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KnightsFan

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  1. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from rainbowmerlin in Which camera websites spy on you?   
    I'm glad you're bringing attention to this, @Andrew Reid, as everyone should at least be aware of who is tracking them and why. I have two Firefox addons, one is uBlock Origin for blocking ads, and the other is Blur for blocking trackers. I can confirm that the EOSHD main site has those two Google trackers (which Blur blocks), and the forum has 0. Blur blocks 9 trackers on SonyAlphaRumors even after opting out of cookies, and 67 ads are blocked.
    It's worth pointing out that even if you are okay with being tracked, the richest companies and people in the world make their money off analysis of your data. It's worth considering whether you want to freely donate your data (which YOU pay for with electricity and internet bills!) to the wealthiest people on earth.
  2. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to Andrew Reid in Which camera websites spy on you?   
    New blog post:
    https://www.eoshd.com/news/which-camera-websites-spy-on-you-each-site-ranked-for-privacy-and-trackers-in-safari-14/
  3. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to TomTheDP in Z-cam firmware updates continue to surprise   
    Z-cam just released a firmware update for all of their cameras.
     
    All resolution and frame rate combinations now support ProRes 422 recording (except C8K 2.4:1).
    Added 5K 60fps recording on E2-F6.
    ProRes proxy records in separate files.
    Preview & in camera playback with 3D LUT banding issue fixed.
    External SSD recording through USB performance improved.

    Now I can do Prores 422 on my S6 at 4k 100fps. That is pretty awesome IMHO. I wish Panasonic would get in on the Prores game. 
  4. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to tupp in Slowing down 24p   
    Yes.  That is why I said this:
     
  5. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from tupp in Slowing down 24p   
    @kye isn't talking about undercranking though, right? He's talking about slowing down 24 fps. Speaking of Wong Kar Wai, didn't he use used the effect kye is talking about in Chungking Express? It's a nice effect for some scenes. I feel like it's used more for "impact" in action scenes as opposed to the "cool factor" or "rhythm" of normal slow motion, if that makes any sense.
    Long ago on my GH3 I did that trick with the shutter speed, but a lot of digital cameras don't let you lower the shutter below the frame rate. The Z Cam E2 can shoot any integer frame rate from 1 up to the max, and as a bonus the shutter angle setting always behaves correctly. I did some "retro" tests with 16mm crop mode and a few C mount 16mm lenses, in 15 fps.
  6. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to Mark Romero 2 in Slowing down 24p   
    I think that Wong Kar Wai was kind of the king of undercranking. (Thinking of "As Tears Go By" and "Days of Being Wild" in particular... not sure if he used it up as much n his later works though).
     
    Can we undercrank with digital cameras??? I think on my S1 I can shoot at 24fps but then have a shutter speed of 1/12th of a second. Will have to try it. I'm such a sucker for late 80's Hong Kong Cinema. 
  7. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to IronFilm in Audio field recorders in 2021? My Predictions ("wild guesses").   
    I'll give my personal thoughts on each brand, one by one:

    Zaxcom:
    The Nova is a very new product, I see almost no chance of a "Nova 2.0" coming out this year. 
    Deva 24 is a little older than Nova, but also their highest end product which thus has a longer life cycle, I see it as unlikely there will be a Deva release in 2021. 
    Could Zaxcom release a product which is between Nova & Deva 24, or below Nova? I doubt it. 

    Sound Devices:
    The 8 Series is their latest range, I don't see any chance whatsoever they'll be ending the 8 Series in 2021 and replacing it with something newer. No chance at all. 
    Could the 8 Series be added to??? Is there space to squeeze in a product in between an 833/888/Scorpio? Nope, I don't think so. (but then again, I've been surprised before, when the 888 came out in between the 833 & Scorpio)
    Could an 8 Series recorder come out below an 833 or above a Scorpio?? Seems unlikely. Scorpio is already their most expensive ever product, and if they released a product below the 833 that might put it too close in price to a MixPre10 underneath it? (but hey, perhaps I might be wrong, and a "Sound Devices 811" will come out? A mini sized 833, with 1x XLR + 3x TA3F all for say just US$2.5K??  I doubt it, but that's an example of how an odd ball product which might come out and surprise us) 
    Now as for the MixPre series, all bets are off here, as Sound Devices has been putting out new updates and variants to this at a furious pace in recent years. As while I "guess" they will not bring out any new MixPres in 2021, I'd also not be surprised either if one (or more!) gets announced. 

    Sonosax:
    Their SX-R4+ has been around for a while, time for an update? But then again,  Sonosax is an extremely small company, and it is to be expected their products will have long life cycles between updates. 

    Aaton:
    Cantar X3 came out in 2014 (and the Cantar Mini in 2017). You'd think that after 7 years that perhaps an update is coming? But not necessarily, the X3 still seems to be very popular, you never hear of anybody leaving X3 for something "better/newer" and the X3 is still attracting new users to the platform. Plus as a high end premium product (it is after all the most expensive field recorder there is) we can expect that it will have long life for its product cycle. Perhaps next year we might get a hint from Aaton that the "X4" is under development?? Maybe. But I'm not expecting a new field recorder to be released by Aaton this year. 

    Nagra:
    Nagra Seven came out waaaay back in 2013, surely it is time for an update? Nagra VI is even older from 2008!
    But no, won't expect an update to these in 2021. Nagra has more or less abandoned the film market, as they're focused instead now on the high-end audiophile market. Verdict: Nagra is AWOL.

    Tascam:
    The DR680mk2 & DR701D are now both looking totally outclassed in the budget end of the market once the Zoom F8 came out. 
    And the Tascam HS-P82 is from 2009! Was a nice machine, but looooong overdue for an update. 
    While I'd like to dream that Tascam will bring out a product in the mid range as an update to the HS-P82, and new low end product which is competitive in the new "Zoom F8 Era", I don't see any sign of life from Tascam that they'll do that. In 2021 I expect Tascam to be AWOL. 

    Roland:
    Take everything I just said about Tascam, and appeal an extra heavy dose of skepticism and pessimism. 
    As nope, I do not at all expect an update from Roland to their R4 Pro or R44. 
    Am definitely expecting Roland to be AWOL in 2021. 

    Fostex:
    Take everything I just said about Roland, and times it by ten. 
    Fostex will be AWOL in 2021. 

    Zoom:
    The Zoom F8n came out in 2018, but that's wasn't a major revolutionary update to the F8 but rather a half step refresh midway through the F8's life cycle. 
    The Zoom F6 came out in 2019. 
    2020 didn't see anything from Zoom in the F Series (unless you count their mini bodypack recorders as part of their "F Series", which technically they are), thus could we see a new product in 2021? I think perhaps so. As these are products which could see a faster refresh cycle, there won't be an F6n in 2021 (as the F6 is the newest), but more likely a replacement to the F8 series.... a "Zoom F9"?? As the F8 is the oldest, and the F8n was a minor refresh. Personally I'd love to at least see a Zoom F4n, an F4 with a few tweaks (such as pro line level outputs, ditching EXH-6 for inputs 5 & 6 instead using 2x TA3F, further UI tweaks, adding bluetooth, USB keyboard without needing FRC-8, etc). But it seems Zoom believes the F6 is the true replacement for the F4 (which is not true at all!), thus I'm not counting on an "F4n" arriving. But something like a "Zoom F8n Pro / F9 / F10 / etc" seems reasonably likely in 2021

    RØDE/Deity/Saramonic/BlackmagicDesign/AJA/"Unknown"/Etc:
    This heading is for all of those wild card unknowns from companies which have never before made a field recorder for the film industry.
    Such as, could 2021 be the year we see a "Chinese F8" field recorder? A low low priced field recorder like the F8, but from a Chinese brand. I doubt it, but we've already seen a couple of Chinese companies dip the edges of their toe into the water with Saramonic (their Saramonic SR-VRM1 & SR-Q2M) & Deity (with their Deity BP-TRX) making mini recorders, thus is a bigger field recorder next? Again, I doubt it, but this is an example of the kind of "surprise" we might see in 2021. Likewise, Blackmagic Design already makes video recorders (with their range of Blackmagic Video Assist recorders), is an audio recorder next? I doubt it, but who knows. Likewise with that other Australian company: RØDE. What might RØDE have planned? They're an audio focused company, will they surprise us with an audio recorder? And while on the topic of BMD, what about their competitor AJA? They've build video recorders too, might AJA surprise us? I doubt it, who knows though. 
    As I bet 2021 will have a surprise from us, most likely from some unknown left field company which I haven't even mentioned yet. But of those that I mentioned, perhaps most likely (or rather "least unlikely" is a better way to describe it) would be Rode or Saramonic in my wild guess of an opinion? But if Rode did this, it would be a product unashamedly aimed at the YouTubers/videographers. And the Saranomic field recorder would be dirt cheap yet surely also be a huge steaming heap of sh*t (but perhaps after a few generations would evolve into a "not terrible" product). 
     
     

    Thus in brief summary, I'm not expecting many major field recorder announcements in 2021, aside from "a Zoom F10" plus maaaaaaybe a MixPre and quite likely some kind of left field announcement none of us are even expecting. 
  8. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to mojo43 in Our cinematography reel for this year   
    We just finished our cinematography reel from some of our favourite images that we have filmed over the past years. Some of the images were captured in the magic of the moment and some were staged with lights etc... SEE YA 2020!
     
     
  9. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to herein2020 in DaVinci Studio - Dongle or Card   
    It will be great if they ever get the Fusion integration right. As it stands now its an endless source of frustration. I'm always waiting for things to cache and the performance is terrible, simple things like Fusion titles cause the whole program to stutter, anything changes above or below a Fusion comp and the caching starts all over again..etc. etc. I think by DR20 they will have it where it needs to be. The rest of the program is already fantastic.
  10. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to IronFilm in Z-CAM E2 Sticky Thread   
    Sadly that is true across the spectrum of various interests, for instance ramps/jwsound are not what they were in their heydays, because of Facebook groups instead. I do worry that a decade or two in the future, none of those Facebook groups will be anywhere near as searchable as eoshd/ramps/jwsound/dvxuser/etc are
  11. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from Kisaha in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    Netflix's requirements is not only about having a minimum fidelity to the image, or even making it strictly easier in post, but having a standard workflow. They need to be able to send any one of their productions to any one of their post houses and have it be immediately workable, and that if that team gets shifted to a different project midway through, they can send that half done project to another post house and have them pick it up immediately, no questions. They've decided that TC is a mandatory element to their workflow, from capture through post. To be honest, if I were Netflix, I would specify a lot more of the technical and metadata requirements for my productions just to ensure that every piece is compatible across their entire billion dollar post workflow.
    On a much smaller scale we do the same thing at my work (outside the film industry). If the designer for one project is out sick and the client needs a change, other people on the team have to be able to open it up and immediately know how to make the change. We adopt standards, some of them because it's the easiest way, some picked randomly just to make sure we're all on the same page.
  12. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to IronFilm in Fuji X-T3 , Mixpre-3 II and timecode help needed   
    We can thank the Netflix gods for making 2020 the year which every cinema camera (even the entry level ones) got released with timecode functionality! 
     
    Yup, and I'm a fan of the DR60D! (I momentarily had a DR60Dmk1 before I upgraded to a Sound Devices 552 fairly quickly, and the DR60Dmk2 is even a bit better than the mk1)
    I think at that price point, the Tascam DR60D is the best there is. (which is another reason why I'm so mad at Tascam for falling behind the times and not releasing anything in recent years!! As they've shown so much potential in the past)

    Yet even so, it is very hard to recommend strongly the Tascam DR60Dmk2, when for only a little bit more money you can get a Zoom F6/F4/F8 or Sound Devices MixPre3/6 which are going to be so so so so sooooo much better. 
  13. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to josdr in Fuji X-T3 , Mixpre-3 II and timecode help needed   
    It is VERY annoying giving money away when you have the primary function available and one part of the chain is not cooperative. The day has 24 hours, and we all try avoiding wrestling in post. Waveform matching has been good for me but when it lets you down it takes too much time to get a decent result.
    The mixpre II is unbelievable after owning a tascam 60d ii. The sound is so clean you cannot believe it.  In a somewhat controlled environment the 24bit mode is all you need really, Its limiters are analogue as well and they work great.  I will test the 32 bit mode during the holidays.For run and gun and small crews that do not necessarily have great sound skills the 32 bit could be useful. I got it a couple of days ago so all my tests have been rudimentary . I believe it is well worth its money although I initially was very mindful of its price . I do not really think an independent film maker needs more and if he does need it, he will have the budget to hire a professional sound engineer anyways..  It is a great bit of kit. Very clean sound . The mke 600 sounds great and it made even the ntg2 sound better than I was used to. Before that, with the Tascam, izotope was my friend..
  14. Thanks
    KnightsFan got a reaction from josdr in Fuji X-T3 , Mixpre-3 II and timecode help needed   
    You're welcome!
    You can send a mix from the MixPre to one channel on the XT3, and LTC to the other. Or potentially send a mix from the Mix Pre to the XT3 and HDMI TC the other direction.
    I wouldn't say the wrong way. It's better than nothing, but it is a workaround compared to pro cameras that have proper timecode functionality. I would explore the HDMI side and see if that gets you where you need to be, and otherwise take some time to work out the workflow sending TC via audio. Once you have to down, it's not difficult, but there's so little information about it that it is indeed difficult to figure out how to make it work. Most people seem to be either pros and cameras with proper TC, or don't use it at all.
  15. Thanks
    KnightsFan got a reaction from josdr in Fuji X-T3 , Mixpre-3 II and timecode help needed   
    Even if the MixPre can do this, it's not advisable. The purpose of timecode is tgetting that time stamp into metadata, and LTC on an audio track is just a workaround to do it. The only reason you'd want LTC in an audio track is if you A) can't put it in metadata, like on DSLR's, or B) need stretch and warp the audio to compensate for drift during the takes which I haven't ever personally seen anyone do, though it is technically possible.
    Wireless LTC is the simplest way in my opinion, but Imake sure you have scratch audio. My last big project with an XT3, I used a 3.5mm splitter, and ran LTC into one audio channel and used a $6 mic for scratch audio in the other. I used wireless lav transmitters to carry LTC from my Zoom F4 to the XT3.
    I am not sure if they are compatible, but it seems worth a test to me. See the answer below, jamming the timecode via HDMI might be a good combination of cheap/easy if the drift is acceptable for your work.
    If you are writing LTC into an audio track, then yes, it needs to be constantly connected.
    If you are jamming the internal clock to an external source, then typically, no, once you disconnect the timecode source then the internal clock takes over from that same place. That means it is subject to drift once they are disconnected, and you would have to be sure that both are in free run. Definitely do some tests with the devices you own to see how much drift you're dealing with, whether the clock stops when the device is turned off, or other model-specific "gotchas."
    I'm not sure, I use Resolve exclusively. However it is possible to use 3rd party software to update the file's timecode metadata, which is what I do. I don't know of any ready-made solutions as I wrote the one that I use, but it's a simple ffmpeg command batched across all my files. In my opinion this is a better solution than doing it in your NLE, since the metadata will be ready for use in any software.
  16. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to Xavier Plagaro Mussard in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    I do understand the power of standards. From that point of view I get it that TC is necessary. Thanks for explaining it to me!
  17. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from Xavier Plagaro Mussard in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    Netflix's requirements is not only about having a minimum fidelity to the image, or even making it strictly easier in post, but having a standard workflow. They need to be able to send any one of their productions to any one of their post houses and have it be immediately workable, and that if that team gets shifted to a different project midway through, they can send that half done project to another post house and have them pick it up immediately, no questions. They've decided that TC is a mandatory element to their workflow, from capture through post. To be honest, if I were Netflix, I would specify a lot more of the technical and metadata requirements for my productions just to ensure that every piece is compatible across their entire billion dollar post workflow.
    On a much smaller scale we do the same thing at my work (outside the film industry). If the designer for one project is out sick and the client needs a change, other people on the team have to be able to open it up and immediately know how to make the change. We adopt standards, some of them because it's the easiest way, some picked randomly just to make sure we're all on the same page.
  18. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from TomTheDP in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    Netflix's requirements is not only about having a minimum fidelity to the image, or even making it strictly easier in post, but having a standard workflow. They need to be able to send any one of their productions to any one of their post houses and have it be immediately workable, and that if that team gets shifted to a different project midway through, they can send that half done project to another post house and have them pick it up immediately, no questions. They've decided that TC is a mandatory element to their workflow, from capture through post. To be honest, if I were Netflix, I would specify a lot more of the technical and metadata requirements for my productions just to ensure that every piece is compatible across their entire billion dollar post workflow.
    On a much smaller scale we do the same thing at my work (outside the film industry). If the designer for one project is out sick and the client needs a change, other people on the team have to be able to open it up and immediately know how to make the change. We adopt standards, some of them because it's the easiest way, some picked randomly just to make sure we're all on the same page.
  19. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to TomTheDP in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    I won’t be shooting another film without it 
  20. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to IronFilm in The Panasonic DC-BGH1 camera soon to be announced   
    Have thousands and thousands of clips to sync with tight deadlines and I bet you'll start to think of TC as being "mandatory" too. 
  21. Thanks
    KnightsFan got a reaction from IronFilm in What will it take for digital camera manufacturers to catch up with the film look?   
    The Alexa SXT Studio had a rotating mirror shutter, just like a film camera. Technologically, this could be a feature on any digital camera, if there was demand for it. Rolling shutter isn't a sign that digital isn't caught up, per se, it's a sign that in most cases the benefit of film-like shutter artifacts are not worth the added cost.
  22. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to independent in What will it take for digital camera manufacturers to catch up with the film look?   
    This was a good question five years ago.
  23. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to Trek of Joy in HBO Max streaming controversy - Christopher Nolan versus Warner   
    SMH, I leave my house every day, but not to just go and sit inside another building. A nice day out for me is a kayaking trip or exploring a park or shooting landscapes. I'm not saying there aren't any people willing to go to theaters, its just never going to get back to 2019 levels. Ever. Just as studios are pivoting, so are audiences. 
    I have a TV and nothing else, a $500 65" set I bought a few months ago. Its not a monster home theater setup. But still a great covid-free experience without enduring endless previews and jackasses on their phones or talking during the movie. Get some takeout, mix up a few cocktails and its a great date night.
    Enjoy
    Chris
  24. Like
    KnightsFan reacted to mkabi in HBO Max streaming controversy - Christopher Nolan versus Warner   
    Meh.... not worth arguing over.
  25. Like
    KnightsFan got a reaction from mkabi in HBO Max streaming controversy - Christopher Nolan versus Warner   
    I don't know if our thoughts diverge that much. I agree with what you said. I'm saying that streaming is supporting a cultural shift away from more thoughtful movies, towards lower quality (imo) content. Like I said, it's not that streaming is inherently making movies worse, but that the audience is less invested in their content since it's on in the background, or literally stays on after they fall asleep. Quantity over quality. Of course some people still critically watch their streamed content (myself included), but we're in the vast minority.
    (The other issue I brought up, of concentrating wealth in fewer people is a separate problem.)
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