There is a new compact 10-40mm T3.95 zoom lens available from Fujinon specifically designed for the A-Minima. More and more films are using digital intermediate (DI), the days of film opticals are numbered, yet the little A-Minima comes at a good time when you can shoot Super16 and go to DI as an alternative to […]
NAB 2002: Digital projection takes a leap forward
While the performance of DLP based projectors in theatrical settings is impressive, we still have a ways to go before digital projection is ready for prime time, all the hype and George Lucas’ dream not withstanding. JVC was screening a variety of clips using their new D-ILA (Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier) projector and […]
NAB 2002: Viper offers view of cinematography’s future
By far the coolest thing on the show floor was the Viper camera, which according to David Bancroft of Thomson Multimedia, “transfers every detail from CCD to post.” The camera puts out an uncompressed digital signal that’s simply a digital version of the analog data coming direct from the CCDs without any video image processing. […]
NAB 2002: Apple Shakes up Mac effects capabilities
At the show Apple was demonstrating a preview of Shake (a popular cross-platform compositing system for high resolution visual effects) on OS X. In February Apple acquired NothingReal, the developer of Shake. This package has earned an impressive reputation as a creme de la creme effects and compositing tool and has been used on numerous […]
NAB 2002: Digital Cinema Summit charts future of digital cinema
NAB, SMPTE and Digital Cinema Magazine hosted a two day Digital Cinema Summit exploring the technologies, methodologies and standards for digital motion pictures. SMPTE is playing a key role in documenting digital cinema standards. Members of the SMPTE DC28 committee presented progress reports from their working groups on mastering, compression, content protection, transport, audio, theater […]
NAB 2002: Film gamma upgrade enhances the Panasonic Varicam
Panasonic showed a new option for the AJ-HDC27 Varicam HD camera that extends the camera’s usable dynamic range, especially in highlights. “Cine Gamma” provides a closer approximation of film’s ability to gently compress extreme highlights. Filmmakers will be able to control the camera’s gamma transfer function to optimize control over tonality from extreme highlights to […]