Ok, SD today with Cinewave4 and FCP4 this June; 4:4:4 32bit HD by next June with FCP4/Cinewave4, HD option, better than 50/50 chance; done on a DP or QP IBM G5 chipped Apple Desktop....notebook to follow, later 2004.
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Name:
Rune Hansen
Date:
Apr 29, 2003 at 07:23 gmt
Subject:
Unannounced CineWave 4 features -- you read it here first!
A cowboy at Pinnacle just permitted me to post the following newsflash, and I'm doing it now in the middle of the night to liven up the house (it's been kind of slow on this board lately). Let's see if you can digest this, while I chow down a quesadilla and some milk:
We will be offering support for DV50, Apple Live Type and the generic animation codec. Yes, this means you will now be able to capture into DV50 and use real-time effects with DV50 in its' own sequence and/or mixed with PhotoJPEG, DV25, 8, 10 and/or 16-bit and RGBA. You will also be able to play out LiveType clips without having to render them in Final Cut Pro. How does that sound?
I think that's excellent news! Realtime DV50 effects is something new, and hasn't been talked about before.
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jean-yves,
after 1/2 bottle of Williams-Selyem 1995 Hirsh vineyard Pinot Noir, the following inspirational bit of non-sense transpired. Tests and conclusions page for various Fuji S2 SuperCCD's, Kodak 14M pixel CMOS, Canon 11M pixel CMOS , and Sigma SD9 w/Foveon 3-color pixel chip, digicams .
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S2/S2A12.HTM
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/14N/14NA12.HTM
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EOS1DS/E1DSA12.HTM
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SD9/SD9A12.HTM
?Mission from God?? Tongue ?n cheek, yes Ed? So you think CCD?s are monopolized by the big electronics firms? X-Files conspiracy happening here? And you are going to build your own, going on Jihad against the ?axis of evil? in Asia? Oh, but those newer and more powerful computers, brighter displays are all now being mostly subcontracted out by the Japanese or Korea electronics companies, to lower cost manufacturing plants in China. It?s just the trend of global economy?too late to stop that now. Is it only because Billips can rely on high-profile employment opportunities, that he does not build his own? I read or heard some criticism of the Sony PD150?s shortcomings in the images recorded by Billips for David Lynch?s PlayStation 2 TV commercial. But that is what Lynch wanted, as Billips had the high-end Sony 900HD camera there and ready to shoot with that.
Radical tech? No, I don?t think so. CMOS technology has been around for quite awhile, just new to consumer imaging chips. LED?s(despite the fact that they look ugly, sort of like the Christmas tree effect you see on some automobiles/taxies/pickup trucks in Mexico) are now the current fad for rear brake lights on automobiles. OLED displays soon to show up on notebook computers, like CMOS, draw less power. But they are more evolutionary developments of existing technology applied in a new way for economical production techniques. Holographic storage and later on into the future, CPU designs; are ?radical? technology. Marco Solorio muses that they should have called the new 24p Panasonic the SEX900! Geez, despite that fact that it does as much or more as a formerly priced $60,000 24p camera; it?s still no bargain. I can?t get excited about the new Panasonic, it?s still quite pricey, and Content is King(that is what is sexy to me, not tools you use to paint your ?canvas?).
My point was that to try and make you own camera, without the huge financial resources alone, make it unfeasible. But then you bring in the fact that there are others, in particular, that ?axis of evil?; they have both the financial resources and the developmental machine, technical knowledge, sophisticated manufacturing processes for miniaturization of all components; it?s a losing battle, IMO. But the time you put it together, some big gun company will already have something that the market finds more desirable, or something will be made ready for introduction within 6-12months that will invariably be better?they will make your system seem ponderous, lacking in capability in comparison.
Only really ?radical? imaging chip I can think of, at least it is significantly different from others, is the Foveon chip designed by an Cal Tech graduate?I believe. Amazing that it ever got built, by a lesser player in the imaging field, the Sigma lens company. I don?t know what company is manufacturing the Foveon chip for Sigma, but I have never thought Sigma lens to be of top-notch quality, just adequate. You can read the review of the Sigma D9 at this link.
Then for comparison you can read about the 14M pixel Kodak digicam for $5k, and the Canon 1Ds which both use CMOS imaging chips, yet there is a big difference in the way they perform. Canon causes a nosebleed at $8k, but it does great low light photography, has less luminous aliasing, and has greater dynamic range. I see that JVC camcorders specs state 400%, or in the case of the 5000 series 600% dynamic range. Not sure that has any real meaning to me?since there is no standardized reporting method from various camcorder manufacturers. Now if you have the clout and money to visit with the CMOS manufacturers such that you can get the kind of performance from you purchased CMOS chips to match or exceed (remember the Foveon chip renders the most accurate colors) that in the latest Canon, then you?ll have something better than what is currently on the market that a resolution freak like Scott Billips will approve of. I think part of the problem is that you have gone to see those examples shown on Billips site, with the $1M 35mm Kodak film camera razor sharp, the 4:2:2 SD images look pixelated, down to DV25 which looks worse. But they are STILL images magnified to the extreme. Take your average smaller Sundance Festival screen or nation wide multiplex theatre; they are even smaller than the screen at the LA Film School where they are hosting the HD Festival next month. You can probably tell the difference since you are in the business and have become sensitized to the lack of quality in 4:1:1(but you haven?t seen a Sony DSR-500 movie transfered to film or better image projected, after quality production, on a regular sized screen yet, have you???). The average theatre patron will not notice that much of a difference. Matrix sequels as well as other big movies are now being transferred for IMAX presentation, yet they were filmed for normal multiplex theatres, i.e. they lack the IMAX resolution, yet these types of movies are probably responsible for IMAX finally turning a profit (that and the fact that first run movies are at $8 or more, and IMAX is now at $11 a ticket, when it used to be double the price). Give me Canon 11M pixel performance 3 CMOS chip camcorder, with Foveon 3 color pixle array and Fuji SuperCCD?s color accuracy---very important to me; then you approach 35mm film, and you have a winner of a homemade HD camcorder. Oh, can you please make it for 1/2 the cost of the Panasonic SEX900, maybe Marco will call it the Extreme XXX900HD :)
Seriously Ed, life is short; do something more constructive with your drive/enthusiasm/dreams, Content is King, make the movie you want to make with DV25, or rent uncompressed SD cameras, or buy used. Spend the rest of your funds on other aspects of the movie making process, as the camera is only but the paint brush for your canvas, plenty or other expenses/details to work through, especially the art/the craft. Panavision has the high-end market for near term, the big studios and the like do not have a lock on everything. Make your indie production; surprise us with the quality of that; the next runaway hit "Big Fat Greek Wedding" or something else. Inspire with your craft, do not get mired in the OBSESSION with having the ultimate tool, you a can tell a story, make a vision with lesser tools. Content is King---and while your are at it, did you not say that your project involves shooting in Siberia, then you can contact Tamara Feldman?s agent and get her a part in your movie, yes?
As she is Siberian (part Native American) from ancestors 10,000 years ago?good enough correct? I don?t get excited about the Panasonic SEX900(but for an exotic version of Audrey Hepburn, I can sit there entranced looking at Ms Feldman on the screen?.he, he). Make your movie Ed, forget about the ultimate HD camcorder; making the movie, that is a better mission from God.
HD movie for the 2nd project next year.
