tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88918218386667746022024-02-21T00:15:41.187-06:00Tim_Kolb-Tech_BlogTim Kolb's thoughts on
media production technology, techniques, and how in the world
to keep moving forward through the
swamp of data about our tools to
the point where we can just get some
work done...Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-30261504033939268862013-11-05T22:13:00.000-06:002013-11-05T22:13:26.469-06:00Color Subsampling Notation<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's time to return to this blog and I'm getting started by taking some of the most popular posts and updating them and featuring content that still sparks conversations like one I had today with a friend and colleague that inspired me to revisit this post (I originally posted this topic in 2008).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Color Subsampling gets confused with color precision (8 bits per channel, 10 bits per channel, etc.) and color channels (Does 4:2:0 mean there isn't ANY Cr channel samples?).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In actuality, the number is really best characterized as a ratio. (click on the chart for a large visual)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Wvp22gnBqdcyDrcd-Sb2TFn5uOE0C7kEVfN4uWH3XybUlQ4Hx9Y8kwPhyphenhyphenxp6LRpqznPKtNYe65dQSUJuvi3kEhK4zqsFEmPHyoWRba7sKcoFeJtYrYqQZtD3qIxkWEl5nhMLz9CzniF/s1600/GKChart+Color+Subsample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Wvp22gnBqdcyDrcd-Sb2TFn5uOE0C7kEVfN4uWH3XybUlQ4Hx9Y8kwPhyphenhyphenxp6LRpqznPKtNYe65dQSUJuvi3kEhK4zqsFEmPHyoWRba7sKcoFeJtYrYqQZtD3qIxkWEl5nhMLz9CzniF/s320/GKChart+Color+Subsample.jpg" width="169" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“4” in the first slot is easiest to think of as representing the baseline of four pixels (and these ratios only apply to digital video signals). The first number represents the first channel of the RGB or Y'CbCr group.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The second number and third number are frequently thought to represent the remaining two channels, but actually the second number refers to the sampling frequency of both the second and third channels <span style="font-style: italic;">horizontally</span> and the third number was originally intended to indicate the sampling frequency of both <span style="font-style: italic;">vertically</span>, though the system was developed without really considering vertical subsampling systems like 4:2:0. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the current system, the third number is either the same as the second number as in 4:2:2 and 4:1:1 indicating no vertical subsampling…all the vertical color difference samples are there in each column that has a horizontal color difference sample. In ratios where the third number is zero, the “0” indicates that there is a 2:1 vertical subsample in addition to the horizontal color difference subsample.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:4:4</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A designation of 4:4:4 would mean that there is a discreet sample for each of three color channels making up the signal for every pixel. While this could apply to either RGB or Y'CbCr used for video, 4:4:4 would <span style="font-style: italic;">most</span> often be seen with an RGB signal, but 4:4:4 <span style="font-style: italic;">could </span>refer to a Y'CbCr color sampling scheme </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">RGB does not subsample one color channel in relation to another, so 4:2:2 (or 4:1:1, etc...) would never refer to RGB.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:2:2</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This number is most prevalent in high-end video formats and refers to a discrete sample for Y’ (luma) on every pixel and samples for each color difference signal is sampled at one value for every two pixels. While in theory this sounds like the elimination of a lot of information (a third actually) compared to 4:4:4, the human eye prioritizes the detail in the luma portion of the image and most humans would be hard pressed to see the difference between a color Y’ CB CR image in 4:4:4 and one in 4:2:2. In fact, 4:2:2 is good enough that most video types that are designated as “uncompressed” are actually color subsampled at 4:2:2.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:1:1</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NTSC DV introduced us to this aggressive, lossy color subsampling scheme. For every four Y’ samples horizontally, there is only one sample for Cb and Cr. This creates a 4x1 four pixel horizontal “block” with common color difference values, though each pixel has a discreet Y’ value so the pixels aren’t identical. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While DV footage was used extensively, even in broadcasting, it can be a challenge for special effects and compositing as chroma keying and green and blue screen work requires a lot of subtle tonal variations to recognize irregular vertical edges. Canopus and Matrox each created custom methods of decode for DV to attempt to improve (effectively interpolating to 4:2:2) the four pixel horizontal spread for better keying, and many software keyers have similar measures in place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's interesting to note that even though 4:2:0 subsampling is thought by many to be somewhat inferior to 4:1:1, 4:2:0 (compression set aside from color subsample for a moment) can actually be slightly easier to composite or key as there is only one pixel of interpolated value in either the vertical or horizontal direction, while 4:1:1 interpolates 3 pixel values horizontally.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:2:0</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PAL DV users and anyone who outputs to MPEG has seen this number. Many people find it confusing at first as it appears the notation as a Y’ sample for each pixel, a Cb sample for every two pixels, and no samples whatsoever for Cr. In reality, there are the same number of color difference samples as NTSC DV with the pixels arranged differently. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also confusing: all the color difference sample sites for the various approaches to 4:2:0 are not standard. (see chart) JPEG/MPEG-1 structures the samples so that they’re sited in the center of the four pixel block. MPEG-2 sites the samples between pixels vertically, and PAL DV sites the difference samples on alternating lines. Even with the color difference samples sited differently for different applications of 4:2:0, you could say there are still four pixel blocks that net out to the same amount of color difference samples as 4:1:1 and simply picture these 4 pixel “blocks” as square (2x2) instead of a horizontal line (4x1) like NTSC DV’s 4:1:1.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4:2:2:4, 4:4:4:4</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As if all this isn’t complicated enough…you could add a number. 4:2:2:4 or 4:4:4:4 refer to 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 color sampling with the addition of an alpha channel for keying purposes. The fourth channel would carry an 8 bit or 10 bit (depending on the image format) grayscale map indicating relative transparency of each pixel in the image. The alpha number is always the same as the Y' sample.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">3:1:1</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This ratio appeared during the period of HDCAM's introduction. Playback is 1920x1080, but actually record 1440x1080 to tape. In my opinion the most confusing aspect is not so much that there is a different baseline number, but whether or not that number is a proportion of “4” in itself as 1440/1920 is 3 of 4. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The interpolation to 1920x1080 4:2:2 (this is how the manufacturer presents the specs on the playout picture) and the color difference subsampling ratio of 3:1:1 are separate issues and their mathematical scale to full raster 1920x1080 is most likely coincidental. 3 equates to 1440 horizontal Y’ samples and 1 is a ratio to 3 designating 480 horizontal color difference samples. This notation is NOT on the chart as it does not exist anywhere but in file storage, and the end user can only access HDCAM footage as 4:2:2 SDI output without a proprietary post solution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we continue to see new formats and frame sizes, we'll continue to see new approaches to storing and encoding images, but the color subsampling notations will likely stay in place for the foreseeable future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TimK</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-68063321174540096292012-07-21T03:38:00.000-05:002012-07-21T03:43:38.468-05:00A Brisk Start for Adobe's Production Premium CS6<a href="http://www.hdcamteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-CS6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.hdcamteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-CS6.jpg" width="200" /></a>Well, Adobe has now had CS6 out for several months and at least Premiere Pro already seems to be generating more buzz than even the CS5 release...and frankly that's saying something.<br />
<br />
Only time will tell if Premiere Pro may have reached the feature and function set that will really gain traction in the higher end entertainment sector of the industry, but I suspect you'll be surprised at the amount of entertainment and feature production that will be attributed to Premiere Pro in the next year.<br />
<br />
The new release of Premiere Pro has been keeping me busy as well...I've spent some time on the phone with production facilities around the USA who are changing their workflow to switch to Premiere Pro, which has been an interesting study in having to change how you even think about what it is you do, much less just how you do it. <br />
<br />
I'm scheduled to train U.S. military personnel who are migrating to Adobe for their work in combat camera in just a couple weeks, I've been in the studio to do my Class On Demand training course for Premiere Pro...and my fxphd.com class - "PRM203, Intermediate Premiere Pro CS6" is under way. I've also wedged in some time to do the technical editing on two books...one being Adobe's Classroom in a Book for Premiere Pro CS6, and another for Focal that isn't released yet.<br />
<br />
I've also had a spike in production lately and I have to say that even as a long time Premiere Pro user, I like the changes that Adobe is making...The new keyboard shortcuts may be different, some features have changed, but the changes feel good and I have to say that this software feels pretty nimble relative to CS5...which was no slouch.<br />
<br />
More to come on Premiere Pro in coming days, but I will point out that the blog archives are still available by keyword over to the right and down the page. I still get regular requests for the color sub-sampling and vectorscope articles particularly.<br />
<br />
TimK<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-4915207593054605572011-07-01T11:17:00.004-05:002011-07-07T20:31:16.895-05:00Continuity or Innovation? FCPX makes the trade.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.apple.com/finalcutpro/images/faq_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.apple.com/finalcutpro/images/faq_icon.jpg" /></a></div>Well, all the buzz about the coming out party for FCPX is starting to appear to actually be a surprise for Apple as FCP users have now triggered an unprecedented <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/234812/apple_offers_refunds_for_unhappy_final_cut_pro_x_users.html">refund-due-to-disappointment operation</a> at the app store...even the recent "I need to hold my iPhone with a BBQ tongs in order to get decent call clarity" debacle now seems tame in comparison.<br />
<br />
When well-respected <a href="http://www.postmagazine.com/Press-Center/Daily-News/2011/Larry-Jordan-on-FCPX-controversy-things-are-cert.aspx">FCP advocates like Larry Jordan need to publish statements</a> to their user-brethren to clarify the limitations on their involvement in a software release, and <a href="http://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi">Walter Biscardi immediately starts to share his journey to an alternate application</a>, I think it's clear that the development philosophy, if not the majority of the process wasn't really opened to the installed user base for discussion, even though apparently Apple did solicit input. As Michael Wohl, an FCP user who had pre-release access to FCPX put it in a <a href="http://www.postmagazine.com/Press-Center/Daily-News/2011/BLOG-The-first-LAFCPUG-meeting-since-the-release.aspx">recent LAFCPUG meeting</a> demo, he submitted "pages of notes...", then indicating none seemed to have been used.<br />
<br />
While I have to admit that as a bit of a software advocate myself for a competitive product, I can relate to the feeling you're not being taken seriously when you're asked for this type of input...however, depending on the company, a user asked for input may not be completely informed of larger company plans or initiatives, either because of corporate confidentiality, or even just because the company may be interested in a completely unbiased perspective.<br />
<br />
In any case, the reaction of shock on the part of users seems odd as Apple is known for decisive innovation, as well as pretty effective feature-set intuition when it comes to creating products that are popular and profitable. Apple's genius has never been so much in knowing what the market wants as much as it has been in persuading the market that what Apple has is what the market wants. Steve Jobs himself has been quoted multiple times uttering statements that are various iterations of "Customers usually know what they want when you show it to them..." In my opinion, Apple's track record indicates this cannot possibly be a significantly flawed philosophy.<br />
<br />
In the case of FCPX, Apple has made a move to get into position for the "everybody will edit video" marketplace and I think that they'll likely see revenues in a couple years that will validate their fundamental revamp in FCP's operating philosophy from a stockholder benefit perspective. <br />
<br />
However, when a company decides to change their market target, that effort can be especially clumsy when the existing customer segment they've been highly publicizing as an indication of their product's legitimacy is actually part of the casualties. Apple has been standing on the shoulders of their vast installed base of professional Final Cut Pro users who edit high profile entertainment projects in network television and film to show proof of their established legitimacy for the last couple years as their users have been waiting for some sort of significant upgrade. Apple's customers (who have a brand loyalty that is likely the envy of any business in any market) have been some of the most effective promoters of the Final Cut Pro application, even as it has been left behind in features and versatility by its competitors in the years since its last significant release.<br />
<br />
Final Cut Pro's installed base bought it some time, as Avid's installed base did 5 years before. Even as it became obvious during the "DV years" that multiple players in the industry had passed Avid in feature set and cost-effectiveness, Avid wasn't completely out of the race until a significant portion of their users got frustrated enough to undergo considerable stress to change platforms...not something a professional facility can do spontaneously.<br />
<br />
However, after spending their "customer base inertia" capital buying a couple years of customer patience, Apple created a new piece of software. No upgrades. No legacy version project loading. Existing FXplug-ins (a completely new plugin standard for Apple alone that the industry was forced to comply with, introduced a few short years and one version ago) aren't compatible. <br />
<br />
To top it all off, the new "professional" application not only looks like Apple's consumer editing application, it's actually project-compatible with it. While this iMovie compatibility isn't a cardinal sin, it certainly is an embarrassing feature to have front-and-center for a customer base and a company that has traditionally been so professional image-conscious up to now.<br />
<br />
Ryan from FilmRiot in this clip sees the iMovie compatibility and legacy FCP version incompatibility as a "...big middle finger to professional editors signed: Apple..." and it gets more entertaining from there:<br />
<br />
<embed ="" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" class="rev3PlayerEmbed" height="312" quality="high" src="http://revision3.com/player-v8343" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="555"></embed><br />
<br />
<br />
Is what Apple did wrong? <br />
<br />
Apple is a business and businesses make money, and Apple has shown that they know how to do that. <br />
<br />
Is what Apple did foolish? <br />
<br />
I think if even professional editors are honest with themselves, the combination of more varied and shallow markets for video content developing simultaneously with a significant cultural shift toward media literacy can't possibly be ignored as a force in moving video creation "down-market." Odds are that in a short time, Apple will see revenue figures that endorse their re-targeting efforts.<br />
<br />
Does FCPX change the professional post market?<br />
<br />
I think so.<br />
<br />
Adobe Premiere loads projects from versions that are ancient, even in cases where not all the features translate, you can still load the basic project and revise or update it. I get calls from clients to do this with regularity, and I don't think my business is that unique. Avid makes efforts to maintain backward compatibility. This is how you keep a massive user base massive in the professional world. Does it restrict how far you can jump from version to version? I would think it would have to, but if you are creating a product for professional use, that product's ability to keep productive continuity flowing and therefore keep your customer's groceries paid for, is the most critical feature that product has. <br />
<br />
Apple allows a user to run their legacy version of FCP along with FCPX on the same machine (since it's not an "upgrade" I don't see how it could work any other way...), but previous versions of FCP are no longer for sale <i>(Edit: 7/7/11 it now appears that Apple will offer FCP7 for sale again...for those who wish to buy additional seats before it's permanently EOL'd). </i>Of course the way Apple upgrades hardware and their OS, it's not likely that FCP legacy will operate on Apple systems all that far into the future. <br />
<br />
FCPX is enough of a philosophical and operational departure that FCP users will have to take some time to adapt...but the clock is ticking as the next Apple OS revision in a year will sneak up fast, not to mention big changes in the media architecture (QuickTime) are moving forward...<br />
<br />
While all this might be on-plan for Apple's ultimate goals, it will have to change its marketing pitch for its new editing system as the user names and faces it's been putting out there to be the image and reputation of its professional editing product appear to be left standing outside the new target area for FCPX.<br />
<br />
...and it doesn't seem like the fact is lost on anyone that iMovie projects load in FCPX and the features and television programs edited in FCP projects previous...load in Adobe Premiere Pro.<br />
<br />
I thought it interesting that Michael Horton of the <a href="http://www.postmagazine.com/Press-Center/Daily-News/2011/BLOG-The-first-LAFCPUG-meeting-since-the-release.aspx">Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User's Group was quoted as concluding the recent meeting</a> with some at least partial humor: "...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;">LAFCPUG has never been about just FCP; we're about the craft of editing, the art of editing — no matter what tool you use. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;">We just draw the line at PCs."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;">Um...OK...perhaps the name of the user group may need revision? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;">MMSG perhaps? (The Mac Myopia Support Group) </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;">TimK</span>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-907003592573372422011-04-21T10:05:00.001-05:002011-04-21T11:43:32.017-05:00Apple's 'Sneak Peek' offers a few answers, but lots of questions.Well, we finally know what Apple's been working on during the last couple years while Final Cut Pro users have been waiting and wondering... They offered a glimpse of the new "Final Cut Pro X" on the Supermeet stage they appropriated from their various industry partners one week prior to the event.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/22329493">Emmanuel Pampuri has the presentation, captured from the audience, on Vimeo...</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #929388; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
<br />
I will say that Apple is certainly capable of creating more marketing momentum from small amounts of precisely applied information than any company in any business that I've ever seen. I don't think that it is overstating the situation to say that this is their genius.<br />
<br />
In this case the momentum seems divided between two camps. There are those who look at what little they saw and imply a "prosumer direction" due to the streamlined interface and its similarity to iMovie...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/22516941">Scott Simmons compares the iMovie and FCPX "magnetic timelines..."</a><br />
<br />
There are those who have anointed FCPX as "the future of editing..."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.videomaker.com/community/videonews/2011/04/10420-videomaker-nab-2011-awards-announced/">Videomaker magazine declares FCPX "Best Editing Software of NAB 2011"</a><br />
<br />
...I guess there wasn't a category for "Best Keynote Presentation Showing Screen Grabs of Software that Doesn't Exist Yet.".<br />
<br />
I'd say that the jury will be out until we see something we can at least test drive. QuickTime has been left to seed as the first computer company with a 64 bit OS now needs to completely gut its 32 bit media architecture 8 years later, so the changes coming from Apple will undoubtedly be significant.<br />
<br />
I for one don't believe that a streamlined interface is a blatant cue that the application will lack the sophistication a professional needs...but then I also believe that presenting "background rendering" as if it's cutting edge technology when it was a feature in Pinnacle editing software nearly a decade ago (before Avid acquired them), is pure Apple, playing catch up without ever losing the swagger.<br />
<br />
One thing is certain, it's nearly impossible to find a neutral opinion on what transpired during the presentation, which keeps the industry buzzing...which is what illustrates the genius in not revealing too much, but tossing a few hints out to seed the prognostication of Apple's motivations, intentions, and direction.<br />
<br />
Hopefully the buzz level stays high enough that they get the bounce they'd like at release as no matter what Apple's charts say about their user base growth and market share, Avid and Adobe are gaining ground every day that there isn't a freshly minted Final Cut Pro version to evaluate.<br />
<br />
Of course, once Apple's media architecture starts experiencing version 1 bumps in the road, look for Apple's computer platform to get some scrutiny as Microsoft's Windows 7 builds on an already fairly solid start...<br />
<br />
That's all I've got as my crystal ball is starting to fog up...<br />
<br />
TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-31049289033448388152011-04-02T17:14:00.001-05:002011-06-30T00:49:03.615-05:00NAB 2011...let the insanity begin.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqgtNMBiBt_XNKSFkpbKK1-Q5MjYVIaQ-GvzX1nDsXSiJLPE7mKYxcQjKJU-IF9vxIvTJkh5uPoO0geDO9mSwRYKsvNJM_TcB6rpl1XFmw-iKDG2LQJSSXcIGZLIEAjeopRGiyfN_k0Zw/s1600/NABShow2011_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqgtNMBiBt_XNKSFkpbKK1-Q5MjYVIaQ-GvzX1nDsXSiJLPE7mKYxcQjKJU-IF9vxIvTJkh5uPoO0geDO9mSwRYKsvNJM_TcB6rpl1XFmw-iKDG2LQJSSXcIGZLIEAjeopRGiyfN_k0Zw/s1600/NABShow2011_Logo.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://expo.nabshow.com/mynabshow2011/public/Booth.aspx?BoothID=117732&FromPage=nz_ALExhibitorSearch.aspx&IndexInList=40"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">Visit me in the AJA Video Systems booth SL4420</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">OK...one week and counting until the National Association of Broadcasters tradeshow in Las Vegas and things are already starting to look interesting...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">GoPro buys CineForm.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.cineform.com/pdfs/GoPro%20acquires%20CineForm%20PR%20Final_1.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Press Release</span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjbhFE-up4iAVZ8VWNbPTgM9DJzQ6U3lCU_opjQeLs6W110K0aP5aZ9BH7nEYBdolv1Po6OuZ1BX_3fQCv_mkrmxCpigqCdt34OQeWeDHk70S5WhmBIZVtK_PC_1u0JqfT9Gj03hcI9uP/s1600/GoPro_HDHero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="163" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjbhFE-up4iAVZ8VWNbPTgM9DJzQ6U3lCU_opjQeLs6W110K0aP5aZ9BH7nEYBdolv1Po6OuZ1BX_3fQCv_mkrmxCpigqCdt34OQeWeDHk70S5WhmBIZVtK_PC_1u0JqfT9Gj03hcI9uP/s200/GoPro_HDHero.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I own 5 <a href="http://gopro.com/products/">GoPro POV</a> cameras which <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/08/fun-doesnt-have-to-be-hd.html">I originally bought for automotive work</a>, then started to use them for various other things...I really like them and they are an incredible piece of equipment for the money.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1BoxRdBAjoQccb630jaOiFB7fVCYBZxNnHlefUgJnYeXdMtgy4CwyMZW6MfpH-yirol7a-xpMlmgTQcKArM5-0rDW5dVsQQPrP5bgwIL0Xwft5xg-C-geVsnaSqP7rcu6Cj4H7wSMwG3/s1600/CineForm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1BoxRdBAjoQccb630jaOiFB7fVCYBZxNnHlefUgJnYeXdMtgy4CwyMZW6MfpH-yirol7a-xpMlmgTQcKArM5-0rDW5dVsQQPrP5bgwIL0Xwft5xg-C-geVsnaSqP7rcu6Cj4H7wSMwG3/s1600/CineForm.jpg" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYMSQeG-yM8CfI2zI-5tibU5U74RGCQEuiEb_eVnReWlZpJIKaeKNJ9IrL5xJNDqQPU-480rGXy7WyXnbZsxfjNeOcWBLnNjPZlQ373W-MIzjb6y5fM4tIlEcW8DFEQyEl7QOyEVdvgEX/s1600/CineForm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I use <a href="http://www.cineform.com/">CineForm Intermediate</a> codecs for many purposes within various HD post production workflows and have for years. It's an excellent, efficient, and very high quality video compression system that has in the last few years, also become one of the industry's truly useful metadata management systems. One benefit of using CineForm's workflow is the ability to use their primary color correction system along with the rest of the metadata management tools in their application called "<a href="http://techblog.cineform.com/?cat=102">FirstLight</a>", including the ability to do alteration of visual stereo (3D) settings on CineForm's industry-leading file structure which puts the right and left eye video clips inside the same video file.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>(Disclaimer: I wrote the current manual for FirstLight as well as use the application regularly...I will not claim complete objectivity...though there are almost no competing tools to compare it to...)</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">GoPro has been selling their cameras to almost every conceivable user at every level of video production from a teenage BMX racer or skateboard performer to professional video production. CineForm has been focused on several professional production markets as well as video enthusiasts to some extent, but with the CineForm RAW format being used in the Silicon Imaging SI2K camera (and therefore figuring prominently in the production of the movies "<a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/02/slumdog-millionaire-wins-best.html">Slumdog Millionaire</a>" and more recently "<a href="http://www.videography.com/article/99264">127 Hours</a>") and also providing a convenient post path for the <a href="http://www.red.com/">RED camera</a>, CineForm's sweetest sweet spot is probably higher end more than anything.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So who saw <a href="http://www.cineform.com/pdfs/GoPro%20acquires%20CineForm%20PR%20Final_1.pdf">GoPro's purchase of CineForm</a> coming? Not me. I've been working withn CineForm products and even working with the company for a number of years and with 5 GoPro cameras and additional GoPro mounting widgets for nearly any circumstance, I can at least characterize myself as a loyal customer on that end of the spectrum, and I would not have guessed this one.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">GoPro's upcoming stereo (3D) offering was shown in prototype form at NAB 2010 and I am sure that CineForm's elegant handling of visual stereo figures prominently into the general landscape of the situation.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A couple things are certain. GoPro's business track record speaks for itself. A product line that has only recently really had any marketing push beyond us users pointing other users toward the product has built an impressive enterprise which seems to have a very clear view of their market's needs and expectations. CineForm has been cranking out impressive technical innovations for a number of years now and their video codec and workflow plays a quiet role in many little known but high-stakes workflows.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The possibilities for this unlikely marriage boggle the imagination...hopefully the realities coming are just as tantalizing...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">TimK</div>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-57017436649206310502011-01-26T11:43:00.006-06:002011-01-26T13:31:27.740-06:003D Viewing "Not Necessarily Bad" -American Optometric Association<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nintendo.com/images/3ds/home/hardware_blue.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 421px; height: 387px;" src="http://www.nintendo.com/images/3ds/home/hardware_blue.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The American Optemetric Association has apparently pointed out that viewing entertainment content (television, movies, games) is not necessarily a bad thing for young children.<div><br /></div><div>This was apparently all triggered by <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/3ds?pid=nintendo3ds_google_nintendo3ds_dsplatform">Nintendo's</a> warning label on their new <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/3ds?pid=nintendo3ds_google_nintendo3ds_dsplatform">3DS hand held gaming system</a> (google translated version <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/3DSevents/info.html">here</a> ).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://blog.broadcastengineering.com/3-D/2011/01/21/american-optometric-association-says-viewing-3-d-not-necessarily-bad/">Michael Grotticelli's January 21st entry</a> in his <a href="http://broadcastengineering.com/">Broadcast Engineering.com</a> blog brought this to my attention...and it's an important topic for me as a parent...and as a content creator.</div><div><br /></div><div>The gamer site <a href="http://www.1up.com/news/eye-specialists-disagree-3ds-warning">1up.com also has an article</a> taking it even farther, quoting a <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/eye-specialists-question-nintendos-warning-on-3-d-technology-and-children/">New York Times article</a> that describes studies using Rhesus monkeys, subjecting one group to constant 3D content for 3 months versus a control group that didn't showed no difference in visual development. It leaves out any findings in the way of the ability of the 3D viewing monkeys to ever get a life, a job or to move out of their parent's basement...but I digress.<br /><div><div><br /></div><div>I'll go on record as having had some concerns about the long term effects of viewing 3D content in marathon gaming sessions, or even several feature films back-to-back (Star Wars 1-6 if it were all in stereo on a rainy weekend for instance...) on young children. My 11 year old son certainly seems to become hearing-challenged when he's in a particularly prickly HALO scenario and my wife is calling the family to report for dinner...</div><div><br /></div><div>With the nature of gaming and "forced" or synthetic 3D, it seems that 3D animation for gaming is probably the most cost-effective area to add stereo imaging in all of entertainment. Adding a render camera to a 3D animation to provide the other stereo "eye" is far easier and faster than adding, syncing, and managing a second camera on a feature shoot...at least for the moment. Kids (and some adults of course, though with less concern for visual "development") tend to play games for hours on end. What effect will this have long-term? Particularly in cases where a child may not have an athletic or otherwise physically "active" life in addition to their interests in things competitive, but virtual?</div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't find the particular findings that Grotticelli was referring to on the <a href="http://www.aoa.org/">AOA site</a> (not that I'm challenging it, just that "trust but verify" thing is the only Reagan-era strategy that really grabbed me...), but there are several other articles I could find.</div><div><br /></div><div>First, an article on how many people have vision imperfections that at the least, prevent them from perceiving the difference between visual stereo and standard imaging, and at worst give them the headaches, nausea, etc that are mentioned by some people who view stereo (3D) content:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.aoa.org/">AOA.org</a> : <a href="http://www.aoa.org/x15123.xml">"...Not Everyone Can See What All the Hype is About"</a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; text-transform: uppercase;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>And second, an article that reminds us of the inability of children to judge when to stop doing something enjoyable, often past the point of apparent exhaustion.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.aoa.org/">AOA.org</a> : <a href="http://www.aoa.org/x5379.xml">Impact of Computer Use on Children's Vision</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Bottom line? I'm probably not nearly as informed as I should be if my goal was to lead you toward some specific conclusion. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact remains that human stereo vision and the way a human brain processes input has to be affected at some level by viewing stereo visual material as when that edit comes where we change from a close up to an establishing shot of the next sequence, our brain sees that we are changing from focusing on something closeup to something far away, but our eyes don't re-converge at all as the actual image plane we focus on is stationary. Does this help eye-brain cooperative function, or cause it to "disconnect" to maintain immersion in the experience? We move from place to place, and change our focus from point to point, but it's all done for us as the focal point remains the reflected, emitted, or transmitted image plane we are viewing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Am I saying I'm opposed to 3D movies and entertainment? Absolutely not.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm saying we all need to be aware of the long term impact of any activity that we repeat often enough whether it's carpal tunnel issues from typing, health or safety issues from drinking (I'm a Single Malt Scotch guy myself), or the effects on our visual acuity and development from viewing our entertainment content in 3D.</div><div><br /></div><div>...and criticism of Nintendo for issuing a common-sense warning on their products in a world where most of us can't even eat in a way that keeps us healthy, seems absurd.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>TimK</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-60989373523230102332010-11-27T12:18:00.004-06:002010-11-27T12:39:36.558-06:002010...Moving, teaching, but not bloggingHi all,<div><br /></div><div>I just wanted to reach back to the blog and get going with writing again...</div><div><br /></div><div>I know the entire year has past and things have been busy with Adobe releasing CS5 to the world and all the training commitments that came with that...</div><div><br /></div><div>I have two CS5 training DVDs available from <a href="http://www.classondemand.net">Class On Demand</a>, one is an <a href="http://www.classondemand.net/media/adobe-training/gscs5.aspx">introduction to the CS5 Production Premium Suite</a> product, and the other, <a href="http://www.classondemand.net/media/adobe-training/PProCS5.aspx">a deeper look at Premiere Pro CS5 </a>itself.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've also been teaching <a href="http://www.fxphd.com/courseInfo.php#PRM201">Premiere Pro CS5 at FXPHD.com</a>, we're on the second term now, and I think that there are a lot of people seeing what Adobe Premiere Pro is really capable of for the first time.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a very short couple of weeks, I'll be doing a free webinar for BorisFX, so look for that...</div><div><br /></div><div>AND... I'll be picking up the blogging function again. </div><div><br /></div><div>2011 here we come...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>TimK</div>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-67386136032635280892010-01-19T11:24:00.003-06:002010-01-19T11:35:44.275-06:00Back from some time off......well, not really time off. I've been in production, but away from the blog.<br /><br />I'll be taking a look at GoPro's new HD POV cameras (I just got a pair within the last few weeks), so stay tuned for that...<br /><br />And also, be mindful that the frequency allocation shifts are happening this year and those of you with wireless instrument or microphone transmitters that use frequencies in the range between 698-806MHz are supposed to be dark by June 12, 2010. <br /><br />Lectrosonics has a take on it which is largely self-evident in it's title: <a href="http://www.lectrosonics.com/PressReleases/whitespace/whitespace.htm">"The Sky Is NOT Falling!"</a><br /><br />More coming in 2010...I had just gotten used to writing "2009" on my checks. A sure sign of aging I'm afraid.<br /><br />TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-29806001579564652362009-11-26T12:00:00.003-06:002009-11-26T12:12:58.286-06:00December 5th, New York, RED Workflow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6YZzGeDDuMuv_b-4JNtI99FdQW_2hfHm381ZAjAiiaErTFaKqHN-q4Xjh93jT2SoK7pXKiC3ZR1igPfWsEP0lDkUZuIPjyYZlNzYEKpm4EdBKMRtSljAPowuF7sA_TmWxOUhD4-uMD2i/s1600/RED+Camera+Icon.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 117px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6YZzGeDDuMuv_b-4JNtI99FdQW_2hfHm381ZAjAiiaErTFaKqHN-q4Xjh93jT2SoK7pXKiC3ZR1igPfWsEP0lDkUZuIPjyYZlNzYEKpm4EdBKMRtSljAPowuF7sA_TmWxOUhD4-uMD2i/s200/RED+Camera+Icon.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408476572045308850" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://www.red.com/">Red Digital Camera</a> has few ambivalent observers. The camera is embraced or dismissed intensely by many in the production industry. As it is with many things, the real truth is always somewhere in between depending on your circumstances.<br /><br />The post production workflow has become a critical factor in evaluating the merits of any of the new generation of Digital Cinema cameras.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 34px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8snkFL4svSUHnP-0YSxYr0jTDSNl8-fJex3GnscMAzCyOz8o2oPyb7ych3gc0w9fzV2JaU6Fd80JkmlsF9V2RUGuohvCXYKgvPXdt_NZs3sanE8KTFSM9LG1KB5eUoNTAH8bCNqoCLdX/s200/studentfilmmaker+logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408475925660901362" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/">Studentfilmmakers.com</a> is hosting a <a href="http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/workshops/Fall09_William-Donaruma-Red-Post-Workshop.html">RED Post Production Seminar on December 5th in New York</a>, featuring William Donaruma of Notre Dame, Leigh Herman from Sony, and yours truly handling the Adobe version of the post workflow.<br /><br />If you're in town, stop by...<br /><br />TimK<br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-46215416512473998322009-11-21T23:21:00.004-06:002009-11-21T23:39:11.438-06:00Animating a Human Face from TED<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoz5ucTIFWdZgLy_oaopD0tHKJxTBHTL8OXVLgcH4ZNakNVAmrZLiLZEeAz2fB9bwiOzTnPRLdr8hMx8GmyMRALY2vFpq0BxxXkom7dTMM3tRGsd_aa0ls4cCujntlhOlIa9HCh1CWJc_/s1600/TED+Banner+Logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 49px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoz5ucTIFWdZgLy_oaopD0tHKJxTBHTL8OXVLgcH4ZNakNVAmrZLiLZEeAz2fB9bwiOzTnPRLdr8hMx8GmyMRALY2vFpq0BxxXkom7dTMM3tRGsd_aa0ls4cCujntlhOlIa9HCh1CWJc_/s200/TED+Banner+Logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406797352941447794" border="0" /></a>One of my favorite destinations on the web is <a href="http://www.ted.com">TED.com</a>. It's a site that has a wide variety of presentations and lectures and often the only common thread that runs between them is that they're all fascinating.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DfNFdIj_hpjA4qYFrJO6TsJUxRwds6EZLXM53uDgE6NOLwyR5oqiCMBxeUydIlF6Kdp8idC5o7eWvk3AjF22bgX0Ek3418qp9fsvtQW8MDujv_ChMmWNIJXQ1gVI-1QOM8FST5p-EWnD/s1600/Paul+Debevec.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DfNFdIj_hpjA4qYFrJO6TsJUxRwds6EZLXM53uDgE6NOLwyR5oqiCMBxeUydIlF6Kdp8idC5o7eWvk3AjF22bgX0Ek3418qp9fsvtQW8MDujv_ChMmWNIJXQ1gVI-1QOM8FST5p-EWnD/s200/Paul+Debevec.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406797346305002642" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_debevec_animates_a_photo_real_digital_face.html">Paul Debevec talks about animating a synthetic human face.</a><br /><br /><br />TimK<br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-48962187081779384942009-11-16T06:59:00.005-06:002009-11-16T20:08:11.465-06:00POV Cameras...GoPro HD on the way!As my last few posts have indicated, I've been struggling with finding the right tool for a POV (point-of-view) mountable camera for several applications including my motorsports work.<br /><br />The GoPro cameras that I have have it all...the size...the mounting hardware...the functionality. What my GoPro cameras don't have is HD. In fact they're a bit below full SD.<br /><br />I've explored using some other small cameras, <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/10/vado-hdfrom-creative-labs.html">(Blog post October 6, 2009)</a> but awkward body designs and narrow lens choices have been a challenge to overcome.<br /><br />We've been making the standard GoPros work <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/08/fun-doesnt-have-to-be-hd.html">(Blog post August 12, 2009)</a>, but even with the really interesting images that the cameras are capable of, for video production purposes ten years into the 21st century, the resolution os a disadvantage.<br /><a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=30"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=30"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Zi43Y3rwqjmuOkF9jEIVyF3XTNYDa2jvuTJs2K4a99lHAUAXhGhYQ2h0h4NR8TGCq4sW7BAXaALXPCh_DCrwvcXSbSRljQ3il45SL2LdZdJILpMCLGzabTFmNemf1OJui2FpWij-PNjh/s200/cropped+GoPro+HD+Pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404689547849780674" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=30">GoPro has an HD product now listed on their website</a>...though it looks as if it isn't shipping yet.<br /><br />I know I'll be bookmarking it and ordering when it's available. <br /><br />(I am not given any promotional consideration by GoPro, Creative Labs, or any other manufacturer associated with this post.)<br /><br /><br />TimK<br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-46850359145737548902009-10-06T10:20:00.011-05:002011-04-22T21:35:21.809-05:00Vado HD...from Creative Labs<a href="http://us.creative.com/welcome.asp">Creative Labs</a> makes some interesting stuff. Most of it aimed squarely at the technology consumer market.<br />
<br />
Below, I focused on the <a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/products">GoPro POV cameras</a> that I use for my motorsports work. They're great cameras with well-made mounting hardware.<br />
<br />
The problem is that I work primarily in high definition and the GoPro's video size of 512x384 is hard to utilize without really aggressive upscaling...which really isn't possible to do without featuring the obvious low resolution of the pictures. GoPro is working on an HD version, but no word yet on when it will be available.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdus2BSoSMRLwATL0MeYCXYOTFbNmM8Ph18uE7E-wpDp9-Y-LFr9mXhA62J9qDlI00M_Pljk7mwG_9fJ31OFu0XmCkDmiIn6ZPHSUZRLCSzGYwWtms-mVIZtFZk1j6Jxz1lg3sAYspTZaH/s1600-h/vadohd_front_left_usb_out.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389526009156710738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdus2BSoSMRLwATL0MeYCXYOTFbNmM8Ph18uE7E-wpDp9-Y-LFr9mXhA62J9qDlI00M_Pljk7mwG_9fJ31OFu0XmCkDmiIn6ZPHSUZRLCSzGYwWtms-mVIZtFZk1j6Jxz1lg3sAYspTZaH/s200/vadohd_front_left_usb_out.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 108px;" /></a>Upon some additional searching, I decided to examine some cameras that fall into the category of the "Flip" camcorders that are out there as many of them are 720p capable. I stumbled upon a unit from Creative Labs called the <a href="http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=833&subcategory=834&product=18108">Vada HD</a>.<br />
<br />
The camera has an on board USB connection for offloading and it charges from the USB port as well...not as convenient as the over-the-counter lithium AAAs and SD cards that go into the GoPro...but I gain the 1280x720p framesize.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQRo-AqId4OlEdjvE0WybruMvqc3gCZ97irgPIdCi9A_lqZS4hnOiwNTWTMSGJ9mWocp8wI_uUMbpmmso5i_2N-CDa0KBkwPqXp09fQfZBO0sh_Vw_ZJoUjqgs3vRugBE_lUhsXD62paF/s1600-h/vadohd_back_right_usb_out.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389526000094084402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQRo-AqId4OlEdjvE0WybruMvqc3gCZ97irgPIdCi9A_lqZS4hnOiwNTWTMSGJ9mWocp8wI_uUMbpmmso5i_2N-CDa0KBkwPqXp09fQfZBO0sh_Vw_ZJoUjqgs3vRugBE_lUhsXD62paF/s200/vadohd_back_right_usb_out.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 102px;" /></a>This is also not to mention that the camera's form factor is that of a cel phone with an on-board camera and comes with no super-useful mounting hardware. In fact, since it's really meant to replace the family camcorder, it doesn't even come with mildly useful mounting hardware... It comes with a somewhat curious latex "boot" that I suppose is a very useful barrier against liquids and perspiration getting into the camera, though the viewscreen, lens and USB pigtail remain uncovered and available...and I suppose technically, still vulnerable. The unit is oriented vertically and has a threaded mounting hole off to one side. I'm working on fabricating a reasonable way to mount this in a car without the obblong weight of the thing causing strange stresses and vibrations. It may very well end up mounted upside down.<br />
<br />
The GoPro comes with the waterproof shell that I've verified myself-underwater.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzuspFH_CPskT4VJK0T5RSON3_nvF_lzbo0WBi62DJryfld5MW-BNZM_2g5ktoEGdUPvlF9tdwJMOowEH6qpOaZLpBUSg_UndDCX_tA0dvD3lb9Iewhg8RSWNXNRUsom7iDbBZDPMVqBl/s1600-h/VADO+PIC+1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389525984220100722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzuspFH_CPskT4VJK0T5RSON3_nvF_lzbo0WBi62DJryfld5MW-BNZM_2g5ktoEGdUPvlF9tdwJMOowEH6qpOaZLpBUSg_UndDCX_tA0dvD3lb9Iewhg8RSWNXNRUsom7iDbBZDPMVqBl/s200/VADO+PIC+1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 112px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>The Vada is of course, creating aggressively compressed video. The device has 8 GB of storage and for most casual use, as well as for the POV use I anticipate for it, I suspect it will be fine. I've included some frame grabs in the post for you to examine (click on the images for full size).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h6dD3XtNHSP8pbkexTx60XSjgsbHW1K4KkRdnkQ0r_zYj9BZULExBsitKe2Ob1brFy-KUgP8_x00iy-r8dKuS2riIRJUjqiDKvcFa6gXTpng-5FBflrLxuQztZFesVVabX1MQQuck1zx/s1600-h/VADO+PIC+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389525985734105042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h6dD3XtNHSP8pbkexTx60XSjgsbHW1K4KkRdnkQ0r_zYj9BZULExBsitKe2Ob1brFy-KUgP8_x00iy-r8dKuS2riIRJUjqiDKvcFa6gXTpng-5FBflrLxuQztZFesVVabX1MQQuck1zx/s200/VADO+PIC+2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 112px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>The PC utility that comes with the device seems to work well...for those who want to head directly to YouTube...you can do that right in the utility.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLJlBBJe5eS8kBz3uos2rOAcv9_Va-YwPGl5vLQoRcRsHM8sbP2bjHcizka4oXy_FFIqtF3a_2NDPfGWiOi3S8tjCGwU4MQgdtHGmP44mBXN0plQXN6yUTgLPycr13zPuSn2NAOWPJ4ye/s1600-h/VADO+PIC+3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389525993805391138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLJlBBJe5eS8kBz3uos2rOAcv9_Va-YwPGl5vLQoRcRsHM8sbP2bjHcizka4oXy_FFIqtF3a_2NDPfGWiOi3S8tjCGwU4MQgdtHGmP44mBXN0plQXN6yUTgLPycr13zPuSn2NAOWPJ4ye/s200/VADO+PIC+3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 112px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>I've noticed with the GoPro that the Motion JPEG AVI files seem to agree with Sony's Vegas Video without much problem but my most frequent tool, Adobe Premiere Pro, can't seem to run them properly under any circumstances I can create. I haven't completed my tests on a post path for the Vada H264 material, but I'm going to be on that in the very near future.<br />
<br />
...and of course I'll need to figure out how the heck to mount it.<br />
<br />
TimK<br />
<br />
<a href="http://us.creative.com/welcome.asp">Creative Labs Website</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/products">GoPro Camera Website</a><br />
<br />
<pre class="html"><script src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-89439685201184904802009-08-12T06:21:00.007-05:002009-10-07T08:57:00.960-05:00Fun doesn't have to be HDI've been out a while I know...I've been on vacation. My family and I vacation near Munising, Michigan where we camp on the Southern shore of Lake Superior. One fringe benefit of the area are the numerous shipwrecks that are in the area, many of them are in shallow enough water to simply view over the side of the boat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp892mKyomUbldrXh2yLx3lGj2X9P6K4NbNOzSrH2VwmtQUw62E9vYGUeJzdFvhoPZMiko56sncYYHA6oNtdVNvZn1zjuKZbxzi4UY1e3IOKvJi6b43jSTqXmsQUVhQOci5ogMWoBzHKL/s1600-h/herowide+cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp892mKyomUbldrXh2yLx3lGj2X9P6K4NbNOzSrH2VwmtQUw62E9vYGUeJzdFvhoPZMiko56sncYYHA6oNtdVNvZn1zjuKZbxzi4UY1e3IOKvJi6b43jSTqXmsQUVhQOci5ogMWoBzHKL/s200/herowide+cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040028423150450" border="0" /></a>This year, I thought it might be fun to take my <a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/">GoPro POV cameras</a> and see what they can do underwater. I have two units with 170 degree view lenses, and these little cameras come with an underwater housing included. Since I'm not a scuba diver, I decided to simply mount the cameras on an ordinary paint roller handle extension, one shooting video and the other shooting stills.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeywzOS2lvOetN5qSYj3HcNt0FY466ktNAU2qyvEc_Ih2EC7BELocsSP2KoLLphwBTSgIZQcnxh14TnTGwpAbCs1ZQ2JTYwURmhY6iFUKdtxExtYwKoLaiqvV2AIdBHdyLYMezCGV-QOp/s1600-h/PICT0154.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeywzOS2lvOetN5qSYj3HcNt0FY466ktNAU2qyvEc_Ih2EC7BELocsSP2KoLLphwBTSgIZQcnxh14TnTGwpAbCs1ZQ2JTYwURmhY6iFUKdtxExtYwKoLaiqvV2AIdBHdyLYMezCGV-QOp/s200/PICT0154.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040047950066530" border="0" /></a>While the video is relatively low resolution by today's standards (512x384), the still images are far larger (2592x1944).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyYWI7FnUJT5Rn2OuozEiojvgI5YMNgyo5BsF9nrOslo13_YjFa7AsE4LgmdieBQUBokQ0FZz6F0jxQ55WlHzocemquSB_XjhYv0jwCT21sHYFMVZBo5zec9QNsg1fcPhvyMKy-U39SJc/s1600-h/PICT0116.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyYWI7FnUJT5Rn2OuozEiojvgI5YMNgyo5BsF9nrOslo13_YjFa7AsE4LgmdieBQUBokQ0FZz6F0jxQ55WlHzocemquSB_XjhYv0jwCT21sHYFMVZBo5zec9QNsg1fcPhvyMKy-U39SJc/s200/PICT0116.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040035105351410" border="0" /></a>These little cameras are a lot of fun and were a great way for all of us to get a better view of some of the more interesting sites that we could have only shown the family through a dive or a snorkel in some extremely cold water...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFIM8Op9TjyFqPhb3mQPRWT_v0ka2_HQ4zFU9-JfZgjlJxYXV3p6Sa-BHDJlvtZbakSG9IL6n83UnZQyqqeTJ6pWcFBGqTUV4xyWzPMspS255Oamx_IaCJ69sazK4dx0bhCa5yP2WOM87/s1600-h/PICT0146.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFIM8Op9TjyFqPhb3mQPRWT_v0ka2_HQ4zFU9-JfZgjlJxYXV3p6Sa-BHDJlvtZbakSG9IL6n83UnZQyqqeTJ6pWcFBGqTUV4xyWzPMspS255Oamx_IaCJ69sazK4dx0bhCa5yP2WOM87/s200/PICT0146.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040041275519538" border="0" /></a>At 200.00 USD, these devices are the least expensive fun that I know of...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3A25e30EcJjPCNQHNpwsYPILl4oHVQH3G0CJROWlO8vMB3ydoEhm7mkLwirEHJlLZeXMxsAN5-KGLDyaStpBLs_5RxALGIlJLIUDdOeoOnnrdhRNz4Qy64qEF92RwAUx1PKSPYUp5xo7/s1600-h/PICT0166.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3A25e30EcJjPCNQHNpwsYPILl4oHVQH3G0CJROWlO8vMB3ydoEhm7mkLwirEHJlLZeXMxsAN5-KGLDyaStpBLs_5RxALGIlJLIUDdOeoOnnrdhRNz4Qy64qEF92RwAUx1PKSPYUp5xo7/s200/PICT0166.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040059893488466" border="0" /></a>These cameras record to a standard SD card and run on two AAA batteries (lithium works best as you might guess). An underwater housing is included and depending on which package you buy, many mounting methods are available.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goprocamera.com/">GoPro website</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6062204&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6062204&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-20542799295454214612009-07-14T10:43:00.007-05:002009-10-07T08:51:25.563-05:00Cut!...It's my wife calling.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLoJz-L2vn7mZk9Y5NHQzcSCAoHQcPKWM33VHGvGvnLARvxxch_DNp-4eYYAAggNALbZ_s2aq6uykqlOV80-SwnbwsI7hplkutWJtwRy_EDP07EejPKLvsi5KHKMnFGssIiopyDviRZTKB/s1600-h/red+rock+SLR+matte+box+rig.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLoJz-L2vn7mZk9Y5NHQzcSCAoHQcPKWM33VHGvGvnLARvxxch_DNp-4eYYAAggNALbZ_s2aq6uykqlOV80-SwnbwsI7hplkutWJtwRy_EDP07EejPKLvsi5KHKMnFGssIiopyDviRZTKB/s200/red+rock+SLR+matte+box+rig.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358345330490710386" border="0" /></a>OK...just when you thought you'd seen it all with hand cage/matte box rigs for DSLRs (<a href="http://www.redrockmicro.com/redrock_dslr.html">Red Rock's really elaborate rig is pictured</a>), you realize you ain't seen nothin' yet.<br /><br />We seem to be moving in the same opposing directions that the HD television-buying, yet YouTube obsessed consumer is... We like video to be of great quality...or really convenient. And we're willing to completely compromise one for the other.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPq8iLWu0JrCMPhPLAUaigo5lW_nhEKGEtOEVeBl7LttRuHgsd9MUTqFbWApvfHxjEbynK4vSqo_7LsxhH7ZvAbsXYN8TOxNZ1JlNNHlp8b4O73PiAbTGBsmXxKoX3XIuYDZmxE-sX-89/s1600-h/Zacuto+logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 34px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPq8iLWu0JrCMPhPLAUaigo5lW_nhEKGEtOEVeBl7LttRuHgsd9MUTqFbWApvfHxjEbynK4vSqo_7LsxhH7ZvAbsXYN8TOxNZ1JlNNHlp8b4O73PiAbTGBsmXxKoX3XIuYDZmxE-sX-89/s200/Zacuto+logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358351076656437090" border="0" /></a>The people at <a href="http://www.zacuto.com/">Zacuto</a> in Chicago have seen an opportunity and seized it. Zacuto has been known for very solid camera accessory rigs for some time now. They are a rental company that also does their own hardware development.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3xGq8PH-A4oD0T3ft-He790WQQEnTdM0Ha4u0sj3Z8eAcD3fHiL1kDefxAJjXZdjEThjt9WxBLj37HXlEBLRy4ANSfFi9PEARJBBD6asxWN_vTDFudUblIqO8X8jOGSki_tmjksMUjk8/s1600-h/zgripiphone+model.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3xGq8PH-A4oD0T3ft-He790WQQEnTdM0Ha4u0sj3Z8eAcD3fHiL1kDefxAJjXZdjEThjt9WxBLj37HXlEBLRy4ANSfFi9PEARJBBD6asxWN_vTDFudUblIqO8X8jOGSki_tmjksMUjk8/s200/zgripiphone+model.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358345326131931522" border="0" /></a>The new iPhone has video capability-what it doesn't have...is a handle. So, here it is. This is the ZGrip iPhone Pro. Zacuto has made a fairly informative <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/5384225">video that shows the capability of the grip system in use here</a>.<br /><br />You can mount the iPhone on a tripod, on a long accesory rod to gain elevation... it looks as if you can create a 30 pound accessory kit for your <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html">135 gram smart phone</a> in no time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvaF2wDaePVkEntjnSwgc6wp8xFp0tBuRGApzGdqzycPAQYdxksBmISqdY0WbqsqF_KF44_k4VE_qz1uyjKE9FtFwBcR_VGaWLwuq_b8C3zaNcN_5HKZUyNcbuQ79RjuQ1kTGnGnI90XG/s1600-h/zgripiphone009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 152px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvaF2wDaePVkEntjnSwgc6wp8xFp0tBuRGApzGdqzycPAQYdxksBmISqdY0WbqsqF_KF44_k4VE_qz1uyjKE9FtFwBcR_VGaWLwuq_b8C3zaNcN_5HKZUyNcbuQ79RjuQ1kTGnGnI90XG/s200/zgripiphone009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358345328728516434" border="0" /></a>I'll be holding out for the teensy swing away matte box and french flag myself.<br /><br />Once an iCinematographer has his or her rods, tripod, jib, audio recorder and other accessories assembled, the iPhone may be the only cel phone that is actually too bulky to carry on a commercial flight with all its accessories...<br /><br />Don't forget to set the ringer to 'silent' before you call "Action!"<br /><br />TimK<br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-14719398306404324042009-07-06T09:10:00.005-05:002011-05-09T11:22:01.021-05:00More on DisplayPort...Part 2 of 2Part 1 of this topic is <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-way-to-connect-to-display-why.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.displayport.org/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355350504267379394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqgIuDJxrP_ZlR_7KbiuYbxYSYZcMLe4-mDMRwz4QSl6S07hBlZb99SCKoDyIakwz8vWviWK2hkIDrsC0waysfBGnpEmZf0pYdzuZ73DZYQPXYPE_igp1du1XbKd5hrnW2LscpSL4_Oon/s200/dp_cert_tangerine.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 90px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 116px;" /></a>While the case for moving forward from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Graphics_Array">VGA</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface">DVI</a> is a fairly obvious one for many of us, the logic on why we need <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort">DisplayPort</a> in a world where <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI">HDMI</a> (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) has taken hold, may be more subtle.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.hdmi.org/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355350495419520754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RAX4jMB9pjXCOfKZDMwGNJd8EMVBmPOrlDRn4GRUOhhw9lF2kL0iWvia8Eala-4wzNi1bN6E2ZX626ozvuIJb9drras-p8jcBQhqatgUF1w4rxgNO6ikyybTWqf8QjCzy_9_YHqj3aSS/s200/HDMI_White_black_background.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 44px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 152px;" /></a>HDMI has become the standard for high definition television displays and, by extension, the devices that connect to them.Its ability to support multiple audio channels, nearly any video or computer display format and as of version 1.4, an option for 100 Mbit/s Ethernet connectivity would seem to make HDMI a clear contender as the omnipotent display connection choice for all entertainment and data display applications.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlyXY8IUuO1bHvyTtfbjfbWgrS2YAuLjuY4NcwtLRQrnhRpIhjyflQChiinlMHAAJ5chTD8Q0Ng87m_hk_YGE0e8hcn1tA4SYcf9ODjRCdHxOtkTQ6M8Ynk2tEow18h6bbu3A4d1fItBh/s1600-h/800px-DisplayPort-rid.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355350480381539170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlyXY8IUuO1bHvyTtfbjfbWgrS2YAuLjuY4NcwtLRQrnhRpIhjyflQChiinlMHAAJ5chTD8Q0Ng87m_hk_YGE0e8hcn1tA4SYcf9ODjRCdHxOtkTQ6M8Ynk2tEow18h6bbu3A4d1fItBh/s200/800px-DisplayPort-rid.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 88px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 117px;" /></a>So what is gained from adding DisplayPort to the landscape?</span><br />
<br />
In the list of advantages over DVI, both HDMI and DisplayPort can carry audio and each has the ability to use RGB or Y’CbCr colorspace (VGA and DVI are RGB only).<br />
<br />
There are several reasons why DisplayPort may be better in certain circumstances…and in cases where there are several reasons for anything, one of them is often ‘money.’<br />
<br />
In our scenario, the cost factor referenced most by manufacturers is HDMI’s licensing fees. The cost of licensing HDMI in the PC display space is apparently not as practical as it is for the consumer television market. DisplayPort is a royalty-free, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.vesa.org">VESA (Visual Electronics Standards Association)</a>-defined standard.<br />
<br />
Another application that makes DisplayPort technology attractive is “chip-to-chip” interface for use inside a device that has an integrated display (think laptops and smartphones, currently using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-voltage_differential_signaling">low voltage differential signaling or LVDS</a>), as well as a “box-to-box” for connecting external displays. This creates interesting opportunities down the road for external displays to become lighter and thinner (and less expensive) by jettisoning the considerable electronics dedicated to scaling and other “receive signal and deploy pixels” sort of duties inside the display and making the display “direct drive.” Manufacturers can also cut costs by standardizing on one method of driving integrated and external displays. HDMI is designed as a “box-to-box” connection only.<br />
<br />
As our requirements for computer display performance continue to expand, ideally our next connectivity standard would be able to grow as well. HDMI has a lot of advantages over DVI, but one limitation the two share is having an external clock. This limits the ultimate speed and bandwidth of the pipeline to the predetermined maximum rates already set in the architecture. In a case like this, the standard needs to be revised to extend the capabilities of the protocol as in the case of HDMI 1.3 increasing the clock speed to 340 MHz over the 165 MHz in HDMI 1.2 to enable support of WQXGA displays (the 2560x1600 of 30” LCDs most typically) . DisplayPort embeds its clock in the data signal itself, making it scalable, along with data payloads, to the physical limits of the pipeline.<br />
<br />
So…we know some of the advantages of DisplayPort…what are the limitations?<br />
<br />
First, HDMI is backwards compatible with DVI and you can drive an HDMI display with a DVI output. DisplayPort can be adapted and converted to HDMI or DVI, but of course the signal would have to be compatible with the destination. In other words a Y’CbCr signal could be sent through an adapter from DisplayPort to HDMI, but DVI can only handle RGB.<br />
<br />
Second, HDMI supports <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XvYCC">xvYCC or “extended-gamut YCC”</a> whereas DisplayPort does not. xvYCC is a color space that utilizes the full gamut of RGB grayscale, which would use all values 0-255 in an 8 bit grayscale versus a typical television gamut which would confine legal values to 16-235 under BT.601 and BT.709.<br />
<br />
Third, HDMI supports <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_TrueHD">Dolby TrueHD</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS_Coherent_Acoustics">DTS-HD Master Audio</a>, which is one reason why HDMI is very entrenched in consumer products. For computer displays used in post production environments, support of these formats is far less an issue.<br />
<br />
In the real world of motion visual post production (much of it which can no longer be described as “film” and some it even awkward to designate as “video”…) , both standards have some foothold.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLor6cpDEfv0Brmy49SeMghHB0QKLVYn0WwFXOxavAiz2WbhPg4_k_Nd-PvgsPpvWC1zd5tyU96zSXcmscoQ0S5vufZYFVRxIyR7_ZJpd8ze-oQsDUOhJn0Bq0Xzpe1jc6yUsKOscG4jxn/s1600-h/Dreamcolor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355350499498520994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLor6cpDEfv0Brmy49SeMghHB0QKLVYn0WwFXOxavAiz2WbhPg4_k_Nd-PvgsPpvWC1zd5tyU96zSXcmscoQ0S5vufZYFVRxIyR7_ZJpd8ze-oQsDUOhJn0Bq0Xzpe1jc6yUsKOscG4jxn/s200/Dreamcolor.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 180px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 180px;" /></a>The <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2008/12/hp-dreamcolor-display-30-bit-color.html">HP DreamColor display</a> has been causing many of us in the image-handling world to reconsider the configuration of our systems to be able to monitor Deep Color…in this case, 30 bit color precision (10 bits per channel, effectively a palette of 1 billion colors). The DreamColor will connect to DisplayPort or HDMI 1.3 outputs…along with DVI-Integrated. Of course, DVI will only work with 24 bit RGB signals, but it’s a clear sign that DVI’s epitaph isn’t quite written yet. (The DreamColor also has S-video and composite video inputs…a bit of a trailer hitch on a Ferrari in my mind.)</span><br />
<br />
Several manufacturers have released HDMI in/out cards for use as ingest/output devices for video editors taking in material from an HDMI-enabled camcorder, and several manufacturers have added HDMI capability to their computer display cards.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.aja.com/">AJA Video Systems</a> recently came out with their <a href="http://www.aja.com/products/xena/xena-lhi.php">“LHi” line of video cards</a>, which not only features all the traditional video industry standard interfaces such as HDSDI and analog component video, but now includes HDMI in/out.</span><br />
<br />
DisplayPort has been adopted in varying degrees by many other manufacturers, and has seen a commitment as the next-generation display solution in <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_family.html">NVIDIA’s line of professional display cards</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_DisplayPort">Apple Computer’s laptops</a>, as well as a fair number of their consumer desktops.<br />
<br />
As for myself, I do color correction work and I also do conventional post production and editing work and I see Deep Color devices and workflows as a way to gain precision in my work. HDMI will likely be a very neat and clean way to drive a television display to view output in that environment, but I look forward to the sort of technical and economic advancements that DisplayPort will enable for those of us who need a standard that will stabilize yet remain extensible.<br />
<br />
…and who among us wouldn’t love to add just one more cable type to the rack in the closet?<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.displayport.org/">www.displayport.org</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.hdmi.org/">www.hdmi.org</a></span><br />
<br />
TimK<br />
<br />
<script src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-52781967209236642192009-06-27T12:35:00.011-05:002011-05-09T11:18:22.427-05:00Why Display Port? Part 1 of 2<o:smarttagtype name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
</style> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">If you have been involved with computers for any amount of time, you may very well be reaching your point of maximum tolerance for sheer number of connection and slot types available. As the pace of advancement has accelerated in computers themselves, advancement and evolution of the methods of interface with these systems continues to accelerate in kind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Display interface may not have been changing with quite the speed of hard drives and other peripherals, but for those of us who use computers in video post production, it’s become a chore to determine how to construct a signal path and monitor combination that can be considered “evaluation” quality as CRTs fade into the sunset.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYeDx0EHNrejuUlD-fovOmHxkU8JDAuNQX3xd5sbCaUk_1aKFHbxWid01weflId2JINWAWH6pKc4nT6ktLJtO2GaT8pkJ-U_FX5Mp5j6lbSDZK7GQW1XUk-7JjcgHeEB-Y5etFKI7xdct/s1600-h/vga-connector.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352063273914996082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYeDx0EHNrejuUlD-fovOmHxkU8JDAuNQX3xd5sbCaUk_1aKFHbxWid01weflId2JINWAWH6pKc4nT6ktLJtO2GaT8pkJ-U_FX5Mp5j6lbSDZK7GQW1XUk-7JjcgHeEB-Y5etFKI7xdct/s200/vga-connector.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 176px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA">VGA (Video Graphics Array)</a> was introduced in 1987, it was certainly a step up from its predecessor, EGA, which could choose 16 colors, and added the ability to choose those from a palette of 64 possible shades over its predecessor, CGA. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Of course, then we moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard">Super VGA, XGA, WQVGA, WXGA, WSXGA, WUXGA, WQXGA</a>…and on and on…ever increasing pixel count and color precision.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqPb1v2UDlTPjNFes6fZiAKl1m4NN-VQpFJs-EuKU0HSTxsSLWnQ65cN_Q7H0D606qPOPB2xRVAJVYG0PIa92x7EHPc6_uAQPkJldiYYVVdW_EcYjqhw2EHFDEdqdp7Bqwf7QljHVWOPc/s1600-h/dvi_connector600.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352063268724709842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqPb1v2UDlTPjNFes6fZiAKl1m4NN-VQpFJs-EuKU0HSTxsSLWnQ65cN_Q7H0D606qPOPB2xRVAJVYG0PIa92x7EHPc6_uAQPkJldiYYVVdW_EcYjqhw2EHFDEdqdp7Bqwf7QljHVWOPc/s200/dvi_connector600.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 96px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" /></a>Of course, as displays changed, requirements changed in the way we fed them a signal as well. Flat panel displays had pixels instead of a CRT’s analog scanlines. Enter the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface">Digital Visual Interface, or DVI</a> connector in 1999.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBwJInBPb1H5sedeAlD6bS02kmTE_wJjMdX5wrDhBry_iGuspl2jnOjYZXF_KfrAFeUNtBCykp3kHKQq2fONLHTuRW-yNAZ1mlDXENQErIL0QyWQpgm0tStajt5-f-qXlBf4xQB8BdBtc/s1600-h/dvi_connector_types.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352063263272415010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBwJInBPb1H5sedeAlD6bS02kmTE_wJjMdX5wrDhBry_iGuspl2jnOjYZXF_KfrAFeUNtBCykp3kHKQq2fONLHTuRW-yNAZ1mlDXENQErIL0QyWQpgm0tStajt5-f-qXlBf4xQB8BdBtc/s200/dvi_connector_types.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 88px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a>Of course, the great thing about the standard DVI connector is that there are 5 different models. They are each just different enough to make many technicians misidentify them about 50% of the time, but to make them incompatible about 75% of the time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">A DVI-I connector (“I” for “Integrated”) can carry analog as well as digital information to be backwards compatible with analog displays. A DVI-D connector is “Digital” only. The fact that there even IS a DVI-A (“Analog only”) connector defies logic as the reason for DVI’s development was to overcome previous analog display cabling limitations. There is an M1-DA connector that integrates USB with digital and/or analog signals, and of course, the DVI-DL (“Dual-Link”) is what is necessary to run those spiffy 30” LCD displays at full native resolution because of its additional payload capacity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">All this has been expanding the capabilities of our computer displays quite rapidly over the last decade, but for video production professionals, 24 bits per pixel has started to become a bit limiting (DVI Dual-Link does have the capability to convey 48 bits/pixel in specific applications).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH9QJvF0YYb3EVBUXmDYIIdIehyphenhyphen3pHg_PgEMMyLAQG-6563Cth8fbgBPrecgA2BraIkluOAFe7fRvBKk3p-vE21wl3Rc-v9z4aQHO6Yy6BmtmxCj-zu1QvAnmotlXaZtFEqrg3fVxcWjg/s1600-h/DisplayPort+connecctor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352063275399205090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH9QJvF0YYb3EVBUXmDYIIdIehyphenhyphen3pHg_PgEMMyLAQG-6563Cth8fbgBPrecgA2BraIkluOAFe7fRvBKk3p-vE21wl3Rc-v9z4aQHO6Yy6BmtmxCj-zu1QvAnmotlXaZtFEqrg3fVxcWjg/s200/DisplayPort+connecctor.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>As displays have shown up with 30 bit color precision, (<a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2008/12/hp-dreamcolor-display-30-bit-color.html">see more about HP's DreamColor here</a>) in a new pipeline was needed. HDMI can handle the color, but as a data display driver, it didn’t quite have the necessary flexibility.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Enter</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: silver;"> <a href="http://displayport.org/"><st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Display</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Port.</st1:placetype></st1:place></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on"><br />
</st1:placetype></st1:place></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><o:p> </o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-on-displayportpart-2-of-2.html">Continue to Part 2 of this topic...</a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;">TimK</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: silver;"><br />
</div><pre class="html"><script src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></pre><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-20757979154968493482009-06-11T21:13:00.005-05:002009-10-07T08:58:41.709-05:00One of my favorite explanations of color balance...The fine folks at <a href="http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/">Cambridge in Color</a> have a very helpful explanation of color balance. (among other things)<br /><br />The concepts behind light and color are key to the work we do with images both in the field and in post. <a href="http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm">Check out the article</a> which includes several solid visuals...<br /><br />TimK<br /><br /><pre class="html"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></pre>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-41097036704188552442009-05-05T12:11:00.003-05:002009-05-05T12:23:01.984-05:00A Primer on 3d Modeling...for those of us who don't do it for a living.<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">(Sorry for the gap in posts. I've been traveling for an extended period.)<br /><br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.firemist.com/icon_pix/fmm_modeling.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 90px;" src="http://www.firemist.com/icon_pix/fmm_modeling.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Over the years, I've dabbled a bit in 3d animation but I am a neophyte relative to anyone who does it on a regular basis.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">That's why Jeff Brown from </span><a style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);" href="http://www.firemist.com/">FireMist Media</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"> is in my rolodex. When I have a need for something in the way of complex 3d animation, he gets a call from me.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Jeff has put together a white paper on 3d modeling to give those of us on the outside a bit of insight into the general concepts of 3d animation. For those of us who purchase this sort of work from vendors, this article will certainly help you begin to cut through much of the jargon involved in 3d work.</span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);" href="http://www.firemist.com/fmm_3dHowTo.html">Download the PDF from the link here.</a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">TimK</span>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-77415787511441703282009-04-03T08:21:00.010-05:002011-05-09T11:24:14.593-05:004 cores? 8 cores? How about 240 processor cores?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweUuH_Z6yzlEzcRK5ZlzGsFfRnEgkVNarKS9Tu4Gv7StRn2btvGy6GEpZU1mLkMmJgnZYDiufkZLbHwKjifFpwPUV7Nesem45kO_tFgO2QlSRnXd0mZ37jWf8a5M_hR_5ieL2CAd8LqFU/s1600-h/Kolb+Productions+HD+Suite+displays.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320458293926834626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweUuH_Z6yzlEzcRK5ZlzGsFfRnEgkVNarKS9Tu4Gv7StRn2btvGy6GEpZU1mLkMmJgnZYDiufkZLbHwKjifFpwPUV7Nesem45kO_tFgO2QlSRnXd0mZ37jWf8a5M_hR_5ieL2CAd8LqFU/s200/Kolb+Productions+HD+Suite+displays.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 190px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 211px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.nvidia.com/page/home.html">NVIDIA</a> has been making some pretty heavy-duty display cards for professionals for a number of years now. I use 2 NVIDIA Quadro dual head cards to drive my 4 monitor post production workstation. The acceleration provided for visual effects preview is extremely helpful in getting more work done in less time.</span><br />
With all the focus on bigger and badder CPUs in our workstations, one of the more intriguing advancements in computer muscle is happening somewhat quietly. That would be the advent of parallel processing over a much larger group of processor cores.<br />
While I'm absolutely positive we'll continue to see advancements in CPU power, one CPU core represents the capability to process one operation at a time...at an incredible speed of course. When you add more physical processors, you gain processing power but your limitation becomes how well the math can be sectioned up between two processes and the energy expended to figure out how to divide the operations up-and on the back side, reassemble the results into one unified dataset.<br />
When you have multiple logical cores on one physical wafer, you now have the ability to do multiple operations using each logical core, limited by the pipeline that gets the operations on and off the chip as well as the efficiency of the code to divide and reassemble data. Multiple physical processors would involve multiple "pipes" to get data on and off each processor, gaining some extra torque over an equal configuration utilizing the same number of logical cores on one physical processor.<br />
For operations like 3d animation or complex visual effects where the data that needs to be streamed onto the processor and the math involved is small in relationship to the processing necessary, multiple physical or logical cores are of immediate benefit. In video editing applications, adding processor cores can be helpful where large amounts of decode and encode operations are necessary, say when editing highly compressed HDV or AVCHD footage. In applications where the material is less compressed, or even uncompressed, multiple processor cores become less of an advantage as the dataset that needs to be moved becomes larger, but requires less processing, moving the speed burden to hard drives and buss speed.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbF4EMiMNp2QyO9SbBLaHo_xwAS62fOzFnYSMZ7Bc3D309xh2yjhjol0PJMujEPQ6mZOeBS4ndU_U7dQs5yKINqJWX85NiQqf6jJat0VqfpML6Q4KUgE9QOwP0rRBoRsR0i3tZ1G1V6q5/s1600-h/Quadro_FX5800_med_3qtr.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320471946435110146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbF4EMiMNp2QyO9SbBLaHo_xwAS62fOzFnYSMZ7Bc3D309xh2yjhjol0PJMujEPQ6mZOeBS4ndU_U7dQs5yKINqJWX85NiQqf6jJat0VqfpML6Q4KUgE9QOwP0rRBoRsR0i3tZ1G1V6q5/s200/Quadro_FX5800_med_3qtr.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 126px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>NVIDIA has recently started focusing on their <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_what_is.html">CUDA technology</a>. CUDA is what gives software manufacturers a way to tap into the processing architecture of NVIDIA's powerful graphics cards to complete processes that may or may not be display or graphics related. NVIDIA uses <a href="http://www.ddj.com/go-parallel/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212903586">parallel processing</a> to get the speed from their configuration. While the cores may be smaller, there are a LOT more of them. The <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_5800_us.html">Quadro 5800 card</a> for instance, has 240 processor cores. One example of utilization of this kind of processing is the <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_62559.html">CUDA-enabled RapiHD™ H.264 encoding plug-in for NVIDIA Quadro cards.</a></span><br />
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_computing">Wikipedia's take on parallel processing</a>-good general info.)<br />
A way to picture the relative capability of an 8 core CPU and a 240 core GPU might be to picture five decks of cards being dealt out. With eight dealers, each dealer has 32.5 cards to distribute...with 240 dealers, each one distributes 1.083 cards. Even when we take into account that the 240 processor cores are smaller, the share of the load they have to carry is MUCH smaller and the processing is all happening at the same time. The 8 dealers may be very fast but they can't throw 32 cards out at the same time and expect them to fall neatly in front of each player in the proper rotation...they have to go one at a time. They may be dealing cards out of a pitching machine at a velocity that could severe a human limb, but the cards still have to be handled one at a time-serially. In the case of the 240 dealers in parallel, they also handle the cards one at a time with the one caveat that all but 20 of them are only handling one card with one destination. Which way do you think would be faster?<br />
I think that GPU based processing is one of the most interesting areas of computer processing to keep an eye on... With GPUs becoming available to handle instructions along with ever more powerful CPUs, I don't think that the exponential growth in computing speed and power will be leveling off anytime soon. This technology is even being deployed as the primary processor in specialized workstations<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla_computing_solutions.html">...learn more about Tesla here.</a><br />
<br />
TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-83742558007325130472009-03-23T11:09:00.004-05:002009-03-23T11:20:10.866-05:00Sasquatch...The Loch Ness Monster...and Magenta<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlBZY-fDQzf9o6toX_zB0VjNB34NZBfK3rvKobJJOJ4LNSpIj0a0yt_Q0-aLvvmyjVwfPWILx0TqxYRL4SxLVPW2LUiJGD6D2Sgpx0vb7sLWFYd3jdekUcj3R1IESncL1TnYOy4G1mYIM/s1600-h/SMPTE_COLOR_BARS.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlBZY-fDQzf9o6toX_zB0VjNB34NZBfK3rvKobJJOJ4LNSpIj0a0yt_Q0-aLvvmyjVwfPWILx0TqxYRL4SxLVPW2LUiJGD6D2Sgpx0vb7sLWFYd3jdekUcj3R1IESncL1TnYOy4G1mYIM/s200/SMPTE_COLOR_BARS.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316416813705407602" border="0" /></a>I came across <a href="http://www.biotele.com/magenta.html">this article</a> on <a href="http://www.biotele.com/">biotele.com</a> (a site that calls itself the "neurostimulation portal" which seems appropriate, looking at the home page design) that explains why...<a href="http://www.biotele.com/magenta.html">spectrally...magenta does not exist.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqO7iPOCAuR6IdY1GdUntVsCRtWpFf-8_ubQe9pBFcOCdY4tuhD-Th4wCof4ud7L5I5tONbmW8jN2LyXZTPKHyDDbvok8Rwwo5qGz5lqGBDt79a3Jy2ZS6pDQw-ZtzKvafpkEAgROnc4k/s1600-h/180px-SMPTE_color_bars_on_NTSC_vectorscope.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 105px; height: 99px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqO7iPOCAuR6IdY1GdUntVsCRtWpFf-8_ubQe9pBFcOCdY4tuhD-Th4wCof4ud7L5I5tONbmW8jN2LyXZTPKHyDDbvok8Rwwo5qGz5lqGBDt79a3Jy2ZS6pDQw-ZtzKvafpkEAgROnc4k/s200/180px-SMPTE_color_bars_on_NTSC_vectorscope.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316416810600765458" border="0" /></a>It's an interesting article for those of you who are interested in color theory and how the human brain perceives color.<br /><br />TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-32523515044957962372009-02-25T07:06:00.008-06:002009-03-31T08:23:48.208-05:00Slumdog Millionaire wins "Best Film"...without much film at all.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOtxNWofRvyouHed5OhpMhkDpbhjiLaL6HtZpCmn5i3AezpYWWiNBujG0kLZLNAo7qvMA0AZWzHBN0-SMWTgdio1k-0G_2ceiaYU2-ffZ_Jmo58agt1pgtFnjEGPYF0YzR5eYs5gLj20t/s1600-h/slumdog-millionaire.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 99px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOtxNWofRvyouHed5OhpMhkDpbhjiLaL6HtZpCmn5i3AezpYWWiNBujG0kLZLNAo7qvMA0AZWzHBN0-SMWTgdio1k-0G_2ceiaYU2-ffZ_Jmo58agt1pgtFnjEGPYF0YzR5eYs5gLj20t/s200/slumdog-millionaire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319341902119560610" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/">Slumdog Millionaire</a> is truly one of those inspirational filmmaker stories. We never get tired of an underdog and a low budget film about a poor person in India is about as un-commercial as you can get in the feature film industry.<br /><br />The recognition for the film (to date) includes:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pluscamerimage.pl/index.php?lang=en&pg=0327f60948152e7">2008 Camerimage Film Festival</a> "Golden Frog" Award for best-in-class visual aesthetic and technical values<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/">National Board of Review of Motion Pictures</a> "Best Film for 2008"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ascmag.com/news/News_Articles/News_200.php">American Society of Cinematographers nominates Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC</a> for Outstanding Achievement Award for Slumdog Millionaire.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://csos.movieset.com/download/movieset/o/b/2009-01/slumdog-millionaire-group.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 105px;" src="http://csos.movieset.com/download/movieset/o/b/2009-01/slumdog-millionaire-group.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A total of four <a href="http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/">2009 Golden Globe Awards</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00028/rob_main_2302_28359a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 95px;" src="http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00028/rob_main_2302_28359a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nominated for ten Academy Awards<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oscars.org/awards/81academyawards/nomineesByPicture.html">Received 8 Academy Awards</a> including Best Picture, Directing, Cinematography and"Film" Editing.<br /><br /><br />In addition to being amazing, it's also a "film" that was acquired, in the majority, digitally. (depending on who you're quoting and whether or not you refer to raw footage or finished screen time the figure sits around 60-70%).<br /><br />There has been a LOT of buzz around some Digital Cinema Cameras, but this one has been a bit under the radar.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsf7mNlL_WB06gLLh17jAcJcFxcYA2-rjjlUxHYFW-vRDY0owzKuYTN1CBrvCUOubphAxrJlWL-99p-I7zDI4f29S_W43mxpkDnWagLnZ_6l_n8kRxZjUUGEm74K7ttuvVl2XQ9zUyZOB/s1600-h/SI-2Kmini_productpage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsf7mNlL_WB06gLLh17jAcJcFxcYA2-rjjlUxHYFW-vRDY0owzKuYTN1CBrvCUOubphAxrJlWL-99p-I7zDI4f29S_W43mxpkDnWagLnZ_6l_n8kRxZjUUGEm74K7ttuvVl2XQ9zUyZOB/s200/SI-2Kmini_productpage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306744939725348786" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.siliconimaging.com/DigitalCinema/products.html">The Silicon Imaging 2K and 2K Mini</a> are now officially cameras of legitimate capability... Actually they really aren't two cameras. The 2K Mini is the sensor assembly alone and works by ethernet link to a fast laptop, which constitutes the 'processing' portion of the camera body, complete with viweing LUTs and an onboard version of Iridas SpeedGrade embedded for viewing picture adjustment. The full SI 2K takes the mini and inserts it into a full camera body with all the processing and storage on board, including the embedded version of SpeedGrade, no laptop required. If you have the full SI-2K, you already have the Mini, just detach it from the full body and connect it to the body via ethernet and you have a dash cam or POV camera with a full body on .<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWRvhdcdY32cs4gjDd3VGTBBHXm2mPU_ru-87sTluO-wal6Cofapm4vSCmuGMF8f4yKNjijq3stLQfJk3CRAfXVJv6VvoSBLMQh3pwwYYOQfKJmlXCFmL3efH7V-wN7J5piS7i5-Tb491/s1600-h/sm_SI2_Handheld.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 158px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWRvhdcdY32cs4gjDd3VGTBBHXm2mPU_ru-87sTluO-wal6Cofapm4vSCmuGMF8f4yKNjijq3stLQfJk3CRAfXVJv6VvoSBLMQh3pwwYYOQfKJmlXCFmL3efH7V-wN7J5piS7i5-Tb491/s200/sm_SI2_Handheld.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306744940854405554" border="0" /></a>The camera uses a Super 16mm sized Bayer sensor (for more on Bayer, see my <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2008/12/bayer-sensorspatented-1976but-not-way.html">blog post on the Bayer patent</a> from 12-14-08).<br /><br />The workflow-favored format for the camera to write to is <a href="http://www.cineform.com/technology/CineForm_RAW.htm">CineForm RAW</a>, which is a high quality, compressed RAW motion picture format that has several post workflow options for editing directly inside an NLE without 'flattening' the image.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(**I should probably point out that I was involved a bit with this camera's testing prior, and shortly after its release, as well as involved with CineForm products, so I am probably not without my biases...)</span><br /><br />Congratulations to everyone involved with Slumdog Millionaire, and congratulations to Silicon Imaging and CineForm.<br /><br />Links for more info:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/">Slumdog Millionaire at IMDb</a><br /><a href="http://www.siliconimaging.com/DigitalCinema/index.html"><br />Silicon Imaging</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cineform.com/">CineForm</a>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-82442067241005192902009-02-14T18:35:00.007-06:002009-02-14T19:02:06.868-06:00So what qualifies as 'High Definition' Video?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT710Rvq7bHcLHPc4Dmo0EbG6hqTYhvnvxhgj-m04MyIt7OPg5SgriNqBPZFGcYxf1ZhxHmvJ6C5dtjLfJeqEXIG183tQ1AT4sLtDNbPhHV2x_NDxhouJKOqGmuHEglgEulLl7r85Hgq9C/s1600-h/HDTVlogoL.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT710Rvq7bHcLHPc4Dmo0EbG6hqTYhvnvxhgj-m04MyIt7OPg5SgriNqBPZFGcYxf1ZhxHmvJ6C5dtjLfJeqEXIG183tQ1AT4sLtDNbPhHV2x_NDxhouJKOqGmuHEglgEulLl7r85Hgq9C/s200/HDTVlogoL.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302822568257782386" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">One basic criteria often referenced for high definition video is having at least four times the resolution of standard television (double the pixels horizontally and vertically).</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"> However...</span><o:p></o:p></span> <p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >A significant source of confusion for production professionals migrating into HD delivery is that the accepted picture sizes for digital television distribution vary and not all are “high definition” by any modern standard we could apply.<span style=""> </span>In the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the ATSC or Advanced Television Systems Committee has issued “Table 3” of picture formats for digital television, specifying 640x480, 704x480, 1280x720, and 1920x1080 as digital video display resolutions. Both the 640x480 and the 704x480 formats have interlaced and progressive variations at multiple frame rates, with the progressive scan versions often referred to as “extended” or “enhanced definition,” the spoken shorthand being “EDTV.” (<a href="http://www.highdef.org/index.htm">HighDef.org</a> has <a href="http://www.highdef.org/library/hddefined.htm">the chart, as well as a simplified version here</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p>The two accepted frame sizes for HD, 1920x1080 interlace/progressive, and 1280x720 progressive are 16:9 aspect ratio picture formats.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >1280x720 is not 4x as many pixels as standard definition video (it even falls short of 3x), but it is used as a progressively scanned image.<span style=""> </span>Most professionals would agree that progressive scanning does allow for the perception of very high detail with the tradeoff being progressive scanning does sacrifice some aspects of the smooth motion of interlaced scanning at an identical frame rate.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Advocates for the 1280x720 progressive format point out that while 1920x1080 images may be larger in size, when the 1080 frame is interlaced the picture delivers only half of the picture content every 60<sup>th</sup> of a second, while “720p” can refresh the entire image every 60<sup>th</sup> of a second.<span style=""> </span>In this scenario then, 720p would deliver only slightly fewer pixels over time than “1080i,” and it would be temporally “sharper.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The comparison and debate over spatial resolution (frame size) and temporal resolution (frame rate) and whether one trumps the other didn’t begin here and it won’t end here either.<span style=""> However, it's probably significant to note that one large stock footage library has ceased placing new footage acquired as anything less that 1080...and the trend for program format for an increasing number of broadcast and cable networks is to simply require a 1080i master with the stipulation that footage may be acquired as 720p (not mastered) with prior clearance... Many local stations will undoubtedly drag their feet on upgrading local origination to HD resolutions in the present economy, but mastering you content in HD maximizes shelflife.</span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Each professional needs to take a hard look at what sort of projects they do and what kind of delivery requirements are involved. It does look as if mainstream program distribution is definitely pointing toward 1080.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-15849713391298560692009-02-07T13:51:00.004-06:002009-02-07T14:15:59.513-06:00John Galt of Panavision chats a bit in the pasture...<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_M8snTefxa8ykRk7o0iQN7I5SoXfvg4IFwt3yD7cfZvEyAZISretYz4On0zADxfuiV-CdebyOtHcLV4g-d4VTUXn_FMOtzsnUYT4TYFMmQLVMcoHH7W_jOZQP7V_vZivaWGfKW1q2BwD/s1600-h/john_galt.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_M8snTefxa8ykRk7o0iQN7I5SoXfvg4IFwt3yD7cfZvEyAZISretYz4On0zADxfuiV-CdebyOtHcLV4g-d4VTUXn_FMOtzsnUYT4TYFMmQLVMcoHH7W_jOZQP7V_vZivaWGfKW1q2BwD/s200/john_galt.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300145873099991922" border="0" /></a></span><br />John Galt, <a href="http://media.panavision.com/index.html">Panavision's</a> Senior Vice President of Advanced Digital Imaging (and I'm happy to say, a professional acquaintance of mine) has taken some time to <a href="http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/the-truth-about-2k-4k-the-future-of-pixels">chat with CreativeCow.net on pixel counts, dynamic range and a really interesting new technology that Panavision has in the queue called 'DynaMax'</a> (Think HDR in motion).<br /><br />Some of this discussion does come back to the point of what the human eye actually sees... The <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2008/12/human-visual-acuityshoot-it-and-they.html">December 9th, 2008 entry</a> here on the blog has some additional thoughts... see <a href="http://timkolbtech.blogspot.com/2008/12/human-visual-acuityshoot-it-and-they.html">"Shoot it and they will...probably see it"</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6KiEj_DgtzVr58qWQ8q9nVAW5X02jJuJ5laiF7szvGwwewCxmUY7UmAEgyybI_j4gThQ3dFDugqIzHlSs0wFEPlX7XXXLo9W5MXH5a9fA8hmACHSxmmQnw2LylVp1Led6QUMTdym1tIi/s1600-h/PVlogoReflection.jpg.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 96px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6KiEj_DgtzVr58qWQ8q9nVAW5X02jJuJ5laiF7szvGwwewCxmUY7UmAEgyybI_j4gThQ3dFDugqIzHlSs0wFEPlX7XXXLo9W5MXH5a9fA8hmACHSxmmQnw2LylVp1Led6QUMTdym1tIi/s200/PVlogoReflection.jpg.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300148021732182530" border="0" /></a>As always, I refer those of you with questions to watch <a href="http://media.panavision.com/ScreeningRoom/Screening_Room/Demystifying_Additional_Information.html">Panavision's excellent videos on camera sensors, image sharpness and modulation transfer function</a>, which are permanently linked in the right margin.<br /><br />TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-73095189846232092332009-01-27T10:44:00.006-06:002009-01-28T11:28:45.089-06:00AAF Explanations from...the AMW AssociationI apologize for the break in postings...I've been on assignment.<br /><br />As we all approach the world of universal project and media structure...more or less, it's always good to review why in the world we are doing this to ourselves and at least remember that the whole idea was ultimately to make everything easier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.aafassociation.org/index.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 71px;" src="http://www.aafassociation.org/images/aaf_logo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.aafassociation.org/index.html">Advanced Media Workflow Association</a> is the name of the body that is the keeper of the AAF and MXF standards that manufacturers seem to typically adopt, but not completely or in a standard way...which of course leaves the main role of these standards (transportability between applications and environments) absent in many circumstances.<br /><br />Eventually however, we all know that intellectually the adoption of open standards <span style="font-weight: bold;">in a uniform manner</span> will benefit the entire production community and therefore we'll hold out hope that some day manufacturers may actually agree and implement accordingly...<br /><br />In the meantime, the AMWA has an excellent AAF explanation document available for those of you interested in a better understanding of what AAF is ...and isn't.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aafassociation.org/html/techinfo/AAFoverviewIBC2001A4.pdf">Download the PDF here.</a><br /><br /><br />TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8891821838666774602.post-67498031331762354572009-01-09T09:26:00.005-06:002009-01-09T16:11:45.794-06:00Want to hear about the REAL beginning of the Internet?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=27411&fID=345"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://www.researchchannel.org/images/inst/uw/uw_cse_intevo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Vint Cerf (pictured) was around way back when the idea of what we now know as the internet was being visualized and being concept-tested. I know it isn't related to imaging <span style="font-style: italic;">directly</span>, but this is <a href="http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=27411&fID=345">an interesting presentation by a really engaging speaker</a> on a topic that affects all of us.<br /><br />Trust me, it's a great tech war story, you'll like it. It runs an hour and you can download it and watch it when you have some wait time.<br /><br />...on one of my favorite sites, <a href="http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/">The Research Channel</a>.<br /><br />TimKTim Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17942449992738993282noreply@blogger.com0