Make Film Work » Opinion

Hitchcock

Jason — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:08:47 +0000

Hitchcock [iTunes, $19.99] is an iPhone app for creating storyboards.

What’s most interesting to me about Hitchcock is how it’s meant to be used. I can’t think of any other iPhone app whose purpose is to get serious work done. It’s not something you use to jot down a few notes or use to browse incoming information. It’s a workstation, and it requires thought, planning and — most importantly — time to use effectively. That’s not something you see too much of on the iPhone.

Cinemek have put together a fifteen minute demonstration of Hitchcock’s functions. It’s clear that this was designed as a software solution, not just part of one. I believe that’s a major shift in intent for iPhone application programming — especially for the currently anemic filmmaking market.

DaisyDisk

Jason — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:02:14 +0000

If you’re looking for a way to recover some room on your hard drives you should give DaisyDisk a try. It’s a beautiful app with a sharp focus — to help you find the crap that’s hogging space on your drives. It’s a free download and includes a fully-functional 15 day trial. A license is $19.95.

Immediately after installation I found over 3GB of hidden QuickTime reference files on my Desktop (presumably from Compressor). Not only that, did I mention that it looks awesome? Unlike other applications where your crap still looks like crap, DaisyDisk makes your crap look like beautiful, slick & polished crap.

Tracking Time

Jason — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:43:02 +0000

This is what I want from time-trackng software.

Tracks time in minutes
Tracks individual tasks
Ablity to group tasks for invoicing
Timer in menu bar
iPhone companion app
Well-designed interface
Doesn’t charge monthly fees
Ability to manually edit/enter time
Native desktop application, not web-based

For years I’ve been using Billable to track my time and create invoices. It’s simple, I’ll give it that. The application is focused only on tasks, clients & invoices. Unfortunately Billable’s time-tracker is stuck inside the application. It’s too often that I’ve forgotten to turn it off (or on) when switching between tasks. I realize that’s probably more my own fault than Billable’s, but without that timer out in the open, it might as well not exist. It’s a decent median application that gets the job done. It’s just not quite what I’m looking for.

Lately I’ve been using The Hit List to track tasks. Everything from household items to professional deadlines. I’m a big fan of keeping only one to do list.

I really think The Hit List could be great for my time tracking workflow except for one significant limitation — there’s currently no way to input time manually. If you forgot to set the timer when you started you’re out of luck.

Granted The Hit List is in beta still (until November? ugh) so this could just be something overlooked. Afterall you can click in the ‘actual time’ field and edit the numbers therein. They just don’t stick.

I know that other applications — Billings, for example — work for other people. Most have too many features, or subscription plans that I don’t want any part of. Everything I’ve tried feels like too much or too little. I don’t need to keep track of every single detail. But I do need to track individual items, and group them accordingly.

I guess I’ll stick it out with Billable for now. But in such a crowded market, I’m surprised there aren’t more median products to choose from.

LEGO Architecture

Jason — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:33:27 +0000

I haven’t been this excited about a LEGO set since I was 10 or so, when all I could wrap my head around was acquiring an Aquazone submarine.

According to LEGO’s website the sets aren’t out yet, but the Chicago Architecture Foundation has been selling the Sears Tower, Empire State Building and Space Needle sets at $22.00 a piece.

I’ve also read that there’s a John Hancock Tower model out (or coming out), and a whole line of Frank Llyod Wright buildings, though LEGO doesn’t have any official information on any of it. Lame.

Apparently you can buy some of the sets here though.

Cinema Redux

Jason — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:36:43 +0000

This is fantastic. Every 8 by 6 image represents one minute of runtime and is meant to show how color and tone change throughout a film. I love it.

More here.

Software Excitement

Jason — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:05:07 +0000

The other day I read a rumor about a software-related event taking place at the end of March. So now I’m going to do the rational thing and invest myself emotionally over (maybe) nothing. But here’s hoping there’s a Snow Leopard and/or Final Cut announcement, anyway.

A two for one would be great, really.

And let’s say, for instance, they announce as part of the Grand Central multi-core processing system in Snow Leopard, a side effect is that the new Soundtrack Pro doesn’t arbitrarily spit out the wrong audio track on export.

Oh, how I dare to dream.

Scripting Software

Jason — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:30:33 +0000

I still haven’t found a good solution for writing scripts. I’ve tried Celtx in its various releases, and I want to love it so bad. But I can’t. And I don’t. So far, my favorite app for script-writing is Pages. PAGES.

I usually don’t have to share scripts anymore, since leaving Orlando meant then end of SOLMI. So I guess using Pages isn’t a huge deal. And it means I can add whatever formatting that I want.

Still. I want something better. But it’s not like I really need any hardcore script writing software. Just something that has all of the basics plus everything I could ever imagine.

That’s all.

iMovie ’09

Jason — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:19:05 +0000

John August, screenwriter, blogger, and somebody I have great respect for, had this to say about the new iMovie,

“Among the products Apple announced today is iMovie 09, an update to their entry-level video editor that I currently find completely unusable. They have demo videos up showing some of the new features, which range from very helpful (stabilization) to fairly gimmicky (the animated maps).

What’s most clear, however, is that they’re sticking with the bizarre and unfortunate editing interface.”

I disagree. When I look at iMovie in its current state I don’t see a “bizarre and unfortunate editing interface.” I see the future of what digital editing could be.

If we’re talking about bizarre and unfortunate look no further than Final Cut Pro’s familiar, but relentlessly unchanged, UI. It’s a time capsule, showing off all the worst parts of digital editing. It’s clunky, chunky and crowded. It’s also extremely uninviting. If you sit a novice in front of Final Cut Pro and tell them to get to it, you’re going to get that same stunned silence usually reserved for grandparents and cell phones.

On the other hand, anybody can open iMovie and immediately see how skimming a clip initiates playback. Or how dragging a clip onto another will give you options after you’ve dropped it — not like that moment of what-just-happened panic that occurs after dragging a clip from FCP’s browser to the canvas for the first time.

iMovie ’09 brings with it an entirely visual process, and that’s exactly what editing should be. I’m excited, and hopeful, that these changes will be the basis for tools and features in future versions of Final Cut Pro.

Formerly Floridian

Jason — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:46:39 +0000

Tomorrow Meagan and I will be flying back to the sunshine state for a few days. It started me thinking about some of the things that I miss about Orlando, and what I like about Salem. It’s been six months since we moved up here, and I feel as though enough time has passed that I’ve gotten a little perspective on how these places stack up to each other.

So I thought I’d write it all down, in case I feel like referencing it sometime in the future.

Things I like about Salem

The weather Summer was just about as hot as Florida, but late-summer was great. Fall was better. And the closer we get to Winter the more excited I am about sledding, fort-building, and skiing. I love the snow.
Access to a big city We don’t go into Boston every day, every week, or sometimes more than once a month. But knowing that it’s there to run around in is fantastic. There’s so much to take pictures of.
Pubic transportation This is huge. Trains, busses, more trains. Trains. TRAINS. It’s great. Especially if you like trains. I like trains. So its been working out pretty well. Because I actually kind of like trains.
Brooksby Farm This is the place Meagan and I went apple picking a month or so ago. It’s something like a ten-minute drive from our house and they sell the most amazing pre-made fruit-filled pies. I’m told they even offer skiing in the Winter. I can’t wait.
Boylston Street Apple Store This could go with the whole ‘access to a big city’ bit, but I feel as though it warrants its own point. This store is huge (the biggest, actually), and the staff is among the friendliest I’ve met at any Apple store (I’ve been to a fair few). They also have the fastest Internet connection I’ve seen anywhere. Ever. Great for uploading several gigabytes of video proofs.
The food As a person that doesn’t eat meat from cows, pigs, dogs, lambs or chickens I’m happy that the variety of seafood (and vegetarian-friendly) restaurants up here is in high supply. Moreover, the quality of the food is worlds away from most of the places we haunted in Orlando.
Our apartment It’s not amazing. Especially probably for people that aren’t us. But I think we sort of lucked out here. The rent isn’t terrible, our neighbors aren’t assholes, and we really like just hanging out here. Our furniture is perfect for us, we’ve decorated the place how we want, and we don’t live on the ground floor. Those are all wins.

Things I miss about Orlando

Driving As bad as I-4 is, I’m less afraid of it than I am of trying to merge onto the expressways here. There is no grid system here. Roads go all over the place and are in pretty poor repair. Also, people don’t stop when pulling out of side streets. They just go. You’ll see a car pull up, slow a bit, then continue out into your lane and oncoming traffic. I hate driving up here. ¹
Millenia I can’t believe this, but I miss the Mall at Millenia. More than that, I miss going to a mall that was well-designed. Almost all of the shopping centers I’ve been to here have been design failures. It took Meagan and myself 20 minutes to find an unlocked exit from the North Shore Mall one afternoon. That was horrifying.
People We met some hardcore douchebags in Florida. We did. But douchebags are everywhere. That said, the douchebag-to-asshole ratio appears to be much higher here. I kid you not. I have met some real garbage in the past few months. Like the guy that screamed at me from his car for trying to return my shopping cart to the corral instead of giving him my spot even though there were several other spots in every direction all around me. This point could go hand-in-hand with my driving complaint. ²
Friends This is sort of a no-brainer. Everybody has friends they miss when they move.
NASA Well, more than that, standing outside and seeing the shuttle go up. I always thought that was pretty cool.
Getting work Things were going pretty well work-wise in Orlando. I was doing stuff for TurnHere, Inc. and had a lot of fun working with some locals. Not so much anymore. But I know a lot of people are in the rough as far as work right now. So maybe that’s not really a strong point.
Orlando Int’l Airport (MCO) Because Boston Logan (BOS) is a disaster. It feels like it was designed by filing interns. Signage: awful. Parking structures: nightmare. Maps: useless. A simple “You are here” would do wonders for that place. MCO isn’t amazing. In fact, it sucks too. But I’d rather be stuck there for hours waiting for a flight than at BOS. ³

It’s also nearly impossible to get from Point A to Point B without some kind of assistive device. I have an iPhone, and I’ve still managed to get lost driving relatively short distances. The signage here blows. It would also help if they painted their roads every once in a while. There are entire stretches of road — including major expressways — with absolutely no lane markings. Unbelievable.
To be fair, I’ve also met some of the nicest people here too. Really great, fantastic people. They’re not all monsters.
In the interest of full disclosure, Meagan and I would go to the airport to hang out. I like airplanes (I also like trains, btw), and it turns out the airport is a great place to see airplanes do their thing. It’s also cheaper than a movie.

Art of the Title Sequence

Jason — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:59:46 +0000

I love title sequences. And you might too, which is reason enough to highlight just how awesome The Art of the Title Sequence is.

It’s a website which houses (and pays homage to) a collection of amazing title sequences from films and television shows. Their most recent post shows off the simplicity and masterful cinematography featured in the first few minutes of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Other examples include Reservoir Dogs, Se7en, Bullitt, and one of my personal favorites, Stranger Than Fiction.

A word of caution, however: Watching the sequences quickly becomes addictive. So hopefully you’ve either got a lot of free time on your hands today, or your clients are really flexible on how you define “research.”

STM Cares About My Bag

Jason — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:36:09 +0000

Back in March I bought a bag from STM, based (in part) on a post by designer Cameron Moll.

I love this bag. It’s just about perfect. I love the the pockets, especially. There are just so many really well placed storage spaces on this bag. I can fit all of the normal computer accessories (power supply, extension cable, headphones, etc.) plus just about everything else I might want to take (a hard-cover Moleskine, pen, wireless Mighty Mouse, wireless aluminum Apple Keyboard, Swiss Army Pocketknife/USB drive, Apple Remote…).

So imagine my surprise (read: horror) when I noticed that the strap on my amazing little 4 month old bag was coming undone. In a word, bummer.

The good news is that shortly after shooting an email to STM, they wrote me back asking where they could send a replacement strap, and apologized for any inconvenience. Fantastic.

So it looks like I’ll be keeping this bag around for a while longer. And for that I am grateful. I’m pretty sure I’ll be looking to them first for any future digital cargo-carrying needs.

From Kennedy Space Center

Jason — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:46:01 +0000

Last week a small group of us headed out to Kennedy Space Center. Meagan and I wanted to see it one last time before we left for Salem at the end of the month, and Brian just hadn’t been in a while.

We were lucky enough to arrive on the same day as the launch of a new telescope called GLAST, which is going to be studying gamma rays. Pretty cool. We took some pictures which can be found on Flickr but I thought I’d post a couple here too.

You might even be interested in grabbing that picture of the engine as an iPhone or iPod touch background.

Celtx hits Version 1.0! Hooray!

Jason — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:45:33 +0000

I realize it’s already been covered by more than just a couple of sources, but I thought it was worth mentioning (and celebrating) the release of Celtx, version 1.0

Celtx, of course, is your friendly (and free) script writing software available for just about every computer platform in existence. In short, it’s awesome. And it just got better. The Celtx website outlines all of the new features, and even includes a couple of helpful videos to send you off in the right (and hopefully creatively inspired) direction.

My UPS Horror Story

Jason — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:13:50 +0000

I’m a huge fan of the Consumerist, a website advocating consumer rights and sharing the terrifying ordeals that some companies put their customers through. It’s got a certain car-wreck shock value to it, I suppose.

It’s the kind of site where you hope you’re never the one writing in with your own tale of woe. Unfortunately, a recent shipping experience I had prompted me to write in with one such story.

You can head over to my post at the Consumerist’s website for all the bloody details, but the short of it is this:

I ordered a new Sennheiser G2 100 Wireless Mic set from B&H for an important last-minute shoot. I choose overnight shipping via UPS. Instead of the package arriving at my door as I had hoped (and expected), I was told I would have to drive out to a construction site where I could meet up with the driver as he helped another, already overloaded, UPS driver with some of his delivers. Ultimately my driver never showed up and I had to drive 30 minutes to the UPS distribution center later that night.

It wasn’t a good time. I was pretty miffed about the whole thing and asked for a refund on the $40+ I spent on shipping. I was told that somebody would be in touch. About a week went by and I hadn’t heard anything from UPS. I did get an email from somebody at B&H who expressed concern over my story, and said that they’d get in touch with their UPS people to straighten things out.

A few days went by and I got a phone call from “B&H’s UPS guy” who offered a really sincere apology as well as a $50 B&H gift card. Not too bad. He also assured me that nothing like this would ever happen again; not to me or anybody else.

I really appreciated the apology, and especially the personal phone call. Somebody (actually, his name was Lou) went out of their way that day to make sure I was being taken care of. You can’t over-appreciate something like that.

In the end, I don’t imagine this is something that happens very often. Nevertheless, it probably shouldn’t have happened in the first place. That being said, I’m really happy with how B&H (and ultimately) UPS handled everything. And I especially like that I should soon be getting a $50 gift card to B&H. A card that I intend to use on my first visit to the B&H store in New York later this summer. Can’t wait. No shipping required.

Video Copilot

Jason — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:47:10 +0000

I’m not an After Effects user, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love seeing what people can do with it. Video Copilot is one of my favorite After Effects centered sites for viewing the latest and greatest from some talented artists. They consistently deliver fantastic tutorials (that Motion people can benefit from too), and their lineup of plugins looks to be top-notch. If I were of the Adobe persuasion, I’d definitely give them a look-see.

Today Video Copilot is releasing their latest disc of plugin goodies, calling it Twitch. One of the best parts about these releases are the trailers that accompany them. My favorite is still Evolution, but this is probably a close second. You can check out their store for the full lineup.

dvMatte Pro 3

Jason — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:13:38 +0000

If you’ve ever tried to do it yourself, keying DV footage can ruin your day. The out-of-the-box offerings in Final Cut Studio 2 don’t really cut it, and trying to make a keyer yourself is, to put it mildly, insane. After spending some fruitless nights with the keyers in Final Cut Pro, and Primatte in Motion, I started to look for another, third-party, keyer.

I remember hearing something about Ultra 2 from back in the day. I recall it being really expensive, but especially powerful. Particularly on DV footage. Great, I thought. I mean sure it’s expensive but they’ve probably got a trial available. I’ll just check it out and… oh, Adobe bought them and the product is Windows-only?

Crap.

Which is when I found dvGarage, a small video-focused software company headed up by none other than Alex Lindsay, video professional extraordinaire and beloved TV personality. Hooray! Turns out dvGarage makes a ton of useful software including the just-released dvMatte Pro 3.

This is really the all-in-one solution you need if you’re going to attempt a solid, professional-grade key from DV footage. It comes at a bit of a price, though. $199 snags you the keyer, a screen-fixing tool for poorly shot footage, a light wrapping tool (super awesome, btw), and a handy filter for matching color spaces in your foreground and background images. Wow. And actually, if you make your purchase before February 15th, they’ll even knock off 50 big-ones. How swell is that?

Now, I can understand if you feel like $150 is still a little high for a plugin. Especially if you’ve never bought one before, and even more so for one that weighs in at a pizzly 155KB. That sort of thing tends to sting you right where it hurts the most. But is it worth it?

In a word, absolutely. If you need a keyer, and you need it to be the kind of high-grade stuff that will impress your clients, colleagues, friends, and family, then look no further.

These images are the real deal: Pulling a key from DV footage is fast and unbelievably easy.

dvMatte Pro’s approach to pulling the perfect key is pretty straight forward. It’s also extremely powerful under the hood, yet light on processor resources. That’s because the software now utilizes your computer’s GPU, instead of pestering your main processor(s) to do its work. This means faster rendering and instant visualization of what your final key looks like. The interface itself works like a sort-of-checklist that allows you to tweak each variable individually to get the results you need. That’s not to say that the automatic key isn’t any good, it just usually takes some minor tweaking to get things right.

The quartet of plugins work in both Final Cut Pro 6 and Motion 3, and appear to behave exactly the same in either. This is great news if your workflow tends to keep you in say, Motion more than FCP.

The 18-page PDF included with a purchase has in-depth coverage on all of the plugins. This is perfect for getting started, and handy for reference later on. If you’re at all familiar with Apple’s Pro App manuals you’ll feel right at home.

There’s plenty to discover here, and I’m sure I’ll have more to say as I familiarize myself with the software. For now, you should head over to dvGarage and download the demo and check it out for yourself.