Whats been happening you ask?  Well, things have been slow since the first of the year, but they’ve picked up recently.  Admittedly the downtime has been good.  I think everyone gets to a point where they become burned out.  Mine was following a rough two weeks at the end of the year.  Afterwards, I wanted nothing to do with shooting or editing.  My gear basically sat in the state it return in the corner of the room…

Time heals all wounds, and now that things are picking up I’m refreshed and looking forward to multiple upcoming shoots.  I just completed a video for the CBA Convention.  This was meant to kickoff the convention and was briefed as a short, optimistic, exciting video to tie into the focus of the convention.  Trust, Transparency, Transformation.

I also was on a interview shoot at the US Capitol which aired as a Look-Live interview before a large presentation.  This was a challenge because we had 5mins to setup, and 5mins to strike and Needed to be a 1 Camera, 2 Talent shoot, uncut for 7-10mins.  We had a 15mins window to get everything in, which meant we had one shot to make it work, and that was it.  I have to say though, the Talent nailed it and we were able to shoot it off the shoulder, in the corner of his office (due to layout considerations in the office).   A little post-color, vignette, and edge blur help to solidify the end product.

Finally, we also started another TV Commercial campaign for Abilities Expo. I started doing the commercials last year and while the content wasn’t a challenge, the delivery of content was a true learning experience. It amazed me how some TV Stations won’t take a digital delivery. They all accept delivery from large content delivery providers, but delivering something on small scale, such as a single Ad or show, that has proven extremely problematic. We’ve been able to work it out with all but a few stations, but it let to dropping HD spots to BETASP tape in some cases. Needless to say the quality drop was dramatic. Having worked for TV Stations for many many years, I understand how something like FTP delivery gets overlooked, but it is frustrating as a small company when you run into those speed bumps, especially on a short timetable. If you’re curious to see what the spot looks like, check it out below.

On the horizon, things look bright.  Today I’m headed to Vision Expo in NYC. Changing things up a little, I’m going to be editing in Premier Pro for the first time. Since the release of Final Cut X, I’ve known my future lies on another platform and Premier seems like its headed in the right direction. I’ll be testing things to see if the laptop can handle the Canon 5D MkII files natively. If not we’ll transcode over to ProRes most likely using Magic Bullet Grinder. I’ll let you know how it works out. If things get bad, I’ll fall back to Final Cut 7, but the best way to learn is with the fire nipping at your feet!

I’ve got half a dozen or so shows booked around the country which I’ll be shooting at in the next 3 months.  In addition there are a few personal projects I’m working on at home, but those I’m keeping close to the vest for now.  Stay tuned for updates!  Now, if this plane will just leave on time….

Expression for Toggling Animation On/Off

At the suggestion of a friend, I wanted to pass along this tip for adding toggle controls for motion graphics.  This can be especially helpful when duplicating many graphics such as fullscreens or lower thirds.  Working on a recent project I created several fullscreens with information.  As part of the fullscreen the animated logo sits in the corner.  I’m an organization freak so I wanted the logo sitting “in” the fullscreen comp.

If you need to control whether an element animates in (like a logo animation) or holds in a freeze frame, there’s a simple expression that will allow you toggle the animation on or off.  In my project, some of the fullscreens stand alone and I wanted to have the logo animate in.  Others are back to back and it just wouldn’t look good having the logo animate in everytime it dissolves to a new fullscreen.

The comp above shows you my comp layout.  The controller Null Object (“Logo Controls”) has an Expression Control Checkbox added to it called “Logo Freeze”.  Simply add Time Remapping to the layer you wish to control and then add this expression:

x=6;
if (thisComp.layer(“Logo Controls”).effect(“Logo Freeze”)(“Checkbox”) == true){
x;
}else{
timeRemap;}

Where “X” is the frame you want to freeze on, “Logo Controls” is the name of the layer with the expression, and “Logo Freeze” is the Expression Control Checkbox name.  Keep in mind the value for “X” in this case is in decimel seconds, regardless of framerate.  For example if you’re using a 23.976 framerate and want frame 06:12 it would be 6.5.

I’m sure there are many uses of this expression and people far smarter than me can do more with it, or may have even come up with a better solution.  That said, I hope you guys find this helpful!

-Austin

For the shoot we had three cameras.  Two P2 cameras and my Canon 5D.  Using the Canon 5D for a news style production can be challenging but delivered exceptional results in almost every case.  There are certainly issues that have to be dealt with.  The matte box was quickly removed in this setting.  Trying to work up close in peoples faces for interviews with a massive matte box just doesn’t get the job done.  Audio was another issue since you’re constantly switching between natural sound, hand held and lavaliere mics, and wireless sound from the board during stage presentations.  After some work and dialing in the settings though I think we’ve hit a sweet spot w/ the dual recording system we currently employ which allows for fast input swapping without the need to run a checklist before pushing Record.  The biggest difference seemed to be w/ the new longer lens for this camera.  The longer lenses w/ a Canon 5D looking exceptional in the dark lighting of a stage presentation.  Throw in some colored accent lighting for the stage and some big projection screens as background and you have the makings of something that leaps off the screen.

The production wasn’t without its hiccups, but hopefully the client was happy.  There were several nights of very late rendering.  The mantra of “make the customer happy no matter what” was definitely in effect in Vegas.  One interesting issue with this show was the need to output to four different types of formats for all our deliverables.  Once our editing was done, rendering out everything from HD video, to DVD files, to 4:3 SD video for every element.  This was of course time consuming, but the reaction at the show was outstanding.  Attendees were able to see the broadcast in a variety of venues, from online, to broadcast around the show on monitors, to the in-house cable system right in their hotel rooms.  It truely pushes the bar higher, especially for a same day turnaround, and I commend my friends at CNTV for pulling it off!

From the PCMA 2011 website:

“ Convening Leaders has long been considered the most important event of the year among meetings industry leaders. More than 3,000 meetings professionals are expected in Las Vegas for four days of networking, education and the latest innovations. This conference is designed to help attendees build strong relationships with other meetings, convention, and exhibition professionals, while enhancing their knowledge of the latest trends. More than 60 sessions will address attendance-building, technology, revenue streams, legal issues, professional development and more. ”

CNTV continues to build its extensive list of the nations top conventions, providing advertising and media coverage of their events.  Along with pre-event promotional video services, they provide same day coverage of each events key points.  Today’s conventions are often split with multiple tracts and disciplines involving multiple simultaneous speakers and events.  This service not only provides those unable to attend updates on the events during a show, but keeps attendees informed of developments they may have been unaware of or will want to plan to attend next time.

AR&C will shoot highlights of the show along with interviews of key attendees and speakers.  Each day a news-style headlines package will be edited and posted on the conventions website along with storage of material for future promotional purposes.  All material will be shot on the Canon 5D and edited on a Macbook Pro running Final Cut 7.  I’m really looking forward to investing in a Steadicam style rig soon to add some more production value to all our shoots.

See you in Vegas!

We will be providing both daily news-style coverage of the event in addition to documenting the summit and speaking with many of the key guests and keynote speakers.

From the MTO Summit webpage:
http://www.mtosummit.com

“MTO Summit is for the buyers and users of the next generation exhibition tools: show owners, association executives, corporate meeting planners, marketers, and exhibition strategists, people who have experiences to share and a passion for learning – the hot new thing, lessons from failures, innovations and inspirations, and the practical applications of all of the above.

MTO SUMMIT MARKETING CHALLENGES WORKSHOP

The Marketing Challenges Workshop (MCW) was created to address the hardest challenges, which marketing practitioners are facing. Given the tougher economy and difficulty in the attracting and keeping quality audiences for market leading conferences and expositions, marketing professionals have an urgent need to find timely solutions to hit market attendance goals.

TSNN EVENT EXCELLENCE AWARDS (November 10)

The first annual TSNN Event Excellence Awards will be held on the second evening of the MTO Summit on November 10. This event will recognize the year’s top exhibitions held in the U.S. and Canada.”

A main goal for the future is being able to constantly update the website with both project info and clips of material so that people out there can see both what we’re working on currently as well as a history of the work we’ve done in the past.

Press Coverage of President Obama's First Address

I grew up in the Video Production world. I got my start as a young kid, eager to learn everything I could when a family friend offered the opportunity to come work on a production set while they were shooting several infomercials for NBC. Fast forward to during college and I’m offered a job at a local news affiliate while doing my internship there. Thus began a long career in Broadcast News.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work in most any environment imaginable. I’ve been nearly blown up, crushed, shot, stabbed, eaten by a bear, arrested, held in a foreign embassy, and narrowly avoided a mid-air collision. It’s been a great career so far. I’ve kept up to date, doing freelance work in post-production for commercial and film work, but the time I’ve had to dedicate to that end has been limited. Unfortunately, as some may know, the business of news is caving. The cash-flow models that have sustained the business are drying up with the increasing push to internet driven media. The pressure for content faster and cheaper comes at the cost of quality. News organizations are stretched thin and faced with making layoffs, automating parts of their pipeline, or closing up shop all together.

Effective today, I was laid off as part of my stations downsizing. Not to say that I won’t be freelancing for them, but I’ve chosen to take this as an opportunity to return to the production environment and get away from the news business as much as possible. I already have all the post-production equipment and software I could need from previous freelance work. Right now I’m like a kid just after Thanksgiving… I’m tunnel-visioned towards Christmas! In the next couple of weeks I’ll be ordering a large camera kit to augment the gear that I have already, and who doesn’t love shiny new equipment!

Until then though there’s so much to do! Business License, Website design, paperwork to get in order, establishing a business location, advertising & business cards. Its an exciting time right now! I’m looking forward to moving back to an environment I love and working with some truly talented people. Stay tuned!