Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

Gran Turismo PSP quick review

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Bought this last week. Graphics are excellent. Sound is ok. But it has some problems that could have been easily avoided had a little more effort been put into the key aspects that make a good racing game imho - mainly views and controls.

What I don’t like:

1) Choice of views. There are 4 (from memory) views, and only two are really usable, and all appear to be non-configurable.
2) The default view looks like it’s at the point of view of a truck in terms of height. As a result, the track width looks smaller than it really is (claustrophobic, esp. on the nurburgring).
3) Yes, they thankfully put in a cockpit view. A pitch black cave. Yes, that’s right, you can’t even see the interior. Also, the fov is so wide that you can’t see where you’re going. Forget all this sensation-of-speed view ideology, this is a ’simulation’, and a crucial point is to be able to see where the road goes so you can look further ahead. The least they could have done was put in a lightened bitmap for the interior and I wouldn’t complain.

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Posted in Media, Review | 1 Comment »

Webber’s radio

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Most enthusiastic radio communication from an Aussie ever. For anyone whose mobile can use mp3’s as a ringtone (motorola), here’s an sms ringtone available for download.

Posted in Australia, Media, Thoughts | No Comments »

Red One

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

I first heard about this camera during the Adelaide Film Festival domefest event earlier this year, and yesterday attended a seminar on current 2k-4k video recording technologies, including hands-on on a few of these cameras, such as the tiny SI2k, as well as the Red One.

For those that don’t know, the Red One camera is a 4000×2000 pixel video camera that records in Raw, like professional DSLR’s do for photos. It records up to 30fps at that resolution, but can record at a higher frame rate at lower resolutions (120fps at 2k from memory).

The digital workflow seems simple enough, and the resulting footage from it is absolutely breathtaking. RED’s latest 35mm Film Demo Reel was decidedly jaw dropping to say the least. I’d love some proper testing time with wide fisheye lenses for fulldome / regular cinema presentation.

Posted in Australia, Film, Media, Technology | No Comments »

Midtones, midnight, mid-career

Friday, May 1st, 2009

I often get interesting trains of thought before I head to sleep. Here’s what I was thinking last night when thinking of how to improve my wide angle photography and methods of increasing the dynamic range of imagery. Don’t worry if you have no idea what you are reading.

If I look at the world through eyes of steel, an objective realist look, the result is a mixture of beauty and flaws; of black and white; an image wtih no greys, no mystery. Having developed much of my photography in Japan - a land of great contrast - as an outsider, the natural point of view is unusual. The visual translation of a jumbled architectural montage can be easily lost. Do the questions an outsider asks about what they see and experience change their way of thinking? For many, once home is left, their view is changed and transformed. In lands of extremes, the truth of what we experience must sometimes give way to emotion. Subjectivity must be regained to seek meaning.

The thing about a lot of HDR photography is that the midtones are all off; a self-composed life of greyness that shadows emotion. It is well known that ‘Contrast begets meaning’. Yet does that make the Greys meaningless? Take water for example; a giver of life. It not only non-grey, but is transparent and yet reflective. What does that make the opaque silver? Is the mirror in liquid metal a reflection of light and shadow, or is it the Medium? It is a common technique to achieve a single 360 degree point of view using a mirrored sphere. What is the importance of the middle light? Silver media may have gold plating. Is Au (gold) the sepia of the Greys?

Water may be the medium of life that links outer and inner soul
A relationship that must be made to become entire and whole

If silver is to bounce, then water is to communicate; to give and receive. Life is not just the people you’ve met, the placed you’ve been, the experiences you’ve had. Life is you, and life is now. It always changes, develops, and shows you a new thing every day. Drive your passion forwards. Reach for the horizon. You might sometimes go in circles, but a little bit of imagination can lead you to great places. The horizon may be a constant, but is not the core of the Earth. The highs and lows of life are good and bad. Those on the side of the road may not be progressing, but are thinking; observing; becoming. The greys of life are the medium of transformation. When a link is formed between the grey and the contrast, it is perhaps then that true beauty is revealed. The horizon may be heavenly, but even in life, there are ways of seeing the Other side of the sphere.

Posted in Australia, Japan, Media, Photography, Thoughts | No Comments »

Herald Sun Future Trends article

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

I am amazed at some of the claims made by the article talking about Richard Watson’s new book in Today’s Sunday Herald Sun on page 100-101 (vic). Many of his claims seem to be made without any common sense of the timeframes required for common things to become obsolete. Having not read the book, but by the wording of the article which appears to sum up the main keypoints (using a table with columns for ‘goodbye:’ and ‘hello to:’ and rows for years) makes one question what actual research was done to come to some of these strange claims.

Watson reckons that by 2010, the computer mouse will be obsolete. That’s 11 months away! There is no way that every computer’s mouse will be replaced in that short period of time - and older computers that people still use (eg those using the ps/2 connection) most likely won’t support any updated input device.

We’ll also apparently be saying hello to ‘wearable computers’ by 2010. I don’t know where he’s been, but they’re been around for years, although not until recently in the mainstream. Ipod buttoned clothing? Mp3/camera sunglasses? Calculator wristwatch anyone?

Perhaps the wording in the article is a bit overgeneralised, but it continues. Some other impossibilities include no ‘free parking’ by 2015 (meaning I can’t pull off the road in the middle of nowhere), no unfenced beaches by 2020 (Even in WA?), and apparently desktop computers won’t be used by 2020 (we’ll all suddently throw ours out next decade?). We’ll be saying hello to offshore prisons by 2025 (um, why was Australia initially colonised? [note: it isn't a prison country anymore]), virtual holidays in 2030 (the use of the word virtual implies a 3D world, such as that of a video game or any social media; perhaps he means holidays by way of temporary sensory replacement), and video wallpaper by 2035 (we have been able to project video onto a wall for over a century; the technology implied here [durable paper thin displays] is more likely to be used for the invisibility cloaks he references in 2045).

Most absurdly, he claims also that by January 2059, ‘petrol engine cars will be extinct’. Petrol engined cars will never be extinct. We will have more energy efficient vehicles in the future, which may replace the majority of current automotive solutions. However, petrol engined cars will forever be with us, even if it is just the enthusiasts or collectors, that will be keeping them running as long as the need for stylish automobility continues.

Sure many of the technologies mentioned either already currently exist or will in the future, but the timeframes mentioned are not well founded. Perhaps it could be that the article/book is geared towards city life, where the majority of the current world population resides. My criticisms might sound a bit harsh, but it doesn’t help that the article states no author, and concludes with the price of the book, as though it’s a paid advertisement. Perhaps I should read the book :)

Posted in Australia, Media | No Comments »

Smiling on News.com.au

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Last night had an interesting astronomical phenomenon, where the alignment of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon made a smiling face. I went up the road to Goodwood oval and took some photos, one of which has been since featured on News.com.au.

Job searching is going slow. I’m thinking of the possibility of moving interstate.

Posted in Australia, Media, Photography | 1 Comment »

Top Gear Australia - Episode 1 Review

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Overall I think the Aussie producers have done a great job. I think the presenters are quite good, they just need to relax more. The visual style is 100% in top gear taste. I really look forward to future episodes.

Problems I noticed from the first viewing.
1) Scripting. What was the first story about? Was it a review of 4×4s? Was it a road test? Was it a challenge? Was it a race? There was no explanation of the supposed track around the dunes; no explanation that they had to navigate around the flags. They should let the audience know of the rules that they apparently are trying to follow. Of course I guess an Aussie thing would be not taking it seriously and winging it, but it defeats the purpose of the story.

2) Where was the introduction to the track?? What on earth does it look like? We at least need a description of what it is, what kind of corners, straights etc it has, otherwise the laps are meaningless. After the first timed lap, the little guy said something like ‘that’s pretty fast’, but from our point of view there is nothing to compare it to.

3) The filming of the stig’s laps don’t even warrant a 1 star rating. Some of the worst camera angles, camera work, in car shots, and sound I have ever heard. Why on earth didn’t they have a microphone on the track? We didn’t get to hear the exhaust note of any of the cars. The GTR sounded like a vacuum cleaner through the in-car camera’s microphone, whereas it sounds completely different in real life (personal experience). The editing was awful. They mixed in-car sounds with video of completely different parts of the track, eg braking for a corner with the sound of accelerating. This segment needs urgent improvement or else there is no reason to have a stig.

4) What car do the celebrities drive? Is it a barina? What is it’s spec? Again, bad scripting.

5) Who made the ‘Keep Left’ graphic just before the ad breaks? It’s ugly, two dimensional, and completely in the wrong style for the program. If it’s what SBS does for every tv show then I guess that’s excusable.

6) What were they thinking? Printing on paper and not card??? Cheeeeeeap.

7) Car review quality. I didn’t hear any specific specifications. I don’t want to hear ‘it has more power’. I want to hear how many horses it has. By stating facts, opinions are more founded, thus appearing more professional. As this is the first episode, we need more specifics in order to make comparisons. We want car information. As far as I know, the green shark car was only referred two on a few occasions, and twice as ‘this little car’. The least they could do is do a little research.

8) Choice of cars. Very good choice of relevant newsworthy cars, but did they review six 4×4’s in this episode? Or were the three from the first segment the ones used in the snow? Not enough information was given about the cars for me to understand if they were the same or different. If they were the same, there needed to be a link between the two segments. Was it part of a Top Gear Challenge? If so, what were the results? There should be a conclusion to each segment in the studio, whether it be a tally of times or final words.

Top Gear Australia had a good first episode, but serious flaws in segment introductions and execution need attention.

Posted in Australia, Media, Review | No Comments »