Hard Drive Shortage due to flooding in Thailand

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardwar...d-disk-produ/1, http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011...hdd-shortages/

The two links above serves as a shot across the bow. I was in Melrose Mac today in LA, they are saying they will runs short of hard drives, and they have had to raise prices in the last 72 hours, and the price hike will not end there. I've already sent emails to clients letting them know to buy now for their upcoming productions, as they could face higher prices and/or drive shortages all together. I just spoke to the owner of a large LA based server farm, he put in (weeks ago) an order for more than a month worth of inventory for bare enterprise drives, he predicts it will get worse before it gets better.

Sorry my first post in ages, had to be a bit of a downer.

Von

The Daily for iPad Now Available for Download

News Corp. along with the Apple announced their interactive papers for iPad today at 11 a.m EST. The app has been made available for download soon after the event ended.

The app has made debut at 99 cents a week or 39.99 USD an year. The first two weeks, however, will be free. Thanks to Verizon for the sponsorship.

To Download , CLICK HERE

Happy New Year - The Sky has fallen

It's been a long time since I last blogged, but this brought me out into the light again.

Today News Corp with Rupert Murdoch and Apple launched "The Daily", The first national daily newspaper without the paper, and made (at this time) for the iPad.

Back in October 2009, I blogged on The Future of Print Advertising.. "The Sky is Falling", and told of coming days when print will be replaced in some forms with reusable electronic devices. It's clear why this is happening, the low costs to produce a daily paper without the high costs of printing it. Look for more of this happening in the coming months.

One question that comes to mind is advertising, and how this will change the scope of print advertising forever. I see the day when more and more still photographers will make more use of their Canon 5D MKII's, RED One and Epic cameras to provide the content for this new latest of social information. The uses for this will be endless, vertical advertising, traditional advertising, still, motion, sharing on FaceBook, Twitter and others is now in play.

While Apple will be exclusive in the beginning, other tablet makers will also be using this new way of selling the news.

Von

iPhone 4 Unlocked!!

Normally I leave this sort of blogging to the younger generation, but I had to share this, as it was just released, and it works! The new iPhone 4 can be Jailbroken and Unlocked to use any carrier you wise. Since I do blog on tech stuff, I think this fits in. In any case, you have to Jailbreak your phone first, then Unlock. Both processes are very simple, and you can find info here.

LightIron - BigFoot - Eizo - Maxx Digital - RED Rocket = Kick Ass on set

This cart is quite possibly the best way to handle RED Digital Cinema content on a feature set.

I'm putting this to use on the movie "Atlas Shrugged" here in LA, and I have to say without a doubt, it makes working with RED files EZ.

If you shoot RED, you want something like this.

Best,

Von

p.s. I spoke on a panel this past Saturday at Art Center in Pasadena at an event called Imaging DNA. Gale Tattersall the DP of House was a keynote speaker. Gale spoke to the Canon 5D MK2 in which he used to film the last episode of the season on House. I worked with Gale months prior to prep him for a Canon TV commercial. He wanted to test the 5D to see if it was good enough to use. We tested the 5D in various situations, took the footage to Encore, him post house, and they gave the thumbs up to use. The panel I spoke on was the emergence of digital in a film (motion picture) world, and it's impact with cameras like RED and the Canon 5D.

Zeiss Primes, Canon mount

Zeiss has released three new lenses with Canon mounts, 21mm, 50mm and 85mm. What makes these lenses amazing is that not only are great optics, but they are mated to work with the current Canon DSLR's. This is especially useful when shooting motion, and the need for accurate and repeatable focus pulling.

Von

Get it while its hot

Canon firmware update for the 5D MKII is online, and the link is here.

Firmware Version 2.0.3 incorporates five enhancements to the movie function and a fix to the manual sensor cleaning function of the EOS 5D Mark II camera.

1. Adds or changes the following movie frame rates.

NTSC:
• 1920×1080 : 30 fps (changed - actual 29.97 fps)
• 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
• 640×480 : 30 fps (changed - actual 29.97 fps)
PAL:
• 1920×1080 : 25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)
• 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
• 640×480 : 25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)


2. Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).
3. Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.
4. Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies.
5. Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
6. Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the attached lens is sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning. (This phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.4.)

Firmware Version 2.0.3 is for cameras with firmware up to version 1.2.4. If the camera's firmware is already version 2.0.3, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Movies captured using EOS 5D Mark II cameras with Firmware Version 1.1.0 to 1.2.4 can be played back on cameras updated with Firmware Version 2.0.3. However, if you try to play back movies captured with a camera with the new firmare on a camera with a previous firmare version, a message, Cannot play back image, appears on the camera's LCD monitor.

It is recommended that you use the latest Canon applications*1 to edit movies captured with EOS 5D Mark II cameras that have the latest firmare because some previous versions do not support movie-editing functions and the frame rates that are added or changed by the latest firmware. You can download the latest Canon applications from our Web site.
*1 ZoomBrowser EX Version 6.5.0 or later (compatible operating systems : Windows XP/Vista/7)
ImageBrowser Version 6.5.0 or later (compatible operating systems : Mac OS X v10.4/10.5/10.6)

In addition to the enhancements to the movie function, the accompanying instruction manual has also been revised. Users are asked to download both the latest firmware and the latest instruction manual. You can proceed to download the instruction manual by clicking the [I Agree] button from the bottom of this page.

Von