CasablancaExpert

Two Videos from Early Casablanca History

There were two fun videos that 're-surfaced' after years this past week -- brought back to 'life' by Casablanca colleague Carroll Lam.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Carroll last year and featured him in this article: Casablanca Spotlight - Carroll Lam Leader of 'That Darn Cassie Cult'

In that article, Carroll recounts the first Casablanca convention/conference.  This week on the
'Cassie Tips List' Carroll introduced a short video recently added to his MotionBox channel:

"Some of you may have attended the first "Cassie Convention" held in Sedona, AZ, back in May of 1998.  If so, you might see yourself in the video linked below.

Greg Hales, an early Cassie user and dealer in Flagstaff, AZ, at that time and I organized the first user meeting of this kind ever held. It led to subsequent "Cassie Conventions" hosted by MSUS (nee Draco) in Boulder, and which have now been supplanted by the "March Get Together" organized by Jim Meeker.  Rick Baron and Matt Olson of Draco were in attendance along with some 90 Cassie users from around the US, plus Puerto Rico.

Unfortunately, two days before the start of the '98 convention, I suffered a heart attack (I survived :-D) and was unable to attend!  John Gorton, an early and continuing Cassie user, put together this 11 min video of many of the people in attendance wishing me well. Thanks again, John!

Another historical note for Cassie Classic users.  It was at this convention that Monument Titler for the Cassie Classic was introduced."

You can view this video shot at the 1st Cassie Convention here The First Casablanca Convention - May 1998.

A few days later Carroll posted the following message with the link to an early Casablanca Classic sales/demonstration video:

"Draco (now MSUS) had a Cassie Classic demo video produced by a NEW YAWK CITY producer, circa 1998, to illustrate the editing power of the Classic.  Most of us were wowed by the combination of f/x used.  (And impressed by the amount of rendering time the video required to create!)

Pretty impressive for that stage of the Cassie.
Enjoy!"

Click on the image above or visit this page: An Early Cassie Classic Demo Video

Carroll Lam is a Casablanca Reseller - his website is here: ClamCam Video

If you would like to join his CassieTips List - you'll find information here: Cassie Tips List

Macrosystem AG Announces New Hardware/Editors

MacroSystem AG today, on their German language website announced the news of two new editors - the S3000 and the S6000. The announcement indicates the products are scheduled for release in late June 2010 (in PAL/Germany).

You will find the announcement posted in the German language on this web page and for English language speakers, you will find the translated version here: S3000 and S6000 Announcement (thanks to Google Translate).

On this same page you can also download and review the 2-page PDF document for each of the two new Casablanca editors.

These are the first Casablanca editors produced (manufactured) under Loewe, the company that acquired a major interest in Macrosystem AG last Fall.  The hardware has a similar appearance to the S4000 series but with a new, sleek look. 

The notes indicate they will release with Bogart V3 - so software-wise it appears to be equivalent with currently available models (S2000 and S4100). There is something brand new on these models - a 4.3" TFT Display. Honestly, I had to look it up -- TFT= Thin Film Transistor, a type of liquid crystal display - a technology used in LCD monitor and television displays. This apparently allows you to see on the front panel of your editor which menu screen is presently active.

The biggest difference appears to be the processing power in these new units - here is a snapshot of the specifications:

Casablanca S-3000
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6300, 2 x 2,8 GHz
Main memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard drive: 500 GB

Casablanca S-6000
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8600, 2 x 3,33 GHz
Main memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard drive: 2000 GB 2000 GB

Vimeo Video Festival - Entries Now Open

Submissions for the Vimeo Awards are now open! This online video contest, designed and presented by one of the top video hosting websites says "We're celebrating the best in online video. It's time to honor the creative minds behind the world's most innovative videos online.

The awards invites submissions into one of nine categories:

• Narrative - Live action narrative fiction told through the medium of film/video.
• Remix - A film/video that is comprised of elements such as sound and picture of other works which then combines them to become a metamorphic work.
• Original Series - A periodically released collection of episodic content.
• Documentary - Short films/videos that seek to document compelling actuality or reality.
• Music Video - Short films/videos that accompany a complete piece of music or song.
• Animation - A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures or frames.
• Motion Graphics -The use of the principles of graphic design to create a film/video using animation or filmic techniques.
• Experimental- Short films/videos that experiment with new ideas, forms, techniques, and expressions that are often characterized by the absence of a linear narrative.
• Captured- Videos that capture an artistic expression or performance.

And then there is The Vimeo Award.  This is essentially The Best Video Award and will be selected by a group of judges from multiple categories and the Vimeo Awards staff. The Vimeo Award winner will receive a $25,000 grant to produce new work.

You can submit your work now on the Vimeo website here: http://vimeo.com/awards/submit

You can also nominate someone's video you see on Vimeo (as the website points out, this does not submit the video, I imagine Vimeo will contact the producer of the video to suggest they submit their work).

You can read more about the contest/event here: Vimeo Festival + Awards

MSUS offers new External Drive System for Store 'n' Share

In a previous article on the Casablanca Expert Blog and in a streaming video from my May 2010 General Webinar (available here) I shared the new capabilities brought to the Bogart series of Casablanca editors with the Casablanca Store-N-Share software add-on. 

In both resources I discussed how you can use an external Hard Drive (and even a USB flash drive) to edit to/from on the Casablanca Next Gen series of editors.

MacroSystem US this week announced availability of a new external dock with removable hard drives that can be used with the Store-N-Share software. This external dock uses removable SATA drives and MSUS offers both 1TB and 2TB drives along with special pricing on 'package deals' that include the Store-N-Share software, the External Drive Bay (holder) and an external drive.

Here are the current prices as posted on the MSUS News page.  Contact your MSUS Reseller or MacroSystem US directly to place an order

Individual Pieces

• $99 for Store-N-Share at launch date
• $119 for an External Drive Bay (optional)
• $139 for 1TB Hard Drive for External Drive Bay
• $299 for 2TB Hard Drive for External Drive Bay

Package Deals

• $299 1TB Drive/ External Drive Bay/ Store-N-Share Software
• $449 2TB Drive/ External Drive Bay/ Store-N-Share Software

Online Seminars & Exhibits: Digital Vision 2010

There's cool online event happening next week that I am planning to 'attend' and I thought my Casablanca colleagues may enjoy participating as well. I say 'attend' as this is a virtual conference - a trade show & conference held online.  You can join in from the convenience of your home or office. 

I participated in one of these online (virtual) conferences earlier this year and thought it was pretty cool.  This upcoming event is sponsored by NewBay Media and NAB (National Association of Broadcasters)

Here is their promotional blurb:

Learn About the Latest Technologies Driving the Digital Content Revolution
See Highlights from April's NAB Show
All From the Convenience of Your Computer and All FREE!

NewBay Media and the NAB Show are partnering again to produce DigitalVision 2010 Summer - a complimentary, forward-thinking, on-line event with keynote, educational seminars and product exhibits for digital content creators. Attend to learn about the latest developments in HD, Mobile TV, 3DTV and more!

For full details, agenda and access to the free online registration visit the Digital Vision 2010 website here: Digital Vision 2010 

Webinar Recording Online: Twixtor & Candy Factory Masks

The streaming video recordings made from this past week's Casablanca Expert  Members Only Webinar are posted and available online in the Casablanca Expert Members Only Webinar Archives.

Website members can now visit this page to access the video recordings.  For your convenience I have also added these streaming video recordings to the premium content area of the website:

Webinar Video: Using Candy Factory to Embellish Masks

Webinar Video: Twixtor

Store-N-Share Streaming Video Tutorial now online

I am pleased to announce the availability of a streaming video tutorial. In this 14- minutes video I demonstrate the new add-on software 'Store-N-Share' for the Casablanca Bogart editing platform. 

NOTE: I have discovered and recommend that you should disconnect your Store-N-Share Hard Drive prior to re-booting your Bogart editor with the power on your editor turned off (not while editor is active and that drive selected !).  Otherwise I have found the system will not boot-up properly with an external HDD attached via USB connection.

You can access the 14-minute streaming video on my website here: Casablanca Expert General Webinar - Archives.  Scroll down to 'Casablanca Webinar - General Session - Held Thursday 5/13/10'

New Bogart OS 3 Function: Yellow Format Indicator

I received the following question from a website member this morning and thought it very important to share with folks in the community -- as you may know the new Bogart V3 Operating System allows the direct importing of SD into an HD project and HD into an SD project.  The editor must up-convert or down-convert the footage prior to editing however and this can take some time (if I am going to use HD footage in an SD project I choose to down-convert in my camcorder as it is real-time).  But this bears mentioning here as I hope to prevent a headache for a colleague who may be mistakenly importing SD footage when they are thinking they are importing HD footage (that's the purpose of this new yellow indicator)

QUESTION: I am using the new Bogart V3 Operating System -- When I open the video record menu, what does the yellow SD when HD1081 tapes are being played for recording?

ANSWER: This yellow 'SD' indicator in the Record menu will display while you are in an HD project attempting to import SD material. If you know for certain you shot HD footage on your HD camera, it is likely you have the camera set to down-convert HD footage.

The following 2 paragraphs are from page 8 of the Bogart 3 Add-on Manual (you can download this PDF document here: http://www.macrosystem.de/downloads/bo3_manual_add-on.pdf

It is now possible to mix DV and HD videos directly in one project. You can also import HDV and AVCHD footage in a DV project. In the same way, it is possible to insert DV footage in an HD project. The footage is automatically converted to the current project setting.

When importing via Firewire, the format will automatically be recognized and displayed during the recording (SD / HD). If the format is displayed in yellow, it is not compatible with the project and will be converted during the recording. You should pay particular attention to the format display, in case you occasionally change the HD->SD conversion (i.Link conversion) of an HDV camcorder.

Colleague recommends Sony S470 Blu-ray deck

This past weekend Casablanca colleagues Tracy Ball and Brenda Lantow shared (on the Cassie Tips List) news of their success with a newer model Sony Blu-ray player.  I pass this on as I receive many queries about Blu-ray decks that are compatible with the HD disks created by the Next Generation Casablanca editors ---

"We recently purchased a Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player and have put it through the paces with both commercial and Cassie-generated DVDs and Blu-ray disks.No playback issues so far.
Our Cassie setup is an S4100 with Bogart 2.4c and Arabesk 4.6.  The S470 is connected via HDMI to an A/V receiver which is in turn connected via HDMI to a 1080P monitor.

For the Blu-ray test, the footage was shot in HD with a Canon HV-20, input via Firewire to an HD project on the S4100, edited (including added still photos, added audio, titles, etc.) to a 46 minute program, and burned via the AVCHD(DVD) setting to a Verbatim BD-RE disk.  The Sony played the entire program without a hitch.  Both video and audio quality was excellent.

For the AVCHD on DVD test, clips were shot on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (point-and-shoot), transferred to a USB flash drive, input to the S4100 via Media Manager, exported to an HD project, edited (including added audio and titles) to a several minute program, and burned via the AVCHD(DVD) setting to a TDK DVD-RW disk.  Again, excellent playback on the Sony with no issues.  (One can also play the Panasonic AVCHD files directly via front panel USB connection with the camera or a USB flash drive.)

We also tested about a dozen older Cassie-generated DVDs, some of which go all the way back to the first Arabesk, with no issues.  A couple of these would not play on another player, but the Sony did not seem to have any difficulty.  Similarly, no playback issues with commercial DVDs of various vintage and the upscaling looks very good.

So, we are ready to retire our trusty 10 year old Pioneer DVD player, which has always played anything we threw at it.  The Sony BDP-S470 seems to be an able replacement and sells for about $185.   The nearly identical S370 sells for about $20 less but apparently will not get the 3D software upgrade when (if?) it is available.  The S570 is about $50 more and adds built-in WiFi (wired ethernet on the S370 and S470) and 1 GB internal memory to support BD Live (external USB flash drive required for this purpose on the S370 and S470).  Other than the aforementioned differences, all three models appear to have identical technical specs regarding file formats, etc.

Hope this is useful to those in the market for a Cassie-compatible Blu-ray player.  So far, this model is looking good to us."

Tracy Ball and Brenda Lantow
Lantow Productions
Quincy, CA