… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1578: Video Production and the Law

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Every business has legal issues. Production is no different.

(Image courtesy of Sora Shimazaki, via Pexels.com.)

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This article, written by Mark Levy, first appeared in VideoMaker.com. This is a summary.

When you start any business, you should know the legalities of the business. It is difficult enough to set up a business with suitable equipment, personnel, infrastructure, marketing, and customers or clients without having to worry about legal liabilities. The same is true in the video production field. This article describes all of the considerations when it comes to video production and the law.

  • Fair Use. In order to determine whether the use of copyrighted material is a fair use, the court considers four factors: (1) the purpose and character of the use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use upon the value of the copyrighted work.
  • Create an LLC Business Structure. While legal liability is probably the most commonly cited benefit of a creating an LLC, taxes comes in a close second. LLC owners can apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS that would allow them to be taxed as a corporation. Downsides are separating business and personal financial records, more detailed official meeting minutes and increased fees.
  • Production Insurance. This would cover general liability, worker’s compensation and professional liability insurance.
  • Release Forms. Any identifiable people or places will need release forms signed.
  • Contracts. A contract is “an agreement between private parties creating mutual obligations enforceable by law.” Usually, this plays out as a promise that you’ll do some specific work for someone, that someone will pay you for your work, and that both of you are legally bound to uphold your side of the bargain.
  • Copyright. Understand where copyright applies and where it doesn’t. Also consider how patent or trademark law applies to your productions.
  • Licensing and Freebooting. How to protect your work from unauthorized duplication.
  • Errors & Omissions. This insurance protects you in case of mistakes.
  • Public Domain. Everything created before 1926 is in the public domain and can be used without permission of the creators of those works.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article, linked above, has more details on each of these points.


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… for Apple Motion

Tip #1577: Sometimes You Just Want Stuff to MOVE!

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Random Motion behavior causes any element to move.

Random Motion behavior settings in the Inspector.

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Sometimes, you just want something to move. Not a lot, but enough to catch the eye. Enter Random Motion. The Random Motion behavior applies a small amount of random movement to any selected element. This movement is never very big, but you have control over how much and in which direction.

For example, apply the behavior to an element, then go to Inspector > Behavior:

  • Amount. This determines the amount of movement. (Remember, if you need LOTS of movement, apply one of the Basic Motion behaviors.)
  • Frequency. How often this movement repeats during the effect.
  • Noisiness. The larger the number, the larger the movement.
  • Drag. Adds internal friction to the movement. Most of the time, you’ll leave this at zero.
  • Include. This determines the direction of the movement: side-to-side, up-and-down, or to-from the camera.
  • Random Seed. Click the icon to create different pattern of random behavior.

Good ways to use this include animating a logo, product name or phone number to keep re-attracting a viewer’s attention.


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… for Apple Motion

Tip #1576: The Essential Write On Behavior

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Write-on behavior animates lines to draw themselves on-screen.

Write On settings (top) and a line animating itself on-screen (bottom)

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Behaviors create animation without requiring keyframes; and one of the most essential behaviors is Write On.

The Write On behavior animates lines to draw themselves on-screen. It is located in Behaviors > Shape > Write On.

Be default, this effect animates (draws) a line on-screen, with the effect taking the entire duration of the project. Just as with all behaviors, you can change the speed of the draw by adjusting the In and Out of the effect.

But, a closer look at the settings for Write On shows a variety of interesting options that you may not have noticed.

  • Shape Outline. This draws, erases, or draws then erases a line.
  • Stroke Length. This changes a line into a pulse which starts at the beginning of the line, then travels along it to the end.
  • Stroke Offset. This moves the starting position of the line.
  • Direction. Forward or reverse.
  • Speed. This dials in acceleration and deceleration, as needed.

EXTRA CREDIT

Write On is the option of choice to watch a line draw on a map, an arrow travel through space, or a more complex shape animate itself into view.


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… for Apple Motion

Tip #1575: A Simple Layers Slider

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Click the icon, then drag the dot to change Layer panel scaling.

The Scale icon, bottom, and the Scale slider (dot at top).

Topic $TipTopic

Tucked into the bottom edge of the Layers pane is an icon of two rectangles. This “Scale slider” hides a useful function. Let me illustrate.

Click the Scale icon (red arrow) to reveal a pop-up set of three icons. Only the middle one moves.

Drag the middle dot left or right to change the scale of the elements displayed in the Layers panel.

As projects get more complex this is a fast way to cram more elements into less space. Or, conversely, expand elements to better see what you are working with.


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… for Visual Effects

Tip #1581: Bring the HEAVY Weapons to “Monster Hunter:

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

If the creatures are going to be CGI, make everything else real.

Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa had to perform with the signature oversized weapons from the video game.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Trevor Hogg, first appeared in VFXVoice.com.

This in-depth article explores how the VFX team responsible for creating Monster Hunter, which is based on a video game. This is a summary.

Director Paul Anderson said: “My approach on this movie was if the creatures have to be CG, let’s shoot on real landscapes rather than in studio backlots against a greenscreen. Every time a creature’s foot goes down on the ground it displaces and showers our actors with real sand, and the lens flare from the sun will be real as well as the wind. It gives the animators an awful lot to match into as well as helps to tie the creatures into the reality of the existing location.”

The cinematic versions of the monsters are not exact replicas. “With the monsters you’re building them at a different level of detail than a video game engine could ever handle,” says Anderson. “Dennis Berardi [The Shape of Water], our Visual Effects Supervisor and co-producer, and his team sat down and analyzed the way that the creatures moved in the game and compared that to creatures of a similar bulk in our world [such as elephants and rhinoceroses] and how they would move with gravity operating on them. A footfall of a creature weighing a certain amount must displace a certain amount of sand or whatever material it’s running on. Something of a certain size normally moves at certain speed.”

Sixty-five minutes of screen time consist of 1,300 visual effects shots created by MR. X facilities in Toronto, Montreal and Bangalore, as well as at South African-based BlackGinger. “We had one situation where Kaname Fujioka [the director of the Monster Hunter games] and the team at Capcom were like, ‘Diablos looks amazing, but her toenails are too sharp,’” recalls MR. X Visual Effects Supervisor Trey Harrell. “Diablos is an herbivore, so the feature should be more like a rhino or elephant with rounded tusks with no pointy sharp bits. The most interesting thing to me that I found over the course of this whole journey was there is a certain amount of hubris involved when you start on a property and go, ‘Now we’re making a movie version of this.’ But a lot of times you do that before you understand the design in the first place. Everything was there for a purpose.”

EXTRA CREDIT

Trevor’s interview contains far more detail, almost two dozen production stills, and links to other in-depth interviews.


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… for Visual Effects

Tip #1580: Finding Inspiration in Architecture

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Sometimes, the best place to find inspiration is where you don’t normally look.

Production shot from Vikkal Parikh’s IKEA motion graphic commercial.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Vikkal Parikh, Founder and Creative Director, Ataboy Studios, first appeared in Motionographer.com. This is a summary.

The practice of motion design is, as its title suggests, a thing that is constantly changing and evolving, adapting to the world (and the technology) around it. But in order to grow and change in a way that keeps pace with the times, often motion designers have to look outside the traditional aesthetics of advertising and production spaces to different design-related fields that can offer inspiration and unique perspectives — and one of the most fascinating (and underrated) of these is architecture.

On the surface, it may seem like there aren’t many similarities between the two. But in my opinion, the foundation of any and all forms of design are essentially the same, be it architecture, product design, graphic design, motion design, or any related field. As the saying goes: “form follows function.” This idea can be applied universally to any form of design. As designers, we are problem solvers, and our goal is to come up with a solution that not only solves the problem but connects on a more personal level with the users or audience. Great architecture is an easy example of this: it not only solves the problem but makes the experience of visiting or seeing a space enjoyable in the most unexpected way.

If you’re willing to look, the world of architecture is full of beautiful and enduring creativity. I am personally a big fan of both Zaha Hadid and Mies Van Der Rohe, and they remain some of my biggest creative inspirations. They have very contradictory styles — Zaha Hadid with an emphasis on incorporating curves and creating organic shapes on an institutional scale and Mies Van Der Rohe focusing more on the space and light created in his buildings.

For those who wish to draw inspiration from nontraditional sources, the best advice I can give is to keep your eyes and ears open to the world around you. Whether it’s from reading or listening to a podcast on a certain subject or simply observing your surroundings, learning about disciplines outside your own can expand your thought process greatly.

EXTRA CREDIT

Vikkal’s article has more details and production stills illustrating his ideas.


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… for Visual Effects

Tip #1579: Understanding ACES for Color

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

ACES is designed to be the industry standard for color.

The ACES logo.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jourdan Aldredge, first appeared in NoFilmSchool.com. This is a summary.

The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) is designed to be the industry standard for color. This series will help explain what it is and how to use it in DaVinci Resolve.

ACES is a color management framework for motion images. This means that it offers a standardized way to transform what our camera saw into what our display can reproduce.

Just like our eyes, cameras and displays encode color as a proportion of pure red, green, and blue. But “pure” means one thing to our vision system, and another to any particular camera or display. This is why we need color spaces.

And this is where ACES comes in—it offers a user-friendly system for performing these transformations, allowing us to objectively transform our image from its capture color space into the color space of the display we’re mastering. This process is known as color management, and it’s the foundation of all effective image mastering.

EXTRA CREDIT

As well, the NoFilmSchool article is the start of a multi-part series explaining ACES and includes a video explaining ACES and DaVinci Resolve.

The video is worth watching and run less than 12 minutes.


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… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1586: Video Tips for Nikon Cameras

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Going “Behind the Scenes” is a fun way to learn from the best.

Still from David Tejada’s “Lighting with SpeedLights” video.

Topic $TipTopic

Nikon has published an excellent series of tutorials on using Nikon cameras for stills and video.

There are sections on lighting, technology and creativity. A section that I really like is the “Behind the Scenes” videos. 35 videos on how photographers get their images.

The videos are short, well-produced and fun to watch.

Here’s the link

EXTRA CREDIT

After watching these, I wanted to stop typing, grab a camera and start shooting.


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… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1585: Canon Utility Converts Cameras to Webcams

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Webcams are in short-supply. Canon has an answer.

Alejandro Medellin’s webcam studio with Canon camera on the right.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Alejandro Medellin, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com.

Webcams these days are in short supply. Fortunately, last year, Canon released the EOS Webcam Utility, Canon’s answer to the ongoing webcam shortage. It’s really, really easy to set up, and the picture quality is top notch.

The webcam utility turns several Canon cameras into legitimate webcams. (22 EOS cameras and 3 Powershots). The utility was good, the battery life of the cameras wasn’t.

So, Canon just released the new Webcam Accessories Starter Kit. This kit comes in three variations that each serve a line of Canon cameras. Each kit comes with an interface cable, a power adapter, and a dummy battery. The camera can stay on for hours with the dummy battery, which draws its power from an electrical outlet via the power adapter. The interface cable connects the camera to the computer via the USB port, which the webcam software then converts into a clean video input.

Though Canon’s accessory kit would have made a more significant impact last year at the height of the pandemic, it’s still a welcome product. The kit puts the hardware on par with the webcam software, and that’s all I needed. With demand still for webcams, the accessories kit is highly sought after.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article includes a list of all supported Canon cameras, details on configuring the software, and a review on how easy it is to use and how well it works.


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… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1584: New DJI Air 2S Drone with 5.4K Images

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

20-megapixel stills, 5.4K/30 video, 1″ sensor.

The DJI Air 2S Drone (courtesy of DJI).

Topic $TipTopic

As reported by Eric Naso in NewsShooter.com DJI updated the popular Mavic Air 2 with a 1″ sensor and a new name. The Air 2S. The body and many features are similar; however, the flight time has decreased by a few minutes due to the larger sensor and camera. The new Air 2S comes in at 595 g, while the Mavic Air 2 is 25 g less at 570 g. I think most people will appreciate that trade-off for the 1″ sensor.

DJI states the Air 2S is the first drone of its size to be able to capture 20-megapixel still images or 150 Mbps video in 5.4K at 30fps or 4K at 60fps with the use of that new 1-inch CMOS sensor and 22mm wide-angle lens.

The camera can record in 10bit D-log and RAW format photos with a dynamic range of up to 12.6 stops.

A new digital zoom supports 4X at 4K 30fps, 6X at 2.7K 30fps, 4X at 2.7K 60fps, 6X at 1080P 60fps, and 8X at 1080P 30fps. No SDcard? No problem, as it includes 8 GB of internal storage.

You can record in H.264 or H.265, depending on your preferences for image quality and storage capacity. You can also choose from three video color profiles, Normal (8 bit), D-Log (10 bit), or HLG (10 bit). It’s great to see in a consumer drone the ability to shoot 10bit and have a log option. This makes the Air 2S very tempting for occasional professional use if you are a licensed pilot.

The article includes more details, specs and a delightful promo video shot by DJI. (link)


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