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• http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/broadcast%20equipment%20hire.html
  • http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/broadcast-service-centre-ltd-14251216.html
    • http://www.bsc-online.co.uk/

• http://nofilmschool.com/2011/03/sony-f3-put-test-12-stops-dynamic-range/
  • (Regarding the) EX1 and EX3:
    • The standard-gamma knees work properly for uncolored highlights, but when a highlight has a strong chroma component, the knee shuts off prematurely, allowing colored highlights to suddenly blow out.
    • The degree of this blowout depends on the saturation of the highlight, and it only happens in standard gammas…
    • Cine gammas are not affected by the problem.
• http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/awilt/story/review_sony_pmw_ex3_removable_lens_1_2_3_cmos_hd_camcorder/P2/
  • Adam Wilt
    • (Elaborates on this and includes response graphs for blue-colored greyscale (bluescale) ?)

My previous Avid MC version was able to AMA-link to XDCAM-EX files, straight away, i.e. straight after installing MC.  However, having updated it to MC 5.5 (fresh install, not on top of older version) this no longer worked.  Reason: the camera-specific AMA Plugins (e.g. for Sony XDCAM) are no longer bundled with MC, you have to download and install it separately.

• http://www.avid.com/US/products/Avid-Media-Access/plug-ins
  •  Starting with Media Composer 5.5, Symphony 5.5, and NewsCutter 9.5, you’ll need to download and install the AMA plug-ins you want separately from your editing software (these plug-ins are no longer included in the installer except for the QuickTime AMA plug-in). This enables Avid and third-party camera manufacturers to update plug-ins outside of a software release. (If you’re using an older version of Avid editing software, some of these plug-ins may already be installed on your system—please see the system requirements, below, for compatibility details.)
    

    Downloads*

    • Canon XF 300 AMA plug-in (download)
    • Canon XF 305 AMA plug-in (download)
    • Ikegami GFCAM AMA plug-in (download)
    • MXF AMA plug-in (download)
    • Panasonic P2 AMA plug-in (download)
    • QuickTime AMA plug-in (installed with your software)
    • RED AMA plug-in (download)
    • Sony HDCAM SR Lite AMA plug-in (download)
    • Sony XDCAM/XDCAM EX AMA plug-ins (download)

How to ingest XDCAM-EX.  The following methods exist:

• Quick:
  • But this leaves it long-GOP and it remains outside AVid’s managed media database.
  • Avid AMA link to XDCAM-EX’s BPAV folder.
    • Avid: File > Link to AMA Volume (e.g. folder containing BPAV folder)
• Robust (or not?):
  • But this leaves it long-GOP and loses some metadata ?
    • http://dylanreeve.com/videotv/2009/xdcam-ex-workflow-in-avid.html
      • Basically if you import clips this way you are absolutely locked in to those specific media files. No backup will allow a recovery or relink, short of storing the actual files (exactly) as they are created in the Avid MediaFiles directory.
      • The easiest way to avoid this problem is actually to use the older process:
        • Using Clip Browsers ‘MXF for NLE’ export setting.
        • This will create OP-1A MXF files that you can then import into Media Composer
          • (the Avid will rewrap them as OP-Atom and relocate them to it’s media directory).
        • It is a slower process, but as it’s a standard import process all the necessary Metadata will be stored with the clips to allow a Batch Import later.
  • Rewrap to AAF (the “newr process”
    • http://dylanreeve.com/videotv/2009/xdcam-ex-workflow-in-avid.html
      • Essentially this method unwraps the MP4 XDCAM-EX files and re-wraps them as MXF Op-Atom (Avid’s mediafile container) and places those files directly into one of Avid’s media directories (such as F:\Avid MediaFiles\MXF\2) and then creates an AAF file that contains a clip describing that shot (basically the easiest way to get the shots into a bin).
    • ClipBrowser Help
      • [Export Avid AAF] converts to the following two file formats (AAF containing pointer(s) to MXF containing media).
        • AAF file: Use to load clips into Avid editing system.
          • The extension is AAF, and the output destination is the media or folder specified in the Export dialog.
          • AAF files produced by the conversion can be registered in your Avid editing system project by dragging from Windows Explorer to a bin in the project.
        • MXF OPAtom file:
          • The extension is mxf
          • The output destination is the media or folder specified in the Conversion tab of the User Configuration dialog.
            • Normally this is the media folder of your Avid editing system project.
    • http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/micro/xdcamex/downloads/Media_Composer_XDCAM_Workflow_v9_6.pdf (2009 article recommended on CreativeCow in 2010)
    • ClipBrowser: File > Export > Avid AAF
      • But first must define the Avid project’s media location?
        • [Avid MediaFiles/MXF/nn] where nn is an integer ?
        • e.g. [F:\Avid MediaFiles\MXF\2].
• Luxury ?:
  • Convert to DNxHD
    • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/75837/552748.aspx
      • If you do not have a Nitris DX system then you will have to transcode the material to DNXHD after import. I find that doing a rough cut in Native XDCAM will reduce the amount of material (and therefore time) that I have to transcode for final effects and finishing.
      • Clip Browser … not needed now that AMA is working great.
      • Use AMA to link to the clips/volume.
      • Take a look and edit instantly onto a sequence,
      • …or use the consolidate command to copy the clips at the native resolution into the AvidMediaFiles folder (aka Managed Media).
      • …or use the transcode command to import the clips at an AVID DNxHD resolution of your choosing.

(more…)

• http://www.videocorp.cl/minisitio/hdv/pdf%20HD/editores/
  • Covers Adobe, Avid, Final Cut, Sony Vegas.
  • But references Sony Clip Browser 2.0, a version which is well-superseded (I currently use 2.6).
• http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/micro/hdtapelessworkflow/brochures/25633_AVID_Media_Composer_R2.pdf
  • References Clip Browser 2.0+

The traditional degree of motion blur, broadly consistent with what the eye normally experiences, is obtained by using around 1/50 sec shutter (no problem in practice for shutter speeds 1/48-1/60).  What shutter setting (mode /value combination) can best achieve this for different shooting modes, e.g. 25p, 50i, 50p ?  I am no expert on this but from my web-search I assume the following:

• For progressive modes around 25-30p, where light level allows, use Shutter On.
  • But for double-rate progressive (50p-60p),  use shutter-off.
• For interlaced modes or double-rate progressive or for low light situations, use Shutter Off.
  • In interlaced modes, Shutter Off is equivalent to 1/50 or 1/60 (depending if 50i or 60i)
• Warning about Angles: in Interlaced modes, “180 shutter” acts more like a 135 shutter.
  • The “Angles” option is really aimed at film veterans, who by definition only use progressive.

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http://marvelsfilm.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/marvels-ex1-and-ex3-profile-settings-for-filmic-look/

Great article:

• http://marvelsfilm.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/all-new-sony-ex1-picture-profile-for-cinematic-look/
  • “(These are) picture-settings that are tailored to my personal taste, with post-processing in mind. I’ve been able to use shots right out of the camera without the need for CC, but it does ask for contrast adjustment to taste.”
  • “…the matrix corrections in the first profile are to compensate for the green hue the IR filter casts, even after taken a white balance. I use the fluorescent light matrix, simply because it does exactly two things to the picture (and in measurements) that this specific camera demands; it remove the “green Sony hue” and it is the lowest-noise matrix. It shifts the colour balance towards red/magenta, removing the green hues and preventing your cast from looking terminally ill.”
  • “I use Cine 1 gamma almost exclusively because it’s clearly the most lownoise gamma. I sometimes use Cine 4 indoors with low / existing light. …adjust Gamma on a per-scene basis.”

I worried about and noticed in practice an effect where if I was using CINE gammas on the XDCAM-EX and exposed for faces at 70% (by zebras) then the gamma rolloff would result in “pasty-face” appearance.  It does …and did…  The solution for good looking faces is one of the following:

• Under-expose in shoot, raise in post.
• proper-expose in shoot, use standard gamma (not cine gamma), be careful not to let the face hit the knee (?) e.g. set knee to 90% or 95%.
•  take a given gamma curve (or even a flat standard one) and tweak it using gamma level & black-stretch adjustments etc. until it fits the scene.

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Someone noticed that XDCAM-EX footage imported to FCP appeared different as compared to Avid (AMA import).  Addressed in an Avid forum thread started May 2010, referring to FCP 6.06 and Avid 4.02: http://community.avid.com/forums/p/84153/473798.aspx

• What AMA gives is, is _exactly_ what the camera has captured. What FCP shows you, is a remapped image, most often with a gamma shift. 
  • (For Avid AMA imports, Avid settings for RGB or 601 etc. make no difference - it’s always as-recorded).
  • … imports (to FCP) will look different (to expected), because FCP/QT “corrects” the gamma when bringing in footage (even if you would not want that).
• Most people seem to agree that FCP works in 0-235, not 0-255, not 16-235. And without the option to leave things untouched. So if you import something into FCP, there’s no getting it back to the original levels anymore.

I guess I’d better do some experiments with ramps & scopes etc…