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Previous coverage of this topic: http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/400

Further info, including a great technical breakdown of the format itself: http://www.mog-solutions.com/img_upload/PDF/MOG_SOLUTIONS_operational_patterns_NAB2007.pdf, discovered via Adobe Premiere CS5.5 Help on “Importing assets from tapeless formats”.

Given an iPhoto library on a Mac, how could/should it be used in combination with external storage such as a NAS?

• How copy files between them, e.g. where does iPhoto store / reference its content?
• Is there any way to set up iPhoto to automate/simplify backups or synchronisations?

Answers (I found / discovered by experiment):

• iPhoto stores photos in a specialised iPhoto Library object, kind of like a zipfile you can’t open or expand.
  • The full path is [/Users/xxxxxx/Pictures/iPhoto Library]
  • But the only practical use of that knowledge is that, via [Finder > Get Info], you can see the iPhoto Library object size change as you import etc. photos.
    • e.g. I tried it and initial size was “4.5 GB on disk (4,493,054,358 bytes)”, then after adding a few photos it increased to “4.51 GB on disk (5,501,769,018 bytes)”
• To import photos to iPhoto library:
  • iPhoto: [File > Import to Library]
    • It’s OK to select a folder
      • e.g. NAS had folder [20017_01_27], among others, under a[photos] folder.
  • But the imported photos were not grouped into Events.
  • Tried importing again and it highlighted that some were already in the library, gave option to skip them.
• backing-up the iPhoto library:
  • iPhoto Help
    • Use Time Machine
    • Use an iDisk
      • A “virtual disk” that is part of a MobileMe account.
    • Burn to DVD etc.
    • {Nothing about external drives}
    • {I guess then there is nothing in iPhoto specially suited to my wishes, so I just backup as I would any other stuff}

There is a wealth of information and advice at the following, e.g. covering basic camera alignment and calibration, camera-matching and green screens.

http://www.dsclabs.com/tech_tips.htm

• Using a DSC Chart
• “Real World Use of DSC’s Fairburn 3-D Chart”
• “Exposure for Sony S-Log with New DSC Chart”
• “Selecting Production Parameters to Ensure that Picture Quality Accommodates the Intended and Possible Future Imaging Systems”
  • Methodical approach to configuring the camera’s matrix.
• “Establishing a repeatable baseline reference”
  • Includes S-Log
• “Matching Multiple Cameras”
• “Skin tone Waveform Levels”
• “Compromise between Color Accuracy and Signal Noise”
  • While full saturation on all colors results in the most accurate color reproduction, it can introduce more noise than is acceptable for our purposes.
  • We have found that a reduction of about 20% in green and cyan saturation (moving the green and cyan signals 1/5 of the distance towards the center of the vectorscope) is a good compromise between color accuracy and signal noise.
• “Do You Waveform Monitor the Lutted Image or the S-Log?”
  • I waveform the S-Log, the LUTs on set can wack out the waveform … and …. are … for comfort viewing only.
  • The S-Log is my neg
• “Matching the Sony EX-1 with more costly Broadcast Camera’s”
  • Unless you have a calibrated monitor, calibrated chart that is correctly lit and so forth, you can tweak all you want and not come up with the result you would like.
  • One thing that is a must with HD is avoiding washed out high-lights
• “Continuous Light Sources”
  • There is a growing trend to use fluorescent, LED and discharge light sources for film and video production.
  • One of the problems faced by these light sources is the lack of continuous spectrum activity
• “Red One and CMOS Static”
  • Every time you change a lens on a digital camera such as the Red One, be sure to check the sensor for dust. The single CMOS sensor has a static charge that attracts dust (just like DSLRs).
  • When dust is left on the sensor it appears as a soft grey blob in the image. This is not always visible on small displays and might not be noticed unless you see your work on a large display or projector.
  • Use a loop {loup?}  to magnify the sensor before blowing gently with a blower bulb or compressed air.  If blowing won’t remove the dust, then use a brush designed to clean DSLR sensors, but use it with great care.
• “BackFocus”
  • when performing a “flange-back” adjustment (as Back Focus is sometimes called) the Iris should be FULLY OPEN (so that) the depth of field is minimized
• “Are Six Colors Enough?”
• “Varicam Detail”
• “Noise, Green, Cyan, and Saturation”
• “Tips on HD”
• “Motion Artifacts”
• “Green Screen Technique”
  • I light the screen to 55-60 units on the scope and then use the vectorscope to check and make sure I’ve got lots of saturation. I’ve always had success that way.
  • It’s really more about making sure there’s more green (by 30 or 40 units) in the screen than anywhere else in the image.
• “Creating a Look”
• “Aberration”
• “Color Bar Symmetry”

I have a project shot on a Sony EX3.  SO I have XDCAM-EX footage.

Opened an Adobe Premiere project, set its Sequence settings to XDCAM EX HQ 1080i50

• Wondered immediately what that implied.  Like OK the source is XDCAM-EX which is Mpeg2 encoding inside a MP4 container, but why does the Sequence care how the source is stored?  Surely it only needs to know things like the format is 1080i50 then it can store any intermediate files in DNxHD or Cineform or whatever Adobe prefers.  I am very confused by this kind of thing, just as I was in FCP.  Maybe it’s obvious or maybe “I think to much”.
• Adobe has a thing called Import and it can (I discovered) accept MP4 files from XDCAM-EX’s BPAV folder-structures (deep down within the CLIPR subfolder).  But I know that is a stupid way to go. The MP4 files are but the “essence” that is “stitched together” (mixed metaphors or what?) by the likes of SMIL and XML files.  It’s only at the latter level that smooth continuum happens.
• Enter Adobe Premiere’s Media Browser. I “knew” there had to be something like that.  I discovered it via http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/products/premiere/pdfs/cs5-premiere-pro-sonyxdcam-wfg.pdf which itself I discovered via Bing search on [sony xdcam-ex adobe premiere cs5.5 workflow].  OK to get XDCAM-EX footage into an Adobe Premiere project you do [WIndow >Media Browser] or else Shift-8, then don’t expect some window popping-up or anything, just instect the [Media Browser] tab at the lower-left of the GUI screen.  Drill-down to the required recording and double-click.  The media appears in a Source Preview window (I wonder but don’t mightily care what Adobe calls it).
  • OK I do care a bit really, and according to an Adobe video tutorial, it’s called a Source Monitor.
  • Initially it was too zoomed-in, presumably displayig at 1:1 (pixel).  ”Zoom to Fit” was but a right-click away…
• You can drag from Source Monitor to the Timeline or to other places.
• I tried that with some EX3 footage where I pan across the front of the famous Wembley Stadium, UK.  In Sony Vegas (my erstwhile “comfortable old shoe”) it snatches and drags.  In Adobe Premiere, as in Sony Clip Browser, it pans smoothly.  Guess where I’m heading…

Want a mobile “suitcase” editing system, something more (and more expandable) than a laptop but not too expensive.  Primarily to be used for Adobe CS5.5 for media enhancement / editing / compositing etc.

Nearest I found was NextDimension’s range around $7000 I think (but just guesswork - could be way off - would need to get a quote).   That would (if true) be around £4500 at current rates.  Plus import…  NextDimension call such machines “flextops” (Maybe they coined the term? Google searches on it mostly come up with them.)

Apart from the (mil/broadcast-lite but me-heavy) price, it might possibly be undesirably heavy to lug around much.   If so (just guessing, not assuming), it would make more sense to go for a modular quick-setup system.  So, starting to “think different” in this direction:

• Standard tower, capable of taking new CUDA etc. graphics cards etc. as they emerge, but no need for more than say a couple of disks, maybe if SSD could even get away with just a single disk? (For system and media - inadvisable for traditional disks of course, what about for SSD’s?  I have much to learn about SSD’s though).
• “Laptop-Lite” to talk to it.  With robust shuttered-stereoscopic HD monitor.
• Gigabit network to NAS fast storage (SSD and/or RAID ?).

Maybe in that case it would be far more logical/affordable to use an existing laptop as a client working together with a luggable tower server, sufficiently light and robust for frequent dis/re -connection and travel.  And remote access of course (no heavy data to be exchanged, assume that’s already sync’d).  And some means to easily swap/sync applications and projects (data) between laptop and tower, giving the option to use just the (old) laptop on its own if needed.  All such options are handy for the travelling dude (working on train, social visits etc.) who also occasionally has to do heavy processing.  Then would just need a protective suitcase for the tower, plus another one for a decent monitor for grading etc.

I certainly won’t be spending anything just yet, but it’s good to have at least some kind of “radar”.

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• http://www.cap.org.uk/Resource-Centre/Advice-and-guidance/Broadcast-guidance-and-help-notes/Advertising-guidance-notes/Advertising-guidance-1.aspx
  • From http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=794669&Replies=2
    • Is there a rule of thumb for the duration of text? Something like 1 second for every two words?

Looking for some user-friendly top-down explanation of sensible uses of AviSynth.

See Web-Research further below.

I expect to update this post. (more…)

DebugMode FrameServer (DMFS) can be made to work with Sony Vegas 8-10 on a Windows 7 64-bit system:

• http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=789939
• http://groups.google.com/group/frameserver-discuss/browse_thread/thread/167cd94d7bb48d30
• http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/332602-[Guide]-Using-DMFS-on-Windows7-64bit-(with-Sony-Vegas-Pro-10-64bit)

 Can the Canon D500 be connected to an external monitor?

Not tried it yet - need to purchase a HDMI Type C cable - but it sounds like one way or another it could be coaxed into doing so.  My web-research leading to this view (right or wrong) is below.

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I have a Vodafone USB Modem Stick (cell broadband dongle) which was obsolete even when I received it (free/gratuit).  Its design intention was you plugged it into a computer and, like some storage devices (e.g. memory sticks) the computer installed its driver software and you were ready to go.  In practice however it does not work either under Windows 7 or Mac OS Snow Leopard.  Some things report failure to install and/or the machine crashes if yoy try to boot up with the dongle already plugged in, or if plugged in after restart, a message requests further restart.  There is no way out into a state where it can perform its main function.

The dongle is a Vodafone K3765, which I have heard is actually an Icon 411 made by Option .  It will allegedly run on Windows 7 but not pay-as-you-go.

I wonder if a newer version of the dongle (and any associated application software or drivers) is available.  Then again, what’s the point if I can use the phone, especially as it’s less hassle all round (fewer technical complexities and hence possible issues, simpler purchasing all-in-one contract including data). Maybe I should just get it crushed?

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