Tales from the Public Domain: Bound By Law? is a graphic novel published by Duke University’s Center for the Study of Public Domain. The comic is meant to be a tool that explains copyright, fair use, licensing that affect the making of a documentary. The paper version is $5.95 while the online version is free (which can be found here). Flipping through the pages, I found the comic helpful. Check it out.

(via Self-Reliant Filmmaking)

Red Giant Software released Magic Bullet Suite 2.1 today, a free ugrade which most notably adds support for After Effects 7.  The $495 set of AE plugins uses a technique dubbed "DeepColor RT," which is a branded way of saying that they put your graphics card's GPU to work in order to vastly accelerate render times.  Using Magic Bullet on AE 6.5, my biggest knock against the package had to do with its speed, or lack thereof.  Even though it could take an hour or more to render only a minute of footage, oftentimes it was worth it--the package is that good (in my mind, for mimicking film looks and gamma curves, it's the best).  But with MB2.1, AE7, and a decent ATI or nVidia card, your render speeds should be several times faster--even approaching real-time for standard-definition.  If you already own Magic Bullet 2.0, the upgrade is a no-brainer (upgrading from 1.0 is $149).

[via HD for Indies]

The folks over at MIT's Media Lab have done it again, their latest creation turns a simple paint brush into a powerful multimedia device. With the help of a small video camera and other sensors embedded in the brush, the device is able to record textures, colors and movements, which can then be painted onto a "canvas" which is actually a large touch screen monitor. The brush's unique capabilities make for some interesting and unique looking artwork. To get a better understating of just how the brush works and to see its full capabilities be sure to check out the demonstration video at the bottom of the page. Definitely some cool and innovative stuff.

[Via Camcorderinfo.com]

Showreel Magazine has published the second part of their ongoing series of tests about the role of HDV and HD camcorders on the set of 24. During the first part of the tests which took place back in January the DP's from the show tested both the Sony Z1 and JVC HD100. In part two of the tests the Panasonic HVX200 and Canon XL H1 were added to the mix. The new test had similar results to the original, with no camera being the clear winner, though both DP's like the JVC HD100. The test also took a look at a number of the leading cine-adapters which are used to give the cameras a shallower depth of field similar to a 35mm film camera. The entire article is extremely comprehensive and provides a clear look at the leading HDV and HD 1/3" cameras currently on the market.

[Via FresHDV]

Don't know if you're familiar with Warm Cards, but you should be.  They're the 4"x6" card with a tint of blue to add a warm glow to your video look.  They're nice, but they're also $65.  While normally, $65 would seem a little price to pay for more warm footage, I'm inclined to say "BAAHHH" and propose to the community at large to come up with a DIY solution.  I'm thinking we could probably find a shade of Blue, take it down to our local printer, print it on a 4" x 6" card, UV protect-laminate it, sell it for $65, and voila, use it.  Thoughts?  Problems?  Patent infringements?

Update: Just to give you an idea, I've actually used these at that Southern Utah TV station I often refer to (KCSG, they could use some linklove, I guess) and they really work in the way described.  Light blue cards that warm up the scene.  Super effective, and super expensive.

As a Blogger for a digital video website, I can tell you there is a lot of information out there regarding NAB. The problem is, 99% of it is supplied by the thousands of product manufacturers who will be presenting there. I could probably blog 5 posts right now, all pointing to press releases from company X, who has announced they will be debuting product Y at the NAB show this year. But you wouldn't want to read any of them. They are boring, ambiguous, and self-aggrandizing, and really aren't news until they actually show the product. With all of the broadcasting companies hocking their wares so long before the show, it's refreshing to see it from the buyer's perspective.

Ken Kerschbaumer over at broadcastingcable.com has a great article looking at what a big gun like CNN is looking for at this years National Association of Broadcasters trade show. Kerschbaumer interviews CNN bigwig Gordon Castle, who talks about the company's goals for the show, which include HD field acquisition, and new terminal gear for their Atlanta hub. It's definitely a "Good Read O' The Day" winner.

Not a big surprise that iTunes is growing among streaming choices. Windows Media still has the biggest piece of the pie but unlike iTunes and Real Media, its numbers are shrinking. "In January of 2006, the data showed about 71 million unique users for the market leading Windows Media Player, just over 28 million users for RealPlayer, 18.5 million for iTunes and nearly 13 million for QuickTime." But I think this quote is more significant: "iTunes is used over twice as long as its nearest rival RealPlayer (111 minutes versus 46.4 minutes per person, or 2.4 times as long) and that RealPlayer is the only other player surveyed to show growth in usage over the last three years. QuickTime and Windows Media Player are losing mindshare among users." I wonder if itunes length of usuage advantage is because they have cornered the podcast market?

We were duped! Duped into believing the lifespan of our Recordable optical media was somehow greater than the universe itself. Of course thin plastic discs read by a laser would far outlast any of those outmoded magnetic options we used to have. DVD-R would last forever! Until we found out it didn't.

As the reports came in, we began making mental checklists of important "backed up" files. We could hear the distant echo of a thousand DVD players ejecting as if in unison as couples all over the world were unable to watch their wedding video. We combed our client directories, wondering if maybe this was the reason they hadn't called lately. It was pandemonium! Fortunately for us, Verbatim has declared marshal law.

The Mitsubishi owned disc manufacturer has announced plans for a new "Archival" grade of DVD media. The aim here is disc longevity, and Verbatim will employ several advanced methods to pull it off. First,  dual reflective layer technology will substantially add to the life of the product, while still supporting burning at 8X speed. The discs will also feature VideoGuard hard coat technology, making it 40 times more resistant to scratches. The third item in this trifecta of technology is Metal AZO Recording Dye. I don't know what it does, but it sounds really cool. "AZO!"

Verbatim has tested the disks under a variety of environmental, and accelerated aging conditions, and deemed them worthy of the "Archival" moniker. Strangely absent from the press release is any sort of number indicating the product lifecycle. I'm sure that's probably just because they will last longer than the universe itself…again. The company plans for a release in Q2 of 2006.

While reading over some of the new After Effects 7 specs, I stumbled across this gem on the official After Effects blog. Apparently, this guy took a trip to KING5 in Seattle, where he saw people building graphics for sameday playback.  No surprise there, but what completely threw me off was this gem:

"What was even more interesting to me was that they were playing the RAM Previews direct-to-air."

Are you SERIOUSLY playing back to air from the After Effects timeline!?  I don't know about my broadcast bretherine (and sister...ine) but I'm weary of playing back with computers built as stillstores/clipstores, etc, let alone devices running "consumer-ish" OSes.  At a prior job in the middle of no where (literally, KCSG in Southern Utah) we had a completly tapeless ingest/playout system, although it had little to do with effeciency, and more to do with a lack of budget.  The system wasn't anything great like Avid, it was a homerolled system involving two FCP workstations, FireStores, two DV decks (acting as A/D converters) heading into a switcher.  This allowed us to have two playback devices, with all DV input and output.  We lined everything up on a timeline, and used the next event keys to ready things.  A really medival (and unreliable) way to do things, but it ended up ok.

I'd never do that in a market like Seattle, Salt Lake, or really any market above 100.  Am I old fashioned?  Should I learn to relax and go more with the rubberband and paperclip approach, or am I justified in thinking that extra 15 minutes of file rendering time is worth the piece of mind when it ends up on a stillstore?

While the debate might be raging in online forums and across the blogosphere about how well the HVX200 is doing, and whether it is a true film replacement, one South African man took it upon himself to shoot an entire feature-length film with a different approach: eight camera phones.

Yes, this is a real story.

SMS Sugar Man will be shown on screens in "real" 35mm format, but at a budget of $165,000, and a shooting schedule of under two weeks, the director really couldn't have shot it many other ways.  A quick trip to the movie's website shows that it isn't a gimmick, and the film might actually not be as horrible as it sounds.  If you're in Milan, you can decide for yourself when a trailer for the film hits the African and Latin America Cinema Festival in Milan.

[Via Cinematical]

I was listening to a podcast the other day featuring Apple founder Steve Wozniak. I found out the guy has some very interesting hobbies, one of which happens to be Segway Polo. I was glad to hear someone had finally put those enigmatic gyroscopic scooters to good use. Turns out Woz isn't the only one.

Handsfree-Transporter makes a variety of Segway-Type devices. The only thing is, they have completely removed the handlebars, and replaced them with a knee-brace steering mechanisim. This frees up the driver's hands for whatever he wants… like running a steadicam. Enter the Cam Transporter.

To anyone who has been on a Segway, this makes perfect sense. After a few initial wobblies, (yes, I tried one at the local mall) it is a very smooth, almost natural experience. I think smooth and natural are also good words to describe quality steadicam work. It seems like the perfect match and, at a top speed of around 13 mph, you could pull off some seriously cool shots with this baby.

Click below for a link to the homepage (flash.) and follow the links to see video of the Cam Transporter in action.

It seems like just the other day I was talking about the trend of video processes being offloaded to the GPU. In fact, I recall mentioning how I wish more companies would take advantage of faster graphics cards. Well ATI has answered the call.

AvivoT Video Converter works with the Radeon X1000 series of graphics cards and, according to claims in a recent ATI press release, is smokin' fast. They say the software takes less than 5 minutes to convert a 30-minute clip to a format "playable by today's more popular portable video devices." (I think that's the ones with the Apple on the back.)

If they can really make an iPod video that fast, color me impressed. Of course this works exclusively with Radeon cards, so it doesn't have universal application, but it certainly seems like another step in the right direction. Oh, and ATI says AvivoT is easy to use too. Click below for a link to the press release.

This thread at DVXuser has an interesting discussion on whether to get insurance, where to get it and the questions to ask. Here is one answer from joeher133 I am looking into: "I'm insuring today with State Farm. They quoted me about 2.50 per 100 dollars insured, so the HVX comes to about 150 a year. I'm also insuring my other cameras and my Powerbook. It is called Personal Items insurance and you can insure anything even if it's for business use.."

I just finished this great article, and had to share it with all the DVGurus out there. Maybe it shows just what a video geek I am, or maybe it's because I work for a local TV station, but for whatever reason, I found the story of Art Donahue fascinating. He works as a field producer/photojournalist for the ABC affiliate in Boston, and is a huge supporter of HDV.

Art has been producing Chronicle, a local documentary style program, since 1987. In that time, he has seen several format changes, and was an early adopter of HDV. In fact, he was shooting HDV before he could edit it. Art worked as a beta tester for Avid Xpress when they phased in native HDV support, and astonished the company by using an external USB drive to extend his storage capacity. This is a great story about progressive use of technology, and definitely earns my "Good Read O' The Day Award"

I don't know what it is about bizarre contests that draws me in. There's something about mustering up all your creativity and ingenuity to persevere to the finish, and win a bunch of crap. The following is just such a contest.

Freesound, M-Audio and Soundman together with Computer Music Magazine proudly present the first Freesound competition. The contest, Themed Earth Wind Fire Water, challenges contestants to record or synthesize sounds of those elements, and upload a sample of each. Apart from that, the only other rules are to give your samples descriptive names, and make sure they are your own legal work. That's it. Get creative and win.

Now for the free stuff. The contest features a winner take all prize pack including the M-Audio Microtrack, a flash-based miniature audio recorder, one superb set of the Soundman in-ear microphones -perfect for fieldrecording- and the audio-processing/mastering effects suite Ozone from Izotope, to finalize your sound. The contest runs through March of 2006.

Oh and if "Crap" is a swear in your part of the world, I'm sorry.