Well I don't know about the clothing optional part, but it's definitely a good gig for the right person with good Final Cut Pro skills..... http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/tfr/1250992268.html...
This may sound like a circus, but we are trained professionals. The lions and tigers remain completely under our control at all time...Simba! Back! Put that box of BetaSP tapes down. Mmm, look what I've got...a nice juicy steak. Yumm (rubbing my tummy)...that's a god boy. Sorry, I was saying. Ladies and gents, boys and gurls, welcome to our show. In the ring to your left we have the Magnificent Mike the juggling sensation. He has at one time the planning for up to 5 video shoots, client communications for many more important projects, all in the air at once....
As a guy who regularly talks about trends in media consumption and distribution, allow me to make the observation that people who talk about trends in in media consumption and distribution are idiots. Including me. We're hardly ever right about anything. However, money talks. DVD buying peaked between somewhere around 2007, and has been trending downward since then. While Blu-ray buying is on the rise, it doesn't amount to much in the overall video buying world - certainly nowhere near enough to compensate for the decline in overall DVD sales. Says a senior analyst at Screen Digest , "We don't...
Live blogging is fun, but kind of hard to do when you are going 60 miles per hour or in a moving vehicle. So I took detailed mental notes instead. I will try to get that same stream of consciousness language that is all the rage in the blogosphere. Tuesday - 12:30am (Wednesday technically) Although I have to get to work early tomorrow, I nevertheless stayed up to my usual lights out time. Tonight I was working on a budget for a future shoot. Rent something 6 times and you might as well buy it, I say, I hope. This...
After seeing the FSI monitors and all their features at the first demo, I suggested to Dan Desmet they should create a video version of their user manual to make it easier to understand everything. Well that conversation led to the new How To video manual that was launched on the website last week. http://www.flandersscientific.com/index/videomanual It's also a great way to essentially get a demo of their products without actually seeing them in person....
This exceeds "going beyond the call of duty." http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show Nice to know there are still good companies out there and people with good moral values....
Thursday - Midnight Lately, for some unknown reason (caffeine) I have been staying up late. Too late. Oddly, after stumbling to bed around 1am I manage to wake at 6am, hit the snooze bar exactly 4 times, allowing my body to wake up on its own schedule, and still get to work at a reasonable time. A cup of extra bold from the K-Cup machine, a bowl of bran flakes (watch enough colon cancer videos and you'll tolerate the woody texture), and hit the road to the office. Usually the last thing I do before bed, after my continuing search...
Backing Up The Good If your are as unlucky as I am and have had FCP Studio crash and burn towards the end of a deadline, you know how nerve racking that can be. When FCP Studio goes belly up, it’s very difficult to troubleshoot from within the belly of that beast, as there are so many connections to other programs: Compressor, Color, Livetype, and all the rest. Fortunately, some smart folks at Digital Rebellion have sorted all this out and given us some FREE tools to work with when FCP is not working. Preference Manager (PF) will back up...
Poor man’s Motion Controlled Shot When people looks @ this shot the first thing they think is Motion Control, however we were able to use a technique that allows for some multiple passing shots duplicating the main character without the big expense. Here is the trick: We shot using a laser on the dolly pointing down at the floor which was marked with tape, We timed the move with a stop watch at each mark along the track of the dolly. We panned only in the beginning of the shot, locking boom and head tilt, keeping the cam @ eye...
If you are like me, you have a list of things to do a mile long. I have made numerous efforts over the years to Get Organized. Over time however I have learned that the real secret to Getting Organized is...drumroll please...STAYING Organized. Big difference. Ok, so I'm organized and staying organized...whoop-dee-do. However that's great as long as you actually Get Stuff Done , and not spend all of your time on organization. While my workstation is simply a collection of office supplies, project management tasks are not physical objects, so you need some way to keep things orderly, and...
Ok so the "official 18% grey paint" is something like $80 per quart and up. Thanks to this tip from Dan Desmet at Flanders Scientific, here's a really REALLY close knock off of that color for a lot less. You want Sherwin Williams SW 7071 color. The one to get is Duration Home, Extra White Matte Base, 6403-63925. The BAC code should be BAC Colorant 02 32 64 128 B1-Black - 20 1 - Y3-Deep Gold - 5 – 1 Why do you need 18% grey? Well it helps to keep your eyes neutral while you edit and color grade...
Tim Robinson is the Corporate Video Editor for Pride Mobility Products Corp. Makers of the Jazzy Powerchair, Scooters, Lift Chairs and other mobility products! At our company we’ve been strictly a PC world. When the new head of IT asked us, “Why don’t you guys run macs? My daughter’s graphic design school runs nothing but macs!” We had to explain his predecessor strictly prohibited using macs because his IT staff could not “support” them. Before he even finished the sentence “What if we bought you guys…” we excitedly shouted ‘YES!’ The transition was not easy for both IT and later...
Gimmesometune , despite the really stupid name, is a nice bit of donationware that fills a need for iTune users that want some control over itunes, but do not want to waste a lot of desktop estate (like the Apple mini-player does). Gimmesometune has most of the function that the payware CoverSutra has, but lacks Growl support. However, Gimme gives you a nice player control in the menu bar, which is all I really wanted anyway...something small and innocuous to control iTunes while it’s minimized. You can even use the Apple Remote Control to control your tunes and bring iTunes...
While I prefer shoulder mounted camcorders, I generally don't mind using Handycam style camcorders, especially when size and weight are crucial. This past weekend I loaded my Sony V1U into a waterproof pannier on my bicycle and did some interviews and pickup shots on the Pinellas Bicycle Trail in West Central Florida. Work and fun combined! The thing I don't like about today's crop of Handycam style camcorders is that the viewfinders don't rotate downward. I'm 5'6" and with tripod up high I cannot see through the viewfinder without an apple box or step stool. Years ago I had a...
I don’t like to review, use, or purchase any Mac software utility over 10 bucks as a rule, but sometimes there is nothing else you can do. Entourage Email Archive X from Softhing is just such a case. Entourage 2008 users on a Mac (and 2004 users as well) have gotten short-changed by both Microsoft and by Apple. There is very little development or support for an Entourage user who has to use this dumbed-down version of MS Outlook – a lot of suffering just because they are a Mac user and need something more then Apple Mail offers as...
The National Science Foundation has issued a press release announcing the launch of the new series Science Nation along with taking the new website live. Biscardi Creative Media is providing all post production for the series which has reunited principal Walter Biscardi, Jr. with multiple CNN colleagues. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114908&org=NSF http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/index.jsp...
I created this animation as an example to use in scene reconstruction cases. I first created a physics rig and then I apply it to a scene where I was able to drive the car inside the city. I use 3D studio max for animation modeling and rendering. Then I deformed the crashing cars by using ff Derformers in Max. I used After Effects for Composting and Photoshop for textures. I network rendered overnight in 4 64 bit duo quad computers. At the end I added simple Sound effects for fun, It took me about 4 Days to put together....
http://www.vimeo.com/4519754 EVOK advertisement spot for OCPS Career & Technical Education Shot by the Genius dudes @ http://crawfordgroup.tv/, awesome people to work with as well as the EVOK agency. I participated as the FX Supervisor on set for this Motion Controlled Gag. From Planning pre-visualizing and shooting with little pipeline troubleshooting. More details coming soon stay tuned … :) Motion Control: I created a move in 3d for pre-visualization purposes using a 3d animatic, this initial setup provided us with some basic look and feel ideas for the spot. Once on set we decided to customize the move to fit the...
When preparing for a shoot, a trip or a trip to a shoot, one must visualize the known knows and anticipate the known unknowns. A little bit of planning plus confidence in your abilities and you are off to a good start. Recently I have discovered Live Maps - a more detailed online mapping service - excellent when planning a driving route in unfamiliar territory. Normally Google maps with and without the satellite view is adequate. But sometimes it is hard to tell where highway exit and entrance ramps are - fairly important to have nailed down before getting in...
Welcome Hello. Welcome and thanks for coming to the best Visual Effects, Motion Graphics, and Design blog in America... LOL. Poke around make yourself at home and ask any question you like. This community is awesomely giving. The intention of the site is to promote and contribute to the constantly evolving Visual Effects and Animation industry. Visual Effects Design & Planning: Where do I begin? As a Visual Effects Supervisor I encourage our clients to come to me in the development phase of their project so that I can contribute to the possibilities available and hopefully inspire them with examples...
If I am waiting for a plane or waiting for the distance between Connecticut and California to shrink, I sometimes recall past experiences. This was supposed to be the goal of this blog, but the present seems a lot more interesting. So we'll take a break from the hustle and bustle and recall a few unique experiences. One can always learn from the past. I am somewhat methodical in my, er, methods, so I'll go sequentially... 1994 My first solo shoot. Having accompanied several shooters on about a dozen trips both in the OR and other settings, it was time...
Here are some universal questions: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Does the light go out when you close the refrigerator? (of course it does) And Why won’t non-talent (politicians, CEO’s, managers, etc.) practice or at least review their script prior to a shoot using teleprompter? It happens every time. They show up usually not having seen the script and do an initial cold read. Then they, the director, and/or their handlers start the script edits. All while the clock ticks. With every read, more and more bobbles occur, the non-talent becomes increasingly self-conscious and even...
Biscardi Creative Media congratulates Producer Connie Simmons for receiving two Daytime Emmy Nominations for her series "Landscapes Through Time." Connie is nominated for "Outstanding Special Class Directing," where she is competing against shows from ABC, CBS and NBC. Writer David Dunlop is nominated for "Outstanding Special Class Writing" where he will be competing against shows like Ellen. BCM Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr. was the Colorist for the first two episodes of "Landscapes Through Time" helping to establish the overall look of the finished programming and provided the program with Post Production consulting. The series travels throughout the world taking the...
Mother's Day weekend 2009 - sorry Mom, I will see you soon! Duty calls. Two weeks ago, or whenever my last blog post was, er, posted, I did a site survey and client meeting in advance of this past weekend's trip. After months of editing on a new crop of videos, we made a detailed list of pickup shots needed to complete these videos, and shots to cover some new scripts recently green-lit for production. As usual, the locations for our projects are far from home. But thanks to modern air travel, it is mostly easy. i say mostly because...
Creative COW has now added a large section of the website just for your Demo Reels . If your Demo Reel is encoded using H.264 or FLV and is 900 pixels wide or less your video will be untouched by our system to ensure the quality you originally desired when you rendered your Demo Reel. There are many reels so far in the collection that have utilized this devotion to quality that is a mainstay at Creative COW. Take a look at these as a good example: http://shorts.creativecow.net/film/293 http://shorts.creativecow.net/film/304 http://shorts.creativecow.net/film/softbox-showreel http://shorts.creativecow.net/film/kenai-productions-reel...
Andreas Kiel of Spherico Film Tools and Björn Adamski of MXF4mac have been cooking up a totally awesome P2 metadata editor called P2 Flow that will now send all kinds of useful information to FCP. I have been fortunate enough to see a sneak peek of it in action and I got permission to show you all as well. I hope you are as excited about it as I am. Some caveats, this is a work in progress, some features you see may or may not make it in to the final version, this is meant as a proof of...
I think this is something that has caught the eye for a long time now, but increasingly in recent years. I have been experimenting with doing a doodle type style for a poster, and although it is not yet decided if it will go ahead yet, I still think its an awesome effect. Attached to this post are a number of examples I found on places like flickr and google and one great advert as well. When experimenting, I found they key is to be patient and have a little faith. It takes a while to take shape. This was...
EDIUS has a lot of tools / utility shipped with it. Utilities to import P2, XDCAM and others types of content. One of these utility is called K2 CONNECT. K2 Connect is a software interface to the Grass Valley Mediaclient or servers. and one of its functionality is to provide FTP access to the content of the server, so multiple EDIUS can download copies of the K2 content to the EDIUS local storage, edit them and send back the edited piece to the Server for playback. this feature is extremely useful, when stand alone servers are used and that you...
There are three elements to a good media project. 1. A Good Story 2. Good Images 3. The Right Music A good story should tell itself. Don't allow yourself to force parts together that don't fit if the dialog isn't there. Use narration to bridge caps and make connections between thoughts, but only if needed. Good images are well lit and composed. They tell a story all their own. The right music is probably the most important of the 3. You can set moods and generate emotions with the right music. You can set the pace of the story with...
Biscardi Creative Media is proud to have helped launch a brand new series for Dykstra Media called "Science Nation." The series of science stories are slated for air on Discovery Science in the near future. Post Production Supervisor Walter Biscardi, Jr. coordinated all the elements necessary to launch the stories from Graphics, Animation, Music and editing. Editor Roger Mahr is cutting the entire series with lead Producers Kate Tobin and Peter Dykstra. The series utilizes all formats from DV to DVCPro HD. Executive Producer: Peter Dykstra Lead Producer: Kate Tobin Post Production Supervisor: Walter Biscardi, Jr. Graphics Package design: Brian...
