"So why hasn't the DVX100's price dropped? I tend to think that the DVX100 is putting a serious dent in Sony, Canon, and JVCs prosumer cam sales. "

I think the DVX100 is a very exciting piece of new technology, and I also think very few people outside of the video "filmmaking" community gives a damn about 24P. The place to see if the DVX is making a real dent in Sony sales is Disneyland, and similar tourist attractions where you can see what the real people are buying. These are the places I saw my first VX2K, and later, PD150. If you see a lot of people walking around with DVX100's, I would say you have a point.

Good point re: Disneyland, Wayne. Amusement parks would, indeed, be a good place to judge where the sweet spot for cameras is. (Of course right now, and for quite some time, Disney would love to anyone in their parks, with or without cameras. Their attendence is extremely depressed.)

I checked them out. The cards were cute but I ended up cutting my own 30 second spot. With all these toys to edit with, why not?

>>I think the DVX100 is a very exciting piece of new technology, and I also think very few people outside of the video "filmmaking" community gives a damn about 24P. The place to see if the DVX is making a real dent in Sony sales is Disneyland, and similar tourist attractions where you can see what the real people are buying. These are the places I saw my first VX2K, and later, PD150. If you see a lot of people walking around with DVX100's, I would say you have a point.<<

The average family going to Disneyland does not own a PD150.

Rick, you mean you used Moviemaker just like they suggested? that's great! Post it for me to take a look at, eh (or email me a copy, if that's easier)?

Ah, no. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out what to do with Moviemaker, said screw it, and edited a 30 second clip with Vegas featuring my kids. As I said, I have the toys so why not use them. Not the greatest clip but the kids are kinda cure.

www.spilmanlorentz.com/Mday.htm

New budget Matrox Parhelia cards
 

I was happy to see that Matrox will be releasing budget Parhelia cards, since the current Parhelia is overkill for my needs. The cards are scheduled to be out at the end of May 2003.

FYI: The older Matrox cards only support DirectX6 - the new ones support DirectX 8.1

fyi, while these cards don't offer hardware directX9 support or fast game speed... they are the only video cards offering 10bit color on the desktop. that goes for ATI and Nvidias' latest too.

Great job Rick! I'll bet that went over well!

The whole Moviemaker thing seemed a bit convoluted for most people. We were just asked to make the generic clips but I didn't know it was going to require people to go through all those steps to send them.

I thought the clips were great, by the way. In my case it seemed foolish to use someone's clips when I had more than enough of my own.

I also thought that the process could have been far more automated. It appeared that one of the underlying goals was to expose folks to Moviemaker. Not sure that that was entirely successful. I feel perfectly comfortable with video editing software and I was confused by the process.

Rick, obviously this is a carried over conversation from another post, or something, but you are having trouble with editing or something? I'd personally suggest forgetting windows moviemaker, and going for the real stuff, like Vegas, like you did, once you get used to a (sorry for saying this) crappy program, like windows moviemaker, it will be hard to move up to better stuff.

Anyway, yeah them clips are cool, I wish I would of thought of that. :D

Do you know if any of the new Nvidia and ATI cards are as good in terms of 2D performance and most importantly, display quality?

I mainly like the Matrox cards for the quality of their display, especially on my Sony Trinitron monitor. I just need basic 3D acceleration.

Ah, no Alex I am not having problems editing. I followed the I-Film set of instructions which suggest you use "Moviemaker". I looked at "Moviemaker" for a minute or two, said this is silly and went ahead and cut a short clip on Vegas.

New York Times article on Apple and Microsoft
 

New York Times article quotes computer industry veterans that Microsoft and HP are borrowing too heavily on Apples designs. Microsoft's preview of Longhorn, their new OS due in 2005, includes many features Apple introduced in OS X in 2001.

So what else is new?

Hasn't Apple's function always been to innovate so the PC world can copy it 6 months later?

Documentary shooters needed in LA this Saturday...
 

As part of the regular Instant Films festival (www.instantfilms.tv), we are initiating the "Instant Documentary" this weekend. The Instant Films weekend involves 8 groups making short films over 48 hours, culminating with a gala screening in Los Angeles on Sunday night; the documentary of the weekend will also be screened on Sunday.

We need LA based camera crews to cover the event on Saturday and Sunday (the 17th and 18th). If you have a solid DV package and have experience shooting documentary/news and would like to participate in this exciting event, please email me at charles@instantfilms.tv with an equipment list and resume (or a description of your experience level). There is no pay, as is the case with the filmmakers who participate, but it is a lot of fun to be a part of.

Check out this article on todays CNN.com homepage, also seen in the Hollywood Reporter:

i have the full 128mb card. It's really nice for video editing as it drives two LCD monitors and a NTSC monitor.

Does anyone know if these video cards work on a Power Mac?
Both the budget as well as the full-out Parhelia?
Thanks!

I run a Sapphire Radeon 9700 128mb card. VGA, TV out, and another multi-use output that can be used on another VGA display with an adapter (or plasma, tv, etc..)

Sapphire makes the ATI cards you see in stores. I decided against the Pro version, at about $150 more as the Sapphire's GPU and memory timings are unlocked. It easily handles any speed increases I give it.

Great for gaming, great TV out quality compared to most other offerings, and an extra output if I decide on two monitors for editing later.

IMO, the most convincing argument in favour of these new cards over the Parhelia is that they support AGP 8x rather than just AGP 4x.

Against them is the lower memory (only 64MB) and memory bandwidth, and the fact that they won't support the After Effects WYSIWYG plug-in.

The P650 will run two monitors, while the P750 will run three. A TV can be one of the monitors.

Matrox seems to be pushing the P750 more towards DV, with the P650 towards business desktops.

A full comparison is here: http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/c...s_parhelia.cfm

For me, it's a tough call between the Parhelia (128/256MB RAM, AE plug-in) and the P750 (AGP 8x), but I have to admit that the faster AGP port speed is more tempting.

If Matrox develops drivers for the Mac, it will be a first!

If I were ever to go to Disneyland (God forbid), I'd take my PC100, not my XL1s.

I'd never take a big cam like an XL1 to any amusement park. For starters, it screams STEAL ME! And obviously, it wouldn't do a whole lot of good on a roller coaster. Smaller is better in these cases.

WhenDVxFF
 

Glenn,

This is Tom McKay. I don't get in to these forums much and I just noticed your question. DVX focus control is done but not in full production. If you have any questions about the new control you can call me at the office most anytime. It won't be on the site until it is very nearly ready to ship. If I put it on the site now we will get calls for orders we can not fill at this time and that is never much fun for the salespeople.

Best regards,

Tom

Ok, thanks for your reply Tom. I'm in no rush to buy, just curious.

That was kinda my point. The DVX100 comes in at over $4k, a cool grand more than the XL1s. Anyone who's invested the money in either will also invest in the insurance of a cheap and convenient palmcorder for days out...unless they're on a pro shoot or are a twit.

Why composite output in DVD player
 

Strolling through wally world today I was dreaming to find some bargain DVD burner worth a million on clearence for 10 bucks (didn't happen). I did however see a DVD player which purplexed me. A Pioneer DV 250 ($78.64), reads DVD,DVD-R, CD-R, & MP3. It also touted having composite video out. Y-Pb-Pr, the audio was 192 Khz 24 bit. It was only a player. What would be the draw for such a product to have composite out and 24 bit audio? I am a semi techno-nerd (Lord help me the day I reach full nerdship), but things in electronic land take some studying to understand these days. Does the model designation (DV) have any importance?

Most of the Pioneer DVD players have either the designation DV or PDV (portable). An L means LaserDisc. It's just a model numbering scheme.

All the new Pioneer models have component outputs. I don't think it means much (or anything) to the player. However, lot's of high-end TVs now have component inputs. If you own one of those, you're going to be looking for input devices that will match.

And Monster sells more cables this way, too.

I'd go with component, then SVHS and then composite.

"Star Wars 3" HD camera article
 

http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/f...516/index.html

Bigger / better camera's it seems...

High Resolution Viewfinder
 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0305/03...laytechevf.asp

Displaytech has announced the LightView 311k Display Module, the highest resolution display produced for digital still camera and camcorder viewfinders. The 311k is a 0.26-inch diagonal FLC on reflective CMOS microdisplay with 432 by 240 pixel display resolution. Each pixel has 24-bit color depth, and it operates at 120 Hz (360 Hz RGB field rate) to provide flicker free, full color video imaging.

They also claim "triad-free" color without "door effect".

What's "door effect"?

Vladimir, that is only about 100K pixels -- a very low resolution.

What is "door effect". I think they just abbreviated screen door effect. Screen door effect makes it appear as though you are looking through a screen door, very noticeable pixels.

DVD "fair use" case goes to court
 

Tiny 321 Studios fights the combined Goliath of the MPAA, DMCA, and a judge who seems to have her mind already made up.

NEWS
Continuing our ongoing coverage of the war between tiny 321 Studios, maker of DVD copying software, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), maker of DVDs that consumers want to copy, the case has finally been put in front of a judge. Unfortunately for 321 Studios, the judge seems far from open-minded on the subject of 321 Studios' right to sell software designed to allow owners to make copies of their DVDs.

"I am substantially persuaded by them", said U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, commenting on all previous cases decided in favor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). MPAA lawyer Russell Frackman stated, "They can't just traffic in anticircumvention devices," arguing that the removal of copy protection, even from a legally owned DVD, is illegal and can be prosecuted under the DMCA. 321 Studios countered by claiming there is no evidence that its software is being used by pirates, but Judge Illston shot back, saying, "But it's marketed to allow circumvention." As the battle raged, Judge Illston consistently cited the DMCA, even going so far as to call a Department of Justice attorney to the stand. The attorney dutifully defended the constitutionality of the DMCA and firmly backed the MPAA.

321 Studios didn't get in many punches, but one argument did seemingly land with effect on Judge Illston. 321 Studios argued that after a copyright has expired the content can legally be copied, but the DMCA statute on removal of copy protection has no expiration date. Thus, material that is no longer protected by copyright could not be copied because removal of the copy protection would violate the DMCA. 321 Studios argued that this is tantamount to a permanent, infinite copyright on all works, something that is clearly in conflict with all existing patent and copyright law. The MPAA lawyer responded by saying that copying the content would be legal because the copyright had expired, but 321 Studios shot back, saying, "But it's encrypted. If it doesn't stop being encrypted, it's still encrypted," and pointed out that the DMCA prevents even non-copyrighted works from being decrypted and copied.

The picture quality of the last Star Wars was not very good. One of the reasons was letterboxing. Rodriguez did not use letterboxing and the picture on his Spy Kids 2 was excellent. The new CineAlta SR will will still need letterboxing for the Star Wars format, but the picture should be excellent. With the introduction of the SR format we'll see major shift of movie production into digital.

Re: "Star Wars 3" HD camera article
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/f...516/index.html

Bigger / better camera's it seems... -->>>

Does that mean it'll be a better movie too? ;)

Possibly unfashionable viewpoint alert
 

With the exception of their very good point that encryption effectively indefinitely extends copyright even after it's lapsed, I'm in favour of plaintiff on this one. A lot of us (myself included) copy CD tracks to make personal compilations, which although strictly against copyright is I think reasonable. But ripper and decryption software, although obstenibly marketed for personal use, is abused...either through commercial pirating or non-commercial file sharing.

Because file copying is abused, holier-than-thou Microsoft is introducing measures to clean up the industry act on pirating (while at the same time, condoning copyright infringement by making it easier to nab images from the WWW...hypocrite? Bill?)

At the end of the day, we all suffer. I cannot buy Sony CDs now, since I'm never sure if I'll be able to play them in my PC. I certainly won't be able to copy my favourite tracks for my own convenience.

I don't understand: how does 432 by 240 make 311k?! I can only count a litle over 100k....

Joseph, what is the source of this article? Can you provide a link, please?

Let's hope so, Dylan!

I'm waiting to see Rodriguez's: Once Upon a Time in Mexico....

I count twelve bits.