Dear Friends,

Our friend, Jim Arthurs, has produced an amazing video which explains Sony S-Log and Log footage in general.

This is a very informative video. Jim's goal is to thoroughly explain S-Log and its advantages without using highly technical words.

I feel that he did an excellent job.

The video is entitled "Better Living through S-Log":

Better Living Through S-Log on Vimeo

Sorry, I watched the video twice, even muted the hypnotic music the second time, and I have no idea what it was about. First it talks about Arri, but suddenly talks about Sony F3. So which is it? What about other cameras? Then again, the text moves in and out faster than I could read, so maybe that is why I did not get it. I really wish someone was talking instead of the fast moving text and the annoying background music.

Why not just use floating point numbers and fit the full scale between 0 and 1? That’s what all editors use internally anyway. And when you are finished editing, your output is not logarithmic, so what is the point of having all the range you cannot use anyway? Unless you want to release it on film, you can normally only use what the MPEG standard allows, and that is not much.

Would Sony Vegas be able to read those files?

Sorry, that video was confusing to me.

Dan... you've got mail!

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much!

Sorry, but I feel the same way as Adam. The text moves way too fast and the video makes Log confusing even though I already understand it. And that music is very distracting.

EDIT: I watched it again and it seems to be easier to understand if the viewer constantly pauses to read the text and associated images AND hit the mute button ;)

Loved the sound track. And my understanding of S-Log took a quantum leap in a positive direction. Yes, the pause button was handy, necessary, but I’m a slow learner even as the story was well told. Now when I get me an F3...

Great job Dan, very informative as you said; most helpful.

(What was that soundtrack?)

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your comments.

This is a work in-progress.

We intend to add more information to this video, over time, and we will take all of your comments to heart.

I do not know the music used.

Loved the sound track. (What was that soundtrack?)

I believe it may have been the oft-used "Bomb-bay to the Future" cut from the "Compendium of Annoying Music Programs for Industry" (www.campi-cuts.com) collection.

Updated OP to include Vimeo link...

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much!

I think the video was EXCELLENT!

One ? is what's the workflow to get the DPX files editable in the NLE? I don't believe FCP can use DPX, and I know Avid Media Composer can't. And I'm not aware of DPX transcoding programs other than Glue Tools.

But I do think the video was fantastic.

I think the video was EXCELLENT!

One ? is what's the workflow to get the DPX files editable in the NLE? I don't believe FCP can use DPX, and I know Avid Media Composer can't. And I'm not aware of DPX transcoding programs other than Glue Tools.

But I do think the video was fantastic.

I would have thought MC can handle DPX.

So, Premiere Pro is the only major NLE that can import DPX? (I know because I usually export DPX from After Effects and use within PPro).

I think Cineform can transcode DPX to Cineform.

Also, in one of my FXPHD classes, they used AE to convert a very large number of shots using expressions and possibly a script (to use as proxies).

EDIT: I found this for you: Avid | MetaFuze (http://www.avid.com/US/industries/workflow/MetaFuze)

Steve, thanks. I forgot about Metafuze, as it seems to be a product that Avid has been phasing out.

BTW, can DPX files be wrapped in Quicktime? If it's Quicktime wrapped, Avid MC can access it via AMA (Avid Media Access). Also maybe a DPX AMA plugin is being developed for MC.

Dear Peter and Steve,

We are working, on many fronts to make the Gemini 4:4:4's DPX files easy to use.

1. One can use the full uncompressed DPX files as is. (More on this later)

2. One can use the full uncompressed DPX files as the source for obtaining a compressed file format of your choice.

This allows one, during the file transfer process to obtain the file type (codec) of your choice, so you can use a familar workflow, if you so desire.

Then, whenever you wish, you can use a full compressed workflow when you are ready.

I had prepared a much more detailed response. Our lab manager is going to test various NLE's and their actual support as soon as possible, then I will post more information.

My goal is to be very accurate, as opposed to posting a reply immediately.