Finally integrated an Adobe CS6 workflow

Today I bought CS6 Production Premium which is Adobe’s professional video production suite containing one of the world’s best NLE Adobe Premiere and After Effects (a digital motion graphics and compositing software).

I’m super excited because this year I’ve been doing a lot of professional photography and videography to be able to afford this suite and it’s finally here! And man, After Effects?! What! There goes my already little sleep!

After working with the trial version of Premiere  for a few weeks it’s incomparable to its baby version Premiere Elements (which I had for a year and a half). What’s  also awesome was that in February (after my PC died – graphics card & motherboard) I bought a new and more powerful system in anticipation of CS6 (i7 3.4ghz quad, nVidia 560ti & 16GB RAM) and man CS6 responds very well  to this. Nothing feels wasted on the PC, CS6 really optimises system resources.

My Top Premiere features (discovered so far)

• The ability to import footage from nearly any camera without the need to convert or transcode.
• The ability to apply effects in real time while playing the video clip.
• True 64-bit support makes Premiere super fast. It’s I think of what I wanna do and with a few clicks it’s there almost instantaneously with no PC lag. On Premiere Elements, applying one effect could take up to a minute with the same PC

Integration with other Adobe software After Effects and Photoshop – the abilityto click ‘save’ in Photoshop and the change filters automatically to Premiere makes it feel like you’re editing in one giant piece of intuitive software. Premiere & After Effects share this link a s well. Fast editing – I’ve churned out so many videos in the past 4 weeks than I have in months from the sheer speed of editing with Premiere

Versus Final Cut X?
I don’t know. All I know is that in the last 12 months I’ve seen close to all the pros I follow (Vincent Laforet, Philip Bloom, etc) either move to CS6 or stay even further away from FCP after  their last release. All  I know is that NLEs don’t make movies, people do. Having  better gear doesn’t result in better movies. 

I reckon, in an  over simplified way, people  who love Nike say Nike is the best and those who love Adidas will say Adidas is the better…

The Alienist (Short Film)

Came across this short film from one of the guys I subscribe to on YouTube - Chester See

This is the kinda movies I wanna do. Hmm but I’m thinking of extending this into a 3 or 5 part mini-series…hmmm

DIY Camera Stabilizer Rig sample footage

This is sample footage shot using self-build fig rig/handheld stabilizer for DSLR and camcoders.

Shooting handheld often leaves you with shaky footage that is unusable. This is why I’ve searched the net for simple  ways to improve camera stability. This is one  of the rig’s I’ve built and again I went with the easiest and inexpensive design I could find.

Here’s my “How To” video that gives a break down of how to build this rig.

Humshkin Films Crew

Humshkin Films exists because of a dream I have to shoot & produce top-notch films as an independent filmmaker in Africa. Having a crew is thus of utmost importance to any production and I’m so blessed to have this team of friends who elevate the production value of the vids  I do. Introducing the dream team…

Humshkin

The one and only Mario: Key grip & sound

Filming with the Glidetrack

Tomorrow’s shoot is about motion, motion and motion.

 
Canon 7D on the Glidetrack – Yes I did a mini-photoshoot for it :)

Glidetrack	Subtle motion tracking
Skateboard dolly	Walking-pace motion tracking
VW Polo dolly	Running-pace motion tracking

We’ll be telling a story of growth  & multiplication by filming a set of feet (wearing shoes) that start walking; meet other pair of shoes, give the new shoes one of its red shoes laces; they start walking together; meet two more shoes, start running together etc etc. Once the people start running we’ll drive alongside & film them from the Polo’s window.

I’m doing a birthday shoot today so I hired the Glidetrack & Canon5D MKII , so I’m super stoked that ‘shoes’ shoot is  tomorrow so will be using pro gear all the way.

Canon 7D with 24-70mm f2.8 USM L lens & Canon 5D MKII with 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens ready for tomorrow! (photo taken with a Galaxy  S2 phone)

I’ve just done some testing with this 2 meter Glidetrack and ya this is the real deal. This is one piece of filming rig that I have no DIY solution for, so sooner or later it’s gonna have to be acquired somehow.