Open Television Network lauched to serve the fat middle of the long tail
February 27, 2008
The Open Television Network (OTN) was launched last month with the goal of providing a distribution network for the “fat middle” of the Long Tail, helping to build a “middle class” of media publishers. It’s a framework that allows small media producers to sell video through iTunes using RSS feeds. And that’s the clever twist behind their approach.
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Linking those who make media with those who need media
December 10, 2007
The web video explosion is creating demand for content and service exchanges that work at internet speed. Two among the many players in this space are bid4vid and Cutcaster. Cutcaster was established a year ago as an exchange for professional video and photos that allows buyers and sellers to set licensing terms and price, and helps media makers find the right price based on current market conditions. bid4vid is a nascent Los Gatos, California start-up, might be on to something, they are building a video exchange linking those who make media with those who need media. It’s too early in their evolution to know how well it’s going to work out, but it’s certainly a good idea. Right now their web site is very sparse, but more information should be available soon.
Reframe Offers a New Model for Online Film Distribution
November 15, 2007
We’re finally right in the midsts of the digital media distribution inflection point. Several key trends that have pushed us along include: 1. the ubiquity of digital media and computation, 2. widespread adoption of high-speed internet connections in middle-class households, 3. dramatic improvements in video codecs (H.264), and 4. the popularity of viewing video on the web, fueled by sites like YouTube and Joost. We’re also at a point where a critical mass of media caretakers, rights owners, and media makers are seriously exploring the avenues available for them for digital distribution. There is no shortage of players who are trying to take old media business models and cash in on digital distribution (e.g. Jaman , iTunes , et al.) as well as a whole legion of start-ups experimenting with more interesting business model variations (e.g.Jalipo, Caachi , et al.) and then there are some folks who are thinking more along new lines (e.g. Participatory Culture Foundation , Renew Media , et al.).
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Using SATA drives in the raw with your MacBook Pro
November 4, 2007
A while back I wrote about Using SATA drives with a MacBook Pro, and I also compared MacBook Pro external drive performance using SATA, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800. Today at the Boston Media Makers meeting I discussed my solution for cheap backup and archiving: bare SATA drives, this is attractive when you consider that Seagate 500 GB SATA drives are now down to $120 and come with a 5 year warranty. Other backup and archiving options like DVD-R or Blu-Ray disks takes a long time to burn and LTO3 tape systems are expensive. Hard drives offer a fast and cheap solution (but with the caveats I mention later).
Comparison of Camera vs. Boom Microphone
September 8, 2007
Here’s a quick comparison I did of recording dialog with an MKH60 Shotgun Microphone mounted on a camera vs. mounted on a boom.
Comparing MacBook Pro external drive performance
July 20, 2007
Yesterday I wrote about using SATA drives with a MacBook Pro. Is it worth the trouble going the external SATA route with a MacBook Pro for editing? It’s certainly valuable when doing media ingest in the field (e.g. P2) direct to a mirrored pair of disks. I like it simply because I need to move external SATA disks between the laptop and my desktop editing systems. But there’s also a performance advantage. But how much? I decided to run a little test comparing the performance of the following:
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Using SATA drives with a MacBook Pro
July 19, 2007
Need fast, cheap, reliable storage for video editing on your MacBook Pro? Tired of paying a price premium and performance penalty with external FireWire drives? Tired of dropped frames with that USB external drive? Want to be able to move a project between the laptop and a PowerMac or MacPro and keep it on a fast SATA drive? Several interface cards are available for the MacBook Pro to interface with SATA drives.
Boston Media Makers, July 1, 2007
July 1, 2007
Boston Media Makers meetings are held the first Sunday of every month at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain. Meeting notes include Len Edgerly’s video of Friday’s iPod frenzy, Christopher Penn’s demo of his new camera stabilization device, and many interesting updates. Here are my notes:
Boston Media Makers, June 3, 2007
June 3, 2007
It’s been a media saturated weekend, first was at the Making Media Now Conference at Boston University on Friday and now its Sunday morning and I’m attending the monthly Boston Media Makers meeting held the first Sunday of every month at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain. The image to the left provides a link to my meeting photos in Flickr.
Making Media Now (slides from Opening Remarks)
June 2, 2007
Here are my slides from the Opening Remarks I made at the Making Media Now: Filmmaking in Transition conference held yesterday at Boston University. A special thanks to Jennifer Kaplan, Bonnie Waltch, and all the people and sponsors who made this lively and engaging event possible.
