Tech Notes
Digital Stills and Video
by crcaillouet on Aug.16, 2009, under Opinion, Tech Notes
People often ask me what they need to know to shoot “digital” and what is different about shooting electronically from shooting with film. Here are a few thoughts.
MacBooks and External Disks
by crcaillouet on Jul.12, 2009, under Opinion, Tech Notes
If you are a Mac junkie, like i am, you might have noticed that Apple is once again, playing games with us. When the MacBook series came out a few years ago, the CardBus slots that we had gotten used to on the PowerBooks were gone, replaced by the newer ExpressCard slots. So we started collecting adapters like eSATA, Firewire and USB2 adapters for independent disk interfaces.
Gamma and Gamut…
by crcaillouet on Jul.03, 2009, under Tech Notes
A few days ago, someone wrote about film color correction to one of the lists that i read…
“The Rec 709 issue is a bit confusing because I’ve had D.I. houses tell me that they color-correct LOG footage in Rec 709 color space but aren’t changing the gamma or limiting the dynamic range. So does that mean they are just using Rec 709’s color gamut but not its gamma structure?”
What size P2 cards?
by crcaillouet on Jun.29, 2009, under Opinion, Panasonic, Tech Notes
Sorry that i have been out of pocket for a couple of months. Things have been crazy here.
Recently, someone asked me what size P2 cards that he should get for his P2 camera. With the new, cheaper, larger cards coming out, the answer is not necessarily the same as it was in the past. Most people would have said, “As big as you can afford.” The answer may be more complicated now. (No, these days, answers seldom get simpler.) He also asked what type of devices were best for transferring P2 cards in the field.
Skin Tones & Waveforms
by crcaillouet on Feb.08, 2009, under Tech Notes
Someone wrote in to a forum last week, asking about the “proper” video levels for other-than-Caucasian skin tones. The subject of where to place skin tones on a waveform monitor is an oft-discussed one and most folks don’t know what the drivers are for making a technical decision. (continue reading…)