Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/102700
out that while you can shoot with an iPhone, you can't record over 1080. "The Hero is very handy, and it shoots up to 4K now, but 2.7K is the sweet spot with the Hero3 recording at 24 and 30fps. I can set it up anywhere I want and trigger it with my iPhone using the GoPro app, or with the Wifi remote that comes with the camera." G&E's Eric Blicker on the subway with his Guit-Tool. He really does take it everywhere. Remember when I mentioned that he gets tools early? Well, Geduldick has been shooting with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera since August. "It's great for $3,000. It shoots raw CinemaDNG at 2.5K as well as ProRes and DNxHD, and it comes with Resolve and Ultrascope. The images look great, and Blackmagic has been responsive with firmware updates." Another cool piece of gear in his bag of tricks is also not available to the public yet, but will be soon — the Leap Motion Controller (www.leapmotion.com). "I have an early developer's kit, and I am trying to use it in new ways for interactive and visual effects projects." Geduldick compares it to a smaller and way-more sensitive Kinect, so instead of using a mouse or touchpad, you use your hands to control the images on the screen. "It has little cameras and sensors built into it, so it's sens- ing your hand movements. Think Minority Report," he says. "Even the early version of the sensor I have is more sensitive than the other devices out now. Also a few hundred times more accurate — and it's going to be much cheaper than the Kinect. The sensor itself is about the size of a flash drive. It uses tracking of your finger and hand movements up until like 1/100th of a millimeter of your movement." For him, that is probably the coolest device/gadget that he's played with that ties into filmmaking, visual effects and interaction. "I think it is going to be the next step — it's what everyone is trying to do with 3D and the high frame rate — this other part of storytelling. The open source thing is what I am getting into and is what's driving my visual effects and filmmaking." Oh, he also loves the iPad Mini, which he says is like a big iPhone, with the same apps, and it's small enough to throw in your back pocket… "you just have to remember not to sit on it." HELPS WITH CREATIVITY Composer and audio post veteran Erik Blicker co-owns G&E Music (www.gemusic. com), an original scoring and sound design studio, as well as audio post house FlavorLab (www.flavorlab.com). Both focus on TV, film and commercials, and both share a space on E. 23rd Street in New York City. Blicker has remained very much a handson artist, and like any artist he has tools that make his life easier and don't cost a lot of money. "One of the really cool things I use every day is built-in keystrokes in Mac OS X — I use it use within Pro Tools to save a ton of time," he says. "You can assign keystrokes to your trackball, which is something you can use in audio post work, especially when changing from the volume control or the waveform control. It's a major time saver and you can program all kinds of maneuvers. These shortcuts can be assigned in a variety of applications, not just Pro Tools." Blicker also takes advantage of a variety of apps — many free — available for the iPhone, and iPad and other devices. "I like the Peterson Strobe Tuner (www.petersontuners.com), an instrument tuner that I use for guitar and piano. I also use an app tone tuner for drums and another one for tap tempo. When you tap tempo something, you can make timing changes, like delays, which is helpful in post or in music." He acknowledges this can be done in Pro Tools, but sometimes, he says, it's just faster to do with the iPhone. "You just tap it out." Another software app that Blicker finds helpful is Evernote (www.evernote.com), which is available as a free version, although the company does charge for a more robust business version. "It's a cool program for writing music — it allows you to record notes and videos, and it will synchronize on all your computers. So if you're in the car and you sing a melody into Evernote on your iPhone, or if you are on the train and write some lyrics or notes or ideas you'll find them on your computer automatically." You can also use it to organize projects, but he relies on it for song writing. We found this tutorial on the Web with details on how to use it for music work specifically: www.davidsantistevan.com/evernotesongwriting-workstation. Obviously, for an audio pro, what Blicker uses to hear his work is incredibly important. And he says he didn't need to spend a lot, calling on the Audio Technica AT 50 headphones that come in around $150. "I use those all the time." While Blicker embraces technology, he also leans on old-school gadgets, like a handy guitar device that holds a number of different pieces and folds out like a master Allen wrench set. "It has three different sizes of Phillips head screw drivers, three different sizes of regular screwdrivers, three different Allen wrenches, and a scissor to help when you are restringing guitars. "It's from GuitTool," he says, "but I don't even know if they make them anymore!" While we couldn't find that particular product online, we did find "What I really like to use is Performance Audio's Audio Tools iPhone app (www.performanceaudio.com/apps), and a few of their other individual iPhone apps for audio engineers, producers, musicians and enthusiasts." — Rick Silva, VP of production, ADX (www.audionamix.com) "The corded, 1990's drive-thru window headset on my telephone. My neck would be at a permanent 45-degree angle with the amount of talking and typing I do." — Matthew Poliquin, executive producer, Ingenuity Engine (www.ievfx.com) 36 Post•January2013 Post0113_034-37-affordableRAV4FINALREAD.indd 36 www.postmagazine.com 12/21/12 7:23 PM