MediaStorm welcomes Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin

We are excited to welcome Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin to MediaStorm. Pam will lead our Business Development efforts, and Tim, or first intern back in 2008, returns as a Multimedia Producer. Prior to joining MediaStorm, Pam Huling owned Gaslight Media Consulting, LLC, with clients in Switzerland and New York City. She currently serves on the Executive Board of EZArchive, Inc. and Our Favorite Moments, which are online subscription-based cloud services for consumers. As the former Director of Photo Services at Discovery Communications, Inc., the #1 non-fiction media company in the world, Huling oversaw more than 400 photo and multimedia shoots each year on location around the world, the licensing of millions of dollars in stock content and the management of more than one million media assets. Pam Huling has a background in art and music, holding a degree in graphic design and a Bachelor of Music in bassoon performance from the…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm welcomes Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin

MediaStorm releases updated Multimedia Gear Guide

One of the most frequent questions we're asked is "what gear do I need to do multimedia?" While there's no quick and easy answer, we've put together a revised MediaStorm Gear Guide, detailing the equipment we use and recommend for gathering multimedia. With technology changing so frequently, it's often hard to keep up with the latest and greatest gear, so I've also tried to give insight into why each type of equipment is ideal, and to provide different options when there are multiple versions available. If you have any questions, or suggestions of combinations that have worked well for you, we'd love to hear from you in the comments. See our Gear Guide.

Continue ReadingMediaStorm releases updated Multimedia Gear Guide

MediaStorm projects nominated for three Emmy Awards

MediaStorm is thrilled to announce that three of our 2009 projects have been nominated for the 31st Annual Emmy Awards for News & Documentary.   Driftless: Stories from Iowa, by Danny Wilcox Frazier, was nominated in the New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Documentaries Category. Once at the center of the U.S. economy, the family farm now drifts at its edges. In Iowa, old-time farmers try to hang on to their way of life, while their young push out to find their futures elsewhere. Driftless tells their stories.   Times of Crisis was nominated in the New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Current News Coverage Category. In Times of Crisis, Reuters charts 365 days of global financial upheaval to see how lives have changed as a divergent world embarks on an era of historic challenge.   Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope was also nominated in the New Approaches to…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm projects nominated for three Emmy Awards

MediaStorm’s Guide to Using Apple’s ProRes 422 Codec

One of the questions I'm asked most frequently about Final Cut is, "When do I use Apple's ProRes 422 codec?" To tackle this question it's first necessary to understand a few things about codecs. Shooting video is a very intensive digital capture process. It requires cameras to capture lots of information in a short amount of time. To handle so much raw data, most cameras need to compress what they capture. A codec is essentially a compression scheme, a way to encapsulate so much material into a containable format. Standard DV footage, for instance, uses a compression scheme referred to as the DV codec. Similarly, HD footage -- 1080i60, 1080p, etc. -- uses the HDV codec. Codec takes its name from “encoder” and “decoder” since your computer must now decode the encoded file during playback. When you create a new sequence in Final Cut, you are building what will become a new…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm’s Guide to Using Apple’s ProRes 422 Codec

Worth Watching

Another group of stunning/important/innovative multimedia and video projects we've been watching lately. If you have any to add, please let us know in the comments! You can see previously featured videos here. 30. Leave Me from Daros Films Fictional films can have great impact. - Brian Storm 31. Bugs! from Ryan Enn Hughes Wicked. - Brian Storm 32. UP THERE from Jon Gorgeous short film, shot as part of The Ritual Project sponsored by Stella Artois. - Jessica Stuart 33. The Future of Publishing A good example of why you should watch pieces until the end. Thanks to Michael Croan for the tip. - Brian Storm 34. Prison Valley by Pilippe Brault & David Dufresne with Upian for Arte "Prison Valley" in Colorado includes more than 36,000 inmates in 13 prisons. The web documentary is a state-of-the-art showcase of in-depth, rich media reporting from Brault and Dufresne, innovative concepting and sublime implementation…

Continue ReadingWorth Watching