DaVinci Resolve 18 Released

Today Blackmagic Design Released DaVinci Resolve 18

DaVinci Resolve 18

DaVinci Resolve 18 is a major release featuring cloud based workflows for a new way to collaborate remotely! You can host project libraries using Blackmagic Cloud and collaborate on the same timeline, in real time, with multiple users globally. The new Blackmagic Proxy generator automatically creates proxies linked to camera originals, for a faster editing workflow. Plus, support for Apple M1 Ultra gives you a powerful image processing engine, eliminating expensive cloud computing. There are new Resolve FX such as ultra beauty and 3D depth map, improved subtitling for editors, GPU accelerated Fusion paint and real time title template playback, Fairlight fixed to FlexBus conversion and more!

Read more about DaVinci Resolve 18 here.

Alternative Cross Platform Frameworks using XAML and C#

Xamarin, a platform on the Microsoft stack for building mobile apps using C# and XAML has some competition now. Xamarin is a great framework and it is going to get even better with the release of .Net 6 later this year. But Xamarin isn’t the only game in town for mobile development on the Microsoft stack. And the alternatives have something that Xamarin don’t, at least not yet.

Two of the competitors offer cross platform development so not only can you build a single application for IOS and Android you can also build for MAC OS, Linux and the web (WASM). As of this post some of the tooling is in the early stages but there is enough there to get started today.

The two alternatives to Xamarin for Cross Platform Development are the Uno Platform, which favors the UWP version of XAML and Avalonia, which favors the WPF flavor of XAML. I have been experimenting with all three of these platforms and can’t wait to see where they go as Microsoft build out and releases the Win UI libraries.

Uno Platform Cross Platform Development
Avalonia for Cross Platform Development

2021 Airfield Drags Promotional Videos

I am adding the first two promotional videos I worked on for the 2021 Airfield Drags events to this site.

Patty Cake Airfield Drag 2021 Announcement
Brian Scott Airfield Drag 2021 Story

If you want to find out more about this event you can check out their Facebook page here or their website here. The 2021 event is scheduled for August 7th 2021.

Airfield Drags 2020 Cover Girl
Airfield Drags 2020 Cover Girl

Both of these videos were done with a very narrow timeline so the “production value” isn’t perfect. But I do think the it is good enough for a starting point. I am posting to promote the event and to show where we started so as we get better at filming, editing and promoting our videos there will be a documented progression of our journey.

Spooky Three Rivers, MI. Take 2

This is my second installment of my Spooky Three Rivers challenge (to myself). In this one I am only using one video clip from MixKit’s free collection of stock video. The establishing shot is the old Three Rivers Hospital and the same one I used in the last video. Since most of the visual is from stock video I wanted to focus on the atmosphere around the clip.

Here is the media stack up from DaVinici Resolve

Spooky Three River 2

Since I have been collecting audio clips from so many sources over the last couple of years I don’t have a great way to credit all the sources for this scene. The vast majority of my sound effects have come from Singularity, CinePack and DaVinci Resolves free Foley Pack.

Spooky Three Rivers, Michigan

In my continuing effort to build my editing skill set. I have put together this 1.19 minute video, which includes some b footage I took last summer of the old Three Rivers Hospital, some stock clips from You Tube and several sound effects from Singularity. The idea is to create a series of Spooky clips using real places in Three Rivers, MI as the back drop for the month of October.

The ghosts and ghouls were pulled from some random green effects downloaded from You Tube. The building in the background is the old hospital from Three Rivers, Michigan shown without effect below). And the Silent Hill “ash” effect was actually a snow screen overlay that was added to the screen with some fog behind it to complete the “Silent Hill” effect. Although as I think about it now I am a little disappointed I didn’t add the emergency siren that was used in the movie.

Three Rivers Area Hospital

Most of the sound effects are from Film Crux’s Singularity Pack. And all of the lens flairs are from BusyBoxx. There are a couple of other effects packed into their also but I don’t have the source handy for this post. I will take better notes on the next one I do and include the source for all assets. The image below is how the media stacked up in the DaVinci Resolve editor.

DaVinci Resolve Media Stack

As I mentioned above my goal is to to do one of these a week for every week in October mostly because it gives me a structure around my goal of mastering the DaVinci Resolves NLE. If you live in or around the Three Rivers area and would like to collaborate on a project similar to this let me know in the comments or via email.

AUGUST 1, 2020 AIRFIELD DRAG RACE

UPDATE: Due to COVID-19 this event has been canceled for 2020. See you in 2021!

I am very excited to be a part of the first Airfield Drag Race, which will take place at the Dr Haines Municipal Airport in Three Rivers, MI on August 1, 2020.

AUGUST 1, 2020 AIRFIELD DRAG RACE

Join us for the adrenaline-pumping cars, vendor exhibits and live entertainment creating an atmosphere that is not one to miss! The Airfield Drags is a one-day event for the auto enthusiasts, but allowing both young and old a chance to step back into time, reminisce about the good ole days and enjoy the ride!

We are still in the early stages of planning but I would love for you to check out our website here, the FaceBook page here and tell us what you think about it. Also if you would like to volunteer at the event please send an email to info at airfielddrags dot com.

First Flight Around the Neighborhood

My first day light flight for my new Mavic Mini

Here is some video of my first flight around the neighborhood. I cannot wait for the days to get longer and the weather to get warmer so I can take this out and explore Three Rivers in a way that I have never been able to before.

This video was taken with my new DJI Mavic Mini

So I didn’t get a lot of flight time because of the temperatures at the time but I got enough to deserve a post seeing how this was the first time since I got it that I had good light and it wasn’t raining. Spring cannot come soon enough!

Video Post Production Work

Over the last couple of years I have been working on becoming an expert in DaVinci Resolve and video post production work in general. I have come a long way on both accounts but have been reluctant to post anything I have done. Because nothing I have did has risen to the level I would like to show it off to anyone but my family and friends. So in an effort to take my skills to the next level I am going to publish some mash ups of sound and music that I have put together starting with Cup Head Dance Class.

The music is Cup Head Rap by JT Music and the movie is “Swing Time” (1936) featuring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in their first dance number.