Judging for the International Mobile Film Festival

Each spring down in San Diego, the International Mobile Film Festival is held. It’s hosted by Susy Botello in an effort to shine a light on creators out there going against the grain in filmmaking by using their mobile devices instead of a “traditional” digital camera. I’m judging the event again this year, albeit remotely since I can’t make the trip down to San Diego. Other stuff going on that I have to handle and I can’t afford to make that many trips in one month (yet).

Image via Adobe Firefly*

I had roughly eight films to judge in my queue and it was an interesting experience. There were some creations I found to be quite impressive, and some not so much. But each of them shared one trait. Each filmmaker did the best they could with the mobile device camera’s capabilities. Lighting was key as the image sensors on these devices are so small. And for the films that went with low-light, the post-processing was done well enough to remove noise and artifacts. It’s pretty cool seeing what creators come up with these days - regardless of the tool.

If you’re interested in attending the International Mobile Film Festival, check out the website for more info.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Holiday Deals on Sony Alpha Cameras

Sony has announced so deals on a couple of its Alpha series cameras as we close in on the end of the holiday shopping season. Sony has done a great job in the mirrorless camera space offering devices suited for most anyone be it a newbie photographer, intermediate or pro. Here are a few discounts on some of its cameras that I think you’ll find helpful for the photographer and content creator just getting started or looking to upgrade to a full-frame sensor. These deals are valid from December 19 through December 25. Sony has also welcomed me into its affiliate program. I appreciate this and their support. So links below are all affiliate links which will earn me a small commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Sony ZV-1

The ZV-1* is is a compact point-and-shoot system with some really impressive specs. I’ve tested this camera before and found it to be ideal for vloggers. I’m not much of a vlogger, so it didn’t fit my style, but the specs on this are great for vloggers. The body is compact and the system UI is great for navigating through settings. 20-megapixels for still images and 4K video resolution as well as slow motion shooting is on the spec list. Nice camera for $650*.

Sony A7C

Moving into the full-frame side of things, the A7C* is a HIGHLY CAPABLE camera. I tested this one as well. I thought it could potentially cannibalize some of Sony’s other cameras because of what it offered. The tiny form factor is the key here. You’re getting a 24-megapixel sensor and 4K recording as well as Slog3 and S-Cinetone for video creators that love artistic colorgrading. Heck of a deal on this camera for $1800* down from $2000.

Sony has even more deals listed for its cameras over on the website. Just click here* to check them out. Some savings up to $600. Let me know what you find and end up purchasing.

Image: Sony A6400



*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Holiday Deals From Peak Design

A handful of years ago, I was connected to the squad at Peak Design* and they’ve been quite supportive of lil’ ol’ me ever since. I’ve had the opportunity to try out their backpacks, straps and tripods over the years. I flat out love their Everyday backpack. Especially since it saved my gear SEVERAL TIMES from rain and ocean water.

New Affiliation

I’ve mentioned, tweeted and shared my thoughts on Peak Design over the years because I believed in the gear. I didn’t get any commissions. I just dig the gear. Well now, I’ve been added to the Peak Design affiliate program, so yeah, I’ll be able to earn a small commission on my sharing love of Peak Design*. So if you order through my link, I’ll earn a few dollars in commission.

Image: Peak Design

Holiday Sale

From December 8th through 11th, the team is offering 10% all items via my affiliate link. Personally, I’d suggest the Cuff* to attach to your on-the-go street photography camera. And I’d also recommend the Travel Backpack* with Camera Cubes*. I recently used the Travel Backpack and Camera Cube for a weekend trip to Oregon. Packed my stills camera, my cinema camera, some batteries and a weekend’s worth of clothes in it with EASE.

Image: Ant Pruitt all rights reserved

So head over to the site using my link* and start shopping around, all while helping to support me and my creative works. Get yourself a camera strap, a capture clip or one of the badass backpacks. I appreciate ya checking it out and also spreading the word to help support me. And thank you Peak Design for your support over the years.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Boris FX Updates FREE Particle Illusion App With Vers. 2022.5

If you’re a video creator, you know that creating particle effects can be quite a challenge when using VFX apps such as After Effects* , Motion or Fusion. The team at Boris FX has plugins for these apps to help speed up the process, but it also has a stand alone app that works really well. Better yet, it’s FREE to use. It’s Particle Illusion and it has just received an update to enhance the user experience.

In the video below, you’ll see that Boris FX didn’t touch the user interface that much, but gave some additional controls to help make creating 3D visual effects more efficient for the content creator. You can also import 3D models from via C4D (Cinema 4D) or OBJ files. Get the app for free here.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Hanging Out With an Aspiring Content Creator in Petaluma: Barry Almeria

I was recently a guest on the Infinite Table Podcast hosted by Barry Almeria. Almeria is an aspiring video creator here in the Sonoma County area, but also wanted to spend time creating a podcast for content creators. He reached out to ask if I’d chat with him on his “Creator Sessions.” Click the image below to watch the video.

Note: We had some tech difficulties, so I ended up recording the video on his behalf. So if the screen looks like my show, that’s why. Thanks for understanding and thanks for supporting an aspiring creator.

Image: Infinite Table Podcast

Vegas Pro 20 Launched

Vegas Pro is a great alternative to the likes of Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve. I’ve mentioned it a few times on my show because it offers quite a few tools aimed at making video editing a much simpler task for consumers and prosumers. Today Vegas Pro 20 has launched.

Image: Vegas Creative Software

What’s new?

The update focuses on color correction and color grading tools, VFX features as well as advanced audio production as mentioned in the press release snippet below.

  • Hue Adjustment curves in the Color Grading Panel

  • White Balance controls in the Color Grading Panel

  • Enhanced Audio Workflow support, currently in beta, including:

    • VST3 Support for audio editing (Beta, general availability TBA)

    • VST 32-bit bridge that enables support for older, 32-bit VST audio plug-ins (Beta, general availability TBA)

  • New Effects features, including:

    • Optical Flow mode for Warp Flow and Smart Split

    • Real-time Optical Flow for the Slow Motion FX

    • Automatic region creation in Scene Detection

    • Honeycomb and Color Planes presets for GL transitions

  • Workflow efficiency features such as:

    • Normalize button for events

    • Fade In/Out included in Paste Event Attributes

Vegas Pro 20 will cost you $19.99 per month via a subscription or you can get a perpetual license for $399. More info on the update can be found on the Vegas Creative website here.

I Got a Free V-Mount Battery

I recently purchased a replacement v-mount battery for my video camera because my old one was just too big and bulky. I wanted something smaller, but yet powerful enough to allow for a decent amount of time recording footage. So I bought this V99* from ZGCINE. Turns out, it’s a pretty great option. The folks a ZGCINE apparently got wind of my purchase and sent me some other stuff for free.

First, I received this NPF battery charger* that’s ridiculously fast. I spoke about this as my pick of the week on #TWiG recently. It’s affordable and totally worth it if you’re a creator using Sony NPF batteries for your lights, camera or monitors.

Next, ZGCINE sent me their newest v-mount battery option. The V50*. It’s an even smaller form-factor packed with i/o you need as a creator. Click the image below to watch my YouTube video about it.

Image: Ant Pruitt

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Big THANK YOU For Helping Rancho Cotate High School Track Team

Recently I was having a nice day, but then later had a dark cloud of anger dump on it. Coach John Anderson aka “Coach Andy” shared that one of the facilities at the Rancho Cotate High School track was broken into. This lead to a bunch of gear being stolen. Smh. Cameras be damn, the thieves went in and got what they wanted regardless. . . .

I reached out to Coach Andy to see if he was going to start a fundraiser to get the gear replaced because quite honestly, most of the gear was purchased out of his own pocket, not from school funding. Coach wasn’t sure how to set up a fundraiser so I opened a GoFundMe to help him out. I set the goal to $1000 and mentioned it on my Twitter page, then said I’d mention on one of my shows in a few days because it gets a gazillion downloads each week.

Well, the community and my online community really came through on this. Heck, the goal was met before I could even mention it on the show. Lol! I am so grateful.

I did eventually mention the fundraiser on the show and I’ve decided to keep the donations open until August 8, 2022. Then, I’ll withdraw the funds and get them over to Coach Andy. Again, THANK YOU all for the support and thanks for spreading the word even though the fund’s goal is met. Excess is always helpful. Especially to cover incidentals like added travel expenses the team incurs. Heck, #hardhead lead the way last season having to travel to the championships with a few other teammates that qualified. Anyway, thanks again, everyone. Send people to “antpruitt dot com slash help” or just click here.

Sony Alpha Deals For August on Mirrorless Cameras and Lenses

Sony has announced several discounts on its Alpha camera bodies and lenses for its “Summer Sale.” This includes discounts on the high megapixel A7R IV camera. Select lenses are discounted and Sony is also offering a few bundles of bodies and lens combinations.

Image: Sony

You can order from Adorama* as well as the Sony site. Right now, the A7R 1IV is listed at $500 off at $2999.* The A7R IV is the first Sony mirrorless camera I actually liked. The body felt great in my hands and of course the image quality is stellar.

Others on the list include:

  • A7 III (body only) $200 off at $1798*

  • A7R III (body only) $600 off at $2198*

  • 24-70mm f/2.8 G Masters E-mount lens $200 off at $1998*

  • 35mm f/1.8 OSS E-mount lens $100 off at $373*

  • A7R IV with FE 24-105 G OSS e-mount lens $800 off at $4096

See more on the Adorama* site on the main page featuring sales and deals.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.


New G2 Blackmagic Design Pocket 6K Cinema Camera and Updates

VidCon is going on this week, so content creators are all hyped about new product announcements and potential new partnerships. Today, Blackmagic Design announced some updates to its pocket cinema camera family with the new Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2. Also known as the #bmpcc6k.

Image: Blackmagic Design

What’s New?

The Pocket 6K G2* has been redesigned to look very similar to that of the 6K Pro, while still allowing it to feel familiar to the original 6K that some of us own. The LCD is now a flip down/up version like the 6K Pro, additional mini XLR audio inputs, EF lens mount and the battery is now the NPF style of battery instead of the Canon LPE6 battery. Granted, you should probably invest in a better way to power the device with something like a FXLION* pack or a/c. You do not get internal ND filters on the G2, though. Makes sense. You’re still getting a great 6K super 35 image sensor with an alleged 13-stops of dynamic range. But you’re also getting an updated camera operating system (OS).

Image: Ant Pruitt

If you’re like me and running an existing #bmpcc, you can still update your camera OS by downloading the software from Blackmagic. It’s an easy process to update the camera, it’s just a bit slow.

Image: Ant Pruitt

The updated OS includes some useful features to go with the new UI and also unlocks gyroscope information. The gyroscope information will be be used in Davinci Resolve v18 to aid in image stabilization. The stabilizer in Resolve isn’t bad, but it’s nice to see that Blackmagic is working to make it even better. I’ve not installed the beta version of Davinci Resolve 18 yet. Granted, the features sound GREAT in it, but I’m just not mentally prepared to have beta software running on client work.

Image: Ant Pruitt

It’s nice seeing this camera get an update. The 6K is a very nice camera for the amount of money, but it’s not perfect. I’m looking forward to seeing the new OS as well as trying out the stabilization within Davinci Resolve whenever the production version is released. If you’re interested in getting started with Davinci Resolve, I created a quick tutorial to get you rolling. Watch it here. Get the 6K G2 for $1995 available today.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.