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Posts from ‘April, 2012’

Make your iMac matte without spending money or applying any screen protector

Apr 30th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Video editors who use an iMac and can’t stand the glare have a free, non-invasive solution.

For many years, those of us who prefer the Mac platform and a high-quality matte display have had to avoid Apple screens that are glossy (highly reflective) or use an invasive screen protector, which I dislike. Since several years ago, Apple began offering iMac computers exclusively with an ultra reflective screen, many have avoided the iMac in favor of either a tower (Mac Pro) or a Mac Mini. Many ProVideo Coalition readers will recall two of my 2011 articles which covered how STAFF HDTV/Alta Definición from Guatemala re-purposed its older Mac Pro tower for its DaVinci Resolve grading suite, and then found better performance in the editing room with a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac Mini together with a Pegasus disk array. At that time, they chose the Mac Mini over the iMac since they wanted matte monitors (not glossy). I have just become aware of a free, simple, non-invasive, and easily reversible approach to making an iMac become much more matte without using any screen protector.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.

AJA announces T-TAP, the US$249 palm-sized, self-powered bridge from Thunderbolt to HDMI or SDI

Apr 26th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Is T-TAP appropriate to connect an HP DreamColor monitor?

As I have covered in great detail in several prior articles here in ProVideo Coalition magazine, the most complete and most reliable method of connecting your critical video monitor to your computer based editing system is via a professional a/v i/o interface, like those Thunderbolt models now offered by AJA, Blackmagic, Matrox, and now even MOTU. However, most of them are more than what many editors need today in the tapeless acquisition, file-based era. Often editors no longer require any audio or video input at all, since the material primarily arrives in file-based format. That’s why AJA decided to design and build a simpler, lower-priced, self-powered, output-only device called the T-TAP at NAB 2012. The outputs are SDI and HDMI. This article will cover all of the specs (even some vital ones that AJA hasn’t yet published), applications, recommended connections, and define whether the T-TAP is appropriate or not for use with HP’s DreamColor monitor.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.

For broadcast news, “Starbucks is the new microwave!”

Apr 25th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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A recurring theme at NAB 2012, but how true is it?

If you’re involved in traditional broadcast news, you know that the most popular established way to send your urgent remote stories back to the TV station is via microwave. For those unfamiliar, I’m not talking about a microwave oven, but a microwave transmitter often installed inside of a news van (OB truck), and often with a parabolic antenna on top. At NAB 2012, a recurring theme was: “Starbucks is the new microwave!” or some variation thereof, for urgent (but not live) news packages. Of course, if you’re in broadcast news in Colombia, South America, then the phrase might be: “¡Juan Valdez es mi nuevo transmisor microonda!”. Obviously, this refers to the free WiFi service available at Starbucks (at least in their USA locations) and at Juan Valdez in Colombia, together with the comfort of editing (optionally) and uploading raw news footage or edited packages from a very cozy environment. Let’s review a couple of such examples from NAB, and compare Internet café WiFi upload speeds to that of “4G” LTE in the USA.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.

iPad video journalism comes of age at NAB 2012

Apr 21st, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Ever since I saw the 3rd-generation iPad (2012), I began to have visions of its use for video journalism. Many of ProVideo Coalition magazine readers sent me private enthusiastic comments about my pre-NAB iPad articles like Avid now lets you edit video on your iPad for US$4.99. Should you?, Why an iPad is like a 4×5 view camera, and why you’ll need a black “focusing cloth” and later part 1 of my review called 1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybridXLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica. While I was translating/localizing brochures for Avid Latin America just before NAB 2012, I became aware that they were going to launch iNews Command for iPad. On the NAB 2012 floor, I saw several iPad video journalists. Ahead you’ll find several photos, a few videos, and comments about various iPad video accessories.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.

NAB 2012 applause! Blackmagic’s cinema camera uses HFS+ formatting rather than weak FAT32

Apr 19th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Thank you Blackmagic for using HFS+, balanced audio inputs, and standard códecs/file formats.

As some of my colleagues at ProVideo Coalition magazine have already reported, at NAB 2012, Blackmagic announced its first digital motion picture camera, officially known as the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. For US$2999, Blackmagic gives you the camera, a license of DaVinci Resolve (US$995 value) and a license of UltraScope (US$695 value). Supply your own Canon EF or Zeiss ZE lens and recording media. I applaud Blackmagic for making one of the two best possible decisions regarding the formatting used on the removable SSDs (solid state drives), and for using standard códecs/file formats. Unlike what many traditional photo and video camera manufacturers have chosen to implement (the weak FAT32), Blackmagic chose to use HFS+ (aka HFS Plus or Mac OS Extended). In this first look, I’ll review the differences and advantages of either HFS+ or UDF over FAT32, and point out some other details, i.e. the audio connections and file formats.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.

At NAB 2012: Jordan, Okada & Tépper join Laporte and Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly

Apr 19th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Larry Jordan, Daryn Okada, and Allan Tépper join Leo Laporte and Alex Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly

At NAB 2012, I was honored to be invited by Leo Laporte to participate together with Larry Jordan, Daryn Okada and Alex Lindsay on MacBreak Weekly. This episode 295 was streamed live from the Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday, April 17 2012 and is now available for immediate streaming or download. We discuss many of the new developments at NAB 2012, in general and with respect to the Mac. Alex Lindsay even comments about the potency of the coffee he allegedly consumed during his yet unconfirmed trip to the 24th century during the creation of a yet unannounced feature, as covered in a recent article here in ProVideo Coalition magazine. This episode of MacBreak Weekly has a duration of 1:41, calculated especially for fans of palindromes.

Click here to access the video.

1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybrid XLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica

Apr 10th, 2012
by Allan Tépper.
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Part 1: Background, why we needed such a microphone, comparative performance tests

Over the past few years, the market has become flooded with USB microphones, but most have been condenser models, and only a couple have been dynamic. Those dynamic models have been USB-only. There has been a need for dynamic USB microphones that were also hybrid(XLR balanced analog + USB digital, together with onboard zero-latency monitoring), especially since the external converters are both costly and bulky, and USB-only microphones are —by nature— more limited in terms of applications. In this part 1, I’ll clarify when dynamic microphones are preferred over condenser models, where USB-connected microphones “fit”, cover Audio Technica’s first hybrid dynamic models, and offer three comparative recordings between our reference Heil PR–40, the legendary Shure SM58, and the new ATR2100-USB, which is one of two handheld hybrid dynamic models from Audio Technica.

Read the full article free in ProVideo Coalition magazine.