Production Apprentice

Avid Media Composer 6 is everything they said it would be…

John DeMaio — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:38:40 +0000

When I first heard the news about Media Composer 6, I was genuinely excited. It has been a long time since an NLE has given me a reason to look forward to its release. After the release of FCP X, I realized (along with everyone else in the professional film and video world) that I [...]

Canon’s C300 Used by Laforet on His Latest Short – Mobius

Joe Dorsey — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:24:11 +0000

As you may have heard, the twittergeist/blogosphere was blowing up yesterday based on two big announcements. One by Canon, one by Red. Both companies revealed new digital cinematography cameras aimed at budding and established filmmakers. Canon’s C300 was widely anticipated since the company’s 5D/7D DSLRs have been all the rage for videographers for several years – [...]

Avid Media Composer 6.0 comes out swinging

John DeMaio — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:36:58 +0000

Big announcement from Avid today that has me thinking there might be changes to every FCP post house in the country. At the very least, it will be a hefty battle between Avid and Adobe for the existing FCP 7.0 users that felt a bit left out in the cold from the launch of the [...]

Steve, Thanks -Me

Joe Dorsey — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:14:30 +0000

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is [...]

Panny Introduces “No Glasses” 3D Camcorder HDC-Z10000

Joe Dorsey — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:55:20 +0000

Whoa! This thing is pretty cool looking. The Panasonic HDC-Z10000, is a ridiculously named, alphabet soup, camcorder that looks pretty sweet. It shoots “glasses-less 3D” using dual lenses and dual CMOS sensors, while also allowing you to shoot 2D 1920×1080/24p material as well using a new modified AVCHD 3D spec. Camcorders like this will greatly [...]

The Making of an iPhone App Promo w/ Video CoPilot’s Andrew Kramer

Joe Dorsey — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:30:00 +0000

If you’re into visual effects, no doubt you’ve stumbled upon Andrew Kramer’s work online. His Video CoPilot series is an amazing educational site for visual effects artists interested in learning new After Effects and 3D modeling techniques. Video CoPilot’s latest endeavor is into the iPhone app world. Why? Because they were bored. What Andrew and his [...]

My journey back to Avid Media Composer

John DeMaio — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:42:49 +0000

I began editing professionally in 1997. It started with a Sony BVE-9100 linear system, then migrated into the world of NLE systems beginning with D-Vision, which became the Discreet Edit. Moved on to Avid Media Composer in 1999 and also (somewhere in the 2000-2002 range) I had a brief stint with DPS Velocity. However, the Avid Media [...]

Behind The Scenes: Inception’s Spinning Room Fight Scene

Joe Dorsey — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:43:46 +0000

Love the movie Inception? Me too. Check out this behind the scenes documentary on how they created the spinning hotel room fight scene. Spoiler Alert! You can’t afford it.

Pew, Pew Pew! Professional Sound Effect Creation on the Set of Transformers 3

Joe Dorsey — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:10:03 +0000

Here’s a quick look at how the sound design team for the Summer blockbuster movie, Transformers 3, created their ear drum shattering goodness. Making your own sound effects can be fun and budget friendly. Sure sounds good, but can you stomach the movie?

Video lighting basics – understanding electricity

John DeMaio — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:16:50 +0000

Lighting is what separates the men from the boys when it comes to video and film production. Understanding lighting and using it properly is a talent that takes time to learn. As we make our way down this path we will all experience different instruments that will help us turn our darkened scene into a work [...]