Digital Motion dot net

[via Chris Pirillo’s Picks]

Audio Video Edition: Specially Selected Free and Open Source Software | Audio/Video ngo-in-a-box

Nice collection of links to the best Open Source digital media software for all platforms.

Cuts Launches Amidst Online Video Editor War

Pretty amazed at the wealth of riches in this space all of the sudden.

Lawrence Lessig – Copyright Policy: Orphaned Works Reform
Master Plan – About the power of Google

Both of these pieces are doing something similar. They are using motion graphics and typeography to help illustrate and enliven spoken word material. I think that the Master Plan piece is better visually (which is admittedly much easier at 3:15 instead of 36:00. However, the content of Lawrence Lessig’s piece is far more effective if only because he is much more experienced at speaking and he is much more knowledgeable about his topic. It definitely shows how substance can beat out style, but it also shows how compelling voices and messages are really the most important part of a informational, educational or political piece.

The Lawrence Lessig film is below:

Digital effects in Pirates of the Caribbean III | CNET News.com

Create Digital Motion » Luxeed Keyboard with Interactive Lighting: Perfect Gigging QWERTY?

Those using Live for doing live audio or similar programs for video (or gamers) are in a constant hunt for the perfect keyboard companion to their exploits. Also, video editors, audio editors and anyone who spends multiple hours of the day in an application with a zillion keyboard shortcuts.

The Optimus keyboard has been long in coming, but was the great hope. If this keyboard actually ships in a reasonable period of time, could it be a realistic option? It looks like it has a multi-color LED under each key, which allows you to set the color of each key separately. That isn’t the same thing as actually having a picture or word on each key, but it can at least remind you that jkl is for your transport and [] is for your begin and end clip by having them be different colors.

also, it looks cool.

I heard about Stray Cinema on This Week in Media. They are an “open source” movie: they have all their takes on the site for download, and they are asking people to make their own edits of the film. Sounds like it could be a very fun and instructive exercise for a budding editor or director. Kind of like Panaroma Ephemera, but with more chance of promotion opportunities to the world.

It’ll be really interesting to see the different takes on the film. Hopefully, they will post all of them on the site.

WGBH Lab: Sandbox

This is a small group of clips, but hopefully there will be more. Right now, focused on science animations and little natural clips.

I’ve been following pure:dyne for a while now. It seems like a great thing for live media performers (music or video) or for those who want to get into production but don’t have the cash to purchase a bunch of software.

In a nutshell, it is a version of linux customized around multimedia with a bunch of open source and freeware audio and video production software included in the installation. It can be booted from a CD or memory stick (so you don’t have to install it on your PC or Mac).

From Create Digital Music, I hear that they just hit a stable build, so it might be time to try it out.

This is a great podcast for digital filmmakers. I particularly liked this week’s episode. They gave their insight into why Apple bought Proximity. Their take was that Apple was looking to counter Avid and Avid’s integration with digital asset management solutions. They also had a great discussion around micro cinemas and social bookmarking of video clips which gave me two great ideas for start-ups. I probably won’t do either of them, but it is nice to be inspired anyway.

This Week In Media

In the spirit of of the Shining Preview Remix, Chris Rule has remixed Mary Poppins into a horror movie trailer. I love these exercises, not only because they are funny, but also because they show the power of editing and soundtrack. This kind of thing would be a great project for a budding filmmaker.