BVE at Earl's Court

[tom hardwick]

Went to BVE yesterday at Earl's Court but every year it moves further away from our sort of work and more and more into the very high end broadcast stuff - none of which holds much interest for me. The IOV show was a lot more relevant and of course had an IAC stand.

Last year there was one stand extolling the virtues of 3D filming, this year there were tens of them. There's a lot of different systems floating about too, with LCD shuttered glasses and polorised lenses all mixed up. I can't say I was terribly excited by 3D tennis or timelapse though.

Very busy for a first day, but tons of space between stands which made navigation easy. DVC putting on great demos as always, and Nigel Cooper extolling the virtues of the NX5 for Sony. Oddly, he seemed unaware of the flash banding that comes free with CMOS, and the fact that the camera has OIS as well as EIS (switchable). The latter loses you some resolution and wide-angle, but is just staggeringly effective.

tom.

Ed:
BVE = Broadcast Video Expo - a trade show
IOV = Institute of Videography - organisation for wedding videographers and semi-professional film makers
IAC = us !
LCD = Liquid Crystal Display
"flash-banding" = problem when filming where flash guns are in use which puts a strong band of white across part of a frame. Panasonic have attempted to reduce this in some of their cameras.
OIS = Optical Image Stabilisation.
EIS = Electronic Image Stabilisation.

[Michael Slowe]

I too went to the show at Earls Court today, Wednesday but have to disagree with Tom. I found it fascinating as ever and just as relevant to what I do. I saw many people who supply various pieces of kit to me over the years and my editing system supliers also and it always helps to see them to catch up with what's changing. Although most people who shoot with cards rather than tape have by now sorted their workflow there are always aspects that can be discussed with both soft and hardware suppliers. New lighting kits are appearing and it helps to see them in operation There are open lectures and demos on all sorts of applications and I was particularly interested in the one on Color which is a wonderful application for colour grading and adjusting. This is actually bundled with Final Cut but can be obtained for use with other NLE systems. I actually met the people from America who sold me the Hoodman eye piece that fits over the screen of the EX1 camera giving a valuable magnified image to assist with focus on a sunny day when these screens are impossible to use. I had a number of practical queries which they were able to help me with. You only can see these people at a show like this. Tom, did you see the new Sony EX camera, the EX1R? I can't change my EX but the new screen and finder are certainly a big improvement, pity they had to wait for the first upgrade to do that. Finally, as I need some more DVCAM tapes for archive purposes (and they are quite expensive) I was offered quite a few completely free by an old contact, so you see, a useful day all round!

[Michael Slowe]

Oh Tom, I forgot to say that there is software now available which can negate the effect of 'flash banding', did you know?

[tom hardwick]

Glad you enjoyed the show Michael. I did too, it's just that there was a lot more 'broadcast' stands around and some stands that I simply couldn't figure out what it was they were actually trying to promote. Still, on a fly-past it doesn't really matter.

Yes, the EX1-R is a fine facelift, and it's so encouraging to see that Sony listen to the criticism from actual users. This second-generation improvement almost invariably improves films (the director's cut) cars (the Mk II Mondeo) and cameras (the Panasonic DVX100A). I know that the EX1-R camera comes with software that minimises flash banding (but not the other rolling shutter artifacts) and I had a long chat to a knowledgeable man on the Sony stand about this.

When asked if it was available for the new NX5 he said no, and that some compromises were necessary in this life. I agree.

So are you saying non-Sony software is available to help cure this problem? Tell me more.

tom.

[Geoff Addis]

I too was there on Tuesday and have to agree with Michael as I found it interesting.

Regarding the 3D demos; I only looked at one for any period of time so perhaps my comments may differ for other systems, but I found that there was a quite evident flicker on movement across the screen, perhaps it was the dreaded 24p thing that I so dislike and I also disliked the exagerated perspective, particulary if the angle subtended from the viewer to the screen wasn't wide; to me it was the visual equivalent to seeing a close up of a single player whilst the whole ochestra is blasting forth. Peraps the exagerated perspective as viewed is early 'marketing' hype to sell the idea; remember the ping-pong balls in the early days of stereo broadcasting.

Regarding the EX1r: I have upgraded to this camera as there are some very good improvements in its operation and handling although there is no change in image quality. Amongst other improvements, the camera is now well balanced, has a reasonable viewfinder, a quick iris function and the ability to turn off the audio limiter. I'm pleased that I was able to change.

Geoff

[Michael Slowe]

Anti Flash Banding software Tom, yes, non Sony I recall, an app. in one of the edit systems, possibly Avid but not sure, sorry.

[Geoff Addis]

Tom,

The latest Sony software includes the anit-flash update.

Geoff

[tom hardwick]

Sony software for what? Vegas? The EX1-R?

[Geoff Addis]

Sony Clip Browser version 2.6, under the tools tab. I haven't had the need to try it so I can't comment on how well it does the job.

Geoff

[tom hardwick]

Any way you could try it out at some point and report back Geoff? I'd love to see a 'before and after' to see how well the software is correcting the banded frames, and what post production (timeline) slo-mo does to the now processed clip.

[Geoff Addis]

I'm rather busy a the moment, Tom, but why don't you download a copy of the free Sony software and try it for yourself. I'll give it a try ASAP.

Geoff