*Please note: I’ve gotten huge traffic from this post and looked the responses on all the forums: I am not doing a simultaneous record to camera and MXO- this is ONLY the MXO while the camera is not recording so the image/capture below is indeed a cropped 1080i there is no simultaneous HDMI output when recording to the internal media- hope that helps*

I got my T2i in the mail about three hours ago so while I was doing some audio capture on one machine, I ran out and bought a mini HDMI to HDMI cable and hooked the T2i up to my MXO2 Mini.

Here’s a screen capture of the the captured source:

I dumped into Cineform’s ReMaster which told me it was a 1326mbits stream *EDIT* I was told this is the same regardless of pre/post stream* I’ve never tested this crap so cut me slack - stream notes are identical to the uncompressed HDMI output on my Z7U. I converted it to Cineform 4:4:4 with pulldown removal and ended up with a cropped 1920×1080p24 clip.

Ideally, I would dump it into First Light and apply an offset 2.35:1 crop on it. However, that stupid little focus box (even with focus off) just sits there a few pixels above the bottom crop. If there was no gray bar on the top, I could be fine with the offset and mark my camera during a shoot.

What does work if you want to do this, is bring your transcoded piece into your project and apply a 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 crop and expand the clip slightly in a 720 timeline- perfect (esp. for web). You might want to keep a stock of wide angles around though. Keep in mind if you want to shoot this way you’ll want to mark your Cinedeck or computer monitor because guess what?

No LCD readout when the HDMI is plugged in- none, nada, zip, zilch, nothing. Hit video record on the T2i and you lose BOTH screens! Definitely intended for playback only. But still the good news is that it does appear to be uncompressed. So you’re limited to a studio or Cinedeck setting and the Nanoflash need not apply.

My greenscreen skills suck but here’s the final output (sorry for the soft focus, I didn’t dial it in completely):

I do have a Cinedeck beta coming so I’ll test it with that straight-away. And I’ll be honest, I’d really like a 720 center crop on capture that would eliminate these display issues though not ideal- I tried with my MXO2 Mini but the thing kept crashing (no surprise there).

So in closing, $800 for a camera giving you uncompressed 720 capture? Sweet. And I find myself cropping everything anyway because as someone on Twitter said the other day: “16×9 is so 4×3″ or something like that- my interpretation: “2.35/2.40:1 looks cool as hell…”

*EDIT 16 (or something like that) @SalaTar gave me some insight into testing it for MPEG4 breakups so I’m going to really push somethings on the camera and see what I can eek out.*

Tags: cineform, hdslr, t2i, tech, tools, video, workflow

I’m not a prolific blogger. I wouldn’t call myself a prolific filmmaker either. You won’t find my films in theaters or rental houses. You probably won’t see them at festivals. 75% of my films you’ll probably never see, but if you follow me on Vimeo or you follow my company Red Futon Films, you might see a few things here and there, but they won’t be mainstream fare. And that’s okay because this is my plan- while you may never see my films, they’re getting made and the right audience is seeing them and in all cases, they’re paid for.

New School?

I’m really turned off by the traditional film distribution/indie film model. It’s got this vibe and aura surrounding it that I never want to be a part of. It has a post-student/emo/half-music video feel. I’m not talking about just the technical merits of poor audio, bad lighting, horrible if non-existent color correction etc. The philosophy also turns me off. Wearing funny hats, retro clothing, asking friends and family to bone up several thousand dollars so you you friends can make the next dramatic Sundance hit it your buddy’s livingroom. Yeah not so much.

Maybe I came in to the game late- from a broadcast world of technical requirements, specs, standards- editing on tape and shooting with huge cameras in large studios with paid professionals. I entered when (as I’ve been reading/told) money dried up for indies, festivals were dominated by $1M “low-budget” films with real directors, rental houses were being killed off my Netflix etc. I never worked in that old film world so I don’t know. I came from broadcast- but I’m doing filmmaking now.

It started as a fluke. I got a full time job outside of media. They realized I had skills and started having me do media things. I met people, started travelling and filming. I’m blessed. I work hard for the gigs I get, but getting into it was less effort. In fact, i didn’t WANT to do this when got the job outside of media. But when you love something and it’s given back to you, you really can’t keep away. But like any good broadcaster, I film for my AUDIENCE. I don’t film for me.

Yes, I love it, but if I do it for me, I fall into the black-haired, big glasses, wool sweater, artsy, no-money, filmmaker lifestyle. One that’s about my story, my creative control, my film. Not my audience. It’s drilled into when you start: audience, audience, audience. From a broadcasting standpoint; no audience, no advertising, no advertising, no dollars, you go under. (Reason 1 your local radio station changes formats every year).

Find Audience. Make Film.

Filmmaking is the same. But it’s not necessarily dollars- yes, you need those to get it off the ground and out to your audience- But it’s AUDIENCE. If you have no audience to watch it, what’s the point? They’ll never see your new creation and you’ll nevery get paid. They’re not going to flock to your next half-assed mumblecore flick- rarely is a movie ever that good. So it’s fairly basic: Identify your audience, write/film something they’ll love. Market the hell out of it every way you can.

“Niche-ified”

Which brings me to my last point: Distribution. The cheapest way to distribute now is online. If you plan accordingly, you can make money and your audience can see it. There are more qualified people to talk on this so I won’t say much but audiences are yes, gathering at the next big blockbuster, but also so fragmented and niche-ified online, you can go where they are will a film about something they love. So try it next time.

I meant to talk about some other things, like how I’m doing it, but I just sort of started writing. So instead of “Make Film > Find Audience” Try it this way: “Find Audience > Make film”

Tags: distribution, philosophy

DataRobotics, I hate your Drobo. It’s a horrible product that I have done nothing but fight with for the last year. Horrendously slow performance topped with errors that appear out of nowhere. I don’t even use this box on a regular basis- it’s supposed to be an easy, simple back up device.

Now my DroboCare account is expired so you will charge me for service and probably tell me something like, “reformat your Drobo.” That is what I had to do last time and I’m not doing it again. I’m going to buy a proper RAID device from a proper company.

I am not happy and will never recommend your product to anyone. Ever.

Thank you.

Tags: tech, tools