Cut|Color|Post

excerpts, quips, and musings on the production and post-production industry, and other stuff of interest

Samsung Develops 16TB SSD

“The piece goes on to say, “In 2013, Samsung announced a new way of approaching flash storage manufacturing. Rather than place the cells along a single layer, as had been standard practice since NAND flash was invented in the 1980s, it would stack them vertically. That allows for much greater density, which gives you much more storage space.”

This could radically transform post-production. As cameras get more and more data rate intensive with HDR, UHD, 4K or higher resolutions our ability to access that data quickly for realtime playback becomes an ever increasing challenge. This could provide both speed and size flexibility for post professionals.

Read more here or here.

Should A Video Editor Buy a Mac Pro or iMac

“If money is not a big concern, don’t waste any more time – get the Mac Pro. While the 12-core system provides maximum bragging rights, the 8-core system is a better value with great performance.

If your budget is constrained, get an iMac. It is outstanding as an editing system and, while not as fast in video compression or rendering, what you lose in time you’ll save in dollars.”

I run both at my shop and they each have distinct advantages (the 5K Retina screen is gorgeous). It's always a trade-off between speed and cost. The faster you want to go, the more money it's going to cost. For many of today's task an iMac is a great machine. But if you need the horsepower for transcoding you're not going to beat a Mac Pro.

The New MacBook

“The MacBook itself, meanwhile, runs quite well for a device powered by a Core M processor and with no fan inside. Based on a few minutes of web browsing, typing my name over and over in a Pages document, and poking through Numbers, it seems like it’s up to the tasks for which it is clearly meant. It’s not for gaming, it’s probably not for editing video, but it does the basics really well.”

It's a MacBook. Not a MacBook Pro. This machine is for general, simple computing tasks - Word Processing, Facebook, Twitter, online shopping, etc. It is not meant for heavy computational tasks, like photo/video editing, color grading, compositing, or audio production - it has an Intel Core M processor and integrated Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU for crying out loud. Those aren't powerful chipsets. If you need a lightweight, ultra portable machine that lasts all day and has an absolutely gorgeous screen...this is your machine!

We're Picking Up Where Vimeo Left Off

If you've not had a chance to see Frame.io's software teaser then you're missing out. If you've ever had to use a combination of Dropbox, Vimeo, YouTube, and e-mails to sort out review & approval from clients or co-workers then this product may scratch your itch. The product is still in private beta, but a public beta is just around the corner. Pricing has yet to be announced.

You can hear Emery Wells (@EmeryWells), the co-founder of frame.io, talk with Chris Fenwick (@chrisfenwicand Alex MacLean (@alexm13) on Episode 053 of the Digital Cinema Cafe.

Apple ProRes 4444 XQ

Apple introduced another codec to the ProRes family last week, ProRes 4444 XQ. This codec is geared towards high-end visual fx as the codec supports 12 bits per image channel, 16 bits for the alpha channel and carries a data rate of about 500mbps for 1080p30. From Apple's White Paper:

“The highest-quality version of Apple ProRes for 4:4:4:4 image sources (including alpha channels), with a very high data rate to preserve the detail
in high-dynamic-range imagery generated by today’s highest-quality digital image sensors. Apple ProRes 4444 XQ preserves dynamic ranges several times greater than the dynamic range of Rec. 709 imagery—even against the rigors of extreme visual effects processing, in which tone-scale blacks or highlights are stretched significantly. Like standard Apple ProRes 4444, this codec supports up to 12 bits per image channel and up to 16 bits for the alpha channel. Apple ProRes 4444 XQ features a target data rate of approximately 500 Mbps for 4:4:4 sources at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 fps.

Note: Apple ProRes 4444 XQ requires OS X v10.8 (Mountain Lion) or later.”

This is welcomed news for vfx pros in a ProRes-centric workflow. However, I would imagine most doing work at this level are in a DPX sequence workflow. But having the additional option may prove to be helpful for some shops.

See also Larry Jordan's article on the new ProRes XQ codec.

Adobe Doubles Down on Lightroom

“Put simply we’re doubling down on our investments in Lightroom and the new Creative Cloud Photography plan and you can expect to see a rich roadmap of rapid innovation for desktop, web and device workflows in the coming weeks, months and years. We also continue to invest actively on the iOS and OSX platforms, and are committed to helping interested iPhoto and Aperture customers migrate to our rich solution across desktop, device and web workflows.”

As I mentioned earlier, if you're not an Adobe Creative Cloud user for Lightroom/Photoshop there's never been a better time to start.