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 Little
Editor: Roger Mahr
Original Theme: Patrick Belden
Bram Desmet just stopped by to show me the latest rev of the 2450W with next ND Filter and the latest software revisions. This thing IS a CRT replacement, no questions asked.
If you're going out to NAB or need a new color accurate monitor for your facility, you can't go wrong with this or really any of their monitors. But this 2450W with the ND filter..... WOW!!!!
If you've followed my blog or noticed the bright yellow banners around the Cow, you've heard of Flanders Scientific and their line of broadcast LCD panels. Now they've got a great little "Watch and Learn" video series that's full of good information both about their own products and LCD technology in general.
There's some really good information in here to prepare you to objectively look at specifications of various monitor brands and ideas for the types of questions you should be asking the monitor manufacturers as you prepare to purchase your new LCD panels.
This problem has been around at least two years since we started using Encore CS3.
Create an Encore BluRay Project on a Mac. In our case, a Mac Pro Octo 3.2 machine running the latest OS, Quicktime and Encore CS4.
Save that project.
Open the project on a second Mac that contains the BluRay burner. In our case a Mac Pro Quad 3.0 machine running the latest OS, Quicktime and Encore CS4.
Get the error message, "This Project was created in Windows and cannot be opened."
I posted a query in the Cow Adobe Encore forum, but no responses so far. I'll let you know if I get anything.
Haven't called Adobe Tech Support because the last time we tried that, they could not figure out why I didn't have any Windows Machines in the shop so how could the project possibly have been created on a Mac? They're not very helpful in my experience.
So I'm just letting you all know, Encore still does not have anything to make you "Come for the BluRay, Stay for the Flash." Fortunately we do have NetBlender's DoStudio in here for real BluRay projects and it works flawlessly.
I spent the day at the FSI offices last week getting a chance to really chat with Dan, Bram and Johan about the monitors and learning about all the features. Their offices are also in the Atlanta area so I took the opportunity to get some instruction on these monitors at their offices.
I knew these things were full of features but I didn't realize just HOW many features and how much end user control they have. I really don't expect the feature set at the price point, but these guys are doing it and it's great for all of us in need of a good LCD monitor.
Scopes are becoming a standard now on the LCD panels, but how would like those scopes and audio meters displayed? There are something like a dozen choices from the type of scope you want to see, the values you want to see (Luma, RGB, etc), where you want it on screen and even how many channels of audio you would like to see. Oh and embedded audio via SDI which is really sweet on a field shoot. You don't need to tie into the sound guy's audio output, you can just plug a headphone into the monitor and get the clean sound from there. (you can also do this with analog). Oh and how about scopes that are active via all inputs including DVI?
Markers that can be displayed in pretty much any frame size and either as lines or transparent or solid mattes.
Pixel Mapping so you can see your image pixel for pixel, on any of the displays.
Control over pulldown, as in you can have the pulldown smoothed out or you can see it frame for frame with the judder.
Classic Blue Only mode for those who just don't want to give that up when switching out from CRTs. :-)
I'm especially loving the 5 user preset keys now that I'm figuring it out. Basically 5 user controlled On/Off buttons to activate my 5 most used features, such as Scopes and Markers. AND 5 user profiles so when we start having more editors using the suites, each person can have those function keys pre-set however they want.
And I saw just how ridiculously easy the Auto Alignment procedure is to re-calibrate the monitor at any time. Turn On Monitor. Let it Warm Up for 30 Minutes. Connect the Probe to the FSI Alignment Converter. Connect the Converter to the Monitor. Hit "Auto Align." Grab a coffee and come back 20 minutes later.
Can you tell I'm really liking these monitors? A true color accurate monitor that we can all afford? And best of all, the 30 day money back guarantee, which is one of the reasons why I feel so comfortable recommending them to anyone reading this. If you truly don't like it, then return it and you're not out any money so you can go get something else.
What's 3G you say? The replacement for Dual Link HD. Instead of two cables, you get the full 3G HD signal down one cable. I honestly had never heard of it until we ordered our new Flanders Scientific monitors and they were talking about how their monitors offer only 3G and not Dual Link because Dual Link will be replaced in the near future.
Biscardi Creative Media has been selected to provide all Post Production services for a new series revolving around Science. The first run will be 15 weeks with an additional 35 weeks possible for 2009 and further expansion in 2010.
First read the article. AIG is paying out millions in bonuses starting this week after receiving a government bailout to save the company from failure.
So the company is going to reward people for failure and they have to ensure they keep the same talented people around to ran the company in the ground in the first place. Unbelieveable. If you want to tell AIG what you think of this plan, here's the contact link.
Are any of you guys also getting somewhat pushy emails and phone calls from "Capital Lenders" these days? Basically telling you that since the "banks are in dire straights and not lending, we'll be glad to give you money." Here's a great example of somebody who is just too pushy for my tastes.
Here's part of the first email:
In these challenging economic times, it's good to know that __________________ Capital continues to finance equipment for businesses nationwide, allowing them to get the equipment they need quickly and easily without disturbing existing bank credit lines and preserving cash. As you are probably aware, most banks are not currently lending due to the lack of capital in the marketplace. On the other hand, we are privately-owned and do not have any capital restrictions in terms of underwriting nor funding equipment acquisitions. The vast majority of the leases that we fund are structured so that the Lessee owns the equipment at the end of the term for one dollar.
Ok, first off all, he said the magic word that immediately turns me off. "Lease." I had a VERY bad experience with equipment leasing when I opened my company and swore I would never do it again. We either purchase outright or take out a bank loan. So that's out right off the bat. I don't need to pay double for a piece of equipment that's outdated the moment it arrives just so I can "own it for $1" at the end of the term.
So I politely notify him that I'm all set in a return email:
Thank you but we're all set. We only use a local bank for all our loan needs.
That's it, my entire email response to him. Short and sweet and I figure that's the end of it. Nope. The next day I receive this:
Thanks for responding. I understand that your past borrowings were done through traditional bank financing, but as you are probably aware banks are not lending money at this time due to the lack of capital in the marketplace. Beyond that, unlike your bank we don't require personal guarantees, take additional collateral, etc.
All I was asking for was a chance to show you what we can do and explain how we differ from traditional bank financing.
Banks are not lending money at this time is the part that really caught my attention. See I got a fairly large loan from my bank in December for our new SAN and they are prepared to loan me much more this year when we're ready to either build or purchase a new facility. See I've been at the same bank for quite a while and we've built up a relationship with these folks. My business banker has even been to our shop multiple times so she can start to understand exactly what it is we do and how we use our equipment.
This has gone on back and forth a few more times and supposedly I'm dealing with the CEO of this company that he claims we spoke last year, but I don't recall him. Now my business banker at the local bank, I know her pretty well as she keeps checking in about every 2 to 3 months or when rates are especially good. This guy just keeps telling me incorrect information for my situation. Like this one.
Furthermore I should add that before forming __________________ Capital I was in the banking Industry for 15+ years and banks traditionally secure loans with a blanket UCC filings on all corporate assets. We don't do that. The only collateral that we take is the equipment that we are financing.
I had to let him know that my bank only required the equipment as collateral. Again, we've been banking with them a long time, my account is there, they know me and my company. So two wrong statements about my situation. I'm not really sure why he's continuing this dialogue when I already told him twice we don't need his services.
Now for all I know this capital lender is a legit company, and maybe they really are better than going to my local bank. But I much prefer long term relationships with people I can see and who take the time to learn about me and my business. From what I can tell, I'm getting just as good of rates and I feel good with "traditional bank financing."
After all, wasn't it "non-traditional bank financing" that got this country into such a deep financial mess in the first place? I'm staying within my financial means. My two cents.
I posted this originally in the Apple Color Forum but through I would share here as well....
Just had an all-day demo of four Flanders Scientific (FSI) monitors here in the shop. Overall extremely impressed and yes, you CAN have an accurate monitor for $2,495. I'm not going to go into full details as Nick Griffin will be publishing an article shortly on everything we saw here today but basically....
LM-2450W (24") and LM-1760W (17") look as accurate as my Sony CRT Multi-format monitor. Excellent blacks, excellent whites and good solid color throughout. The 24" has an option for the ND Filter which I'll be getting, but you don't necessarily need it. The 17" is simply the cheapest monitor I've seen out there that I consider accurate enough to recommend. Honestly can't believe there's a monitor this inexpensive and this high of quality.
The LM-2430W (24") and LM-2130W (21") are considered "grade 2" monitors and while extremely accurate, the viewing angle is tighter. Also, when I put up a scene that was completely black on one side, you could see some light spill coming in from the edges. This is a limitation of the panel itself and the prices are lower, accordingly. These would be great editing monitors and could be used for final mixing if you don't have the budget for the 2450W.
Are they as accurate as the $10,000 and up LCD's? Probably not, though I would love to see a side by side comparison, I would not be surprised to see them look really REALLY close. One great thing about them, 30 day money back guarantee so if you don't like it, send it back no questions asked.
I'm ordering 2 of the 2450W's and one of the 1760W's for our shop so if anyone wants to purchase my Sony PVM20L5/1 and/or my PVM14L5/1 just shoot me an email. As soon as the FSI's are here, I'll ship them to you.
If you want to know more about the specs, just click on the yellow banners throughout the Cow or look up Flanders Scientific. They're a locally owned company right here in Atlanta, super nice guys to boot!
Professional Video Editor, Producer, Director since 1990.
Credits include multiple Emmys, Tellys, Aurora and CableAce Awards.
Owner / Operator of Biscardi Creative Media, a full service video and film production company with about 65% of our work in HDTV. The show you know us best for is "Good Eats" on the Food Network. I developed the HD Post workflow and we also create all the animations for the series.
Favorite pastime is cooking with pizza on the grill one of my specialties. Each Christmas Eve we serve the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a traditional Italian seafood meal with approx. 30 items on the menu.
If I wasn't in video production I would either own a restaurant or a movie theater.
