Alfeo Dixon

Having worked with the P+S Technik rig, it has a lot more control with gauges for zeroing in on your settings. not to mention convergence and IO. You can also use a Preston or similar to mechanize your movements. The 3D Film Factory in looks like its a simple rail machine. The mirrors are also a HUGE factor. -Alfeo

Two shorts, one with the the P+S Technik Prism Rig using Sony EX1 & EX3, the other was two RED Ones with a home-brew rig. Also took the first workshop at Rockport on Stereoscopic cinematography. There we had a prototype from 3D Camera Company setup with 2 - 435's and also the another prototype 3D recorder for 2 - SI2K's. The third rig we had was the same P+S Technik and Sony EX's. I would be happy to talk offline Michael, this is just the apathy that the 3D people are trying to spot. 3D is not a theme park gimmick... it is the way we see life and every 2D film is using all the tools it can to make you perceive a world of depth. By this I mean depth cues, things you take advantage of and do not realize it. Foreground, middle ground and back ground. Small depth of fields and out of focus backgrounds. Foreground obstructions, foreground crosses... all of these to simulate depth in a scene. Avatar's story sucked... really! ALL movies should start with a good story first. 3D is more or less another way to engage the audience into a story. If you go to a 3D movie looking for the so called 'gimmicks' then your literally missing the picture. UP, fantastic story and fabulous film, 3D or 2D... I still would have cried and laughed with my son. If you think of 3D as only a tool to bring a flat screen into a perception closer to your own native view experience, then you will get where 3D is truly heading in our industry... the 'gimmick' was over in the 70's and tried to revisit in the 80's. -Alfeo

I had bought DVDxDV after having good results from the trial version and also used HandBrake, but for some reason, I can't get either one of them to produce good results. I agree that 720 should be a happy medium to cut the HD and the SD work together.

To most of us, deferred payment means nothing, on the likelihood that your project actually makes money and they do get paid is close to none. I know of only one job that the crew actually did get a deferred payment. I have one rule, if I work for free... feed me. The better your catering is, the more you can put your crew through the ringer. Clint Eastwood keeps his days to 8 hours and his crew LOVES him for it... he pays well too!

Not that I know of, but I'm sure the reasoning is that the soft side feels better to the skin/face than the hard/hook side. So if you keep it consistent, then you never have to really change your velcro to the accessories your always using from job to job. Also, if you notice, all accessory ports are female on the camera and all power is male.

As a working professional, we are held to a responsibility of keeping up and taking care of the equipment that we are required to work with to accomplish the job. I think it is reasonable enough to say IF you are held accountable to the equipment, that you should be able to choose WHOM is going to be allowed to work with that gear that you as a best boy and key are indebted to, i.e. choosing your crew members and knowing that YOU can trust that they return every piece of equipment going off the truck. Lets face it, with the pace of filmmaking today, producers are cutting rates, shooting schedules reduced from 20 day/4 weeks to 18 day/3 weeks and pushing the crews to the limits. If they then go and decide to hire your crew for you and give you guys that are not up to par or just plain cheaper, than I think that accountability they expect from you should be loosened. Plain and simple, "You can't expect me to micro manage a crew I don't know and hope I can trust them and bring this job in on time." Yes in the run of things stuff gets tossed aside and put in strange places, that's when you tell your crew to slow down and do it right. Not just will things get lost and locations ends up with a small G&E package to start his own ENG van, but safety also comes into play. Sloppy work = unsafe working conditions. This is a post about an incident that happened to me and the way I handled it. http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=8994

This I did not know... and trying now with FCP, it will only play the first 1% and then end. But VLC will play all of the clip. More so for having high quality digital files that are uncompressed and all in the same codec and resolution. This should make it easier to go back and reuse in editing down the line.

Absolutely, all legitimate use... it is the most widely used term for taking commercial use (which I did purchase btw) DVD to digital file format. Unfortunately most production companies will give you a DVD copy even though you specificately asked for an uncompressed digital file.

Ok, I hate this process... I wish I could just pass it off to someone, but I can't. 1) I need to RIP from commercial DVD's, burned DVD's 2) Once ripped, what is the best codec I should use to archive all my footage for future use. 3) What's the best settings to work with in FCP for editing a reel for at least a 720 resolution or should I go for 1080? Ideally, I would like to stay at the best resolution and down res if needed. I know this will mean an uprez for my NTSC material or transcoding the bits I need. I do have Final Cut Studio 2 with Compressor, so if there are presets with in that you suggest, then I'm all over it... -Alfeo

A con for this baby would be that you can use this light in steps of 9 by switching on or off the bulbs one at a time... so yes two would be great deep in the background racking across adding texture and depth.

I have the first Epson R200 inkjet printer that has the print tray, slow and a bit cumbersome at times, but it works great for a small release of 5 to 10 DVD's. Never had the tacky problem no a smearing issue (unless it gets wet).

This is very nice... it beats the sun and shadow detail that I was referring to. http://www.westfilm.ch/sonnenstand/Site/English.html

it's built into the google earth app

Taiyo Yuden hands down... never had an issue with them and burned many of them back in my unit still days

Hi All, Anyone heading out to NAB this week? I'm going to be in the market for glass. Also, going to be in the Steadicam booth helping to demo... second year they have flown and put me up to do this, not much time to roam is the draw back... what a downside eh? Stop in and say hello booth #C7808 -Alfeo

pCam released yesterday http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore...456485&mt=8

Very simple. It is the vertical line resolution. NTSC is 480. HD starts with 720 and the next resolution up widely used is 1080. The 'i' stands for an interlaced frame and the 'p' stands for progressive frames. In terms of which is best, would be relative to your budget and final output. But in most situations, its always a better idea to shoot at the highest quality your budget will allow and scale down.

That's how the ad agencies rate the copy writers... the person that has the next best excuse gets the next job.

Also, many times the DP will not be so involved with the movement when he has good operators. The DP may decide on letting the operator work with the director on the composition and movement... especially if the DP doesn't mess well with the director or the operator is more experienced than the director and dp. But its all a collaborative effort.

Rebuttal for any of them: "That's all in good, but you do realize that you don't have copy rights until our agreement is paid in full... including late fees."

Georgia is now the newest hotspot pulling work out of Shreveport. Only problem now is that a lot of department heads are being flown in and put up. There is nothing to protect or entice the hire of locals. Sure Mr. Governor, It's nice that films are hear to pump money into the economy to help keep my unemployment funds flowing. Previous multi-part, tier incentive is now 20% flat tax credit on qualified Georgia expenditures. The foundation of the Act is a 20% investment tax credit. Production companies that spend a minimum of $500,000 in the state on qualified production and post production expenditures in a single year are eligible for this credit. This includes most materials, services and labor. The 20% credit applies to both residential and out-of-town hires working in Georgia with a salary cap of $500,000 per person, per production, when the employee is paid by “salary,” which is defined as being paid by W2. If the production company uses a 1099 or a personal services contract to hire someone this limit does not apply. Provides an additional 10% tax credit if a production company includes a Georgia promotional logo in the qualified finished feature film, TV series, music video or video game project. Provides the same tax credits anywhere in the State of Georgia. Provides the same tax credits to all instate and out-of-state labor working in Georgia Commercials and music videos are eligible for the 20% base tax credit once the production company has spent a minimum of $500,000 on qualified expenditures during a single year. This may be through a single project or multiple projects. The tax credits apply to the company’s Georgia tax liability. Should the company have limited or no Georgia tax liability, then the credit may be transferred or sold once to one or multiple Georgia-based taxpayers to use against their tax liabilities. In addition to feature film and television production, the Act also includes other areas of original entertainment content creation including animation, interactive entertainment and video game development. Productions may also qualify to take advantage of Georgia’s Sales and Use Tax Exemption, a point-of-purchase sales tax exemption that saves you up to 8% on most purchases and rentals in the state.

photos here: http://gallery.me.com/alfeo1/100203

Absolutely, but the $4,000 is package price. what are you interested in?

The Negative: Exposure and Development By Ansel Adams Published by Morgan & Morgan, Inc., 1968 ISBN 0871000571, 9780871000576

NEW PACKAGE PRICE $4,000.00 USD