Category Archives: video

cine, Lessons Learned, video

My Cinematic Streaming Studio v3.1

By popular demand, I’ve jotted down some details about my updated “Cine” Live Streaming Studio V3. I’ve shared some Lessons Learned at the end of this article that might be helpful if you also want to achieve a more professional or “cinematic” look for your streaming or Zoom calls.

UPDATE 1: Above, a screenshot from my current 2024 v3.1 setup.

UPDATE 2: Latest changes to how I color grade to get the “cinematic” look

And if you could use some help with putting your studio, podcasting, or event setup together (which camera, lenses, lighting, sound, live switchers, etc to get that are right for you and how to cable, set up, and install it all) – or creating that special signature “look” for your videos or streams – give me a ping, and let’s talk about it. I spent a idiotic amount of time and money doing things all sorts of wrong in the beginning, so I’m happy to help you not do the same.

See for yourself in the video below what v3 actually looks looked like when recorded and check out the comprehensive list (constantly updated) of the gear I’m currently using to achieve the look on my Kit.co page.

Here’s what v3.1 looks and sounds like in an actual real-life Zoom call interview situation:

 

Of note, compression smears the image a whole lot (that’s why I have the camera output set to be so sharp – more details in = more details out when compressed in Zoom), and depending on the conferencing software and the operating system, things happen to your saturation and gamma (here desaturated, less contrast-y – which makes me think it was not captured on a Mac).

Fun fact: One of the other changes from v3 to v3.1 is the choice of microphone. Can you hear it? (One costs 1.600,- Euros, the other 117,-). I’m actually now using the cheap-ass microphone(!) instead of my (still beloved) Neumann. Check out my v3.1 kit.co page for the deets.

The path to getting there

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entrepreneurship, startup, video

Interviewed by TechHustlers

Recently I got to sit down with TechHustlers‘ (@techhustlers) Eric Strait (@ericstrait) and had a conversation via Skype over the atlantic between Cologne, DE and San Marco, TX.

From the post:

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with my new friend, Vidar Andersen, & founding genius behind the “people magnet” app Gauss! We recently had the craziest happenstance way of connecting and believe it or not, we meet each other via Glancee, one of his competitors app at SXSW! He happened to be the closest SXSW event attendee staying near my home, so I thought I would connect. Little did I know, he was actually launching their direct competitor app Gauss. Gauss is a mobile app that let’s you discover and connect with interesting people around you. They describe it as a “People Magnet for your pocket.” I would not just say this and just blow smoke up your a$%, but after Vidar demoed Gauss to me, I was blown away at it made Glancee look like an amature! […]

Wow! Thank you, Eric!

Make my day: Get Gauss on the Apple App Store for free and start discovering new people around you today! :)

 

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Events, open source, Software, video

Ryan Dahl on node.js @cowoco [VIDEO]

I recently attended a brilliant and funny talk by Ryan Dahl (@ryha) on node.js at @cowoco a great co-working/co-location initiative in Cologne, Germany.

Here’s my recorded live stream from the event. (I apologise for the quality and the Flash format of the videos. I hope USTREAM implements HTML5 video soon too.)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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Hardware, Software, video

Autodesk’s ‘Lustre’ at IBC 2008

I happened to stumble in on an interesting presentation of the software based colour grading tool from Autodesk named ‘Lustre‘ at the IBC 2008 and bagged a small part of it. Have a look for yourself in the videos below.

Apologies for not catching the name of the presenters and for the poor sound quality of my Samsung NV8.

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3D, Hardware, Little Known Fact, News, Software, video

NewTek at the IBC 2008

Some of you may know NewTek from the good old Amiga days, the golden era of the VideoToaster and LightWave 3D. I certainly do. I’ve been a fan and user of LightWave 3D over the years.

So, it was with a certain nostalgic fervor I made it over to the NewTek stand at the IBC 2008. It turned out that I was in for a surprise. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that none other than the legendary Kiki Stockhammer is back at NewTek. Have a look for yourself in the video and picture below.

For those of you who might not know, Kiki at one point used to be the figure head of NewTek of sorts.

I lost Kiki off the radar way back when she left NewTek for Play Inc. in the mid to late 90s and was marketing a product called Trinity, a competitor of sorts to the VideoToaster of the time. Now as luck or faith will have it, it looks like Kiki Stockhammer is back with NewTek helping marketing a product named TriCaster – a product not at all unlike the Play Inc. / Trinity – if memory serves me correctly. I’d love to know for a fact if there’s an actual lineage or connection there.

In further cool trivia, Kiki Stockhammer appears to have a star trek sci-fi post punk band called Warp 11. I’d love to check them out if they should ever happen to play gigs in Europe!

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