Help us produce a DUI video for schools everywhere

Help us produce a DUI video for schools everywhere

Laythrom Media will be producing a non-profit educational video concerning teenage drinking and DUIs. This video will be donated to MADD, SADD, and hundreds of school districts across the United States. We are profound activists in attempting to curb teenage drinking and drinking and driving. With your help, we can finish production of this video (scheduled for May 11th, 2013) and distribute it across the US, reaching thousands of teens and young adults everywhere. Without your support and the support of others, this video may not be able to reach as many people as we wish.

Cameras for the Indie Filmmaker

Wow, loaded title huh?

Even though we technically can’t spend the next four hours discussing all of the different cameras and camera platforms that can be used by the indie filmmaker, we will layout some different types and some of the different platforms that we use.

DSLR:

DSLRs are great for those who wish to get into both photography and video. I would consider them nice entry platforms (IMO) since they can be picked up online, in departments stores and in camera shops (at okay prices). They do have some issues (on the video side) in lieu of low light conditions and rolling shutter, but with the filmmaker’s creative talents, these can be counteracted.  There are many different cameras out there, but these are the ones that we use.

Canon T3i: Definitely a nice camera to start off, the package runs approximately $700 and has the capability of shooting 18 MP (photo) and HD 1080 (video).

Nikon D3100: Also not a bad camera, runs about $650 and shoots 14.4 MP (photo) and HD 1080 (video).

Canon T4i: A little bit more in price at $900, the T4i is a cropped DSLR rated at 18 MP for photo and shoots both HD 720 (60 fps)  & 1080 (24 & 30 fps) for video.

Pro Video Cameras:

When we get into Pro Video, we usually deal with Sony and Panasonic cameras; but the Black Magic camera is by far our favorite. Keep in mind that these cameras are not cheap and are hell if you get them wet or drop em.

Panasonic AG-AC90: We typically use this camera for some actions shots and slowing time down (since we can over crank the 1080p footage to 60 fps) and later emulate 120 fps in post. It also has dual XLR inputs for good audio input without using a converter box.

Sony NEX-EA50UH: This is used primarily for ‘studio’ shoots or interviews since it is a bit larger than the typical ProCam and seems to have a more balanced weight (of a little over 3 pounds). It also has dual XLR inputs for running boom mics or lapels (if you are not running separate audio).  It also has the ability to output timecodes from video.

Sony PMW-200 XDCAM: Not a bad camera, has the ability for timecode input and output, and features 3 x 1/2″ CMOS sensors. However due to a lack of XLR inputs and a slight weight problem (close to 6 pounds), this camera is usually kept on a jib, dolly or tripod. Another big downside to this camera is that it require SXs cards for capturing video (and they are not cheap).

Panasonic AG-HMC150: Aside from our GoPro cameras, this camera is usually abused and films a lot of our ‘action’ shots and sequences. It’s a stable, decent sized and a good quality camera. It features 3 x 1/3″ CCD sensors and a Leica Lens, films up to 60 fps @ 1080, and shoots rather well in lower light conditions (advertised at 3 Lux). It also features XLR inputs and records to SDHC cards.

Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera: By far, one of my favorite camera systems yet (aside from the uber-expensive RED platform). It features a 12 bit/2.5k RAW resolution possibility, EF lens mount, 5″ touchscreen monitor, 13 stops of Dynamic Range and the easy ability to enter Metadata directly to the footage in camera. It records to any 2.5″ Solid State Hard Drive instead of special cards (like the Sony PMW-200). Downsides: no XLR inputs and only 1/4″ analog audio inputs.

Other Cameras:

GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition: Mountable to almost anything and everything! Although these are technically able to film up to 4k resolution, we have never pushed past 1080 (for the moment), so we can’t really comment on their 4k and 2.7k capabilities. They’re robust, compact and waterproof (in the waterproof casing); we love the built in WIFI feature and constantly use our iPhones (via the GoPro App) to set up the shots and start recording. Definitely worth spending $400.

Computer for Editing/Rendering HD Video

“What type of computer should I get for editing HD?”

Well…you can always go out and spend $7000 on a Dell Workstation that can handle HD; but for us, other indie filmmakers and the other people that visit our blog, cost is an issue. We are always pushing that mark of high computational power vs cost effectiveness/cost efficiency.

Here, we will help you weigh the prices and options to make decisions.

Workstations (Desktops) vs Laptops:

Although workstations are preferred in lieu of cost, upgrades/aftermarket, and power; we understand the desire of laptops because of their small footprint and their portability.

In my opinion, (concerning Windows based laptops) I would ignore Intel i3 and i5 based platforms. I would also either ignore Windows 8 systems (or roll back to Windows 7  x64 Professional or x64 Ultimate operating system). You will also need to look for  a laptop that has a video card and steer away from laptops with integrated or “shared” video memory.

Concerning prices, for Windows based systems be prepared to spend between $800-$1400 for a decent high performance platform and around $2800 for a Macbook Pro.

What do you really need? Well, it depends…are you running 720p, 1080p, 2.5k or 4k? A dual core processor, 6 GB of ram and a medium end graphics card will handle 720p fine but will start lagging (exponentially) at higher resolutions.  Not many indie filmmakers have the copious amounts of money for high end 4k cameras and video formats (for now); if you expect to get into the 4k realm within the next year or two, I would be somewhat generous with the workstation budget. Also if you plan on going down that path, you might be better off building the workstation yourself. A platform capable of fluently editing 4k video will most likely run you approximately $5000-8000 from Dell, HP, Boxx Technologies or Mac. If you take the time to research, plan and price components on TigerDirect or NewEgg, you could expect to only pay around $3200-4000 (both prices including display monitors).

What are you getting for your money?

Laptops

Avg Dell Pricing: $1000

• Intel Core i7 (2 Cores, 4 Threads) @ 3.0 GHz
• 15.6″ LED Display
• 8 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GT630M @ 2 GB DDR3 Video Memory
• 500 GB SATA HD @ 5400 RPM

Avg HP Pricing: $925

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 2.4 GHz
• 17.3″ LED Display
• 8 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GT635M @ 2 GB DDR3 Video Memory
• 1 TB SATA HD @ 5400 RPM

Avg Boxx Technologies Pricing: $2767

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 2.7 GHz
• 17.3″ LED Display
• 8 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GT675MX @ 4 GB DDR3 Video Memory
• 750 GB SATA HD @ 7200 RPM

Avg Macbook Pro Pricing: $2878

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 2.7 GHz
• 15″ LED Retina Display
• 16 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Video Hardware Unknown
• 512 GB Flash HD

Avg Asus Pricing: $800

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 2.4 GHz
• 17.3″ LED Display
• 8 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GT635M @ 2 GB DDR3 Video Memory
• 750 GB SATA HD @ 5400 RPM

Workstations (Desktop)

Avg iMac Pricing: $1778

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 3.1 GHz
• 21.5″ LED Display
• 8 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GT650M @ 512 MB DDR5 Video Memory
• 1 TB SATA HD @ 5400 RPM

Avg Dell Pricing: $1115

• Intel Core i7 (4 Cores, 8 Threads) @ 3.90 GHz
• 21.5″ LED Display
• 12 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• AMD Radeon HD 7570 @ 1 GB DDR5 Video Memory
• 1 TB SATA HD @ 7200 RPM

Avg HP Pricing: $910

• AMD FX-8120 (8 Cores) @ 3.1 GHz
• 23″ LED Display
• 10 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• AMD Radeon HD 7570 @ 2 GB DDR5 Video Memory
• 1 TB SATA HD @ 7200 RPM

Avg Custom Made Workstation: $1140

• AMD FX-8350 (8 Cores) @ 4.0 GHz
• 24″ LED Display
• 16 GB DDR3 Ram @ 1600 MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 @ 2 GB DDR5 Video Memory
• 2 TB SATA HD @ 7200 RPM

CGI Renderers and Render Information

Finally have gotten to CGI Rendering…

Not meaning that we’ve never done any 3d modeling or VFX yet; but finally we have had the chance to sit down and shine some input on the different programs and renderers that are out there.

Personally, we typically use Autodesk Maya for any CGI that we create [second place is 3ds Max Design]; we have been using it for some time now and hell, we like it.

But on to actual information related to the title at hand…

Instead of rendering images on our “Iron Horse” workstation or on a farm (Render Farm), I actually decided to use one of our laptops that we use in the field at times [for scripting, live view, story boards, etc]. I did this mainly because I have seen many indie filmmakers using laptops vs workstations due to portability reasons; so please keep in mind that any listed render times are for reference only [the times will be different but the ratio between the different renderers should be close to the same].

PC Laptop Specs and Information:

After digging out one of our most basic laptops [easily purchased from any department store for approximately $500], I then downloaded Cinebench from Maxon specifically for this segment (benchmarking information follows).

Windows 7 Laptop, 64 bit OS
1.60 GHz, Intel Dual Core Processor
6 GB DDR3 Ram
Intel HD (onboard) Graphics; 1366 x 768

Cinebench CPU Score: 1.03 pts
Cinebench OpenGL Score: 5.64 fps

Now after running these tests and chuckling to myself about this laptop’s lack of power [approx. 1/10th of the ability of our Iron Horse workstation), I took one of our UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter models into Maya and started running the renders.

Different Renderers

Obviously, there are several different renderers out there, the ones that we will be touching today follow;

Maya: Software, Mental Ray, Vray, FinalRender

Although we are mainly using Maya for this run through, you have the Software & Mental Ray options for 3ds Max Design and can also obtain the Vray plugin as well as iray, although I am not sure about FinalRender for 3ds Max Design. All of the renderings were rendered out at 640×480 @ 300 dpi resolution, settings were tuned to Production (High) quality and the scenes are identical.

Maya Software Render

Honestly, the Maya Software render kind of surprised me [since we rarely use it]; it took over 16 minutes to render, a lot of the colors are there but there is no Ambient Occlusion, the shadows are not fantastic and I am not a big fan of the glass.

Maya Mental Ray

As for Mental Ray, I will have to look into the settings and modify a few things. There is a lot of noise through out the image and it is starting to get blown out (over whitening). I like the shadowing on this one more than software and it did render out in a little over 8 minutes (half of the software time) but the noise in the image is driving me nuts.

Maya Vray

Although the Vray image isn’t horrible, the image is getting blown out, the shadows are off and the AO has quite a bit of noise in it. I personally like the look of the glass objects with Vray and don’t mind the 10 minute render time if there wasn’t so much noise.

Maya FinalRender

I don’t have many complaints about FinalRender (aside from the obvious watermark). The color looks good and so does the environment; there is some noise in the shadows which bother me and a render time of 24 minutes isn’t awesome either.

Other platform solutions

I was planning on putting the render from Bunkspeed on here, but lets be honest…it’s taking FOREVER on the laptop! As I am writing this it managed to complete 2113 ‘passes’ and has also taken 3 hours (thus far). I will be posting raw renderings from other platforms (such as Cinema 4d, Bunkspeed and 3ds Max (possibly also Softimage) in the future. Hopefully posts like this will help spread the information flow in lieu of rendering for others [including beginners]. I also plan to start posting renderer settings and values for entry, mid-level, and professional production quality as well. If anyone wants to help me add to this plethora of information, let us know.

Update:

Due to some light confusion and some emails, let me explain something;
The above renders were setup in a manner with settings that could be used by others with basic PCs. Ultra high settings that output a nice quality photorealistic end result (something that would take 45 minutes to an hour on our farm) is not being compared at this moment. The reason why I mainly did this is because I figured that most hobby users and amateur modelers would not like to wait around for 12-14 hours for just one frame.

Looking towards the Future

The Future of Laythrom Media

What do we have in the works at Laythrom Media?

Well we’ll give you some insight…

The plan is to release one short film at least every month. We would like to push it up to one a week, but for now it’s looking like once a month. Each short will roughly be between 10-40 minutes each and will jump from genre to genre.

Why no full feature films?

Honestly, at this time it’s mainly due to budget reasons; it’s easier, quicker and cheaper to run short films [at a few hundred dollar budget] than it is to run the full feature films that we already have scripts written for [at an estimated $8000-10000 budget]. Granted, we could run full feature films at a significantly lower budget than what we are estimating, however we believe that the quality would suffer and that is something that we do not wish to cut corners on.

Film Festivals

Not only do we plan to release our short films on our YouTube page, but we also plan on pushing some of them to local and national film festivals.

Military Prop Inventory

So we’ve finally sat down an laid out about 60-70% of the Laythrom Media “Military/Police Props” (excluding all but four of our prop weapons).

It’s a good amount of stuff, but we’re always getting more; Army-Navy stores beware. If anyone knows a good place to buy or rent Blank Fire weapons, let us know; same for any off the wall military surplus (like dummy rockets, dummy grenades, parachute packs, kevlars, etc)

Operation Iron Horse

Operation Iron Horse

We are currently writing our latest short film named “Operation Iron Horse, and we hope to start filming within the next few weeks. Volunteers looking to take part in front of the camera are welcome; we can use two more hostages and some other extras.

The synopsis follows below:

“A lone Special Forces Operator takes on a group of rebels in an attempt to rescue a Senator’s Daughter and her friends from captivity. A friend of the Senators’, the operator cannot fail his mission; only question is, can he survive the overwhelming odds?”

Filming for this project should prove interesting; guns, explosions, hand to hand combat and a small group of people running around two different abandoned locations.

We will be throwing a lot of visual effects into this short film, including some new stuff [such as overhead UAV footage, vehicles, possibly helicopters, thousands of rounds of ammunition and maybe even a surprise or two].

Keep your eyes and ears open; soon after filming, both the action short and behind the scenes footage will be publicly broadcast. If you’re wanting to volunteer, do so now…shoot dates are coming up soon!

Lordstown Elementary/Middle School

Yesterday, we had the privilege of touring the old Elementary/Middle school in Lordstown, Ohio and it was an awesome experience. From the information that we have come across, the school was originally built in 1917 and was finally closed in 2008. Considering that the school was an elementary/middle school, it is probably safe to assume that it housed students K-8 prior to its closure. We would like to say at this time, that the property is abandoned, but is still owned by Lordstown School District and Trespassing is seriously frowned upon.

We initially contacted personnel affiliated with the school in lieu of using it to film portions of our new short film “Operation Ironhorse” after we [safely] toured the outside of the building. Once we were permitted access into the interior, we soon realized that they layout and condition were near perfect for our concepts. The building is three stories tall and although the footprint of the school may seem a bit small from the outside, once inside, you realize that it is a lot larger that expected. Classrooms and old lockers line the hallways and corridors; the paint on some walls are starting to peel away exposing concrete and brick. A lot of the furniture,  equipment and misc school items have been pulled out and either re-used or sold; glass litters the floors from vandals and delinquents; drop ceiling tiles and insulation also litter the floors. Although, it is in rough condition [compared to what it use to be], standing in the main hallway of the school, you get an awe-inspiring feeling of a desolate ‘waste-landish’ vibe. For those who have seen the 2006 video game based movie “Silent Hill“, this school looks like it could be dropped right into the middle of that environment with no issues of fitting in. “As film makers, avid video gamers, and ‘urban explorers’, we could not have found [or made] such a ‘perfect’ filming site elsewhere. This building is just beautiful in its own special way.”

After about an hour and a half inside the school, we started to get our ‘bearings’; mapping out a imaginary mental layout of the school. We then spent a few more hours discussing different ideas, concepts, positional layouts and lighting possibilities. In all honesty, the only problem that we have with the building is that someone has gone through gutting the copper electrical lines for scrap; the ability to run power into the building went right down hill.

Photos of the exterior and interior will be uploaded later on; we will also post on location blogs/behind the scenes videos [from inside the school] later if we are able to work out an arrangement with the property holders.
Laythrom Media Production Crew

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Military/Tactical Consultancy for Films

Although this is being written in a format more as a FAQ than a discussion, understand that I am writing this in an attempt to help benefit other filmmakers out there.

First I would like to say, that if you plan on having anyone play the part of a military person or police person, you should look into obtaining a consultant and not just rely on ‘what you have seen on tv’. I have seen many films out there where the ‘realism’ has been lost just on an actors inability to pull off the “walk and talk” of their character [being based on a military or police person].

Usually, finding someone to act as a consultant is somewhat easy. You can either contact or inquire with a local or state film office or commission (many film offices have lists of different crew and consultant people (such as the Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania Film Offices and the Greater Cleveland Film Commission as examples)). You can also seek out someone who is either active military/police or prior service military/police. I will say though, the issue most common with the latter of the two is the ability to work efficiently with a Director or a DOP. Let me say that the issue is a lack of desire to work with a filmmaker; you have to just understand that a person in that position has been doing the ‘Tactical and/or Standard Operating Procedure’ gig for a while and it can usually be “by the book”. I say this because it is not that he or she does not care about your vision, they are just use to operating and doing things in a certain fashion and it is not easy to stray away from that “SOP”.

The benefits though, can be huge. That ‘consultant’ can point out small flaws in your script (which is not exactly a bad thing). They are going to want to make it as realistic as possible because that is how they have been trained. If something seems unlikely in the script, that consultant will probably point it out. At the same time, they also have the ability to show you methods or techniques that you may have not even thought of.

Granted, in the end of all of this, after production, post production and distribution (if you didn’t go with a consultant) half of your viewers may not even notice any production errors or hiccups in lieu of your military or police characters, their speech, actions or tactics. But be sure that military or police personnel and prior service veterans will point out a majority of those errors and will generally point them out to their friend and co-workers.

In my personal opinion (as both a filmmaker and a prior service military veteran with tours in Iraq and with the Department of Defense) I would highly suggest either hiring or ‘borrowing’ a military/tactical consultant. It will make things a little bit easier and more convincing in the long run. You can probably even procure one of these consultants for either little or no cost just on general principle.

M.Adkins, Director, Laythrom Media

Something is Terribly Wrong with this Country…

First, I would like to say that this blog is being posted at my own free will and that it reflects no opinions, stand points or views of Laythrom Media and/or any of their employees, volunteers or crew members as individuals or as a whole. This is my opinion, this contains my thoughts, my feelings and my own confusion.

I look around at my life, my family, my friends and my country and notice [more and more] that there is something terribly wrong with this county, the politics involved and the way that some are being dictated to live their life. This blog post will probably offend people [consider this your forewarning] and although I am aware of this, I feel that people should take a good, long and hard look and stop making excuses. I will share some background information with you [the reader] so that you can understand some of where I am coming from.

I joined the U.S. military right after high school; I did so because I had no working experience [other than working as a material handler in a distribution center], I only had a high school education [due to my inability to pay for college without suffering from serious future debt] and as a young adult, I wanted to see what else this country and this world had to offer. I did get to see and interact with people through-out approximately 40 U.S. States and 15 foreign countries during my six year enlistment and two year involvement with the U.S. Department of Defense. I [like many others] fought for this county, our way of life, our freedoms, our ability to stand up to the wrong doers, our ability to speak our minds, our ability to be part of any religion as well as many other freedoms that we have. Sadly though we [as a whole] still do not stand up against corrupt politicians, lobbyists, damaging laws, insurance companies or others that do more harm to our way of life than good.

Now, at this time, I will also inform you [the reader] that I am not driven by any political party. I do not consider myself a democrat, republican, right winged, liberal or conservative; I consider myself an American Citizen and my opinions are those aimed at attempting to help my fellow Americans and their way of life…not an organization’s bank account. I will also state that, although I feel that I make a paycheck that is a little above average for the general population; I would consider myself to be part of the lower class/middle class population [more lower class than anything]. I tell you this because I want you to understand that I am not attempting to deceive you, fill you full of lies or misdirection nor do I want you to rally against any specific political party or political thought. I just want you to realize that things need to be changed for the greater good of Americans. I plead with you to do your own ‘independent’ and ‘unbiased’ research; something that every American should do. Don’t rely on what politicians say or what the news is telling you, rely on the truths of the scenario.

Medical Insurance and Health Care Coverage

I do not feel that there is an adequate answer for health care in the United States. It seems like everyone [since the early 90s] has been opposed to a “Socialist System” for medical coverage, sighting a supposed similarity to Soviet Russian “Socialist propaganda equip with “Death Panels” and strict government control over doctors and treatment options. In all honesty, if you look at the Current medical coverage system [consisting of large amounts of corporate insurance influence], we already have a system that indirectly acts like death panels. There have been thousands of cases where corporate insurance has refused treatment to persons [speaking of insured persons] which has resulted in the death of those people. Keep in mind that this is not counting those without medical insurance/health care coverage. Now, please before anyone makes the interjection that this scenario is not possible, please think about a couple things; all of this information is available and people will talk about it. Also think about members of your family who have possibly had medical procedures, injections, or medicine denied by an insurance company. Think about people who you know [that don’t have insurance] who have been refused treatment due to a lack of insurance, or who have had to pay in advance before being able to see a doctor; think about those banners, spaghetti dinners and raffles that are being held on a regular basis to attempt to raise monies for people who are in dire need of medical treatment. Think about those people who you know [either directly or indirectly] who has been effected by companies and lawyers who attempt to thwart worker’s compensation claims. What is extremely sad is that peoples inside correctional facilities [although they do not have their freedom] do have better medical than most people of the lower working class inside of America.

I have also heard many conflicting stories in lieu of Canada’s Health Care System, Britain’s system as well as France and other European Nations. Funny how most people talk down on these programs; but I will have to say during my time in France [I was there on vacation], I was injured and I was admitted to a French hospital. After everything that I went through [including medicine, paperwork, medical care, stay in the hospital, x-rays, etc] my final cost to the country of France was approximately $20.00 USD. I was treated in a same manner as I have been in the U.S., I didn’t have to wait for hours upon hours for treatment, in all honesty I feel that I was actually treated better and my cost of $20 was for my meds [which would have cost me approx $130 if treated in the U.S]. I understand that people are concerned for our way of life, we don’t want things to be bad for us, for our family, for our friends; but I wish that people would stop relying on political propaganda for information, stop relying on the 8:00 news. I wish that people as a whole would do their own research and I do wish that people would stand up to the politicians, large corporate entities and organizations and let them know that We the people should not be bullied around and that they [including Congress] need to start working for the people and for Our best interest, not theirs.

I will finish with this note; I am not saying that France or the UK or Canada has the worlds greatest Health Care programs, I am just stating what I had went through and in MY Opinion, the medical care that I received in France (as a U.S. citizen and a visitor to that country) was far better and less stressful than what I am able to receive here in the US. Furthermore, being a US citizen without medical insurance/health care; having friends and family that have had to take a second or third job to help pay medical bills for surgeries/aliments; and watching people get turned down for medical coverage or cannot afford co-pays; I suggest that something needs to be done fast, without attached strings or feet dragging along the way.

And that Should be a Freedom to the American People

 

p.s. maybe later I will get into the other things that need addressed, but for now like others, I have to return to work so that I can pay the bills.