Ed_David

Anyone notice anything worse about the Davinci Resolve PC version over the Mac version?
Because I think I am jumping ship from apple to PC - the Thinkpad p50 seems like a mac pro but $2000 cheaper - and all I really need is resolve to edit my stuff and color.
I'm pretty much done with final cut pro - and therefore done with the price gorging - all the cult-like Apple BS at their stores - and just all of it.
Windows 10 I have been using for 3 weeks or so - super stable.  I love it.  Works very fast and well.  
So goodbye to you Apple, I hope.  You have a really nice OS but it's not worth $2000.  Also this way I can play the Witcher 3 and GTA V on the road!

Version 2 of the Beta is out, just reinstalled and all my audio issues went away
Now there are 0 reasons for me to keep CC.

Messing with the A7R II - good, but I would wait if you can till the A7S II - rolling shutter issues.  Also save some cash. 
 
Here's my receipe that I'm liking:
COLOR MATRIX  - Pro, not s gamut - reds feel more red
COLOR GAMMA - CINE4, not slog - cleaner highlights.  Slog2 looks weird with an 8 bit codec how it gets noisy in highlights
Black Level: 0
Black Gamma > Range: Middle , Level: -3
Knee > Mode: Auto , Auto Set > Max Point: 95 , Sensitivity: Mid
Colore Mode: Pro
Saturation: +8
Color Phase -2
Color Depth > R+1, G-1, B+2,, C-2, M-1, Y-3
Detail > Level, -5 Adjust > Mode; Manual, V/H Balance: -2, B/W Balance Type3, Limit: 0, Crispening:0, hi_light Detail: 0
White balance > Manual > Grid setting B 1 (one to the left)
You don't have to follow it perfectly, but overall it can get to some stunning results.
And the secret to any log recording is post.  Use film convert.  filmconvert.com.  Or impulz luts.  Select slog 2 - modify it - less contrast - less of a curve since it's less flat as s log 2
I used Film Convert Arri Alexa Log C profile for grading. FilmConvert setting is Arri Alexa as the camera. logC. film stock is Fuji Film 8543 Vivid. color 93. curve 100. size 35mm full frame. grain 0.  But just mess around - find what you like.
Have fun!
And everyone post your own.  Together we can help each other improve.  That's what it's all about - using the Hive to get better.  Get knowledge, give knowledge.

Messing with the A7R II - good, but I would wait if you can till the A7S II - rolling shutter issues.  Also save some cash. 
 
Here's my receipe that I'm liking:
COLOR MATRIX  - Pro, not s gamut - reds feel more red
COLOR GAMMA - CINE4, not slog - cleaner highlights.  Slog2 looks weird with an 8 bit codec how it gets noisy in highlights
Black Level: 0
Black Gamma > Range: Middle , Level: -3
Knee > Mode: Auto , Auto Set > Max Point: 95 , Sensitivity: Mid
Colore Mode: Pro
Saturation: +8
Color Phase -2
Color Depth > R+1, G-1, B+2,, C-2, M-1, Y-3
Detail > Level, -5 Adjust > Mode; Manual, V/H Balance: -2, B/W Balance Type3, Limit: 0, Crispening:0, hi_light Detail: 0
White balance > Manual > Grid setting B 1 (one to the left)
You don't have to follow it perfectly, but overall it can get to some stunning results.
And the secret to any log recording is post.  Use film convert.  filmconvert.com.  Or impulz luts.  Select slog 2 - modify it - less contrast - less of a curve since it's less flat as s log 2
I used Film Convert Arri Alexa Log C profile for grading. FilmConvert setting is Arri Alexa as the camera. logC. film stock is Fuji Film 8543 Vivid. color 93. curve 100. size 35mm full frame. grain 0.  But just mess around - find what you like.
Have fun!
And everyone post your own.  Together we can help each other improve.  That's what it's all about - using the Hive to get better.  Get knowledge, give knowledge.

you are right, I'm done with their conflict of interest.  
The connection between the president of Red owning BMCuser.com and DVXUSER.com is not healthy for this industry.  I ask all of you to take those sites with a grain of salt.  
Anything bad they say about Andrew Reid can be said a million times against Jim Jinnard and his Reduser reign of terror.  And he's a billionare.  Andrew Reid is just like you and me - just a guy who is trying to improve his cinematography skills. 
I will not be bullied by a billionaire and his army of "Yes Men" and "Board of Bros."
I hope all of you guys can see this too.  It feels good to not be the only one disgusted by how they run their camera forums.
UPDATE - now I feel sorry for the mod who deleted my post.  He is moderating with 27,000 posts a website owned by the president of a multibillion dollar corporation and has to pay for his little ads for his books on sound etc - 
 
So you spend countless hours on this forum and have to pay for your ads? On a forum that is owned by the president of Red camera which is a multimillion dollar corporation owned by a multi-billionare?
Wow okay I'm sorry for calling you a liar. 
But now I feel sorry for you.

 
  Originally Posted by David JimersonYou did call me a liar. Which is an insult. It's also untrue. I haven't lied about a thing.

I do pay for my ads, not that it's any of your business. Have from the start.

Do you pay for the link to your own website in your own signature? (No.) Why is that link there? By your own reasoning, doesn't that make you a "paid employee" as well? If not, why not?

RED is not our parent company; Jim Jannard sets absolutely no rules about how we moderate DVXuser, and Jarred has no involvement here anymore. (He could if he wanted to, but he doesn't.) These are all facts. Your refusal to believe them don't make them any less factual.

I don't have anything to say about Andrew. Like I said, he can say whatever he likes.


   Originally Posted by eddavid  Originally Posted by David JimersonI am no more a "paid employee" of this site than anyone else who runs ads on it. Lowel runs ads for lighting systems -- are they paid employees?

I will admit to a chuckle when I read that. 

   Originally Posted by eddavidNo actually it does. You are generating income from the site. Therefore you are a paid employee - you get paid in advertising. As a paid employee, you are consciously or subconsciously following a code. Because you have a vested interest in these forums.
   Originally Posted by David Jimerson'Coz I don't wanna. Has nothing to do with anything.
   Originally Posted by eddavid  Originally Posted by David Jimerson  Originally Posted by eddavidAnd you like to sell books.I was a mod here for years before I had anything to sell. My participation here isn't necessary to sell anything, anyway.Then why don't you get rid of your banner ads?

I don't have thick skin. I did call you a liar. But that's not an insult, it's the truth. 
Lowel pays for their ads. Do you pay for your ads?

Jim Jinnard runs Red camera which Jared Land, CEO of Landmine Media which owns reduser dvxuser etc is the president of.
Don't you see the conflict of interest?

Anyway I am glad you chuckled. That takes the air out of it. For you thinking that I was threatening you. When I wasn't threatening you.

I am very, very, very curious to hear your take on Andrew Reid. He already told me his take. Please do tell. 

Yes I was playing that game till recently.  I have had a change of heart.  Making short films with old gear that you pretend is new gear also can get you that amount of views.  I did that with my werner herzog review of the ursa mini 4.6k and had a great run.

I don't know if I would put Red and Arri in the same category.  The Red Dragon had quite a few issues and still does - having to pick between a optical filter that allows for highlight handing but effectively makes it a 320 ASA camera without seeing noise in the shadows or a low-light camer at 1000 ASA with very similar limited highlight control and orbing issues is something that in the states made many people turn away from using the camera on shoots.  Plus of course the awkward HD-sdi placement, fan noise, etc - and pretty much all of the world is shooting high-end digital on Arri camera.
But with that said, I own two red one mx - and I love the image I get out of them.  It's so good, in fact, I never replaced them with red epic mx cameras.  I'm very happy with them.
I think no one should preorder and BMC does release sometimes too early - I really believe in waiting a year or two to jump and then you can get a camera at 50% off, and in the meatime, first just rent it out and test it.
The Sony F3 seems to be a much better value than the a7r II based on Andrew's review and right now they are selling new for $4k - or used for $2k - less moire, rolling shutter.  And still has s log and nice color and skintones.
I really don't quite get the rush to have cameras that don't exist yet.

Yes I was playing that game till recently.  I have had a change of heart.  Making short films with old gear that you pretend is new gear also can get you that amount of views.  I did that with my werner herzog review of the ursa mini 4.6k and had a great run.

Yes, it's a bazooka!
I completely agree with you. 
If I'm honest, I haven't bought a new camera for 3 years. The last one I bought was a Panasonic GH3. I bought a load of old FD and M42 lenses for it. I never loved the camera, but I was happy with the work I was producing. Business still going well. I'm still using it now and rent the FS7 when required.  I never jumped on the 4k bandwagon - I want more than just a jump in resolution.
I pre-ordered the URSA Mini as I love the Blackmagic image. Also I put down a small deposit (not the full fee) so I could monitor the progress of the camera up until it's eventual release. I can cancel whenever, but it's likely I won't. 
Most of my clients ask for cinematic imagery, high frame rates and high resolution images - features that many other (sort of) affordable cameras don't have. The URSA Mini does - so in the scheme of things, this could be a blossoming relationship with the new dude on the block. 

I use 0-255 and MBL 0 (defaults) with DR gamma, sharpness -10 (lowest), and contrast -5 (anything lower or higher can cause artifacts). Keeping at 0-255 and MBL 0 makes sure you use the entire range of the (tiny) 8 bit range. As I see, the only reason to use 16-235 is when you plan to hand off the footage directly without post processing. Check out my thread NX1 Dynamic Range Settings that has more on this.

A free non-linear editor that will be good enough to do a lot of work - and a great organizational tool like Resolve futher makes me think this is going to be a game-changer again.  Why put all this stuff out for free?
 
I have no clue - guess it gets more people to like Blackmagic.

also BMC micro with its global shutter will be super interesting as a go pro replacement

Basicially to get similar output you would need a a7rii with an odyssey 7q+ and would end up costing same as ursa mini.
 
Also in 6 months the a7s ii will come out.
So before you buy. Have patience. Wait for reviews.
Dont blow all your money on the new toy.
Issues of skew and jello. Look harder at images
 
Rent and compare cameras.
 
3 grand plus is a lot of money.

Basicially to get similar output you would need a a7rii with an odyssey 7q+ and would end up costing same as ursa mini.
 
Also in 6 months the a7s ii will come out.
So before you buy. Have patience. Wait for reviews.
Dont blow all your money on the new toy.
Issues of skew and jello. Look harder at images
 
Rent and compare cameras.
 
3 grand plus is a lot of money.

Basicially to get similar output you would need a a7rii with an odyssey 7q+ and would end up costing same as ursa mini.
 
Also in 6 months the a7s ii will come out.
So before you buy. Have patience. Wait for reviews.
Dont blow all your money on the new toy.
Issues of skew and jello. Look harder at images
 
Rent and compare cameras.
 
3 grand plus is a lot of money.

4:4:4:4 12 bit raw means nothing if the sensor's readout or photosite information is limited - it's the back end vs front end
I think a few people made that point in regards to the BMC 4k camera.
So many factors to take into account than 8-bit vs 12-bit, and log vs raw vs rec 709 - Ebrahim made this point really well in his post on all of this.
 
Just find a camera that you like and learn how to light and compose better.
By messing with instagram on my android galaxy s4, I have found myself getting better frames in my cinematography work.  Not endlessly speculating on what camera will give me what I need in codecs.  Just by shooting with a crappy camera and figuring out what I can squeeze out of it.

owning gear is good if you want to shoot your own stuff and to play with a camera and figure out its quirks - it can be good - that's how I did it.
I still use gear on tons of jobs - mostly the monitors and support and all that. 
The actual camera and lenses at a certain point you can just rent.
But it's really good to know the fundementals of it all, and saves you money when you want to go out and make a film or let your friends make a film.  Rental houses will cut you a deal on your small stuff, but well I didn't go that route.
But with that said, it's an expensive, endless game - owning gear.  Stuff is always breaking.  Insurance costs.  It's a lot of work.  I enjoy it, but I feel that it keeps me from also thinking about more important things like this script I am procrastinating on or learning lighting.

gamma and matrix are two seperate things.
Log and CINE gammas control the dynamic range and contrast
matrix is the color - this I prefer PRO for more natural skin tones and use Kholi hick's settings for the best skintones.  Just experiment around.  See what combination works best.  I think generalizations like it's too green and yellow isn't give the camera a fair chance.  But then again, I'm a hypocrit because I make fun of the nx1 being too magenta.  SO who am I to judge?

So Gawker melted down - I followed it - the biggest thing that was really behind it wasn't what was on the surface - that poor story about the conde nast exec - it was corporate management taking over editorial - and well it was secretly really about this article - http://gawker.com/brands-are-not-your-friend-1684232182 - why brands aren't your friends.

In their meeting they talked about firing the author -Sam Briddle - as Gawker starts to care more about making money. Some say growing up - but there is nothing wrong with this article - it's not offensive to a person, it doesn't destroy someone - it's purely truth to power.

And they wanted to fire the writer - and that's not good to admit publically.

But why should we care - we are filmmakers?  Because all film is politcal.  We are a wing of journalism even if you are a VFX artist on Michael Bay films -that's political - it's your choice to support this modern blockbuster world - and you are making something seen by many.

You can't escape the politics.

And part of why I got banned from 2 other forums is because I started to show the truth behind the corporate control of those sites - almost the same reason they wanted to fire Sam - and I thought that corporate control of a forum to advance the discussion and science of filmmaking was harmful to the online principle.  It was so nice of the admin to create this site.

But see this is the thing - I work for advertising and I love them and the people I work for - they are all great people - we all are good people - we just know that corporations exist except for b corporations to solely make money.  Everything else is secondary.  So I have no ethical quandry being a counter to some of these measures especially since I believe in environmental and economic sustainability, just like the Pope, and that puts us in conflict.  This doesn't mean I don't like working on commercials - I actually love it because it gives me the free time to do my own work to try to help the world out - I couldn't do that if I was working for little to no pay on a doc that would take 70 hours of my week away.  I love advertisers - but there has to be boundaries.  Or soceity will continue to fade more and more into environmental and social decay.

There is a reason the press exists - it's a fundemental part of freedom and democracy.  When the press starts to cowtow to corporate interests anymore than it already has, it gets weak.  And then the bad will continue, more and more.  And this isn't fun to watch.

So Gawker melted down - I followed it - the biggest thing that was really behind it wasn't what was on the surface - that poor story about the conde nast exec - it was corporate management taking over editorial - and well it was secretly really about this article - http://gawker.com/brands-are-not-your-friend-1684232182 - why brands aren't your friends.

In their meeting they talked about firing the author -Sam Briddle - as Gawker starts to care more about making money. Some say growing up - but there is nothing wrong with this article - it's not offensive to a person, it doesn't destroy someone - it's purely truth to power.

And they wanted to fire the writer - and that's not good to admit publically.

But why should we care - we are filmmakers?  Because all film is politcal.  We are a wing of journalism even if you are a VFX artist on Michael Bay films -that's political - it's your choice to support this modern blockbuster world - and you are making something seen by many.

You can't escape the politics.

And part of why I got banned from 2 other forums is because I started to show the truth behind the corporate control of those sites - almost the same reason they wanted to fire Sam - and I thought that corporate control of a forum to advance the discussion and science of filmmaking was harmful to the online principle.  It was so nice of the admin to create this site.

But see this is the thing - I work for advertising and I love them and the people I work for - they are all great people - we all are good people - we just know that corporations exist except for b corporations to solely make money.  Everything else is secondary.  So I have no ethical quandry being a counter to some of these measures especially since I believe in environmental and economic sustainability, just like the Pope, and that puts us in conflict.  This doesn't mean I don't like working on commercials - I actually love it because it gives me the free time to do my own work to try to help the world out - I couldn't do that if I was working for little to no pay on a doc that would take 70 hours of my week away.  I love advertisers - but there has to be boundaries.  Or soceity will continue to fade more and more into environmental and social decay.

There is a reason the press exists - it's a fundemental part of freedom and democracy.  When the press starts to cowtow to corporate interests anymore than it already has, it gets weak.  And then the bad will continue, more and more.  And this isn't fun to watch.

Here's a film I shot in 2013 with the Sony F35 using Cineon colorspace with some impulz luts that I just went back in and graded.
 
 
Here's the original grade I did a year ago:
 
 
And here's the full short film - grade I wasn't able to help with due to my schedule.
 
It's subtle but the difference is big when going into Cineon camera space to work - what tectures one can get in.Also I worked more this time on vignette, on playing with sharpness and making grain and noise more subtle.Also adding a blur to the outside of the footage.  
It's amazing how much you can change an image based on the grade - how important it all is.  And how I have developed my sensibilities in color since 2013.  How it comes from exposure to films that are shot very well - to learn to see with color and light - it's all trained experience that one gets from just watching more and more films.  How more and more I learned to care about the grade - to now want to be there to help with the grade.
We can really get into cameras, lenses, and more, but in the end, the edit and the grade are the gate keepers of image.  And image is very important for a story - it's a visual medium.  So much comes from the look of a film.  This isn't just radio.  Visuals are much of what a film is, and can help make or break the narrative.  Sometimes films can break out with poor narrative and poor acting and good cinematography, but it's a giant package.  
 
Just as in photography, a compelling photo could be framed poorly or well - and usually if it's framed better, it will overall be a more compelling experience.
The right angle, the right shot is so fascinating to chase - to be creative of where to put your camera to tell the story.
And more and more I think we cinematographers need to be there to help with the grade, to make sure we can help translate and get the final image to where we want it to be.  I saw this brought up in American Cinematographer and more and more I agree with this.  We need to be involved with the entire process.

​Definitely not.  
Brand loyalty, a strong hard-wired-to-the-brain-physiological-effect that marketers have been successfully exploiting for generations gets in the way of rationality.  Humans are irrational people when willingly or unwillingly ignorant --and they rely on those "gut-decisions," typically based on familiarity, in those instances.  Advertisers know this and it's why advertisements/marketing is most often built not to actively sell product but to get the familiarity of the brand stuck in your mind in a welcoming way.  After all, Coca-Cola ads never sell the actual thing, they sell happiness, love, and comfort.  And to get it you're encouraged to buy the can/bottle with their logo on it.  Same with imaging.  You want to be a great photographer you HAVE to buy a" Canikon" ...because that's what just about everybody has familiarity with.  You heard about it, you know people that use it, etc.
So, as us filmmakers/photographers get more informed we can make more rational decisions.  Newbies can't really do this as they don't grasp the details as well, so they'll most likely tend toward Canon and Nikon unless actively exposed to different ideas.
This post is an excellent example of explaining those different ideas in the context of making motion pictures.  It might seem redundant to us that have been in the market for awhile, but for somebody new to it, it'll be very helpful just as a way to understand how to consider things they've never considered.
Good job on articulating those basics Ebrahim, it'll definitely help someone in the future!  If I could up vote this or pin it to the top of the page, I would absolutely do so!

Well, most reviews are just part of the marketing machine and I don't see a way of changing that. Nice write-up anyhow!

"- The durability under various conditions 
-The materials used in the built"
These two I find are often mentmentioned in the prosumer to pro segment as well as if its one of the main features of the camera. 

Whoa! that is one hell of a post.  Basically, you have intellectualised the thought process of a rational intelligent person in this field.  The problem is that not all people are sufficiently intelligent and also sufficiently rational.  This is why spec lists work as advertising. This is what has driven the megapixel war and now the 4k push.  What use is 4k if its got aliasing, macroblocking, focus pulsating and rolling shutter skew to the eyeballs?  Try pointing that out to someone who has already decided to buy the camera because its spec sheet says its 4k and has this and that, and they will say "Dude! this file is COMPRESSED! You need to see the original."  Yeah, because no video on youtube has ever looked good, right?  It's very hard if not impossible to get through to these people.  But be thankful that you are able to evaluate things rationally.