http://www.dvguru.com DV Guru http://www.dvguru.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.dvguru.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/25/mca-introduces-internal-blu-ray-burner-for-macs/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/25/mca-introduces-internal-blu-ray-burner-for-macs/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/25/mca-introduces-internal-blu-ray-burner-for-macs/#commentsFiled under: Hardware, Media

Attention Power Mac G4/G5 and Mac Pro owners, MCE has introduced an internal Blu-ray burner for your rig. The drive is user-installable and along with Blu-ray is compatible with all DVD and CD recordable media. Speed specs include 2X read/write speed for Blu-ray, 8x read/write for DVD-R and 24x write/32x read for CD-R media. But wait, there's more. The drive is bundled with the new Toast Titanium 8 software with Blu-ray support. The price is listed as $699 but here's a tip. If you already have Toast Titanium 8, or just don't want it, you can opt out when you checkout and it subtracts $49 from your total. So that brings it down to $650 for just the drive.

[via Engadget]

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]]>blu-rayburnercddvdmacmcerecordabletoastSheila Ward2007-01-25T22:48:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/24/media-100-gets-positive-review-from-the-cow/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/24/media-100-gets-positive-review-from-the-cow/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/24/media-100-gets-positive-review-from-the-cow/#commentsFiled under: Trends, Software, Media, Post-production

I've long maintained that no one I know actually uses Media 100 anymore, but lots of them "used to." I've even called out the application's faithful here on this very blog, but to no avail. I was about to give up on the software, when I read this.

Nick Griffin over at Creative Cow is another person who used to use the software, but after a rather nasty separation, he seems inclined to give the old gal a second chance. (Griffin actually compares Media 100 to an old girlfriend.) He says everything old is new, with support for 99 video tracks, and 24 audio tracks. Yet, the software felt familiar on Griffin's hands, and imported projects from past Media 100 versions flawlessly.

The software also boasts full Quicktime support, and therefore will edit footage captured by Apple's Final Cut Pro natively. Other Media 100 features include Panasonic P2 support, and the ability to edit multiple formats on the same timeline. Click READ below for a link to the full review.

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]]>Creative CowCreativeCowMedia 100Media100Quicktime Final Cut ProQuicktimeFinalCutProAdam Nielson2007-01-24T09:14:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/20/hvx200-from-firewire-directly-into-fcp/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/20/hvx200-from-firewire-directly-into-fcp/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/20/hvx200-from-firewire-directly-into-fcp/#commentsFiled under: Cameras, Media

While they certainly make life easier, you don't need a fancy P2 card reader or a PCMCIA slot to get footage off your P2 cards and into Final Cut Pro. You can use your HVX200 and your trusty firewire port. It's not as easy as just plugging in a cable and magic happens, you'll need to perform a few setup tasks. But don't fear, FCP guru Ken Stone has step-by-step instructions for you, including pictures. We love pictures.

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]]>final cut profirewirehvx200importingestp2pcmciaSheila Ward2007-01-20T17:18:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/16/external-drive-basics-for-your-editing-system/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/16/external-drive-basics-for-your-editing-system/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/16/external-drive-basics-for-your-editing-system/#commentsFiled under: Editing, Hardware, Media

Final Cut Pro guru Larry Jordan provides some basic information about external storage solutions in this video over at Studio Daily. Topics include Firewire, SATA and data transfer rate comparisons. If you are just getting started in editing and new to the external storage game, this will give you a good start.

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]]>external storagefirewirehard drivelarry jordanLarryJordansatastorageSheila Ward2007-01-16T20:20:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/my-life-as-a-child/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/my-life-as-a-child/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/my-life-as-a-child/#commentsFiled under: Production, Media, School, Television, Movies, DIY

Ahh to be young again! Full of dreams, uninhibited, not a care in the world...except for how many DV tapes it will take to record you friend Joey's birthday party...

My Life As A Child is a 6-part documentary series where children record their lives on video from a first person perspective. The Learning Channel selected 20 youngsters ages 7 to 12 for the project, checked out some video gear to them, and let them tape for 4 months. The footage they captured makes up the 6 one-hour episodes, and marks a first for TLC in melding user generated content and television. The show claims to be "frank, intimate, and eye-opening" as children share their perspectives on growing up in the 21st century.

I couldn't find any hard DVGuru info about the production (camera info, production notes, behind the scenes info.) Still, I can't help but be a bit fascinated by the fact that this sort of thing wouldn't have been possible 7 or 8 years ago. The relative price of camcorders, this generation's experience with video, and the popularity of "viral" video content all seem to culminate in a project like this one.

My Life As A Child airs on Monday, February 26 at 7PM (ET/PT.)

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]]>childrendocumentaryLearning ChannelLearningChannelMy Life as a ChildMyLifeAsAChildAdam Nielson2007-01-11T08:27:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/10/hd-backgrounds-for-the-budget-minded/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/10/hd-backgrounds-for-the-budget-minded/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/10/hd-backgrounds-for-the-budget-minded/#commentsFiled under: Business, Media, Post-production

Taste Digital Media has offered royalty free sound, image, and video libraries for years. Their recent addition of an HD video background library seems to cover all the bases, and serves as an indicator of just how prolific HD video production has become. The best part is, they are cheap too.

Taste offers 13 volumes of it's HD library, containing 10 to 15 clips each. Total cost per volume is a mere $49.95, and all clips are completely royalty free. The library covers water, clouds, metalics, and abstract effects, and the whole thing is presented in 1080 wide-screen lossless PNG Quicktime format.

Via StudioDaily

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]]>backgroundHDlibraryTasteAdam Nielson2007-01-10T08:20:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/09/ces-dvr-roundup/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/09/ces-dvr-roundup/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/09/ces-dvr-roundup/#commentsFiled under: Trends, Business, Media, Gear, Television

It's funny being a video technology blogger. most of the year, you find yourself scraping the web, looking for stories your readers will find interesting. Then CES happens. I'm drowning in a sea of press releases, product demos, and tech announcements.

As could have been easily predicted, there's a bunch of Digital Video Recorder(DVR) stuff coming out of the trade show this year. I thought I would round up some of the more important announcements in the world of digital time-shifting.

TiVo finds a home at Comcast. The DVR pioneer has had a tough go since breaking up with Directv. This deal has to be good for them.

Dish Network announces DishDVR advantage. The satellite provider is taking the guesswork out of the DVR, by offering them first party, and not hiding them in the bill, or charging extra for them. Dish Network is also offering a complementary High Definition DVR to new subscribers.

Avid offers HD DVR software for the PC. Pinnacle PCTV To Go offers users the chance to place and time shift their HD content on their home computer.

Diego offers DVR direct to the consumer. The company originally supplied it's Moxi set-top technology exclusively to cable providers. Giving this stuff direct to consumers had to make the big content providers a bit nervous.

Sling Media announces Sling Catcher. Sling Catcher is actually technology that will be used in two new products. Sling Projector allows you to take your media, as well as all other functions of a standard PC to your living room set, while Sling Player lets you watch your TV on someone else's set.

for complete coverage of events at CES, Click READ to visit our friends at Engadget.

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]]>CESCES-2007ComcastDirectvDVRTivoAdam Nielson2007-01-09T08:53:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/08/lexars-new-high-capacity-sdhc-cards/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/08/lexars-new-high-capacity-sdhc-cards/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/08/lexars-new-high-capacity-sdhc-cards/#commentsFiled under: Media, Gear

Lexar has two high capacity SDHC cards coming up this year, weighing in at both 4GB and 8GB under the Standard and Platinum II lines. This February, the 4GB Platinum II will hit for $100, which promises transfer speeds of 9MB per second, and the slower Standard card will cost $80. No release or pricing details for the 8GB card, but these guys will definitely be beneficial for folks interested in any of the new AVCHD camcorders that support the format, including JVC's recently announced Everio cams.

(via Engadget)

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]]>avchdcesgearlexarmediasdhcBrian Liloia2007-01-08T13:52:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/07/corel-getting-busy-announces-avchd-support-for-intervideo-windv/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/07/corel-getting-busy-announces-avchd-support-for-intervideo-windv/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/07/corel-getting-busy-announces-avchd-support-for-intervideo-windv/#commentsFiled under: Editing, Software, Media

The folks at Corel have been busy bees the past couple months. They finished up the acquisition of InterVideo, completed an update to Ulead VideoStudio 10 which earned Vista certification and released an update to InterVideo DVD Copy 5 to support Tivo, Zune and iPod. What's next? Today they announced support for AVCHD in their InterVideo WinDVD 8 playback software. Future product releases of InterVideo and Ulead video and DVD products will also support AVCHD. At least we are starting to see some support for this format, hopefully other companies will be announcing support soon.

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]]>avchdcoreldvdintervideouleadvideostudiovistawindvdSheila Ward2007-01-07T15:03:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/lg-to-show-off-hd-dvd-blu-ray-player-at-ces/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/lg-to-show-off-hd-dvd-blu-ray-player-at-ces/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/lg-to-show-off-hd-dvd-blu-ray-player-at-ces/#commentsFiled under: Trends, Business, Hardware, Media, DVD, At Home

I originally titled this post "Oh, snap!" because LG's on again off again combo HD-DVD + Blu-Ray player, if released, could save next-gen optical from an untimely demise. Many consumers (including me) have been sitting on the sidelines of the format war waiting for a clear winner, but obviously a combo player would not only be a winner for LG, but retailers might start moving some Blu-Ray and HD-DVD titles off the shelves.

Finally we could see some sort of unification. Please, oh please, LG, don't dash our hopes! And Samsung, we know you're all cozy with Blu-Ray and e'rythang, but throw us a bone and release a dual format player too.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>Randall Bennett2007-01-04T08:00:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/thoughts-on-managing-video/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/thoughts-on-managing-video/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/04/thoughts-on-managing-video/#commentsFiled under: Media, Post-production

With so many different media formats, it is no wonder management all of your assets can easily spin out of control. The Fideocam Blog offers some key points when putting together a management plan. First, keep as much meta-data tied to the clip as possible. This is obvious for the same reasons "tagging" has exploded all over the Internet. Second, content management is lacking in the current crop of NLE. Fideocam suggests improved interfaces to bring the NLE up to speed with broadcast management tools, which require a higher attention to detail. Third, when preparing a strategy make sure you choose open import/export protocols. There is nothing worse than realizing what you thought would work ends up blowing up in your face and there is no way to get your media back out of the system.

The more people involved the greater the complexity of the project. Keeping things organized is a key part of production, an important aspect that can save you lots of time and ultimately lots of money. For more insights give this entry a read over.

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]]>managemanagementmediaorganizingpost productionPostProductionsorttagRussell Heimlich2007-01-04T05:24:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/powerdvd-ultra-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray-playback-for-the-pc/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/powerdvd-ultra-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray-playback-for-the-pc/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/powerdvd-ultra-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray-playback-for-the-pc/#commentsFiled under: Software, Media

If you get a new Blu-ray or HD DVD drive for your PC this holiday season, you'll probably need some software to play those Blu-ray and HD DVD movies. You might check out CyberLink's new PowerDVD Ultra software. It supports both formats and is optimized for graphic cards featuring NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo and Intel Clear Video technology. You can view the full specs here. The cost is $99 and it's available for download now.

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]]>blu-raycyberlinkhdhd dvdhd playbackHdDvdHdPlaybackpcpowerdvdsoftwareSheila Ward2006-12-23T10:32:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/a-film-festival-without-the-film/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/a-film-festival-without-the-film/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/a-film-festival-without-the-film/#commentsFiled under: Media, Festivals

Growing up with Sundance (Park City, UT) in my back yard, I thought I'd seen it all when it came to film festivals. Boy, was I wrong. In a move that hearkens back to the earliest days of motion pictures, several art galleries around the country are hosting the International Flipbook Festival. Dubbed a 'Celebration of Hand-Powered Cinema' festival entrants are graded on the quality of their image, the story they tell, and the craftsmanship of their books. When was the last time someone told you your film canister wasn't sturdy enough?

Click READ for a link to one of the festival's recent stops

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]]>festivalflipbooksundanceAdam Nielson2006-12-23T07:49:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/19/viacom-having-second-thoughts-about-youtube-killer/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/19/viacom-having-second-thoughts-about-youtube-killer/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/19/viacom-having-second-thoughts-about-youtube-killer/#commentsFiled under: Media, Web, Online

Remember all of this talk about big media companies making their own YouTube? Well word got out today from Broadcasting&Cable that Viacom, owners of MTV, Nickelodeon and other big channels has backed out of the talks with NBC Universal, News Corp. and CBS. It looks like the big guys simply can't agree on anything for their own good. Until Tuesday afternoon, Viacom was a big part of the talks. Why they backed out is unknown at this point, although it could be due to the fact Viacom's MTV Networks Online and News Corp.'s MySpace are direct rivals to each other.

(Thanks for the tip Barb)

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]]>CBSNews Corp.NewsCorp.YouTubeRussell Heimlich2006-12-19T23:49:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/17/choosing-archival-cd-dvd-media/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/17/choosing-archival-cd-dvd-media/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/17/choosing-archival-cd-dvd-media/#commentsFiled under: Media, DVD, Post-production

Backing up your media is important, especially to an off-site location. It is a good thing optical media is as cheap as it is so creating a duplicate copy isn't a cost prohibitive operation. But if you are going to devote the time and energy to backing up, you want to be sure your media will be readable in the future. Ad Terras Per Aspera has a thorough technical explanation of optical media and what makes a good disc. To summarize his findings:

1. DVD+R has superior error correction and burning control.
2. Taiyo Yuden makes the best discs.
3. Gold plated discs don't offer any added protection.
   

I suggest you read the full article to understand how he came to his conclusions and become a DVD whiz kid in the process.

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]]>archiveCDdiscDVDDVD Rguidemediastoragetaiyo yudenTaiyoYudenRussell Heimlich2006-12-17T14:19:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-quality-hi-def-vs-standard/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-quality-hi-def-vs-standard/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-quality-hi-def-vs-standard/#commentsFiled under: Media, DVD

I am certainly not a big Hi-def DVD supporter. I am perfectly happy with my standard definition DVD's. Until now. Someone took stills from the HD DVD and regular ol' DVD versions of Lord of the Rings and put them side by side to compare. To no one's surprise, the HD quality was better but the amount of difference shocked me and I am guessing will shock you. The HD had better colors, better resolution, was brighter and less contrast. The picture was generally prettier. Long shots were especially better with HD. Take a look for yourselves, roll your mouse over to see the difference.

(via Gizmodo)

Update: The HD footage is from HDTV and not Hi-def DVD. Thanks Richard.

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]]>hdAjit Anthony2006-12-16T18:48:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-architect-studio-goes-solo/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-architect-studio-goes-solo/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/16/dvd-architect-studio-goes-solo/#commentsFiled under: Software, Media

Sony is now offering DVD Architect Studio as a stand alone product. In the past the only way you could get your hands on it was in a bundle with Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD. Its got a nice feature list and a MSRP of $49.95 is not bad if you don't need the video editing capabilities. If you want to check it out you can download a trial and give it a whirl.

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]]>authoringburningdvddvd architectsonyvegasSheila Ward2006-12-16T16:42:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/15/verbatim-adds-color-to-lightscribe-discs/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/15/verbatim-adds-color-to-lightscribe-discs/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/15/verbatim-adds-color-to-lightscribe-discs/#commentsFiled under: Media, Gear

This sounds a lot more exciting that it actually is. Verbatim is selling color discs that are compatible with Lightscribe disc label etching software. So in a sense the background is colored, everything else remains the same. The colors include red, yellow, green, blue and orange. A 25 Pack will run you $19.

Kinda hard to believe it has taken this long for a color background. Some company could seriously come in and clean it up because I am tired of writing on discs or using a paper printer. An easy, very fast and cheap disc labeling technology would be great. One setting for everyday backup stuff and another setting for pretty festival DVD's.

(via Engadget)

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]]>lightscribeverbatimAjit Anthony2006-12-15T19:33:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/hdv-gone-to-heaven-in-07/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/hdv-gone-to-heaven-in-07/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/hdv-gone-to-heaven-in-07/#commentsFiled under: Trends, Business, Production, Cameras, Hardware, Media, The Shoot

Before you buy that new HDV camcorder to go under the tree, you might want to take a look at this. Tore Nordahl over at Coax.tv says the format is dead in 2007. He goes on to explain that the new AVCHD codec is poised to slide into it's spot as the de facto HD camcorder standard.

I did a little checking, and we here at DVGuru have not always said the nicest of things about the AVC format. For starters, no editing system currently supports it. Also, in what is apparently another attempt to leverage it's format, Sony has opted to create camcorders relying exclusively on Blu-ray technology.

AVC doesn't have to be difficult though. As Nordahl points out, the format is certainly not dependent on disk media, and in fact can be recorded onto a drive, or solid state memory like Panasonic's P2 cards. In fact, he cites several models on their way, which will do just that. As for editing support, we recently reported on an AVCHD converter. I also expect major editing apps to announce support in the next revision of their software.

Nordahl makes some great points, and explains that AVC offers many of the advantages of HDV, with fewer drawbacks. There's no denying that HDV uses some gnarly compression to fit itself onto a standard DV tape. Not only is AVCHD less compressed, it doesn't have to shoehorn itself into a cassette tape.

Before you write this off as some blogger talking junk, take a look at Nordahl's resume. The guy knows his stuff, and he has seen quite a few formats come and go. I personally think he makes sense, and there are a few things I have always questioned about HDV. At this point, I'm more than willing to give AVCHD a chance.

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]]>AVCHDHDVNordahlAdam Nielson2006-12-14T10:33:00+00:00http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/youtube-tv-companies/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/youtube-tv-companies/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/youtube-tv-companies/#commentsFiled under: Media, Television, Web, Online

Rumors are still flying around the blogosphere that the major TV networks are looking to create a YouTube clone to bring down YouTube and give them back control over the content. Obviously this idea is presented with the problems of fighting a legal battle against YouTube and Google as well as trying to persuade surfers over to the new site, which will probably be considered 'evil'.

TechCrunch has said that Viacom and Disney have already dropped out of the discussions entirely while Fox and CBS are still trying to put a deal together. If the site was to go ahead and became successful I very much doubt it would end up favoring small time video producers as the power would be back in the hands of the big production companies.

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]]>Chris Tew2006-12-13T18:10:00+00:00