Tej Babra

Post Chat Second Live Event

Tej Babra — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:33:34 +0000

After our successfull Post Chat live Meet up at NAB , the Post Chat crew has added a second live event here in Toronto!!!

Come Join us for evening of fun and prizes. I am sure there were be also plenty of you tweeting. If you are wondering what is the live event all about ? Hit up our Facebook Page to see photos from our NAB Event,and see our grand prize winner, thanks our Sponsor , gave away Avid Media Composer 6.

POST CHAT Will be live at The Duke of Richmond Pub, 20 Queen St. W. Suite 102.

Wednesday May 30th, 2012

It Starts 8PM Sharp! Goes to 11PM! Prizes will be handed out based on draws!

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Transition Where Do We Go from Here?

Tej Babra — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:58:15 +0000

If you have not noticed by now, Adobe has released long anticipated CS6, packed with new tools, 64bit architectures, and blazing new speeds. Many photographers and editors have been waiting for the new Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier Pro. Now that Adobe has delivered the goods and Intel has refreshed their processors to Ivy Bridge, many pros are wonder what to do with their old MacPro Towers? Where do we go?

Over the past few weeks I have been engaged with the community regarding this new transition. IN order to take advantage of the new features in Adobe CS6, you must have a fast PC. It seems like perfect time to upgrade some of our aging machines to Intel’s 3rd generation Ivy Bridge machines. However this means we are now looking at swapping operating systems since Apple has not given any indication on wither they plan to release a new MacPro Tower or not. There are also plenty of rumors abound that Apple also plans to discontinue the 17’ Macbook Pro. This means many pros will have to either continue running on older Macs and hold out for an Apple or switch to a PC to gain the benefits if Intel’s newer processors. Some fear waiting will only leave them out in the cold.

Many people and post-production houses are beginning to transition back to PC. Why? Well for one, Avid Media Composer and Adobe CS6 work on bot Mac and PC, and considering Apple has not updated the MacPro Tower in some time, it only makes sense to stay competitive, and keep cliental happy.

Frustration seems to be a driving force here as many Pros begin to feel abandoned by Apple after the less than stellar reception to FCPX, and the lack of hardware support. I for one have been taking a good look at other alternatives that support Intel’s Ivy Bridge, such as HP, Dell, and Alienware. I have even consider building my own machine to run Adobe CS6.

Now I know Adobe CS6 can run currently on my MacPro Tower, but after seeing it in action on a brand new PC running the latest greatest, you start to feel a little envious. That’s why I have started looking at a replacement for my first generation Intel i7 PC , and possibly even replacing my MacPro Tower. Why you may ask? Well simply put, I have clients, and they have deadlines that are now, not 6 months from now. I am simply can’t stand around waiting and hoping Apple releases something. I would love to have a Intel Ivy Bridge Mac , but right now PC is looking as a really good option, considering it does run both Avid and Adobe products.

In the end I guess it’s a matter of time, and money. Many editors who used to edit on Final Cut Pro 7 have jumped ship to either Avid or Adobe, both run well on PC, and thus in the process have dumped Apple all together. I know I am looking very hard at my situation and considering the same move. What about you? Are your going to wait for Apple to release an update possibly sometime this year? Or are you going to jump to PC and get some of that 3rd generation Intel Ivy Bridge power now?

Ultra style. Ultra performance. Ultrabook. Learn how Ultrabook is changing the face of everyday computing Intel Canada’s Facebook page.

SugarFX ‘s Punchline for FCPX

Tej Babra — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:09:20 +0000

SugarFX has released a new plugin for for FCPX known as Punchline. The plugin provides you with a collection of tittles and transitions elements that are broadcast ready . Punchline comes with a collection of 32 HD elements, that are all customizable and easy to adjust right within FCPX.

Crating titles using Punchline is really intuitive. Simple locate the desired effect from the Transition Browser, or Title Browser within FCPX, and then drag it to your timeline. Each transition, or title has the ability to customize different parameters from Text, Color, Alignment, Crop, Opacity. and more. This is incredible useful when trying color match a client’s color scheme and needs.

Some of the Transition Elements are fully capable of being edited directly from the timeline. Depending on the element you are using, Punchline may display numbered marks in the timeline that you can move along the timeline to change the content of some frames in your transition .

The duration of the title elements can be changed within, however because they have been designed to have the introduction of the title in a fixed behavior as well as the out-going behavior, FCPX will interpolate the middle of the animation to accommodate for the new longer or shorter duration . Punchline Tittles can also be moved across the timeline to any other position just like any other standard title.

Punchline’s ability to provide you with a broadcast quality elements that are fully customizable is a great addition to FCPX. It’s feature set allows you to customize to your cliental needs. They have done a wonderful job creating a full featured plugin for FCPX. SugarFX‘s Punchline can be downloaded as a free trial or purchased for a mere $49.

When is the perfect time to upgrade your PC?

Tej Babra — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:51:37 +0000

I recently returned from NAB where all the production and pos-production manufactures were there showing off their latest and greatest, including several new machines supporting Intel’s Ivy Bridge. This got me thinking when is the right time to upgrade my current generation PC? How do you know when is the right time?

I often upgrade my desktops and laptops, as they improve my productivity, and now that Intel has released it’s 3rd generation processors known as Ivy Bridge, that time may be now. For many of us hanging on to our PC’s for 3-5 years is common practice, but for us in post-production 1-3 years seems to be the transition, in order to get the most money for our used gear. When is it a good time to turn them in for something faster and better?

Processor Releases and Timing

This is a big and obvious one. One of the best times to upgrade is when a manufacture such as Intel releases a new generation of processor. Not only do pick up the fastest machine possible, but you also get the most return on your used PC. Think of it as selling your car just before its worth nothing as it gotten too old, or the next model comes out. I personally choose to upgrade at this time, and often trade in my old PC. This saves me the hassle of trying to find a buyer and makes my costly upgrade seem less expensive. This route is also the most expensive one, as you are upgrading every 1-2 years.

If the above method is just too costly, then may a suggest another route. If you plan on keeping your system for a longer period. Try to make sure your PC does not fall 2 generations behind. What do I mean by this? Well, for instance if you have a 1st generation Intel i7, the best time to sell would have been just before the announcement of Intel’s 3rd generation. This is the perfect time to sell or trade your PC just before it’s worth absolutely nothing. This also means you have gotten the most out of your current PC.

Some great places to get rid of your old PC are Kiji, Craig’s list or a 3rd party retailer that takes trades. Just remember the sooner the better, as your PC depreciates like a car. It can depreciate even faster if you bought one of those cheap $299 models.

Here are some of my favorite places to trade or sell your older generation PC around the GTA. Check your local area for 3rd party vendors.

Kiji
Craig’s List
Ebay
Simply Macs
Carbon Computing
EhMac

At the end of the day, if you can make an entire breakfast and your PC has not booted up, it’s pretty safe to say you need an upgrade. Hanging on to a PC for 5 years just does not make any sense. I hope this helps you to decide when is an appropriate time to upgrade.

Ultra style. Ultra performance. Ultrabook. Learn how Ultrabook is changing the face of everyday computing Intel Canada’s Facebook page.

NAB 2012 Favorite Moments

Tej Babra — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:15:22 +0000

NAB 2012 has come to close. I know actually that happened last week, but I have been busy jumping back right into the thic of things as soon as I got back. I had a lot to catch up on.

NAB this year was again filled with a ton of new gear in both production and post-production. The most exciting pieces were BlackMagic Design’s Cinema Camera, Sony F700, Adobe CS6, and Smoke. There has been plenty of coverage everywhere regarding these releases, and I hope to have my own reviews of these latest offerings soon.

Gear and software is not the whole story, there were a ton of people to meet and mingle with. One of my own personal highlights was getting to meet Shane Hurlburt ASC. We were both judging the contest for shorts by the APA. We had announced the winners at NAB. It was a real pleasure to meet him.

Durning NAB this year we had our 1st PostChat meet up. We had a great turn out from editors across the world. There was plenty of stories to be told and many wonderful people there to share them with. It was also nice to finally meet fellow editors I had been looking forward to meeting. Especially Jesse Avenue editor of Sesame Street and co-host of PostChat, since we spend the bulk of our time organizing Post Chat and tweeting, it was nice to put a face to the name.

There was also a surprise drawing sponsored by the wonderful people over at Avid. We gave away a copy of Avid Media Composer 6. The winner Michael Schmidt a wonderful person all the way from Germany. Michael was in such shock, and could not believe he won until the following day. The Post Chat meet up was a great success and it spawned a new Facebook group you can check out here. There are plenty of pics from NAB to be seen there as well.

What would NAB be with out meeting some great people from Jag35, and Zacuto. Misa Garcia from Jag35 is a wonderful person and runs a great company for gear. Zacuto is a great company and their booth often turns into a place to meet local people like Philip Bloom, Tom Guilmette, Nino Leitner, Mario Feil, and many others. The list could go on for pages.

Then there is Jared Abrams from Wide Open Camera. Jared has got a great sense of humor, and his team works very hard to bring you all the news from the NAB floor. Although there are always those moments at NAB where you just wonder what is going on here? If any of you saw the pictures roaming around on twitter of me and Jared well then you know what I mean. If you have not see them …Well here is one of them…

NAB 2012 was full of events and parties, from dinner with editors, to PostChat meet up, to AJA ‘s VIP party, and of course the dreaded flight home on the red eye. NAB is about gear and software, but I feel it has become more of a place to network with others, and that alone is worth the trip.

BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera and Resolve 9

Tej Babra — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:29:14 +0000

BlackMagic Design has recently announced the introduction of a brand new camera known as the BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera. The camera was first introduced last week at NAB at the low price of $2995!!

The camera comes boasting a 13 stop Dynamic Range, interchangeable lenses, and a resolution of 2.5k . The images are captured to a 12-bit Raw file onto a SSD. In addition to Raw the camera will also record to Avid’s DNxHD and Apple Pro Res at 1080p. This means you can drop the footage into almost any workflow or NLE.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera uses standard connections. The Camera comes with jack mic/line audio inputs for recording uncompressed audio, as well as 3 Gb/s SDI out for on set monitoring or for sending to live production switchers. Also included is 12V to 30V DC input for power and battery charging, 3.5mm headphone socket, LANC remote control and high speed Thunderbolt port for computer capture.

The camera also comes with the ability to add your own custom Metadata. This a nice feature for logging file metadata directly into the camera to speed up the post production process. BlackMagic Cinema Camera allows you to enter information such as shot number, search tags, scene number, timecode.

The BlackMagic Cinema camera boast some fantastic features, however BlackMagic really makes this package complete by providing you with a copy of Resolve 9.0. This package deal means you can get the BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera and Da Vinci Resolve 9.0 for a mere $2995. What an unbelievable deal!

Resolve 9.0 new user interface looks fantastic, stay tuned for a full review later on.

During the Press Conference at NAB , I was able to get my hands on the camera and my initial impressions were quite good. The camera is built solid, and with it’s ability to add Canon lenses I already own is a great feature. The only downside I see is the lack of XLR inputs, but I shall wait until I can fully review the camera, before making any rash judgements.

I am really looking forward to fully testing out both the Cinema Camera and Resolve 9.0. It really seems BlackMagic Design filled a gap between production and post-production at a great price.

Post Chat has a new Facebook group

Tej Babra — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:26:45 +0000

If you follow Post Chat on twitter then you know it’s basically a twitter only venue. However that has all changed now. Due to massive popular demand, and thanks to the great feedback from NAB this year, we now have a Facebook group for Post Chat. Feel free to join us here for the Post Chat Facebook Group.

Postchat is a weekly twitter-based chat, which utilizes the use of the hashtag #PostChat. The chat occurs at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST) every Wednesday.

For one hour every week, Editors and Post-Production professionals around the world turn their attention towards Twitter and engage in an hour long discussion about the technology and art of post production.

#PostChat was created with the intention of bringing Post Production professionals together to have a weekly, hour-long, chat about the thing that we are all great at. Ranging from Editors and Colorists to Visual Effects Supervisors and Compositors. The gamut of professions and people that can be involved are limitless. If it happens after photography, you can bet we’ll be involved.

Avid Offers Unprecedented Limited-Time Symphony 6 Crossgrade Promotion

Tej Babra — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:03:38 +0000

Avid has just announced an unprecedented limited-time cross-grade promotion on Avid Symphony 6 software that will represent an over 80% discount. Avid Symphony 6 is available to all qualified Avid and Final Cut Pro customers at the special price of only $999 (USD). This limited-time offer expires June 15, 2012. For eligibility requirements and more information, please visit avid.com/symphonypromo.

Check out the full press details below:

Avid® today announced an unprecedented, limited-time offer for its Symphony® 6 video editing and finishing software to all qualified Avid and Final Cut Pro customers at the special price of only $999 (USD). This offer is designed to provide a way for Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer®, Avid Xpress Pro, and Avid Xpress DV users to crossgrade or upgrade to Avid’s industry-leading professional editing, color correction, and mastering solution at a significantly reduced cost.

With Symphony 6 software, customers get all of the same features, tools, and workflows of Media Composer 6 for editing, plus the advanced and secondary color correction tools and Universal Mastering they need for finishing–all in a single solution that’s now over 80% off its full retail price.

“With this compelling crossgrade offer, we’re thrilled to make Symphony accessible to more editors than ever before,” said Adam Green, senior director of post and professional segment marketing at Avid. “Our current and new customers can now take advantage of the same industry-leading editing tools found in Media Composer to advance their storytelling, plus benefit from finishing and color correction capabilities in the same suite, eliminating their time spent on conform or media transfer. This opens up even more creative opportunities for them.”

“We recently upgraded to Symphony 6 and are pleased with the addition of Stereoscopic editorial tools, Avid DNxHD® options for RGB 444, and expansion of AMA capabilities which in combination have enhanced our finishing capabilities,” said Mark Futa, head of post production at The Ant Farm, a leading Los Angeles based advertising agency “It’s great to see Avid extending this amazing offer for Final Cut Pro and Media Composer users so they can take advantage of flexible, fast editing workflows, as well as advanced finishing tools to help advance their storytelling capabilities.”

Like Media Composer 6, Symphony 6 offers an open 64-bit architecture; sleek new user interface; support for popular third-party hardware through Avid Open I/O; native AMA (Avid Media Access) support for AVCHD, ARRI Alexa, and RED, as well as the ability to encode Apple ProRes (Mac OS-based systems only); the new Avid DNxHD 444 codec; industry-defining stereoscopic 3D workflows; surround sound tools; and more.

In addition, Symphony enables customers to correct and enhance color with full 4:4:4 HD RGB color support and advanced and secondary color correction tools, including Luma, Channels, and source side correction. Customers using Nitris® DX hardware (sold separately) can create and deliver the highest-quality output with Universal Mastering. Symphony also comes with Boris Continuum Complete–a $1,495 value on its own–giving editors a full suite of over 200 filters and transition plug-ins for comprehensive visual effects and compositing work.

Pricing and Availability

The Symphony 6 crossgrade and upgrade offer is available now. Final Cut Pro (excluding Final Cut Pro X), Media Composer (any version), Xpress Pro, and Xpress DV owners can purchase Symphony for $999 USD. This limited-time offer expires June 15, 2012. For eligibility requirements and more information, please visit avid.com/symphonypromo.

Which Photo Sharing Site is for You?

Tej Babra — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:43:05 +0000

Facebook recently purchased Instagram for a billion dollars. This got a lot of people concerned (including myself) that the very popular social photo sharing site will be transformed or ruined by the acquisition in some way or another. Many people turned to the web to find another photo sharing site. In case you are curious what other options are out there, here are 3 sites I am currently using.

500px

This site was founded and run by a local team here in Toronto. It has some fantastic features that also include social media. The user interface is beautifully organized and easy to use. This is a site dedicated to the professional. This is where you would upload your portfolio, or some of your best stills. Once uploaded you can easily share to Facebook and Twitter or even embed your photos to where you need. 500px also allows you to interact with other photographers by following them and commenting on their photos, and they can in turn follow you back. If you are worried about people stealing your pictures, 500px also disables the right click on the photos. This is a very community based site. Perfect for anyone looking for a community experience.

A free membership allows you to only upload 10 photos a week, but they still allow you to sell you photos in your personal store. However to get more features or customizable URL’s you will have to go to paid subscription for a plus member of $19.95 or Awesome Membership for $49.95

SmugMug

This site provides you with a limited 14 day trail period, but also has some great features. SmugMug has very similar features and also allows you to upload videos. They also provide additional security with the ability to password protect your albums , and they back up your RAW files across multiple servers so you will never loose a photo. SmugMug also offers you a personalized store, URL, and logo. However they do lack the community feel that 500px provides.

SmugMug is also priced higher than it’s competitors. Since there really is no free account, a Basic account will run you $40 per year. For more powerful features you will have to jump into a Power or a Pro account that will run you $60 and $150 per year. It seems their user base is mainly designed for people who want to sell their photos.

Photobucket

This site is perfect for the novice. The User interface is very simple, and provides you with plenty of features, but it’s not the prettiest. It’s free account allows you to upload whatever you need, and share almost anywhere you want. The free account provides you with 10GB of bandwidth per month, not to be confused with hard drive space. Photobucket also allows you to password lock your albums. If you need more bandwidth than a Pro account is what you are looking for. The Pro account will provide you with unlimited bandwidth with no ads and the ability to store photos. The site also allows you to upload videos as well. The community is very much a wide variety of users from novice to pro.

Now which one is for you? Well I can tell you after using the 3 of these sites they definitely all have their pros and cons. If you a re looking for a community based feel with professionals, and clean looking user interface than look no further than 500px. If you are a professional looking to sell your photos, then SumgMug’s plethora of options is the ticket. But if you need to share family photos or a novice just staring out than Photobucket is a clear winner. If you simply can not choose, then why not just try them all out. All 3 of them have some kind of free account or trial period.

Which photo sharing site do you like to use? Tell me which one and why? I would love to know.

Ultra style. Ultra performance. Ultrabook. Learn how Ultrabook is changing the face of everyday computing Intel Canada’s Facebook page.

Sony Announces NEX-FS700

Tej Babra — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:02:07 +0000

Sony has recently announced a brand new camera to follow up the FS100 and compete with the well received Canon C300 known as the Sony NEX-FS700. The camera is capable of shooting conventional 1080p, and 4K. Yes I said 4K.

The Super 35mm image sensor will initially shoot 1080p but as Sony said it’s 4K ready. this means that down the road Sony is planing to release a firmware update for 4K. Sony has also updated the body from the FS100 to include ND filters from 2, 4, and 6. The camera will also include a 3G-SDI output. The Fs700 is also capable of shooting slow motion at speed of 120fps – 960 fps depending on resolution.

The NEX-FS700’s 3GHD-SDI and HDMI connectors can output Full-HD 50p and 60p, in addition to standard HD 60i, 24p, 25p or 30p frame rates with embedded time code and audio. 3G HD-SDI can output native 23.98, 25, 29.97 progressive signals; users can choose to output PsF over the 3G HD-SDI. Thanks to flexibility of the digital ports virtually any external recorder can be connected.

Features

4K-ready

The first 4K-ready Super35mm camcorder in its class – providing an assured upgrade path to 4K acquisition and delivery – with full HD 1080p for today.The camcorder will also have the capability to produce 4K RAW 3G-SDI output via a future upgrade.

Super slow motion at 10x at full HD or 40x at lower resolutions

Incredible super slow motion capability of up to 10x slow motion at full HD resolution or up to 40x slow motion at a reduced resolution, giving you creative options that were once only available with specialist high-end equipment.

E-mount interchangeable lenses offer a wide choice of lenses

The E-mount interchangeable lens system utilises an extremely short flange back distance allowing you to use a huge array of lenses via a range of adaptors giving you almost unlimited creative options.

SEL 18200 lens supplied

The supplied SEL18200 (E 18–200mm F3.5–6.3 OSS) with the NEX-FS100EK boasts 11x zoom power, a quiet AF motor for cleaner sound recording, and Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization with an advanced Active mode that lets you take steady handheld shots while walking around — even without a bulky stabilization rig.

Additional A-mount lenses available

The Sony LA-EA2 A-mount lens adaptor allows you to use the wide range of high quality alpha lenses and take advantage of the auto focus function for quicker, more convenient operation.

Built-in HD filters

The NEX-FS700EK features built-in, ultra-thin ND filters, offering exceptional shallow depth-of-field on highlights. It also means less accessories to manage as no external ND filters are required.

3G-SDI interface and HDMI

A 3G-SDI output enables easy integration with highest quality recording formats.

Exceptional ergonomics

The NEX-FS700EK has a refined ergonomic design with a robust detachable handle and grip.

Switchable 50 Hz and 60 Hz shooting

The NEX-FS700EK is switchable between 50 Hz and 60Hz to allow 24p shooting in PAL areas and no PAL/NTSC limitations.

Selectable magnification and positioning of expanded focus

Expanded focus improvement allowing 4x and 8x magnification and a moveable area of expansion for easy focusing with shallow depth of field.

Camera profile settings storage on memory card

Up to 99 camera profile settings can be stored, allowing rapid adaptation to multiple shooting environments without time wasted adjusting parameters. Settings are also easily shared in multi-camera productions.

The FS700 is also a world camera straight out fo the box. It is switchable between 50hz and 60hz, NTSC, and PAL. The estimated time for release is June and for just under 10,000 it will include an 18-200mm lens. You can check out further details on Sony’s Page here.