TV is Awesome ?

I got some sweet ARRIRAW news on the horizon but for now here's a couple of quick links to some Toyota spots that I worked on recently. These were shot by Jo Willems on an ALEXA with Master Primes. 90% was recorded to uncompresssed DPX frames via the new Gemini 4:4:4 recorder with a few shots getting the full ARRIRAW treatment via a Codex On-Board recorder.

Unique or Eerily Familiar?

So I found myself with an extra hour to burn at a camera prep last week. What to do? How about check out a set of new PL-Mount prime lenses! Yeah, super excitement.

35mm PL lenses don't come cheap. The best of the best (Master Primes, Leica Summilux-C, or Cooke 5i) can easily run $20,000 to $30,000 each per lens. Putting together a decent set of 8 - 14 primes can set you back in excess of 200K. Luckily there are a number of lower-cost options that have come to the market over the past few years. Some recent examples include the Schneider Cine-Xenar II set at about 30K total (25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 95mm, T2), the Optica Elite S35 Digital set coming in a bit under 35K (18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, T1.3), and the Luma Tech S35 Illumina set at around 35K (18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, T1.3).

I had the chance to play around with another set: the Kenji Suematsu Signature Series from Unique Optics. The set includes an 18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm all at T2. Total price: around $35,000. These lenses look very similar to Cooke S4's but are noticeably heavier and feel more robust. Iris and focus mechanisms are smooth with some nice tension. I didn't have that much time to actually shoot much with the lenses but I did try out all of the primes and put them through their paces. Overall they felt very much like the Cooke S4's and 5i's. I found the Unique Optics to be a bit sharper than the S4's but still had that nice "roundness" to their look. The flares were striking and reminded me very much of the Cooke 5i's. They may not have the same name recognition but these lenses perform on par with the Cooke S4's at a fraction of the cost. I was pleasantly surprised.

Here's a quick flare test I shot (the living furniture is indeed me) and you can check it out via Vimeo right here: Unique Optics Lens Flare Test.

A big "Thank You" to the boys at West Coast Camera Rentals for the demo.

(Affordable) ARRIRAW is Here

PLUS


I've known about these developments unofficially for months now but today Convergent Design has indeed confirmed that their new Gemini 4:4:4 recorder is ARRIRAW capable. According to CD's Press Release:

The Best, Even Better: Gemini 4:4:4 and ARRIRAW

After months of development, Convergent Design plans to ship next week (to ARRI) a test Gemini with ARRIRAW firmware. While ARRI has already certified a single Raw frame captured from our Alexa and Gemini 4:4:4, full ARRIRAW Certification is expected before the end of February.

The Gemini ARRIRAW combination represents a 75% cost savings over existing solutions, at identical quality! Additionally, the Gemini solution offers full-raster (1920 x 1080) debayered output, a built-in LCD screen for viewing video and substantially lower power, weight and size.

This will be available through your local dealer as a paid firmware upgrade.

Hmmm. So we can now shoot ARRIRAW with a 10K USD 5" on-board monitor that records to non-proprietary SSD's, is capable of complete, on-the-fly ARRIRAW debayering, a LUTed output, proper metadata, and eventually 60fps?

OK. Sign me up.


Full disclosure here: I've been a proud owner of two Gemini 4:4:4 recorders since Convergent Design began shipping last Nov/Dec. I also own two ALEXA's. Suffice it to say that personally I have a keen interest and investment in the Gemini 4:4:4's ability to record ARRIRAW. And I'm not about to take any personal credit here but I was involved in gently bugging CD's Dan Keaton for eventual ARRIRAW support last May. Now at the time, the Gemini was still in full Beta-Mode. Hardware and software was being designed and redesigned and shipping a stable, functional Gemini 4:4:4 recorder by year's end was the utmost priority. Throughout last summer and into the fall and winter Mr. Keaton took my request seriously and made great strides beginning the process of actually implementing it. Now here we are in mid-Febuary 2012 and CD has officially announced ARRIRAW support within weeks. Let's do the math. Since Convergent Design brought the Gemini into the marketplace it has taken them an additional 3 months to provide ARRIRAW support. Now that's what I call Customer Service! No wonder they have one of the best reputations in the industry.

HNY

Hey, I just woke up and realized it's 2012.

Let's take a moment to enjoy this awesome GIF and then let's get some work done.

Ready, Set, Grade!

Who doesn't love a gift in July? Blackmagic Design sure does which is why their free version of Resolve is now immediately available for download:

DaVinci Resolve Lite

OK, so all I need now is a new 16-Core Mac Pro with 3 Thunderbolt Ports. C'mon Apple we're waiting!

Lite Reading

Ever had an idea for something that would revolutionize an industry? Ever wonder how you'd need to write it all down? If so, why don't you take the time to review the US Patents for the ARRI ALEXA and ALEXA ALEV III SENSOR.

A big "Thank You" to my buddy David Garden for tracking these down.

RIP Cine-tal Systems?

Though I don't really know the circumstances it seems that Indianapolis-based Cine-tal, a color display processing hardware and software design company, has quietly sold off all of its products. I've been a big fan of the company's Cinemage 24" HD Displays for years now and have used them exclusively for most of my color-critical jobs. Extremely accurate and overtly complicated (for better or worse), I've always likened the Cinemage to a Ferrari: incredible performance with a price tag to match.

It's difficult to anticipate where the Cinemage product line will go from here. Will Ikan really expand the line or simply use the technology to upgrade their existing lower-class monitor lines? What about Dolby? I've been told that a few of Cine-tal's lead technicians are now a part of Dolby's display team. Will we see some 17" and 24" Class-1 Dolby Displays in the near future that include a bit of the Cinemage lineage?

I was recently able to demo both the Dolby 42" and the new Sony OLED 24" Class-1 monitors. The Dolby is by far the most amazing panel I have seen yet. The picture it produces is brilliant by technical standards and overly gorgeous by eye. This monitor really makes the argument concrete that ITU-R BT.709-5 is an outdated standard. With most professional cameras and displays and an increasing number of (pro)consumer cameras and displays already capturing and displaying colors and tones outside of the rec709 space it seems continually silly to insist on conforming everything into this little box. I would argue that color gamut and fidelity is much more important to our images than any need for increased resolution.

The Sony BVM-E250 was very impressive as well. Fantastic blacks. I never really liked the previous BVM-L230 and always found that any of the Cine-tals consistently provided much better performance. Interestingly enough, the Cinemage 2000 (older 8-bit panel) performed extremely well when compared to the new 24" OLED. The Sony definitely smokes everything else out there in black level and end-to-end contrast ratio but the Cine-tal seemed to continually provide better luminance range in the lowest blacks. Supposedly the soon-to-be-released PVM-2541 will be made with the same panel found in the E250 for a quarter of the price. The E250 seemed spot on in terms of calibration so it remains to be seen how close the 2541 will get... though I do have high hopes.

Below is a copy of Cine-tal's "Dear John" letter. Will the lights really go out for good or is the company streamlining itself for its next venture? As the saying goes, only time will tell...

April 15, 2011

Dear Customers, Resellers and Marketing Partners,

First and foremost we at Cine-tal would like to thank you for your friendship and support over the past 7 years. When we started Cine-tal in 2004 we set out to mobilize our industry for the changes in display technology that were on the horizon. We did this by introducing new concepts and workflows in color management and display calibration with much success. Much like a relay race we are now handing the baton over to others to continue the race. Our partners are strong runners who will build on our technology and success creating stronger and bolder solutions to today’s display technology challenges.

The core technology in our DAVIO product line has been acquired by Dolby Laboratories. Cine-tal continues to manufacture and sell the DAVIO product under license from Dolby and is seeking a partner to continue that effort. Our cineSpace product has been acquired by THX. Last month iKan acquired the Cinemage Monitor product line. iKan will continue to develop new monitor solutions under the Cinemage brand name. Each of these companies have the resources available to run the next leg of this race, empowering you with the solutions you will need for tomorrow's challenges.

Cine-tal customers with products under warranty will get the support they need as follows:


Cinemage:Service and support by iKan

cineSpace: Support and Software Maintenance by THX

DAVIO: Warranty repair by Cine-tal

Color Processor for Dolby 3D: Warranty repair by Cine-tal

We thank you once again for your loyalty and support.

Sincerely,
Robert Carroll
President

Bob Caldwell
V.P. Sales