ShedWorx is coming to America!

We have just booked in for MacWorld 2011 and will be running booth 305.

This is our biggest marketing push so far and we will be demoing all of our products including the two new ones in development.

While in the US of A we will also be visiting a bunch of our partners and pro users from California to New York.

Apart from the weather, we can't wait to be there :)

3D video is on its way!

3D is now out in force in the consumer TV market and is about to appear for consumer video. Panasonic are first to market with a 3D consumer camcorder (the HDC-750K and variations) and will also release 3D lenses for their Lumix Micro 4/3 range (which includes the GH1, GF1 and G2 DSLRs). Here is a great article on the new Panasonic 3D camera from Colin at SimplyDV.

We've just updated the ShedWorx Test Bench with a Panasonic 3D TV and 3D Blu-ray player. The 3D movies are remarkably clear - much better than the 3D experience that you will get at a cinema. We're now waiting for the 3D cameras and lenses to ship to see how the 3D home movies look.

Technical Details

As far as we know (without seeing the first 3D movie samples), the 3D picture is being recorded using using a standard AVCHD format movie but with a side-by-side left/right view. 3D-capable TVs will detect the side-by-side video and display the left and right channels using 3D display.

The side-by-side approach means that each video stream will actually be 960x1080 in size. The X-axis will be "stretched" out from 960 to 1920 on playback, similar to the way older 1440x1080 cameras recorded 1920x1080 HD footage. This is a slightly lower HD format, so you can bet that there will be "Full HD 3D" entering the market next year. The beauty of the side-by-side approach is that it can be achieved without major changes to existing hardware, so that cameras such as the GH-1 can be made 3D-capable with a new lens and a firmware upgrade.

ShedWorx 3D suport

In July this year we released Native AVCHD editing for Voltaic and Revolver. Native AVCHD editing allows you to edit AVCHD footage without conversion, preserving the full quality of the original footage. It turns out that this will be perfect for 3D editing. We will release a 3D update to the whole product line, mainly to update our previewer so that it displays just one side of the dual-image video. Apart from that we will just do some testing and fine tuning of the Native AVCHD editing function and we will be right for 3D editing.

We should have some early 3D samples to work with by the end of August. We will then update our software lines to support 3D formatting so that you can edit a 3D home movie in either Voltaic or Revolver. Check back here (or even subscribe to the ShedWorx Blog in your RSS reader) and we'll post updates as we find out more.

We've just moved the ShedWorx web site and store to a new, faster server.

The main web site is working fine (and a lot faster) but the store has a couple of issues at its new home.

Please bear with us while we get the store working correctly again. Purchases and Activations will not be possible while we fix up the store.

Thanks to everyone who entered the YouTube Competition.

We have two winners - Jim, from the US has won the Major prize while Laura from Canada has taken out the random prize draw.

Major Prize Winner

Jim took his AVCHD movies from New Year's Eve, did some simple trimming, added a title and pushed it up to YouTube.

Congratulations Jim! A Panasonic FT1 is on its way to you. Here is the winning entry...

Random Prize Draw Winner

Laura entered a movie of the band The Ground Luminosity performing at the Roberts Creek Hall in Canada, again on New Year's Eve.

Congratulations Laura - we'll get an iPod Touch out to you ASAP

ShedWorx Development Plans for 2010

Here are the ShedWorx development plans for 2010, as of January.

Our development for 2010 will focus on two main areas - AVCHD workflow and Digital Asset Management.

This focus on some big new features will mean that we won't be doing many bug fix releases for any products as we go. All of our efforts will be focused on the new features. This means that if you report a bug you will most likely get the 'it will be fixed in the next release' answer, rather than us pushing out a quick fix.

These plans are just that - plans. We're not guaranteeing that these features will be completed as we lay them out here, we're just letting you know what we intend to do this year.

AVCHD Workflow

We have always been working towards an end-to-end native AVCHD workflow. This started with the ShedWorx AVCHD Editor introduced with VoltaicHD version 2 last year.

This year we will complete the workflow by adding native AVCHD output from Voltaic. This will include trimming and joining for AVCHD.

This new feature will allow you to access AVCHD movies on your camera, do simple trims and a join to create a new AVCHD movie.

Why would you do this?

• Its fast - no conversion delays at any point in the workflow
• Perfect Quality - we won't be converting the AVCHD at any point, so what you get out the end is what the camera shot

The AVCHD movie produced by VoltaicHD can then be played back on a PS3 or burnt to AVCHD DVD using RevolverHD, for playback on any Blu-ray player.

Digital Asset Management

FlamingoHD as been a good product for us, but its only in its early stages now. During 2010 we will re-focus on Flamingo, to give it an overhaul in the following areas:

• User Experience - we will be re-working the media views that we currently have to provide a faster, easier way to navigate your library
• Digital Asset Management - we'll be focusing on better ways to manage your library and metadata
• Editing - we will introduce simple edit support for all supported media types

Choosing the Panasonic GH1

We recently purchased a Panasonic GH1 for the ShedWorx test bench.

There is a lot of movement out there in DSLR camera land, so I thought that I would write up the key differences between the GH1 and the traditional high-end DSLRs.

Micro Four Thirds sensor

The GH-1 has a Micro Four Thirds Sensor which is smaller in capacity than the 'big guns' like the Canon 5D and 7D. Its about 70% of the size of the sensor used in these cameras. This allows for smaller camera bodies. Check out the Panasonic GF1 and Olympus E-2 for examples of smaller cameras using this system. This new system is aimed at bridging the gap between cheaper instant cameras and full-blown Pro DSLRs.

The other interesting thing to note about the Micro Four Thirds system is that unlike the Pro DLRs, there is no mirror used.

On a regular DSLR you look out through the viewfinder, through the lens by way of a mirror that drops down in front of the sensor. This mirror flips up out of the way as the photo is taken.

On a Micro Four Thirds camera you are looking at the image as projected on the sensor at all times, but unlike an instant digital camera, or a video camera, the lens still does its job of opening and shutting to get you your shutter speed and aperture (how far the shutter opens).

The GH1 has a viewfinder but this is just another view of the LCD output.

Price

The GH-1 is a bit cheaper than the entry-level Pro DSLRs. Using Australian retail prices in December 2009, you have the following:
- Panasonic GH-1 (with 14-140mm lens): $2,200
- Canon 7D (with 18-135mm lens): $$2,800
- Canon 5D (with 24-105mm lens): $4,500

Video

As a comparison with its nearest rival, then Canon 7D, both the GH1 and 7D shoot Full HD 1920x1080 video, but here's the kicker: None of the Pro DSLRs have auto-focus while recording video. This can be a deal breaker for those who want to take any sort of action shots with their video camera. It is practically impossible to be manually focusing on a moving video subject.

All of the DSLRs lack motor-driven zoom also. Thats right - manual zoom only.

The big thing with the GH1 video is QUALITY. The sensor used by the GH1 is about 5 times the size of the sensor in a handycam. The GH1 also has a 'real' lens - made with lots of glass and stuff. The lens alone of the GH1 weighs more than our Canon HF11. These two factors combined give the GH1 killer video performance. Its just better than the handycams in all areas - colour, low light, image quality, etc.

The GH1 produces far and away the best AVCHD video in the pro-sumer market.

Wrap-up

The GH1 (and the GF1 and Olympus E-2) marks a new hybrid camera entering the market. Its a great still camera which gets you into DSLR territory and its a killer video camera. I had tried to use my Canon HF11 as a hybrid still and video camera, but to be honest, its still pictures were just rubbish. The stills from the HF11 were always inferior to those shot on our old instant digital (a Canon IXUS 800) so we ended up always using both.

Panasonic looks like it has another hit on its hands. The rugged FT1 (TZ3 in the USA) was a huge hit earlier in the year with stock sold out for months. The same is happening now with the GH1.

The GH1 marks the first time that you can have one camera which can take top-quality stills and video. Its no wonder that they're sold out everywhere for XMas 2009.