Blazing Benchmarks

suite3

It’s the first of December – the itchy moustache has come off and I decided to reposition the edit suite.

Anyway I thought it was worth running benchmarks to compare the new edit suite against Apple’s latest computers.

The new iMacs are getting early benchmark figures:
Geekbench scores of 12427
Lux Mark scores of 265
and Heaven 3 frame rates around 30fps

My edit suite has much higher scores:

benchmark3 benchmark4

benchmark1

benchmark2

So a Geekbench score of 14049. That faster than the hugely expensive midrange MacPro.

A LuxMark score of 2007 is massive! Virtually impossible on any other Mac, as I’m running a GFX670 2GB card which can’t ordinarily be used in a Mac.

Lastly a nippy Heaven fps of 73, so no slouch there either.

Combined with a super fast, dual 6gbps internal RAID array which delivers over 200MB/s, this edit suite is a true powerhouse. Final Cut Pro rendering and encoding is much faster than on my older machine. And of course the super duper graphics card renders 3D in no time.

suite4

suite2

suite1

suite5

 

December 4th update:

I got BT XDSL installed today… It’s cheaper than my old 2mbps ADSL and it is fast. Very Fast.

benchmark5

Sharing is Caring

, ,

care_int1L

Leaving Leeds just after 4am and arriving by the Thames at Embankment at 9.02 for a 9.30am start at the headquarters of Care International. A hectic start to the day, but it turned out really well…

I was asked to shoot a series of greenscreen interviews for a TV commercial promoting lendwithcare.org.
It’s a really interesting charity website where you can often get your donation money back!

I won’t explain how it works, it’s best if you have a look for yourself. Here’s the advert:

UPDATE – 20,000 views on YouTube so far!

Finding a Family

, ,

adoption2

I’ve spent ten days shooting and editing 11 videos for Kirklees Council. The videos feature children in foster care across the region.

The adoption agencies then use the videos to introduce the children to prospective adopters – forever families for the children.

It sound like an extravagance perhaps, but it helps get the children out of care and into stable long term families much sooner. And that saves the council a lot of money and resources.

Of course I can’t mention specific cases or show videos on here, but I will say it’s the most humbling and worthwhile work I’ve done in some time.

adoption1

Toolbank in the Studio

, ,

toolbank_studio1

This year as well as making my usual Toolbank instore video loops in Sterling and Euros, I was asked to get involved in the TV commercials too.

I got the team at Dark Horse involved as together we have years of experience in producing commercials, and they now have an airtime sales expert onboard too.
A perfect match for Toolbank’s needs.

We shot the commercials in the white cyc studio at Prime Studios, Leeds. Vic M. lit it with a bit of help from yours truly.

I’ll post some videos when they’re on air.
(around Christmas 2012)

Blue Blooded Belling

, ,

glenndimplex1

Today I filmed and edited a Royal visit by HRH the Duke of Kent to the Glenn Dimplex factory in Merseyside.

HRH was presenting Glenn Dimplex with the Queens Award for Export. And it was a double celebration as Belling, who are part of the Glenn Dimplex group, are one hundred years old this year!

 

 

I needed a second cameraman to cover the event and called on local talent, James Goodchild from Zippy Angels to help. We quckly formulated a plan on the day to cover the event and it all went very smoothly.

Perfect Printing, Pronto

,

printingbynet1

The phone rings:
“Come to Sheffield. We’ll brief you when you arrive”
– Sounds like a secret mission.

PHD called me in to shoot a promo for their new startup
Pr1ntingbynet

A few hours filming and a day of editing later…

The Inn Crowd

,

cb_inn1

In the far northern reaches of the Yorkshire Dales you’ll find Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. These were to be my filming locations for the next few days, and with beautiful sunshine every day it was a fantastic place to be.

I was making promotional videos for two local Inns, the Charles Bathurst Inn and the Punchbowl Inn.

 

This was another great opportunity to use my new camera the Sony FS100. I used the kit lens for general shooting, a fast 35mm for interviews, an ultra wide 11mm for the interiors and a 55mm macro for closeups. I also shot some slow-motion and time-lapse in the countryside.

Both venues have have a different story to tell, through their location, history and decor. So I tried to portray that in the videos. As a business they make great use of social media, the views on YouTube have been fantastic so far.


On yer Bike

, ,

long_lens1Today was the first proper job using my new camera –
the Sony NEX-FS100 camera.

Staff from the Rezidor Hotel Group were part way through a charity bike relay taking in all of the company’s 32 hotels in the UK. And I was asked to shoot and edit the Yorkshire leg.

I met up with the client’s production team and Lee from VisualMedia at 7.30am in York, where we confirmed a few last minute details. I got a few prep cutaways and then shot three interviews including York’s Mayor. The riders set off at 9am and headed to Leeds via a short break at Wetherby.

It was a good chance to test the camera handheld and on a tripod, I was particularly impressed with the quality of the 10x kit zoom lens which came with the camera. I shot a lot of material on the long end of the lens and even with an expensive Variable ND filter attached, it held up well in the edit.

After a brief lunch in Leeds, some new cyclists joined the relay team and they headed to Manchester across the Pennines. The weather came in for a few hours but I continued filming under a brolly where I could.

Everyone seems very happy with the finished film:

X Marks the spot

,

fcpx_iconIt’s my birthday…
So I treated myself and bought Apple’s Final Cut Pro X.

There’s lots to learn here it seems, yet after a few hours I’m feel I’m getting comfortable with it. The first job is to convert my showreel, edited in Final Cut Pro 6 onto a X project. That’ll keep me busy for a few nights and help me get used to the enormous interface changes.

Gift of the Gab

, ,

ideasbynet1Ideasbynet wanted to redesign their website to include demo videos for 37 of their best selling products.

So over the course of two days I filmed Carla doing her very best QVC style presentation. I used two camera to save time, and synced them up in post production. I also created opening and closing graphic stings with sound effects.

 
 
 
 
 
 

The videos are all live on the website, but here’s an example: