• Making Money with Blu-ray Discs!
• Sorenson Media Updates Squeeze
• Creating Music Brands for the Chinese Market
• Relax. You don’t have the worst job in the nation – but it’s close!

GUESTS: Randy Hudson, Stephen Arnold, Chad Cook, Eric Quanstrom, and Tony Lee

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New interviews every week! Join Larry Jordan and Michael Horton as they talk with:

Randy Hudson, Director of Digital Media Post Production, DuArt

Blu-ray Disc is NOT dead — at least, that’s according to DuArt. Randy Hudson, their Director of Digital Media and Post Production, joins us to explain what they are doing with Blu-ray. Along the way, we want to find out if Blu-ray is just for the high-end of the industry and how DuArt and its clients are competing against digital downloads. Should be a good discussion.

Eric Quanstrom, COO, Sorenson Media

Last week, Sorenson Media upgraded Squeeze to version 8.5. This free upgrade provides significantly faster performance and supports yet more codecs. So, we invited Eric Quanstrom, COO of Sorenson Media, to explain the details. We want to find out just how much faster the update is and whether the world really needs yet more compression codecs.

Stephen Arnold, President/Founder, Stephen Arnold Music, Dallas
Chad Cook, VP of Creative Services, Stephen Arnold Music, Dallas

As a multiple Emmy, Addy and Promax Gold award-winning music production company, Stephen Arnold Music has over 15 years of success in delivering the sounds that make a difference to networks and producers the world over. Recently, they created an entire musical branding package for mainland China’s predominant television outlet – China Central Television America (CCTVA). We want to find out how a Dallas company creates memorable music for China? Stephen Arnold, President/Founder, and Chad Cook, VP of Creative Services, join us to explain.

Tony Lee, Publisher, CareerCast.com

In a recent study by CareerCast.com, lumberjacks were rated as the worst job in the nation. Not particularly germane to The Buzz audience, until you consider the other two jobs at the bottom: newspaper reporter and broadcaster! Sheesh!! What’s going on here? Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com stops by to explain the findings of their study – and also suggest where to look for the highest rated jobs.

You can’t find people or interviews like this anywhere else — it’s another fascinating show!

The Buzz is all the information you need now to know what’s coming next!

Since 2008, Beauty Box Video has been a critical tool for dealing with skin and makeup problems that HD and 4K reveal. HD shows so much detail that often viewers see flaws that weren’t visible in SD. Beauty Box 2.0 solves this problem by giving actors and models an incredible makeover in post-production, using state-of-the-art face detection and smoothing algorithms that preserve important details and the natural skin texture. The Beauty Box algorithm has been redeveloped to take advantage of OpenCL technology, which increases its rendering speed on all host applications, operating systems and video cards.

Here is a rundown of the great new features:

• Faster Rendering: A complete rewrite of the skin-smoothing algorithm means Beauty Box is up to 300% faster on ATI and NVIDIA cards.
• Shine Removal:Get rid of hot spots caused by shiny skin and bright lights! This feature dramatically reduces the effect of poor lighting conditions.
• Better Masking: The skin tone mask algorithm has been improved for a better automatic mask.
• Support for Final Cut Pro X: Beauty Box now fully supports Final Cut Pro X, along with earlier versions of FCP.
• Better Performance in Premiere Pro:The new algorithm brings improved stability and speed in Premiere Pro.
• More Host Apps Coming Soon: Support for OpenFX host apps like Sony Vegas Pro, Assimilate Scratch, and Nuke will be available in Q2 2012. Avid support available in Q3 2012.

Demo filters and samples are available here.

One of the solutions is CatDV by Square Box Systems. The asset management system has proven to be a viable alternative for providing individual systems or entire workgroups with media asset management, including ingest, logging, tagging, transcoding and more.

Archiware has announced a new and streamlined way to connect CatDV with their award-winning PresSTORE P4 Archive data management system. Castor, a simple and easy-to-use script package, creates a fast and easy connectivity between CatDV and P4 Archive.

More information on CatDV can be found on the Square Box Systems website.

Information on Castor, as well as download links, is available on the ProVideoTech blog.

For more in-depth information on alternatives to Final Cut Server, check out this article by 318 Tech Journal.

The challenge was significant, more than 90 individual video files, containing more than 11 hours of in-depth, technical training which required detailed transcription and careful placement of closed captions so that the text would not block key features of the software.

Titles available with closed captioning include:

Final Cut Pro X – Workflow & Editing
Final Cut Pro X – New Features (10.0.3)

Read the full press release.

Click here to learn more about JFD Communications, LLC.

Click here to learn more about Larry Jordan & Associates, Inc.

Drag the Pan and Zoom generator to your timeline and select your source media (a photo or a clip.) Pan and Zoom creates a smooth animation between any two regions in the source.

Key Features

• Supports image files in the most popular formats (JPEG, PNG, PSD, RAW, etc.).

• Keeps animation in sync with the length of the clip, allowing you to freely resize your clips and a perfect match for the Magnetic Timeline in Final Cut Pro X.

• Doesn’t sacrifice flexibility: the animation can also be controlled manually by keyframing a few parameters.

• Motion Blur: easy to configure via a single parameter, motion blur lets you generate the best-looking animations at any frame rate.

• New in version 3: High-precision, color-managed rendering ensures pristine quality in all hosts.

• New in version 3: Available in Final Cut Pro X, with multiple animation styles available through the effects browser.

Click here to learn more.

The Sola ENG Flight Kit consists of three Litepanels Sola ENG Fresnel fixtures and accessories including stands, gels, power supplies and cables, barndoors, soft box, a custom rolling case and more. Battery or A/C powered, the Sola ENG is designed for on-camera and portable use. Each fixture offers focusable output comparable to a 125W HMI yet requires only 30W to power it. These versatile lights are designed for easy travel, quick set-up and operation.

At just 30 pounds (13.60 kg), the Litepanels Sola ENG Flight Kit can be carried onboard commercial planes and stows neatly in overhead bins. The compact, yet powerful fixtures offer a fully dimmable and focusable daylight balanced source that’s ideal for working on the fly. While traveling, shooters will appreciate the retractable extension handle and smooth-rolling polyurethane wheels on the custom Pelican case.

For more information, click here.

The VR upgrade, designed specifically for the robotic controlled FHR-35, provides operators with a highly flexible solution suitable for a broad range of virtual reality applications, from sports to studios.

The versatile FHR-35 offers simple and straightforward integration for both the VR vendor and the customer as the pan and tilt head uses Ethernet – or serial output – direct from the head, to transmit positional data to the VR render engine.

Designed for payloads up to 35.27 lbs (16kg), every aspect of the Fusion FHR-35 head was created around Vinten Radamec’s unique ICE technology. The platform provides a motion control system and drive train to deliver both the fastest and the slowest broadcast quality movement, as well as the widest pan and tilt range, with accuracy better than 0.02˚. High-resolution absolute encoders deliver accurate camera positional data suitable for the most demanding VR applications.

The ICE motion control system is also able to drive a wide range of full-servo broadcast lenses using analogue, digital or hybrid control modes.

For more information on Vinten Radamec, click here.

For more information on Vitec Videocom, click here.

The first option is a single, fixed price per seat (node or float for mocha Pro v3 EDU). The second option will give larger institutions up to 50 floating seats of mocha Pro v3.

Students and faculty departments, including employees at nonprofit organizations, are all eligible for the discount. In order to qualify, schools or students must provide written proof of eligibility by submitting a school ID or nonprofit certification.

If you’d like to refresh yourself with some of version 3′s new features, check out mocha V3′s 3D Camera Solve module in action here.

Click here to learn more about student pricing for Mocha.

For more information on Imagineer Systems, click here.

Senior VASST Trainer John Rofrano demonstrates how to save a flickering shot using Boris Continuum Complete 8′s new Flicker Fixer tool in Sony Vegas Pro.

Click here to watch the video.

With Yanobox Barcode, editors can:

• Customize – Play with the color module, change the font, or resize the bars to create a unique style
• Animate – Use random digits and draw the elements progressively with the adjustable completion parameters to bring your barcode to life
• Share – Create your own presets to use in the future and share with others among all supported host applications

Yanobox Press Kit
Members of the press can download the Yanobox press kit.

To watch the Barcode Promo Video, click here.

To learn more about Barcode, click here.

Vantage Transcode HE Server provides decoding support for an extensive range of input file formats and accelerates x264 encoding to Apple Adaptive Streaming, Adobe Dynamic Streaming, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, and MPEG-DASH. The x264 codec is widely recognized in the industry for producing the best H.264 image quality. By combining the power of GPUs and CPUs with x264, Vantage Transcode HE Server produces the best image quality in the least amount of time.

Telestream LightSpeed technology accelerates video processing and transcoding– including scaling, deinterlacing, frame rate conversion, motion vector calculation, compositing and other compute-intensive tasks. It significantly accelerates transcoding performance for simultaneous encoding to multiple resolutions and bitrates in the shortest possible time.

In addition to accelerating transcoding, Vantage Transcode HE Server effortlessly packages the media, together with thumbnail images, closed captions, and metadata into ABR-compliant packages, for delivery directly to origin servers or CDNs. As part of the Vantage product family, Vantage Transcode HE Server can be used alone, clustered to increase capacity or added to an existing Vantage ecosystem. High-density transcoding is provided in an efficient 1 RU (rack unit) server with minimal space, electrical and thermal footprint requirements. With Vantage, every step of the workflow can be planned, managed and monitored. Workflows can be extended to include analysis, automated decision-making and enterprise-class system management to maximize efficiency, system utilization and visibility – all within a unified system.

Availability is targeted for the second quarter of 2012.

Click for more information about Vantage Transcode HE Server.

Click for more information about the Vantage product family.

Click for more information about Telestream.

• New Effects from GenArts!
• Pick the Best Lenses and Filters
• Education, Training, and Job Skills
• Solar-Powered Production — on a Boat!

GUESTS: Steve Kilisky, Ryan Avery, Mike Flanagan, and Philip Hodgetts

Click to listen to the current show:

*Right click on Download and “Save Link As…”

New interviews every week! Join Larry Jordan and Michael Horton as they talk with:

Steve Kilisky, Director, Product Management, GenArts

GenArts has released a new version of Sapphire Edge – version 2. It’s now available for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Sony Vegas. We wanted to learn more about it, so we invited Steve Kilisky, Director of Product Management at GenArts to tell us more.

Ryan Avery, Sales Manager, Schneider Optics

We talk a lot about the cameras we use for our productions, but the lenses and filters we choose are equally important. The National Sales Manager for Schneider Optics, Ryan Avery, gives us some tips about what to look for in lenses and filters and how to pick the best ones for your project.

Mike Flanagan, Founder/CEO, Video Symphony, Inc.

Keeping our technical skills up to date is critical – especially given the rapid change in our industry and the pressures of competition. Mike Flanagan founded Video Symphony in Burbank, CA, a technical school focused on post-production skills for film and video. He also wrote a book called “Hollywood Jobs.” We are always interested in new techniques we can use to get work – so this is one interview you won’t want to miss!

Phillip Hodgetts, CEO, Intelligent Assistance

He’s doing WHAT??? Philip Hodgetts, CEO of Intelligent Assistance, is about to embark on an historic adventure – a 6,000 mile expedition around the Great Loop of North America in a solar-powered sailing craft. First, we want to know WHY? Then, we want to discover HOW he’s doing it and WHAT gear he’s bringing; especially when it all has to be solar powered. We can’t wait for him to explain.

You can’t find people or interviews like this anywhere else — it’s another fascinating show!

The Buzz is all the information you need now to know what’s coming next!

The LockPort 5M3 protects the fragile output on your camera from tough production abuse with a rock solid universal clamp and a smart mini to full-size HDMI adapter.

The LockPort 5M3 camera plate is designed to easily fit every head, baseplate, sliding plate, support out there using the original camera screws already there. Ready in 10 seconds!

The LockPort 5M3 safely secures a 90° FRONT/REAR mini HDMI to full-size HDMI adapter, protecting forever the “expensive to repair” mini HDMI port on your expensive HDSLR camera.

The Adapter has gold plated contacts and the full-size female output allows you to use stronger standard HDMI cables, you can purchase everywhere!

Standard size HDMI plugs locks securely in the socket – no signal loose, and if somebody walks over your cable, the plug still can pop-out, saving your camera from falling on the ground.

The full-size HDMI 90° output can be used in FRONT or REAR position (2 different adapters) to reach the best cable ergonomics solution on your rig set-up!

The LockPort 5M3 adapters are available in FRONT and REAR editions, also available in kit or sold separately to upgrade the kits or like spare parts!

Instant reverse output direction set-up.

Can be ordered right now, shipment starts from the first week of June!

For more information, click here.

The GefenTV Wireless for HDMI Short Range (SR) sends HDMI to any remote display located within an 80 feet (25m) radius of the sender module that discreetly plugs-in to the source. It works with all laptops, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and any source equipped with HDMI. It is recommended for in-room applications, such as conference rooms. Ease of set-up and the ability to connect three sender units to one receiver makes switching in-between different sources very simple. A USB port on the sender can be used for power.

The GefenTV Wireless for HDMI Long Range (LR) includes small sender and receiver units that connect any source equipped with HDMI to any remote display within a 100 foot (30m) radius of the sender. This long range model has the added ability to transmit high definition audio and video through walls, further expanding its applicability.

Both extenders support HDCP compliance, 3DTV pass-through and hi-def resolutions up to 1080p. Audio features include Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and PCM digital audio streams up to 7.1 channels.

With both models, up to three sender units can be connected, so three sources can be accessed through switching by an IR remote control, which is included.

Click here to learn more about Gefen.

The 90-minute film tells the story of Martin Leidenfrost, a journalist and author from Slovakia, who travels to the hidden geopolitical world of gas. He poses questions about the future of the gas supply and, in doing so, runs into dirty deals, power games and monopolies.

Perfect combination: the Sony PMW-F3 with OConnor accessories
Richard Ladkani tested whether the F3 as a rather inexpensive camera in the S35 segment would be suitable as the main camera for his documentary. This is how the OConnor set-up, consisting of the O-Grips handgrips, the Universal Baseplate, the CFF-1 Cine Follow Focus and the O-Box WM Mattebox, came to be used during the demanding filming.

Flexible solutions for the highest possible degree of stability
With the new OConnor Universal Baseplate, the rods can be adjusted upwards or downwards on a rail measuring about seven centimeters.

Individual image composition for special look
During the filming of Gas Monopoly, Ladkani did most of the focusing himself. The OConnor O-Box mattebox was an essential device for the desired cinematic look. With it, Richard Ladkani was able to specifically control light and light reflexes for extraordinary camera effects.

Camera work under extreme conditions
The budget and an extremely tight filming schedule demanded absolute equipment dependability.

The newest Flagship title: “Americana Folk” is now shipping worldwide and is available on Audio CD, or can be downloaded in MP3 and WAV file formats.

In addition to audio CD’s, our new updated Music Download Center offers the ability to purchase individual tracks from all of our current Flagship Series titles, or entire CD categories with just one click in either MP3 or Wav file formats. For just one price, clients will get all the edited versions of any one music track, including the full length theme, and any 30 and 60 seconds versions when available. New production music will be added monthly.

Click to learn more about Music 2 Hues.

Sapphire Edge’s new FX Central Preset Browser integrates GenArts’ web portfolio of looks, which is updated with new collections every month, into Sapphire Edge’s intuitive visual browsing workflow. Now, editors can use Sapphire Edge’s continually refreshing collection of looks to achieve the perfect look for their project.

Sapphire Edge delivers the highest quality looks in an easy-to-browse visual workflow. On FX Central, editors can find inspiration for current or upcoming projects and easily Shortlist their favorite looks, which are immediately available from within their desktop application. Once in their editing workflow, video editors can navigate Sapphire Edge’s easy-to-use, streamlined interface to visually browse and preview the nearly 600 looks on their actual source footage. With any number of ways to search within the FX Central Preset Browser, it’s nearly impossible not to find the perfect look.

Key innovations in Sapphire Edge v2 include:

• 13 New Effects – Sapphire Edge v2 features 9 new filters — including Rays, Glare, Glint, Flashbulbs, Shake, Kaleido, SoftFocus, FlickerRemove, and Halftone— and 4 new transitions — including DissolveFlashbulbs, DissolveShake, DissolveAutoPaint, and WipeFlux
• Adobe Premiere Pro Compatibility – For the first time, Sapphire Edge is compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
• Web-Integrated Preset Browser – Now, the FX Central Preset Browser automatically downloads new looks collections for you, so you can use new looks without leaving your editing application. You can also Shortlist a look from the FX Central site, and it will instantly appear in your FX Central Preset Browser Shortlist
• Enhanced Preset Sorting Capabilities – Filter presets based on your Shortlist, ones you’ve applied, what’s new, characteristics and tags, or by date used. Sort presets based on their name, number or date of application, popularity, author, creation date, or custom lists
• Ability to Save Presets – Adjust a current preset or create your own from scratch
• Ability to Create Custom Lists – Organize your favorite presets by project, type of work, or however you’d like
• Auto-Tracking in LensFlare – LensFlare now automatically detects bright spots to automate movement without keyframing
• Animated Previews of Auto-Animated Effects – Preview animations of presets that do not require keyframing for movement from within the FX Central Preset Browser.

Sapphire Edge v2 includes 31 effects with nearly 600 artist-created and curated preset looks. New purchases include a one-year subscription to FX Central, where users can browse and Shortlist hundreds of looks to use in their projects. Every month, GenArts adds a new collection of preset looks, automatically added to your desktop application for easy access through the FX Central Preset Browser. Try Sapphire Edge v2 free now, available as a fully functional trial with no watermark for two weeks.

Click to learn more about GenArts.

Click to read the original press release about Sapphire Edge v2.

The Right Boom is built from extruded military grade aircraft aluminum, allowing for a true compact modular design with 4 different lengths. It has very smooth and reliable movement thanks to the 13 different bearings, including sealed, race bearings and double bearings. The Right Boom is manufactured using state of the art precision CNC machines. We did not compromise in materials or key components. Each camera support system is Proudly Manufactured, Assembled, Fully Built, Quality Checked and Functionally Tested in the U.S.A., 100 percent. No Chinese import here.

• Boom Arm and/or Body – Boom sections are made from ridged, light weight extruded military grade aircraft aluminum tubing. Each section is precision machined, powder coated, and then machined true for a tight fit section to section. To attach each section the Right Boom extensions have a tongue and grove using a T-Bolt made of Grade 5 Steel that is black-oxide finished and a minimum tensile strength of 120,000 psi. Sections go together easily for a fast, tight and secure setup that does not require tools.
• Our Pedestal – No Teflon washers here… Our pedestal is built using 3 different sets of bearings for an unmatched smooth functionality. The Pedestal arms are dovetailed into the base of the pedestal for a solid feel. The Pan brake and Tilt brake have a variable drag with the power to lock down the Boom when needed.
• Cable Assist – Our modular cable system is designed to add stability and rigidity. Only two marine grade corrosion resistant stainless steel cables are used for both the 12ft configuration and the 15ft configuration and recomended for the 9ft with payloads of 20-25lbs.
• Remote Head – this unit is packed full of extras. A bridge plate is built into the camera mounting plate allowing for countless ways to mount and control F.I.Z. (Focus/Iris/Zoom) on your lens. The Right Boom™ has Color coded I/O, 2 BNC Video lines (black), 1 BNC Timecode (yellow), 1 BNC Gen lock (green), LANC (blue), F.I.Z. motors (red), Lens and Camera control (silver), and on the back side you have 2 – 4 pin XLR VDC Output, 1 – 3 pin XLR Audio (CH1 / CH2), and an 3 pin XLR VAC outlet that can be turned ON/OFF from the operators end with a flip of a switch. The Right Boom™ also has double bearings for smooth and reliable Pan and Tilt movements. And that movement is controlled by 2 WORM Driven gear boxes for ultra smooth and high torque operation. Having WORM Driven motors also cuts down on setup times due to the fact that the camera does not have to be perfectly balanced in order to operate unlike belt driven motors. Below is an example of how smooth our Worm Drive is.
• Controls – The Right Boom’s controls are user friendly and are used to control Pan and Tilt of the remote head, Start/Stop REC, Zoom, Focus, Iris, and more. Use the same controls for ENG, Pro DV/HD cameras with LANC (Canon/Sony) and DSLRs either still or video.
• Hard Case – a Pelican case with an unconditional lifetime warranty* and comes standard with the Right Boom. The dims are 44 in. X 16 in. X 14 in. with a weight of approx. 90 lbs. What better way to protect your Right Boom then in a case that is an unbreakable, watertight, airtight, dustproof, chemical resistant and corrosion proof hard case and comes with 2 haul handles and built-in polyurethane wheels with stainless steel bearings. The padlock protectors provide added strength and extra security against cutting and thief.

Click for more information about BoomRight’s The Right Boom.

The LockPort 800 protects definitely the fragile output on your camera from tough production abuse with a rock solid universal clamp and a smart mini to full-size HDMI adapter.

The LockPort 800 camera plate is designed to fit easily every head, baseplate, sliding plate, support out there using the original camera screws already there. Ready in 10 seconds.

The LockPort 800 safely secures a 90° FRONT/REAR mini HDMI to full-size HDMI adapter, protecting forever the “expensive to repair” mini HDMI port on your expensive HDSLR camera.

The Adapter has gold plated contacts and the full-size female output allows you to use stronger standard HDMI cables, you can purchase everywhere.

Standard size HDMI plugs locks securely in the socket – no signal loose, and if somebody walks over your cable, the plug still can pop-out saving your camera from falling on the ground.

The full-size HDMI 90° output can be used in FRONT or REAR position (2 different adapters) to reach the best cable ergonomics solution on your rig set-up.

The LockPort 800 adapters are available in FRONT and REAR editions, also available in kit or sold separately to upgrade the kits or like spare parts.

Instant reverse output direction set-up.

LockPort 800 highlights:

• Works with Nikon D800 cameras.
• Saves the “expensive to repair” mini HDMI port on your D800 camera.
• Full-Size HDMI output allows you to use stronger standard cables.
• Standard size HDMI plugs locks securely in the socket – no signal loose
• 90° FRONT or REAR output editions.
• No loose of video signal anymore! The full-size HDMI output has stronger locking capabilites.
• Gold plated contacts.
• Rock solid UNIVERSAL ultra-low base clamp, can work on every plate, head, sliding plate, rig, support out there.
• Better cable layout on your rig set-up.
• No longer camera screws, use all the camera screws already out there.
• Ready in a few seconds.
• Instant reverse output direction set-up.
• New! Survival Kit with spare parts available online.

Can be ordered right now, shipment starts from the first week of June.

Click for more information about LockPort 800 For Nikon D800.

Next Generation Support for the New Generation of Video DSLRs

Video DSLRs have arrived as legitimate filmmaking tools. Groundbreaking cameras like the Canon 5D MKIII and the new Nikon D800 deliver advanced movie features and outstanding results. However, the form factor of DSLRs severely limits the stability of shots and the ability to adapt accessories that are commonplace for high-quality filmmaking. Redrock products have evolved along with DSLRs and now offer the best solutions for shooting high quality movies with DSLR rigs.

Professional-level Support and Stability

The ultraCage DSLR delivers rock-solid support and stability for DSLR cameras. The ultraCage secures the camera body at three points: screws into the camera base, fastens to the top hot shoe and locks the camera in place with the anti-rotation pin. The ultraCage supports a wide variety of DSLR bodies and has been tested with the Canon 60D, 7D, 5D MKII, 5D MKIII, and Nikon D800/ D800e camera bodies. You will not find a support cage anywhere that is more stable, functional or reliable.

The ultraCage DSLR adds industry-standard 15mm bottom rails for accessories such as a mattebox, follow focus or lens support. The built-in 15mm top rail support is great for adding accessories you want to keep with your camera on every setup, such as camera-top monitors or remote focus motors.

The cage surrounds the camera with 22 mounting holes (standard 1/4″ and 3/8″) that are perfect for attaching and positioning virtually any other accessory available. The ultra Series of accessories from Redrock can extend the ultraCage with extended top and bottom rails, triple the mounting points and additional mounting plates for advanced accessories such as external batteries, external recorders, audio units and remote focusing.

In addition, the powerPack Universal accessory delivers a powered cage option so all camera-top accessories and the camera itself can be powered from a single, long-lasting source using an external battery.

The ultraCage DSLR and ultraBase are ideal for the following types of users:

• Professionals using DSLRs for filmmaking
• Enthusiasts looking to get better results from video DSLRs
• Amateurs who want something they can start simple with and grow
• Steadicam, riggers, camera/jib operators needing rock-solid support and stability
• Anyone looking for better support for their video DSLR

Slim, Contoured Design Molds to DSLR Body, Adds Features Without Bulking Up

Unlike other offerings, the ultraCage curves with the camera’s contours and doesn’t make it any larger than absolutely necessary. All doors and features are completely accessible, and the cage is unobtrusive enough to stay on the camera even when shooting stills. The precision-machined aluminum housing and available carbon fiber rods keep things light without sacrificing strength.

The Foundation for Any Shooting Style, from Handheld to Studio

The ultraCage DSLR can be used to create any type of rig, from handheld to full studio. Redrock offers pre-built bundles for handheld, shouldermount, and studio setups based on the original ultraCage. Using Redrock’s family of 400+ cinema accessories and building blocks, virtually any rig can be created to fit your shooting style and budget. With the ultraCage DSLR, your camera can now take advantage of Redrock’s ultra Series of advanced support accessories for sleek, sophisticated camera setups.

The ultraCage DSLR Advantage

The Redrock ultraCage DSLR and ultraBase are the only professional-level camera support to deliver all these key advantages:

• Superior support and stability for DSLR cameras
• Form-fitting and lightweight contoured design promotes small, fast shooting style
• Top & bottom 15mm rails and 22 mounting points for accessories
• Retains access to all DSLR buttons and doors
• wireLock protects and converts HDMI output to full size HDMI supported connector
• Cage provides 360 degrees of protection for your DSLR
• Build any rig you want with Redrock’s family of ultra Series and cinema accessories
• Can be used for handheld, studio or rigging, and can fast-change between setups
• Confidence in gear that comes with lifetime warranty and is made in the USA
• Incredibly affordable professional-level gear

Click for more information about the ultraCage DSLR and ultraBase.

Availability

ultraCage DSLR and ultraBase are shipping starting mid-May, and are available from Redrock direct and from authorized Redrock Micro resellers worldwide.

Cache-A recently featured all of its products that integrate with these NAS/SAN solutions — the award-winning Pro-Cache5, the high-performance Power-Cache and the quiet, desktop Prime-Cache5 — at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB 2012) in Las Vegas, NV.

The SAN/NAS integration enables Cache-A archive appliances to mount directly to those storage platforms and allows end users to pull data directly from those storage platforms. Previously, a client was needed to see both the Cache-A device and the SAN/NAS. Now, by eliminating the need to tie up another client, faster data transfers are possible, particularly because of GigE, rather than Fibre Channel, connectivity.

New Version 2.1 Software Release

In addition to SAN and NAS integration, Cache-A products now feature its latest Version 2.1 software release. Many of these new capabilities were originally included in the new Power-Cache and are now available without charge across the entire Cache-A product line.

Highlights of these new features include:

• Job Queue: The ability to queue jobs from multiple users or events and automatically run jobs in sequence improves productivity in demanding user environments
• Better Status Reporting in the Transfer Summary: New status reporting shows users more information about the progress of file transfers
• ASP Protocol: Now offers the ability to directly mount Apple file shares, improving performance and convenience in Mac environments
• Configuration of Multiple Ethernet Ports: New network configuration controls give users the ability to set up and view the status of each Ethernet port

The Cache-A Product Family

Simple to deploy, Cache-A’s line of archive appliances offer the most integrated networked archiving solution to help increase productivity. They all write data on low-cost, secure, portable, interchangeable and IT industry-standard LTO-5 tape cartridges that have a 30-year archival life. The latest generation of LTO-5 offers 1.5 terabytes (TB) of storage per cartridge, while also providing significantly faster archiving speeds.

The Cache-A product family includes:

• Pro-Cache5: The most efficient and easily deployed way to manage multiple terabytes of archived data; it offers many of the advanced features demanded for content archiving, interchange and access
• Power-Cache Archive Server: Combining Cache-A’s noted appliance functionality with more disk speed and better throughput, it offers a high-performance blend of LTO-5 tape drives, 8 TB of RAID and 10Gb Ethernet technologies; it offers faster archive and retrieval transfers as well as greater flexibility for staging content, making duplicate tape copies and working with Cache-A Library and Expansion units
• Pro-Cache Library24/Library48 Automation Appliances: Available in either 24 or 48 tape slot configurations, these library options work with Pro-Cache and Power-Cache models to automate cartridge loading for archiving, restoring and even cartridge spanning when archiving large projects; they offer near-line archival capacity of up to 72 TBs (Library48) or 36 TBs (Library24)
• Prime-Cache5: Optimized for desktop applications and compact and quiet in the Prime-Cache tradition, it features an LTO-5 tape drive, 2TB hard disc drive, an improved chassis and 10 times faster direct-attached transfers with USB 3.0

All of these products offer LTFS (Linear Tape File System) capability as a free option to the industry standard tar format. Based on open source software, LTFS enables users to interchange content across different operating systems, software applications and physical locations.

Click for more information about Cache-A’s Pro-Cache5, Power-Cache, Prime-Cache5 and more.

Click for more information about FxFactory 3.0.3′s Callouts.

Click to view the FxFactory 3.0.3 Callouts tutorial video.

The lens’ tilt and rotation adjustments can be made before or even during a shot for a wide variety of effects. The desired degree of rotation is fixed via a lever while a locking knob secures the selected tilt angle. The S2000 Century/Canon 17mm lens features a linear iris and integral .8 module metric iris and focus gears.

Other existing lenses in the Tilt-Shift family include: 24mm T4, 45mm T2.8, and 90mm T2.8.

Click for more information about Schneider Optics’ S2000 Century/Canon 17mm T4 Tilt-Focus Lens PL Mount.

• Live Streaming – From Your Camera!
• Making a Living with Your Music
• Off the Beaten Track: Funny iPad Apps
• Professional Accessories for iPhone Filming

GUESTS: Ken Zamkow, Jay Costa, Christian Ugbode, and Dave Fisk,

Click to listen to the current show:

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New interviews every week! Join Larry Jordan and Michael Horton as they talk with:

Ken Zamkow, Director, Sales & Marketing, LiveU

In a surprise announcement during the recent NAB Show, Panasonic revealed a new partnership with LiveU that specializes in bonded uplink video streaming. We got to demo one of their live streaming packs during NAB and were able to stream live news while walking around the show floor without a hitch. Marketing & Sales Director, Ken Zamkow, Director of Sales and Marketing for LiveU, tells us more about the company and the impact live streaming can have on your production.

Jay Costa, Licensing Director, Chicago Music Library

Jay Costa is the Licensing Director for the Chicago Music Library. He also works as a music supervisor. Since music is a world that is constantly changing, we want to ask him about how to make a living in this very competitive field.

Christian Ugbode, Co-Executive Director, The Blackline Magazine

It’s time for a creative change of pace. iPad Apps are not easy to write and funny iPad Apps are even harder. Christian Ugbode, Co-Executive Director for The Blackline Magazine, seems to know how to do it, however, so we’ve invited him on the BuZZ to tell us more about the creative process behind creating humor.

Dave Fisk, Sales Manager, K-Tek

Dave Fisk is the Sales Manager at K-Tek, known for their graphite and aluminum boom poles, K-microphone and camera accessories, but they have recently begun manufacturing products as accessories for iPhones. Does this portend the end of civilization as we know it?

You can’t find people or interviews like this anywhere else — it’s another fascinating show!

The Buzz is all the information you need now to know what’s coming next!

Sheffield Softworks Vintage Effects provides settings for:

• Technicolor 2 Strip – Records the red and green images
• Technicolor 3 Strip – Records the full color palette in a way that differs from modern color film
• Multicolor – Records the red and blue images

Click for more information on Sheffield Softworks Vintage.

Click to see the Sheffield Softworks Vintage tutorial video.

The new Inca LED lighting fixtures derive their name from the “incandescent” lighting fixtures they replace. Inca Fresnels incorporate LEDs that are color-matched to the incandescent tungsten halogen lighting fixtures still in use in many television stations and teleproduction facilities. The Inca Series makes it possible for a studio to change over from incandescent to LED fixtures in a staged, multi-year plan, rather than having to do so all at once.

Inca Series LED Fresnel Fixtures

Tungsten balanced Inca 4 (4-inch/10cm lens) and Inca 6 (6-inch/15cm lens) Fresnel fixtures are the first members of the series. Inca 4 focuses from 72° to 13°, and Inca 6 focuses from 67° to 15°. Both provide dimming from 100% to 0 with no noticeable shift in color temperature. Focus and dimming can be controlled via DMX 512 protocol, or by on-fixture knobs.

Energy efficient–money savers

The Inca 4 and Inca 6 use less than 10% of the power consumed by conventional tungsten halogen fixtures. The Inca 4 draws about 39W, and provides comparable illumination to a 300W traditional tungsten Fresnel. The Inca 6 draws approximately 104W, and provides comparable illumination to a 650W traditional tungsten Fresnel.

Because Litepanels LED fixtures run cool to the touch, there is an additional savings in the power it takes to cool a studio. Litepanels fixtures that replace incandescents can pay for themselves in as little as 3 years through reduced energy use. With a 50,000+ hour bulb life for the fixture’s LEDs, that savings will continue a decade or more into the future.

No sacrifice in lighting quality

Litepanels’ proprietary LEDs produce the company’s hallmark soft light quality. The company’s breakthrough LED Fresnel fixture design provides the controllability and light-shaping, single shadow properties inherent in a Fresnel light. Inca Fresnel fixtures feature a lightweight form factor, one-third that of traditional Fresnels.

Click for more information about Litepanels’ Inca Series Tungsten-Balanced LED Fresnels.

TVLogic, designer and manufacturer of LCD and OLED High Definition displays, released 6 new broadcast, production and post-production monitors at NAB 2012.

3 NEW LVM-SERIES MODELS

LVM-174W, LVM-212W and LVM-247W join the Company’s broadcast monitor line. The LVM-174W is a 17” 1366×768 compact rack mount monitor designed to fit in a 6RU space. The 21” LVM-212W is a new slim-bezel 1920×1080 LCD monitor that is designed to fit perfectly in a 19” rack mount.

Designed for broadcast OB, television studio and QC racks, the LVM-174W and LVM-212W feature A/B 3G SDI inputs, component/composite, HDMI & DVI inputs, Waveform/Vector Scope, Closed Captioning Support (CEA-608/708), H/V Delay, Markers and Safety, Embedded Audio Metering (8 ch), Timecode display (VITC & LTC), Auto Color Calibration Support, and more.

The new LVM-247W is a 24” 1920×1080 10-bit LCD designed to bridge the gap between the LVM-243W and the flagship 24” model, the XVM-245W. Designed for broadcast QC, production and post-production, the LVM-247W shares all the features of the LVM-174W and LVM-212W, as well as color critical features such as a built in 3D LUT, multiple colorspace presets, precise gamma control, and import/export of popular 3D LUT formats.

2 NEW XVM-SERIES MODELS

Two new color-critical full HD (1920×1080) 10-bit models have been added to the XVM line-up.

The 17” XVM-175W is an ideal monitor for on-set DIT/QC monitoring as well as broadcast OB vans and QC rack monitoring. The XVM-325W is a color-critical display with the additional size required to bring out every detail of the HD image. Both models include A/B 3G & Dual-link SDI inputs, component/composite, HDMI & DVI inputs, Waveform/Vector Scope, Closed Captioning Support (CEA-608/708), H/V Delay, Markers and Safety, Embedded Audio Metering (8 ch), Timecode display (VITC & LTC), Auto Color Calibration Support, and more.

1 NEW LQM QUAD MODEL

The LQM-471W is a 47” 1920×1080 quad input monitor designed for multi-source monitoring in control rooms. With four SDI inputs/outputs, the LQM-471W supports multiple display configurations with features like Waveform/Vector Scope, Closed-Caption support, Timecode display, and remote control.

Click for more information about TVLogic’s NAB Releases.

The new advancement allows SSDs to co-exist with hard drives (HDDs) in a single system, allowing customers to enjoy a single pool of automated storage that has both capacity (from HDDs) and performance (from SSDs).

Drobo’s Automated Data-Aware Tiering also provides automatic performance acceleration and optimization across all of a business’s applications – from VMware to Microsoft Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, Hyper-V and other business-critical applications – without the need to configure SSDs, tune applications or manage dedicated storage for multiple applications. It significantly advances and exceeds other traditional, enterprise data tiering approaches in the following ways:

• Fully Automated – Like all Drobo advancements, Automated Data-Aware Tiering requires literally zero configuration to deliver results. Customers simply insert two or three SSDs into their B1200i to realize the performance acceleration from the SSDs while maintaining the capacity of HDDs. Other approaches require manual configuration and provisioning of the SSDs, provisioning of multiple storage RAID groups or pools, and complex configuration of applications with respect to specific storage volumes.
• Immediate – Once the SSDs are inserted into a Drobo B1200i, performance acceleration happens automatically within minutes. Other approaches require data to be placed initially on slower bulk tiers, and then possibly be migrated to a faster tier only after days or weeks of empirical evidence.
• Dynamic and Adaptable – Because Drobo’s data tiering is data-aware and application-independent, it dynamically adapts to changes in application sets and workloads. As applications or patterns change, Drobo’s data tiering adjusts accordingly to optimize performance, without manual intervention. Traditional approaches often require specific application re-configuration, or the costly and complex addition of new SSD pools dedicated to new applications.
• Affordability – Drobo offers Automated Data-Aware Tiering on the B1200i system that includes 18TB of hard drives and 600GB of industry-leading SSD storage for less than half the cost of traditional storage solutions with similar capabilities.

Click for more information about Drobo’s Automated Data-Aware Tiering technology.

Professional-level Performance for a Lifetime

At the heart of any focusing unit is precision performance. Redrock spent the last three years developing a new original-design unit featuring a completely geared, precision-machined transmission with virtually backlash-free performance. Recognizing that all follow focuses settle over time and are prone to develop play, all new microFollowFocus units include adjustable backlash, which can reset the unit’s performance to ‘like new’ condition at any time. The new gearbox delivers exceptional professional-level performance for a lifetime.

Special Features for DSLR Lenses

The microFollowFocus | blue solves the issue that many filmmakers face when filming with HDSLR lenses: the focus ring spins freely, making repeatable focus nearly impossible. The microFollowFocus | blue solves this with an ingenious adjustable ‘hard stop’ mechanism on the follow focus itself, so every lens now has hard stops. The new microFollowFocus line offers additional features for DSLR lenses including support for shorter lenses with its flippable gear box, and when paired with microLensGears gives DSLR lenses the ability to achieve accurate, repeatable, precision focus pulling.

Choose the microFollowFocus to fit your Budget and Needs

The microFollowFocus family is available in three different configurations and price points. The microFollowFocus | blue is Redrock’s flagship product, with the features and performance for professionals and enthusiasts. The microFollowFocus | blue Studio adds a second side wheel (“studio” mode) for quickly switching camera sides, and can be added or removed at any time. The microFollowFocus retains the performance and core features of the flagship version at a more economical price.

The microFollowFocus Advantage

The Redrock microFollowFocus family is the only line of follow focus units to deliver all these key advantages:

• “Back to new” adjustable backlash that maintains precision performance for a lifetime.
• Adjustable hard stops for DSLR lenses.
• Reinforced, repositionable focus indicator for assistant or operator focus marks.
• Add a second side wheel (‘studio mode’) at any time, or switch between single and double sided.
• Works with both still and cinema lenses.
• Choice of follow focus unit to match your budget and performance needs.
• Confidence in gear that comes with lifetime warranty and is made in the USA.
• Incredibly affordable.

Availability

All microFollowFocus products are available immediately from Redrock and from authorized Redrock Micro resellers worldwide.

Click for more information about Redrock Micro’s microFollowFocus.

Derived from high-resolution body scans, Michael 5 allows characters with different heads, body shapes, genders, ages and races to be morphed and mixed, providing an unmatched platform for limitless character creation. High-resolution photo-realistic skin texture maps showcasing irregularities such as pores, freckles, veins, age and muscle striations produce stunning levels of realism.

Availability

Michael 5 is available now. There are bundles of clothing, hair, and other add-ons in the DAZ 3D store which range in price.

About Michael

Debuting to wide acclaim in 1999, Michael has become the most widely supported male 3D figure on the planet. Used by over one hundred thousand digital artists, game developers and animators, the figure is compatible with most 3D software including DAZ Studio, Cinema4D, Maya and Carrara.

Click for more information about DAZ’s Michael 5.