DC Metro Final Cut Pros

The Adobe Mercury Playback technology also allows users to get more power from their CPUs and GPUs. By using the CPUs and GPUs in parallel, you get unbelievable performance running in a clean, 64-bit operating system (remember, all future versions of Premiere are 64 bit ONLY, which means a minimum of OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard or Windows 7 64 bit). By running in parallel, the CPU can take over tasks where the GPU is not used.

Important note to Adobe product users!
Don’t buy any 32 bit hardware or system software if you plan on upgrading to the next version whenever it ships. This new technology runs in a pure, 64 bit software and hardware operating environment.

MOVING TO 64-BIT SYSTEMS

Today’s video production workflows benefit tremendously from applications that are designed to run natively on 64-bit operating systems. This is why Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects® will be 64-bit native applications in the next release and no longer support 32-bit operating systems. To take full advantage of Adobe software’s extensive optimizations for 64-bit systems now, and native 64-bit support in the future, Adobe recommends the following:

For PC users:

Most PCs purchased since 2005 are already running 64-bit operating systems or can be easily upgraded. To upgrade your computer, we recommend you install:

• A 64-bit edition of Microsoft® Windows Vista® or Windows® 7
• Hardware drivers for Windows Vista 64 bit (NOTE: 64-bit drivers are necessary to run the hardware; 32-bit drivers do not work)
• Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista

For Mac users:

Mac OS X and Snow Leopard (v10.6) are already 64-bit capable. All you need to do is add more RAM.

Upgrading your RAM:

For high-end workflows, more memory improves performance significantly, making a 64-bit operating system essential. These guidelines will help you:

For optimal performance, we recommend a minimum of 12GB of RAM.

ADOBE MERCURY PLAYBACK ENGINE

Adobe is working on a playback and rendering engine for Adobe Premiere Pro called the Mercury Playback Engine. This new engine is NVIDIA® GPU-accelerated, 64-bit native, and architected for the future. Native 64-bit support enables you to work more fluidly on HD and higher resolution projects, and GPU acceleration speeds effects processing and rendering.

The Mercury Playback Engine offers these benefits:

• Open projects faster, refine effects-rich HD and higher resolution sequences in real time, enjoy smooth scrubbing, and play back complex projects without rendering.
• See results instantly when applying multiple color corrections and effects across many video layers.
• Work in real time on complex timelines and long-form projects with thousands of clips — whether your project is SD, HD, 2K, 4K, or beyond.

Ensure your system is ready to take advantage of the Mercury Playback Engine in a future version of Adobe Premiere Pro. The Mercury Playback Engine works hand-in-hand with NVIDIA® CUDA™ technology to give you amazingly fluid, real-time performance. See it in action

If you’re interested in upgrading your system today, the following graphics cards are supported by the Mercury Playback Engine:

• GeForce GTX 285 (Windows and Mac)
• Quadro FX 3800 (Windows)
• Quadro FX 4800 (Windows and Mac)
• Quadro FX 5800 (Windows)
• Quadro CX

Adobe is planning on supporting additional cards as they become available, including some of the new NVIDIA solutions based on the upcoming Fermi parallel computing architecture.

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Change is a constant in this environment…
Rodney – DCFCPUG Leader

Apple, Matrox, Sony and DVG are uniting forces to share tips and tricks to improve your video editing workflow –from shooting to editing to delivery. An Apple representative will there to demonstrate Final Cut Pro and Compressor. Matrox will showcase H.264 encoding accelerators and audio/video input/output devices. A Sony representative will be on hand to demonstrate the newest member of the Sony XDCAM line up the PMW-350k. Also, for the first time in the area see the new MC Color from Euphonix working with Apple Color. Join these top industry experts in Arlington!

The Matrox MXO2 series offers affordably priced HD/SD input/output devices that streamline content creation workflow with Apple Final Cut Studio and other applications on Mac and PC laptops and desktop systems. The MXO2 products are also available with Matrox MAX technology for faster than realtime creation of H.264 files for Blu-ray, the web, and mobile devices.

Be sure to attend for a chance to participate in the big raffle and to enjoy the light refreshments that will be served.

Learn how to edit anything, anywhere and deliver H.264 files faster than ever!

Date:
March 16, 2010

Time:
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Location:
3 Bar & Grill
2950 Clarendon Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
Tel: 703-524-4440
Located just 2 blocks from the Clarnedon Metro Station on the Orange Line

Register today

Edit Smarter! Enjoy the talk radio for digital production, post production and distribution from our favorite FCP expert, Larry Jordan!

Digital Production Buzz

Rodney Mitchell – DCFCPUG Leader

With the advances made with the RED camera sensors, color science, codecs and the like, we can all learn from the fundamental science of what’s happening with all things digital and the impacts to digital cinema.  Take a look at a series of videos we posted from Panavision in 2008 by searching on the keyword: PANAVISION and take a look at the 7 part series: DEMYSTIFYING DIGITAL CAMERA SPECIFICATIONS.

You will quickly find out that we are just scratching the surface of what we consumers see as HD (720/1080P) as the high end market pushes beyond 4K to 5K and up.

One of our DCFCPUG sponsor companies’ founder, Graeme Nattress [yes, the same guy who makes those impressive plug-ins at NATTRESS], is heavily involved in the color science work at RED.

Graeme Nattress is behind the FLUT, Image Processing, Colour Science and Demosaic Algorithms and RED4K delivery at RED.








Being a Computer Science major with a minor in Computer Studies, I love his tag line:

Science enables stories. Stories drive Science.

While he is the public face of the mad science work going on, there are other smart guys working with him pushing the limits of resolution to all time highs.  Keep up the good work Graeme and the team at RED!


Keep your eye on the Mysterium sensor:

4520 X 2540 pixels… DATA TO BURN. At the heart of RED lives the 12-megapixel Mysterium™ CMOS sensor, Super 35mm sized, with unparalleled fidelity and flexibility.

It combines low noise with superior charge capacity for dynamic range and color fidelity that allows you to finally have a no excuse digital imaging alternative to shooting 35mm film.


DIGITAL SUPER 35MM

Record 2540 progressive at up to 30 fps REDCODE RAW. With 4520 X 2540 pixels, Mysterium™ puts pure digital Ultra-High Def in the palm of your hand.

RED ONE™ and REDCINE™ also support down-sampling to 1080p and 720p for in-field monitoring and compatibility with non-linear editors.

You get the same breathtaking field of view and selective focus found on film cameras. Mysterium™ boasts a greater than 66db Signal to Noise Ratio thanks to its large 29 sq. micron pixels. And 12,065,000 pixels deliver resolution that can only be called Ultra High Definition.


How does 4K compare to 35MM Film?

Most 35 mm film outs that have gone through a scanning process have been scanned at 2K, or one quarter the resolution of 4K. Only extremely high content VFX work is generally scanned as high as 4K. Viewers that see RED footage for the first time either describe the quality as 65 mm film or “grainless 35”.  More pragmatically, it is the elimination of the cost of film and processing that make the RED ONE so economically attractive, in addition to its extraordinary quality.





What are the Advantages of Shooting DIGITAL vs. FILM?

Beyond the obvious advantage of cost savings with the elimination of film and processing, both consumable products, it is the benefit of being able to watch dailies immediately, in real time, that make shooting digital such a superior experience. In adding the extraordinarily high quality of 4K capture and at such an affordable price, RED has tipped the scales for the industry.

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Follow us as we learn from the pioneers at RED, Canon, Nikon, etc in bringing digital science and resolution to yield real options to shooting on film.  Just like our Larry Jordan FCP Tips, we will have similar words of wisdom from the team at RED.

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Head on over to SHOT ON RED and get excited!

Enjoy the ride!


Rod – DCFCPUG Leader

One of our members, Charlotte (“Char”) Rinderknecht and her business partner/husband, Bill own and operate the entertainment production studio, STUDIO KINATE in Northern Virginia. We were invited to share their special day today, at one of this area’s most authentic Irish Pub and Restaurant, The Auld Shebeen, in Old Town Fairfax, VA.

A few weeks ago, Char was interviewed by The Washington Post. The article was published today (1/24/2010), (online 1/23/2010) so today was a celebration of getting recognition from The Post on her achievements to date. Read the article linked above and congratulate her when she comes to visit us this summer as our featured guest speaker for July 2010.

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Studio Kinate recently won some top Animation Awards for their animated short,”Pete’s Odydessy”.  A sample clip from the short is below with other editons also available on YouTube.

Pete’s Odydessy was produced with a team of artists, led by former Director of the Disney Institute, Larry Lauria. Larry currently runs the Larry’s Toon Institute.

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On the back of Char Rinderknecht’s business cards is the Walt Disney quote:

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

Today’s lunch meeting demonstrated again that this region is rich with talent, vision and kindred spirits. Rekindling DCFCPUG, some would say, is a similar challenge (doing the impossible…) but with a focused approach to build a working community of digital artists, we can all ride on the successes of each others’ endeavors and give back to one another so we grow as a family. For example, Char and DCFCPUG intersected at our first CDIA Georgetown Screenwriter’s Event in April 2009, featuring Jim Mercurio.  Char and I have been leveraging the social media technologies to stay in touch and help each other.  At today’s meeting, I shared how DCFCPUG partners with our corporate sponsors which now will allow her to maximize her resources and create a shared benefit to create a win-win scenario.

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DCFCPUG and Studio Kinate are now exploring ways to grow an ANIMATION TBUG (ToomBoom)  microsite in Northern Virginia, leveraging our relationship we are building with ToomBoom.  Thanks to the generosity of  the VP, Marketing and Communications, Karina Bessoudo at ToomBoom for the interest in DCFCPUG.  ToomBoom is a sponsor of the DCFCPUG and are fans of their Storyboard Pro and Animate Pro software applications. Char and I both agree, that the art of storytelling is at the heart of what we do, whether it be on Apple’s Final Cut Studio, or ToomBoom’s Storyboard Pro and Animate Pro.  We all use the right tool for the job to get the story told .  Char is a fan of DCFCPUG and we appreciate her telling everyone in her circle of influence about the world of Final Cut Studio and its tie in with the creative 2D animation world.

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I  appreciate Char and Bill’s contributions to putting American animators to work and her involvement in the Tyson Animation Program at the Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, New Jersey. I personally am looking forward to the continued collaboration with Char, Bill, and Larry.  We (DCFCPUG) will get a shot at assisting her toward her dream, while giving DCFCPUG members opportunities to get involved in the production workflow.  If you are interested in participating, let me know, as I will be discussing an upcoming project where we will be potentially given an opportunity to shoot, edit, produce training videos for Larry Lauria.  Leave a comment or email me if you are interested in getting involved.

Here’s to a successful 2010!

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Warm regards,

The Digital Production BuZZ, the official podcaster for the NAB 2010 show in Las Vegas, NV offer me a role on their production team for this year’s NAB show event.  The show is from 10-15 April and features a full radio production booth on the show floor for the duration of the NAB show.

Keynote speakers, members of the NAB team, vendors and show attendees will be interview and produced in near real-time. It’s going to be a busy week but will give me additional exposure and the ability for me to talk about DCFCPUG!

One of the benefits is that we get a FULL SHOW PASS for contributions to the team production of the show. Any DCFCPUG members going to NAB this year?  Look for us on the show floor and join us for the planned SUPERMEET as well. There are special considerations made for FCPUG members, ask me for more info!

Regards,

Rodney – DCFCPUG Leader