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SONYALPHA AReviewed

YOUR GU IDE TO CR EATING AND PUBLISHING GREAT VIDE O

5 Important Aspects of Any Lighting Setup page 64

The Trickiest Lighting Setups: Demystifiedvideomaker.com/SeeTheLigh

SMART WAYS TO

PROFIT

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DISTRIBUTION POST-PRODUCTION WORKFLOW ACQUISITION ASSET

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Dell recommends Windows.

Dell Precision workstations play a vital role in the creation of projectsfrom some of the lm industrys brightest minds. Using the DellPrecision M3800 with Windows 8.1 and Adobe Creative Cloud, L.A.lmmakers A.J. Carter and Gabe Bienczycki turn artistic vision intoworks that entertain, inspire and educate.

Watch A.J. and Gabe lm their latest creation at Dell.com/create. Starting at $1,799

Youll love the effortless performance thats packedinto this compact, 18mm thin aluminum and carbon-ber beauty featuring a 4th Gen Intel Core i7processor and Windows 8.1. Say hello to your newfavorite for onsite playback and rough edits with anavailable QHD+ display and experience blazing-fastresponsiveness with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Intel, the Intel Logo, Intel Inside, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. 2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell, the DELL logo, the DELL badge and Precision M3800 are trademarks of Dell Inc.

Journeyto the big

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A NEW STARIS BORN

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VIDEOMAKER >>>JULY 2014

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Features

Columns2

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ReviewSony AlphaMILCby Dan Bru

Azden WDLWireless Laby Mark Ho

Corel VideoEditing Sofby Doug Di

HP Z1 G2Workstationby Brian Te

Steadicam CGoPro Stabby Mark Ho

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Next MonthWeb VideoTurn Your Tablet into a TeleprompterBuild Your Own Sound BoothGrow Through Collaboration

Building a YouTube Studio at HomeOn Sale July 29, 2014

Contents VoJUL

ViewfinderEntrepreneurial Adviceby Matthew York

Basic TrainingWhen to Work for Freeby Kyle Cassidy

DistributionBoost Your Distribution Bottom Lineby Dave Sniadak

EditingEncoding and Transcodingby Chris Ace Gates

Profit MakingStock Footage and Templatesby Jordan Maison

AudioThe Perfect Audio Kitby Hal Robertson

Protecting Your AssetsNot having backups of your digital assets is askand will cost you time and money should any ato a hard drive failure.by Marshal Rosenthal

Five Important Aspects of Any L

SetupIts much more important to consider the lightiyour scene than the settings on your camera.by Chuck Peters

An Insiders Look at NABThe 2014 NAB Show in Las Vegas offered attendees great insightinto upcoming trends in content creati on and distribution. Heres aroundup of all the trends and hot technology from NAB Show 2014.by Odin Lindblom

Best of NAB AwardsNew camera manufacturers bring change to the cinema landscape,as do gimbals and the ever-growing camera support products. NABShow 2014 showcased them, now here are the prime selections.by Jackson Wong

www.videomaker.com

S u b s c r i b e

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Whats On

New Gear

Ad Index

Subscribe to Videomaker and save upoff the newsstand price!Try an issue risk free at: videomaker.com/s

On the CoverSony Alpha a7

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Entrepreneurial AdviceWhen I started Videomaker , Inc. in1985 I wasnt really aware of whatwas required to achieve success.Ignorance was bliss at age 29. I lovedthe concept of entrepreneurship but Idid not really understand the meaningto be: one who assumes the risk andresponsibility of a business.

The rst two years were very dif-cult. I learned that there were multiplelevels below hopeless (or at least whatI thought that word meant). I owedso much money to creditors and hadtoo few reliable revenue streams that Ithought for sure that the venture wasdoomed, so one night I quit. The nextmorning I decided to go back anywayand keep working until I was physi-cally prevented from continuing to tryto succeed through eviction or theprinting companys refusal to take mynext project. Eventually I met successwith the rst order of business, whichis sustainability.

The brutal reality is that most new

businesses fail. Very few businessesare launched with su fcient cash owfor operations, so venture capital isrequired to allow for enough runwayuntil revenues are sufcient to meetexpenses. Initially I was not focusedon the most important actions, so oneof my investors gave me three keypieces of advice. Sell, sell, sell.

In the book Good to Great , Jim Col-lins writes, ... to build a successful or-ganization and team you must get theright people on the bus. He claimsthat great companies and organiza-tions not only follow this, but also putpeople in the right seats. The uniquechallenge with a start up is that youhave too few seats (until theres suf-cient cash ow), so early employeesare doing two or three jobs, workinglong hours, jumping from one urgentmatter to another crisis all day andinto the evening. Early-stage compa-nies will change, pivot and serpentineso many times that it confuses eventhe most nimble team members. If

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Videomaker (ISSN0889-4973) ispublished monthlybyVideomaker,Inc.,P.O.Box4591,Chico,CA 95927.2014Videomaker,Inc.Allrights reserved.Reproduction of thispublication in whole or in part without written consent of the publisher isprohibited.TheVideomaker name isa registered trademark,propertyof Videomaker,Inc. Editorialsolici- tationswelcomed;publisher assumesno responsibilityfor return of unsolicitedmaterial.Editorial-related photosand artworkreceived unsolicited becomepropertyof Video-maker.Single-copyprice:$5.99;$7.99in Canada.Subscriptionrates:one year (12issues)$19.97;$29.97in Canada (U.S.funds); $44.97ForeignDelivery(prepayment required,U.S.funds).Send subscription correspondence to Videomaker,P.O.Box3780,Chico,CA95927.Backissuesof Videomaker are available for order onlineat www.videomaker.comor bycalling Customer Service at (800) 284-3226.Periodicalspostagepaidat Chico,CA95927and additionalmailing offices.Canada Post InternationalMailSalesAgreement #40051846.POSTMASTER:Send addresschangesto Videomaker,P.O.Box3780,Chico,CA 95927.CANADA POSTMASTER:Please send Canadian addresschangesto:IDS, P.O.Box122,Niagara Falls,Ontario L2E 6S8.

Videomaker makesno representationor warranty,expressor implied,with respect to the completeness,accuracyor utilityof thesematerialsor anyinformationor opinioncontained herein.Anyuse or reliance on the informationor opinionisat the riskof the user,and Videomaker shallnot be liable for anydamageor injuryincurred byanyperson arising out of the completeness,accuracyor utilityof anyinformationor opinioncontained in these materials.These materialsare not tobe construedasanendorse-ment of anyproduct or company,nor asthe adoption or promulgationof any guidelines,standardsor recommendations.

the early staff is not resilient to themultiple iterations of the edgling en-terprise, the venture is bound to fail.

In the video business specically,the investment in equipment is in-credibly complex. Often equipment isoutdated within a few short years (oreven months). You have to considerthe merits of renting vs. buying. For-tunately, equipment is very affordablethese days. You have to know whento sell equipment on the used marketbefore its value sinks too low.

It is very tempting to get overly fo-cused upon the equipment, which cantake your eye off the ball of sellingyour services. The creative process ofproducing video can distract you fromselling. Its so easy to spend morehours editing to get things just right,when you really need to perfect rela-tionships with your best customers orcultivate tomorrows customers.

The keys to success include char-acter traits like grit (tenacity) and forti-tude (courage in adversity.) Starting anew business will be one of the mostdifcult things youll ever do, but itcan also be the most rewarding.

VIEWFINDERby Matthew York

subscription informationVideomaker Subscription FulfillmentP.O. Box 3780, Chico, CA 95927 telephone: (800) 284-3226e-mail: [email protected]

addressP.O. Box 4591, Chico, CA 95927 telephone: (530) 891-8410 fax: (530) 891-8443

Videomaker empowers people to make video in a way that inspires, encourages and equips for success. Wedo this by building a community of readers, web visitors,viewers, attendees and marketers.

Matthew York is Videomaker 's Publisher/Editor.

publisher/editorassociate publisher

director of contentassociate editorassociate editor

art director/photographer

contributing editors

director of advertisingadvertising representative

telephone (530) 891-8410account executive

director ofbusiness development

marketing marketing coordinator web analyst

information systemsIT assistant

web developer

director of financeaccountant

customer service /fulfillment coordinator

Matthew YorkPatrice York

Mike WilhelmGreg OlsonJackson WongSusan Schmierer

Kyle CassidyChris Ace Gates

Mark HolderTerry ORourkeHal Robertson

Isaac York

Olin Smith

Terra Yurkovic

Joseph AyresJordan Claverie

Seth HendrickJill Lutge

Stephen AweJessica Anderson

Tiffany Harness

For comments, email: [email protected], use article#17010 in the subject line. You can comment and rate thisarticle by going online:www.videomaker.com/article/17010

Blackmagic URSA is the worlds rst high end digital lm camera designed torevolutionize workow on set. Built to handle the ergonomics of large lm crewsas well as single person use, URSA has everything built in, including a massive10 inch fold out on set monitor, large user upgradeable Super 35 global shutter4K image sensor, 12G-SDI and internal dual RAW and ProRes recorders.

Super 35 Size SensorURSA is a true professional digital lm camera with a4K sensor, global shutter and an incredible 12 stopsof dynamic range. The wide dynamic range blows

away regular video cameras or even high end broadcast cameras,so you get dramatically better images that look like true digital lm.The extra large Super 35 size allows for creative shallow depth of eldshooting plus RAW and ProRes means you get incredible quality!

Dual RecordersBlackmagic URSA features dual recorders so you never needto stop recording to change media. Thats critical if you areshooting an historical event, important interview or where you

just cannot stop shooting! Simply load an empty CFast card into the secondrecorder and when the current card is full, the recording will continue onto the

second card, allowing you to change out the full card and keep shooting!

Learn more today www.blackmagicdesign.com

Introducing Blackmagic URSA, the worlds rst use

upgradeable 4K digital lm camera!User Upgradeable SensorBlackmagic URSA features a modular camera turrebe removed by unscrewing 4 simple bolts! The cameincludes the sensor, lens mount and lens control conn

and can be upgraded in the future when new types of sensors are devThis means your next camera will be a fraction of the cost of buyinnew camera! Choose professional PL mount, popular EF mount and

Built in On Set Monitoring!Say goodbye to bulky on set monitors beyou get a massive fold out 10 inch screeninto Blackmagic URSA, making it the w

biggest viewnder! The screen is super bright and features an ultrawide viewing angle. URSA also includes two extra 5 touch screenboth sides of the camera showing settings such as format, frame ratshutter angle plus scopes for checking levels, audio and focus!

BlackmBlackmagic URSA EF$5,995

Easyto accessstandardbroadcastconnections,no customcables

Builtin audiometerswithlevel control

HD-SDIvideooutand12Vpowerformonitoring

MountingpointsforV-LockorAntonBauer batterymountingplates

Compatiblewithquickreleasetripodbase plates

XLRconnectorswithphantompowerforprofessionalexternalmicrophones

Adjustcamerasettingsandmonitoringtoolswithadvancedtouchscreencontrols

Removablehandlewithmultiplemountingpoints

Builtinrailmountsforlargelenses,matteboxesand more

Uniqueuserupgrasensorandlens m

Pushbuttonmenu selectionforfocus,iris andmore

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Go MobileReading on the go? FindVideomaker on your iPhone and iPad along with appsthat help video producers on location. Go towww.videomaker.com/r/676.

QUESTION:Wes.Beiko: So currently I shoot with aT2i and occasionally my dads 60D. Imainly shoot stuff for lm festivals anda lot of freelance videography (sporting

events, interviews and some productshoots) ...Here are a few [cameras] I have

thought about getting.Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

(With A EF to M43 step-down ring) So agrand total of around $1,050.

Another option a bit over budget isthe JVC GY-HM70U HD. If its good Iwould be good with spending the bit ofextra money for it.

Any suggestions? Another option towould be to purchase a cage systemfor my camera but then again Im not tosure if I want to do this.

REPLY:

brunerww: Like you, I started out with aT2i, but I have since moved on to boththe Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera(BMPCC) and the GH3. I can tell youfrom rst hand experience that the GH3is much more like a camcorder thaneither the T2i or the BMPCC. In addition,it will give you the nice, large-sensorcinematic shallow depth-of-eld lookyouve become accustomed to fromyour T2i (something the small-sensor oncameras like the JVC GY-HM70U andthe similar Panasonic AG-AC8 cannotdeliver).

http://www.videomaker.com/r/765

Blackmagic 4K Video ReviewLast month we published our Blackmagic ProductCamera 4K review. Now get a full rundown of theBlackmagic Production Camera 4K features, andcheck out test footage that showcases the camerasabilities. Tests include sharpness, dynamic range,low light, rolling shutter, color and chromakey.www.videomaker.com/article/17099

July 2014

Whats on Videomaker.com

Talk to us online!

Love Videomaker? Tell the world! Share your videos, nd extra content, talk to us! We want to know who you are.

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/VideomakerOnline

Follow us on Twittertwitter.com/videomaker

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Add us on Google+

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NAB 2014: Sony Alpha a7SVideomaker editors report from the oor of NABShow 2014 and get the dirt on this small, mirrorlesscamera with big promises, straight from the horsesmouth.www.videomaker.com/r/766

Parrot DroneControlled withOculus Rift Aerial videography is nolonger restricted to thehelicopter ying crowd.Even more exciting is thataerial drone videographyis moving beyond techDIYers and starting toshow up in the main-stream. Parrot, the makerof popular aerial dronessuch as the AR.Drone,have announced the Par-rot Bebop Drone.www.videomaker.com/r/767

What should I charge?UseVideomaker s Video Rate Calculator tond your ideal freelance rate. This free tool willhelp keep your prices competitive while ensur-ing enough revenue to sustain your business.www.videomaker.com/VRC

The iPhone is Now2K CapableThe Ultrakam Pro app ac-complishes 2K resolution bycapturing images from theiPhone 5s still image feed,allowing more of the camerasensor to be used than in anHD video feed.http://www.videomaker.com/r/768


NEW GEAR

Kessler Crane CineDrive SystemThe CineDrive by Kessler Crane provides shooters withan extreme amount of precision over their motion controlshots. Consisting of several elements, the CineDriveallows for programmable pan, tilt, slides, focus, iris andzooms. For the most professional of product shots, thereis even an optional module that allows for control of aturntable that sits independent of the camera.

CineDrive is designed to suit the needs of anyone thatrequires motion control, regardless of whether its forslow moves, time-lapse shots, real-time, or even fastmoves for overcranked slow-motion shots.

The elements that make up the CineDrive system canbe purchased piecemeal or in bundles. The bundles rangefrom a $2,200 single-axis system that includes the brain,

It's going to be a great year.

The folks at AJA are feeling a little bit of Blackmagic-stylewith their new product offering, a camera called CION. CIONcomes from a hardware company, and is their rst camera. AJA joins a pretty exclusive crowd of such manufactur-ers. The CION looks to be quite a camera all on it's own,recording directly to ProRes 222 and 444 or outputting AJARaw 4K at 120fps. These capabilities are just the beginningsince it can shoot at 4K, UHD (3840x2160), 2K and HDwith 12-bit 4:4:4 color sampling. Those are some prettymean numbers to put up and should lead to exceptionalimage quality.

The interface is said to be uncomplicated, time will tellabout the learning curve for the CION, hopefully sped upby the custom menus via a network cable. Externally, CIONcomes with a removable shoulder mount and steel rosettesfor alternative mounting options. CION is a multi-yeardeveloped product and should combine very well with AJA'shardware, but it has cheese plates on top and bottom to help

add third party products as well.

Some specs to know: the CMOS sensorwith a global shutter (meaning no problema rolling shutter) capable of 12-stops of dyrecords to AJA Pak SSDs, transfers via Tha PL mount. Among the connections are fooutputs, HDMI, two XLR mic inputs, a 1/and a P-Tap connector for third-party battean optical low pass lter and IR cut lter

is expected to be available this summer fo

control box and single motor, on up to a $7system with all the elements required for ptilt/slide moves (including the 5-foot slide

AJA CION

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Sensor Size: Exmor CMOS (35.8mm x23.9mm)Pixel Resolution: 24.7MPLens Mount: Sony E-Mount Full FrameISO Range: 200-25,600Color Temperature Range:

2500K-9900K Recording Media: SD/SDHC/SDXC,Memory Stick PRO Duo/PRO-HG Duo/ XC-HG DuoAudio In: 1/8" TRSAudio Out: 1/8"Video Out: Micro HDMI, A/V CompositeOther Interface: Multi-Interface Shoe,Micro-USB 2.0LCD Type: 3.0" TFT LCD, tiltableBattery Type: InfoLITHIUM 7.2VBattery Capacity: 1080mAhVideo Resolutions: 1920x1080 (60p,60i, 24p), 1440x1080 (30p), 640x480(30p)

Video Formats: AVCHD, MPEG4

micro USB port and wait several hoursbefore the battery was fully charged.However, Sony does offer both anexternal battery charger for the a7 anda battery grip which many cinematog-raphers will need.

Its Whats on the Inside ThatCountsHaving a lot of external controls isgreat, but as everyone knows its the

digital imaging inside that counts.Thats why its one of the biggestdraws of the a7 and its full-framesensor. This sensor makes it easierfor cinematographers to shoot withthe kind of shallow depth of eld thatmost Hollywood lms enjoy. In addi-tion, the wider spacing of the photo-diodes on a full-frame sensor oftenresult in fewer mistakes making lowlight shooting much less noisy. Sonyalso improved its BIONZ X processorallowing cinematographers to shootvideo at 1080p up to 60 frames persecond. However to do this, the a7relies on the efciency of the AVCHDcodec. Though it is nice to be able torecord in the widely supported AVCHDcodec, we would have loved to seeSony include an intra-frame codecoption to make editing easier on ourcomputers processor.

A Praise-Worthy PerformanceThere are certainly a lot of features tolike about the a7, but great features

Sony Alpha a7

REVIEWS

up for this short-coming.

The Wi-Fifeature on the a7pairs with SonysPlayMemoriesapplication onyour computeror mobile device.The application isrestricted to MP4sand JPEGs, and al-lows you to changethe exposure, im-age size, and focusremotely withouteven touching thecamera. In addition, the PlayMemoriesapplication also includes new featuresfor the cameras rmware, such as auseful time-lapse function and a colorgrading application. We did feel that itwas a bit awkward to have to purchasethese functions from the PlayMemoriesapplication, but we found the featuresto be more than worth the purchaseprice.

Even more impressive is what

Sony managed to do with the elec-tronic viewnder. Not only does it sitcomfortably on the eye, but it alsoincludes a whopping 2.4 milliondot OLED display. With that kind ofquality, we found that the EVF wasalmost as sharp as seeing the imagein real life. The times we noticed anypixels were when viewing smaller textthrough the EVF. Otherwise, the imagewas clear and bright, no matter whatsubject we were shooting.

Like many of the top cameras on themarket today, the a7s battery residesin the right hand grip. However, unlikemany of the top cameras, the smallsize of Sonys a7 camera body meansthat it was designed with a rathersmall 1080mAh battery. This results ina short battery life for the camera. Infact, we often found ourselves chang-ing out the battery within a couple ofhours of shooting. This, compoundedwith a lack of a battery charger, meantthat we found ourselves having to plugthe a7 into our computer through the

as some point-and-shoot cameras,Sony still found a way to include allof the inputs and outputs that anycinematographer would expect whilelooking for quality digital imagingin a professional DSLR. The a7 hasa micro-USB port for charging andtransferring footage, a micro HDMIport for viewing and sending imagesto external monitors, an 1/8-inchTRS input for external microphonesand an 1/8-inch headphone outputto ensure that your audio recordingsounds great. That being said, in aworld of high-speed connections, wefound it strange that Sony decidedto use a USB 2.0 port rather than themuch faster USB 3.0 standard, whichwould have sped up media transfersand rmware updates considerably.Even so, the fact that the a7 can alsotransfer images to a phone, tablet orcomputer over Wi-Fi more than made

Tilting LCD TECH SPECS

l l i li li i li i ii i

li i i i il l

SUMMARY

Sony has finally madcinematographers wable, full-frame sensorcan mount professionstill weigh in at less t

Dan Bruns is an award-winning cieditor, who has worked in video p

For comments, email: editor@vid#17098 in the subject line. You caarticle by going online:www.vide

dont always mean great video. Weshot a number of challenging sceneswith the a7 to see what it was made of.

First off, we absolutely fell in lovewith the multitude of visual helpersthat Sony provided. The MILC comeswith visual audio meters to monitorthe volume level of audio, peakingand image zoom to help determineabsolute focus, zebra patterns to ndout which areas of the image areover-exposed or in low-light and ahistogram to tell whether or not thereis enough contrast. Considering that itoften takes a hack to get these featuresin popular cameras today, its easy tosee why we are happy to have themalready included.

Overall, we were impressed withthe video that the a7 produced. Itwas able to capture a lot of detail,even when shooting scenes with lots

of contrast. Also, the optical im-age stabilization works quite well,making our handheld shots look asif theyd been shot on a tripod. Thatbeing said, we were less than im-pressed by the a7s ability to shootin low-light situations. We found thatnoise was clearly visible at 800 ISOand above, which made it difcult toshoot in anything but ideal lightingsituations. Low-light problems aside,we were still very pleased at howeasy it was to shoot with the a7. Thevideo came out sharp and the visualindicators helped us make sure thateach image came out looking theway we had envisioned.

SummaryBy making the worlds lightest andsmallest camera with a full-framesensor and keeping all of the features

of DSLRs for good digitSony seems to have nalniche in the crowded camThough there is still somimprovement with its lowbattery performance, the tures that the a7 includescamera worth every penn

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TECH SPECS

Pickup Pattern: omnidirectionalPowered: noConnection Type: 1/8-inch stereoBattery Type: 9V and AA Frequency: F1 - 169.445MHz; F2 -170.245MHzImpedance: 300 OhmsSensitivity: 2V at S/N 40dB

WM-PRO TRANSMITTERSTransmission Frequency: F1 -169.445MHz; F2 - 170.245MHzModulation System: FM modulationBattery: 9VPower Consumption: 30mA Dimensions (HxWxD): 3.4" x 2.4" x0.9" (86mm x 60mm x 21.5mm)

SUMMARY

If you are looking for a budget-minded wireless solution to yourDSLR or camcorder audio woes, the

Azden WDL -PRO wir eless mi crophon esystem is worth a listen.

Contributing Editor Mark Holder is a video producer and trainer.

to the question of which mic to buy, itcan only be answered correctly aftercarefully assessing the environmentyou will be using the system in, andyour budget.

The WDL-PROs two chan-nels operate at 169.445MHz and170.245MHz, both in the VHF range.We found that it performed quitewell indoors, with clear reception,even through a couple of doors anda distance of about 40 feet. Out-side, with a clear line-of-sight, wewere able to move about 100-120feet from the microphone beforethe signal began to break up, withcomplete dropout occurring at about150 feet.

The EX-503 mics produce a smallamount of hiss, which can easilybe removed with audio software ormasked with a music bed. We alsofound that if the transmitters are closeto the receiver, proximity interfer-ence becomes a problem, emitting a

distinct squelchy sound. Moving thetransmitters about 10 feet or furtherfrom the receiver eliminated theproblem altogether. Overall, we werepleased with the quality and perfor-mance of this wireless system.

If you desire a quality wireless lava-lier microphone system, have minimalradio interference worries and arebudget-conscious, then the WDL-PROwireless system from Azden may bethe right choice for you.

Azden WDL-PRO

REVIEWS

Wireless mic systems come in twoavors: UHF and VHF. The answerto the question, Which systemshould I buy, as with most videoproduction related questions is, Itdepends. Frustrating, isnt it? Youhave to rst understand the featuresand limitations of each as well asyour own particular requirements.Only then can you make the rightdecision.

UHF operates at higher frequencylevels than VHF, has access to a widerrange of available frequencies andconsequently less chance of interfer-ence from other signal sources. Notsurprisingly, UHF systems carry ahigher price tag due to increased man-ufacturing costs and quality assurancemeasures. VHF systems are moreaffordable, with the trade-off that yourun the risk of increased interferencefrom electrical devices and other radiofrequency equipment. Quality resultscan be obtained using a VHF system ina low interference environment. Back

The transmitters are powered by asingle 9V battery accessed througha hinged door on the side. On top isthe 1/8-inch microphone jack, poweron/off and frequency selector switchand the power on indicator light.The belt clip is a thin plastic tab onthe back, which slips over a belt orwaistband. Use care, however, whenattaching and detaching the unit, asit feels as though it could break ifnot used carefully.

PerformanceWireless setups are great for manyreasons: no cables to tangle or tripover and increased mobility to start.Lavalier mics, or simply, lavs, arecommonly used for interviews andweddings because they are small,inconspicuous, can easily be hiddenaltogether and record good qualitysound. Marry the two and your wire-less lav set up can cover just aboutany audio capture scenario you mayencounter.


Weight (including battery): 0.2lb (98g)Microphone: Electric Condenser WR32-PRO RECEIVERReception Frequency: F1.169.445MHz; F2.170.245MHz;double superheterrodyne systemBattery: 1.5AA (2, not included)Power Consumption: 100mA Monitor Output: 0.7VMicrophone Output: 25mVImpedance: 300 ohmsDimensions (HxWxD): 2.5" x 3.9" x1.1" (63mm x 98mm x 28.5mm)Weight (including battery): 0.4lb(171g)


REVIEW S

by Doug Dixon

$80 ($100 for UltimTrial Version: 30-day32-bit or 64-bit Windo

Straightforward Editing

Corel VideoStuPro X7

Corel Corporationwww.videostudiopro.

STRENGTHS Both 64-bit and 32-b FastFlick easy editin Streamlined and refr

WEAKNESSES Basic color adjustme Audio filtering limite

voice tracks

Corel released the VideoStudio ProX7 video editor, which featuresfull 64-bit performance, especially formulti-track and 4K projects, a varietyof tweaks, plus FastFlick for an easiervideo editing experience.

The trend today in intermedi-ate video editing is toward suites oftools, especially in the absence ofbreakthrough developments in newvideo formats or technologies. Forexample, the recent CyberLink Pow-erDirector Suite combines sophis-ticated video editing with separatephoto, audio and color correctionapplications and Adobes Premiere

and Photoshop Elements combinesthe image and video editors with aseparate Organizer tool with auto-mated media analysis.

In contrast, Corel has kept VideoStu-dio Pro X7 as a simple stand-alonevideo editing tool, focused on its coreaudience. From novice consumersthat need quick and easy editing tocreate nice-looking results, to mul-timedia enthusiasts that may havemultiple cameras and want creativeexibility. VideoStudio Pro X7 alsotargets additional markets with someof its more distinctive features, includ-ing action videographers, who can use

image correction and sltime-lapse effects. Eductake advantage of screemotion and chromakey.

The base VideoStudieditor is attractively priThis is the full version, in 64-bit and still in 32-Corel also offers the Vimate X7 bundle for $10seven 64-bit special efffrom NewBlue for coloand effects, proDAD foeffects and stabilizationGrafti for titles and eff

FastFlick

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MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSOS: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP, with latestservice packs installed (32 or 64-biteditions)CPU: Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz, AMDDual-Core 2.0GHz (Intel Core i5 or AMDPhenomo II X6 recommended )RAM: 2GB RAM (4GB or higher and 1GBof VRAM + higher recommended)Storage Space: 3GBThird-party Plug-in Support: YesRequires Internet Connection: foraccessing online features and videotutorials. May be required to verify theserial number during installation.

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIRE-MENTS FOR EDITINGR3D and HD Video: Intel Core i7 or

AMD Phenom II X8 processors, Windows7 or Windows 8 64-bit operating sys-tems, and 4 GB of RAM or higher.

SUMMARY

title editor. Deeper options are avail-able in the right-click menu, includingmulti-trim and variable speed.

For more sophisticated video edit-ing, you can customize your workfrom the options panel, which slidesout into the Library panel, or can be

accessed by double-clicking on anelement in the timeline. With overlayeffects lters, you can add multiplelters and tweak them individually.Some of the video lters help youapply masks and chromakeys, alignto the frame, control motion andfades, and adjust lter options withkeyframes.

The new 64-bit engine can leveragethe latest processors and additionalmemory to provide signicant perfor-mance gains. Corel shows via com-parison that VideoStudio Pro X7 beatsVideoStudio Pro X6 by rendering upto 68 percent faster for HD multitrackprojects with hardware acceleration,up to 153 percent for 4K projects, andup to 854 percent with smart render-ing. The smart render process onlychecks for the changed regions of thevideo, not bad for second drafts orrevisions of a project.

EnhancementsBeyond the 64-bit internals, Corelhas focused VideoStudio Pro X7 onproviding easier editing and creativeeffects. FastFlick is one example ofthis, along with a cleaner look for theinterface and a complete refresh andexpansion of the included content li-brary. The fresh templates, transitions,effect lters, and graphics keep thingseasy and allow for creativity, plus theUltimate version with the 64-bit ef-fects pack, adds more effects.

The VideoStudio Pro X7 releaseprovides more customization options,

including saving lters as favor-ites and custom proles for batchconversion. For import and export,it provides more project formats forHD editing including MPEG-4 andAVCHD. The sharing options for on-

FastFlick uses a three-step process.Youll rst choose a template, thenimport photos and video, and nally,save the resulting video. If you havethe time and interest, you also cancustomize the template design, in-cluding editing text overlays, enabling

smart panning within the photos, andadjusting the background music andmatching the music to the video orvice versa.

Then save the resulting video,direct to Web sharing sites, or as ale on your computer. Plus you canexport your creation as a project intothe main application, so you can useFastFlick to quickly do the hard workof creating the ow of the video, andthen further customize and enhancethe result in the VideoStudio Pro X7editor. Saving steps in the editingprocess is always welcome, but youllwant to consistently check the workof your computer.

WorkspaceVideoStudio Pro X7 itself has a tradi-tional and unobtrusive design, withthe major video editing panels andassociated controls easily at hand.There are three tabs, for the Capture,Edit, and Share workspaces. The Edittab has the expected Preview win-dow, multi-track timeline (or optional

storyboard view), and Library panelfor access to media, plus templates,transitions, titles, graphics, effects and

lters, and paths.For straightforward editing, the

most-used editing tools are directlyavailable as button icons on the inter-face, along with assists including thesound mixer, motion tracker, and sub-

FastFlick The core VideoStudio Pro X7 productincludes the main application, plustwo additional tools: FastFlick fortemplate-based videos and screencapture for recording demonstra-tions and tutorials. The product alsoincludes built-in NewBlueFX effectsand SmartSound for soundtrackgeneration.

FastFlick is new in X7, provided asa stand-alone tool, available eitherfrom the desktop or within the mainapplication. The idea is to quickly

turn a collection of photos and videosinto a fun production, complete withphotos and videos animated againstbackground designs, with foregroundgraphics and music to t with a holi-day or other theme.

TECH SPECS

...includes built-in NewBlue-FX effects and SmartSoundfor soundtrack generation.

Corel VideoStudio Pro X7

REVIEWS

YOUR JAW WILL DR THE ONLY QUESTION IS IF IT

LOOKS OR PERFORMANC

Thunderboltand theThunderbolt logo aretrademarks of IntelCorporation in theU.S. and other countries. 2014G-Technology,adivisionof HGST,Inc. Allrightsreserved.

With Thunderbolt 2 performance , these hard drives have equally beautifulspecs designed to make 4K video editing and creative workows run smoothly.Go see one in all its glory. Visitg-technology.com/pro .

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SUMMARY

Corel VideoStudio Pro X7 is astand-alone video editing tool thatprovides a straightforward editinginterface with additional customiza-tion options, 64-bit performance, andsome additional bonus features, all ata price well under $100.

Doug Dixon covers digital media at Manifest-Tech.com.


Corel VideoStudio Pro X7

REVIEWS

line and saving AVCHD to SD card arerevamped. For editing, Corel addedmore single-press keyboard short-cuts, HD preview for more accuratevisualization of the nal renderedframes, new color patterns and back-grounds libraries and a collectionof additional overlay transitions foroverlay tracks.

The batch conversion feature al-lows you to create custom prolesfor export formats, and then selecta group of video les or VideoStudioPro X7 projects to be converted toa selected format. VideoStudio ProX7 will then batch process the listof les, while you can go on and dosomething else.

Straightforward Editing Corel has done a nice job of steppingthe VideoStudio Pro X7 video editor

up to full 64-bit support, and re-working the interface to improve theediting experience. The FastFlick tool

can help new users quickly turn outimpressive-looking projects, and pro-vides a fast-start to build an animatedproject for further customization.

The VideoStudio Pro X7 interfaceis straightforward, with everything athand for basic editing. The result is asignicant number of tools, but logi-

cally organized and identied clearlywith friendly icons and helpful pop-up explanations. Corel also providesextensive assistance for novice toexperienced users, including onlinehelp, a PDF user guide, and the Web-based Discovery Center with videoand written tutorials, and more.

At the next level, especially in theslide-in options pane, VideoStudioPro X7 offers a still relatively straight-forward interface for delving intomore advanced options, includinganimated and keyframed overlaysand effects.

And then theres even more fun

tools if you have the need, includ-ing time-lapse and variable-speedeffects, screen capturing, motiontracking with customized tracks,stop motion animation and subtitleediting.

You can try out the VideoStudio ProX7 video editor for yourself for 30days by downloading the free, fully-functional trial version, for either the64-bit or 32-bit version.

Effects interface

Motion interface

For editing, Corel addedmore single-press keyboardshortcuts.


REVIEWS

by Brian Teal

$2,000 ($7,107 as t

Fast and Stable

Hewlett-PackZ1 G2Workstation

Hewlett-Packardwww.hp.com

STRENGTHS

Tool-less maintenanc Well matched compo Smooth rendering an

WEAKNESSES

mSATA SSD rather thfor desktop use

Limited upgradability

The Hewlett-Packard Z1 G2 is a newoffering from HP to build upon itspopular HP Z1 which started shippingin April of 2012. Building on their stableand reliable platform, HP has includedsome new features which will makethose involved in video production,engineering, computer aided design andarchitecture delighted with the improve-

ments. If your production is missioncritical, and stability and speed are yourmain concerns, the new Z1 G2 is yourtarget video production system.

DesignUnique to the HP Z1 series is the ser-vice mode which allows the user totilt the screen back and at, then withtwo latches, open the screen and pres-ent the internals of the system. We ITprofessionals greatly value a systemwhich is easy to access, as well as easyto upgrade; the Z1 G2 provides justthat. Installing extra disk drives, up-grading a video card, or adding RAMis a breeze due to the thought processbehind this service mode.

Though easily accessible, there is lessroom for upgrades than a traditional

tower. For instance, there are four DI MMslots for memory within the chassiswhich allow up to 32GB of ECC or 16GBnon-ECC unbuffered DDR3 1866MHzRAM. On many video production ma-chines, there may be up to eight slots

for RAM expansion. However, becauseof the unique combination of hardwareand technology, the lack of memoryexpansion does little to sway us frombelieving the Z1 G2 is a video produc-tion beast of a computer.

Recently Videomaker has seen severalnew video production units whichcontain an Intel Xeon processor, thisis no exception. Though there are op-tions for the Intel Core i3 and the IntelCore i5 processors, the Xeon E3-1280v3 quad core processor hits speeds ofup to 3.6GHz with 8MB cache and amaximum turbo frequency of 4GHz.These speeds and number of cores areresponsible for silky smooth video ren-dering and exporting that has the videoediting community abuzz. However, themagic of the Z1 G2 isnt the DDR3 RAM,Intel Xeon E3-1280 v3 processor, dual256GB mSATA SSD drives o r the NVIDIAK4100M 4GB video card (you may nd itlisted as a high level 3D video card). Themagic is the combination of all of theseworking together at what they weredesigned to do best. Many computercompanies will pick the top productsto integrate into their machines, but

BUS size, cache, channels, etc. are rarelymatched for optimal performance. Soyou might have an eight core 4.7GHzprocessor with 128GB of DDR3 3100RAM, a 6GB GDDR5 video card, and a512GB SATA III disk drive and not have

anywhere near the same pof this system due to the laing capabilities and focus

Stability and PerfoAs described above, the Zwe received is not necessediting and post-productiopaper, but we were impresperformance and stabilityit to be a hot rod in sheepsThe Intel processor is amoofferings from HP for the the Xeon series has faster the Intel E3-1280 v3 workpartners. One difference ption users might expect to

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TECH SPECS

AS CONFIGUREDCPU:Intel Xeon E3-1280 v3 quad core 3.6GHzRAM:16GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1866MHzStorage: 512GB SSD (2), RAID 1

Graphics: NVIDIA K4100MConnection Ports: Thunderbolt 2 (2),USB 3.0 (2), USB 2.0 (4), DisplayPort,audio line in, audio line out, RJ-45, sub-woofer output, optical S/PDIF outputOS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64, 256GB mSATA Wireless: 802.11ac LAN & BluetoothCard Reader: SDScreen Size: 27 IPS 2 LCD matteScreen Resolution: 2560x1440

SUMMARY

A beauti fully p ut togeth er vide o pro-duction machine which provides effi-ciency, stability, and speed; a musthave for video producers. HP hasdone it again.

Brian Teal is a long-time computer builder/tester who

enjoys integrating technologies to meet real-world sit-uations and has instructed various computer classesfor Fortune 500 companies and their employees.


grading the video card would be therst upgrade to achieve maximumperformance.

Test ResultsPCMark7: 6,0243DMark 11 Cloud Gate 1.1: 3D BenchmarkTests: 7,382; Ice Storm 1.2: 110,889

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3; Max qual-ity, Native, AA/AF=4X/4X: 60fpsCINEBENCH 11.5 Multimedia Tests: 4.8MP Ratio

TechnologyWith two different versions of theZ1 G2, you have the option of eithera 10-nger multi-touch screen or anon-touch, non-glare screen. Both have27-inch diagonal IPS LED backlit LCDscreens at 2560x1440, with a 2MP1080p webcam. Optional, are Thunder-bolt 2 ports which allow for the con-nection of fast external peripherals fortransfer speeds up to 20Gb/s. For videorendering and post-production, thesespeeds will help you obtain your desiredgoal quicker and with stability.

ConclusionAs a strong machine for multi-streamHD video production, rendering, andediting, the Z1 G2 is built for you. Thetime taken to render and export fullHD videos is quite impressive and thescreen options provided make the Z1G2 an obvious choice for professionaldevelopment. Stability, efciency, speed HP did it right.

Hewlett-Packard Z1 G2

REVIEWS

ing full HD videos of a space shuttleblasting off, a downhill mountain bikerace, and a tour through the rain forest.During this process there was not onebit of lag. The videos played wonder-fully, the video rendering and exportew through the paces, and we evenopened up Microsoft Excel, Microsoft

Word, and Gmail to see if we couldmake a dent in the performance. Nodice. The Z1 G2 kept up. The only timewe were able to place any sort of loadon it and see the performance decreasewas while watching those three HDvideos and exporting our own video.We started the Hyper PI benchmarkingsoftware which calculates the value ofpi to whatever variable you set it to. Weset it to four million digits. This wasntfair. But we wanted to see what wouldhappen. Small degradation in perfor-mance was seen and Premiere Pro saidit was unresponsive for all of about veseconds. After we threw everything wehad at the Z1 G2, it then kicked backand smoothly played the videos andexported the video le as if nothinghappened.

Based on the datasheet specs forour video editing test unit, we werentprepared to be amazed, we weremore about seeing what the Z1 G2could possibly do, rather than what itcouldnt do. We were impressed.

However, when it came to bench-marking the components, ratherthan the full system, we saw somedifferences. On 3DMarks Cloud Gate1.1, the Z1 G2 had a physics score of7,382 which was impressive. Unlessthe user needs a high-end gamingdesktop (which would score closerto 15,000), the results for the Z1 G2show that it is a top pe rformer. In aCall of Duty game, frame rates of 60fps were the most we could obtain atfull resolution. As mentioned earlier,

the combination of components givesthe users what they need, a fast, ef-cient, stable system, which is strongfor video rendering, editing, andpost-production. However, if you arelooking for a gaming machine, up-

gain are the disk drives. The combina-tion of the dual mSATA SDD may beexpected to be a letdown as there areso many other options which would beconsidered better for video editing andpost-production. However, in test aftertest and real-world video rendering,editing and post-production, we didntsee a drastic loss in performance as wewould have expected.

During testing we used Adobe Pre-miere Pro to render and export full HDvideo, while simultaneously watch-

Thunderbolt 2 ports


REVIEWS

by Mark Holde

$100

Smoothin Out the Acti

Steadicam CGoPro Stabiliz

The Tiffen Compawww.steadicam.com

STRENGTHS Solid aluminum con Lightweight Easy setup and adju Gimbal tilt and rotat

WEAKNESSES Slight learning curv No non-GoPro moun May be too small fo

terbalance weight that can be stored inthe handle and a couple of Steadicamdecals for added coolness. There isalso a quick start guide which does aconcise, yet effective, job of describingthe device, proper setup, adjustmentand operation techniques.

Parts and PiecesThe Curves smooth as silk video cap-ture and counterbalancing magic aremade possible with a solid, lightweight,curved (of course) aluminum plate witha threaded hole at its base. The balanc-ing weight is a hollow aluminum cyl-

inder that threads into the hole. Insidethe hollow cylinder is a second, solidcylinder, with rubber o-rings at eitherend. Weight may be easily shifted tothe left or right very precisely by turn-ing the cylinder or sliding the internal

cylinder to one side or thbalance the original HERcluded weight may be inouter cylinder and centethe inner one.

At the top of the curvplate is the mounting plis designed to accommoPro HERO with the GoPBacPac or LCD BacPacrides on the narrow uppCurve and features a knthe platform forward antuning the balance.

Integrated into the baplatform is the gimbal, wsmooth movement in allThe handle extends dowthe gimbal and has a remfor storing the extra weiIt had to happen right? It was justa matter of time. Made specically

for this hugely popular, tiny littleaction camera, your HERO now hasits very own stabilizer, and fromnone other than Steadicam. Usingthe same concepts and technologyas their pricier models, a SteadicamCurve makes stabilized video capturea breeze. Now, while youre not likely(and shouldnt, for safetys sake) tobe hand-holding a POV camera whilesnowboarding down your favoritesnow covered mountain, theres noreason why the footage of you pass-

ing by your buddys HERO camerashould look shaky.

Whatcha GetThe Curve comes ready for action. Itsalready assembled, has one extra coun-

C a m

e r a n

o t i n

c l u

d e d

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TECH SPECS

Built-in Mount: Compatible with HEROcamerasFrame: Lightweight, durable aluminumBalancing Weight: .2oz. (5.7g)Dimensions (LxWxD): 6.5" x 4.5" x1.6" (16.5cm x 11.4cm x 4.0cm)Weight: .5lb. (227g)

If you want to smooth out the jittersand jiggles from your GoPro actioncamera footage, check out theCurve by Steadicam.

Contributing Editor Mark Holder is a v ideo producerand trainer.


Steadicam Curve

REVIEWS

learned to use a light touch, smoothvideo capture was achieved with rela-tive ease.

Here are some tips: Once yoursystem is balanced, practice a bitbefore shooting anything important.The quick start guide has some greatoperational tips. Grip the handle withyour middle, ring and pinky ngers.With your index nger, thumb and alight touch on the round collar justabove the gimbal, you can control andsteer the camera with ease. Big-hand-ed people can grip with one hand and

steer with the other, still with a lighttouch. Start by moving the camerastabilizer while standing in place,then, when youve got the hang of it,begin to slowly walk around, pickingup the pace as you get a feel for how itworks. Soon youll be moving quicklyover all sorts of terrain and up anddown stairs with nice, smooth videocapture to show for it.

If you want to shoot silky smoothvideo with your GoPro POV camera,then youll want to give the SteadicamCurve a try.

of the handle is notched and containsa pin that locks into an indent in thebase of the curve to form a solid handgrip for non-gimbal-stabilized hand-held shooting, storage or portability. Asliding button on the handle releasesthe pin to return the device to fullcamera stabilizer mode.

OperationWe mounted our HERO3+ Black Edi-tion POV camera and got to work. Itsimportant to use the correct GoPromount. As the device is designedwith a particular setup in mind, itsan easy matter to get set up quickly.Adjusting the aforementioned cylin-ders slightly to the left or right placesthe lens parallel to the ground onthe horizontal plane. Tweaking theplatform adjustment dial achievesthe same thing on the vertical planeso the lens is neither tipping ba ck toshoot the sky nor tilting forward toget a view of the ground.

We immediately noticed the disap-

pearance of the up and down, clumpi-ty-clump that happens while walking.Initially we had some challenges withsway and the camera wanting to spinin circles around our hand. This, ofcourse, was due to operator error anda need for more practice. Once we

Handle and counterweight

SUMMARY

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SUBSCRIBER

ALERT!

: :

H5 HANDY RECORDER

Four Tracks. Evolved Recording.

zoom-na.com

2014

EVOLVED

RECORDING

The all-new H5. Built with an interchangeable capsule system andultra-low noise oor. The H5 handles up to 140 dB SPL and capturesmoments in near-perfect audio.

Were Zoom. And Were For Creators.

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The 2014 NAB Show in Las

Vegas offered attendees

great insight into upcoming

trends in content creation

and distribution. Heres a

roundup of all the trends

and hot technology from

NAB 2014.

W ith more than 1,700 exhibitorsshowing off thousands of prod-ucts, the convention can be a littleoverwhelming. But for video profes-sionals, this trade show showcases thelatest and greatest gear from manu-facturers all over the world.

3D Takes a Back SeatWith the exception of big budgetfeature lm, there was very little in3D production and post solutionsshown at NAB 2014. This is a stark

change from the past few years whentools and workows for nearly any3D budget production were displayed.With the exception of projector manu-facturer Christie who was showcasingtheir 6-primary laser 4K projectiontheater experience, the broadcasters

at had virtually no interest in 3D tech-nology. Japanese broadcaster NHKs8K theater and camera demo showedthat even for sports, 8K was a betteroption than 3D. The footage shownby NHK included shots in 8K from the

2012 FIFA Club World Cup that hadamazing detail with the width of thesoccer eld in focus with 16 times theresolution of HD. Its interesting tonote that Japans Ministry of InternalAffairs and Communications has an-nounced plans to roll out 8K satellite

broadcasting in time for the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games.

4K for the MassesLast year saw an abundance of 4Kcameras and this years NAB Show


AINSIDERLOOK A

NABY ODIN LINDBLOM

was no different. Perhaps, more signif-icantly though, this year, there weretools for every stage of a 4K workowand for nearly every budget. NVIDIAshowed off its Quadro K6000 graphicscard installed in an HP Z workstationthat was able to play REDCODE RAW

(R3D) in real-time at 4K resolution,even after adding minor color cor-rections in Adobe Premiere Pro. Inthe past you needed a RED ROCKETcard for 4K REDCODE playback inreal-time. Were hoping this added

competition will force video cardprices down.

NAB 2014 showed a clear path for4K, not just for feature lm but for TVand online video as well. At the show,broadcasters from major networks,cable networks and college stations

were talking about their upgrade to4K. A walk around NAB 2014s exhibitoor found broadcast video switch-ers, eld recorders, media encoders,post-production software and moni-tors, all built for 4K and most at prices

not much greater than HDall of the new versions oduction software exhibitsupported 4K. Some comshowing the advantagesing 4K for an HD delivethe way many TV shows

shoot 35mm lm for SD With camera and post-prequipment prices falling we expect the changeovtake anywhere near as loto HD conversion.

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and cranes could be found at NAB2014, but this year, gimbals were allthe rage. From handheld mechanicalstabilizers to servo controlled modelslike the MoVI M5, to remote controlunits like the one shown by JVC, itseemed like everywhere you turnedthere was another three-axis gimbal.

Looking to the SkiesHelicopters, quadcopters and droneswere the rage at NAB 2014, showcas-ing new ways to get aerial shots andadd production value to your projects.The increase in product range saw adecrease in pricing. Additionally, droneshave increased in size to be able tohandle larger and heavier cameras.

The Ever-Evolving CameraFor years camcorders have been madewith xed lenses that are limiting inthe shots that can be achieved. WithDSLRs you can change lenses, but thecontrols for video are limited which ischallenging for those accustomed togreater control. NAB 2014 saw morein the category of lower price cameras

which offer interchangeable lensesas well as more cameras in the shapeof, and that operate, like a camcorder.This is a trend that would be great tosee continue.

For many, going from shooting withcamcorders to shooting with DSLRsis a hard transition due in part to thelack of zoom lenses with integratedcontrollers. Since many people are

shooting video with smaller cam-eras and DSLRs, hopefully more lensmakers will note the desire for ENGstyle zooms lenses. RED showcasedthis point at their booth offering 4Kbroadcast solutions using their EPIC

LEDs EverywhereOver the past few years at NAB Show,there has been a growing interest inlighting instruments that draw lesspower and create less heat. Therehas been an increasing number ofLED panels and CFL softboxes shownwith the traditional tungsten and

HMI lights. At NAB 2014, LED lightingwas almost exclusively all that wasdisplayed; not just panels and rings,but even Fresnels and ellipsoidals.Mole-Richardson, ARRI, Manfrotto,and Litepanels were among the manymanufacturers that displayed full linesof LED lights.

In Need of SupportAs cameras become increasinglysmaller and lighter, the need forcamera support seems to grow. Theusual mix of pods, sliders, dollies, jibs

AN INSIDERSLOOK AT

NAB

HELICOPTORS, QUADCOP-TERS AND DRONES WERETHE RAGE AT NAB 2014.


camera with a Fujinon ENG stylezoom lens with a zoom servo androcker control.

Super Image SensorsFor years 35mm lm has beenstandard for feature lm produc-tion. The cameras, lenses and camera

accessories were all built with littlevariation. As cinematographers movetoward digital cameras for feature lmproduction, the lines between lmand video equipment continue to blur.For many, the standard 35mm imagecapture size is lost. At NAB 2014, mostof the high-end 4K cameras had Super35mm image sensors. With Sony and

JVC showing off their 4K cameras withthe same Super 35mm sized sensors, itseems like a new standard is emerging.If you shoot with different cameras onthe same production, getting standardcameras will make it much easier tomaintain depth of eld in your shots ifthe image sensors are the same size.

New Standards for Codec andResolutionWhile H.264 is still the dominantcodec used for online video and Blu-ray, H.265 (HEVC) is well on its wayto being the new standard codec forcompressed video. HEVC is said to bearound 50 percent more efcient thanH.264 for compressing video. A demofrom DivX showed that the new HEVCcodec has even less artifacting and a

NAB 2014:A $5,00 Shopping List

1. Sonys A7S mirrorless camerahas a Super 35mm image sensorwhich delivers impressive foot-age in low light. It records HD in-camera, 4K to external recordersvia HDMI and weighs just over apound. Most cameras this sizehave APS-C or Micro Four Thirdsimage sensors that make it hardto achieve shallow depth of fieldshots. The larger image sensor on

the A7S also helps reduce noise inthe image. That combined with theE-mount lens mount that offersa variety of l ightweight lensesand the ability to use adaptersfor other common lens mounts,makes this new Sony camera veryappealing. The A7S is expected tocost $2,000.

2. An Atomos Shogun recorder/monitor can record 4K and HD inCinemaDNG raw, Apple ProRes orAvid DNxHD. Most small camerasrecord in very high compressionand limited color space which canmake doing effects like chromak-eying or color correction challeng-ing. The Shogun allows you torecord with low compression tostandard 2.5-inch SSDs or harddrives. If thats not enough, theShogun has a 7-inch 1920x1080monitor filled with useful featureslike focus peaking, false color,zebra patterns, waveform andvectorscope. The Shogun hasXLR, HDMI and SDI inputs and is$1,995.

3. Glide Gear PRO Action Jib andDNA 6001 Vest and Arm Stabiliza-tion Kit is amazingly versatile. Itcombines the mobility and stabili-zation of shooting with a sled andvest style system with the widerange of shot options of a smalljib. The unit is a great option forsmall cameras in locations where

using a dolly or jib is impractica-ble. Itll require a skilled operatorto support the jib and camera aswell as get the shot. The whole kitis estimated to retail for $800.

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derbolt networking is currently lim-ited to two computers, Intel is workingon expanding the capabilities to allowmultiple machines to be connected.

Thunderbolt looks like it couldbe for 4K what FireWire was for DV.External hard drives and RAIDs withThunderbolt ports have been out for

a while now, but some new monitorscan be connected directly with theport. Cameras such as the BlackmagicProduction Camera 4K and AJAs CIONhave Thunderbolt ports. NAB 2014featured many new applications forthe Thunderbolt 2 port. A Thunderbolt2 port allows for transfer of data atspeeds up to 20Gb/s making it a greatoption for external media.

Storage SolutionsWhile many are still skeptical of com-mercial cloud solutions, there was apush on the oor for creating yourown personal cloud. With storageprices plummeting, and Thunderbolt2 offering incredible transfer speeds,RAIDs are now a viable solution forevery video professional. The storagedemands of 4K are now reasonable.

Conclusion: A Glimpse of Thingsto ComeIts not a matter of if 4K broadcastingwill occur, its a matter of when . NAB2014 denitely illustrated that theextensive availability of 4K cameras, aswell as the gear to support 4K post-production workow and delivery willspeed up the conversion from HD to4K. This will happen a lot quicker thanthe SD to HD conversion. For manyvideo professionals, nows the time toconsider upgrading gear to be ahead ofthe curve so you can maximize oppor-tunities for 4K content creation.

Odin Lindblom is an award-winning filmmaker whose

work includes film, commercials, and corporate video.Odin offers a full range of services at The Mothershipwhich includes production, post and VFX.


sharper image than H.264, even whenused for low resolution SD footageat lower bitrates. 4K video les thatare four times the resolution but onlytwice the le size of HD les will re-ally help 4K delivery.

One of the other challenges 4Kproduction initially faced was the

wide array of resolutions that werecalled 4K. Now, most companiesare supporting either the Ultra HD

resolution of 3840x2160 or the DigitalCinema Initiatives 4K resolution of4096x2160. Some support both.While 4K standards do support mul-tiple frame rates for video, interlacingis not supported. When the conver-sion to 4K happens, interlacing willbe gone.

The Thunderbolt AdvantageAt NAB 2014, Intel showed how theycan now connect two computerstogether with a single Thunderboltcable creating a 10-gigabit network.The TCP/IP network created was ableto transfer a 1GB video le in secondsfrom a PC to a Mac. While the Thun-

AN INSIDERSLOOK AT

NAB

WHEN THE CONVERSION TO4K HAPPENS, INTERLACINGWILL BE GONE.

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We scoured the NAB 2014show oor with thebroadcast eld as packed as ever, and

had to look past hundreds of products tobring you these select few to be called the

tradeshows best. We found some companiestrying new types of products, expanding on asolid following. This of course brings up somebig names like AJA and Blackmagic, but inareas that are fairly new to them. New productsare seemingly always coming out in camerasupport, and each built smarter and stronger.Again, we saw a couple established namescrossover into territory that is new, and gimbalsare beginning to feel like the new action camera its great that they go together. Everyone ismaking them and applying them for smoothoating image stabilization. Heres our BestProducts of NAB 2014.

Best of Show Award: Blackmagic URSAThe Blackmagic URSA modular design reallyrepresents three cameras and then some, sosome might call it cheating, but well just saythat versatility will make this camera very ap-pealing to a wide audience. Blackmagic De-signs URSA features a removable componentthat contains the lens mount and sensor, sothe base unit can be equipped to use EF, PL orB4 mounts. The EF and PL versions have a 4KSuper 35 image sensor, while the B4 will have asensor aimed at the broadcast market. Thereseven a body-only version with a 4K HDMI inputso that any capable camera can take advantageof the multitude of LCD screens on the mainunit. The EF version hits a sweet price pointat about $6,000 while the PL version goes forabout $6,500. The B4 and HDMI version pricesare pending, as well shipping dates so peek atthe Blackmagic forum for the latest, previous-ly the cinematography board has coverednew cameras. The Blackmagic URSA

is one of the earliest cameras with12G-SDI, and combats rollingshutter with a global shut-ter. The built-in, 10-inchscreen is a rst andthe camera is

designed with two ve-inch touch screens,creating director of photography andcamera assistants stations. It has some ofthe biggest audio meters weve ever seenon a camera. We didnt even mention thatDaVinci Resolve 11 is set to be includedwith the camera, so were just getting moreand more excited to start trying this oneout. For shaking up the industry again, theBlackmagic Design URSA deserves our Bestof Show Award for NAB 2014.

Best Mirrorless Camera: PanasonicLUMIX GH4Upon a second look at the Panasonic DMC-GH4, were very impressed by the littlecamera that can do great things. With videoat both UHD and Digital Cinema Initiatives4K, a Micro Four Thirds mount and ease ofuse, this LUMIX camera gets great images.4K bitrates of 100Mb/s and HD bitrates of200Mb/s will test the UHS Speed Class U3SDHC or SDXC card you decide to use,while the ip out OLED will makeit easier to shoot. The GH4 issmall but strong, with a

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magnesium alloy body, and room to grow withattachments, notably one that can provide XLRinputs and audio meters. The zebra patterns area very welcome exposure assist, and a SynchroScan can help take out the icker from a moni-tor or uorescent lights. Since cameras can be

very compact these days we decided to celebrate the GH4 forbeing both small and exceptional.

Best Light of NAB 2014: Kino Flo Celeb 400 DMXThe size of the Celeb 400 DMX helps shape how it emits light.Weve already come to appreciate the Celeb 200 DMX, so as

the LED panel is scaled up from 24 to 45-inches,we are excited to see the continued excellence.The Celeb 400 DMX has a color rendering indexscore of 95, which is most impressive in light ofthe full dimming and color temperature controls.These are incredibly handy lights that dont gethot, use standard power and wont bother yoursubject like some lights.

To add gels or mounts, it is a clear a nd securetask to slide a light modier into the front slots.Ultimately it makes the job of lighting less of achore. At nearly four feet long, its going to covera lot of your set. The entire case will be 53lb. orless, depending on whether you go for the thecenter or yoke mount kit. The Celeb 400 DMXbrings great versatility and lighting power to sets,

and saves valuable time, so these are clear reasons well callthe Celeb 400 DMX the best light of NAB 2014.

Best Plug-in of NAB 2 014 Award: Red Giant UniverseFor editors, visual effects and motion graphics tend to be

either their favorite part of the produc-tion process or the hardest. Plug-inshave been the go-to answer formany during post-production,so it stands that when oneof the premier creatorsof plug-ins, RedGiant, teams up

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and collaborates with the editors of the Universetheres some award-worthy effects to be had.The idea with the Universe is that youd get touse the effects that creators like yourself andlegendary people like John Knoll havecreated. Youll work with creators to helpshape the effects that become availablenext, rather than have to wait until the nextpackage of limited shelf-life plug-ins becomes

available. Whether you use Mac or Windows, themajor host applications are recognized, so to getthe Universe to gel with your workow probablywont take much. Its free at the lowest-level. Formore access subscribers can pay $10 per month,$99 per year or a one-time lifetime price of $399.

Best Camera Accessory of NAB 20 14 Award:Sachtler Ace AccessoriesThe collection of Ace Accessories includes the Ace BasePlate, Ace Follow Focus and Ace Matte Box. Each is an indi-vidual product, but when they combine, your gear becomeselite. It uses standard 15mm rods for accurate focus andmatte boxes for the ultimate in camera control. A total ofthree ags act like barn doors while two slots allow youto easily mix in a lter (or rotate one). The reliability andvalue that many have come to expect from the Sachtler Aceline supports is now in the Ace Accessories range. The strongbut light tripods from this German company are easily seenin many productions. In our experience, anything that movesthe shoot along faster goes up in value. Were pretty sure thatthe frequency with which youll turn to your Ace-ed rig willoffset costs pretty well.

Best Action Camera Support of NAB 2 014Award: Dactylcam Go RigPrehistoric? Hardly. The Go Rig is for the young atheart: hobbyists, athletes, and enthusiasts. To fullyexplain what this rig does itll take some physicaldescription. Its an aluminum sled cable-cam rigfor action cameras that requires some 1/8-inch or1/4-inch line, the Amsteel Blue non-stretch kindis preferred. It can carry 3lb. and is driven by aremote control. The easy question is which of themany small POV cameras youll use with the sys-tem. The harder question is: What will you attachthe cables for the sled to? Accessories can be attachedto the Go Rig sled as well as a m ore powerful battery.The transmitter controls forward and back motion with

a 4-Channel 2.4GHz Dual Band Remote Control. The kitshould make jumping into cable-run cameras simple. At$990 the Go Rig certainly stands as an investment, butthe fun on productions is denitely going to ramp up. Justremember to set up a way to monitor your camera beforesending the sled along.

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Best Stabilizer of NAB 2014 Award: FreeflyMoVI M5A 3-axis gimbal counteracts the movements of acamera operator, and steers footage towards theultimate, cinematic smooth move look. FreeysMoVI M5 takes on the growing competition andhelps make high production value easy. By the

very nature of being lightweight and hand operated, theMoVI M5 is more accessible than say, some sled and vest sys-

tems or dollies. The custom design centers on a proprietaryinertial measurement unit and brushless direct drive system.The fully protected wiring and tool-less balancing are designattributes that quickly elevate this rig from others. With apayload of 5lb. and control features like pan/tilt, a graphicuser interface (via Bluetooth connection), silent operationand a way to control the amount of allowed camera shake,

this is a full featured camera stabilizer. The MoVI M5 itself is $4,995with various accessories available, and can ship 4-6 weeks afterorders are placed.

Best Storage of NAB 2014 Award: G-Technology G-SPEEDStudioWe can generally agree that more storage is better, and more RAIDstorage, is even better than that. The G-SPEED Studio is a storagedevice with room for four hard drives and is congurable to RAID0, 1, 5, 6, or 10. You can bring the total storage up to 24TB, and ata lesser amount, the sustained 660MB/s transfer rate will get yourles going quick. The connection is Thunderbolt 2 which candaisy chain to other devices and Mac computers. This echoes one

of the beautiful things about Thunderbolt in that cabling inand out of devices is very simple. The four removable en-terprise class disks are 7200RPM SATA III. We cant help butappreciate the efforts G-Technology goes through to matchtheir design of storage devices to the current Mac Pro. TheG-SPEED studio is developed with creative producers inmind, and who knows, you might ll it before the 3-yearwarranty expires.

Best Motion Control System of NAB 20 14 Award:edelkrone Action/Target ModulesThe edelkrone SliderPLUS is great at putting our cameras intomotion, but the Action and Target modules would be bet-ter. They are modules that attaches to the sides of a Slider-PLUS for motion controlled pan/slide moves. Your control

of the camera is simple with a four-direction button for movingthe camera, and adjusting the average speed. These are the threethings it needs to complete a move, where you start, stop and anaverage speed. And rather than punching in numbers, the system

can record your move, and you dont need to get the speed exactlyright because the wizard mode knows how to calculate averages. Adouble tap allows an innite loop between points, and for this. TheAction module clocks in at $600 and the Target module at $800,and both have Canon LP-E6, Panasonic CGA-D54 or Sony NP-FVbattery options.

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Jackson Wong is an associate editor for Videomaker.

For comments, email: [email protected], use article #17173 inthe subject line. You can comment and rate this article by going online:www.videomaker.com/article/17173

DS

Best External Recorder of NAB 20 14Award: Atomos ShogunUse the Shogun for a powerful way torecord video. The 7-inch, 1920x1200 reso-lution monitor makes it especially strongwhen it comes to monitor/recorders. Atomos letsyou record to Apple ProRes 4K, Cinema DNGRaw or Avid DNxHD over HDMI and 12G-SDI.The Shogun has great color calibration with

plenty of monitoring (including audio) and assistfunctions that camera displays usually aspire tohave. The SuperAtom IPS 325ppi screen elimi-nates buttons with its touch screen, and thedual disk recording medium allows for extendedrecord lengthes like two hours with a 2TB RAIDfor 4K video. The openness of the Shogun iswelcome when youre looking for XLR audioor remote control. The Shogun is calibrated toSMPTE Rec.709 for standard colors. Thankfullythe Shogun is well suited to playing with manycameras on a production thanks to Genlock,timecode and monitor pass through. The reportfor the Shogun is to be ready for duty this falland cost $1,995.

Best Computer Monitor of NAB 2 014Award: HP Dreamcolor Z24x DisplayColors: 1.07 billion. Not bad not bad prob-ably more than you or we could name. Actu-ally, the Z24x is the smaller of two displays, butis signicantly less costly at $600. As a colorcritical display, Ethernet-based remote controlthrough an integrated Web server is in a leagueof its own. It has 1920x1200 resolution and10-bit color accuracy with a easy-to changecolor space and color calibration. The quickaccess to presets includes specic color spaces,including some that sound like named starsbeyond the Milky Way: sRGB D65, sRGB D50,Adobe RGB, BT.709, BT.2020 and DCI-P3. Plus,users have the ability to create custom colorspaces and control the primaries, white pointand tone response. While supported for Linux,Mac and Windows, the Z24x must be calibratedon a Windows system. This is some of the bestnews yet in terms of color critical monitorscoming down in price.

Most Innovative Product of NAB 20 14Award: FloLight CycLightLighting seems too easy if we use a singlelight for a subject, especially when lightinggreen screen. The CycLight seeks to make thewhole process easy with a single light xture

that reduces the light at the bottom, andgradually increases it to counteract theinverse square law that light must obey. Sowhere a spot is twice the distance from alight source, that spot will have one quarterthe intensity of light. This law governs au-dio as well, but the CycLight seeks to beatthat law. The specication for beam spreadprovided by FloLight reads: No. What theCycLight allows you to do is dim three40W green LEDs and light a green screenfrom the oor, less than four feet fromthe screen. The idea for the CycLight andLight Wave technology is much anticipat-ed, and is sure to make green screen morefeasible for many.

Winners ImmortalizedThe news from NAB 2014 may not last verylong but the products will and these herewill be among the markings of anotherexcellent year in video production innova-tions. The way we tell stories continues tochange and the tools are getting more andmore sophisticated. Whether we begin toassign three people to operate a camera,send our camera into oating handheldshots, use effects developed by a visual ef-fects wizards, or light a green screen withone light, the products awarded here, standto become big reasons for your video pro-ductions success.

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STORAGE

SOLUTIONS

Not having backups of your digital assets is askingfor trouble and will cost you time and money, shouldany assets be lost due to a hard d rive failure.

BY MARSHAL M. ROSENTHAL

The moral of this story is that since Murphys law knowsno boundaries and makes no distinctions, a businessthat creates digital assets and must access them from astorage device, cant take for granted that the hard drivecontaining the assets will continue to be safe.

Your drives hold a lot: digital video, audio les, completedprojects, raw footage and other assets, but a digital le canbecome corrupted or damaged or lost on a broken or defec-tive hard drive. An unforeseen event can occur that causesphysical damage, such as the drive getting wet or sufferingfrom internal heat build-up or a power surge shorting it out.Or, it may just get a hard knock that sends a high speed spin-ning disc, with all your data, into a tailspin. Losing accessto an asset is a fancy way of saying that its gone. No longerhaving it in storage translates into lost time and money inorder to recover it, if that becomes possible. Should a job belooming, a lot worse than time could be lost, as in makinga deadline or having to tell a client the kind of bad newsthat guarantees she or he will be a client no more. And thatdoesnt take into account whether payment for the work willhave to be returned in part or in whole.

All of this could have been avoided by having copiesof your digital assets. At the most basic level, making aduplicate of a digital asset provides a second version and

PROTECT DIGITAL ASSETSAND YOUR BUSINESS

Theres an urban tale that in Ohio in 1895, the states only twohorseless carriages (i.e., cars) managed to collide with one another.


STORAGE SOLUSTORAGE SOLUTIONS

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physically separated from where the originalis located. The simplest method is to connecta hard drive to the computer and copy all ofthe digital assets to the drive, either throughdrag and copy or by using a hard drive copyprogram. These programs can be conguredto copy selected les or do whole-disk drivecopying, and remove the need for having to

covered data. The service is affordable, with thecost being in the tens of dollars, not hundreds,and is basically hard drive insurance, with datarecovery added.

The External Storage SolutionThe second method for copying/saving digitalassets requires using a storage media that is

Safwr

STORAGE SOLUPROTECT DIGITAL ASSETS AND YOUR BUSINE

Your data is the most part of your professioOur mission is to supp

your work ows with qproducts backed by anindustry-leading warr

For over 20 years Glyph storage solutions have bdesigned for content creation workows needing scapacity. The all-new Studio family is equipall-metal enclosures, pro-grade internal power suphealth monitoring, and intelligent cooling systems

Every Studio series hard drive is backed by Glyoutrageous , industry-leading warranty and a

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Digitals desktop hard drives are recommendedfor RAID use, while its WD Red is, due to its higherlevel of performance and reliability, intended forwrite-intensive applications. Many pairs of harddrives can be congured for this purpose, depend-ing on the enclosure boxes available for contain-ing the drives.

Software SolutionsThe fact that all of the hard drives are togetherin one enclosure means that any kind of attack

that can happen to one drive (i.e., virus, gettingsoaked in water, etc.), has the potential to happento all of them at once. If that were to occur and adrive becomes inoperative, there are a number oflimited scenarios to save your data.

Should the damage be computer-related, soft-ware repair tools can be tried. There are a numberof these available that dont require program-ming skills, these two are priced around $100

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