Digital Motion dot net

sadly (for showing my age), I recognized all the gear he used and owned several pieces of it. In fact, I probably still have my scanjet 4C sitting in a box somewhere…

I also like the way he did the video, looks straight out of ’84

Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

[via wired]

[Via Slashdot: Apple QuickTime DRM Disables Video Editing Apps]

According to numerous posts on Apples discussion forums several threads of which have been deleted by Apple, as well as a number of popular video editing blogs, Apples recent QT 7.4 update does more than just enable iTunes video rentals — it also disables Adobes professional After Effects video editing software. Attempting to render video files after the update results in a DRM permissions error. Unfortunately, it is not possible to roll back to a previous version of QT without doing a full OSX reinstall. Previous QT updates have also been known to have severe issues with pro video editing apps.

Of course, you knew never to install any software or OS update (mac or windows) without first waiting to see if there were any reports of problems, right?

[via Stu Maschwitz]

FT.com / Home UK / UK – Paramount in HD DVD blow

Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD DVD after Warner Brothers’ recent backing of Sony’s Blu-ray technology, in a move that will sound the death knell of HD DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, which makes the Shrek films, came out in support of HD DVD last summer, joining General Electric’s Universal Studios as the main backers of the Toshiba format.

However, Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner Bros backing Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.

Hands On: Canons HD Vixia HF10 and HF100 Need No Tape

The announcements from Canon are very exciting, an update to the HV20 and the new tapeless HF10 and HF100. Especially for south of $1000. One thing conspicuously missing  from the announcement are the compression format. They do say that you will be able to record 16 hours in 16 GB… Are they using that crappy H.264 that all the solid state camcorders use? Also sucky is the non-standard accessory shoe, although better none certainly.

If we can get a very minor compression, an adapter to a standard accessory shoe, and a lens adapter like for the HV20, this could be very exciting indeed for the price.

Maybe the studios are starting to realize that continuing the war between the formats is only succeeding in slowing DVD sales (which were down for the first time year-to-year in 2007). Maybe they are afraid that without a successful HD-format story, both formats will lose to downloading. For whatever reason, the US’s largest seller of DVDs has now endorsed Blu-ray. Can the HD DVD consortium reverse this decision? Does anyone even care anymore?

Warner Backs Blu-ray, Tipping DVD Scales

Jim Jannard posted something interesting on the Red forum…

The name is… – Reduser.net

Scarlet. Our Pocket Professional camera.

We know that the name has leaked out, so we want to avoid any postings and speculation.

Prototypes will be shown at NAB. It is not a competitor or replacement for the RED ONE.

Jim

“Scarlet” is a Trademark of RED Digital Cinema Camera Company.

Most of us are probably dealing with this on a much smaller scale. I’ve got a bank of drives sitting around with old projects on them. I should be cycling them periodically, but I don’t always get to it. I’ve got some random old video file formats that I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to read. I’ve got stacks of minidiscs, DV and DAT tapes lying around. Plus tons of old CDRs and DVDRs will backups on them. I’ve had some scares. There was a recording session for transPacific that I’d archived to hard drive and also to about 40 DVDs. At one point, I needed some files, so I grabbed the DVDs. NONE of them worked. Luckily, the drive was still good and I was able to copy the files.

Imagine now that over in Hollywood, they are producing 100s of Gigabytes a day. What the hell do they do with it? This article from the New York times is interesting, but I’d love to see an in-depth interview with a major film studio data wrangler.

The Afterlife Is Expensive for Digital Movies – New York Times

Jumpcut – Flash Player 10 Astro Sneak Peek at MAX Chicago 2007 Keynote

The last part is my favorite part of course!

via Aral Balkan