Where There’s Always Beer and Popcorn
“Hi, Alan, glad you made it. Hope you didn’t park outside. Our neighbors, they think they own the road. They’ll put a note under your wipers:
Don’t park here—I bet you voted for Bush.
“No, I’m fine; parked right outside. Looking forward to seeing the lead pouring rushes.”
“All set up downstairs—but first, the guided tour!”
Enter the Living Room
“Love it. Amazing table. Hi, puss.”
“A Himalayan, Shibui.
“Come on out to the deck. You’re lucky, it’s high tide. This was a duck hunting shack.”
“You shoot ducks from here?”
“Me? In Marin County? I’d be lynched!”
Go Down the Stairs
“When we bought it in 2002, there were tenants under the house; their rent paid our mortgage. They moved out in 2012 and our Rough Linen business moved in; four ladies sewing, Tricia cutting and an assistant taking orders. Orders poured in and we moved the linen biz out to an industrial condo. I moved my editing rig out too. The rooms down here were empty.
“Then a few months ago Tricia suggested bringing the editing rig back—and it kind of grew from there.”
Enter the Man Cave
“It’s so dark inside….”
“On the right, a Windows computer for Sony’s Vegas Pro 13 to crack open files from my 3D Sony HXR-NX3D1 camera.
“Over here, where we used to cut linen, is my main editing setup. I’m on the new Mac Pro. I work in FCP X 10.1 using Tim Dashwood’s Stereo3D Toolbox plug-in. For final cleanup and output, it’s Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 11.
“QuickTime files from my little Sony Action Cams and Panasonic GH4s are processed through a Blackmagic Teranex 3D box. It aligns and genlocks the left and right streams.”
“You’ve lost me. Isn’t it time for the rushes? It’s 4K?”
“Nope, not really. I don’t shoot Cinema 4K but what’s called Ultra HD. It should really be called 2160p as it twice HD’s 1080p. 4K sounds sexier than UHD.”
Show Me the Movie
“Can’t wait to see the lead pouring, Stefan. Pleeeaaase….”
“Sure, relax, sit here. Exactly 10 feet from the screen will simulate the correct 3D volume on a 40-foot movie screen. Just like being at the movies.”
“I’m waiting….”
“At my desk is a JVC 24-inch 3D monitor. It’s great but really too small to judge parallax, depth bracketing and convergence. You need a much bigger screen. I lashed out and bought this Sony 65-inch 4K monster.”
Lights-Off Time
“Your beer and popcorn, Alan.”
“At last. Roll film. Pour that crazy hot lead….”
“Sorry about my constant stream of chatter—just thought it might make a good article for Digital Video magazine. You know, “A visit to the man cave.”
“Boring. No one would read it.”
“You’re right—silly idea. I’ll think of something else for DV. Enjoy the movie.”