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At times the menu of the R1 can be a bit counter-intuitive, for example that phantom power is under System>Sound, while the recording level is placed at Video>Audio. Helpfully, Octamas from Switzerland has been publishing a visual guide of the Red 1 menu system, and they’ve just released their guide for still-warm Build 20.

Bits, pieces and links

And for inspiration, hop over to As the Dust settles, a documentary in progress about the amazing Burning Man Festival – all shot on RED. They have a lovely photo gallery.

If you ever need a manual for an old camera, check out IscanManuals. They charge a small fee.

Trying to hide in the open with your camera? LensCoats makes, well, lens coatings, for pretty much any make, including the Canon 1200mm beast:

A quick fix around the gamma problem in QT and OSX.

Jay Moeller has been working as an editor for over 10 years. Here are her 21 (funny, fitting) tips to clients on how to behave in the editing room

Over at vimeo.com you can see a collection of other DPs showreels. Enjoy and learn.

Here is something that is beautifully shot, perfect way of saying: a happy, healthy & creative 2009 to all of you.

I am always amazed when attending an audition, just how much of their soul those actors have to lay bare, often for a minor acting job. Here is a humorous view on those auditons:

I try to stay away from politics on this blog, but when politics meets film, technology and life, I cannot resist.

Director(s): David Morgasen , Yaroslav Kemnits (Director of Special Effects)
Writer(s): David Morgasen
Producer(s): Dmitry Lesnevsky (Exec. Producer), David Morgasen (Exec. Producer), Elena Muravina

Finally some solutions for still lenses are coming along for the Red One camera. And with it some exciting new possibilities, like simple remote focus and iris control. And image stabilization; all lenses that have IS will make for very sexy, light handheld lenses:

Videos are very popular, and most don’t think twice before uploading their own films to sites such as YouTube or Vimeo. Those are popular and very convenient – you just upload your video, they transcode it to a webfriendly format, give you the code to easily embed your video in your blog/website, and they handle all the traffic. But the downside is that you have to give away some rights.

Vimeo is becoming quite popular amongs independent film makers, for Vimeo has an exceptionally good quality. But reading their legal text, I stumbled upon this mumbo: 

you hereby grant [...] a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers) and transferable license (with a right to create derivative works) to use, copy, transmit or otherwise distribute, perform, publicly perform and display your Submission for any legal purposes whatsoever now known or hereinafter becomes known. 

In other words: While you still own the copyright to the film, you have now given Vimeo and its partnes the right to make new films out of your work. And even if you change your mind and remove the video, Vimeo still has the legal right to use your video. Forever. And it doesn’t stop there. Vimeo can license your film to another company. And that one could again sub-license it. You’ve essentially lost control of your video.

Distraction

Another downside is that your visitors might easily get sucked into watching other videos offered. And suddenly your visitor becomes YouTube’s/Vimeos’ visitor.

Not to forget that those video services also have to make a living, which usually boils down to advertising on your film.

Solution

So what to do? Bite the bullet, spend a few dollars on your own hosting (I can recommend Media Temple) and serve your video from a source your have control over.