Tag Archives: DigitalVideo

Animation software used by Studio Ghibli will soon be free

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You may not have heard of Toonz animation software, but you've no doubt seen work it was used in: Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away and Tale of the Princess Kaguya (above), or the animated series Futurama. Now, the Toonz Ghibli Edition used by l...

Sony’s Action Cam… in action (video)

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Sony's Action Cam in action video

We're quite familiar with ruggedized camcorders here at Engadget, be they from GoPro or Contour. However, Sony recently entered the extreme video fray with its Action Cam, and we got the chance to do a little POV recording with one. The videos produced were on par with what we've seen from the Action Cam's competition -- a nice wide view and decent quality. While we've seen other such cams have trouble with color balance, the Sony's was accurate both indoors and out and it adjusted to transitions from dim to bright environments quickly. And, while the SteadyShot image stabilization tech didn't eliminate all the shakes in our videos, it did noticeably reduce them. That said, you don't have to take our word for it, head on past the break and see the results for yourselves.

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Sony's Action Cam... in action (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesco recruits Andy McNab’s e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war

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Tesco recruits Andy McNabs ebook firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war

Hot on the heels of purchasing Blinkbox and Peter Gabriel's WE7, Tesco has purchased Andy McNab's e-book publishers, Mobcast. It seems clear that the British supermarket heavyweight is currently engaged in a phony war with rival Sainsburys, which snapped up Rovi, Global Media Vault and Anobii for its competing online content service. McNab's company is rather small, only offering around 130,000 titles in the UK, but like the earlier purchases, its infrastructure and resources will most likely be cannibalized to boost the company's forthcoming digital platform.

Continue reading Tesco recruits Andy McNab's e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war

Tesco recruits Andy McNab's e-book firm Mobcast to help win the Supermarket content war originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Red posts high frame-rate video demonstration to smooth out misconceptions

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Red posts HFR demonstration to smooth out misconceptions

If you're still unsure about what you'll be getting into if you see the 48fps version of "Hobbit," Red has jumped into the fray with an article on its website and, most importantly, high quality HFR (high frame-rate) videos. It delves into all the aspects of the tech, starting with a primer on the minimum frame rate required to perceive motion, illustrated by a pair of clips to show the threshold. From there it details "judder" when panning at 24 fps versus 60 fps, motion blur, the possibility of brighter projection with HFR in 3D and of course, action at slower versus faster frame speeds. Finally, it demonstrates the hated "TruMotion" soap opera-esque interpolation method on modern TVs, and why that's different from true fast-frames. Sure, Red has a vested interest in seeing upcoming HFR films from its Epic camera succeed, but a little education might be what's needed to break old habits.

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Red posts high frame-rate video demonstration to smooth out misconceptions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comic-Con fans go crazy over Hobbit teaser, but not the 48fps version

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DNP Jackson wows ComicCon crowd with Hobbit preview, clarifies 24fps screening decision

Two different audiences and two very different screenings. After unfamiliar 48fps Hobbit footage was pretty universally panned back at Cinema-Con, Peter Jackson decided to play it safe and show Comic-Con fans the traditional low frame-rate teaser. Their response? They loved it. Which would, you'd think, give the head hobbit a clear message: his film works better without the wacky frame rate, but that's just not how he sees it. Writing on his Facebook page, he said "I've always been happy to bet on myself" and the 48fps version of Hobbit is "something really special" when you watch the entire movie. In other words, he's sticking to his orc sword, and in the meantime we're left to wonder what would have happened if the Comic-Con crowd -- who are perhaps more his kind of people than Cinema-Con goers -- had been shown the tricked out footage.

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Comic-Con fans go crazy over Hobbit teaser, but not the 48fps version originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 06:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Despite shaky 48 fps Hobbit preview, high frame rates will take off

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Well actually, the Hobbit preview wasn't shaky, it was smooth -- maybe too smooth -- and that's the point. "It does take you a while to get used to," Peter Jackson has admitted, referring to the surprisingly fluid motion of his 48 fps movie footage. But is he right to think audiences will even give it a chance? The launch of high frame-rate (HFR) cinema is surrounded by publicity in the run-up to the Hobbit's debut on December 12th, but it equally has a lot going against it. For starters, the film's 48 fps preview wasn't exactly received warmly. On top of that, the video-style apperance of HFR has a long history of being disliked by movie-goers -- past attempts since the 1970s have all flamed out.

85 years after the first 24 fps movies, the same number of frames are still going stubbornly through the gate (digital or otherwise) each second, so that must be what "filmic" is, right? Or will we look back on 24fps as the bad old days? Read on to see if these new/old-fangled frame speeds might survive, and though a 48 fps Hobbit trailer isn't available, we've provided a couple of clips to help you judge what two-dimensional HFR looks like.

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Editorial: Despite shaky 48 fps Hobbit preview, high frame rates will take off originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peter Jackson unfazed by ‘Hobbit’ footage pushback, but will stick to 24 fps for trailers

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Calm down, cinema-goers. It just takes time to "settle in" to the strange new ultra-realistic world of high frame-rates, according to Peter Jackson, who's been responding to audience's rather strong panning of 48fps rough cuts from his upcoming 3D epic, Hobbit. Viewers' main beefs were the surprising appearance of the higher cadence footage, which almost looked like it was shot on video, as well as blemishes on actors and sets which were all-too-visible without the crutch of motion blur. But Jackson insists that the footage lacked special effects and color correction, and that the showing was perhaps too short to judge the frame-rate -- which is why he also says there'll be no 48 fps trailer. He even adds that he's now "very aware of the strobing, the flicker and the artifacts" when he's watching regular 24fps cinema -- so the real struggle for audiences might not be adjusting to the new way, but going back to the old.

Peter Jackson unfazed by 'Hobbit' footage pushback, but will stick to 24 fps for trailers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frame rate debate rages on with 48 fps projection of 3D Hobbit footage

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With his use of Red cameras, 3ality rigs, and high frame rate 3D technology, no one can accuse Peter Jackson of being stuck in the past. Need more evidence of his anti-luddism? He just gave the first projection of footage from his 3D opus "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in its full 48 fps glory at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. With the public having endured 80 years of 24 fps film-watching, Jackson appealed to viewers to allow their eyes to adjust to the doubled rate during the ten minute screening. But the reaction showed that public acceptance might take a while. One projectionist compared it to made-for-TV fare, and others referenced Mexican soap-operas and TruMotion. The reply to these criticisms by Jackson (and James Cameron) has always been that 3D is better suited to faster frame rates than 2D -- making it more immersive, reducing headaches and improving stereoscopy. We'll have to wait for the film's release this December to find out whether he's right, or if this attempt at high frame speeds will go the way of Showscan.

Frame rate debate rages on with 48 fps projection of 3D Hobbit footage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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