gedblog

News this week across the Internets that Kodak is getting into the portable video space in a big way with their supposed “Flip killer”, the Zi6 Pocket Video Camera. The news of this device is exploding onto the scene, almost like the original Flip Ultra did back in Sept. of 2007. I’m very excited about Kodak’s Zi6, but first a bit of history.

For months I had heard the hype surrounding the incredibly easy to use Flip Ultra. On blogs, in tweets and reviews, people everywhere were professing their love for the gadget. The Flip seemed to do for video recording what the iPod did for music listening - make it super easy and fun. I resisted jumping on the band wagon for months until I finally went to the Flip homepage and saw a sales pitch that I couldn’t resist. A man held up an old high-8 camcorder and said “You probably have one of these in the closet, but you don’t use it anymore, right? You have to find tape, charge it, lug it around, and by the time you do, the moment is over. It’s just not fun.”

I felt like a tool. How did he know me so well? I hadn’t shot video of anything in years because pulling out the camcorder was such a chore. Even worse were the hours of footage sitting on tape that no one would ever see because it was too difficult to capture and edit. From that moment on, I was committed. I ordered a cute, orange Flip Ultra and instantly felt like I was “back in the game”. However, over the next two weeks I came to realize that much of the hype surrounding the Flip, was just that… hype.

First, the good points about the Flip Ultra:

• Ease of use - It really is just point and shoot. It’s so easy I think even my mom could use it which is great.

• Picture quality - I found the picture quality to be good enough for almost all of my needs. The exception is medium to low light.

• Importing - Getting video onto my computer is fast and easy. The flip-out USB port means no cords to lug around.

But for each of these good points there are several bad ones as well:

• Fixed focus - You can’t shoot closer than about 1.5 feet from the lens. Sucks for tight shots, close-ups & forget about macro.

• Small screen - Because the 1.5 inch screen is so small, it’s difficult to tell when things are in focus or how they’re framed.

• Body shape - The lens protrudes from the body of the device and risks getting scratched. Sadly this is true of the new Flip Mino too. It also means the camera can’t sit properly on a flat surface.

• Encoding format - The flip encodes in MPEG-4 ASP (.avi) which means that it’s not ideal for Mac users. Feh.

Along comes Kodak, a company that used to be near and dear to my heart, to make a version of the Flip that addresses all of these negatives. According to the product specifications, the Zi6 will cost about the same as the Flip Mino (assuming they don’t immediately drop the price), and give you much more bang for your buck. Just take a gander at just some of the ways the Zi6 bests the Flip:

• HD video - Where the Flip is confined to 640×480 VGA, the Zi6 shoots in stunning HD 720p at 60 frames per second.

• Big screen - The Zi6’s 2.4 in. LCD screen is almost a full inch bigger than the flip which should make framing shots super easy.

• Mac love - The Zi6 encodes its clips with H264 compression as .mov files, perfect for use in iMovie on the Mac.

• Expandability - The camera has an SD/SDHC card slot that can hold up to an additional 32GB of video.

and the biggie for me:

• Focal range - The Zi6 has a “Close-up” mode that allows a minimum focal range of just 2 inches. Perfect for macro video captures of small objects like insects, LEGOs, etc.

The Zi6 webpage says the camera will be available sometime in August. However, when I placed my pre-order for the device on Amazon.com, their product page says the gadget will be shipping on October 1st. I’m not sure who’s date to believe, but since I waited to get one so long in the first place, I think I can live a few more months for the awesome Zi6. In the meantime, anyone wanna buy slightly used Flip Ultra? Come on, it’s orange!

UPDATE: Andy Ihnatko has started his testing of the Zi6. So far he’s only posted a single frame from one of the captured videos, but the results are pretty impressive. Check it out.

Being a huge EPCOT Center nut, I thought it might be fun to check out some of the tracks from the park’s soundtrack set to Magnetosphere. The video you see here was one of the best. The iTunes visualizer has somehow captured the feeling I get when I think about Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow in flowing bands of shape and color. This is also my first experience using Vimeo and I’m encouraged. The service didn’t munge the video as badly as YouTube did, and it gave me an actual progress bar while uploading, which is a real plus. I love what happens after the 1:50 mark. The sweeping horns and strings really bring the visualizer to life. Enjoy!

Back in March I wrote about the latest direct to DVD feature for Futurama, The Beast With A Billion Backs and said I couldn’t wait to see it. My how time flies! Beast came out last week and unlike Bender’s Big Score, this time Fry and gang didn’t disappoint. Dave Caolo and I had a literal ball researching this week’s episode of the Sci-Fi Cast as we watched Beast and then got together for an auditory Futurama fan fest. We cover the new film as well as our favorite moments from the TV series with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. If you love Futurama, then don’t miss Beast With A Billion Backs, and once you’ve watched it, be sure to tune into episode 12 of the Sci-Fi Cast. You’ll neither rue, nor lament it!

Although Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is best known for the lampooning of various B-rated sci-fi movies and horror flicks, I always enjoyed their roasts of public service short films best. These self-righteous reels from the 40’s and 50’s, always did take themselves too seriously and made perfect fodder for Crow, Tom Servo and Joel’s witty zingers. The clip below is classic MST3K as the trio firings on all cylinders. I’ve tried to get into Michael J. Nelson’s new take on MST3K, called RiffTrax, but it just isn’t the same. Thank goodness for YouTube so we can sit back, relax and enjoy “A Date with Your Family”. Just don’t enjoy it too much, after all, the dinner table is no place for emotion!

Well, the final episode of Battlestar Galactica aired this past week on the Sci-Fi Channel and to mark the occasion, Krystyn, Dave, Jen and I have once again clunked geeky heads to bring you an all new episode of Sci-Fi Cast. This week the podcast covers all manner of topics including our favorite comic book movies, appropriate synonyms for “extravaganza” and awkward theatre experiences with your parents. If you’re caught up through episode 10 of BSG, then head on over to Sci-Fi Cast and subscribe today. Even if you’ve never heard of us before today, this would be a good time to check Sci-Fi Cast out. It’s going to be a loooong 9 months.

That’s right folks, I’m here to tell you that episode 009 of Sci-Fi Cast is now online and ready for your auditory digestion. We’re back to Battlestar Galactica with the review of this past week’s episode Sine Qua Non, so if you’re not caught up, you’ll want to hold off. Our conversation, as usual, is pretty spoiler heavy, so don’t say we didn’t warn you! Without saying too much, I can reveal that this time around we have all four of your geeky friends on the podcast and we delve into such important subjects as pets in space, what Sol does when the cameras are turned off and Krystyn’s latest (and most believable) theory on who the final cylon will turn out to be. As we approach the mid-season break, this is one installment you won’t want to miss. Be sure to head on over and check out The Sci-Fi Cast, your drive to work will never be the same again!

Found these awesome Star Trek TV Mashups on YouTube last night and I just had to share. It’s amazing what a DVD collection, a video editing package and too much time on your hands can get you these days. The Battlestar Galactica re-mix is my favorite, but I’m a sucker for 80’s TV so the Love Boat and Dallas versions don’t trail far behind. If you liked these, be sure to also check out the Star Trek version of A-Team and the Voyager mix of Buffy Angel. Live Long and Silly!

If you’ve been tuning in for our weekly installments of Sci-Fi Cast, then you know I’ve been bummed out about the direction that Katie Sackhoff’s character on Battlestar Galactica has been taking. It seems like Ron Moore was using Starbuck as a kind of space version of Captain Ahab, obsessed with finding Earth, and only caring about what shade of burnt umber would look best on her cabin walls.

Even if last week’s episode hadn’t been a complete 180 for the hot-shot space jockey, I’d be tempted to throw all that out the window thanks to a photo shoot of Katie and her two Galactica co-stars, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park, which was recently published by Interview Magazine. Lords of Kobol, I think I’m gonna need a cold shower! You gotta hand it to Galactica’s creators, they sure know how to promote the series to the 18-25 (and 39) year old male demographic. With all the gritty, realistic scenes that Starbuck and her co-horts get thrown into every week, photos like these seem somehow surreal. I just can’t picture Starbuck riding around on a Harley in a bikini, let alone chumming it up with Six and Boomer in the California desert. But since the series is coming to an end, and we’ll probably never see the likes of these three lovely ladies together again, who am I to wonder why? So say we all!

Just in time to help the crew of the Battlestar Galactica divine the identity of the final five cylons, comes this helpful PSA style poster from Quantum Mechanix. It reminds me a lot of the infamous Wii Safety stuff we did over at the Iconfactory a couple years back and would make a fine addition to any geek’s wall.

Some of the funnier tips include:

• Do they seem unusually strong, smart or self-assured?
• Do they say God instead of Gods?
• Do you see them hanging around secured or restricted areas?
• Do they seem to hear music that no one else can hear?
• Are they unusually adept, almost empathic, with machines?
• Does their spine glow red when they get… excited?

Be sure to also check out the über-cool retro BSG propaganda posters they’re offering. And before you ask, no, I don’t get a kickback on this stuff

I’m pleased to report one of my favorite science fiction films of all time is the latest flick to get the Hollywood make-over treatment. Airing over two nights, beginning tonight at 9pm est on the A&E network, The Andromeda Strain, tells the tale of a particularly nasty alien microbe that threatens to wipe out all life on earth. Director Ridley Scott’s new version of the classic 1971 picture promises to be full of action, suspense and smart science and features a solid cast including Benjamin Bratt, Viola Davis & Andre Braugher.

Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, the original version of Andromeda gave audiences of the 70’s a realistic look at what just might happen if an alien microorganism fell to earth. The movie’s deliberate pacing, cold electronic soundtrack by Gil Mellé and use of multiple simultaneous shots (spoofed in Austin Powers and made famous today by FOX’s 24) builds suspense and impending dread even when viewed today. If the original Andromeda Strain had a weak point, it was surely the rushed ending which bottled things up neatly, without deliberate action from Wild Fire’s team of sequestered scientists. Somehow I doubt Scott will let his version go out with a whimper, and if he plays his cards right, this new version just might be a classic for the ages. High hopes to be sure, but coming from the director of Black Hawk Down, Blade Runner and Alien, I would expect nothing less. Should be a fun couple of nights, check it out.

UPDATE: After having watched both parts of the new version, I can see my hopes were sorely misplaced. Ridley Scott should stick to directing real films instead of producing made for TV movies cause this version couldn’t hold a candle to the original. The plot gets wrapped up in the meaningless exploits of an addict reporter whose actions ultimately don’t amount to squat. The effects were second rate and all of the great scientific detective work at Wild Fire felt rushed. Save yourself four hours of your life and don’t bother to tune in to the repeats OR purchase the DVD. Go buy the original 1971 version instead. At least Andromeda is actually creepy in that version.