If you have not read my three previous posts (if you have not, go and do it now, please….pretty please) you know I have forsaken my low budget video production methods for a Canon 550D and a bad hunger for L lenses.

I’ve been happily riding the tiger of HDSLR production for several weeks now, and as I predicted, the learning curve has a pronounced tilt. Triumphs over the limitations have been frequent however, and the light at the end of the tunnel may not be a train. Perhaps a Yugo with a headlight out, but not a train.

How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb: Cineform & Transcoding

What if I told you that you could improve the speed of your NLE by at least 8x and up to 16x for only $129. Think about what an 8x speed improvement in your post workflow would mean to your income. You’re going to save hours a week – gain back weeks every year. (more…)

It’s true for any industry, but especially computer users in the media production field- if you do not have a backup solution in place for your computer systems and all of your media assets, you are sitting on a ticking time bomb. It’s not a matter of IF, but of WHEN you will have a hard drive crash. Not having a backup solution in place as a media producer is like not changing the oil on your vehicle.- it is a virtual kiss of death. Stop and take 30 seconds to ponder on how many hours, DAYS in fact, that you have spent on recording, editing, chroma keying, post-production, rendering, etc. Now imagine, no really; right now, imagine the gut-wrenching feeling you would have if you sat down in your studio only to find that those media assets are missing or corrupted, or maybe it’s JUST the configuration settings of your most used apps. How would you finish that one project you are currently working on, not to mention reference any media assets for future projects? How many deadlines would you miss? How many potential clients would you lose while you are attempting to salvage your work environment? Again, the thought of losing your data in ANY field, such as a common office environment, is a sickening feeling. But it is exponentially worse as a producer in the media field due to the hours of time spent on media projects. I’m a very optimistic person, but I’m also a realist. I’m not trying to point out the worse case scenario. I’m pointing out the inevitable scenario. You MUST have a backup solution TODAY. Don’t put it off another day. (more…)

If you ride a tiger, you had better have a good reason for going to all the trouble.

Do NOT confuse ‘the film-look’ with making an actual film.

I’m gonna puke the next time I see duck ponds at dawn and cloud montages that clog the interweb listed as “Test Footage” or “Just bought 78 Mega Pixel camera, check out my tiny depth of field”.

Playing with yourself is called…uh, er…playing with yourself. No one wants to see that in public. It’s up there with slide shows. Remember slide shows in the 70s and 80s? I do, and I want those hours of my life back.

Stop posting your ‘film-look’ and make an actual film. You know, with actors, dialog, a score. Even if everyone dies in the end (like every blasted student movie I ever worked on).

Now that I’m shooting DSLR, I want an Epic or and Alexa (I’m not proud, give me either one) because I’m on that image quality kick.

So, some of the things that bother me are not going to get fixed without spending a LOT more money and time perfecting the rig and my skills.

But none of that matters a flying heap of if you don’t actually use your gear to make a film. Tell a story, or work with those who can, and make something. And make YouTube a better place for all of us. It’s too late for Vimeo, there are already too many out of focus trees in the wind cluttering up the server.