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A big part of being a freelance ‘film’maker is having the right tools while on the go, and there’s a number of apps that have quite honestly made the work I do a LOT easier.
If you shoot video or spend any time in pre-production or production, I’m sure you’ll find these apps as helpful as I do. Apps like Shot Lister have really made me see just how powerful a mobile device can be.
PRE-PRODUCTION
Celtx ($9.99)
One of the cool things about the work I do for clients is turning the message they want to get across with video, into a story worth telling. Scriptwriting plays a big part in the process, and the Celtx app makes scriptwriting on the iPad simple (check out their Shots app for storyboarding).
Sun Seeker Lite (FREE)
Once I know what I will be shooting, it’s time to start thinking about where I will be shooting. When scouting possible locations, Sun Seeker helps me determine what the light will be like and where it will be coming from at the time of day I plan to shoot. No more surprises when shoot day arrives!
Kodak Cinema Tools (FREE)
If you shoot film or plan on shooting film, Kodak’s app will be a great help. It provides a list of film types with video examples for each, a handy overview of how to read a film canister, a film calculator, and a depth of field calculator. The Kodak app also shows the time of sun rise and sunset in the town you plan to shoot: handy!
Kessler Crane (FREE)
When I’m getting ready to shoot timelapse photography, the first thing I do is get out the Kessler Crane app to calculate how long I will have to shoot—and how many SD cards I’ll need to get the length of scene I want. The application also includes tutorials on how to use their video production gear.
AJA DataCalc (FREE)
Want to know how much storage space you’ll need for the video codec you’re shooting in? Then you’ll find the AJA DataCalc app indespensible.
Shot Lister ($13.99)
After I’ve written a script and created my storyboards, I breakdown the script and compile it into shots using the Shot Lister app. Shot Lister is without a doubt my most used iPad tool (works great on the iPhone as well). I love being able to output the shooting schedule to a PDF for clients, and they love having it! I even use it when planning photo shoots, so I know on shoot day I’ve captured all the neccessary shots, while remaining on schedule.
PRODUCTION
Pocket Light Meter (FREE)
If you don’t trust your camera’s light meter, you don’t have a light meter, or want to measure light on a specific spot, check this app out. It isn’t a replacement for the real thing, but it will help you know what you’re aperture should be—and it’s free.
DSLR Slate ($9.99)
A perfectly lovely electronic slate for marking scenes and matching audio to video in post. The makers of DSLR Slate now offer 3D Slate for all you kids out there who shoot 3D.
Filmic Pro ($4.99)
If you want to—or have to—shoot video with your iPhone, use FiLMiC Pro. Shoot with different frame rates, in slow-mo, with a specific exposure or with frame guides. All in an app that will make shooting behind the scenes videos a breeze.
POST PRODUCTION
iMovie ($4.99)
If you have to—or want to—edit your videos on a mobile device, iMovie is a pretty powerful little program. Yes, shooting using FiLMiC Pro and editing in iMovie is a workable possibility for mobile movie making.
I’d love to hear what other apps people are using, feel free to add your own to the list via the comments section below.
Nice Lady Productions video production blog turned 3 today!
I hope viewers have found the information over the years helpful.
What better way to spend a Sunday than walking through the aisles of a vintage lens and camera swap meet? 98% of the lenses I own and shoot with are vintage. Why? Because they are fast, super sharp and optically have a certain look to them. One of the lovely things about shooting Nikon cameras is you can mount a large amount of vintage glass to the higher-end camera bodies and be able to meter as well as confirm focus through the camera.
I picked up a super clean Nikon 105mm 2.5 portrait lens and a very rare Sigma 90mm 2.8 macro. Check out some of the macro 1:1 shots I took with the Sigma (click on the images above). I know you should use a tripod to shoot macro, but for tests, I shot these hand-held. I’m looking forward to incorporating both lens into my video work, knowing I can mount a Nikon lens on any camera body with an adaptor.
For more information on shooting video with vintage lenses, watch my video: Nikon Manual Lenses for Shooting Video.
This video showcases some of the exciting new products announced by RED at NAB 2013. RED MOTION, a global shutter mount with built-in neutral density filtration, the MEIZLER MODULE and wireless REDLINK family of products, as well as REDRAY and ODEMAX were some of the highlights.
RED’s showing at NAB really sets them apart from other manufactures, not only establishing them as a premiere camera company for feature films, but as a company with a product line in constant refinement.
New RED products will be released in the Summer/Fall of 2013. For more information and pricing, check out their website: bit.ly/19bBiRO
I’ve put together a short video outlining my first impressions of the Blackmagic Design Cinema Pocket and Production 4K cameras. There has been a LOT of hype about these two cameras, certainly people are excited about the prospects of a ProRes/CinemaDNG RAW point and shoot cinema camera, as well as a 4K Super 35mm sensor camera with built-in global shutter.
I foresee these cameras posing some challenges in use, not solely based on their unique design and feature-set, but workflow as well. Footage from the Production camera will be compressed 4K (Ultra HD size, visually lossless), with a ProRes compression ratio and consequent file size GREATER than RED footage.
4K RED footage compressed at 3:1 (the highest compression setting they have and don’t recommend you use) will get you 47 minutes of footage on a 240GB card. Considering most feature films shoot RED at a compression between 6:1-7:1 and TV shows use 7:1-9:1 compressions, anything higher than 5:1 seems unnecessary (note: 24fps 4K RED at 6:1 is 94 minutes on a 240GB card).
Conversely, Blackmagic Design states one 240GB SSD will hold a mere 36 minutes of 4K ProRes footage, with no mention of how big the file size will be for CinemaDNG RAW. At this point, I’ve heard no mention of being able to set the compression settings (as RED allows) to shoot at different compression ratios based on the project or budget. Think about that in realistic terms. Changing an SSD every half hour of footage means a lot of SSDs and a person on set dedicated to transfering the footage.
From a post-production perspective, Blackmagic announced DaVinci Resolve 10 will support the 4K footage from their Production camera, but I wonder what non-linear editor support for the CinemaDNG RAW 4K footage will be?
Then there’s the question of 4K, Ultra HD 4K to be exact. If your main reason for capturing 4K footage is to output 4K, the UltraHD resolution (3840 x 2160) leaves no room for reframing or stabilizing your image, as the capture resolution is exactly the same as the output resolution. Where you have options when shooting 4K full frame, 5K or 6K (eventually) with RED cameras, you hit the limit with the Ultra HD Cinema Production 4K Camera from Blackmagic.
Are these concerns deal breakers? Probably not, but they may impact who chooses to buy the 4K Production camera from Blackmagic and who doesn’t.
Shure audio is bringing some competition to the short shotgun microphone category with two new offerings for DSLR & camcorder users. The LensHopper VP83 is a new microphone from Shure with a switch for three settings of gain and a low-pass filter. The VP83 runs on a single AA battery.
The VP83F is the same microphone technology but includes a built-in flash recorder, for recording audio directly to MicroSDHC cards (up to 32 GB). The VP83F runs on two AA batteries for up to 10 hours of recording time. It’s built-in LCD display shows microphone meters, as well as the amount of battery power left. A handy jog stick on the back–and one touch record button–makes setting up and recording audio a piece of cake.
Both mics feature a Rycote shock mount and a Rycote windjammer can be purchased separately.
No prices have been announced. Microphones ship in Summer 2013.
Watch the video above or visit the Shure website for more info:
Shure VP83:
bit.ly/131ioJb
Shure VP83F:
bit.ly/YDG9Z5
I put together this short little video to highlight an exceptional piece of camera gear I came across at NAB 2013. I’m a big fan of Zacuto products because of their build quality and thoughtful design, but none quite caught my attention like the new QR Shoulder Pad.
What’s the big deal about this camera accessory? It’s really comfortable on the shoulder, it has incredibly soft padding and the design makes it compatible for mounting practically any camera (RED, Sony F5, Canon C300, D800 etc). The shoulder pad is $355 and will make a fantastic starting point for building a nice custom rig.
For more information on Zacuto’s 2013 product line (featuring 15+ new products), check out their website: bit.ly/127p5dN
I don’t intend to feed the hype machine, but I understand when things get real, and today things just got real for RED Digital Cinema at NAB.
Sealing off a room behind glass to demonstrate the Dragon sensor upgrade program was obviously dramatic—but it was also downright cool. Performing the upgrade before a slew of onlookers was a bold declaration that RED isn’t just talk, it’s action.
So what did I see that was so revolutionary, when Blackmagic Design was in the next booth over?
A Dragon. A refreshed and more powerful post production workflow, thanks to upgraded RED ROCKET computer hardware. A REDRAY machine playing 4K content on 4K TVS. I saw that a content delivery server called ODEMAX really exists. I witnessed a global shutter changing how a camera sees and that RED has developed robust wireless transmitter options—all while jumping into bed with a camera gear manufacturer (Element Technica).
Today a new future started, one more entrenched in a customizable and modular camera platform. A system built on an already miles ahead sensor, that just got severely upgraded (16+ stops of dynamic range)?
The truth is—it takes balls to be RED—and in a town of gambling, they have balls in spades.
If anything, today solidified this: RED is the real deal. Their camera platform is exactly what people who have gone through many cameras and camera systems want: the one thing you can’t grow out of, but rather, grow into. I’d rather throw more money at one manufacture and upgrade a camera, than buy many cameras that eventually go to waste. Blackmagic can’t offer this, or haven’t yet. Their model is based on the old one: sell a camera, build a new camera: sell that, build a better one.
If I were a Blackmagic Cinema Camera owner today, I’d be pissed they announced a 4K S35 camera when the MFT model just landed in customers’ hands.
If I were ARRI—who as of yet has no 4K offering—I’d be worried about Blackmagic Design. If I were Canon trying to sell a 4K DSLR right now I’d be pissing myself. If I were RED, I’d be thinking Scarlet needs to drop its price.
The question is, what will Blackmagic Cinema look like in five years from now?
My other question is simply: if you upgrade to Dragon can I have your leftover Epic sensor?
Please?
Their booth may have been wrapped up tightly yesterday, but that didn’t stop a few people from leaking the big news. Today Blackmagic Design released two new cameras that had every blogger onhand bright and early to catch a glimpse.
The first is the little camera in the top picture (click on bottom pics to expand them). It’s a 1080p Super 16mm pocket-sized cinema camera, that records 10 bit CinemaDNG/ProRes 422 (HQ). It has an active Micro Four Thirds mount, but I was told at the booth it doesn’t have autofocus. It does have a focus button, but when you push it it brings up peaking.
Its small, slightly heavy in the hand (in a nice way), due to it’s magnesium alloy chassis and is super slim. It has a battery compartment so you can swap batteries like a “normal” camera. ;) A single battery is reported to last 50 minutes per charge, which isn’t a long time for video recording.
All in all, I was impressed. Other Micro Four Thirds cameras will have a hard time competing with the ProRes/SD card recording, Blackmagic Design’s colour science, and dynamic range from this little dude.
Full video review to follow. It’s available now for pre-order from B&H Photo for a cool $995 (body only).
4K for 4K
Blackmagic also gave a kick up the rear to other 4K camera manufactures by offering a 4K Super 35 sensor camera with a built-in global shutter for a cheap: $3995 (includes a copy of DaVinci Resolve 10). I didn’t include an up-close picture because it looks exactly like its 2.5K Micro Four Thirds sister. If Blackmagic can get this camera to market, this is going to be a MAJOR player.
B&H Photo is taking orders now, so get your name on the list pronto.
Final Cut Pro X has come a long way since version one, with major updates in 10.0.6 bringing native 4K/5K support for RED .r3d files and the ability to change RAW settings, directly within the application. Now that the RED 5K workflow has been addressed, Apple has added support for other camera systems.
The latest Final Cut Pro X update from Apple is great news for Sony F5/F55 and ARRI ALEXA shooters. Released March 28, 2013, the new update makes it possible to import Sony XAVC files directly into the timeline for native 4K editing. Native editing is a huge win for editors who want to skip the time consuming step of transcoding footage to ProRes before being able to work with the footage in post.
FCPX 10.0.8 now supports the display of ALEXA ProRes Log C footage in the Rec. 709 colour space, nondestructively and without rendering. This added capability will make working in the edit a more pleasing experience, as the editor won’t have to work with flat looking files or convert them before editing.
If you haven’t checked out Final Cut since it’s initial release you will be surprised with the improvements. For more information about the latest capabilities and updates, visit the Final Cut Pro X website.
I wanted to put together a fulsome video review for all of you interested in the video shooting capabilities and settings of the Nikon D800 series of cameras, but to also assist folks who are interested in shooting video with the D4, D600 and D7100 cameras.
The video shooting settings are very similar along the latest Nikon cameras and I hope this video helps you understand the settings as well as see some of the cool features of the Nikon DSLRs.
This video includes footage from the cameras, as well as the standard moire/rolling shutter/low light camera tests. I also tested the D800e with a Atomos Ninja-2 Field Recorder, so you can see what clean HDMI looks like from this camera.
I hope you find the video helpful. Comments and questions always welcome.
Gear Shown:
Nikon D800 (link to B&H Photo):
bhpho.to/11DDpZN
Nikon D800e (link to B&H Photo):
bhpho.to/108y0qI
X Rite Color Checker Passport (link to B&H Photo):
bhpho.to/ZQvb02
Bright Tangerine VIV Matte box:
bit.ly/16TUeU2
Atomos Ninja-2 (link to B&H Photo):
bhpho.to/WRyC6x
Three years after the introduction of the Nikon D7000 crop sensor camera, Nikon is following-up with the D7100—a camera that keeps all the great features of the D7000 but adds substantial upgrades. For video shooters, the D7100 has virtually the same specs as the full frame D600 but at $1196.95 US, costs almost half the price… Sound good?
If you follow my blog, you know I’m a big fan of the Nikon D7000 and Nikon D800/D600 cameras for shooting video. I like the high dynamic range of the Nikon cameras and find the tonal qualities to be more filmic than the image from Canon DSLRs.
Based on the kick-ass shooting capabilities and specs of the Nikon D800/D800e/D600 and the size of the Nikon D7000, the Nikon D7100 is going to be an easy camera to love for video shooters.
Additional features: new feature lets you set a custom white balance—based on a white point you select in the frame.
I’m hearing the camera will include uncompressed HDMI out, but I don’t see mention of this on Nikon’s website.
The Nikon D7100 does not have an optical low pass filter, meaning sharper images but potentially more moire pattern. I’m assuming moire patterns in the D7100 will be similar to the Nikon D800e. In my tests shooting the Nikon D800e which also scraps the low pass filter, I didn’t see a huge amount of moire in the video, as compared to the D800.
If you don’t require a full-frame camera but want a camera with high-end video shooting features, the D7100 may be the right camera for you.
Available for pre-order at B&H
Ships: March 14
