Well recently i got in a argument with my colleagues about whether the TV show “Damages” is a good one or not at all… well i leave that question open for now…

So yes i’m pretty much into US TV shows … a great inspiration / distraction / FCP7 render time filler!
People who know me know that Sometimes i watch just bcuz of great cinematography (not so much bcuz of story or acting) sometimes the other way around. Sometimes just for fun / entertainment. But mostly bcuz of great characters.

So here is pretty much my list of  ”awesomeness” (random order)

Great TV Shows:

MadMen
Breaking Bad
Modern Family
The Good Wife
Boss
Suits
TopGear BBC

Good TV Shows: 

Fringe
Californication
The Mentalist
Castle
Dexter
The Glades
Nurs Jackie
Southland

marvellous UK TV Show (i might add as well)

Hustle

Old great shows:

Boston Leagal
LOST
ER
…and more

still to catch up on / didn’t watch yet:

Shamless
Burn Notice
The Wire

So now the question is what are YOUR favorite show(s) or/and what should i start to watch and why (please leave a commend – would i appreciate it) AND does “Damages” fit in my list / or should it fit?

P.S. you even can “smash” some of the shows on / from my list … i don’t mind … THANKS

Thanks to Mario & Nino for uploading the MXF files AND for shooting that short in the first place! Great result - especially in that short amount of time and with limed resources.

the first scene i traded quite “usual” just a lil push here and there … skin tones, contrast, richer colors… stuff like that… i “protected” highlights in the back window tho’

all the rest – especially in terms of high ISO performance – i did push much more – to see what is possible … and there is a lot of “play-room” for a grade … the grain / noise still looks very organic / filmic (almost like 16mm) even at the limits of what is possible.
even a hard color push / tint is no real issues if you watch your blacks … kinda awesome!

and at no point there was any artifacts you are probably familiar with from DSLR h264 or even XDCamEX or AVCHD stuff … that is really nice!!!

over all … great footage to work on!

i used FCP7, Colorista 2 for all the Color Correction and  Magic Bullet Looks 2 for all creative Color Grading

As soon as i get the whole short film as ProRes422 from Mario & Nino i’ll do a full color grade on that lil movie … i can’t wait!
Review & short blog post by Nino Leitner – YOU HAVE TO READ THAT!!!
ninofilm.net/blog/2011/12/09/canon-eos-c300-review-short-film/

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THAT!!!
original full short film: vimeo.com/33425317

UPDATE;
well Stu from prolost.com did his version of that first shot … well… i like it a lot!!!

A few weeks back I discovered a nice & affordable rig for DSLR Camera use (in my case i use it for a Canon 60D) on Ebay (got it via Austria)  … building up a solid DSLR rig is now my new hobby … it replaced my “buying lens” hobby.

(I might add, it’s a straight rig so you kinda need a flip-out-display on the camera or a 2nd LCD or EVF for cameras like the 550D, 7D or 5D because your camera LCD is a bit too far to the right)

For the money all that stuff is kinda awesome. It might not be as durable as a the big players we all know & love … but for a start out rig, it should be ok for 1-2 years at lest. It replaces my Spider Brace that i used for just over 2 years now. The new rig is a bit better even though the Spider Brace was very easy to use and had some advantages.  I will test all that in the next few weeks & months and as soon as I’m “finished” building this up i will let you know how it works in real work conditions.

For now, a little list of what I’ve got so far:

Sevenoak SK-R02 DSLR Rig:
sevenoak.biz

UPDATE:
It seems that this Rig is not “available” anymore in our area :-/ !
Anyway…I’ve got it got arround 180 EUR from this seller on ebay … maybe contact him directly.
Alternatively  I would say go with Jag35 you get better quality right away anyways …. you don’t need to buy better extra parts and stuff … for all UK / EU fellows this seems to be a good alternative as well.

RJ Follow Focus for 15mm rod support: ebay.com
UPDATE: There is an new version of that FF with 2 hard stops now

Manfrotto 244N MagicArm + Super Clamp + Manfrotto 143BKT Camera Platform (as Top Carrying Handle)

Studio Clamp C Type w/ Spigot +  Mini ball head
(to mount Monitor or Zoom H4)

Studio Clamp C Type w/ Spigot  + small dumb bell wight
(as counterweight)

Altogether, this cost me around 300 bucks (EUR)

I use the RODE NTG-1 mic and a ZoomH4 Audio-recorder for the audio

new stuff:

- i’ve got a 90 degree Rod clamp for 15mm rail + Grip Handle with rod clamp + 20cm long 15mm rod to use that as a top handle (pretty cheap from china … quality is ok but could be better)
- LILLIPUT 569GL-50NP – 5″ LCD/TFT HDMI Monitor with HDMI & Video loop-through via the UK for about 200 bucks (EUR)  quality is ok but could be better … but useful especially as a HDMI  loop-through device!  (BTW can be powered by SONY NP-F550 or Panasonic batteries) i guess this thing will be replaced by an SmallHD DP4 EVF at some point and the Lilliput will become a portable directors monitor or so
- i also got a new Viewfinder the GGS DSLR 3x LCD Viewfinder Loupe with a pretty need “flip up” option

still not finished yet … stay tuned … will try stuff and do more tests the next few shoots!

here some new pics:

here some “old” pics

In the end the is the question do you need the expensive gear ? The Built-quality is better for sure and in some cases it just works better. But in the end it’s not the gear that makes a good shot or film. Sometimes I have the feeling people buy expensive gear just to show off (in a way) or “buy in” into a club (so to say). Use the right gear for the tight job and the gear you can afford and find other ways ( techniques)  to get your stuff done … just my opinion … what is yours? 

so is “Media Stems Export” a OMF replacement ???
… apple says:

“Traditional, track-based editing systems require you to constantly rearrange and disable tracks to export audio and video stems. With the latest version of Final Cut Pro X, flexible metadata removes the burden of track management. Use the new Roles tag to label clips — dialogue, effects, music, and more — then export a single multitrack file or separate stems based on your tags. You can even apply Roles to video clips and graphics for a powerful new way to deliver separate files for versioning and localization.” ….apple.com/​finalcutpro/​software-update.html …

well alright … now how does that work in the real wold?

well that “tutorial” turned out a bit long but i really want to show you how Audio Roles / Stems are working in FCPX … so i tried some basic stuff first and than it got “messy”

i used a short part of a Docu i finished a few days back in FCP7 so i could compare it to the OMF export LogicPro session … i did re-edit that short part (or some parts) of that 30 min Docu in FCPX … so that is a real project / footage … hang in there … oh and sorry for the german accent (still) and the german voice over & interview in that project

Questions today on twitter was: how did i get the project into FCPX … well quite “easy” i took the footage (as well as partial exports from FCP7) and basically just re-edited the whole part(s)… … and by footage i mean source files (video, audio, stills … only for the interviews i just exported the edited parts from FCP7 … easy as a pie

[UPDATE 07/22/2011] After using the KRK’s for a week now, I really got to like them. They are good & useful really … so they are a recantation  for people that need / want a good, comfortable & analytic sounding headphones.

Well I’ll try o keep it brief
That topic goes back too my audio-roots, I used a lot of different Headphones from cheap to expensive … all kinds of brands.

My favorites so far:

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

Beyerdynamic DT 250

SONY MDR-7506

Sennheiser HD 650

Sennheiser HD 201

Oh BTW I’m not a fan of the commonly used Sennheiser HD25 or any of the AKG headphones, just saying.

First of all: I just have to say we use KRK Rokit PR6 G2 (and PR5 G2) back here and I love them.

So i was kinda happy to see that there are KRK headphone available now too.

I did go for the KRK KNS-6400 (100 Bucks) because they are more affordable and almost identical to the KNS-8400 (150 Bucks) except for a bit wider frequency spectrum, better foam thingy and a volume control on the cable.

So that is that. Now to the essential question(s): how do they sound and are they usable?

To give you a bit of a reference and a kind of comparison I throw in two other headphones I used for quiet a while now:

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (160-190 Bucks) Sennheiser HD 201 (20-30bucks)

Keep in mind, all that is kind of matter of taste (as with Audio-Monitors as well)

So here we go:

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

- very solid

- powerful sound

- good isolation

- strong low-end … beautiful high range … almost Hi Fi (like B&W Speakers …almost!)

- very nice sounding ( a bit too nice )

- not that of a neutral sound (but still very good)

- you can enjoy listening to stuff with them (esp. Film-Soundtracks and Movies)

- a bit big & heavy to wear …you “feel” them

So a very good high-class headphones for professional use & “entertainment” (so to speak)

Back here in Germany they are considered as a Studio-Standard

Sennheiser HD 201

- good sound for the money

- pleasant sound not annoying or too aggressive sound (mid range) like cheap ones usually have

- good low-end (a good kick)

- flat sound (a bit boring) there a lot of details missing (esp. in the high range)

- not very neutral and analytic

- not that good of an isolation

- they “hurt” after wearing them for more than 1-2 hours (not that comfortable)

So yes its a cheap headphone and in a way you can hear & feel that but on the other hand its maybe one of the best sounding and most usable (and widely used) headphone in that price-rage. So totally ok.

KRK KNS-6400

- very neutral and analytic sound

- quite powerful but not too much kick

- nice low-end, good high range (very “reasonable”)

- very comfortable (to wear) even more than 1-2 hours

- good isolation

- you can catch stuff pretty good if something is wrong with a recording or edit

- tend to sound a lil bit “harsh” if you listen to stuff too loud (and i mean really toooooo loud)

- they might sound a bit “dry” (that can be good sometimes)

- maybe a bit emphasizing in the 200-600 Hz range for some stuff (for my taste)

- no “wow effect” (but that is good bcuz you want them to be neutral)

So they indeed sound like KRK Studio Monitors for your ears. Very solid, well made and “neutral’ish” sounding headphones. You really can use them to spot issues with your recording or edit. They might not be as enjoyable as the DT770 Pro’s or any other more Hi Fi oriented headphones. So, yes there is now “wow-effect” in terms of that your stuff suddenly sound like a Timbaland production and you don’t had to do something for that …But what would be the point of having too pleasing sound … that would miss the target of these headphones (so to speak). If something sounds really bad on these KRK headphones it is really bad. So yes they kinda keep their promise (KRK Studio Monitors for your ears).

Verdict

Solid and usable. Go get them if you need neutral and comfortable headphones, especially if you have and like KRK’s as your audio monitors. Don’t get them if you “only” need nice sounding headphones for listening to your Classic or Jazz Music … they are not made for that. For Studio use they are totally ok (well actually they ROCK … IMO)

On thing though: Headphone can NOT replace audio-monitors (speakers) when it comes to a good sound mix (regardless which brand or price) it’s just a too special or different of an “hearing point” so to speak. You will not get the same sound / “timbre” out of headphones … ever. I don’t use them for mixing, just for editing or recording or maybe just in case I really can’t use monitors in some situations. 90% of the time I use audio monitors only for my work. Though i have to say it is kinda essential to have good headphones around. It’s nice or essential to be able to listen “closely” / deeper into something or to check a mix or an edit (spot a edit inaccuracy or something like that)

One last thing

As with your Audio-Monitors or even Video-Monitors (for that matter) you have to get to know them in a way. How they “have to” sound for certain stuff/work/job/material. So I tend to listen to my favorite stuff/music/movies/own work I already know (how it sounds on other monitors even my speakers at home or in my car).

So you can make the most use out of your new headphones … that might take a while (like a few days or weeks … just saying.

Well that wasn’t Brief, was it?!

Oh BTW more about Audio at my “old” Blog-post: “its all about audio“

sorry folks too much info & input about FCPX the last few days! … i hope it clears up a lil over the next few days!
my fist lil i conclusion after one+ day: FCPX will be a great app with some updates! 

i only have two big issues so far: no way to connect my external LCD screen via my HDMI card and the color correction tools are cheap – we need 3rd party plugin support – like MagicBulletLooks & Colorista II asap!!!! (RedGaint Software already announced that they are on it and there will be an free FCPX update)

anyway feel free to join FCPX group on Facebook

one of the best blog posts so far:
thefinalrewrite.net

meanwhile i’ll work with FCPX the next few days/weeks and will let you know what my take on it is as soon as i get some experience with it!

UPDATE:  nice set of FCPX tutorials … constantly updating!
check it out: http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/finalcutprox

Oh and if you are serious about getting to know FCPX go and buy the Ripple Training for FCPX for 40 bucks – its worth the money. you don’t lean how to edit, though  ;) (no training dvd can do that) … but you learn how FCPX works

And a “shockingly true” post form Larry Jordan!
larryjordan.biz

UPDATE 2:

i have a FCPX tutorial links section now … and will cover some workflows & stuff by myself as well.
first off FCPX Data Management

UPDATE 3:

a very nice FCP7 vs. FCPX blog post:
Thoughts On FCP X by Alex Lindsay
bordersac.com

UPDATE 4:

REVIEW: Final Cut Pro X
The Radically Redesigned NLE Indeed Changes Everything, for Better or Worse
studiodaily.com

fcp.co:  Canon post latest 1.2 update of EOS Movie Plug-in-E1 for Final Cut Pro

“Go to download page for EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro Ver1.2
Select OSX from the “Choose Operating System” menu in the middle of the page and the disk image should be third in the list.”

Step 1:

Step 2:

download & install … done! … i will test it today!

UPDATE:
it works just fine with FCP 7.0.3 on Mac OS 10.6.7 … even with files not in the EOS_DIGITAL folder! 

more infos: provideocoalition.com

Tape-Capture? Filters? Titling? Color? Motion? DVD studio pro? Scopes? … and so on… we have to wait & see … i guess

A roundup of the FCPX by fcp.co

Here we are nearly a week after the Final Cut Pro X sneak preview by EDITBLOG on PVC

Apple dropped the ball… by biscardicreative.com

The “Future” of editing  by biscardicreative.com

and more coming at:

http://www.artoftheguillotine.com/

well what can i say … i’m kinda busy  … but who isn’t ?!

… anyway… if i do blog posts i would like to give you some “in-depth” stuff, “researched” by my own – if you know what i mean – not just only copying stuff or make a quick re-post about something 10 other fellows already posted stuff about … (for my quick posts & links & stuff i have my tumblr page …)

i will update some links and some new “inspirations”-clips / links … i hope …soon.
But for now i just don’t have the “energy” to come up with new stuff … even though i have a long list of subjects (all around FCP/Workflow and more) i would like to do / test & post… but my “real” work keeps my quite engaged. …

OK one or two things tough:

There will be an LCW BigEye Viewfinder review up online soon … and i’m testing the ABC DSLR-Light-Jib over the next few weeks … but that’s more about DLSR-shooting

Anyhow … as a proof i really do other stuff than blogging all day here a re-edited & updated show reel … just in case :

cya soon

updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/michaschmidt/

UPDATE 2 : Video shows how some stuff in FCP 8 works (right at the end of this post)

UPDATE 3: more new facts and a new video (right at the end of this post)

—————————————

UPDATE 4: now that is a real one! (for real) … (6th of April)

… So that would be April 12th … (Tuesday)
more infos: provideocoalition.com

—————————————

UPDATE 5: now that is another real one! (for real) … (6th of April)

FCPUGNetwork: ”The Final Cut Pro User Group Network is excited to have a very special guest presentation at the 10th Annual Las Vegas FCPUG SuperMeet. Come to see a surprise sneak peek at something very special – you really do not want to miss this one!”
supermeet.com

—————————————

Well … after months and months of speculation and waiting today the curtain did drop, at least a lil bit.
Some first screenshots and feature-details “leaked” into the Video-Editing-World:

I’ve got the info yesterday, but was in the edit-suite all day … so i had no time to “look into” that. And there was an NDA till this morning 12:01am anyways

Well what can i say it seems like some fears getting reality.
The interface looks very familiar. First big change: it will be a more mouse editing oriented  NLE-App … one more step into iOS direction i guess.

Good thing though: FCP8 will be more integrated with Motion & Co. Not just templates & “send/link to” in a drop down menu. How far this integration goes is not specified publicly yet.It will be an App Store only app … you can buy all FinalCutStudio Apps standalone or in one package – pricing will be Announced. Apple will have a Special Event one week after NAB on 19th of April.

Some first Screenshots:

Key-Features are:

- 64 bit App

- Background Rendering

- GPU acceleration

- can use up to 64 GB Ram and all CPUs avalible

- native H.246 and R3D support including RED EPIC / HDRx and many other codecs

- new Title tools

- Quicktime Pro 11 / AV Foundation with OS X Lion

- 3D editing mode

- ProResLT, ProRes 422, ProResHQ 422 ProRes 4444, all 12bit YUV only

- Blu-ray, CNN iReporter,  Vimeo, MySpace support

- Single Screen / Window App

- new Edit mode’s (called “Freehand” and “Magic-Mind”")

Thats it … many more infos to come soon …

So is all that a good thing? … well … as Apple claims: the new FCP will be for the mainstream of Apple’s customer base…

—————

UPDATE 2:

so here is a lil screen capture to show how some new stuff works in FCP 8

—————

UPDATE 3:

new Video  -  Larry Jordan answers questions. (LINK)

Oh and one new Fact: it’s all an April Fool … sorry

…but c’mon:

- H.246 ??

- Quicktime Pro 11 ??

- 12bit YUV only ???

- Blu-ray & MySpace support ???

- Single Screen / Window App ???

- new Edit mode’s (called “Freehand” and “Magic-Mind”") ???

… we still have to wait and see wat will come this or next year … for now i like FCP 7