Cinemartin, the team that develops the leading video converter / transcoding encoders for Microsoft Windows O.S. (Cinemartin Cinec) as well as the plugin’s for Adobe Premiere – After Effects (Plin PR, Plin AE), Master Bundle solutions including the fastest HEVC H.265 encoders using a IP Join venture with NVIDIA (Nvidia HEVC H.265 P-Mod encoder), the advanced & high effective standalone Video Denoiser, MyBD: the Blu ray disc converter / decoder, and FLEC the X-Y adjustable universal 15mm baseplate for cameras and as well as the 4K portable  4K Recorder – Monitor – Computer; NEXT 4K, now is proud to announce MiniM & TEO.

Production models will be even more compact than current pictured prototypes, at a size of only 14x10x5 cm and about 700 gr of weight (pre-production models dimensions are of 14x13x6cm)

As a display / monitor MiniM and TEO have the better quality a display panel a pro video/photo device can provide, with outstanding UHD and QHD native resolutions, with an uncutted AMOLED technology that provides true blacks and the best color palette out there, with colors that seems like the ones your eyes are seeing, with IZGO or IPS technology to provide extremely wide angle of views so that almost from any location you can see the picture / image from the monitor, as if you are sit just on the front.

Technology that will help you to provide better focusing, for your video or stills, in a 5.6 inches monitor and All In One turnkey device, providing a State of the Art Display, a True Cinema Quality 4K Recorder, a Fast Computer, and a Live Streaming device that can run even without WiFi (using a Phone SIM) to stream what you want to everyone you want all around the planet, all in realtime, WYSIWTG (What You See Is What They Get),  just at the palm of your hand, with given an introductory price of sub 2.000 US$ / 2.000 EUR for the QHD AMOLED IPS 5.6″ display, extremely powerfull upgradeable* 16GB DDR / 250 – 500 GB device.

Cinemartin TEO (QHD) is available as of now for preorder with delivery in June 2016 via Cinemartin TEO website, while UHD is available via Indiegogo and will be delivered in October 2016, if you can work with the QHD display until the UHD is available, Cinemartin reccommends for interested users to pre-order TEO QHD (which can be upgraded later at October / November 2016 for UHD). All pre-oders until June (April and May) will get a special price and free worlwide shipping.

# 5.6″ Inch AMOLED monitor
# 16.77 Millions of Colors
# World First 4K UHD and QHD native display resolutions
# HDMI INPUT (SDI input model might come later)
# IZGO and IPS
# 550 NIT’s
# LUT / 3DLUT support
# Assist tools (VectorScope, Colorgram, Waveform)
# 4K 8-10Bit up to 4:4:4 Recorder (uncompressed, dpx, mjpeg, prores)
# Intel Core Skylake computer 2.6 GHz up to 2.9 GHZ
# 16 to 32GB of DDR4 RAM at 2133 Mhz
# Supports Adobe Cloud Video/Photo apps, DaVinci Resolve 12 and more
# Uses partial RAM within SSD to provide +5.5 GBps R/W bandwidth (5500 MBps)
# Full of ports (usb3, usb 5V charge, hdmi, displayport, sdxc r/w card slot)
# Built in WiFi and bluetooth, as well as NFC and CIR.
# Win 10 pro by default, Mac El Capitan by simply plug a usb pendrives
# Canon or Sony battery powered for 3 hours. DC in as well. 12V – 14V
# Dimensions 14x10x5cm
# From < 2.000 US$ / EUR with Worldwide shipping (from USA or EU)

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Phantom 4 – Pre-order now with no deposit!

Experience the exciting new DJI Phantom 4 now with our in house CAA qualified drone pilot at our offices and showroom located in Barnet, North London.

Call us to book an appointment and be the first to get hands on with the latest in quadcopter technology from DJI – 020 8275 1070.

Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm

Set within the historic 2500 acre Wrotham Park estate – just 13 miles from central London – we’ve plenty of room to take you through the controls of the Phantom 4 whilst offering easy access from the M25, Northern Line tube and overground.

We’re here every weekday and always ready to take you out and talk you through the different drone options. Simply call for an appointment.

•     Drone Training
•     Gaining CAA Permission for Aerial Work
•     Dealing with clients expectations and site safety
•     Writing your operations manual
•     And more…

We’re on hand to help with every step from beginner to commercial drone pilot.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

The NEW Sony RX10 one of the few Sony cameras to come with a headphone socket also takes the XLR-K1M and XLR-K2M XLR audio adapters. This makes this camera a great option for video journalists and bloggers like myself.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Starting immediately, Google’s Nik Collection of desktop image editing plug-ins is being offered free of charge. Nik’s Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine apps are all available as a free download from Google, a substantial savings over the previous $150 price.

This is stunning news, I bought into these APPS a few years ago and they are truly brilliant especially now they are FREE.

Download here https://www.google.com/nikcollection/

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

4 weeks later just a wee update, I am enjoying my dog walking again, not too far.

The tee shirt is is only to stay up to date with the times, not participating in any sport. My legs are not back to normal but many of my close friends say my voice has improved greatly. Still doing next to nothing but will continue the blog as I enjoy the blog and its not taxing unless I do it in the small hours but that won’t happen again. Thanks for all your best wishes and hope to get back to normal ASAP. I must thank my wife Susan who has been fantastic, my 2 boys Paul and Scott, my mother and father, my sister Martine and her husband Willie, my Aunt Isabel and Nancy.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Tested it, so far the fan now turns off during filming, a lot better… but the slight delay in sound sync (About 2 frames)  has not yet been verified by myself, though they say its been fixed.
1. Consumption reduced, increasing Osmo battery life to 90 minutes for a total recording time of 70 minutes (80 minutes with Wi-Fi off).
2. Fan turns off automatically when recording video. To keep fan off during video recording, tap Mute Fan in the Audio Control menu. When activated, the fan will only restart to prevent critical overheating.
3. Video downlink optimized for enhanced live streaming.
4. Added Digital Zoom Control when recording video at 720p, 1080p and 2.7K. Put two fingers on the screen and pinch to zoom out, open your fingers to zoom in, or switch on Digital Zoom Control for fine control.
5. Control of Osmo tilt and pan axis simultaneously added by setting the joystick control direction to Free.
6. Fixed a problem of audio and video not being synchronized on some devices.
7. Added Portrait option to optimize portrait photography.
8. Optimized D-Log and D-Cinelike colors.
9. Downloading of videos and photos to mobile devices now three times faster.
10. Continuous photo capture by holding down shutter button added.
11. Added a key combination to turn on/off the Osmo’s Wi-Fi. Press and hold the trigger, then pull down the powerswitch, then release both power switch and trigger. Wi-Fi is off when the system status LED blinks twice. Repeat to turn on Wi-Fi. The Osmo will operate for longer when taking timelapse photos without Wi-Fi.
12. Note appears DJIGO when trying to connection Oslo that is already connected to another mobile device.
13. DJIGO now displays the current photo instead of alive preview when shooting timelapses.
14. Audio control optimized to avoid audio distortion when recording in noisy environments.
15. Audio data loss when using some MicroSD cards underclass-10 or UHS-1 fixed
16. Double capture of the same shot when shooting panorama  fixed.
17. Gimbals drifting reduced.
18. Joystick control optimized.
19. Horizontal calibration data saves automatically after powering off.
20. Single video recordings in high temperatures are capped at 30 minutes to ensure video quality.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Panasonic has today announced the new firmware update Version 2.5 for the DMC-GH4 to further enhance its performance at no charge. The new firmware Version 2.5 includes following functional updates:

-Post Focus
Post Focus is a special function that enables users to select an in-focus point after shooting. It has already been integrated in new LUMIX cameras such as the GX8. With this function, users can enjoy changing the perspective for greater photographic expression or to choose the best in-focus shot for macro shooting.

-4K PHOTO (4K Burst / 4K Burst (Start/Stop) / 4K Pre-burst)
With 4K PHOTO mode there are three dedicated modes – 4K Burst / 4K Burst (Start/Stop) / 4K Pre-burst – are all now available on LUMIX GH4*. The addition of these modes further enhances the usability of 4K PHOTO to capture fleeting photo opportunities at 30p.

-External Flash Burst
Consecutive shooting with flash burst is available with an external flash that is capable of continuous emission.  This includes the following Panasonic models: DMW-FL580L, DMW-FL360L, DMW-FL500, DMW-FL360 and DMW-FL220.

The new DMC-GH4 firmware Version 2.5 is scheduled to be released at the end of March 2016 at the LUMIX Customer Support website: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Our friends over at NewsShooter have been putting the new Sony a6300 through its paces, mainly in autofocus mode, very impressive. A lack of headphone socket from this camera is it’s major let down in my opinion.

Whats the point of the XLR unit if you can’t listen to your sound.

Using the CameTV Single brushless gimbal..You can see the rest of Dan’s report here : http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/03/13/lets-dance-a-video-shot-entirely-using-autofocus-with-the-sony-a6300/

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Offering 10-bit, 1080p AVC-Intra and AVC-LongG recording up to 60 fps, the Panasonic AJ-PX230 is ready to fit the bill for a wide range of applications, including professional broadcast, documentary, and ENG work. The camera utilizes 1/3″-type 3MOS sensors that support a 600% dynamic range level to capture expanded highlight and shadow detail for more film-like images and post-production flexibility. Adding to the camera’s versatility is multi-codec support, including the high-quality AVC-Intra200 codec, and variable frame-rate shooting for in-camera slow-motion and fast-motion effects.

The AJ-PX230 is equipped with a 22x optical zoom lens that offers a 28 to 616mm range (35mm equivalent), covering you from wide-angle to telephoto focal lengths. Built-in optical image stabilization helps to correct for shake and jitters when shooting handheld. Three rings on the lens give you full manual control over zoom, focus, and iris, providing a shooting experience similar to larger interchangeable-lens ENG cameras. For monitoring your shots and navigating through the menu system, the camera features a 0.5″ OLED EVF and a 3.5″ IPS LCD screen.

Taking a page from the larger shoulder mount rigs, the camera features a front XLR audio input, ideal for a camera-mounted mic, and a rear audio XLR input for a second microphone. Additional connectivity includes a 3G-SDI output, HDMI output, USB connection, and remote control ports. Video is recorded to microP2 cards, with two slots provided to support a variety of recording options, including simultaneous, relay, and background recording.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

As a disciple to DJI I’ve owned and / or flown every model of drone they’ve sold from the large S1000 octocopter down to the ever so small Phantom.  Secretly I’ve huge respect for the lowly Phantom.  I first received my Phantom 1 back in January 2013 and have been a huge fan of this diminutive drone ever since.  I flew my Phantom 1 like crazy, upgraded it with T-Power motors, fitted a video transmitter, eventually a stabilised gimbal before I bought a Phantom 2 and the cycled repeated itself.

It was with the arrival of the Phantom 3 that I felt DJI had made the largest number of changes, it was honestly like I had been driving an 1980s manual car then suddenly jumped into a brand new, modern automatic car.  The amount of tinkering that could be had with the Phantom 3 was minimal as DJI had cleverly incorporated a HD video transmitter, full telemetry which fed me a constant stream of data such as battery level, heading, height etc…  The Phantom 3 was to me a fabulous drone, however not everyone thought so…

Simon with “vandalised” Phantom 2 after flying at Arsenal football club training centre

As reported in Forbes magazine back in May 2015 DJIs founder and Billionaire Drone Overlord – Frank Wang – didn’t share my sentiments and was notably present from the Phantom 3 product launch going on record to say “the product was not as perfect” as he had expected.  Wang, a 35 year old Chinese national is an interesting character who keeps a twin size wooden bed in his office near his desk, on the door of his office hangs a sign that simply reads “Those with brains only”.

But it’s Wangs passion and drive that see DJI become a global technology giant often compared to Apple – which makes the Phantom 4 an interesting beast, you see the Phantom 4 is a collaboration between these two global tech giants.  The white drone, sleek lines and packaging, the glossy marketing and now the DJI experience stores that are opening are all very Apple-esque indeed.

The full details and possible involvement in this collaboration have yet to surface, the facts we know are that the Phantom 4 is currently only available for pre-order from either DJI or Apple until March 23rd after this date DJIs existing network of dealers will then be able to start accepting orders.

The Phantom 4 is in itself another technological jump forward and offers us even more semi-autonomous functionality.  Firstly over the previous generation of drone the Phantom 4 boasts an increased 28 minute battery life.  The GoPro busting DJI camera has an F2.8 lens with improved optics over the Phantom 3 and can now shoot HD up to 120fps.

The real “killer” features include visual tracking which as the name suggests allows you to frame a human life form on your iDevice screen by tapping on them and watch as in all Terminator style glory your new unweaponsied drone follows them until the battery is depleted or a member of the resistance shoots it down.

The other new feature DJI are shouting about from the roof-tops is the obstacle sensing system, this sense and avoid system will bring the aircraft to a hover or simply avoid the hazard altogether by flying around it – depending on which mode you are flying in.  The Phantom 4 also has a new “Sports” mode, maximum speed is increased by 25% to a staggering 45mph.  DJI also boast a range of 3.1 miles, although in the UK you shouldn’t be flying it more than 500M away from yourself.

DJI have quietly included another “big news” upgrade which doesn’t seem to be exciting many other than me.  To increase reliability and reduce possible situations where the drone decides to head off on its own DJI have for good measure included two compasses and two inertial measurement units.  This redundancy along with improved positioning system and continued use of both GPS and GLONASS satellites makes this tiny powerhouse safer to fly than ever.

To date I sadly haven’t flown the Phantom 4 so I can’t say how it feels, how responsive it is, whether or not I can crash it into a tree or whether obstacle avoidance will prevail.  What we do know is that DJI continue to innovate and the new features that are offered by the Phantom 4 elevate this drone to a level where it continues to compete or out shadow the competition who include Yuneec and 3DR.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions