A Nikon D200 stills camera, the Red EPIC, and a 1920's "Power Projector", courtesy Bradley Wynn.

I was just updating our main website to reflect the fact that the Red ONE is now gone and the Red EPIC has taken its place, and I was struck by just how much the new camera can do. The Red ONE could do up to 30fps at its highest resolution, 4K, which meant that in order to get any meaningful true slo-mo, we had to shoot at 3K or 2K.

Shooting slow motion “in camera” will always generate better results than software interpolation, because the in-between frames are actually recorded, and the term “overcranking” came from film cameras that were actually cranked faster than normal. Here’s a quick primer on how it works: if the base rate of the camera is 23.98, which is what we typically shoot, then shooting at 30 fps allows you to have about 6 “extra” frames every second. When you play every frame back in order, the end result is a 25% slowdown. Typically, 25% is not slow enough to look purposeful, so we might drop down to 3K, where we could shoot 60 fps. At 60, we had 36 extra frames every second, which resulted in a 2.5X slo-mo… generally good enough for slowing down sports action and making it look very sexy. Although we could drop down to 2K (basically just bigger than HD) to get 120 frames (5X slower), we usually didn’t because we wanted the benefits of the extra resolution at 3K.

The EPIC, however, will do 120 fps at 5K(!) and that’s one of the differences between the EPIC and the other new camera from Red, the SCARLET. And when you drop the resolution, you can go all the way to 300 fps at 2K – a whopping 276 “extra” frames every second! To put it another way: one second of action will play back in 12 and a half seconds.

I hope that knowing we can capture silky-smooth slow motion on the new camera gets your creative juices flowing! Feel free to drop in or give us a call at 405-842-3343 to arrange a demo – we can’t wait to put it to work for your next project!

You can read Ken Harrenstien’s announcement on the YouTube Blog by clicking here and then see a quick demo on one of our videos below. Make sure you click the red CC button and choose “English – with positioning” in order to see the new features. Keep in mind that this is new for them; we’ve noticed that the italics don’t always work, and all the color settings can be overridden by individual user preferences.

It’s a trivial matter for us to re-export your previous projects with positioning info, so don’t hesitate to call us if you’d like to be one of the first to take advantage of this exciting new development!

http://www.thinglink.com/scene/228663883764596738#tlsite

Sorry for any inconveniences.

1) FCC 12-9, III, A, 3, 37: “We will require VPOs (Video Programming Owners) to provide VPDs (Video Programming Distributors) with captions of at least the same quality as the television captions provided for that programming…  In evaluating whether the captions are of at least the same quality, the Commission will consider such factors as completeness, placement, accuracy, and timing. ”

BUT: ” we will not hold VPDs or VPOs responsible for quality issues outside of their control such as broadband connection speeds or the constraints of a particular apparatus. ”

As of this writing, YouTube has no mechanism to adjust placement on the left or right of screen, so content owners should be aware of this limitation. (More on this in a minute.) It could be that the commission will not hold VPO’s liable for YouTube’s lack of functionality in this area.

Additionally, note that the standard of comparison is the original, as-broadcast captioning. A broadcaster could reasonably conclude that the safest course of action will be to “dumb-down” the broadcast captioning to match the internet constraints.

2) FCC 12-9, III, A, 4, 41: Basically, if it has aired on television in the USA, it must be captioned when put on the internet.

3) FCC 12-9, III, A, 4, 44: Programming is subject to the ruling and must be captioned if it is presented on the internet “substantially in its entirety” such as a complete movie or an episode of a TV show. In paragraph 48, they emphasize that “video clips” may at a later time be covered under these rules. “Outtakes” qualify as exempt at this time.

4) FCC 12-9, IV, C, 112: Essentially, the internet captioning “experience” must replicate the CEA-708 television experience, so existing implementations (like YouTube) must be expanded to include color, font, transparency and positioning controls similar to the TV standard. This has not yet happened, so it remains to be seen how this will play out. Rest assured that we’ll continue working with YouTube and other distributors to work out the technical details for our clients.

Deadlines for compliance for content owners:

• 6 months: Prerecorded programming that is not edited for Internet distribution.
• 12 months: Live and near live programming that was recorded within 24 hours of broadcast on television.
• 18 months: Prerecorded programming that is edited for Internet distribution.
• 24 months: Archival programming

Hardware devices (including BluRay) must be compliant on 1/1/2014.

So, bottom line: If you run your show on television with captioning, even locally, and then put it online, you’ll likely fall under the requirements of this ruling. As always, please feel free to call Don at 405-842-3343 if we can help you sort any of this out.

The “hot, new” camera at the time was the Sony F900/3 which retailed at around $100,000 and shot 1080P. Prototype versions of that camera had been used to shoot “Star Wars: Episode II.” Just last week Red Digital Cinema announced their new Scarlet camera at $10,000 which will shoot at 4K…

6 years ago, nobody was taking editing with Premiere seriously, and Final Cut Pro was the trendy (and very functional) edit kid on the block. Now, Avid is retaking the lead in editing software as Apple misstepped with FCP-X and Premiere Pro is picking up a ton of steam.

After poking around in the edit software without an easy answer, I came up with the following solution. I edited all the slo-mo clips into my Avid timeline and exported a same-as-source Quicktime movie. Then I used some free software from Apple called “Dumpster” to trick the computer into playing it back double-time.

Here’s a pic of the settings:

You just need to divide the duration number by two and set the timescale to double… in my case, I went from 29970 to 59940.

Since Apple’s Compressor takes these numbers at face value, it created the Mpeg2 for the DVD at double-speed, which was exactly what we needed for the viewing copy.

1) The software we use to embed the subtitles into the m4v files wants a SubRip file (.srt) that includes a number for each caption. For example:

1

00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,125

2

00:00:03,125 –> 00:00:04,625

And so on. Without the numbering, the embedding will fail.

2) When checking the embedded movie in Quicktime player on a computer, only 2 attribute tags render correctly. The <i> italic code and the <u> underline codes work, but the bold and font color tags seem to be ignored. We will check these on the iPad to see if they display properly there, but I’m betting they won’t. My assumption is that at this time Apple is supporting a subset of the expanded SRT spec that VLC uses.

Our upstairs neighbor Sean just pointed me to a relatively-new music service that I’m excited to share with our clients: Jamendo, launched in 2009, claims to be “the world’s #1 website for free and legal music downloads under Creative Commons licenses.” With over 10,000 tracks from 4,500 artists as of this post, you just might find the perfect track for your next project.

Their annual rates range from $23 for a corporate video or internet use on up to $60 for a regional spot or $180 for a national spot. As a point of comparison, the track that Phuel Marketing licensed from Tenth Avenue North for a recent spot we lensed and cut cost considerably more than $60! Of course, you’ve never heard of any of the artists at Jamendo, but if budget is a concern it certainly is worth at least a glance.

We’re becoming familiar with the library, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like some help finding the perfect track for your next project.

Step 1: Make sure you know where your text file containing the captions is – this will end in the three letter extension “SRT”

Step 2: Log into your account, click your user name at the top of the screen, and then the “Videos” link.

Step 3: Find the video to which you’d like to attach closed-captioning, and click the “Edit Info” button.

Step 4: Click the “Captions and Subtitles” link.

Step 5: Click the “Add New Captions or Transcript” button and upload your SRT file.

It sounds harder than it is, so please give it a try and don’t hesitate to call us at 405-842-3343 ext. 105 if we can help in any way. Have fun and good captioning!

So if you haven’t noticed, Red Digital Cinema is no longer a step-child in the industry.  A recent LA Times Magazine article shows just how much Red is taking the industry by storm and why the big budget 3-D movies are going with Red Epic cameras.  Even camera-manufacturer Sony’s movie division is shooting on the Epic.  Read the article and you’ll see why.  Then give us a call and let’s discuss shooting your next project on the most amazing camera to be manufactured to date.  We expect to have ours in October 2011, and we can’t wait!  If you need to shoot now, the Red One is still a great way to go.

Jump to:
KOTV/KQCW     KOKI/KMYT     MVC Rules (PDF)     

KOTV/KQCW
ftp://ftp.newson6.com
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

1080i, 48k stereo audio
H.264: use .mp4 extension, data rate no less than 25 Mb
DVCProHD: use .mov extension, no less than 50 Mb

5 second slate, 2 sec black (minimum), spot, 2 sec black (minimum)
File Name is the Commercial Spot ISCI Code

NOTE: Insecure FTP. Your spots will be available for download by anyone with the login info. Purged every 60 days.
Contact: ??

KOKI/KMYT
ftp://ftp.nptvgroup.com
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

As of this writing, SD only.
Slate, black, spot, black
File Name is the ISCI number

NOTE: Insecure FTP. Your spots will be available for download by anyone with the login info.
Contact: tgonderman@fox23.com

Jump to:
KFOR     KOCO     KWTV     KOKH/KOCB     Cox     Suddenlink     KSBI     MVC Rules (PDF)

KFOR
ftp://k4ftp.serveftp.com
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

1080i @ 29.97, 16-bit 48k stereo audio
H.264: use .mp4 extension, data rate no less than 30 Mb/sec
DVCProHD: use .mov extension, no less than 50 Mb

“The current system can accept a wide range of formats and codecs, but if not made up to quality rates, a problem may arise.”

Their in-house creative team uses XDCam EX at 35 Mb(!) which would not be our first choice. For now, we’re just re-using the H.264 QuickTime movies created for other stations in the market. If our recommendation changes, we’ll update the page.

No guideline for slate inclusion.

NOTE: Insecure FTP. Your spots will be available for download by anyone with the login info.
Contact: Steve Pusateri, KFOR Chief Photog at 405-424-4444 or Nick Thompson, I.T. / Engineer

KOCO
They claim CD or DVD data disc only – not ftp://98.174.182.152
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

720P (59.94 fps), 16, 20 or 24 bit 48k stereo audio
MPEG2 (Preferred): 4:2:0 GOP of 15, 35 Mb/s (8-bit)
(Presumably, this is a PROGRAM STREAM)

0:02 slate, 0:01 black, spot (minus 1 frame), 0:01 black

NOTE: File Naming Convention Syntax: ISCI Code_Description_Length.[FileExtension]
Example: ABCD1234_JOESCARSSALE_030.mpg

ISCI Code: 4 letters followed immediately by 4 numbers
Description: 12 characters, uppercase letters or numbers, no special characters (i.e. +,-,:,/ & etc)
Length: 3 number maximum however if the length is only 2 digits only two digits are required
ISCO Code or “ISCI-like” Codes are preferred

Label disc with advertiser name, file name of each spot, and video format (ie: High Definition 720P MPG).

Contact: ??

KWTV
ftp://ftp.griffincommunications.net
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

1080i, 48k stereo audio
H.264: use .mp4 extension, data rate no less than 25 Mb
DVCProHD: use .mov extension, no less than 50 Mb

5 second slate, 2 sec black (minimum), spot, 2 sec black (minimum)

NOTE: Blind transfer – files not visible to outside users. Purged every 60 days.
Contact: ??

KOKH/KOCB
NO STATION FTP: you must get the digital assets to the station on your own

As of this writing, no HD. March 2012 UPDATE: A little birdie told us that Sinclair has flipped the HD switch. We’ve reached out to them and will post the latest specs as soon as we know them.        –Don

5 second slate, 2 sec black, spot

Filenames limited to 16 +3 characters, alphanumeric only (no spaces).

Cox
http://spotxpress.coxmedia.com/
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

2/14/12 UPDATE: HD is now supported! See the following PDF for complete codec information.
(Technically, they support all of the following: ASF, AVI, M2P, MOV, MPG, MPEG, MP4, QT, RM, SWF, WMV, AC3, MP3, RAM, WMA, DV)

720P or 1080i, either one.

EXACT SPOT LENGTH only! (No slate, no black)

NOTE: HTML interface. Confirmation email sent. Max size 300 MB.
Contact: 1-877-298-9840 or coxmedia@videoship.com
Click for their compression guideline (Word doc)

Suddenlink
ftp://208.180.77.91
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

As of this writing, no HD.

2 frames black, spot, 2 frames black.

NOTE: File naming convention: “clientname_spot title” Filenames can only be 30 characters long, this includes the extension .mpg or .mov as well (4 characters for the extension). Insecure FTP. Your spots will be available for download by anyone with the login info. Email AE as well as csmastercontrol@suddenlink.com and dlsdlMDCTraffic@suddenlink.com when upload complete.
Contact: 979-690-6500 ext 50214 or Katrina.stewart@suddenlink.com

KSBI
ftp://66.210.192.199
Username – SEE STATION REP
Password – SEE STATION REP

No idea on HD – my guess is no.
QT seems to work

NOTE: Not much info available
Contact: Cody Blount at 405-470-0993