Memo to self: Never,
never say there is a lack of news. Otherwise, something like this week happens. Sheesh.
News galore! Plus, I have seven new tutorials - and one last chance to save money on my new book. Let's start with the news.
Last week,
Blackmagic Design announced the new
URSA Mini Pro 12K, a digital film camera with an advanced 12,288 x 6,480 12K Super 35 image sensor, 14 stops of dynamic range and high frame rate shooting at up to 60 frames per second in 12K at 80 megapixels per frame.
Long-time readers will know I'm not a fan of increasingly higher image resolution. However, what I learned recently is that higher resolution images create better down-scaled images (say from 12K to 4K) than shooting 4K directly. Keep in mind, however, that 12K media files are huge - roughly 600 MB/second.
DPP, the production industry association based in the UK, released a new report (behind a paywall) looking at the
impact of COVID-19 on how we work. Their key findings were that most companies were prepared for working away from the office, and the smooth transition proved the case for flexible working. However, this transition masked considerable mood swings. In fact, there is nothing to suggest that remote working was, in itself, good for business. People like flexible working more than home-working. Craving for social interaction and business engagements is driving the return to the office. The next year looks bleak - with cost cutting, tighter budgets, dramatically less travel, and a reduction in office space. Finally, they noted that any company currently redesigning its office space for segregated working is wasting its money.
Thinking of the pandemic, while most of Hollywood is in serious doldrums, one sector doing well is animation. According to
Maury Rogow, CEO of Rip Media Group, "
Animation is increasingly in the toolkit for businesses of any size to impart information." "With social distancing mandates," says Rogow, "audiences are
starving for interaction. Video and animation are great tools for this - look around, we've become a more visual society than ever before." His three keys are: 1. Tell a great story, 2. Be relatable, and 3. Don't be afraid of animation. Keep his advice in mind as you pitch ideas to clients.
EditShare, developers of secure media management and storage solutions, has partnered with
Helmut. As the use of
Adobe creative tools in distributed collaborative environments continues to grow, the need for a robust media management environment that connects users, content, and media becomes even more critical for workflow efficiency. EditShare's EFS shared storage solution and FLOW media management, integrated with the Helmut suite of products, form a comprehensive project management and remote editing workflow solution for enterprise Adobe workgroups.
Digigram, maker of sound cards and audio processing software, released a new ebook: "
Home Broadcasting. The ultimate guide to broadcast your shows from home." This 17 page guide covers the challenges of broadcasting from home, from the point of view of Digigram's products. (As a caution, this PDF may take up to two minutes to download.)
Cantemo has announced the latest update to its media asset management system, Cantemo
Portal version 4.3. The new version features an improved audio player, updates to collections and an update to the Portal Final Cut Pro Workflow Extension. Users are already able to continue working in Final Cut Pro, while Portal keeps the content organized in the background.
A partnership between
verynice and
Airbel Impact Lab has created "So What?" If you are in the early stages of a project, especially one with a social component, "So What?" helps you identify signals of impact, create a plan for capturing those signals, and leverages a simple framework for evaluating your approach to impact measurement. This download comes with easy-to-follow instructions and nine worksheet activities. This toolkit is especially helpful for non-profits and students.
News briefs:
CreamSource launched its all new Vortex lighting system with the flagship Vortex8, a 650W high power RGBW LED with CCT ranging from 2200K to 15,000K in a 2'x1' form factor.
SmartSound, a music application I've used weekly since 1997, announced SonicFire Pro 6.5. This features improved previewing and library management.
Rokoko opens the world's large mocap marketplace to the public. Contains thousands of professionally created mocap assets from studios behind major productions like Wonder Woman and League of Legends, each for $6 or less.
- - -
Turning to my stuff, my
Editing Basics of Final Cut Pro X webinar series concludes this week with a look at effects and export. Registration is
free.
I have
seven new tutorials for you this week. Probably the most important is a
caution explaining why the same media looks different in
Final Cut Pro X,
Premiere Pro and/or
QuickTime Player. I also want to highlight one of my video tutorials on
Using Roles in Final Cut. If you've tried to learn Roles, this video will get you oriented. I find Roles very useful; especially for longer projects.
Finally, a reminder that the
35% discount on my new book - "
Techniques of Visual Persuasion" -
ends this Wednesday - which is its release date. I'm looking forward to hearing your comments on the book - I'm very pleased with it.
Coupon code:
VisualPersuasion
School starts in three weeks around here. As a teacher, I much prefer in-class instruction. As a parent, I prefer keeping our kids safe. Everyone has hard decisions to make. For me, safety wins. As the old ad says: "When you've got your health, you've got just about everything." And, yeah, having the kids around all the time makes getting any work done really difficult. Sigh... Nothing is easy.
Until next week, stay healthy and
edit well
.
