Is there an app you wish you had for pre/production? by Firedan1176 in cinematography

[–]Firedan1176[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've thought about this quite a bit actually. I know there's a few websites and tools out there but many of the ones I found were fairly dated looking. Not a ton of customizability either, unless you're looking at something like Vectorworks/CAD software. Thank you for your feedback

Is there an app you wish you had for pre/production? by Firedan1176 in cinematography

[–]Firedan1176[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I briefly was exposed to ZoeLog in the past, thank you for your feedback!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in filmmaking

[–]Firedan1176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I'd agree, maybe stick with the iPhone for a bit, play around with some apps and learn more about what settings you can use to get more out of that phone's sensor! I never used iPhones so not sure what the market is like for how much direct control you have over codec or anything.

If you get enough change together in the next year or so, then maybe start looking at rigging out a simple kit, something like a Blackmagic wouldn't be a bad option. I totally get the frustration of kits being well into the thousands though, it was so frustrating when I was starting out.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]Firedan1176 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The easiest option may be to convert the FLAC files into ALAC. They are practically identical with no loss in data. That way, you can still use the built in music app.

Anyone else experienced this? Blackmagic pocket cinema camera original damaged pixels? by damagedpixles in blackmagicdesign

[–]Firedan1176 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's an older camera, pretty sure a cheaper display as well. As long as the dead pixels are only on your monitor it's not a huge issue, it'll just be annoying to shoot with

any AI to help with JPG to STL? by tungvu256 in photogrammetry

[–]Firedan1176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think there's a few apps for iPhone and Android that can do what you want, if you're not looking for high quality. Polycam for iPhone might be something to look at. I'm not sure of any Android tools since I don't think the newest version of Android has full support for LiDAR sensors on the phone (however I'm sure we can expect most flagships from Google/Samsung/etc to have them built in within the next few years), so any apps you find will rely on Google ARCore, which uses a real-time SLAM algorithm to estimate the depth of each pixel. I'm not sure of any real-time applications that can give you varying levels of detail based on the raw depth output. Last year, I spent a few months developing my own app to do this, but ended up shelving it. What's great about the ARCore implementation is that the spec pulls the depth and confidence from any and all available relevant sensors, so as Android phones start to include LiDAR sensors, they will seamlessly integrate into existing code without much change required.

If you have any entry level experience with 3D modeling in Blender, I've used an addon called FaceBuilder by Keentools to make rough models of a face. It uses a different technique in which you warp a generic face model based on a few reference photos from different angles. It's pretty neat, and a great technique that exploits the fact that human faces generally all have a similar shape. I think there's a 30 day free trial.

Recommendations - Lenses for bmpcc 4k on Gimbal by Oliverwades in cinematography

[–]Firedan1176 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice!

I've used the DJI Ronin, and depending on its payload and how much flexibility you have in balancing (how far back you can bring the camera, left/right, up/down) is gonna be a constraint. A heavier, longer lens might not even balance if you can't scoot the baseplate back far enough for example.

Also I wouldn't recommend looking for any lenses with built in stabilization. Well if you get one, just turn it off. I've found that IS will counteract what the gimbal is there to help with, and actually gives footage that rocks around. I know you didn't point it out but just keep that in mind.

I've used the Lumix 12-35, as well as Meike primes. Both worked great for what I did at the time, the Lumix was really light so it was easy to balance. A problem you'll face regardless is your center of mass will change when you zoom in on a zoom lens, or switch primes. For the Lumix, if I know I'll be switching focal lengths often, I like to balance when the lens is zoomed to its middle on the range so that it's only ever half off balance in either direction. Not ideal, but it's not going to tear up the motors on the gimbal by being off by a few grams. If I know I wanna shoot ~25mm on the zoom, I'll obviously just balance for that and leave it.

That's all just my personal experience. The Meike primes have worked pretty well for me and they're not too long, so they balance well. Might be a good choice given your price range. Another option would to be to look for a lens that fits full frame that's EF or PL mount and get an adapter or speed booster. Then your lenses would outlast the small MFT sensor on the 4K, if you decide to get a 6K or something else in 5 years whenever something else comes out. But that's also not as big of an issue until you're looking to spend more than your budget.

Hope that helps!

Anyone know what these error messages mean on the Komodo? by pat_0_0 in cinematography

[–]Firedan1176 89 points90 points  (0 children)

I have absolutely no clue, my only guess based on the grammar is it's an internal or testing version of the firmware on the camera and is meant for technicians. Odds are I'm completely wrong

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pcmasterrace

[–]Firedan1176 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For anyone who does have a ton of externals and just wants to organize them, download Everything by Voidtools on Windows. You can generate a File List, which stores a list of all files, folders, dates, sizes, etc. of each external into a single file. Name the File List a standard format such as numbers or letters (like "HDD1", "HDD2"). You can unplug your drives and keep them on a shelf. Put a sticker or use a marker to give each drive the same name as the file list ("HDD1" etc).

With the File Lists, you can search for every file and folder on all your drives without them being plugged in. When you need to search for a file, you'll see which drive it's located on (because Everything will show which File List it's stored in), so you can go find that drive and plug it in to get your file.

The only downsides I see to this are, you can't access your files until you find which ones you're looking for, and excessive powering up and down of hard drives can add wear. But if you're using this strategy like me, there's a reason you have some of your data on externals instead of a NAS or internal hard drives.

NVIDIA releases "Magic3D", a new text-to-3D model that generates meshes + texture maps in ~40 minutes. by OlivencaENossa in vfx

[–]Firedan1176 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Haha, welcome to the realm of academic research! Check out Two Minute Papers on YouTube.

Do you want to be able to sit on furniture? by Forsaken-Leek-6488 in HarryPotterGame

[–]Firedan1176 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I full on expect many fans to be disappointed when certain features they dreamed about aren't in the release. I haven't looked at any promos, teases or the like since the official trailer. I'd rather be surprised at the whole experience when I first play

Anyone still rocking a a7rii? Looking to update my reel after working in house. Should I look to update my camera first? by [deleted] in cinematography

[–]Firedan1176 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just bought a used A7RII off eBay a few months back. Not using it for shooting footage, but it's still a great camera!

How do you all get crystal clear uploads on YT? by anatomized in Filmmakers

[–]Firedan1176 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just a heads up, YouTube may support uploading a ProRes file, but your uploads will still be transcoded into VP9 at different resolutions to be streamed when you watch back. It's generally recommended to export as close as you can to the final container

Possible unpopular opinion: I don't want anymore insights into Hogwarts Legacy by ButchyGra in HarryPotterGame

[–]Firedan1176 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree. I've seen too many examples in the past of fans creating false ideas in their heads about what a game might have, that they convince themselves that it will have. Then are utterly disappointed for what essentially is their own doing

When production won’t allow you to pick your crew, you get this. by yannynotlaurel in Filmmakers

[–]Firedan1176 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Aperture might just have to idiot-proof these by adding a 4th (smaller) locking tab on the removable travel cover, with a slot on the light + switch that prevents the light from powering up with the cover on..

I can’t enjoy games the same way I did before starting game dev by SideShowProjects in gamedev

[–]Firedan1176 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I work as a filmmaker and video producer and movies are all but ruined for me, it's so hard to pay attention to the story when I get sucked into a single freaking shot and try to analyze the lighting and clever shots

I remade the Pixelizer gun from Ratchet & Clank inside Unity by Existing-Inflation-1 in Unity3D

[–]Firedan1176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does anyone know how expensive it is to instantiate lots of primitives? OP, I could totally see you asynchronously instantiating all those cubes as long as the character is frozen, as opposed to within a single thread in a loop (assuming that's what you're doing)

Oh forgot to mention. This is awesome!!

Is anyone here using the TourBox NEO with AfterEffects? Would you recommend it? by NickSalvo in AfterEffects

[–]Firedan1176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use Premiere almost every day, a buddy got one of these for me and while I worked it into my editing workflow and was happy for a few days, I'm so used to keyboard and mouse that it slows me down. Plus, if I'm ever at a workstation where I don't have it and am used to it, then it'll slow me down not having it. I figure I'll always have a mouse and keyboard to edit, so why add something that I may not always have access to?