Digital photography

Once we have the actual shot, we can then control the downloading of footage from the camera using Vision Research’s software. Thus far they’ve only released a version that runs on Windows. In order to preserve the Mac-loving image of Simplemente, we decided to run it on a MacBook Pro with Boot Camp. We can then select the ins and outs of any particular shot. Typically the exact moment you want to save is a tiny fraction of that 6 minute take and the rest is a lot of frames with no activity you can delete. The selected portions are then saved out to a hard drive using Vision Research’s proprietary Cine file format.

I wrote two articles for the Final Cut Pro User's Group Supermeet at NAB. They appeared in the SuperMag magazine. Here's part one of the second article looking at Simplemente's work with the Phantom HD camera:

Rune Hansen and Monica Reina at Simplemente in Mexico City recently acquired a Phantom HD Digital Cinema camera from Vision Research. We got to shoot a bunch of slow-motion footage and then worked with it in Final Cut Pro to create demo reels for theatrical projection. We needed to accomplish all of this in the space of about 48 hours.

The Phantom HD’s claim to fame is the ability to shoot uncompressed, high speed footage at up to 1,000 frames per second (fps) and up to 2K (2048x2048 pixels) resolution using a special CMOS imager. It accepts standard PL-mount 35mm cinema lenses and is also capable of capturing in standard and HD resolutions from 1 fps all the way up to 1,000.

I ve been fascinated by the photorealistic quality of images posted in the Luxology Modo Gallery. I ve been trying to learn from their workflow to see if I can do the same in Cinema 4D, especially from some of the free tutorials. I was struck by the level of detail in the shoe model posted there. Inspired by those images, I rolled up my socks and got to work! Trying to emulate the same in cinema4d. So folks here is my attempt. I think it kind of worked out ok. What do you think? let me know. As always I would love to exchange notes with other c4d enthusiasts out there.

It is a well known fact that falling in love is bad for your knees! But after a fall you also need to go searching for stones. Since I am too bruised (pronounced as broke) to buy such stones, I decided to make one myself and as usual Cinema4D is my knight in shining armour. So folks, here it is:

Happily, my better half loved it, even though she can't wear it! Thanks Cinema4D for making up for all those missed anniversaries and birthdays! Hopefully when I get time during the weekend I will post some workflow checkshots. Have a great weekend!

This is my first Blog ever! And creative cow rocks. Many thanks to creativecow and the great team behind it. After effects and Cinema 4D - I have learnt from the many podcasts, posts and tutorials on this site. So, I start with a recent model that I did.

I guess its better late than never to start a blog. I hope to use this platform to share my work and tricks that I have learnt over the last few years, All thanks to creativecow!

I am sure, 2008 is going to be a rocking year and we will have a great time - so this watch!

This is Part 2 of a 4 Part series on Starting and Running your own business in the creative industry. In Part 1 of this series, I posed the question, “Are You Ready?” A link to Part 1 is at the end of this article in case you missed it. If you’ve thought long and hard on this and your answer is “Yes,” then let’s proceed with Part 2 of this 4-part trilogy. Here we’ll explore a lot of questions on setting up your company and getting ready to open those doors!

Posted by Martin:

I've been on vacation the last couple of days, we went down to Nags Head for a few days.  But before that I bought my first macro-lens.  The EF 50 mm f/2.5 compact-macro from Canon.

Posted by Martin:

After Effects Links:
A new white page on Color Management in After Effects.

Lightroom Links:
Jack Nack at Adobe has some updated Podcasts.

Moving from photo to video is similar to going from first class to coach.

You find you have a lot less wriggle room.

The video box is a much tighter fit. Photoshop puts cropping and scaling tools into the hands of every photographer, and most use them freely. Very few photographs reach the client without some finessing of color and framing. Cartier Bresson's insistence that cropping should be done in camera seems somewhat quaint.

I have been thinking about this for a couple of years.

My background is over ten years of still photography experience and only a couple in video/multimedia.

Seadragon/photosynth - an incredible visual viewing/modelling/networking app - from Microsoft. Very classy of BMW to leave their ad until after the presentation.

bit of trouble embedding the video so meantime. Check it out here

1. "Be in the right place at the right time" aka The Zapruder Rule. If you can stay on the right side of this rule you can ignore many of the others. However much TV photographers howl there is a compelling logic to the notion that for breaking news coverage the quantity of camera crews you field can often be as important as the quality.