While Waiting for Canon's C300
Last summer, I was approached by a group of martial artists that came up to me with a very interesting project. Whilst not yet definitive, the concept is so: 3 minutes to show us what motivates you. Having financed the film all by themselves, I’ve decided to help them build a maquette of the concept, filming them, about what motivates them; martial arts. A simple concept that I wanted to translate into film by keeping both images and sound, as the premise, simple. This was shot back in october with a Cannon 5D.
My only deception towards the final outcome of this film could not have been surpassed at that time. Since this was a friendly shoot, amongst friends, budget was not immense, and I soon came to realize there was a limit to what a 5D can do in terms of post-production latitude. The obvious lack of resources both in processing (no real-time 1:1 visual reference), compression (pour CODEC, way too compressed to handle serious colour correction) as well as sound-wise (i’ll let you figure that one out by yourself) soon came to me as an obstacle to the art. Fortunately enough, Canon announced about a month after this shoot the answer to my prayers: The C300. I’m still awaiting for some various projects to be officialized, but if all goes well, in a couple of months from now, i’ll be able to put down a full review of the C300. In the meantime, this is what a 5D, pushed to it’s limits, both in high and low lights, looks like. (Please don’t be bandwidth-shy, watch in full HD)
Tannoy Ellipse 8 Review
I was in the need to buy new monitors and decided I wouldn't choose the speakers that appealed to me spec-wise... I went out to all the dealers in my area, and passed 2 months, listening to different companies and models that would fit in my 2K budget. After comparing more than 30 pairs, I chose Tannoy’s Ellipse 8, here’s why:
Read More...First Post of the Year
2011 AES Convention Highlights
Cloud Lifter Z
Being an aggressive user of vintage, dynamic and ribbon microphones, a problem i’ve stumbled upon quiet frequently is mic pre induced noise. The obligation to push a pre amp out of its comfort zone makes me want to hiss as much as it does. So one product i’ve been now using for a bit is Cloud Microphone’s Cloud Lifter CL-1. It’s basically a device, to be introduced straight after the microphone’s output, that will cleanly boost your signal up to 25dB, using the power of phantom! Triton audio also makes a similar product, but I ended up better liking Cloud’s design. Switching to an other subject, a feature i’ve always appreciated in a pre is the ability to vary the input impedance (there’s a whole article to be written on that subject), acting like a tonal control over the microphone. The only thing is that most pre don’t have this feature, so after a little bit of research (and starting a Gear Slutz thread), I’ve been looking forward into was Magnetic Audio Labs’ Variohm, a variable impedance selector that basically takes this feature to any mic pre. Where am I going with all of this? Cloud Microphones announced a mash up of those two products, the Cloud Lifter Z. This is, in my opinion, THE MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCT TO HAVE IN YOUR ARSENAL... Life-altering? Why not...
Black Box Analog Design Preamplifier Read More...
Venue dates and new projects...
Fanny Mignault Lecavalier
Tuesday September 27th @ Bistro de Paris (4536 Rue Saint-Denis)
Thursday October 20th @ Le Divan Orange (4234 Boulevard Saint-Laurent)