Back in November, Abel was lucky enough to host a special series of workshops presented by the inventor of Dedolights himself, German cinematographer Dedo Weigert. The event was filmed and we’ve put together a ten-minute-long excerpt especially for viewing on the web. In it, Dedo explains how to set up a five-piece lighting kit most effectively in an interview situation. Check out the video here on our main site.

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.

Now, we are introducing the first accessory in the NULL family, the NULL Target. The NULL Target mounts to the front of the NULL Lens and allows easy and accurate backfocus adjustment by projecting a focusing screen onto the RED One’s sensor. Watch the video to see how easy it is to use.

Please note: the NULL Target is still in the prototype phase. We do not yet have pricing or product availability details on this item. Stay tuned for more information.

For the second part of the ENG Essentials – Camera Matching Series, I will be adjusting the gamma settings on the VariCam 3700 (HPX3700) to match the gamma curves on the EX3. The HPX3700 has more gamma adjustability, so I chose to set the EX3 to a setting I liked and then adjust the HPX3700 to match. Every manufacturer has different gamma curves, so my goal is to set the two gamma curves to match as closely as possible using a DSC Labs ChromaDuMonde chart and Leader scope.

On the EX3, I set the gamma to CINE1 and black gamma to -60 in Picture Profile. After reviewing the curve on the scope, I adjusted the HPX3700 to the same exposure and tried different gamma settings, using the EX3 curve as a reference on the scope. In the HPX3700 gamma settings, I adjusted the GAMMA MODE SEL to VIDEO-REC, V-REC KNEE SLOPE to 500% and the V-REC KNEE POINT to 54% and found a very close match.

Watch my video below to see how I matched the Gamma Curves.

The Video Storage Pro has low res playback of many different formats. Here is a list of supported formats:

• Panasonic – AVC-Intra 100/50, DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO
  (Note: AVC Intra playback is not yet 100%, this will improve with the next firmware.)
• Sony – XDCAM EX (HQ/SP)
• JVC – XDCAM EX (MP4 format), Quicktime Format in later release
• Convergent Design – XDCAM HD formats (MXF)
• RED – R3D – Next Firmware
• AVCHD – Sony/Canon/Panasonic Flavor – Next Firmware

Look for a firmware release in Quarter 4 of this year.

Update: I tested Red CF Card download speeds and was able to download a 16 GB card in just under 11minutes.