Canon’s Super-Hot 8K EOS R5, Editing “Hamilton” and Whatever Happened to ProRes Raw?
Pro Studio News: July 15
Technology / Acquisition
Canon Mirrorless 8K EOS R5: How and Why It May Overheat During Video Recording
Less than a week after the announcement of the EOS R5, a mirrorless camera that can shoot 8K video, Canon has issued a statement about potential overheating of that camera and its companion, the 4K-only EOS R6. Specifically, Canon says, the EOS R5 can record in 8K/30p mode for only 20 minutes in a 73°F (23°C) environment before heat buildup may become an issue. (Some 4K modes have heat limitations, too, although 4K/30p in both full-sensor and APS-C crop modes is unlimited, per Canon.) And it takes a while for the camera to recover—wait 10 minutes, and you should be able to shoot for another three, or wait 20 minutes and shoot for another eight. An Overheat Control function, which is on by default, reduces the frame raster and rate while the camera is in standby mode to keep temperatures down. Canon also suggests turning the camera off, keeping it out of the sun, or even blowing on it with an external fan in order to dissipate heat in between recordings.
Why didn’t Canon design a fan into the EOS R5? The company says it wanted to maintain the camera’s “compact size, lightweight construction and weather resistance.”
The R5’s little brother, the EOS R6, should be able to record in its maximum-resolution 5.1K oversampled 4K/60p mode up to the full 30-minute recording limit without heat-related issues and up to 40 minutes in 4K/30p mode, Canon said. Before recording starts, both cameras display the estimated recording time available, based on current temperature and recording mode. Interested in other shooting modes? Newsshooter has all the details.
While these limitations are not exactly good news, they’re not deal-breakers. Many users won’t need to take any shots of more than a few minutes in length in the first place, but if you’re capturing a longish interview, you may need to settle for 4K/30p to keep the camera rolling for more than 20 minutes or so. And shooters with a legit use case for high-res acquisition will likely be willing to jump through a few extra hoops in exchange for a sub-$4,000 8K camera alternative. If that requires standing in the shade, blowing on the camera, or even planning 8K shots on a minute-by-minute basis, so be it. Just make sure you keep the camera (relatively) cool, or those recording times might get even shorter.
Source: Newsshooter
(By the way, if you’re interested in what footage from the camera looks like, watch the following—can we call it super cool?—test footage from Canon Ambassador Peter McKinnon released to YouTube last week.)
Two Years Later, Whither ProRes Raw?
Wondering why Apple’s ProRes Raw, announced to some fanfare back in 2018, never got traction among camera manufacturers as an on-board recording format? At his digitalfilms blog, Oliver Peters considers ProRes Raw and its past, present and future. (Hint: Atomos, maker of third-party recording devices that can turn a signal from any camera into a ProRes Raw file, is the only vendor that really matters here.) Source: digitalfilms
Creativity / Editing
Editor Jonah Moran on Hamilton
Were you impressed by the creativity of how Hamilton was staged for the screen, with cameras seemingly perpetually in exactly the right place to capture every nuance of the performances and stage blocking? Editor Jonah Moran sits down with Steve Hullfish for The Art of the Cut to talk about how they pulled it off—including the breakneck pace of the show, which seems in its first act to move from number to number almost as fast as a Ramones concert.
[Orchestrator and arranger] Alex [Lacamoire] would ask, “Can we take two frames out of the space between those songs? I know it wants to be faster.” I’d say, “Two frames, huh?” He says, “Yeah. Two frames.” And I’d nip it out and he’d say, “That’s it.” And that was it. Amazing!
The interview is also available as a 63-minute podcast.
Source: Pro Video Coalition/Art of the Cut
Business / Streaming
Palm Springs Breaks Hulu Records, Which Means … What, Exactly?
The Andy Samberg Lonely Island Classics vehicle Palm Springs apparently “broke records” on Hulu when it debuted last Friday. What does that mean? Was it bigger than Netflix’s same-day premiere of The Old Guard? Who knows? According to The Wrap, Palm Springs “earned more views than any other movie in its first three days after launching on July 10” and “was also the most discussed Hulu film on Twitter in its first three days.” That sounds good, sure, but because streaming services are notoriously stash with viewership data, it’s virtually meaningless. On the other hand, the title had better perform well. Hulu and Neon paid a record $17.5 million for it coming out of Sundance earlier this year. Source: The Wrap
Roku, Amazon Fire TV Say ‘No’ to NBCUniversal’s Peacock
NBCUniversal’s new Peacock streaming service will go online in both free and premium tiers tomorrow, but users who rely on the Roku or Amazon Fire TV platforms won’t have access. Roku and Amazon are apparently playing hard-to-get with media companies like NBCU — HBO Max remains famously unavailable on Roku or Fire TV after its late May debut, significantly limiting the streamer’s reach. And now the Peacock is set to suffer the same. At the root of the issue, according to Variety, is money. Roku and Amazon want more, and WarnerMedia and NBCU are balking. But the real issues are complex, touching on ad inventory, the rights to resell access to the services in Roku and Amazon’s own dedicated marketplaces, and marketing expenditures. One executive tells the trade paper that Roku and Amazon are exploiting their duopoly: “Get everybody on the platform and then change the game.” Source: Variety
Watch This >>
Apollo 16 in 60fps
YouTuber Dutchsteammachine used the newly developed DAIN frame-interpolation algorithm to temporally “upres” vintage 16mm Apollo 16 lunar rover footage from 12fps to 60fps. The results have a startling immediacy, almost like they were captured with a modern video camera just yesterday. (You can play with DAIN yourself via the free Dain-App if you have a Windows system and an Nvidia card that supports Cuda 5.0.)