Video

Stabilisateur d’image : l’Aigle HDV (part 1)

produits_ccrII Dans les années 70, une petite révolution dans le monde du cinéma est apparue lorsque Garrett Brown inventa le SteadiCam (SteadyCam etant le nom largement utilisé, équivalent de « stabilisateur » en français). Je ne vais pas revenir sur toute l’histoire et les plans celebres, mais un qui fut remarqué se trouve dans « The Shining », lorsque la camera suit le garçon dans les couloirs sans fin (et sans rails de traveling…).

Depuis, les brevets du Steadicam est plus ou moins tombé dans le domaine public, meme si le nom reste lui une marque déposée.
Du coup, plusieures société se sont lancées dans la fabrication de stabilisateurs, plus ou moins cher et plus ou moins réussis. C’est le cas d’une entreprise Française, L’Aigle, qui a reussi sa propre révolution dans ce domaine : remplacer les ressorts et autres pistons par des elastics !!!

L’Aigle Paris est donc une « petite » entreprise Francaise qui à sue remettre à jour les differents types de stabilisateurs existants pour offrire du materiel de qualité pro au prix… mini. La ou un stabilisateur de « grande » marque (comprendre de chez Steadicam) peut couter plus de 20.000, la gamme de prix de l’Aigle reste inferieur à 10.000€.

Mais alors, quelles sont les différences pour générer un tel écart ?

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Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D ED on EX1+SGBlade

31LQ8-ZasKL._SL500_AA280_2A few weeks ago I met a french guy, living close to where I live in the 11th district of Paris. He is supposed to be a photographer, but had great interrest in the EX1 ans the Shoot35 SG BLade 35mm adapter.
I proposed him to come over at my place for a demo.
He came, at my request, with some of his Nikon lenses : 80-200mm f2.8 zoom and a 105mm f2.8 macro.
We tried both lenses on the blade : SUBLIME !!

 

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Euphonix MC Transport config files

Check my articles about Euphonix’s MC Transport controler here and there.
If you install the software for every user on the computer (maybe you don’t have the choice, can’t remember), every defined application will have a corresponding preference file.
On my computer they are in « /Library/Application Support/Euphonix/UserSets/MC2User/MC_USER_SET__Root »

prunemp:tmp prune$ ls -l /Library/Application\ Support/Euphonix/UserSets/MC2User/MC_USER_SET__Root
total 744
-rw-r–r–  1 prune  admin  174271  1 nov 18:01 Final Cut Pro.xml
-rw-r–r–  1 prune  admin   74407 25 oct 02:23 Safari.xml
-rw-r–r–  1 prune  admin   50407  1 nov 20:09 VLC.xml
-r–r–r–  1 prune  admin   21894 21 avr  2009 default.xml
-rw-r–r–  1 prune  admin   45115 25 oct 02:40 iTunes.xml

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Euphonix MC Transport usage [EDIT]

Second part of the test.

First thing to do is register your controler. Go the the Euphonix support’s website.
My Euphonix
This is where you’ll find the software download, the email support link and the docs.

When everything is working, as explained in previous post, you should have the green « € » in the top right of the menu, and the controler should display the name of the software you are actualy using (safari ? firefox ?)

I had some controler « freeze » at some point. Then, the controler keeps displaying the same application name, whichever application is in focus. For the moment, the only solution I found is to power-off the controler, go in the EuControl settings (the only way to get acces to the menu) and quit.
Then, restart the EuControl application, wait until the menu icon stop rolling, then power-on the controler.
As I said, I emailed the support about that without any real answer. I openned a new case today… we’ll see…

If you are using a supported application the controler comes pre-configured. This is not the case for most basic applications like Safari, Firefox, iTunes or even the finder.
While the MC Transport is not made for that specificaly, configuring these applications will help us understand how the controler work.

Basic notions :

  • accessing the configuration
  • EuControl Settings EuControl Settings-1
    you have two ways to do that : clic on the green icon in the menu and go to the settings -> « soft keys » tab or, simply, clic on the « eye » key on the controler, at the lower left of the keypad.

  • activating the jog/shuttle
  • Before beeing able to use the jog or shuttle you have to enable it. Most of the time the activation key is the first soft key for the jog and the second for the shuttle. When switching into an application, every key should be off (no light). clic again to activate

  • changing the color of transport keys
  • Colors
    You can change the color of the transport keys (the one arount the shuttle). The 2 first and 2 last keys can be yellow or red. The 3 keys in the middle can be yellow or green. For the moment, I haven’t found a way to light a key or change its color depending on the action. I openned a case to the support to have more informations. For example, keeping the key green while pressed, or changing the color at every clic… Another request, which may be linked, is having two actions for the same key. This way, you can have a yellow key. When first clic, send the « play » shortcut of the application and turn to red. When pressed again, send the « stop » or « pause » keystroke and turn back to yellow… I hope the support will give a clue on how to do that, or add support in the next software release :)

    The pdf manual will lead you through the configuration process, which is really easy for the basic stuffs. Let’s write down a walkthrough…
    All this is done in the configuration software, not the controler.

    - select the button to assign
    - give a name in the « soft key label » box AND press enter to validate
    - change the font or color if needed
    - clic on « command… » or double-clic on the button
    - clic on the « add » menu and select what to do. Most of the time it will be « key », and if you want to make the button an activation button for the jog or shuttle, use « wheel »
    - enter a keystroke or a list of them. Doing this enable you to do scripts
    - you can add more option, again, to script the button

    If you’re programming the button to activate the wheel, select wheel and a custom function.
    If you’re programming the wheel, you have to :
    - clic on the « + » sign and give a name to the « command »
    - as you do when programming a key, add a keystroke or another function. This will be used when turning the wheel right (clockwise) by default
    - clic on the « turn jog right » menu and change to « turn jog left »
    - add the keystroke used when turn anti-clockwise

    If you’re programming the shuttle, this is a little bit different. You can add action for each of the 15s step of the wheel (-7 -> 0 -> +7) and for each transition (0 ->1, 1->2 …) and the other way around (2->1, 1->0…)

    These are the basics. I’ll try to give examples in the next post :)

    [EDIT]
    Now that I have my disk array working, I had another try.
    Once again, the MC Transport stayed locked on the « Mail » application. This is not the first time, and for the moment, the only answer from the support was « disable firewall in your mac » and « start the audio mixer of FCP ». These answers were done after 10 days, or more. Seriously, Euphonix, what are you doing here ?

    If this happen to you, follow these steps :
    - power off the MC Transport
    - go in the green « € » icon -> « EU Control Settings »
    - go to the menu and quit
    - poweron the MC Transport and wait until the « Euphonix » logo appear
    - start the EU Control application. The menu icon should turn to green.

    For the moment, while the hardware is perfectly built, I can’t say the software is working fine… If you haven’t bought yet, WAIT !
    Euphonix team, if you read this, I’m willing to spend some time debugging for you. Just provide me a beta software, or one with extra debug. But please, stop giving stupid answers.

    12Tb RAID for cheap with Hitachi 2Tb drives

    brand It’s been some time now that i’m fighting with Seagate for they damn 1.5To drives not working as they should.
    Hitachi finaly released 2Tb drives with good throughoutput and price.
    While trying not to be screwed a second time, I started buying only 2 drives. Grosbill, a french reseller, have them for 164€. These two were labelled from August 2009, with firmware 10D.
    As everything was working fine, with slightly better results than the 1.5Tb Seagate drives (without RAID, of course), I bought 6 more from Macway. They used to be specialised in Apple hardware but now have standard hardware with really good price : 157€. These drives were labeled September 2009 with firmware 20N. Hopefully, they also work as expected : they did not break the compatibility in firmware upgrade :)

    For the moment I havn’t seen any manual firmware upgrade tool to have every drives in the same version. Actualy, this is even better : if you can, always choose drives with different firmware and series for RAID arrays : you will not have all your drives failing in case of a bug related to the production.

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    Euphonix MC Transport is here (one month late) [Edited]

    icon_transport_tour The MC Transport I ordered back in August, to be shipped the 9 of September was finaly shipped on the 5th of October… And it’s finaly here !
    For your personal reminder :

  • Product : MC Transport
  • Manufacturer : Euphonix
  • Protocol used : EuCon (TM) via ethernet -> can work with any computer on the lan
  • Application support : Mac, for FinalCut Studio, Cubase, Logic and many more, with the Mackie support and other driver features.
  • Availlability : october 05 2009 (now)
  • Product URL : Euphnix MC Transport
  • Let’s first take a look at the packaging.
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    Euphonix MC Transport control surface

    This is not a news, but a requesto for comment. Everyone knows about the MC Transport from Euphonix.
    But should I, or not, buy this control surface for Final Cut editing ?

    transport-overview

    This gives you a lot more than the Shuttle Pro2. It work on ethernet and the driver enable it to be used with almost any software !
    Around 400€… availlable around right now…

    Should I or not ? :)

    50mm and 35mm nikon lenses

    Just received the 35mm f1.4 and 50mm f1.2 I bought on ebay. This is a quick versus test.
    First, the pics of the two 50mm lenses :
    50mm
    50mm face
    As you can see, the f1.2 is clearly bigger than the f1.8. You really have the feeling of a real good lense with the 1.2.

    Then, pics of the two 35mm :
    35mm 35mm face
    There, not much difference. The f1.4 is just a little bigger, but you still have a better feeling with it.

    Now, the test on the EX1 + SGBlade and RotoRazor 1 (1080@25p) :

    EX1 + SGBlade Nikon lense test By sebastien thomas
    View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit sebastien thomas’s ExposureRoom Videos Page

    New MacPro Nehalem and 10To Raid5 Array

    overview
    I bought a dual 2GHz Powermac G5 when it first came out, almost 6 years ago. I never had a problem with it. It’s still working as a charme. But, when you’re working with HD footage, it gets a real pain !

    One of my best friend always tell me : « buy, don’t wait ». But I chosed to wait a little bit for the new Macpro Nehalem. And it finaly happened : http://www.apple.com/macpro/
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    Apocalypse Now

    This is my short for BloomFest 3.
    Shot on EX1 + SGBlade and Nikon lenses.
    This is a narrative movie with some references to well known movies. Depending on you knowledge, you may find some of Apocalypse Now, some of The Big Lebowski and a quick one of Kill Bill.
    WOW !!

    Apocalypse Carpet

    We had a prety short time to shoot, cut and upload as the SGBlade just arrived two weeks ago !
    Shot in one short afternoon, inside, with one source light only. Cut and graded (sort of) in one afternoon too (FinalCut + Magic Bullet Looks).

    I want to thank my team, Matthieu, Cywil, Jean-marc , Libertad and Mouchette (my cat) for the help they provided. Film was co-written by Matthieu, Jean-marc and me.
    Camera operators are Jean-marc and me + one shot from Cywil.
    Libertad was the sceen designer.
    Hope you’ll enjoy it.