lower thirds

Facebook, in a Word... Meh

 

Is Facebook finally collapsing under its own weight? It it time to say goodbye?

Lately, I've been feeling it's time. I'm done. Maybe I am getting bored with it - I'm not too sure.

Then there was this announcement: Facebook is now charging big dollars if you want your posts to actually reach your 'friends.'

I tolerated the Farmville onslaughts, survived the 2012 (and 2008) elections, and the friend requests from people from my distant past, who let's just say, are in the distant past for a reason (no offense to nobody!).

But this seems to have done it for me. I thought about it, wrestled with it for a long time - 'it's the biggest social media movement ever! I have to be a part of it! What about all those connections, interactions? Can I just walk away?'

The more I thought about it, how I actually use Facebook - and more importantly - how my 'friends' were using it, the decision become easier. For me, social media is about connecting and engaging with people - mostly people in the industry. I want to share with them what's going on with me, my clients and general happenings in the industry. While I enjoy the sneak peaks into peoples' daily lives, it is really just that - sneak peaks and passing glances. There is no interaction, no dialogue. There was plenty of dialogue about Mitt Romney, Barack Obama - with colorful details and insights into peoples' political expertise and their solutions for what's ailing this country. Sorry. Ain't interested. In fact, I found it disturbing. I had to look away.

And I've been doing that a lot more lately. Looking away.

But what about interacting and sharing useful, interesting information in social media circles?

In a word - Twitter.

I joined Twitter when it launched, not sure what to make of it. In fact, I thought it was kind of goofy. But I gave it a try. I waded into the waters. Not too committal, just....observing, listening and watching.

And over time, I observed something really interesting. I watched as the post production/production industry embraced it. They were talking to eachother! Actual dialogues between people who shared the same passions and visions, and who were willing to help solve problems. Hashtag groups started to emerge. And not just the #OMGicantbelieveiatethewholepizza kind of hashtags. Meaningful, useful ones. Groups that started 'meeting' once a week to talk about any given topic, or to host a special guest. It was great! It IS great! And it continues to get better.

To date, Twitter isn't packaged, marketed and overly contrived - at least not in these circles of filmmakers, cinematographers, editors and VFX artists.

Hanging out with Stu Maschwitz a few weeks ago, he described Twitter as like going to a cocktail party, filled with interesting groups of people talking about interesting things. "I can wander from group to group, topic to topic, and just pop in to a conversation for a bit to see what's going on. I love that about Twitter!"

That conversation really got me thinking.

I'm spending a lot more time on Twitter these days, and less on Facebook. In fact, I've even been experimenting with Google+ as a possible replacement to Facebook - but that's another conversation.

But what do you think? As filmmakers/editors/VFX artists/cinematographers - are you feeling the same way? 

Tell me what you think...

 

Sounds of Silence...No More

It's been far too long, and this blog has been far too silent.  There's far too much going on to ignore these pages, so I'm back with renewed commitment and plenty to talk about. 

It's good to be back.

Cyber Monday is here - and it's not only impacting the consumer markets. There are plenty of deals to be had in the production/post production market. Just check out Tool Farm for a nice run down of great deals today.

But my good friends at Imagineer are also at it with some pretty amazing deals on mocha Pro - 40% off through the end of today.

Here are some details from the press release:

With discounts of over 40% , Imagineer Systems invites its global community of VFX artists and post production professionals to take advantage of its newest mocha v3.1 family of Planar Tracking solutions.

 

Imagineer’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale begins Friday, November 23, 2012 and runs through Monday, November 26, 2012. During this promotional weekend, users can purchase mocha Pro v3.1 upgrades and full versions, or mocha Pro v3.1 Academic Versions at tremendous savings of over 40%. All Black Friday/Cyber Monday licenses are nodelocked only and are limited to one license per customer.

 

For more details on Imagineer Systems 2012 Black Friday/Cyber Monday Holiday Sale, please visit http://www.imagineersystems.com/blackfriday2012/?searchterm=black%20friday.

 

 

VFX Artist, Sasa Jokic on mocha Pro

 

Sasa Jokic, New York City-based editor and VFX artist is a long-time Imagineer Systems customer and fan of mocha. Sasa recently launched a new post production collaborative called MASSIVE Workshop, Inc, and shared with us his background, his experience in post production,  and what inspires him. Sasa also shared some feedback with us on mocha and the new v3 release of mocha Pro.

 

On Sasa Jokic

My name is Sasa Jokic and I am creative video editor and VFX artist based in New York City. Even though I am a classically trained editor (I hold Master of Arts in Film and Video Editing from University of Art in Belgrade), I have always been interested in learning and using new editing and VFX tools.  As a freelancer in New York, it is essential to keep current with all post-production software developments. Because you never know where are you going to get your next job and what tools the new company is using, I have learned to work on all editorial systems, including AVID, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, Media 100, to name a few, as well as most VFX tools on the market. 

 

One of my favorite tools is Imagineer Systems’ mocha. It saved me so much time on so many projects and literally saved my job on some. I came to New York 1996 and did my fair share of work on low budget independent feature and documentary films. About 9 years ago, I decided to focus more on advertising, so I start working with many ad agencies as their on site editor and VFX artist. At the same time I started developing my relationships with the feature film world and working on visual effects for films. 

 

A few months ago I created my new company called MASSIVE Workshop, Inc. We are a collaborative collective of best-in-the-business post production talent - producers, editors, motion designers, VFX and 3D artists. The idea is to provide an ad agency with a full range of post-production services directly and on many operational levels. I am confident that our approach will change the way ad agencies conduct post-production business. That will be MASSIVE’s main orientation, but we will continue to provide superb VFX work to our feature films clients.

 

 

 

On Recent Work

Just last week I finished two commercials for Purina Cat Chow and Tidy Cats. I used mocha on a few shots for Cat Chow, and on all shots for Tidy Cats; shots that needed to be stabilized and tracked because cats were shot separately from actors. Here’s a clip:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxe5xLi2crc

 

mocha on Feature Films

Six months ago I finished VFX work for the feature film “Silent House,” directed by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, shot by Igor Martinovic and starring Elisabeth Olsen. It premiered in more than 2000 theaters last March in United States, and it is just about to start screening throughout Europe. It was a very interesting project from technical stand point because the whole movie is one continuos shot. As a result, there were many small imperfections which we needed to fix. Sometimes the light would be seen on the celling, or cameraman’s hand would slide into the shot; some shots had unwanted lens flares, or surrounding houses would be seen through the forest, which did not sit well because it is a horror film our hero house needed to be isolated!

So I had to do a lot of object removals and clean ups. Some shots had to stabilized, because everything was shot with a handheld. mocha Pro was an essential tool in my workflow and we used it in every single part of the shot I was working on. There were more than 150 instances where mocha Pro came into play. Footage was dark, shaky and in some cases, had lots of motion blur and noise (it was shot on Canon 5D), but mocha Pro did not have a problem with any of that. Planar Tracking was flawless, and new stabilization module in mocha Pro v3 helped to smooth some parts of the shot and still keep that handheld camera feeling.

 

On the Workflow and Integration with Other Tools

I used After Effects CS5 for compositing, and with Mathias Mohl’s After Effects script mochaImport. It was a great workflow because After Effects was able to import not just mocha tracking data, but mocha shapes as well, which are essential for rotoscoping. mochaImport with option to create stabilized precomp helped me tremendously, especially when I needed to remove many stuck/hot pixels which is a known issue with DSLR cameras.

 

mocha Pro: Solving Problems, Saving Time

I do not think that I would have accepted the offer to work on this project if I did not have mocha Pro at my disposal -- it is hard for me to imagine any other way. Tracking handheld footage, shot in low light conditions where most of the objects we had to work on are coming in and out of the frame, would be impossible without mocha and its Planar Tracker. With so much material to work with and on such tight deadlines, you need to focus on compositing and solving shot problems. So just knowing that you do not need to worry about tracking is absolutely irreplaceable.

 

mocha Pro v3: Workflow Improvements and Integration with CS6

My only challenge with older versions of mocha really came when I was in a big rush, and I did not have much time to export files from After Effects and than import them into mocha. At the time, I thought that was the biggest problem in my mocha - AE workflow. But now with CS6, where you can open a clip directly from After Effects in mocha without first exporting it - well this improvement made mocha 100% perfect. In addition to this, the new mochaImport script also has an option to send clips, including masks, in- and out points from After Effects to mocha – with just one click, so even without CS6, your mocha AE workflow is significantly improved. 

 

I am just about to start work on the movie “Red Knot” directed by Scott Cohen and starring Vincent Kartheiser and Olivia Thirlby.  All these improvements in mocha v3, and additions like 3D camera solving, will streamline my workflow even more and make mocha absolutely one of the most valuable tools in my workflow.

 

Evolve IMG on mocha Pro: Powerful Tools to Tell a Powerful Story

Joel and Jesse Edwards of Evolve IMG talk about the power of mocha Pro to help tell a moving, difficult story.

 

 

 

How mocha Thinks

Imagineer Systems' product specialist, Mary Poplin, posted some very interesting perspectives on the Imagineer blog yesterday. She's well traveled, meets a lot of customers and prospective customers, and what she learns on the road is just as valuable as what she's teaching on the road.

Here's an excerpt:

Every time I meet artists in person, I get these ‘epiphany moments’ from our users - some of whom have been using mocha for years - about how our software works. And what I realized is that many people don’t fully understand how mocha’s Planar Tracker actually thinks. Some don’t quite jive with the spline-to-track relationship, and none of these artists realize that all of these issues can be fixed with a simple visit.

I thought to myself, “how do I get this message out to as many people as possible?” So I decided to make an in-depth tutorial on it with lots of visual aids and clear explanations. And so I am in that process. The tutorial is in the works and being polished as we speak, but I couldn’t hold back anymore and wanted to tide you over with a much needed blog update that covers off some of the common questions I run into and attempts to breakdown some of the answers. So here goes!

Read the entire post here.

Red Giant Denoiser II Summed Up in 54 Seconds

If you had any question about the power of Denoiser II:

 

 

Red Giant Denoiser II is Here

As promised, Red Giant announced yesterday it has released Denoiser II - a new rebuild of the popular noise reduction tool, part of the Magic Bullet Suite. This release is for After Effects only, but new revs that will support more host apps are in development already. And no worries, the Company's Red Pledge guarantees that if you buy it today, when the new versions come out with expanded host support, you'll get the update - free! No hassles. 

Here are the details from the press release:

 

  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

Red Giant Releases Magic Bullet Denoiser II

 

  Denoiser II Cleans Up “Noisy” Footage; Free Upgrade for Magic Bullet Suite Customers Delivers Reliable Performance, Sharp Results for After Effects Users

 

Portland, OR (February 28, 2012) – Red Giant today released Magic Bullet Denoiser II, a completely re-built version of its popular Denoiser 1.0 tool for removing unwanted noise and artifacts from video footage. Available as a free update for Denoiser 1.0 and Magic Bullet Suite customers, Denoiser II features intelligent default settings that provide immediate clean-up results when first applied to footage. Unlike other denoising tools and methods that can blur fine detail, Denoiser II’s smart default settings, along with advanced noise reducing tools, deliver sharp, clean and professional video results out of the gate.

 

Throughout the development process for Denoiser II, Red Giant worked closely with industry professionals to ensure its defaults deliver the perfect balance between noise reduction and sharpness. Denoiser II’s powerful cleanup features work right away, but for difficult noise situations, users can easily fine tune their footage with advanced controls. 

 

Denoiser II: Powerful Features for Professional Results

Denoiser II combines data over several frames to separate the noise from the image, giving users a professionally smoothed result that preserves fine details. Options like Frame Sample, Motion Estimation, Noise Hint and Shadow Offset create new sample frames, preserve fast-moving action, reduce chroma blotches, or clean up shadow areas, and are ideal for a number of workflow issues, such as:

 

Motion estimation for high and low motion: High-speed camera movements are different than slow pans, but Denoiser II can preserve detail even in fast-moving action sequences. Its Motion Estimation technology/feature compares successive frames to learn what is natural motion vs noise in the scene.  

 

Chromakeying and other fine tuning: Denosier II offers a number of fine tuning features that allow users to minimize over-smoothing, correct green chroma tinge, focus on shadows or de-emphasize highlights, all without losing image detail. 

 

Footage shot in low light: Denoiser II helps with low light conditions, making video clean and smooth. Noise Reduction and Noise Hint controls set how much noise you do (or don't!) want to see. 

 

Separate Video and Film modes: Two modes let users characterize the noise so Denoiser II can achieve the most accurate results. Video mode adjusts the Luma and Chroma channels for better smoothing in black-and-white or full color. Film mode has adjustments for Red, Green and Blue channels that are ideal for material shot on film. 

 

Joey Morelli is the founder of DigiDojo, a small post production and visual effects shop that handles just about every aspect of post for his clients, from motion graphics design and compositing, to 3D design, animation, color grading and editing. Joey, a long-time Red Giant customer, has been beta testing Denoiser II and had this to say: 

 

“As a ‘multi-tool artist,’ I need access to the best applications available - but they have to be affordable. With DSLR shoots dominating our market, noise is commonly introduced into otherwise gorgeous footage, and there just isn't an efficient, artful, affordable tool to turn to. Denoiser 1.0 worked, but it was finicky and unstable. So while working on the Denoiser II BETA, I picked one of the noisiest clips I could find, dropped Denoiser II on it, and within a few parameter tweaks, my jaw was on the floor! So then I set out to break it. I stacked a bunch of plug-ins like Magic Bullet Looks on it, adjusted the parameters for hours, and it remained rock solid and stable. No crashing! If I could sum up my experience with this tool: QUALITY + STABILITY = Denoiser II. That makes it worth every penny and it’s now my go-to noise reduction tool.”

 

Pricing and Availability

Magic Bullet Denoiser II for After Effects is available immediately and is priced at $99.00 USD for new customers, and is available as a free update for existing customers. Magic Bullet Suite 11.3 including Denoiser II is also available immediately and is priced at $799.00 USD for new customers. 

 

For more information or to purchase Magic Bullet Denoiser II, please visit https://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/denoiser-II/. For more information or to purchase the Magic Bullet Suite, please visit http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/magic-bullet-suite/.

 

The Red Pledge

At Red Giant, we love working with artists, and we love giving you the tools and resources to help you do great work. We're inspired by, and share in, your passion because Red Giant is made up of filmmakers, animators and designers just like you. It's that level of passion which flows through everything we do as a company, and ensures that everything about our relationship with you just works. And that's Red Pledge - our full-on commitment to your complete happiness. The Red Pledge is our guarantee that we will always be reasonable and fair. We believe in no hassles. Just happiness.

 

About Red Giant 

Founded in 2002, Red Giant (www.redgiant.com) creates an ever-expanding universe of effects tools ranging from plug-in suites, applications and mobile apps to Guru Presets, free products and sharing communities. We provide software for motion design, photography and color correction that is used for everything from major motion pictures to worldwide television programming to web production. Red Giant offers the industry-leading Trapcode tools for broadcast design; Magic Bullet Suite for color correction; and over 60 products that run in After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, Avid, Vegas, Nuke, and Avid Studio. Our effects have enhanced dozens of feature films such as Angels & Demons and The Social Network, and added sparkle to networks like NBC Universal, ESPN, Disney, CNN, Comedy Central, MTV, and TNT. Join us on Facebook (RedGiantSoftware), follow us on Twitter (@RedGiantNews) and get free content at Redgiantpeople.com.

 

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Red Giant Magic Bullet Looks 2 for Final Cut Pro X: Available Now!

GoPro Boosts Entire GoPro CineForm Studio Product Family

Today's announcement from GoPro is a significant one for a few reasons; one, it's a signal of incredible collaboration and innovative vision from the development team at the company. It's also a welcome announcement to a broad swath of the marketplace. We've seen how users ranging from consumers, motocross, skydivers, surfers to general enthusiasts have pushed GoPro cameras to the limit - but now we're starting to see how professional production crews are integrating GoPro cameras into some pretty sophisticated production pipelines.

The GoPro HERO2 introduced a breadth of features the professional crowd cheered about. Now with the availability of GoPro CineForm Studio, GoPro CineForm Studio Professional, and GoPro CineForm Studio Premium, the company is introducing some very sophisticated post production technology that's intuitive enough for the consumer crowd, and highly valuable to the professional filmmaker cutting HD documentaries, or sophisticated 3D stereoscopic productions.

This is big news!

Here's the press release that hit this morning:

 

 

GoPro® Strengthens Entire GoPro CineForm® Studio Product Line for 2D and 3D 

Post Production Workflows

 

HALF MOON BAY, CA (January 18, 2012) – GoPro, the world’s leading activity image capture company, today announced the release of a new version of its professional family of 2D and 3D production software - GoPro CineForm Studio Premium and GoPro CineForm Studio Professional.  The company recently released a new version of its free software, GoPro CineForm Studio, which adds powerful new features appealing to consumers and professionals alike.  

“This announcement represents a significant milestone in GoPro’s efforts to provide a complete camera-to-software solution for 2D and 3D productions for its entire customer base,” said David Newman, GoPro’s Senior Director of Software Engineering.  “The updated GoPro CineForm Studio software line has huge implications, not only for consumers and enthusiasts, but for professional cinematographers and filmmakers who are increasingly embracing new camera technologies to help them tell their stories in ever more exciting and unique ways.  The new software maintains an intuitive user interface for basic tasks but also provides sophisticated Active Metadata-driven capabilities that slipstream into the most advanced production pipelines in the industry.”

 

What’s New in the GoPro CineForm Studio Product Line

GoPro CineForm Studio

Available for both Mac and Windows platforms, GoPro CineForm Studio enables users of every skill level to adjust aspect ratios and instantly correct distortions or ‘image stretching’ that typically occurs when resizing images. And for high impact, dramatic time lapse sequences, GoPro CineForm Studio now enables users to add keyframes anywhere in the video, and add effects such as pan and zoom to introduce movement and drama to time lapse sequences. 

Other new features include: 

• Automatic recognition for 3D videos for YouTube uploads 
• Auto-update of HD HERO2® camera firmware
• Support for popular .mov and .mp4 video formats to bring in content from other camera systems

 

GoPro CineForm Premium and GoPro CineForm Professional

For professional cinematographers, filmmakers and videographers, GoPro has also strengthened its family of professional applications; GoPro CineForm Premium and GoPro CineForm Professional. GoPro CineForm Studio Premium captures the most popular features of both CineForm’s Neo HD and Neo 3D into a singular, new solution ideal for 2D and 3D broadcast and feature film production. GoPro CineForm Studio Professional extends even more powerful stereo 3D post-production capabilities to 3D broadcasters and 3D feature filmmakers, and is optimized for multi-camera stereo rigs, such as SI, PHANTOM, RED, and ARRI ALEXA. Additional features at-a-glance include:

GoPro CineForm Studio Premium:

• New and improved user interface
• Non-destructive Color correction
• Non-destructive Reframing/Image manipulation
• Non-destructive 3D correction
• Support for a wide range of consumer and professional 2D and 3D (single body) 

                        video cameras

• Support for HD and beyond

GoPro CineForm Studio Professional:

• New and improved user interface
• Non-destructive Color correction
• Non-destructive Reframing/Image manipulation
• Advanced Non-destructive 3D correction
• Support for a wide range of consumer and professional 2D and 3D (all types) 

                        video cameras

• Support for HD and beyond
• Independent eye control for professional 3D camera rigs

 

Pricing and Availability

GoPro CineForm Studio is available immediately as a free download here. 

 

GoPro CineForm Studio Premium is priced at $299, and GoPro CineForm Studio Professional is priced at $999 and are available for download here: http://www.cineform.com.

 

About GoPro

Based in Half Moon Bay, California, GoPro makes the world’s most versatile cameras, enabling people to capture and share their lives’ most exciting moments in professional quality HD video and photos. GoPro’s HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras are used collectively by more consumers, professional athletes, and video production professionals than any other camera in the world. GoPro’s products are sold in over 60 countries via specialty sports retailers, Sport Chalet, Best Buy and at GoPro.com.

 

GoPro Media Contact:

 

Rick Loughery, GoPro Kevin Bourke, BourkePR

(415) 738-2480 x722 or pr(at)gopro(dot)com (508) 259-6018 or kbourke@bourkepr.com

 

GOPRO®, HERO®, and CineForm® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Woodman Labs, Inc. in the United States and other countries.  All other company, product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their rightful owners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Giant TV Tutorial Series with Seth Worley: Creating a Comic Book Title Sequence

In this episode of Red Giant TV, Seth Worley (of Plot Device fame) walks you through the process of creating a Comic Book using After Effects and a number of Red Giant's color and color design applications, including Magic Bullet Looks and Trapcode Particular.

Take a look!

And to see the entire library of tutorials, QuickTips and useful content on color tools and techniques, check out http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/