HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME

Here's lookin' at you kid. The latest in summer eye wear.

I really have to blog more often, I can't believe it has been since June that I last posed.
Hey, time flies when you are busy.
Lots of Big News in the AVCCAM traveling road show world to share with you.
Here is what has been going on......
Besides living on the road, on those rare moments when I am back in the studio, I have been hunkered figuring out the details of editing 3D footage shot with the Panasonic 3DA1, for each of the edit software systems. Boy, talk about fun. I have finished two white papers already and there are more to come. I will let you know when they get posted on the Panasonic site.

Learning a different NLE is always fun, but add the challenge of 3D and your mind starts spinning (not to mention the potential of headaches). I am really loving shooting and editing 3D. Makes me rethink the art of shooting. I honestly believe there is a big 3D business in corporate, industrial, museum, event and lots of other non-theatrical projects. Actually, these present an ideal situation for a 3D producer in that since you can control the viewing experience, you can shoot for that and make the 3D all the more effective.

I was at the Illinois Videographers Association meeting in Chicago to showcase the AF-100, here you can see it is all tricked out.
I have to tell you the Event and Wedding shooters who have been using DSLR's were knocked out. The idea of a large sensor camera that not only gives you shallow depth of field, but long (virtually endless) recording time, on board audio recording and monitoring, anti-aliasing, no moire effects, time code, etc. is guaranteed to make the mother of the bride blush. The benefits just go on and on. My experience is once you get your hands on this terrific camera, you do not want to let it go!

Next stop on the never-ending road tour, Kansas City where I presented 3D to the major sports organizations, mainly we talked how 3D can enhance coaching analysis. They had not previously considered that, and I am sure we made some converts.

As I travel around the country, I always have to take a few minutes to remember which camera I am talking about, because they are very different. The AF-100 is all about shallow depth of field and the 3DA1 is all about infinite depth of field. Keeping that all straight, along with the menu structures, and features of the different cameras, is always a bit stimulating.


Here is a shot I took in So. Cal. of the newest top of car installations for the AF-100 and 3DA1. I don't suggest you try this, unless you have good insurance and don't need either camera for some time!



In the middle of summer, where better to be than in the Arizona Desert? Nice resort, huh? Yeah tough job, and the golf course was great, except it was 110 degrees. Ah, the dedication, but I digress. Hot, yes, but, come on it's dry heat. Yes, it is and once again the hottest camera at the show was the AF-100. I presented the AVCCAM line at the Association of Community Access Conference in Tucson. As I am finding all around the country, if you are trying to get the job done with DSLR's, you will absolutely fall in love with the AF-100.

From Arizona to Boston for the University Film and Video Association Conference. The AVCCAM line has already made big inroads at schools across the country with many of them using the very popular HMC150 or the very light weight HMC40 or shoulder mount HMC80. In addition to showing these cameras, we hosted a number of 3D events and I have to tell you the film schools are beginning to understand that the 3DA1 is a perfect camera to teach 3D with.

As I said, it has been a very busy summer.
There are a bunch of other exciting developments to tell you about, but they will be in another blog, coming very soon (I promise).
In the meantime, keep those questions and comments coming in. As the AVCCAM Evangelist, I love hearing from you.
Stay tuned.

As always, there is more to come.
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

Infocomm 2011

Spent last week in Orlando at Infocomm. And, yes, Panasonic makes me dress up for these events.
One thing you can say about Orlando in June, it rains every day! Infocomm is a huge trade show mainly focused on projection, display and digitial signage technology. Panasonic had a huge booth that features not only projection but the 152" World Largest Plasma Display. It is awesome. We also had four camcorders in the booth; the HMC80, the HVX370, the AF-100 (the hit of the show, of course) and the 3DA1 (which I am standing next to). It was a good show, met a lot of old friends and made some new ones. Lots of interest in 3D. I answered many questions about the workflow. Seems people are concerned about how you edit 3D.

So now, I am back home and continuing to try to answer all those questions in a logical manner on my 3D editing white papers. I am working on workflow papers for Final Cut, Adobe CS5.5, Avid and Vegas, and using both Dashwood and Cineform plug-ins. As you can imagine, it is a lot of detailed work. When finished, I will let you know, and they should be available on the Panasonic website.

On the flight home, I had a weird experience. This is a shot of my feet, at the exit row, covered in what looked forever like smoke. The flight attendant told us not to worry it was just condensation from the air conditioning. Ah yes, another Road Story. We landed fine.

Stay tuned.
As always, there is more to come.
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

A "Wild" May

Ah, beautiful Lake Tahoe. Yes, I started the month of May driving around the lake and as you can see there is still quite a bit of snow in those there mountains.
Actually, I was in the area to attend a National Guard event. Some of our nation's finest are using Panasonic HMC150 and HMC40 AVCCAM camcorders and HVX200 and HVX170 P2 cameras, on their missions here and overseas. So, a bunch of them had gathered in Reno to learn what is new and to hone their workflow. I spent a good amount of time meeting the troops and was very impressed with their dedication and professionalism. They had some pretty amazing stories to tell. And yes, I did answer a lot of questions about workflow, specifically transcoding, and SD card issues.
After a short one day stop at home, I was off to Missoula, Montana for the 34th International Wildlife Film Festival, the first and oldest Wildlife Film Fest. It is always an amazing event and this year was no exception. It is a week of meeting old friends and making new ones. We always bring a boat load of Panasonic gear to the event so that the filmmakers can play with the new toys. As expected, the AF-100 larger image sensor camera was certainly the talk of the event. Although 3D certainly remains a large interest to this group of creative people.
In the pix on the right, Steve Mahrer of Panasonic is holding the new 9" BT-LH910 monitor while a filmmaker tries out the 370 camera.

One highlight of this year's Festival was an evening concert featuring Grammy Award Winning Native American Flautist, Robert Mirabal. Here is a pix of Robert and me after the show.
We actually shot the concert with 3 cameras. Steve had a Varicam up in the balcony, while James Kleinert (Director of Wild Horses and Renegades) manned an AF-100 in the front row. I had the great pleasure of being on stage with Robert shooting with a second AF-100.

The pix on right was taken by me on stage. In order to sync the 3 cameras, I walked out on stage and took this picture with my iPhone. We just used the flash from the iPhone as our sync point. It also gave me a great look from center stage.

We are beginning to edit the footage now. It was an amazing concert. Thanks to Robert and all my friends in Missoula, it was a terrific evening.

Finally, I ended the month out on the west coast. I presented two seminars on 3D and shooting with the 3DA1 camera, and one presentation on the AF-100, and achieving shallow depth of field. The pix on left was taking during a 3D presentation in the EVS Studios.

And that was May.
So what lies ahead for June? Well, I am still working on those pesky 3D White Papers, I spoke about last month. I just received the new Adobe CS5.5, so I will incorporate that workflow. I have lots of footage to edit, and something tells me I will be on the road quite a bit of the month as well. Hope to see you.

As always, there is more to come.
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

Where Did The Time Go?

Mid April Already? REALLY?

Sorry, I have not posted recently, but as you are about to read, I have been really, really busy. This is a bit of a long post, because there are lots of fun times to share with you.
In case you are wondering what I have been up to the past few months, I have been living on an airplane, giving presentations around the country on 3D and also Panasonic's larger image sensor camera the AF-100. Once again, I feel like Johnny Cash "I've been everywhere, man".

January
Besides the Roscor events, from earlier post, I attended the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

This is a way cool event. Of course, Park City, Utah in January is always cool. In fact, I usually pack some of my Alaska Iditarod clothing just to stay warm. (Pix of me above and snow shot on left by Erin Mitchell)

Panasonic is a sponsor of this great indie film festival. And each year, I partake in a fireside chat. This is a time to meet and talk with a number of the filmmakers and learn what they are thinking. I quite enjoy these sessions. See pix below on left.

This year, as expected, the cameras of interest were the 3DA1 and the AF-100.

At Slamdance, I met a couple of really great guys, Nick Ames and Brian Bills, with a very interesting company, PIXAIR.
The pix (on right) shows their RC helicopter outfitted with their brand new AF-100. They just dumped their DSLR from the rig to replace it with the AF-100. They commented that they are now getting stunning aerial footage free of the aliasing problems they were having with DSLR cameras. Check out their demo reel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooouvVgYdV0

Most exciting, this year we added a new contest, "The Panasonic Road to Park City" Competition. Filmmakers who had films in the Slamdance competition, were asked to submit a treatment for a one minute film to be shot during the festival. Six were chosen to compete.



The six filmmakers are: Nick Twemlow, Andrew Putschoegl, Matias Lira, CJ Gardella, Simon Arthur and Kevin M. Brennan.
Each filmmaker was given the Panasonic AF-100 for a 9 hour shooting day, and then they edited the finished project into a one minute film. All 6 entries were screened at Slamdance.

The winning entry was: "The Road To Park City is Paved With Artists" by Kevin M. Brennan and Doug Manley.
The pix on left is a still from the award winning film. On the right, I am presenting the award to Doug and Kevin. And naturally, Doug is making a joke at my expense.
Ah, these artists!
Doug and Kevin won an AF-100 to use in their future creations.
The other 5 filmmakers all got a Panasonic Blu-ray player. It was a fun event and an amazing amount of creativity was shown by every team. Congrats to all.
Slamdance photos by Maya Adrabi at: www.mayashoots.com

A big shout-out to Peter Baxter and all my friends at Slamdance. http://www.slamdance.com
Looking forward to next year.

February.
Although a short month, I kept very busy. I gave 3D and AF-100 presentations in San Francisco, Washington DC (at the Smithsonian, no less), Baltimore, Princeton, Portland (at the Cascade Mt Video Show, always a great event) and for my friends at the Chicago Final Cut User Group. Sadly, no pix to post, but I am sure you get the idea.

March

The Beat Goes On!
March found me giving presentations in LA and then off to Cinequest Film Fest in San Jose (where I unfortunately got sick, too much travel, I think).
But, none the less, the next week found me in Tampa (pix on left) and then Orlando for presentations at the Student Television Network. It is great to see so many high school and middle school kids excited about media production. And, boy did they have questions about 3D.
No time to catch my breath, just load up on cold medicine, as it is off to Austin for SXSW, always a fun and crazy event, even if parking in downtown Austin is impossible.

After Texas back to DC again for a 3D class at American University. From DC, across the country to San Diego for a 2.5 hour guest lecture at San Diego State University.
This is the second time I have done this event. Always over a hundred students, faculty and staff attend and ask great questions. Thanks to Prof. Steve Montal for making this happen. Up the coast to LA for end-user presentations on both 3DA1 and AF-100 and then a weekend with my daughter in So. Cal. (Ah, a small break). Monday, found me headed for Phoenix and more AF-100 presentations.

A day and a half in Phoenix, and then back to LA for meetings at USC, a local high school and then another incredible high. I was invited to give a guest lecture at UCLA Film school (my alma mater). This was a trip as it was held on the very sound stage I frequented when I first arrived at UCLA years ago as a film student. (see pix above). I even wore my UCLA Hawaiian shirt in honor of the event. For this event, I presented both the 3DA1 and the AF-100 camera. It was a great evening.

I did manage to get home some during the first part of this year, but as you can see, I did cover a lot of ground.

Now it is April.
I have just returned from another exciting, but exhausting NAB. In the Panasonic booth there was a ton of 3D, including the introduction of a new P2 based 3D camera, the 3DP1, coming this fall. (More on that later). I had the pleasure to speak to many people about 3D during the week and even gave a 3D presentation at BEA (Broadcasters Education Association) held in conjunction with NAB. Both of these events are always a great time to make new friends and hopefully see some familiar faces in the crowd as well.

In addition, there was a section of the Panasonic booth set up with all the lenses, mounts, and nifty accessories for the AF-100 camera. It was probably the most swamped area of the booth.

In this pix are the experts, from left to right: Art Aldrich, Jan Crittenden Livingston and Barry Green. They spent the week answering million questions about the red-hot AF-100 camera and accessories.



So, at the moment, I am home and in the thick of writing white papers on 3D editing which will appear on the Panasonic web site soon.

I will post a notice here when they are finished.

As always, there is much more to come.
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

3D From Start To Finish Road Tour

Happy New Year, Everyone!
Lots of very cool things happening in the world of Panasonic AVCCAM products.

Our good friends at Roscor Media and Technologies are hosting the 3D From Start to Finish Road Tour, this month.

We will be showcasing the Panasonic AG-3DA1 camera, and demonstrating the work flow from acquisition, to post to output. Hope to see you at one of these events.

Here are the dates:
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Sessions at: 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The Baronette Renaissance
27790 Novi Rd.
Novi, MI 48377

Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Sessions at: 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
InterContinental Chicago
505 North Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Sessions at: 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Sharonville Convention Center
11355 Chester Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45246

Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Sessions at: 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Holiday Inn Cleveland - South
6001 Rockside Rd.
Independence, OH 44131

To register, please visit: http://www.roscor.com/content/view/671/1039/

More to come,
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

This 3D Thing. Is it all hot air?

I can't tell you how many times I get asked this question.
Come on, 3D is not new, it comes to the forefront every 10-15 years. It is a fad and then it vanishes. Why is this time any different?
Ok, here are the reasons why I feel that this is finally the time for wide acceptance of 3D.
1. See it Anywhere

For the first time in history, as 3D storytellers, we do not have to ask our audience to go to a theatre. Home 3D is a reality and getting cheaper by the day and you can even watch 3D on your computer.
2. Hello, Infrastructure
And now, the infrastructure to create really good 3D exists. We have cameras, we can edit, we can distribute and we can display. To quote Bob, "The times they are a changin'"
3. Shooting 3D
Really? How do we shoot 3D? There are side by side, and mirror rigs and the new Panasonic 3DA1, integrated 3D camera system. Basically you need two cameras absolutely seeing the same thing. Just like our eyes. If your rig, or camcorder can do that, shooting 3D just got way easier.
4. Editing.
OK, what NLE do you use? It doesn't matter, there are a number of plug ins for any NLE including: Dashwood, Cineform, and Quantel.
Editing 3D has never been easier.
5. Display
Take your choice: Anaglyph (ugly, but works on all displays, including computer), passive polarized glasses, or active shutter glasses. They all work.
Oh, and watch price of 3D plasmas, they are falling faster than you can image.

6. Distribution
OK, you shot it, you edited it, now how do you deliver it?
How about You Tube?
Or, side by side, easy to create in any NLE. Just burn to Blu-Ray Image, output on Standard Blu-ray player to consumer 3D plasma and presto chango, you have 3D. Stunning
7. The 10 foot blue people in the room
Avatar changed everything for a theatrical 3D experience. Wait until you see the 3D Blu-ray of Avatar in your home. It will once again change everything.

I have been shooting 3D with the Panasonic 3DA1 since March 2010. Would love to talk to you about it. Just reply below.

It changed the way I capture the world. I am training cinematographers every day how to shoot 3D with this camera.
We can now create images that mirror what we see.
Way cool!
More to come,
The Road Warrior
FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.

3D Everywhere, All The Time

Wow, the hits just keep on comin'. I am having a blast shooting 3D with the Panasonic 3DA1 camera and training other shooters how to shoot 3D with it.

Let's pick up from my last post which had me in San Diego closing out the When It Counts Post NAB Road Show, (that's me in action) For the record, I presented 3D at each of these events (think there were 27 different cities). And the crowds cheered!

Ok, right after San Diego, I am off to Orlando for WEVA. (Wedding and Event Videographer's Association).
We had worked with a couple of Wedding Videographers and showed, for the first time, weddings shot in 3D with the 3DA1 camera. It was simply amazing. We had this big plasma in the booth, and lines of people standing watching weddings of people that they didn't even know. It sure opened many of the WEVA attendees eyes to the real possibility of shooting and delivering 3D weddings!

September starts with me doing demos at NYU. This is always a great venue. The faculty is very cool and the students are so IN TO IT! I love being there.
From NYC to Atlanta to train the Weather Channel on shooting 3D. Now they want to shoot a tornado in 3D. Not me. That same week I presented at SMPTE meetings in Atlanta and Nashville. Just continuing the different day, different city 3D tour.

The next week I am off to Hawaii.
See why I love this job. In paradise, shooting 3D and training shooters. It doesn't get much better than this. Oh, wait, yes it does, read on...

Straight from Hawaii to LA for DV Expo. This was an amazing show.

For the first time we showed a working sample of the new AF100 camera. We had it right next to the 3DA1 and I have to tell you, Panasonic has two new rock stars. We had people lined up in the booth, 5 or 6 deep. It was like the early days of P2. It was fun! These are both incredible cameras.

But wait, from LA to Albuquerque, NM to shoot 3D at the International Balloon Fiesta.

See, I told you it got better.

WOW what an event! Over 800 hot air balloons ascending. It is said that this is the most photographed event in the world. I can easy believe it.
Everywhere you look is an incredible image, and the 3DA1 captured it all in breathtaking 3D. We even got the camera into a balloon.

Kudos to my son, Mike, I drafted him to be second unit 3D cameraman, and he took the camera up in a balloon. Good stuff. Thanks, Mike.





We shot tons of footage, and it is in a process of being edited now. Hope to have it on a Blu-ray soon and be able to show it at various events.



From balloons to Texas for 3D training at University and then on to Chicago for 3D event with Createasphere.
Then back to NYC for 3D presentation at NYU.....
Off to Seattle for 3D presentation at VMI show and then to Denver for 3D presentations at Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Tech Symposium.
As you can see, I have been busy. I know I should try to post more while I am on the road, and I will try to do better.

Some Bernie Tips on shooting with the 3DA1.
* It is not really a hand held camera. Yes, you can hand hold it and Mike had to in the balloon, but I don't recommend it. Use a tripod, or monopod, shaky 3D looks really bad.
* Use the 3D guide in the camera. It gives you a distance guide to let you know where your 3D safe space is. It really helps you to avoid parallax issues and bad 3D.
* Remember to stay at least 8 feet away from your subject. Yes, you can zoom in, but stay 8 feet away. This was really hard to do at the Balloon Fiesta as people kept walking in front of the lens causing framing or window violations.
* Try to use the positive space (behind the screen) and avoid much coming into the negative space (in front of the screen). It is cheesy and tiring to watch.
* Dashwood has a great iPhone app which allows you to check your parallax settings. And they have even converted the C number to feet. Thanks, Tim. Great tool, it really helps. I recommend it.

More to Come,
Bernie
The Road Warrior

FTC Disclosure
In compliance with the FTC rulings, I state that I am the Panasonic AVCHD and 3D Professional Evangelist. As such, I am a paid consultant to Panasonic, and I get free use of the AVCCAM products. However, the opinions on this blog are purely my own.