MobiSlyder is the small brother of the popular Glidetrack slider. It’s meant for cellphones, P&S digicams, digirecorders, and small dSLRs. The MobiSlyder comes with an articulated mount for full flexibility with your phone, a mobile device mount which has a variable size and can fit both small and big phones, a 1/4″ standard mount, and an adhesive & 1/4″ ball mount.

I tested the slider with my Canon SX200 HS digicam, which worked great. The slider was really smooth, it was like pushing a feather! Very nice sliding, especially for that price!

I also tested with my Galaxy Nexus phone, which is a rather big phone at 4.7″ diagonial screen. The phone also had a plastic case which added to the bulk and weight. The mobile device mount was able to fit the Galaxy Nexus fine, but the articulated mount had problems supporting the weight (even after tightening it). The mount would just collapse under the weight occasionally.

Another problem was that the slider is a bit noisy, as you can hear below. I usually don’t care about capturing sound for my projects, so for me this is not a problem. Also, I’m more likely to be using the standard mount with my digicam rather than the phone too.

One of the most beautiful videos and songs of last year. Simple, but yet dreamy and powerful. Directed by the amazing Video Marsh.

As some of you know, I taught some free videography classes for local kids recently. I was lucky to have some very smart students who would easily pick up the various notions about modern filmmaking. One of them is even using After Effects for his home movies using complex effects like gunshots and explosions. So I kept thinking tonight about how some of these kids could “make it” to the industry when and if they decide to follow such a profession.

We were discussing with JBQ a few weeks ago that there’s a huge opportunity for full length movies made using 3D gaming engines. The technology is nearly there (game companies already use them to create intro & cut scenes), but what is lacking is visual editors that would make it easy for non-technical users to put together a scene. Also, a universal 3D object format would be required, so directors/editors can simply download a needed prop and use it directly.

Audio technology would probably need a bigger push than the 3D engine though, as computerized voices would not only need to sound natural, but to also have support for accentuation or moods.

Of course, some would point to Blender 3D or Maya 3D to create an animated movie, but these tools are very difficult to use, and they require to almost create or control everything from scratch. On an existing 3D gaming engine with a proper front-end instead, a lot of the movie-making elements would be built-in, and much simpler to use. It would be a step beyond what current 3D design apps do.

Personally, I think we’re 5-10 years away from a commercial release of such a solution, but I think it’s coming. If there are so many successful bedroom musicians around after the maturation of computer music software, then movie-making without leaving the bedroom is also possible.

Well, either Canon has lost its mind, or they now segmentize their products too much. They announced 10 new P&S cameras recently, and they all have very disturbing video-related features. Removed features, that is.

- Except the SX260 HS, none of the other new models now support exposure compensation and exposure lock in video mode. That was a feature that was standard in all older models. Without these features, videos look like amateur hour.
- All their low-end cameras now do 25p instead of 24p. This is very dubious, because this is not a case of Canon throwing a bone to the Europeans and their PAL system. This is a case of Canon cutting off the “cheap 24p camera” pathway.

Basically, we had 2-3 years of Canon P&S superiority when it comes to video, and now Canon very consciously is removing video features so they can sell more high end products (e.g. dSLRs), or trying to save their failing camcorder division.

As the market stands today, I can’t recommend anymore ANY new P&S for video (from any manufacturer). A dSLR is the way to go for anyone serious about video (with lenses, you’d need a good $1500). I’m personally eager to see the new T4i.

For those who are interested in old P&S stock, Amazon currently sells the Canon A1200 (720/24p @ 22 mbps with exposure comp/lock and color controls) for $79 (last year’s model). Here’s a documentary shot with this little camera, unfortunately not uploaded in HD though.

Canon announced today a few new P&S digicams and camcorders. What do these new models mean for video? Apparently, absolutely nothing.

The flagship of the new announcements is the G1 X, a large sensor G-series camera. The only new video-related feature it’s got is its upgraded bitrate: it now uses the same bitrate as in the Canon dSLRs, at around 45 mbps. But there’s still no manual control, or 1080 @ 25/30p and 720 @ 50/60p (in addition to its 1080/24p and 720/30p). Video-wise there’s absolutely no reason to buy this camera compared to the Canon S100 I’m afraid. Sure, it’s got a bit more bitrate, but that extra 20% more bitrate isn’t worth an additional $400 IMHO. Yup, there’s a big sensor in there now, but if you can’t manually control the aperture, and instead we have the camera go automatically to high shutter speeds outdoors (and closing down the aperture), what’s the point of it?

Update: According to this article, the G1 X does not even have exposure compensation for video. It’s one, big, fat, expensive, JOKE. Update 2: DPreview updated their article saying that exposure compensation does work, but only when the camera is in movie mode, and not when you simply click the record button in any of the other modes. This is how it’s supposed to work, but the way they wrote the original article showed that the dpreview guys are in need of a video-specific reviewer…

Regarding the cheaper 520 HS, 310 HS and 110 HS, there are highly disturbing news I must report. Not only exposure compensation + lock is STILL MISSING from these models (remember, up to 2010, Canon P&S digicams did have this feature for video, but then it was removed from most of their new models), but bitrate was also botched down! Where in the past all Canon P&S HD digicams would feature 21 to 24mbps bitrate for 720p, and 35 to 38 mbps for 1080p, now we have TWO of the NEW models (520 HS & 110 HS) offering just 18 mbps for 1080p, and about 12 mbps for 720p. In other words, Canon made their consumer digicams WORSE than they were last year (again, video-wise).

I made quite a few frienemies by evangelizing the Canon P&S digicams over the last 2-3 years, but starting last year and continuing with this year’s models, I can’t suggest these cameras anymore with a straight face. Canon is trying to save their camcorder department by butchering what it was the best P&S video digicams in the market. They had the basics right, but now they aren’t better than other manufacturers. We were going so well in terms of adding video features on digicams in the last few years, and then, not only there’s a stop, but there’s regression too. Sad…

As for their new camcorders, none of these new models offer anything really new, that’s just recycling we see there. The HF G10 from last year at $1500 still remains their best semi-consumer camcorder ever released, but they didn’t update it this year (it would have benefited from a bigger sensor and a full-size hot shoe).

Conclusion: Buy older Canon digicams if you must have a digicam for video, the ones that still have the basics in place. These basics are, I list them again:
- Exposure compensation + lock
- Focus lock
- Custom colors for “flat” look (at least for saturation, contrast, sharpness)
- 720p at over 20 mbps, 1080p at over 35 mbps
- 24p and 30p options

I mean, really, is that too much to ask? I never even mentioned manual control for A/V, or built-in ND filters, or mic-inputs, or any other “crazy” feature. Just the damn basics needed to make a video that doesn’t look like total amateur hour! Even the iPhone can do most of that now via third party apps!

So, which P&S digicam to buy? If you only shoot random family videos, anything will do, but if you want to do art, go for last year’s SX220/SX230 HS which sells at $200 now (1080/24p, 720/30p), or last year’s A1200 which sells for $90 (720/24p). If you have the extra money, you can consider the S100 too at $430 (same video features as SX230, plus ND filter). For camcorders go for the one I mentioned above, the HF G10, the rest are laughable for anything serious (at least from what you would expect from a camcorder compared to a digicam).

But the best advice would be to wait and see what the new T4i dSLR will be able to do in February. From leaks we know for sure it’s going to have the new Digic imaging processor, but if an updated sensor/body comes with it to complement it (which would translate to less rolling shutter, no line-skipping, continuous autofocus), then there’s no reason to get a P&S digicam. Save your money, work extra hours if you have to, and go for the T4i in that case.

I wish I was able to suggest P&S digicams instead, for young people who just start with video (I will be teaching a videography class soon to kid-artists), but these new models don’t allow me to do so. They’ve taken a step back.

I had promised a small, unmodified, video test-sample from my new camera, the Canon SX230 HS. Right click to download the MOV file and play it on your computer, it’s a 43 MB file. This 36 mbps 1080/24p test-video was shot at -1/3EV exposure-locked, locked focus at center of the frame, and all custom color options are set on minimum values.

Pros: “Flat” colors & sharp detail. Rolling shutter is minimal and not a problem. Manual focus. Slow motion and miniature modes. 720/30p & 1080/24p at respectable bitrates. Exposure compensation & locking. Wind filter for built-in mic. 3″ widescreen.
Cons: No full video manual control. No built-in ND filters (my Zeikos filter add-on doesn’t fit its lens). Lens gets way too dark when zoomed-in. No menu option to turn off lens’ constant re-focus (very annoying), we have to always manually lock focus. We still can’t edit+join clips in-camera.

We went to Google’s Christmas party last night, and there were some interesting acrobatics on rings as part of the spectacle. Many Android engineers & their partners were shooting with their phones or digicams the girls directly, while I was pretty much the only one shooting their shadows, after pinning in my mind the mood/sensual piece below. I conceived the idea while eating sushi. I guess sushi is quite the aphrodisiac.

The video was shot handheld with the Canon SD780 IS P&S digicam at 720/30p, with flat colors, and exposure locked at -1/3EV. It was then slowed-down’ed to 24p, and 50% of its frames were then thrown away (12 fps, lo-fi). The “Film Grain” and “Glow” Sony Vegas Platinum 11 plugins were used. It was just 15 minutes of footage overall, but it took 3+ hours of post-processing.

Update: I slightly re-edited the video, and changed the license to the more liberal CC-BY-NC 3.0 license. Re-download you had done so before.

I tested the new version of MAGIX Movie Edit Pro MX Premium recently, version 18, and I was positively surprised. The application has played a good catch-up with Vegas Platinum and Premiere Elements.

The biggest new features in the new version are its stereo 3D support, full 24p support, and it has accelerated nVidia/AMD support for h.264 decoding & plugins. Three major third party video app developers added support for MAGIX too, proDAD VitaScene 2 (special effects), NewBlueFX Light Blends (transitions), and Red Giant Magic Bullet Quick Looks (color grading).

Other features include screen capturing, DVD/BD burning with various templates, multi-track, multi-cam, fast image stabilization, primary & secondary color correction, masks, good advanced modes in its exporting dialogs, and even Twixtor-like slow motion.

The app is not perfect though. Non-accelerated h.264 is not as fast as Sony Vegas’ plain decoding is, so you better start saving for an nVidia card. Then, the color correction plugins are not very versatile. Finally, the project properties dialog is missing some important setup options, compared to Vegas’.

On the other hand though, this app can do other things that Vegas can’t do, including 64bit support. Stability and overall speed were good while testing the app, although usability could use some touch-up.

Overall, I’d say that this version puts MAGIX on the top-3 of the consumer video editor market. It just needs more setup options in terms of flexibility, rather than more brand new advanced features (e.g. I’d like to tell my editor that my footage is interlaced, etc). But it seems to be getting there!

Rating: 8/10

My favorite music videos of the year, the ones I had on “repeat” all year on my Roku’s Vimeo TV app, from artistic, filmmaking, editing, and “fits the music” points of view.

1. The Soft Moon – “Into The Depths”
Director: Will Joines
Cinematographer: Zoë White
Editor: Sowjanya Kudva
Exhilarating, while reaching at the darkest parts of ourselves. This video is the only window I have to “understand” people who enjoy hurting themselves by one way or another. The fear and angst are undisputedly there, but ultimately they can’t run away from the thrills of self-harming.

2. Craft Spells – “After The Moment”
Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Tyler T Williams
A mind-bending story/puzzle, edited in a very modern style. I find this video both simple at first sight, but pretty complex after you try to take it apart in your head to examine how it was edited together. The atmosphere is just so spot-on.

3. Caribou – “Jamelia”
Director: Video Marsh
Cinematographer, editor: Nic Brown
Contemporary filmmaking, right there, yo! To some people this very fade look and at-first incoherent pictures might be a turn off. But the music has such a high, reaching the highs of classical music, that the video properly stands up to the challenge presented by the music. This is a video I think I could never make. It takes a different kind of thought, one that I admire, but I admit that I don’t possess. Yes, there’s a story in there, watch!

4. Rendezvous – “The Murf”
Animator, director: Scott Benson
This is my favorite animation, probably ever. The music video is really a sci-fi short story, spanning millions of years. Very cool to watch, far-reaching, funny at times too.

5. Danger Beach – “Apache”
Director: Ned Wenlock
Animator: Rodney Selby
My second most favorite animation ever. The music is simple but addictive, and the animation is very cute, fitting perfectly to the music. Pretty complex to make it, I imagine.

Runner Up:
Woodkid – “Iron”
Director: Yoann “Woodkid” Lemoine
Cinematographer: Mathieu Plainfosse
This is the most “epic” video of all this last year. Woodkid is also a TV commercials filmmaker himself, but he kept his best video for one of his own songs. The video looks a lot like beautiful still frames of a fashion magazine, but it’s kind of lacking substance when watched on repeat. This is the reason that it’s not on the top-5.

Here’s the trailer for “Like Crazy“, a movie shot with the Canon 7D for just $250k, sold to Paramount for wide distribution in the theaters. Two-three known actors also in it (most would remember Anton Yeltsin as “Checov” in the new Star Trek movie). It would be interesting to go see this at the theater, if not just to check out how dSLR footage scales out in a gigantic screen, but the movie is great beyond its technical standpoints: it won the prize for best dramatic feature at Sundance.