Jason Cypret Videography » Video Production

Julie & Kit’s Wedding Story

Jason Cypret — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:59:24 +0000

Time for round 2 of Julie & Kit totally awesome wedding extravaganza. You saw a bit of what Julie & Kit were about with their wedding highlights. This wedding was a blast all because J&K are on a HNL (whole notha level). They put together a fabulous outdoor wedding with and 80's style throwback.

Julie & Kit's wedding was held at Teresa Choate's fabulous outdoor venue in Rocket, TX. The wedding went off without a hitch because of the excellent planning of Teresa. Julie & Kit are not your traditional wedding types, these two radiate passion and fun and it shows throughout their wedding. Julie does Calligraphy and Kit is a cartoonist, and their wedding reflected their whimsical style. In fact their wedding topper was drawn by Kit.

The part I loved the most about this wedding was all of the fun J&K had. They busted out glow sticks and jammed out to some rockin' 80's beats. Julie & Kit, thank you for letting us be a part of your special day. I hope we stay in touch!

Jenifer & Lincoln’s Wedding Highlights

Jason Cypret — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:24:49 +0000

Well awhile back I showed you their DVD cover, now it's time to show you their highlights. They were such a fun couple and their videos turned out just the way they wanted it. Here's a quick bit about this wedding:

About this wedding

Lincoln and Jenifer's wedding was held at the Midlothian Bible Church, and Reception at Midlothian Civic Center. The photography was done by Kevin Bowens Photography. Their wedding went off without a hitch due to the planning of Teresa Choate.

Review of the Sony XDCAM ES – HD Camera

Jason Cypret — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:22:47 +0000

I usually don’t post about reviews other people have done, however I feel the review from Izzy Video on the Sony XDCAM EX is one to share. If you read my previous post you know that I am a big fan of Canon products. I have almost all Canon equipment. However I do know many “prosumers” swear by Sony’s camera lineup.

I am currently deciding which HD camera to bring home. I am strongly looking at the Canon XH G1, or the XH A1, but this Sony XDCAM ES. Izzy Video is a great place for reviews and knowledge surrounding videography. I subscribe to his podcast and never miss a show. This review discusses all of the features that the Sony XDCAM ES has. You can find his review below:

My new camcorder is the Sony XDCAM EX. Although this seems to be what everyone’s calling it, the actual model number is Sony PMW-EX1. In this installment of Izzy Video, I give a miniature video review of the new camera.

If you haven’t heard of this camera before, I should let you know that it’s pretty revolutionary.

You can get Izzy Video 75 here.

Behind The Scenes – What I Use

Jason Cypret — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:51:47 +0000

So I get asked from time to time by very knowledgeable clients, "what are you using for production"? While I would love to add the systems, programs, and equipment I use, to our FAQ’s page it really wouldn’t work because I find I am constantly upgrading my equipment. I will however give you a quick list of what I am using right at the moment. I’m sure this list will be outdated in a month (Christmas is almost here).

If you have read any of my other blogs you realize that I am a proclaimed Apple fan-boy. I am actually writing this post from my iPhone . So of course our studio is a 100% Mac production house. I have a Mac Pro, a Power Mac G4 (fully upgraded, it still runs good), and a Mac Book. I have dual screen setups on both towers. I use Xgrid to help with rendering projects quickly. At the heart of it all is Final Cut Studio 2. The programs I mainly stick to are Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro. I haven’t really used Color that much as I love Magic Bullet Colorista, and Magic Bullet Look Suite. I love it.

The cameras I use are two Canon GL2, and one Sony (who’s model number escapes me). These cameras have been perfect for me as they are identical to the XL 1S but without the option to change lenses, and the GL2 has a LCD screen. I have shot lots of weddings and have never really found an instance where I needed a longer local length. Other people’s experiences may vary. Of course we have a Canon light w/ a diffuser, Canon WD-58H wide-angle adapter with hood, an extreme fisheye lens, and remote controllers. I love Canon products like I love Apple products, so I am planning to upgrade my cameras soon to either the Canon XH G1, or the XH A1. Once this whole format war is figured out. However I am in the Blu-Ray camp right now. I use Sennheiser Wireless mics. I have 2 fluid head tripods. Lastly I also bring along My Canon 400D Digital Camera. We take great DVD cover shots that we include all stills in any package. If I start going into my digital camera equipment we will be here all day. I’m probably missing a gadget or two but this is a good rough estimate.

If you are looking to get into videography I suggest getting a decent 3CCD camera, a tripod, and a wireless mic to start out. Do your editing in iMovie or Final Cut Express. With a eye for detail and great shots you can get your start. Then start to upgrade everything.

Adobe Releases Flash Player 9 – H.264 Support

Jason Cypret — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:08:25 +0000

Adobe officially released Adobe Flash player 9 for distribution. Go ahead and go pick it up if you want, and let me know what you think. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am super excited about the possibilities this will bring flash video. However, I must also be honest, I am a little confused as to how I can gracefully implement H.264 flash videos into all of my sites.

To their credit, Adobe has written a tutorial on Exploring Flash Player support for high-definition H.264 video and AAC audio. It really helps you get a small grasp on how this will work. Right now implementation is rather geeky and requires some Action Script knowledge in Flash. I am sure so we will have a GUI version soon to easily add an H.264 flash video to an online website.

Again I will keep you posted on what I decide to do with my video distribution. If I switch to this new technology I will be able to easily add files that can be played directly on my website, can download to view on an iPod or iPhone, view in iTunes, or directly in QuickTime all at great quality and through only 1 single file.

Flash Player 9 Beta Now Supports H.264

Jason Cypret — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:42:02 +0000

After reading the title you are probably wondering , Huh? I’m out, what the heck is H.264. H.264 is something that you probably have used and never knew it. If you’ve ever downloaded a podcast, or any video form the iTunes store, or watched a video on YouTube you have experienced H.264. H.264 is a wonderful compression tool for video. It allows you to compress your video down, keep the quality high, and the files sizes low.

We are in the process of re-encoding all of our videos for our gallery section. We eventually will provide a online flash version and an H.264 video to download. What flash player can now do is play that H.264 video natively in flash without having to download. This also means I will only have to provide one video and it can be used in many places on the site. This allows us to place more videos online, which is a good thing for everyone. Currently Adobe Flash Player is said to have 98.7% penetration in the Web, making it the most used media player. Clearly a big win for H.264 advocates.

Again this is only in beta and may take some time to roll out once it reaches final RC. Still this is very exciting for everyone who watches and produces video. Here are some of specks I pulled from Adobe Labs. Also if you would like to try out the new beta click here. After you install the player you can see some video implemented with H.264.

Flash Player 9 will support subsets of the MPEG-4 standards defined by ISO/IEC 14496-12, ISO/IEC 14496-10, ISO/IEC 14496-3, and the 3GPP timed text format standard. Specifically, Flash Player will support the following standards:

* ISO/IEC 14496-3: (Audio AAC) AAC Main; AAC LC; SBR
* ISO/IEC 14496-10: (Video AVC) Base (BP); Main (MP); High (HiP). All levels are supported.
* ISO/IEC 14496-12: (Container) 1 Audio track; 1 Video track
* 3GPP TS 26.245: (Timed text format)

Flash Player supports 480p, 720p and 1080p content encoded with either On2 or H.264. Performance will vary depending on the capabilities and configuration of your machine. In general a 2.0 GHz Mac or a 3GHz PC, with one or more processors, will deliver an optimum experience.

New Wedding Video – Julian & Nick

Jason Cypret — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 02:35:28 +0000

It has been a long time since we have updated our video gallery. The gallery will continue to see updates, a new look, and more options in the coming months, so be on the lookout.

This video clip is of a September wedding we shot at the Perkins Chapel on the SMU campus. The Wedding was beautiful and the clip is only of the intro. I hope to place more clips of this wedding on the site periodically. Here is what the bride had to say about the video.

We just watched the video (waited until my husband was home) and we LOVE it! You did a wonderful job! Made me fall in love with my husband all over again! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Juli

Without further ado here is the video.

When To Move Into High Definition?

Jason Cypret — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:14:02 +0000

This is a question I have been pondering for some time now. It may seem like a simple choice given that everyone seems to be upgrading to HD. Now there are more and more cable and satellite providers offering HD. There are finally reasonably priced HD-DVR and HTPC’s readily available. And now HD program can be downloaded from the web at the click of a button. Read my post on streaming HD. I personally have upgraded the entire house with HDTV sets and watch nothing but HDTV programming. So what’s the problem?

As a videograpger, I currently author all of my videos to DVD. While DVD’s still looks good at 480p, DVD is not HD(720-1080p). So why not just switch to a HD format disc? There is one major problem, the format war. We are currently in a format war, as there are two formats fighting for market share. These formats are HD-DVD and Blu Ray Disc.

In previous format wars the distinction between the formats in question was much greater. The problem in the current feud is that the formats are too closely alike. One has more movie studios backing it, the other is cheaper, one has had quality issues, the other has smaller storage. As an HD enthusiast I am not even sure which one I will choose.

Until one of the formats wins and becomes main stream I cannot back either one. There has to be a clear winner, and the player must be in grandma’s living room before I can. It just doesn’t make since right now to support a format that virtually nobody has. I do have plans to slowly move my cameras over to HD. I happen to be a Canon fanboy so I’m really looking at their new HD camera lineup. I hope this HD war is over soon and we can all just enjoy the great HD content that is available.

Apple is now Shipping Final Cut Studio 2

Jason Cypret — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:11:49 +0000

So if you haven’t heard, Apple released and is now shipping Final Cut Studio 2. Before I get in to the specifics of the new software update let me explain what Final Cut Studio is for those who may not know.

Final Cut Studio 2 helps take you beyond mere editing. Discover the intuitive power of new creative tools designed expressly for Final Cut Pro editors. Rapidly move through editing to motion graphics, audio editing and mixing, color grading, and delivery – all as a natural extension of the work you already do.

Final Cut Studio 2 puts a powerful new version of Final Cut Pro at the center of an integrated post-production workflow. Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Compressor 3, DVD Studio Pro 4, and Color – a brand-new application for professional color grading – are all included in Final Cut Studio for $1299.

Basically Final Cut Studio makes delivering a digital visual experience easier than ever. It is a professional program with a pro-sumer price tag. If you didn’t know we use Final Cut Studio here at JC Productions for all for our post processing video editing, authoring, sound, and delivery. If you are even a bit familiar with using Adobe CS3 you are familiar how all of the programs within the suite easily work together to bridge your creative activities across several programs. You should appreciate the same attributes within Final Cut Studio. You can move from editing in Final Cut Pro, to 3d graphics and titles in Motion, and mix down our audio tracks in Soundtrack Pro. This process really helps streamline the process.

So now you know what Final Cut Studio is all about, now find out what I am personally excited about. There are many external applications and plug ins for professional movie quality color correcting. Apple has finally made an exceptional color program built into the new version of Final Cut Studio. What does this mean for me. I will be able to achieve some of the great color effects you see in some of the most brilliant movies like 300, and Lord of the Rings.