Mar 7, 2018
Corporate Video Production Company Los Angeles
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Corporate Video Production Company Los Angeles
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Corporate Video Production Company Los Angeles - https://youtu.be/XkjdUyzOPLw
Corporate Video Production Company Los Angeles - https://youtu.be/XkjdUyzOPLw
Traditional camcorders in the era of mirrorless/HDSLR cams
Mirrorless and HDSLR cameras get most of the press attention nowadays. However, there are still many content producers who prefer the traditional camcorder with permanent parfocal zoom lens. (Parfocal means that the lens maintains focus when zooming, unlike many varifocal lenses designed for still photography.) Let’s review some of the traditional camcorder’s unique advantages compared with the mirrorless or HDSLR variety of cameras. This article mentions traditional camcorders from Canon, JVC, Panasonic and Sony.
Unique advantages of a traditional camcorder with a permanent, parfocal zoom lens
No extra cost for a lens, since one comes already mounted.
No wasting time changing lenses.
Balanced XLR audio inputs come standard in most professional traditional camcorder models (see my Balanced audio: benefits and varieties, illustrated above). Most mirrorless and DSLR cameras require purchasing a separate module for balanced XLR inputs, or the use of an external audio recorder.
Built-in ND filter(s) come built-in with many models of traditional camcorders, so you don’t have to carry them around and waste time putting them on or changing them.
Wireless timecode from your smartphone to multi-sync multiple camcorders in some models (shown above), like the Sony PXW-Z90 (B&H), PXW-NX80 (B&H), and even (per Chase Kubasiak) with the consumer little sister, the FDR-AX700 (Amazon — B&H). Synced timecode among camcorders greatly facilitates editing from multiple angles, especially when some camcorders pause at different times than others during the same event.
Wired timecode to multi-sync between camcorders with some models, like the Panasonic AG-DVX200 (shown above, Amazon — B&H), AG-UX180 (Amazon — B&H) and AG-UX90 (sadly a segregated model at present, Amazon — B&H, see details ahead). As explained above, synced timecode among camcorders greatly facilitates editing from multiple angles, especially when some camcorders pause at different times than others during the same event.
Multiple direct-access buttons to many functions, user-programmable in many models. Many run-and-gun shooters can’t waste time going into menus, and demand instant access.
Infrared mode (aka NightShot) in many models for shooting in total darkness at a relatively short distance.
Unlimited recording time (other than your storage and power), i.e. there is no 29-minute time limit per clip, a hinderance shared many mirrorless camera, with a few exceptions like the Panasonic Lumix GH5 (Amazon — B&H) and Panasonic Lumix GH5S (Amazon — B&H).
Applause and scolding of camera manufacturers
I am grateful that all models mentioned above are worldcam, save a single exception: the Panasonic AG-UX90 which at present is —disgracefully— a segregated model, restricted to 23.976 (aka 23.98), 29.97 and 59.94 rates in the segregated 59.94 Hz model, and 25 and 50 rates in the segregated 50 Hz model. C’mon Panasonic. Offer a firmware upgrade to worldcam for your AG-UX90 model.
See my Why we should only use worldcams, illustrated above.
Now we’re on that topic, Canon should offer a firmware upgrade to worldcam for your XF405 (Amazon — B&H), XF400 (Amazon — B&H), GX10 (Amazon — B&H) models.
Canon and Panasonic are to be applauded for expressing non-integer framerates to two decimal places in all models mentioned above.
Even though their cameras are generally good, both JVC and Sony should be embarrassed that they continue to misinform users by rounding non-integer framerates to the closest integer in menus in these models, causing confusion and havoc in the production community:
JVC, please offer a free firmware upgrade for the GY-HM170 (Amazon — B&H), GY-HM200 (Amazon — B&H) and GY-LS300 (Amazon — B&H) to display non-integer framerates to at least two decimals in menus, and thank you for making all of these worldcam (except in SD)!
Sony, please offer a free firmware upgrade for the Sony PXW-Z90 (B&H) and PXW-NX80 (B&H), and FDR-AX700 (Amazon — B&H) to display non-integer framerates to at least two decimals in menus, and thank you for making all of these models worldcam!
Conclusions
I hope this article helps you understand the unique advantages of traditional camcorders, with a permanent parfocal lens. I will continue to cover both traditional camcorders and mirrorless/HDSLR models, since I see different advantages and disadvantages to each type.
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Filmmaker Friday featuring Filmmaker Travis Duncan
With hundreds of careers and opportunities, the Filmmaking industry can be a unique experience for a Filmmaker. Options include pitching an idea, or a commission through screenwriting, casting, shooting, editing, and screening your project. Filmtools decided to take a deeper look into the world of a Filmmaker. This week, we had the opportunity to speak to Filmmaker Travis Duncan about his work. This is what he said:
What is your name and where are you from?
Travis Duncan: My name is Travis Duncan and I am from Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City
What is your primary role on set?
Travis Duncan: Primarily I’m a commercial still shooter, so I typically wear a lot of hats. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say my role on any given assignment ranges from chief photographer to key grip & gaffer, all at once. In the “stills world” we very often don’t have much of a budget for larger crews.
Name a person in the industry that is on the top of his or her game in your role.
Travis Duncan: Rob Grimm is a fantastic beverage guy and also a Missouri boy! Love his work and have a ton of respect for him.
If you had to impress someone with your work, what would be the most “well-known” content that you’ve worked on?
Travis Duncan: I probably get the most comments on my still products work. The Monster Energy Java shot in my portfolio gets a lot of attention and generates a lot of positive feedback, along with some of my portrait work with NBA talent like OG Anunoby and future NBA star Michael Porter Jr. see more at travisduncan.com
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on before?
Travis Duncan: Man, that’s a tough one. I’d say the fairly recent GigPak shoot I did in Tulsa Oklahoma at Cain’s Ballroom was the coolest, and by far – had the most moving parts. It was a pretty large 30+ person crew. We were making EPK’s (electronic press kits) for a dozen or so recording artists over 2 days. Shooting live performance videos with multiple 4k RED’s including an on-stage Steadicam, a couple dolly cam’s at 45 degrees on either side of the floor, a couple locked off angles, and a 24-foot remote crane shot. It was crazy fun. Not only the live performance part, but we were also shooting performance & production stills, while simultaneously providing a multi-track audio recording of the artist’s performance. It was great fun!
When you arrive at a shoot, What’s the first thing you do?
Travis Duncan: First thing I always do is start looking at the available light, and the direction that light is coming from and determine if I might be able to supplement it. Right up there with the lighting, I’ll look next at potential camera angles and background options. Pretty much every time. That, and look for the nearest coffee shop.
How did you break into this industry?
Travis Duncan: I studied large format photography in Chicago. Working mostly on small tabletop product photography, but also architectural photography utilizing 4×5 cameras & transparency film. Later on, I landed several key roles as the “first assistant” and “digital tech” in a couple large studios in Tulsa, Oklahoma and learned a ton there. Assisting other well-established shooters for many years gave me the best education I could have asked for.
What challenges have you faced?
Travis Duncan: Working in smaller markets can be challenging for many reasons. I’d say the biggest challenge I face daily would be, remaining relevant. With a constant influx of new talent every day, it’s sometimes tough to keep producing fresh content that’s both relevant and exciting on a consistent basis. I own and operate a commercial studio business, so finding the time to accomplish this alongside the necessary day to day business operations can be challenging.
Do you have a piece of essential gear that you don’t leave without?
Travis Duncan: I would say that my if you have to pry one piece of gear out of my cold dead hands, it would be my Senior Cart from Filmtools loaded down with Profoto packs and heads! I love, love, love this production cart. It goes with me on pretty much all of my larger shoots and is an absolute STAPLE in the studio. Built like a tank.
Current TV obsession? Do you binge-watch new shows or pace them out?
Travis Duncan: Currently, I’ve been catching up ( 1 or 2 episodes a night ) on the Netflix series“Black Mirror”. I love binge watching them, but it’s so infrequent that I have a block of time to sit and veg out! I’m a big AMC guy too.
What piece of gear do you have your eye on?
Travis Duncan: I’d love to latch on to a RED Weapon, but in all reality, I’ll probably not pull the trigger on one unless I hit the jackpot with a scratch-off lotto!
Camera – Should you own or rent?
Travis Duncan: I do both. Most still cameras are much more affordable than the cinema gear, save just a few. I tend to own the smaller format still cameras, and rent medium format gear or higher end cinema cameras. It just depends on the project and budget. The upside for renting is obviously cost, but at the same time, it’s harder to really “know” the gear inside and out as well as I would like. I tend to work really fast while on set, so owning the equipment gives me time and repetition to know the gear like the back of my hand. This can be huge if you’re in a fast-paced scenario where you need to make decisions on the fly.
Lenses – Should you own or rent?
Travis Duncan: Same goes here. I own quite a lot of glass but also rent many lenses depending on the job. I’d say most independent creators aren’t going to be able to own a set of anamorphic’s or a nice set of cinema primes but to each his own. Renting can definitely be a necessity when it comes to the larger projects with higher demands and larger budgets.
What is your preferred camera system? Lenses?
Travis Duncan: The small format still rig I’m loving right now is the Nikon D850 with a 19mm tilt-shift lens. Great combo! So lightweight and amazing image quality!
What are you currently working on?
Travis Duncan: I do a lot of corporate finance, and healthcare work, but also a fair amount of architectural work. I’m spread out quite a bit between disciplines, but I prefer it that way as I tend to get bored shooting the same thing over and over again.
What advice would you give to people interested in this industry?
Travis Duncan: Assist a good and well-established shooter for a couple years at least if you’re just getting started or fresh out of school. Or, assist several different shooters over a span of a few years. That type of education and experience is priceless! You’ll learn of ton that you didn’t pick up in school, plus you’ll make some great connections.
Where can people follow you on social?
Travis Duncan: On Twitter @travisduncan, and Instagram @travisduncanphoto
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Gear+Beers Recap
Free food, free beer, good people, and amazing brands. That’s Gear+Beers at Filmtools in Burbank. As the sun set on February, Filmtools brought together Arri, Matthews, mLogic/Codex, Atomos, and G-Technology to demo some of their newest gear and provide an intimate setting for people to talk to them about whatever came to mind. Industry professionals, solo shooters, enthusiasts and everyone in between came out to shoot the breeze and celebrate what it means to work and be part of productions of all sizes.
From Matthews, we saw the brand new K Stacker. Designed by Alex Amyot, the K Stacker holds 3 KinoFlo LED panels or two of their ubiquitous 4-Bank fluorescent fixtures. It can be hung in a grid or stacked to add even more fixtures, but primarily it’s used to put a large amount of light on a small, rollable package. In addition, they had their C-Stand bags on display, one of which is rollable like a snowboard/hockey goalie bag which, aside from helping you organize your grip heads and the like, makes transportation a snap. The top pocket fits a RoadRags kit as well, keeping everything nice and tidy. The DuttiDock and MosesPole were also on display. The former being a compact place to rest cameras while swapping lenses or between takes which attaches simply to a light stand, the latter being a ⅝” Baby pin on a telescoping pole. The pole is ideal for resting a Steadicam or similar stabilizer between takes. It can also be used to prop up a sagging slider or you can give it to a bored-looking crewmember to “Hollywood” a light in what might be the lowest-footprint light stand ever created.
Arri gave everyone a special treat by demoing the brand new Skypanel S360-C, well before its slated debut at NAB in April. Almost six times bigger than the already-popular S60, the S360 is borderline solar. By the end of the event, its 120,000 lumen output was easily providing light for the entire parking lot, outpacing a traditional 12K tungsten spacelight and drawing only 1500 watts from the wall. Aside from its ludicrous output and buttery-soft light, and along with most of Arri’s LED offerings, the S360 can be programmed to replicate all of Lee and Rosco’s filters and almost anything in between. Like the other SkyPanel offerings, it has pre-programmed lighting effects like police lights, the flicker of a fire or television, the pulsing lights of a club, the brash flash of the paparazzi, or even fireworks. If you’re a fan of massive, soft light sources, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option these days. I’m excited to see how the competition reacts.
Aside from raffling off a Ninja Inferno, Atomos was showing off their Sumo M & Sumo 19. The difference being that the Sumo M is a monitor and the 19 has recording capability. The Sumo 19 is a 19” HDR monitor that can record 4K 12bit Raw and 10bit ProRes/DNxHR, and has 1080p60 live switching built in. As you can see in the photo, the screen is bright enough (minus the glare the camera seems to have enhanced) to power through daylight viewing without the need of a hood, although Atomos offers a very nice one to ensure a distraction-free viewing experience. I made a joke asking if they’d seen someone mounting it to a camera ala their Inferno or Flame series and wouldn’t ya know it, someone had. Not directly to the camera, but attached to an arm next to it. Y’all are wild.
As an aside, Atomos is offering $400 off the Sumo M and $500 off the Sumo 19 from March 1st to the 15th so if you’re interested in a massive studio-sized production monitor that can record dailies, proxies or 4Kp60 masters and has playback controls away from the camera team, there ya go. It also has all the usual features like false color, waveforms, and all that good stuff. Atomos continues to kill it. mLogic and Codex got together to show off some slick LTO backups integrated into a cart, namely mLogic’s mTape and mRack systems. For those who don’t know, LTO is an extremely affordable backup solution with massive longevity and storage size with up to 12TB per cartridge and 300MB/s transfer rates with a 30 year shelf life. It may be 1990’s technology, but it has yet to be bested. The mTape is the drag-and-drop desktop version, with dual Thunderbolt 2 ports, and the mRack is the version that goes in your DIT cart. One version, the mRack can write to two LTO drives simultaneously while the mRack DIT version can support six HDD or SDDs on top of the LTO drive and four of those Thunderbolt 2 ports. A simple solution, but a requirement for productions that need to be sure that your footage doesn’t get lost. GDrive was also in tow, giving everyone a look at their Mobile SSD which I’ve glowed about before, so I won’t go too deep into that (they’re amazing) but they also had their G Speed Shuttle XL RAID system on display which can either be configured with 8 drives or 6 and two EV slots to make your footage transfers from RED Mini Mags or CFast cards dead simple. The Shuttle XL can be easily transported, easily drive-swapped, and can hold up to 80TB in its 8 drive form with transfer speeds up to 1350MB/s. The day was filled with great conversation, awesome prizes, beer a plenty and tasty, tasty tacos. Smaller events supported by big companies do an amazing job of connecting folks from all walks of the industry, and Gear+Beers was no different. I personally met a couple folks I have admired for a while and never expected to see, and that alone made the day special on my end. The few hundred people who came through all looked like they had a similar experience, which made this Filmtools event a rousing success.
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6 Below – the first 6K natively-edited feature film
Vashi Nedomansky edited the film “6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain” which is the first feature film edited natively in 6K resolution. While visiting Sundance 2018, I had a chance to sit down with Vashi and talk through the creative and technical challenges of post-production on this film.
PVC: I haven’t yet had a chance to see this film, so give me the elevator pitch.
Vashi: Sure. 6 Below is the story of a professional hockey player who is also a snowboarder. He goes up to Mammoth Mountain, gets lost during a huge snow storm, and for seven or eight days he survives without food or water. He’s also suffering from drug addiction, so he literally has a bag of crystal meth and nothing else. And ultimately he survives the ordeal but has to face his demons along the way, and comes out a different person for many different reasons. It’s based on the true story of Eric Lemarque, who went through this experience about 15 years ago, and is now a motivational speaker.
PVC: How did you get involved in the project?
Vashi: Scotty Waugh, who directed Need for Speed, Act of Valor, and Dust to Glory brought me on. After Dust to Glory, Scotty hired me as an editor at his production company Bandito Brothers. When this project came around, he approached me and gave me the pitch for the film. I said “You know that I know Eric Lemarque? I’ve played hockey with Eric Lemarque.” I played professional hockey for 10 years myself before I retired, and I would train with Eric in the summers in LA. Scotty had played hockey with Eric as well in their own circle, but the whole thing emerged with him not knowing that I knew Eric.
PVC: Did that create some tension for you, being so close to the character?
It did pose a really interesting challenge. I’m gonna tell the story, I’m going to edit it, but it’s also I know the lead character, and it’s a true story. It’s not a based on true story. Everything that happens in the film, actually happened. So there is distinction between “based on” where you have leeway to do anything you want vs “this is what really happened.” I had a commitment to Eric as a friend, but as a filmmaker how am I gonna portray him? How far am I allowed to go? Do I not go too far? Is he gonna be pissed at me? Is Scotty gonna be pissed at me cause I didn’t do it justice? So I had to balance not only the technical, which we’ll get into, but the emotional content of the story.
PVC: So talk to me about the technical challenges you faced.
Vashi: The second major challenge we faced was that we were gonna shoot this at 6K, and edit and do all of post production natively with the 6K R3D files. No transcoding, no proxies, no nothing. Like we’re onlining from day one basically.
PVC: What drove the decision for a 6K native edit?
Vashi: The decision to use the 6K native files was two-fold. One, Scotty is always pushing the boundaries as a director and as a filmmaker. Secondly, one of the delivery formats for this film was Barco Escape, a three-screen immersive wrap-around cinematic experience. Star Trek Beyond did it, that film had like 20 minutes of certain key scenes where the other two screens would light up with complementary content that is telling the story. Maze Runner did the same thing.
So Barco Escape is three 2K screens. Their requirement was you have to capture in 6K to cover that, and Dragon was the only camera at the time that could do that. We tested with all these lenses, and we got some amazing 65mm film glass from Panavision that had been used on Guardians of the Galaxy and like one other film. Those lenses were good in resolution capture capabilities and the inherent quality was insane. So it was because of the Barco Escape requirements, and because Scotty likes pushing boundaries, and because the other main delivery format was one screen at a 2.76:1 aspect ratio. So we shot at 6K, edited it in a 4K sequence, but still with the 6K Red files in the timeline. And so, those are the challenges we faced going in. We didn’t know if it’s gonna work, honestly, because no one’s ever done this.
PVC: Is this the first time?
Vashi: This is the first 6K natively edited feature in the history of Hollywood or anywhere else. No one’s ever done that. They’ve done short form or a short film, but we shot almost 100 hours of footage and all that content had to live in one project, with three edit stations hitting that all day long through our RAID. You could get into trouble.
PVC: Were you editing as they shot the film?
Vashi: Yeah, we were based out of Park City where we are sitting right now, my edit bay was at the bottom of the hill. They were shooting half an hour from here, up in the mountains. So to be back two years later in the place that we shot it, and tonight we’re about to get two feet of snow. Our first day on the shot was March 14th 2016. On March 13th all the mountains were brown, they were just rocks, there was no snow. It was like the least snowy winter ever. On March 14th, day one of shooting it dumped like three feet on us. And there’s no way to work around that. Had it not snowed, we would have had to paint in snow, and it would have been a VFX nightmare. We got the real stuff and in our entire film, I think there’s maybe three shots where we added VFX snow. Everything else is real.
PVC: Talk me through the tools and process.
Vashi: We used Adobe Premiere Pro, it was the only software that could do the two deliverables. Avid could not cut at that high resolution, that was a no-go, and we didn’t have time to offline it. That was the other thing, I’m editing and I would get five to six hours of dailies at night time when they would come down from the mountain. It took an hour and half to get up there to location. Everyday, up and down for the cast and crew. The only people that didn’t do that were Scotty, Josh Hartnett, and the DP Michael Svitak who stayed in a cabin up there the whole time. They stayed on the mountain because they could gain three hours every day, for rehearsal and to review footage. So they got that extra time, but there’s no cell coverage up there, so I would look at the footage at night. I’d dump it right into Premiere Pro, look at it, give my notes, like “everything’s great, I’d love it if you can get me this shot maybe.” And they’d have those notes early the next morning when their drives came back up the mountain.
PVC: It’s like old-fashioned sneakernet.
Vashi: Old school, offline, handwritten, but we didn’t have a choice with our budget and our time, shooting schedule, and the kicker was that there’s no way I could have transcoded that stuff at night to look at it, and then make those notes and dump the drives and give it back to the DIT on the way up. We would have been a day behind. So for us, that was not gonna be an option. We decided to just try and do 6K from scratch.
PVC: You must need a lot of horsepower to pump through native 6K material, so what hardware did you use?
Vashi: We tested all the software and hardware out there and found the only one that worked on getting realtime play back. It was Premiere Pro running on a Dell 7910 workstation with some nVidia P6000 parts. So it’s a hefty system, and it’s rather expensive. But what we learned is it’s best to front-load if you can, front-load with your money, your hardware, your software, because downstream you’re gonna save time and money. For instance, by onlining, there’s never a conform, there’s never a matching of the VFX. And each one of those steps could allow for a mistake, an error, if something slips through the cracks. So we’re basically onlining the whole time and so everyone can share that project. Back in LA, they had a master copy of all our R3D files. We had people working the FX there, we’re like “go ahead, let’s just do it right on the 6K.” So we did all of the effects at 6K as well, which is unheard of. Studios do it at 2K. Deadpool, which I worked on, used 2K effects for the 4K DCP…they bump it up to 4K. But we did all our effects at 6K.
PVC: So it’s one of those hidden investment things. If you put a little bit more money on the front end, you might save some on the back end.
Vashi: It’ll pay off big time, because if you get the cheapest computer that you can or something that does moderate, automatically you’re offline, you’re automatically redoing VFX somewhere else. That’s money and time that you’re paying somewhere in another system. Make your A-system your all-system, make it do everything. So we had three Dell edit bays setup with Premiere Pro and After Effects. We used dynamic link for our 205 VFX shots, so we can update and do all that stuff in-house using the same system. It’s all under one roof. You can rock room to room, checking audio, vfx, and new edits. Scotty can get instant feedback from everyone as opposed to sending a shot away and waiting for days and see if it works. So many times that one vfx shot might be good, but it’s maybe 1% off. So you have to send it out again for a fix. I think moving forward, using Premiere Pro as hub and using all the other Adobe components, you can instantaneously say like “all right, well just make it a little brighter.” Perfect, great, sign off.
PVC: Would you say that editing online frees you up to work more creatively?
Vashi: Absolutely, because once something is working, you can tweak with it and when you know that you’re not gonna have to do those extra steps of bringing it back online or going to the masters or conforming. We edited here for six weeks, and when we left I had almost 60 minutes cut, all in one timeline. I was pushing Premiere Pro all the way, to see how much 6K footage can I put in one timeline without a crash, hangup or whatever. Thinking that at some point it’s gonna break. Scotty’s like “did it break yet?” I’m like “it hasn’t broken yet, it hasn’t broken yet.” The first cut of the film that we all watched, our inner group of the DP, Scotty, myself, and our VFX editor, it was 2 hours and 49 minutes long, and we put it on one timeline. All 6K R3Ds, hit play, watched the whole thing all the way through. Halfway through the sync started sliding on the audio, so you had spacebar to stop, spacebar to start, and then it was fine. So we watched almost three hours of one native 6K timeline.
PVC: Have you had a chance to screen it on those Barco Escape systems?
Vashi: We’ve screened on a Barco system, yeah. The first time we did that, we played it out of Premiere Pro onto the three screens in Culver City. I’ve also seen it in Palm Springs at the Barco theater there. Looks fantastic, and it really helps when you’re watching it and it’s all three screens at all times. On the other four or five films that this projection experience has been used, the side screens go away and your focus is on the middle screen. And then they pop up again and you’re like “oh that’s right, there’s two other screens.” So even if it’s compelling or visually awesome, having it all complete in one film, always there, you really do feel like you’re in the middle of it.
PVC: Sound design has to play a big part of that immersive experience as well, right?
Vashi: The sonic worldscape that we designed into our edit was so important. Our music editorial and sound design team has like 20 Oscar nominations, they were amazing. And for a film that has someone stranded, there’s not that much dialog besides some of the flashbacks and stuff, you needed an encompassing audio experience. The design team came up with things like the sound of the far away explosions when they trigger avalanches, that thumpy low throbbing, and things like the sound of snow falling off Evergreens. There’s a lot of sounds in nature that you don’t think of, but when you do hear it it sounds real. I did have a secret weapon though, I had Arctic Wind Number Nine, which was a stock audio file that at one point I had in every scene. It was really good wind, and even in the tense stuff we have to have it there. Without that it’s a guy walking in the snow.
PVC: Do you often present edits with temp audio like that to help people get the feel?
Vashi: I think it’s every editor’s duty to present to the director, to the producer, to anyone that’s gonna watch it, the most complete version you can at that point given the constraints of time. I hate showing something that’s not ready, because I know they’re gonna pick apart the stuff that you already know. Of course I can cut something without audio and VFX, I know if it’s working or not. As an editor you can see the piece, and you feel it, you’re filling in all that stuff as you’re editing. But other people don’t and that’s not their fault. You can’t blame them for that. My job is make them so comfortable, they’re like “yeah that’s great, it’s working great.” But it can go the other way where you just put music everywhere, and you’re like “oh this is amazing, look at all this music,” and that’s fooling yourself. I never cut with music, because you can fool yourself, which is an even bigger problem. Once I have the cut working, then I’ll drop it in.
PVC: This has been a really fun chat, thanks for the making the time!
“6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain” had a theatrical release in the fall of 2017, and is now available to rent. You can catch up with Vashi at vashivisuals.com
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Dell XPS 15 vs MacBook Pro: Adventures in User Experience
The Dell XPS 15 is usually the PC compared to MacBook Pro 15” and for good reason — it’s attractive, small and light, full-featured, and powerful. Yeah, it’s cheaper and faster, which is good, but a few downsides might leave some users wanting. On the other hand, Apple’s missteps adding the superfluous Touch Bar and downgrading a great keyboard makes the Surface Book 2 perhaps a greater competitor to the Dell XPS.
The higher end Dell XPS 15 is due for an upgrade when 8th generation Intel 6-core chips are available, but bigger CPU and chipset changes are coming later, so a radical redesign is unlikely at this point. Numerous hardware and OS bugs plagued PCs with Windows 10, so quality testing is important — not that OS issues like sleep dimming, headphone plugs, and battery auto-brightness can be improved to the user friendly level of ease as on a Macintosh. Things like Dell keyboard backlight and antiglare screen coating could be improved without hardware redesign though.
The XPS 15 undoubtedly renders faster than a comparably equipped MacBook Pro. For me, it was 150-400% faster in Premiere, probably because of Nvidia CUDA on the XPS and certain bum effects in OpenCL on the Mac. But of course, ease of use is important while you’re actually there using the machine, which is why Apple makes their laptop lids open easily, why they optimize startup and waking-from-sleep time, use industry-leading fast SSDs, and provide consistently good audio and video experiences out of the box, all backed up by the peace of mind provided by quality control and great customer service.
Below are brief observations comparing the Dell and Apple approaches in features and performance, followed by a good video on time-consuming issues with a certain Dell XPS 15 machine, as well as videos reviews by leading reviewers for additional background in case you missed them.
Display
– Dell’s 4k “infinity” screen is quite lovely, with DCI P3 (like the Mac) and 100% AdobeRGB software settings, though some reviewers (see Lisa Gade) were at one point concerned about a hot white-point and careful recommended hardware calibration.
– The Mac screen height is better for After Effects and NLEs like Premiere, allowing users to see more layers or tracks.
Performance
– The Dell SSD is no slouch, but Apple SSDs seem about twice as fast, which is not surprising since they lead the industry. There’s a difference in app startup speeds, noticed especially in launching a render to Adobe Media Encoder from Premiere Pro.
– Dell has the advantage of better GPUs using CUDA, which does make a difference in hardware acceleration of some effects In Premiere Pro. Both Apple and Dell could leverage new Intel Core with AMD Vega hardware in upcoming models. And Adobe could enable Intel Quick Sync if they were interested in improving render speed on Windows and Mac machines! See Max Yuryev for a 2017 Mac NLE render comparison.
– Apple RAM limit is 16 GB; Dell XPS 15 RAM is user-upgradeable to 32 GB.
Design
– Dell’s design is mature, compact, lightweight, and sturdy though not as beautiful Apple. Razor copied Apple’s in machine design and offers better GPUs, but their screens are not as good as Apple or Dell.
– Opening the laptop is hard on Dell XPS, as if you’re prying open an oyster. Apple and Razor save users time and annoyance in just this respect.
Other Features
– Dell XPS computers can have touch and pen features, not just a superfluous Touch Bar. Even longtime Mac users reach across the keyboard to touch the dead screen after a time with mobile devices.
– Keyboards and trackpads had been big Apple strengths, but Apple’s change to shallow clickety-clack keys was a misstep that Dell should avoid, and emulate HP’s Spectre x360 15 instead.
– The backlight not as good as Apple or Razor laptops, which illuminate each character rather than key. Dell also has a very short backlight sleep cycle with no user controls. It’s annoying to have a click a key or spacebar to turn it back on.
– Dell’s trackpad can be hypersensitive, so its easy to mistakenly move Windows and Premiere interface elements out of place.
– Dell speakers could be improved, even if external speakers or headphones are needed normally.
– Dell’s inside surface carbon fiber is a fingerprint and grease magnet that needs constant cleaning, though a white glass version like the XPS 13 would solve that.
– Eliminating too many useful IO ports would be disappointing, though Dell’s handy dongle adapter in the box might take the sting out of it.
Battery
– Apple is a bit better, due in part to the 4K screen on Dell.
Warranty
– Apple customer service is superior to anything the PC world offers and can extends to 3 years, while Apple stores are convenient. Dell (and other PC manufacturers) quality assurance was terrible for new Windows OS releases, but the driver situation has stabilized. It’s a faster life outside of Apple’s walled garden.
Price
– Dell’s prices decrease as the machine ages so that a top machine with a 512GB SSD is now $1,750 (at Dell), while a comparable Apple is $2600 (not Apple). That’s life inside Apple’s pretty walled garden.
Check out XPS 15 (9560): 11 Problems You Should Know About! by Friday Thirst. I did not have any of these problem on my loaner unit.
Lisa Gade of MobileTechReview offers several excellent reviews and comparisons with the MacBook Pro; here’s an example:
In addition to their great review and video, Notebookcheck posted What we’d like to see in the 2018 XPS 15 9570 by Vaidyanathan Subramaniam.
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