Quintessential Studios' Weblog

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Next lafcpug meeting will be Wednesday, April 29, 2009 beginning at 6:45PM – till we drop at theGallery Theatre.

Note date change from the usual 4th Wednesday of the month.

Get out of the house and into lafcpug.

Join us as we present Co-director and editor Jonathan Walls of “Playing For Change: Peace through Music”Plus Patrick Sheffield of Sheffield Softworks will join us to show off his cool plugins for FCP. Plus Stump the Gurus, Show and Tells and of course, World Famous raffle and MORE. Agenda will be set a few days before the event.

Meetings are open to public. Come one come all. Doors open at 6:00PM

A $5.00 donation will be requested at the door.

iCal subscription link for lafcpug events:
webcal://icalx.com/public/mikehx/lafcpug%20events.ics

Digital Video Expo Moves to Pasadena!

Digital Video Expo visitors will enjoy a centralized, engaging and lively destination, featuring a world-class, pedestrian friendly entertainment district with over 500 restaurants, bars, theaters and an array of hotel options.

Pasadena also has a rich TV and film production industry history, and will make for a safe, convenient, freeway-close and comfortable destination for Digital Video Expo attendees and exhibitors.

http://www.dvexpo.com/index_IP.php

https://elandregistration.com/elandreg/index.php?e=t6jh970gXNE%3D?e=t6jh970gXNE%3D

These NAB Posts may or may not be edited in the future. Here is a list of the magazines we picked up at the NAB Show this week. Most were picked up on Tuesday, so there could have been more if I checked each day but here’s the list:

1. SCN – System Contractor News – April 2009 – systemcontractor.com
2. Sound & Communications – April 20, 2009 – soundandcommunications.com
3. Sonovision Broadcast – April 2009 – a french magazine
4. ICG – International Cinemagraphers Guild – April 2009 – icgmagazine.com
5. highdef – Mar/Apr 2009 – highdef.com
6. In-Sync – April/NAB edition? no content, all ads – www.insyncpubs.com
7. Produccion & Distribucion Technologia – Apr/NAB 2009 – latin mag – www.produ.com
8. Millimeter – April 2009 – www.millimeter.com
9. Playback – April 13, 2009
10. Post Magazine – April 2009 – postmagazine.com
11. P3 Update – April 2009 – www.p3update.com
12. Multichannel News – April 20, 2009 – www.multichannel.com
13. Multicast – nov-dec 08 – latin mag
14. Multicast – sep-oct 08 – latin mag
15. Movie Maker – issue 80, vol. 16 (Spring 2009) – moviemaker.com
16. SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal – April 2009
17. Asia Image – March-April 2009 – www.onscreenasia.com
18. Antenna Systems & Technology – March-April 2009 – www.AntennasOnline.com
19. Television Week – April 20, 2009 – TVWeek.com
20. B & C – April 20, 2009 – www.broadcastingcable.com
21. Multicast – Jul-aug 08 – latin mag
22. Broadcast – 17 April 2009 – www.broadcastnow.co.uk
23. Animation Magazine – April/May 2009 – www.animationmagazine.net
24. American Cinematographer – April 2009
25. Wireless Week – April 2009 – www.wirelessweek.com
26. Videomaker – May 2009 – videomaker.com
27. The Hollywood Reporter – April 21, 2009 – THR.com
28. Daily Variety – April 21, 2009 – variety.com
29. CGW – April 2009 – 3D edition (w/glasses)- www.cgw.com
30. Church Production – April 2009 – www.churchproduction.com
31. CSI – march-april 2009 – www.csimagazine.com
32. BET – Broadcast Equipment & Technology – Vol 10, no. 1/2009, NAB Special
33. FOH – Front of House – April 2009 – www.fohonline.com
34. Film And Digital Times – April-July 2009
35. Editors Guild Magazine – March-April 2009
36. Pro AV – April 2009 – www.proavmagazine.com
37. EIJ – Earth Imaging Journal – Mar/Apr 2009
38. Radio Ink – April 20, 2009 – www.radioink.com
39. Stash – DVD Magazine – www.stashmedia.tv

Extras:
R&R Directory Special Supplement vol 1 2009 – www.radioandrecords.com
7th Annual Digital Signage Resource Directory – digitalsignagedirectory.com
China Broadcasting Directory 2009 – 7th edition 2009 – http://www.e-expo365.com

Also, the NAB is so huge that they publish a big daily magazine for it. I picked up one each of the three days I was there as well. (Mon-Wed)

Just wanted to post things, as I get them up.

Pics I took at the REDUser.net party are here:

http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net/REDUser_Party2009.html (page in progress, but up)

I remember a poem from the E. Joseph Cossman marketing course that quipped something to the effect of, “I’m a very important person… I’ll live on forever… I’m on a mailing list!”

For those who want such a feeling, I have a solution for you. You, of course, have to be in business in the related field but whatever field that is, I recommend getting at least a subscription to it’s relevant trade publication.

This applies to any field, whether it be manufacturing, electrical subcontracting, musical instrument retailer or whatever field you’re in. If you aren’t sure of what trade magazines there are for your chosen profession, check the library for the Standard Rate and Data. It gives the rates for advertising in magazines as well as for TV stations, there are multiple volumes that cover different media but one of them covers trade publications. I think that one is called the business publication advertising source. You could also look up direct marketing list sources with this publication. This tip alone is worth a lot. Feel free to donate via paypal to: quintessentialstudios@gmail.com if you feel you should!

Believe it or not, I did not use the above reference for the following list; I just built it up over the past year by lots of searching and subscribing and referrals.

Here are the magazines (mostly free) that I subscribe to currently:
* Creative Cow Magazine
* Creative Screenwriting <- paid subscription, not free
* Digital Content Producer
* Digital Signage Magazine
* DV (Digital Video)
* DVXUser Monthly
* Event DV <- they are moving to paid subscription and I will not be subscribing to them anymore.
* Home Media Magazine <- this one is overkill, weekly or bi-weekly, I think I’m going to cancel.
* Government Video
* Millimeter
* MovieMaker Magazine
* Post Magazine
* Pro Audio Review
* Streaming Media Magazine
* STUDIO MONTHLY
* TVB Television Broadcast
* TV Technology
* Videography

In addition to the paper mailings, most of the above magazines offer digital subscriptions, so, you can “go green”, if you prefer. They also send you tons of email so you can hear from their advertisers, etc. It’s a lot to go through, but for me there are some tidbits here and there that I DO find interesting and some of them I even tweet about.

Chris Hart, an L.A. area editor and shooter, sends out a regular email to his industry contacts met through various events. Usually you get one reminding you about upcoming events that he might attend and sometimes one after events he’s attended to share information from the event.

Both Chris and I attended the April LAPPG meeting and here are our email notes from it:

Chris Hart:
“At the LAPPG last night I learned a lot about all the latest digital cameras, a little of which I share below, and I won the Duck. That’s right, a free Automatic Duck plugin with which to translate all my FCP timelines into AE timelines with a keystroke. WHOOOOOO!!!! I’m still stoked, as you can tell.

…

“Aaron McNally of Moviola gave a breakdown of all the latest cameras. Here are various interesting tidbits from what he said: The RED camera, on which Knowing was shot, can use a 16G card that will store 9 minutes of its 4k footage; it can also use a DLT tape which can store more. It produces 32-bit raw files that probably require serious color adjustment. In a discussion of cards vs tapes, Aaron remarked that some cameras can record and transmit the data wirelessly to a capture device! No card OR tape! Also, some 2k and 4k cameras can simultaneously record a low-res proxie on an SD card.

“Panasonic’s HVX200, which uses P2 cards, is getting a fair amount of professional usage: studio footage in Dancing with the Stars and certain Biography channel docs use it. It records @ 480 but can enhance that signal to 1080 @ 100 mbs. On the other hand, Discovery channel requires all its docs to be shot with a 1920×1080 native 3cc camera or better. Project:Runway shoots with 10 cameras simultaneously, using the HVX900 DVCPRO50, which uses cassettes, at 24p. An HVX900 is a $20,000 camera.

“Wes Plate then spoke about Automatic Duck, which translates timelines from FCP to Avid or Avid to FCP or Avid or FCP to AE, depending on the plugin. An awesome product, which as I mentioned I now own. Sweeeeeeet!”

My reply:
“WTG Chris! I was there too but all I won was a mouse pad…. lol

“I’d like to add a little more to that camera part you wrote, Chris. Here’s something else that I learned from last night’s talk. This is in regard to the compression rates Aaron spoke of. He basically compared Sony to Panasonic (as well as others) but it went basically like this. Sony can capture at full 1080 but it compresses the file down to like 30mbs and you lose a lot that way. Panasonic HVX200 is like you said and you lose less with the 100mbs compression of the file, but it captures at a lower (res?) and computes the rest to make up the HD.

“So, either way you lose something, it just depends on where you want to loose it. He also said that the Panasonic Cine-gamma developers were really good and in the computing of color for your shot came up with some nice end results.

“That’s where RED is different because it doesn’t compute any color to save to the image. It’s just raw and you have to create the color you want in post. (basically) The other cameras have to compute to create the color data to save to tape/data card or what have you.

“Also, the wireless transmitter still has to send to some sort of recording device but that it’s not on the camera.

“The other part I learned was that sensor size, 1/3″ or “2/3″ etc. determines depth of field. The smaller the sensor the less depth of field there is and the larger the sensor, the greater the DOF. And RED with their “Big Ass” sensor has a depth of field like film cameras, very shallow. (Which I have heard at various RED demos too.)

“Sorry to get all technical on you. I just really learned a lot from that part of the talk and sure wish I had recorded it for future reference! I definitely will call Aaron up at Moviola if I need to know any camera specs!

“I’ll just add that Wes Plate was very cool and funny and I did learn a lot about FCP and Avid and AE workflows from him. Good stuff.

“Also, shameless plug here. I was on the Digital Production Buzz tonight, should be archived soon for all to hear. Read my blog to get more of the info I wanted to say: http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net”

LAPPG is the Los Angeles Post Production Group and they meet every second Wednesday of the month at Allied Post Audio in Santa Monica. RSVP is required as space is VERY limited.

P.S. Don’t forget to call HD Expo to get a 20% discount on one of their two upcoming P2 camps:
Either April 19-20 in Las Vegas or August 6-7 in Los Angeles. Info here: http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net/?p=44

Just finished listening to the Filmmaking Central pre-NAB podcast (available here: http://filmmakingcentral.com/fmc2/) and it got me thinking about MY list of things to see and attend at this year’s NAB.  (Note: you can still use the promo code for a free Keynote and exhibit hall pass: http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net/?m=20090418&cat=84.)

First and foremost is the FCPUG NAB SuperMeet.  I’ve attended almost all of the LAFCPUG meetings this last year and I learn something new at every one.  January’s Macworld FCPUG SuperMeet was “off-the-hook”.  I enjoyed it so much that I made plans immediately to go to NAB’s FCPUG SuperMeet.  

Honestly, since hearing that Apple and RED and Avid were pulling out of NAB, I had no reason to go to NAB but I still decided to go to the FCPUG SuperMeet.  I just hoped that there would be some way to go to NAB via free passes from somewhere and lo and behold, NAB themselves offered up free promo codes.  Thus I’m going to attend my first NAB.

Since NAB is fronting the $150 exhibit pass, you should treat yourself to something extra, like a Super Sessions pass or specified training.  There really is a TON to do the week of April 18-23.  Not only just the NAB events but lots of related external events and parties.  Like HD Expo/Createasphere’s P2 Camp! (Get 20% off.  Details are here: http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net/?p=44)

Don’t let the name “National Association of Broadcasters” fool you.  There is a lot more to the event than that.  There is gaming, mobile and filmmaking too.  Yes, even Indie filmmaking!

The Super Sessions include:

Monday, April 20

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Disney & Adobe: Reinventing the Boundaries of Storytelling
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Independent Filmmaking — A Million Dollar Look on a Thousand Dollar Budget: 2009 Edition
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Henry Selick: Blending Classic and Digital Techniques for a Timeless Experience
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Alternative Stereoscopic 3D Content: The Next Breakout Hit?

Tuesday, April 21

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Rob Cohen: In Defense of the Action Film
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Cool Gadgets, Hot Content
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The Making of Battlestar Galactica: Or, How to Create a Dark, Desperate, Nihilistic Franchise in the Age of Comfort Food Television
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Mass Animation: Crowdsourced Creativity on the Social Networking Frontier
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Mobile Video Entertainment to Go

Wednesday, April 22

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Reality Check: The New Content Paradigmi
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Generations: Media Consumption Habits and Preferences
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Josh Schwartz: Creating in the New Media Landcape
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Personalized Content: Is It TV’s Next Given?

In addition to exhibits, there are a lot of other free NAB things to do.

There are book signings.  The book signings I recommend are:

Monday, April 20
12 – 12:30 p.m.
Larry Jordan Edit Well: Final Cut Studio Techniques from the Pros
2 – 2:30 p.m.
Norman Hollyn The Lean Forward Moment: Create Compelling
Stories for Film, TV, and the Web
3 – 3:30 p.m.
Stu Maschwitz The DV Rebel’s Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap

Stu will also be speaking at: Independent Filmmaking — A Million Dollar Look on a Thousand Dollar Budget: 2009 Edition Super Session

The complete book signing schedule is here:
http://www.nabshow.com/2009/attendee/booksigning.asp

My personal itinerary:
Monday, April 20:
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Independent Filmmaking — A Million Dollar Look on a Thousand Dollar Budget: 2009 Edition
2 – 2:30 p.m. — Book signing: Norman Hollyn The Lean Forward Moment: Create Compelling
Stories for Film, TV, and the Web
3 – 3:30 p.m. — Book signing: Stu Maschwitz The DV Rebel’s Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap
4:40 – 5 p.m. — Anthony Artis – Down and Dirty Filmmaking Crash Course” (FCPUG SuperBooth)
5:30 – 7:30 p.m. — NABTweetup (Luxor)
7 – 10 p.m. — MediaMotion Cafe (Money Plays)

Tuesday, April 21:

10 – 10:30 a.m. -– Rick Young – Affordable HD Overview (FCPUG SuperBooth)
11:20 – 12 p.m. -– Rob Birnholz – Building a Broadcast Promo in After Effects CS4 (FCPUG SuperBooth)
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. — Cool Gadgets, Hot Content
2 – 2:30 p.m. -– John Flowers – How Fast Are You, Really? (FCPUG SuperBooth)
4:30 – 11 p.m. — FCPUG NAB SuperMeet
One of the items on the agenda that I am most interested in seeing is:
Wounded Marines Careers Foundation
The current class from the Wounded Marines Careers Foundation in San Diego returns to the SuperMeet to show off thier latest video. I read about this foundation last year and it is amazing!

Wednesday, April 22

11 a.m. – 2 p.m. — Final Cut Studio Class by Promax (Palazzo)
3 – 11 p.m. — Reduser Party (Rio)

Interspersed among these days, I will also be visiting the FCPUG SuperBooth (#SL10129 in the South Hall) as they will be having all kinds of cool demos there. Also, hanging out at the ProMAX Digital Lounge, visiting the Digital Production Buzz booth and the Birns & Saywer booth (Central Hall C-3447), not to mention trying to see all the other exhibitors’ booths. This is going to be SOME event!

Hope to see you there!

This event is free & open to the public. No reservations necessary; seating is first-come, first-served.
Bring your questions for the audience Q&A to follow the discussion!

Click for more information.