If you’ve already seen it, you probably know the story. The HPX-170 is one of Panasonic’s new P2 offerings, shedding it’s MiniDV baggage while checking off wish list features HVX users have been compiling.

The 170 is a solid state system. This is huge for me. I’m so sick of tape it’s not even funny. The idea of stock piling hard drives is much more appealing than hoarding boxes of tapes. It’s also much more eco-friendly, right? Embracing a completely tapeless workflow feels like the best move to make right now. It’s really exciting to see Panasonic biting the bullet with a camera aimed at DVX and HVX users.

The camera is said to feature all kinds of neat bells and whistles including an LCD flip mode for people using 35mm adapters, several persistent focus assist modes, including a waveform monitor and vector-scope. The focus ring will also be swapable with the iris dial at the flip of a switch. So many great improvements. I can’t wait.

FreshDV has a great video interview with Jan Livingston of Panasonic about the HPX-170 and the HVX-200a. The rest of their NAB 2008 coverage is fantastic as well. Definitely check it out.

Panasonic’s own coverage of NAB is surprisingly good too. Their NAB page features short videos from vendors they’ve partnered with. Companies like RedRockMicro, VariZoom, Steadicam, Avid and so many more.

There’s an ongoing discussion over at DVX user.

Here are some more pictures of the camera.

Fresh DV has even more pictures and the official press release.

Today Apple announced that Final Cut Server is finally shipping. Final Cut Server was announced nearly a year ago, with a projected ship date sometime last fall. That didn’t happen, and it looks like the extra time may have been spent sprucing up the user interface.

It appears that Server carries with it some curiously distinct departures from the standard Leopard-style interface. The changes look fantastic and include updated scroll bars, drop-down menus, and button styling. Overall, the application is dark, similar to Color. It’s strange though that none of the other pro apps maintain this new look and feel.

If this is an indication that the rest of Final Cut Studio will be getting a visual upgrade this year around NAB (which is when that sort of thing might happen), bring it on. Final Cut Pro has one of the most dated interfaces of any Apple-produced app. It’s ancient. It’s annoying. And it’s ugly.

In addition, Final Cut Studio has a pretty disjointed interface when jumping between different applications. One of the selling points for Studio is that the applications work well with each other, and that round-tripping between most of the apps is a breeze. A unified interface or, at the very least, unified interface elements would really drive this home.

The features and solutions that Final Cut Server offers will surely be a boon for production houses looking for a new or better way to structure their post-production workflow. And while I doubt I’ll be using it anytime soon (since I typically work on small projects by my lonesome), I’m hoping it’s a herald of things to come.

If you’re not already familiar with B&H I suspect you soon will be. For many it’s considered the Mecca of the imaging community. Countless travelers make the journey north every year, just to stand among the superior camera technology.

I once heard that at if you’re lucky, and if you’re standing in just the right spot, you’ll experience a feeling akin to euphoria. This, of course, comes directly before you realize you just dropped $1200 on a 70mm lens, at which point you begin to justify the purchase (and the journey) by calling it an investment, a smart business move, or simply blame it on mind-control.

But quasi-religious fanaticism aside, what interests me today is this email. In it were links to several fantastic articles from B&H about things that matter to videographers like myself. I was actually astonished at how relevant the information was. Their article on CCD and CMOS sensors was top-notch, covering the basics of each technology. It even went on to compare the technologies by giving fantastic animated examples for each.

Another article about transferring mom and pop’s VHS tapes to DVD was also a good read. They covered several valid options for executing the task, and even offered up options on what kind of gear you might need to pull it off. And since they’re still a store, they’ll even sell it to you!

I suppose that’s a good – and bad – side-affect for these kinds of articles. Good because you know exactly what you’ll need and how much it costs. Bad because they’re blatantly pushing these products onto you, making me wonder if maybe at least this article has more to do with being overstocked on a certain analog to digital converter than concern for your parent’s degrading memories.

The last article pinpointed several ways to capture great sound even if you’re the only one on the shoot. This is something I’ve run into on just about every project I’ve worked on lately. It’s nice to see somebody offering good real-world solutions for this ever-present problem. Even better since it’s from a place I look to for most (if not all) of my production needs.

I’m not sure if these kind of email newsletters are new for B&H. I’ve been getting their stuff for a while, but usually just gloss over it. I think this is the first time I’ve seen articles instead of advertisements from them. But it’s definitely a welcome change. I look forward seeing what comes next from them. If only they would turn this into a regular blog instead of just an email newsletter.

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.

The most publicized feature in Mac OS 10.5 Leopard can also be one of the most useful for your Final Cut Studio workfow. This, of course, is Time Machine.

My setup right now consists of two external hard drives. Both are 500GB FireWire 800 drives. One is for capture and all of the extra goodies that come with Final Cut Studio, and the other is for backup via Time Machine.

I previously mentioned how using Final Cut Studio’s Media Manager can be useful while needing to stay mobile. Another option is to use Time Machine to store your current, but not quite active, projects for later while you focus on what needs to get done immediately.

Here’s how it works. When you import your tape go ahead and capture it right to your laptop’s internal drive, instead of your external. I usually keep about 30GB free for this kind of thing, but that sort of flexibility may vary wildly depending on you and your lifestyle.

Once the capture is complete let Time Machine grab it. If it’s something you anticipate working on immediately, go for it. If not, delete it from your internal drive and move on to something else. Time Machine will save it for later, and since it’s always going to be captured under Final Cut Pro Documents > Capture Scratch, you’ll know exactly where to look for it.

I recently did a lot of work for a Web-based promotional company that required juggling five projects simultaneously. Three of which were awaiting final approval, but the other two hadn’t been started. I trashed the first three projects after ensuring a successful backup, and just kept on trucking. When the time came to burn the projects to disks I trashed the current projects, restored the old files, burned the discs, trashed them again, and restored the projects on which I was currently working.

This sort of workflow can take some time to get used to. Deleting your source files is kind of a big no-no in the world of non-linear editing. So it’s not going to be for everybody. Especially if you’re a bit squeamish. But if you find yourself in a pinch, this is a useful technique that’ll keep your workflow moving even when working with limited hard drive space.

For real.

It also has something called Media Manager.

What does it do? Lots. Why should you care? Because if you’re like me and you do all of your video work on a laptop with limited hard drive space, this can be a life-saver. Media Manager allows you to capture all of your footage to an external drive, do your editing at home, then apply the polish when you’re out of the dungeon.

Here’s an example. Say you’re working on a project that you’ve just finished editing. There’s still a bunch of work left to do (color grading, motion graphics, and some audio work), but you’re leaving the apartment for a bit since the place needs to be fumigated because your idiot roommate dog-napped a flea-ridden mutt from one of the hobos under the overpass. The client doesn’t give two flips about it and still wants the video done NOW. Time to take it to the coffee shop where you can suffocate your pain with some caffeine.

Oh wait. The source files take up something like 24GB on your external, but you’ve only got 2GB left on your MacBook Pro. Your mind turns from caffeine dreams to blood-red visions of the apocalypse. But alas, unlike your roommate (or your client), Final Cut Studio is ready and willing to help you in your time of need.

From within the Browser in Final Cut Pro, right-click on the sequence you’re working on. Select “Media Manager…”. A dialog box pops up that gives you a couple of neat bar graphs and a handful of options. You’ll mostly want to leave those alone for now. Just take a look at the graphs near the top. This shows you just how much unused crap you’re about to leave out of your soon-to-be modified project file.

Once you select a destination for your files (I chose Desktop because this junk needs to get done NOW), go ahead and hit ok.

Media Manager copies only the parts of the source files that you’re currently using, then places them in the destination folder, creates a new project file for you, and automatically links the referenced clips in the timeline to the new source files. Pretty slick, no?

If you’re thinking ahead you may have realized that this isn’t entirely foolproof. If you need to change an edit by making it slightly longer you’re out of luck. It is what it is at this point. That’s why getting a lock on your picture edit is so important. But you’re completely free to play around in Color, add in your Motion content, or send it onto Soundtrack Pro for a little audio massaging.

Media Manager has some other helpful abilities, but this is the one I find the most useful. Especially when the client won’t stop calling and the exterminator is screaming at you to stop what you’re doing and get out so he can do his job, which he so very clearly despises.

What a sack.

$10 bucks says he steals something from my room.

If you’re the kind of person that spends any amount of time in Final Cut Studio, and you’re also the kind of person that went out and bought Apple’s 30in Cinema Display, chances are good you’re somebody who is a fan of keyboard shortcuts. So here’s one I think you’ll like.

As you’re working hard on an audio project in Soundtrack Pro, you’re likely to be switching between the timeline editing tools rather frequently. Given the relative size of the toolbar to the rest of the screen (that’s you’re 30in screen that everybody told you was WAY too big), traveling back and forth can become something of a pain.

Enter the world of the grave accent. And yes, it’s every bit as dramatic as it sounds.

At any time, and at any location from within Soundtrack Pro, simply hit the grave accent (`) key and wham-bam-shamina you’ve got yourself a HUD. This little trick gives you easy access to the selection tool, timeslice tool, both blade tools, both lift and stamp tools, and the scrubbing tool. Anywhere. Anytime.

So the next time somebody makes fun of your massive screen because it takes a minute and a half for the mouse to travel from one side to the other, tell them to shove it and show them this sweet little trick. They’ll not only be super impressed with your in-depth knowledge of Final Cut Studio, you’ll also give them one more reason to feel shame over buying the 23in model just because it “seemed more practical” at the time.

No regrets.*

*I’m still paying off that screen. But it looks AMAZING.

We don’t know what we are.

We also haven’t had a new show out in a while, but that’s another story altogether. Anyway, I went ahead and took one of our recent episodes over to the Enzian, a film house that screens local filmmaker’s work at monthly film slams. From what I understand the barrier to entry into these slams is pretty low. That being said, we were probably lucky to sneak into the running with our (probably highly offensive) episode, Superhero.

Superhero from Jason Hawkins on Vimeo.

Superhero was actually originally shot as part of Apple’s Insomnia Film Festival, a 24-hour film competition open to students. It’s also a response to NBC’s Heroes, which includes a character (Isaac) that requires the use of heroin to activate his super powers. An interesting premise to be sure, but we wondered what it might be like if other people had similar… limitations. And what those limitations might be. And what that might mean for those close to that person.

So there it is. Enjoy the show, and if you’re in the Orlando area this Sunday at 1pm, we’d appreciate the support.

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, yes.

No kidding. 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. Do what you need to for the money. Get a job, find a client, save up, or familiarize yourself with Craigslist. You (and your clients) will be happy you did.

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.

A few months back I decided it would be neat to have a tape logging system that I could take with me while I was out shooting something. I took some time to get into Ruby on Rails, and eventually Tapes was born.

Tapes is free, iPhone compatible, and works pretty well on EDGE (so far anyway). I hope you like it, but more than that, I hope you find it useful.

I’m open to comments and suggestions about how to improve Tapes, if you feel like giving some feedback. You can always email me at jason [at] makefilmwork [dot] com.

Who knows… it might be your suggestion that ends up in a future update! And that’s exciting right? RIGHT?