The Cutting Room Floor

Autodesk Continues It’s Dominance

David Gallagher — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:54:02 +0000

Those remotely familiar with graphics or animation know the name of Autodesk, the worldwide leader in software for 2D and 3D effects. It’s Maya software gained popularity amongst amateurs through the revelation that Gollum from Lord of the Rings was created with it and spawned a younger generation to start dipping their feet into the software. In 2009 George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic made it a standard staple of it’s post production process, incorporating Autodesk into many of it’s high profile films.

From that summer’s series of effects driven films have all used different versions of Autodesk’s software, from the popular Maya used for animation in the rebirth of Star Trek; 3D Studio Max for digital matte painting in Transformers 2 & 3 and Inferno to create extensive photo-realistic fluid simulations of fire and water in the latest Harry Potter’s. All have been key components of these amazing displays of animation and effects that we marvel at. For the majority of artists in this field this comes as no surprise as they have been using Autodesk’s software for many years, but what has been a recent surge, is the up-and-comers who are learning either in school or right out of school the vast selection of compositing and effects software Autodesk has to offer.

Autodesk has been through is share of ups and downs over the last year from stock shares dropping in the first and second quarter of this year to finally stabilizing in the third, the company has recently come out of a restructuring and looks as strong as can be. With more and more artists both new and old continuing to utilize it’s vast software, Autodesk looks like it will continue to hold the market place for years to come. I’ve included the Autodesk Siggraph show reel for 2009, as expected it’s very, very impressive and I’m sure there’s more than one spot you’ll recognize.

Apple’s ProRes Captures Nascar

David Gallagher — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:06:56 +0000

It seems like Apple is weaving it’s way into the fast these days. As announced last year, NASCAR Media Group is preparing for a transition to HD, which will include a move into a new 40,000-square-foot facility in Charlotte North Carolina. The transition will also mark NASCAR Media Group’s move to an all Apple ProRes workflow. NMG is the primary television production company for the sport of NASCAR, is using Macs and 16 AJA Kona 3 cards for ingesting the 150 hours of multi-camera footage shot at each race. An additional 18 Kona 3 cards are used for editing playback in NMG’s 10 edit bays, as well as to handle duplication and new media, and to support field operations for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. This polishes their existing DIVArchive System by adding this new Apple Interface.

“Bringing DIVArchive and Apple together in a unified environment will make it easy for producers and editors working in Final Cut Pro to restore content from anywhere within the system including the datatape library,” said Jeff Lowe, managing director for media and broadcast technology at NASCAR Media Group. “The flexibility of DIVArchive and our close partnership with Front Porch Digital are key to simplifying our production process and helping to secure our valuable media assets while at the same time supporting higher quality new programming by giving our staff even easier access to thousands of hours of historic clips in our archive.”

The new 3D is here and it’s name is Modo

David Gallagher — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:13:11 +0000

Those of you familiar with 3D animation have probably been through the arguments with colleagues about which software you prefer, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave or perhaps the very popular Cinema 4D. But a new player has arrived, one that boasts a new interface, simple and innovative controls and all the while providing the features one expects from a professional, animation program. “Just arrived…” is a bit of an understatement, in fact the software has been around for a few years now, but has only recently started to gain some real traction. Although I’ll admit first off that I haven’t had the full chance to explore all the functions and formalities of this little gem, I will say that it is steaming with features in both modeling and customizations. But the real kicker here is the learning curve and word on the street is that animation houses are testing this little program and reporting back that it’s ease of use if by far the most stream lined in the business. This is the first piece of software to come from Luxology, a company founded recently by former Lightwave 3D stalwarts Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson, and Brad Peebler, and they clearly have a winner on their hands. It seems they listened to both seasoned vets and newbie’s when designing this program and have come up with something that appeals to both. Stewards of the business can just right in and feel right at home, while the newcomers will not have to become insomniacs just to find out how to properly spin a cube. The one thing that is lacking with this software is creation of tutorials. No matter where you experience level is, everyone needs a good tutorial and unfortunately the lack of such documentation or video’s is a regret for the time being, that said, it does of course come with the standard documentation that we’ve come to know, but it’s simply not enough.

Overall it’s hard not be impressed with Modo, but I the verdict is still out on whether or not this program can make enough headway to storm the walls of Maya and other giants who have already solidified their name. Only time will tell, but I’ve included a video below for those who are curious. It’s pretty basic, just going through the general presets and showing what Modo has to offer out of the box.

Sony Clip Browser… export the proper way

David Gallagher — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:39:20 +0000

Ok, after working in the business now for many, many years I have come to the conclusion that although a lot of editors / cameraman seem to want to ‘leap’ onto the newest technologies out there, very few actually know how to use it. Take for instance the EX camera, which these days seem to be one of the premiere choices for production shoots, along with it’s versatility on the set. it displays an impressive image. However, as good as the camera is, when the footage comes to the editing room, most editor’s have no idea how to actually bring the footage into the editing room properly. So here we go.

Assuming that as an editor you receive footage either on cards or passport drives, chances are the footage is still in it’s native format which means you cannot import it directly into whatever NLE system your using. Now, Sony has some pre-settings that it has added to it’s Clip Browser, and that’s where the problem comes in. So after importing the footage into the Clip Browser, many editor’s will just look at the export options and for example if they are using an Avid, will say “Hmm… Avid AAF(V), well that seems logically…” and will use that option. However, that is where the mistake lies. Yes, the ‘Avid AAF(V)’ option will export your footage fast, and import with no issues into your project, but now you’ll start noticing that hmm, you have no timecode, or wait, you have no metadata at all! That means that if the footage is blown away there is no relinking of the timeline. Now, usually when this happens, bad rumors spread, and people start thinking about the limitations of the format or ( as I have heard first hand ) most editor’s will just work with the footage as is, and then say afterwards that this is just one of the problems of working with the EX (or equivilant style ) camera, but they would be wrong.

BUT… the good news is that this can all be corrected through a simple rewinding of the clock. See, when Sony’s Clip Browser first came out, there was not 10 different options for exporting footage, but like everything, the software evolved, and now the numerous options have clouded what was once a simple and very effective piece of software. The only export option which still holds all the metadata (including timecode) is the original ‘MXF for NLE’s(N)’. While this option may take a little longer to export and import, it will give your project the proper metadata it needs to hold timecode, and re-link should you need too.

There, and that’s that. Amazing how sometimes technology can sometimes hurt us with it’s complications, when really all we have to do is take a step back and simplify the equation.

Solid State, the Future of Storage

David Gallagher — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:07:24 +0000

REVISION* Since the VHS ( and Beta for you Sony lovers ) back in the early eighties, recording formats have been one of the slowest forms of a growing technology in the A/V industry. Digi-Beta and BetaCam have long been the standard for the industry but as the song goes, “the time’s, they are a changing” .From DVD’s and mini-discs all the way to hard drives, the techies have been plotting to remove tape and install a new standard, and slowly but surely over the past few years production studios have started to come on board. Broadcast stations have been and are continuing to make the switch to tapless media both in storage and recording formats, and industry enthusiasts seems ready to make tape a thing of the past.

The newest form of this technology is Solid State, a format that emulates a hard disk interface but does not have any moving parts like a typical hard drive does. That means no wear and tear of mechanics, no spindle or RPM speed to hinder your time. Everything is, well, like its name, in a “solid state”. SSDs (as they are referred too) typically offer higher performance–often much higher performance–than hard-disk drives and are more durable since they have no moving parts. Tech insiders say that this new format will revolutionize the way information is stored. Tech giants such as HP are embracing Solid State as Jieming Zhu, distinguished technologist at HP StorageWorks recently commented

“HP agrees with industry insiders that SSD will be more widely used in storage systems as early as next year and as a result, is working closely with its partners now to deliver innovative solid state storage technology solutions. All SSD vendors provide existing input/output storage protocol compatibility, interoperable with the existing operating system storage stack,”

However, he also cautions that SSD is obviously not for everyone and is still in the early stages of it’s industry growth. But cameramen and post production people are eating it up, with high recommendations coming from most users siting ease of use, in the field and in post, as well as it’s durability. The one factor which causes some hold back is cost. The initial cost is significantly higher than that of tape but SSD’s counter that by being able to re-record without generation loss whereas tape of course cannot, however there is a question of SSD’s longevity. Some say they ‘wear out’ a lot sooner than traditional drives, meaning that the lifespan of an SSD is a lot sooner than traditional drives, but that is improving.

In the end, from an editor’s perspective, you damn well better be aware of anything new on the market that you see becoming of widespread use, otherwise you’ll services will quickly go the way of the laserdisk and you don’t ever want a perspective opportunity to pass you by due to perceived inexperience.

I’ve included an interesting video clip below. It demostrates the differences in real time using two identical laptops. One a Samsung typical hard drive and a Samsung Solid State Drive.

Avid Makes Big Changes with Release of Media Composer 5

David Gallagher — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:16:45 +0000

Final Cut lost one of it’s better selling features with the release of Avid’s Media Composer v5. Although Final Cut still retains it’s “one stop studio” (similar to that of the more consumer used Adobe Production Suite), Avid has now incorporated the drag and drop format for video and audio along with the ability to import footage without having to transcode. The latter being one of the biggest complaints of Final Cut users when working with Media Composer, since the ability to just grab (most) video formats and simply import them into your project in seconds has always been a primary function of workflow with FCP. Well, now Avid has finally added this convenient little feature to v5, and it will certainly take a little wind out of the sails of Final Cut’s ambitious climb to topple Avid in the post production market.

Along with this function, Media Composer v5 has also added the following

•Directly access and edit RED files through AMA, without transcoding (images are scaled to HD frame size)
•Work natively with QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264
•Keep high-end finishing projects in-house and gain great color precision with HD-RGB support (including dual-link I/O support with Nitris DX systems)
•Monitor video externally with support for the Matrox MXO2 Mini
•Mix and match frame sizes and aspect ratios — in addition to formats, frame rates, and resolutions — in the same timeline
•Take a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done
•Import AVCHD files directly from cameras and other devices
•Capture to and edit XDCAM HD and DVC PRO HD formats from baseband without additional hardware
•Access low-res XDCAM proxies for offline work, with full-quality audio
•Import text-based ancillary data and embed it in the video signal with the new “Data Track” and SMPTE 436M support using Nitris DX- and Mojo DX-based systems
•View stereo audio tracks as single channels in the timeline for easier handling
•Create high-quality sounds and mixes with support for RTAS audio processing plug-ins
•Natively access and edit 4:2:2 MPEG-2 media from the new Canon cameras using AMA

The one most may find a little gimmicky but will soon realize is quite a handy feature is the “taking a break during long renders and have your system email you when the job’s done.” At a glance one might say “Eh, whatever…” but if you think about it practically, how many times as an editor have you actually sat there or worse constantly gone back and forth checking your render because your on a clock and the ‘approximate timer countdown’ (which is constantly changing depending on what it’s rendering) is not reliable enough. This gives us the piece of mind to actually walk away from a render and know that our project won’t be sitting there for an extended period of time without us knowing if it’s done.

The bigger piece of news for v5 is of course Avid’s continuous improvement to it’s AMA (Avid Media Access) which can now handle native support of some new formats including Red One files and Avid’s support for 4:4:4 HD-RGB color so that you can preserve the full-quality color process from beginning to end. To the seasoned professional these will come in huge when working on high budget productions in which clients expect the best and are constantly trying to see the “final look” of the project.

All in all, Avid Media Composer v5 has too many features and improvements to mention here but be rest assured although some Final Cut Pro users may not be swayed at first, this version does bring Avid a step closer to regaining the independent / mid level production market although price still may pose a huge factor to some when you compare exactly what you get with a Final Cut Studio and just an Avid Media Composer. For me, I’m proud to have and use both systems, as different situations and projects can sometimes factor in what I use, but I am very impressed with this new version and look forward to see if it sways the masses or effects those up and coming future editors looking for a system to get started on.

Television Loses Great Editing As 24 Comes to an End

David Gallagher — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:21:17 +0000

Well, here we go, yet another blog about one of the great television shows ending it’s series run. But I’m not here to discuss the finale or debate whether or not this show ended on a high note ( well, not really anyway ). What I really wanted to do was pay respect to the post production of one of the recent shows whose decided to pack it in after many years of entertaining us all, that show was 24. As an editor myself, one of the many draws that had me watching 24 for the last eight seasons was the way the stories were told from an editing standpoint. I’ve never seen a show that did such a unique and brilliant job of bringing in it’s story lines and make such creative use of split screens as 24 did. When the show first aired, I was completely enthralled with the originality of how it displayed real time and made use of multiple screen shots. Now after eight seasons, I can actually say that I feel that this show should go down in the annals of television as one of the most original and creative of it’s kind ( at least certainly from an editing standpoint ) .

As I said previously, I’m not here to debate or compare other prime time television shows in terms of which were “better”, there are already plenty of blogs and message boards for that. Rather, I would prefer to put concept / story aside and focus primarily on the post production. The origins of 24′s unique and rapid fire editing style have been made well known, well, at least if your an editor that is. The fact that the show has notused any slow motion techniques and only one flashback ( used in the finale of season 1 ) has demonstrated the commitment from the creative team behind this series for showing events in “real time”. To be able to constantly show the “real time” display of events for eight seasons is a monumental achievement in itself, of course writing takes an equal part in that accolade since you need to keep the story tight and to the minute but I strongly feel that it’s use of editing is what has keep the adrenaline up and the series moving.

The editing on 24 was the unique vision of Heydar Adel, Scott Powell, and Chris Willingham. These three have been working in with the show since it’s inception in 2001 with Chris Willingham leaving after 2005. The show has received numerous well deserved editing awards and nominations and has been called by some to be the most “innovative and original” drama of it’s kind. But alas, all good things come to an end. And 24 has recently rapped it’s 8 season run with a finale that combined the best of the series into a 2 hour send off which will make way for a feature film. It’s sad to see the show come to an end, but it has certainly paved the way for future shows to follow it’s lead in exciting and original storytelling. The editor’s of 24 deserve full credit for inspiring me to be better and encouraging all of us that with a little bit of patience and creative injection you can turn something that could be ordinary into the extraordinary.

Cheers boys, you did it!

‘Assimilate’ Adds New Fire With Scratch v.5.1

David Gallagher — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:15:03 +0000

SCRATCH the’ Digital Finishing Solution’ by Assimilate is billed by the company as the essential mix for a real-time, resolution-dependent data workflow.Riding the RED MX Wave and beyond: The RED-ONE Digital Camera has taken the entertainment world by storm. Assimilate’s Scratch 5.1 leads the industry with first support for RED cameras, such as support for multiple RED Rocket cards in a single SCRATCH system; first dual RED Rocket support for MX R3D; and first non-RED application to support the new RED MX sensor and revised color math, with native real-time playback and adjustment of all on-camera color parameters, such as FLUT, exposure, and curves. Working easily with the native R3D files, SCRATCH streamlines the RED ONE MX workflow and delivers a high-quality master for multiple delivery formats.

With 3D in full gear, Assimilate has given post artists the ability to work in real-time 3D at all times with direct output to any stereoscopic display system. Additionally. Assimilate offers post houses it’s exclusive 3Play Pro, which enables playback and review of full-resolution HD stereoscopic material on a variety of consumer 3D monitors, as well as non-3D monitors using a variety of Anaglyph formats. With enhanced color grading along with finishing and compositing, Scratch v.5.1 also offers support that reads and writes every DNxHD format, which provides full compatibility with AVID media for projects originating on Media Composer, Symphony, or DS.

Assimilate’s Scratch v.5.1 will be on display at this years NAB with multiple booths for those eager to test out the new features and take a test run on what is proving to be a valuable asset to those in the post community.

Cinema 4D Makes It’s Mark

David Gallagher — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:41:45 +0000

Well, I thought I would chat a bit about what has been a growing battle of the animation junket for the last few years now. When I first got into commercial work many years ago, the thought of working in full animation was basically out of the realm of possibility. There was no Cinema 4D or Maya, 3D studio max wasn’t around, and most of all, you pretty much had to work for ILM ( Industrial Light and Magic ) to use anything that possibility related to a final quality standard animation. However, as we all know, a lot has changed in the years past, so much so that now it’s a consumer’s pick as to what tool to use when working in the animation arts.

Take for instance 3D Studio Max. Always highly regarded by users, and has a lot of weight around the geek squads but has mainly been the choice for gaming developers. Then there’s Maya. Ohhhhhh Maya. Maya has been around a long while, and during that time has certainly had it’s fair shake ( no pun intended ) of being the number one software chosen by industry professionals, but… mainly for character creation and modeling. Maya used to have that sort of snobby reputation until it became more mainstream. You know what I’m talking about, the one Mac users used to carry while they thumbed their noses down at PC users like they were apart of an elitist group, ”I don’t a PC I use a Mac”. Then there’s Shake. Now here’s an interesting one, I wrote about the basic destruction of what was and even still is a very widely used and respected program around the league of professional filmmaking. The ”destruction”, as I referred to it, being Apple’s pathetic attempt at trying to get us to buy it’s “new” Motion 3 by discontinuing Shake and removing it from distribution. Shake was mainly used for professional compositing and was considered to be one the best in the business, and until it’s disassemblement by Apple was beloved by professionals. Now we could talk about very well known After Effects, and maybe for those working with MTV we might mention Motion but for now we’ll leave the discussion to the big(ger) boys of animation.

Enter Cinema 4D. Cinema 4D came into the market a few years back, while Maya and Studio Max were ruling the roust but since it’s unveiling many professionals have given the software a lot of use, so much so that it’s become one of the leading and preferred animation platform around. Cinema 4D isn’t without it’s problems though, although it runs like a kitten on Mac, PC users haven’t been so fortunate. The software port on Windows is just horrible, and that’s being very kind. I don’t know what happened when Maxon decided to create this version but somebody was beaten with the idiot stick while converting and optimizing the software for PC. The result is nothing short of a disaster, with constant crashes, rendering issues and a whole lot of bugs that riddle up the program during use to make it virtually unusable for any tasks.

That said Cinema 4D has become so widespread that the studio’s and post houses I align with have animator’s making the switch on a regular basis. The plus’ to the 4D (Mac Version) is that the flexible interface and ease of use are very much different from the complexity of a Studio Max or Lightwave. The easy learning curve is also a welcome addition for those interested in delving into the world of 3D animation, making it a easy choice for beginners. With plugin’s such as SunFlow, and Indigo Renderer Cinema 4D continues to shine with it’s abilities to create body models including hair and skin, smoke and fire effects, sky and global illumination and that’s just to name a few. Cinema 4D endless journey into 3D effects and animation puts it in the must have for anyone looking to join this craft.

Describing CINEMA 4D as his “studio in a box,” Dr.-Ing.V.Sassmannshausen, a world-renowned computer animator and 3D authority better known as “Dr. Sassi,” JET received an Award of Merit in the Film category from the November 2009 Accolade Film, Television, New Media and Video Awards had this to say about the software:

“A filmmaker needs a production pipeline that supports your imagination and lets you work without effort. CINEMA 4D is well-integrated with so many other professional applications that it was easy to create a complete feature-film pipeline using a 3D animation application as the central production tool.”

His 4 minute short animated film created primarily with MAXON CINEMA 4D, has recently been accepted at eight film festivals and honored with two awards. The short was created all by himself and is one example that you can create what you imagine with the right tools. Cinema 4D is certainly proof of that.

American Cinema Editors Nominations Unveiled

David Gallagher — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:43:34 +0000

Well, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Well, at least those of us who live the art of editing and post production. The American Cinema Editors’ have unveiled their nominations and here they are.

The ACE nominees for drama are: “Avatar,” “District 9,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Star Trek” and “Up in the Air.”

The ACE nominees for comedy or musical are: “(500) Days of Summer,” “The Hangover,” “It’s Complicated,” “Julie & Julia” and “A Serious Man.”

And the ACE nominees in the new category of animated feature are: “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Up.”

So there we have it. There is also talk that the winner of the ACE for it’s respective categories also goes on to win the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’ regardless of whether it wins for ‘Best Editing’. So those who have taken it upon themselves a career of putting visuals together may have some bragging rights as to how important our little craft is. Mind you, it certainly helps to perhaps beone of the blessed few who have the opportunity to edit films such as Avatar but nevertheless, it is certainly a kudos to our profession to see the impact we can make at the highest of levels.