Announcing my debut film, "Southwest Light"

[Tom Lowe]

http://www.timescapes.org/images/SW-Light-Poster-400.jpg

Announcement link: "Timescapes to begin production on Southwest Light" (http://timescapes.org/blog/index.php/timescapes/southwest-light/)

I am excited to announce that after years of working toward this goal and keeping my nose to the grindstone (freezing my ass off and dodging bears in the mountains at 3am :laugh:), I am about to begin principle photography on my first film, Southwest Light, February 15th, 2010! I have received financial and other backing from fellow Reduser member Nigel Stanford (http://idealog.co.nz/magazine/july-august-2008/features/the-road-to-rubber-monkey) and Rubber Monkey in New Zealand. I can honestly say that this film would not be happening right now if it were not for Reduser, so thank you to Jarred, Jim, and everyone.

The film be 45 minutes in length, a mixture of timelapse, slo-mo and real-time cinematography shot on Red One, Epic X and Canon still cameras for RAW timelapse.

Along with various "Guest Directors of Photography" (McGregor? Dino? Kennan? Gibby? Haskell? Mullen? Drew? Francis? Larry? Tim Lüdin?) who will join up with me along the way, I will travel the American Southwest (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona & New Mexico) for ten straight months, no stopping, in a Toyota 4X4 truck hauling a travel trailer and camera gear. My goal is to create a portrait of "a time and a place" using poetic, haunting, jaw-dropping visuals. The genre of the film will be similar to non-narrative masterpieces Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi. Along the way, I hope to offer unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the making of a film of this type.

I'm also looking for suggestions of amazing locations and events you think we should film over the coming year in the American Southwest? Maybe you know of some interesting local event, like a hot-air-balloon rally, Native American ceremony, a natural granite waterslide where families swim in the summer, or maybe some epic landscape where the setting sun hits a rock formation in a certain way only one time per year? Let me know!

I want to thank everyone here who has encouraged me over the last couple years here. This film would not be getting made right now if it were not for Reduser. That's a fact. http://reduser.net/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Paolo Tinari]

Great news. Would like to preorder an autographed bluray.
All the best.

[Tim Sutherland]

Congratulations Tom. I'll look forward to seeing the finished product. You do amazing work.

Too bad I haven't lived in the South west long enough to offer any locations.

Tim

[JoshBertrand]

Awesome Tom. I'm really glad you are able to do this. Can't wait to see it!

[David Wilson]

A thousand congratulations - I know it will be heart-stoppingly beautiful.

[Dylan Macleod, CSC]

Very much look forward to seeing this Tom.
Enjoy the adventure!

[Cüneyt Kaya]

yeahoo tom, go for it, i order a signed blu ray too..

give me 45 minutes of how you see the world man.

[Jon B.]

congrats Tom,

Best of luck

[Radim Schreiber]

Congratulations and good luck with your film. Your project is an inspiration for me and I bet many other people. Way to market yourself and stand behind your passion.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Great news Tom!!!

Good luck and take care!!!

Also I wish I could join you...

[Tom Lowe]

Sanjin, all it takes is a plane ticket, man! :)

we can use your 50mm f 0.95. :)

[Sanjin Jukic]

Sanjin, all it takes is a plane ticket, man! :)

Tom,

yeaaahh that's right.

Give me some time and then I'll let you know if I'm ready...

[Elsie N]

Good Luck Tom, and don't forget the first aid kit.

[Neil Larson]

So cool man. I'm in Utah and know of some amazing "hidden" locations. Some epic abandoned mining towns, a place where the ground is bright purple (really looks like you're on another planet) and of course the salt flats. I'll have to PM you some GPS coordinance and pictures.

Really looking forward to seeing this. Everything you've done so far is so epic.

[paulherrin]

sounds great, looks great! good on ye

we can't wait.

[Scott Miller]

Based on your existing body of work, this will be amazing.

[Adrian Correia]

BE safe Tom! Congratulations and good luck on what I am sure will be a most worthwhile endeavor!

[Brandon Kraemer]

My goal is to create a portrait of "a time and a place" using poetic, haunting, jaw-dropping visuals.

I'm a big fan of your work... no doubt you will achieve the goal you set out for.



I'm also looking for suggestions of amazing locations and events you think we should film over the coming year in the American Southwest?

I've been all over New Mexico and would recommend you check out a few spots... The Gila Cliff Dwellings, at the tip of Rt. 15, north of Silver City. The near-road side vistas and the destination itself are potentially great material for you. Well to the East of there, on Rt. 380 just West of Carrizozo is the Valley of Fires, a petrified lava flow area, which would be just crazy under moon light. Shiprock is a very intense sand stone formation in the N. West corner of the state along US 491, but it's protected Indian land. Would be sweet to see stuff close up of that if you can get the access, maybe you can hire a guide, it's worked for me in the past.

I can't wait to see the finished film. Best of luck to you.

bk

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

you would need a lot of ice packs in the hot southwest summer.

I'm just reading it again:

The Red has also exhibited
sensitivity to heat, which can affect the
image and camera in peculiar ways.
The camera does have settings that
allow you to control its fan functions,
but even with the camera set to run the
cooling fan continuously — which you
cannot do if you’re also recording onset
sound — the Red has exhibited
several problems in hot environments.
This is due in part to the camera’s
design: the heat-sink ventilation is
located on the bottom of the body. As
we all know, heat rises. The main chassis
of the Red is basically an
aluminum-alloy cylinder, and when
the camera gets hot, the heat rises
inside this tubular body and literally
cooks the electronics inside from the
top down. As the sensor overheats,
several hairline vertical “scratches”
begin to appear in the image; these
defects appear on the viewing output
to the monitor and are also recorded to
the “raw” .r3d files. I have witnessed
this on many occasions with many
different Red bodies. The only way to
solve this problem is to take the camera
into a colder environment and allow it
to cool down. Once it cools, the streaks
in the image will go away. So if you’re
planning to shoot a big Western in
Death Valley in the middle of summer,
you should carefully consider whether
to use the Red — or at least bring lots
of ice packs to place around the body.


Working With the Red by Christopher Probst

American Cinematographer, February 2010, page 59.

LINK>>> click preview and than on top left corner click to save as pdf >>> (http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ac/ac0210/)

[Tom Lowe]

Well hopefully I will have Epic X by summertime!

[Frank Weeks]

You have quite a year ahead of you. Congratulations and best of luck.

ps... I also request an autographed copy.

[PaulClements]

Good luck Tom. Have a ball!
Paul

[Ivan G]

I'd almost want to hold off and wait for the MX just for the noiseless image! I don't want to even think about shooting anything after seeing the MX reel :glare:

But you gotta do what you gotta do... GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED!

[Adil Lahoulou]

please consider shooting some immersive 3D....

[Tom Lowe]

The second I get word, our Red camera will be rushed to Red HQ for conversion to MX. I was trying to delay the beginning of this film so I could use Epic X exclusively, but I just can't hold out any longer.

[Omar Saad]

Tom,

Way to go and good luck. I've been following your progress over the past few years on Reduser and its been inspiring. As someone who is working toward a similar goal, seeing your hard work begin to pay off is a great motivation to keep pushing forward.

Anyhow, you shoot great stuff and I can't wait to see the finished product. Best of luck!

Omar

[Sanjin Jukic]

The second I get word, our Red camera will be rushed to Red HQ for conversion to MX. I was trying to delay the beginning of this film so I could use Epic X exclusively, but I just can't hold out any longer.

Excellent news !!!

[Meryem Ersoz]

livin' the dream, that is outstanding. absolutely outstanding and well deserved.

there are a lot of great hidden locations in the American Southwest - so many beautiful places I've been.

but if you shoot them, everyone will want to go there...that has been a bit of a problem with Grand Gulch and Cedar Mesa and Chinle Wash. as soon as David Roberts started writing about them in Nat Geo mags, lots of folks started going there, and there's been a lot more impact on that land.

some of the secrets should stay secrets.

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

Good luck, Tom. :thumbup:

[Peter Strietmann]

After seeing your work, I know it will be excellent! Safe travels.

Peter

[Justin Kirchhoff]

Congratulations Tom, this is quite in undertaking. I only wish I was able to along with the shoot with you, I may not be as popular as the other folk who may accompany you, but I have shot my fair share of cool shit. Maybe next time :)

[Jaime Vallés]

Congrats, Tom! Best of luck with the production. Can't wait to see the footage!

[Raphael Varandas]

wow...congratulation TOM
I love your work.
BEautifull images...i can't wait to see 45'.
I want a signed BD too.
When you decided to shoot some beautifull images in Brazil just let me know.
Good Luck

Have a NIce premier!!


Cheers

[Peter Chang]

Fantastic news, Tom! I'm really excited to see what you put together. Godspeed!

[Kennan Ward]

[QUOTE=Tom Lowe;544356]http://www.timescapes.org/images/SW-Light-Poster-400.jpg

Tom,

Congratulations WELL DESERVED I am here for you and PLEASE do not wait for your camera! Catch up to Karen and I and we can shoot together until it comes! I think you may find something to film where we are hang'in these days!

Truly, Tom this is AWESOME.

I am here for you!

PEACE,

Kennan

[Tom Lowe]

Kennan, you always get me so psyched up with your posts and photos! Thanks for everyone's support. I appreciate it!

[Shawn Nelson]

Wow Tom! A huge congrats!!!

I presume the sequel will be 'Northwest Light'? :-)

[Emanuel A.]

My Best Wishes,

[EDIT -- I just miss the RV 'Class A' and, last but not least, the bikinis... LOL]

E. ;-)

[Tom Lowe]

I presume the sequel will be 'Northwest Light'? :-)

haha.. i see what you did there!

[Kennan Ward]

Kennan, you always get me so psyched up with your posts and photos! Thanks for everyone's support. I appreciate it!

Tom,

Fill in some adjectives and adverbs for our amuse!

Say, are you combining captured stills, Time Lapse motion and special phenomenology effects of NATURE within this film???

Peace,

Kennan

[Bruce Allen]

GO! GO! GO!

All the best, Tom. Give me a call if I can help out.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[Jay Drose]

Tom, I suggest you take a look at Lake Powell (near Bryce Canyon). It's (mostly) in Utah, though the main marinas are in Northern Arizona. It's an awe-inspiring lake most people don't know about. In fact, its shoreline spans longer than the Pacific shoreline, from Southern California all the way to Seattle.

There's endless sheer red rock, deep blue water and beaches. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

[Tom Lowe]

Jayd, yes, I am planning 7 full days at Powell with a deck boat!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/1660013180_bc1f73fe97_b.jpg

I spent an entire week on this 26-ft deck boat, by myself, scouting the lake back in 2007. That place is pure magic!

[Jay Drose]

Dude! I need to jump on board! I've spent the last nine summers there (house boat or day trips back-and-forth between Page, Az.). I've memorized the rock formations (even with water levels low and high) from Antelope Point to Last Chance Bay. It's an amazing, nostalgic place for me...

[Tom Lowe]

Well I'm gonna be there in October. Keep in touch with me. Do you have access to any boats there by any chance?

[Emanuel A.]

Magic tracing colors match indeed. Is the shot yours? What you got on your watch when you did it, do you remember? Month?

[Frank Weeks]

When do you plan to start shooting Tom? There are some great sites within a few hours of Vegas. Will you make it to NAB?

[Tom Lowe]

Planning to start Feb 15th at Death Valley, assuming all the gear and various items arrive in time. Yes I will be shooting a lot around Vegas, as it's sort of a hub for the American Southwest. That's why I was hoping Ketch was going to have his studio set up, so I could chill and do some work in Vegas.

Yes I'm definitely going to NAB, but probably only for the Red party, as my poor intern will be sitting down with the trailer in the desert in Ajo, Arizona.. hehe.

[Tom Lowe]

Magic tracing colors match indeed. Is the shot yours? What you got on your watch when you did it, do you remember? Month?

That was October. Great time to be at Powell, because the crowds are gone, the weather is great, and the water is warm.

[Frank Weeks]

You've got your work cut out in the next few weeks. Good luck and hope to see you at the Red gathering.

[Andrew Walker]

This is going to be interesting with the blog. It will be the Tom Lowe show and we will get to see him and his special guests make a film. There's a ton of places to hit up in the Southwest. So much so I think your film might turn out longer than you think, which isn't a bad thing.

I'm just hoping that when I get my RED One upgraded to the new sensor there might be a new build with it to allow me to have more control over the shutter. Jim has already said that Epic-X will give you this control but it would be nice to see it in a RED One with the new sensor. From what I saw the M-X sensor is better than the 5D2 sensor shooting RAW stills.

[Steve Gibby]

Well hopefully I will have Epic X by summertime!

I will...:)

I'll be among the very first to receive Epic X and Scarlet. I'm seriously looking forward to that...

Love your film idea Tom. As you know I've shot the American Southwest heavily with my Red cameras since August 2007 - California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Portions of my Red Southwest footage are in my stock footage collections at Artbeats and Mammoth HD.

Though my studio is on the California Central Coast, I've lived previously in Nevada and Utah. As you know, I'm super-mobile and specialize in getting out into wilderness to get the hard to get natural history shots. After all these years of tromping around the Southwest, I know it like the back of my hand - and naturally I drive a 4x4 too (Nissan Xterra).

I respect your work Tom. You're an artist with a great eye for extracting the essence of the natural world. I'd be happy to team up with you for portions of your film, like you suggested as a guest DP, and whatever else makes sense. I'm interest and challenge driven - and your project interests me.

[Dave Blackham]

Tom,

You rightly deserve to be proud of this work. You have certainly inspired us. Thank you for making it available.

Dave

[Tom Lowe]

Steve, thanks so much!! The film will benefit greatly from having you Guest DP. I can't thank you enough. I will contact you about it.

[Jay Drose]

Well I'm gonna be there in October. Keep in touch with me. Do you have access to any boats there by any chance?

Other side of the family owns the boat we go on. Best bet is to rent from a local (especially that time of year when no one's around). The marina's WAY over charge.

[Craig Schober]

Along the way, I hope to offer unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the making of a film of this type.

can you elaborate on this idea a little? you will have a great audience in reduser no doubt, but i think your film sounds very accessible to more mainstream audiences too and would greatly benefit from frequent streaming or video blog behind-the-scenes updates. it's also a great juxtaposition to draw out production (in a good way) in the form of a production diary that details the creation of these time compressed narratives. it really gives viewers a great sense of what goes into those once in a lifetime shots. not to mention the marketing angle.

in any case, best of luck.

[Daniel Browning]

Congratulations, Tom!



I'm also looking for suggestions of amazing locations and events you think we should film over the coming year in the American Southwest?


I suggest a star party.

[Fran Kuhn]

Hi Tom,

This project sounds great. I hope you have a lot of fun doing it. Judging from the work you've already done, I know it's going to be amazing. BTW I am really impressed by that last thing you posted with the homemade dolly contraption. Good luck with everything and keep us posted from time to time.

-Fran

[Curran Giddens]

Congrats!

Lookin forward to this...

[C.H.Haskell]

Tom you know you got my support! Congrats again and you will be able to join me to Bm this year? Let me know if you ever need anything, brooklyn based. Cheers.

[Joel Kaye]

I want to thank everyone here who has encouraged me over the last couple years here. This film would not be getting made right now if it were not for Reduser. That's a fact. http://reduser.net/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

Congratulations Tom. Can't wait to see it. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) I should have an EPIC in Phoenix if you need support around here.

[Sarah C.]

Oooo neat! Will try to keep up and live vicariously via your blog! :)

[Tom Lowe]

Tom you know you got my support! Congrats again and you will be able to join me to Bm this year? Let me know if you ever need anything, brooklyn based. Cheers.

Clay, yes we're on for Burning Man 100%. I need to give you a call about that soon.

Joel, I'm planning a big shoot at Salt River near Mesa sometime this summer (late June/early July?), hoping to capture some epic overcranked shots of people going down the river on innertube flotillas, etc. I might even rent a flat-bottom Zodiac for it. We could use a lot of help on that particular shot if you have any interest. Don't worry, I won't ask you to put your Red on the raft! But get ready, because it's gonna be hot, as you know! I think we're also going to hit up Havasu for 4th of July. ;)

[Ryan Lalonde]

I apologize if someone already said this, but isn't 45 min an odd running time? I can't find exact figures atm, but usally festivals seem to be under 30 mins (for shorts) and longer than 90 for features eligibility.

(I think this is true for Cannes, and TIFF)

But nonetheless, it sounds like great fun and hope it turns out awesome!

[Tom Lowe]

Ryan, 45 mins is ideal for one hour of television on Discovery, Nat Geo, PBS, BBC, etc.

I also believe that people have very short attention spans these days. To me, it's a lot easier to hold people's attention with timelapse and slow-mo shots for 45 minutes rather than 90. Even Ron Fricke with a big team of people traveling to 60 countries for 3 years with 65mm cameras could barely pull off "Baraka" and keep it interesting for average viewers at feature length.

45 mins is also roughly the length of IMAX films, although, sadly, because of the delay with Epic X, this film will not have enough resolution for 4K finish / IMAX. :(

[Craig Ryan]

Congrats Tom, you're an inspiration for all of us. Can't wait to see the BTS and the blog!

[C.H.Haskell]

Glad to hear Black rock is on your horizon, call anytime so we can be prepared...I plan to bring a R1 (hopefully MX upgraded) with me.

[Matthew Bennett]

Great! Can't wait to see this.

[Babu Kantamneni]

Congrats and good luck.

[Tom Lowe]

I think I will just keep this thread rockin with updates for the next year, if it proves to be of interest here.

I picked up the production trailer today! It's a 30ft toy hauler called "The Beast." The trailer has a 4,000-watt Onan generator with a built-in 35-gallon gas tank, which should keep my editing computer humming just fine, even in totally remote locations off the grid.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2872q03.jpg

In order to keep data backup and storage to a minimum, my plan is to be absolutely ruthless in triaging the footage as I go along.

[Manuele Trullu]

Nice news! You have a long time ahead to do the best!

[Andrew Walker]

I think I will just keep this thread rockin with updates for the next year, if it proves to be of interest here.

I picked up the production trailer today! It's a 30ft toy hauler called "The Beast." The trailer has a 4,000-watt Onan generator with a built-in 35-gallon gas tank, which should keep my editing computer humming just fine, even in totally remote locations off the grid.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2872q03.jpg

In order to keep data backup and storage to a minimum, my plan is to be absolutely ruthless in triaging the footage as I go along.

Nice setup man. Looks like your going to be having fun on the road with that.

[Tom Lowe]

Lol, I have no experience hauling a big trailer like this. I damn near took out the side of a $200K motorhome when I was trying to pull this baby into my temporary storage spot in Irvine. :eek: :blush:

[MikeHedge]

so epic Tom. excited for the project. loves Gibby's support and post. Clay is the man as well. You have my support as well. see you guys on the playa for Burning Man 2010!

Mike

[Emanuel A.]

Tom,

I knew you wouldn't resist to that 'bikinis' tip after all. LOL

E. :-)


PS: Mike, nice to see you posting around. I'm still waiting for your visit on your next euro ride. Turin was too close that time ;-)

[Tom Lowe]

http://i48.tinypic.com/n3x743.jpg

Here is the back of the trailer. As you can see, we will have a lot of room, to store gear, etc. I am going to put the PC workstation near the back. There's a queen bed up front and a queen that lowers down and is accessible by ladder right in the back there. Also two couch/futon type things on each side, which are lifted up out of the way in the photo.

[Jon B.]

Nice job Tom -- It's about the size of my apartment but you have wheels!

[Zac C]

When you do the Sequel "Northeast Light" I'll be here to help scout some lighthouses

[Tom Lowe]

I posted a brief update here: http://timescapes.org/blog

Unfortunately, we are STILL waiting on the MX conversion for Red #352!! In the meantime, here are a couple of production pics...all timelapse stuff...

http://i48.tinypic.com/hvbi2u.jpg

Shooting at one of my favorite spots near Jumbo Rock, Joshua Tree National Park.

http://i46.tinypic.com/8vwytw.jpg

Our "mobile production studio"! :driving::sifone:

[Chad Lancaster]

Do you have an itinerary of where your shooting?

I'll be running around the southwest shooting most of the spring. Hope I run into you

chad
chadlancaster.com

[Andrew Walker]

Looks like you've setup that trailer pretty nice there Tom. Now all you need is an MX RED to add to the list. Hopefully we get to shoot together soon. Also its nice to see that you have updated the blog. I was waiting for that to happen.

[Tom Lowe]

sorry for the very brief and cursory update. i've been a bit frustrated with serious gear delays on almost every front. as the shoot goes on, i will have more and more updates, along with HD video behind the scenes, etc.

as of now, we are leaving the palm desert area on Tues or Wed. we have not decided on the next location yet. possibly death valley.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i42.tinypic.com/15gbi8n.jpg

My assistant Dustin and I arrived two days ago in Ajo, Arizona.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4425560928_751c2d0d22_b.jpg

This is a frame from a motion-control timelapse dolly sequence we shot last night. We managed to capture some ridiculously incredible military lights, planes and drop flares in this sequence, which was shot on the US Air Force's Goldwater bombing range. This was shot with the Canon 5D Mark II and the EF 14mm 2.8 II.

I am STILL waiting on Red #352's MX upgrade.... :001_unsure:

[Tom Lowe]

A timelapse of me & my assistant Dustin hard at work on "Southwest Light" the other night:

http://www.vimeo.com/10270397

Sorry, I wanted to include a lot of Red stuff in this thread, but as of now I'm still waiting on the MX upgrade on #352. Nick says it will come by next week for sure. :001_cool:

[David Mullen ASC]

Does your camera have a time-lapse feature or are you just triggering it manually in regular intervals? Do you do some sort of batch conversion from RAW to something else, frame by frame, and what would you be converting the stills to?

What aspect ratio are you composing for?

[Ace]

I cant believe I missed this thread. Awesome stuff Tom! Best of luck and may you capture the images you have in your mind!

And I love that David is asking you anything now.. heheh

[Hrvoje Simic]

I just saw this thread. Great news, Tom. Best of luck with your film!

[Roberto Lequeux]

I think I just recently became photographically worthy of being fully aware of this project.
I remember you mentioned it to me, but I didn't know you were already on the road!!

This will be EPIC Tom. I admire you.

Safe travels and good kairos for light!

[Tom Lowe]

Does your camera have a time-lapse feature or are you just triggering it manually in regular intervals? Do you do some sort of batch conversion from RAW to something else, frame by frame, and what would you be converting the stills to?

What aspect ratio are you composing for?

David, you can trigger and control the shutter on these Canon DSLRs with a simple intervalometer like this: http://www.linkdelight.com/index.php/LCD-Timer-Remote/Aputure-LCD-Timer-Remote-AP-TR3C-for-Canon-TC-80N3/Detailed-product-flyer.html (That website also sells a version for the 450/500/500D line with a stereo minijack plug rather than the "N3" connection for the 7D, 5D2, 1D4, etc.)

For my film, I am composing for 1920x1080 16:9. With all the sky shooting I do, it's hard to "crop" even to 16:9! I had hoped to finish my film at 4K, but the delays in Epic have prevented that.

I shoot only RAW (.CR2) frames and then import directly into Adobe After Effects, which brings the photos into AE as a "Raw image sequence" through the Adobe Camera Raw plugin (ACR), the same one you use in Photoshop to tweak settings at the demosaic stage. When you are dealing with 5.6K RAW images in a 24fps timeline, the quality is absolutely stunning, which is why I have always been so crazy about Jim's upcoming FF35 Epic. Right now, even though Canon has given me a $5,000 1D Mark 4, almost all of my money shots are still being done on the 5D2. Full frame is no joke.

[Roberto Lequeux]

What are your plans for score? Any chance of using some Pink Floyd?

[Tom Lowe]

Nigel is doing the music: http://johnstanfordmusic.com We were rocking out to some of his stuff last night around the campfire, in fact.

I do have a big 9-min video I'm trying to put together this fall, a sort of mega trailer for my film, that just might have a little Floyd in it. ;)

[Tim Lüdin]

Hi Tom

What a great film project. I will buy that movie for sure.
You know that I love your work ever since. To name me as a guest DP is a big honor especially when there's David Mullen and MC Greggor in the same line.
I dont know if I make it to the US this year, but when I do, I would love to join the squad to help creating great pictures.

You might not know it but here in Switzerland a lot of film people know who you are.
They all have seen your stuff on vimeo, the canon 5D forum and reduser of course.
They all love it.
We are all looking forward to your new stuff. I'm sure it's gonna be badass.

Happy camping ; )

Tim

[Andrew Walker]

David, you can trigger and control the shutter on these Canon DSLRs with a simple intervalometer like this: http://www.linkdelight.com/index.php/LCD-Timer-Remote/Aputure-LCD-Timer-Remote-AP-TR3C-for-Canon-TC-80N3/Detailed-product-flyer.html (That website also sells a version for the 450/500/500D line with a stereo minijack plug rather than the "N3" connection for the 7D, 5D2, 1D4, etc.)

For my film, I am composing for 1920x1080 16:9. With all the sky shooting I do, it's hard to "crop" even to 16:9! I had hoped to finish my film at 4K, but the delays in Epic have prevented that.

I shoot only RAW (.CR2) frames and then import directly into Adobe After Effects, which brings the photos into AE as a "Raw image sequence" through the Adobe Camera Raw plugin (ACR), the same one you use in Photoshop to tweak settings at the demosaic stage. When you are dealing with 5.6K RAW images in a 24fps timeline, the quality is absolutely stunning, which is why I have always been so crazy about Jim's upcoming FF35 Epic. Right now, even though Canon has given me a $5,000 1D Mark 4, almost all of my money shots are still being done on the 5D2. Full frame is no joke.

This is why I'm picking up another 5D2. FF is the only way to go, especially using wide glass like the 24mm 1.4. How is the sensitivity of the 1D4 versus the 5D2?

[Tom Lowe]

Tim, please contact me and come out for some filming if you can make it to the US. It would be fantastic to have you join us. In fact, I was just mentioning your name the other night when Bushido came on the stereo. ;)

Drew, I have some very specific ideas for using the 1D Mark 4. They have mainly to do with taking advantage of the fast shutter. 1D4 can be used for undercranked IMAX 3:2 4K RGB, going into places where it would be impossible to drag 15-perf 65mm IMAX cams.

I think the 1D4 is more sensitive. I still haven't bothered to shoot a side-by-side test... one of these years!

Here's the area on the Air Force's Goldwater range where we were shooting for the last 2 nights. Very much a hidden gem. It's so peaceful and beautiful out there, especially at sunset and at night.

http://i41.tinypic.com/iz83up.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/n6cf2f.jpg

Sorry for the poor quality of the iPhone pics.

[Morten Eriksen]

Great news - I've really enjoyed your work posted here on Reduser - cant wait to see this project :-) all the best and good luck!!

[Eirik Tyrihjel]

Hi Tom, thanks for all your contributions here on reduser and best of luck! I will definetly buy the blu-ray.

[Gian Joon]

Best of Luck, Tom. I am sure you will get us some out of ordinary imagery.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i41.tinypic.com/2ngzims.jpg

Okay, it's ON now!!

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

it looks absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hurray::hurray::hurray:

[Roberto Lequeux]

Something tells me we won't be hearing from Tom for a little while now.

Any way to mount your Canon primes? No need for apperture control. I am thinking about your use of those and M-X wide open.

[Terry Delahunt]

Glad to see you are up and running Tom. Have fun! Look forward to seeing your great work!

[Matt Gottshalk]

SWEET!

Will you be using the camblock system?

Definitely photograph "the Wave":

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2008/0105/20080105_042516_tr06utah2.jpg


Paria Canyon - Coyote Buttes - Wave - Vermilion Cliffs

http://www.zionnational-park.com/paria-wave-blm.htm

[Obin Olson]

Sedona Arizona. a MUST film location...go out back....way out back...hike up the canyons...go up the Oak Creek..follow the water and trail up past where it meets the oak creek canyon road..you will find amazing stuff...water carved rock cutouts etc.

[Tom Lowe]

Matt, the wave is very high on our priority list. We are moving up to Page on Tuesday, in large part for the wave.

We went out driving around tonight with MX, on a Cine Saddle. Hahahah. I could not believe my eyes at ISO 2500!.. filming landscapes at night??? Unbelievable. Kudos to you, Jim, and to the Red team.

[Frank Weeks]

Shoot some great stuff. Just be in Vegas by the 14th.

[Roberto Lequeux]

What lenses are you using on Red Tom?

"The Wave" looks amazing. Never seen that before.

[Tom Lowe]

Zeiss standards and a Duclos 80-200 with a 2X extender. Wish I had a wide Master Prime for this MX.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

get Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 or Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 to solve your need of wide angle lenses with MX.

[Tom Lowe]

Well I have a Zeiss 16mm T2.1, so that speed whoops either still lens. I am interested in the Duclos 11-16, though. My budget just does not include making many major purchases.

[Sanjin Jukic]

I understood this pretty good but you don't need to have PL or I'm wrong here?

[Tom Lowe]

If it was up to me, I'd probably be using my Canon glass on the Red MX. But let's not get started on all the Birger nonsense....

[Roberto Lequeux]

I'll let you borrow my canon mount 11-16 Tom if you need it.

[Frank Weeks]

Hey Tom. Now that you have the MX, any chance you can show off a little footage at the Red event in Vegas? I'm sure many of us would enjoy a sample if you have the time and can arrange it with the folks at Red. Just a thought.

[Andrew Walker]

As soon as I get out of work today I'm heading out to Page, AZ. The wave looks like a killer spot, especially with the moon full.

[Tom Lowe]

It will be good to have you out with us, Drew. We are going to have to pull some serious ninja shit to shoot the Wave.

[Doug Pasley]

It would be great if you could revisit some of the spots in AZ later in the summer. You've been blessed with one of the wettest winters this century, and as you know the Sonoran is VERY green and in full bloom right now. Showing the contrast between the lushness of the desert as it is now against the summer die off would be stunning. I can't wait to see those first stills from the monsoon season.

[C.H.Haskell]

Nice chatting with you Tom, Black rock city 2010 will be epic beyond belief and I look forward to that burn!

[Tom Lowe]

Clay, I've decided I'm saving all my pennies all year so I can rent us that 14mm Master Prime for Burning Man!!

http://i43.tinypic.com/i4qu60.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/11tmv5z.jpg

Red & Canon, partners in crime this afternoon in some sick fucking light overlooking the upper Grand Canyon, just south of Page, Arizona.

Tomorrow we are taking Drew Walker to the secret "Holy Land" location. Should be a killer night of shooting, until the sun comes up. Bonfire, beer, more cameras than we know what to do with..... :beer:

[Andrew Walker]

On Saturday Tom took me out to the "Holy Land" and it was pretty amazing in the day time. But at night lit by the moon through the sensor of a camera it was magical. I felt like I could spend a month there shooting and just barely scratch the surface of what could be shot out there. This was also a new experience for me because I usually shoot timelapse alone. It was cool to have some people out there that move in the same direction.

My only complaint about my whole trip out to AZ was the crappy weather. But I guess that's what I get for going out there in early spring. I have to say that Page, AZ is amazing. After NAB I'm planning on going back out there because there are some shots that just need to happen.

Wish I could post some pictures of what was shot but Tom understandably wants to save the magic for later.

[ericyoung]

Can't wait - sounds amazing!

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

looks great.

Btw, which lens was on R1MX?

[Tom Lowe]

It was great having you out, Drew. We had a blast.

SJ, I think that's the Duclos 80-200mm in those shots.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2i0sshs.png


I finally got the camBLOCK motion-control system up and running: http://timescapes.org/blog

This thing is ridiculous. I have big, big plans for it this summer in the Sierras and White Mountains, starting with two weeks at Yosemite beginning May 25th.

I also have cables to use the camBLOCK with RED. If anyone is interested, I will have the brand-new dolly axis of camBLOCK (a 3-axis system) with me at NAB in Vegas. I will probably be wandering around shooting with it, or will keep it set up in my room at the Tropicana if anyone wants to check it out.

I'm still struggling with Redcine X exports to Quicktime. Deanan has been helping me figure out what's wrong.

[Liam Hall]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2i0sshs.png


I finally got the camBLOCK motion-control system up and running: http://timescapes.org/blog

This thing is ridiculous. I have big, big plans for it this summer in the Sierras and White Mountains, starting with two weeks at Yosemite beginning May 25th.

I also have cables to use the camBLOCK with RED. If anyone is interested, I will have the brand-new dolly axis of camBLOCK (a 3-axis system) with me at NAB in Vegas. I will probably be wandering around shooting with it, or will keep it set up in my room at the Tropicana if anyone wants to check it out.

I'm still struggling with Redcine X exports to Quicktime. Deanan has been helping me figure out what's wrong.
Cool Tom, I've been waiting for that to come out. In fact, I only checked their website yesterday! Look forward to seeing how you get on with it.

[Tom Lowe]

Cool Tom, I've been waiting for that to come out. In fact, I only checked their website yesterday! Look forward to seeing how you get on with it.

Stew did a redesign on the dolly to give it four wheels instead of three.

He's having the parts anodized this week. I will have one and Stew will have one set up at the Aja booth the whole time, I think.

Stew just finished a big Red shoot for a major music vid shooting one pass real time, then doing another pass timelapse. He said the comp was done on site and looked amazing.

[Nick Miller]

Tom,

I'm glad we finally got you up and running with the MX. This film is going to be incredible. It already looks like you're having too much fun and getting some awesome shots!

[Tom Lowe]

Nick, I want to thank you for all your help getting me 352 as quickly as you could. It is much appreciated! And the sensor is.... amazing.

[albert rudnicki]

Hey Tom; congratulations on the project!
Your stuff were always an uplifting experience for eyes and for soul.
keeponrolling!

[Tom Lowe]

http://i43.tinypic.com/hv9ul5.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/23ku53c.jpg

here's a couple better photos of that crazy light we caught a few nights ago. when stuff like this happens, my adrenaline goes through the roof.

thank you, albert.

[C.H.Haskell]

Gorgeous Lighting!!!!! Can't wait to come out and play with you cats this summer Tom, keep up the good work. Best.

[Tom Lowe]

Wow. Check out this new "Timelapse Crane" that Eric Kessler built for me: http://www.vimeo.com/10815664

I probably won't test it until after NAB and Coachella. I will need a nice, calm, windless night for this!

[Tom Lowe]

http://i43.tinypic.com/28ck8k2.jpg

New blog update is up. http://timescapes.org/blog

I was out filming on MX this afternoon, and I have to say, this MX sensor is ridiculous with its dynamic range!! A certain shot I was lining up, I was sure was going to have a blown-out sky. Much to my surprise, the sensor held the entire frame in balance. WTF kind of secret sauce is Red using?? I don't know, but I love this camera and sensor. This is madness!!

http://i43.tinypic.com/5lqs1w.jpg

[Craig Ryan]

This thread just gets better and better. Just seeing that frame on the monitor reminded me of Baraka; a time and place.

Tom, are you going to be able to make a 4k master for this?

[Tom Lowe]

This thread just gets better and better. Just seeing that frame on the monitor reminded me of Baraka; a time and place.

Tom, are you going to be able to make a 4k master for this?

Unfortunately not. I held out as long as I could for Epic so I could finish at 4K, but I could not wait any longer and just decided to go with Red One and a 1080p finish. I am shooting all Red footage overcranked at 50fps, so 4K is not possible. I wish....

[Craig Ryan]

Unfortunately not. I held out as long as I could for Epic so I could finish at 4K, but I could not wait any longer and just decided to go with Red One and a 1080p finish. I am shooting all Red footage overcranked at 50fps, so 4K is not possible. I wish....

Ahh gotcha. I have no doubts it will bring "1080p" to a new level. Can't wait to fire this up on my Plasma one day.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Wow. Check out this new "Timelapse Crane" that Eric Kessler built for me: http://www.vimeo.com/10815664

I probably won't test it until after NAB and Coachella. I will need a nice, calm, windless night for this!

I ordered Kessler CineSlider™ and getting it end of April according to my German reseller.

[JD Holloway]

I can't wait to see your work! I miss the South West. Stunning. Shot there last year for Nat Geo. Lots of time lapse; as many as 6 cameras at once. Had some fun in NY too. I wish I was closer I would come help! First picture is 1# gear for long TL shoots...

[Tom Lowe]

Damn what lens did you use on that Corona beer one?

[Sanjin Jukic]

Damn what lens did you use on that Corona beer one?

It looks to me that's like a Tokina 11-16mm??!!

[Kyle Presley]

Tom, you are living my dream. Kudos to you!

[JD Holloway]

Damn what lens did you use on that Corona beer one?

Just a 400$ Panasonici Lumix point n' shoot pocket cam. It has a decent wide for a point and shoot. Its uncorrected (and unmodified) for distortion obviously. Its a Leica based lens Sanjin...

[Tom Lowe]

http://i40.tinypic.com/350mr09.jpg

I had an amazing night of filming last night. This 10 yr old native-american kid came out to a Navajo heritage site here in Page, Arizona and performed some of the most epic dancing I have ever seen. I captured it all at 3K 50fps on Red MX. I will hopefully have a little thumb drive with me in Vegas that contains a portion of this footage set to music.

[KETCH ROSSi]

WOW!! Great job Tom, best of luck on this project, can't wait to see it, if you end up pre-selling DVD's, I'm in for a Blu Ray version.

...and if you need anything that I can help with don't hesitate in asking, I will also have my 2 Epic-X this Summer/Fall, and even so they will be pretty close to the shooting of my first S3D Film, if I can it will be a pleasure to help.

[Tom Lowe]

Ketch, it was great to meet you at NAB! Also, Shawn Nelson and Jeff Kilgroe.

I'm out here at Coachella right now rockin the MX mostly at the Do Lab stage. It was awesome to meet up with fellow Redusers Bruce Allen and Phil Holland out here at the concert/festival!! I believe we're the only ones out here with Reds....

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Ketch, it was great to meet you at NAB! Also, Shawn Nelson and Jeff Kilgroe.

Likewise, Tom. Great to finally meet you in person! If you're every coming through Colorado, let me know. Would love to come shoot with you sometime.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Ketch, it was great to meet you at NAB! Also, Shawn Nelson and Jeff Kilgroe.

I'm out here at Coachella right now rockin the MX mostly at the Do Lab stage. It was awesome to meet up with fellow Redusers Bruce Allen and Phil Holland out here at the concert/festival!! I believe we're the only ones out here with Reds....

It was great meeting you at last as well Tom, follow and love your work, so any time you are around my area shout an I'll gladly assist in any way I can.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2mfj7tv.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/aucd4p.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/232osy.jpg

I just finished 3 insane days of shooting on MX out at the Coachella music festival near Palm Springs. I brought along the Guardian UK's Dan Chung (http://twitter.com/dslrinformer) and converted him to Red! Drew brought out Red MX 127 as well. Thanks Drew!

It was madness! At one point, I was filming in a mud pitt, with slippery mud up to my ankles, hauling a RED MX on a Sachtler 9+9 while dodging drugged-out dancers and several people spraying the crowd with water hoses... Hahahahahaha!!!!!

[Andrew Rieger]

Tom, some of my friends were there and they told me it was nuts. I would almost be afraid to take my gear there for fear of it being damaged.

[Tom Lowe]

Believe me, we had to stay on our toes. But it was all good.

There were so many babes out there it was completely ridiculous!

There was some craziness on Friday, though, when 10,000 people showed up to the festival with phoney wristbands they'd bought off eBay. They had to call in the Marines to restore order. Damn near caused a riot. Me and my assistant were offered "anything we wanted" (:001_tt1:) by some of the smokinest babes ever, who were there with no tickets, if we could get them in via our credentials. Of course, being the upstanding citizen and man of high morals that I am.... I only considered it briefly.

[Kemalettin Sert]

Wow Tom sounds like you had great weekend @ there :sifone:

[Tom Lowe]

Here's a frame grab from the MX of this ridiculously amazing dancer I filmed at Do Lab at Coachella. Watching this girl in motion was magic.

[Brad Webb]

Here's a frame grab from the MX of this ridiculously amazing dancer I filmed at Do Lab at Coachella. Watching this girl in motion was magic.

I'll bet it was. Hubba Hubba.

Great image BTW.

[Frank Weeks]

Southwest Lights, Vegas, Coachella. Sounds like you're having a little too much fun Tom. Life is good. Pace yourself :)

[Tom Lowe]

Frank, all of this is for Southwest Light. Everything I am shooting.

I am decompressing today, then getting out the new camBLOCK dolly tomorrow and it's back to shooting timelapse at Joshua Tree.. only this time, with three axes!

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

what happened later with that magic girl dancer?

[Tom Lowe]

Sanjin, I wish I could report that some magic had taken place back at the "mobile production studio," but unfortunately the only thing that went on in that trailer was 5 sweaty guys snoring all night... :cry:

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

probably next time she will exclusively dance only for you 5 sweaty guys...I do have one great idea for a dreamlike vision that could become a part of that movie...

[Brad Webb]

Sanjin, I wish I could report that some magic had taken place back at the "mobile production studio," but unfortunately the only thing that went on in that trailer was 5 sweaty guys snoring all night... :cry:

Hilarious. :yesnod:

[Tom Lowe]

http://i44.tinypic.com/2zxxov5.jpg

I've been working on the new 3-axis camBLOCK motion-control system today. Way too slick!

I've been contracted by a new museum in Nevada to do several timelapse sequences for these giant video walls that will be at the museum. The good part is... it's quite a bit of money, which I can pump right back into my budget, in order to buy new gear, maybe some RC helo shots, boat rentals for Lake Powell, etc. I have also been selling stock footage along the way to further supplement the budget. This will allow me to increase the production values of the film without increasing the actual initial budget.

[Frank Weeks]

Very nice tom. Is that your design? Need any beta testers :)

[Graham_C]

Tom,will you post a little clip of the beautiful dancer?!..she`s looks amazing..and with your description.. `Watching this girl in motion was magic` Wow, i just have to ask..

[Tom Lowe]

Nice try, Frank! :laugh:

Not my design. Stewart Mayer is the owner of camBLOCK. I'm a beta tester myself. http://www.camblock.com

I am hoping that camBLOCK will have a vendor booth at the next Red Day. If so, I will be there to give some demos myself, with Epic, Scarlet, and still cameras.

[Steve Sherrick]

Nice try, Frank! :laugh:

Not my design. Stewart Mayer is the owner of camBLOCK. I'm a beta tester myself. http://www.camblock.com

I am hoping that camBLOCK will have a vendor booth at the next Red Day. If so, I will be there to give some demos myself, with Epic, Scarlet, and still cameras.

Tom, sorry I never got a chance to say hi at Vegas event. Only drag about running the event is I don't get a chance to say hi to everyone and chat it up. I'm also bummed because I did a cross country trip back in March and drove right by some of the locations you were probably shooting and I would have loved to hang out and shoot. Will you be heading to Moab anytime soon? I'm hoping to get there this summer to film some off roading.

Also, in retrospect, there was probably something we could have arranged at the Trop to help you out with the demo. Next time for sure.

[Tom Lowe]

Steve I will be up near Moab in Sept and Lake Powell in October. It's gonna be epic.

Yeah sorry I missed you at NAB!

[Frank Weeks]

My apologies to the folks at camBLOCK. Very impressive rig.

Also sorry I missed you at NAB. I had trouble scanning the name tags. Hopefully next time.

[Steve Sherrick]

Steve I will be up near Moab in Sept and Lake Powell in October. It's gonna be epic.

Yeah sorry I missed you at NAB!

Perhaps I'll join up with you in Moab. Epic indeed!

[Zac C]

Perhaps I'll join up with you in Moab. Epic indeed!

What a crazy random happenstance, I might be in Moab come the fall as well,

Tom, as always, I watch your threads like a hawk, and can't wait to see more

Steve... ah, I'll just email you :biggrin:

[Tom Lowe]

I'm definitely gonna need some help at Arches and Canyonlands in Sept. My goal is to nail the most epic shot ever of Delicate Arch, among other targets. Would definitely welcome you guys coming out. Half the battle will probably be watching out for noobs and tourists with flashlights who might ruin shots. :)

[Steve Sherrick]

I'm definitely gonna need some help at Arches and Canyonlands in Sept. My goal is to nail the most epic shot ever of Delicate Arch, among other targets. Would definitely welcome you guys coming out. Half the battle will probably be watching out for noobs and tourists with flashlights who might ruin shots. :)

Count me in Tom. Once you have a date in mind, just let me know. Looks like it might time out perfectly with the shoot Zac and I are working on.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ex4wid.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/ws6akg.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/vcs1vr.jpg

Two new blog updates with MX stills and BTS, NAB, Coachella, plus a special thanks to my intern Dustin.

http://timescapes.org/blog

[Tom Lowe]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/4559890556_0430709526_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitallion/4559890556/)

Here's a frame from an absolutely ridiculous timelapse I just shot...

People who follow me on Twitter know I was flipping out during the filming as this happened. BTS: http://twitpic.com/1j00ch/full

This shot was 1D4, while the MX Red was filming the moonrise.

[Andrew Walker]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/4559890556_0430709526_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitallion/4559890556/)

Here's a frame from an absolutely ridiculous timelapse I just shot...

People who follow me on Twitter know I was flipping out during the filming as this happened. BTS: http://twitpic.com/1j00ch/full

This shot was 1D4, while the MX Red was filming the moonrise.

Awesome as always man. Can't wait to see it in motion as I'm sure its crazy with the winds out there.

[Tom Lowe]

I'm rendering it now. In the Bridge preview, it looks nuts. The whole thing is swirling....

[PatC]

Tom, you are awesome.

[Andrew Walker]

It makes me think of the giant gas clouds on Jupiter.

[Liam Hall]

Hey Tom, I noticed your handiwork on the "The Story of Science" which aired on the BBC last night. Those were stunning TLs - particularly a night to dawn shot. They really stood out in what was a very well shot doco.

[Tom Lowe]

Yeah, I heard about that on Twitter, of all places! Hehe. I think my shots are only in Episode 1.

I am proud, and I am CERTAIN that the BBC will pay me for this before I kick the bucket! :beer: :violin:

[Jay Gannon]

Used without permission?

[Roberto Lequeux]

:toetap05: So, Tom... are you gonna share that timelapse with us of you are just teasing us?

:hand: You know we are all buying the Blu-Ray... no need for this sort of thing man!

[Tom Lowe]

Used without permission?

No, it was used with my permission. I gave them the clips back in August of last year. I'm just moaning about how long it takes for them to cut a check. BBC did warn me up front, though, that their system is like a big, slow-moving government bureaucracy.

Roberto, you will have to be patient, my friend. :hand:

[chrislancaster]

tom, following you on twitter has/ will be a lot of fun .. thanks for sharing ! :emote_popcorn:

[Tom Lowe]

I am going to be meeting up with our very own Kennan Ward this weekend for some filming! Really looking forward to meeting him! I will hopefully have a new blog up next weekend, and then it's off to Yosemite for two weeks on May 24th... the official kickoff for three epic months of filming in the Sierra and White Mountains all summer. Cannot wait!! I can almost smell the pine trees now.

[Meryem Ersoz]

you really have a knack for making the rest of us turn green with envy!:cryin:

[Steve Sherrick]

Tom, those clouds are nuts. Wow, great shots! It's gonna be so much fun meeting up with ya at some point on this voyage of yours.

[Tom Lowe]

We had some fun shooting out at Salton Sea on MX this afternoon. The Sachtler 9+9 is a serious pimp when it comes to those smooth pans!!

Couple of pics....

http://i47.tinypic.com/30loxe9.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/1z6ftle.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/szzjuq.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/vaw6g.jpg

And here's a little cell-phone video of our last shot of the day. This was done at 3K 50fps, but I also did a take just before it at 4K 30fps, hoping to compare them once I have Twixtor'd the 4K shot.

Video: http://www.twitvid.com/7RZT3

I have a blog update coming this weekend with lots of pics and a couple vids.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

nice shots and it's great what you are doing.

Also wish you the best to get soon "a call" from RED to become one of chosen "tattoo" EPIC testers

when you could continue to follow "a clean" 4K workflow you wanted to have from day one of your project idea.

[Tom Lowe]

Also wish you the best to get soon "a call" from RED to become one of chosen "tattoo" EPIC testers

Some PMs to Jarred might help... :ihih: :smilielol5:

[Sanjin Jukic]

Some PMs to Jarred might help... :ihih: :smilielol5:

Maybe but also EPIC 5K supposed to be more powerful acquisition tool for stills and motion picture than any of Canon's DSLRs or similar...

Tom,

that means you should finally "decide" about your main tool and "dedicate" your project exclusively to RED.

That's maybe a kind of possibility to put you in the front line of EPIC "tattoo" testers.

Just because why should RED gives you a tattoo when you (already have) planed to shoot a half of your movie on the another camera that's actually Canon DSLR(s) or what-so-ever.

(Re)think about it.

[Jay Gannon]

I wouldn't shoot Toms stuff on Tattoo, the timelapse stuff anyway.

I would on the release epic but Tattoo is the beta essentially, and you don't wanna lose that 1 in a million shot.
As much as I love RED I don't see them conquering the DSLR market for many years to come, thats a whole new learning curve to get used to.
Does Epic have an intervalometer?

[Sanjin Jukic]

EPIC has already a full time-lapse capability build in.

Also EPIC's base unit by its form and shape has a pretty much consumer accepted DSLR look.

EPIC is something that is going to "smash" today's success of Canon's DSLR video market

just because HDDSLRs are a such bad clones of basically EPIC's idea of lightweight and universal movie/stills camera design.

[Jay Gannon]

Yes but DSLR's shoot stills much much better than videos. I have no doubt it will smash their video market. Not so sure about the stills market. I'm sure it will make inroads as a studio stills camera for sure, but I don't see it being a location tool for stills.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I wouldn't shoot Toms stuff on Tattoo, the timelapse stuff anyway.

I would on the release epic but Tattoo is the beta essentially, and you don't wanna lose that 1 in a million shot.
As much as I love RED I don't see them conquering the DSLR market for many years to come, thats a whole new learning curve to get used to.
Does Epic have an intervalometer?

Go ahead and shoot it on a Tattoo! And on another camera or two at the same time. :)

Epic has an intervalometer and should also work with external timers and intervalometers or computer control as well. What I'm really wanting to know is if Epic will have long-exposure abilities. With the RED One, we're limited to a maximum exposure time of 1 second.

[Andrew Walker]

Go ahead and shoot it on a Tattoo! And on another camera or two at the same time. :)

Epic has an intervalometer and should also work with external timers and intervalometers or computer control as well. What I'm really wanting to know is if Epic will have long-exposure abilities. With the RED One, we're limited to a maximum exposure time of 1 second.

You and me both Jeff. Longer exposure times are key for timelapse. When they get Epic dialed in for long exposure timelapse I will have my 5D2s in the back of the pack. I bugged Jim and Jarred about long exposure times on the January RED Day. They said Epic would have 15+ second exposure times. Hopefully they will find a way to process out the hot pixels like the 5D2 does. Or I guess it would be something more for REDcine-X to handle. Hot pixels will always be there. Just have to have a way to deal with them.

[Tom Lowe]

The hot pixels are there on the RAW frames. AE or PS or whatever demosaicing program you use takes them out automatically. When you shoot JPEGs, of course, the camera takes them out. For full pixel-for-pixel RED RAW, I imagine the post software would do it. For in-camera scaling, obviously the hot pixels need to be killed in camera. Because Red compresses their RAW more than still cameras, I wonder if this could in any way make post-processing hot pixel removal more difficult? Probably not, but who knows.

[Stacey Spears]

If you are shooting timelapse, you can probably go with a lower compression scheme, even lossless.

With the lossless mode of EPIC, it seems like having an offline REDCODE encoder would make sense. You could then take your lossless REDCODE and compress it for other purposes.

[Tom Lowe]

If you are shooting timelapse, you can probably go with a lower compression scheme, even lossless.

With the lossless mode of EPIC, it seems like having an offline REDCODE encoder would make sense. You could then take your lossless REDCODE and compress it for other purposes.

What would be nice in that case would be Adobe Camera RAW integration for Redcode RAW, especially stills and timelapse. Having ACR as an option for R3D files might be very nice. If Adobe can do it for Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc, why not Red?

[Stacey Spears]

Having ACR as an option for R3D files might be very nice. If Adobe can do it for Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc, why not Red?

They probably need RAW output from the SDK instead of RGB.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i46.tinypic.com/2iaspcz.jpg

New blog update with tons of photos "Palm Springs and Nevada":

http://timescapes.org/blog

[Stacey Spears]

How has the camBLOCK been so far?

[Tom Lowe]

It's amazing. The product reminds me of the Red camera... a big leap over current systems at a fraction of the price of a "real" motion-control system. I will be doing some videos behind the scenes with it soon.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i46.tinypic.com/1606i3d.jpg

Prepping gear right in the heart of the Yosemite Valley today.

[Andrew Walker]

Looking forward to meeting you out there. Looks like this weekend is going to be great shooting weather.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i50.tinypic.com/10zmej8.jpg

Photographer Tony Rowell snapped this photo of myself and my assistant Chris walking back from an awesome day of filming bears on MX at Yosemite! It was my first time ever shooting wildlife. What a rush. Kennan, you better watch out out! hahaha.

Bear:

http://i50.tinypic.com/20sh98o.jpg

[Jon B.]

Awesome Tom,

What lens are you shooting the bear with in that picture?

[Tom Lowe]

That's a Duclos 80-200 Nikon conversion. I also have a 2x PL extender on it.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Shooting bear(s) in varispeed mode: Very interesting!!!

Looking forward to see the footage!

[Roberto Lequeux]

Tom, looks like you keep digging yourself deeper and deeper... love it! :)

Good luck with the critters, and be safe!

[Kennan Ward]

http://i50.tinypic.com/10zmej8.jpg

Photographer Tony Rowell snapped this photo of myself and my assistant Chris walking back from an awesome day of filming bears on MX at Yosemite! It was my first time ever shooting wildlife. What a rush. Kennan, you better watch out out! hahaha.

Bear:

http://i50.tinypic.com/20sh98o.jpg


Tom,

I am in AWE!!!! I am bummed we missed you in Mojave! Karen and I are suposed to be in Yosemite maybe we could connect!

From the Mojave Desert project!

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/SkylineBigHornSheep/SkylineBigHornSheep.mov


Also, I have to admit this clip is unusual and worth a whole bunch of belly laughter! For those of you with week stomachs, BE WARNED, this is real wild nature and may be too much for the week of stomach or while eating a bowl of cherries!

Enjoy!

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/Phainopepla/Phainopepla.mov

We are off on a Sierra Nevada assignment, catch us if you can!


K&K

[Tom Lowe]

Hey Kennan. It was great chatting with you today, as always. Hopefully we will catch you later this week in the park!

[Tom Lowe]

This is probably only interesting to a very narrow number of people, but that above still shot of me and Chris was shot on Galen Rowell's old battle-scarred Nikon three hundy, complete with a huge scratch he put on the front element in Africa:

http://i49.tinypic.com/2mwf6rm.jpg

[Kennan Ward]

Hey Kennan. It was great chatting with you today, as always. Hopefully we will catch you later this week in the park!

Tom,

Get the high water falls, At 150% snow pack you should do Grrrreat!

I have been cleared for take-off, See you soon!


Couple favorite clips for you!

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/RedRockClouds/RedRockClouds.mov

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/Gamboa360/Gamboa360.mov

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/C006_C003_0109JF_BacklightBees/C006_C003_0109JF_BacklightBees.mov

http://www.kennanward.com/kwp/A011_C122BlackCheehedHummingbirdNestWM/A011_C122BlackCheehedHummingbirdNestWM.mov


Kennan

[Tom Lowe]

Here is a little BTS video filming waterfalls on MX at 50fps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fZ1w25DSFQ

Kennan, we are heading for the east side early tomorrow, probably to the Bishop area. I am trying to get myself into place for dark skies, which essentially begin Monday! I heard a rumor today that the Tioga Pass may open tomorrow.

[ericyoung]

You guys are having fun aren't you!? :biggrin:

[Tom Lowe]

Eric, oh yes!

Here is a shot of me working on a camBLOCK timelapse move last night. It was so warm out, you can see that I was wearing flip-flops all night!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4680293368_4da9441cf7_b.jpg

Photo by Chris Mierzwinski

[David Mullen ASC]

Wow, cool shot! What sort of shutter speed / ISO / f-stop was the photo taken at that didn't require a camera to track with the stars?

Is your slider rig actually moving the camera by motor slowly? If so, how are you powering it and how did you build it? Or are you just manually moving the camera a little after each exposure?

[KETCH ROSSi]

Yeah definitely great shot Tom, looks as if it was a clip off a movie!

[Tom Lowe]

Wow, cool shot! What sort of shutter speed / ISO / f-stop was the photo taken at that didn't require a camera to track with the stars?

Is your slider rig actually moving the camera by motor slowly? If so, how are you powering it and how did you build it? Or are you just manually moving the camera a little after each exposure?

Well for that Manzanar shot, my 5D2 was at ISO 3200, f/3.2 with a 31-second exposure. At around 2:30AM, a 36% full moon came up and struck the white-colored monument at Manzanar, but the camera was able to hold the exposure perfectly. You do not need to track stars. The slight motion blur at 20 seconds actually makes the video look smoother, IMO.

This dolly system is "shoot-move-shoot", meaning that it takes a photo, then the dolly moves while the shutter is closed, "settles" for about 2 seconds, and then another shot is fired off while the camera is still, and so forth. Some of my other dollies are "continuous motion." Both work well.

Here is a location-scouting video from yesterday in Lone Pine, CA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAoAQKxSk7A

And here is the result of what we found during the scout: http://www.twitvid.com/AUHQN

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

what lens did you use for that Manzanar night shot?

[Tom Lowe]

For the behind-the-scenes shot, Chris used the Canon 24mm II. For the main dolly move I used the EF 16-35mm II at 16mm.

BTW, here is one of the still frames from yesterday's cloud shoot in Lone Pine:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1298/4682760335_c4e79c6f57_b.jpg

[David Mullen ASC]

That's funny... I was up in Ridgecrest, CA near China Lake visiting my parents, it's south of Lone Pine. Snapped these shots of the sunset yesterday, more or less the same clouds as you shot:

http://www.davidmullenasc.com/1K%20desert%20sunset1.jpg

http://www.davidmullenasc.com/1K%20desert%20sunset2.jpg

That reminds me of the sunset shot at the end of "Astronaut Farmer" -- it was a great sunset and after I got back to the hotel in Santa Fe, I found out that John Toll shot the same sunset for "Seraphim Falls".

[David Mullen ASC]

Tell me, is it necessary to lock-up the mirror when doing time-lapse? I did a T/L test of that sunset but the footage is shakey, mostly due to the high winds buffeting my flimsy tripod but I was wondering if the mirror shutter was causing some shake.

[Bill Anderson]

Tell me, is it necessary to lock-up the mirror when doing time-lapse? I did a T/L test of that sunset but the footage is shakey, mostly due to the high winds buffeting my flimsy tripod but I was wondering if the mirror shutter was causing some shake.

The accumulation of mirror vibration wind etc ... you know the drill.
Every exposure I make is made on a tripod. And I lock my mirror up every time, it makes a considerable difference. Mirror shake is a little less problematic on long exposures (in the seconds) since any vibration is only a small fragment of the whole. Problems can occur (approx.) at the 1/4 - 1/120 and up, depending on focal length, and the tripod, and, obviously, the duration of the mirror vibration.

[Bill Anderson]

I see this is Tom's thread: didn't mean to step on your toes, T.
Very nice work.

[Tom Lowe]

Well on the Canon cameras, I always shoot in Live View mode, which automatically locks the mirror up permanently throughout the timelapse sequence. It seems to save a lot of battery power, not to mention trauma to the camera by preventing repeated mirror slap.

David, now that you are into timelapse, you need to get some beefy sticks and have some little weights (like Boa Bags) to keep the tripod and camera rock solid.

[Andrew Walker]

I've been shooting my timelapse in live view for a while now, back when I got the 40D and then onto the 5D2. As Tom said its just a little easier on the camera to shoot timelapse that way. Would be better if they got rid of the mechanical shutter all together and that's what I'm looking forward to in Epic. Night timelapse on Epic should be awesome, of course on the 6K FF35 Epic is will be much better.

Its also better to shoot timelapse using live view because checking focus is way easier and you are seeing exactly what the sensor is seeing. Also using the zoom function in live view helps a lot to make sure focus is tack sharp.

[David Mullen ASC]

On the Canon 550D, how do you keep Live View from switching off after a few seconds? Took me awhile to find the menu setting that locked-up the mirror, only to discover that as a consequence, I have to hit the trigger twice in order to take a picture, and all it seems to do is actually just put a delay between the mirror flipping up and the photo being taken. So the mirror can't be permanently locked-up.

[Tom Lowe]

David, the mirror locks up automatically in Live View (as you are viewing the scene on your LCD). You needn't fool around in the menu for mirror lock. Just turn that off. Once you are viewing the scene through your LCD, just go ahead and begin your timelapse sequence using your intervalometer, and the mirror will stay locked up for hours, while your shutter fires away. You will notice that the camera is much quieter, because there is no mirror slap.

[Andrew Walker]

On the Canon 550D, how do you keep Live View from switching off after a few seconds? Took me awhile to find the menu setting that locked-up the mirror, only to discover that as a consequence, I have to hit the trigger twice in order to take a picture, and all it seems to do is actually just put a delay between the mirror flipping up and the photo being taken. So the mirror can't be permanently locked-up.

Not exactly sure how the 550D works in regards to the mirror lock up or the Live View but there might be a sleep function that is turned on. Which is it? The T2i or the T1i. You should be able to leave it in Live View for some time.

[David Mullen ASC]

I've just been playing with the 550D and have noticed that even in Live View, the mirror flips down and up at the moment you snap a photo.

[Sanjin Jukic]

David,

if you can't get 5Dmk2 (needs anyway all Canon L FF35 lenses) you could get 7D (even with PL or PV mount) and solve all those DSLR shutter problems.

"The sensor format is good for 1:1.78. The actual sensor size is 22.3 x 12.53mm,

which is comparable to motion picture Super 35 – 3 Perforation ANSI 1.78 format (23.11 x 12.98mm).

The 7D active senor size is very close to the standard 3 Perf film format."

F&D Times>>> (http://www.fdtimes.com/news/?p=1540)

http://www.fgv-rental.de/fgv09/images/00-standards/pl7d-getsolid.png
PL retrofits for Canon EOS 7D HDSLR cameras appear to be the most sophisticated yet...

http://www.fgv-rental.de/fgv09/images/10-development/fgv-pl7d-angenieux.png
FGV PL7D with Angénieux Zoom

http://www.fgv-rental.de/fgv09/images/10-development/fgv-pl7d-up-mb.png
FGV PL7D with Ultra Primes

http://www.fgv-rental.de/fgv09/images/10-development/fgv-pl7d-mp.png
FGV PL7D with Master Primes

FGV Schmidle (http://www.fgv-rental.de/)


PL retrofits for Canon EOS 7D HDSLR cameras appear to be the most sophisticated yet...

Also I could be totally wrong about all I'm saying here...

Be aware of that too...

[Roberto Lequeux]

For the behind-the-scenes shot, Chris used the Canon 24mm II. For the main dolly move I used the EF 16-35mm II at 16mm.

BTW, here is one of the still frames from yesterday's cloud shoot in Lone Pine:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1298/4682760335_c4e79c6f57_b.jpg

Another great one Tom.

[Tom Lowe]

I've just been playing with the 550D and have noticed that even in Live View, the mirror flips down and up at the moment you snap a photo.

It shouldn't! But then again, I haven't tried a 550D.

[Tom Lowe]

More epic lenticular clouds and light today:

http://i50.tinypic.com/16baweb.jpg

Here's a short video of us filming this afternoon:

http://www.twitvid.com/E8WOM

[Brendan Hayward]

Amazing!

[Tom Lowe]

http://i49.tinypic.com/2e51anc.jpg

New Blog update with lots of MX stuff - "Yosemite": http://timescapes.org/blog

[Roberto Lequeux]

A moon-light raimbow... epic shot. Would have never thought about that.

[Andrew Walker]

A moon-light raimbow... epic shot. Would have never thought about that.

You should see it in motion. It looks weird.

[Robert Frank]

These images are absolutely outstanding Tom.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i46.tinypic.com/w00vw1.jpg

I took another crack at Manzanar last night. It came out pretty dazzling, but I can be obsessive about imagery, so I will probably try this shot at least twice more this year, hoping for something very special to happen with the light, the weather, the sky, etc. :beer:

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Nice viewing of the milky way! Looks like the sky was on fire out there.

[Tom Lowe]

http://i48.tinypic.com/2qbatd2.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/117tz0m.jpg

Finally got a slider for the Red! Went out and put it to immediate use in a meadow near Bridgeport. Scouted all day, filmed with Red in the afternoon, and worked all night on motion-control timelapse in the woods. It's 10am now... time for sleep!

[Andrew Walker]

So how do you like that Cinevate slider?

[Tom Lowe]

Here is a framegrab from Red MX #352:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4712770497_9c7fd5de79_b.jpg

Photo link: http://tinyurl.com/RedMeadow

[Sanjin Jukic]

Tom,

I just wanted to ask you before who is that beautiful girl?

Then I clicked at the link below and have got it who she is.

[Tom Lowe]

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4489/mxnewcolorscience.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/34e6mo1.jpg

Another Red MX framegrab, this time using new, updated Adobe CS5 color science w/ RedColor & RedSpace

[Vince Sweeney]

Tom, let me know if you need to get into some really remote places via an "extreme" production truck. I can access places very few would consider, while carrying 4 extra people and up to 2000lbs of gear. ;)

7462

[Tom Lowe]

Tom, let me know if you need to get into some really remote places via an "extreme" production truck. I can access places very few would consider, while carrying 4 extra people and up to 2000lbs of gear. ;)

7462

Well where do you live? :thumbsup:

[Tom Lowe]

http://i45.tinypic.com/wjuhxh.jpg

We had an awesome time filming a rodeo today on Red MX!!

BTS:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2i70k1g.jpg

[Steve Sherrick]

Tom, let me know if you need to get into some really remote places via an "extreme" production truck. I can access places very few would consider, while carrying 4 extra people and up to 2000lbs of gear. ;)

7462

That is badass!

[Tom Lowe]

http://i46.tinypic.com/1116o02.jpg

Just got back from an awesome 2-day camping trip to the Troy Meadows area of the southern Sierras. It was gorgeous up there.

Here's a frame-grab from Red, not graded:

http://i49.tinypic.com/11aanas.jpg

And here's another from a couple days ago.

http://i49.tinypic.com/24ou0t1.jpg

No aliasing here, kids. :ihih: