MacVideo "Matt Davis's Blog"

The Cambrian exposion of videography

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:04:00 GMT

A long time ago, nature fetched a really strong cup of morning coffee and decided things needed a little shaking up on the evolution front, and life on earth went through a period of experimentation. It left behind an interesting and sometimes confusing fossil record that left many biologists overwhelmed and sighing ‘Oh no, not another freakin' Phylum'. Were these legs or internal organs? Which way up was this creature? How did that thing actually move?

Canonisation

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:58:00 GMT

My Canon 550D has arrived. And if first impressions are important, my first impression was 'it's tiny!'

And another thing...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:34:00 GMT

Just back from the Broadcast show (BVE2010?), where I participated on a panel hosted by Rick Young about the future of video, alongside luminaries Larry Jordan, Christina and David Fox. We debated various topics and I hope it will be up on MacVideo.TV soon.

Analysis Paralysis

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:31:00 GMT

Canon have just announced the 550D, a Digital SLR that shoots HD video in the same way as its older, bigger cousins: the 7D and the infamous 5Dmk2. So you're getting a lot of video features for almost half the cost of a 7D (if we're talking body only).

Let it Snow for EX1 users

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:50:00 GMT

For all you Snow Leopard fans with EX1 and EX1R cameras, you will not have heard from Sony that there's a new version of XDCAM Transfer out, version 2.11, available here:

Where's yo' head at?

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:35:00 GMT

I've been restricted to quarters due to Man Flu recently, and have kept some rather odd company, in the form of the boxed DVD set of 'Visual Effects for Directors'.

Workflow revisited

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:11:00 GMT

I shoot with Sony's PMW-EX1 (and now an EX1R). Brilliant cameras, they shoot onto solid state 'memory cards' rather than tape. They shoot 'files' rather than 'footage', and the benefit is that it's quicker to copy an hour's worth of video from a card than it is from a tape. A half, a third, even a quarter of the time. With expensive hardware, even a fifth of the time. If you have lots of rushes or short deadlines, it's great.

All White Now...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:06:00 GMT

No birds, no bees, no proper time of day, November.

Dedo LEDzilla - a lustworthy toy

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:29:00 GMT

I'll admit right up front that one of the joys of the work I do is the acceptance that a lot of the kit I use is actually my own grown-up toybox. There are my favourites, there are some let-downs, and best of all there are the amazing press-nose-to-window must haves to yearn for. And the latest one of these is the Dedo Onboard LED Lamp, affectionately known as 'LEDzilla'.

Pimp My EX1

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:44:00 GMT

It's almost a rite of passage. I now own a matte box, and it feels strange.

Sony updates SxS drivers for Snow Leopard, some bugs remain

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:04:00 GMT

Oyvind Stokkan has posted the following link on the DVinfo.net board for new drivers for Snow Leopard users.

Snow Leopard - SxS Epic Fail

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Somebody has to be first. Somebody brave or stupid. Or somebody with a full backup sitting on a hard disk in the case of moving up to a new operating system, because there be dragons.

Switch to Manual

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:29:00 GMT

Final Cut Studio 3 ships without paper manuals. Nothing wrong with that perhaps, just so long as the electronic format is easy to access and read. Traditionally, the full documentation has been supplied in PDF format. However, Apple have chosen to use the Apple Help system for FCS3, which is based on HTML.

A Case of Upgrader's Remorse

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Final Cut Studio 'new' is out. It's been two years since the last major update, and we've been waiting for some pretty spectacular new features. Personally, I've been waiting for some pretty spectacular fixes, but that's a different story.

Fish on Bicycle wins Tour de France

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:30:00 GMT

It really shouldn't work. Just when you think that the EX1 has the worst ergonomics of a supposedly professional camera, Canon unleashed the EOS 5D Mk2 (catchy name) onto the market with its mind-boggling video capabilities and even crazier ergonomics. Or lack thereof. The surge in uptake by video professionals has probably taken even Canon by surprise, so we're not going to criticise the camera's design for video use.

Clip art

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:09:00 GMT

If you own the popular Sennheiser Evolution 100 G2 wireless mic system, you’ll be aware of the horrible, pig-ugly, cheap and tacky clothes pegs that are attached to their microphones. Owners have been crying out for a replacement, literally begging suppliers for something - anything - that will clip the little, non-standard microphones onto stuff.

Reel Time

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:18:00 GMT

I really need to do a show reel. I’m not really sure why - I’ve not been asked for one - yet. But it’s one of those things that we all need. Anyone in the Creative world has a portfolio. A sketchbook. A sampler. A show reel. And cranking one out is difficult.

Hear today, hear tomorrow...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:21:00 GMT

I often film parties as part of the events I cover. Parties have bands and acts, and bands and acts have PA stacks, and PA (Public Address - speaker) stacks make a good place to get shots because not many people are stupid enough to stand in the veritable breeze of moving air beside these things. That’s right, I’m stupid.

PMW-EX owners: WOOT!

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:32:00 GMT

Ross Hereweni has done it again. His company, E-Films, produce the MxR adaptor designed to enable the use of inexpensive SDHC cards inside the Sony PMW-EX line of cameras. With a couple of relatively inexpensive 32GB SDHC cards, you're good for almost 3 hours of shooting without swapping cards.

Betting the Farm

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:49:00 GMT

MacWorld is but a fading memory. NAB has come and gone. WWDC is over. MacBook Pros are being booed at. Still no FCP. Not even a whisper. Where's the beef?

MacBook Amateur

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:17:00 GMT

So, Apple launch a new range of laptops at this year's Worldwide Developer Conference. Lovely screens, fulsome batteries, lots of beefy hard disk goodness, and... an SD slot.

Timelapse on tape

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:22:00 GMT

Following on from my last post about tape in a tapeless workflow, I also had some fun planning some timelapse shooting.

Go with the workflow

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:18:00 GMT

15 months after going tapeless, I’ve just returned from a job where I was thoroughly glad we had tape.

Turbo Power

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:59:00 GMT

There's a particular Broadcast toy that's been cropping up at more and more events that I film. It's called the Grass Valley Turbo - basically, a sort of disk based VTR which can also work as a play-out solution.

Who will test the testers?

Sat, 09 May 2009 16:48:00 GMT

What a day. What a horrible, puss filled, cankerous waste of everything.