Thanks to a stupid user error on my part, I found myself unable to retrieve my photos in the Apple Photo app because another machine had updated the library. My Macbook Air was running OS Yosemite and my library had accidentally been attached to an El Capitan iMac. Unfortunately, El Capitan is already history from the App Store so I had to plunge into Mac OS X Sierra.
Taking Control of Your Phone for Better Videography
iPhone 6s on the iOgrapher with a Wide Angle Lens and Shure LensHopper VP83 Shotgun Mic with Rode SC-4 Adapter. Mounted on a JOBY GorillaPod SLR-Zoom
Prior to a recent cruise I picked up the iOgrapher for my iPhone 6. Having seen the product at NAB a few times, I knew it created a stable camera platform for the iPhone making the camera much more useable. I was more than impressed with the stability and ease of use of the system. In fact I shot a LOT more video than I originally intended on the cruise. While I was really happy with the with overall results, I felt that camera control and audio quality were lacking. The iPhone camera auto irises too much and the color temperature changes, sometimes at random. When the phone is mounted into the iOgrapher, the microphone is essentially blocked by the unit. So before my next trip, I knew I wanted to improve both areas.
"The Little Prince" An Animation Classic delivered by Netflix.
Streaming video services are just made for insomnia. As was the case this very morning when at 3:30am I could no longer lie restless in bed fearing I would wake my lovely wife. So it was that I found myself bringing up My List on Netflix. I was honestly looking for something non sensical that would lull me back to sleep. There was “The Little Prince” waiting for me on the third row, second from the right….. from the storytelling to the perfect blending of animation techniques this was one of the most beautiful and well orchestrated animation films I have had the pleasure of watching.
Managing Your Recipes: A "Get A Life" tip
One of the biggest problems for me in cooking is keeping track of all my recipes. Not only family recipes passed down, but even those I find online. Bookmarking online recipes and storing printed recipes in files and such, well it became frustrating to find anything when I literally have 1000’s of recipes around.
2 years ago I found the Paprika Recipe Manager and holy cow, did that bring a complete change to how we store recipes, cook and shop.
Why I use Rampant Design Tools
No, I’m not a paid spokesperson for Rampant Design Tools. I just love their products and when they asked if I would create a video telling folks why I use them, well of course I said yes. Beyond the awesomeness of the products, there the awesomeness of Sean and Stefani Mullen. Real creatives who make wonderful tools for the rest of us.
Talking Entrepreneurship, Cocktails and Cruising
Well, ok, it’s now tape replay, but I spent a wonderful almost 2 hours chatting with Sean and Stefani Mullen of Rampant Design Tools talking video production, entrepreneurship, 4k, 3D, the new Contemporary Living Network, Cruising, Cocktails and much more. It was a lot of fun and I thank Sean and Stef for the invite!
Adobe moves to support ProRes natively on Windows
Recently security reports came out noting that Quicktime Player on Windows machine is a major security issue. This creates a quandry for those editing professional video using the Apple ProRes codec since installing Quicktime is required to use this codec. Apparently Adobe is now working to natively support ProRes in the application without the need for Quicktime to be installed. Cool move.
Sailing and Filming a Cruise with an iPhone and iOgrapher
The view looking forward from our cabin balcony.
While on vacation recently, I was able to combine two of his passions. Video production and cruising. Just before sailing on the Celebrity Cruises “Silhouette,” to the Caribbean, I picked up an iOgrapher which makes a very useful camera platform for the iPhone and iPad. Featuring interchangeable lenses, cold shoe mounts and tripod mounting points the iOgrapher essentially turns the iPhone into a professional camera giving the videographer great camera stability.
The cruise was the perfect testing platform as I'm looking for new ways to work with video, especially in social media. We’re also testing some new ideas for the upcoming Contemporary Living Network and we can see the benefits of creating original content with this setup.
The one thing I didn’t have on this trip was a shotgun microphone. Since the phone is mounted sideways on the iOgrapher, the microphone on the phone is not great for picking up natural sound and spoken word. Before the next vacation, I’ll be adding a shotgun mic.
I also didn’t know about some additional apps for the iPhone that allow for manual Iris and Color Balance controls on the phone. You’ll see the auto-iris kick in quick in quite a bit with all the bright / dark areas. And the color balance does change from time to time. I'll add those apps before the next vacation as well.
All in all, very impressive to see the picture quality and especially the stability of the images. This entire project was filmed with the iPhone 6. Absolutely NO camera stabilization was added to any of these images in the video below.
Also VERY impressed with Celebrity Cruises and their Silhouette. This was our first time on Celebrity and we were so impressed with the ship, the crew and of course, the food that we booked another cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity is just top notch, white glove treatment but without the stuffy attitude. Beautiful ship, wonderful people and a great time.
To read more on the iOgrapher: http://www.iographer.com
To read more on Celebrity Cruises: http://www.celebritycruises.com/
To find those light leaks and many other effects: http://rampantdesigntools.com
If you like the music, that's from The License Lab: https://licenselab.com/
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day Three
It’s Day Three of my “real world” editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 and this is going to be the longest blog yet as I want to show you guys a lot of the “little things” that are making editing in Resolve a pleasure. I know there are a lot of questions still out there whether this is really a professional editor. For me it’s the small things that separate the applications making life efficient and fun for the the editor. I also had a pleasant surprise today. Alexis Van Hurkman, the man who literally wrote the manual on Resolve, called to point out some of the editing specific features that I might not be aware were there.
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day Two
Ok, if I’m being honest about this, Day Two was really a continuation of a very LONG day one. Some updates on the issues from Day One.
The need to Transcode to ProRes. Paul Saccone from Blackmagic Design reached out to me and told me I didn’t need to transcode the 4k H264 to ProRes to get better performance. I can use “Generate Optimized Media” instead.
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day One
At the recently completed NAB Show in Las Vegas, Blackmagic Design took the wraps off DaVinci Resolve 12.5. It really could be a Resolve 13 but they probably wanted to avoid that unlucky number. I’ve been predicting for over a year now that NAB 2016 would be the year this tool became a full fledged non-linear editing system and sure enough, it’s a solid editing platform.
#WallyCam NAB Show 2016. The Casual and Relaxed Tour
It was another fun NAB Show for #WallyCam though this year was decidedly more low key. Fewer videos and most all of them from the Media Motion Ball. It was a much more casual and relaxed time for me this year spending more time actually chatting with folks and less time getting the camera out at every opportunity. So this year you’re getting more of the family reunion, social networking vibe of what it’s like at NAB Show.
Biscardi Creative Completes the "Impossible Project"
The call came in on Friday. “Our client saw the 4k culinary work you did and would like you to create 5 original videos with a mix of 4k and HD formats. And we need it by next Friday. Can you do it?” It became what we called “The Impossible Project” and we were just insane enough to agree to do it
Evolution of the Creative Professional
As someone who first edited video in 1986, I have borne witness to a wholesale revolution and evolution of the creative industry. Well actually, just creativity as a whole. Amazing creative work now comes from all corners of the globe, all age groups and all skill levels.
Creative professionals used to have very defined roles. Producer, Director, Writer, Camera, Lighting, Sound, Editing, Graphics, Animation and so on. When I started at CNN in 1990 I was a video editor. That’s it. I arrived at work each day and when I left 9 hours later, the only task I did all day was to edit video. In Hollywood, New York, Georgia and other locations were major film and television project are happening, those roles still exist on set, in part mandated and governed by unions. For the rest of us, however, being a creative professional is wholly different.
Add a PanaVision look to your next Project
My friend Vashi Nedomansky has updated his fabulous Ultimate Aspect Ratio Guide which can help you add a “Panasvision Look” to any project. He was inspired by the recent 70mm release of the Hateful Eight to update his looks.
It’s not just about adding a vignette over your video to give it a “Panavision Look.” It’s about adding correct aspect ratio vignettes over your video so they “look real.” Vashi goes beyond just telling you what the aspect ratios are, he gives you 50+ FREE templates to use in the NLE of your choice from SD to 6k. You can even use them in FX software like After Effects or Fusion, you just drag them to a video layer above the one you’re working on.
Also included is a link to the Unravel_Resolution_CheatSheet for exporting to the current frame sizes for various outputs.
Vashi is an incredible artist and an all around great guy. Be sure to bookmark his site for lots of great freebies.
Norway delivers a Vertical Documentary for Mobile Video
The folks at Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) have shot their first full documentary specifically for the vertical format. They’re goal was not to make it look good on the mobile phone, it was to make it look the BEST on the mobile phone. I have to be honest and say I’m one of those who yell “Turn the phone sideways!” when I see folks shooting vertical video. But who knows, maybe they’re onto something here. Video tailored specifically to the mobile audience displayed how they like to hold the phone.
Downloading Adobe Encore for DVD Authoring
Yes, Adobe Encore is still available for those times when you have to author DVDs for clients. Don’t laugh, we recently did a run of 300 for a client and are about to do another run for another client. So yes, DVDs are still alive and well in our digital streaming age.
Adobe has never separated the Encore installer from Premiere Pro CS6 so you have to download that first.
In Creative Cloud app, under “Find Additional Apps,” click on Previous Version Drop down (next to Video) and then you’ll see in blue at the bottom of that window “View Previous Versions.” Click that ‘View Previous Versions.’
It looks like not much happens, but now you have access all the way back to CS6. Click the dropdown next to Premiere Pro. You’ll see you now have options to download the earlier versions. Download CS6 which will bring Encore with it. After it’s downloaded, you can actually Uninstall Premiere Pro CS6. That will disappear but Encore CS6 will remain.
"I'll Do The Work If You By the Tools" What?!?
There’s a trend I’ve seen developing, at least I see it here in Atlanta, whereby video editors will agree to take on a project, but ask the client to pay for the tools. I don’t mean going to work for someone else in their shop, I mean as an independent freelance editor, they will ask the client to pay for the tools because they don’t have a system big enough to do the work. And the clients do it! As in the client purchases the system, the editor edits on it, and when the project is done, the client has a video editing system they’ll never use again. When in the heck did this become acceptable?
What is the Purpose of your Video?
On the other end of the phone is a very smart, intelligent marketing leader for a corporation. “I really need a video as soon as possible.”
Me: “What’s the purpose of the video?”
Silence, and then….”Um what do you mean, ‘the purpose?’ It’s a marketing video is that what you mean?”
All videos should have a purpose just like every message a company puts out has a purpose. Read the Rest of the story in my Post on LinkedIn.
Whatever Happened to Common Courtesy?
We have more communications tools available to us than our forefathers could have ever dreamed of. Within your pocket and on your wrist is more computation power than what sent astronauts to the Moon. Yet despite the ease at which we can communicate with each other at any point on the globe, I find that Common Courtesy has declined, especially in business.