Just a quick update today. I’ve been swamped with video production work. Most of it is animation, motion graphics, and visual effects work.
In fact, I’ve now got a second film under my belt on IMDB. And the cool part is that for the this most recent film, ‘77, I’m listed right next to Richard Yuricich, a visual effects consultant who worked on 2001 and Mission Impossible, and I’m listed just a little under John Knoll. His works include visual effects supervisor for The Abyss, Star Wars, The Hunt for Red October, Pirates of the Caribbean, and much more.
It was an honor to work on the same film as these giants.
Add this some more personal things going on like a the new tile floor we installed at our house, new dog, and a few other surprises, things are pretty darn cool. More soon!
Today, Apple did a sidestep around the HD DVD and Blu-ray debate with the update to their AppleTV.
Think about the most popular way most of us watch movies. We rent them. Either at the local movie store or via mail at Netflix or Blockbuster.
What Apple has done is said, “Why wait for a plastic disc to be sent to you?” Now you can flip through an online selection like Netflix or Blockbuster AND watch it right away. That puts them in a very strong position. Plus, they have the very popular iTunes online store streamlined more than any of the competition.
Now, while the others fight over which plastic disc to send next (HD DVD or Blu-ray), Apple can already deliver an HD movie right to the television set since we can now rent HD movies FROM the AppleTV interface.
All for a onetime fee of $229 plus the four or five bucks to rent the movie.
Compare that to a new high def player that runs several hundred dollars more and $30 to buy a new piece of plastic to put into that player.
Now take into account that thousands of HD podcasts are available right now on iTunes and AppleTV right now and for free!
I think this little device is sneaking its way into our lives and changing the way we watch video forever.
As you have probably noticed, we are upgrading Reels in Motion’s site considerably. This is due to several factors. One is the growth Reels in Motion has seen in the past several years. The other is the shifting trends in the video production world.
Reels in Motion has always tried to stay several years ahead of the curve so we can bring you the latest in video production. For example, for the past several years, we have been doing visual effects work for clients. This has ranged from adding computer generated characters to changing a sign in the video footage.
This highly specialized craft is being given its own section on the Reels in Motion site, which you can access via the new menu system we’ve built.
Also, I’d highly recommend you visit our broadcast site, Reels in Motion .tv to see some of our work “in the trenches.”
Hey everyone. I just wanted to let you know that yesterday we were making some updates to the site and RSS feed. In the process, iTunes reverted to an older, cached version of the feed, then saw the current feed and thought Episode 11 was a “new” episode.
As a result, iTunes may have downloaded the last episode twice. In the words of Douglass Adams, the individual responsible for messing up my server’s RSS feed has been sacked. Of course, as I am said sacked individual, the person responsible for sacking the sacked has been sacked to prevent the sacking of the original sacked individual.
And if you followed that, we’ve got a great new podcast in the works for you. Not only will the next episode of The Magic Lantern be posted soon, but our new podcast will be released in the next few days.
I’ve upgraded the Flash video players on the site. Some people were having some trouble with Internet Explorer, so we’ve invested in a newer system.
Not only should the players work better, but soon, we’ll be adding a bit more functionality with each one. We’re “beta” testing this on the Reels in Motion home page. You should be able to select from two different videos on the home page. If we hear good things about this, we’ll be expanding it to do more.
Also, on the Reels in Motion .tv site, we’ve added this same flash player onto each show’s main page and tied it into the database so you can listen to any of the episodes streaming, without having to download the entire mp3 files.
Of course, while you’re sitting there listening to the episode, leave some feedback on the form just under the flash player. I really want to make each episode better and your feedback means a lot.
So enjoy. Oh, by the way, we just finished one of the interviews tonight for the newest podcast, Episode 008, talking about Houdini.
Well the big news is that Apple is shipping their new digital video / multimedia device, the AppleTV. I can hear you now, “That’s great, Scott. What’s that got to do with anything?” That’s the future of television?
Glad you asked. *grin*
I don’t think that the true ramifications will be felt for quite some time. After all, there are still a few hurdles. That being said, this is a move that was developing for awhile and will have a large impact on the media industry.
As an independent media producer, there are multiple challenges to distributing content. For example, Reels in Motion has just finished editing Proof Positive, a 15 minute short film. It’s being scored as I type and hopefully, we’ll be releasing it in the next few weeks. But aside from the film festival market and DVDs, how can I get people to watch this film?
To answer this, lets backtrack a little.
A few years ago, podcasts changed the way people listened (or stopped listening, depending on your point of view) to radio. I, like many, was irritated by the constant commercial interruptions and generic DJs on local radio stations. The few songs they played between their profit breaks (commercials) were not the best selection, either.
Then along came XM. I switched to XM in a heartbeat. Crisp digital sound, no commercials and a channel for almost any type of music. It was a dream come true.
Then the cracks emerged. Four channels on XM began playing commercials. Huh? Apparently, under some deal with Clear Channel, XM was forced to play commercials on those four channels in exchange for Clear Channel letting them use the airways. XM was kind enough to add four duplicate channels that played the same lineup, sans commercial. Then came the DJs. I now had to listen to DJs.
So two reasons I left FM were beginning to surface on XM. The writing was on the wall, to borrow from the overused cliche.
My solution came from a little company called Apple. My iPod is the perfect solution. Not only can I listen to the songs I want, but an endless supply of podcasts.
The podcasts I listen to are wonderful. They range from 15 minute shows to one hour shows, all downloaded through iTunes, all free. And each one talking about topics I choose.
If I want to listen to a show about animation, I listen to one of several animation podcasts, with interviews from the great animators of a lost era who animated by hand using pegboards.
If I want to listen to the current events in the visual effects world, I listen to This Week in Media or The VFX Show, both one hour, weekly shows that talk only about that topic.
It’s like having a radio built just for me.
So, I now listen to crisp digital sound (not quite CD quality, but good enough for my car). I no longer need to suffer through obnoxious DJs and commercials. I have a playlist of songs and talk shows I like. I am in heaven.
Now we move to video; my line of work.
While I enjoy some television shows, I must currently either watch what my cable provider wants me to watch. We’re in the same place with television that radio was in a few years ago. Radio ratings are dropping while most of the younger generation listens to their iPod.
Within the next few years, television will see the same change. Plus, the entire Blu-Ray/HD-DVD mess is preventing many from getting into the High Def market. We’ve got the HDTV sets. Just no content.
AppleTV can play HD content downloaded from the internet. That’s the first crack in the damn.
While Apple’s current iTunes selections are not HD, over time, we’re going to see the same explosion we saw with podcasts. Independant producers creating content for niche markets.
Shows that never would have made it onto broadcast television, simply because there was not enough of a demand, will now be available at the click of a mouse.
For years independant filmmakers have tried to get their films broadcast, with few succeeding due to the limited number of channels on television. Now, we’ve got an unlimited number of channels.
This little white box called AppleTV more than likely won’t be the coup d’état that destroys big media and hands the keys to the independant artist.
Remember awhile ago when I mentioned that we were working on something big? Well, we’re at the point where we’re going live. What is it?
Reels in Motion TV! The new sister company, Reels in Motion TV, is our distribution network for our original content. During the last few months, we have started to create several original shows in the form of podcasts, videos and short films. All of these will eventually be uploaded onto the site and encorporated subscription feeds (RSS and iTunes, for example).
Yes, that’s right. We’re on iTunes and the shows we distribute on Reels in Motion TV will be available for download on the site or on iTunes.
As you check out the site, keep in mind, we’re still in a ‘construction’ mode so you’ll see some changes in the next few weeks and months. Currently, I’ve uploaded the last few episodes of The Magic Lantern podcast. The rest will be uploaded soon, as well some newer shows.
Hopefully, we’ll be adding a forum and more. Plus, if you have any ideas, please send us an email and we’ll see what we can do.
Ok, first of all, you’re probably wondering, what is OpenEXR? Well, in the most raw explanation, it’s a file format. Imagine a frame of a movie or a video saved as a picture. Now take 24 of those per second (film runs at 24 frames per second). You’ve got a lot of files. You move these files through what’s called a “pipeline.” For example, you create an animated character in a 3D program, film a live action sequence on HD, then combine the two in a compositing program. Finally this is saved out either a movie or another series of images. That’s a pipeline.
Now imagine being able to add information to those files that tell you a lot of information and allow you to change certain things in the file. That’s a VERY basic idea of what goes into OpenEXR.
There’s a GREAT article at FXGuide about OpenEXR here where they interview Industrial Light & Magic, who created the OpenEXR format.
Now, why am I so interested in this format? Well, over the last half year, we’ve been switching Reels in Motion over to using OpenEXR as the core file format in our pipeline.
There are several benefits to this. First, our images have much more color information in them since OpenEXR can hold several times the information as a typical file format. Next, it gives us the ability to change many aspects of animations or composites to match a mood you might be trying to create.
All in all, it’s very exciting from a technical and creative point of view. We can do more technically with it and allow more creativity to flow. Which is a good thing.
As many of you know, my other half is an artist and helps out with designs with Reels in Motion. She uses a large touch screen monitor (called a Cintiq) hooked up to her Macbook laptop (see this post for pics).
She also goes to corporate events with the Cintiq and her Macbook and draws at these high end events as part of the entertainment, projecting a live feed from her computer onto a giant screen. Then she prints out the finished artwork and gives it to the person drawn.
Just for fun, I recorded her while she drew me. What you see below is exactly what they would see up on the digital projector screen (though I did speed up the video just for fun!).
Let us know what you think! It’s been such a hit at these corporate events. Everyone loves watching their co-workers being drawn and instead of a herd of people struggling to see the her drawing, they can laugh and see their friends being drawn from anywhere in the convention or conference room!
