Recent Projects

Moving Picture announces availability of Junxion Box for on-location internet access!

If you read our Summer Producer's Cheat Sheet, you saw an article showing one way to easily share your cellular internet connection from your PC-Card equipped Apple PowerBook to other wireless laptop users on set.

Now, Moving Picture has found a way for you to set up a wireless access point on-set, complete with cellular internet connection that's as fast as your home DSL! No Apple Powerbook is required. Just power up the Junxion Box and any laptops on set will be able to join in the network.

Check out the Junxion wireless internet access point rental page for more info.

Posted at 04:45 PM April 23, 2008 in Communication  | permalink

Avid Filmmakers Make the Cut at 31st Annual Toronto Film Festival

‘Amazing Grace,’ ‘Breaking and Entering’ and Spike Lee’s ‘When the Levees Broke’ are among Avid-edited films chosen for the festival

Avid Technology, Inc. today announced that a wide variety of Avid® customers from cutting-edge independent documentary filmmakers – like Sarah Price, director and editor of Summercamp – to Academy Award® winning feature film editors – such as Dody Dorn of A Good Year –  will feature their projects at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. 

“I wouldn’t use anything but Avid to work on a low-budget documentary like ‘So Goes the Nation’,” said Editor Jeff Groth.  “On these types of projects, I need a tool that will allow me to work quickly and accurately, not waste time rendering sequences and, most importantly, not lose my media.  When dealing with so much footage (over 400 hours in this case) and a budget that doesn’t allow me to burn time searching for clips and rebuilding sequences, using something like Final Cut Pro would have been too volatile and risky.  Avid is the way to go, it manages my media, works intuitively, and allows me to focus on the story.”

Bonneville Editor Anita Brandt-Burgoyne and her assistant editor Helen Hand echo Groth’s sentiments when it comes to working on Avid for various types of projects. “Avid is always the system of choice for me when I’m working on a film, whether it’s an indie or studio feature,” Brandt-Burgoyne said.  “I’ve tried other tools like Final Cut but found it was much more complicated to perform many functions, and I really missed the trim tools that Avid offers.  The Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer systems are much more intuitive – they work like an editor thinks and Avid’s interface is very easy to navigate.”

This year marks the 31st anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival.  The 10-day long event will showcase more than 350 films from 61 countries.

Read more for a list of projects created on Avid systems...

Continue reading "Avid Filmmakers Make the Cut at 31st Annual Toronto Film Festival"

Posted at 05:23 PM September 20, 2006 in Avid Non-Linear Editing Post Production  | permalink

New Siblings in the Canon HD Camcorder Family

Just thought I would post a couple pics of the new handheld HD cameras Canon just added to their family over the past few days. As an editor, I believe it's important to keep up with the technology that is acquiring all of that great footage we cut on a daily basis. If you are a Canon fan but found the XLH1 for $8,995 a little out of your price range, you'll be happy to see the listing price for these new Pro Level HDV cameras with the XH A1 model coming in at $3,995 and and XH G1 introduced at $6,999. If you're in the market for a new camera, make sure you check them out.

Click either to enlarge

Posted at 06:02 PM September 15, 2006 in Production  | permalink

Avid and Supported Products

Once again Avid has released their support device list for all Avid Editor Products. This is a very important list of all of the decks and cameras that Avid has tested and qualifies for use with all Avid-editing products. The devices on this list are qualified for both Mac OSX and Windows XP Professional. These devices vary widely in their capabilities and limitations. Some devices may have limitations beyond those revealed in Avid'€s testing. In addition, device models are sometimes updated, which can affect test results and known issues.

Posted at 05:24 PM September 15, 2006 in Avid Non-Linear Editing  | permalink

Firewire Deck Control Problems with Avid or Final Cut Pro

Many of the deck control problems you may encounter may have something to do with the firewire connection. A faulty cable can also cause intermittent problems.

If have you have a high-end tape machine, chances are it may have a 9-pin serial R422 connection on the back. In this case, you would benefit from purchasing a simple adapter cable that will allow your Avid or Final Cut Pro system to take advantage of direct deck control using your Deck's 9 pin RSS 422 control.

If you are using a PC, all that is required is a simple cable that converts the RSS 422 (serial) - to RS 232 (serial). (Available here)

If your computer does not have a 9 pin serial port, or if you are using a Mac. You'll also need an USB to serial adapter.

Next, all you need to do is change your device control options to use RS 422 control instead of firewire. You will immediately notice that your device will control much better than it did with the firewire cable. You will still leave your firewire cable connection to your system for Video and Audio input. You will be using the RSS 422 connection from timecode and deck control.

Posted at 05:23 PM September 15, 2006 in Avid Final Cut Non-Linear Editing  | permalink

One Hour of Footage Equals How Many Gigabytes?

5 minutes of DV footage equals approximates 1 gigabyte of storage. Digital Heaven has a free widget, VideoSpace v1.0, For OSX Tiger that will allow you to calculate how much disk space your Final Cut Pro or Avid Xpress video project will require before you begin. It's as simple as selecting the Codec that you will be using from a drop down menu of 17 options, selecting the framerate, and typing in the projected length of the program in HHMMSS format and Video Space will calculate the size of the file.

It can also work in reverse allowing you to enter in the storage capacity of optical storage media such as a DVD or CD and calculate the amount of video it can hold. Check out and Download Digital Heaven's VideoSPace right here.

Posted at 05:02 PM September 15, 2006 in Avid Final Cut Post Production  | permalink

Avid and Creative Movie Editing

Suspense, violence, and obsession are often key themes associated with director Brian De Palmas films (Scarface, Blow Out, Dressed to Kill), and his latest feature, The Black Dahlia, is no exception. Based on the James Ellroy novel, the film constructs a fictionalized, mysterious labyrinth surrounding one of the most sensationalized, unsolved murders in California history - that of Elizabeth Short, a young, glamorous, and would-be Hollywood starlet who came to be known simply as The Black Dahlia.

For added flexibility and efficiency, Pankow used a Macintosh G4 Powerbook laptop equipped with Avid Xpress Pro software, which allowed him to travel with the cut in progress to review and approve edits with creative team members, regardless of their location. Avid Xpress Pro was great for when Bill had to fly back to L.A. from Toronto to look at the digital intermediate, or to show what he had already cut to the director and try out new ideas with him, or to set it up on the mix stage in order to have a copy of the movie. The Avid Xpress Pro on the laptop saved a lot of time and made things very convenient, says Johnston.

The Avid Xpress Pro on the laptop saved a lot of time and made things very convenient.
- Lara Johnston, Assistant Editor, The Black Dahlia

Check out the offical The Black Dahlia site for the full details.

Posted at 05:01 PM September 15, 2006 in Avid Non-Linear Editing Success Stories  | permalink