Multimedia Platypus
"House" season finale shot with a Canon EOS 5D
How about this, the season finale of the TV program "House" was shot entirely on a Canon EOS-5D. That's quite an endorsement for Canon. Here's the link to the article. According to the guy who shot the episode, Canon is bringing out some cine-style lenses to make it easier to actually shoot a lot of video with the camera. Interesting.
Canon EOS E1 Plug in for Final Cut Pro available
Canon's EOS E1 plug-in for Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing software is now available. The plug-in enables video captured with the EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS 7D and EOS 5D Mark II to be more-rapidly converted to the ProRes codec, plus it allows for the addition of timecode and other information to inbound footage.
The EOS E1 plug-in is available from several of the digital SLR support pages on the Canon USA website, including this page for the EOS 5D Mark II. Follow the link and then choose Mac OS X from the operating system popup menu to access the download.
There is a PDF of the user manual on the support page as well here and includes information on which resolution and frame rates are supported in the EOS E1 plug-in, in addition to basic guidance on its use.
A Canon Europe announcement last month described the plug-in this way:
The plug-in will convert EOS MOVIE footage to Apple’s high quality ProRes 4:2:2 codec at approximately twice the speed of Apple’s standard conversion. Additionally, users will also be able to add timecode, reel names and metadata to footage quickly and easily – further enhancing the experience of EOS MOVIE users when editing their footage.
The One Man Band
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has a very interesting column today on the "one-man band." He interviews Scott Broom, a former "coat and tie" journalist for 27 years and had to reinvent himself with the aid of a three-day boot camp. It's a good article and a highly suggested read.
This, by the way, is exactly what our Platypus Multimedia workshop is for, to help photographers who want to expand their knowledge into video and to turn reporters into video journalists to the point where they can do it all. Both Dirck Halstead and PF Bentley have been teaching this course a long time (ten years) and they know how to make journalists into better, all around journalists.
Camera Review Canon EOS-7D (from Photocrati)
Since the Platypus Multimedia workshop is using the Canon 7D I thought it appropriate to have at least one review of the camera on our site. I have been finding a lot of new sites lately concerning photography, some good and some bad. This one, photocrati is quite a nice site with lots of good stuff on it. I'll endeavor to excerpt from it on a regular basis and link to really good articles. Here is their review of the Canon 7D:
by Jack Neubart
I was all set to begin this review with a diatribe about all the negatives pertaining to movie shooting and Live View, but then thought better of it and opted to take the journey into 7D-dom with a positive foot forward. When you look at the real meat and potatoes inside this machine, you’ll discover, as I did, that when you peel back the movie capture veneer, the Canon EOS 7D is a very capable DSLR. 
Peter Turnley's look back on 1989
Peter Turnley, a Platypus Workshop alumni looks back at Eastern Europe in the summer and fall of 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and Europe threw off the shackles of communism. His video is on this CBS news site (ok you have to put up with the annoying commercial at the beginning). Have a look, there are some poignant photos and Peter has a nice take on what was happening in 1989 in his voice-over.
What Attendees to the Platypus Workshops have to say
If you are wondering what other people who have taken the Platypus Workshops are saying about the course, we suggest you have a look at the Platypus Workshop site, read some of the testimonials and watch some of the multimedia presentations which prior attendees have made.
