Io Express - Cross Platform, Portable Audio and Video Input/Output Device Ideal for File-Based Workflows.

Ki Pro Portable Disk DDR – Bridges Gap Between Camera Acquisition and Post, Recording Directly to the Apple ProRes 422 Codec and is supported by major camera manufacturers ARRI, Canon and RED.

Kona LHi - Mac Video Capture and Playback Card Adds Support for HDMI and 3G SDI,and 10-bit Up, Down, and Cross-Convert.

XENA LHi - Windows Desktop Video Capture and Playback Card Adds Support for HDMI, 3G SDI and Adobe CS4 Production Premium, Bridging the Gap Between Analog and the latest HD Formats.

Read the full press releases at the AJA Video Systems website.

From Studio Daily

Sony added to its XDCAM HD line-up at its NAB press conference, announcing the PDW-F800 ($41,990), a 24p 3-chip (2/3-inch) camcorder with variable frame rate capabilities, and the PDW-F1600 ($27,990), a deck with insert/assemble editing capabilities that allow it to perform like a conventional VTR. Both products are expected to ship in June.

From Silicon Imaging Press Release

Hollywood, CA – Silicon Imaging, the company that enabled the digital shooting of this years Oscar winning Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire, is now changing the face of stereo-3D cinematography and production. The company unveiled the world’s first integrated 3D cinema camera and stereo visualization system at NAB 2009. The SI-3D shoots uncompressed raw imagery from two synchronized cameras and encodes directly to a single stereo CineFormRAW QuickTime file, along with 3D LUT color and convergence metadata. Read the rest of this press release at Silicon Imaging’s website.

In Part II of my interview with Scott Kirsner, I ask for his take on the current state of the Hollywood studio system. How is it adjusting and transforming as a result of new technologies and the explosive growth of online media content? What are the opportunities emerging as a result of these changes? How does he see craftspeople and labor unions adjusting to the new realities of the current economic slump and business environment? Finally, I ask him to cite some examples of people who have been successful at monetizing independent new media projects for film and the web.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III

Today I present Part I of a III-Part interview with Scott Kirsner. Scott is a noted author, journalist, blogger and digital technology expert who has written about innovation for publications such as the Boston Globe, the New York Times, Wired, Variety, Fast Company, the Hollywood Reporter, Salon.com, BusinessWeek, and Newsweek and his own website Cinematech.com, for nearly the last ten years. Much of his insightful work chronicles emerging trends in media and entertainment and the new artists and business models the Internet is giving birth to. He is the author if several books including; The Future of Web Video, Inventing the Movies and his most recent work, Friends Fans and Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age.

In this first segment, I ask Scott what interested him in the sometimes arcane world of cinema technology, talk about his first book, Inventing the Movies, in which he tells some of the never-before-told stories of the innovators who shaped Hollywood. For anyone interested in the future of media, movies and entertainment, I think you will find this an informative and enjoyable series.

More from this series
	QuickTime Movie HD 768×432	Part I	Part II	Part III
	iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III
	Windows Media Format 640×360	Part I	Part II	Part III

8:45 Introductions from the Organizers: Ken Goldberg, Tiffany Shlain, Lance Weiler, Scott Kirsner

9:00 AM John Batter, Co-President of Production, DreamWorks Animation SKG; former Group Studio General Manager, Electronic Arts – The Future of Animation, 3-D Cinema, and Games

John presented Dreamworks perspective on the future of 3-D. He described “Digital 3-D” as the next big jump in 3-D production and exhibition. Showed a clip from Kung Fu Panda that was recreated from the ground up using this new workflow. Pretty amazing looking stuff. Stated that all future DW animation productions will be in 3-D. Also demoed the same clip on a 46″ plasma television. Batter next showed a clip from upcoming film “Monster’s vs. Aliens” DW’s first major 3-D release coming March 27th. This clip was also impressive, particularly the fact that Steven Colbert voices the character of the president of the United States.

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
The Future of Visual Effects and Pre-Visualization

John Gaeta, Visual Effects Designer, Speed Racer and the Matrix trilogy
John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic
Euisung Lee, Halon Entertainment
Phil Tippett, Founder, Tippett Studio
Barbara Robertson, Journalist, CGSociety, Computer Graphics World, Digital Production (Moderator)

Taped John Knoll and some of Phil Tippett’s discussion of new tools and techniques being developed for VFX. If I can get clearance I’ll post them asap.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM

New Forms of Storytelling

Michael Ferris Gibson, Director, 24 Hours on Craigslist & Producer, Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story
Gregg Spiridellis, CEO Guy, JibJab Media
Evan Spiridellis, Head Art Guy, JibJab Media

The brothers Spiridellis, creators of JibJab, talked about building their content company and it’s explained a bit about its exponential growth. They also mentioned using taking thier content and spreading it across different products. Michael Gibson Talked about his film “Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story” an example of collaborative filmmaking (he aggregated a crew and raised 60K online) after running out of money he created a trailer with what he had and was able to raise financing to finish. I taped both these speakers and will hopefully get clearance.

12:00 Just too much good stuff and and I’m finding it tough to write AND shoot. Will recap later this evening.

Digital technology is radically changing filmmaking and by extension all media. The future of movies, music, games, social communication is being created as we speak. This Friday and Saturday October 17th and 18th, you are invited to participate in helping to shape what this future might look like.

The team behind the event includes: Ken Goldberg, artist and director of the Berkeley Center for New Media, Boston Globe and Variety columnist Scott Kirsner whose new book”Inventing the Movies” is a must read for anyone interesting in the history and future of the medium, Tiffany Shlain, Filmmaker and Director of “The Tribe”, multi-festival award winner and the #1 downloaded short film at iTunes and Filmmaker and “Cultural Hacker” Lance Weiler, who Wired magazine named “One of twenty-five people helping to re-invent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood.”

The Conversation promises to be an eye opening and fascinating event. Get an idea of what the future has in store for you by registering to attend The Conversation today.

As a follow up to our series of interviews with John Leonetti, ASC about his experiences shooting one of the first feature films with the RED Digital Cinema Camera, here is a clip from the soon to be released film, “Hybrid“. The film was produced by Oliver Hengst and Elizabeth Wang-Lee, directed by Eric Valette with cinematography by John Leonetti, ASC. Hybrid was also the first feature film in Canada to be shot with the RED.

Thanks to Jakob Boersch at Stallion Media, LLC for helping us get this clip online.

Link to Interview with John Leonetti, ASC Part I
Link to Interview with John Leonetti, ASC Part II
Link to Interview with John Leonetti, ASC Part III

The Complex and often arcane world of digital cinema mastering just became a bit more accessible as QuVis Corp. of Topeka, Kansas has announced the availability of a $699 digital cinema mastering plug-in for Final Cut Studio. The QuVis “Wraptor” enables FCS users to create professional-quality DCP’s or Digital Cinema Packages, the digital equivalent of a traditional film based “release print”, directly from a Final Cut Pro project. The plug-in uses the same QPJ™ encoding technology available in the company’s high-end, real-time mastering servers. QuVis developed the product in conjunction with Apple, who strongly supports the product.

Wraptor is actually a plug-in for Final Cut Studio’s Compressor. Considering Compressor’s distributed rendering capabilities, producers looking to take advantage of the plug-in’s low cost, will be able to do so without having to deal with endless render times.

The significance of this product should not be underestimated. To this point digital cinema mastering was one of the few areas of the digital filmmaking process that was not only difficult to decipher, but it was also very expensive. The cost of mastering a feature length film to a DCP typically runs in the 20K range, a stretch for the majority of aspiring and independent filmmakers. The Wraptor plug-in from QuVis seems like it has the ability to change all that and be another paradigm shifting tool that will help usher in a new era of digital cinema.