Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Came-TV Mini 2, Rotolight NEO Kit and Shape Shogun Cage Video Reviews

We were able to get PARADOX made thanks to the kind help of various companies who supplied the various bits of kit.

Atomos were as helpful as ever and we'd like to thank Sarah at Perfume Comms, Lewis and Jeromy. Rotolight provided the NEO kit, which was perfect for our shoot and we'd like to thank Rod, Rod Snr and Ricardo. Came-TV pulled out the stops to get us the Mini 2 gimbal in time for the shoot and we'd like to thank Frank for making that happen. Shape were great in getting us the Shogun Cage and again, we'd like to thank Lewis at Atomos for putting us together.

We're already working on the edit and hope to release PARADOX at the end of November.

Here's some video reviews of the gear...

CAME-TV MINI 2 REVIEW from Sean J Vincent on Vimeo.

ROTOLIGHT NEO KIT REVIEW from Sean J Vincent on Vimeo.

SHAPE SHOGUN CAGE REVIEW from Sean J Vincent on Vimeo.

Monday, September 14, 2015

PARADOX shoot complete...





Last week, we shot the first three episodes of our new web series, 'PARADOX'.  Shot in beautiful Hunstanton in Norfolk, we lucked out with perfect weather and some fantastic locations.

With support from Atomos, Rotolight, Shape and Came-TV, we used some of the most popular filming gear around today and kept the whole thing very mobile. Nothing was mains powered... everything was running on batteries and we used mostly available light with the Rotolight NEOs covering the internal shots and the in-car shots.  The Came-TV Mini2 gimbal was awesome... paired with the GH4 and Atomos Shogun, we got some really great shots that would have been impossible any other way. The Shape Shogun cage kept the Shogun safe and allowed us to have multiple mounting options for quick rig changes.

For a full and detailed look at how we shot PARADOX, keep an eye on Digital FilmMaker magazine, as i will be covering the whole project in an article coming soon...

I'd like to thank the crew... Jon Atkinson, Luke Vincent and Tony Creaney....

and the amazing cast... Emily Wyatt, Alex Humes, Paul Cooper and Laura Holland..

...not to mention the stunt/fight team... Tony Creaney, Ethan Vincent and Tom Ellwood.

PARADOX will debut online at the end of November.


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Atomos Ninja Assassin



Atomos have just released another new product in the Ninja line... the Ninja Assassin. Perfect for all the DSLM users out there...   sounds great for a B-Cam rig to compliment your Shogun too.....check out the official specs and blurb:

Ninja Assassin delivers 325ppi monitoring functionality and the 7" size needed to truly master 4K, it's the only true 10-bit 4:2:2 professional recording solution for Apple, AVID & Adobe workflows and all with a price & weight amongst the lowest on the market – Ninja Assassin is available today from Atomos' extensive reseller network.

Melbourne, Australia – 1st September 2015: In 2014, Atomos revolutionised the HD to 4K transition with the announcement of Shogun.  Now, with their commitment to delivering powerful creativity weapons for professionals, they bring you the Ninja Assassin.

The Ninja Assassin extends the legacy of the Atomos Ninja line up in to the realms of 4K UHD and 1080 60p. Combining professional 4K/HD recording, 7" 1920x1080 monitoring, advanced playback and editing in a compact, lightweight, affordable add-on to existing DSLR, Mirrorless and Video, Cinema cameras.

The Ninja Assassin boasts the screen size, screen resolution, advanced recording capability and scopes of the premium Shogun model, but forgoes the 12G/6G/3G-SDI connectivity, RAW recording functionality, in-built conversion, Genlock and balanced XLR audio connections.  The main benefit – a 10% weight reduction to an incredible 430g and an incredible $1295 price point including Soft Case, SSD Caddy and AC Adaptor. This firmly targets 4K DSLM cameras such as the Sony a7s and a7RII, Canon XC-10 and Panasonic GH4 bypassing their known limitations such as compressed MPEG/h.264 recording, 4:2:0 color compression, 30-minute time limits and the disadvantage of monitoring on a small 3" screen.

"The Ninja Assassin eliminates creative barriers and unleashes the true power of the worlds best sensors into the hands of creative pro's over one single HDMI cable. We are truly proud to deliver professional monitoring, video production tools and recording capabilities to assassinate camera limitations," said Jeromy Young, CEO and co-founder of Atomos. "Seeing an image on the Assassin's 7" screen and feeling the low weight is when you truly believe it's the only choice for 4K high-res production." added Young.

The Ninja Assassin has HDMI focused audio/video connections and ships with a brand new vibrant red Armor Bumper for increased protection. The Shogun of course is still the flagship product for high-end production that require SDI Raw, Balanced XLR, Phantom 48V and HDMI/SDI conversion.

Ninja Assassin Key Features:
• Record more accurate, higher resolution colors (4:2:2, 10-bit) direct to visually lossless editing formats (the only brand to do both ProRes and DNxHR).
• No Record time limits – Recording externally to the camera puts an end to the traditional 30-minute recording barrier and allows larger media capacity.
• Professional shot setup you can trust on a calibrated high resolution 7" monitor with over 320 pixels per inch.
• Anamorphic de-squeeze, the perfect companion for Panasonic's GH4 and affordable Anamorphic lenses/adaptors.
• Easy to use professional monitoring tools including Focus Peaking Assist, 1:1 & 2:1 Zoom with silky smooth image pan & scan, False Color (skin tones), Zebra and Waveform/Vector Scopes for in-depth image analysis.
• Go back in time with Pre-Roll cache recording, up to 8 seconds of HD or 2-3 seconds of 4K so you'll never miss that shot
• Video Time-lapse with up to 10 different sequences, speed ramp and scheduled start and end times over 24 hrs.
• 3D LUT's allow you to create a specific signature look or even recreate classic film stock instantly, with 50:50 split / LUT on / LUT off view, you can compare effects and make creative decisions on the fly.
• Playback for instant review and editing on the fly with a choice of 10 tags in both record and playback mode. Our NLE support means that whether you are Mac, PC, Apple, Avid or Adobe we support you.

A Ninja Assassin Product Sheet for the full range of specs and features will be available soon.

The Ninja Assassin is available in stores now (September 1) for a MSRP of:

US:   $ 1295 ex. TAX
EU:   € 1295 ex. VAT
GBP: £ 899 ex. VAT

AUD: $ 1899 Inc. GST

GH4 V-Log L lands? Sort of...


It looks like V-Log L for the GH4 is finally here...  although getting hold of it in the UK isn't an option as we speak. Hopefully, it'll roll out properly soon.

The update process seems very convoluted including waiting for a delivery of a code followed by a tricky process of call and response..   not sure why it's being made so hard. Oh, and it's $100 too....

http://shop.panasonic.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-PanasonicB2C-Site/default/Product-Detail/C26769132