fcpworld

What a shame! Focus Enhancements, maker of the very popular product, “FireStore” has just filed for bankruptcy after receiving a “Delisting” notice from the NASDAQ.

On September 15, 2008, the company received notification from the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel (the Panel”) that the Panel has determined to delist the company’s securities from The NASDAQ Capital Market, effective at the open of business on September 17, 2008.

The company had presented a plan of compliance on September 4, 2008 to the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel and requested additional time to regain compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity and bid price requirements for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market.

On September 15, 2008, six of the Company’s seven Board members, having approved a resolution to file a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, submitted their letters of resignation, effective immediately. Brett A. Moyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Focus Enhancements Inc. remained as the company’s sole Board member.

More here >>>

I completed another color correction job for Threshold Studios in Santa Monica. This was a live concert video featuring Moby for Nissan Live Sets, a concert series which you can see on Yahoo! and MHD, MTV’s HD music channel. Take a look at the above video or click here, to see this stripped down version of Moby’s “Porcelain”. Even more videos can be viewed here.

If you read my earlier article about color correcting the “Jewel” video, this job was very similar. The main job entailed matching audience shots with the onstage shots as a number of shots were staged, taken before and after the concert. Again, I used the Final Cut Pro 3-Way Color Correction filter, as I did not have the option of using Apple Color due to time constraints.

The benefit of using the 3-Way Color Corrector is that it is a very fast workflow. No conforming is necessary. The main client (Yahoo!) was pleased with my work in getting the job done quickly and satisfactorily.

The most challenging shot was an audience shot bathed in red. This shot was to match a stage washed with blue. No matter how I pushed colors around, the 3-Way Color Correction Filter could not remove the red haze. I then applied the RGB Balance filter, my secret weapon. By using the RGB Parade and that filter, I was able to replace the red tone with a deep blue. The client was impressed! Again, I hope to use Color in the future for color correcting these concert videos.

Drop me an email if you are interested in my color correction or editing services.

Apple has just released codecs so that anyone on any machine, Windows or Mac, can playback ProRes footage. This is great news for those of us working in enterprise environments where Windows machines are in the majority. I’m sure this will help things on the Final Cut Server end as well. Albeit a little “Better Late Than Never” – Good going Apple.

About Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac

The Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder software allows both Mac and Windows users to play Apple ProRes files through QuickTime. Apple ProRes is a visually lossless format that provides uncompressed HD quality at SD data rates.

It is an excellent choice for mastering and can easily be transcoded to distribution formats like H.264. With new support for playback on both Mac and Windows computers, Apple ProRes can also be used for review and approval of Final Cut Studio sequences.

Links:
Mac version here >>>
Windows version here >>>

Looks like AJA has announced new drivers for their products. These will support Red Camera workflow. Check it out.

From the AJA website:

*KONA New Features*

- RED Support added (KONA 3)

For more details on KONA 3 support for RED workflows, consult the version 6.0 manual, page 24.

*PLEASE NOTE* When working with RED Easy Setups, AJA recommends changing the Dynamic RT setting to “Unlimited RT” for the best playback results.

- Active Video Output Filter added (KONA 3 and KONA LH)

*KONA Improvements and Fixes*

- 64 bit firmware update (KONA 3)

- General improvements to A/V sync performance (entire KONA product line)

- Custom LUT support now implemented for dual link output to single link output (KONA 3)

- General improvements for multi-user environments (entire KONA product line)

NOTE: There is important configuration and installation information contained in the READ-ME for the KONA software releases, so please be sure to read it completely.

KONA v6.0 software can be found here:

www.aja.com

… be sure to download the appropriate software package for each KONA product type (KONA 3, KONA LHe, etc.) Again, read thoroughly the READ-ME and all information pertaining to the installation and use of the KONA v6.0 software.

–
AJA Video Systems
+1 (530) 274-2048 Intl.
(800) 251-4224 US
sales@aja.com

In today’s production environment, both Macs and PCs can be found. Sometimes you find yourself in a bind where a producer or director cannot view your files because you work on a Mac.

It’s even worse if you’re working with P2 files that are not easily viewed on PCs. Fortunately, Calibrated Software has come to the rescue with Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode.

From the website:

Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode is a multi-threaded DVCProHD QuickTime Codec (Decode Only) that enables you to view QuickTime DVCProHD Movies in QuickTime Player and other 3rd party applications that support QuickTime.

Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode supports the Apple DVCProHD formats:
1080p24, 1080i30, 1080i25, and 720p24/25/30/50/60.

Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode also supports the Avid DVCProHD formats:
1080i30, 1080i25, and 720p60.

Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode also includes Gamma adjustment so that your files look the same on a PC as they do on a Mac.

Let’s face it - you don’t want gamma to affect your QuickTime Movies and I don’t want gamma to affect your QuickTime Movies. With that end in mind, Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode allows users the ability to select how gamma is reported to QuickTime and a variety of other color options within Calibrated’s DV Codec Preferences Panel.

Features at a glance:
•Apple DVCProHD Formats: 1080p24, 1080i30, 1080i25, and 720p24/25/30/50/60
•Avid DVCProHD Formats: 1080p24, 1080i30, 1080i25, and 720p60
•Colorspace conversion to SMPTE(16,235) RGB or Full Range(0,255) RGB
•QuickTime Gamma Options
•Decode Quality Options
•16-bit Colorspace support

I want to congratulate the folks at Calibrated for providing this “missing link” in post-production workflow.

Over at kenstone.net, you’ll find a hardcore group of moderators that are hell-bent on being helpful and patient to all those learning Final Cut Studio.

One such person is Ronny Courtens. You can often find Ronny’s helpful comments peppered throughout Ken’s site.

Recently, Ronny created a tutorial for Apple Motion that is frequently asked for: animating an arrow to follow a path on a map.

Download Ronny’s detailed presentation called “Line Animation Tutorial” here >>>

I was reminded today on LAFCPUG’s Café LA forum that people often want their video to look like aged film. There are a variety of Final Cut Pro techniques and third-party plug-ins which can fulfill this request, but many people do not have the time to invest in technique or the money to invest in plug-ins that will make their lives easier.

Though there are many superior aged look plug-ins out there, this one from CGM is free. Download it here >>>

The crew at Noise Industries has retooled FXFactory to tap into Adobe After Effects CS3. This is great news that we can get the outstanding plug-ins from Noise Industries (and to others like CoreMelt) into this advanced compositing tool.

This offers a lot of flexibility in effects creation. For example, if you have an advanced composite to do in After Effects and need to match look and feel as other clips in a Final Cut Pro timeline.

Good job guys!

From Noise Industries:
The latest update to FxFactory is now compatible with Adobe After Effects CS3 in addition to Final Cut Pro, Motion and Final Cut Express. Run more than 300 plug-ins on the best compositing and editing applications on the market.

Version 2.0.4 requires Mac OS X Leopard, and brings two new plug-ins to existing FxFactory Pro 2 customers.

Were you aware that the Browser is the organizing “brain” of Final Cut Pro? Well, that’s the way I think of it. It is in this window where all your footage can be categorized, sifted, and gathered using certain techniques.

In this article I wrote for Ken Stone, I explain in detail how to get your projects in order. Once you learn the basics of project management, you have many more story telling tools at your disposal.

It’s been quite a while since this article was written, but reading through it once more, the tips are still valid. Have a look at the full article here >>>

Cool interview with master editor Walter Murch by MacVideo’s Rick Young
here >>>

You can always learn a thing or two about editing or just life from Walter. Enjoy!