And man, was it fun!

The RED One is a beast of a camera (heavier than I thought it would be) and that 4K video looks crisp and exciting. Can't wait to get it into the editing suite! Standby for the Uncle Alcohol music video from Mr. Kyley Styles, starring his beverage bottle friends!

Recently I was able to help out St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Chestermere create a promotional video for their mountain climb fundraiser. They have a worthy goal of building their very own church building (they currently meet in a school hall) so they can offer a space to the community for both worship and welfare.

Their efforts are encouraging. They made me reflect on my goals and the mountains I choose to climb. Last week my wife and I announced our second child is on the way. Exciting stuff! It's been a wonderful time to refocus and find joy in the journey.

This is why I love N8 Video projects: I get to meet wonderful people and work on fun videos that make them happy.

Forget about 2K! 4K is going to be the new standard. It's been around in the professional film world for a while now in the form of RED cameras (most famously used by Peter Jackson to shoot The Hobbit) but now it's arriving in our homes in the form of 4K televisions, projectors, and now a new prosumer camcorder from Sony.

The Ultra HD 4K camera, the Sony FDR-AX1E, was announced today at IFA 2013. It represents a new era in video production because you no longer have to have a film budget to buy a super high resolution camera. It houses a 1/2.3 Exmor CMOS sensor which captures the 4K 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution. There are 2 XLR audio jacks, dual memory card slots for Sony's XQD cards allowing you to switch out cards while shooting, and my favourite, built in ND filters.

I for one am extremely excited to see this hit the market next month. I'll be putting away the pennies to save up for this beautiful piece of technology. I can see this particular model going down in the history books, and it will undoubtedly be a massive asset to N8 Video and our clients.

What are your thoughts on this new breed of camera? Would you consider owning a 4K camera for shooting your home movies, or is it excessive? Leave a comment below!

Nate

***UPDATE

I've just spotted that Sony also announced the Z100. It has the same chip and body as the AX1 but boasts a much higher bitrate (500/600 Mbps compared to 150Mbps) and color sampling of 4:2:2 whereas the AX1 is only 4:2:0. It obviously sits at a higher price point. Can the extra cost be justified? Here's a link to the Engadget article.

Ever climbed a mountain? Even the thought of it sounds overwhelming, right?! Now imagine doing it without your arms and hands...

Sudarshan Gautum is really out to prove a point when it comes to his motto "disability is not an inability". He is determined to make a mark on the mindset surrounding disabled people and has partly done so by setting multiple world records climbing mountains and driving a manual (standard) car. Sudarshan is now looking to raise funds for a handy-bus in Nepal where public transport for disabled people is non-existent.

Sudarshan is currently touring Canada seeking support for his cause which thus far has been funded almost exclusively from his own pocket. Certainly from the perspective of this modest video producer, this is a noble man with a truly noble cause.

Please support Sudarshan by visiting his website to donate or volunteer: sudarshan.ca

Everyone loves a good idea, and Babe Ruth had a great one - offer a baseball skills video to their athletes and families. So we set about creating a package that would include all the key elements: drills to demonstrate talent and technique, an interview to offer an insight into the player's attributes and character, and custom shots to give the video some flair. The ultimate goal was to help the athletes create something that would aid them in their college team applications. In the process we discovered that many parents were simple interested in having a well-produced record of their son's baseball experience, something to share with family and friends.

Many medium to large companies (if not all) have a Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines which outline the standard of behaviour expected of each employee. The Code of Conduct is often a lengthy, dense document, and can potentially be difficult to digest. Recognizing this challenge, a Calgary company contacted N8 Video Productions to produce a video summarizing three of their policies.

The goal was to condense the content into bite-size pieces, capturing the essence of each guideline so that employees could easily comprehend and apply each principle to their work. Employees are required to watch the compliance refresher each year. 

The full version lasts about eight minutes. Below is a shorter highlight reel with some snippets from the course. At the request of the client we've removed their logo.