Under The Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass

Recently I was in New York to visit a few of the most innovative creative studios in that famous city and talk a little shop.

Of course, I had to stop by and visit the good people at Big Spaceship. I’ve been there before, but I was greatly looking forward to visiting again, since so many amazing things have happened since the last time I went by.
A year ago when I visited, I was most impressed by the people at Big Spaceship for their down-to-earth nature and the collaborative environment they’ve made for themselves. They’re friendly people, and when you enter Big Spaceship you immediately feel like you’ve stepped into the middle of a production. Everyone is buzzing away on tasks in this large open area, gathering into small groups to discuss projects.
What I liked during that first visit was that the moment you stepped through the door, you knew everything about the studio. There was no elaborate entry area, no gauntlets to run before seeing the people working on those amazing sites they create. You’re literally right in front of the people doing the work.

So while I approached the studio again this visit, passing under the Brooklyn/Manhattan overpass, I was reminded of Josh Hirsch’s comments during his visit to Oddly in Toronto: ‘we’re a Brooklyn kind of shop, we’ve always been in DUMBO, and it suits us’.
As I looked up to capture this image of the famous bridge structure, it struck me that this was an appropriate symbol for the honest work ethic that made New York great.

Over the last year, Big Spaceship and other members of the Society of Digital Agencies have made huge strides. Madison Avenue has had to yield ground to agencies that have become famous in a production role, and have now turned that focus towards strategy and campaign creation. Some pretty major accounts (like Wrigleys) have recognized the strategic insight provided by those at the front line of actually making the sites, ads, and media that their customers interact with.
Besides stirring things up with the Society of Digital Agencies, there has been the recently published document outlining consumer insights, a major launch for Victoria’s Secret, a complete revision of their site, quite a few hires, major work in reviving the Andy awards, and on it goes.

So I was keen to see if such big changes might have impacted that great atmosphere I enjoyed at Big Spaceship.
I’m happy to say that they’re the same big happy family. There are more people to be sure, but one still steps right into the thick of things. Everyone is focussed but that great collaborative atmosphere and industriousness becomes immediately obvious.
Though Josh had just returned from FlashCamp in Brazil the day before, he was happy to take a little time to meet me and talk shop. We discussed the Fall Tour of Studios and what we might do with the next one. And we spoke about how busy we’ve both been, despite the general economic slowdown being endured by many industries.
The agreement was that it is a very busy time for shops like Big Spaceship, Oddly and the other members of SODA. There is a great deal of interest in interactive these days, particularly in marketing circles. Standing at the forefront of understanding the impact that social media and interactive marketing are having are those who have been working in it consistently for years. Companies with good reputations and a flair for experimentation are very much in demand, and are likely to become even more popular – growing at the pace of the medium itself.

Things look good for the future!

In this series, we are looking at the HD revolution and the various levels of sophistication in shooting High Definition. For people working across a variety of media solutions, the options are many, and so far we have covered the very high end, through to the interesting option of shooting with Digital SLR. But for those whose budgets are concentrated elsewhere, it is still possible to shoot some very good video in HD.

Minimum Cost of Entry

Alrighty, so let’s say now that you are a budding transmedia producer getting started, and you want to be able to utilize video in your productions for the rich storytelling it can achieve. You want to produce something for web, but also be able to perhaps cut some dvds that might be shown on projector, or even clips for television. You don’t have a lot of cash to spend, but you do have pretty good control of the conditions that you’ll be shooting in. The good news is that there is still an option for you.
After the broadcast format HD discussed above there is another category of HD. On paper, this non-broadcast HD looks very simillar to the formats mentioned above. They are both 1920×1080 in resolution, but after that the simillarity ends.

Since we’re talking about Canon cameras, let’s stick with that because there happens to be a option made by them that I feel is one of the very best cameras available this side of $1k. The Canon Vixia HF200 stands head and shoulders above many other camcorders (which still puts it a good deal below the 7D or 5D). This little beauty will set you back about 600 to 800 dollars depending what options you get it with. It is unique in being able to shoot full 1080p HD video at comparable framerates to the more expensive big-brothers talked about above. It kills a lot of other camcorders for features and options. For example you can change the aperture f-stop between 1.8 and 3.2, and the shutter speed between 1/8 to 1/2000 which means you’ll be able to achieve some limited depth of field. There are some features you’re not likely to use unfortunately, such as variable zoom speed (please do not zoom, truck-in instead), video fx and so forth. I’d have given all these up for zebra stripes (which reveal blown-out areas of contrast caused by the lower dynamic range of all cameras in this price-point).

Most notably, this camera has a good range of ports. The audio-out can do either AV or headphones. It comes with cables for HDMI, component, and AV out. It has a shoe for attachments, and a microphone in jack (which should be a top priority for any camera). White balance works well and there are a few presets that you might use if you’re shooting with various light sources. And these cameras are very small – easy to conceal, to grab and go when you’re on the run. They also come with a remote that can be very handy and is an option you see less and less these days.

The bottom line is that under ideal conditions with this camera you will get a piece of video that can stand up against the higher-end DSLR cameras. Those conditions would include perfect light, not a lot of movement, and not too much range in color in the scene. That sounds restrictive, but you could do a lot with that in terms of interviews and such where you have control of the setup. You could also combine your video with top-notch audio, which will have a huge effect on the impression your viewers get of the quality.

Here is a little video that can give you an idea of what the camera is capable of. It is shot in natural lighting outdoors on a slightly overcast day by video enthusiast Maurie Clark.

Canon HF200 TEST from Maurie Clark on Vimeo.

One thing to note is that the HF200 uses AVCHD format, a variation of h.264, and many older systems do not natively support that format. If you’re using Adobe CS4 you’ll find it compatible, but even so be forewarned that AVCHD is a pretty processor-intensive format and you may find it hard to scrub without choking if your system is a couple of years old.

In some ways, I think the HF200′s high standard as a camcorder is almost it’s undoing – it’s so good in that regard that it is easy to start comparing it to a pro camera, which it is not. But as an entry point, it is a very good one and will allow you to experiment with sets and editing 1080p while producing video that is perfectly serviceable for many purposes.

Summary

This concludes our look at HD video and what is available for shooting for a variety of media. As we can see the options are many, with more interesting choices being added on all the time.
For my money, the most interesting things are happening in the DSLR field, and I applaud Canon’s decision to release two new models this year for the mid-range and lower-end consumer who is enthusiastic about the format. The results seem very high indeed for the price point, and I would not be intimidated to take on any video project with something like the 5D.

If it means anything, the original groundbreakers in digital video at LucasFilm seem to be taking note of this format also, and recently had some experts in DSLRs out to demonstrate the technology. They did so at SkyWalker Ranch, using accessories from Zacuto, and you can see the results below;

Skywalker Ranch from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

As the report goes, this was shown on the theater screen at the ranch, just like the original footage of Star Wars Episode 1 was, and once again the reaction was favorable. And if you compare it with the vixia footage, you can probably note the higher dynamic range in the color. It’s just a bit prettier.

So it really comes down to making a good call in terms of your budget, shooting conditions, and what format the video will be seen in. I hope this article has helped enlighten a little regarding what is available.

So far in this series, we have looked at the challenges of going from film to digital. We saw the very high end of digital video, used in shooting major features. Then we looked at the popular Red One camera and the way it has shaken up digital video production. In this series we look at a very new option – shooting video with a digital SLR camera.

The DSLR Revolution

If the idea of being able to shoot high definition footage and make use of 35mm lenses designed for film appeals to you, there is a new player on the scene in the form of DSLR format. Digital SLR is essentially a digital 35mm camera, sporting a regular SLR body and all, but hopped up. For quite a while now, shooting video on a digital SLR has been possible, but not like this. Both Canon and Nikon have released a variety of models that are trully impressive in the quality of video they can shoot. These cameras are availabe at price points of $5k or less and are capable of producing video in full high definition. Let’s look at the Canon options as an example. Canon offers the 1D (mark IV), the 5D (mark II), and the 7D at approximately $5k, $2.5K, and $1.7K respectively. While that may sound like a lot for an SLR, the big difference comes from the fact that these cameras have been designed from the beginning to offer video capability and the results show.

Sitting in the middle of the road, the 5DMkII can record 1080p video and has a full 35mm sensor simillar to the Red One mentioned above. It can shoot at a very shallow depth of field and stores footage on compact flash cards, which are inexpensive compared to other media. The tradeoff is that you can only capture up to 4gigs of video at a time, or about 12 minutes of 16:9 HD. The clips are stored in H.264 format which is quite common and can be handled by any system capable of editing HD. Originally these cameras lacked some manual controls, but in June of 2009 the firmware was upgraded to allow control of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Essentially, an upgrade of the camera’s operating system was all that was necessary to make it a serious contender.
There is a lot to like about the 5DMKII. Hey it was good enough to be the first digital camera used in an official presidential portrait. If it’s good enough for Obama it should be good enough for us.
Of course many will find it strange shooting video with a camera that began life as a still camera. These bodies were meant to come up fast and take a great image at 1/60th of a second. The body was not ideally designed for steady shooting in video, and shake could be a serious problem. Enter a company called Zacuto USA, who has been doing some very interesting things in designing shoulder-mount systems for the DSLR format. Their rigs come in a variety of options, and are designed to be lightweight and break down quickly for storage. They also sell a viewfinder that seals out light and adds further stability (via the additional point of contact). Check it out;

While the 5D can deliver some pretty stunning video for the price-point, if you need to be able to shoot in almost any condition the 1DMK4 has been shown to be able to reach ISO ranges of 100 to 12,800. This is the new hotness. That means that you will be able to shoot at very low light conditions in 1080p. As a transmedia producer, needing to run ‘n gun as the saying goes, you should not underestimate this option. You will double your cost, but you can still use your compact flash cards or go with SD cards, which are ubiquitous and supported by the 1D.
On the other hand if price is an issue (and you bounced right past the part about the Red One when you saw $18k) then the 7D just might be the ticket. It can handle about half the light range of the 1D, which is still pretty good.

For a good example of a documentary shot entirely on the 5D, you could take a look at this video on vimeo. You’ll see that it is possible to shoot some pretty amazing scenes with it, and it is ideal for the run-and-gun style of shooting.

Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

The documentary was shot by Danfung Dennis, a videographer embedded with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion during July 2009. You can find a few pictures of his rig here.

Of course it should be remembered that with any of the DSLR options they began life as tools for shooting still images and so are fantastic in that regard – a big plus to a transmedia producer.

But if you don’t have that kind of coin to drop, or you aren’t working on these kinds of projects, are you doomed to be left out of the HD revolution? Not necessarily. In the next article we will look at the entry-level to shooting in HD, and what many consider the finest option for those on a budget.

In part one of this series, we took a look at a few of the common challenges in shooting digital, and we examined the very high-end solutions used in shooting such things as the Star Wars episodes, and others big features.
In this part we get down to some of the more cost-effective and flexible shooting options for HD, for those working in several media concurrently.

Rise of the Red One

Given that the big-screen camera is not appropriate for web-work then (see part one), what is the transmedia producer to do?

Well this is where the Red comes in. At $17k per unit, the Red is a lot more favorable in terms of ROI. Released in 2007, the Red saw popularity
rise through most of last year. The Red is a bit of a hybrid beast, in that it can shoot onto far less expensive non-volatile data cards and hard drives and uses PL lens mounts (which basically means that they can use 35mm lenses designed for film cameras). The most innovative thing about the Red is that it uses a 35mm sized imaging sensor, meaning that no adaptors are necessary to use 35mm lenses and no quality is lost. You do have to ask for the PL mount as an option though, which seems strange because I can’t see any reason to buy the Red without it. The Red uses proprietary compression algorithms on the video data (called Red format, not surprisingly) and can do resolutions of up to 4096×2160 pixels. But the Red is not without it’s challenges.

Entry cost for this camera is about $18k, but when you start to add up cost for options like viewfinders, HD monitors, matte boxes and such you begin running up the tab quickly. Don’t get me wrong, the ability to start low and scale to need is incredibly important to transmedia producers. You have the option of simply not paying for something you won’t be using, and that is a good thing. But it also means you have a lot to consider outside of the base purchase. For instance, say you purchase the Red and then realize that your computer equipment is incapable of handling the processing of it’s footage in a reasonable manner? The Red format is highly compressed, and the CPU of your existing system may not be up to the task. So you then have the option of shooting at lower formats (a waste of money) or upgrading your system (spending more). Anyone who has transitioned from SD to HD format will know something about the pain of watching your system chug and crash during editing, or of sitting through hours of video transcoding to something the computer can handle (again more time lost equals more money lost).

We had the chance to work with Red footage at Oddly earlier this year. At the time there was a proprietary tool in use to transcode Red footage to something that a mac pro could edit with ease and the transcoding time was considerable. Since then Red format has been adopted as a native format for Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, but again that is of no help if your existing sytem can not handle the calculations fast enough to let you scrub with ease during editing. More on this in a bit.

Depending what mediums you intend to release your transmedia production in there exist other options. For some budgets, the Red may very well be overkill. This is where we get to one of the more interesting tools to emmerge in recent months.

In the next article, we’ll look at some of the options coming available in digital SLR cameras – lower cost options that have emerged from still shooting into full HD video in very high quality.