Jul 24

Ableton Live is something of a dichotomy. For live performance and remixing it provides the best possible software interface…which is seriously constrained by the worst possible hardware interface…a screen and a mouse. And if that’s not bad enough, running Live on a laptop, on stage, makes it look more like you’re surfing the web than performing. The answer is a control surface that frees you from the prison of the computer and lets you play ‘Live’. Although there are plenty of these around, until recently, none were optimal or optimised for working with Live. However, Akai Professional’s dedicated Live controller, the APC40, changes this. Continue reading »

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Jun 26

If you think that HDSLRs are the only game changer in town, think again. Over the last few years there’s been a revolution going on in lighting, at the forefront of which are Litepanels. In fact, their use of proprietary LED technology is so innovative that last year, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded them an Emmy! Continue reading »

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Jun 11

Ableton Suite 8 packshot

Ableton Suite 8 is 50 percent live performance instrument, 50 per cent digital audio workstation…and 50 per cent remix tool. If that sounds like 150 per cent…it is! Based around the latest release of Ableton’s now legendary ‘Live’ application, it adds into the mix no less than ten instruments and sample libraries. If you’re not already familiar with Live, either you’re an Alpha Centaurian Ostrich, or a member of Status Quo. Either way, you can familiarise yourself with what it is and does here. Continue reading »

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May 21

Oli Sorenson VJ Workshop

Last month, people travelled from all over the country to attend Oli Sorenson’s (AKA VJ Anyone) two day VJing workshop at OFVM in Oxford. Given that he is one of the world’s top five VJs (according to no less an authority than DJ Magazine) and the man behind London’s ‘AV Social’ and ‘Dark Fibre’ nights, it’s hardly surprising that his workshop proved so popular. Continue reading »

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May 09

Canon XF305

Canon recently gave me hands on access to their newly announced and yet to be released XF305 & XF300. Although I haven’t had a chance to shoot with them yet, I have seen ungraded footage from a couple of shoots on which they’ve been used and am extremely impressed with both the cameras themselves and the results they are capable of delivering. Continue reading »

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May 04

Vincent Laforet is a highly successful and award winning photographer who, back in 2008, managed to get hold of a prototype Canon 5D MKII for a weekend. The result was a visually stunning short film entitled ‘Reverie‘, that spread across the net like wildfire, capturing viewers imaginations and giving birth to the HD DSLR ‘movement’. Last weekend Laforet lead a workshop that, in its own way, was just as unique an experiment as that first short. Why? Because all three days were broadcast live on the net. Continue reading »

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Apr 15

NAB 2010

A week might be a long time in politics, but 24 hours is even longer in technology, as evidenced by this year’s NAB, which, regardless of the non attendance of some high profile companies, will go down in history as one of the most significant NABs ever. Continue reading »

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Feb 20

Two things were ubiquitous at this year’s Broadcast Video Expo, 3D and the Canon 7D. There was even a stand doing its best to exploit both trends, with a stereo 7D rig. Over on the Canon stand itself though, it wasn’t just the 7D that was causing the buzz… Continue reading »

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Jan 12

The Technofile 2010 Awards

At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s the start of a new decade and this, in conjunction with the Technofile celebrating its 5th birthday (albeit slightly belatedly) seems like the perfect opportunity to give out some awards. Unlike everyone else’s awards though, the Technies are not for the best of 2009, or even for the best of the noughties. They are for, what, in the opinion of The Technofile, is the best software and hardware currently available to creative professionals. Whether it was released yesterday or 5 years ago is immaterial, the only stipulation is that you can go out and buy it…or sit at home and download it (legally, of course) now. So, without further ado: Continue reading »

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Dec 11

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Classroom In A Book

When Adobe made Lightroom, they forgot to include the manual…or even any comprehensive offline help. However, they do publish an ‘official training workbook’, that is available as an optional extra. This does kind of beg the question, why can’t they just include its content in the Lightroom help menu, as doing so would offer a far better user experience. Whatever the answer, if you are serious about making Lightroom your photo editing and management software of choice, you’re going to need some help, because whilst, prima facie, it’s easy to used, like an iceberg, much of it’s might is buried, so this book comes highly recommended. Continue reading »

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