Consumer Video Cameras hit 4K for under $1000

Both Sony and Panasonic have announced consumer 4K cameras for under $1000. Sony has announced the FDR-AX33 for $999 (you can read about it at Cinescopophilia) and Panasonic has announced the $899 HC-VX870 and it’s strange double shooting HC-WX970 for $999 (You can also read about it at Cinescopophilia).
This blows my mind. This is reaching back to the DV revolution. Not that most people need 4K, but as an editor 4K seems like such an opportunity. Just shoot a little wider and to be able to push in and still have full 1080 resolution is mind-blowing to me. And the ability to have 4K footage to do image stabilization (now that Premiere Pro has such good built in Image Stabilization) will really change things.
Now of course these are consumer cameras, with consumer compression (though Sony does mention 100MB compression) and consumer lenses, but still for grabbing quick b-roll shots these would be amazing.
I don’t think 4K will take off at home any time soon. The TV’s are still too expensive, and since most content is 1080, it will actually look worse on a 4k screen than a 1080 screen. And until they figure out how to broadcast in 4K easily (and my TV already shows how bad the compression looks on many shows in 1080!) or a disc based format for 4K it will not take off! I mean Netflix’s 4K compression is around 15 mb per second, which is about half of what a blu-ray is (sure it is probably newer and better compression, but still you are losing a huge amount of data there). And a disc format would always be superior just for bandwidth considerations.
4K excited me for what it could mean for 1080.
Of course this all depends on DP’s as I have had 5K footage for a 1080 broadcast that was shot so extreme close up that it was useless to me to push in or for it to be  5K at all, but the possibilities do exist.

Wacom announces Cintiq Companion 2: UPDATED

I am a devoted iPad user, but the Cintiq companion is the one thing that could make me carry a different touch based computer. And Wacom has finally announced that it’s version 2 is coming out.

There are two versions, the Windows 8 Companion and the Android Hybrid, both of which work as a Cintiq Wacom table when attached to a Mac or PC.

There are 4 Windows 8 Models from $1299 to $2499, and 2 Android models from $1049 to $1199.

Of course the Windows Versions let you run full Photoshop or run as a Cintiq, while the Hybrid is an Android tablet that is also a Cintiq. So you can do much more on the go full work on the Windows model, but the Hybrid would certainly give an iPad a run for it’s money.

I love the touch computing on an iPad, but for artwork a Pen is always superior, and a Wacom pen has always been the best for tablet computing.

I have always wanted a Cintiq, but this would really be even better as you could take it with you as a tablet (though you would need some spare cables to carry with you and one set to leave at home for your home computer!).

AWESOME, I SO WANT ONE!!

Wacom adds 2 Cloud Services

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Wacom has added 2 new Cloud Services. Dropzone which allows copy & paste between devices on Mac, Windows and iOS after installing the Dropxone app (which works with Bamboo Paper on iOS). And Control Room which allows you to sync your Wacom settings with the Cloud, and have your settings wherever you are (given you have the same Wacom devices in each place).

Pretty cool, and smart, but you still need to install the software one each computer to get your settings. Hopefully this will be built in with the Wacom drivers in the future (with the ability to turn it off or on).

Tivo Talks Cable Cards

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Tivo has released a new blog post talking about Cable Cards.

This is because congress has repealed it’s legislation that required cable companies to use cable cards in their own devices, and allowed 3rd party devices like TIVO to use them.

TIVO is saying they will still exist for a while, and they are working with Comcast to create a new non-cable card solution, but it still is worrisome as a longtime TIVO user. I mean of course I would like something that also works with all the VOD from Verizon, but I hate their DVRs and have loved the simplicity of TIVO for a long time, so I hope they manage to stick around!

Adobe releases After Effects CC 2014.2 (13.2)

Adobe has updated Adobe After Effects to CC 2014.2 (13.2). Tim Kikoski’s adobe blog has the list of features and bug fixes.

New Features include scripting improvements for text layers and expression access to dynamic layer bounds, as well as new keyframe icons which should stand out more against the dark background. And the bug fixes are all welcome, especially any speed improvements for Dynamic Link.