We spend a lot of money on our tools. For example, I just bought a new Windows XP machine with 24-inch and 19-inch monitors. It’s spacious, speedy and expensive. I’m also eyeing the new HD camcorders and, well, you get the idea. So my bank account and I are always eager to find inexpensive items that let me solve real production problems, sharpen my craft or make nice year-end gifts. Here are some low-cost tools that I like and use. Not all are flashy, but all are useful or enlightening.
Boom Recorder by Vos Games turns some audio hardware and a Mac computer into a multi-channel, field-audio recorder. It’s not as compact as a Zaxcom Deva, Sound Devices 744T or similar hard-drive recorders, but this low-cost software records up to 32 channels of 32-bit/96 kHz audio with time code; saves everything as QuickTime, CAF (Core Audio Format) or BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) files; and adds iXML metadata to files saved in CAF and BWF.
Boom Recorder requires Mac OS X 10.4 and a Core Audio-compatible audio interface (available from MOTU, Mackie, PreSonus and others). It offers a re-record buffer, LTC SMPTE/EBU time code decoding from any audio input and will start/stop recording based on availability of a time code signal.
As I write, Boom Recorder is in version 1.11. Version 2, scheduled for release by the time you read this, will provide more flexibility over channel selection and other new features. Considering the progress Boom Recorder has made in the last few months, I’m really looking forward to version 2, though I’m already impressed with 1.11. Boom Recorder costs 85 Euros (about $100). www.vosgames.nl
The Sticky Pod camera mount lets you mount a hand-held camera to a car, boat or motorcycle body or other smooth, flat surface. A camera rigger working on the next Jerry Bruckheimer explodo-rama probably won’t choose a Sticky Pod, but these inexpensive suction-cup mounts can help you get good shots from a camera mounted on moving vehicle. Heibel Enterprises offers the Sticky Pod in several configurations with different extensions, knuckles and tethers. The price varies from $59 to $129. www.stickypod.com
WarmCards take the old trick of warming up an image by white- balancing to blue, and makes the results predictable and consistent. The standard WarmCards kit includes three 6 x 10-inch matte-finish cards, each with a different grade blue on one side and a 100 IRE white on the other. You also get a pack of 3 x 4-inch cards in matching strengths. The bluer the card, the warmer the resulting image. There’s also an optional Plus Pack with a Minus Green card that removes the pale green tint from common fluorescent lighting and a Warm 1/2 that provides just a little warming.
I use the lighter blue cards and the Minus Green card the most. A few photographers have teased me for using WarmCards. A couple of those photographers started using the WarmCards soon after. I don’t warm up every shot with them; sometimes I’d rather a shot gets colored in post. But since every WarmCard has a consistent white flipside, and since I need a white card on hand anyway, WarmCards aren’t a burden. They’re a useful option. Vortex Media sells its standard WarmCard kit for $65; the Plus Pack costs $26. www.warmcards.com
Post Tools
VideoSpace, a Mac OS X 10.4 widget, tells you how much disk space a digital video file needs. Enter a codec, frame rate, audio settings and duration, and VideoSpace calculates how many megabytes, gigabytes or terabytes your video will consume. Or enter the amount of free space available and find the duration you can capture. Digital Heaven’s VideoSpace is simple, handy and free. www.digital-heaven.co.uk
Photoshop lets me do almost anything with almost any still-image file. But if I just want to view and perhaps convert some oddball graphic file, I sometimes turn to a couple of simpler graphics tools. On Windows I like IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan. It’s free for non-commercial use and $12 for a commercial license (www.irfanview.com). On Mac, my choice is GraphicConverter; $30 from Lemke Software. www.lemkesoft.com
For video, VLC media player lets me play files that other players can’t. VLC runs on Mac, Windows and a variety of UNIX operating systems. It is free from the VideoLan group. www.videolan.org
When my problem isn’t viewing files, but rather renaming dozens or hundreds of them (thanks to a client’s or my own disorganization or change of mind), I turn to the free Oscar’s File Renamer for Windows (www.mediachance.com) and the $19.95 A Better Finder Rename for Mac (www.publicspace.net).
Super Histogram from Walker Effects is a free After Effects plug-in that helps you nail down color corrections, resolve color-banding problems and otherwise see exactly what’s going on in your images. It displays a detailed full-color histogram of a whole image or individual channels, supports several color models and provides statistical information about the image data. The UI lets you zoom and pan across a histogram, select data ranges, and expand the histogram display size. To get Super Histogram, you need to download a demo version of Walker Effects Professional, a collection of 18 After Effects plug-ins— a small price to pay for a useful tool. www.walkereffects.com
Books and DVDs
The Art of the Documentary by Megan Cunningham has long and illuminating interviews with 10 documentary filmmakers, DPs and editors, including Errol Morris, Ken Burns, Albert Maysles and Kirsten Johnson. The conversations in this heavily illustrated book focus not just on technique, but also on craft, art and collaboration. Not all the interviews are winners, but enough are to justify New Riders’ $44.99 list price. www.newriders.com
Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography was released theatrically over a dozen years ago, but is still worth watching or rewatching. The heart of the film is DPs discussing the history of cinematography from Birth of a Nation, through Citizen Kane, and up to Do the Right Thing. Many, many films get discussed. With so much ground to cover, Visions of Light is a high-speed tour. No film or DP is discussed in much depth, but it’s still a pleasure to hear cinematographers talk about their work while viewing some truly wonderful images. The film is available on DVD for $24.99. www.image-entertainment.com
Edge Codes.com is a Visions of Light for the people of the dark. The film explores the history and future of film editing, largely through interviews with leading editors. The editors discuss how they work, and rather interestingly, how technology influences their craft. The DVD costs $30, and you can download the film for $15 to $25, depending on format. www.edgecodes.com
Schoeps Shotgun
With the money I’ve saved using some of the stuff in this column, I can afford to get myself a thank-you gift. And I know just the thing: Schoeps, maker of the true gold-standard hypercardioid microphone, now makes what may become the cobalt-standard of shotgun mics. If the new CMIT 5U sounds half as good as the early reports suggest, then there is finally a shotgun that really sounds like a Schoeps. The CMIT 5U lists for $1,795, but will warm my heart if not my wallet. www.schoeps.de (or U.S. distributor: www.reddingaudio.com).
All of these items provide a great opportunity to spend a little end-of-year cash or spread a little holiday cheer.
Left: Finally, a shotgun mic that sounds like a Schoeps-as it should, since Schoeps makes the CMIT 5U. Above: Boom Recorder turns a Mac into a 32-channel location-sound recorder.
Documentary filmmakers, editors and DPs sound off on the craft in these books and DVDs.
The Sticky Pod from Heibel Enterprises is a suction-cup camera mount.
Vortex Media offers WarmCards to warm up an image by white-balancing to blue.
The Super Histogram from Walker Effects is a free After Effects plug-in.
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