51

(31 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Herc wrote:
Sam F wrote:

2. I'm currently working on a DIY 3-axis motorized camera slider (pan, tilt, slide) for motion time lapse projects. It'll be run with a Raspberry Pi and controlled with a custom iOS app via Bluetooth LE. It's a pretty hefty project for me, involving math, computer science, mechanics, and electronics. Needless to say, I'm learning a ton! I'll probably make a post about it in the 'Creations' section when I'm closer to being finished.

Hah,awesome! I actually suggested this to Teague as a Pi project, I'd be really interested in seeing a work in progress and how you're doing it!

Thanks! Once I'm finished I definitely want to do a full write-up of all the tech I've used and learned about, and how everything works together. So maybe I'll start a thread during the development process (which has been intermittent for the past 9 months) where I can post progress videos and stuff like that. Maybe I'll list updates on what I've done and what I still have to work out. That would be useful for me personally, so I can keep my head around what I'm doing; and maybe those who are more scientifically inclined could provide suggestions big_smile. I'm not taking summer classes so I'm trying to get it all done before the fall.

I don't have time to get that thread going right now, so I'll give you a look at what I was working on tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y9dSPg71Es

52

(31 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I've got a few:

1. I just accepted my first full-time job offer! I start in September, developing mobile apps (iOS, Android) in Baltimore. I already do this as an intern, but now they have to pay me more money and give me benefits. Woohoo!

2. I'm currently working on a DIY 3-axis motorized camera slider (pan, tilt, slide) for motion time lapse projects. It'll be run with a Raspberry Pi and controlled with a custom iOS app via Bluetooth LE. It's a pretty hefty project for me, involving math, computer science, mechanics, and electronics. Needless to say, I'm learning a ton! I'll probably make a post about it in the 'Creations' section when I'm closer to being finished.

3. I'm headed out West this week with my Dad. Haven't been to CA since I was 7 and we're gonna hit as many places as we can. So, a day in Vegas, then we hit the road to San Fran, driving through Death Valley and Yosemite on the way. I'm gonna try to catch a session or two at AltConf on Friday morning, and we're seeing a Giants game that night. Then we'll drive down the coast to LA and look around, maybe meet up with some cousins in Irvine. It'll be a packed trip and I'm looking forward to it! If anyone has any suggestions for restaurants or cool stuff to do in LA, feel free to mention them!

Bottom right corner FTW. All other corners are impure!

54

(26 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Yeah, the EU is screwing things up for all of us on this one.

55

(33 replies, posted in Creations)

Looks good for me, not a serif in sight.

56

(26 replies, posted in Off Topic)

If I recall, the 30 minute limit is due to a European tax law. If it can record over 30 minutes, it's considered a camcorder, and is taxed (higher) as such. Really dumb.

Is anyone out there pushing for a change of that law? I'd love to see it go.

57

(26 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Tomahawk wrote:

As stated, I did own a GH4.
4K is nothing more than resolution, but the lack of moire is a good pro for that camera.
The footage is 8-bit, though, which doesn't appeal more to me than a 6D. Same compression, different name.

Here's something interesting:

http://www.eoshd.com/2014/02/discovery- … 10bit-444/

The workflow is inconvenient though.

If you like the deal you're getting (you're right, it's a good deal) and the BMPCC has everything you need, then go for it. Personally, no slow-mo and poor battery life would be deal breakers for me. But if you're okay with that, then there's probably no huge advantage to the GH4 or any other camera in that price range.

58

(26 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I would add poor-ish light sensitivity and lack of high frame rates to the cons list. But it's really about what you're going to be using it for, and I can't speak to that.

If I recall, the BMPCC records compressed raw, and I'm not sure how comparable it is to ML raw in terms of color information (could be negligible). My brother (videographer) had a 5D III for a while. He shot one project in raw. The workflow was rough but man, the end result was gorgeous. He recently sold it and bought a Sony a7s. Good decision in my opinion.

To me the GH4 you sold seems more enticing than the BMPCC, since you won't have it any better in the lens department, and the 4k downscaled probably looks just as nice as the BMPCC raw. Also no swapping out batteries every 20 minutes. However, the more natural filmic look of the BMPCC is a huge plus that is often overlooked.

Of course, the BMPCC is much cheaper, and if you're getting a good deal on one it might be worth going for. Also, ProRes out of the box is a nice workflow bonus.

My thought is if you are getting a new camera for video in the prosumer price range, Canon is a no-go. They don't seem to care about that market, and never really have. Sony, Panasonic, Blackmagic, etc. are the ones leading innovation.

tl;dr

https://img.pandawhale.com/post-36230-Jeff-Winger-speechless-gif-goo-lYa3.gif

59

(45 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Avengers 2

Spoiler (unless you've seen a Marvel movie before) Show
The city is flying. We're fighting an army of robots, and I have A BOW AND ARROWS! None of this makes any sense!

60

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Squiggly_P wrote:

I just watched Prisoners.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Prisoners2013Poster.jpg

It's fucking great and I loved every second of it. Now by law I'm required to watch ten more shot on shiteo films before I can watch another real movie.

Late to the game here; but yowza, that was a film. Stupendous, I say.

61

(43 replies, posted in Creations)

Topher Grace... You keep saying that name. I do not think that is who you think that is.

But in seriousness, you guys are doing an awesome job. Keep it up!

62

(70 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Writhyn wrote:

Just saw this for the first time. I liked it, though had a hard time following who was on which planet and why they went where. Big thing I thought was clear that seems to have confused other people.
The end shows Hathaway contemplating a placard which leads us to think that the science ship was destroyed there and people killed. So people keep saying she's alone.

She smiles and starts walking back to a large, powered camp the camera suddenly reveals. Is this supposed to be for just her?
I thought it showed that this planet was the success, and the scientists were alive and helping her prepare a colony.

Also I thought the wormhole collapsed after MM did his thing in the Time Room?


If I recall, the placard was a burial for that scientist she had loved. The camp was there when she got to the planet, but everyone was dead by then, because something like 80 years had passed since she left Earth. So she was picking up where they left off.

I don't recall the wormhole collapsing at any point.

Don't say anything until I've said what I've got to say. I've listened to FIYH for almost three years now and I've never taken them as seriously as I should have. They are the strangest, coolest, most genuine podcasters I've ever listened to; and the thing that scares me about them is how good they make me wish I was. Help me, FIYH. Help me become like you. I mean, I am so amazing... but I'm not perfect... you are... give me that power...so I can abuse it.

64

(152 replies, posted in Episodes)

This was the first podcast I ever subscribed to, and still the only movie podcast I follow. You guys are incredibly bright, witty, thought-provoking, and know how to put on a show. I know you'll succeed in future endeavors. The great thing is that the forum has made just as big an impact on me, and that we get to keep! This place has shown me what true kindness and respect on the Internet looks like. Love you guys, and job well done.

http://media.giphy.com/media/7rj2ZgttvgomY/giphy.gif

65

(5 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Props to Iñárritu as he did some amazing things with Birdman; but as far as achievement in directing goes, what Linklater accomplished is on a different level. I think Birdman deserved best picture, but Linklater should have taken home the directing oscar.

66

(32 replies, posted in Episodes)

Great episode.

I had a professor who said that in college he based a 30-page paper on a single frame of this film. He didn't say which one, but I'm very curious.

67

(14 replies, posted in Episodes)

fireproof78 wrote:
Invid wrote:

I think Lucas honestly DID try and do other things after Star Wars. They just were flops. Look at the films he produced: Labyrinth, Tucker, Radioland Murders, Willow. If they do better, we don't get the prequels (or, more likely, they are just produced by Lucas).

He did produce "Land before Time" with Spielberg, and that has spawned an incredible franchise. Not sure about the particulars of the money or time frame, but it always weirds me out when my kids watch and I see Lucas' name attached to it.

Land Before Time was '88, and the franchise played out through the 90s and into the 00s I think. The first one was very dark, slow, and honestly quite depressing. It had an outstanding score, which carried the movie. After that they became simple children's sing-alongs. Kid's like me loved them but I don't know how much money they raked in compared to a serious theatrical franchise.

68

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Firefly and Serenity

http://a.tgcdn.net/images/products/zoom/f16e_firefly_10th_anniversary_poster.jpg

Mmmm... That's the stuff. I finally got around to watching the series, and then the movie. Shame the show was cut so short, but the movie did a great job of wrapping it up.

69

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

BigDamnArtist wrote:

Holy crap that sounds amazing. Unfortunately the nearest Imax is 2 hours and 200km's of death defying black ice highways away.

What if Ned and Robert had said that about King's Landing?

fireproof78 wrote:

I plan on doing a full audio recording regarding my thoughts on Battle of Five Armies, and the Hobbit trilogy as a whole, but, in my opinion, AUJ is the least disappointing of the three, because I think it strikes the right tone of the books.

Right on. I flipped on AUJ after seeing BotFA and it felt refreshing.

Jackson made a big point about filming in 3D HFR, and "future-proofing" the Hobbit movies. I'm confident that 20 years from now, LOTR will hold up visually better than the Hobbit will. Was Dain CG? He looked so fake in his introduction that I wanted to just leave. Azog did look very real in his death scene, but I never thought Bolg looked any good. Just a silly cartoon.

Avatar made great points, and I agree with most of them, but I actually thought Freeman's Bilbo was one of the best parts of this movie. He gave me my only chuckle: his reaction when Thranduil confronted him about the incidents in Mirkwood. Maybe he would have been a less fascinating part of a great movie, but this was no great movie.

I'm not a purist, but only a fraction of the events of this movie were represented in the book in any way. This isn't a problem if the movie turns out great, but in this case, it's just a crappy rewrite.

Mr. Shore, what happened? So many beats didn't land due to a score that couldn't find the right tone.

This movie was missing some establishing shots. Up on the pillar where Thorin went to meet Azog, the dwarves split up and they kept cutting between them; on the move, without establishing where they were. I didn't need a geolocation, but I needed more information than just a head shot with a sky in the background. In fact I found a lot of the editing choices in this film appalling. How many honest and trustworthy eyes saw cuts of this movie before its release?

All in all, I find myself a bit saddened by how these films turned out. I had hoped for the best, and I even had myself convinced for a while that AUJ was much better than it is (It's still the only one of the three I find tolerable). I was pretty young when Episode I came out, and I didn't grow up with Star Wars, so I guess I can say that Peter Jackson is my George Lucas. I spent most of BotFA pondering what happened to him– where his senses went. LOTR was certainly no fluke, so I've got no explanation for it all.

72

(10 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Robert Rodriguez' El Mariachi commentary is packed with insight on low budget filmmaking. I got a lot out of it, and I've never even watched the movie by itself.

73

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Just saw this for the first time and I cannot stop watching it.

74

(538 replies, posted in Creations)

As an outsider who knows very little about this ongoing battle, I must say I love that it exists.

75

(45 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Edge of Tomorrow

Cage gets the rundown on the time reseting situation from Emily Blunt and the scientist aided by a highly advanced and superfluous hologram presentation, presumably created by this one guy in secret.

http://www.digitalmedia-world.com/images/stories/July-14/1/Prime-focus-edge-tomorrow8.jpg

Cage's first reaction after hearing he's going to need to die every day until they can save the world:

"First of all, this is a terrific presentation.... Terrific."

Then on with the plot.