Automated cameras are ideal for remote production.
1 Beyond Falcon camera. (Image courtesy of 1 Beyond)
1 Beyond Inc. makes automated cameras, cameras that follow a speaker’s movements without requiring an operator. Last week, they announced two new, lower-cost cameras: the Hawk and the Falcon.
The Falcon is a powerful presenter tracking camera that smoothly pans, tilts and zooms to follow a presenter. Its small form-factor is well-suited for smaller rooms. It is the first ePTZ camera from 1 Beyond and uses a 4K image sensor which is cropped to HD for output. It uses facial and motion detection for tracking and is designed for rooms up to 25 feet deep.
The Hawk is a tracking camera specifically for the room participants. It combines two 12x optical zoom PTZ cameras, a wide-angle reference camera and six audio-locating microphones in a compact shelf-mountable solution. Built-in facial detection and voice detection software uses a new algorithm to accurately point a camera at whoever is speaking. Switching between cameras is seamless and automatic. The wide-angle reference camera feed is also available for an establishing shot of the room. Hawk is designed for rooms up to 30 feet deep.
Modular Thunderbolt expansion systems for desktop and rackmount.
DuoModo image courtesy of Sonnet Inc.
Sonnet Technologies announced the DuoModo line of professional, modular Thunderbolt expansion systems for the desktop and for rack installation, the latest entries in its award-winning lineup of Thunderbolt products. The DuoModo line is comprised of three interchangeable expansion modules — a three-slot PCIe card system, an eGPU card system, and a Mac mini mounting system with integrated 40Gbps Thunderbolt storage dock — and three enclosures consisting of two dual-module housings (one desktop and one rackmount) and a single-module desktop housing. Sonnet will also offer four preconfigured systems to simplify the order process for the most popular combinations of modules and enclosures. All modules are Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 compatible.
For the past decade, Sonnet’s Thunderbolt-to-PCIe card expansion products and computer mounting solutions have enabled users to overcome limitations in connectivity and adaptability, with the computers often favored by pro audio and video users. The capabilities to connect PCIe cards to computers lacking card slots and install Mac mini computers in computer racks have been integral to enabling countless workflows. With the launch of the DuoModo line, Sonnet has fulfilled its customers’ biggest requests to make modular products that offer greater flexibility of use in more workflows.
The DuoModo line addresses the particular requirements of audio, video, and broadcast users. Users can now configure a system to fit their specific needs, creating diverse combinations such as a system housing two GPU cards or six PCIe cards to connect to their computers with Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports, or another with a Mac mini plus one GPU card or three PCIe cards. Additional modules are planned for future release.
Monogram’s control surface supports Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro.
Monogram controls surfaces for color grading. (Image courtesy of Monogram)
As first reported by ProVideo Coalition, Monogram announced this month that the company worked directly with CommandPost to add incredible functionality between Monograms modular control surface and Final Cut Pro (FCP). The FCP integration with Monogram via CommandPost makes color grading significantly more precise and productive than with a mouse and keyboard.
Here are some of Monograms’ key features as presented by the company:
The Orbiter module is one of a kind. The pressure sensitive disc in the middle paired with the outside infinite encoder ring makes for incredibly precise adjustments in tasks like color grading or tonal adjustments a breeze
It can easily shave hours off of editing time, plus with the physical controls it helps you stay focused on your work instead of looking at software UI like adjustment panels.
We’ve worked with the Adobe team, Capture One team and Final Cut Pro team to create fantastic integrations with the most popular creative applications used by professionals.
Monogram worked with Commandpost.io to beta test their newly developed integration between Monogram Creative Console and Final Cut Pro. The new integration supports:
Grading controls: Color wheels and color boards
Inspector and compositing controls: Position, anchor, crop, scale, opacity, and rotation
Timeline controls: Jog, nudge, select items, and blade
Additionally: any menu item or key command assignable in Final Cut Pro
Because this was built upon CommandPost’s incredible macOS automation tools, says the company, it’s a more capable integration than anything previously offered for Palette or Monogram + Final Cut.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-06-09 01:30:002021-06-04 19:55:02Tip #1691: Monogram Now Integrates with Final Cut Pro
Fog is the opposite of evaporation, but easy to prevent.
Image courtesy: Pedro Figueras, Pexels.com.
This article, written by Jourdan Aldredge, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.
Here are the best ways to prevent foggy lenses, and practices for keeping your lenses clean, clear, and ready to shoot in inclement weather.
According to sciencing.com, condensation is simply defined as “the process where water vapor becomes liquid.” You see condensation more often than not on glass surfaces, like a drinking glass or the windows to your house.
Keep Gear Covered and Protected.The first step to combating condensation and the fogging up of your camera lenses is to always remember to keep your gear covered and protected. Safety should always be your first concern.
Get Your Lenses Acclimated to the Weather. The next big step for keeping your lenses fog-free is the most important. Before heading out to start your shoot, get your lenses acclimated to the weather! This is 100% the best, and pretty much only, way for you to truly “de-fog” your lenses in a safe and scientific manner. Don’t try to simply wipe your lenses clear, as this can risk scratching the glass or fogging things up worse.
The article also has videos that illustrate these suggestions, as well as techniques for defogging gear.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-05-21 01:30:002021-05-21 01:30:00Tip #1628: Tips to Keep Lenses from Fogging Up
Flexible subscription program with an all-inclusive monthly payment.
LiveU production hardware. (Image courtesy of LiveU.)
LiveU launches LiveU 360° – an all-inclusive subscription-based service package.
The adaptive turnkey package offers a modernized video production solution in a cost-efficient and scalable turnkey package – combining hardware and software, cloud workflow connectivity, unlimited data and value-added services with a new fully managed Platinum Service.
The LiveU 360° offering includes a range of plans under two umbrellas – 360° Essential and 360° Premium – which are optimized for specific markets (news, sports and other live productions) and can be upgraded at any time. An adaptive business model by design, LiveU 360° provides self-service capabilities, for example, multi-camera and roaming activation.
Features:
Field production gear
Unlimited connectivity plan
Physical/cloud channels acting as your video hub
Seamlessly connect with any other IP cloud-based production platforms or solutions
LiveU Central unified management platform and reporting tools.
IP Pipe, Video Return, Audio Connect and Tally Light
This article, written by Tanner Shinnick, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.
Documentary filmmaking can oftentimes require a unique set of needs, skills, and demands on any production. This is especially true when it comes to the camera system that you choose to utilize. Having the best camera for the job is an age-old adage that’s especially true for the documentary filmmaker.
Some of these common requests and needs of the documentary cinematographer are:
Built-in ND filters
High ISO performance
XLR/audio capabilities
Robust features (high-speed, in-camera IS)
Plus, general ease of use
Here’s the list:
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Canon C70
Panasonic EVA-1
Sony FX6/FX9
Canon C300 MIII & C500 MII
The article has details on each camera, along with a video illustrating each cameras’s strengths.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-05-21 01:30:002021-05-21 01:30:00Tip #1617: Best Cinema Cameras for Docs
TV Technology reports that remote production and IP are driving telepromper innovations. This is a summary.
In this in-depth article, the ubiquity and effectiveness of prompters now extend to independent and individual internet broadcasters, to the extent that there are regularly videos on YouTube selecting the best teleprompters for YouTube.
By its very nature, this end of the market is serviced primarily by systems in the $80–$1,400 price bracket but over the past year the higher-end manufacturers have been looking more closely at how their technology can be used both at and from home, for traditional broadcasters rather than YouTubers.
“We have seen an increase in the need to use smaller, more portable displays for prompter text, especially when home working,” said Robin Brown, product manager of Autoscript (part of the Vitec group with Autocue). “These screens are mostly tablet-sized and the ability to connect an iPad into the system as a prompter, without any added latency from streaming video, has been significant for many of our customers.”
“Everyone wants smaller but the problem is that the talents’ eyes are not getting any better,” said Michael Accardi, president of CueScript. “Small consumer-based products fall short on readability, connectivity and dependability. Now more than ever, people are depending on prompters to get the message out the first time and we have been designing systems that meet the customers’ needs. There is no room for error.”
The article takes about three minutes to read and is filled with descriptions on the changing nature of prompting in today’s remote world.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-05-14 01:30:002021-05-14 01:30:00Tip #1609: Prompters for Remote Production
The new M1 iMacs have performance, but they are still entry level.
Image courtesy of Apple.
Here are two takes on the new M1 iMac. The first is from PremiumBeat, the second from Larry Jordan.
This section, written by Mike Maher, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is an excerpt.
Apple announced a colorful new line of iMac computers that can finally use highspeed GPU render engines once exclusive to PCs.
Apple has announced the newly redesigned iMac featuring the company’s powerful M1 chip. The machine features a 24-inch screen, HD FaceTime camera, new keyboard with Touch ID, and is available in seven different colors.
Apple has certainly put a focus on promoting their own Final Cut Pro X. The latest version was released with the last line of MacBook Pro laptops that also feature the M1 chip and accelerated performance on Metal, Apple’s hardware-accelerated 3D graphic and compute shader API. The new iMac will feature these same M1 chips, and we’ll likely see the release of a new iMac Pro in the next year.
[Given that these new machines haven’t shipped yet, final performance specs are only guesswork. But,] Final Cut Pro is seeing render performance increased up to 20%, with iMac users looking to see up to 35% faster. Editors can work with 8K RED RAW up to three times faster, depending on their model machine. Rendering your timelines is said to be up to six times faster, with increased playback for 4K and 8K projects.
As for Adobe Premiere Pro and the rest of the Creative Cloud, in December, the team announced that M1 builds of Adobe products were underway, with early betas available for Premiere Pro.
Cinema 4D has long been on both PC and Mac, but when it came to rendering power, PC dominated the 3D market with NVIDIA’s powerful GPU rendering power. Now those render engines once exclusive to NVIDIA have been ported over to Apple’s M1.
This is one of the most artist-friendly drops in quite some time for Apple. Vast improvements make a difference not only on the technical side for rendering, but also improved stability in all sorts of apps for video creation, music making, motion design, and 3D. The last MacBook Pro release and these iMacs are the way to the future for Mac to catch up on all the creatives they were losing to the PC market.
Larry Jordan shares his thoughts on the new iMacs. While he is impressed with their performance, they are still lacking when it comes to GPU speed, ports, RAM and Ethernet. “Keep in mind that Apple still considers the M1 as an entry level chip.”
NVMe is the technology behind the fastest SSDs available today.
A Western Digital Black NVMe SSD.
[ The information in this tip is from a Western Digital blog. ]
NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a new protocol for accessing high-speed storage media that brings many advantages compared to legacy protocols. But what is NVMe and why is it important for data-driven businesses?
The first flash-based SSDs leveraged legacy SATA/SAS physical interfaces, protocols, and form factors to minimize changes in the existing hard drive (HDD)-based enterprise server/ storage systems. However, none of these interfaces and protocols were designed for high-speed storage media (i.e. NAND and/ or persistent memory). Because of the interface speed, performance of the new storage media, and proximity to the CPU, PCI Express (PCIe) was the next logical storage interface.
PCIe slots directly connect to the CPU providing memory-like access and can run a very efficient software stack. However, early PCIe interface SSDs did not have industry standards nor enterprise features. PCIe SSDs leveraged proprietary firmware, which was particularly challenging for system scaling for various reasons, including: a) running and maintaining device firmware, b) firmware/ device incompatibilities with different system software, c) not always making best use of available lanes and CPU proximity, and d) lack of value-add features for enterprise workloads. The NVMe specifications emerged primarily because of these challenges.
NVMe is a high-performance, NUMA (Non Uniform Memory Access) optimized, and highly scalable storage protocol, that connects the host to the memory subsystem. The protocol is relatively new, feature-rich, and designed from the ground up for non-volatile memory media (NAND and Persistent Memory) directly connected to CPU via PCIe interface (See diagram #1). The protocol is built on high speed PCIe lanes. PCIe Gen 3.0 link can offer transfer speed more than 2x than that of SATA interface.
The NVMe protocol capitalizes on parallel, low latency data paths to the underlying media, similar to high performance processor architectures. This offers significantly higher performance and lower latencies compared to legacy SAS and SATA protocols.
EXTRA CREDIT
The Western Digital blog, linked above, goes into much more detail and, best of all, it is clearly written and easy to understand.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-04-27 01:30:002021-04-27 01:30:00Tip #1598: What is an NVMe SSD?
The MicroSD card family has continuously evolved since 1999.
SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card
For some reason, this morning I found myself thinking about storage; especially portable storage for cameras. And that brought me to MicroSD cards.
The technology behind MicroSD cards (the “SD” stands for “Secure Digital”) was introduced in August, 1999 as a joint effort between SanDisk, Panasonic and Toshiba.
MicroSD cards first appeared in 2005, with a capacity of up to 128 MB and read/write speeds of 2.2 MB/second.
SDHC appeared in 2006 with a 32 GB capacity and mandatory support for the FAT32 file system.
SDXC appeared in 2009, with a 64 GB capacity and read/write speeds topping out at 300 MB/second.
In 2018, the SDUC cards appeared supporting up to 128 TB with read/write speeds maxing out at 9865 MB/second. While these speeds are in the spec, no currently shipping cards match the spec.
Here’s an interesting Wikipedia article that covers these cards in more detail.
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