UNDERWATER SHOOT AND COMMERCIALS | CONTENT CREATION
UNDERWATER SHOOT
COMMERCIALS
To say Jonathan Bird of Jonathan Bird Productions wears many hats might be an understatement. The producer and host of Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, an adventure/ educational series he describes as “The Crocodile Hunter meets Jacques Cousteau,” is not only behind the camera about 75 percent of the time, he also shares editing duties.
Shooting underwater comes with its share of challenges and Bird has tried a variety of camera formats during his three-season run. He’s looking for a portable and affordable option for Season Four but is holding off on a decision until the release of Final Cut X. “Now the new version of Final Cut will theoretically play AVC HD without conversion to ProRes, we’re going to wait and see before we make a decision. There are less
expensive options that make better underwater cameras if editing in AVC HD becomes an option.” While there may currently be a number of software choices available for cutting AVC, Bird would prefer not to consider another editing platform. “We are pretty entrenched with Final Cut. I am a hardcore lover of Final Cut Studio and the Mac in general. For me to change editing systems doesn’t make sense.” Bird uses Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink Studio during online. “It allows us to monitor in HD, which is important as we do colour correction. The DeckLink has an unbelievable number of features for the price. The picture that comes out the monitor is exactly what goes out to tape, and it plays right off the timeline in full quality.”
For Simon Blackledge, vfx supervisor at Manchester-based vfx and post production facility Space Digital, the forthcoming Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve upgrade to version 8 is nothing short of a major step forward in the creation of a more powerful colour correction tool. Blackledge, who has been using a beta version on a series of recent projects including a corporate promo for Castrol Edge produced by MatteBlackFilms for agency 2020, says: “From both a workflow and grading point of view it’s a huge upgrade which has made a tremendous difference to how we approach jobs here at Space Digital” On Castrol Edge, the facility was called on to plan, shoot, edit and carry out vfx work and grading on the film, which was shot on a combination of formats including Canon 7D, GoPro, Panasonic 101,
Arri Alexa and Phantom Gold. “We can capture our footage
directly into Resolve, or use Media Express 3 to capture and the import into Final Cut Pro Studio,” says Blackledge. “The multi layered timeline within Resolve 8 brings familiarity when transitioning from an edit environment. You can now alter clip lengths and transitions without returning to Final Cut Pro Studio for changes.” Resolve 8 has also developed the curve grading concept a lot further, adds Blackledge. “It has all the curve controls now such as colour saturation and hue, which is fantastic, giving you an elastic band like line to offset certain colours. It has curves for everything required plus you can window or key that area for more accuracy. The end result is a fast and powerful edit and grade that we can render quickly in real time.”
Key advantages
Bird says Apple Final Cut Pro Studio is an extremely feature-rich and powerful editing tool for a reasonable price
The picture coming out of the monitor through DeckLink Studio is exactly what goes out to tape
We are pretty entrenched with Final Cut. I am a hardcore lover of Final Cut Pro Studio and the Mac
Key advantages
Curve grading enables colourists to customise hue and colour satuation in windows, providing faster grading
Multi layer timeline support enables different layers to be exported intact into Final Cut Pro Studio with real-time rendering
The multi-layered timeline within Resolve 8 brings familiarity when transitioning from an edit environment
icons 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36