DCS UPDATE February was a difficult month for us here at DCS; in addition to the upsetting developments in Ukraine, we lost two longtime members, friends and industry icons, Douglas Trumbull and George Dibie, ASC. Following are short tributes including clips from DCS...
Now Streaming: 2020 DCS Cinema Lighting Expo
Complete coverage of the annual Digital Cinema Society exploration of Motion Picture Lighting and Grip Technology is now streaming. Hosted by Cinematographer and DCS Founder, James Mathers, the daylong event was held at the IATSE Local 80 stage in Burbank, CA on...
7 Tips for Shooting a Music Video
7 Tips for Shooting a Music Video Content contribution created as part of the educational web series, Suzee Skwiot, Managing Editor for Adorama Learning Center Since they first debuted decades ago, music videos have transformed the music industry landscape, bringing...
Demo and Review of Tenba Cineluxe 24 Camera Bag by James Mathers
While prepping for an out-of-town shoot, James Mathers, Cinematographer and Founder of the Digital Cinema Society discusses packing equipment for travel and gives a quick demo of the Tenba Cineluxe 24 camera bag. View it on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/297137695
A Quick Look at the P+S Technik Technovision Classic 1.5x Anamorphic Lenses
In this short video, James Mathers, Cinematographer and Founder of the Digital Cinema Society takes a quick, unscientific look at two of P+S TECHNIK's new TECHNOVISION Classic 1.5X anamorphic lenses. We intercut directly between the anamorphic 35-70mm Zoom and the...
Tom Fletcher and Gary Adcock’s New 2018 Camera Comparison Chart Now On-line
Gary Adcock and Tom Fletcher, (current and former Presidents of the Digital Cinema Society Midwest Chapter), have come out with an update to their now famous Camera Comparison Chart. The information has been gathered from numerous conversations with various...
DCS Test:Intercutting Panasonic’s EVA1 and VariCam LT
DCS Test: Intercutting Panasonic's EVA1 and VariCam LT I’ve long been a fan of the VariCam; I owned one of the first generations of the tape based camcorders and used it on several features, TV shows, and documentaries, such as The US vs. John Lennon. Although...
Avid’s Louis Hernandez, Jr. Explores: The Storyteller’s Dilemma: Overcoming the Challenges in the Digital Media Age
Book Review: The Storyteller's Dilemma: Overcoming the Challenges in the Digital Media Age by Louis Hernandez, Jr., CEO Avid Technologies As Artists and Content Creators, we all sometimes need to be reminded of the old adage, “There’s a reason they call it Show...
Lighting Tips from James Mathers: 5 Reasons to Recommend a Soft Box – Especially with LED Lighting
Lighting Tip: 5 Reasons to Recommend a Soft Box with LED Lighting By James Mathers, Cinematographer and President of the Digital Cinema Society LEDs are a highly efficient light source, and putting aside any color spectrum issues, (that have generally been improving...
High Dynamic Range (HDR) What It Is and What It Is Not – White Paper by Larry Thorpe
The term HDR is often loosely bandied about to describe various imaging and display technologies resulting in considerable confusion in the market place. Now, Larry Thorpe, Digital Cinema Society Advisory Board Member and Sr. Fellow, Professional Engineering...
James Mathers for AdoramaTV – Basics of Designing Coverage and How to Avoid Crossing the Line
Produced by the Digital Cinema Society for AdoramaTV, in this short video, James Mathers presents a few tips on how to shoot cinematic coverage with a basic break down of the shots to cover a two character scene, with Master, Over-The-Shoulder, Close-ups, etc.....
Tech Tips For Your Mac Courtesy of OWC and MacSales.com
The following Tech Tips for your Mac are reprinted with permission from Rocket Yard Weekly, the terrific Blog sponsored by OWC and MacSales.com. For the latest postings from Rocket Yard, and to subscribe to their weekly newsletter visit: http://blog.macsales.com...
DCS Road Test — James Mathers Evaluates the Video Devices PIX-E5
DCS Road Test — PIX-E5 by James Mathers, Cinematographer and Founder of the Digital Cinema Society Working with the large variety of cameras and formats that come my way is both a blessing and a curse. While it’s fun to try new gear and discover different ways of...
The Science Behind 4K Optics — Fun and Informative Content from Canon
Thanks to Matt Duclos of Duclos Lenses for pointing out this fun and informative content from Canon. It explains what constitutes a 4K lens and reminds us of how much technology goes into the glass coming out of Canon. It drives home the need for high resolution...
Multi-camera Set Up for High End Production by George Palmer
Training operators to run cameras in studio production and OB trucks is often learned from someone within the group, and can therefore vary greatly in scope and thoroughness. Originally presented at NAB2014 in the Tektronix booth, this video is a condensed version of...
Determining Digital Cinema Camera Sensitivity and Setting Exposure
Thoughts on Determining a Digital Cinema Camera’s Sensitivity and Setting Exposure By: James Mathers, Cinematographer and President of the Digital Cinema Society I was asked recently to provide insight into how a Cinematographer might evaluate exposure, and think I...
Digital Cinema Production and Post TECHNICAL TERMS
Sensor Dimensions: The height and width of a sensor, measured in inches, millimeters and/or pixels. S35: Super 35mm. Sensor dimensions equivalent to a 3-perf, 16:9 frame of 35mm film, which is 25mm wide X 14mm tall. FF35: Full Frame 35mm. Sensor dimensions equivalent...
Avid Workflows for Digital Cinema Cameras
Avid Workflows for Digital Cinema Cameras, (published September 2014) -- Valuable tips for a smoother end-to-end workflow. With a proliferation of high-resolution cameras, formats, and ever-evolving standards, today's editorial workflows are rapidly growing more...
DCS Road Test — SmallHD DP7-PRO — Evaluation by James Mathers
A lot of capability packed into a very light weight package; that’s how I would describe the SmallHD DP-7-PRO I took out for a spin recently…and it just keeps getting better. I was already impressed with it’s long list of features such as Wave Form, Histogram, and...
Common Files Types and Their Storage Requirements
ADS, Advanced Digital Services, has offered a very useful chart which list most common digital format types from Full Aperature 4K uncompressed to NTSE Standard Def and even iPhone video. It then lists the corrosponding resolutions, Bitrate in Mbps, and the amount of...
TSA Introduces New Safety Measures for Electronic Devices Traveling into US – July 2014
The Transportation Security Administration has recently announced that some overseas passengers flying to the United States who might want to carry electronic devices onboard will have to show that the devices can power up. Although items mentioned specifically...
Infrared Contamination In Digital Cinematography
There has been much discussion recently of problems related to Infrared Contamination when photographing brightly sunlit scenes with Digital Cinema CMOS Sensor Cameras. Slower speed emulsions used to be the answer when shooting film in these situations, but with the...
Lit Pixels: Why Do They Happen?
DCS Member Content contribution submitted by Juliet Verni of Abel Cine Tech Did you ever wonder what creates permanently lit, or what we often refer to as “blown”, pixels in your CCD camera’s imager? Here’s the reason: Charged-Coupled Devices (CCD’s) are made up of an...
DVD & Bluray Disc Tips
This download is a companion piece to the currently streaming presentation by Digital Doyenne Bruce Nazarian, of Digital Media Consulting Group. In this pdf, you will find tips for desktop creation of DVD and Blu-ray Discs....
Data Rate Calculator
This Data Rate Calculator, courtesy of DCS member Chris Vincze, a Digital Imaging Producer at MPC Data Lab in London, is a handy guide to storage requirements for digital formats ranging from RED 4K, 3K, & 2K, Phantom, ARRI D21 RAW Mode, SI-2K, EX-1, and S.Two or...