Zürich Enters the 21st Century -- Apple Store Glattzentrum

I just got back from the apple store opening in Glattzentrum on the outskirts of Zürich.I  finally feel like I live in a real city. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but it is nice to finally have a real Apple store here. I wonder how this will affect Dataquest. Anyway, the store opening was straight from the apple playbook. When the lines of people waiting were finally let in, we were welcomed by all of the employees cheering like mad. I got a free t-shirt. Here is a video and some photos:


The Cabaret Voltaire

The Cabaret Voltaire

Let me tell you about my 2nd favorite art movement -- Dada. I am currently sitting in the Cabaret Voltaire, where in 1916 a group of young rebels formed this movement. The key players were Trystan Tzara, Andre Breton, Jean Arp, Hugo Ball, Sophie Tauber, most of whom were veterans or refugees from WWI. They were so disgusted by what they had seen during the war that they decided humanity did not deserve beautiful or meaningful things. In their opinion, humanity did not deserve good art.

DADA remains within the framework of European weaknesses, it's still shit, but from now on we want to shit in different colours so as to adorn the zoo of art with all the flags of all the consulates.
Tristan Tzara, The DADA Manifesto

Inside the CabaretThis is the core of the Dada movement. Dada art is Anti-art. Dada artists would take random objects and proclaim them as art, and write down anything at random and call it literature (a technique later called automatic writing, where this site gets its name). They would also clip words out of newspapers, arrange them in random order, and call the results poetry. They strived to create things that had no meaning, no aesthetic value -- nonsense. If you experience Dada art, it often seems ridiculous or funny. I find it very interesting how this seemingly silly, carefree form of art stemmed from its creators' disgust with humanity.

One can argue, and I do, that Dadaism is the ultimate form of rebellion. There are no rules. Not even rules about there being no rules. Quoth the Dada Manifesto, 1918:

I am writing this manifesto and there's nothing I want, and yet I'm saying certain things, and in principle I am against manifestos, as I am against principles...
I am writing this manifesto to show that you can perform contrary actions at the same time, in one single, fresh breath; I am against action; as for continual contradiction, and affirmation too, I am neither for nor against them, and I won't explain myself because I hate common sense.
Moving on. After a while of creating Dada art, the dadaists started to see surprising meaning inside their nonsense artwork.  This gave Andre Breton the idea that there might be brilliance hiding in the subconscious mind just begging to be set free. In the random acts of dadism, the mind's conscious filter was removed, allowing the subconscious to escape. With this idea, Breton went on to form my 1st favorite art movement: Surrealism.

The Cabaret Voltaire is a special place to me. The first time I visited Zürich, it was the one place I wanted to see (It happend to be boarded up at the time). The next time I visited for a few months, before I moved to Zürich, I spent a lot of time at the Cabaret trying to soak up its history. It was at the Cabaret that I saw H.R. Giger speak, which planted the seed for my documentary H.R. Giger's Sanctuary. 

Two spoons and coffee in the Cabaret Voltaire

But being here in the Cabaret Voltaire, a place that is the source of so much inspiration to me, I don't know how to feel. Let me explain: This place is not the haven of crazy rebel artists it once was. After being in a state of disrepair for many years and inhabited by a group of neo-dadaist squatters, it was eventually renovated with funds from the city. It has been redecorated in true dadaist fashion, but the soul of dadaism isn't there. Something about the government providing funding for the renovation for a haven of rebellious art doesn't seem to make sense. But that's part of the reason I am unsure how to feel about this place: it doesn't make sense. Part of me feels that the dadaists would revel in this contradictory state of their former home. It is this contradiction that gives this place an inkling of its past glory. A city-funded center for pure rebellion is just the kind of thing that someone who hates common sense would enjoy.

While sitting here I picked up a flyer. Apparently the city doesn't want to renew the lease on the Caberet and there is a referendum to try and stop them. I don't really understand the details due to my poor German skills, but I hope that the Cabaret Voltaire continues to be preserved (If you do understand German, you can get more info Here and Here). It would be a shame if it was shut down to become yet another Starbucks or something. On the other hand, the dadaists might have seen their complete annihilation as the ultimate success of their movement.

Photo Blog #8 - Bonus Torino Edition

I spent the weekend with my wife in Torino, Italy. Here are some images from there.

The transfer point between Zürich and Torino. The Milano train station.A galleria in TorinoClick below for more photos

The Belltower in TorinoWhat appears to be an old theater.Looking down a busy street

Another galleriaThe Mole Antonelliana.Down Via Garibaldi

Tips for Better Youtube Quality

A while back I posted an article to my old blog called '6 Tips for High Quality Youtube Videos.' Well that site doesn't exist anymore and Youtube is quite a bit different now so its probably time I update that article.

When posting to Youtube the first thing to remember is that it will make your video look worse. No matter what. Youtube is compressing your video and compression makes things worse. Period. However, if you follow some simple rules, you can minimize this worsening, or 'Youtubeification', to the point where it is not noticable. Read on.

1. Shoot the highest resolution and the lowest compression possible

There are about a million different video cameras on the market. There about 500,000 different video formats that they shoot in. Ok, I exaggerate, but your choices in shooting formats are immense. Some of these formats are better than others. To achieve the best results on youtube, choose the highest resolution and the lowest compression possible. For resolution, you should pick an HD camera (1920x1080 or 1280x720 pixels) over an SD camera (720x480 or 720x576 pixels). As far as compression goes, you want a camera that has the biggest file size possible once it gets onto your computer. Also, if you can see compression artifacts in your original video, these artifacts will get worse on Youtube. Ok, so you probably already own a camera and maybe its not perfect for Youtube. What else can you do to get better quality?

2. Use a Tripod!

That's Right! Using a tripod makes your video look more professional and it helps minimize the compression problems associated with Youtube. Why is this? Video compression is based on motion -- the more motion in the frame, the more work the compression has to do. When you shoot hand held, every frame is a little bit different which makes a compression algorithms go crazy. When you use a tripod, the image only changes when something in the frame moves which is a relatively small change. Or it changes when you pan or tilt, but these changes are smooth and predictable enough to be easy on compression.

3. Have plenty of light

Compression is based on detail. If things are dark it will be harder to achieve nice compression. This can be as simple as opening the blinds, turing on a lamp or going outside. In general, bright is better than dark for compression.


The following has changed due to Youtube's introduction of widescreen video. A new post is coming soon.

4. The secret ingredients to encoding for Youtube: at least 6000kbps h.264, 640x480 (640x360 for widescreen), Multipass encode, deinterlace.

No matter what you use to encode your video, these magical settings should insure a clean version to post to youtube. I personally use Quicktime Pro. So I will go over these particular settings here:

 

 

The Quicktime Pro Export Menu

Selecting the h.264 codec and setting

 

  • h.264 is the most modern codec available and is able to compress video in the best looking way possible.
  • At a data rate of at least 6000kbps the compression should be virtually invisible for a frame size of 640x480.
  • The frame size of 640x480 or 640x360(for wide screen) are chosen because this is the native frame size that Youtube displays
  • A Multipass encode checks each frame at least twice to ensure that it is encoded the best.
  • If you shoot on an interlaced format, you must deinterlace because computers are a progressive format. If you don't, you will see the so called 'mice-teeth' effect.
  • If you shoot on a widescreen format(16x9) then choose the output size of 640x360 (under custom in QTPro size menu)
  • One more tip: Try to get as close to the 1 gigabyte files size limit as possible by increasing the data rate. Don't go over board though. A 10 second clip won't ever be that big

There. Now you know the best settings to get the best out of Youtube. As a public service I have posted below two examples. One with the right way of doing things and one with the exact opposite. Enjoy!

This clip was shot with a Sony Z1U. It is a clip from my upcoming documentary "Legacy of the Great Aletsch"

This clip was shot with a janky $99 DV-DA1 VP crap camera. It is a clip of my cats shot a few hours ago.

John McCain Doesn't Understand Modern Media

He doesn't learn from his mistakes either.

Back in June, McCain gave a speech in Lousiana, his first after Obama had clenched the Democratic nomination, and arguably McCain's most important campaign speech to date. Well, the geniuses in McCain's campaign set up this nice stage for him:

Not only is green a bad color to contrast with a human face (it makes you look old and sickly -- umm...), this background also initiated Project Make McCain More Exciting wherein Stephen Colbert asked Americans to do just that. Watch:

Well, last Thursday, McCain gave his most important speech in his candidacy so far -- his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention... and what do you know:
Come on! This time it's an even better green screen! To be fair, it wasn't like this the whole time. The background was a screen with revolving stock imagery, and this was the grass in front of a building. However, you would think that his team would have the foresight to know what the close-up camera angle was going to look like. Also, at points in his speech, the background was completely blue -- a background that is suitable for color keying as well. It wasn't too long before McCain was served up the political equivalent of the Rick Roll: The Barack Roll

These are the most recent and blatant examples of McCain not understanding how modern media works.  John McCain doesn't know how to use a computer. He doesn't understand that if you say something, then later say the exact opposite, someone will cut these statements together. Also, he doesn't realize that if you check out your new hot running mate's ass while she gives her introductory speech, everyone will see you. While on the subject of Sarah Palin: If you try to sell her as being a rebel against government earmarks, make sure she is not Queen of Earmarks. Back to McCain, he may not know how many houses he owns, but he could have checked Google Earth. The list of McCain obliviousness goes on, and this is just media incompetency. Imagine all the other ways he would be an incompetent president.
Now, I am not saying Barack Obama understands modern media any more than McCain (although he probably does). However, it is obvious that he can at least hire people who know not to set up a green screen behind him. If McCain can't even hire a decent AV department, what do you think his cabinet will look like?

Viva BasVegas

Tomorrow I will be filming a short promotional piece for Zürich fashion designer Basman during their fashion show entitled BasVegas. It should be a pretty cool event. If there is WiFi at the venue I will stream some of the show live on my Qik Channel. I will definitely post video and pictures later as well.

Film is Dead.

 

Well, maybe not dead -- but the revolution definitely will not be shot on film. I had the pleasure to shoot with a RED ONE for the first time this weekend and it really is the game changer that everyone says it is. I have been a fan of shooting video for a long time (I guess I am just of the digital generation), but the RED ONE  is the first digital video camera to really compete with film in all categories. For the record, I would like to make comparisons between Common video formats(MiniDV, HDV, Digibeta, etc), Film and the RED ONE.

Resolution

  • Video: Ranges from 640x480 pixels to 1920x1080 pixels with a variety of different pixel apsect ratios (rectangular pixels) thrown in there for good measure.
  • Film: No pixels, but comparable to 4k. Though most digital intermediates are done in 2k resolution
  • RED: 4k -- 4096 x 2304.

 

Recording Medium

  • Video: Lots of tape formats, some proprietary solid state and hard disk formats.
  • Film: 35mm or 16mm Negative Film.
  • RED: High Speed Compact Flash, Raided SATA drives, anything that accepts HD-SDI

 

Dynamic Range

  • Video: Varies wildly but averages between 4 and 6 f-stops
  • Film: Depends on the stock, but reliably 11 stops.
  • RED: Technically 11, but in reality around 9.

 

Image Plane Size

  • Video: Anywhere from Tiny up to 2/3rds inch.
  • Film: Super 35mm -- 24.89 mm × 18.66 mm
  • RED: 24.4mm x 13.7mm

 

Hardware Cost

  • Video: Starts from as low as a few hundred, tops out around 100,000
  • Film:  A new Arri 435 is around 75,000 body only. Prices vary in the + 20,000 range
  • RED: 17,500 body only.

Shooting Cost

  • Video: Some tapes and hard drives for editing. Quite cheap.
  • Film: Raw film stock, Film Processing, Telecine. Hard drives for editing. Quite expensive.
  • RED: Some CF Cards, Maybe a RED RAID, Lots of hard drive space -- probably a raid for storage. Not cheap, but cheaper than film.

 

Frame Rates

  • Video: Most commonly 24, 25 and 29.97. Some newer cameras can shoot up to 60fps
  • Film: As fast as your camera will let you go. Ultra high speed cameras can shoot 10,000 fps. Up to 120 is quite common
  • RED: Varies depending on resolution. Up to 30fps at 4k, 60fps at 3k, 120fps at 2k

 

In all these categories the RED is fairly equivalent to film, but beats film in terms of cost. A few other areas where I think the red wins are speed of use and safety of footage.

Ease of use: We shot a short film in 48 hours in 4k resolution this weekend. This would have been incredibly difficult with film. Film needs to be processed and telecined before you can begin editing. Both processes that would have taken valuable time. It probably would have been impossible here in Switzerland due to the lack of 24 hour facilities.

Safety of footage: Film advocates will say that a hard drive can crash or a CF card could fail. However, film is obviously more perilous to use than digital. Just one little light leak and your footage is ruined -- not to mention what can happen in the lab to make your work unusable. With file based digital shooting you can make as many back ups as you want on set. With film your camera original is all you have until you have a work print made.

One of the areas where I found RED more difficult to use than Film was focusing. The RED shoots 4k, but as of now, all of the monitoring options only go as high as 720p. This makes it difficult to see what is in focus. There is a pretty nifty focus assist that outlines in focus areas with red lines, but this is not perfect. That said, with a little practice, I was able to pull focus fairly well.

There are a few other great things about the RED: REDCODE RAW, Speed Ramping, Stop Motion, User definable buttons, Modularity, etc. Too much for me to go into right now.

I am ready to shoot on RED again as soon as possible. Last weekend makes my dread shooting HDV again.

 

PS. I know I left out cameras like the F23, the Panavision Genesis and the like. They have lots of the same benefits of the RED but so far none of them shoot 4K.