Advertising Agency and Production Company

Rest in Peace: Hillman Curtis

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:16:00 +0000

The creative community loses a multi-talented inspiration. Designer, author, and filmmaker Hillman Curtis sadly passed away on April 18th after a three year battle with cancer. At only 51, Curtis leaves behind an impressive body of work which includes numerous award-winning short films and the feature-length film Ride, Rise, Road about David Byrne and Brian Eno.

RED EPIC 5k Video Production Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:39:00 +0000

Are you developing your latest indie film? A Web video or TV spot campaign? Maybe it's an educational, training or recruiting video for your business. Whatever your "image" project calls for, you need to make a credible, memorable impact.

Our video arsenal begins here. We now have the RED EPIC digital cinema camera. The name is not an overstatement. The much anticipated addition to the RED family is the answer to the professional's wildest dreams and exists as the most sophisticated and capable camera ever engineered and built. The EPIC captures up to 300 frames per second. Its 5K, 14 megapixel resolution exceeds 35-millimeter film quality. It has unparalleled slow-motion and depth-of-field capabilities.

Professional, experienced and 100% reliable, Del Padre provides one stop shopping for all video production needs. If you have a message to deliver, a vision to share, or a product to launch,video is vital to your business. Non-Linear Editing, Compositing, 2D and 3D Motion Graphics, In-house Sound Recording Studio and the Best in the Industry Voice Over Talent are used in conjunction to create a powerful advertising campaign.

Digital Cinematography Showreel

Imagineer Systems Mocha Pro Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:34:00 +0000

This Incredibly Fast 64-bit Planar Tracker Will Help Any Facility Save Time Changing Elements in Even the Most Complicated Scenes - Nino Del Padre

The slight of hand we, as video editors, have to accomplish on a daily basis gets a little maddening at times. It's considered an easy day when all you have to do is blur out a copyrighted logo on someone's shirt who is moving in place slightly. No biggie. Then a couple of days before the deadline, the client calls and says legal can't clear a billboard and it needs to be removed. You know, that one behind his head... and a clump of trees... while the camera pans around them. That's when a good planar tracker comes in.

To handle that billboard, I typically go into After Effects, manually place the insert for the billboard and create and animate a mask for the object that is in front of said trees and talent. At least that’s how I used to do it. Then I found Mocha, from Imagineer Systems.

With a few quick splines, we were able to insert footage of the most updated versions of the app using the same original shot and create a clean roto for out talent's hands (the results are seen below). Without Mocha we would have had to re-shoot again just to show a slightly different menu in use.

Feature Sets

In addition to its existing planar tracker and rotoscoping tools, Mocha Pro adds a number of other features that help get the job done swiftly and efficiently. Mocha Pro's "Insert" feature tackles even tough movement situations, such as motion blur, with great results, and includes the ability to render out inserts with alphas so they are usable in other scenes. For further refinement, the mesh warp tool lets you distort the insert and make them “bend” around objects with more difficult angles. The 3D offset means you can further tweak tracking data, such as depth and rotation, making even subtle changes to the perspective of the surface easy to compensate for.

With Mocha Pro's removal tools, tracked layers are analyzed, taking lighting and shifts in luminance into consideration. With this tool, you can accurately remove objects behind other objects by “predicting” what is behind it; the calculations are based on what it found elsewhere in the footage. Removing simple things like boom mikes or even entire objects takes much less time than it did in the previous version. You can even get granular and use the software to remove blemishes and do digital makeup retouching.

All of your planar tracking and roto data can be exported to After Effects, Flame, Fusion, Nuke and a bunch of other important hosts.

A Very Easy Learning Curve

I found Mocha Pro much easier to use and learn than point tracking, where you draw a little box around a few pixels that have a high contrast and a bigger box around the area that you want to search. Point tracking works as long as you have a clear point to track. However, as the light in your scene changes, the perspective changes or the point is inevitably blocked by something else and the track will get lost and wander off.

Mocha Pro is a separate program and opens on your system onto one large window, which can be re-sized and moved around. The controls are laid out very well and once you figure out what the icons mean, it is pretty straightforward.

The tutorials on the Imagineer web site are really well done and offer in-depth lessons on almost every one of Mocha Pro's many parts. The online manual is also really good, with step-by-step instructions with pictures.

Performance

Mocha Pro is fast and we've found that it moves pretty quickly through HD files, producing amazing results. It takes a few minutes to make the tracks, depending on how complex and long they are. The way the software makes roto-masks and tracks them is where it really shines, however. The speed with which it does this means you'll blaze through most of your rotoscoping tasks. I'm talking about cutting times in half and, sometimes, even cutting the time down to 10% of the original. We've saved hours on each rotoscope job.

Nino Del Padre launched his Del Padre Digital in 1991. Today he oversees a business that now encompasses digital cinematography services, animation and interactive design solutions to ad agencies, corporate clients, broadcast networks and the entertainment industry, as well as partnerships with institutions as diverse as LEGO, Hasbro and NASA.

RED EPIC Camera Arriving Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:20:00 +0000

Yep we took the plunge! I have a RED Epic on order and will be trading in our RED ONE. We will be taking delivery by the end of December. It was a big decision. This was not buying a DSLR. This was a great deal of money. $58k for the package.

The name is not an overstatement. The much anticipated addition to the RED family is the answer to the professional's wildest dreams and exists as the most sophisticated and capable camera ever engineered and built. In a package one third the size of a RED ONE, resides a 5K Mysterium-X™ sensor and a 27 layer ASIC, the most advanced processor of its type in the world, enabling EPIC to capture up to 300 frames per second, each frame at full 14MP resolution. EPIC is engineered to be a DSMC™ (Digital Still & Motion Camera), a camera that excels in both worlds ... by design. Providing native dynamic range of over 13 stops and resolution that exceeds 35 mm motion picture film, this is the camera of the epoch. Add to that RED's newly developed HDRx™ extended dynamic range technology and EPIC boasts an amazing dynamic range of up to 18 stops.

The product of years of research and development by the world's leading engineers, EPIC represents the state-of-the-art in digital acquisition and positions RED as one of the world leaders in sensor design. Built upon the enormous success of the company's first camera, the RED ONE, EPIC represents the culmination of an effort to produce the world's best camera, as at home in the still photographer's world as it is in the motion picture world. Based on the concept of DSMC (Digital Still & Motion Camera) EPIC provides a camera with a 14MP sensor capable of shooting from one frame to 120 frames per second. Blurred forever is the line dividing still and motion.

Peter Jackson's two film adaptation of The Hobbit will be shot in 3D using RED DIGITAL CINEMA'S EPIC Digital Cameras.

The Hobbit will be amongst the first productions in the world to use the EPIC and 48 cameras will be required by the 3-D production. The EPIC'S small size and relatively low weight, makes it perfect for 3-D – where two cameras have to be mounted on each 3D rig.

Jackson has a long history with RED, dating back to when he directed the short film 'Crossing the Line' as a very early test of prototype RED ONE cameras. "I have always liked the look of RED footage." he says, "I'm not a scientist or mathematician, but the image RED produces has a much more filmic feel than most of the other digital formats. I find the picture quality appealing and attractive, and with the EPIC, Jim and his team have gone even further. It is a fantastic tool, the EPIC not only has cutting edge technology, incredible resolution and visual quality, but it is also a very practical tool for film makers. Many competing digital systems require the cameras to be tethered to large cumbersome VTR machines. The EPIC gives us back the ability to be totally cable free, even when working in stereo."

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com

Aimee Allen Music Video Los Angeles Movie Awards Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:55:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES September 26, 2011 - Del Padre Digital is thrilled to announce that the Aimee Allen “Calling The Maker” music video has just won two awards at the prestigious Los Angeles Movie Awards 2011. The video was competing in the music video category and won the Award for "Best Production Design" as well as an "Award of Excellence"

Director Nino Del Padre’s dark, Gothic video for US singer-songwriter Aimee Allen mirrors the twisted stark soundtrack of the single “Calling The Maker” from her album A Little Happiness.

The Los Angeles Movie Awards mission is to celebrate Independent Motion Picture and Literary Arts by providing a platform for filmmakers and writers to have an opportunity to be awarded for their work.

About Aimee Allen

Anybody can have their "rock," "punk" or "folk" phase—real artists transcend boundaries and genres so gracefully that their fans hardly blink an eye. Aimee Allen is that type of songwriter. The explosive, outspoken voice behind modern rock monsters "Revolution" and "If It Feels Right" (not to mention contributions to the Grammy-nominated Hairspray soundtrack and multiple best-selling, critically-acclaimed artists) unveils a more serene side of her personality on A Little Happiness. Despite her decision to record the album in the depths of a desolate Indiana winter, Happiness radiates her sense of home in the California sunshine—its 11 introspective, largely acoustic tracks conjure the simple bliss of a drive down to the Pacific.

The title of the record really says it all—on A Little Happiness, she courageously explores the reaches of elation and despondency, but never strays too far from the healthy, cautious optimism that defines her signature autobiographical storytelling. Allen's strongest collection of songs to date honors the painful journey she took to create them. "I've made a lot of lyrically shocking and dark music in the past. But once you have a brush with death, things change. I'm just stoked I've made a record that shines a little light, ya know?"

About Nino Del Padre

Nino Del Padre is a cinematographer who's been shooting and editing music videos, commercials, shorts, corporate and industrial spots professionally for twenty years. Clients include LEGO, Deftones, NASA, Tama Drums, NetFlix, Ibanez, Alice In Chains...etc. Learning through hands on experience and devotion to the art, Del Padre continuously strives to push beyond his own boundaries.

Del Padre has been honored with over 20 industry awards including honors from the Telly Awards, Addy Awards, named "Top 100 Producers" by Studio Monthly magazine's rundown for three consecutive years and “A Search For New Heroes”.

Del Padre founded Del Padre Digital in 1991, a hybrid production company; specializing in the field of advanced digital media, providing video production, mobile application design, custom software deployment and interactive marketing.

View “Calling The Maker” and other work by Del Padre at http://www.ninodelpadre.com

The Los Angeles Movie Awards Award of Excellence

Aimee Allen music video featured on Promo News

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:20:00 +0000

"Nino Del Padre’s dark, gothic promo for US singer-songwriter Aimee Allen mirrors the twisted stark soundtrack of new single Calling The Maker from her album A Little Happiness."

Celebrating the best in music video creativity, daily updates of music video news and information, links to high quality video files, and its ever-expanding archive – Promo News is the first stop for everyone who loves music videos, and everyone who makes music videos.

Aimee Allen ‘Calling The Maker’ by Nino Del Padre

Visit Site

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Aimee Allen "Calling the Maker" Music Video

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Aimee Allen "Calling the Maker" Music Video
Directed by Nino Del Padre

View more info and high rez video here
Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

DSC Labs CamAlign ChromaDuMonde Chart Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:49:00 +0000

Set Consistent Looks and Match Your Cameras As You Shoot Source: Studio Monthly

Modern cameras make great pictures right out of the box, right? That's often true, but accurate alignment to a precision Color Calibration Chart is essential to achieve a consistent "look" and quality standard.

In our professional life as videoraphers and filmmakers, we need to be able to agree on color. To do this we need a point of reference and to have a series of colors laid out in a consistent fashion to be able to determine colors and assign a name and value to a representation of that color. In the business of creating images, color is everything.

Making grading decisions with the naked eye is risky business, requiring both a perfectly calibrated monitor and the proverbial golden eyeball. This should rule out eye-balling color correction and scene-to-scene matching on your laptop. However, with a DSC chart, and color and waveform data to complement your NLE, you can make intelligent grading decisions even on a laptop.

Using a Color Calibration Chart also helps you make a number of other time-saving choices, including the following.

Matching Multiple Cameras
Camera matching becomes impossible without an accurate test pattern or analytical tools. No two cameras are identical, which makes it unreliable to upload the settings from one camera to another. The only way to match cameras effectively is to adjust the matrix settings of each camera using the same precision test chart under the identical lighting condition.

Adjusting Cameras During Production
Check and adjust cameras on the fly, and immediately see the effect of any hue changes on surrounding colors. When producing greenscreen and other digital special effects, Color Calibration charts provide precise information about how camera hue adjustments are affecting the full gamut of color reproduction. Image quality and consistency can be enhanced by recording chart information to tape or film, and using it in post as a baseline production reference. For scene-to-scene consistency, record a few chart frames with every lighting change. You'll expedite any color-correcting, matching footage, and digital/special effects you need to do in post.

Keep in mind that every time you recalibrate or re-time your shot in post, you're decreasing your signal's inherent quality. You're throwing away data that it needs. Today's DPs and digital/special effects technicians increasingly view DSC charts as necessities for optimizing their high performance cameras, and the production value of their images.

I had the pleasure of testing DSC Labs CamAlign CDM 28R Chroma DuMonde Color Calibration Chart, the latest addition to DSC's family of production-friendly CamAligns. These are high-performance charts with at least 12 precise colors and are made to the latest SMPTE 274M international colorimetry. Whether used in production or in post, these charts generate precise hexagonal-shaped displays for HD, SD and NTSC television images.

While every DP has his/her own technique for aligning a camera, they will typically use the procedure I tested. Testing with a Panasonic AG-AF100, I focused and framed it on the evenly lit CamAlign CDM 28R. I set the Iris mid-scale; the exposure/iris is adjusted to set the white chip of the DSC grayscale to 700mv. You should also check the tracking of RGB channels to ensure neutral reproduction across the grayscale. White and black balances are then set. Because all DSC colors combine to produce a neutral color balance, most cameras will white balance on a DSC color chart as accurately as it will on a TrueWhite card.

The Chart I was sent included pattern with the DSC Labs Cavity Black, for the ultimate black reference tool. Attached to the back of any CDM pattern, the CaviBlack folds out for use and then folds flat for convenient storage.

The charts from DSC Labs are manufactured to stringent color fidelity standards. Sometimes only one in 16 charts they print meet the rigid technical specifications they set for color. The narrow tolerances of DSC charts give users a higher level of confidence in knowing that placing color signals in the boxes should result in accurate color reproduction.

Recording a few seconds of a DSC test pattern on the set, at the head or tail of a scene, captures virtually everything a colorist needs to know to color correct or match scenes. Secondary colors from a DSC ChromaDuMonde pattern are especially useful when shot on set as they enable changes in lighting or exposure to be corrected in post with speed and efficiency.

In my opinion, CamAlign is the perfect accessory for the serious videographer. Careful adherence to a common set of calibrated references is critical for maintaining image quality on any HD project.

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Netflix Commercials

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 04:41:00 +0000

For all the teeth-rattling explosions and rock we do, sometimes even Del Padre knows when to turn it down a notch and give people something a little more simple. For our latest commercial project, Netflix wanted to sell the concept of “instant” for their :30 spot to be aired on YouTube and broadcast television. Completed in-house, including voice-over and music composition.

“Congratulations You Lost”

"Robot Servants"

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Panasonic AG-AF100 Camcorder Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:59:00 +0000

This Loaded HD Camcorder Gives You 35mm-like DOF for the Price of an HDSLR—Without Rolling Shutter or Moiré. Source: Studio Monthly

Ever since the introduction of the modern day video camera, digital filmmakers and producers of every genre have been striving for that elusive "film look." The advent of affordable high-definition camcorders like the Panasonic HVX200, with its cinema gamma and 24p recording, has brought us much closer to this. But no matter how good the lighting, composition and subjects are, one thing screams video from a mile away: the lack of cinema-style, shallow depth of field.

DOF, for the neophyte, is a distance range in which objects appear to be in focus. Deep DOF means more of the scene will appear in focus, shallow DOF means the range will be smaller and objects closer or further will appear blurred. Also known as selective focus, it’s artfully used by DPs to naturally draw the viewers’ attentions to the primary subject.

Here at Del Padre Digital, we have had great film-like results in the past with our Redrock M2 Cinema Lens Adapter mounted on our Panasonic HVX200 and, more recently, the RED ONE. In 2009 Canon released the 5D Mark II, primarily a digital SLR still camera, but also with the ability to capture 1080p HD video. This was the first affordable camera capable of mounting still camera lenses with an adapter. With its larger 35mm-sized CMOS sensor, the 5D offered groundbreaking control of depth of field.

Canon enjoyed—and still enjoys—tremendous success with the 5D, launching a huge DSLR video revolution. The one major drawback: the cameras were designed primarily as still cameras and are thus much more difficult to control ergonomically compared to already existing camcorders in terms of operation, handling and monitoring. You need to purchase so many extra accessories just to make it feel more like a video camera.

From lens adapters for cameras like the HVX200 to the pricey and rather large and heavy RED ONE there has been a need for 35mm-like depth of field in the form factor of a traditional video camera that accepts 35mm still or PL mount lenses. And if it’s going to sell, it’s got to be priced like an HDSLR.

A New Breed

Panasonic put it all together, answering many of our prayers, with their new AG-AF100 film-like digital camcorder. The AG-AF100 is the first professional HD camera recorder to adopt the Micro Four Thirds standards. I really think the AG-AF100 is a digital SLR killer. It’s a real HD camcorder with a form factor similar to the HVX200 and only a slightly higher price.

The AG-AF100 uses a 4/3-inch MOS sensor, which is virtually the same size as a 35mm Hollywood film camera. The MOS sensor has two control lines as compared to the three lines required by a conventional CMOS sensor, providing a larger light receiving area. Extensive noise reduction measures, such as embedded photodiodes isolated from noise sources and low-voltage operation, are also employed. By guiding more light to the pixels, the AG-AF100 achieves a wide dynamic range and detailed gradation with minimal blocked shadows or blown highlights in high-contrast scenes. You get exactly what you’re after: true-to-life textures and rich colors.

To create the amazing-looking shallow depth-of-field you get with the AG-AF100, Panasonic uses an optical low-pass filter, optimized for HD motion images, that reduces the aliasing noise often occurring in motion images captured by an image sensor with a high pixel density. In addition, the MOS image sensor is scanned at a high speed in order to minimize skew distortion.

The result, an HD video camcorder with all the usual camcorder features like white-balance, zebra stripes, cine-gamma settings, timecode recording, balanced XLR inputs with Phantom Power, 48-kHz/16-bit two-channel audio recording, HD-SDI out, HDMI out, headphone out, and a built-in optical ND (neutral density) filter wheel with 2, 4 and 6 stops, so you don’t have to mess around with dropping ND filters into a matte box anymore. You can shoot in bright conditions and use these ND filters to get the lens open for depth of field control with no need to change the shutter speed.

The AF100 records 1920 x 1080 full-HD images. The AVCHD PH mode is compatible with multiple HD formats, such as 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p and 720/60p. Additionally, the AG-AF100 series lets you select 60 Hz or 50 Hz to support HD systems used around the world. It also has a variety of over- and under-cranking frame rates in 1080p, which will be familiar to anyone who has used Panasonic’s VariCam series and HVX200 cameras. The camera shoots in AVCHD format at up to 24 Mbps using dual SDXC cards.

Impressive Heft, SD Memory and On-Camera Controls
My first impressions of the camcorder body itself were very good. For starters, it was surprisingly smaller than I pictured it would be in person but it felt solid and all the switches, dials and controls are logically laid out and easy to get to. The camera was shipped to me with a Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 lens.

Something that impressed me was the vast volume of footage I could record on SDXC cards. I ordered a Patriot 16GB Card for less than $30 that gave me about 90 minutes of recording time in the highest quality PH Mode at 1920 x 1080. I’m more accustomed to the RED and P2 cameras, where you have to keep your shooting ratio in the back of your in mind, as you can run out of available media if you’re not careful. By contrast, the SDXC cards are so cheap and hold so much footage, there’s really no concern here. You can shoot non-stop all day long on a handful of cards and never have to stop to download if you don’t want or don’t have time to.

The Panasonic AG-AF100 takes interchangeable lenses. Simply buy the adapter you require and stick on your Canon, Nikon, Olympus or a PL-mount lens.

The camcorder has a foldout HD LCD screen. The 3.45-inch LCD screen has very good definition with vibrant colors, making it easy for setting white balance and other basic color adjustments. The screen also displays a very cool waveform monitor for exposure tools with the usual two levels of zebras and colored peaking focus assist with a red/blue outline. There is also a spot meter, and a vector-scope. All these on-board tools make achieving perfect focus and exposure a breeze. I can’t say this enough: The waveform and vector scopes are absolutely fantastic aids that make judging exposure refreshingly easy.

Located behind the LCD screen are various buttons for BARS, ZEBRA, OIS (optical image stabilizer), EVF DTL (electronic viewfinder detail), WFM (waveform monitor), COUNTER, TC SET, and audio controls for CH1 SEL, CH2 SEL, INPUT 1 and INPUT 2. Below the LCD screen you’ll find the usual controls for PUSH AUTO-FOCUS, a FUNCTION mini joystick, USER 1, DISP/MODE CHECK, POWER ON/OFF, CAMERA/MEDIA MODE, IRIS with a dial wheel, GAIN, WHITE BALANCE, USER 2, AUDIO CH1 and CH2 level wheels.

The removable battery is found on the back of the camera where, just above this, you’ll also find two slots for SDHC or SDXC solid-state cards with a cover. To the left of the battery is a SLOT SELECT button, a DIAL SELECT button and a SHUTR/F.RATE dial. I particularly like these on the back of the camera, which let me change my shutter speed, frame rate, and other functions right there on the camera using the dial and the DIAL SELECT button. Previously, I would have had to dig around in the menus—a huge time waster. To the right side of the battery are inputs/outputs for AV OUT, USB 2.0, HDMI, INDEX, CAMERA REMOTE, HEADPHONES and HD/SDI.

Lenses Galore
The Panasonic AG-AF100 has a 4/3-inch Bayonet Micro Mount for interchangeable lenses. This is a digital photographic still camera standard lens mount established by Panasonic and Olympus. This 4/3rd mount is the same one found on digital SLR stills cameras such as Panasonic’s own Lumix models. You can choose from any of Panasonic’s Lumix 4/3-inch mount lenses; they just mount right on. If you have a stack of Nikon AIS or Canon FD lenses from the 1980s, just buy an adapter (literally a mechanical adapter with no optics, so no loss in quality) and use those.

35mm filmmakers will be glad to know that you can also fit C-mount Cinema lenses and Professional PL mount lenses and other 35mm primes to the AG-AF100—again, with the use of an optic-free adapter.

Here’s the lowdown on the recording formats the AG-AF100 supports:
1080/50i, 1080/25p, 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p, 720/50p, 720/25p, 720/60p, 720/30p, and 720//24p. The AVCHD recording options are PH (21 Mbps - Max. 24Mbps), HA (17Mbps), HE (6Mbps), HA, and HE only for 1080/60i and 1080/50i.

The AG-AF100 has a lot of potential, and I’d definitely choose it if the alternative was an HDSLR. Its layout and controls are familiar and it’s designed to do what it does, so it’s much faster and easier to program, judge focus and expose than an HDSLR. It also doesn’t create moiré or rolling shutter artifacts the way an HDSLR will.

If you love the shallow depth of field and image control you can get with film cameras and DSLRs but want the ergonomics and affordability of an HD camcorder, this is the camera you’ve been waiting for.

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Mark Romanek Music Video Montage Awarded 2011 Telly Award

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:59:00 +0000

Mark Romanek Music Video Montage Awarded 2011 Telly Award

The 32nd Annual Telly Awards competition, which honors the nation's best in local and regional television, video, Web and film production, will soon present Del Padre Digital with a statuette for a six minute music video montage of famed director Mark Romanek's music video work. This is the fifth such award for the creative marketing agency, the second one in 2011. Del Padre will receive a Bronze Telly for outstanding editing. The video features 25 of Romanek's music videos of some of the greatest artists of a generation from Nine Inch Nails, Michael & Janet Jackson to Johnny Cash.

“In the early 1990's my career was inspired and motivated by the music video's Romanek” said Nino Del Padre, president and founder of Del Padre Digital.anet Jackson", "Jay Z", "Johnny Cash", "Linkin Park", "Mark Romanek", "Music video production", "music video", "Music Videos", "Nine Inch Nails", "Nino Del Padre", "No Doubt", "Sonic Youth", "video production", "Weezer"

“This montage is very well done and I am very flattered by it.” Romanek commented on the winning entry.

About Mark Romanek

Award-winning director Mark Romanek crosses adeptly between commercials, music videos and feature films. His artistically poignant work has gained critical and commercial acclaim across the advertising and entertainment worlds.

Romanek worked alongside David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry – the next generation of filmmakers who crossed over from 30-second spots and three-minute promos into the fertile feature ground of Hollywood.

Romanek’s music videos have received numerous awards, including over two-dozen MTV awards, three Grammys, a Country Music Association Award, and three Billboard Music awards. Two of Romanek’s music videos have become part of the permanent collection of New York's museum of modern art.

He has three films to his name so far: Static with Keith Gordan, One Hour Photo starring a dark and twisted Robin Williams and recent release Never Let Me Go with young actors Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. He has got to work with some of the greatest artists of a generation including Iggy Pop (‘Beside You’), Madonna (‘Rain’) and Jonny Cash (‘Hurt’) to name just a few; of course his most famous music video is ‘Scream’ with Michael and Janet Jackson, which the Guinness Book of World Records has as the most expensive music video ever made.

About Del Padre Digital

Del Padre Digital, Inc. has entered it's 20th year of serving worldwide customers with a broad array of interactive marketing solutions. Established in 1991, Del Padre Digital is a creative and marketing agency providing digital cinematography, video production and interactive marketing services to advertising agencies, corporate clients and the music / entertainment industry.

Videos included in the montage:
Jay Z - 99 Problems
Linkin Park - Faint
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Audioslave - Cochise
No Doubt - Hella Good
Mick Jagger - God Gave Me Everything
Janet Jackson featuring Joni Mitchell and Q-Tip - Got Til It's Gone
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Nine Inch Nails - Perfect Drug
Beck - Devil's Haircut
Weezer - El Scorcho
Eels - Novocaine for the Soul
Sonic Youth - Little Trouble Girl
Michael & Janet Jackson - Scream
Madonna - Bedtime Story
R.E.M. - Strange Currencies
G. Love & Special Sauce - Cold Beverage
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
David Bowie - Jump, They Say
Madonna - Rain
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
Keith Richards - Wicked as it Seems
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
kd lang - Constant Craving

About The Telly Awards

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and web commercials, videos and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.

In addition to Del Padre, other winners include AOL Media, CBS Television, Comcast Spotlight, Cox Sports Television, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Fox Sports, Golf Channel, Harpo Studios, Hasbro, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, NBC Universal, New York Jets and The Weather Channel.

To find out more about the Telly Awards, please visit www.tellyawards.com

Del Padre Digital wins 32nd Annual Telly Award

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:49:00 +0000

The 32nd Annual Telly Awards competition, which honors the nation's best in local and regional television, video, Web and film production, will soon present Del Padre Digital with a statuette for the creative showcasing of its work. This is the fourth such award for the creative marketing agency. Del Padre will receive a Bronze Telly for their digital cinematography demo reel that highlights the firm's work in 2010.

About Del Padre Digital

Del Padre Digital, Inc. has entered it's 20th year of serving worldwide customers with a broad array of interactive marketing solutions. Established in 1991, Del Padre Digital is a creative and marketing agency providing digital cinematography, video production and interactive marketing services to advertising agencies, corporate clients and the music / entertainment industry.

About The Telly Awards

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and web commercials, videos and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.

In addition to Del Padre, other winners include AOL Media, CBS Television, Comcast Spotlight, Cox Sports Television, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Fox Sports, Golf Channel, Harpo Studios, Hasbro, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, NBC Universal, New York Jets and The Weather Channel.

To find out more about the Telly Awards, please visit www.tellyawards.com

Auto Climax Control "Cabin Fever" Red One Music Video

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:26:00 +0000

Auto Climax Control "Cabin Fever" Music Video Shot on the RED ONE Directed by Nino Del Padre

Why Your Website on Mobile Shouldn't Be Phoned In.

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:26:00 +0000

Del Padre welcomes you to a new year (and a new decade, if you're one of those that consider the “10th” in a series of years as the last year of a decade, and not the first year of a new one). Another Christmas season has come and gone, and its time to hunker down and get back to work. Check on the loot you scored this season. If a modern smart phone is amongst your new stuff, then your business may have received a gift of its own. For one, it can be used to take advantage of QR codes, as we explained in a previous post, but even more so, your phone can finally now surf the web with a level of quality that can rival your desktop, complete with high-quality pictures and text, streaming video, Adobe Flash (if you have an Android). And with the deluge of phone deals from every major retailer during the run-up to Christmas, including tempting two-for-one deals, its a lot more than people of business who can find you on the web via a phone. You may have heard of another rumbling where internet-ready mobile devices will overtake desktops as the way people view the web by 2015, according to analysts from Morgan Stanley. A couple of years ago on lesser phones, this would have been laughable. Now that statement is much more solid and believable.

So, go visit your site on that fancy phone of yours. How does it look? Have your thumb and index finger been getting a workout with all the pinching and scaling you need to do to see the content on your site? The problem is that a majority of sites were built with the desktop in mind, because, well, that was the only feasible game in town, where mobile browsing was “cute”, at best, with drastically scaled back abilities on tiny non touchable screens. Now we have the visual power, more or less, but still have a screen with a size and resolution much smaller than a traditional desktop. Does your web presence adapt well to this environment, or is your finger swishing left and right to constantly scroll the desktop sized content, coupled with pinching to read your text in that small but-oh-so-stylish font size you love? If your site isn’t up-to-snuff for mobile, don't feel bad, only 40% of the top 1,000 websites have a mobile version, and that percentage plummets to under 20% when you expand the pool to the top 500,000 most visited sites.

So should this be a concern for you? Will you be losing business left and right because people are having difficulty viewing your site on their smartphone, and are passing you by? Don't panic. Right now, despite the trend going mobile, we predict that not all industries need to be concerned about how they are represented on mobile devices, at least not yet. There are some industries, however, that need it a lot more than others. Let's make this totally clear now, if you are a nightclub, restaurant, or any other hot spot, you NEED to get on mobile. Yesterday. More and more savvy young people in the nightlife determine their night's activities based on or near the spot. They'll be away from the computer or TV, so websites they can access on their phone can be the difference-maker. This goes even more so if your sales are based on tourism traffic. Its one thing to attract the attention of locals that are familiar with you and your competitors, but tourists that don't know the area mean a level playing field, and are likely to use the variety of travel-based search engines (like TripAdvisor) to find a place to eat or go have fun during their stay. If you have a version of your site that's well-designed for mobile, with easy-to-read copy and layout, while your competitor's “all-in-one” (ie no mobile, all desktop) frustrates them, you could win another family of four coming to dine at your place. Foot-traffic based businesses can also take advantage of location-based apps such as the popular Foursquare to drive traffic to their location. We'll cover some strategies using these unique location-based phone apps in a future blog post (which, by the way, will be happening with much more frequency in 2011).

On the other hand, if your model is more B2B, you may be able to hold off on a mobile version of your site for now, for the simple fact that its much more likely that your clientele is spending their day in front of a traditional desktop or laptop, and is doing just fine with what they got right now. One thing to consider, regardless of your industry, is that Google has a separate index for mobile content, and that index is still in its relevant infancy, so having a mobile site and site map for that index can put you ahead on mobile searches by default alone, and give you a jump when your competitors finally get on board.

Sooner or later, you need to consider targeting other platforms other than the desktop for your website. Contact us at Del Padre for a consultation, and together we'll see where you are currently and what you need to do to better position yourself for that portal to the world that’s in your hand.

Del Padre Digital, Inc. celebrates 20 years of video and interactive marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Del Padre Digital, Inc. announced today that they will be celebrating their 20th year of serving worldwide customers with a broad array of interactive marketing solutions. Established in 1991, Del Padre Digital (www.delpadre.com) is a digital creative and marketing agency providing digital cinematography, video production and interactive marketing services to advertising agencies, corporate clients and the music / entertainment industry.

Browsing through the hundreds of customers in Del Padre’s database, one will discover a virtual cornucopia of who’s who in business. From the smallest in local sole proprietors to the multimillion dollar International corporations, Del Padre Digital and its growing team are continually positioning themselves to be in the forefront of melding the very latest in technology and design with sound and innovative marketing solutions.

In celebrating its Platinum Anniversary, Del Padre has firmly established itself as a leading source for all digital media marketing, full online web application development, 3d animation, CDROM/DVD presentations and digital video cinematography.

“We are fortunate and blessed to have assembled an impressive team that is extremely qualified in every aspect of what we do and equally passionate about keeping Del Padre Digital on the leading edge of innovation with our products and services,” said President and CEO, Nino Del Padre.

“Additionally, the vast majority of our business comes through word of mouth from our existing customers. That alone, is the greatest compliment a business can receive and we work diligently to maintain that honor.”

Starting his company videotaping weddings and running the business out of a walk in closet in 1991. “So much has changed, back then, I was working on a Newtek Video Toaster running on a 33 MHz Commodore Amiga, and non linear editing was not available to the masses until 1995.”He further went on to say, “I have seen and used so many different technology’s and formats from S-VHS video to our current 4k RED ONE motion picture format”

Del Padre recently took delivery of a RED ONE, an entirely new digital motion picture camera and the first that matches the detail and richness of analog film after being on a waiting list for over a year. It has an expansive format in which to shoot and handle post-production, with over five times the amount of image information available each frame when compared to a typical HD rig.

Although the economy has fluctuated greatly over the last two decades, Del Padre proudly dons the badge of continued growth. In each of its 20 years, the company has experienced positive growth in both total sales and net profit.

Socially conscious, Del Padre is also a firm believer in doing well by doing good. Over the years, Del Padre Digital has donated tens-of-thousands of dollars in time, money and resources to support a large variety of charitable organizations.

Del Padre first set it roots in 1991 as Del Padre Video Productions, a wedding and event video company headed by Del Padre. As a young man growing up in the MTV era; Del Padre’s personal qualities and tireless work ethic were chiseled from a passion for the art of photography and an insatiable fascination with the music video's of the time, especially the work of directors David Fincher and Mark Romanek. Del Padre studied new media and website design in 1994 and launched version 1.0 of delpadre.com over 16 years ago at the early stages of the Internet. A subtle name change evolved into Del Padre Visual Productions after Del Padre recognized and answered the emergent needs of the surrounding community to have a broad array of quality multimedia marketing services. After several years, Del Padre Visual Productions evolved into Del Padre Digital, Inc. in order to better define the growing multitude of diverse services that the company provides.

“In these 20 years, we have seen a lot of competitors come and go, but Del Padre Digital is still going strong,” says Del Padre. “The whole industry is suffering from the worldwide economic crisis” he continues, “but we are growing and expanding into new markets. We have become a truly integrated marketing agency, offering a diversified service spanning all aspects of production. The company has plans to target digital cinematography more aggressively in the coming year to the music industry offering music video production, Del Padre's first true love.

The company has headed up projects all over the world while working with such companies as Ibanez, Tama, NASA, LEGO, Hasbro, Parker Brothers, Grammy award winning bands The Deftones and Alice In Chains and has even appeared on the Howard Stern Show for the cutting edge website design for radio host and author Riley Martin.

The Del Padre team has been honored with many accolades and awards in the past 20 years including several Telly Awards, Addy Awards, being named "Top 100 Producers" by Studio Monthly magazine's rundown for three consecutive years and being nominated by Rob Burgess of Macromedia (Adobe) for the Computerworld Honors Collection for the NASA STS 107 project “Space Research and You”.The case study is archived in 30 countries as a leading example of how IT is used in Media, Arts & Entertainment to benefit society.

About Del Padre Digital

Founded in 1991, Del Padre Digital is a digital creative and marketing agency providing digital cinematography, video production and interactive marketing services to advertising agencies, corporate clients and the music / entertainment industry.

For more information on the history of Del Padre Digital:
www.delpadre.com

For further information please contact:

Mark Archer
Del Padre Digital
866-792-3282
dvp@delpadre.com

10 High Points in Digital Cinematography

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:52:00 +0000

Just a few years ago, it was considered a safe bet that Academy Awards in the field of cinematography would be reserved for movies that were shot on film. Some industry insiders felt digital acquisition still wasn’t up to snuff, and even the technology’s true believers often detected a conservatism among voting Academy members who weren’t sure they were ready to stop worrying and love digital cinema.

But now, all that has changed. In 2009, the winner for best picture and best cinematography was Slumdog Millionaire, a showcase for footage acquired with the SI 2K camera system alongside film cameras. And in 2010, the completely digital Avatar, acquired with Sony CineAlta cameras mounted on PACE 3D rigs, won the cinematography award — raising some eyebrows, given that so much of the film took place with computer-generated characters on virtual locations. This year, The Social Network (shot with Red cameras) and 127 Hours (shot with the SI 2K plus Canon DSLRs and other high-speed digital cameras) have to be considered Oscar front-runners in a number of categories, cinematography among them.

No, digital still doesn’t look like film. It might look better for one movie and worse for another one. But we’ve reached a point where it’s ideal for some projects. On reflection, and as Oscar season starts to crank up, I took a look back at some of the films whose pioneering work helped get us here, and tried to think about how their aesthetic achievements — the look of the film, not necessarily the technical workflow that got it on screen — helped make the case for digital cinematography.

The Company (2003)
Directed by Robert Altman
Shot by Andrew Dunn
Primary camera: Sony F900

I might be going out on a limb here by starting with the late Robert Altman’s cinema verité-style ballet drama, The Company. You probably won’t find this on any other lists of digital cinematography landmarks, but the film has a lush, coruscating look that’s highly unusual, even for films shot on HD. The soft glow plays nicely against the warmth of the long dance sequences depicted, a look that seems to be partly the product of a cinematographer who didn’t want to play nice with the video cameras. “A lot of the things I was warned about, like highlights and hot windows, I wanted,” cinematographer Andrew Dunn told DV magazine at the time. “Rick Thomas, the gaffer, and I were deliberately creating those things, because otherwise you end up with that flat, mediocre, video look.” Combined with Altman’s penchant for overlapping dialogue and his ever-searching camera, the results might not have been hugely influential — but they showed an old master adapting quickly, and without fuss, to the new technology.

Sin City (2005)
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
Shot by Rodriguez
Primary camera: Sony F950

When the first footage from Sin City was released to an eager audience at ComicCon — and leaked to the Internet shortly thereafter — it had the feel of something honestly revolutionary. Viewers who were familiar with the sleek monochrome style of Frank Miller’s comic-book franchise marveled at what Robert Rodriguez planned to accomplish. When the film came out, sure enough, the Sin City comics were up there on screen. Nobody before had managed to so comprehensively translate a graphic look from the printed page, largely because the appropriate digital tools for that level of image control didn’t exist yet. Sure, there was Star Wars — but that’s filmmaking on an entirely different scale. And the look of Sin City contrasted greatly with the lush, detailed backgrounds of Attack of the Clones, offering a stark template for next-generation efforts like 300 (2006) and Miller’s own The Spirit (2008). Sin City is one of those movies that suggests that, with the right tools plus enough creativity and imagination, any kind of image-making is possible.

Apocalypto (2006)
Directed by Mel Gibson
Shot by Dean Semler
Primary camera: Panavision Genesis

Apocalypto is a pretty movie, to be sure. But it’s important because it’s such an ambitious movie. Shot in the jungles of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the action-adventure movie about the 16th century Mayan Empire was a test case for how well the Genesis would perform under uncontrolled and often uncomfortable conditions. The answer, judging by what’s on screen? Like a champ. Whether it’s capturing the subtle interplay of sunlight with tree leaves in the canopy overhead or making the absolute most of available light during a night shoot, the film’s digital imagery seemed only to enhance the film’s you-are-there sense of space and time. Dean Semler’s success had to make other cinematographers more comfortable heading onto their own locations with the camera.

Crank (2006)
Directed by Neveldine/Taylor
Shot by Adam Biddle
Primary cameras: Sony F950, Canon XL-2

The writing/directing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor brought in this over-the-top action epic starring Jason Statham at a reported budget of just $12 million and a running time of just 93 minutes. The results testify to their DIY attitude. They operated their own cameras, shooting mostly with the Sony F950 but falling back on the XL-2 as a lightweight crash cam. The XL-2’s MiniDV is cut more or less seamlessly into the HD footage, and the resulting POV footage just amps up the film’s frantic feeling. The tactic was in use by other cinematographers as well — for example, Rodney Charters famously put mini HDV cameras and other digital formats to work on the set of 24, capturing lots of test footage and also occasionally cutting those shots into the 35mm show. (Viewing audiences never noticed the difference.)

Miami Vice (2006)
Directed by Michael Mann
Shot by Dion Beebe
Primary cameras: Sony F900, Thomson Viper

Michael Mann is a director who embraces digital formats not as the equivalent of 35mm film but as something else entirely. He took some heat for the look of his next film, Public Enemies (2009), which brought gritty video textures to what would have been a lush period piece in any other director’s hands. Some found that grating. But Miami Vice is a breathtaking visual accomplishment, using the sensitivity of HD cameras to create unrivalled nighttime cityscapes without much regard for whether the results looked traditionally film-like. Along with Collateral (2004), another boundary-testing movie that featured detailed but sometimes noisy after-dark photography, Miami Vice was key in pushing the envelope of digital cinematography.

Zodiac (2007)
Directed by David Fincher
Shot by Harris Savides
Primary camera: Grass Valley Viper

Harris Savides, a terrific cinematographer, reportedly wrestled a bit with the “synthetic quality” of the images out of the Viper camera, but they really set the tone of David Fincher’s movie — less a serial-killer story than a psychological drama about obsession. Painstaking CG recreations of San Francisco in the 1960s and early 1970s meshed with location photography, giving the film a grim and haunting sense of the hyperreal as Savides’ camera peered deep into the shadows of the California night. It wasn’t a big success at the box office or at the Oscars, but it was a virtuosic showcase for all the tools available to the contemporary filmmaker.

Speed Racer (2008)
Directed by The Wachowski Brothers
Shot by David Tattersall
Primary cameras: Sony F23, Phantom HD/v10, NAC Hi-Motion

Yes, Speed Racer. It took a drubbing from both critics and audiences, who as it turned out could not have been much less interested. But the film is a unique hypervisual experience full of color and light and interesting, outside-the-box effects. It’s just possible that it’s too hypervisual — the TV spots looked almost like ads for a pinball machine. I saw it in a huge New York City theater where the blow-up to IMAX resolution actually caused the picture’s fine details to break up a little bit on screen. But watching it on Blu-ray is like opening a box of candy — the image has a sugary intensity that lights the way for any filmmaker with the budget to finance that kind of sweet tooth.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Shot by Anthony Dod Mantle
Primary cameras: Silicon Imaging SI 2K, various Arriflex film cameras

You could argue the Boyle/Mantle movie that really belongs on this list is 28 Days Later (2002), which proved that you could shoot a scary movie on DV without compromising your visual impact or limiting yourself to Blair Witch first-person shakycam. But Slumdog gets the nod for breaking the Oscar barrier. Though much of the film was shot on 35mm film, this became the first movie with a significant proportion of digitally acquired footage to take the cinematography award. Boyle’s visual stylings were playful in other ways, such as his imaginatively rendered on-screen subtitles, making the film a terrific showcase for Silicon Imaging’s camera technology.

Antichrist (2009)
Directed by Lars von Trier
Shot by Anthony Dod Mantle
Primary cameras: Red One, Phantom HD

The bleak mood and messages of the polarizing Antichrist were never going to earn its director or cinematographer any Oscars. In fact, in this case “bleak” is probably an understatement. But the imagery is a veritable master class in digital cinematography. The bulk of the film is shot, to maximum alienating effect, with the Red One, with which Mantle delivers a dark, contrasty image that often verges on monochrome. And then there are the super-slow-motion interludes, captured with the Phantom, that depict dreamlike visions and memories with mesmerizing, perfume-commercial clarity. Moving back and forth between his work for Lars von Trier and Danny Boyle (and from DV to HD and beyond for both directors), Mantle has established himself as a leading light in the field of digital cinematography.

The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
Directed and shot by Steven Soderbergh
Primary camera: Red One

Soderbergh’s study of sex and the recession is set in a panoply of luxe Manhattan locations, which are lent exceptional warmth and tactility through the almost noiseless 4K photography enabled by the Red One. His approach made real-life porn star Sasha Grey, who plays a very high-end prostitute, look like a precision-engineered product being advertised in a high-end TV spot — the ultimate commodity in a depressed consumer culture. Here’s a film where the look is super-important, and it makes a statement that wouldn’t have quite the same kick if it were captured to 35mm film.

Via: Bryant Frazer

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

QR Barcodes Reads a New Form of Advertising for Your Audience

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 02:58:00 +0000

Let's face it: barcodes are an unappreciated lot. The only one who ever pays attention to them is the kid scanning your items at the checkout, and even that's for only seconds at best. And we don't blame you for finding that a little underwhelming, since all a UPC code does is provide a number to match a product with an item in the store's database. Great if you're a fan of inventory control...not terribly interesting for virtually everyone else. However, trade in the straight lines for boxes in a unique pattern, and you have a new medium for people to get your information, and if used correctly, can be part of a cutting-edge media campaign.

The Quick Response (QR) barcode has been around for roughly a decade. Developed by Denso Wave in Japan, QR-codes started as a way of tracking parts by vehicle manufacturers. With one quick scan, the user now has the make, model, and other information a regular UPC bar code wasn't able to hold. Over time, this new form of barcode became popular in industries as a way of portraying instant information, allowing more complex information and instructions to be read by machines with barcode-reading abilities to do their job more efficiently. However, the QR barcode remained something of interest to industry and packaging only, due to barcode readers not being carried by the general user.

The thing is, there's a fairly good possibility you have a bar reader on your person now. Really, we're not kidding. It's your Smartphone.

Take out your phone and look in your apps. If you have an Android phone, chances are very good you have a barcode scanner app already installed stock. If you're an iPhone user and don't see anything that looks like a barcode scanning app, do a search for “QR Reader” and download it (its free). For Blackberry, try http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/ . In either case, if you do a search in your app store, you're bound to find other QR readers, but not all readers are created equal. Save yourself the trouble and either use the stock reader (Android) or QR Reader (iPhone), and you can start checking out codes.

Got a reader going? Good. Now turn it on and scan this:

Cool, huh? Now you can save that information directly to your phone's contact list, or from there call the number, get directions to the office, or send an email. No more fumbling around getting that new client and all his means of contact on your phone. These QR patterns can be printed on the back of your business card and will help your people on the streets make sure their clients get all their information.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, and QR codes can be used in more creative ways. QR codes are a huge benefit for targeting a young adult market, who is savvy to technology such as this, and has already been put to good use for forward-thinking retailers such as Best Buy. Imagine making shirts with a code that goes to your site showcasing your new product. Codes can be put into your print advertisements, perhaps linking to exclusive content not normally accessible via your site (cool technology usage + access to exclusive stuff = guaranteed click-through). At a trade show, have individual barcodes next to each of your products to let visitors take away information (without costly pamphlets) . If you're into guerrilla marketing and want to drive some traffic to your booth at a show, perhaps set up a few QR codes throughout your convention center. One thing we suggest if you're going to link to online content is to make sure that the content its going to is mobile-friendly. That may mean making a few extra pages that configures the information in a compact format, or making videos small enough for a mobile phone. You don't want to lose your customer's interest with a difficult-to-maneuver site once you got them roped in.

We at Del Padre have quite a few more ideas on how QR technology can make your business life a little easier and more fun. Contact us (you got all our contact info, after all...) and we can discuss getting these on your staff's business cards, or making them a fun part of your next media campaign.

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

RED ONE Digital Cinematography Showreel

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:50:00 +0000

This is our demo reel for our RED One Camera. We either shot, colored or directed all this footage that was all shot with our RED ONE.

This work reel is a sample of the Films, Documentaries, Television Commercials, and Music Videos we were involved with the past several years. You will see clips we shot from Cape Cod to Africa. Some projects and locations include Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque, Grammy award winning metal band The Deftones, Alice In Chains and Jerry Cantrell, LEGO, ABSOLUT VODKA, Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Natron for the National Science Foundation, Honolulu Hawaii for SETI and NASA , Zero Gravity ZERO-G Experience, Philadelphia, Association of Science Technology Centers.

Direction & Cinematography by Nino Del Padre and Mark Archer

The Red Digital Cinema Camera Company manufactures digital cinematography cameras and accessories for professional and cinematic use. The company's main product is the Red One, capable of recording at resolutions up to 4096 horizontal by 2304 vertical pixels, directly to flash or hard disk storage. It features a single Super 35-sized CMOS sensor and a cinematography industry standard PL mount.

We use a set of Nikon Prime lenses with the RED, allowing depth of field control, which blurs the foreground or background; the trademark of film production. In addition, the RED offers variable frame rates, up to 120 frames per second, for slow-motion applications.

And, there are other advantages, including cost savings with the elimination of film and processing and the ability to watch dailies in real time. With applications including corporate video production, commercials for television and Web, documentaries, music videos, and short-and feature-length films, the RED workflow adds an exciting aspect to Del Padre Digital's 20 year expertise in high-end video production.

The system, is available for shooting internationally from Del Padre's home base in East Longmeadow, Mass., the camera also shoots variable frame rates, up to 120 frames per second, for slow-motion applications. With applications including corporate video production, commercials for television and Web, documentaries, music videos, and short-and feature-length films, the RED workflow adds an exciting aspect to Del Padre Digital's expertise in high-end video production. Contact us now for a quote on your next project.

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Autodesk Fake or Foto? Photographs or Del Padre CGI?

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:44:00 +0000

Today we're presented with images in movies, on TV, and in the press that are of such good quality we don't even think to consider whether the picture is of something that exists in reality or if it was generated by computer software. Movies can be considered as being at the high-end of the range of uses for computer generated imagery that mimics real-life, but there are many more day-to-day examples that challenge our ability to tell what's real and what's not.

You will look at ten images. Some of them are photographs of real objects or scenes, others are created by computer graphics (CG) artists. Test your ability to tell which among the array of images are real, and which are CG. If you want a closer look, click the image to see a larger view of the picture. Once you've decided what's what, click either CG or REAL to begin the tally of your score. Work through each of the ten images. When you've finished, you'll be prompted to get your score.

Spend a few minutes with our reality check and see if you can tell the difference...

Nino Del Padre
http://www.delpadre.com/

Render Photo-Real HDR Images in Maya and Pixar’s RenderMan

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:29:00 +0000

By Nino Del Padre Source: Studio Monthly

The acronym HDRI stands for High Dynamic Range Image. There are many commercial sources to purchase all types of HDRIs. However, there are a few free ones floating around the net. A great place to learn more about HDRI is Paul Debevec’s site. He has several HDRI images available for download. Go to www.debevec.org/Probes/ and download a few of the Light Probe Images in the.hdr format. The Uffizi Gallery, for instance, is a good one to experiment with. You can also download a free evaluation copy of RenderMan for Maya at Pixar’s site at renderman.pixar.com/ if you don’t own it.

STEP 1: Download a few HDRI images
STEP 2: Create a new Maya project and choose RenderMan as the renderer

Open the Plug-in Manager: Window> Settings/Preferences> Plug-in Manager and find the RenderMan for Maya plug-in. Check loaded. This will load RenderMan for Maya. Close the Plug-in Manager and Click Window > Rendering Editors > Render Settings. Choose RenderMan from the Render Using drop-down menu. Choose a resolution of 640 x 712 and under render options uncheck Enable Default Light.

STEP 3: Create a ground plane and import your model

Create a ground plane, click the Create > NURBS Primitives > Plane Options box. Set the Axis to Y and 100 for both the width and length and click Create. Select the NURBS plane and choose Lighting/Shading > Assign New Material> Lambert. Click on the color box and choose a tan color as shown. Import your model or create a primitive shape and assign a Blinn material to it. Use the keyboard shortcut 6 to display the smooth shaded view.

STEP 4: Set up your render global settings and create a Renderman ENV light

Open the render Globals, and in the Common tab switch to the Features tab and enable the Ray Tracing check box. Click on the Motion Blur check box and change the motion factor to 0. Next, uncheck the Motion Blur box. Change the trace Bias to.050 and change the Max Specular Depth to 4. Under Global Illumination create an Environment Light.

In the Environment Light Attributes, click on the folder icon next to Environment Image and choose one of the HDR images you downloaded. I’m using the Apt-probe.hdr image for my render. Change the sampling mode from filtered to sampled, increase the number of samples from 64 to 300 and the max variation from 10 to 1. Now we can see that a RenderMan Environment Light has been added to the Maya scene. The RenderMan Env Light is a master control to anything related to Global Illumination in RenderMan for Maya.

STEP 5: Frame your shot and enable depth of field

Select the View > Camera Settings > Resolution Gate. This will help you position the camera. Move the camera to frame your shot. As most of you know, depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. It’s one of the more important elements in making CG images look photo-real. One of RenderMan’s many strengths is its high-quality depth of field. Create a locator to use as your focal point as we’ll be using a shallow depth of field. Go to Create > Locator and position in the area you want to be in focus. In this case, I want the words "Del Padre" to be the focus point.

Turn on Display > Heads Up Display > Object Details. Now select your locator and make note of its distance from Camera. In this case, it has a value of 35.661. Now enable Depth of Field, choose View > Select Camera, expand the arrow next to Depth of Field and click the check box. In the focus distance, use your locators distance from camera 35.661, leave the F Stop at 5 and leave the focus scale at 1.

STEP 6: Set the render quality

For RenderMan, Pixel Samples is the most important quality setting for depth of field. You can increase Pixel Samples by opening the Render Globals and selecting the Quality tab. Increase the Pixel Samples to 11 x 11 (which will cause RenderMan to sample each pixel many more times). Shading Rate is the main global quality control for Pixar’s RenderMan. Set the Shading Rate to 1, which is a typical Shading Rate for final rendering. Test renderings can usually be done at 3.0, 5.0 or even 20.0.

STEP 7: Render time

Choose Render> Render Current Frame and wait. It could take a while with our high-quality setting, depending on your workstation. It took 45 minutes to render on my BOXX 7400 series workstation with Dual AMD Opteron dual-core processors and 4 gigs of RAM.

YOUR GUIDE

Nino Del Padre President/Founder Del Padre Visual Productions, Inc.

Founded in 1991, Del Padre Visual Productions’ work is inspired by the greatest achievements of the cinematic arts. Specializing in Flash Web site design, HD video production, motion graphics, 3D animation and interactive CD-ROM applications for companies such as LEGO America, BAE Systems, NASA and many others, DVP’s work has earned extensive industry acclaim.

Nino Says Keep in Mind...

Using Pixar RenderMan’s global illumination techniques inside Maya lets you create highly realistic lighting with minimal setup. You can achieve drastically different looks by simply rotating the RenderMan Environment Light and trying different HDR images. You can also try changing the Environment Light Shadowing attributes to Color Bleeding and experimenting with different shadow bias, gain and light intensity.

Del Padre Visual Productions, Inc. www.delpadre.com 15 Benton Drive East Longmeadow, MA 01028 ph. 866.792.3282 nino@delpadre.com

Support Gear
Autodesk Maya, RenderMan for Maya, BOXX Technologies 7400 Dual Opteron Model 270, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

The market for online video continues its meteoric growth

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:45:00 +0000

In mid-July, Nielsen reported that more than 10.2 billion videos were streamed in the U.S. alone in June 2010, a 1.3 percent increase over the number of streams year-over-year and a near 4 percent increase over the previous month. Video is big business and as users expect more from the ’Net experience, new demands will be placed on Web professionals.

The list of benefits that video marketing provides is long and the proof extensive. For instance, retail site visitors who view video stay two minutes longer, on average, and are 64 percent more likely to purchase than other site visitors (comScore, August 2010). When used in e-mail marketing, video has been shown to increase click-through rates by more than 96 percent. (Implix 2010 Email Marketing Trends Survey). Rich media ads containing video increase purchase intent by 1.16 percent and drive success more than four times that of Flash animation (DoubleClick, The Brand Value of Rich Media Ads, June 2009). If video impacts the e-commerce, e-mail and design industries, count on it impacting your industry vertical as well.

Location, Location, Location!

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:59:00 +0000

When it comes to shooting video, you can’t wait for it to come to you. You need to go to it. We have been fortunate to travel throughout the country creating video for our clients, and always enjoy new ports of call and new vistas to explore. Our work has taken us from our home base in New England, to all sorts of places, from Hartford to Houston to Honolulu.

There are plenty of challenges that come with bringing all the tools you need to do good work in far off places. The time planning and plotting often exceeds the time spent on location, but rest assured, we need to come back with the goods, and we do. As we get ready for a new round of projects and productions we are busy checking the details, tweaking the workflow process and reevaluating our gear.

All that being said, anyone can pack for a trip. Anyone can buy a camera and a plane ticket. It’s packing the experience, knowledge and inspiration to create something interesting and effective that poses the biggest challenge. When it comes to learn by doing, we practice what we preach. As Del Padre Digital creeps into it’s 20th year, we are taking a short moment to look back on where we have been, and where we are going.

Video is here to stay. Much of the industry continues to change. Many new opportunities for companies and institutions exist to promote and deliver their message using video. Bandwidth has come of age. The web is finally fully video-friendly. As the economy improves, and companies get back to serious marketing efforts, we will be packed, and ready to go.

Call us today to discuss your next video project. You will find that we are excited, inspired and fully capable of bringing your vision from concept to completion. We are also experts in the process of storytelling, through creative video and editing techniques. Del Padre Digital offers a full pallet of post-production capabilities that includes video compositing and 3d elements to bring your vision to the next level.

Tribute to Mark Romanek's Music Video Career

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:43:00 +0000

In the early 1990's my career was inspired and motivated by music video's, directors like David Fincher and Samuel Bayer. But one director who I believe broke the mold is Mark Romanek.

Along the way, the Grammy winner has been behind some of the world's most famous--and infamous--videos. On the groundbreaking side, there's Lenny Kravitz's exhilarating "Are You Gonna Go My Way," which made the musician a star in one fell swoop. On the controversial side, there's Fiona Apple's teasing "Criminal," Jay-Z's apocalyptic "99 Problems and "Nine Inch Nails' macabre "Closer," It is one of only two that the Museum of Modern Art has added to its permanent collection.

So, I noticed that there has not been a collage of his notable music video work so I decided to make one. I hope you enjoy it. We received an email from Mr. Romanek and he thought the edit was very well done and he is very flattered.

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/uleoBd9Tyuc60cbef2eb4254f3041d4b73491d1f149.htm">LinkedTube</a>

Editor: Nino Del Padre
Del Padre Digital http://www.delpadre.com/

All videos copyright to their respective owner.
Videos included in this montage:

Jay Z - 99 Problems
Linkin Park - Faint
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Audioslave - Cochise
No Doubt - Hella Good
Mick Jagger - God Gave Me Everything
Janet Jackson featuring Joni Mitchell and Q-Tip - Got Til It's Gone
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Nine Inch Nails - Perfect Drug
Beck - Devil's Haircut
Weezer - El Scorcho
Eels - Novocaine for the Soul
Sonic Youth - Little Trouble Girl
Michael & Janet Jackson - Scream
Madonna - Bedtime Story
R.E.M. - Strange Currencies
G. Love & Special Sauce - Cold Beverage
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
David Bowie - Jump, They Say
Madonna - Rain
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
Keith Richards - Wicked as it Seems
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
kd lang - Constant Craving

New SpeakerCraft Website Re-Design Launched

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:21:00 +0000

SpeakerCraft had a massive website that was struggling under an outdated back-end and content management system. There were over 250 products and 1,200 product images each with manuals, print resources, brochures, and other associated files. To complicate things further, each image had up to four views of the product in three different sizes and two different file formats.
SpeakerCraft’s goals were for a consumer-friendly site, with subdued colors that transitioned between the various sections, and kept a focus on visual elements, namely, the product imagery. They also needed a site that could grow quickly and be able to handle the easy addition and removal of content related to products, press releases, and articles of interest. The website also needed to provide a well-organized resource center, including software, training presentations, print material and product displays for dealers and installers.

Our goals were to support not only the aesthetics of the site, but to truly focus on a well-thought out information architecture and back-end content management system so that SpeakerCraft’s in-house team could efficiently access and change content and quickly, and upload new files without impeding their overall workflow. We wanted the site to handle as many of the company’s old assets as possible, without the system breaking from inconsistent naming conventions or folder structures created in the new site.

To meet these various needs, the product pages were built on VirtueMart, but were heavily modified to bring in extra content and functionality. To maintain a clear mental model for the user, we integrated tabs into the product pages to organize the myriad product views and supporting documentation, and also incorporated breadcrumb navigation. Given the vast quantity of images, we also sought to automate the process on the backend to allow for integration of the old and new content. For this, we wrote a server-side script to find and organize images for each product page based on the product’s ID set in VirtueMart to ensure the system accurately found and displayed the images according to the correct information. In order to support content creation by both SpeakerCraft’s in-house staff and national and international dealers, we created a modification in DOCman to use custom groups within the Joomla! core user management system.

http://www.speakercraft.com

STEPS – Science Theater Education Programming System: A software program for Professional Development, Enhancing Professional Identity, and Communicating Science

noreply@blogger.com (Nino Del Padre) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:08:00 +0000

STEPS, Science Theater Education Programming System, is a software program comprised of three main elements: 1) an editor, called the Show Planner, for authoring museum theater shows with multimedia, interchangeable time lines, and multiple cue points; 2) an asset library, accessible through the Show Planner, for managing and importing high definition videos, audio, and images; and 3) a Show Presenter which plays back the show for an audience in any type of theater environment.

This project was perhaps the most complex in terms of understanding and managing client goals. This project was funded by the National Science Foundation, led by researchers at the Space Science Institute, with a collaboration of eight science museums, two service organizations, and series of scientific advisers from SETI, NASA, and other high-profile organizations. The project had as its first goal the professional development of a group of science educators, and as its second goal, the development of the software system. The greatest challenge therefore was developing the software in parallel with the story-lines that the project collaborative was creating. This led to an interesting collection of functionality and features not collectively available in any other software tool currently on the market, including forking time-lines and a live feed camera.

Del Padre's goals were to create a product based on the absolute latest and emerging technologies in order to increase the product’s shelf-life and future applicability within the museum field. We also implemented a double-buffering system to alleviate some of the lag caused by disc access speeds between show scenes. STEPS was built on Adobe AIR to run on Mac or PC, enabling museums to use whatever platform they were most comfortable with or capable of supporting internally.

Usability was particularly important for this project, and we where able to work directly with a professional evaluator for the first time to test early mockups and functionality using Google Wave as both a synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tool. The most important usability function, especially for novice users, was a built-in feedback mechanism by which the interface changes itself to match what the user is doing, and only presents settings and options that are relevant or usable to the particular task. This approach is critical to reducing user errors from the outset, rather than relying on a series of error messages that a user would need to interpret and trouble shoot on his/her own.