Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

AVID Media Composer 6 Announced

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Media Composer 6

AVID has just announced Media Composer 6, its latest iteration of the go-to NLE for the film and TV industry.  As previous leaks indicated, Media Composer 6 supports a new 64-bit architecture, as well as AVCHD and RED Epic support with AMA.

Media Composer 6 Screenshot

Media Composer 6 also offers enhanced Pro Tools integration, allowing for the transfer of more session data from Media Composer to Pro Tools.  MC 6 can also encode to Apple ProRes on Mac systems, and offers new support 3D stereoscopic workflows.

Media Composer 6 retails for $2499, with upgrades starting at $299.

Lots more details, including NewsCutter 10 and Symphony 6 details, in the press release below. [Read more…]

 

Automatic Duck Plug-ins Now Available for Free

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Automatic Duck Plug-ins

Automatic Duck has changed its focus since the big partnership announcement with Adobe.  As a result of the inability to provide the level of support that the company has provided in the past, Pro Import AE, Pro Import FCP and Pro Export FCP (both versions, for FCP7 and FCPX) are available at no charge.

You can find them on Automatic Duck’s relaunched website.

GoPro HD HERO2

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GoPro HD HERO2

GoPro has stepped up its game again with the latest GoPro HD HERO2.  The new HD HERO2 offers a number of different resolutions and frame rates for video, as well as providing 11MP still image capture, an external mic input and a whole lot more.

Check out the promo video below, which shows off some spectacular footage captured with the HD HERO2 (be sure to full-screen this one). [Read more…]

Avid Leaks Details on Media Composer 6

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Media Composer 6

Details on Media Composer 6 were briefly posted on Avid’s website.  Upgrades over MC 5.5 include native 64-bit, expanded file-type support with native RED, AVCHD, HDSLR footage support with no transcoding required, complete 3D end-to-end workflow, 7.1-surround audio support, and a whole lot more.

Leaked details are below courtesy of the Avid-L2 newsgroup via FreshDV.

New features and workflows

Full 64-bit power
Fast gets even faster with native 64-bit operation, so even when you layer
together the most complex effects, things will still feel snappy. [Read more…]

RED EPIC Takes a Ride on a R/C Octocopter

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Ever wonder what it would be like to strap a $60k camera to a radio controlled octocopter?  Well, someone dreamed up the idea of putting a RED EPIC on one of these devices and produced the stunning results you see in the above video.

To get a better idea of the potential of this rig, check out the below video shot with the Sony FS100 riding on the OM-copter. [Read more…]

Shooting Alex Honnold’s Free Climb Up the 1600′ Sentinel

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Alex Honnold

As I was flipping through the channels tonight, I landed on 60 Minutes’ feature on Alex Honnold, who free climbs up huge rock faces.  He does stuff without a rope that no other person can do – or at least is willing to do.

The story alone is compelling enough to hear; however, 60 Minutes did a bang up job of capturing it on video with a mix of 14 ENG, DSLRs and GoPro cameras.  They mounted GoPro cameras on the rock wall, on the film crew climbers on the wall and even on Alex’s chalk bag belt (until he decided to ditch it mid-climb). [Read more…]

Editing Sony NEX-5n 60p Footage in Final Cut Pro X

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Sony NEX-5n

The more I use the new Sony NEX-5n, the more I like it (notwithstanding the clicking problem).  One thing that really makes the NEX-5n stand out among competitors is the ability to capture HD video at 1080/60p (i.e., 59.94 progressive frames per second).  This makes for smooth motion, but also gives you the option to conform to footage to a slower frame rate and get some cool slow motion in your 24p projects.

With the recent update to Final Cut Pro X, I was hoping that Apple would add support for additional codecs, like the relatively new (yet, increasingly popular) AVCHD 2.0; however, it did not.  As a result, working with video from cameras shooting 60p AVCHD 2.0 footage (like the Sony NEX-5n) brings a bit of a problem when importing the files from your camera.

I’ve already covered how to import AVCHD files into Final Cut Pro X; however, working with AVCHD 2.0 files at 60p requires another step to get the footage into FCP X.  Still yet, it’s not so bad. [Read more…]

International Space Station Time Lapse of Earth at Night

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Check out the above view of Earth from the International Space Station at night.  I was surprised to see how much area that a lightning strike covered with its glow.  I couldn’t find any info about which camera was used to capture these images, but it would make sense that it’s a Nikon D3s or other Nikon body since the raw images were sourced from NASA.

[YouTube via PetaPixel]

RED Cameras and the Push to a 48fps Standard

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The above video does a nice job of summarizing the state of RED and what filmmakers like James Cameron and Peter Jackson are doing with the technology, along with their push toward a cinematic standard frame rate of 48 frames per second.  You also get some nice behind-the-scenes at RED Studios.

[via The Daily]