ProVideo Coalition

VEGAS Pro 18 to feature collaborative workflows

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 16:17:53 GMT

With “remote” being a buzzword now, VEGAS Creative Software launches VEGAS Pro 18 and unveils extensive plans for cloud-based media management and collaborative workflows.

VEGAS Pro 18 represents a significant upgrade to VEGAS Pro, with lots of new or improved features but the company also announced detailed plans to provide extensive, cloud-based media management, file transfer and backup and collaboration capabilities that will help VEGAS Pro users manage large amounts of media and collaborate remotely with colleagues like never before. It’s a sign of the times, the Work From Home many professionals are following and all the changes that, apparently, will stay within the industry even after the pandemic ends.

VEGAS Pro 18 adds, says the company, a breadth of new features and major feature improvements to enhance workflow performance, including AI-driven effects, GPU-accelerated workflows, advanced motion tracking, HDR support, sophisticated color grading tools and plug-ins ideally suited for video professionals in post-production facilities of all sizes and requirements.

New features in VEGAS Pro 18

In addition to the extensive, high-value cloud-based media management and collaboration tools to come, VEGAS Pro 18 adds a significant number of new features and workflow enhancements available immediately, including:

Professional multi-channel audio editing with SOUND FORGE Pro 14 is now included with VEGAS Pro 18. SOUND FORGE Pro integrates tightly with VEGAS Pro enabling users to send audio files directly from the VEGAS Pro timeline into SOUND FORGE Pro, make their edits and return to VEGAS Pro where all changes are instantly and automatically updated in the timeline;
Artificial intelligence driven effects including Colorize and Style Transfer;
GPU Driver detection and update utilities and automatic GPU configuration for hardware acceleration;
New Motion Tracking Panel;
VEGAS Capture enhancements, including a new capture folder configuration and new audio encoder;
HDR improvements, including hardware encoding available for HDR presets and automatic selection of IDTs based on metadata;
Completely redesigned Plug-in management windows including robust search, third-party plug-in filtering and the ability to mark favorites;
The addition of a variety of new plug-ins, including:
- Flicker Reducer
- Black Bar Fill
- Denoise
Significant Color Grading improvements, such as:
- Dockable Color Grading Panel
- Logarithmic Exposure Tool (“Camera Exposure”)
- Improved Auto Contrast
- Skin-Tone Line for Vectorscope
- Combined RGB Display for RGB Parade scope
Optional trim handles for timeline events;
Timeline cursor location storage saved with project files;
Video engine performance improvements;
New presets and animations for Titles and Text

VEGAS Pro Cloud-Based Services: What’s Coming

In the coming months, VEGAS Creative Software will unveil a comprehensive family of media management and collaboration tools to connect the VEGAS Pro community, including:

VEGAS Hub, The Central Information Depot
The VEGAS Pro 18 cloud-based workflow revolves around the VEGAS Hub, which provides teams with secure file storage and centralized media file access. Built on the Microsoft Azure platform, VEGAS Hub acts as the central repository of control and information, enabling VEGAS Pro and other applications to communicate directly with the Hub for file download and upload, collection creation and management, and more. Additionally through the Hub, individual applications will communicate with each other, and the system will continue to evolve into a critical centralized file organizational tool and a remote collaboration center.
VEGAS Transfer
For video and still images captured on a mobile device, VEGAS Transfer will be available as iOS and Android apps, and serve as the entry point into the VEGAS Hub environment. Users can quickly transfer media files from a mobile device into the Hub cloud storage. Uploaded files can be organized into Collections to organize them and enable direct access from VEGAS Pro and VEGAS Prepare. Upload files with VEGAS Transfer, organize them further with VEGAS Prepare, and then download them directly into VEGAS Pro from anywhere to start editing.
VEGAS Prepare
With VEGAS Prepare, users will be able to wrangle out-of-control herds of media files with three efficient levels of organization. Users can create a library with all media organized according to the structure that makes sense for the user, the team, and their workflow. Users can then further organize files into custom collections that make it easy to target a media category or classification to find precisely what is needed. Finally, add tags to individual files for quick filtering and sorting. Each level of organization is tied into local databases or the VEGAS Hub for collaboration, and can be accessed directly from inside VEGAS Pro for editing.
VEGAS Pro Hub Explorer
All of the the custom collections created in VEGAS Prepare show up instantly inside VEGAS Pro, whether working online or offline. When users create and manage collections directly inside VEGAS Pro, they automatically update in VEGAS Prepare so the two remain in sync, and changes made in VEGAS Prepare instantly appear in VEGAS Pro. Users can download files from cloud storage on the Hub for use on the VEGAS Pro Timeline, and upload files to the Hub from right inside VEGAS Pro. The Hub Explorer window is the portal for remote collaboration, file sharing, and organizing collections.

Live Streaming comes next

Later this month, VEGAS Creative Software will also launch VEGAS Stream, a new live streaming platform designed to serve the needs of content creators and broadcasters in multiple markets. VEGAS Stream provides, according to the company, a professional-caliber live streaming feature set within a tightly integrated VEGAS ecosystem. When a live stream event is complete, users will be able to send recorded events to VEGAS Pro 18 or VEGAS POST Suite, with all visual effects, graphics, and titles in place for further editing and on-demand delivery. Additional details will be announced later this month.

VEGAS Pro 18 is available immediately as a monthly subscription or as a perpetual license. Subscription plans start at $19.99 per month. For more information on subscription pricing plans, please visit https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-post-365/. For more information on purchasing a perpetual license or upgrading from a previous version and for complete details and information, please visit https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-post/.

All VEGAS Pro 18 cloud-based media management and collaboration tools will be offered initially as free services to VEGAS Pro 18 subscription customers. Pricing for cloud-based services for perpetual license customers will be announced when the services become available beginning in October 2020.

After Effects Classic Course: Warp Stabilizer

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 15:00:25 GMT

We’re back, and continuing with sharing movies we created for earlier versions of After Effects that are no longer being published by Lynda or LinkedInLearning. We found that many of those movies were still relevant to the current version, so we want to share them to help round out your knowledge of Adobe After Effects.

Take, for example, the Warp Stabilizer: Originally introduced in the Creative Suite 6 version, this then-new way of stabilizing footage has seen only small updates since then, and has been added to Adobe Premiere Pro as well. The movies below are designed to get you up and running quickly with it, cover the main parameters, and what to do when it doesn’t work using the default settings.

Instant Gratification

How to quickly apply Warp Stabilizer using the default settings, and doing a before/after comparison:

Parameters

Next we dive into Warp Stabilizer’s individual parameters (as of its initial release) – what they do, and when to use them:

Advanced Settings

Dealing with special cases, including attempting to extend the source footage beyond its original dimensions:

Outsmarting

There are times when the automatic, default settings of Warp Stabilizer do not work, usually because it’s getting confused by some feature in the source footage. Here’s how to identify and work around many of those issues:

These movies were previously appeared on Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning. They’ve retired this course from their library, so we’re making the movies from it available publicly for free. You can either scan our page on ProVideo Coalition to see the other free movies we’ve posted over the last couple of years, or check out the Crish Design channel on YouTube.

SmallHD OLED 22, a new standard for color purists

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 13:20:00 GMT

SmallHD announces a new entry into the reference-grade monitor space: the OLED 22 4K Production Monitor, which the company claims sets a new standard for color purists.

Featuring a >1,000,000:1 contrast ratio with an absolute black point, and 100% P3 / 135% Rec 709 color gamuts that generate beautiful, true-to-life color accuracy, according to SmallHD, the OLED 22 is, adds the company, “a stunning new entry into the reference monitor space and SmallHD’s new standard for color perfectionists. The monitor has “virtually no image degradation at any viewing angle, providing a real-time image as vivid and pristine as the final output.”

Setting a new standard for color purists, this stunning 4K color reference monitor boasts many of the advanced features that OLED users demand. “DITs, DPs, and Colorists have been waiting for what feels like forever to replace their ancient HD OLED monitors,” said Greg Smokler, Creative Solutions VP of Product” adding “that’s why we spent over 2 years building OLED 22, the first lightweight 4K OLED production monitor equipped with a feature set that finally enables critical monitoring of 4K images, both on set and in the color suite.”

OLED 22, a featherweight monitor

OLED 22’s hardware design is built around the Small4K Video Processing Architecture, which provides, says SmallHD, “unparalleled input/output options with eight 12G-SDI and two HDMI 2.0 ports, all of which enable 4K signal processing. Housed in a rugged, unibody, milled-aluminum chassis that includes 36 individual 1⁄4-20” mounting points along the top and sides, the OLED 22 weighs-in at a featherweight total of 9.3-lbs/4.2kg. A removable handle and feet allow for convenient portability.”

The monitor specs check off an impressive list of desired features: the 21.6in/55cm screen size with 3840×2160 resolution features 350nit brightness level, and 100% P3 / 135% Rec 709 color gamuts that generate true-to-life color reproduction. Nuanced color fidelity is guaranteed by the 10-bit color depth.

Power options include two hot-swappable power inputs: one 3-pin XLR and a slide-on Dual Battery Plate (Gold Mount & V-Mount options, sold separately), which can be attached via the built-in Smart Rail on the rear side of the monitor. Two 2-pin locking accessory outputs add power flexibility for additional devices. For complete, untethered freedom, OLED 22 is Teradek Bolt 4K compatible: an ideal combination for cable-free, zero-delay video monitoring in 4K 10-bit HDR.

Four 4K Production Monitors

Coinciding with the release of OLED 22, SmallHD is also introducing its most sophisticated internal toolset yet: PageOS 4. With this new software, users gain easier access to a diverse and customizable array of curated exposure tools and workflows for enhanced production functionality. Beyond a host of improvements for simplicity and speed, PageOS 4 supports a streamlined color-calibration experience with Color Pipe, an intuitive rendering tool that accurately converts log formats into SDR and HDR.
PageOS 4 includes significant upgrades in user page presets, 4K HDR (PQ) waveforms, improved false color, and dual/quad viewing options–as well as retaining the same dependable features known to users of previous PageOS-equipped monitors.

The SmallHD OLED 22 4K Production Monitor is being offered with a limited-time introductory price of $11,999. Shipments are expected to begin in August 2020. In addition to OLED 22, SmallHD’s new 4K Production Monitors include Vision 24 and Vision 17 HDR monitors, as well as the Cine 24 4K High-Bright monitor. All are currently available with special limited-time introductory pricing.

Aputure Nova P300c LED Panel // Tool Talk

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 13:00:41 GMT

Aputure has just relased one of their more exciting fixtures in a while in the form of their new Nova P300c LED Panel, aimed at taking on the likes of the Skypanel.

The P300c is an RGBWW LED fixture that’s a touch wider than an S30 Skypanel with built-in gels, effects, HSI, other presets, and all the goodies you’ve come to expect from a modern LED panel. Compared to the S30 it has a 10deg wider beam angle, 800K warmer Tungsten end (2000K vs 2800K) with the same 10,000K top-end and standard Green/Magenta shift control. It also does seem to be brighter by a couple hundred varied lux across the spectrum, advertised at 9000lux at 1 meter. Just from playing around with it at 100% I can believe that. Apparently the S30c “Intensifier” puts it more in-line with the P300c, but what I can say is that the light set to cyan, with another cyan gel and 251 diffusion, set to less than 100%, was giving me a reflected reading of f8 with the light 12’ away from the wall. Plenty of power for modern cinematography.

I can’t say there’s a “highlight” feature of this light necessarily, something that stands out as truly unique, but I will say that it is bright. Really bright. People-complained-about-it bright. Oddly enough pure-red was blinding too, which is rare. But, as a strict “exposure” device this thing is incredible. I’d use it on any interview style shoot easily; make it your key, dial the CCT to match the room, you’re set. Have two and you can do the background with any hue you want and give yourself a lot of options in terms of how you “dress” the set. Being able to dial in the exact color temp of the light you’re trying to match is one of the big benefits of an RGBWW fixture like this, and since it has a Tungsten and a Daylight chip along with the RGBs, you can be sure your color temps are dead accurate (and they are).

Now, It’s still an RGB panel so it still can affect the colors in your scene, as Aputure has outlined in one of their Indy Mogul videos, so it’s not strictly a replacement for having gels but as an “affect/effect light” it’s fantastic. If you don’t know, traditional lights (even after being gelled) don’t tend to affect the way colors look in the same way that RGB LEDs do. With RGB, certain colors in your scene can be interpreted by the camera as something else due to the reduced color spectrum output of the RGB LEDs. In this way, certain settings on the P300c are more akin to lighting with a neon sign than a tungsten Fresnel gelled to Cyan (for instance). I will say that the gel library is very nice, instead of the made up gel presets that I’ve run into in some of these reviews. They’ve got the name and type there in plain, familiar language, referencing real-world gels, and by my eye it does seem to match what they say it is (although you can’t “double up” like you can with normal gels). For lighting a space that can really come in handy, and for the more gentle “gels” it doesn’t mess with your colors too much.

Because of all that, in certain instances I would almost want the light on the face of the actor (or hero product) to be a traditional tungsten fixture or HMI or something gel’d/diffused however is called for, but then everything else could be these panels no problem. It totally depends on your scene and setting though. A good compromise would be to just set the Color Temperature to whatever you need it at and then use your old trusty gels on the panel like you normally would. That being said, if you dialed in the cct/hsi to make your talent’s skin look a certain kind of way, exactly the way you want it to look on camera, that’s not something to brush aside. That could be a valuable tool, depending on the project. The “color changingness” of the RGB isn’t necessarily a detriment, it’s just something you need to think about when deciding what lights to use and where. Overall it’s a unique new tool we’ve gotten in the past decade or so and it’s a beyond-helpful addition to your lighting kit.

The way I think about it, traditional fixtures give off “real” light and LEDs give off “artificial” light, so if you want to show a heightened-reality situation, for instance, LEDs would be better suited, whereas if you want the scene to seem grounded, use Tungsten/HMIs or only the CCT settings on your panel (again, with the P300 those appear to be dead-on accurate) and then if you need, use traditional gels on top of them. It’s all personal preference though, and good quality LED fixtures give you a ton of options which is always welcome.

Moving on, the control box feels incredibly sturdy. The metal knobs have a satisfying “click” with each value turned, moreso than the sort of plastic-y soft knobs on the Skypanel, and the LCD screen is super high contrast opting for white text over a black background. You can also place the control box anywhere you like with the longer extension cable and a simple clamp (say, on the c-stand). You can even mount it upside-down if you’d like

The power cable supplied is super long with no bulky box section or ballast (which is built into the fixture itself), which I love. It’s got standard plugs that you’re used to and draws 360W (60 more than its name would suggest). The closest familiar analogue I would say is the Skypanel S30c but 2” wider. The S60c is 9” wider, which I assume is what more people are used to and it’s not as big but it weighs about as much coming in at 22.8lbs to the S60s 26.5lbs (an S30 is around 20lbs). To that end, I’d suggest getting something like a Minimax to boom the light, if you were planning on doing so, since a regular c-stand arm will start to bend pretty fast.

As you’ll likely want a soft light with this source, you’re gonna want to get the softbox diffuser, although I hope Aputure gives you some other options in the future, and you’ll definitely want the roller case because you’re going to need those wheels to haul this thing around. It’s a super durable case, custom foam cutouts, multiple beefy plastic clamps to keep the thing together, and handles on all sides so when you go to lift it into your 4Runner you can throw out your back with confidence. In a studio setting, though, where it’ll be living on a stand with professional grips and rigging around that may very well not be an issue.

One thing I don’t like is that the cables JUST don’t clear the yoke when you pass the 90° point. Like, they do, but they still knock up against the horizontal bar and that annoys me. Skypanels do this too and I hate it. Make the yoke a bit taller so it clears it freely? Just an inch or two or whatever it is? Maybe change the angle of the port itself? If you loosen up the brake, which feels very sturdy like everything else on this fixture, the fixture naturally goes panel-up which means that cable will hit your crossbar. A small complaint but I bet over time it’d damage the cable if you did it enough.

In regards to the fixture itself, it looks more “cool” than “workmanlike”, with the plastic “Alienware-looking” end-caps making the otherwise all-metal fixture seem somewhat plasticy, as the texture actually does match some of the metal accents. The whole thing is black and dark purple so you don’t easily differentiate between the plastic and the metal, but looks are deceiving because this thing does feel bombproof. Now, would I want those end-caps to be metal? No, I’ll take any weight-savings where I can on this light, however the design just comes off as kind of “Gaming PC” if that makes any sense. It doesn’t matter, but it’s something I noticed.

Overall, the P300c seems like an excellent fixture. I love the build quality, the output, the variety of light options, the quality of light, and the ease of use (I figured it all out just by turning it on). I think you could talk about this fixture alongside the Gemini Panels and Skypanels easily, barring any DMX downfalls (which I can’t test here as it stands), and I really see these things becoming commonplace on sets big and small alike as the 120D and 300D before it. Aputure has really made a winner in the P300c.

I think the fact that I’m barely talking about the “light” part should speak to how good it is. It’s almost unnoteworthy; it does exactly what it says on the box. All top-tier LED panels probably look pretty similar, but the interface and breadth of options are what you’ll likely base your decisions on and this panel feels like it covers all the bases. It’s bright as hell, incredibly flexible, super sturdy, and allows you to dial in whatever color you could possibly want. You can even use the Sidus Link app to control it, if you’ve got it in a place that’s hard to reach and can be powered off of cinema batteries if you need to go mobile (although that’s an additional accessory plate.

So, for just shy of $2000 (including the case) you’re getting a slightly heavier, brighter light than a similarly-sized Skypanel with all the functionality and ease of use for about half the price. That’s not a bad deal. Normally I’d use this on a gig and report back, but since we’re still not gigging I suppose this little rundown will have to do but I’d love to take it out on a job in the future as a follow-up and see how it does.

BMG’s REMI: a Live At Home solution for pandemic times

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:33:03 GMT

Broadcast Management Group has launched ‘Live At-Home’ a proprietary REMI solution to meet increased client demands for virtual and at-home production services.

Designed to be completely scalable and customizable, BMG’s Live At Home REMI solution offers all the tools, features, and functionality of a traditional control room or production truck, while allowing hosts, guests, and producers to remotely contribute to your live program from the safety of their home. The system is able to remotely capture audio and video feeds from correspondents anywhere in the world, and the Signals are transmitted back to BMG’s dedicated REMI control room in Las Vegas, NV utilizing LiveU technology.

REMI is a buzzword that is a sign of the time we are living, as many have moved to work from home – WFH. REMI production (also referred to as “remote production,” “virtual production,” or “at-home production.”) allows its users to comply with social distancing requirements, giving producers a solution to continue creating live content. REMI – or Remote Integration Model – is a production workflow that allows live content to be captured from a remote location and managed from a central control room.

Broadcast Management Group says that “a REMI production maintains all of the key production elements that you’d find in a standard broadcast. The key difference is that your on-camera talent is in a remote location.” In today’s climate, with people unwilling or unable to leave their homes, adds the company, “a REMI production workflow makes sense. And it’s one that’s being heavily utilized by production companies and content creators throughout the country.”

The three Live At Home kits

The Live At Home solution features three at-home camera options: the Live At Home Basic, Live At Home Pro, and Live At Home Pro+, adapted to different needs and types of content creation and the experience of those who are to use the equipment.

The Live At Home BASIC kit is streamlined, efficient, and user friendly. This at-home package is an ideal application for remote guests or contributors who don’t require the full functionality of the PRO or PRO+ kits. The BASIC kit includes an iPad Air as the primary camera, iPad Pro for program return, 3-point lighting package, wired lavalier microphone, wired IFB, and LiveU Smart transmission software. The BASIC kit comes pre-engineered, pre-cabled, and ships two compact road cases. The Live At Home BASIC kit requires connectivity of 10Mbps up/down for maximum optimization.

The Live At Home PRO kit features all of the capabilities of the BASIC package but comes with an upgraded camera and transmission equipment for higher quality. The PRO kit is ideal for remote guests or hosts who don’t require a teleprompter. The PRO kit includes a remotely controlled PTZ camera, return monitor, 3-point lighting package, wired lavalier microphone, wired IFB, and LiveU transmission hardware. The PRO kit comes pre-engineered, pre-cabled, and ships in a travel rack to minimize setup. The Live At Home PRO kit requires connectivity of 20Mbps up/down for maximum optimization.

The Live At Home PRO+ kit provides all of the necessary tools and infrastructure that professional talent is accustomed to, making this kit the perfect application for remote hosts. The PRO+ kit includes a remotely controlled PTZ camera, full studio prompting system with return video, 3-point lighting package, wired lavalier microphone, wired IFB, and LiveU transmission hardware. The PRO+ kit comes pre-engineered, pre-cabled, and ships in a travel rack to minimize setup. It requires connectivity of 20Mbps up/down for maximum optimization.

A permanent part of production

On the other end of this solutions sits the Live At Home REMI control room, that can handle up to 20 incoming feeds and features two AWS Elemental encoders, Wowza web encoder, and EEG captioning encoder for live streaming. BMG’s REMI facility has redundant fiber circuits and connectivity to Encompass for fiber or satellite distribution. The Las Vegas facility features a Ross Vision switcher, Behringer X32 audio console, Xpression graphics system, and Brainstorm virtual set technology along with RTS and Unity intercom systems.

“This is a significant technology investment for Broadcast Management Group, but we see this as a great way to serve new and current clients who are looking to execute live remote productions,” said Andrew Ryback, Broadcast Management Group’s Executive Vice President of Production.

“We feel that REMI production is a permanent part of the production landscape and we are fully committed to providing our customers the best experience possible,” said Todd Mason, CEO.

Broadcast Management Group offers live production, broadcast consulting, system integration, production staffing, event management, and creative services. The company has operations in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Washington, DC.

Insights and Advice from a COVID-19 Compliance Officer for Pre-production and Production

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 11:28:49 GMT

While C19CO might sound like the chemical formula for a carbon-based compound, it stands for COVID- 19 Compliance Officer and is very much a term that production and post professionals need to be aware of. It’s the newest addition to the roster of crew departments that make productions happen in the film industry in the Age of Coronavirus.

The C19CO is a stand-alone role that works within all stages of production to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection of cast and crew during film shoots. Becoming a C19CO is actually pretty straightforward. There are a few web-based companies that have developed a curriculum that typically includes classes held on a Zoom-type platform.

The class I took through healtheducationservices.net included an ex-EMT and an RN who essentially showed an educational slideshow that ended with a quiz on which you needed to make at least an 80% to be certified. Afterward, you’re sent a certificate and you can elect to have your name and contact information added to a database of other C19COs.

That’s just the beginning of the journey in every sense though. Let me share some insights about what that journey can look like for anyone working on set.

      _______________________________________________________________________

In pre-production, the Compliance Officer works with the crew to establish on-set coronavirus safety protocols. The Compliance Officer sources PPE and sanitation supplies for the duration of the shoot and establishes base camps, dining, and gear storage areas. They work with production to limit both the number of personnel absolutely essential to a shoot and the number of days of a shoot, spreading the shoot over a longer period if necessary to limit the number of people on set at one time.

Considerations should also be made regarding transportation to and from set with regards to the number of persons per vehicle. All persons designated as essential to a production should, at a minimum, have a documented negative COVID-19 test immediately prior to the start of production. As an added precaution, it may be prudent to require quarantine or isolate for 14 days leading up to the start of production. Testing should be either rapid testing or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, with the latter being more accurate. Antibody testing, which may provide documentation of a past COVID-19 infection, should not be used as a metric for film productions. Some film productions may also require additional testing or more frequent testing depending on shoot duration. Once a cast or crew member has received a negative result from a test, out of an abundance of caution, they should self-isolate until they arrive on set.

At the start of a shoot day, the C19CO should be the first person on set and should be present until wrapping. Sanitizing stations, physical-distancing guidelines, and signage (proper handwashing, physical distancing guidelines, etc) should be implemented before general crew call. All individuals entering set should have been cleared prior to the shoot as essential (no unexpected crew or guests) and should have a documented negative COVID-19 test. Everyone entering set should also be screened; answering what is essentially a truncated medical history questionnaire that screens for symptoms and adherence to general state or local protocol for reducing COVID-19 transmission in addition to having their temperature taken with a contactless thermometer. Documented temperature should be less than 100 degrees. They should also remind every person of the importance of proper mask usage and handwashing technique as well as frequent hand sanitizing and physical distancing in a general safety meeting at the start of every shoot day.

During the shoot, the C19CO should – at all times – be aware of the persons present on set, in case contact tracing becomes necessary. In addition to general auditing of the set and personnel for adherence to the established safety protocols, they should also routinely clean high-touch surfaces such as door handles, railings, or light switches. Additionally, walkie talkies should be designated to one individual and not shared. Optimally, all sets should have adequate ventilation and could be open windows or doors, fans, or an HVAC system with adequate filtration. At the end of each shoot day, all equipment should be sanitized. If necessary, the C19CO should have a janitorial company perform a deep cleaning of the set, but I believe this will depend on the size of the shoot.

After wrapping the entire shoot, all screenings (I collected electronically through a service like DocuSign or Google Forms) should be sent to the producer within 24 hours of wrapping the shoot.

Because this is essentially protected health information (PHI), this information is subject to the health information portability and accountability act (HIPAA) and should not be shared or discussed openly. PHI should also never be included in the production wrap book. It is important to note that any development of symptoms or a positive testing result within 14 days of wrapping should be reported to the producer or other designated point of contact (could be C19CO) by the cast/crew member. It is then the production company’s responsibility to notify all personnel who may have been exposed and they should notify the local health department if more than 3 individuals receive a positive COVID-19 test as a result of work on the production.

Any individual exhibiting symptoms or a higher than 100-degree temperature with a contact-less thermometer during the shoot should be removed from set, production should be halted for a minimum of 24 hours, the set should be deep cleaned by a professional janitorial service, and all persons who may have had potential close contact should be notified. Positive and symptomatic personnel may return to set only if they have been asymptomatic for 3 days (in addition to the 10 days post onset of symptoms.)

Note: updated guidelines have reduced the asymptomatic requirement period to 24 hours. Use your own discretion.

If someone required hospitalization, they may return to set with a doctor’s note. Asymptomatic positive individuals may be allowed to return to set after isolating for a minimum of 10 days after receiving the positive test result. Individuals in close contact with positive personnel should self-isolate for 14 days, seeking medical advice if necessary if serious symptoms develop.

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For anyone who wants a better understanding of how to implement these processes and procedures, you can take one of these classes to become a C19CO. But there are a few things you should know before going into it.

First off, the class itself wasn’t overly in-depth and the quiz wasn’t overly complicated, which makes sense given how many possible scenarios and settings you have in production as well as the gamete of individuals who may become C19COs. Infection control was a significant component in the training, with emphasis on proper hand sanitizing and other such preventive measures.

As with most health-related occupations, learning the basics in a class setting is invariably different that application in the field. I did find the guidelines to be robust enough to mitigate the potential for outbreaks on an actual set and loose enough to apply to really any film set. I couch that by also stating that I feel one must be organizational, willing to adapt, able to lead and be direct, be an effective communicator, and I also feel strongly that prior healthcare experience is incredibly valuable.

The years-long training I received in the health-occupation classroom, the clinical training setting, and in various jobs gave me the ability to remain calm when we had an unexpected potential infectious individual on-set and the knowledge of pathophysiology that allowed me to really understand the likelihood of viral transmission to others on set in a given window of time since the individual’s potential infection. I also knew, based on that same information, that while this individual planned to have a rapid COVID-19 test performed the following day, that the result of that test would not be reliable to gauge HIS infection (because of a small theoretical viral load since his presumed infection time), but would be helpful in determining the risk to the rest of the cast and crew.

To clarify, I don’t necessarily believe this is information or skills that anyone operating as a C19CO NEEDS to have on set. But when faced with a director or a team who have devoted time, money, and effort to making a production happen, and you have a situation that may cause production to be shut down, bedside manner and the ability to allay fears based on that training is invaluable.

The position is not without its pitfalls, which are predominantly external to the actual C19CO. While film productions can implement safety protocols on set and have everyone test prior to coming to set, there will honestly never be a 100% safe and secure method of production, especially where production budgets are tight.

For example, a production could, in theory, mandate that all the cast and crew test then quarantine in a hotel for 2 weeks and then stay in this hotel for the duration of the production, where everyone would be isolated and monitored to prevent infection. Obviously this is an extreme method, but in a scenario where all those involved would be agreeable to such an arrangement, AND cost were not an issue, this would be an airtight method of preventing COVID-19 infection. In the real world though, this sort of thing typically isn’t an option. Many productions are on the smaller scale, both in terms of size and budget, so we are at the mercy of the honor system.

It’s also important to reiterate that the C19CO is a standalone department head with the authority to shut down production. This may come as a surprise to some production staff, and one may make the theoretical argument that this may cause some cast or crew to go ‘rogue’, in one way or another, by either choosing to operate without the use of a Compliance Officer or by ignoring the authority thereof. If the C19CO is in any way swayed from performing their duty either by threat or manipulation, this jeopardizes the importance and legitimacy of the role. The addition of the C19CO to the production team works best when there is a mutual understanding, respect, and adherence to a shared responsibility of maintaining a safe set. Everyone must be on board with this from the start of production planning.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect solution to this unprecedented time of film productions during a global pandemic, and it’s important for those planning productions to understand that this is in no way a complete resolution of the risk of COVID-19, but risk mitigation. Aside from purely Draconian methods to ensure a totally safe production, the C19CO is a valuable asset to the production team as long as everyone understands that honesty (as with life) is the best policy.

To get a sense of how these lessons and insights were applied on a real production, read my Production During a Pandemic: Working as a COVID 19 Compliance Officer for a Film Production article.

Please note that the information contained in this article does not establish a standard of care, nor does it constitute legal advice. The information is for general informational purposes only and is written from a risk management perspective to aid in reducing professional liability exposure. Recommendations from the CDC are changing rapidly. You are encouraged to stay up to date with those details as specific liabilities and legal requirements may vary from state to state. ProVideo Coalition assumes no responsibility for the contributor’s statements of fact or opinion.

CamTrackAR: 3D track iPhone footage for free

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 11:22:27 GMT

Built for a variety of content creators, the new iOS app CamTrackAR makes it possible to 3D track iPhone footager free in real-time for previs and iPhone filmmaking.

FXhome, creators of free video editing and VFX software HitFilm Express, have made their mobile app debut with a new 3D tracking tool. CamTrackAR will, the company believes, change the process of filmmaking forever, offering an easy solution for professionals needing quick pre-visualization and any video creator wanting to speed up their post-production workflow.

The iOS app, which is the first-of-its-kind and is currently supported on iPhone SE and 6S onwards (as well as iPads on iOS 13.2 and later), takes advantage of Apple’s AR technology (augmented reality) to simultaneously record footage and flawless camera tracking data in real-time on your iPhone. Users can then import this into their post-production software of choice to instantly apply VFX and 3D elements in 3D space.

CamTrackAr is easy to use and offers a clean interface. It features just one simple screen with clean and clear buttons, designed to ensure the details of your shot aren’t obscured as you film. All you need to do is set your floor plane with the app’s green tracking grid and add in anchor points with the press of a finger. Then press record and CamTrackAR does all the hard work for you.

No Android version available

FXhome believes this is a game-changing tool for video creators, a must-have for every YouTuber and creator, as CamTrackAR ensures that lower thirds, composited 3D models, and anything requiring a camera-track stays locked in place. The app is also a good pre-visualization tool for professionals as it allows to test the viability of VFX shots immediately. Accurate tracking makes CamTrackAR perfect for any cinematographer or director wanting to preview shots on set, simply by using an iPhone.

Android users don’t need to apply, at least not for now. In fact, as FXhome explains, “the reason that this app can only be used on an iPhone currently is down to the AR camera data we are able to pull from Apple’s hardware technology. We had to start somewhere and ARKit is amazingly good, and we’re going to talk to Google about the best way forward for Android – so stay tuned!”

Android does have its own AR tools, which can be found at the Google’s ARCore library, so in theory it is possible. ARCore is Google’s platform for building augmented reality experiences. Using different APIs, ARCore enables your phone to sense its environment, understand the world and interact with information. Some of the APIs are available across Android and iOS to enable shared AR experiences.

CamTrackAR, a tool built for filmmakers

Still, don’t hold your breath, as the CamTrackAR app depends on Apple’s ARKit, which as FXhome notes is “amazingly good”. This means that, as someone commented on FXhome’s YouTube, it is impossible to simply port the app from iOS to Android. To make things worst, Android is a common name for an OS that is tweaked in a variety of ways by different smartphone manufacturers, meaning its performance is not consistent, as those who regularly use imaging apps across different smartphone brands know.

CamTrackAR was built for filmmakers, VFX artists, content creators, and music video producers to carry-out previs using their iPhone, so they can save time and effort in post-production instead of losing valuable time waiting for 3D camera trackers to process their footage frame-by-frame. The tool also provides a unique opportunity for the new generation of iPhone filmmakers to step up their productions with some of the more advanced post-production techniques made available with 3D tracked footage.

The app is currently free to use, and exports pre-tracked footage for use in free programs HitFilm Express or Blender (as well as FXhome’s professional post-production software HitFilm Pro). Users will have to pay a small premium to add more than one anchor point for tracking and to export to other programs such as After Effects ($4.99 per month subscription, or $29.99 lifetime).

FXhome’s CamTrackAR app is now available to download on the App Store. Download and give it a try!

Animating a 3D Camera in Motion

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 19:24:01 GMT

This week on MacBreak Studio, I demonstrate how easy and downright fun it is to animate a camera in Motion to fly though a 3D scene using the powerful Framing behavior.

Using a fun hand-drawn style template from MotionVFX.com (project 470 I you are interested) in which I removed the original camera that was animated with keyframes and also simplified the project a bit in order to improve playback performance, I decide where I want the camera to go, add the framing behavior and trim it to my desired start and stop times, and then drag the element that I want to be “framed” to the well in either the Heads-Up Display or the Inspector.

Play the project, and the camera flies directly to that object and frames it precisely. However, that’s just the starting point. This behavior is very easy to modify to fit your needs. In this example, I change the position and rotation transition times to match the end of the behavior and adjust the camera’s speed to ease in and out for more natural movement. Actually I make those two changes almost every time I use this behavior, I wish they were the default!

You can also change the framing of the target object by adjusting the offset parameters. And you can even change the path of travel the camera uses to arrive at its destination, by using the path offset parameters – so flexible! There are also on-screen controls for making both these adjustment types that I didn’t have time to demonstrate in this video.

By adding multiple framing behaviors, you can have the camera travel from object to object with ease. To top it off, I used a Wriggle parameter behavior to give the camera movement a more handheld look. Gotta love those behaviors!

If you want to learn more, we’ve just released a fully updated tutorial on how to work with cameras in Motion that will get you up to speed in no time.

Capture One’s Beyond Collection: new film and B&W Style Packs

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 12:12:16 GMT

The Black and White tools in Capture One give you extreme flexibility, but if you want to try something different, the Style Packs are the way to go: the new Beyond Collection is a good point to start.

Style Packs in Capture One are an expansion of the base photo editor. They are a clear invitation to make fast edits to your photos with Styles – instant looks developed by leading photographers. With instant looks inspired by everything from vintage film to seasonal colors, there’s a Style to suit every shot. Simply apply a Style to instantly transform your photo – or add your own edits on top.

Capture One includes 3 Style Packs, but users can also create professional looks in one click with Capture One Styles, and or get even more looks in the Styles store. The Beyond Film and Beyond B&W Style Packs are the newest addition to the Style Packs collection, marrying the feel and character of your favorite films and classic black and white looks, with the speed, precision, and predictability unique to Capture One.

Rooted in and inspired by some of the most beloved film stocks and black and white imagery, these exclusive styles are, says the company, “steeped in legacy yet not weighed down by it, providing a route to images that are both classic and contemporary.” Derived from 4 color film stocks, from Fujifilm and Kodak, the Beyond Film Styles present a broad but specific base of aesthetics that go beautifully with everything from wedding imagery, portraiture, travel & lifestyle, and fashion. They make it easy to bring analog looks to any photo. The pack is compatible with Capture One 20 and up and includes 4 Styles in 3 contrast variations – plus 8 Grain Presets.

Equally as inspired, the Beyond B&W Styles bring the intrigue, elegance, and focused drama of black and white, for truly enduring photographs. Make any subject or setting look amazing in black-and-white with versatile Styles that, says the company, retain detail like never before. Compatible with Capture One 20 and up, the pack includes 5 styles in 3 contrast variations – plus 8 Grain Presets for a classic feel.

Built with workflow in mind

Let’s say it again: where other presets often bathe all images in monotony, each Style in this collection is presented in 3 sequential strengths, and a cadence of one-click authentic film grain options to choose from. This versatility allows photographers to tailor and define their look.

“Being predominantly a black and white photographer, I think of and view my images in B&W before making my selects. With a single click I can apply a beautiful black and white treatment to hundreds of images, and with the range of style variants and grain at hand, I often explore and discover something I might not have thought of before. Beautiful results in just a few clicks, that’s what this collection brings.” says Phil Penman, Leica street photographer.

By design, these Styles are built with workflow in mind, as Capture One understands that a complicated editing process should not be required to achieve beautiful images. As such, the Beyond Collection offers an uncommon level of predictability and ease, so users will have confidence in the result of any style they choose to apply to any image and maintain congruency in any set of images.

Capture One Styles are uniquely developed to adjust the overall look and feel of an image with one click yet allow the image to be fully tuned to suit individual taste. With the option to add each Style as a layer, control that layer’s intensity, and use multiple layers and Styles per image, Capture One Styles like those in the Beyond Collection, can serve as either a starting point, finishing touch, or to give a nuanced flair. It’s your decision!

ZCam and Atomos ProRes Raw: A Look At The Combo

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 02:57:42 GMT

We are witnessing a race of sorts. The race to see who can dominate the RAW WAR. Atomos and Blackmagic Design and their respective compressed raw formats are fighting for dominance. Atomos has opened the ProRes RAW door to more than a handful of hybrid cameras: Sony A7s III, Nikon z6, and the Sigma FP, to name a few. Giving these hybrid cameras capabilities more often reserved for larger and heavier rigs.

Recently, Atomos also gave the tiny box-shaped ZCam the option to record ProRes Raw. I shot a bunch of video for this look at ProRes RAW from the ZCam E2 and Atomos Ninja V but here is a small sample of my daughter painting on our back patio.

I was given the opportunity to test out the diminutive ZCam E2 Micro Four Thirds camera and an Atomos Ninja V loaded with, at the time, yet to be released firmware. I loved using the Atomos Ninja V; I did not love using the ZCam E2 MFT camera. The Atomos Ninja V has a lot to admire about it: The bright 1000nit screen, the lightweight, and the easy to use a touch-screen. The ZCam has a lovely image, but the box-style camera and it’s iPhone app control is not my thing. I realize I may need more time and experience with the ZCam to fully appreciate it as a camera.

You see, I love easy to use cameras. Actually, all cameras should be easy to use because you want as little as possible between you and the visual you are trying to record. For a number of reasons, the ZCam is not right for me. It may be right for you, though. Take my opinion with a grain of salt. I did not have a ton of time with the ZCam E2. Yet, I am not here to review the ZCam E2. I am here to review ProRes Raw and ZCam E2 usability.

Originally the ZCam E2 had three ways to record an image: H.265 10-bit files, ProRes, and ZRAW. ZRAW needs to be converted to an editable video via ZCam’s ZRAW VideoSuite. This raw workflow may be cumbersome. In my opinion, ZCam needed a better raw recording option. The Atomos Ninja V and it’s ProRes RAW capability is nearly a necessity for the ZCam to thrive. The continued improvement and adding of features is really nice to see from ZCam and proves the small camera company is sure to make big waves in the camera market.

It is the strength of a wholly thought out and well designed Atomos Ninja V that gives the ZCam E2 a measure of success in my mind. Atomos has figured out how to make something simple, easy to use, and nearly a necessity for some cameras to capitalize on more desirable recording features, like 12-bit ProRes RAW at 4K 60p.

ProRes RAW on ZCam E2

The Atomos Ninja V looks like it belongs on the ZCam E2 and likely does so on many cameras

Using the ZCam E2 and Atomos Ninja V combo comes naturally. The Zcam E2 needs a monitor for operation, and the Ninja V fits perfectly by being neither too big nor too heavy. Operating to the two devices felt like working with one, but this was only the case after finding the ZCam E2 settings for a scene and settling into the shooting of a scene. Atomos has figured out how to access and change needed features better than ZCam, or, at least, the small size of the ZCam gets in the way of operation.

Atomos ProRes RAW

ProRes RAW gives shooters the ability to shoot a 12-bit compressed raw format. If you happen to edit in Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere, this is a considerable segment of editors; you can adjust the clips for a desired look within the NLE. All of this is very straightforward. Straightforward is precisely how you want the technical part of your editing or shooting to go. Atomos gives the ZCam E2 a more natural way to record compressed raw footage than the ZRAW Video Suite needed to process ZRAW.

There is always one thing. The one thing that perturbs me about ProRes RAW is the near need to buy Final Cut Pro to process it. I say near need because Adobe Premiere can process it too, as can Assimilate Scratch which is a brand new update. Forgive me if I think one of the largest and wealthiest corporations in the world, Apple, Inc., can afford to allow other software to process ProRes RAW.

The other thing. I like my raw workflow to have all the features of a raw workflow. Until recently, ISO / Gain and White Balance / Tint control were not settings one could change in Final Cut Pro using ProRes RAW. Thankfully, Assimilate Scratch has solved this issue with their latest update. I hope this will push Apple and Adobe to follow in Assimilate’s footsteps. Fingers crossed.

By pushing ahead and adding ProRes RAW to as many hybrid cameras as possible, Atomos is winning the compressed raw war. Rightfully so too, Atomos has the opportunity to support compressed raw workflows from several different cameras. Obviously, this is a great business strategy for Atomos and helps consumers, like me, know an Atomos Ninja V will have a high return on my investment for a long time.

The waveform not working is likely a feature to be fixed with the final firmware

ZCam E2 Specifications

DCI and UHD 4K up to 160 fps
13-Stop Dynamic Range (16 WDR Enabled)
10-Bit Color Recording, Supports ProRes
4/3″ WDR CMOS Sensor
Record DCI/UHD 4K at up to 160 fps or 1080p at up to 240 fps
Triple native ISO 80 / 160 / 800
13 stops of dynamic range using ZLog, and 16 stops of dynamic range in WDR mode
Built-in multi-frame noise reduction technology to produce clean footage
H.265 (10-bit color) internal recording on CFast 2.0 card
10-bit ProRes recording in 422 HQ, 422, 422 LT, and 422 Proxy is supported
Video output through HDMI 2.0 is supported (up to DCI 4K @ 60 fps, 10-bit color, YUV 422)
Full-metal housing for efficient heat dissipation

Atomos Ninja V

1920 x 1080 Touchscreen Display
10-Bit Exterior Viewable Monitor
4K HDMI Input
Upcoming 4K 12-Bit ProRes Raw Update

Supported Log Formats

ARRI Log C
Canon CLog / CLog 2
Fuji F-Log
JVC JLog
Sony SLog2 / SLog3
Panasonic Vlog
RED LogFilm

HDR Recording

ARRI Log CEI160 / LogCEI200 / LogCEI250 / LogCEI320/ LogCEI400 / LogCEI500 / LogCEI640 / LogCEI800 / LogCEI1000 / LogCEI1280 / LogCEI1600
Canon CLog / CLog2 / Clog3
Fuji F-Log
JVC JLog1
Panasonic Vlog
PQ10k, HLG
RED LogFilm / Log3G10 / Log3G12
Sony SLog / SLog2 / SLog3

HDR Monitoring

ARRI ALEXA Wide Gamut
Canon Cinema / DCI P3 / DCI P3+ / BT2020
Fuji F-Log
JVC LS300
Panasonic V Gamut
Rec. 2100
Rec. 709
RED DragonColor / DragonColor2 / RedColor2 / RedColor3 / RedColor4 / RedWideGamut
Sony SGamut / SGamut3 / SGamut3.cine / BT2020
Wide Color Gamut (SGamut / SGamut3 / SGamut3.cine / Canon Cinema / BT2020 / DCI P3 / DCI P3+ / Panasonic V Gamut / ARRI ALEXA Wide Gamut) mapping to Rec. 709 on screen
Wide Color Gamut (SGamut / SGamut3 / SGamut3.cine / Canon Cinema / BT2020 / DCI P3 / DCI P3+ / Panasonic V Gamut / ARRI ALEXA Wide Gamut) mapping to Rec. 709 / BT2020 / DCI P3 on loop out

4K 60p Capabilities

Record high-resolution 4K footage in DCI or UHD formats up to 60 fps, including 24 and 25 fps for a more film-like aesthetic. All recordings are stored as high-quality Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHR files with 10-bit 4:2:2 chroma subsampling. A variety of bit rates are available to fit your project and storage needs.

SSD Recording

Record to standard 2.5″ SSD drives or to compact AtomX SSDmini drives, capturing up to 150 minutes of 4K video on a 1TB drive.

Audio I/O

Input/output audio via HDMI or add external audio via the 3.5mm Line In/Mic In port; output audio using the 3.5mm headphone port for convenient audio monitoring.

5″ Daylight Viewable Screen

The Ninja V features a 5″ IPS LCD screen that is illuminated by a bright 1000 cd/m² LED backlight, making it possible to view in daylight without requiring a hood. Plus, the screen is also color calibrated from the factory to ensure accurate image representation.

HDR Signal Management

Log and HDR signals can be difficult to monitor with conventional equipment. Though, with the Ninja V’s built-in HDR signal management functions, the log signal can be converted to the PQ standard for compatibility with existing consumer and professional HDR equipment.

Anamorphic De-Squeeze

The Ninja V supports Anamorphic de-squeeze, allowing you to comfortably view anamorphic footage with a squeeze of 2x, 1.5x, 1.33, and Panasonic’s 8:3.

ART OF THE CUT with Showtime’s "Homeland” editor, Harvey Rosenstock, ACE

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 20:46:36 GMT

Today’s interview is with Harvey Rosenstock, ACE. We’re discussing his editing on multiple seasons of Showtime’s long-running series, Homeland, which is currently in Season 8.

Rosenstock’s other credits include the feature films, Scent of a Woman, Tombstone, The Emperor’s Club, Stay Alive, and Kiss the Girls. He’s also worked on the TV series, Ray Donovan, Sneaky Pete, Justified, The Blacklist, and The Bridge.

This interview is available as a podcast.

(This interview was transcribed with SpeedScriber. Thanks to Martin Baker at Digital Heaven)

HULLFISH: I got an email from Alan Heim, ACE recently. I understand you two go way back.

ROSENSTOCK: Yeah, I was Alan Heim’s apprentice on a movie called The Twelve Chairs. We got along really well together and I was going to say with him, but I got a chance to work on a movie for Dennis Hopper called The Last Movie which was the movie he did after Easy Rider.

They gave him all this money and he went down to Peru to shoot this movie and ended up doing a lot of crazy stuff down there. I got called by this famous editor — Aram Avakian. He was the big rage in New York around back when Dede (Allen) was there, doing her thing. He was this Armenian guy who was phenomenal. He was Arthur Penn’s editor before Dede. Dennis called because the movie was in trouble and we flew down to Taos, New Mexico to work on that. I didn’t stay with Alan at that point, but I loved him. He was a great guy.

HULLFISH: That was my impression of Alan. Very sweet. Generous with his knowledge and time.

Hearing your accent and listening to you talk about some of the New York City editing crowd, do you think there’s a New York-style of editing or something that defines the New York editor?

ROSENSTOCK: It’s funny that you said that. The only thing I could say as a distinction is when I first moved out here — not Philadelphia — L.A., I remember that when I went to mixes or dubs or whatever you call them, everything out here in L.A. was always clean and beautiful, and it didn’t have that gritty sound. They would clean everything up to make it very antiseptic and very Hollywood. It didn’t feel like Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico or those kinds of movies that Dede worked on.

Dog Day Afternoon

I remember when she came out here a friend of mine was assisting her and they went to the mix and she says, What are you guys doing? Why did you clean everything up? I don’t want it like that. I want my consonants to hit. I want my sound cuts to be jagged. I want you to feel uncomfortable. I don’t want it to be just like everything’s moving along you know, and that to me was a big difference.

When I worked for her, Sidney Lumet was the director. I worked on Serpico and Dog Day and he was a very simple performance-oriented director. Didn’t care too much about crazy camera moves and stuff like that, but he always got great stuff. It was very New York-style.

But as far as editors and them having their own styles, I think that’s just how you get trained and the stuff you work on. I’d say 50 percent of what I do, or what Alan does, or anybody does is based on the stuff you get to work with.

If you win awards — I’ve won a few — it’s usually the director or the DP who was really giving me stuff to make me look good or make IT look good, or make the editing look good.

I worked with a guy named Steven Gyllenhaal a long time ago — and his kids became super famous — and he was semi-famous at the time. We did a movie called A Killing in a Small Town which won the Eddie Award for me and got nominated for an Emmy.

I got up there and said, “I really have to thank Steven Gyllenhaal and Robert Elswit because they gave me great stuff to work with.” It was also a great script and a great performance by Barbara Hershey. It’s what you get and what you do with it, and I think L.A. guys are trained a little differently than New York guys but I don’t know if their styles are different.

Scent of a Woman

I worked on one movie with two L.A. guys called Scent of a Woman and that was Billy Steinkamp whose father was a famous editor — and Billy became pretty hot in his own way — and Michael Tronick was also a great guy.

We did have different styles and (producer) Marty Brest noticed it because he was a New York guy. I think he gave us scenes in that movie based on our different attacking of the film — the way we went about it. That was the only time I ever gave any thought to the difference of style. I can’t really describe it to you it’s just the way you approach the film and how you’ve been trained.

HULLFISH: You mentioned training, which makes me think of assistants. Do the assistants have a different style or approach in New York? Do they learn to organize projects differently or do they have different responsibilities?

ROSENSTOCK: That’s a multifaceted question because when you’re trained on film — which I was — classically trained, let’s say. You’re in the room with the editor giving him or her stuff. That’s the first assistant, so you’re getting trained by that editor.

When I came out here, it didn’t seem — and it could just be the time I came out, in the early 80s — it didn’t seem like the assistants were in the room as much as they were in New York. They weren’t quite as involved. But that was just my experience coming out here because it seemed like the editors were more on their own and had a higher esteem of themselves than the New York editors who would all say to an assistant, “Hey come look at this.”

(L-R): Carrie Mathison and Mohammad Amiri as Arman in HOMELAND, “Designated Driver”. Photo Credit: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME.

When I worked for Dede, she wanted everybody to look at stuff. Steve Rotter is another editor who I worked with. Same thing. I try to do that too, but now with the digital age coming in its kind of hard to have your assistant in the room because they’re so busy getting dailies ready and getting all the stuff we do now — sound and the music and all that — that for them to be in the room the whole time would be great for them, but with the schedules that we have — especially in cable TV.

I’ve only worked in broadcast episodic on The Blacklist. That was the only time I switched over from film to television. It’s not as good of a mentoring system because you don’t have time to sit. But I’m working on something here in Philadelphia called Servant. It’s an Apple+ show for M. Night Shyamalan and what I like about it is he treats it like a movie. Right now we’re COVIDed out, so we’re all hovering in our own apartments.

I’m in the editing room right now which is across the hall from my apartment, but before that, we would all have dailies every day. So if it was my episode and he was directing, we’d all go to dailies every day. Production design, the DP, whoever else wanted to come who was invited, who were working on the project and I thought that was great. It was great because you take notes and you look at stuff differently than when you just get it in the Avid and just start banging away.

I still keep my stuff in KEM rolls — so to speak. When my assistant builds it, he builds it or she builds it in a way that I can just view everything in a row instead of just in tiles (thumbnails) which breaks it up.

(R): Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson in HOMELAND, “Threnody(s)”. Photo Credit: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME.

Going to dailies — like in the old days when we used to do it on film — I felt like that’s when I used to make most of my decisions about editing. I’d sit in a room at Warner Brothers and we’d run the dailies. When I was doing that I would sit next to my assistant — Julie Rogers, for years — and I would say, “That’s good for this.” “That’s good for that.”

When I used to do it for Dede I would always say, “How am I going to ever do this? How am I ever gonna remember all these things? Call them into play when it’s time?” But after constantly doing it with her I do it now as second nature.

I find the dailies experience — which is pretty much gone — a really good way of bonding with the film, the director, and whoever else is there.

HULLFISH: All of the editors that I’ve talked to who used to cut on film lament the loss of watching dailies with the director and the heads of department in a theater.

ROSENSTOCK: There’s a reason for that. It’s a way to be separate from it and yet get into it and find the performances before they’re all cut together. Very often I would take copious notes and then I’d start cutting and the notes would almost go out the window because when I was putting it all together it didn’t really go that way, but then I come back to that take later for something else because it had some magic in it that I saw.

I could see everybody lamenting on that because it’s a shared experience and it’s also a way to look at it from afar instead of just right in your Avid and making decisions quickly.

Maury Sterling as Max in HOMELAND, “Deception Indicated”. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME.

I think that’s the part of the business now that I find: how quick things have to get done and there’s not really a lot of time for reflection.

You asked me — when you sent me the e-mail about Homeland — which is a very unique experience to me in film editing because I came on there in year four. I always say, “I came in after the good Homeland.” When Brody died, everybody said, “That’s it! The show’s gonna be over.”

I wasn’t thinking about doing television. I did a show called The Bridge and one of the people on The Bridge — the producer — said, “Wow. I love you. You’re great. I want to bring you on to another show.”

I said, “No. I got a movie to do. Thank you.” And they called me to do one episode of Homeland with this lady, Charlotte Seiling. She was a great director from Denmark. She did the original Bridge which was a great show.

I came on and my wife said, “It’s the greatest show on television. I love it.” I just fell in love with Alex Gansa — the guy who runs the show — and he invited me to stay, so I had to get out of my previous commitments, which I did.

That show was was so careful with what they do with the film. You sit with the producers, the writers and they have a pass. The director, of course, has a pass, and then Alex comes in the room and he has a pass, and he really makes it Homeland. Even if you’ve done something really good or different, he kind of puts the Homeland stamp on it and since then I’ve never been on a show where it’s that many cooks to make it right.

Here on Servant, it’s pretty much M. Night and that’s the end of the game, which is fine, but I think that the writers had something to say on Homeland and they got it to a certain space before Alex came in because he was so busy. These writers are also producers. The care that was taken in every single episode — it was impeccable. It’s a well-run machine.

HULLFISH: You mentioned that when those notes were given, that’s what made it Homeland. What was it that those notes did?

ROSENSTOCK: He makes it real to what’s going on today and what the show is. If something’s a little flashy, if something’s maybe sped-up or just done in a different way than he’s used to, he’ll do something with that to make it more in the style of the show, so it always feels like there’s one person telling the story. It could be dialogue. You could be cutting a scene and he’d say, “We don’t need that dialogue.” And I’d say, “Well, how do you know?” And he’d say, “Well, you’ll know in the next episode.” So he has the overall picture and he has the stamp of the show. He’s very excellent in the edit room.

The show that I asked you to watch — Season 8, Episode 10 “Designated Driver” — that show was really well done by the director, Michael Offer and Alex came in and only spent a few days on it but made it better. Alex will call me and say, Did I make it better, or is that a lateral move? I’ll be very honest with him and tell him. He listens.

Something about being on the show for so long and writing the show and knowing where it’s going and knowing all the nuances of Claire’s performance and Saul’s performance. He knows how it’s all going to work out, so it has a seamless pattern to the season.

HULLFISH: What was it about that episode that made you call it out?

Mohammad Amiri as Arman in HOMELAND, “Designated Driver”. Photo Credit: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME.

ROSENSTOCK: You get ‘em as you get ‘em. Nobody picks episodes. That’s not quite true. There was a guy — Chip Johannessen — who would always want to give me the action episodes, I don’t know why. I’m a performance guy.

I did an episode a couple of years ago that got nominated for an Emmy and then Eddie and Lesli Linka Glatter got a DGA Award (Homeland: The Tradition of Hospitality.) It was an actiony episode and this one, episode 10, had a really big finale, and leading up to it we created this tension.

So the suicide bomber is talking to his family and he’s going to go and do the ultimate task to save his family by giving his life. And the way Michael Offer shot it, I was able to make it cool and make it different than Homeland. I really tried to fuck around with the different angles. We used some temp music from a Ridley Scott movie. Instead of going with the actiony music, we wnt with very sad — look how horrible this is. This guy’s going to drive into this truck and kill all these people and we feel bad for him.

Because there was so much gunfire and so many different cuts we took that way down and just played the visceral images of this guy doing it. There was one place where he screams and I cut to a shot of his kid and I overlapped his scream on the screen with the kid to show that it’s this visceral thing where he’s saving his family. And then it goes to white. It was a different way to go and it was very effective.

A unit still from Homeland (Season 5, Episode 2, “The Tradition of Ho…”). – Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: Homeland_502_1961.R

I got a lot of calls and Gansa got a lot of calls after that one. He said, “Wow. I’ve never had so many calls about the editing of an episode since the beginning of Homeland.” That was the biggest compliment in the five years I was there. I was so proud because he’s done so many episodes of Homeland.

It’s just so thick and complicated and there’s so much going on. The other two editors are great and there’s a camaraderie there, plus it parallels what’s going on in the world. The writers’ room is just all incredibly bright people. They were all Ivy League. They’re all the brightest of the brightest and they’ve been on it for a long time. Scripts are great and the acting is fantastic.

HULLFISH: Let’s talk about the way you approach a scene with a KEM roll. Do you use that to watch dailies I’m assuming?

ROSENSTOCK: I do.

HULLFISH: From there do you use the KEM roll as a source or do you start trimming that down to a tighter selects roll?

ROSENSTOCK: I don’t do a selects roll. There’s a guy Philip Neel who’s on there — he does selects rolls. But I only use it as a way to view all my stuff and take notes. Then after I cut the scene I can go back and zoom through it to see if there’s a little piece of something in one of those takes that I might like — instead of just going back through all the takes.

(L-R): Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison and Costa Ronin as Yevgeny in HOMELAND, “Prisoners of War”. Photo Credit: Erica Parise/SHOWTIME.

It makes me feel like I’m on the KEM and it just gives me a better feeling.

HULLFISH: You mentioned the idea of watching dailies as a group, but in the old days you’d watch an entire day’s dailies — not just one scene. So now, when you’re watching dailies, do you watch the entire day all at once, or do you just watch the dailies for a single scene before starting to cut? You might get dailies for three or four scenes in a single day, so I just watch a scene at a time.

ROSENSTOCK; Would you rather watch more so you can inform yourself on where it’s going?

HULLFISH: As you know, the scenes are not usually shot in order so that doesn’t matter. I just find that I have a hard time wrapping my head around six hours of dailies. I’d much rather watch 90 minutes of dailies and get started working,

ROSENSTOCK: On Homeland, there may be six hours of dailies, but the six hours of dailies are also three cameras and it’s necessary to watch them all but I sort of watch them all out of the corner of my eye. I kind of know what I’m going to do and if I get stuck then I’ll go back because there is a schedule and if I watch six hours of dailies I wouldn’t be cutting until four o’clock in the afternoon.

But one of the other editors, he would watch them all. He’d watch every single one. Take notes on every single one, even if the C camera was on somebody’s shoe.

I do what I call “build the house.” I find my stuff that I like. I cut the scene, so I know where it’s going, and then I see, “Hmm. If that’s the right direction, then maybe this other take might be better for this and that.” And then I start decorating the house. Start putting windows on and taking the floorboards out and sometimes recutting the whole scene.

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison and Sebastian Koch as Otto During in Homeland (Season 5, Episode 2, “The Tradition of Ho…”). – Photo: Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: Homeland_502_5615.R

I like to get it up and going so I can feel something about what’s happening. And then the whole thing’s different once you put it in the cut. What is it informing? Where does it go? Does it belong here? Am I giving anything away or should I save this for later?

That’s what I mean about that show. It’s so complicated. On that show — which is something I’ve never done any other show — we all watch each other’s stuff. I mean we don’t watch whole episodes. But Phil will call me in or Jordan will call m in and say, Look at this. What’s going on in your episode? There’s competition, but not the kind of competition that we’re going to hide anything. We’re all gonna just try to make the best shows possible. Everybody is on the same page trying to make the best possible product.

HULLFISH: Many people do that workflow of quickly getting a scene up on its feet. I like to do the same thing. The advantage of it is that when you’re watching the rest of the dailies you’re doing it with a different eye because you now have kind of seen what the scene is.

ROSENSTOCK: That is true. What I try not to be guilty of — I’m a little more guilty of it now than when I did movies. When I did movies, I had these notepads and they were like these bibles and I would have notes on every single thing.

Now, I just start cutting away, and then when a director comes in, he’ll ask, “Hey, don’t we have a better take?” I don’t even have to go to my notes. I just go to my tiles (thumbnails, or “Frames” in Avid). That’s just a different way of going.

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 5, Episode 2, “The Tradition of Ho…”). – Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: Homeland_502_1495.R

HULLFISH: Did you find that the notes that you take are really more to get them into your brain than anything you actually refer to later?

ROSENSTOCK: I think to get it in my brain and to see where there’s kind of golden nuggets in there or something that just speaks out to me. Oftentimes I try to use it and it looked better in dailies — that kind of thing. I couldn’t really use it in the scene, but I’m very persistent so I’ll go back and try. If there’s something that hit me. I try to use that. That informs me of where the takes are going, performance-wise.

HULLFISH: So, you’ve got the scene cut, and then it goes in context with the scenes around it. At what point in the process do you start bolting scene one onto scene two onto scene three?

ROSENSTOCK: I kind of wait. In television, I wait till I have another good cut that I can see how it’s going to inform the other stuff. I usually wait until right before I build it, because that’s the scary part, once you put it together.

Even now — I’ve been doing this so long — and still, the night before I’m going to screen my first cut I get nervous. What I find is, especially with Night, he doesn’t like putting music in and I’ve gotten used to doing that.

When you’re putting music on scenes you’re not putting music on the whole episode so it kind of stands out in a bad way.

Sebastian Koch as Otto During and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 5, Episode 2, “The Tradition of Ho…”). – Photo: Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: Homeland_502_1760.R

I had an experience once on a movie called Kiss the Girls — Gary Fleder was the director — and I came on to replace the editor, which was not necessary, but anyway I did,

Gary said, “Let’s watch the movie.” We watched it. I said, “I think it’s great. It really works, but it’s kind of slow.” He said, “Yeah, maybe we should take the music out.” I said, “Where?” He said, “All of it.” I said, “What a great idea? Let’s just turn it off.”

It was edited on Lightworks, so we just turned the music tracks off and we could tell — Morgan Freeman’s walking down the hall for like three minutes which should have been like a minute.

When I was working with Night last year he said, “In all my movies I never put music in until they’re done.” I said, “Yeah, but now you’re working in television, so it’s sort of different I think a little bit it. it helps establish a style.”

We’re starting to do that now, more and more. The reason I’m bringing this up is sometimes when you put music in finished scenes and then you put the scenes in the cut it makes very little sense because it’s not coming and going and there’s no head and tail and it jams its way in.

I have a habit of cutting scenes as if the scene is the whole movie. And I worked with this great editor — Frank J. Urioste — many, many years ago and he said, Every scene can’t have a beginning middle and end because the movie has to have a beginning middle and end.

Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 4, Episode 12, “Long Time Coming”). – Photo: David Bloomer/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: Homeland_412_0659.R

There’s a California guy who had a lot to say. That’s why I think I wait until the very end. Once in awhile, I’ll put something together just to see how the transition would be, or if we’re going to flop scenes around. I’ll sort of think of that in my head as I’m putting it together. Basically the answer to your question — in a long-about way — is I just wait.

HULLFISH: The point about scenes having beginnings middles and ends that’s where you see problems when you start bolting them together right? Because the flow over multiple scenes has too many starts and stops and the rhythm gets stilted.

ROSENSTOCK: Yeah. It doesn’t work within the flow of the film or the show.

HULLFISH: Did you have to adapt your workflow when you started cutting TV? Do the time constraints of TV require a different way of working?

ROSENSTOCK: Yeah. I went from film to my first TV thing, which was Moonlighting. That adapted itself to its own style. I did movies for a while before I went back to TV with a show called Justified.

Michael Dinner is a director I like a lot. He was the showrunner and director of that. That was kind of like a movie — like a cowboy movie, so it was kind of fun to do that. On that one, I really didn’t have to adapt.

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in HOMELAND, “Chalk Two Down”. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME.

Then I went back into movies again and then I ended up doing a short stint on The Blacklist when it just started. That was really an adjustment because they were really a different way of cutting and a different style. They were all fast and close-ups and music all over the place and so that was a little bit of adapting, but then I went back to the movies for a while.

Right after that was Homeland which is a whole different ballgame. Since we’ve been COVIDed away, we’ve been watching the Sopranos from the very beginning.

HULLFISH: Obviously you need to cut the show the way you think it needs to be cut, but each showrunner has his or her own peculiarities and things that they like and don’t like. For example, I’ve heard about showrunners with a hesitancy to use pre-laps or someone might like cutting on action and somebody else might NOT like that.

ROSENSTOCK: Meaning what?

HULLFISH: I talked to Walter Murch recently and he was describing that he does not like to cut in the middle of an action. He likes for the action to complete in one shot and then start up again with another action and another shot.

Like, if my arm is coming up in a wide shot, he wouldn’t cut to a close-up to see my arm continue rising up in the close-up.

Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson in HOMELAND, “Prisoners of War”. Photo Credit: Erica Parise/SHOWTIME.

ROSENSTOCK: I always cut on action because I always feel that if you’re not cutting on action that you’re going to get a dead cut. That’s what I call it.

HULLFISH: Those are the kinds of things that directors might have opinions about. And what do you do if you like cutting on action and the director doesn’t?

ROSENSTOCK: Some have rules like that.

HULLFISH: You’re talking about trying to impose that style but the style is also something you’re deriving or responding to in the film footage itself, right? It’s hard to make the film become something that it doesn’t want to become.

ROSENSTOCK: Yeah. Every show has its style. When I got on The Blacklist it was sort of at the very beginning and they were just starting to get a style.

James Spader is so good and the way they shot him, the close-ups were an important part of it. I don’t say that you have to have them, but I think they’re important to get the performances. If you have a good performance I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being in a close-up to let the audience feel it.

When I worked on The Bridge, we really didn’t have a style. One of the producers wanted me to come up with the style because I recut the pilot, and I found a lot of great stuff in the bins that wasn’t used. A lot of that was close-ups.

Mohammad Bakri as G’ulom in HOMELAND, “Threnody(s)”. Photo Credit: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME.

You can’t really saddle a director with “here’s a list of how you’re supposed to shoot it.” I have nothing against close-ups. It has to be shot right. You can’t just float to the close-up or something. You watch some older movies, like Mike Nichols and two shots are something that’s forgotten — from the side and you see two people looking at each other or The Irishman.

Those are the movies that I look at for beautiful composition of filmmaking and close-ups and how they really grab your attention when you need them. The overuse of close-ups is really bad because you don’t know when to feel anything. You get numb after a while.

HULLFISH: You mentioned that one of the producers likes you to cut the action episodes. When you’re cutting those action scenes, is one of the things you’re looking to do to give the audience a sense of the geography of the situation? Talk to me a little bit about what you do to make an action scene make sense.

ROSENSTOCK: On the first big action movie I worked on, I was working for a guy named Mark Goldblatt, who was a very, very popular editor and we became friends. He was going to direct a movie called Dead Heat.

His editing style was point-to-point, which is very interesting.

HULLFISH: Explain that to me.

(L-R): Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison HOMELAND, “Two Minutes”. Photo Credit: Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME.

ROSENSTOCK: On Rambo, somebody would pull back a bow and arrow and the next cut the guy would be hit with the arrow. So there was no time. Stallone came in one day and said, “Mark! Mark! I need some fly time for my arrows!”

If you want to cut an action scene and just go bup-bup-bup-bup — point-to-point in a big scene, that’s fine, but on Homeland where it’s supposed to be real, that really wouldn’t work. You could do fancy quick cutting but not that kind of stuff where somebody’s on this side of the room then that side of the room and cutting on swish pans.

I think you get lost in that and you don’t feel like it could really have been happening. On Homeland, you always want to feel like it’s happening at that moment in time. We do some cool cutting but not crazy, so you’ll always know geography.

HULLFISH: I think it helps the audience just to understand the “story” of the fight. There is the excitement and action and the physical conflict and all that stuff is great in close-up, but to understand the story-points of a fight, you kind of want to be wider, right?

ROSENSTOCK: Right. Sometimes you can have a fight and if it is choreographed well you just keep it in a medium wide-shot. That’s just as good as cutting to a close-up. It doesn’t feel as fake.

HULLFISH: Sometimes the trick there is trying to hide the stunt performers and that’s easy to do with those quick kinetic close-ups, right?

Suraj Sharma as Aayan in Homeland (Season 4, Episode 2, “Trylon and Perisphere”). – Photo: David Bloomer/SHOWTIME – Photo ID: homeland_DB_402_0551.R

ROSENSTOCK: Right. I had a big action scene on Ray Donovan. That’s a great episode of television. It’s probably the best episode of television I’ve ever done.

It was Ray Donovan Season 5, episode 8, called “Horses”

SPOILER ALERT

it’s the show where Ray’s wife commits suicide because she has cancer. He wants to get her to a special doctor and she doesn’t want to do it anymore. The performances and the whole way it was shot — the director was a woman named Zetna Fuentes. She was great and I really enjoyed that episode.

HULLFISH: What were some of the things that made that episode stand out — other than the emotion of it?

ROSENSTOCK: My wife had cancer, so some of the scenes were really close to home. One day David Hollander came in and I was all — not teary, but close — and he asked if I was alright. I told him, “This scene just hits too close to home. It’s killing me. You got the right guy to edit this episode.” He said, “I know, my wife is going through it right now.”

END SPOILER ALERT

The way Zetna shot it — especially that fight scene — that fight scene was fantastic! She shot it in very small rooms. It was shot really well and it was great.

The show was so effective because the lady who plays Ray’s wife was just fantastic and he was great. All the characters were great. They all brought their “A-game” to that.

We choreographed it to this song “Horses,” which is a famous rock song (Patti Smith — Land: Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances/La Mer(de.)) Something about the way it all went together was just very powerful.

HULLFISH: I’ve been talking a lot in recent weeks about how being empathetic plays such a critical role in being a good editor.

ROSENSTOCK: It’s important. It’s important to have an emotional core that you can relate to and make stuff come out of the performances and feel it because if you don’t feel it, you’re not going to get it.

That’s the whole reason — when we put that cue in Homeland — that the scene became something totally different. Instead of tire squeals and gunshots and percussive music, it was almost like a horrible ballet of the guy driving to his death.

He felt something and it had been shot just like an action scene. There were close-ups in the car with the stuff flying all over the guy. Not big ones, but it was enough. And it funny how the score changed that so much. It made it very poignant and very feeling.

SPOILER ALERT

Like in that episode of Ray Donovan where his wife dies and then he comes home to find her dead — when he didn’t want to do that. And he just breaks down. In all the years on Ray Donovan he never broke down, and that was the episode where he was allowed to cry. I mean, he had stuff happening before that.

END SPOILER ALERT

I like shows that make you feel something.

It’s funny cause I’m working on this show now which is kind of a spooky creepy kind of thing for M. Night. One of the episodes we did this year that he directed has a lot of that in it. Not super-emotional but very dark in a different way, so you’re feeling sorry for somebody instead of compassion, which is a different feeling.

HULLFISH: When you’re cutting those scenes for Night and he doesn’t want to use music, what kind of challenge does that present for you?

ROSENSTOCK: It’s a big challenge. Sometimes we have fights over it and I’ll try to sneak something in. “No no no no.” And then when we get the composer involved — the composer’s involved now, which is good.

We also had that on Ray Donovan. They have somebody on-site to put the music in, but the guy on Ray was working with the composer, so by the time the showrunner saw it, everything was sort of in line with how the show was going to go.

Here, on Servant, we have the composer on as well. Sometimes if I have a cue in that isn’t really working for Night, but it’s doing something, then Trevor Gureckis — the composer — will agree or disagree. And if he agrees, he usually makes it much better, because this show has a certain tonal quality to it. It’s like tubular bells and little things. It’s not a big score-y kind of thing.

I don’t know if you know what the show is about, but it’s not a very normal show. It’s just very off-the-beaten-path kind of show, so it has that feeling.

HULLFISH: I’ve interviewed one on Night’s longtime film editors — Luke Ciarrocchi — is he on the show?

ROSENSTOCK: No. I was hoping to go on to Night’s feature but it doesn’t look like it’s happening. I think he wants it to stay here.

HULLFISH: I want to thank you for shedding some light on your editing. Thank you so much for your time, Harvey.

Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV Editors

ROSENSTOCK: Thank you for choosing me. I appreciate it.

To read more interviews in the Art of the Cut series, check out THIS LINK and follow me on Twitter @stevehullfish or on imdb.

The first 50 interviews in the series provided the material for the book, “Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV Editors.” This is a unique book that breaks down interviews with many of the world’s best editors and organizes it into a virtual roundtable discussion centering on the topics editors care about. It is a powerful tool for experienced and aspiring editors alike. Cinemontage and CinemaEditor magazine both gave it rave reviews. No other book provides the breadth of opinion and experience. Combined, the editors featured in the book have edited for over 1,000 years on many of the most iconic, critically acclaimed, and biggest box office hits in the history of cinema.

ATEM Streaming Bridge Announced by Blackmagic Design

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 19:25:20 GMT

The new ATEM Streaming Bridge is a new converter that decodes the live stream from any ATEM Mini Pro model switcher and converts it back to SDI and HDMI video. The advantage of ATEM Streaming Bridge is broadcasters can use it to connect high quality video links direct from any ATEM Mini Pro studio. This allows broadcasters to access a wide range of talent, worldwide. ATEM Mini Pro’s video stream is much higher quality than simple conferencing software, so customers get broadcast quality, clean of any streaming software vendor logo burn-in.

ATEM Streaming Bridge

The ATEM Streaming Bridge is a video converter that lets customers receive a H.264 stream from any ATEM Mini Pro and convert it back to SDI and HDMI video. This means customers can send video to remote locations around their local Ethernet network, or via the internet globally. That’s possible because it uses advanced H.264 codecs for higher quality at very low data rates. Imagine broadcasters and bloggers collaborating on shows and creating global networks of ATEM Mini Pro remote broadcast studios. Setup is easy as the ATEM software utility can create setup files that customers can email to remote ATEM Mini Pro studios. ATEM Streaming Bridge is the perfect way to use ATEM Mini Pro as a remote broadcast studio.

ATEM Mini switchers make it easy to create professional multi camera productions for live streaming to YouTube and innovative business presentations using Skype or Zoom. Simply connect ATEM Mini and customers can switch live between 4 high quality video camera inputs for dramatically better quality images. Or connect a computer for PowerPoint slides or gaming consoles. The built in DVE allows exciting picture in picture effects, perfect for commentary. There are loads of video effects too. All ATEM Mini Pro models have live streaming which can be used to connect directly to the ATEM Streaming Bridge. There’s also HDMI out for projectors. Microphone inputs allow high quality desktop and lapel mics for interviews and presentations.

ATEM Streaming Bridge will be available in August from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$245.

“This is an exciting converter as it allows broadcasters to integrate with a worldwide talent pool of expert bloggers with ATEM Mini Pro based studios. The stream link is broadcast quality so bloggers don’t have to accept low quality streaming software with a logo burned in. ATEM Streaming Bridge can also be used on a local network so it acts as an IP converter and customers can connect to large televisions and video projectors in public spaces.” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “I think this will be very exciting. Imagine a world of networked ATEM Mini Pro studios and broadcasters all connecting together in broadcast quality! What a creative world that would be!”

Blackmagic Announces ATEM Mini Pro ISO

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 19:19:36 GMT

The ATEM Mini Pro ISO is a new low-cost live production switcher with a new five stream recording engine that allows all video inputs to be recorded, allowing a live production to be edited after the event. This allows users to get a clean feed of all inputs and use edit software multi-cam features for later editing. ATEM Mini Pro ISO also records all audio files, media pool graphics and a DaVinci Resolve project file, so a live production can be opened and edited with a single click.

ATEM Mini Pro ISO includes:

Miniaturized control panel based design.
Built in support for recording each input as a separate ISO file.
Saves DaVinci Resolve project file for 1 click editing of live production.
Supports connecting up to 4 cameras or computers.
Live streaming via Ethernet supported on ATEM Mini Pro.
USB output operates as a webcam and supports all video software.
Automatically standards converts and re-syncs all HDMI inputs.
Includes free ATEM Software Control for Mac and Windows.
Internal media for 20 RGBA graphics for titles, opening plates and logos.
Includes ATEM Advanced Chroma Key for green/blue screen work.
Multiview allows monitoring of all cameras on ATEM Mini Pro.
Audio mixer supports limiter, compressor, 6 band EQ and more!

The ATEM Mini Pro ISO model can also save a DaVinci Resolve project file, so with a single click, customers can open their live production as a video edit. All cuts, dissolves and media pool graphics will be loaded. This means customers can fine tune edit points or even completely replace shots. The DaVinci Resolve Sync Bin lets customers select new shots via a multiview so it’s very easy to use. Customers can even relink to Blackmagic RAW camera files for adding professional color correction and finishing in Ultra HD.

There’s never been a switcher that’s easier to use, as customers simply press any of the input buttons labelled 1 to 4 on the front panel to cut between video sources. Customers can choose between cut or effects transitions by selecting the cut or auto buttons. Unlike cut, the auto button tells ATEM Mini to use a video effect when switching inputs. Customers can select from exciting transitions such as dissolve, or more dramatic effects such as dip to color, DVE squeeze and DVE push. The DVE is perfect for picture in picture effects and customers can instantly set up different picture positions.

With 4 independent HDMI inputs, customers can connect up to 4 high quality video cameras. All video sources will re-sync to the switcher if they operate at different video standards so customers don’t have to worry about connecting video devices as they all just work. Imagine taking advantage of the low light capability of better cameras for theater production, weddings, school concerts and music videos.

The ATEM Mini Pro model has a built in hardware streaming engine for live streaming via its ethernet connection. That means customers can live stream to YouTube, Facebook and Twitch in better quality, without dropped frames and with much simpler settings. Just select the streaming service and enter the streaming key. There are palettes in ATEM Software Control for streaming setup, plus streaming status is also displayed in the multiview. Streaming status is easy to understand as the data rate indicator shows internet speed required for the video format users are using.

The ATEM Mini Pro model also supports direct recording of their streaming data to USB flash disks. That means customers get very long recordings in the same H.264 video files with AAC audio that customers streamed, so customers can direct upload to any online video site, such as YouTube and Vimeo. ATEM Mini Pro supports multiple disks when used with a USB hub or Blackmagic MultiDock, so when a disk fills recording can continue to a second disk for non-stop recording. Record settings and disk selection are set up in ATEM Software Control and there’s a record status view in the built in multiview.

To ensure maximum compatibility, ATEM Mini features a USB connection that operates as a simple webcam source. That means customers can plug in and instantly get working with any video software. The software is tricked into thinking the ATEM Mini is a common webcam, but it’s really a live production switcher. That guarantees full compatibility with any video software and in full resolution 1080HD quality. ATEM Mini works with software and platforms such as Open Broadcaster, XSplit Broadcaster, YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Skype, Zoom, Twitch, Periscope, Livestream, Wirecast and more.

Each of the 4 HDMI inputs feature their own dedicated standards converter. That means ATEM Mini will automatically convert 1080p, 1080i and 720p sources to the video standard of the switcher. The HDMI output is a true “aux” output so customers can clean switch each HDMI input or program to this output. If users are using program/preview switching, the HDMI out can be selected to preview, or on the ATEM Mini Pro model, it can be selected to display a full multiview.

The ATEM Software Control app unlocks the hidden power of ATEM Mini and allows access to every feature in the switcher. ATEM Software Control features a visual switcher user interface with parameter palettes for making quick adjustments. Although customers can normally connect via USB, if customers connect using Ethernet it’s possible for multiple users to connect to ATEM Mini using separate copies of ATEM Software Control on different computers.

The built-in “media pool” allows the loading of up to 20 separate broadcast quality RGBA graphics for titles, opening plates and logos. Graphics can be loaded via ATEM Software Control or downloaded directly from Photoshop using the ATEM Photoshop plug-in.

For news or on-set presentation work, ATEM Mini is perfect as it has an upstream ATEM Advanced Chroma Key plus an additional downstream linear keyer. Customers can even use it for title overlays by creating graphics with a green or blue background and the keyer will knock out the green and make the background transparent.

When doing larger live productions with multiple cameras, it’s very useful to see all their video sources at the same time on a single monitor. The ATEM Mini Pro model includes a professional multiview that lets customers see all 4 video inputs, plus preview and program on a single HDMI television or monitor. Each camera view includes tally indicators so

StageRole: a WFH rehearsal tool for the performing arts

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 13:19:42 GMT

Still in development stage, StageRole will benefit producers, directors, theatres, the film industry, actors, writers, audiobook producers, sound editors, studios and more. Learn how!

“There’s no business like lockdown showbusiness”. That’s how Paul Watson presents StageRole, a project that is all about making acting from home a more simplified and engaging experience during the lockdown and beyond. It’s, he says, “a pioneering new way to perfect your performance and make learning your lines a lot more fun. Whether your background is theatre, TV, movies or voice over, we’re pioneering new ways to focus your talent.”

Paul Watson, a fan of space sims for many years, plays Elite Dangerous since crowd-funding and is Producer at HCS VoicePacks Ltd. HCS has been working with StageRole, to co-develop software that’s capable of delivering a full-blown theatrical play to actors so that they can practice their lines in an immersive set of Shakespeare & Sherlock Holmes plays, during this Work From Home period and beyond.

The StageRole software is in development stage, with a release planned for this Summer, along with an example of what it allows users to do: Sherlock Holmes “A Study In Scarlet”, a play where the user can play any role. A prologue scene for Sherlock Holmes, produced by actors, for actors, shows what’s possible: by choosing a role and reading their part from the script, with voice recognition and a fully interactive role-playing story, take yourself back to the theatre, at home! From start to finish, choose your own role and a perfect your performance!

Features available in StageRole

Replying to a comment in YouTube, Paul Watson said: ”You get to play any role, you get to place any audio, including your performance – You even get to export your performance / make a showreel. When we have plenty of Shakespeare plays produced, you can perform any role, and practise any script, in its entirety.”

StageRole is the world’s first voice recognition rehearsal and self-taping app for actors. Watson says that “there is MUCH we can develop for StageRole. For now, here’s just a few StageRole ‘Voice control” software features:

Choose any role in a play
Remove specific lines from characters, to shorten the performance
Read your lines from the script and perform on cue
Interact in real-time throughout the recorded play with a full cast
Ask “How do I perform this next line” and have direction and performance of that line played out for you
Script delivered by autocue
Export your performance from any scene. Listen to how you sound by asking “Play my last line” at any time. Store up to five recorded lines for review
Export your entire play including your performance for review or publication. Export scene by scene, or, an act, or, all

StageRole is the result of six years of development and work with actors as William Shatner, Brian Blessed, Marina Sirtis, Tom Baker, Brent Spiner and many others. The team that works on StageRole have produced many products for computer gaming with one key element – Immersion.

From space sims to Sherlock Holmes

Gamers know the name HCS VoicePacks, a software which uses scripted voices as command and chat voices for virtual crews in space sims as Elite Dangerous or No Man’s Sky. The HCS products give users the experience of being on stage, in a theatre, a movie… or the cockpit of a spaceship with Captain Kirk at the helm and Lieutenant Commander Data controlling systems.

The newly developed software is the result of lockdown. Many actors are stuck at home or stuck somewhere. With that, production for actors globally has slowed almost to a halt. So, said Paul Watson last May, “we are trying to do something more about that than just making videos with fellow actors – we’ve found that our development over the last 6 years has led to a spin-off product that we can develop into a product that you can use at home. It has some extraordinary features and we’ve tried a rudimentary version of it already. It’s very exciting!”

Much like how the voice packs work, StageRole is driven by the user’s voice. The team behind the project believe “it is groundbreaking tech and will help a LOT of stuck-at-home actors. We’ve already begun production on Sherlock Holmes with a great cast, all of whom have been trying to work from home – Soon, we’ll be releasing the play! We’re also currently working on Shakespeare, so fans and actors can get a real feel for theatre again very soon.”

Development will bring new features

The StageRole software will continue to be developed after the initial release. Here are some of the features in development, to add to the list of features listed above:

Switch roles on the fly
Switch out cast for other actors to play a specified role. Replace the audio from characters to that which you prefer or from your own cast
Record the play with your own theatre group and replace the audio with performances from your own actors
Choose your own music or compositions for each scene
Choose and add your own sound effects to scenes
Fine-tune the play with a suite of options for stereo mixing and positional audio options
Directors notes in written or recorded format for each scene and each role
Use the software during a live recording session to improve cue points and overall delivery quality of your lines
Autocue options for the entire play, the role you’re playing – Or use it for a line prompt

One final note: Paul Watson says that “we’re building StageRole for actors, with actors, for everyone, and it’s going to be free for a while too!”

Art Of The Cut Podcast Eps. 58 ("Homeland” Editor Harvey Rosenstock, ACE)

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:00:28 GMT

The Art of the Cut podcast brings the fantastic conversations that Steve Hullfish has with world renowned editors into your car, living room, editing suite and beyond. In each episode, Steve talks with editors ranging from emerging stars to Oscar and Emmy winners. Hear from the top editors of today about their careers, editing workflows and about their work on some of the biggest films and TV shows of the year.

On todays episode of the Art of the Cut Podcast, Steve talks with editor Harvey Rosenstock, ACE about his work on the Showtime series “Homeland.” Harvey has worked on numerous series including “Ray Donovan” and “The Blacklist.” You might also recognize Harvey for editing the films “Scent of a Woman”, Tombstone” and “The Emperors Club.” Enjoy the episode!

Todays episode of the Art of the Cut Podcast is brought to you by Filmtools.com, Hollywoods trusted one-stop shop for all things production and post. Make sure to use coupon code AOTC10 for 10% off thousands of products when shopping on Filmtools.com. Save big on your next equipment purchase with Filmtools!

Want to read/ listen to more interviews from Steve Hullfish? Check out the Art of the Cut Archive for more than 200 interviews with some of the top film and TV editors of today!

The Art of the Cut podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Overcast and Radio Public. If you like the podcast, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and tell a friend!

What Adobe is working on: Have machines finally learned how to rotoscope?

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:11:20 GMT

Adobe has been bringing performance improvements thick and fast of late, with new GPU hardware acceleration for Windows in May, faster launch times for Premiere Pro on macOS in June, and now significant optimization for Intel Quick Sync. But the most exciting thing for me was the June announcement of a public beta of Roto Brush 2, the automatic rotoscoping tool powered by Adobe Sensei machine learning technology. Let’s take a look at the July announcement and then do a deeper dive on Roto Brush 2 in After Effects.

From Adobe’s July 2020 Release blog post

Things got faster

This isn’t always the most exciting news to hear, but when a company touts “up to 2x playback performance improvements,” well that’s almost like buying a new CPU for your NLE workstation. Note: the improvements are specific to H.264 and H.265/HEVC on Windows with Intel CPUs that support Quick Sync hardware acceleration. That includes most of the i-series chip with integrated graphics since 2011, but check the previous link to verify yours.) But in this day and age of editing copious quantities of smartphone, drone, and GoPro-like media on laptops, this will be a big deal to many Premiere Pro users.

For more “enterprise-level” editing environments, Adobe also announced support for ProRes 4444 XQ (on the Mac side), wrappable in either QuickTime or MXF. Does that mean you miss out on Windows? Nope—you already had it. It’s a strange world we live in where an Apple codec is supported on the Windows platform first…

Multi-cam (Beta)

A current feature available in public beta (just click “All apps” in the left pane of your Creative Cloud app and look for the Beta apps section—See image, below) is improved multi-cam playback in Premiere Pro. I haven’t taken it for a test run, but at least according to the attractive bar charts on Adobe’s site, the numbers look promising. They’re seeing twice the number of simultaneous streams (e.g. from 4 streams of 30fps UHD in the current “shipping” version of Premiere Pro to 8 streams in the beta version on a 2018 Macbook Pro). Obviously that is entirely dependent on your hard drive throughput, but impressive nonetheless.

Roto Brush 2 (Beta)

Roto Brush 2 keeps temporal consistency when animating the torso, struggles with the shifting hair

OK, queue the flashback. It was April of 2010 and I was starting up a stereoscopic conversion studio, spending tens of thousands of dollars on rotoscoping in India. Adobe announced a “revolutionary” (aren’t they all) new tool called the Roto Brush in After Effects. Roto Brush could produce automatic rotoscoping guided by brush-based user contextual hints. In truth we all knew it was too good to be true, but because we stubbornly wanted to believe that there was a new, cheaper way to rotoscope (the most labor-intensive part of the stereoscopic conversion pipeline), artists like me spent hours trying to coax that tool to create usable rotoscoped mattes. In the end the tool found a niche with mograph artists looking for some “cut-out” style effects, but ultimately it was slow, and nowhere near as accurate as we needed for tent-pole release VFX work.

Normally I’m not a fan of beta software on my production workstations; fortunately the Adobe beta builds install alongside the production builds, so there’s no risk of it interrupting your regular work. That being the case, I couldn’t resist checking out the reincarnation of Roto Brush, now called Roto Brush 2. Rotoscoping is one of those things machine learning should be able to do well, given a large enough annotated data set. I even published an article on a rudimentary auto-rotoscoping technique; not good enough for final shots, but adequate for garbage mattes and temp roto. So I was eager to find out just how much closer this new Adobe tool gets us.

And the verdict? Not too shabby, especially given that the tool is still in beta. For general hard line roto–general body outlines, for example–it’s fast and most importantly, fairly consistent temporally. At the very basic settings I found some minor edge crawl, but adding a little (very little) feathering cleaned that right up. The exception to this would be hair, where a moving hairline against a high contrast background will produce a somewhat unpredictable animation. Then again, for the foreseeable future, flyaway hair is always going to require manual labor.

Even human roto artists might struggle to see where the cap brim stops and the treeline starts

Earlier this year (remember those days, when people were out shooting movies?) I spent a few thousand dollars outsourcing roto for a national golfing ad campaign. Lots of hard edges (golfers wearing caps make for much easier roto). I tested one of the source clips and I’d estimate that I could have potentially done 25-50% of the roto in-house using Roto Brush 2. The things it got wrong are typically things that junior human rotoscopers have a hard time with: perspective shift, objects crossing into background regions with similar contrast, and thin things (like golf sticks) with motion blur. Even if that number was a 25% outsourcing reduction that would have saved both money and time: I could have started to composite some of the simpler shots while waiting for the more detailed roto to come back from the external vendors.

I want to qualify that I’m yet to use the tool in production; that’s when all the examples that didn’t make it to your initial tests creep out of the digital woodwork. Having said that, Adobe has blogged that they’re eager to receive problem clips from beta testers to help train the tool to avoid mistakes in the future. The tricky part is always getting clearance to send along the media…

Thin things are hard…

If I had one wish for Roto Brush 2 it would be a stronger ability to manually tweak and offset the results. Yes, you can add corrective brushes on the way through (and use the Refine Edge tool), but adding too many of these will cause temporal inconsistencies to the matte edge. My ideal machine learning tool is one that’s trained on spline datasets and generates actual minimal bezier curves as an output. That’s probably a 2025 or even 2030 tool; here in 2020 I say Roto Brush 2 is an acceptable compromise.

At the highest settings, a 3200×1800 pixel test clip was rotoscoping at a little under half a second a frame on my 32 core Threadripper workstation. Don’t have 32 cores? Don’t worry; from what I could tell in my tests all the processing is single-threaded, so if you have a decent clock speed on your CPU your times won’t be too different to mine. (It could also be GPU accelerated—I didn’t check my GPU usage.) I’m told that Roto Brush 2 gets results on each frame based on the previous frame’s results. The model inference fully relies on GPU if available. The pre/post processing runs fully on CPU.

In summary, for colorists, editors, and casual compositors, this could become a single solution for rotoscoping. For those of us requiring precision edge detail, this is likely to become a big part of the solution. Roto Brush 2 will find a place in many video editing and VFX workflows in the near future.

Tilta announces a cooling kit for the Canon EOS R5

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:26:18 GMT

If you’re afraid your Canon EOS R5 will have overheating problems, the first module added to the Tiltaing series for the R5 is the solution for you: it’s the EOS R5 Cooling Kit!

Soon after Canon introduced the EOS R5 and EOS R6 mirrorless models, users started to discuss the overheating problems the cameras have, which may or not be a problem, depending on who you listen to. Canon assumed there are some limitations in terms of continued use and now we see that independent companies have already started to tackle the overheating problem announcing a solution. It may sound strange, but hey, it’s true.

Tilta has just announced its EOS R5 Cooling Kit, created to extend recording times and help mitigate overheating. The company confirmed that the module is the first for the Canon EOS R5, which is the next camera system to be supported in its Tiltaing collection of camera accessories, which offers cages for a variety of cameras, from Panasonic or Sony to Fujifilm, Nikon or DJI.

The company is comprised of several different sections including one for filmmakers looking to have a highly customizable setup for their camera rigs, one for aspiring cinema-based product engineers looking to get their ideas out into the world, and one for fans of Tilta looking for brand clothing and useful cinema tools. Now the company enters the market for “cooling kits”, with a solution that may well be needed for the EOS R5, maybe the EOS R6, and cameras from other manufacturers.

Tiltaing Cooling Kit for R5 is the start

Canon may be on top of the overheating situation, as recent news published by the website Canon News mention that the company has a patent, from 2019, for a lens adapter with a cooling system built in. The article has also some interesting points about the overheating problem that you may want to read…

Anyways, for those who may need a cooling solution to fully explore the CMOS image sensor and 8K RAW / 4K 120P capabilities of the Canon EOS 5, even under hot weather, the Tiltaing Cooling Kit for the EOS R5 will help to extend recording times and help mitigate overheating. The module, which is easily installed, combines a fan, heat sink and temperature sensor. It will activate as needed, and can be removed with ease. It may look odd, with the vari-angle monitor having to be kept out of the way, but there is, apparently, no other way to do it.

The module is the first of a series of accessories, as the company wants to make other components for the Canon EOS R5 available soon. A brand new tactical camera cage – where the cooling module will fit, I presume – is coming, along with other products. Visit Tilta’s website for more information.

Develop with Tilta

The company offers a wide selection of fully customizable camera cages allow you to build your camera rig as you see fit, with base cages for a variety of small cinema cameras, mirrorless cameras and DSLRs to which you can add or remove sections. Several parts of these cages are interchangeable with other Tiltaing camera cages such as the top handle, side power/focus handles, baseplates, and battery plates which allows you to swap these parts between cages if you own multiple cameras and Tiltaing camera cages.

Tilta’s line of cages is continuously updated with new designs as new cameras are released into the market. The company is also open to work with cinema product developers who, Says Tilta, “can collaborate with our engineers to make their dream reality. The idea is simple: develop and submit your idea(s) to us and if we are interested in the design, we will work with you to develop the product and get it out onto the market.

Epic MegaGrants: $42 million given to over 600 recipients

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 17:03:39 GMT

Projects in the Media and Entertainment industry are among the many that received financial support from the $100 million program Epic MegaGrants created by EpicGames.

Designed to globally accelerate the work of talented teams and individuals working with Unreal Engine, 3D graphics tools, and open source software, the Epic MegaGrants is a $100 million program launched just over one year ago and that has now provided over $42 million in financial support to more than 600 recipients in categories from Education to Enterprise, Independent Gaming, Tools and Open-Source or Media and Entertainment.

This announcement follows a record initial round of support, which saw Epic MegaGrants distributed to more than 200 recipients, surpassing the four-year distributed total of the initiative’s predecessor, Unreal Dev Grants, in only eight months.

In addition to this news, Epic is sharing that AMD has extended their support to Epic MegaGrants with the generous contribution of 200 AMD Ryzen 7 3800X desktop processors eligible for giveaway to new and existing recipients. There is no deadline to apply, and hardware is available on a first-come first-served basis, based on project merit. Creators across games, entertainment, architecture, and many other industries are encouraged to apply now via online submission for an AMD Ryzen 7 3800X desktop processor.

200 AMD Ryzen 7 3800X processors to share

“AMD is excited to contribute to the Epic MegaGrants program by leveraging the power of 3rd Gen Ryzen desktop processors for content creators around the world,” said Ritche Corpus, senior director of ISV gaming and software at AMD. “3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors set a new standard in content creation with award-winning performance and features. We are excited to see what new levels of creativity and productivity will be unlocked with the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X.”

“We couldn’t be happier to welcome AMD as our newest Epic MegaGrants contributor. Software development requires high-performance computing solutions, and giving easier access to Ryzen processors to more creators supports our goal to help people succeed,” said Epic MegaGrants Director, Jeff Peres.

In April 2019, Magic Leap pledged their support of Epic MegaGrants by placing spatial computing hardware at the fingertips of talented developers. In addition to cash assistance, 66 recipients have already received Magic Leap 1 devices to date, with a total

of 129 devices reserved for distribution. Developers building Unreal Engine spatial computing applications across entertainment, architecture, automotive, healthcare and many other industries can apply via online submission to receive Magic Leap hardware.

A showcase of supported projects

Many of the projects supported by the Epic MegaGrants program fall outside the scope of the Media and Entertainment industry, but some explore techniques used within the area, so we picked a few to show here, while noting that the complete list has many more examples. Here is, without further ado a short selection of M&E and other projects that benefit from this round of MegaGrants.

TOOLS AND OPEN-SOURCE: DeepMotion VR Avatar Tracking by DeepMotion Inc.

DeepMotion’s VR Avatar Tracking solution brings to life realistic full-body motion and interaction with as little as 2 or 3 trackers. Motion Brain, which uses the latest in AI and physics simulation, we are able to generate a full-body avatar that moves with you and interacts naturally with its virtual environment, providing a rich sense of physical presence and embodiment. VR Avatar Tracking simulates full-body motion using inverse dynamics and obeys biomechanical joint limits, instead of a simple approximation provided by inverse kinematics. VR Avatar Tracking runs on Windows and Mobile platforms, with your choice of VR hardware. With DeepMotion’s motion intelligence solutions your characters will move as real as they look in Unreal Engine 4.

TOOLS AND OPEN-SOURCE: Godot Engine

A free and MIT-licensed open-source game engine developed by contributors around the world, Godot Engine offers a complete editor, dedicated 2D and 3D engines, animation tools, multi-platform exports, plugins, a free asset store, and much more.

ENTERPRISE: ORamaVR by ORamaVR SA

Combining principles in neuroscience, spatial computing, and artificial intelligence, ORamaVR hopes to rapidly accelerate human learning in healthcare through an array of immersive VR medical training simulations.

EDUCATION: Beyond the Stars by S1T2

Beyond the Stars is an education program that combines interactive storytelling, health research, and school curriculum to inspire children to adopt healthy living habits while considering the impact their actions have on the environment. In the story, children embark on a journey to reclaim the lost knowledge of the Pacific that holds the key to restoring health and happiness to the land.

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT: Glimmer by Sequin, Inc.

Sequin AR provides augmented reality consulting, creative, broadcast production, and custom Unreal Engine software development services to media companies. Glimmer, an Unreal Engine plugin, makes it easy for non-developers to manage augmented and immersive reality content, leading to more impactful content and speeding the iterative process.

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT: Faraday’s Magnets by ScienceVR

ScienceVR asks, what if we could see the “invisible forces” around magnets? This experience empowers VR learners to see the “math” around magnets. Users can take their time to try repeatedly to build up their understanding and interact with virtual scientists.

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT: Zen Universe by ZenArt VR

Bulgarian-based ZenART uses Unreal Engine and advanced photogrammetry techniques to capture natural and historic landmarks, turning them into explorable interactive VR experiences featuring narrative, puzzle-solving, and minigames with awe-inspiring visual quality. The first two Zen Universe locations, Tales of the Rocks and Olympus: Home of the Gods are available now in Steam Early Access.

Folow the link for a full list of this round of Epic MegaGrant recipients. Follow this one for more information about Epic MegaGrants.

Atomos and Panasonic Enable 5.9K ProRes RAW on LUMIX S1H

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 14:59:00 GMT

The Panasonic LUMIX S1H and Atomos ProRes RAW implementation were previously delayed due to a technical issue in late May. Now, Panasonic has enabled RAW over HDMI output from the LUMIX S1H 5.9K full-frame mirrorless camera – with Atomos adding an AtomOS Beta update for the Ninja V to enable Apple ProRes RAW recording specifically for the camera’s users.

Users can register to download the public Beta via the Atomos website and record ProRes RAW up to 5.9Kp29.97 or 4Kp59.94, with 3.5K Anamorphic ProRes RAW recording to be added in the final release expected in August. 5.9Kp29.97 today and 3.5K anamorphic in a month? Not too bad for the often praised Panasonic hybrid camera.

12-bit RAW

The Atomos Ninja V enables the Panasonic mirrorless camera to capture 12-bit RAW files from the LUMIX S1H over HDMI. The camera and recorder combo boast the ability to preserve the maximum dynamic range, color accuracy rand every detail from the camera, and the full-frame sensor. The resulting ProRes RAW files may allow for greater control in post-production to perfect skin tones and easily matched colors, ideal for both HDR and SDR (Rec.709) workflows.

Improved color pipeline

LUMIX S1H ProRes RAW files recorded to the Ninja V can now benefit from an improved color pipeline in Apple Final Cut Pro X. Panasonic has published a new LUT based workflow that allows the enhanced potential of ProRes RAW files captured from the LUMIX S1H to be realized in the NLE software.

Free updates

Ninja V and S1H owners will gain these new RAW features free of charge. Panasonic has released its Ver.2.1 firmware update on its LUMIX Global Customer Support website. The AtomOS Ver10.52 Beta is available via the Atomos website. Please check the release notes at the time of download for a list of current Beta limitations. Ninja V advantage

The Ninja V allows users to accurately monitor the RAW signal on its daylight-viewable 5” 1000nit brightness HDR screen. Setup is simple when the camera is attached with perfectly tuned color settings applied automatically. Users can then view the RAW image accurately in HDR in a choice ofHLG and PQ (HDR10) formats. The Ninja V offers touchscreen access to tools like waveforms, 1-1 magnification and focus peaking, allowing them to perfect their RAW video. The Ninja V then records the ProRes RAW data onto a removable AtomX SSDmini or other SSD drive. When shooting is complete, the drive is removed and connected to a USB computer for immediate offload and editing.

ProRes RAW the new standard

In addition to their groundbreaking combination of flexibility and performance, Apple ProRes RAW files are smaller than other RAW files – simplifying and accelerating file transfer, media management, and archiving. Even with the new higher 5.9K resolution, ProRes RAW files from the S1H can easily be edited on most modern Macs. ProRes RAW is fully supported in Final Cut Pro X along with a collection of other apps including ASSIMILATE SCRATCH, Colorfront, FilmLight Baselight, Grass Valley Edius and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Panasonic S1H Features

NEWLY DESIGNED FULL FRAME SENSOR – 24.2MP full-frame MOS sensor offers a wide dynamic range and sharp, natural expression at high sensitivity settings
6K 10-BIT VIDEO – Includes full-area 3:2 6K24p, C4K(4,096 x 2,160) and anamorphic modes
DUAL NATIVE ISO – Offers the advantages of very high sensitivity for low-light shoots while suppressing noise levels, allowing the camera to switch from a standard sensitivity to a higher sensitivity with almost no noise degradation
V-LOG/V-GAMUT – Features a wider 14+ stops of dynamic range, which are compatible with the Cinema VariCam Look, to capture everything from shadows to highlights
RUGGED MIRRORLESS CAMERA DESIGN – Dust/splash*/freeze-resistant design withstands heavy field use under harsh conditions for high mobility (*Dust and Splash Resistant does not guarantee that damage will not occur if this lens is subjected to direct contact with dust and water.)

Is the film industry really ready for 12K? What it takes to create impressive sensors for ...

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:00:31 GMT

Recent insights about the RED Komodo 6K S35 have gotten lots of cinematographers excited, but the new URSA Mini Pro 12K Cinema Camera has taken that excitement to the next level. The future arrives faster than ever, but was it really that long ago that we debated the merits of 4K?

That arrival and excitement will have to wait until more people can get their hands on these cameras, but in the awkward gap between a product’s announcement and its availability, there’s often a lot of pressure to speculate about how useful an unknown thing will be. In the long term, uninformed guesswork has a tendency to end up in the same file as claims about half a megabyte of memory being enough for anyone. So, instead, let’s talk to someone who really knows what he’s talking about.

Dave Gilblom is CEO at Maxwell-Hiqe corporation, and has been involved with image sensing devices for over fifty years. That’s a long enough to go from TIVICON silicon target image tubes at Texas Instruments, image tube cameras and CCD cameras, amorphous silicon flat panels and CMOS sensors for medical, scientific, industrial, defence and aerospace applications.

He is, to put it mildly, well-placed to comment.

The creation of a competitive cinema camera sensor, Gilblom says, could happen at any one of a number of places, and might take “eighteen months, something like that. It’d cost a few million bucks probably. There are several people who could do it. A couple of different Teledyne branches; the place most people go is Forza. Another company that could have done it is GPixel, a Chinese company.” These are design houses; manufacturing is contracted out to a semiconductor fabrication plant. “TSMC has a whole section that does image sensors. XFab does.”

But finding somewhere capable is not the problem; willingness is a factor. The film industry is a tiny market compared to, say, cellphones, as Gilblom says. “The question is who would be interested. Are the volumes big enough to support production runs, and how often?” The large size of sensors for cinema has both benefits and drawbacks. “For a line scan device you might get five thousand of them on each wafer. If you want a million of them it only takes a couple hundred wafers. A typical large fab takes 20-30,000 wafers a month. The bigger the device is, the easier you have it.”

“Even so,” Gilblom continues, “if you’re not ready to buy a 100,000 of them a year, the likelihood is that after you make the first batch and get them right, you go back again they’ll be screwed up. The particular machine operator who ran them is gone… non-uniformities in the silicon, oxygen striation, a small error in an implant energy that shows up as shading. There’s too many variables.” Here, he says, “Large sensors make it worse… you’ve got the issue of dead pixels.” There’s one simple, if risky and expensive, solution. “When I worked for PerkinElmer, I looked at a company which was interested in buying custom chips and said ‘if you don’t have enough volume, the only option you have is buying your entire requirement in one run.’”

Ouch.

Manufacturability aside, it’s clear that ever-higher-resolution sensors accept performance penalties per photosite that are related to fill factor – the proportion of the sensor covered with light-sensitive components. While the pixels can shrink, associated circuitry may not, so the sensitive area becomes a smaller proportion of the whole. As to whether a high-resolution sensor scaled down might have better noise performance than a lower resolution sensor, Gilblom considers it too close to call. “Without all the gory details I can’t answer it. It depends on all kinds of decisions they made in the designs as to whether it’s better or worse in the end.”

Colour filter arrays with more than just red, green and blue are not a new idea. As Gilblom puts it, with primary colour filters “you’re throwing away on the order of two thirds of the light. If you try to get it back with white pixels, to get the colour back you have to have [clever colour processing]. There are dozens of patterns. Sony invented the emerald pixel. This was in 2003. Their imaging scientists went through and did a very careful calculation to see what you could do to simultaneously improve noise performance and sensitivity. They spent a lot of money on it and the results were undetectably different.”

So, is there any route to real improvements? “Frankly,” Gilblom says, “you have a limited design space. Almost anything that’s practical has already been done. There are all sorts of impractical things proposed and some of those get done as Ph.D. thesis projects. Lots of papers but few production devices.” Big changes require fundamental advances, perhaps involving the photodiodes that detect light. “The photodiodes in imaging sensors, to put it in technical terms, are not very good. The reason is that you expose them to the processes that are necessary to make digital CMOS devices, which are very harsh. You isolate the photodiodes with [insulating] oxide layers, and when you put in the oxide layers it stresses the photodiode and raises the dark current [that is, noise]. Doesn’t matter if they’re front side or back side devices, there’s this stuff you have to do to make the CMOS circuitry. And if you try to make really good photodiodes, you’ll ruin the digital stuff.”

Here, it’s necessary to declare Gilblom’s interest in his company’s Lumiense design, in which photodiodes and circuitry are “built on separate wafers that are bonded together after they’re made. You can make scientific photodiodes that have a near one-hundred-per-cent fill factor. There’s nothing on that surface that isn’t photodiodes.” Lumiense also creates an opportunity to build global-shutter cameras with fewer of the traditional compromises to noise and sensitivity, largely caused by light falling on the circuitry that controls the shuttering. Stack that circuitry behind the light sensitive layer and the problem goes away. “The best device ever made had an extinction ratio [that is, shutter opacity] of 50,000:1,” Gilblom notes. “With Lumiense, you end up between one and ten million to one.” Lumiense is a few years from being ready for a film set, but might do well when it is.

None of this makes any particular recent development a bad idea. In general, though, Gilblom’s analysis is that making impressive sensors for cinema cameras is about “just making the decision to do it, being willing to spend the money and finding someone who’s interested in making them for you.”