,000.”

If this camera actually comes to market with those features and price range, it stands to further disrupt the pro video market.  Sony’s FS700 really stirred the pot when it was introduced as an $8,000 camera that will (at some undetermined point in the future) shoot 4K footage and capture high frame rate footage (something it will actually do now) in full 1080p HD.

Of course, performance, reliability and support are key components that the Axiom will need in order to become a real player in the market.

Head over to No Film School for a more detailed analysis of what this camera could mean.

Final Cut Pro X Multicam Split Screen

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Tokyo Split Animator is a plugin for Final Cut Pro X that offers 19 split screen templates.  It allows you to animate-in and animate-out multiple clips; however, as you can see the above video, it also works quite well with multicam footage (something that works extremely well in FCP X) by easily allowing you to show all angles at once with a split screen animation.

Tokyo Split Animator is available through FX Factory for $49.  More details on Tokyo Split Animator’s website.

Switronix Bringing Power Accessories to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera?

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Blackmagic Cinema Camera

HDSLR and cinema accessory provider Switronix sent out a little tease in its newsletter today about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera that’s shipping later this month.

Are you guys as excited as we are about this beautiful, little guy?

Check in this month to see the cool accessories we have developed for the Black Magic Camera.  -Switronix Newsletter

Switronix has been known for its HDSLR power accessories that so effectively pair cameras like the 5D Mark II with external battery packs, as well as on-camera lighting gear.  Given the uncertainty thus far about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera’s internal battery and lack of external power options, I’d say that an external power solution from Switronix is a good bet.

Stay tuned for the official announcement of whatever is coming from Switronix…

Valve Source Filmmaker

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zri1c_If6Ic&w=640&h=360]

Valve, the video game company, has launched a project dubbed Source Filmmaker, which gives users the power to edit scenes using video game action.  And get this . . . it’s free.

The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool built and used by us here at Valve to make movies inside the Source game engine. Because the SFM uses the same assets as the game, anything that exists in the game can be used in the movie, and vice versa. By utilizing the hardware rendering power of a modern gaming PC, the SFM allows storytellers to work in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment so they can iterate in the context of what it will feel like for the final audience.

I can see this being an effective storytelling tool for people wanting to sharpen their editing skills but lack source footage to work with, or maybe even as a pre-viz tool.  Beyond that, I bet we’ll see some folks come up with rather entertaining stories built on the shoulders of video games.

[Valve Source Filmmaker]

Beauty Box Video 2.0 – Easy Skin Retouching in Video Editing Apps

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Beauty Box 2.0

Digital Anarchy has announced Beauty Box Video 2.0, which is a video plug-in for smoothing and retouching skin in the major NLEs.  In addition to compatibility with After Effects 7.0–CS6, Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Pro 7, and Premiere Pro CS4–CS6, version 2.0 adds support for Assimilate Scratch, Scratch Lab, Sony Vegas Por and Movie Studio.

Beauty Box Video 2.0 retails for $199, but is available for $149 through July 15, 2012.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Nightshot Mode with the Xbox Kinect

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yr5_0imcbY&w=640&h=360]

After I saw these images over at PetaPixel taken with an infrared still camera, I just had to see what NightShot mode on the Sony MC50U looked like while my son played Xbox Kinect last night.

This effect is possible with any camera that offers a night vision mode using an infrared light to capture images in total darkness.  The key to making the Kinect sensor lights more clearly visible, however, is to cover up the camera’s built-in infrared lamp and use only the Kinect infrared light points for illumination.

Cloud Fly-Through Video from 3D Composite of 4 Photos

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Planet5D picked up the below video (crafted by Jeff Farmer) in Apple Motion using a 3D composite of 4 still images of clouds captured with a Canon Rebel T2i.

This is a great little technique that’s doable with basic 3D compositing skills in Motion or After Effects, or any other editor that gives you access to z-space adjustments.  The great thing about working with still images in 3D composites is the ability to reframe the massive images for delivery at 1920 x 1080 resolution.  The T2i delivers a 5K still image, so there’s a lot of room to work with or only to use a portion of the image for no loss of quality in an HD video.

If you are interested to learn more about this kind of work, there’s a great tutorial on some very basic 3D compositing at VideoCopilot.net.