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maxotics

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  1. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from Jedi Master in Blade Runner 2049 bombs at box office   
    I tried to like it.  The sets, fx and cinematography are certainly first rate.  The actors are good, the direction, the editing.  I was able to sit through it.
    Then the scene with the Wallace CEO, head cataract guy, that was NOT a
    Okay, I was a young guy once and can understand dropping a naked women out of a pastry sack and letting her writhe on the floor a bit.  I can even understand the actor with the cataracts blathering the most inane stuff  to his replicant!  (And we thought Gossling was lonely  ) But to knife her for no apparent reason put me into full annoyance mode.  Why do we need to hate him, and if we do, why doesn't he get killed at the end like the maker in the first movie?  
    In the first Blade Runner, there is a simple, strong story that keeps that morose movie together.  Harrison Ford is in a sucky job, in a sucky city, hunting down merciless replicants.  His life is meaningless.  Then he falls in love with a replicant and begins to have doubts about his life values.  Meanwhile, Rutger Hauer, knows his lot in life and wants to understand why it was made for him.  So he searches out his maker.  In the end, even though he is bred to kill, he has compassion and let's Harrison Ford live.  The original Blade Runner put story first.
    What is the story of Blade Runner 2049?  There is none, there are only pieces of story, none of which connect or make much sense.  My fear that it's just a vanity project with too many cooks in the kitchen was borne out, for me.  My favorite proof that  no one with common sense had any control over the script is when the Wallace replicant kills a police forensics guy THEN the police chief and says to Harrison Ford that they're going to take him off-world where they can torture him.  I'm wondering why they can't do it on Earth?  I mean, there is no sense of society, government, police power.  Again, just a mis-mash of half-baked story ideas.   And why kill the police chief.  Makes absolutely no sense.  
    I never cared about any of the characters, except Gossling's hologram.   Though I keep thinking, if Wallace industries makes her, why don't they know what he says to her?  I guess someone got their "let's put in a little bit of 'Her' in BR 2049"  You're in trouble when the only good thing about your movie is the little bit you plagiarized from another
    And the music.  I don't care how good it is, it did not fit the story most of the time.  There were many scenes that would have been stronger without it.  Film-maker children with sound synthesized sound-grenades.
    I heard a young person leaving the theater saying it was "much better than the first one."  
    On a bright note, I just finished "Trapped", the Icelandic series.  Great film-making isn't dead.  
     
  2. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from PannySVHS in Does anyone shoot in B&W?   
    Hey Mercer, finally a post where I can say, "SHOOT LOG ALL THE TIME!"  The drawbacks of LOG, chroma noise, only create a nice film-grain look in BW.  All that said, I believe you'll still get a better image shooting RAW.  I compared the RX10II to the professional X70 I had at the time an couldn't see a difference.  In short, those RX10s shoot a sweet image and have a nice selection of LOG profiles.  If I was going to shoot B&W that would be of my top 10 cameras.  
    Nice images!  I keep meaning to shoot BW.  Another hangup I need to fix.  Post a video when you have one!
    @UncleBobsPhotography  First, you'd need to remove the Color Filter Array (like the Leica Monochrome) to shoot true B&W--in STILLS!  In the RX10, it's actually a 1080 image downsampled from 4K, so you shouldn't have much chroma problems interfering with your B&W.  In other words, not sure a b&w sensor would give you much benefit except it should be more sensitive to light (having no light-slowing micro-filter-lenses) and give you a higher effective ISO.   h264 duplicates values in 420 or 422.  Cracks me up that in some other threads people want 444 in 10bit.  Who needs that?  Give me 444 in 8bit and I'll throw a party!   Anyway, h.264 stinks for everything compared to RAW but stinks less for B&W
    Rock on Mercer!!!!
     
  3. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from Geoff CB in Software to trim MP4 4k files without recoding   
    Apparently my bug about the C100 slipped through the cracks at Lesspain / Kyno.  They asked me to try it again in the new 1.4 version and I can report that it is fixed.  It's a very nicely thought-out piece of software which allows you to trim, copy, re-encode video/audio in whatever manner you want .
    They have a trial.  Highly recommended that you try it out, if you do any footage "pre-processing".
    https://lesspain.software/kyno/
  4. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from zetty in How to Take Advantage of Our Entirely Saturated Market and Make Money   
    My goal was "Hollywood" in my 20s (did work there a bit) but ended up in financial software/data for the past 30+ years. My guess is DP work is similar. My experience.
    1. Film/Photography/Video, has always been a near impossible field to make a living in.  My observation 30+ years.  Unless you specialize in a very complex area where a shortage of talent develops.  In photography and film, bad news, those areas DO NOT EXIST   There is always an excess supply of talent.
    2. One's availability today is worth more to a prospective client than someone else's genius available tomorrow.  Don't kid yourself.  Whatever the client says, you're replaceable and a minor part of their world.  You can be a raving egomaniac in your domain, but get in the way of someone signing your check and no amount of genius will save you.  Make yourself available.  
    3. A client only needs 10% of your skill.  When you try to give them more, it confuses them and can work against you when they want to hire again.  Understanding and matching a client's priorities, which will ALWAYS be slightly different than your expertise, is paramount.  Anticipating the client's needs, which may be some form of "cleaning the windows" is 90% of completing a success project.  Keep your head out of your head out of your ass.
    Does all this mean you shouldn't become the most skillful DP possible?  No, but you learn for YOU, for your pride in your work.  Do not connect skill with ability to get work.  It will have very little to do with what work you get.  I know that sounds unbelievable.  I don't quite believe it myself.  Yet if I objectively look at all the work done out there, it seems random, the scale of stuff, from bad to great.  In other words, the quality should be better IF THERE was a meritocracy.  There is simply too much poorly done stuff, in my eyes, in all areas of tech, to indicate that quality is the prime factor to employment.  Good quality stuff is there by luck.
    Human endeavors are complex, emotionally laden efforts to give meaning to our lives.  What gives you meaning, say great lighting, doesn't give the actor meaning, or the producer, etc.  Be compassionate to others.
    Bottom line, if you're thrilled to have the opportunity to even get coffee on the set you'll find a place.  If you're thinking about "saturated markets" and "making money" clients will pick up on that and get someone they think will work for free, because yeah, we all just suck!  It's just a job.  Money is always an issue.  9 out 10 pats on the back you must give yourself.
     
     
  5. Thanks
    maxotics got a reaction from kidzrevil in Canon 5D Mark III - 3.5K and 4K raw video with Magic Lantern   
    People talk about only "8 stops of dynamic range" as if it's unusable.  I love following Andrew's and everyone else's analysis of how to maximize various camera's potential, but we sometimes let things get out of perspective.  The order of important in my experience is 1. Lighting 2. Focus/stabilization 3. Lens 4. Sensor 5. Ergonomics 6. CODEC.   Yes, we can't control the lighting all the time, but we also have to compare cameras in how they do in properly lit scenes; that is, scenes at/under 8 stops of DR.  Here's my take on why we must never forget that shooting scene with more than 8 stops of dynamic range is something we really want to avoid.  No camera can truly save it.  It becomes a calculus of atrocities.  
     
  6. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from graphicnatured in Time to dump Adobe. First impressions of Resolve 14 and EditReady 2.0   
    GREAT SUGGESTION!  I just installed Kyno.  I know I've become a little slow, but I always struggle with creating clips from my footage in Premiere, or anywhere else, that I can use later.  I always want to do a pre-trim right after I shoot so I remember what I want.  With Kyno, I figured it out in 5 minutes and it has all the options I can think of.  I look at the video, mark my in and out (it scrubs through quickly), then cut the clip (no transcoding) to the same file name + "something that describes what this freakin' clip is" text.  Very exciting piece of software!  For what it's worth, it's as if they read my mind about all the scut-work that makes it so I do far fewer YouTube videos than I'd like.  Again, thanks Axel!!!
  7. Like
    maxotics reacted to webrunner5 in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    And that is what Rec. 709 has been doing for 30 years or more.
  8. Like
    maxotics reacted to Django in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Actually, outside sources reveal iPhone X is a flop and manufacturing will be cut by 50% this quarter. iPhone 8 is also underperforming.. but you know what i find most amusing?  all this fuss over HDR.. to end up being viewed, by what 1% of the population? on a glossy 4" phone display in mixed lighting (while being bombarded by on-screen notifications & incoming calls..) what a time to be alive!
    seriously though i'm with others here.. HDR at this point is mostly marketing hype. Nobody in the real world is equipped for it yet and just like 3D TVs which came and went or even 4K TVs at launch that were being pushed before there was even any 4k broadcast material available.. heck i remember when HDR was the next cool thing in photography, now it's considered kind of corny.. time will tell but something tells me HDR video is just the trend of the day like hyper-lapse, super-slomo, VR etc.. All of which are cool things but I'm certainly in no rush to jump on the bandwagon, then again it's a subjective thing, and my aesthetic tends more around organic/filmic rather than hyperrealism.
     
  9. Thanks
    maxotics reacted to HockeyFan12 in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    http://www.digital-intermediate.co.uk/film/pdf/Cineon.pdf
    https://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/mkt/cinema/solutions/slog_manual.pdf
    http://www.panavision.com/sites/default/files/docs/documentLibrary/Panalog Explained.pdf
     
  10. Thanks
    maxotics reacted to webrunner5 in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Don't Leave Max, it will be boring as hell here without you!
    And maybe the first to have Log might be. "The CvpFileEditor can be used with the HDW-F900R for creation of custom gamma curves. Existing gamma curves, generated for use with the original HDW-F900, can also be applied." 2006 camera.
    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/633399-REG/Sony_HDWF900RPAC1D_HDW_F900R_CineAlta_24P_HDCAM.html
  11. Thanks
    maxotics reacted to PannySVHS in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Hey Max, but only because you are up to some great treats real life has to offer, I am sure! Don´t bother with one or two polemic comments in this thread. You are contributing very well written, very interesting and knowledgeabele articles, providing perspectives and approaches to novice techies like me and others.
    What I know is, DR helps big time to avoid clipping.
    What I also know, 8bit SLOG does that by stealing too many values in the dark areas, giving us natiest banding of two color values instead of gradations of 20-60 values. This is something I found in your comments as well beside a whole lot of interesting observations.
    Anyway, great post of yours and some great arguments and knowledge from some other posters as well.
  12. Thanks
    maxotics got a reaction from IronFilm in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    You guys are killing me!  You know, I want to be as liked as the next guy.  When I first started this stuff years ago I got into a huge fight with someone on the Magic Lantern forum.  I insisted each pixel captures a full color.  I went on and on and on.  Much like you guys are doing to me. I feel shame just thinking about it.  In the end, I learned 2 things 1) What a CFA is and what de-mosaicing does and 2) Always consider the possibility I might be not just wrong, but horrendously, embarrassingly wrong.  It's what we do after learning our errors that define us (hint, hint @IronFilm).  Anyway, after the MF thing I try to be like the guy who educated me.  He didn't give up on me and I'm glad he didn't....but it's hard.
  13. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from PannySVHS in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Yes, that article, from 2009, goes into the trade-offs of LOG gammas!  My theory is that many young filmmakers identified LOG with professional, so when LOGs appeared on their cameras began to shoot with it, forgetting the fine-points of data capture mentioned in technical papers like that.  Also, the cottage-industry of color profile makers set out to "fix" LOG footage, conveniently forgetting to educate their customers that sometimes what a filmmaker needs, to get the colors they want, is to shoot in a normal rec.709 gamma. 
  14. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from PannySVHS in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    I'm not going to go that far, Mark.  What I said about the limitations of HDR I still believe true.  If you believe I have given incorrect information please post it right here.  Please quote me verbatim and give technical proof of any technical inaccuracy I have given.  I have given technical data above, to show the difficulties inherent in providing increased dynamic range.  I am the closest person here to a real engineer as I have worked with RAW data on a very low level.  For example, when you tell me you can understand this then let's talk https://bitbucket.org/maxotics/focuspixelfixer/src/016f599a8c708fd0762bfac5cd13a15bbe3ef7ff/Program.cs?at=master&fileviewer=file-view-default  "Those people who know more than you on HDR" is who?  Sorry, but just because you can go out and buy a $5,000 camera and TV doesn't mean you know anything about how it is built, how it works, or what it can do when measured SCIENTIFICALLY against other TVs. 
    Unlike you, I don't just post clips from expensive cameras of walking around in parks and train stations.  I build software and experiments to test what cameras do.  That IS my thing.  I build gadgets to help with technology.  I've designed and built cameras that take 1+ gigapixel images. http://maxotics.com/service/ though a single optic.  If you don't value what I've learned fine, but I don't see why you need to leave the nastiest comment I've ever read here on EOSHD.
     
  15. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from EthanAlexander in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    I'm not going to go that far, Mark.  What I said about the limitations of HDR I still believe true.  If you believe I have given incorrect information please post it right here.  Please quote me verbatim and give technical proof of any technical inaccuracy I have given.  I have given technical data above, to show the difficulties inherent in providing increased dynamic range.  I am the closest person here to a real engineer as I have worked with RAW data on a very low level.  For example, when you tell me you can understand this then let's talk https://bitbucket.org/maxotics/focuspixelfixer/src/016f599a8c708fd0762bfac5cd13a15bbe3ef7ff/Program.cs?at=master&fileviewer=file-view-default  "Those people who know more than you on HDR" is who?  Sorry, but just because you can go out and buy a $5,000 camera and TV doesn't mean you know anything about how it is built, how it works, or what it can do when measured SCIENTIFICALLY against other TVs. 
    Unlike you, I don't just post clips from expensive cameras of walking around in parks and train stations.  I build software and experiments to test what cameras do.  That IS my thing.  I build gadgets to help with technology.  I've designed and built cameras that take 1+ gigapixel images. http://maxotics.com/service/ though a single optic.  If you don't value what I've learned fine, but I don't see why you need to leave the nastiest comment I've ever read here on EOSHD.
     
  16. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from EthanAlexander in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    I never said it wouldn't be more pleasing to me.  I said I was doubtful it would solve the DR problem inherent in 8-bit equipment.  It can be better for a lot of other reasons having nothing to do with DR!  I've said this a lot but feel my statements have been taken out of context.  If I could do it all over again I wouldn't have said or speculated about anything HDR since it just wasn't appropriate because some people are just getting into HDR and it dilutes the worth of what they're doing (which is the last thing I want to do).  For that, I am sorry.
  17. Like
    maxotics reacted to EthanAlexander in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    I like you I just think you're wrong.
    JK ; ) - Seriously though I just disagree about benefits outweighing the costs. I believe you that there are certainly drawbacks to trying to cram so much info into a small container; as I mentioned I don't shoot SLog nearly as much now, after reading some of your posts. But I know, having compared the HDR and SDR masters of a huge-budget feature, that ultimately HDR is more pleasing to me.
    I do appreciate all your posts though! They're educational and make me think. And your posts back in June are actually the reason I even signed up for a forum account... I signed up to argue with you about S Log 
  18. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from EthanAlexander in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    You guys are killing me!  You know, I want to be as liked as the next guy.  When I first started this stuff years ago I got into a huge fight with someone on the Magic Lantern forum.  I insisted each pixel captures a full color.  I went on and on and on.  Much like you guys are doing to me. I feel shame just thinking about it.  In the end, I learned 2 things 1) What a CFA is and what de-mosaicing does and 2) Always consider the possibility I might be not just wrong, but horrendously, embarrassingly wrong.  It's what we do after learning our errors that define us (hint, hint @IronFilm).  Anyway, after the MF thing I try to be like the guy who educated me.  He didn't give up on me and I'm glad he didn't....but it's hard.
  19. Like
    maxotics reacted to Inazuma in This guy is hilarious   
    Everyone has different experiences. I really disliked the Mac interface when I tried it years ago. Windows gives me no problems. 
  20. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from jonpais in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Me too.  I'm bored with video/photography lately!!!!!  Again, Jon, I appreciate that you're reporting back from HDR land!  I can definitely see how dual ISO, rather dual-voltage tech, could fit right in!
  21. Like
    maxotics reacted to markr041 in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    BestBuy demos are terrible. Before I could watch HDR using videos I chose or shot on my own viewing devices, based on what I saw at BestBuy I thought HDR was a marketing ploy.
    If you can adjust the TV picture mode away from Retail Vivid to Normal or Cinema and play an HDR video using the TV's YouTube app maybe you will "get the picture". You also need to view a good video. Maybe people here can suggest some examples.
  22. Haha
    maxotics reacted to IronFilm in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    And then there is the other 10%... who hang out on camera forums such as this
  23. Thanks
    maxotics got a reaction from IronFilm in What was the first professional camera to shoot LOG gamma?   
    Yes, that article, from 2009, goes into the trade-offs of LOG gammas!  My theory is that many young filmmakers identified LOG with professional, so when LOGs appeared on their cameras began to shoot with it, forgetting the fine-points of data capture mentioned in technical papers like that.  Also, the cottage-industry of color profile makers set out to "fix" LOG footage, conveniently forgetting to educate their customers that sometimes what a filmmaker needs, to get the colors they want, is to shoot in a normal rec.709 gamma. 
  24. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from IronFilm in Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable   
    Goes to show you how much I follow who-does-what anymore.   "What We Do" blew me away.  It's difficult to do a 2-minute video gag.  90 minutes?  One of the best films I've seen in the past ten years.  I watched it twice with my kids.  One of them has probably watched it three times.
  25. Like
    maxotics got a reaction from Kisaha in Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable   
    Goes to show you how much I follow who-does-what anymore.   "What We Do" blew me away.  It's difficult to do a 2-minute video gag.  90 minutes?  One of the best films I've seen in the past ten years.  I watched it twice with my kids.  One of them has probably watched it three times.
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