It didn’t need a lot of time to get full feature film shot on these cheap Canon dSLRs. The latest big release is “Tiny Furniture”, which won best narrative film award at the SxSW festival. This indie film was shot for less than $100k, using a Canon 7D.

What’s important to understand here is that, at last, hardware is not the issue anymore. If you go back even just 1-2 years in time, shooting a film that looked even remotely like a serious indie production was a big deal, because renting all these high-end cameras was expensive and had a big learning curve. But now, a dSLR like the Canon T2i (which has the same video abilities and quality as the 7D), costs just $800, plus the cost of lenses! Hardware is not the issue anymore! Now filmmakers can easily create their vision without hardware being an obstacle!

And this is only the beginning. The two directors of the new Yeasayer music video “O.N.E.” told me that while the bulk of the video was shot with the RED One, a few scenes were shot using the Canon 7D.

I expect that the next big crop of dSLRs by Canon will be able to do 3k or 4k at 24p/25p, 30p/50p/60p at full 1080p, have absolutely no rolling shutter artifacts, full HDMI output, and possibly go towards continuous auto-focus too. When such cameras hit the market for less than $2k, you can imagine the even bigger impact they will have in the filmmaking community.

If you like Empire of the Sun, or Cut Copy, then you might like Tesla Boy as well. This Russian band (I think they’re the only Russian band in my iTunes collection) writes very danceable electro-pop, with happy tunes & atmosphere. Their full CD is expected soon by a UK indie label, but an EP is already available for purchase.

What a huge success these Canon dSRLs are these days! Everyone with a little interest in filmmaking now hurries to acquire one of these cams too. The problem is that the h.264 format these dSLRs (and other HD digicams and digirecorders) are recording is not exactly “friendly” on the PC side. Here’s a guide on how to use that h.264 dSLR/digicam format properly with a PC editor.

1. Install the software

I will be using Sony Vegas Platinum in this article, because it’s the only consumer video editor that supports 24p editing — a key feature that these dSLRs have is 24p recording. Platinum is in my opinion the most powerful consumer video editor, and costs ~$75. Yes, I could suggest a professional editor here, but honestly, Platinum does most of what you’ll ever need to do, for a fraction of the price.

Please note that Vegas Platinum 10+, and Vegas Pro 10+ do offer better support for these h.264 files, so you might not need to use this tutorial at all if your editing is stable/fast-enough. But it’s definitely a must-read tutorial if you use an older version.

2. Shoot the footage

There are three things you should setup in your camera: frame rate, exposure, picture style. If you’re shooting a music video or film go for 24p/25p, if you’re shooting sports go for 50/60p, and if you’re shooting daily random stuff go for 25p/30p. Either use manual exposure to setup your shots, but if you’re not very accustomed on how to do that, just use automatic exposure, but make sure you actually “lock it” (so the brightness doesn’t jump in the footage every time your scene changes). Finally, go for a flatter picture style, or if you prefer more punch, use the built-in “Neutral” style. Definitely don’t go for the over-the-top “Standard” default style though, it’s color-ungradeable. Looks too video-y.

If you’re using a plain HD digicam from Canon, also ease-up the colors, and always lock exposure (read the manual on how to do that).

When done shooting, create a folder on your computer that will host all the project files. Copy the MOV files in there from your flash card.

3. Transcode your footage

PC editors just don’t deal fast-enough with the Canon MOV format. Some editors do better than others, but if you want 24p, you’ll have to stick with Vegas Platinum — and in that case you’ll have to transcode to an easier-to-decode “intermediate” visually-lossless format. I would suggest Cineform NeoSCENE ($100), but if money is an issue, you can go with the freeware AVID DNxHD, or Matrox MPEG-2 i-Frame HD codecs. Here is a comparison between the three:
– Cineform is much faster to encode during transcoding,
– Cineform is much faster to decode/playback,
– Cineform hits some bugs on Vegas Pro 9 or later,
– AVID DNxHD has slightly better quality (not noticeable usually),
– AVID DNxHD is free,
– AVID DNxHD doesn’t support 1080/30p frame rate, or 1080/50p/60p,
– Matrox I-Frame is free,
– Matrox I-Frame is in between DNxHD and Cineform in regards to overall speed,
– Matrox I-Frame supports up to 300 mbps bitrate, so quality is ok too,
– Matrox I-Frame method is a bit more difficult to setup and batch-encode your files into,
– Cineform and DNxHD work on a Mac too, Matrox doesn’t.

You might also hear others suggesting the Huffyuv or Lagarith intermediate formats. I’d suggest against them, since they’re slow as molasses, even on the fastest PCs. Others, might suggest you go with the Proxy method, but again I’d suggest against it, because when you do the final switch to the original MOV files, you will get more frequent crashes than usual during exporting (especially on more complex projects).

So, once you’ve made your decision between the three intermediate formats, here’s how to use each:

  3a. Cineform NeoSCENE
Download and install NeoSCENE (use the trial version first, to make sure it works on your system, and if it does, uninstall properly before installing the purchased version). Load the utility, load its preferences, and make sure you’re using the AVI format, the path to the folder you created on step #2, “High” quality, and the “maintain source format” option. Then, load the MOV files to the utility, and start the conversion. This will create AVIs on the same folder, typically at double the filesize (it’s normal for intermediate formats to create large filesizes). Conversion will be rather fast. Please note that Vegas Pro 9 has a bug with Cineform, and sometimes it creates red/blank frames in the timeline, so be aware of it. Pro 7/8 and Platinum 8/9 don’t have this problem. Finally, if you’re not using a Pro 9 or later released version, you will also need to rename the cfhd.dll file to cfhd.dll-OLD (found in your Vegas installation directory), in order to force Vegas to use the newer codec that gets installed with NeoSCENE (by default, older Vegas versions use an ancient decoder).

  3b. AVID DNxHD
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to install the codec (need to be done only once), then batch-convert dSLR footage into AVID DNxHD. Just make sure you select the right frame rates/resolutions in the dialogs, depending on how you actually shot. Also, create these DNxHD MOV files into a sub-folder in the main project folder, because otherwise you wouldn’t know which MOV files are what format.

  3c. Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame HD
Here’s a quick rundown on how to setup your machine in order to batch-encode your files into this codec. It requires some understanding of what you’re doing, and some moderate PC usage though. Update: A different, simpler way to convert to Matrox’s AVI. This makes the Matrox AVI solution not as time-consuming anymore.

NOTE: Make sure you don’t have both Matrox AVI and a Cineform decoder installed on the same PC, at the same time. When you do that, you’ll get red/black frames and crashes with recent Vegas versions. So only have installed one or the other, depending on your project.

4. Load footage into Vegas

Load Vegas. After the initial screens go away, load the Cineform or Matrox AVIs, or the DNxHD MOVs, into Vegas’ “project media” tab (you can drag-n-drop them). IF you are using Cineform, you must do a one-time check. You must check if Vegas recognizes these AVIs as progressive or as interlaced. Because the AVI format does not have a field for field order, it’s up to you to instruct Vegas what kind of files these are. So, follow this tip on how to do that. When you do that, come back to read the rest here.

5. Setup Project Properties

In Vegas, it’s very important to have the right project settings before you start editing. From the main menu select “Project Properties”, and a new dialog will pop up. In there, click the right outmost icon called “Match Media”, the one that looks like a yellow folder. From there, select one of the files you will be editing with (Cineform/Matrox AVI or DNxHD MOV), and click “open”. Vegas will now automatically fill up most of the project settings for you, after analyzing the video file you picked. After it does that, you need to do a few changes manually to that dialog: For the de-interlacing option select “none”, and for the Quality option select “Best”. You can save a new template with these settings, so each time you start a new project with the same kind of resolution/frame-rate, you can just pick it from the list! So, after your project settings are set, click “Ok”, and edit as you would normally do. Save often. Here is my Vegas getting-started guide.

6. Ensure visual quality

After you have edited, select ALL clips in the timeline (e.g. by using the SHIFT key), right click, select “Switches”, “Disable Resample”. By disabling resample we ensure no ghosted final image (especially if you used slow-motion). I have more such cool tips here, that you should read.

7. Export

Export your final for YouTube/Vimeo/PS3/AppleTV/XBOX360 from this tutorial, by just using its step 3 (or step 4 if you have access to the SONY AVC encoder via Platinum version 9+). That exporting tutorial is for 720p, but it’s easily converted to 1080p: just change the resolution to 1920×1080, and the bitrate to 12 mbps. Everything else remains the same as in the tutorial.

If you’re after DVDs, then use the right MPEG2 widescreen template on the “RENDER AS” dialog. This will export video only. For audio, use the AC3 template. Then, bring both files into DVD Architect (companion application to Vegas Platinum), and DVDA will put the two back together.

If you’re after Blu-Ray or “AVCHD disks”, just use the option from the main menu. If you get crashes with the Sony AVC encoder when burning HD, change the burning encoder setting to “Main Concept”.

A short film disguised as the official music video for Midnight Strangers‘ “Future of Humanity” single. This is my 5th music video, and my first foray into narrative story-telling (even if within the form of a music video). Free HD download here.

This was the longest project I’ve been involved into so far, with 7 hours of shooting in the first batch, and another 4 hours for the re-shoots. We actually re-shot half of the video again, with a different location & female lead. If I had my way, I’d use different locations for the scenes shown from 1′:12″ to 1′:25″.

Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II at 30 fps, and then it was slowed-down to 24p. Majority of footage was shot with the Canon f1.4 50mm lens. My own “ExtraFlat” Picture Style was used (minimum color grading was done in post, it just came out exactly as I wanted it to).

Iceland’s Sin Fang Bous (also known for his Seabear band), is marrying folk with ’60s rhythms, and a good dose of experimental sounds in his solo album. Download “Catch the Light” for free.

I shot for TheOWLMag (by using my Canon 5D Mark II with a 50mm f1.4 lens) the following interview with this fresh Bay Area band, Veil Veil Vanish, about their new album. The band, which is compared to The Cure by the media, played their CD release party in San Francisco last night — I interviewed this amazing band just before that performance. Unfortunately we could not stay for the show though. 🙁

You can freely download the two tracks heard on the video at the LA Weekly article here.

One of my favorite videographers in the Vimeo/HV20/30/40 community is Matthew Brown. He’s already very popular with videos like “GAY = SIN”, “Bloom”, “Autumn”, “Crash” and many more. Recently, Matthew was asked by well known Seattle label Sub Pop to direct a music video for one of their artists, The Album Leaf (legal free mp3 downloads here). Matthew was very kind to give me an interview about this whole experience.

1. How did the Album Leaf music video happened? Did you approach Sub Pop, or they approached you etc?

Matthew Brown: I made a random art video for my video journal on Vimeo called PETAL showcasing the tulip farms in Washington State, and the band saw and liked my style of shooting and editing and immediately wanted to do something with me. After a few months of no contact I get a message from Jimmy Lavalle (the lead singer of The Album Leaf) saying that he’s watched all my videos and really wants me to do a music video for his upcoming album. The next thing I know, Sub Pop Records says hello.

2. How was the idea for the music video evolved? Did you story board, or you filmed in a free flow way that you put together later?

Matthew Brown: When Sub Pop contacted me, they basically gave me a budget and wanted to have something within two weeks or so. I had a nice conversation with Jimmy on the phone; he told me he wants four things for sure in the video…children, an elderly person, tall grass, and aerial shots (which were chosen because those were some things in my past videos he liked a lot). So, with the time restraint and those four items, I came up with a little idea. The evolution of the actual story and full idea came while shooting. We basically made up everything as we went. We were in the middle of one shot and said, “Wait, what if we did this?”…then that would take us to another moment of the same thinking. The ideas were definitely all over the place. We kind of knew what we were doing, but I think with the weight of the deadline on our shoulders we couldn’t really think about it, haha. I think the editing created the story for sure. It shaped it into something tangible and not too abstract…luckily. We made a simple shot list, but even that wasn’t concrete. I don’t think we even looked at the shot list after we had come up with it. It was just floating thoughts in the back of our minds. I’m a very visual thinker, so I kind of knew what felt right when we were doing it.

3. How different, if at all, is to shooting+editing an actual music video compared to your other videos?

Matthew Brown: I get the same feeling when shooting both a little fun artsy video and an actual music video. With one of my artsy videos I have more leverage to allow it to be abstract, maybe not go anywhere by the end, and with a music video (in most instances) you have to at least “go somewhere” with the concept…it’s got to hook in some way to make the viewer want to watch. My artsy videos are my way of documenting the world around me in a beautiful, emotional way. With music videos, there’s a lot of fiction being told…I think the documenting aspect has to often leave the scene and let something strange and wondrous in. To me, music videos are WAY more fun and challenging. As far as editing, the only difference would be that in music videos I’m a little more hesitant to be experimental, because as everyone knows, they call them experiments because they don’t know what is going to happen or whether or not they’ll even work.

4. What gear did you use exactly to shoot the video? Did you have a crew?

Matthew Brown: We used three cameras, a very bunch pair. The Canon 7D, the Canon HV40, and the Panasonic HVX. Unfortunately, we were only able to use the footage from the 7D and HV40 because there wasn’t enough time to gather and “convert” the footage from the HVX. I was shocked that the footage of the 7D and HV40 was very seamless through the video. I’d say it was 60% 7D footage and 40% HV40 footage. I don’t think people would be able to tell to much. We had two camera rigs for the 7D, one was the Zacuto Gunstock Shooter (that I was privileged to get from my Zacuto award last year), and then another, bigger, rig compiled of both Zacuto and Redrock parts…pretty much a shoulder mount with handle bars in front, hehe. As you can tell, I’m not a very technical person. We had a little DIY dolly with us for a couple of shots. Other then that, it was all handheld. No tripod in sight. For crew, I had the amazing Nate Miller. He’s definitely been my partner in crime on my bigger projects. He played role of cinematographer/assistant director/producer. He knows exactly what I want. Definitely my key person. We had another producer (Ian Todd) acting as the spider web connectors to keep everything together. He was doing the paperwork/emailing/phone call stuff to make sure we were actually getting things done. We had a very talented shooter with us as assistant camera (Christian Hansen) with us as well. HUGE help. During the birthday scene we had a lot of random people show up along with the actor whom I’ve never met before, so we had three coordinators and a couple production assistants.

5. What’s next for Matthew Brown, the filmmaker? Are you interested in directing an actual short movie?

Matthew Brown: Right now I am wanting to get jump started on music videos, and really hone in on my craft and grow creatively, but narrative storytelling is definitely what I’m eyeing at. I am planning a short film where we see the world through the eyes of a little autistic boy as he witnesses his family crumble around him because of his disorder. It’s a very surreal, emotional film that I don’t have funding for right now. I have been trying to raise money to make this project, but it’s been very difficult. I have a couple hundred dollars saved up from generous people so far along with bits of my paycheck, hehe. We are also currently auditioning children with autism to play the roles in the film to make it a more genuine story and to raise awareness easier by showing the true reality of the issue. For now, though, I’ll make music videos and keep experimenting and evolving into more complex and interesting currents of creativity.

Portugal The Man, the biggest band Alaska ever created, write:

“On March 2nd we will make this record available to you, press, radio, retail, etc. Nobody gets the record early; we will not be soliciting reviews, airplay or any support from the industry. It is up to you to tweet about #americanghetto or to share or to send friends to buy. If you want to write/blog/play American Ghetto, March 2nd is your opportunity. It will be the same for everyone. […] Lets take this to the next step.“

Today, the band released their new album, “American Ghetto“. As you read above, what’s very interesting about it is that it has ZERO PR. Portugal The Man had quite some success last year, and made some money from extensive touring (apart from the fact that their van was burglarized in Spain last year with all their instruments, passports, money etc). They could easily put up the regular PR/radio push that every band does when they have a new release at hand. But Portugal The Man didn’t. For this record (and possibly their best so far), it’s ONLY up to fans to spread the word!

And what the heck can I say?

Within 5 hours of its release on iTunes, as I write this, is already in the top-10 of the Alternative iTunes Chart! Just like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros that I blogged yesterday, Portugal The Man also have a great live show, and their music is very versatile: no one writes that kind of music. And this word of mouth, pays back eventually. But it only pays back for bands that do deserve it.

Best tracks on the album: “All My People”, “1000 Years” (at LEAST preview these two below if you don’t have much free time).

So, definitely give these guys a preview listen. They deserve it if not just for kicking the music industry’s status quo in the balls. Or, download a free track from the album.

Here’s a puzzle for you.

I have been following Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes since their album came out in Summer 2009, and continuously was looking at their iTunes charting. Bear in mind that these guys do minimal to zilch PR. And yet, their album refuses to leave the top-25 of the Alternative charts on iTunes! It never went up to the top-10 either! It wasn’t a case of being released, charting in the top-10, getting “well known”, and then being considered a great album and continuing to exist in the top-25. That was more of a case of a release that was under the radar of most people who only check out the top-10, but with enough touring and word of mouth, being able to continue selling pretty well STEADILY. Which means that the charting in the top-25 we see today is a matter of CONTINUOUS discovering by fans. Whereas other bands will see dramatic curves in their album sale charts (if you were to use Excel), Edward Sharpe ONLY has a steady line, that inclines upwards little by little.

I’m very happy about this situation because it shows that a TRULY great band requires MINIMAL PR. As long as the concerts are great (and from what Dustin was telling me today they’re amazing on stage), the music is great, their personal stories are interesting, their videos are mesmerizing, all that creates a word of mouth that produces steady sales. Not super hits, but advancing popularity, little by little. It just shows that bands with a VISION don’t need major labels. And that band does have vision, very obvious from their two latest music videos that are part of a 12-part musical.

I also would like to blog about the Broken Bells, which I streamed their album today four times already! Their album, coming out March 9th, is the perfect blend for me of indie-sounding music but with the polishing of a major label record. Think of it as a brand new Linux distro that has the great usability and looks of Mac OS X. Yeah, something like that.

If that album had come out last year, it would probably sit in the No 1 of the decade for me. That’s how much I love their tunes.

You probably remember Solomon Chase. If not, check this video out. You do remember now, right? 🙂

Solomon is now selling the new NOKTOR lenses in the US. These are new, Japanese, ultra-fast lenses designed for the micro four thirds cameras, like the Panasonic GH1 and GF1. My guess is that they are probably not the sharpest lenses around, however by the moment the camera resizes down to 1080p, and if you actually need lots of shallow DoF, or to be able to see better in the dark, they do their job.