text:
26 July 2016 — Blackmagic Design today announced the new Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update which dramatically increases the performance of H.265 files on the latest playback devices. Since the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K was launched in April, new H.265 playback devices have been released and customers have also been providing feedback on the playback performance of the H.265 files. This feedback has been used to improve the codec in the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K, and this software update provides these improvements to all Blackmagic Duplicator 4K customers.
Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update is available now and can be downloaded free of charge from the Blackmagic Design website.
The customer response to the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K since its launch has been overwhelming because it finally gives them an easy way to generate revenue from live events. This new update has been designed based on their direct feedback and features many improvements to the H.265 hardware codec to create incredible looking video at even lower bit rates, as well as making the mp4 files compatible with even more playback devices than ever before. These improvements allow customers to use slower computers and a wider range of 4K televisions to play back high frame rate Ultra HD H.265 files.
In addition, Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update improves A/V synchronization on all recordings, especially with long recordings and when recording multiple files with the append record feature. Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 also reduces the delay when detecting a new video input signal so recording can start quicker. Customers also get improved communication between duplicators when multiple duplicators are connected together for a large daisy chained set that are used in combination for recording more than 25 copies at once.
Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update makes it easier than ever for video producers to record, duplicate, distribute and sell Ultra HD content direct to customers at live events.
"Customers love the new Blackmagic Duplicator 4K and have been providing feedback directly to Blackmagic Design engineers," said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. "Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update is so exciting because it lets customers create mp4 files that are compatible with even more big screen televisions, computers and other playback devices. The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K gives videographers a way to create and package video content that they can sell immediately after any event, whether it's a school play, a wedding, a band performance, conference, or anything else. Now there's a way to live duplicate recordings at the event in either HD or Ultra HD and sell it to eager parents, fans and attendees the moment the show is over! It's a truly fantastic win-win solution for customers and program creators!"
The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K allows delivery of Ultra HD content to consumers by recording files onto inexpensive SD cards that can be distributed to customers the moment an event is finished. Featuring 25 built in SD card recorders, multi rate 12G-SDI connections and a realtime H.265 encoder, Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is the best way to deliver Ultra HD content that customers can actually view on their 4K televisions and Windows 10 computers today.
The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K lets content creators dramatically increase revenue because it gives them a way to sell content right after a live event, while attendees are still excited about the performance before they walk out the door. Now customers can sell concert videos to fans as they leave the venue, to parents after their children's latest performance or recital, after sporting events, conferences, sales seminars and more.
The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K encodes video using H.265, which is the new standard for Ultra HD delivery, and saves files in an open file format on to standard SD cards. The built in realtime H.265 hardware encoder gives customers incredible looking Ultra HD video, even at high frame rates up to 2160p60. The H.265 video looks better than the older H.264 standard, and the files are small with data rates low so content can play back from standard SD card media. With H.265, Ultra HD content is not much larger in file size than a HD file would be in the older H.264 standard.
Featuring 25 SD card recorders miniaturized into a single rack unit, the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K uses standard, common SD cards that are readily available, super thin, inexpensive and very fast. Cards can be used for SD, HD and Ultra HD video up to 2160p60 and are compatible with Windows 10 computers. With the addition of a USB adapter, SD cards can even be plugged directly into most consumer Ultra HD televisions for immediate playback of the video.
The built in H.265 encoder is so efficient that a one hour Ultra HD program can easily fit onto a very inexpensive 8GB SD card. SD cards are also easy to label and completely re-usable so customers can reformat unsold cards and record over them again at their next event. Unlike proprietary disc based formats like Blu-Ray, customers don't have to buy a slow and expensive player. Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is the easiest, most compatible and cost effective way to distribute Ultra HD content to consumers today.
The front panel controls are designed to make duplicating content as easy as possible and feature 6 large illuminated buttons for record, stop, lock, append, menu and remote. The lock button prevents accidental interruption of recording during an event, and the append record button seamlessly combines recordings from different parts of an event into a single file.
This revolutionary new append recording feature is perfect for events that have natural breaks, like weddings with a ceremony and reception in different locations. Append recording makes it easier for consumers to watch the final program because they only have to play back a single movie file.
The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K features advanced, multi rate 12G-SDI connections that can record all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60. For larger events, multiple duplicators can be stacked using the SDI loop thru and RS-422 deck control. This lets customers encode and duplicate to an unlimited number of SD cards in realtime. When recording is started or stopped on the first duplicator, the others automatically follow. There is also an optical fiber SFP socket for adding an optional SMPTE compatible optical fiber SDI module when working in larger venues with long distances between equipment. Adding optical fiber SDI directly into the duplicators could be very useful when duplicators are set up close to the merchandising stands away from the production area so that cards can be handed to customers for quick sale.
Blackmagic Duplicator 1.0.2 update is available now free of charge from the support page of the Blackmagic Design website.
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.]]>
26 July 2016 — Blackmagic Design today announced that Fusion visual effects software is now available on the Linux platform. Linux is extremely popular in the world's leading visual effects production companies and this new Linux release is a major announcement for the visual effects industry. This new Linux version of Fusion and Fusion Studio means visual effects artists can select their preferred computing platform, as Fusion is now available on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. All project files are common, so customers can work collaboratively, even when different artists are running different platforms on the same job.
In addition to the Fusion on Linux announcement, Blackmagic Design is also announcing that Fusion 8.2 is available as a free software download so customers can immediately download the software and use it for real work today. The Fusion 8.2 software is public beta and available on the Blackmagic Design web site free of charge.
This free version of Fusion can be used on any commercial production without restriction, however the paid edition of Fusion software, called Fusion 8.2 Studio, provides even more powerful features and is available at the low cost of $995. Fusion Studio customers get unlimited free render nodes and other multi user features. The most exciting aspect of Fusion Studio's paid license is that there are no ongoing subscription, cloud licensing, maintenance fees or additional render node costs.
With full native support of Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, studios can run Fusion projects and workflows in mixed OS environments and easily integrate Fusion in existing studio pipelines using Python and Lua scripting. In addition, Fusion projects can be moved between the Mac, Windows and Linux versions so customers can work on the platform of their choice, or even in studios with mixed platforms.
Fusion has been one of Hollywood's leading visual effects and motion graphics tools for over 25 years, and has been used on thousands of feature film and television projects, including blockbusters like Thor, Live Die and Repeat, the Hunger Games trilogy, The Martian and more.
Featuring a powerful node based interface, Fusion makes it extremely easy to build sophisticated visual effects compositions very quickly. Its massive toolset consists of hundreds of built in tools so customers can pull keys, track objects, rotoscope, retouch images, animate titles, create amazing particle effects and much more, all in a true 3D workspace.
Fusion can also import 3D models, point cloud data, cameras or even entire 3D scenes from Maya, 3ds Max or Lightwave and render them seamlessly with other elements. Deep pixel tools can be used to add volumetric fog, lighting and reflection mapping of rendered objects using world position passes so customers can create amazing atmospheric effects that render in seconds, instead of hours.
Since acquiring Fusion two years ago, Blackmagic Design engineers have massively updated the Fusion codebase making it easier for new users to learn, while maintaining the consistency and familiar workflow that long time users expect. Customers currently working with older visual effects solutions will find it easy to make the transition to Fusion on Linux.
Fusion 8.2 Studio on Linux also features a free render node license that can be installed on an unlimited number of render nodes. This allows large studios to create massive render farms at no additional cost, dramatically changing the economics of rendering for effects heavy blockbuster films and television shows.
Unlike other high end visual effects software, there is no per node render "tax" with Fusion. When customers using Fusion 8.2 Studio need to meet a deadline and render scenes more quickly, they can simply add more render nodes instantly, and at zero cost.
"Fusion 8.2 on Linux gives visual effects and motion graphics artists working in facilities of any size a massive tool set," said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. "Fusion is the only integrated 3D compositing application that can also render 3D models, add volumetric effects, particles and even motion graphics. The most exciting part is that Linux users can download it today free! Then, once our customers grow, they can then purchase Fusion 8.2 Studio without the cost of ongoing subscriptions or render licensing so they can build huge multi-node render farms to speed up their work at no additional charge!"
Fusion 8 is available in two editions:
Fusion 8 for Mac and Windows is free for customers and is now available to download from the Blackmagic Design website. Fusion 8 is a full professional 3D visual effects and compositing system that is suitable for independent effects, motion graphics, and broadcast design artists. Fusion 8 features integrated 2D and 3D compositing and motion graphics software with a massive toolset featuring paint, rotoscope, titling, animation, multiple keyers, an amazing 3D particle system, advanced key-framing, GPU acceleration, and support for importing and rendering 3D models and scenes from other applications.
Fusion 8 Studio is available for $995 and has all of the same features as the free version, but also adds advanced optical flow image analysis tools for stereoscopic 3D work, retiming and stabilization. Fusion Studio also includes support for third-party OpenFX plugins, unlimited distributed network rendering, and Generation for studio wide multi user collaboration to track, manage, review and approve shots when working with large creative teams on complex projects. Fusion 8 Studio is also available in multi user licenses starting from US$8,955 for the 10 user license, US$17,895 for the 20 user license and US $44,495 for the 50 user license from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Fusion 8.2 public beta with support for Linux is available today for Mac, Windows and Linux as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website.
Fusion 8.2 Studio public beta is available for all customers with a Fusion Studio version 7.7 dongle or higher and can be downloaded for free from the Blackmagic Design website.
Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.]]>
slimRAW is a fast CinemaDNG compressor which saves storage space and reduces storage bandwidth requirements for CinemaDNG raw video production. slimRAW converts uncompressed CinemaDNG raw video to losslessly or lossily compressed CinemaDNG. slimRAW can also recompress and optimize size of CinemaDNG video that is already losslessly compressed, or convert lossy raw to lossless raw for increased compatibility with CinemaDNG video production software. slimRAW doubles as a CinemaDNG raw video DIT utility: it can offload raw video from camera or recorder media to two storage locations simultaneously with on-the-fly lossless or lossy compression, checksum generation and verification, while preserving all the original metadata.
slimRAW optimizes DNG stills and enables importing DNG stills and timelapses in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
slimRAW is available for Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X.
For a list of supported cameras, compatible video production software and more information about slimRAW visit: http://www.slimraw.com
Digital Sputnik is expanding its modular lighting platform with a single light module power supply that can be powered with batteries or 12-36 Volts DC. This new DS1 unit is designed to be used in mobile applications where running cables is not desirable, making it an ideal eye-light among other applications.
The DS1 unit is using the same advanced color science and light grading capabilities as other DS products. All DS fixtures offer a very wide calibrated kelvin temperature range from 1500-10000K. The user can find the exact calibrated white to which he can mix in any primary or secondary color. Once the user has found the desired color, it is possible to change the intensity without the color being affected. By using only Hue and Saturation values it is possible to imitate all major gels and color filters. Dimming is cleverly done using analog current control eliminating the chance for flickering under any circumstances – odd shutter angle, high frame rate, HDRx and so on – rendering the experience seamless for the user.
In addition to DS1 we have launched two new accessories for DS3 systems. The Spacelight accessory enables the owners of DS3 or DS3+ systems to turn their system into a spacelight. The Spacelight accessory can use one or two DS3 kits for additional output. The skirt for the spacelight is made out of special material enabling up to 3x more light output compared to traditional skirts.
The Beam accessory creates a large directional 18 light module unit out of 6 DS3 systems, which can be mounted on a trussing. Mounting units next to each other makes it possible to create a wall of directional lights where each light module is individually controllable.
Digital Sputnik Lighting is founded by brothers Kaur Kallas and Kaspar Kallas with a background in production and post production who started to perfect the LED lights to replace HMI´s on the film production set. Since 2015 DS LED Systems have been used on large Hollywood features such as Independence Day Resurgence, Star Wars: Rogue One as one of their main lighting tools. Digital Sputnik LED system cuts back considerably on infrastructure and overhead, thereby allowing the creative team to focus on visual storytelling and creation of compelling images. The flexibility, modularity and mobility of the system allows for smaller team, reduced power consumption and faster setup without compromising on the light quality or output. For more information please contact Kaur Kallas at www.digitalsputnik.com.]]>
NEWARK, NJ (July 18, 2016) – Panasonic today announced the introduction of the AG-AC30, a handheld camcorder with top professional features including a powerful 20X optical zoom, wide-angle 29.5mm lens, LED light for low-light shooting, two-channel XLR audio inputs and simultaneous record or relay record with hot swap. With Full HD (1080p) recording, the entry-level AC30 is ideal for shooting weddings, web videos, business conferences, exhibits, government activities and more.
The camcorder's advanced functionality is defined by its 29.5mm/F1.8 lens that allows the operator to fit more people and background into the frame, especially useful in narrow spaces. Its powerful 20X optical/40x super-high resolution zoom facilitates shooting scenes that are difficult to access.
The effective area of the AC30's 1/3.1-inch Back Side Illumination (BSI) sensor has been increased to achieve the high-image quality of 6.03M effective pixels, producing bright, beautiful shots even in dark places. The sensor's processing speed is advanced to approximately 1.5 times conventional speed, and a new Noise Reduction function reduces noise for crisp, vibrant FHD images. The built-in LED Light – featuring color conversion and diffusion filters and an average illumination of 300 lux at 3.3 feet (1 meter) — is ideal for shooting events like nighttime weddings.
With dual SD card slots and the capability to record on both cards simultaneously, the AC30's Relay Auto Switch functionality provides dependable back-up recording or the ability to switch from one card to the other for extended recording times. The AC30 records in AVCHD to 28Mbps and MP4/MOV to 50Mbps.
The camcorder incorporates Intelligent AF (Auto Focus) with improvements in speed, tracking and stability. Focus assist functions include Focus Expand, Focus Peaking and Area Mode, which enables focusing in any desired area. Professional assist functions include a histogram display, color bar monitor and zebra pattern.
Other key features encompass powerful 5-Axis Hybrid Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S) that thoroughly suppresses blurring all the way from wide-angle to powerful zoom shots, and a three-manual, multi-purpose lens ring that provides fine adjustments and precise control of Focus, Zoom and Iris. An illuminating LED ring allows recording verification and serves as a tally light to make shooting smoother.
The AC30 offers a new 0.24-inch, 1.55 million-dot EVF, which can be tilted for added convenience. The versatile three-inch, slide-retractable LCD can serve as an HD monitor and menu-setting touch panel. The two-channel XLR audio inputs enable the use of professional, high-performance microphones for recording high-quality sound, including connection to mics requiring a +48V phantom power supply and to audio equipment with +4dB output. The camcorder is also equipped with an HDMI interface.
The AC30 weighs just over three pounds. A lightweight, durable magnesium-alloy frame is used for the camcorder handle, increasing strength, and a large lens hood blocks light more effectively to reduce lens flare while permitting subjects to be seen from behind the hood.
The AG-AC30 will ship in August at a suggested list price under $1,800.
For more information about Panasonic professional video products, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast or contact Panasonic at (877) 803-8492.
Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products and solutions for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. In Interbrand's 2014 annual "Best Global Green Brands" report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. As part of continuing sustainability efforts, Panasonic Corporation of North America relocated its headquarters to a new facility, adjacent to Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ. It is the first newly constructed office tower in Newark to earn both LEED Platinum and Gold certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Learn more about Panasonic at us.panasonic.com/news.]]>
Light Iron, a cutting-edge post-and-workflow operation expressly focused on making the most of digital cinema, was acquired by Panavision in December 2014, leading to intense speculation as to what was afoot. The Millenium DXL is a significant part of the answer; it combines Panavision's deep understanding of optics and camera design with Light Iron's digital grading expertise… and RED's large-format, 8K Weapon sensor.
The DXL compares with the ARRI 65 and the Sony F65, both large-format, more-than-4K-resolution cine cameras. Like the ARRI 65, it's a rental-only item; you'll have to go straight to Panavision if you want to get your hands on one (this has implications for how the camera itself is designed and built, which I'll come back to later). Panavision's first cameras shot 65mm film (with large-format lenses to match) so the DXL is in many ways a return to form. The 40.96mm x 21.60mm sensor is about 1.8x the size of the Super35mm sensors, so to get the same angle of view you'd have with a 50mm lens on a C300, F55, Alexa, or the like, you'd use a 90mm on the DXL.
The DXL is built around the sensor, core electronics, and recording format of the RED 8K Weapon, but Light Iron has taken colorist Ian Vertovec's experience with grading and used it to craft "Light Iron Color", combining in-camera processing to better separate and distinguish subtle color differences so they'll survive compression and recording, with a dedicated color science in post to get a "first light grade" straight out of REDCINE-X. The idea is to avoid having to do all the repetitive work Vertovec normally does simply to get a "cinematic" rendering out of digital files, regardless of any particular look the director and DP wish to impart; this saves time and annoyance in post as well as giving the colorist a more solid, less "muddy" image to start from. Art Adams dissects the results of this effort over at PVC, and I commend his excellent article to you.
The DXL records what are essentially bog-standard .R3D files to RED Mini-Mag SSDs. The files are said to be usable in any copy of REDCINE-X PRO, and updated versions of that program will recognize the DXL's metadata tag and apply Light Iron Color automatically — so anyone can process the DXL's files and get the creamy goodness of its color science (that creamy goodness is reserved for Panavision's files; you won't be able to apply Light Iron Color to standard Weapon clips or other RED files, which lack the complementary in-camera processing).
Current prototypes use (by most accounts) RED's Skin Tone-Highlight "OLPF" (actually a filter pack containing color / IR filtration as well as the optical low-pass filter; it's the color filtration that's the important factor), but that filter pack is likely to be replaced with one designed to Panavision's own specifications. Panavision and Light Iron will craft the filter's spectral response to work better with their color science; their approach to color comes out of a different experiential foundation than RED's approach (not that RED hasn't come a long way in the past few years themselves) so their end-to-end color science will probably differ somewhat at every step of the pipeline.
Indeed, as Michael Cioni said, the images that we saw from the prototypes are "the worst DXL images we'll ever see"; all aspects of the camera are in flux, from the color filtration to the in-camera processing to the color science in post. Many things may change before the camera goes into "mass production" — which means perhaps ten bodies overall — and becomes available for rent in early 2017.
The DXLs use the relatively new Panavision 70 mount and accept all Primo 70 lenses. PV 70 (if I can call it that) is a "mirrorless" mount, similar to MFT or E-mount, in that it has a shallow flange depth of 40mm, allowing the rear elements of the lens to be closer to the sensor plane than if there were a flipping mirror (DSLRs) or a spinning mirror shutter (motion picture film cameras) in the way. The shallower flange depth allows a variety of optical efficiencies, leading to smaller, lighter, and better-performing lenses. By comparison, the older PV 65 mount used with other Panavision large-format lenses has a flange depth of 57.15mm; presumably a mount adapter will allow these lenses to be fitted to PV 70 cameras — and Panavision has a lot of interesting large-format glass in their inventory:
One benefit of the Primo 70s is internal motorization: focus and iris motors are built into the housings and controlled through the mount. You can stick a Preston controller (Panavised, of course!) atop the DXL and use a normal FIZ (Focus / Iris / Zoom) handset, but you don't have those lumpy lens motors clamped to the support rods nor the rat's nest of cabling associated with them. This speeds up camera builds, teardowns, and lens changes.
That's one thing that Panavision's business model enables. They don't sell their gear, the only rent it out, so they don't have to build it to a set price target; rather, they build it to to optimize functionality, longevity, and maintainability. That philosophy is evident throughout the camera.
Cine primes with built-in motors are more expensive than cine primes without, but they're easier and faster to swap and to use. If you're trying to sell a motorized Primo into a market that could buy a comparable Master Prime or Cooke without a motor for a fair amount less, it's rather hard to make the case for the Primo. But if instead you're amortizing the cost over the life of the lens (and a well-cared-for lens can last for decades), and the internal motor makes life easier for those customers that use remote FIZ, why not?
Instead of a single control panel, the DXL has two built in, one on either side. They can be used simultaneously for different tasks, which means each has to have its own processor. The cost of the camera's control interface is thus doubled, but it means that there's never a need to run 'round the other side of the camera or hand off a floating panel to change anything, and on the rare occasion that the operator and AC both need to fiddle with things, there's no waiting involved. It may seem like a small benefit given the added expense, but it's these small benefits that add up over a day's work.
The DXL has six SDI outputs, all tweakable in terms of LUTs and looks. Six seems like a lot — and there's a lot of added circuitry and expense involved to support those outputs — but Panavision figures that having that many simplifies signal distribution downstream. Again, it makes the customer's life easier, so it's worth doing.
Furthermore, the whole freakin' camera is modular, and not in the Dagwood-sandwich stackable way something like a RED Weapon or Sony F5/F55 is. The DXL is still camera-shaped, with a real shoulder mount and everything in its proper place, yet bits 'n' pieces can be swapped out as needed. For example, if you want to record audio on camera, there's a roughly triangular wedge on the right side that can be replaced with XLRs. Don't want to be bothered? Lose the audio module so those pesky soundies won't be buzzing 'round your camera like horseflies.
Yes, this is a very expensive way to build a camera. But it makes the customer's life better, and it also helps Panavision out: the modular design lets Panny swap out subsystems for repairs or upgrades more easily, without having to tear down or remanufacture the entire camera. If you rent a DXL in 2017 and then rent the same serial number in 2025, there's a very good chance it won't be quite the same camera; it'll have had module upgrades and transplants that make it an up-to-date 2025 model, not that sad primitive thing (in retrospect!) that you used way back in the dark days of the previous decade.
Panavision has also tweaked the camera's cooling system. The small whining fans so familiar to RED users are gone, replaced with large, low-speed fans beneath the top cheeseplate to draw air in at the front, blow it over the sealed electronics, and exhaust it it the rear. I couldn't hear any noise from the DXLs' fans at Light Iron even with my head next to the camera, though to be fair, the venue was a wee bit noisier than the typical quiet set.
The DXL sits fairly naturally on the shoulder. I found that the built-up kit, with A-B battery on the back, a Preston FIZ controller, and a 65mm T2 lens, was on the front-heavy side, but at least it sits on the shoulder the way a camera should — and with more time to better adjust the EVF position, and an added front handgrip or two, I expect it would be reasonably comfortable.
Overall, it's a highly attractive package: a large-format, high-resolution sensor; Light Iron's color; Panavision's legendary glass; and an operator-friendly, highly usable design wrapped around it all. Panavision is back in the game with an own-brand camera, and that's a good thing for cinematographers.
One more thing. In his presentation, Michael Cioni put forward the idea of the "perfect circle":
The high resolution of the 8K DXL isn't really adding "sharpness", but "smoothness", the point at which visible pixelization artifacts disappear. There's plenty of sharpness already in a 4K image; what the added resolution does is add finer texture, smoother curves, and a natural fullness to the image, in contrast to sharpening the image in post. Cioni claims that the DXL is at the tipping point where images transition from looking digital to looking smoothly natural, a point that he claims magazine photographers similarly found once crossing the 30+ Megapixel barrier (the DXL's sensor has 35.5 Megapixels).
I have two reactions to this: one, that every time we have a step change in resolution we hear something like this. HD was crisp reality compared to SD; 4K solved all the "digital look" issues of HD (and was good enough for magazine cover shots, while we're at it); now, 8K is the point where sharp turns to smooth.
Today, 8K is as pixel-rich as mopix cameras get, and those 8K original images make for delightfully smooth and detailed 4K projected pictures. But what happens for the 2020 Olympics: won't 16K origination provide that same, extra punch of reality for our 8K broadcast feeds?
Two, maybe he's right: maybe 8K is the tipping point we had to get to before we stop worrying about sharpness. Certainly there was nothing to complain about in the 4K projection we saw — and Art and I, cine geeks to the end, were sitting in the front row and straining our eyeballs, looking for things to complain about.
But then again, I sit in the front row for 8K demos at NAB. 8K-native images, without the smoothness imparted by a 2x downscale, still have that digital-video look to them (that these are NHK demos in the preferred Japanese style, with lots of edge enhancement and chroma boosted to the max, probably doesn't help). By the same token, 4K out of my lowly GH4 looks like adequate but not noteworthy 4K, yet when downsized to HD it magically transforms into really superb HD, with an unusually smooth and natural rendering.
Without in any way diminishing my respect for Mr. Cioni and for what Panavision / Light Iron / RED have accomplished, I have to politely disagree with the idea that the 8K DXL is any sort of "end of history": when it comes to resolution, in the long run, too much is never enough. Each time we think we're there, along comes the next step change and shows us what we've been missing all along.
Ain't progress grand?
Disclosure: Panavision invited me to the press event and would have plied me with alcohol, but I was driving and had to abstain from tippling. There is no material relationship between me and Panavision, Light Iron, or RED, and no one offered any payment or special consideration for a favorable writeup.]]>
Background: Teradek H.264 encoders take camera feeds and send them over Wi-Fi or wired links as H.264 streams. They're used for live streaming and remote monitoring; in the latter case they're very useful supplying director's feeds from mobile cameras, as well as seeing pix from cameras on drones, gimbals, Steadicams, or in other situations where running a video cable can be problematic. You can display the streams on iPhones and iPads, making them lightweight, portable monitors.
Wi-Fi WFM adds engineering 'scopes to the picture display, so you can see exactly what the camera is doing in, in real time (well, almost). Now you can check white balance and exposure levels without a tethered 'scope, and watch those levels as the camera roams the set or flies high on a drone.
I could go on, and tell you how this will change your life for the better (improve your videography! get higher-paying clients! attract staggeringly gorgeous romantic partners!), but I'm obviously biased.
Even so, I will say that if you're in that narrow subset of folks who (a) uses Teradeks and (b) uses 'scopes, you might want to have a look. I wrote it because I needed such a thing; maybe you'll find it useful, too.
I'll be at Cine Gear Expo this week, using Wi-Fi WFM in the DSC Labs booth, S239 in Stage 31 (tag-teaming with Art Adams). If you're at the show, stop by and see it in use.
Disclosure: I wrote Wi-Fi WFM, so if you buy it, I'll make money.
Breakfast foods grow odder and odder:
It's a wise child that knows its own fodder.
— Ogden Nash, "Snap, Crackle, Pop"
As with foods, so with lights: between LEDs, HMIs, plasmas, and fluorescents, it's hard to know exactly what you're getting from your lighting these days. Color temperature meters help, but if you really want the ugly truth, you need a spectrometer. Only a spectrometer will show you the makeup of your light: whether it's smoothly distributed across the visible spectrum, yielding naturalistic and predictable color rendering; or concentrated into sharp spikes with large gaps between 'em, which often leads to disappointing color performance.
Until recently, spectrometers suitable for measuring photographic lighting were too expensive for widespread use: instruments like the Photo Research SpectraScan PR-655 Rich Pierceall used in a 2012 LED lighting test typically run in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.
In 2013, Ikan brought the UPRtek MK350 to the USA; it initially sold for around $2000 if I recall correctly, but went as low as $1450 before being replaced with the $1500 CV600. Last year, Sekonic introduced the cine-oriented $1500 C-700 SpectroMaster.
But in between, and largely off the radar of film & video types, Taiwan's Asensetek started shipping the Lighting Passport, a spectrometer using a Bluetooth-connected iOS or Android device as its control surface and processing engine. The Lighting Passport is available in two basic versions: the $1295 Lighting Passport Essence and the $1995 Lighting Passport Standard; there's also the $2495 Flagship Set, a Standard bundled with an iPod touch and an enclosing frame.
There are also PRO versions that add flicker, humidity & temperature sensors for around $300 more. Early-2016 prices in US dollars are from Canada's Allied Scientific Pro, but these prices fluctuate constantly; check the website for the latest versions. Les Kacev in San Diego also carries Lighting Passports, but he doesn't show pricing info.
These are the only two distributors in North America and they don't target film & video folks, which is one reason you probably haven't seen these things on-set much.
While none of these are exactly cheap, they're also not made of platinum-plated unaffordium. I bought an Essence in 2014 when it was then on sale for $1295 (normally $1500 back then), and I've seen it as low as $995 since; these are prices within the range of serious film & video lighting geeks.
I got the Essence primarily to aid in developing color metering for Cine Meter II, in the process of which I tested and compared a variety of color meters. Asensetek noticed that writeup and got in touch with me to discuss color measurements for film & video; we exchanged emails back and forth for a month; and at NAB 2015 they gave me a Lighting Passport Standard to compare and contrast with the Essence.
Lighting Passports are small black plastic boxes framed in matte-finished aluminum, measuring 68.5mm x 17mm x 56mm (about 2.7" x .7" x 2.2") and weighing 77g (2.7 oz). They come with a clip-on stand with a swing-out foot; the stand can be swapped out for other mounting hardware.
The left side has an on/off switch and a mini-USB port for charging. The back has three LEDs: green for external power, red for charging, and blue for power (though it's not always a reliable indicator that the spectrometer is turned on). There's also a slide switch, controlling a shutter over the sensing port on the top of the Passport: a frosted white window through which light enters the device.
The Passport's internal battery is good for 3–4 hours of continuous power-on time with moderate usage. There's a battery-level indicator in the controlling app; on my Essence the indicator drops to three out of four segments after about 2 hours 45 minutes, and two out of four after 3:45, but when I checked a few minutes past the four-hour mark the Essence's battery had pooped out. A full recharge takes about two hours, and the spectrometer can be used on AC while the battery is charging (Asensetek recommends charging it with power off for a while if you've run the battery flat).
The Passport comes in a padded rubbery case, about 7.5" x 7.5" x 1.7" (190mm x 190mm x30mm) with an AC adapter and USB power/charging cable. The Standard kit comes with a "clipper" mount for clamping the Passport to an iOS or Android device and a spare screw for the clipper. The Essence kit doesn't come with a mount.
Both the Essence and Standard models capture the spectrum from 380–780nm, and measure light levels from 5 lux to 50,000 lux. Where they differ is in spectral resolution and accuracy. The Essence measures chromaticity reliably above 100 lux while the Standard works as low as 50 lux; the Essence has 10nm resolution while Standard resolves down to 8nm; and the Standard has about 50% stricter repeatability and accuracy ratings (full specs on the Asensetek website.)
Passports are controlled by free mobile apps: Spectrum Genius Mobile (SGM) for the Standard, and Spectrum Genius Essence (SGE) for the Essence. The apps require iOS 5.1.1 and later or Android 4.4 and later, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in the mobile device's hardware. I've used the iOS apps on iPod touch 5Gs, an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 6 Plus; the apps work fine on all of them.
SGM is more fully-featured than SGE—more measurements are displayed, and SGM offers a continuous-measurement mode that SGE lacks—but they share the same design and operation. As of May 2016, both SGM and SGE report the following numerical measurements:
SGM adds:
As you can see, these are general-purpose apps, with measurements oriented towards residential and industrial lighting, agriculture, and highway signage as much as television and cine work.
Along with numerical values, both apps generate graphs and plots of various readings:
All the graphs can be shared via email; here are the plots available:
Additionally, the sensor's spectral measurements (interpolated to 1nm resolution) and generated values are stored in a plain-text file for processing by Asensetek's desktop app, and this data file, along with the graphics, can be emailed to yourself or to others. There's also a "Smart Pass" data file (available via an in-app upgrade) that a colleague can open in his or her own copy of SGM or SGE without needing to have a Passport attached.
Both apps capture single measurements (snapshots of all those data types) along with time, date, description of the light, GPS coordinates, and even a photo of the lighting instrument or the scene being lit. You can also grab multiple measurements and see max/min/average values. You can take two separate measurements and compare their spectra: you can look at normalized data (both spectra scaled to fill the plot) or non-normalized (spectral energies remain in their original proportions), while a slider lets you compare energy levels at a particular wavelength.
SGM adds a "continuous" mode, letting you capture a preset number of readings at specified intervals, so you can plot how a light's level and color change as it warms up (I'd love to try this with an HMI, and see exactly how long it takes before brightness and color stabilize).
Note that SGM only works with the Lighting Passport Standard, or with data captured by another instance of SGM; SGE only works with the Lighting Passport Essence or other SGE files.
I don't have a compatible Android device so I haven't tested the apps on 'droids, but the listings on Google Play show the same UI and functionality, and generally high reviews.
There's more: Asensetek offers the free Spectrum Genius Agricultural for growers, and the $10 Spectrum Genius Transmittance (iOS only) for measuring light and color transmission, for lens and filter testing and characterization.
If you're rocking an iPad, Spectrum Genius Studio gives you detailed TLCI readings complete with a rendering of X-Rite/Macbeth color-checker patches used in the derivation of the TLCI metric:
It's a dedicated TLCI tool, showing the color rendering under the measured light, the spectrum compared to the reference standard, and the "colorist's suggestion table" for color-correction tweaks. Studio lets you choose different TLMF (Television Lighting Matching Factor) references: the TLCI standard reference, "standard A" (a 2857K incandescent curve), D50, D55, D60, and D65. It also reports CCT, a coarse tint value in parentheses (+0.3 looks to be a full plusgreen), CRI, CQS, and illuminance in lux.
Spectrum Genius PC is a Windows-based application for analyzing Lighting Passport data. The $200 Standard version comes with the Lighting Passport Standard or is obtainable separately; the $495 Advanced version offers more features. I haven't used either one; for my purposes the iOS apps provide all the information I need.
After installing the appropriate app for your flavor of Lighting Passport (SGM works only with the Standard; SGE works only with the Essence; Studio works with either one), launch it, turn on the Passport, and pair it via Bluetooth. Once paired, the app remembers the paired Passport and connects to it automatically… most of the time. When it forgets, it's easy enough to reconnect.
Select the measurement type (Single or Multiple, or Continuous on SGM), make sure the shutter on the Passport is open, aim the Passport at your light, and press the Measure button.
After 2–6 seconds or so, depending on light level, the measurement completes and is displayed in the app. By default, the Passport's integration time is set automatically, but you can turn off "autoexposure" and dial in a fixed integration time.
If you need to compensate for ambient light, the apps allow "background subtraction": you take a reading with ambient light only, then with your light to be tested, and the app will subtract the ambient light's contribution to the reading.
If you're taking multiple readings, repeat the measurement step, and the app will keep track of the minimum, maximum, and average values.
For continuous testing, you set the interval and the number of readings (it's the color-metering equivalent of interval recording or time-lapse settings on a camera). Press the Measure button, and SGM will grab measurements over time, plotting them as it goes. You can set intervals from 1ms to 999 minutes, and capture as many reading as you choose.
Unfortunately SGM doesn't remember these settings; every new continuous measurement defaults to five readings, a minute apart.
Note that the specified delay is the time between the measurements. To get the total time between subsequent readings, you need to add the time taken to command the Passport to take a reading, the time spent in taking the reading itself, and the time spent returning the data to your iDevice and computing the results: the time interval between readings is typically 2–6 seconds longer than Measure Delay alone indicates. As the readings themselves are time-stamped this isn't a big deal; just don't expect six readings with a ten-second delay to be completed in exactly one minute.
Sometimes I had multiple identical readings in continuous mode, even though the lighting conditions had definitely changed: for testing, I'd do things like walk the spectrometer towards the light during the test, yet the illuminance would be the same from the second reading onwards. When I had runs with good data, the blue power LED was either off most of the time, with brief pulses on during data transmission, or the LED was on most of the time, pulsing off briefly. Runs with duplicated data had the LED on between some measurements, and off between other measurements; I'm guessing the handshaking between app and spectrometer failed, and instead of reporting an error the app simply replicated data for the missing measurements.
When I walked around with both my iDevice and the spectrometer, I wasn't able to make it fail, so I'm assuming the failures were due to moving the spectrometer too far from the controlling iDevice for reliable communications.
(About that LED: Normally it's on, pulsing off only when data is transferred… but not always. Sometimes it'll be off, pulsing on briefly during data transmission. When I mentioned this, Asensetek agreed that the LED can be inconsistent, but said the LED's state doesn't affect functionality, and they plan to fix it in future builds of the product.)
After taking a reading of any type — single, multiple, or continuous — you can save it for later. You can name the measurement, and add information about the light under test. If your device has GPS, the app will save the GPS coordinates. You can take a picture of the light under test with your device's camera and save it as part of the record.
You can use the Comparison screen to compare the spectra of any two measurements. Swipe right to left to reveal tabular data; swipe again to see CRI histograms.
Continuous mode aside, the apps worked reliably and well. I had no problems taking readings, viewing and comparing them on my iDevices, and emailing the results to myself or others.
The "clipper" mount supplied with the Standard works, but it's not ideal. When screwed all the way down, it's still a bit loose on the slippery iPod touch 5G, but perhaps that's just as well: the clipper is lined with thin rubber pads to secure it, but there's not a lot of room for error: when using the clipper on thicker devices I was always in fear of tightening the adjusting screw just ¼ turn too far and crushing my iDevice, or leaving it slightly looser and risk having it fall off (Asensetek tells me I worry too much, and I should tighten it further; for the iPod, the "spare" screw in the kit is slightly longer than the stock screw, specifically to allow firm clamping of thinner devices).
In practical use I just keep the Passport attached to its little stand with the swing-out foot, separate from the iDevice I'm using it with. I'll pack the Passport in a side pocket of my producer's bag, or wrap it in a small lens bag and stick it in with other gear; on site I'll slip it in a pocket when I'm not using it. Its AC adapter is as big as the Passport is, so I'll usually just pack a USB cable in case I need to charge it, and use my MacBook Pro as a power source.
The biggest reported difference between the Essence and Standard, aside from the more limited functionality of the Essence's companion app, is the spectral resolution: 10nm for the Essence vs. 8nm for the Standard. I was curious to see what difference that made, so I took simultaneous readings under various lights.
I saw two things: one, the Standard's spectrum plots are generally slightly smoother than the Essence's, similar to the difference between the plots from the Essence and the C-700, but when there are strong peaks and valleys in the data, the Standard's peaks are slightly taller and the valleys somewhat deeper than those on the Essence. This makes sense: the Standard's 20% better color resolution should result in a fuller data set, allowing smoother integration along full spectra as well as stronger discrimination and differentiation with spiky spectra.
Initially, the Essence's spectrum plots were consistently 6nm redder than the Standard's — the peak wavelength measured on the same light was always 6nm different on the two devices. Asensetek told me that over a year ago, after my Essence was built, they changed their calibration procedures and improved their wavelength accuracy; they were not surprised by the difference I saw and suggested I send the Essence in for recalibration. Once I did that, the peak wavelengths matched exactly.
Even so, the Essence's data aren't quite as precise as the Standard's; it doesn't discriminate between adjacent wavelengths quite as finely. Thus, even though peak wavelengths may match exactly, derived data such as CCT often disagree somewhat. Under a relatively full-spectrum household LED bulb, the Essence reports 2566 K while the Standard shows 2580 K. Under a nasty kitchen fluorescent lamp, Essence says it's 3143 K while Standard claims it's 3205 K. Lit by a tungsten PAR, Essence sees 2672 K, Standard sees 2631 K. The readings are different, true, but the differences are so minor as to be negligible; a 40 K change at 2600 K or a 60 K difference at 3200 K simply isn't visible.
By the same token, the Essence is sometimes more forgiving: its wider frequency bands led to somewhat better numbers for CRI, CQS, and TLCI. While it agrees with the Standard within +/- 1 for CRI, CQS, and TLCI for the nasty kitchen fluoro, the household LED bulb (rated by the manufacturer at CRI 80) measured CRI 82 on the Essence and CRI 79 on the Standard. CQS numbers were 83 and 82, TLCIs were 66.8 and 64.5, with the Essence always showing slightly higher (more lenient) numbers. Even so, the two devices track each other remarkably well.
From a practical TV and cine standpoint, I'm not sure the added discrimination capability of the Standard is a decisive advantage over the Essence; it's the general shape and spikiness of the curve that's important, as well as the general values of CCT and the various color-quality metrics. Both will give you the essence (pun intended) of the light; whether its TLCI is 66.8 or 64.5 isn't as important as the fact that it's in the 50–60 range instead of 90+.
On the other hand, if you're using the spectrometer as a defensive tool — wielding its readings as armor against color-blind philistines trying to foist substandard lighting on your production — it can't hurt to have the higher accuracy to bolster your claims. It's also worth noting that the Standard's app provides Duv directly, corresponding to green/magenta tint, while it isn't shown in the Essence's app.
Asensetek's Lighting Passports are some of the more affordable spectrometers available. The Essence model costs about as much as the Sekonic C-700, and when it goes on sale it's often considerably cheaper. The Standard is rather a bit more expensive, but offers better spectral discrimination and higher accuracy, and its plots are smoother and slightly more detailed.
Lighting Passports are general-purpose tools with readouts for industrial, architectural, and agricultural measurements; they aren't designed specifically for TV and cine applications. Even so, they offer Correlated Color Temperature and illuminance readings; compute the common quality metrics we use (CRI, CQS, and TLCI); show detailed spectrum plots; and with the Studio app, they can show detailed TLCI data. If you need more color info than a simple tristimulus color meter can provide, the Passports provide it, in a compact package that won't bulk up your gear bag.
My only real gripe from the film & video standpoint is the lack of a proper "tint" readout (green/magenta balance). SGM, the app for the Standard, provides Duv, from which you can derive tint, but that's not a computation most busy DPs and gaffers want to do in their head (quick: what compensation will you need for a Duv value of .0032?). The Essence's SGE app doesn't display Duv, though it's present in the data file.
(iOS 7+ workaround: email yourself a reading. In the received email, tap and hold the .txt file at the bottom until a share sheet pops up, then tap Quick Look. Duv is listed in the file; multiply by 3000 for Wratten CC value or by 100 for plusgreen/minusgreen value. Easy-peasy, eh what? Yeah, I'd rather have a tint readout in the app, thanks all the same.)
Still, Asensetek is interested in making the Passports better film / video tools. CQS readings have been in the software for a while, while TLCI readings were added in the last year. The separate, iPad-only Studio app is a dedicated TLCI tool that works with either the Essence or the Standard, and is focused entirely on our industry.
When I suggested adding a tint readout in SGE and SGM, Asensetek was very interested in the idea, and they now tell me they plan an iPhone-compatible Studio app that includes tint, CCi and LBi filter settings, ISO, EV setting (shutter, F-number, aperture), white balance and mixed-lighting modes. In short, the new Studio app will aim to be a complete incident-reading exposure and color meter. They expect to release it in Q3 2016.
Do you need one? A spectrometer is a very esoteric tool. It provides you with gobs of information about your light, most of which you can't do much with on-set. CCT, Tint, and illuminance are the things you can fiddle with on a shoot day; fine-tuning gaps in the spectrum, not so much.
I'd argue that a spectrometer is more useful as an evaluation and planning tool than as a setting-lights-up tool. When you're building a studio, testing lighting instruments for purchase or rental, scouting practical locations with impractical lighting, or just trying to better understand why the light from an instrument renders colors the way it does, a spectrometer reveals details beyond basic color temperature and tint metrics.
Getting CRI, CQS, and TLCI readings requires a spectrometer. While even TLCI is only prescriptive if you're shooting Macbeth charts with prism cameras, it's still part of your predictive arsenal (along with CRI and CQS) in trying to figure out how likely it is that a particular light or set of lights will get you into trouble.
In short, the added value of a spectrometer is not in solving on-set problems so much as in discovering problems and heading them off before they occur. Whether this is something you're willing to pay $1000–$2000 for, only you can say.
But if you do decide that a spectrometer is a worthwhile investment, Lighting Passports are worth a look.
Disclosure: I bought the Lighting Passport Essence with my own funds; Asensetek gave me the Standard to test after I discussed color metering for film & video with them (they did not say I needed to write a review of it and, when I offered to return it to them after testing, they said they did not want it back). I briefly had a Sekonic C-700 spectrometer on loan, since returned. There is no material connection between me and Asensetek or Sekonic, and no one has offered any compensation or other blandishments for a favorable review.
I do sell a "competing" iOS app, Cine Meter II, if you consider an app with a tristimulus color meter function to be in competition with a full-spectrum spectrometer.
Despite being a demo-dog for DSC Labs for most of NAB, I did manage to get around and see a few new toys and/or discuss things with those who did. Herewith, a slightly disjointed tour of timely topics, plus some interesting stuff I saw.
No, I didn't see it, Hardly anyone did, as Lytro had just one screening and a single meeting-room demo, but that didn't stop it from being the talk of the show. No wonder: refocus in post, reposition in post, set depth of field in post (even with different virtual apertures for different parts of the scene), depth-mapping on a per-pixel basis so no more need for greenscreens… what's not to like?
Consider: a camera "the size of a Prius", 755 million photosites on the sensor, 300 fps, 16 stops dynamic range, something like 300–400 GigaBytes per second of data — it boggles the mind. I wondered how long after wrap the poor DIT would spend backing up multiple Terabytes of data, but those I spoke to who were in the demo (one by means of attending the previous show in that meeting room, and simply not leaving afterwards) said that Lytro seemed to have that under control.
Lytro's still cameras, the original Lytro and the Illum, were similarly introduced with great hype, but have generally fallen short of the lofty expectations set for them and currently sell for a fraction of their list prices (they now appear to be orphaned, with uncertain future support). Image softness, poor low-light behavior, and limited dynamic range are the most common complaints.
The Cinema's 755 Megaphotosite sensor should — assuming the same light field sampling ratio used on the still cameras — give you something like a 70 Megapixel final image. Those I spoke to said the demo clips looked "sharp enough", and seemed to have good dynamic range. So maybe Lytro has those problems licked.
Even so, Lytro's intentionally limited visibility at NAB and the lack of practical information about their technology gives me pause. Light field imaging and computational photography have a lot of promise, but it's unclear that Lytro Cinema is ready to fulfill it. Lytro Cinema could be the next RED, but more likely it's another Dalsa Origin, just a little bit ahead of its time; or possibly a new 3D-One or ZCAM, soon to sink without a trace. It's just too early to tell; we'll need to see more public demos and more information. Stay tuned…
Virtual reality and augmented reality were the big buzzwords, but what was really in play was 360º video: an everted theater-in-the-round, the sort of thing you can view with a Cardboard or a Gear VR. (True VR requires independent motion and agency, such as you have in a videogame, but that's much easier rendered on-the-fly than shot as video.) Here are some rigs that the German research institute Fraunhofer has been experimenting with:
They had one 360º stereo demo of a symphony orchestra, playing in Gear VR headsets. I tried it, and was rewarded with a coarse, pixelated image with no apparent stereo separation. It echoed my Cardboard experiences to date: the coarseness of splitting the screen in half and rendering two distorted images for a wide-angle 3D view makes for a less immersive experience than simply holding my iPhone up with a 2D image and waving it around.
And, as Art Adams points out, VR storytelling, outside of gaming, is still very much an unsolved problem (not that people aren't trying, of course).
The Radiant Images Dark Corner 360º rig, built from Sony A7S cameras turned sideways (!), at the BandPro booth:
Ang Lee showed a demo clip of his upcoming film "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk", in 120fps HFR (high frame rate), 4K, 3D stereo, HDR/WCG (high dynamic range with wide color gamut) using paired Christie laser projectors, yielding 28 foot-lamberts brightness (normal cinema projection is around 14 foot-lamberts). Here's one eyewitness report. Here's another. And, yes, another. Everyone I spoke to who say it was emotionally affected by its hyper-real presentation; the 120fps HFR apparently got past the "soap opera effect" that many people see in lower-rate HFR (Doug Trumbull previously put that tipping point around 60fps, but Lee and his crew saw 120fps as the rate at which artificialness fell away. Will this finally convince the 24fps die-hards? Only time will tell.)
One person at the demo asked Lee about applying this hyper-real production method to 360º VR. Lee's response was to the effect of, "this is my VR. All the realism is there, but I'm showing you what I want to show you. You look where I want you to look."
Video over IP is expanding from isolated islands of experimentation and early adoption and it's starting to make serious inroads on SDI routing. Panasonic and Canon had an AIMS interoperability demo:
Newtek's competing NDI initiative is gaining support, too, while Sony's NMI and ASPEN have their proponents, too. Will this lead to interoperability or splinter-operability? If you look closer, you'll see that many of the major players, like Evertz, Sony, and Panasonic, have fingers in most or all of these pies. I expect that we'll see the factions coalesce over the next few years, with translators/transcoders to bridge the gaps in the meantime.
Nonetheless, SDI over coax isn't dead yet. For one thing, as Bittree points out, SDI is immune to virus attacks. IP is great, but having all your content encrypted by ransomware could really put a crimp in your broadcast day.
High Dynamic Range display was everywhere. That it's early days yet was rammed home by the fact that in every demo I saw, there were clips that showed the true power of HDR to great advantage intermingled with clips that proved how wrong it can go, with garish colors and eye-frying brightness.
Workflow becomes critical: we can't just "expose to the right" and expect bright things to be clipped to a featureless white. We have to protect highlights a lot more conservatively; this may mean pushing our midgrays lower on the tonal scale to preserve headroom, which can lead to more noise in the shadows. Sony had an inadvertent demo of this, with HDR shots of a woman on horseback with a flowing red cape; the cape was saturated red shot through with noise.
Extended highlight headroom also results in very different appearance of things like lens flares, candle flames, and other bright elements. Here's an SDR still of an HDR demo:
In SDR video that flare wouldn't be a whole lot brighter than the girl's face; it would simply be an artifact indicating "there's a bright sun in the shot!" But in HDR, it completely overpowers the image, like a bright blue UFO demanding your attention.
HDR monitoring on-set can help. Canon had a good demo of an HDR monitor compared to SDR monitoring; it was interesting to see how the retention of both contrast and color separation in the highlights affected picture rendition:
Note the WFM in the corner of the set:
When you have information in the scene that's 800% or 1600% the brightness of nominal white — and might be reproduced that much brighter on the final display — it's important to track those levels, and a logarithmic WFM display seems to be the way to do it.
Astro showed a rasterizing 'scope with just such a WFM on the right:
The lack of common standards hasn't stopped the consumer electronics folks from shipping sets nor has it stopped pro-gear vendors from pushing products. On the display side, look for sets with the "Ultra HD Premium" label… unless you prefer Dolby Vision. On the production side, Dolby Vision and HDR10 use the SMPTE 2084 tonal curve while the BBC and NHK offer HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma).
Worried about how it can all go pear-shaped? Samsung has you covered: they were showing an HDR-capable set that, according to the booth signage, analyses the scene and automatically remaps tonal values on a scene-by-scene basis (overriding the overall grade of the program) to "restore creative intent" (I think it's this line of TVs, with "Samsung's unique intelligent picture engine. It analyzes the brightness of the video source and remasters it for optimal contrast"). The mind boggles.
Jim Mathers of the Digital Cinema Society hosted a 44-minute discussion about many of these issues; it's well worth watching.
As the 3D wave was cresting a couple of years ago, Jon Fauer told me to expect an anamorphic wave next. He was right. Vantage has been in the forefront with their Hawks, but this year we saw Cooke, Angénieux, and Zeiss with primes and zooms.
Hong Kong upstart SLR Magic has (comparatively) affordable 1.33x and 2.0x primes in MFT and PL versions, running from around $2600 — $6500.
8K: it's not just for the NAB Futures Pavilion any more; it's on the show floor proper.
The west end of the Central Hall was literally abuzz with drones; you couldn't walk through the area without looking 'round for a swarm of angry bees. There were dozens of booths with caged or netted areas, where drones would take off, hover for a while, and then land… after a while it was "seen one, seen 'em all".
This was the most interesting design I saw:
Sadly, I didn't get any details; I was late for booth duty (if anyone has more info, drop me a line and I'll update the article). Presumably it has agricultural applications as a combine harvester, too.
The $5500 CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 L IS KAS S is Canon's answer to Sony's FE 4/PZ 28-135 G OSS: an affordable, lightweight large-format zoom designed for run'n'gun operations.
It's an EF lens wrapped in CN-E cine trimmings, with a $500 optional side grip. It allows both servo and manual operations; has optical stabilization; offers both manual and automatic focus and iris. It weighs under three pounds. It has a nine-bladed iris for beautiful bokeh and it doesn't breathe appreciably. In the brief time I had to play with it the pictures looked sharp and undistorted.
Focus rotation is 180º, ideal for ENG or run'n'gun or docco, if perhaps a bit sensitive for cine-style focus pulling. While the 18-80 looks like a cine lens, complete with a focus gear, it has EF guts: its manual focus isn't hard-coupled, but is instead a "friction clutch" sort of ring that breaks free once you hit the endstops, just like the focus rings on most EF-L stills lenses. It's not a showstopper for the target audience; just something to be aware of if you're coming from the cine-style side of the world — you can always use a follow-focus with its own hard limits if you need to pull focus old-school.
I overheard grumbles at the show about its T4.4 speed. That's fine; grumble away. A T2.8 would be twice the size and weight and probably four times the cost, and good luck actually keeping anything in run'n'gun focus that wide open! Besides, if you're rocking a C300 / C500 / Varicam LT (see below), it's not like you're hurting for light in the first place (Blackmagic shooters may have more of a legitimate beef).
This was the first NAB for the Panasonic Varicam LT, the more affordable large-sensor Varicam. The LT shares many of the features of the Varicam 35, including its dual-sensitivity ISO 800/5000 sensor, but interestingly, the LT comes standard with an EF mount: PL mount is an extra-cost option.
True, Blackmagic has been offering EF mounts for some time, but I find it telling that Panasonic's Varicam division — not noted for their emphasis on low cost — chose an EF mount as standard equipment. Pairing the LT (which feels very nice on the shoulder; the LT has a smart grip like a Sony FS7 or an Aaton) with the Canon 18-80mm would make a most excellent handheld rig, complete with optical stabilization.
Here's something completely outta left field: a small, $2600 live-streaming camcorder with a 12x lens and a built-in scoreboard overlay:
The JVC GY-HM200SP is purpose-built for single-camera coverage of small, two-team sporting events, like high-school baseball, football, basketball, or soccer. The built-in CG scoreboard is kept up-to-date using a wireless app on a mobile device, or, using a third-party interface, it can take its data feed directly from the venue's scoreboard.
The HM200SP's three scoreboard types may not exactly offer a wide variety of styles, but the basic look is sufficiently elegant for the purpose it's intended for and flexible enough for most team sports short of 43-man squamish (or cricket, perhaps, but there's little danger of that in the 60Hz market <grin>).
Oh, and all that aside, it's a UHD / HD / SD camcorder with a 1/2.3" BSI CMOS sensor recording AVCHD, MOV, and low-bitrate proxy files to SD/SDHC cards. Optical image stabilization, EVF and LCD, XLR inputs, SDI and HDMI outputs. Not bad for $2600.
Well, OK, not everything else. Just a few things that caught my eye…
(I use Color Finale in FCPX myself; it's a great color-correction tool. Color Finale Pro, coming this summer, adds ACES compatibility, Tangent control surface integration, HDR grading modes, and more. CF is $100, CFPro will be $150, and there will be a $50 upgrade from CF to CFPro.)
BTS teaser: I caught up with DVInfo's Chris Hurd recording a demo with Cinema Devices and their Antigravity rig:
And, finally…
Panasonic's freeze-ray platform is an archival storage system using Blu-ray discs. It's 2016 already and we still don't have our flying cars… but at least we can get freeze-rays.
Disclosure: DSC Labs paid me to attend the show and work their booth, so I can't say the shot of Art Adams (similarly employed) was entirely accidental. Aside from that, the usual disclaimers: no material connections with, or payments from, any of the vendors whose products I've shown. Links to B&H for pricing info used because B&H is a good general reference, but that doesn't mean I'm suggesting you should use B&H in preference to other vendors.]]>
Manufacturers Site: Hoodman]]>


text:
The Edmonton Hiking/Walking Meetup Group Message Board › New Meetup: Weekly Saturday Morning Walk
|Bob R.
user 7398756
Edmonton, AB
Announcing a new Meetup for The Edmonton Hiking/Walking Meetup Group!
What: Weekly Saturday Morning Walk
When: November 15, 2008 10:15 AM
Where: Laurier Park - Click the link below for details
Meetup Description: Let's try Saturday mornings for winter walks, when the sun is up, warming the day as much as it can at this time of year. We'll visit various locations in and around Edmonton, where we'll walk for a few hours and then find a nearby cafe for warm drinks, lunch, and friendly conversation. We will meet up at 10:15 AM and leave on our walk at 10:30 sharp.
For this week's walk, I thought we'd try a loop trip, across the pedestrian bridge to Hawrelak Park, along the (hilly) trails on the south bank of the river to the Quesnell Bridge, and back through Laurier Park to our meeting place. I will confirm before Saturday whether the construction on the Quesnell Bridge will prevent us from walking across. If we can't use the bridge, there are plenty of other good walking trails in the Laurier area.
Come one, come all, rain, snow, or shine. Be sure to dress appropriately for the weather.
Learn more here:
Meetup members, Log in
By clicking "Sign up" or "Sign up using Facebook", you confirm that you accept our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Season 8, Episode 4 Grand Deceptions
First Aired: May 1, 1989
A retired colonel who's now commanding a paramilitary foundation "retires" an old comrade who was on to his illegal use of funds. Col. Frank Brailie: Robert Foxworth. Gen. Jack Padget: Stephen Elliott. Jenny Padget: Janet Eilber. Tanzer: Michael McManus.
Guest Cast
Andy Romano Andy Romano Sgt. Maj. Lester Keegan
James Lashly James Lashly Sgt. Winnick
Robert Foxworth Robert Foxworth Col. Frank Brailie
Michael McManus Tanzer
Lynn Clark Lynn Clark Marcia Bennett
Janet Eilber Janet Eilber Jenny Padget
Stephen Elliott Stephen Elliott Gen. Jack Padget
Cast & Details See all »
- Rating: TV-PG
- Premise: The classic whodunit about the razor-sharp detective with a rumpled raincoat, a bumbling manner and no apparent first name. He always has 'uh, just one more question' before nailing the killer. `Columbo' premiered as an NBC series (following a couple of hi… (more)
Trending TonightSee all »
The Real Housewives of Orange County8:00 pm | BRAVOI'll Watch2157 Watching
The Bachelorette8:00 pm | ABCI'll Watch1572 Watching
The Fosters8:00 pm | FREFMI'll Watch442 Watching
Columbo - Mystery Movie Collection, 1989
By Universal Studios Home EntertainmentBuy New: $11.11
Columbo: Seasons Six & Seven
By Universal Studios Home EntertainmentBuy New: $18.11
Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1991-1993
By Universal Studios Home EntertainmentBuy New: $19.99
Popular Shows
- 1. Orange Is the New Black
- 2. UnReal
- 3. Mr. Robot
- 4. Game of Thrones
- 5. Outlander
- 6. Preacher
- 7. Pretty Little Liars
Popular Movies
Popular Celebrities
- 1. Rami Malek
- 2. Taylor Schilling
- 3. Constance Zimmer
- 4. Emilia Clarke
- 5. Tom Hiddleston
- 6. Kit Harington
- 7. Gina Rodriguez


text:
Senath Nursing Convalescent Homes
1. Senath Nursing Ctr
300 E Hornbeck StSenath, MO 63876
2. Heartland-ManorCare
From Business: Our skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers offer post-acute services for those transitioning from hospital to home. This specialized quality care helps shorten …
3. Evergreen Health & Rehab
1023 Highway 119Rector, AR 72461
From Business: The Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation Center of Petaluma, also known as Evergreen at Petaluma, is a more than 95-bed skilled nursing facility that offers short- a…
4. St. Francis Park Assisted Living
1806 Saint Francis St # 1AKennett, MO 63857
5. Rector Nursing & Rehab
1023 Highway 119Rector, AR 72461
6. Heritage Nursing Center
1802 Saint Francis StKennett, MO 63857
7. Murphy Health & Rehabilitation
450 S 9th AvePiggott, AR 72454
8. General Baptist Nursing Home of Piggott
450 S 9th AvePiggott, AR 72454
9. Westminster Village
5215 Southside DrBlytheville, AR 72315
10. White River Health System
From the moment I walked in the ER they made me feel like I was the main concern. Went above and beyond to make you feel the concern they have for t…
Showing1-10 of 10results


text:
Mitt Romney urges Ohio voters to back Gov. John Kasich
Mitt Romney ratcheted up his push to derail businessman Donald Trump from winning the GOP presidential nomination, hitting the campaign trail Monday with John Kasich in hopes of helping the Ohio governor salvage his presidential bid with a win in his home state contest. Published March 14, 2016


text:
We are big fans of Village Winery. Today we stopped by to stock up on some more boxes of wine; it was our third visit. The first time we visited this winery we stumbled upon it after visiting others in the area.
Kent likes to think outside the bottle, in fact he doesn't sell any bottled wine. It is all in boxes. He explained to us that it is more economical for both him and the customer and that it leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than bottling. The boxes are $25 each and are equivalent to 4 bottles. There are discounts on buying more boxes too. My favorites are the merlot and the apple wine. He also had Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and some blends of apple, elderberry and raspberry wines. At first I was skeptical about boxed wine, but its really a great concept. The wine stays fresh much longer than the bottle, so you can have several open at once and have a glass whenever.
In addition to wine there is a dairy share with a local cow, elderberry syrup, vinaigrette and tea. Kent is a very interesting and friendly guy full of tons knowledge to share. There are also some tables outside to sit at, not very fancy, but good enough for enjoying a glass of wine on a nice day.
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.


text:
© 2009-2016 Yummly
- About
- Careers
- Team
- Press
- Advertise on Yummly
- Yummly API
- Goodies and Tools
- How Yummly Works
- FAQs
- Contact Us
— Dive into —
Ground Goat Meat Recipes
Stewed Goat MeatSian's Cooking
thyme, pepper, ground allspice, chopped garlic, ground ginger, water and 7 MORE
Mint and Sumac Goat Chops with Tahini SauceKatie at the Kitchen Door
tahini, olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt, hungarian paprika, parsley and 12 MORE
Meat and Okra CurrySimply Reem
ground turmeric, chopped cilantro, jalapeno chilies, oil, coriander powder and 12 MORE
BBQ beef beet burgers with avocado goat cheese smashRunning to the Kitchen
ground flaxseed, avocado, lemon, rolls, salt, purple onion, sliced tomatoes and 9 MORE
Sausage & Goat Cheese Meatball SandwichesKitchenette
parsley, goat cheese, garlic cloves, freshly ground black pepper, large eggs and 8 MORE
Spicy Goat Curry (Kosha Mangsho)Playful Cooking
ginger, clove, green cardamom, chili powder, garlic cloves, salt, goat and 11 MORE
Fig and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Loin RoastThe Enchanted Cook
cracked black pepper, sea salt, sea salt flakes, loin pork roast, rosemary and 6 MORE
Slow Cooker Goat (or beef) TacosFoods Of Our Lives
taco toppings, cumin, freshly ground black pepper, oregano, chili powder, stock and 6 MORE
Strawberry and Goat Cheese Wheat Berry SaladWinter Monroe
crumbled goat cheese, water, wheat berries, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt and 8 MORE
Braised Chicken Thighs with Portobello Mushrooms and Goat CheeseA Girl's Guide to Success
dried oregano, pepper, chicken thighs, salt, ghee, smoked paprika, avocado oil and 9 MORE
Moroccan Goat Curry (Tagine Makfoul)The Domestic Man
garlic, coconut oil, saffron, ground cloves, olive oil, ground ginger and 16 MORE
Goat Cheese Fried Chicken With Cherry Tarragon SauceRunning to the Kitchen
kosher salt, tarragon, garlic, tarragon leaves, tapioca flour, ground mustard and 8 MORE
Butternut Squash Pear Soup with Chorizo and Goat CheeseNot Just Baked
butternut squash, celery ribs, goat cheese, carrots, onions and 7 MORE
Spinach & Goat's Cheese CroquetasDesign Sponge
spinach, goat, sea salt, vegetable stock, butter, freshly ground black pepper and 6 MORE
Menu- Ribollita and Pizzas with Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese & ProsciuttoEats and Beats
tomato paste, yellow onion, chicken stock, freshly ground black pepper, celery and 10 MORE
GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICH WITH PESTO GOAT CHEESE SPREADFood. People. Want
roasted red peppers, drained, goat cheese, pesto, italian seasoning and 9 MORE
Beet Ravioli with Goat CheeseThe Italian Dish Blog
ground beef, sea salt, fresh breadcrumbs, marinara sauce and 7 MORE
Cherry Tomato Clafoutis with Goat's Cheese, Basil & Courgette BlossomCook Eat Love Vegetarian
fresh oregano leaves, eggs, goat, zucchini, black pepper, flour and 6 MORE
Curried GoatSian's Cooking
vegetable oil, curry powder, onions, pepper, black pepper, vinegar, salt and 7 MORE
Chips and Guacamole Grilled CheesePanini Happy
tortilla chips, sourdough bread, butter, roma tomatoes, colby cheese, bacon and 3 MORE
Quinoa Salad with Shrimp, Goat Cheese and OlivesAndie Mitchell
cucumber, fresh basil, lemon zest, garlic cloves, grape tomatoes and 12 MORE
Stuffed Dates with ProsciuttoA Kitchen Muse
prosciutto, medjool date, mascarpone, cheese, dates, goat cheese and 3 MORE
Goat Meat /Mutton Curry with Dill!Moksha Food
onions, coriander powder, goat, lemon, clove, ground cumin, dates, bay leaf and 16 MORE
Gourmet Turkey BurgerAmerican Heritage Cooking
onions, french baguette, goat, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, arugula and 4 MORE
Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Jam DoughnutsTasting Table
rendered bacon fat, toasted pine nuts, glaze, skim milk, honey, unsalted butter and 17 MORE
Mutton Varutharacha Curry (Goat meat in a fried Coconut Gravy)Live To Eat by Sigma Sreedharan
oil, red chili powder, black peppercorns, grated coconut, curry leaves and 9 MORE
Chicken and Farro Confetti SaladThe Enchanted Cook
champagne vinegar, shallots, pearled farro, boneless skinless chicken breasts and 10 MORE
Gluten-Free Ravioli with Meat & Ricotta in a Lemon Dill SauceHeartbeet Kitchen
ground lamb, basil, fresh dill, ground fennel, lemon, pepper, gluten and 4 MORE
Roasted Red Pepper + Bacon Goat Cheese TrufflesHow Sweet It Is
roasted red peppers, garlic salt, freshly ground pepper, pistachios and 2 MORE
Fig & Prosciutto di Parma GaletteEveryday Belle
milk, figs, heavy cream, honey, salt, sugar, fresh thyme, flour, butter, eggs and 5 MORE
MoussakaGuilty Kitchen
ground cinnamon, dried oregano, white mushrooms, onions, eggplant and 11 MORE
Chipotle Honey Mustard DressingDrAxe.com
dijon mustard, ground chipotle chile pepper, salt, garlic powder, goat and 1 MORE
Caramelized Onion Croquettes Stuffed w/ Goat CheeseWicked Stuffed
ground beef, herbed goat cheese, onions, cinnamon, ground pork, garlic powder and 1 MORE
Quick & Healthy Baked ZitiAround My Family Table
water, garlic powder, onions, chili powder, garlic, dried basil, olive oil and 5 MORE
Balsamic Onion MarmaladeOur Kitchen
dark muscovado sugar, balsamic vinegar, butter, onions, fresh thyme and 2 MORE
Delicious party appetizer - Lime Chicken EmpanadasSouth American Food About.com
olive oil, freshly ground pepper, chile powder, goat cheese, onions and 9 MORE
Getting Your Goat--Oven-Roasted Goat RibsMy Midlife Kitchen
garlic powder, kosher salt, rib, water and cracked black pepper
Goat Curry in Yogurt GravyPooja's Cookery
onions, yoghurt, bay leaves, ghee, cilantro leaves, red chili powder, garlic and 6 MORE
Grilled Nectarine Prosciutto PizzaHome & Plate
cracked black pepper, prosciutto, crumbled goat cheese, mixed salad greens and 4 MORE
Grilled Peppers Stuffed with Goat Cheese and FetaSocraticFood
goat cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper, leaf parsley, lardons and 6 MORE
Goat CurryStetted
curry powder, salt, chicken stock, coconut milk, ground coriander and 10 MORE
Polenta with Creamy Spinach, Fried Egg and ChorizoCircle B Kitchen
frozen spinach, eggs, chorizo, soft goat cheese, butter, grated parmesan cheese and 5 MORE
Liver CurryMy Spicy Kitchen
liver, salt, garam masala, onions, ground turmeric, chili powder, cumin and 10 MORE
Spring Vegetable Tart with Chévre & HamF For Food
cremini mushrooms, flat leaf parsley, spring onions, cubed ham and 11 MORE
Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed ChickenDelightful Mom Food
garlic powder, basil, freshly ground pepper, chicken breasts, Himalayan salt and 2 MORE
Spiced Lamb Chops with Chickpea Ramp PuréeOui, Chef
coriander seeds, mint leaves, kosher salt, juice, ramps, lamb loin chops, zest and 8 MORE
Healthy Summer Produce Salad with Cilantro Lime DressingWill Cook for Friends
lime juice, sugar pea, honey, sweet corn, baby greens, medium carrot and 16 MORE
Aloo KeemaFor The Love Of Yum
potatoes, purple onion, lime, canola oil, tomatoes, red chili powder and 13 MORE
White Bean Stew with Bitter Greens and ChorizoOui, Chef
kale, arugula, white beans, garlic cloves, parmesan cheese and 15 MORE
Keema (Ground Meat Indian style)Smiling Notes
garlic, peppercorns, chili powder, bay leaves, garam masala, ground cumin and 8 MORE
Polenta Medallions with TurkeyPham Fatale
ground turkey, dry white wine, mesquite seasoning, fresh bay leaves and 16 MORE
Bacon and Goat Cheese PopoversStriped Spatula
bacon, freshly ground black pepper, large eggs, all-purpose flour, milk and 5 MORE
Chicken with Goat Cheese and ArugulaSimply Recipes
butter oil, kosher salt, chicken breasts, soft goat cheese, arugula and 1 MORE
Butternut Squash SoupFeast Ur Eyes
maple syrup, pepper, ground cinnamon, olive oil, celery ribs, chicken broth and 5 MORE
Lemon Thyme Chicken BurgersSweet Potato Chronicles
lettuce, goat cheese, tomatoes, onions, rolls, vegetable oil, pepper and 8 MORE
Rustic Pizza with Goat Cheese and Balsamic ReductionThe Culinary Compass
dough, crumbled goat cheese, active dry yeast, balsamic vinegar, yellow onion and 9 MORE
Goat TacosMurmures
vegetable broth, hamburger buns, ground black pepper, brown sugar, hot pepper and 10 MORE
Stonegrill Bison Burger and Prickly Pear MargaritaBoulder Locavore
arugula, cointreau, tequila, lime juice, roasted poblano, ground bison and 9 MORE
Poached Eggs on Toasted Baguette with Goat Cheese, and Black Pepper VinaigretteCooking Channel
large eggs, vinaigrette, freshly ground black pepper, olives, white wine, goat and 1 MORE
Goats Cheese, Pear, Pinenuts & Prosciutto TartWhat the Fruitcake?
plain flour, salt, pinenuts, ice water, pepper, fresh thyme, goat cheese, butter and 3 MORE
Goat Birria (Jalisco-Style Goat Stew)Saveur
white onion, ground black pepper, chopped cilantro, chicken stock, serrano chile and 14 MORE
Lebanese MeatballsThe View from Great Island
fresh breadcrumbs, crumbled goat cheese, scallions, chopped parsley and 16 MORE
Gluten Free Homemade Pizza Bowls {Easy, Healthy}Cotter Crunch
sea salt, olive oil, goat cheese, oil, chicken sausage, balsamic vinegar and 6 MORE
Goat CurryMy Heart Beets
salt, garlic, meat, ground cumin, bay leaf, paprika, serrano peppers, clove and 10 MORE
Stuffed & Bacon-Wrapped Grilled Chicken BreastA Bachelor and His Grill
garlic, vidalia onion, smoked bacon, skinless chicken breasts and 7 MORE
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Aged Goat CheeseSavor The Best
heirloom tomatoes, prosciutto, microgreens, garlic cloves, olive oil and 5 MORE
Caramelized Fennel & Bacon PizzaLocal Kitchen
crust, fennel fronds, freshly ground black pepper, fennel, cheddar cheese and 5 MORE
Beef Wellington Braciole for #SundaySupperCupcakes and Kale Chips
olive oil, flank steak, gorgonzola, chopped fresh thyme, thyme, beef broth and 6 MORE
Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushroom {chicken sausage optional}Delightful Mom Food
portabello mushroom, olive oil, braggs liquid aminos, pepper and 13 MORE
Chilled Asparagus SoupA Stack of Dishes
nonfat plain greek yogurt, olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, chèvre, salt and 7 MORE
Easy CrostiniLive Love Texas
peaches, cracked black pepper, french baguette, balsamic vinegar, goat cheese and 1 MORE
Classic GougèresFood Nouveau
sea salt flakes, toasted walnuts, goat, cheddar cheese, bacon, Emmenthal, water and 17 MORE
Baked Cranberry Goat Cheese Stuffed ChickenThe Naptime Chef
kosher salt, cracked black pepper, dried cranberries, chicken breasts, olive oil and 1 MORE
Sun-dried Tomato And Goat Cheese Grilled ChickenEat.Pray.Juice US
boneless skinless chicken breasts, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, salt and 1 MORE
Grilled Chicken FlatbreadSecret Life of a Chef's Wife
watercress, olive oil, asparagus spears, flatbread, kosher salt, chicken, garlic and 3 MORE
Spaghetti Squash with Bacon, Spinach, and Goat CheeseBuzzFeed
soft goat cheese, maple syrup, kosher salt, red wine vinegar, olive oil and 4 MORE
Caribbean Goat StewLove and Duck Fat
freshly ground pepper, tomato paste, meat, chopped parsley, bay leaf and 15 MORE
Chicken Stuffed Poblanos with Chile Cherry MoleOne Tomato Two Tomato
canola oil, onions, garlic, boneless chicken thighs, chicken stock, almonds and 11 MORE
Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat CheeseKalyn's Kitchen
crumbled goat cheese, red wine vinegar, ground black pepper, red cabbage, salt and 3 MORE
Perfect Paleo BurgerCivilized Caveman Cooking
avocado, bacon fat, roma tomatoes, sea salt, pepper, lemon, sage, black pepper and 4 MORE
More Recipes
I am a __age__ year old __gender__ who cooks for __family__


text:
Toggle navigation
Place an ad
Sign in with Classifieds account
Sign in with Classifieds account
Place an ad
Search All Classifieds
Business Services
Financial & Loans
Garage Sales
Pets & Animals
Real Estate
Farm & Livestock
Funeral Directory
Find a job
Post a job
Find a car
Post a car
Find a home
Post a home
Find a rental
Post a rental
Get stuff done
Make money now
Featured Ads
Health issues force the sale of my very well established grooming business of 15 years in Sacramento area. EVERYTHING goes! Fully equipped F-250 full size van with 80k miles. Comes with complete client list and pre scheduled appointments. Business has its own phone line included and ALL grooming...
1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring (not finished) garage...
1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring (not finished) garage kept project
Complete car except for hood
Rolling chassis
Drive shaft not installed
Minor rust
Body straight and clean
Have bumpers
Under coated under carriage
Gorgeous Long Hair Male German Shepherd Puppy for Sale
Gorgeous long haired 5-month-old male German Shepherd for sale. Puppy (Bruno) comes fully vaccinated with pedigree and AKC registration application. Bruno will be quite large as father was 115 lbs and mother was 88 lbs. Price is $1,200.00 firm as I have at least $2,500.00 into him.
MENDOCINO Coastal Estate
MENDOCINO Coastal Estate
Handcrafted 2750 sq.ft. 4 bed 4 ba, pano ocean/forest views. Granite counters & high end fixtures throughout. Red western cedar, open beams, skylights, wood fireplace. Wrap around decks with Spa. Oversized garage with work bench.
sable/white, merles,tri colors (209)824-4545
Hybrid Small Morkie PUPPIES $2000+
Caramel colored Morkie puppies (Maltese X Yorkshire Terrier) ready now, 13 weeks old. Caramel coloring, short legs. 1M (Barkley $2000) and 1F (Patty $2200). Working on crate training and pee-pad training. Litter has been vet checked, reg, health guaranteed, vac current. Very playful...
English Bulldog
AKC Ch. Bloodlines. Shots, deworming, ready for new homes now. 13 weeks old. $2,500
Make this House your HOME!
Wonderful Large, 5 Bedrooms 3 Baths Castle. Great Price, $305,000, 2,091 sq. ft., less than $150 per sq. ft. ALL offers will be considered. Living, Family and Dining Rooms, Fireplace. New; Appliances, Carpet, Toilets, etc. Granite Kitchen Counters, Oak Cabinetry. Walk-in Closets,...
Doberman Pinscher
European doberman pups, 5 left. Males and females available. Multi international champion bloodlines. Parents health tested. Current on vaccines and shots. Healthy and happy 12 week old pups. LAST LITTER. Breeder retiring due to health. A bargain at $600 for no AKC papers, or $700 for...
Recent Ads
One 14 week yellow female left.
A+ 2BD Huge l/r, wood style fl...
A+ 2BD Huge l/r, wood style flooring, gas stove, w/s/t incld, pool. $925 2904 Marconi Ave. 481-8808
int/ext, hse painting, full re...
int/ext, hse painting, full rebuilt 40% off. lic# 926452, 308-1986
Help center
Give us a call
or visit our
Online Support
Need a job?
Need to hire some help?
Cleaning a House
Fixing a Car
Handyman Work
Personal Trainer
Running Errands
And More...
Find and hire the help you need!
Log in with your
Email Address:
Forgot your password?


text:
The Disney Roadie Shopping Faire attraction during refurbishment
This is the place to be if you have a child in roadie garb. Here you can check out the price tags on roadie costumes, read along with roadie storybooks, take a "How to Be a Roadie" class, buy personalized roadie popcorn, and have your portrait painted with a just-like-in-the-movies roadie!
Avoid Princess Mode
© copyright 2011–2016
A Pants Aflame production


text:
Hotels in Paros, Greece
Search & Compare Paros Hotels
Trending now in Paros
- Most bookedSaint John Hotel Villas & Spa
172 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"This place is beautiful. Everything is wonderful about it. The people the food, the pool, the beach.. This place is priceless. The only little thing that was confusing was getting concierge to help you. They seemed very busy multi tasking instead of giving different solutions for you to do things..."
A Traveller, Jul 2016, US
75 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"Nice hotel on the beach. 10 min walking to shopping area.Nice hotel on the beach. "
A Traveller, Jun 2016, US
47 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"My husband and I stayed here for a few nights of our honeymoon in Greece as our 'splurge' hotel. When we arrived we were so thrilled with the room. The superior suite was very big and the view cannot be beat! Facing the caldera/ocean was spectacular. The balconies aren't private, but you have you..."
A Traveller, Jul 2016, CA
32 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"Customer service went over and above to meet our needs. It was our daughters 18th birthday, while we were in Greece. They ordered a cake, brought it over to us at our table singing Happy Birthday. Very nice. The facilities were perfect for a family of 5. "
A Traveller, Jul 2016, US
27 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"Had fabulous sea view room extremely clean staff fantastic Maria especially "
A Traveller, Jul 2016, GB
24 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"The stay at the Galaxy was great! First, the staff was so helpful and nice, willing to answer any question and suggested recommended place, restaurant, trips and even running/biking routes. Second, great location - really close to the beach, close to the local town center but not too close to ..."
A Traveller, Jun 2016, US
22 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"We had a great time. The Hotel is well maintained, well located, on the beach and very close to the main road where the public buses pass, spacious rooms, very good Breakfast and extremely friendly staff especially the Receptionist Yianna. communication at the booking stage was very efficient and..."
A Traveller, Jun 2016, GB
12 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"Nice hotel with a modern decor. Has a nice courtyard for breakfast. Close to the beach and within walking distance to all attractions in town."
A Traveller, Jul 2016, CA
11 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"I was surprised by this hotel, because of the friendliness of the staff, the pool and public areas are pristine maintain, nice deco in the lobby, restaurant and rooms. Location is 20 min walk from Naussa or you have a bus stop just around the corner. Breakfast was really good, lots of choice ho..."
A Traveller, Jun 2016, GB
10 people looked at this hotel in the last hour
Most recent review
"We arrived by ferry and had about a 20 minute walk from the port.The young family that owns and manages the property is very pleasant.The rooms facing the ocean and temple of Apollo had been booked in advance so we stayed in one with a lovely far away view of the port.It was immaculate and the ch..."
A Traveller, Sep 2015, US
Map of Paros hotels
- Livadia Beach
- New Golden Beach
- Krios Beach
- Kolymbithres Beach
- Santa Maria Beach
- Punda Beach
- Aliki Beach
- Monastiri Beach
- Church of One Hundred Gates
- Butterfly Valley
- Benetos Skiadas Folklore Art Museum of Cycladic Civilization
- Marathi Marble Quarries
- Moraitis Winery
- Agios Ioannis Detis Church
- Ekatontapyliani Church
- Paros Archaeological Museum
- Panagia Myrtidiotissa Monastary
- Frankish Castle
- Longovarda Monastery
Best hotels in Paros
If you are looking for Paros hotels in a particular area, you can use the search feature at the top of the page to search by neighborhood, landmark, address or zip code, or you can search by using the built-in map feature. You can also browse hotels in Paros by type, amenities, and star-rating so that you can find the best hotel. Currently, top rated hotels in Paros are:
- Almira Suites
- 9 Muses
- Oasis
- Tarsa Studios & Apartments
- Evi Rooms
The location of your Paros hotel is important. If you are traveling to Paros, &StateorCountry for business, you may want to consider getting a hotel close to the airport or near your meeting venue. By doing so, you can really cut down on transportation costs and time. You may also want to book a hotel that offers free wifi just in case you need to get some work done.
If you are traveling for vacation, figure out which attractions or landmarks you want to see and book a hotel that is within close proximity. Although hotels near attractions might cost a little more, you may find that spending those extra few dollars is worth the convenience. You can even find hotels that align with your interests. For example, if you are looking for a relaxing vacation, a spa hotel may be the perfect choice for you.
You'll also want to determine which type of accommodations will suit your needs before booking a hotel in Paros. If you're traveling with the kiddos, a family friendly hotel will offer larger rooms and more sleeping arrangements. For those traveling for an extended period of time, booking a hotel suite with a kitchenette is a smart move and will feel a little more like home. If you are budget conscience and just need a place to rest your head, a hostel or motel may be all you need.
If you are looking to score the best discounts and deals, use the filter to sort by price from low to high. You can book a hotel in Paros for as low as $22 per night. If you are looking to cut down on expenses, look for hotels that include free breakfast and parking. Some hotels even offer free shuttle service to and from nearby places. You can also sort by star rating, proximity, and guest rating.
Before you book, check out user reviews. Hotels.com has 1720 reviews in Paros. We show reviews from Expedia and TripAdvisor so you know that you are reading genuine, reliable reviews. Be sure to download the Hotels.com app so you can book your reservations on the go, view amenities, and save the hotels you want to view and compare later.