Doors open: 6:00pm
Meeting starts: 6:30pm

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Presented by AJA Systems

MoPictive Monthly Meetings continue at the Helen Mills Screening room - featuring 130 stadium-style seats, with a projection booth, 5.1 surround system, free food and drink, and an opportunity to meet and network with a wide range of New York City's best and brightest filmmakers.

Meeting Lineup

get from AV3 Software

Doug Hynes shows us how the innovative app "Get" uses text to search your FCP media files for audio waveform matches.

MultiCamera Q & A

The daringly dreadlocked author and director Mitch Jacobsonstands ready to take any and all Multicam questions. FCP, Avid, Tricaster, RED, DSLR - Mitch has answers and insights. Heck, thinking about writing a book? Mitch will take those questions as well.

MoPictive Shorts June Selection

We're still screening selections. Are you a local filmmaker that can attend our June meeting? Do you have a film under 15 minutes in length (including credits)? Email us at: shorts (at) mopictive (dot) org

Ned's Toy Box

Another entertaining and unpredictable presentation of gadgets and gear from Mopictive's own prodigious guru and Vice-President, Ned Soltz.

Monthly Door Prize Raffle

A license of "Get", training videos, books, t-shirts, and much more!

Special Deal on Sorenson Squeeze 6!

Last month’s presenter, Coby Rich from Sorenson Media, is sharing these special links offering significant discounts onSorenson Squeeze 6. These links expire on July 1:

• Sorenson 6 $599 ($200 discount):       http://bit.ly/9vjGyN
• Sorenson 6 for Flash $299 ($200 discount):     http://bit.ly/dg1RNW
• Sorenson 6 Upgrade $199 ($100-$300 discount:     http://bit.ly/dh8Wxl

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Meeting Details

get from AV3 Software

“get” is one of the most innovative apps ever introduced into the Final Cut ecosystem. “get” will take your search terms, search the audio waveforms in your media file, and send it into a bin in your Final Cut project. This is a must-see demo and a great time to ask questions to the newest player in the Final Cut ecosystem.

Presenter Doug Hynes is a media industry veteran of 20+ years, and has worked for every major software manufacturer in this space along the way, his perspective has been shaped by a variety of roles including technical support and account management, product training, product management, product marketing, as well as sales engineering and support.

MultiCamera Q & A

We were going to call this segment MultiCamera Techniques, but Mitch Jacobson thought it would be more useful to 'ride on the wild side' and let you determine what he talks about. From pre-production to shooting and editing multicamera productions, Mitch has passion and experience on this topic. His highly acclaimed multicam seminar became the foundation for his newest book, “Mastering MultiCamera Techniques” by Focal Press, released today.

Join us and get your MultiCam questions answered!

Mitch caught the filmmaking bug early, with a Kodak Brownie 8mm camera gifted to him by his grandfather. In 1984 he started his career as an ENG-style director / cameraman, cutting his own packages. Mitch became a full-time editor in the mid-1990s, in time for the NLE revolution. Multi-camera productions is his passion. In 2009 he toured the United States with his Multi-Cam presentation and now has a book in the wings, “Mastering Multi-Camera Editing”.

MoPictive Shorts June Selection: TBA

Ned Soltz: Ned’s Toy Box

Join us as MoPictive’s own Ned Soltz demos his favorite of the latest gear that has floated across his product reviewer’s desk. We never know what Ned’s going to pull out of his Toy Box!

Ned Soltz has over 25 years of experience in various areas of production and computer technology. He started using FCP 1.0 immediately after its 1999 release and has not looked back since. He was among the founders of the Los Angeles FCPUG. He likes to shoot, edit, and just generally support and troubleshoot the entire production and post production process. But Ned is really a gear-head at heart. He is a contributing editor of Videography and DV Magazine and is one of the administrators of 2-pop.com. The Soltz family just moved to Teaneck and looks forward to greater participation in the user group and production communities.

Door Prize Raffle

As always, we continue our monthly door prize raffle of a basket of goodies donated to us from the world's best vendors. When you support them, you're supporting MoPictive. See the list on the left.

This month we are also raffling off a license of "get" and a few of Mitch's new "Mastering Multicam Workflows".

April Meeting Lineup

The Vitti Fund
Celebrating the life of MoPictive's founder through an educational grant program

Michael Vitti, Fearless Leader

Martha Pinson
What makes a great Script Supervisor?

MoPictive NAB 2010 Roundup:

• Mitch Jacobson: MoPictive's Man On The Floor
• Ned Soltz: Covering NAB from a Journalist's perspective
• Josh Apter & Jem Schofield: DSLR Workflow Update
• Plus more...

Monthly Door Prize Raffle

Grand Prize Raffle
Automatic Duck + Automatic Duck's Media Copy 3.0

Meeting Details

The Vitti Fund

MoPictive's President Patrick Inhofer will unveil the long awaited and discussed educational grant program, The Vitti Fund (TVF). TVF celebrates the life of MoPictive founder Michael Vitti. TVF is dedicated to furthering Michael's greatest passion, giving others the knowledge they need to further their goals in becoming exceptional digital filmmakers.

Using the 501c3 designation that Michael so proudly achieved for The Moving Pictures Collective of NYC, The Vitti Fund will be operated under our tax-exempt status as an educational organization. All contributions to TVF are tax-deductible.

We hope you'll join Patrick as he celebrate the life of our gregarious founder - by ensuring Michael's passion continues to give the greatest gift of all... education.

"Below the Line": Script Supervisor

Join us for our first presentation in MoPictive's new "Below The Line" series. "Below the Line" will bring you some of New York's most talented and credited professionals who are essential to any production but rarely get the accolades they deserve.

Martha Pinson is a talented Script Supervisor. Her credits include major motion pictures, episodic prime-time television, and smaller indie productions. Martha will be talking with us about:

• The basic functions of the Script Supervisor
• What separates a good Script Supervisor from a great one
• What is the one thing every Script Supervisor must get right
• How can you make your Script Supervisor's job easier
• Why you can't afford not to have a Script Supervisor

Time allowing, Martha will also show us some of the tools of her trade that allow her to keep track of everything from sight lines to props.

Martha Pinson is an accomplished Script Supervisor and has worked with such directors as Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet. Her motion picture credits include "The Aviator", "Wall Street", "The Departed" and "Shutter Island". She is also a Director and Writer for both stage and screen and is in development on several of her own projects.

NAB Roundup

We continue MoPictive's long-standing tradition of wrapping up NAB - the industry's premier North American trade show for production and post-production suppliers. We've lined up several speakers to give us different perspectives.

• Man On The Floor Report: Mitch Jacobson, will provide us with his highlights of products that caught his attention. Mitch will also demo the rig he used to do nightly live streams for The Editors Guild using nothing more than his laptop and two webcams.
• Working NAB as a Journalist: MoPictive's Vice President, Ned Soltz, will share what it's like to work NAB as a journalist for DV magazine. He'll also highlight products that got his attention.
• DSLR Update: MoPictive's Josh Apter and Jem Schofield of theC47.comreturn to update us on all the latest NAB news concerning DSLR cameras, codecs, and workflows.
• Plus more...

Door Prize Raffle

As always, we continue our monthly door prize raffle of a basket of goodies donated to us from the world's best vendors. When you support them, you're supporting MoPictive:

Grand Prize Raffle

• Philip Hodgetts: Media Tracking in FCP

• Autodesk's "Smoke on Mac OS X" finishing system

• "Dolby Demystified" from veteran mixer Peter Levin

• MoPictive Shorts Monthly Selection: (2) short films by filmmaker Bat-Sheva Guez.

• Monthly Door Prize Raffle

Media Tracking in Final Cut Pro

Philip Hodgetts will reveal the first public viewing of his new super-secret software tool from Intelligent Assistance. It will revolutionize media tracking in Final Cut Pro.

More details on the product will be updated when the embargo is lifted, so stay tuned!

• Philip Hodgetts is an expert and consultant in digital production and post-production workflows, encoding, web applications, digital delivery and technology innovation. He is the President and CEO of Open Television Network, a company dedicated to making "podcasting" a professional service.

Smoke on a Mac Demo

Previously unavailable at under $80,000, Autodesk has released a “roll your own” version of its non-linear finishing platform Smoke for Mac OS X.

• Join Scott Malkie (blogger, post production supervisor, Smoke / Flame artist) as he takes us through the unique toolset of Smoke and helps us understand how Smoke can be used in a Final Cut Studio workflow as the ‘Hero Room’. And why a Final Cut Studio production might want to finish their projects on Smoke.
• Special thanks to Brett Yager and VCA Fusion for configuring and providing the hardware/software for the demo!

Demystifying Dolby Deliverables

Dolby 5.1 Surround, Dolby E, RtLt, Split Stems – There are a multitude of ways to produce and deliver Dolby Surround Sound for DVD, BluRay, or any of the professional tape stocks.

• Veteran Mixer Peter Levin (Splash Studios) helps us navigate the waters of Dolby deliverables. The next time a client (or your mixer) asks if you should get an LtRt with the Dolby E fold-down, you’ll be able to answer intelligently and with authority.

MoPictive Shorts March Selection

This month we’ve selected two shorts by filmmaker Bat-Sheva Guez.

• morning is a musical piece starring two dancers from everything smaller.
• whorl was shot in a single day while Bat-Sheva was on vacation in Barcelona, Spain. It is a tale about a traveler who is lost forever in the labyrinth of the old Bari Goti.

Door Prize Raffle

As always, we continue our monthly door prize raffle of a basket of goodies donated to us from a variety of our favorite vendors. You can find them under "Raffle Donations" on the left side of our website.

MoPictive Monthly Meetings continues in our new venue: the Helen Mills Screening room - featuring 120 stadium-style seats, with a projection booth, 5.1 surround system, free food and soda, and an opportunity to meet and network with a wide range of New York City's best and brightest filmmakers.

Doors open: 6:00pm
Meeting starts: 6:30pm
Cover Charge: $5
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 from 6:30 PM - 8:30 AM

New York, NY 10001

The show ran a little long. We'll program a bit differently going forward. Interest in Compression for the Web was very strong. We clearly didn't give Craig enough time to get through this complex topic. As a result, we'll be doing a 1-day seminar allowing us to cover this material much more methodically - as well as get to actual "recipes" for creating great-looking video. We're working feverishly to bring this to our members in the next 6 weeks.

Below are a list of links featured at the meeting, listed by segment:

AJA, Software Updates

Latest Updates have enabled some key new features.

• v1.1 of KiPro software enables ProRes422(LT) and ProRes422(Proxy), plus variable frame rates
• v7.5 for the entire Kona family enables multiple Kona cards in one MacPro tower, plus an array of board-specific features.

Ned's Toy Box

MoPictive Shorts, February Selection: Open Air

• Executive Producer / Writer: David L. Paterson
• Director of Photography: Jendra Jarnagin

BluRay DeMystified

• NetBlender.com: Creators of DoStudio
• DoStudio: Full featured BluRay Authoring running (and supported) on BootCamp. Trail Software available for download off of this page.
• BD-Touch: BD Touch is BD-J technology that enables communication between a Blu-ray disc and a Wi-Fi mobile device like the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• AACS (copy-protection) licensing cost sheet: AACS_Summary (note: These costs only apply to factory replicated BluRays, not BD-Rs burned with a PC or Mac using storebought media. Current as of early Feb 2010.)

Compressing for the Web

Craig Seeman, speaker

• Video Spec, free app to analyze and compare compressed video
• Levels of h.264, Wikipedia chart featured in the presentation
• Stay tuned for 1 day seminar on Compressing for the Web. Eventbrite, Facebook, our Newsletter, and this website will let you know once tickets go on sale.

After editorial is finished, your picture is color corrected, and the mix is laid back you've got to get your film to your audience. Almost always this means some form of compression. There are 1,001 ways to compress video badly. There are only a few ways to do it well. This month's meeting focuses on two different approaches - via the web and via optical disc. We are also continuing MoPictive Shorts; a monthly event showcasing some of NYC's best storytellers in a 15 minute or less short film format, including a Q & A after the screening. Also returning, Audio for Editors, Part 3 and Ned's Toy Box.

Doors open: 6:00pm
Meeting starts: 6:30pm
Cover Charge: $5

(this is our latest itinerary, which is guaranteed to change - frequently)

Grand Prize Raffle: Telestream Episode EncoderPro ($995 value) + iPod Touch preloaded with NetBlender's BD Touch app, MetaMenu Smart Remote app, and the BD Touch enabled BluRay title, Gamer

• Details on Telestream's Episode EncoderPro. Here's a glowing video review.
• NetBlender is generously donating the iPod Touch bundle. The bundle is a single raffle item and includes: iPod Touch; preloaded with two apps, BD Touch & MetaMenu Smart Remote; the BD Touch-enabled BluRay disc, Gamer.
• $5 per ticket if purchased online.
• Only 50 Early Bird tickets are available to purchase online, 1 ticket per person.
• 25 tickets additional tickets will be available for purchase at the door: $10 each (1 per person).
• The official rules are on the EventBrite Registration Site.

Compression In-Depth

The Art of Compressing for the Web

Craig Seeman returns to MoPictive to explore compressing for the web. Craig will cover:

• 'Best practices' with an emphasis on how to create professional web-based video for the web’s most popular video-sharing sites. He will be working with Telestream's excellent compression softwareEpisode EncoderPro.
• h.265: Understanding this pervasive new codec
• HTML 5's new 'video' tag: How it promises to impact the landscape for web video delivery.

The State of BluRay and BluRay on the Mac

We are extremely pleased to host NetBlender at this meeting. They are the creators of DoStudio, a professional BluRay authoring app with WYSIWYG Java menu creation - perfect for us non-programmer types. Topics covered in this presentation:

• Industry Transition: DVD to Blu-ray
• AACS Licensing Fees: How it works, who pays what fees (you or your client?)
• Blu-ray on the Mac (why waiting for Apple might cost you)
• Bootcamp set-up
• AVC BD encoding with Compressor
• NetBlender DoStudio Authoring
• Blu-ray Menu Design with Photoshop: Time to Think Different (again)
• Advanced Interactivity: Your iPhone is part of the Blu-ray experience

With our great new screening room at Helen Mills, MoPictive is bringing back one of its early signature segments, Show & Tell. This time around, we're calling it MoPictive Shorts - showcasing the tri-state's best storytellers in the 15 minute and under short film art form.

DSLR Filmmaking

Event Fee: $5

Raffle: More than $5,000 in raffle items - including the $3995 AJA KiPro

Join MoPictive as we raffle off a $3995 AJA KiPro and move into a new decade with a new venue: the Helen Mills Screening room - featuring 140 stadium-style seats, a projection booth, 5.1 surround system, free food and soda, and an opportunity to meet and network with a wide range of New York City's best and brightest filmmakers.

January's theme is DSLR Filmmaking. We are also introducing The MoPictive Shorts Series; a monthly event showcasing some of NYC's best storytellers in the 15 minute or less short film format, including a Q & A after the screening.

• Grand Prize Raffle: AJA KiPro ($3995 value)
  • AJA has joined MoPictive for the second year in a row as a Platinum Sponsor! We thank AJA for their continued support of our group. To help celebrate our new venue, AJA has donated a $3995 AJA KiPro to raffle at this meeting.
  • Details on the KiPro can be found on AJA's website. A recent review of the KiPro and its capabilities can be found at Studio Monthly.
  • The first 50 people to select and buy an Early Bird ticket will get a free KiPro raffle ticket.
  • An additional 25 KiPro Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the door for $35 each (1 ticket per person).
  • See the Eventbrite Sign-up Page for contest rules

• DSLR Filmmaking:
  • DSLR Compare and Contrast: Josh Apter (Manhattan Edit Workshop) and Jem Schofield (theC47) will present an overview of Video DSLR cameras and their real-world application. They will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of HD DSLRs and where these game changers could and should be used. Topics will include camera features, double-system sound, lenses and post workflows. The presentation will also include sample footage shot by both Josh and Jem and will discuss the possibilities of shooting with these large sensor, small format cameras.

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  • TheFoundry's RollingShutter plug-in: Mike Bailey from TheFoundry will demonstrate their RollingShutter After Effects plug-in. This amazing plug-in analyzes distortions caused by the 'rolling shutter' effect of CMOS DSLR / video cameras and corrects these distortions

• MoPictive Shorts: With our great new screening room at Helen Mills, MoPictive is bringing back one of its early signature segments, Show & Tell. This time around, we're calling it MoPictive Shorts - showcasing the tri-state's best storytellers in the 15 minute and under short film art form.
  • Shorts January Selection: L’Accordatore - The Tuner is written, directed, and self-produced by NYC's Tomax Aponte. Completed just last month, it's a richly lensed short film that is both intimate and loving, though sometimes in a perverse sense. After the screening we will have a Q&A with the director and a few members of his team.
    

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• Audio For Editors, Part 2: Jamie Hitchings returns for a more in-depth look at how editors can use SoundtrackPro to improve the overall quality of their sound.
  

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• Writing the Short Film: This is a tentative presentation - awaiting final confirmation later this month.
  

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• Monthly Raffle: MoPictive Board Member Jim Moore has a full lineup of donated products to be raffled away and help keep MoPictive running! Everyone who attends will get at least 1 raffle ticket with their entry. Additional tickets can be purchased at the door. This month's raffle donors include:
  • Automatic Duck: Swag
  • Boris FX: Training
  • GenArts: Training
  • IFP Membership: One Year Membership
  • Imagineer Systems: Mocha
  • Intelligent Assistance: Book
  • Movie Maker Magazine: One Year Subscription
  • O'Reilly: Books
  • Peachpit: Books
  • Pond 5: Stock Footge
  • Ripple Training: Training
  • Telestream: Training
  • theFoundry: RollingShutter After Effects Plug-in

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• February Meeting: MoPictive Board of Directors Election - In February we will be electing the slate for MoPictive's Board of Directors. Up for re-election: Patrick Inhofer, President; Josh Apter, Director of Education; Jim Moore, Director of Scholarships & Director of Raffles. New to MoPictive: Ned Soltz, Vice President

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Our last meeting featured:

Cross host plug-ins

Fundamentals of Writing the Screenplay