Creative COW Features

Art of the Edit Making Big Plans Today, South Africa. Tomorrow, the world. Eugen and his colleagues at 3DTree carefully plan every job, plan how to extend their creativity - and yes, their expansion into Hollywood. Feature, People / Interview Author: Eugen Olsen DaVinci - NEW ! DaVinci - Rebuilding the Brand for the 21st Century How's this for chutzpah? The DaVinci customers at Blackmagic Design buy the company, to set it back on the right path - making big investments, expanding service while slashing fees, accelerating development, and rebuilding Da Vinci from their own experience as its customers. Feature, People / Interview Author: Grant Petty Art of the Edit Molecule Fueled Imagination Film? Television? Production? Post? Visual effects? Animation? Stereoscopic 3D? Interactive design? By answering Yes, all of the above, The Molecule keeps its eyes beyond the horizon. Feature, People / Interview Author: Chris Healer HD High-End Driving Toward Success No matter how unexpected and varied the routes, the roads to success are often marked by customer service, attention to detail, and the imagination to see that success is even possible. Feature, People / Interview Author: Philip Garvin Stereoscopic 3D Setting a New 3D Home Standard Stereographic 3D hasn't arrived until it arrives in the home. TDVision has a proposal: a standard that works with any display, with both 2D and 3D in one stream, with no additional hardware. Feature Author: Ethan Schur Windows Hardware & Software HP SkyRoom: Sharing is Nice You might look at HP SkyRoom and see a videoconferencing system, which indeed it is. But it is also a powerful tool for desktop sharing and collaboration, taking advantage of advanced technologies for maximum performance. Feature Author: Tim Wilson Windows Hardware & Software HP Skyroom: Power & Simplicity for Remote Workgroup Tasks In this article, Ron Lindeboom looks at the powerful HP Skyroom technology, which allows team members to interact in high definition video with one another, as they work on projects and approvals remotely. Highly powerful, yet priced within reach of many small to medium-sized companies -- nevertheless, the system is powerful enough for even major players like Dreamworks Animation, who used the system during the making of the blockbuster 'Monsters vs Aliens.' Powerful, elegant, simple to use. Review, Feature Author: Ron Lindeboom DaVinci - NEW ! Cinefilm's Ron Anderson: da Vinci User Since 1986 In this article, Tim Wilson talks with da Vinci user Ron Anderson in his Part Three look at Blackmagic Design's acquisition of da Vinci Systems. Ron Anderson’s relationship with da Vinci has also taken places over several decades, starting as a customer, and evolving into demo artistry even while he continues working with da Vinci systems at Atlanta’s Cinefilm. Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Tim Wilson DaVinci - NEW ! Blackmagic Design Buys the Power of daVinci: Part 2 In this article, Tim Wilson continues his series with his Part Two look at the big news leaking from IBC 2009. Blackmagic Design has acquired da Vinci Systems and with that acquisition comes what Tim refers to as The Power of da Vinci. And for the many that have used da Vinci over the years, they know full well the power of which Tim writes. And for those who might need an introduction to this power, Tim offers these words... Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Tim Wilson DaVinci - NEW ! Blackmagic Design Buys DaVinci: Part 1 In this article, Tim Wilson begins his series on the big news already beginning to leak from IBC 2009. Blackmagic Design has acquired da Vinci Systems and yes, you read that right. BMD owns and will be developing and marketing da Vinci's award-winning colorgrading technology. What's in store? Here's Part One of Tim's look at the fast-breaking news... Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Tim Wilson DaVinci - NEW ! A Letter From Grant Petty The fastest breaking news that is sure to rifle through IBC the quickest? Well, for starters, try this announcement from Blackmagic Design, who have acquired DaVinci Systems, the pioneering color system that for many years has been one of the dream systems in the marketplace. In the letter to employees below, Grant Petty discusses the acquisition with his team members. Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Ron Lindeboom Cinematography Pushing the Limits on Pushing Daisies Visual Effects Supervisor William Powloski helped create one of the most eye-popping worlds ever seen on TV, as part of a feature film aesthetic on a TV budget and schedule. Although it was canceled after only two seasons, it remains one of the most beautiful and innovative programs to ever air on US television. In an extended version of the original article in The Visual Effects Issue of Creative COW Magazine, here is an exclusive look at how he and his team helped pull it off. Feature, People / Interview Author: William Powloski Business & Marketing Free video and demo reel hosting comes to Creative COW CreativeCOW.net has added free hosting for demo reels, music videos, commercials, short films, trailers and other media files that our members want to use to promote their businesses or just show their work. We support up to 900 pixels wide, up to 100MB in size, with AAC audio encoding. Review, Editorial, Feature, Business Author: Ron Lindeboom Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! The 3DVX Stereoscopic, uncompressed 10-bit HD RAW - from a pair of modded DVX100s! Feature, People / Interview Author: Jason Goodman Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! IMAX - The Biggest Name in 3D IMAX talks about what they look for in bringing 3D to their screens. IMAX has made a big commitment to 3D exhibition: 200 new screens coming on line as quickly as possible, with IMAX producing all of their documentaries in stereoscopic 3D. Feature, People / Interview Author: Greg Foster Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! The 3D Zone: Its Past & Its Future The world expert in the history of 3D imaging looks at its past to see into its future. Along the way, he looks at the role of comics in the evolution of 3D storytelling, the importance of anaglyph even today, and why 3D is going to stick around this time. Feature Author: Ray Zone Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! All In - Dreamworks Animation Goes All 3D DreamWorks wasn't the first to make a modern-day 3D animated movie. But they were the first to commit to do nothing else, and to commit to start-to-finish 3D authoring for all of it. Feature, People / Interview Author: Jim Mainard Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! FotoKem: 3D DI FotoKem opened as a film lab in 1963, and has continued to evolve and expand. Here are some of the tools they're using as the industry, and their business, now adds another dimension. Tutorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: John Daro Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! Tiny Stereoscopic Rigs - Big Pictures In this article from the Stereoscopic 3D issue of The Creative COW Magazine, Bernie Laramie, co-founder of Stereoscope, discusses rigs and stereoscopic hardware used in creating high-end 3D movies. Tutorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Bernie Laramie Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! Perception and The Art of 3D Storytelling By working in the area between what you see, and what you can see, Brian Gardner is helping re-write the rules of 3D filmmaking - right before your very eyes. In this article, he tells how some of these new rules played out in his work on the amazing movie, Coraline. Tutorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Brian Gardner Adobe After Effects Nosferatu becomes Orlok the Vampire in 3D! Nosferatu, the first vampire movie, and some say still the best, rises again in 3D! Chris Heuer used desktop tools including AE and Mocha to breathe new life into this classic of world cinema. Feature Author: Chris Heuer Indie Film & Documentary DreamSpeakers On Tour: Budding Aboriginal Filmmakers In this article, VASST's Douglas Spotted Eagle, takes COW members inside the DreamSpeakers On Tour. DreamSpeakers is a three-weekend project where students meet with professionals in the film/video industry and learn their craft, beginning from the ground floor of film making. Budding Aboriginal filmmakers and Dreamspeakers work together to produce first films for youth, by youth, and the program has kicked off to a great start. Feature, People / Interview Author: Douglas Spotted Eagle Apple DVD Studio Pro Mac Subtitling Software Round-up: The COW's man in Nepal, Jiggy Gaton, gets asked all the time about subtitling DVDs -- and cringes every time: editing software suites just don't have that much to offer. However, Mac DVD authors have some standalone alternatives worth considering. Review, Feature Author: Jiggy Gaton Broadcast Video Broadcast Quality at Bargain Prices Brand new to the market and loaded with high-end features, Flanders Scientific has introduced four high definition LCD panels specifically developed for the pro market. With the help of the COW's Walter Biscardi, Jr. and senior telecine colorist Ron Anderson, Nick Griffin offers a first look at these high definition broadcast monitors from FSI. Review, Feature Author: Nick Griffin COWmunications feedback Introducing the all new www.CreativeCowMagazine.net website In this article, Ron Lindeboom, one of the co-founders of CreativeCOW.net and company architect and head of business development, says of the new magazine site interface: ''I have never seen a magazine interface that makes as much sense and gives as much access to so much content, in so few steps.'' Those that helped test the new site while it was in development, agreed, stating that they didn't need any instructions to use it -- but we offer some here, anyway. Editorial, Tutorial, Feature Author: Ron Lindeboom Motion Graphics Creating Interactive Games - Cine Bingo The team at Psychic Bunny worked on whatever interested them - perfect preparation for a job that even the client couldn't describe. In this Creative COW Magazine article Rick Castañeda gives you a behind the scenes tour of how they made cine bingo and teaches a few tips on interactive game making. Editorial, Feature Author: Rick Castañeda Cinematography Monsters vs. Aliens: And the winner is, STEREOSCOPIC 3D Tim Wilson looks at the box office success of DreamWorks Animation's 'Monsters vs Aliens' and how Stereoscopic 3D is lighting up ticket sales in a huge way. Tim's article explores links to trailers, the first weekend's numbers -- hint: they were pretty spectacular, especially in the IMAX theaters where the 3D version proved especially popular -- and he even gives readers a sneak leak about the next issue of Creative COW Magazine. Feature Author: Tim Wilson Media 100 | Media 100 HD Making the Transitions to HD with Media 100 Everyone was talking HD to Creative COW's Nick Griffin. Everyone that is except his clients... until the latter part of last year. Making the transition from a Standard to a High Definition shop was far simpler than he'd ever imagined. In this article, Nick describes the transition. Feature Author: Nick Griffin Windows Hardware & Software HP Unveils The Future:The New Z-Series Workstations Writer and contributing editor, David Roth Weiss, takes us UNDER THE HOOD of HP's powerful new Z800 workstations. With a radical new design inside and out, created in collaboration with the BWM Designworks global design consultancy, the new Z800 is HP's most powerful workstation ever for image and processor-intensive tasks, such as: HD video editing, composting, and 3D animation. As an added bonus, David takes us BEHIND THE SCENES with HP to DreamWorks Animation Studios, where the masterminds behind the incredible new hit film, Monsters vs. Aliens, are reinventing the art of storytelling using exciting new state of the art 3D stereoscopic filmmaking techniques and technologies. Feature Author: Roth Weiss Indie Film & Documentary Running the Sahara Running 4300 miles across the world's largest desert sounds impossible. But once Academy Award-winning director James Moll heard that three guys were going to try, he knew he had to hear - and tell - their story. In this Creative COW Magazine expanded interview, James talks about the incredible journey of both the runners and the filmmakers, while also offering insights into filmmaking, storytelling, and the frame. Feature Author: James Moll SAN - Storage Area Networks Shared Media Storage Without Breaking the Bank In this article Walter Biscardi, Jr. shows how he was able to add expandable, shared media storage in his facility for less than you would expect. And he was able to keep all of his current storage options in place, working right alongside the shared array. Feature Author: Walter Biscardi Audio Professionals ADR: Hollywood Dialogue Recording Secrets Correcting dialogue is one of the most important parts of the old saying, fix it in post. They're part of a process called ADR -- Additional Dialogue Recording, or Automated Dialogue Replacement -- that has been going on since movies had audio, and is still being done today, from the smallest indie films to the biggest blockbusters. Here's an overview of the world of ADR, some of the Cows who are working in this field, and where to go when you are ready to ADR to your own productions. Feature Author: Cowdog Indie Film & Documentary Film Festival Magic After 3 years working on their labor of love, Harry and his partners tasted the full range of film festival experiences, some more magical than others... Feature Author: Harry Pallenberg Stereoscopic 3D - NEW ! Stereoscopic 3D The tools for creating 3D stereoscopic movies are now amazingly affordable. A few challenges remain, but you can easily see the possibilities. In this Creative COW Magazine article Christopher Werronen takes you through the process of making a movie destined for Stereoscopic 3D. Feature Author: Christopher Werronen Apple Final Cut Pro A Digibeta Quality Edit Suite in a bag - Could it be done using the MXO2? When CreativeCOW's Peter Wiggins first started editing in facility houses in the eighties, an edit suite was a room full of large control panels next to a room with racks and racks of mainframes. Recently he decided to issue a challenge: Build a broadcast DigiBeta quality edit suite that will fit in a computer bag and will go through airport security. Read on to find out how he did it. Review, Feature Author: Peter Wiggins Business & Marketing The Secret to Success in Hard Times - Tenacity Grinner Hester will never tell you success comes easy...or fast. After 25 years in the game, he's learned success never comes at all, unless you keep going. In this Creative COW Magazine article, Grinner discusses tenacity and how it is the secret to success in hard times. Feature, Business Author: Grinner Hester Panasonic HVX - HPX (P2) AVC-Intra and the Panasonic AJ-HPX2000 In this Creative COW Magazine article, Jeremy Garchow discusses his experience using the AVC-Intra codec and the Panasonic AJ-HPX2000 camera on an overseas production project. Review, Feature Author: Jeremy Garchow Business & Marketing Business Advice for Tough Times Sound business advice is more precious than ever, and you can find TONS of it from the businesspeople at Creative Cow. Our very own Cowdog has gathered some of the best tips for building your business from around the Cow, including getting deadbeat clients to pay you, creating strong contracts, protecting your onscreen talent from accidental explosions...and a reminder that, as far as the client is concerned, everything is YOUR fault. Feature, Business Author: Cowdog Cinematography Focus on Controlling Depth of Field with Depth of Field Converters Cinematographer and Creative Cow leader Todd Terry has shot countless television commercials and industrials using both 35mm film and depth-of-field converted video. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, from The Visual Effects Issue, learn how depth of field converters allow you to attach 35mm lenses even to video cameras with fixed lenses, how they work, and which one might be right for you. Feature Author: Todd Terry Creative COW Magazine feedback The Truth About 2K, 4K and The Future of Pixels John Galt, Panavision Senior Vice President of Advanced Digital Imaging, led the team that created the Genesis camera, was responsible for the F900 Star Wars camera, and continues to play a leading role in guiding future digital cinema technologies. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, join us for a wide-ranging conversation, as John cuts through what he calls the intentional obfuscation of marketing pixels, and considers the range of options that are becoming available to digital filmmakers. Feature Author: John Galt Creative COW Magazine feedback 21st Century Cinema: An indie look at Digital Cinema You may have heard that digital cinema is coming, and that it will be big. Both are true, and Creative Cow leader Russell Lasson is one of the people making it happen. Here is a look at how digital cinema works, and how one indie company is building their business around it. Also, a closer look at professional-strength Windows on Mac workflows. Feature Author: Russell Lasson Art of the Edit Surgical Video: The Cutting Edge Creative Cow leader Mike Cohen has been working on the cutting edge of surgical video for years. In this expanded version of his article in the Cow Magazines Non-Broadcast Production Issue, Mike answers some of the most frequently asked questions about these techniques from the Cow forums. Its fascinating stuff, but seriously, maybe have some breakfast before you take a look. Feature Author: Mike Cohen Creative COW Magazine feedback One Team. Three Network Shows. Every Week. Creative Cow Contributing Editor Zed Saeed has helped create pioneering Final Cut Pro workflows for major feature films and episodic TV production. This year, he and the team at DigitalFilm Tree faced their biggest challenge yet: posting 3 major shows, for 3 different networks, every week -- with the same small team that used to do just one. How do they do it? World-class workflow management. Feature Author: Zed Saeed Art of the Edit Metadata & The Future of Filmmaking In this expanded version of an interview first published in Creative Cow Magazine, Dave describes a possible future for filmmaking -- faster, less expensive, and more creative -- as cameras and metadata come together. Feature Author: Dave Stump COW - Free Stuff Free Elements Part 2 Love the words free, freebie and no cost? In Free Elements 2, Stephen Smith will show you where to find high quality freebies, such as free video and photo stock footage and free design help aids. Elevate your next project without breaking the bank. Feature Author: Stephen Smith Broadcast Video Improvising Visual Effects On-set circumstances changing fast? Improvise! In this Creative COW Magazine article Mark Allen discusses how he overcame the complications in a recent short film production by improvising the visual effects. Feature, People / Interview Author: Mark Allen RE:Vision Effects The Art and Science of Optical Flow Creative COW leaders Pete Litwinowicz and Pierre Jasmin won an Academy Award® for the design and development of the RE: Vision Effects family of optical flow-based image manipulation plug-ins. For RE:Vision's tenth anniverary, we asked Pierre to talk to us about what optical flow is - and isn't - and how it works in their products. Feature, People / Interview Author: Pete Litwinowicz Lighting Design Pros Lighting with Shadows In this extended version of his article in the Creative Cow Visual Effects Issue, lighting expert and instructor Rick Wise draws on his decades of experience to illustrate how shadows can be the most important part of how a scene is lit. Learn how to control the direction and quality of your lighting design to add texture, dimension, and force to your images. Feature Author: Rick Wise AJA Kona Up-Converting SD for HD Projects and HD Cross-Conversion Using AJA Kona 3 Need SD upconversion for HD projects, and HD cross-conversion? Broadcast editor and Final Cut Pro community leader Shane Ross recently had a DVCPRO HD project shot with the Panasonic Varicam and HVX-200 at 23.98 that had to be converted to 1080psf 23.98 for delivery on HDCAM. After long research and experience with many FCP-compatible cards, he concluded that the AJA Kona 3 was the way to go. It even handles SD upconversion too, all in real time. Read why he chose this specific card, and how he got the job done. Tutorial, Feature Author: Shane Ross Business & Marketing Marketing: Staying Effective in Tough Times Creative Cows Nick Griffin says that, When we are in a changing marketplace, we can go in one of two directions: we can make smart choices or dumb, knee-jerk reactions. In this article, Nick explores ways that we can make the smart choices and hopefully avoid becoming a casualty of the market malaise that is resulting from the real estate and stock market collapses of 2008. Feature, Business Author: Nick Griffin Art of the Edit The Importance of Invisible Effects Steve is a Senior Compositor and 2D Technical Director with over 20 years of production experience. His credits include over 60 films including as Traffic, Blade: Trinity,Ray, Batman & Robin, U-571, Air Force One, TV shows including Deadwood, and over 70 commercial spots. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra from the Visual Effects issue, Steve talks about invisible effects in projects he has worked on, with ideas you can use for your own projects. Feature Author: Steve Wright Art of the Edit Fix it in Pre : Workflow Starts Before the Shooting Does Looking for smooth shoots even on extreme locations? Want a pain-free post? 24P, film look, Depth of Field converter, advanced compositing and sound design -- its all here. In this Creative Cow Magazine extra from the Workflow 3.0 issue, Carl Larsen shows you how to avoid problems through planning, along with invaluable tips for cinematic storytelling on a tight schedule. Feature Author: Carl Larsen Adobe After Effects David Roth Weiss: An Editor Looks at CS4 This is the first in a series of articles in which veteran editor David Roth Weiss dives head first into, what are for him, the uncharted waters of Adobes latest release, CS4 Production Premium, including the updated and cross-platform OnLocation, and advanced metadata creation and tracking. Feature Author: David Roth Weiss Adobe After Effects Adobe Gives Sneak Peek at CS4 during IBC 2008 The Cows Eran Stern, one of the worlds most respected After Effects artists, was able to take a sneak peek at the Adobe Creative Suite, CS 4. He saw a lot to like: deeper integration across the Adobe family, new animation tools and effects, speech recognition and metadata features, and much more. Feature Author: Eran Stern RED Camera Exposing the RED: Perfect Exposure, Every Time Director DP, REDtrepreneur, early adopter and obsessed student of the RED camera system David Battistella takes a closer look at how to hit the sweet spot on the RED sensor. David shows how understanding REDs inner workings will help you expose your scene just right, every time. Feature Author: David Battistella Business & Marketing The Growing Opportunity in the Market of Non-Broadcast Production In this business advice article from The Creative COW Magazine article, Ron Lindeboom discusses how to take advantage of the growing market of non-broadcast production and how you can jump into new niche video production markets. Feature, Business Author: Ron Lindeboom SAN - Storage Area Networks Build your own affordable SAN -- that works! Want to let everyone in your shop use the same media at the same time? The Cows Bob Zelin shares the secrets for affordable shared storage that you can build yourself, and that WORKS. Start with big, fast storage from your favorite pro vendor, then follow along. Bob even shows you a few hazards to avoid along the way. Tutorial, Feature Author: Bob Zelin Sony EX Series XDCAM On Stage with the Sony XDCAM HD When your corporate clients are as big as Wembley Stadium, a small camera will not do. Besides, Rick Bronks was not interested in HDV or in tapeless shooting that cost more than tape. Enter XDCAM HD. Feature Author: Rick Bronks Broadcast Video In-Stadium Sports Television In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, Matt Montemayor gives a behind the scends look at BravesVision, the in-house video production team for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Matt describes the parts and process that makes the whole show happen from the switchers and software to the stats display and the largest HD display in the world. Feature Author: Matt Montemayor Adobe After Effects Behind the Scenes from Behind Oasis When one of the worlds biggest rock and roll bands, Oasis, celebrated a careers worth of achievement, the film playing behind Rock-n-Roll Star was created by Creative Cow author Nel Johnson and the team at Studio Skylab. Learn the After Effects techniques that helped them complete the project under a ridiculous deadline, while wowing Oasis and a worldwide audience. As Nel puts it, We locked ourselves away, cranked up the music, and went nuts. In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, we take a closer look at the story, starting with the creation of the films unique look. Feature Author: Nel Johnson Broadcast Video Ask Bob and then stand back If you don't want to know, don't ask. Bob Zelin is one of the industry's straightest shooters, and he'll tell you how he's seen things work during his 30+ years in the broadcast trenches. Feature, People / Interview Author: Bob Zelin Cinematography Want to be ready for Reality? Mod your camera! The reality shooter has to be mobile and invisible. Futzing around with lighting, support and/or audio can simply mean missing the shot, and often does. Videographer/editor and longtime Cow leader Grinner Hester demonstrates how to mod on a budget in this unique little how-to. Feature Author: Grinner Hester RED Camera Under the Gun with RED One Dylan Reeve and a small team of New Zealand filmmakers had 48 hours to get their assignment, write a script, direct, shoot and post their film, then hand in the finished show...oh yeah, and refine their RED shooting and editing skills under the gun while trying to beat out 230 other teams! Sound wild? You have no idea.... Feature Author: Dylan Reeve Adobe After Effects New AE DVDs for the Cow Master Series. Save Now! The 3 newest DVDs in the Creative Cow Master Series, training even artists can afford. Learn secrets of advanced rotoscoping and compositing, real-world motion graphics that you can start using right away, and the CS3 tutorials you need to take your work to the next level from true masters from the craft. Feature Author: Cowdog Adobe After Effects Poets of the Fall/Stobe Harju Music Videos Creative COW Magazines Music Video issue featured a look at the making of Poets of the Falls Carnival of Rust, one of the most imaginative music videos we have seen. Created in Helsinki, Finland by director Stobe Harju and director of photography Eki Halkka, you can read about the making of Carnival of Rust in our free Music Video issue, and here in this magazine extras page you will find links to the videos, interview podcasts, more on the band, their music, as well as the music videos of Stobe and Eki. Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Eki Halkka and Stobe Harju Apple Final Cut Server Apple Final Cut Server: A Creative Cow Real-time Report Everybody wants to know, what is Final Cut Server? And if they know the answer (hint: a very, very big deal), they want to know if it actually works. Who better to ask than people actually using it? The answers provided will change as the situation does, but this is where you can find everything you need to know about Final Cut Server, in real time. Review, Feature Author: Tim Wilson Adobe After Effects On Set Keying In this article Creative Cow Leader Andrew Shanks plans to go through some of the software options for checking greenscreens on set (Lensfeed, Veescope and Conduit Live). Review, Feature Author: Andrew Shanks Apple Final Cut Pro Using Automator for repetitive tasks in Final Cut Pro Apple Automator is a tiny application included with Mac OS X with big power, quickly and easily creating custom workflows based on the work you actually do - no programming required. Its the perfect way to handle those pesky repetitive tasks in FCP. Do something once, then let Automator take it from there. This handy little tool can make the difference between keeping and losing your sanity -- and making or missing your deadline. Tutorial, Feature Author: Dustin Lau Broadcast Design Slam Dunk! AE, PS, 3D...and Basketball Fix it in post? This article shows how to BUILD it in post. Here in April, as March Madness ends and the NBA Playoffs begin, the Cows Bill ONeill shows how he combined greenscreen, 2D graphics and 3D compositing in a remarkable promo for Big Ten basketball. This Web Extra from Bills article in the Cow Magazines Commercials issue shows you rough edits along the way, and shares some of the production secrets for building an entire world in post. Feature Author: Bill Oneil Event Videographers How to Add Video, Photo and Audio Assets to your Digital Toolbox Who doesnt love high quality free stuff? Let Creative Cow Contributing Editor Stephen Smith be your maitre D. Hell provide a menu that will show you some of the best places to get free video, photo and audio assets that will benefit every media professional. Feature Author: Stephen Smith Panasonic HVX - HPX (P2) P2: The format. The trailer. What do filmmakers do in their free time? They make films. The horror movie P2 has just been released on DVD, but when Doug Spice and team at Psychic Bunny saw the original trailer for the theatrical release, all they could think about was their cuddly little Panasonic HVX200. Heres a playful look at what happened when the two came together, with a few shooting and workflow tips for good measure. Feature Author: Doug Spice Apple Final Cut Pro The Ultimate Real-world FCP FAQ, Part 3 Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the worlds most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, hes compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shanes Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. Here in Part 3, he covers QuickTime issues, timecode management, P2 tips and much more, including one of the most frequently questions of all: how to open new projects in older versions of FCP. Tutorial, Feature Author: Shane Ross Apple Final Cut Pro The Forbidden Kingdom: Jackie Chan. Jet Li. FCP. A Creative Cow Exclusive! DigitalFilm Trees Zed Saeed has helped create pioneering digital workflows built around FCP, custom-designed for large-scale productions. Their biggest challenge so far has come on The Forbidden Kingdom, an epic film partnering Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time -- with production and post in China, Korea, Australia, and multiple locations in the US. Heres a look at how they put it all together with FCP, Xserve, XML, Color, file-based workflows...and hard, hard work. Feature Author: Zed Saeed Apple - Windows on Mac Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together! Windows on Mac, part 2 In part 2 of our look at Windows on Mac, Creative Cows Tim Wilson digs deeper into questions like 64-bit computing, drive formatting, and backing up your content. Youll find tips and tricks for dual-platform success, as well as answers to a few questions raised by part 1 of this series. Feature Author: Tim Wilson Apple - Windows on Mac Windows on Mac: Who, What, When, Where...but WHY? Sure its possible, but why would anybody want to run Windows on a Mac? There are a bunch of great reasons for people using either OS -- and plenty more for people who have to use both. The Cows Tim Wilson takes a look at some of the options for working with 2 --or even more-- operating systems on the same computer. Sometimes, even at the same time! Feature Author: Tim Wilson Business & Marketing Building and Running Your Business Okay, so youve taken the big plunge and started your own business. Youve got the office set up, youve got the cards printed...now what? In part 3 of his series, Creative COW leader and business owner Walter Biscardi tells you what you need to know to get the word out, how to manage money...and manage clients! If youre even thinking about starting your own business, start here. Feature, Business Author: Walter Biscardi Apple iPhone Up in the Sky! Its a Phone! Its a Platform! Its The Future! The Apple iPhone is more than just the best- and fastest-selling phone of all time. It has recently become the proving ground for the technologies that are making their way into the rest of the Apple product line...and far, far beyond that. Creative COWs Tim Wilson takes a look at Apples recent iPhone announcement as he -- and Apple -- look at what the future might hold. Editorial, Feature Author: Tim Wilson Business & Marketing Starting a Business: Four Points to Consider In this article, Brendan Coots addresses some of the points that users need to consider when asking ''What do I need to do to go into business for myself?'' Tutorial, Feature, Business Author: Brendan Coots AVID Editing Avid rolls out lower-priced Media Composer When most people think of Avid, low cost is not a term likely to be used in connection with the venerable leader in broadcast and film editing systems. But with today's announcements, Avid has both increased their lead in the education sector and has radically dropped the price of its flagship Media Composer software. In this article, Creative COW's Ron Lindeboom explores why we find this great news for both existing Avid customers and those who thought that they could never afford an Avid. Editorial, Feature Author: Ron Lindeboom RED Camera Shooting with RED: Testing, testing... CreativeCOW leader Gary Adcock's experience shooting both film and HD gives him a unique perspective as he takes you along for thorough testing with the new RED camera. In part 1 of this series, he focuses on the camera's benefits and shortcomings of the camera itself, as well as some of the challenges shooting with it. Feature Author: Gary Adcock Softron IPTV: How To WebCast Using Softron OnTheAir Video In this article, technology guru Mike Skibra discusses both IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and the way that tools like Softron's OnTheAir system webcasts digital television over broadband network connections. IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks. At the forefront of this new evolution in distribution, Softron OnTheAir enables the delivery of content using these internet enabled computers to become new broadcast channels. The OnTheAir system is Mac-based and in this article, Mike Skibra explains many of the basics you need to know for set-up and successfully broadcasting your content. Tutorial, Feature Author: Mike Skibra Cinematography Looking for film look? Shoot like film! Film look software will never offer the same impact on your work that film-style shooting will. Software will also always take longer than shooting right the first time. Longtime film shooter Kim Segel shows you the tools and techniques to maximize film looks, even on paupers budgets. Tutorial, Feature Author: Kim Segel Business & Marketing Blu-ray and HD DVD: The Big Dog Gets Off The Porch Creative Cow Associate Publisher Tim Wilson wrote nearly a year ago that Wal-Mart would make the deciding vote in the DVD format wars. It turned out to be true, but its only the beginning of the story. Where will Blu-ray fit into the fast-changing landscape of home entertainment? Nothings over yet. Were just getting started. Editorial, Feature Author: Tim Wilson Indie Film & Documentary A Labor of Love In this article from The Creative COW Magazine, Laurie Pepper discusses her adventures in the movie making industry and her late husband Art Pepper, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. Feature, People / Interview Author: Laurie Pepper RED Camera Dress for Success with RED Not all production with the RED camera is Hollywood-scale. Craig Meadows is in a smaller market, doing mostly local and regional spots. Even though he's only had his RED for a short time, he tells you here about how it works, its workflow, and how it's already making a big difference for his clients. Feature Author: Craig Meadows Motion Graphics - How Do I? Secrets of High-impact Graphics Creative COW Contributing Editor and graphics expert Sean Cusson shares the secrets to success that hes learned the hard way. They include the power of music for graphic design, compositing techniques, logo animation and invaluable workflow tips that will save you hours. Sean also shows you how to keep your graphics clients coming back for more. Feature Author: Sean Cusson Apple Final Cut Pro The Ultimate Real-world FCP FAQ, part 2 Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the world's most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, he's compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shane's Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. In part 2 he covers HDV monitoring, editing web codecs, working with Photoshop files in FCP, and much more. Tutorial, Feature Author: Shane Ross Gridiron Software Gary Adcock's MacWorld 2008 Wrap-up Creative COW Community leader Gary Adcock was one of many COWs at MacWorld. He shares his impressions with us, including one product that will be shaping things for a long time to come. And because it's MacWorld, something cool for your iPod and iPhone. Feature Author: Gary Adcock Apple Final Cut Pro The Ultimate Real-world FCP FAQ, part 1 Creative Cow Leader Shane Ross is one of a very small handful of the world's most respected FCP experts. Over the course of years answering questions, he's compiled a real-world list of the questions that are truly the most frequently asked. He calls them Shane's Stock Answers. We call them the information you really need for working with FCP. In part 1 he covers lossless QuickTimes, digitizing across timecode breaks, some of his favorite freeware add-ons, and more. Tutorial, Feature Author: Shane Ross Broadcast Video Non-fiction TV Production We often know each other in the Cow from the problems and solutions we share with each other, and very rarely the WORK that we actually do. Allow us to introduce then, a handful of Cows involved in various aspects of non-fiction television production. This covers everything from food and fishing to creating tasteful head wounds. With over 550,000 people passing through the Cow, this is only a brief introduction, but we have to start somewhere, dont we? Feature Author: Tim Wilson Motion Graphics - How Do I? How CGI in Commercials Changed the History of Film: A Creative Cow Magazine Extra For his article in the Creative Cow Magazines Commercial Issue, film compositor, VFX artist, animator and Creative Cow Contributing Editor Steve Wright (Ray, Traffic, Blade: Trinity, Never Die Alone and 60 others), told how the computer graphics animation technology we see in film today actually originated in the world of commercial advertising. (He knows. He was there.) In this Creative Cow Magazine Extra, Steve provides even more details, including the demo reel for CGI pioneers Robert Abel & Associates, and a great spot that Steve created for Volkswagen...with cows! Feature Author: Steve Wright Adobe After Effects Cineon Files: What They Are, and How To Work With Them Expert film compositor Pete OConnell takes you through the world of Cineon files, including exactly what they are, how they work, and how to work with them in Adobe After Effects. If you work with film files or want to, you need to read this article. High Bandwidth/Large File Warning: Due to the fact that this article deals with film images, the image sizes are large and this article contains 32MB of images in the HTML file. Tutorial, Feature Author: Pete O'Connell Cinematography A Commercial's Voyage from Concept to Completion A major player in some of the biggest commercial campaigns in the last 25 years shares his experiences on one of the biggest: the Max Headroom campaign for Coca-Cola. They're lessons you can learn too. Feature, People / Interview Author: Arthur Vibert Sony EX Series XDCAM A Creative Cow Real-time Report: EX1 vs. PD170 In this Creative COW Real Time Report, Don Greening puts the Sony DSR-PD170, long-acknowledged to be a low-light champ, against the newcomer, the PMW EX-1 head to head in a low-light test. Will the upstart unseat the champ? Read on.... Review, Feature Author: Don Greening Broadcast Video 11 Deadlines a Day Andrea found herself with her hands more than full during an unplanned personnel shortage at WJLA, Washington DC affiliate of ABC: so, responsible for creating all the news promos for the sweeps run of the ABC affilate, 11 times daily, she leveraged all her best methods. What happened at 5 PM on the last day of sweeps? Lets see... Feature Author: Andrea Laign Apple Final Cut Pro Five Free Plug-ins for Final Cut Pro If you love plug-ins for Final Cut Pro, youll love free plug-ins even more. CreativeCow.net Contributing Editor Stephen Smith highlights his five favorite free plug-ins for FCP, everything from eye candy to the ones that save your bacon. Feature Author: Stephen Smith Audio Professionals Why Use a Mixer? Want to know why you should be using a mixer and an external mic instead of your cameras onboard mic? After years shooting for clients including National Geographic, NFL Film and Oprah, as well as production for his own company, hell give you the background you need to make your work sound its best. Feature Author: Brandt Sleeper Sony EX Series XDCAM On Location with the Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX In this Creative COW Real Time Report, Don Greening takes us along on his very first shoot with his brand new Sony XDCAM EX camera on location in British Columbia. Upon return to his nice warm studio, Don also takes us through his very first look at the footage on his plasma TV, and his first edit in Final Cut Pro. Review, Feature Author: Don Greening Cinematography Inside HBOs The Wire Set in Baltimore, Maryland, The Wire will begin its fifth and final season in January 2008 on HBO. As different from standard TV as it gets, the show has received the highest levels of critical acclaim, being referred to by multiple reviewers as the best show on television. In its last issue of 2006 Time Magazine ranked The Wire first on its list of 10 Best TV Shows. And Finally recognized as the best series on TV. Sorry, Tony (Soprano), was Newsweeks description. Creative COWs Nick Griffin spent time on set earlier this year and interviewed one of the shows Producers. Heres his inside glimpse into The Wire and its production. Editorial, Feature, People / Interview Author: Nick Griffin Broadcast Video Read The Book! Real-world Broadcast Specs Your TV show isn't ready to air until the STATION says it's ready to air. The good news is that they're clear about what they want from you. Longtime TV vet and Creative COW leader Walter Biscardi tells you some of the things to look for...and some of the things to look OUT for. Feature Author: Walter Biscardi

Authors Gary Adcock (2) David Battistella (1) Walter Biscardi (3) Rick Castañeda (1) Mike Cohen (1) Brendan Coots (1) Andrea Laign (12) Sean Cusson (1) John Daro (1) Greg Foster (1) John Galt (1) Jeremy Garchow (1) Brian Gardner (1) Philip Garvin (1) Jiggy Gaton (1) Jason Goodman (1) Don Greening (2) Nick Griffin (4) Chris Healer (1) Grinner Hester (2) Chris Heuer (1) Nel Johnson (1) Bernie Laramie (1) Carl Larsen (1) Russell Lasson (1) Dustin Lau (1) Ron Lindeboom (6) Pete Litwinowicz (1) Jim Mainard (1) Craig Meadows (1) James Moll (1) Pete O'Connell (1) Eugen Olsen (1) Bill Oneil (1) Harry Pallenberg (1) Grant Petty (1) Dylan Reeve (1) Shane Ross (4) Zed Saeed (2) Ethan Schur (1) Kim Segel (1) Andrew Shanks (1) Mike Skibra (1) Brandt Sleeper (1) Stephen Smith (3) Doug Spice (1) Douglas Spotted Eagle (1) Eran Stern (1) Dave Stump (1) Todd Terry (1) David Roth Weiss (2) Peter Wiggins (1) Tim Wilson (11) Rick Wise (1) Steve Wright (2) Bob Zelin (2) Ray Zone (1) Other Tutorials Adobe After Effects (459) Adobe After Effects basics (244) Adobe After Effects Expressions (34) Adobe Audition, Soundbooth (9) Adobe Encore DVD (12) Adobe Flash (52) Adobe Illustrator (25) Adobe OnLocation (8) Adobe Photoshop (160) Adobe Premiere basics (11) Adobe Premiere Pro (68) AJA Kona (14) Apple Color (18) Apple DVD Studio Pro (12) Apple Final Cut Pro (128) Apple Final Cut Pro basics (28) Apple Motion (15) Apple OS X (10) Apple Shake (11) Art of the Edit (25) Audio Professionals (26) Autodesk 3ds Max (33) Autodesk Combustion (31) AVID Editing (53) AVID Editing basics (9) Blackmagic Design (12) Boris FX (32) Broadcast Video (27) Business & Marketing (48) Cinema 4D (46) Cinematography (37) Compression techniques (17) Corporate Video (38) COWmunications feedback (10) Creative COW Magazine feedback (17) DVD Authoring (17) Event Videographers (30) HD High-End (30) HDV Format (36) Indie Film & Documentary (44) Leitch dpsVelocity (11) Lighting Design Pros (8) Lightwave (8) Magic Bullet Suite (9) Matrox Video Systems (8) MAYA (42) Media 100 844/X (9) Media 100 | Media 100 HD (30) Motion Graphics (57) Panasonic HVX - HPX (P2) (15) particle Illusion (16) Podcasting (11) RE:Vision Effects (9) RED Camera (9) Red Giant plug-ins (8) SAN - Storage Area Networks (9) Sony Vegas (34) Sony Vegas basics (17) Stereoscopic 3D (12) Trapcode (27) Web Design (13) Windows Hardware & Software (17) Zaxwerks (17)