My new office

Hello all.  As many of you will have heard, I’m not working at Sheridan College anymore.  I left at the start of October.  Support staff at Ontario colleges had been on strike starting at the beginning of September.  While I was out on strike, I decided it was time to move on to something new.

So where am I now?  I am working at a company called The Adpharm.  We are an advertising agency for pharmaceutical clients (hence the ‘ph’ in ‘Adpharm’). The Adpharm is a small company and I am the New Media Developer.  Essentially, this means I am developing iPad apps and I am the company’s go-to guy for technical issues.

Now that I am developing apps full-time, I’ve been able to focus on iOS in a way that was impossible before.  I considered renaming this blog, but I think I’m going to leave it for now.  I still have a passion for filmmaking technology.  And I still have a relationship to the film programs at Sheridan College (I was up there twice this week for events).  There is a good chance I might be teaching a new course as a part-time instructor next September.  That being said, I think it is time that I admitted my inner-coder and started posting some iOS related content here.

So, let’s start with an Xcode 4 tip.  My apologies if it this exists (and please let me know if it does) but I searched high and low for a keyboard shortcut key, or a way to map a keyboard shortcut, to toggle between my project windows and the Organizer in Xcode 4.  I frequently move between my code and the SDK documentation (because my brain doesn’t seem to be able to retain much detailed information) so having to reach for the mouse was driving me nuts.  I finally found a solution by accident.  Now I keep my project windows in one Mission Control space and my Organizer window in an adjacent space.  To toggle between them, I use the default keyboard shortcuts that move between spaces – Ctrl-Right_Arrow and Ctrl-Left_Arrow.  So, with that problem solved, here is an XCode4 question that I’ve not yet found a solution to.  When I have multiple projects open, why does Xcode sometimes randomly pop a different project window to the top when I am switching back to Xcode from another application.  Very annoying, since there don’t seem to be any keyboard shortcuts to move between projects, I am forced to reach for the mouse – anyone know a solution?

Next.  I love Storyboards.  For the kind of apps I have been developing lately they are really convenient to get demos and prototypes up and working rapidly.   There are a few things I don’t like about the current implementation though.  I don’t like that I cannot place additional views within view controllers (that aren’t tied to the controller’s view property).  Before storyboards, I used this frequently.  For one thing, during development, I would often have different versions of a complicated view in the controller.  This way I can quickly swap them in and out as I was testing out an idea.

An update about my apps that are currently available in the iTunes store…  I decided to give away StartingLineup for free a few months ago.  This decision was fuelled mainly by a feeling of guilt about not being able to provide very good tech support for the app.  I figured if it was free people really couldn’t complain too much.  Since then, the app has been flying off the shelf.  It rose up into the top 30 free sports apps in Canada this week (today, it looks like it has dropped down to #44).  I think I was way ahead of the curve when I released this app.  At the time, hardly any hockey coaches had iPads – now this is common.  I’m glad that people are finding the app useful since  I put a lot of hard work into it..

I’ve got another side-project that I have been actively brainstorming this week.  I am getting very excited – I think I have some very cool ideas – now the challenge is to see if they can be achieved within the confines of iOS 5!

1. Avids have been updated to version 5.5.1 of Media Composer.  I’m not expecting any major changes from the version 5 that we finished last year with.  It would be nice if AMA was a little more stable.  That one really came back to bite us on the #$$ last year.
2. Generally, the capacity of the Avid RAIDs has been quadrupled.  I’m expecting that we will shoot the 3×3 projects on the Red this year, so there was a need to accommodate more material than last year.
3. We’ve updated to Adobe CS 5.5 in the lab.
4. We were planning on installing several new MacPro’s in the lab, but Apple has been taking longer than anticipated to introduce new models.  As a result, we are temporarily recycling some older machines (as a bonus we have thrown in dual-monitor setups for now).
5. To Lion or not-to-Lion, that is the question.  I’ve prepped a lab image that uses Lion, but now I’ve found out that no-one else is rolling out a Lion-based image in their labs this year.  There is a licensing issue that is creating a roadblock.  So, I may be rebuilding an image next week that rolls back to Snow Leopard.
6. There are no big changes in the camera kit this year, but we have worked hard to fill in a lot of the smaller gaps.  We have a bunch of new cases for all the gear, including the post-audio gear.  We have a sweet new magic arm setup from Ultralight (to replace the magic arms from Red that we keep breaking).  Our Alan Gordon director’s viewfinder is fixed!  Our Red EVF is in the process of being fixed.  We finally have the Bomb EVF that we ordered last October!  And today I ordered a Cinevate Atlas 10 slider that I think could be very handy for doc shooting and other things.  I’m still looking at making some big changes to our DMT workstation – I’m hoping that Thunderbolt drives start shipping soon!
7. We have reclaimed that back room behind the war-room.   This room will be available as part of the production office, and also will be used as a colour correction suite.
8. Both the Avid suite and the Digital Filmmaking Centre will be updated with new Canon Realis WUX10 projectors.  This should be a huge improvement over the previous projection system!  The install is probably not going to happen until later in September though.

1. Get to the convention centre early. You’ll avoid long Starbuck’s lines.
2. While you are waiting for the show floor to open up, visit the NAB bookstore. It gets really busy later, so hit it first, before anyone else realizes it is open. You’ll spot awesome books on filmmaking that you never knew existed. I jot down as many ISBN numbers as I can (learned the first year that books will put me over my weight allowance on the return flight).
3. Start the day at the back of Central Hall. The crowds all congegrate at the front of the room, so you get a lot more chances to have good initial conversations if you start at the back. Lately I start near the Sony booth and work out from there.

There seem to be fewer big product announcements than other years.  Some exceptions:

1. Sony has two new cameras – the F65 that I mentioned in yesterday’s post and the PMW-TD300.
2. There are some Thunderbolt devices being demonstrated here.  At the Blackmagic booth, they’ve got the UltraStudio 3D hooked into a Promise RAID via daisy-chained Thunderbolt cables.  At the Matrox booth they are demonstrating the MX02 device.  When I ask manufacturers about availability, most get squeemish and say they hope to have something by the ‘end of the year’.
3. I had heard of this before NAB, but the Teradek Cube is a very cool gadget.  It does live H.264 streaming from the camera, and it can also be configured to save out the H.264 proxies on a computer.  This means that you can use an iPad as a monitor to view live (granted with a few frames latency) material from the camera, or to view clips that you have shot already.
4. By chance, I happened on the Post Pit just as Taz Goldstein from HandHeldHollywood was starting a presentation on using the iPad for film production.  Obviously, based on my recent activities (www.rippledigital.com) this was interesting to me.  He had highlighted a lot of interesting apps, some of which I did not know about.  He also mentioned POMFORT, who is demonstrating an iPad in a physical slate case here at NAB.  When the clapper claps, their iPad app detects it and records the timecode.
5. The main product from POMFORT, is a management system for materials coming off of camera on set.  It looks like a nice tool and a much more organized way to handle materials than the free and semi-free tools that we are currently using in ATVF.

The other interesting thing I attended yesterday was a presentation in the Content Theatre on the 3D broadcast of the Sony Open golf tournament from Hawaii earlier this year.  All of the primary people involved in making this happen were on the stage to discuss it.  If you have any questions about how they put something like that together, come talk to me when I get back.

I’m very much behind schedule if I want to see everything at the show this year.  Lots of walking to do today!

Today the Sony F65 digital cinema camera was outed.  After resolving some technical difficulties with the playback system, we watched ‘The Arrival’, a short film by Curtis Clark. This is apparently the first film to be shot with the new camera, which is still in development.  To be honest, I wasn’t blown away.  Yes, a remarkable dynamic range was demonstrated.  But we have already seen similar abilities exhibited by the Arri Alexa and, to some extent, by the Red Epic.  Yes, the detail in the picture was impressive.  But, based on the size of the projection screen, only viewers in the first couple of rows of chairs would have been able to tell the difference from a 2K project.  If the F65 is priced at around the same point as the F35, I’m not sure whether the subtle differences of ‘true’ 4K capture will matter to that many productions.

I very much enjoyed the presentation by Douglas Trumbull, VFX supervisor on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, and many other films.  Doug talked about his experience with the development of Showscan.  In developing this system, experimentation revealed that frame rates of around 66fps could provide an illusion of reality.  Lessons learned during these experiments are very relevant with recent announcements by Peter Jackson and James Cameron about their plans to shoot projects at frame rates higher than 24fps.  Doug is currently developing a digital version of Showscan.  He has also recently shot a music video that utilized the Phantom 65 camera system with the Z3D Zepar lens system.    This system allows the capture of 2K 3D material using a single camera.

One of the most interesting presentations of the day came from Chris Johns, representing UK satellite broadcaster Sky.  For the naysayers back in Canada, who don’t believe there is a place for 3D on your home screens, I say watch the current Sky 3D demo reel.  It really communicates the value of 3D stereoscopic when it comes to sports, the arts, and nature.  The David Attenborough documentary they commissioned,  Flying Monsters 3D, looked particularly interesting. Listening to the Sky presentation, I found myself wondering why there isn’t an equivalent Canadian broadcaster aggressively exploring the possibilities of 3D stereoscopic production.  After all, the population/market of the UK isn’t vastly different from that of Canada (62 millions versus 34 million?).  Canadian content providers have been slow to even re-broadcast 3D content from outside sources.  Sky has recently published a set of recommendations for 3D stereoscopic which you can find here.

The last panel discussion of the day brought together representatives from most of the major TV manufacturers.  They were a defensive group when it came to discussions of disappointing sales numbers for 3D TVs in 2010.  All are optimistic that 2011 and 2012 will bring significant growth in sales.  Finally many manufacturers are shifting to systems that utilize passive glasses.  I thought it was very odd that nearly every booth at last year’s NAB was demonstrating 3D using passive displays when this technology was completely absent from consumer offerings.  Even the active-shutter glasses seem to be becoming more affordable – Samsung now offers a deal that provides four pairs with a new set for $100.   The consensus of the panel is that auto-stereoscopic displays for home – the ones that don’t require glasses – are a long way off – perhaps 7 to 10 years.  After a slow start, it seems as though more 3D blu-ray titles are starting to appear.  Currently there are about 70 titles available.   More blu-ray titles, more 3D video games, and more tent-pole live events are expected to drive sales.

The potential power of this app comes from an understanding that there are a lot of good, traditional sources of information on a film set, and bringing them together, in an organized way, on a mobile device will enable better creative decisions.

So, while you are viewing dailies, you can immediately access all of the related information that has been generated by the other members of your crew.  Camera reports, sound reports, the script – it all is just one finger touch away.

The development process has been really awesome.  One of the struggles in developing a piece of software is always finding ways to test it that approximate real-life use.  In this case, my development efforts were running parallel to the 2nd term production activities of the ATVF students.  So, at each stage, I would update their iPad with the current version of the software and see how it worked in the field.  The students got the benefit of a tool they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise, and I got the benefit of relevant feedback.

The win-win continues even after the release of the software.  I needed sample content for the app, and so I came to an agreement with Michael Ciuffini, the producer of our first film shot this Winter called ‘The Rink‘.  Michael provided samples of all his production documents and a couple of clips from the film.  Now I have representative sample content, and Michael’s film is getting exposure it would have never had otherwise.  Win-win.

I also had assistance from ATVF student, Andrew Winter.  Andrew helped out with a lot of the graphical design elements.  He was also directing the last 2nd-term project to be shot.  So he got to use a version of OnSet that was very nearly complete.  Andrew and his crew provided some great input just as OnSet was getting prepared for submission to the iTunes store.

You can find more information about the app on the product web page here:  http://www.onsetforipad.com/Ripple_Digital/onset.html .  There are a couple of short videos there that give a sense of how things work.  Didier Kennel (our amazing editing instructor at Sheridan College) has been encouraging me to post videos with a proper audio narration.  But so far my own voice is not making the cut – maybe I’ll recruit someone else to record something for me this week.

You can find the app in the iTunes store here:  http://itunes.apple.com/app/onset/id424434789?mt=8&ls=1.  If you know anyone who might benefit from an app like this (directors, producers, continuity, etc) please forward the link on to them if you can.  I’m trying to get the word out as much as I can on my own, but it is a real challenge to balance time for development of the next version of the software, with producing a website, user manual, instructional videos, etc..

I leave for NAB in two weeks.  This will be a different kind of NAB experience for me.  In the past I’ve generally been representing Sheridan College, and I was there to hear people pitch new technology.  This year I have something of my own I’m going to be pitching.  I’ve even got business shirts on order that have OnSet for iPad embroidery!  Should be a fun time.  If you are interested in a face-to-face demo and you are going to be at NAB, send me a message.  I should have a preview of OnSet version 1.2 available to show by then too.  Lots of cool stuff that might make it into that release.  For certain, the onboard camera in the iPad2 will be supported.  I finally got my hands on an iPad2 last night and I only had to un-comment two lines of code and camera support was good-to-go!!

If you’ve bought OnSet, and you’ve found your way here, please post a comment to let me know what you think.  Please be kind though – I’m working hard on this thing – but undoubtedly there may be a few bugs lurking in places I haven’t anticipated!

If you are an ATVF grad, and you want to try out OnSet, send me a note, and I’ll see what I can do to get you set up with a free copy to test.

In the Advanced TV & Film Program, we are marching onwards towards the start of production for the 2nd term projects.  It is only four days away now.  Technically, our approach is much the same as last year.  The biggest difference is that we now have two Red One camera bodies.  So there isn’t a worry that one may go down and cost us days when we have a very tight schedule to begin with.  It has been a bit of a rush to get the second Red ready to go.  Like almost every else who has ordered a Red in the last year, our Bomb EVF is still on backorder.  One of our grads bought a Red last Spring and he still doesn’t have his EVF!  I’m not sure how Red expects people to operate cameras without viewfinders.  We also ran into a problem with some of our accessories.  We had ordered a handle through Sim Video, only to find out later that Sim’s supplier had gone out of business.  Fortunately I was able to track down another local source.  If you are in need of a baseplate or handle for your Red, I would recommend smartassembly.   The Smartassembly website is in Turkey, but the company is in Toronto.  They also have some nifty looking shoulder mounts for DSLRs and Sony EX3s.

This year, I am planning to provide an iPad to the student teams.  The idea is to sync material from the DMT station over to the iPad to provide a reference to anyone who needs it on set.  The faculty have generally not yet warmed to this idea, but I think this is the way of the future.  I think it could be very helpful for students who haven’t yet gained confidence, and who don’t yet have much experience.  I toyed with the idea of setting up an on-set wireless network with a streaming server so that anyone with a mobile device could have access.  But I’ve decided that this would be overkill at the moment.  I want to see how things go with one mobile device first.

Outside of Sheridan, I have been going flat out with my app development projects.  I temporarily stepped away from my hockey app (StartingLineup) in order to work on a couple of contract projects.  The Christmas break was a busy time as I did most of the heavy lifting during that week.  One of the projects is sports-related (basketball this time).  I’m hoping this app should hit the iTunes store in a few weeks and I can post something about it then.  The other project is related to the arts, and I won’t be able to say much about it for a few months (an NDA is in play).   Both projects have video as a core element, so I had to dig deeper into the iOS video capabilities.

After three weeks of solid work (morning ’til midnight) I’ve had a bit of a break for the last few days.  So it was time to finally hit Android.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a Droid 2 from a colleague at Sheridan so I would have something to test with.   This was my first time trying out Android, so I apologize in advance to any dedicated Android fans out there that I might offend with my iOS-centric viewpoint.  There are some things I like about it, and there are some things I’m not too sure about yet.  Generally, the interface design feels a bit more complex – maybe not in a good way.  Although, I’m not entirely sure about this, I think maybe I do like the extra hardware buttons (although from what I’ve been reading, it seems like these may be going away in future Android devices).  Overall, the development environment (Android SDK, Eclipse, emulator) does not feel as solid to me as the development environment for iOS.   For example, my first experience with the Layout Manager in Eclipse was a two-hour wrestling match (in the end I decided that editing the XML layout files directly was a lot less stressful).  And designing for Android brings different challenges.   With iOS, so far, there are only 3 different screen resolutions to worry about (iPad, iPhone/iTouch, Retina Display iPhone/iTouch), but with Android devices there could be a lot more varieties of displays out there.  It took me a little time reading and poking at things to understand how different display types are accommodated with Android – it all makes sense to me now.

One thing that was a bit of surprise to me was a limitation of app install size.  For better or worse, some of my iOS apps contain a lot of video.  So the install packages are big.  This works okay as long as the customers have patience with the initial install.  With Android and the Marketplace, it doesn’t seem like apps can be anywhere near as large.  It looks like the size limit for APK files was only recently bumped up to 50MB.  My ‘Sheridan College 3×3 Films‘ app that I submitted to the iTunes store last Spring was 539MB.  There have been hundreds of downloads of this app without any problem.  I can’t even get a large app to install to my Droid 2 directly from the development environment even though there should be plenty of available storage on the device.  Admittedly, having large amounts of video stored right in the app is probably not a good approach.  I expect to be moving away from this model, and to be moving towards apps that access hosted video assets.  It looks like I’ll have to move a little faster in this direction with any Android versions of apps I’m working on at present.

I am not a shooter.  I studied Camera and Lighting at Sheridan, when Richard Leiterman was the instructor, but I haven’t shot any moving pictures for a few years.  I am the Technologist for the Advanced TV & Film Program at Sheridan.   As such, I spend a lot of time observing student filmmakers in action.  I do my best to acquire equipment that I feel best suits their needs when shooting and enhances their learning process.  I do this in consultation with our faculty and industry advisors.  I try to keep myself educated by attending as many industry events as possible, including NAB.  I am also working with our research centre (SIRT) at Pinewood Studios.  We are an educational institution, so we have limited funding, but we do have the advantage of several valuable industry partners (Panavision, P/S Production Services, Deluxe, etc).   Based on all of this, here are my views on selected camera systems:

1. Red One MX –  Currently, this is the best suited camera for our needs.  The base price ($25K) is significant, but is a lot easier to get funding approval for than some of the alternatives.  It is important that the camera has a large sensor and a PL mount.  This gives students a good tool with which to learn to pull focus.   Because of the PL mount, we can use the 35mm lens kit that Panavision provides us with.  In fact, we utilize many of the accessories that we have used for years with our 35mm cameras.  The students save the cost of processing and transfer.  This is a significant savings when compared against the overall budget for a student film – historically processing for a 35mm project could easily be 50% of the total budget.  Being able to get immediate playback of material that is shot, is a huge advantage over shooting film for student filmmakers who don’t yet have years of experience.  I can recall many examples of student projects that shot on 16mm or 35mm and which had significant problems with scratches, exposure problems, or missed shots – these were costly lessons for cash-strapped students.  Additionally, the Red is a very common camera in local productions these days so that it is important that students get exposure to this camera.  Last year, all of our 2nd term productions shot Red, and in my opinion, they were the best looking films we have ever produced.  Shooting Red wasn’t the only reason for this (kudos to the students and to Brian White, our Camera instructor), but shooting Red didn’t hurt either.
2. ARRI Alexa – If I didn’t have funding constraints, and if it were currently available for purchase, the Alexa would be my number one choice to acquire.  This due to its killer dynamic range, ProRes-based workflow, and general ARRI-ness.  Some of our alumni have already been shooting shorts with the camera, and they have had very good things to say.  There is no substitute for the kind of respect that the ARRI name commands with experienced DOPs.  And, it seems that the Alexa is living up to the reputation.  One funny note about the Alexa…  during NAB this past spring I happened to run into an ATVF grad while walking the show floor.  While we were talking we wandered into the ARRI booth.  Part of what we were talking about was Red because this particular grad was in Vegas to attend his Reducation.  I guess we must have been talking loudly because at one point he used the word ‘Red’ and heads snapped from all corners of the ARRI booth to stare at us.  We slowly made our exit.  It felt a bit like we had shouted ‘We love Windows Vista’ at Macworld.
3. Canon Digital SLRs (1D Mark IV, 5D Mark II, 7D, etc) – I definitely think these cameras can be very useful.  But I wouldn’t recommend that anyone choose to shoot a dramatic film of any length with them.  We have a 5D Mark II in ATVF, and I bought a whack of cine accessories for it this year.  I originally bought the camera for pre-vizualization, but it hasn’t really been used much for that yet.  I think, within the context of ATVF, this camera will be most useful for Camera students who want to get some killer clips for their reels.  Student reels are generally viewed on the web or off of DVD, so no-one is going to be watching the content projected on a 35ft screen where flaws in codec or pixel-interpolation might be magnified.  The shallow DOF can let them get really creative.  And the compact size and modest weight of the package means they can go anywhere with it.
4. 35mm – Again this year, we are shooting our 3×3 films on 35mm.  I can’t argue with the learning benefits of this format.  And I think the end results look fantastic.  And due to our sponsorship with Deluxe for the 3×3 films, the students aren’t burdened with additional costs.  The only argument I have against 35mm is that our schedule can become unpredictable because of the extra time it takes for processing and transfer.  Last year we were delayed by almost 2 weeks, and this had a ripple effect through our schedule right up until the year-end screening in the Spring.  Apart from the 3×3 films, we haven’t had a student film shoot on 35mm for many years.  This is entirely due to budget issues.  In the past, the students had access to the gear through our Panavision sponsorship, and filmstock through our Fujifilm sponsorship, but the cost of processing was still a big enough obstacle to prevent all but a handful of productions, over ten years, from shooting on 35mm.
5. Super 16mm – In the past, our ARRI SR2 was a workhorse for the ATVF program.  Dozens of films were shot with it.  And I am happy that we probably will not ever shoot 16mm again.  Shocking statement I know!  But every ATVF film that shot 16mm in the last several years looked extremely grainy when we projected for our year-end event.  There were a lot of reasons for this (stock selection, underexposed shots, many problems with processing and transfer), but in more than one case I felt that the excessive grain was distracting me from the story.    This was very unfortunate when the students had gone to the extra expense of shooting film with the expectation that it would enhance (not detract) from their storytelling.
6. Panasonic AG-AF100 – I haven’t seen this camera yet, apart from a non-functioning display model that was under glass at NAB.   It could be great – in fact I will probably seriously consider it when I finally get the funds to replace our aging Panasonic HVX200s.   For some reason though I have a hard time getting excited about it.  Maybe it is because it looks like a square plastic box with a lens stuck on the front.  There is just something about the aesthetic that is unappealing to me.
7. Red Epic and Red Scarlet - It’s hard to say when either of these might finally become a real product that you can actually order.  Because of this unpredictability, it makes it very hard to create/justify funding requests for either of these.  Language in a funding request like ‘we require this camera because it might have features that match our needs when it is released at some undisclosed date in the future’ just isn’t going to work.  Still, I regularly visit the Red forums to see what is happening.  I think the recent HDR discussions and the ‘Magic Motion’ feature could be very interesting.
8. Sony CineAlta Cameras – I like the Sony gear, and it has been part of kit for many years.  We were probably one of the first educational institutions to have an HDW-700 may years ago (we still have it although it is never used).  For the past three years we have a Sony HDW-F900.  We also have a number of EX1s at the college.  With the F900, the 2/3” chipset always made controlling the DOF a problem.  Students tended to pick very tight shooting locations.  It wasn’t possible to back up far enough with the camera to get a desirable DOF a lot of the time.  Plus we never had a set of primes that we could use with the camera.  And the zoom lenses have sometimes had issues with breathing.  The cost of Sony gear is a big problem for me.  There is no chance that I am going to spend $80K on a SRW9000 (which doesn’t have a PL mount, and has a 2/3” imager) versus spending $25K on a Red One MX.

I know that everyone has an opinion when it comes to camera selection.  Feel free to post comments.  I’d love to hear the views of ATVF alumni and current students!

Moose Prints in the Sand

Today is October 21, 2010.   Production of the ATVF 3×3 films has started.  I am visiting the studio tonight with the Production Design class.  We are shooting this year at the New Toronto Studios on Buckingham Ave..  This is the same location that we used last year.  The set for this year will be a small-town bus or train station.  Due to the generosity of Panavision, Fuji, and Deluxe, we are shooting on 35mm film again this year.

I’ve just returned from my annual photography trip to the North.  The weather was stunning this year – warm and sunny.  Every morning included thick fog banks though, which made shooting in the morning a challenge.  I did get a few shots that I like very much though (included in this post).

Recent technical developments in ATVF include:

• Purchase of an additional Red One MX.  I just received final approval minutes ago and I hope to be able to place the order today or tomorrow.
• Kitting of our Canon 5D Mark II for cine shooting.  I ended up purchasing most of the accessories from Cinevate.  I like their stuff – it has a nice solid feel and is reasonably priced.  Plus they are a (relatively) local company so I like to be able to support them.
• All the usual summer upgrades and updates.  We are running all the latest and greatest software.  Again this year, Sheridan has an amazing deal with Adobe that allows the students to walk away at year’s end with a full copy of Adobe CS5 Master Collection.

Outside of Sheridan, development of my iPad app continues.  Things got very stressful at the end of the summer as I struggled to complete a usable/saleable version.   I am fairly proud of the app that resulted.  Unfortunately I haven’t had time to properly shake out all the bugs.  The result was some bad reviews and emails from disappointed customers.  This was exasperated by my struggle to release the latest version.  Generally, it takes at least a week for Apple to approve an update for release through the iTunes app store.  If you discover a problem during this period, and have to resubmit, the clock starts over.  This happened to me twice with this latest release.  First time, I realized that I had forgotten to update the version number on the About page.  Small thing, but I had to fix it.  Second time, I realized that I had somehow mixed up the default database and included real data from my niece’s hockey team.   Had to be fixed, so I submitted again.  Then I left on my trip a week later, before Apple had approved or rejected.  When I returned, I found that the app had been rejected because there were a couple of places where it was possible to have more than one popup on the screen at once.  Seemed a minor problem to me, but I understood that it clearly violated the interface guidelines.  So I fixed and submitted again, and I’m still waiting for approval.  In the meantime I took the app down from the store – I don’t need the stress of any more unhappy customers!

Some other sites that you might be interested in visiting:

• http://atvfnews.wordpress.com/ – Our new ATVF program blog.
• http://www.vimeo.com/groups/atvf – Our ATVF Vimeo group.

This year’s students seem like a great bunch!  I’m looking forward to seeing what they create this year.  And it is cool that at least one of this year’s students decided to attend ATVF based partly on some of the things I had to say in this blog!  Makes me feel an increased sense of responsibility when I type here!

Sunrise through the Fog

My latest project was released on the iTunes store a couple of days ago.  It is an app that is designed to be used by hockey coaches to improve their organization and their ability to communicate with their players.  The app involves many thousands of lines of code and takes advantage of nearly all of the functionality offered by the iPad at this point.  The relational database that binds the whole thing together is composed of dozens of tables.   I am most proud of the integration of video into the app because I believe it provides coaches with unprecedented access to information.  The library of game videos is integrated with the database so that there is nearly instant access to events of note from previous games.  And the videos can either be local on the iPad, or they can be hosted on Vimeo or YouTube.  Very recent HTML5 developments have enabled me to integrate web video in relatively seemless way that was not previously possible.

So, that’s what’s been happening outside of my time at Sheridan this summer.  What’s going on at Sheridan in the ATVF program you may be wondering?  Summer is always our time to refresh our technology and we’ve been busy again this year.  The most significant development is the updating of our Red to the new MX sensor.  I was doubtful that this would happen this summer because it didn’t seem like the retrofits were progressing fast enough to get to our serial number (6000+) before the end of the summer.  But our number came up a few days ago.  I have been pushing hard to get the camera sent out as fast as possible.  With any luck, it will ship tomorrow and be back in time for the Media Arts students to get their hands on it by the second week in September.

We have also kitted out our 5D for cine shooting.  For the most part, I went with the Cinevate pieces for this.  The folks up in Thunder Bay have always been a friendly crew to deal with ever since we bought a Brevis from them several years ago.  And I liked the feel of their follow-focus when I visited their booth at NAB.  I also picked up a few other pieces from other sources – Zacuto Z-Finder, iKan monitor, and some Aja mini-convertors.

Our editing suite is now upgraded to version 5+ of Avid Media Composer.  Initial tests with material from the Red were very promising.  I won’t miss the days of transcoding.  Our main computer lab is sporting 9 brand new 27” iMacs.  I have to admit these are pretty nifty, and we saved some cash by going with these instead of MacPros.    I launched Maya 2011 for the first time the other day and the 27” screen made it feel very immersive.  Again this year, students are privy to an amazing deal from Adobe.  Every ATVF student will receive a full copy of Adobe CS5 as part of the fees included in their tuition statement.

And there is more ATVF tech news in the works.  It looks extremely likely that I will be ordering another Red very soon.  I don’t want to get overly excited yet, because I thought we had funding for a second camera last Christmas and it never materialized in the end.  But all indications are positive at this point, and I should know very soon.  ATVF Camera students continue to have amazing opportunities because we plan to shoot the 3×3 projects on 35mm again this year, and then they get the winter term to indulge themselves with digital gear.

If you haven’t visited the main web page for Sheridan lately, you may not have noticed the exceptionally high profile that the ATVF program is currently enjoying.  Prominently featured is one of our 3×3 films from last year.  With some frequency, the alumni profiled on the main page is ATVF alumni John Christou.  And the two most recent press releases at the bottom of the page are related to SIRT at Pinewood and the Queen’s visit from this past summer.

We have a number of new web initiatives related to ATVF:

• New ATVF Program Blog
• New ATVF Vimeo Group
• New ATVF Channel on Sheridan ShineBrighter