Though nothing particularly exceptional, this video marks several firsts for me: believing it to be defective, up until now, I have hardly used my wide zoom since picking up the GH4; this is also my very first video with an architectural subject; and it also happens to be the first time I've shot a video... Continue Reading →
Faces III (extended cut)
http://youtu.be/xcT71HtywPY Free Background Music From JewelBeat
Faces III
Another short clip shot with the Lumix GH4 and the Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. Minimal color correction in post and no added sharpening. Settings: ISO 200, Natural, Sharpness -4, Contrast -4, Noise Reduction 0, Saturation -2. http://youtu.be/9n2mjBW_JA4 Free background music from JewelBeat.com
Lumix GH4 Test: Faces II [Updated]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FkpIWS6v5c&feature=youtu.be I wanted to get this up as soon as possible, so I'll be adding more information about the clip at the beginning of next week. Here are the settings used for the test: C4K, Natural Picture Profile, Contrast -4, Sharpness -4, NR 0, Saturation -2, Luminance Level 0-255, ISO 200. Because I was carrying... Continue Reading →
GH4 Test: Faces II
I've been shooting with the Lumix GH4 now for around ten days, and have amassed something like 250 clips, many of which I hope to be able to post in the next week or so. Since my sole interest is street life in Vietnam, the focus of the test will be on how well the... Continue Reading →
The 1st Lumix GH4 in Saigon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxGekOHEPuc&list=UUpPnsOUPkWcukhWUVcTJvnA It's almost a year to the day that I waltzed into a shop in Kuala Lumpur and purchased my very first micro four-thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix GH3. At the time, I'd been researching for the best video camera for the money and was still struggling between the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera and... Continue Reading →
Saigon Mini-Doc: 30/4 Park
I learned quite a bit while editing this short. For one thing, I encountered a lot of frustrating performance issues with Final Cut Pro X - sluggishness, beach balls and running out of memory - when rendering stuff as basic as subtitles, not to mention applying LUTs. After uploading the project to YouTube, I did... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park Rushes
It's been too long since I've posted any new videos, so here's a peek at the first minute and-a-half of a mini-documentary I'm working on about young people in and around 30/4 Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. One thing I discovered is that when converting the ProRes 422 files to QuickTime H.264 using... Continue Reading →
How to Edit FCPX on a Different Computer
I'd begun editing my 'mini-documentary' on my MacBook Pro but since getting a new 27" iMac, naturally I wanted the convenience of being able to edit the project on both machines: on the laptop while at the office (I don't have any classes for seven more weeks) or at the coffee shop after work; and... Continue Reading →
Impressions of Saigon
I’m just trying to get the juices flowing for my next project, a sort of mini-documentary I’ve been working on for the past two months. All of the footage was shot in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, mostly of the young musicians and flatland BMX riders around 30/4 park. I’ve begun to do a... Continue Reading →
Apple Reseller Shutters, Leaving Buyer in the Lurch
Well, not actually, but that's what I thought when I reached the the third floor of Diamond Plaza to make a final payment on the 27" iMac I'd ordered five weeks before, only to find that iCenter had disappeared without a trace. Had they taken off with the $2,000 I'd already put down? Did they... Continue Reading →
4K Storage: How Fast is Fast Enough?
I'm still patiently waiting for DigitalRev to notify me when the Lumix GH4 will be available in Hong Kong. According to 43rumors.com, the only cameras which have shipped have been sold in the U.S. This represents a shift in strategy by Panasonic, which aims to increase its presence in the North American market. To kill... Continue Reading →
WD My Passport Pro
I've been going back and forth from one storage solution to another ever since deciding to purchase Panasonic's Lumix GH4. Not only will the 4K files require far more storage capacity than HD, they will also demand faster transfer speeds. The iMac I ordered last month will be equipped with Apple's Fusion drive, which, according... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park and Midlife Crisis
What I should be doing is working on a script. Instead, I just go out and shoot street life every weekend. I should find an assistant to handle sound recording. Instead, I use a microphone mounted on the camera. I'm sure I'll sort it all out - eventually! Anyhow, I'd been shooting in and around the... Continue Reading →
LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2
In preparation for editing the huge 4K files from Panasonic's Lumix GH4, I've already gone ahead and placed an order for one of the new 27" iMacs equipped with a 3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M 2GB graphics card, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB Fusion Drive. But much more than... Continue Reading →
How to Import XML Files into Resolve Without Crashes
I'd had Resolve in my applications folder for forever but not for one second did I think I would ever need it, let alone learn to use it. But since I became interested in color grading, I realized FCPX wasn't going to cut it. There remained only one obstacle - importing XML files into Resolve from... Continue Reading →
Lumix GH3: Color Grading With LUT Utility and Grading Breakdown
In all of the digital video I've done over the past two years, virtually the only manipulation I ever applied in order to enhance the image has been to reduce contrast, color saturation and in-camera sharpening. When it came to editing, any adjustments were solely to correct for over- or underexposure. It has only been... Continue Reading →
First Look: Tiffen ND Filter Kit
In my last test, I hoped to show that the Lumix GH3 is fully capable of producing beautiful skin tones and satisfying bokeh, at least when coupled with the Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. But because they were shot under mixed lighting, the results were perhaps not the final word. One of the reasons for doing... Continue Reading →
A Weekend in the Mekong Delta
Thinh, a teaching assistant at the language center I work for, invited me to spend the weekend at his hometown, My Tho, in Tien Giang province. The city, whose economy is based chiefly on tourism, fishing and agriculture, boasts the very first high school in southern Vietnam as well as the longest bridge in the... Continue Reading →
Faces
One of the things I like most about Panasonic cameras is the way they reproduce color. The Lumix GH3 impressed me from the very first shots I made under mixed lighting in Kuala Lumpur's international airport and continued to do so in my weekly jaunts capturing street life in and around Saigon. The GM1, though... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 