RED Demo Now in Progress... catch a sneak peek

This week, we're working on a compilation of RED ONE footage shot over the past few months in several locales stateside and abroad; from Cape Cod to Las Vegas to Africa, and back home to the hills of western Massachusetts.

What you'll see here is very much a work in progress, as much of Mark Archer's footage from Mount Kilimanjaro has not yet been included. Stay tuned for the final version this fall.



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Telly To Me One More Time...

The 30th annual Telly Awards competition, which honors the nation’s best in local and regional television, video, Web and film production, will soon present Del Padre Digital with a statuette for the creative showcasing of its work. This is the second such award for us.

Chosen from more than 13,000 entries – submitted by advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, interactive agencies and corporate video departments from across the country – Del Padre will receive a Bronze Telly for a demo reel that highlights the firm’s work in 2008. The demo reel is featured on its Web site, and is also sent to clients and included in press kits.

In addition to Del Padre, other past winners include Comcast Spotlight, Discovery Communications, Busch Entertainment Corporation, Chicago Tribune, ESPN, NASA, NBA Entertainment, NBC Universal, and WebMD.

Del Padre-Produced NASA DVD Released

Completing a project that began two years ago, we've just received our first copies of a three-part educational movie filmed for NASA, for which we served as directors, animators, editors, and producers.

Spacefaring: The Radiation Challenge, addresses the topic of radiation and human space flight, and was produced in tandem with the Space Science Institute. We combined live action with 3D animation and compositing to create a trio of video shorts for DVD. The plot follows three young astronauts encountering a solar storm on their way to Mars, but it's more than just a movie --classroom activities accompany each act of the story, designed for both middle school and high school students.

Spacefaring also includes video-game-level special effects, and is available in both standard definition and HD formats.

Del Padre On Hand to Announce STEPS at ASTC, Philly

Del Padre Digital's Creative Director Mark Archer and Senior Programmer Joe Maki were recently among more than 1,800 science-center professionals from 31 countries, who gathered for the 2008 ASTC (Association of Science Technology Centers) annual conference, held at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pa.

Del Padre's Mark Archer meets and greets with Philly's resident Founding Father.

Archer and Maki attended as part of their involvement with the STEPS (Science Theater Educational Programming System) project, an application being developed by a collaborative of science and multimedia professionals, including the Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colo., the SETI institute in Mountain View, Calif., and NASA. STEPS will be for use by educators in museums across the country, and will create interactive presentations to help science educators of all types stage theatrical presentations for museum audiences.

Del Padre Digital has been tasked with developing the multimedia aspects of STEPS, utilizing the latest tools in digital design to create a software engine with groundbreaking, yet easy-to-use functionality.

The project is slated for completion in 2010, and the ASTC conference coincided with the end of the first development year of this three-year project. A trailer was also produced by the STEPS team and Del Padre Digital for the conference, giving what will be its key audience a first look at the developing platform. The video was filmed in part at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, one of the science centers that will utilize the final STEPS product.

A beta version of STEPS will be unveiled next year, at the ASTC conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Music Video Shot on RED Now in Production

Rolling through the streets of Detroit, Del Padre Digital recently became a player in the filming of a new music video for one of hip-hop’s rising stars.

We’re in the midst of editing now, after a whirlwind shoot in several locales in Michigan for Johnny ‘The Greek’ Saxx’s single Take Me Away. This will be the premiere video from his latest album, The Protagonist, released this year by BP/Universal Distribution.

Del Padre Digital’s creative director, Mark Archer, was pulled into the project earlier this month to serve as its director of photography. This created an opportunity not only to film in various challenging locales, from a cigar room to a Bentley cruising down Lake Shore Drive, but also to test the mettle of the firm’s new Red ONE 4k camera.

Mark Archer and lighting specialist David St. George film at Blue Sky Studios

“We shot a number of staged scenes at Blue Sky Studio in Troy, Mich., which is a state-of-the-art, fully-equipped production facility,” says Archer, “as well as at one of the state’s hottest night spots – The Harem Lounge. All of these locations posed challenges, but also unique, exciting filming scenarios.”

The plot of the video follows Saxx through a number of ‘high-roller’ scenes, from mansions to parties with plenty of bling in tow. The footage was shot over two days, and is currently being edited at Del Padre Digital’s suite in East Longmeadow, Mass. It’s slated for completion at the end of this month.

Saxx is already a cross-over draw in Greece and other Mediterranean countries; his previous videos are available on ANT1 Europe, as well as Viacom US.

Del Padre Digital goes RED

After reserving a serial number almost a year ago, Del Padre Digital’s newest acquisition is here. We’ve recently added the lauded ‘RED ONE’ Ultra High Definition Digital Cinema Camera to our equipment roster, allowing us to offer clients video with a dynamic, film-like look and feel.

RED is an entirely new digital motion picture camera and the first that matches the detail and richness of analog film. It has an expansive format in which to shoot and handle postproduction, with over five times the amount of image information available each frame when compared to a typical HD rig.

The system, which is available for shooting in Western Mass, Boston, Hartford, New York and nationally from Del Padre's home base in East Longmeadow, Mass. , also offers image quality that is on par with 35mm film, if not better, as the RED captures footage in a RAW format and allows for a full digital workflow.

Typical high-end HD cameras have 2.1M pixel sensors and record with 3:1:1 color sub-sampled video at 30fps. The RED ONE, however, includes the Mysterium™ Super 35mm cine sized sensor that provides capture at 4K up to 30 fps, 3K up to 60 fps and 2K up to 120 fps with wide dynamic range and color space in 12 bit native RAW plus greater than 66db dynamic range. Too technical? Just think of it as being the digital equivalent of film. According to the RED ONE’s developers, viewers that see RED footage for the first time either describe the quality as 65 mm film or as ‘grainless 35.’

Why Shoot in 4K?

The RED ONE Cinema camera allows you the option to shoot in 2K, 3K, or 4K. When in 4K, the entire Mysterium sensor is utilized, delivering a picture resolution of 4096x2304. In comparison, most of today's HD cameras output an image of 1920x1080, but in reality only record an image 1440x1080 and have to res-up to a full HD image.

As you can see in the diagram below, the RED ONE captures significantly more information than is required by any of today's output methods, thus eliminating the need to up-rez.

Format Comparison:


We use a set of Nikon Prime lenses with the RED, allowing depth of field control, which blurs the foreground or background; the trademark of film production. In addition, the RED offers variable frame rates, up to 120 frames per second, for slow-motion applications.

And, there are other advantages, including cost savings with the elimination of film and processing and the ability to watch dailies in real time. With applications including corporate video production, commercials for television and Web, documentaries, music videos, and short-and feature-length films, the RED workflow adds an exciting aspect to Del Padre Digital’s expertise in high-end video production.

MODE for iPhone Video and Hamilton Sundstrand Touch-Screen Kiosk

While millions were standing in line waiting for their new iPhone 3Gs, Del Padre Digital was capitalizing on the craze.

Del Padre recently completed a new, HD video that will serve as a marketing vehicle for SpeakerCraft of Riverside Calif., promoting the company’s new product, MODE for iPhone®. The piece is now being used by SpeakerCraft in viral marketing campaigns, direct mailings, and as handouts at several national trade shows.

The completed production coupled HD video footage – filmed using the Redrock Micro 35 mm lens kit and Nikon prime lenses mounted on a Panasonic HVX200 – with a number of 3D renders created by the Del Padre team. New York-based voiceover artist Brian Kelsey provided audio production and narration, and various graphics and video effects were generated using Adobe After Effects and digital video platform Adobe Premiere.

Nino Del Padre, president of Del Padre Digital, spearheaded the project, and noted that a tight deadline and the inherent difficulty of shooting video of electronics such as the iPhone made the use of 3D renders doubly important.

“Shooting the shiny surface of the iPhone created some challenges for us in capturing video, and also created even more need for the photorealistic 3D renders,” Del Padre said, adding that the award-winning Autodesk® Maya® software was used to create the renders. “We had a very tight deadline on this one due to the recent fervor over the 3G, but we are really happy with the results, and that we could complete this project concurrently with sales of millions of Apple’s newest product.”

MODE for iPhone by SpeakerCraft essentially transforms the iPhone into a remote control that can be used with home theater and multi-room audio systems, as well as every iPod within a household. The interface operates much like other iPhone applications, and displays song information, artist names, genres, and playlists on the interactive touch screen, making accessing music simple and intuitive.

MODE is the latest product introduced by SpeakerCraft, a company with a three-decade history of innovation. After inventing the in-wall speaker and manufacturing them for the most prominent companies in the business, SpeakerCraft developed its own brand, based on the ever-expanding need for quality sound in the home. Today, the company is the largest supplier of custom installed audio/video products in the world.

Del Padre Digital was founded in 1991, and specializes in video production, interactive CD-ROM design, and high-end Web design. Its clients include NASA, the Space Science Institute, LEGO Systems, and Barnes Aerospace. Del Padre has worked with SpeakerCraft and its daughter companies, Proficient Audio and Emphasys, since 2005. Through this relationship, Del Padre has created everything from full Flash Web sites to E-marketing campaigns, and provides sophisticated 3D product renders and product photography for both packaging and marketing purposes.

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As the planes roared overhead, Del Padre Digital placed key information regarding new, exciting developments in aerospace at people’s fingertips recently, at the famed Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England.

Del Padre created an interactive, touch-screen kiosk for Hartford, Connecticut based aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand, which was incorporated into a trade booth at the biennial Airshow, and operated by the user operating a 21-inch touch screen. Farnborough International Airshow is the largest, most internationally attended aerospace event in the world.

Del Padre Digital’s president, Nino Del Padre, said the project was completed in just less than four weeks, in order to be ready in time for use at the airshow in July.

“We have worked with Hamilton Sundstrand in the past, creating trade show videos to illustrate the different product groups that comprise the $5.6 billon dollar company” said Del Padre. “The project was particularly complex and detailed, but we completed it in a record time, start-to-finish.”

Most of the application was created using Flash 9, along with Photoshop to prepare complex component shots. The application was loaded onto a dedicated PC for smooth playback, and each component was accessed either by a list within an on-screen side bar, or by touching the corresponding part of the aircraft shown on the screen.

The Farnborough Airshow is not only a draw for the public due to its spectacular air demonstrations. It’s also a key business event for the aerospace industry, resulting in more than $40 billion orders for components from participating vendors every other year.

Hamilton Sundstrand, the result of the 1999 merger of Hamilton Standard and the Sundstrand Corp., employs approximately 19,000 people at more than 50 major facilities worldwide, and is among the world's largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products.

Del Padre Digital was founded in 1991, and specializes in video production, interactive CD-ROM design, and high-end Web design. In addition to Hamilton Sundstrand, its clients include NASA, the Space Science Institute, LEGO Systems, and Barnes Aerospace.

New website and new name

We are pleased to announce a new website and a new name. Del Padre Visual Productions is now Del Padre Digital. The name change reflects the constantly evolving technology we harness in our business. Established in 1991 as Del Padre Video Productions, the name was changed in 1995 to Del Padre Visual Productions to better describe our services when we embarked in the new world of multimedia and internet development.

Today all of our services from web design to high definition video production is digital hence the new name.

The new delpadre.com is the sixth incarnation of the Del Padre web presence. This site was intended to fulfill several key roles. First and foremost this site was intended to be an easily scalable, dynamic, and easily managed web presence for our company.

Beyond this however the site was developed with many other end goals in mind. Our company wanted to highlight the fact that Flash is a viable platform for an entire website. We wanted a flash site that could emulate an HTML one in basic functions such that have long been unsupported in Flash. Features such deep linking and browser back button support , fast loading dynamic content, coherent loading sequences so users can get to the most important information fastest, and the ability to optimize our site for search engines. We also wanted to capitalize on the raw power of the Flash platform with animation, integrated full screen video, fully dynamic and easily updatable content, with transitions and other subtleties to increase the flow of the site and enrich the user experience.

Technical Challenge

• Back button support/deep linking
  


• By taking advantage of the open source SWFAddress project we were able to create a flash website that could interface with the browsers history allowing the user to use the browsers back button as well as bookmark and link to specific sections of the flash movie.
  
• Dynamic content
  


• To avoid needing to edit the flash project to add updates to our site virtually all the content was made dynamic, pulling from external files that can be edited via our in browser Content Management System
  
  
  
  • All news and gallery information is pulled from external files when the respective page is accessed. Once it loads the contents of these files, any borders or styles are generated by ActionScript on the fly.
  
  
• Speed
  


• This site was built to run on any connection above 756Kbps. We didn’t want our visitors to have to wait for 30 seconds at a loading page, or bring their system to a crawl downloading numerous large assets at once. There were many different ways we came at this problem to solve it;
  


• The site is almost completely generated by action script; the initial timeline in the flash file is very small and has few assets on it. By having greater control over the exact order content was generated in we were able to streamline the loading order in many areas without having to extend the timeline or rely on timeline based tweens or dead space. We were also able to reuse much of the code, further reducing the overall files size of the project.
  


• We took load order into account when adding more bandwidth and processor intensive assets to the project, for example on the index page, rather than sharing the bandwidth among the gallery content, the full background video, and music files, the site doesn’t initialize loading the video and music assets until the gallery is loaded. Accessibility to the information was our top priority, if that information is good enough the user will be around long enough to see the flashier aspects of the site as well.


• Server side bandwidth controls, on a slow connection the music player was bringing the site to a halt whenever it started to cache a new song. To side step this problem the flash site posts the song file information to a PHP file which restricts the download speed to 16Kbps leaving a 4Kb buffer over what the song needs to play, but preventing a 2MB mp3 from hogging all the site bandwidth.


• Much of the content of the site is populated by ActionScript loops, by writing these loops to be as effective as possible we were able to increase overall load times of galleries


• Processor usage and Memory Leaks. Some aspects of our site had potential for high processor usage and memory leaks, however by actively managing what assets were enabled in the website at any given time we were able to strike a balance between file size and processor demand we were able to keep the system resource footprint of our site relatively low compared to similar websites.
  
  
• Public bookmarking has become a powerful and effective way to get a website noticed so we decided that lacking that support was not an option, this also pushed us to write a much more advanced URL handling system than the one included in the SWFAddress project. This new handling system allows the site to dynamically generate unique links to newly added content keeping our dynamic content source files much more manageable and easily updatable.
  
  
• Intelligent resizing, the site gives priority to certain elements and will attempt to keep them within the viewable area as long as possible when the browser window is resized, lower priority elements dynamically moved and the centering and scaling scheme is modified based on the current window size.
  
  Search Engine optimization was something that we intended to include from the start, and luckily SWFAddress comes with a good platform to do this from. Some aspects of the platform were modified to handle our different URL management system as well as much more dynamic SEO abilities.
  
  The entire site runs off index.php however .htaccess rewrites the URL header to reflect the current location in the website. Due to this, any static meta tag information we set in the index.php file would be repeated on every single page of the site, negatively effecting search engine rank. To overcome this we replaced the static information with PHP function calls which would determine what content was showing and update the Meta tags to match.
  
  
• SWFAddress also writes the contents of its data file to the index page as html so that anyone viewing the page without flash player or JavaScript can still view the exact same content as is in the flash site.
  
  All links in this no JavaScript mode will link to the proper flash page once JavaScript is enabled, this means any links a Search Engine crawls will link to the same section in the flash site.
  
  
• Benefits of this site include
  - Fast and easy updating of content from anywhere in the world.
  - User friendly, intuitive navigation that brings the user to the information they want
  - Search Engine optimized
  - All the power of flash without losing any functionality or benefits of an html site.

Recent Video and Flash Design Work

Video Production

Like a good wine, this concept was well aged. Over the course of a year or so, the Trifecta Wine commercial was conceived, written, shot and edited. The final result, we think, is as sweet as the private reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon it features.

This entire spot was shot at 60 frames per second in HD resolution with an M2, 35 millimeter lens adapter from Redrock Micro and Nikon glass. The copy for the spot was specifically written for the amazing voice of South African Patrick Willis, which goes down just as smooth as a bottle of 2004 Trifecta.

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Flash Website Design

Our newest Flash site, for Pennsylvania based home technology provider STI uses some great features including dynamically populated content, SEO - friendly Flash content and deeplinking.

The services of STI include home theatre design, security, automation, lighting design and structured wiring for homes and businesses. The site needed to be not only informative, but also appeal to a high-end client looking for a particularly tech-savvy company. STIworldwide.com does just that.

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DVP Shoots Riley Martin Video

Riley Martin is a New Jersey resident, a former sharecropper, and a true believer in the knowledge he accrued during an alien abduction several years ago.

He's also a regular on The Howard Stern Show, and he's amassed plenty of fans in recent years -- some because they enjoy his stories of extraterrestrial jaunts, and others because they've heard the Riley Martin prank calls on Stern.



It's not so much of a logic jump as it seems; Martin has, over the years and through various T.V. and radio appearances, parlayed his space-travel induced visions for the future into a marketing vehicle that is chugging nicely along. DVP signed on to produce his new Web site, and saw their own site's hits skyrocket shortly after its launch, which also garnered some praise and valuable air time on Howard Stern News.

Martin visited DVP to record portions of the audio version of his book, The Coming of Tan, and to add a few new components to his merchandising repertoire. In addition to the book, t-shirts, and other items, DVP also produced some Riley Martin ringtones and outgoing answering machine messages. We shot Riley on green screen for videos that will be featured on http://www.rileymartin.com/