Endcrawl - the tool that gives your film the proper ending it deserves

I'm not gonna lie. End credits are notoriously pesky to do because the person doing them usually doesn't have all the characters, cast, crew, people to thank, venues and places and companies to thank, sponsors, production and distribution companies to credit along with their logos and set details necessary to construct the credits - BUT - when "all" the details are received and the end credits are finally created, it is usually followed by a "whoops, forgot this person here" or a "ohh and there are all these people to add as well". Repeat this process about 50 to 100 times and you get the picture.

Well, there is a tool that will help facilitate the workflow at least. You'll still have to deal with the myriad of changes and the pesky nature of gathering information - but at least when it comes to actually making the end credits roll itself, with EndCrawl, it looks like it'll be a breeze!

Private beta ensues. See if you can grab a spot!

A7S II reviewed by Tom Antos. Verdict is in: IT'S GOOD!

Internal 4K. Yep. 14 Stops of dynamic range in S-Log3? Yep. Brilliant low light performance? Yep. This is turning out to be a great camera. The only single issue with this camera now is the hideous rolling shutter. Once that is solved, this camera will be the ultimate power in the universe. Even Vader will want to steal the A7S-II plans and build one himself.

The lighting is the most important part of the setup. Without question.

You can have a RED or ARRI or any highly expensive amount of acquisition gear. If you don't understand lighting, what do you end up with? That's right... expensive crappy footage.

Watch as Lee Morris from Fstoppers uses nothing more than his phone, some foam and cheap-o lights to take amazing photos of some model. I kid you not.

This goes to demonstrate one thing and one thing only: If you are not getting good footage, it's not the camera's fault. It's yours. GET YOUR LIGHTING RIGHT. GET YOUR COMPOSITION RIGHT. GET YOUR FRAMING RIGHT.

Too much emphasis on gear, not enough on sense in this world.

Well looks like the GH4 is killing even the Black Magic Pocket Camera

I know... I know... It's been said to death but this time I swear it's different.

Anyway, just in case you didn't already know, the GH4 now semi officially pwns not only the 5D mk 3 but also the venerable Black Magic Pocket Camera in RAW mode also. Hard to believe... but check the video.

3DX Point Memory 1000x faster than SSDs (NAND) and 10x denser

Look at your SmartPhone. Impressive, isn't it? Just like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, Intel and Micron - two behemoths of the microchip fabrication world - landed an impressive blow to the status quo across the memory storage board especially Random Access Memory (RAM) that has held out since 1989.

Now pity your SmartPhone, to paraphrase Kenshiro's famous quip before he slays his enemies "You're already obsolete. You just don't know it yet." That's right. Your computers. Your tablets. Even those that you are going to buy next holiday season. All obsolete.

Why? Because the future is now 3DX Point memory. Memory 1000 times faster than the SSD that is making your current desktop fly at insane speeds at the moment, is like comparing a kids bobsled to an AA-Sidewinder missile. There will be a good 3 orders of magnitude difference. Check the figures. That's not hyperbole or an over-the-top exaggerated assertion. In fact, it's slightly underexaggerated: A bobsled could go a decent 20km/hr but multiplying that figure by 1000, you'd be hard pressed finding a sidewinder reaching 20,000km/hr folks. It is far, far slower.

So now, what does this new technology mean when it hits? Well, this is a filming and video blog... so the ramifications for film and video editing is ridiculous.

UTTERLY RIDICULOUS.

Strapping expensive cameras to cars

Get hooked on suctioncups and things as you watch this great how-to video from the guys over at Film Riot and Triune Films. Take home points: 1. Get insurance. 2. Get insurance. 3. Use other people's gear. But seriously, filming at 3am without a permit is perhaps the route most indy film makers would have to go. There are a few caveats with that route but all in all on a tight budget you can end up with some amazing epic footage and hopefully no broken gear.

Cheap lens vs Expensive lens

Don't chuck your fantastic plastic el-cheapo Canon glass just yet! For many applications, a $150 lens is indistinguishable from a $15,000 lens. Thanks Freddy.

Filmconvert Tutorial - Simple easy colour correction for the masses

Has colour grading been this elusive fontleroy? Always preferential, sometimes optional, never simple? Got 6 minutes to spare? This is perhaps the magic bullet you've been waiting for. It's so simple and fast, it will allow you to speedily grade your footage and strengthen your resolve.

Want to know all you need to know to use FilmConvert? I can say that once you watch this tutorial, you would be able to download the software and colour correct your footage - AND apply film stock and grain to them to give your takes a nice cinematic film look.

Special Effects using transparent film and projectors

There are amazing special effects you can do with just a few simple projectors and some transparent film (really just transparent vinyl table covers) hung from the ceiling.

Canon unveils C300 Mk II and points it squarely at RED with 4K recording, FHD at 12-bit 4:4:4 and 120fps recording and 410mbps.

This is what your movie can look like if its shot on a C300.

Canon just declared war on the RED line. Its new refreshed line up of Cinema cameras is looking better and better with each announcement. The new C300 Mk II brings a killer package to the table for a paultry $15,999, including:
- 10-bit 4:2:2 in 4K recording (UHD 3840 x 2160 & DCI cinematic (4096 x 2160 pixels)
-  up to 410Mbps (in 4K)
- 10/12-bit 4:4:4 in 2K & Full HD
-  up to 30p in 4K, 120p in 2K/Full HD
-  4K RAW files to external recorder
-  dual DIGIC DV5 processors
-  dual CFast 2.0 slots
-  15 stops of dynamic range with new Canon Log2
-  Dual Pixel CMOS AF
-  New XF-AVC Intra, Long GOP and Proxy H.265 codecs in 4K, UHD, 2K and 1080p
-  4-channel audio in 16 or 24 bit and 48 kHz
-  sensor-read out 2x faster than C300, less rolling shutter

This camera will be sold out and on backorder.

Thanks to Linus Tech Tips for the video.