Digital Cinema Filmmaker's Training Course review (25 DVDs)

What's perfect? Nothing human made? Only God and Mother Nature can create perfection. But we have to celebrate human's effort to reach that goal. Unreachable by humans, we can perhaps call human perfection her or his best attempt to reach it known to date.

That is the reason why I give the 'Digital Cinema Filmmaker's Training Course' a perfect 10. Because it is in my opinion, the best 'Filmmaker's DVD Course' known by humankind up to this date (December of 2009).

It comes in two versions: 'DCT-MP / COMMAND' or 'DCT-MP / COMMAND-FULL'. I've got the 'COMMAND-FULL' which comes with:

DCT-MP/COMMAND Course (20 DVDs)

DCT-COMP Compositing (4 DVDs)

DCT-A102 Audio (1 DVD)

DCT-FM1 Field Manual

DCT-PCL Production Checklist

DCT-PCD Pre-Production CD

DCT-NP Notepad and Pen

For more detailed information, you can visit their website at www.digitalcinematraining.com

I am trying to become a filmmaker, and of course it is tons to learn. In my research, I went to surf the web in search of 'the best' filmmaker course in DVD. I've got about 4 names from my friends of dvinfo, but the reviews at imdb and amazon convinced me of getting this one. People kept writing things like: 'I have a friend in film school, and he still didn't learn what I have learned in this course', 'Best filmmaking DVD course ever', 'Don't waste your money going to film school, get this course', etc. So, I decided to give it a try. I went to check the price and my first reaction was: 'Wow!!', but after all I read I thought, well, maybe it is worth the money. And it certainly is. Books are great, but you have to read them and if you want to learn them well you have to read them again, and if they don't come with 'video' examples on a CD or DVD; you cannot 'see' what they are talking about. Obviously, when you own the DVDs, you can watch them over and over and over again. No need to imagine what the book's writer is saying, you can only imagine how you can apply what you are learning on the work you will be doing. No need to read again (and nobody reads for you most likely), only lay on your puffy chair and watch again as many times as you wish.

I understand that the series was made with the intention that you can watch any of the DVDs at wish, without any order since you can skip whatever you don't want to watch or whatever you are not interested on. But to me, the series lack of an index. A 'suggestion' guide to where to start. What to watch first specially if you are a 'wanna be' such as myself. I believe this is not just only a personal preference, I think this is a need for the type of audience the series aims at. And because of this I was going to rate this series with a 9 instead of a 10. But, since no better 'filmmaker's DVD' series exist at this current time, this DVD series deserves a 10. It will be also nice to have some kind of 'informal' (or formal why not?) test (on line maybe?) where you can at least prove yourself (theoretically) how much you learned. One or two hundred multiple choice questions and 80% correctness to pass type deal. Just a thought.

My favorite DVD is called 'Audio Intermediate Guide'. A sound expert talks about what you at least need to know about audio recording and microphones. He uses 'most used' brands on each type of microphones and it is very clear and knowledgeable about what his is talking about. Great value for me since I am trying to decide now what wireless microphone I am going to purchase. Dvinfo has great advice too!!

I also enjoyed 'Movie Production Series'. Super well done.

I did not complete 'Digital Compositing Series' since they are 4 DVDs about blue screen and lighting for blue screen. I quit after watching the first one since I do not need it at this time. However it is a great value if I ever do use blue screen. It is surely a great treasure for anybody exploring those endeavors.

The 'Gear' DVDs are also great and a very valuable value. I skipped some features, since I am currently unable to for example buy a stabilizing mount (body-mounted camera support system) or use different lenses since my HMC-150 does not allow me to do so.

The movie is for instructional purposes only, but it was fun to watch and had two cool nice actors. Both guy and girl very professional and patient (specially the guy but the girl was great too) on those long days of shooting and holding on for the director to explain what he is doing (nice casting Rush!).

Rush Hamden has passion for what he does, and you can sense it (and see it) on his work in this DVD series. I think he did a wonderful thing bringing this DVD series to life and help people who have no clue (such as myself), some clue or lots of clues about filmmaking because even they can learn from his vision, his art and his point of view.

Overall I am very happy with my choice on this investment. I am going to refer and watch them again in the future as needed I am sure several times. I was actually 'teaching' my wife what I have learned from the series. She was fascinated to learn about 'weight' on the screen, composition (gravity and reading direction), triangles, law of thirds, etc. It is fun, it was a lot of fun to me!!

HIGLY RECOMMENDED to all of you who are also 'wanna bes' and for most of you that are already filmmakers because it'll certainly and most likely teach you something perhaps you did not know.

Verdict: Perfect 10.

Thank you for your passion Mr. Hamden, your creation is very much appreciated!!

Warning about switching to an Apple Mac: You may never, ever, EVER switch back to a non-Mac PC

I heard more than one person say: Once when you switch to a Mac, you will never switch back. In fact, after the sister of a friend knew about my new iMac, she said “Welcome to Mac, now you will never ever switch back!” And so far I must say... she is right.

Researching about which personal computer would be the best option for video editing, I came to the conclusion the best option is a Mac. Why? Well, I bet most of us know Macs are the best machines in the market since about 2 decades for photo and video editing. But when you are considering doing the switch yourself (in my case from a Windows PC); you kind of think about the switch twice. I had experience with Macs at work, and I always loved them (since supporting them is in my 'job description'); but I did some more thorough research since these are my own files built for years on a Windows PC. Don't get me wrong, I do like Windows PCs and that is why I invested more research time before I made the decision of 'converting' to a Mac.

I had a new need, editing HD video film like shot in 24fps (24p). And all I read is the best machines for such task are Mac Pros. I did consider them, but a good Mac Pro system is about 5k. I did not want to spend that much money because of two reasons: 1) I do NOT have that kind of money, 2) I am NOT a big movie/TV studio. So, then my second question was about which software do I want to use.

I heard Avid Media Composer 4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Sony Vegas Pro 9 were the best on the Windows side. And Final Cut Studio was the best on the Mac side. So, basically I decided to go with a Mac because:

#1

Final Cut Studio ONLY runs on a Mac (with an Intel chip) and therefore WILL NOT run on a Windows PC.

And Avid Media Composer 4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Sony Vegas Pro 9 run on a Windows PC and ALSO on a Mac.

#2

I can also run Windows on my Mac if I decided to do so, using for example a software like 'Parallels Desktop 5' which we have at our Mac Book at work and runs flawlessly.

#3

Industries' standard for big movie studios in terms of editing software, is Avid (for the most part) for what I read. But it is just too pricey for my budget. Plus, I also heard and read that Final Cut Studio has been gaining a lot of that 'standard' field from its first release and since then millions of editors around the world use it. In fact, several big movies were edited with Final Cut Studio (you can check out wikipedia or Apple's website for more information).

In terms of pricing, as of today (December of 2009), they rank (from priciest to cheapest):

Avid Media Composer 4

Final Cut Sudio

Adobe Premiere CS4

Sony Vegas Pro 9

Which Mac then? Well, I did not go with a Mac Pro mainly due to budget limitations. But I went with one of those newest cool 27' iMacs. In my particular situation, it is I believe the best deal. Because, even though an iMac is not as upgradable as the Mac Pros (you also need to buy a monitor for a Mac Pro when iMacs are machine and monitor together); the power you get and the coolest monitor (ever made?) you get for the buck, makes it worth the investment. I did get one of the 'QUAD-CORE' models tough (2.66GHz Intel Core i5) with 4GB or RAM , 1TB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB of video RAM.

All that said, this is the gear I believe is best for my particular situation. Macs are great, reliable, stylish, beautiful, remarkable, fun, safe and rewarding. I would recommend you the same configuration or a very similar one if you are on a similar situation. But be warned! Once when you switch to a Mac... you will probably never, EVER switch back!

Universal Film School: Video Editing in Final Cut Pro (DVD#5) – Review

One hour an a half course on how to video edit with Final Cut Pro from a company called Universal Film School. Just what I was looking for. A broad quick overview of Final Cut Pro. Nothing on Motion, Color and the other applications that comes with Final Cut Studio. Just Final Cut Pro (as the title specifies). I do recommend it because it's a good quick basic/intermediate course on DVD. I will rate it with 7.8 points just because it feels to me at least like an almost 8 but not quite a 7. And here is why:

It does show you how Final Cut Pro feels and how to manipulate your clips on the video and audio side from a basic kind of a bit intermediate level. But it has a few sketchy and funny things on it.

The video quality is just OK. It could be much better. Many times the menus are blurry and the sound of the clips is lower than the trainer's voice. They get their point across just fine, but a bit unorganized and fells like on a rush. For example, the trainer names two or three clips 'sfdhaofhoadsfaskld' and 'dvbsjshvaei' and that is sketchy and a tiny bit confusing when you are trying to grasp a new concept such as video editing with Final Cut Pro. It works, but not very 'professional' I guess. Then, they close up on their keyboard and it is definitely not professional since it looks a little gross. Those poor keys look moldy! (Eww! You notice it even with that no so great video quality!). And then during the course and after it (on their 15+ minutes video about their other courses), it seems these guys have an obsession with closing up on dirty nails. I am not saying it is a bad thing, or has anything to do with the quality of the learning experience, but it gives the overall product a not very clean cut professional look that's all. They certainly portray the motto 'hands on / get your hands dirty' type of training idea. The content is very good, easy to understand and for the most part pleasant to watch. A 'cute' part is on 1:03:31 (1hour3minutes31seconds) when the trainer shouts an outrageously loud laugh! In the middle of an explanation. Just more good fun ;)

I do really recommend it for the beginner and intermediate level apprentice. You will most likely enjoy it!

Verdict: 7.8 points, Recommended!

Cine Gamma

On quest of getting the movie like feel to my footage, I was playing a little bit with my camera's settings and I discovered the HMC-150 has two dynamic range settings that are made to achieve that 'film look'.

They are Cinegama-V for video out and Cinegamma-D for film out. What is the 'specific' different between both besides what those descriptions suggest? I have no idea, and I couldn't really find anything on the internet neither at dvinfo.net (yet!). But, I did find a very nice article on Cine Gamma:

http://www.24pdigitalcinema.com/cinegamma.pdf

I hope you enjoy it!!

Peace,

SDHC memory card for recording at 1080p and 24p: Class 4, Class 6 or Class 10?

I was very excited about opening the box of my new HMC-150 (AVCHD recording format). And of course, when I open it up I remembered I had to buy a memory card.

My goal is to record on 1080p, 'p' meaning: 'progressive scan', which is different than 1080i; 'i' meaning 'interlaced scan'. I am not going to go into the details on 'i' and 'p' since you can find that out quickly, but 'p' is far better.

Reading the camera's manual, it says that supports Class 4 SDHC memory cards. So, I went to the local electronics store and did some research on SDHC cards. I wasn't sure if to get a Class 4 or not, because I couldn't read any 1080p description anywhere on the different Class 4 brands. And that store only had Class 2, Class 4 and Class 10. But the Class 10 where all above $100!! even 4gb!! But those, said HD 1080p on them. I asked 3!! different people who work at that chain store and they had no idea. So, before I almost bought a Class 4 and left, a forth guy came to ask me 'May I help you' since the store was already closed. I asked him and he knew!!

He told me that Class 4 only records on 'Standard High Definition' which is 720!!. So, finally!! I learned what I was looking for. I didn't buy the card and I went home and asked the dvinfo.net friends. They confirmed the same with me and also said that Class 10 is overkilled for my situation. They recommended me to stick with Class 6 if possible. I did, and I stopped at different chain store; and they did have Class 6 available. In fact, only one left!!

So, I picked it up and I also learned from the specs that Class 6 is 15MB/s. Which means that reads at 15MB/s and guarantees to write on 9MB/s. Logically I understood that 1080p at 24p requires at least 9MB/s writing speed to handle the amount of data that captures per second on AVCHD recording format.

Interesting way to learn, not surprisingly... by doing... ^_^

Books and DVD course

Hi there!

Well, I also wanted to share with you all these research results I came about. I DO NOT own or have any of them (yet); but all of these supposed to be REALLY good.

Books:

The Guerrilla Film Makers Handbook (All New American Edition) by Genevieve Jolliffe and Chris Jones

Making Movies by Sidney Lumet

How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman

Rebel without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez

Digital Filmmaking 101: An Essential Guide to Producing Low-Budget Movie by Dale Newton Sr and John Gaspard

These 5 books seem to be very good (some must have) books. I will order them in the next months and I will post my impression of them. I am particularly interested on the one from Robert Rodriguez and the one from Sidney Lumet.

I cannot really afford to go to college for filmmaking. I do not have the money, neither the time at this time on my life. So, I researched about filmmaking DVD courses. I found some, but over all I have found one with excellent reviews at Amazon and imdb!

It is a little pricey, but if I can get the same or much more of what I can get from a 'live' course; I will definitely get it as soon as I can (I can also watch it over and over without having to pay again like a 'live' course or a class at a college!).

The name of it is:
Digital Cinema Filmmaking dvd course (The Digital Cinema Filmmaker's Training Course in imdb)

They have a website and everything, but both reviews from Amazon and specially from imdb convinced me that is the right one, at least for me.

That is all for now ^_^

Have a nice rest of the weekend and a very nice week!!

Peace,

'The' Camera

Well, in order to start shooting I needed a camera. As we all know, the internet is probably the wealthiest source of information and perhaps the quickest one to access most of the time. My research began and I ended up finding a wonderful website called DVinfo.net and through their forums I learned pretty much all I wanted about cameras.
Since I have no practical experience, the first thing I wanted to know was to either shoot on SD (Standard Definition) or on HD (High Definition). I've read different takes on which one to take, but I just picked the one I felt is the way to go for a beginner filmmaker as of today, HD.

I researched about Sony, Canon and Panasonic cameras. I came down to these three HD cameras and this SD one:

SD
Canon XL-2

HD
Sony PMW-EX1
Panasonic AG-HMC150
Canon XH-A1S

I read very nice reviews and all four. The XL-2 is a great camera, but I took it down of my list because it is SD and I am looking to shoot in HD. I am mentioning it here, because for what I read, it is a fantastic camera.

I also learned that probably the EX1 is the best of all of these three HD cameras I picked. It has the best image, but the price is almost twice as the XH-A1S and the HMC150.
So, even though I was amazed for the EX1 and the footage I've seen from it, and the reviews and the comments from the experts at DVinfo, I took it down of my list, just ONLY for the price.

So, I have the XH-A1S and the HMC150 left. I am trying to shoot on 24p (progressive / native) to get the film like look. And I read the Canon uses 24f which is their version of 24p. Some people say it is not the same, some people say it is. Since I have NO clue, I have chosen the HMC150 since I know 24p is 24p and nobody complained about it.

Film cameras prices goes from 3000 dollars to probably 180000 dollars, but for what I want to accomplish at home, I believe the HMC150 will give me the best for the least (amount of money). At least it will give me 1080p/24p with 3-CCD, 1/3" with two XLR connectors for under 3500 bucks, not bad!

That said, I've got the HMC150 for my birthday (from B&H also recommended from most people); and that is another brick on my wall of filmmaking.

Next step: Some more education!!

Peace,

Wannabe Filmmaker

Once upon a time...
Not very long ago, I have decided to become a filmmaker because as an actor, I have to create my own opportunities due of the place I live in. Vermont does not have many film acting opportunities, and since perhaps this is the place I will spend most of my days left on this Earth; becoming a filmmaker was a natural choice. Being the director, producer, editor, writer and casting director of my own movies (or short movie); will allow me to cast myself as the leading role right? But I felt that I have to become a wannabe filmmaker first since as today I know very little about filmmaking.
When am I going to become a filmmaker? Well, I don't really know the answer of that question... yet.
Perhaps when I shoot my first movie or short? Or maybe when I finish and publish/broadcast my first movie or short? I do not know, but this is a journey I've decided to share with the world since it might help someone else who is keen to begin in this fascinating world and have very little clue or none clue at all like myself on how to learn this beautiful art. That is why it is hard to call myself a filmmaker yet, so I feel more like a wannabe filmmaker so far.

That is NOT the only reason for me to become a filmmaker. I really honestly do like film making. It was something in me since I was a little kid. I taped the wedding of my uncle when I was 12 years old. Raw video of course, but I did it and most people liked it (well, they were my family; what are they going to say right?). Anyway, my Dad always tells me that I've always had such a talent for shooting those videos (yeah, right!), even though I have never really agreed with him. I also taped our family Disney trip when I was also 12 I think.
But as you probably know well, virtually ANYONE can press the REC button and tape anything. That did not make me a filmmaker. Well, at least it does not feel that way because filmmaking is a serious business and takes many several years of experience to master.

But Spielberg, Rodriguez, Mann and Tarantino started with a blank page at some point. I know I have no chance to ever be even close to them, but I just want to become me, just a filmmaker.

This will probably become a very slow and long journey, so I hope that if you have patience, you can enjoy it as much as I will certainly do. This is my blank page...

Let's learn, let's have fun, let's work!!

Ben Tolosa