RODELink Filmmaker Wireless Lav System

Wireless audio is a necessary evil on most sets, especially when you have a short supply of professional boom operators. The problem with wireless is that in this crazy world of cell phones, walkie talkies, Bluetooth, WIFI, TV, radio and satellite there are so many tumor-inducing electromagnetic signals floating through the air that it’s easy for your perfect take to be crippled by interference of drop-outs.

Fortunately, RODE has come to the rescue with a high fidelity wireless lavaliere solution at an extremely affordable price point. What’s their solution to the signal dropout and interference issue? A 128-bit encrypted signal that constantly switches to the most reliable frequency at any given moment.

How well does it work?
Very well actually. In all the initial test that have come in, the mic performs flawlessly when used within the advertised range of 100 metres.

The actual audio quality is equally impressive, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise to people familiar with Rode’s other mics.

Are there any downsides? Well, to avoid bulky external antennas the system antennas are housed inside the chassis of the receiver and transmitter. That’s fine for the receiver; for the transmitter it means a slightly bulkier pack for you to hide on your talent. You’ll want to consider that before miking up the cocktail waitress.

The other thing that’s ‘missing’ from the kit is an XLR output. You’ll need an additional 3.5 mm to XLR adaptor for any pro gear you’re trying to record to.

On the topic of the kit, it includes a standard lav pop filter and very generously a fur wind shield for those blustery tornado shots.

Given the quality for the very reasonable price, the RODELink FIlmmaker is more than likely to become the new de facto standard for wireless lavalier audio.

Join Filmtools at Cine Gear Expo June 6th and 7th 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filmtools will be at Cine Gear Expo this year showcasing several items from our showroom. Cine Gear Expo is the premier Motion Picture Industry Exposition in Southern California. Held annually at Paramount Studios this event brings in all the major names from the top brands in the business to some of the top production service providers. This event is designed to give creatives and technicians the opportunity to meet with industry leaders and learn about the latest technology, gaining valuable skills.

Filmtools will have a booth featuring Items from brands like Rig Wheels, Elation Lighting, Cherrybox USA, Comodo Orbit, Dana Dolly, and several top expendable items. Filmtools and Filmtools Rentals will have some of our popular Carmount configurations and other great new products from the showroom. We’re in booth #202 Which is the same as the previous year, located just to the left of the entrance of the event.

Come down and talk shop with our team!

A detailed layout of the event can be found here.

Exhibition and Premiere Seminars 
Friday, June 6, 2014 – Hours:  2:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Saturday, June 7, 2014 – Hours:  10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Parking 
Parking will be available in the following Paramount Parking Structures:
Gower (801 N. Gower) – map
Van Ness (783 Van Ness) – map
Lemon Grove (5675 Lemon Grove) – map

For more information on Directions, Maps, dates, times, and everything else can be found here. If you have not registered already the cost will be $ 25.00 at the Door.

Vincent Laforet’s Directing Motion Tour heads to Los Angeles June 15th!

Sunday June 15th Vincent Laforet’s Directing Motion Tour is coming to Los Angeles.  This tour was created, conceived, and is hosted by Vincent Laforet, produced by MZed and locally sponsored by Filmtools. This Full day Workshop runs from 9am-4pm and 5pm-8pm this event will be in two parts and guests will have the option to attend the morning class, evening class, or both. Attendees who go for the whole session will also recieve a DVD of the event so they can always go back and study the great lesson learned from this workshop.

 

Several Months ago Pulitzer-Prize winning Photographer turned Filmmaker Vincent Laforet suffered a badly broken arm. Out of this Unfortunate accident came a silver lining. Vincent saw this as an opportunity to sit down and systematically analyze over 100 criterion films and the motion contained in them. By dissecting famous scenes from directors like Hitchcock, Spielberg, Scorsese, Welles, and others legendary filmmakers Laforet has constructed this six part workshop. Designed to deliver filmmakers with the knowledge they need to convey a story through motivated camera movements that progress the story line, and giving attendees the skills they need to run their set.

“You will step away from this experience with a solid foundation in camera movement, blocking, lensing, and sequencing, and be able to direct any crew precisely and effectively to execute your vision. By understanding these principles thoroughly, you will add impact to your projects, from commercials through to webisodes, features, shorts, events, or documentaries.”                           – Vincent Laforet.

 

With subjects like explaining basics of film language and motivated camera movements Laforet touches on the psychology of camera angles, eye-lines and lens selections. Even those aware of these principals will benefit from seeing them deconstructed while in discussion with their peers. “The purpose of the tour, is to focus on the most important aspects on how, when, and why we move the camera and to what effect,” says Laforet. This workshop may also be a wonderful way to familiarize yourself with many film techniques used by directors to influence the way a scene is perceived and how it progresses the storyline.

This is a great opportunity for anyone experienced or new to the industry and interested in improving their directing, cinematography, or just become more knowledgeable while on-set. Filmmakers looking to move from the freelance solo work to set work with crews will benefit from learning the core building blocks of running a set as well as the construction of a set with the intent to engage the audience. Vincent will also discuss universal rules to abide by to make sure you never fall short on coverage. For more information on this indespensible Workshop follow the link below.

 To sign up, and reserve your spot visit: www.DirectingMotion.com

First look at the Transvideo RainbowHD SBL Alexa Kit

We are expanding our selection of monitors with the New RainbowHD SBL from Transvideo. For those unfamiliar with the brand Transvideo has been designing professional displays for the motion picture industry since 1985. You will often see their monitors mounted on Steadicam and Shoulder rigs because of their Avenger Leveler and bright screen. The super bright 7″ Rainbow HD from Transvideo is one of the brightest monitors we’ve seen. At an impressive 900Nits Transvideo has created a masterpiece with their new Rainbow HD SBL. This bright versatile monitor can easily change it’s view to best suite the Job you are performing with it. This monitor was built to be a workhorse on set while still being lightweight, slim, and rugged. Measuring only 7.5 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches the monitor’s housing is built from machined Aluminum and is fully sealed with no holes or vents. This Monitor also does not does not have any fans to produce noise.

Physical buttons down the right side makes it easy to use the job specific “Views”. This Monitor has anti-reflective glass to aid in viewing while on set and to lessen the need for a monitor hood that limits your angle of view which can be viewed at ±80° H & V. High-quality connectors supply the monitor with 3G HD/SD SDI, HDMI, and CVBS. Consuming 16W nominal power this ultra-bright monitor is powered Is supplied from 10 to 36V DC through XLR4 from A/C or batteries like Anton-Bauer (which allows the monitor to read the remaining battery in percent) and accept IDX V-Mount Like the new DUO-150.

Although this Monitor has a rock solid housing, quality inputs, and a brilliantly lit screen it’s whats on the inside that really counts. The Rainbow HD does not disappoint with great features like Anamorphic desqueeze allow you to view footage “normal” without distortion. This monitor also works as an HDMI to SDI converter great for those using off-camera recorders Like the AJA KiPro 4K/QuadHD/2K/HD. Calibrated from the factory and loaded with color Profiles the Rainbow HD is suited to work with several different camera types.

View function:

Multiple “views” allow for quick display changes optimized for certain jobs while on set. Below is a summary of each “View” with the task it is optimized for as well as an explanation of the features preset to each.

Focus Puller View

Operator View

Waveform View

DIT View

Body-Rig View

Focus Puller View: This view is designed to minimize distractions to a Focus Puller. With no status bar or overlays the Focus Puller has a clear view of the frame. Features like the Focus Helper and Peaking can be easily added by pressing the action buttons on the side, this allows the User to focus at the task at hand.

Operator View: The Operator view is designed to give essential operation information like on-air Tally light, power supply voltage reading, and Battery Levels for Anton Bauer only. This view is kept clean just like the Focus Puller view except the addition of the status bar.

Waveform View: The waveform monitor allows users the ability to see the Luminance Waveform information as an overlay. This simple function is designed to give minimal information but is very useful while working on projects where light values matter. A great example for this would be to use the waveform to make sure you’re between 45-50% for Green screen. In Waveform view the Timecode, Tally light, and power info are included in the Status Bar.

DIT View: This view gives critical information on the media being fed through the monitor to a Digital Imaging Technician (DIT). This includes; waveform, vectorscope, and histogram. The monitor also allows the DIT to see the battery level, source, timecode, tally, resolution, framerate, and Audio levels. This is by far the most informative view and the best way to make sure all information that is needed is being captured properly and without interference.

Body-rig View: This view is designed to be used while the monitor is rigged on a shoulder rig or Steadicam. It comes with an Avenger Leveler system on the top status bar display as well as an on-air Tally, battery level, and reading from power supply in volts. This helps camera operators know when their camera is recording if controlled remotely.

DIT “View” with Focus Helper (Green)

Features:

All Features are activated and modified off of a simple principle. Toggle the function on or off by quickly pressing the buttons next to the screen. To adjust the parameters of the function you hold down the same button for a few seconds until the function settings pop-up.

Zoom and Desqueeze Modes: Transvideo has three different Zoom Modes. One mode is Pixel to Pixel or 1:1 zoom to maintain integrity of the resolution Transvideo does not zoom beyond (1:1). The second mode known as desqueeze or Anamorphic Zoom is designed to allow 2.39:1 aspect to be used while at the full height of the screen while cropping the sides. To view areas within the cropped portion of the fame you can use the Red Joystick located on the right side of the screen. The third version of the Focus modes is the Custom Focus Mode, which allows you to position the zoom anywhere within the frame. This is useful when using ARRI Alexa in 4:3 mode.

Peaking: For those who don’t know Peaking is a function that highlights along contours on an image making it easier to focus. Peaking on this monitor can be adjusted for sensitivity.

Focus Helper: Focus Helper is a function that assign’s colored dots to focused areas of the screen. This is extremely helpful while you can alter the level for this feature or the color in which the dots are displayed. This is very close to the traditional type of peaking you would normally see. You can adjust sensitivity and color for this function.

Markers: The Transvideo Rainbow has several markers for allowing you the option of overlaying these guides to your frame. The Central Cross marker is separated from the Safe Area markers and can be used independently. Safe area can be adjusted from 50 to 99%. The markers can be quickly changed and come in the following ratios: 1.33:1(4:3), 1.56:1(14/9), 1.78:1(16/9), 1.85:1, 2.39:1.

Display adjustments: (profiles, aspect/anamorphic):

Brightness: +/- 50
Contrast: +/- 100
Saturation:+/- 100
Hue (NTSC only)
Colorimetry: D65, D56, FB (full bright), D65 adj., D56 adj.
Aspect and anamorphic squeezeRatio: 1.78:1 – Ana 2x – Ana 1.3 – 1.33:1
Profile(Log Profile): Linear (default), Rec709, S-log, S-Log2, Canon-log, C-Log (with Ei adjust)

Technical Adjustments:

Volume
Audio Pair Selection (For display on bar graph)
Flip:
Auto (reverse image when upside down)
Horizontal Flip
Vertical Flip
Reverse Flip (reverse image then vertical Flip)
Backlight Dimmer: (not applicable with D65 or D56)

Virtual horizon: Is a great tool for users who are using the monitor while mounted to a shoulder rig, or steadicam. This extremely accurate Level ensures your camera is being held level, this is useful while on location and if your environment is disorientating.

Body-Rig “View”

After having some time to play around with this monitor we found it extremely intuitive and easy to work with. View selections were simple and modifying them was just as easy. The Transvideo RainbowHD SBL is solid in feel and performance. With the RS3 cable and included Color profiles this monitor is a wonderful companion for your ARRI ALEXA. This monitor is not limited to ARRI, And has profiles for Canon Cinema cameras and many more.

This Alexa™ Package includes:

• RainbowHD SBL
• Screen protective cover
• Microfiber cloth and bag
• 1 x 3D Swing Arm Alexa™, useful to attach the monitor from the bottom or from the back on the center of gravity
• 1 x U-shape Handle
• 1 x sun hood
• 1 x 4.5GHz HDTV BNC Cable (1m)
• 1 x HDMI cable
• 1 x RS3 power cable
• Printed documentation
• In a Pelican case with custom shaped foam

LED Evolution with the L7-C

The Arri L7-C LED Fresnel is a new generation of lighting fixtures that heralds the seamless integration of LED technology into established working practices within the film, television and event industries. This fixture was everything we have come to expect from ARRI, it is accurate, it is solid, and lets face it, it looks good!

The Arri L7-C incorporates Fresnel lens characteristics such as continuous focusability from spot to flood and a smooth, homogenous light field. Unlike many LED lights where the individual diodes can be seen are focused into one singular light beam of light . This helps the L7-C avoid highlight issues and uneven lighting often associated with LED lighting systems. The L7-C is compatible with RDX and DMX through the onboard ballast, This means it can integrate into nearly every common lighting control system.

 

L stands for LED, 7 for the 7” Fresnel-like lens, and C for it’s color correcting feature. This fixture functions just as any other Fresnel with Flood-to-spot focusing but without the Lumen loss normally associated with Focusing a Fresnel light fixture. The L7-C Features variable correlated color temperature from 2800 to 10,000 Kelvin and has fully adjustable intensity, Hue, and Saturation control with a CRI of 95. The adjustments are made simply and accurately with small dials, all their own digital display. The L7-C can even assist with Green screen situation by having a +/- green Dial with allows the lighting designers to use a magenta hue to effectively counter Green spill from chromakey backgrounds in order to avoid contaminating the subject with Green color.

The L7-C can be mounted on a Stirrup or a yoke. This is by far our most popular light at our rental department with several weekly rentals. The power and Accuracy of this light has continually astounded those who have had the opportunity to work with them. And because of the Adjustable Hues and plus or minus green makes this work very well with other lights. Our experiences while filming the overview with the light is that is was extremely simple to use, stayed relatively cool, and provided extremely accurate color temperatures plus the ability to adjust temperature. We highly suggest giving this light a try if you are looking for a versatile low draw fresnel from a name that you trust.

Find the L7-C in all it’s various mounting configurations here!

Free EDIUS Pro 7 with every Canon EOS C100 Purchase

Canon And Grass Valley are Joining together for a special promotion giving away EDIUS Pro 7 to anyone who purchases a Canon C100!

Until August 31st 2014 all customers who purchase a Canon Cinema EOS C100 will receive Grass Valley’s brilliant editing platform. This is a great opportunity to upgrade and get a free professional Editing program with the added advantage of utilizing canon’s continuous shooting new to the C100 with The EDIUS Pro 7.

EDIUS Pro 7 is a Windows-based NLE editing system designed for Fast real-time Workflows up to 4K. With Powerful tools and no track limit for Audio and video EDIUS Pro 7 is designed for almost any film project. This System is designed to work with professional equipment like Blackmagic, Matrox, and AJA video Hardware. This program also works well with DaVinci Resolve allowing for EDL import/export. This program can work in a low resolution Proxy mode for computers with Less Speed than what’s required for 4K workflows.

To take advantage of this offer follow the link below and enter the information to verify your purchase. This promotion requires proof of purchase in the form of a image such as Jpeg or PDF to verify it was bought between the acceptable dates of April and August 31 2014.

Find the special promotion here!

Check out our full selection of C100’s Here!

And Don’t Forget!
Filmtools now carries the Canon Cinema EOS C100 w/Dual Pixel AF upgrade available through special order!! The C100 with AF is a great camera for documentary, wedding, corporate filmmaking, run-and-gun situations. This is a great option for those looking to upgrade from a DSLR to a Camera Designed for extended filming or when auto-focusing becomes a factor.

This camera is available in four different camera packages:
Body Only:
Single Lens Kit:
– EF 24-105mm
– EF-S 18-135mm
Triple lens Kit:
– Wide Angle EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens, Standard EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens and Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens.

The Versatile, Bright Limelite

 

Many videographers and photographers are quickly deciding the LED 1×1 is their top choice for ease of set up, quality of light, and modular design.

Limelite Mosaic Bi-Color 1’x1′ LED

The Mosaic by Limelite is a 1×1 LED light fixture that creates an ultra bright soft even light. Pushing 2400 to 5200 LUX of high-quality light the Mosaic is one of the brightest LED’s on the market. Limelite is a Bowens Company and has been in the Photographic equipment business for a long time. This system is perfect for filmmakers looking for a simple light set up that can provide soft even light on skin for interviews. The light is easily adjusted by either full DMX in/out integration or the digital control panel on the back. The power can be supplied by any AC wall outlet or DC simply with the addition of an Anton Bauer or V-mount battery adapter.

Built with an ƒ-stop Mode for photographers it’s easy to take full advantage of the soft even light provided by the Limelite Mosaics. Being LED’s these lights don’t produce much heat and help keep your subjects cool and happy while working. This is a great help for simplifying small product photography, portraits and weddings. Capable of creating soft light with enough power to light your subjects, the Mosaic 1×1 is at home in studio or on location.

Why Buy the Limelite Mosaic 1×1?

Lighting on location can be difficult with traditional lights often working with limited power or space. Frequently moving from one location to another or setting up quick interviews shooting with time constraints can make it difficult to set up quick soft lighting. This has made the 1×1’s are becoming the preferred lights for ENG (Electronic News Gathering) teams needing quick lights with a low draw. With ENG teams V-mount and Anton Bauer are the common power source. For this reason many other videographers have turned to the 1×1 LED for location work as well.

The Limelite comes in 5600K Daylight, 3000K Tungsten, and 2800 to 5600K Bi-Color. The Fixture is complimented by  a full line of  accessories including Barndoors, Color FX Filter Kit, Color Control Filter Set, AB Battery Plate, V-Lock Battery Plate and 2 Panel Carrying Case.

Limelite Mosaic Accessories

Metal construction and optional Carrying Case makes the Mosaic fixture durable while the modular design means they are compact and easy to transport. Reality, documentaries, corporate, wedding, ENG, and online content often use LED 1×1 for their economical value, ease of use, and quality. The versatility of the Mosaic 1×1 is what makes these a powerhouse for any creative working with limited time or budget.

Purchasing tips:
1. If you buy the battery plate separately you will save money
2. Bi-color is only $50 more and provides adjustable color from 2800K to 5600K

See our full line of Limelite products here!

Green Screen Lighting at Filmtools with Phil Schwartz – April 19th

Green Screen Lighting at Filmtools

Filmtools invites students of all ages and experiences to attend our Green Screen Lighting Seminar!

Cinematographer Philip Schwartz will be going over the principles of shooting for chroma key work. Learn about what information is needed when shooting your background plates, how to properly light your foreground elements, and how to light your green screen to pull a perfect key.

About the Speaker:

Philip D. Schwartz has been a Director of Photography since 1988. His credits include fifteen independent features, several pilots, thirty second units for features and television, and more than one hundred shorts, commercials, videos, documentaries and industrials. He was a Camera Operator on many studio features, including “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D”,  “Twister”,“The Net”, “Zeus and Roxanne” and “Toys”.

Since 1999, Philip has also been heavily involved in all aspects of digital cinematography. He shot one of the first independent 24p HD features, “Lost Lake”, in 2000. Many of his digital projects have won recognition at film festivals worldwide. Additionally, he has worked as a High Def consultant and Digital Imaging Technician on various television projects, features and commercials.

Three of his features were written up in American Cinematographer magazine, and one of his shorts was honored at the 1996 International Cinematographers Guild “Emerging Cinematographers” competition.

Philip was raised in New York City and has a BA in Economics from Cornell University. He also teaches cinematography at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (graduate and undergrad), Cal State Long Beach, and at the New York Film Academy.

Register Today!

Click Below to reserve your spot for this great live learning event. Registration fee is only $10.00 and every attendee gets a $10.00 Filmtools Coupon at the door. Plus, light refereshments will be provided.

You don’t want to miss this fun & educational event at Filmtools.