For their latest commercial, Google turned to the Phantom v640 to prove just how fast their web browser, Google Chrome, runs. Shooting at 2700 fps long-time Abel clients Will Rexer, along with Phantom tech Steve Romano, captured a variety of unique situations, including the firing of a potato gun and lightning striking a toy boat.
Check out the full video here and a great making-of video here.
A couple of weeks ago, we posted a blog introducing Vision Research’s new camera, Phantom Flex. At NAB this year, our friend James Mathers, President of the Digital Cinema Society – a nonprofit educational cooperative – interviewed Vision Research’s VP of Marketing, Rick Robinson to get an up-close look at Flex, as well as the new Phantom Remote Control Unit. To see more great videos from NAB 2010, please visit the Digital Cinema Society’s official site at www.DigitalCinemaSociety.org
Those of us who have been around awhile are marveling at the rate of development our industry is experiencing at the Digital Cinema level right now. It may be that future bloggers (can we call them “Floggers”?) will look back at this time in the history of Digital Cinema and declare it a unique era of technical fertility and creative vision. Of all the innovation, of all the hype, of all the tipping points, no camera represents this phase of development better than the one announced today by Vision Research – Phantom Flex. Read the press release here.
As its name explicitly states, Phantom Flex is the most flexible digital cinema camera in existence. Its specs read like a comic book super-hero. Its frame rate can capture a speeding bullet, its black balance is more stable than a locomotive, and its resolution is capable of supporting more formats in a single bound than anything that has come before it.
…continue reading Introducing Phantom Flex from Vision Research
Some of the newer Phantom cameras, such as the v640, feature an internal mechanical shutter used to shade the camera’s sensor during a Current Session Reference (CSR). A CSR calibrates all pixels that will be used for a given set of camera parameters and sets them to pure black – an important step in making sure the image is as accurate as possible. With the internal mechanical shutter, a camera operator can do a CSR without manually capping lens.
Recently, Vision Research announced that they are bringing this useful feature to its existing line of V-Series cameras with an External Mechanical Shutter. For use with the v5.2, v7.3, v9.1 and v10, the V-series lens shutter replaces the F-mount on the camera so you can keep using your existing lenses. The shutter is meant to be used in conjunction with the new VRI Signal Breakout Device that provides access to every available signal on the cable. Simply exchange your existing capture cable with the Breakout Signal Device, then connect the shutter control cable to the shutter. Now you can do a CSR in situations when it was previously impossible, such as when the camera is unattended. Vision Research has a nice five-minute video explaining the benefit of this setup on their site.
Find more information on the Vision Research
Over the past three years, there have been numerous high profile projects shot with Phantom HD digital high-speed cameras. Hollywood features like Sherlock Holmes and Zombieland, wildlife documentaries from National Geographic and Discovery, sporting events from the NFL, NASCAR and the Olympics, as well as high end commercials for Acura and Xbox 360 – these are just a few examples. But if ever there was an important individual to shoot with the Phantom HD Gold, it would be none other than President Barack Obama
NFL’s Play60 teamed up with President Obama’s United We Serve initiative for this Thanksgiving campaign to encourage physical activity and combat childhood obesity. The President, along with NFL players DeMarcus Ware, Drew Brees and Troy Polamalu, were all stars in this PSA, which was filmed on the lawns of the White House in early November 2009. I served as the Phantom specialist on this project.
…continue reading NFL and Obama Encourage Kids to Play60
The recent v.675 release of the Phantom software from Vision Research modifies how the white balance is stored in the raw cine files. This rendered the files created with this version incompatible with all the existing third party products that read the Phantom files.
Fortunately, developers have been quick to update their tools. Version 2.0.12 of the GlueTools Phantom Cine toolkit now supports the new white balance system, and I just got word that Iridas has implemented support as well, and that updated builds of their products should be available soon.
So, if you’ve downloaded files with the latest Phantom software and you see images that look like this:
instead of this:
you know you need to update your post software.
Last week Saturday Night Live contacted Abel to rent a Phantom HD Gold camera package for an Andy Samberg Digital Short, “On the Ground”. Steve Romano worked as Phantom Tech for the shoot under Director of Photography Aaron Phillips . SNL’s production schedule was very tight, so the crew shot a very long day on Thursday and part of Friday. The entire segment was photographed on the Phantom HD Gold, even 24p sequences in the studio. The production generally recorded directly to a 512G CineMag; this was was then swapped for another CineMag, while an editor mounted the first CineMag to a CineStation and downloaded the files via HD-SDI through a Kona card directly into a Final Cut Pro workstation. The production shot at various frame rates for the effects they desired, including 24fps, 60fps, 400fps and 1000fps.
Check out the final short above, courtesy of Hulu.
