Rick Young's Blog

Rick Young has worked in television and video production since the late 1980’s and is a committed Mac fanatic, using Apple technology for all his professional post-production work. Rick's introduction to Apple was with a Lisa before the Mac even existed, and since then has worked on Macs exclusively. He considers himself lucky to be able to get paid for what he loves to do - shoot and edit.

August 31, 2010

Cinema for £2000

Spoke to a journalist this week who mentioned to me that he wanted to get a video camera for a documentary project he was producing. He had a budget of around £2000 to spend. Then the journalist mentioned that the end result needed to be good enough for cinema release.

Rick Young

August 09, 2010

Chased by a bull

Filming on a beach in the far North of Scotland. A small hill leads to a field where cattle are moving down the hill onto the beach. Quite scenic - black cattle against the white beach. I aim my camera and blast off some shots.

Rick Young

August 02, 2010

I've wanted this lens for 20 years - Canon EF 100mm Macro

It was the early 1990’s: I was working, I was earning money. I took my hard-earned cash and invested it in Canon still technology - the EOS system (Electronic Optical System). This was brand new - Canon had taken the plunge and developed the EOS system with EF lenses (Electro-Focus). The previous line of lenses, known as the FD system, was incompatible with the new line-up of EF lenses and this upset many who had invested in the older technology. For me I was poised to jump onto something very new and exciting.

Rick Young

July 28, 2010

iPhone data charges - beware!

I was in San Francisco at the beginning of the year. In the hotel I switched on my iPhone, checked that Data Roaming was switched off, checkedthe 3G was turned off, and then switched on Wifi.

Rick Young

July 10, 2010

Don't make your clients cry

Don’t make your clients cry

Rick Young

July 05, 2010

The cost of editing technology

Five years ago I set up an edit suite in a client's office. Brand new shinyG5, flat-screen monitors, FireWire deck, all state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line.

Rick Young

June 27, 2010

Greatest fear

As I walk through customs in various countries my greatest fear is being stopped, bags opened up, and questions being asked about the equipment I’m carrying. Within the EU no problem - but in America and the rest of the world customs people can seize your equipment and charge you for the illegal importation of merchandise.

Rick Young

June 21, 2010

HDMI on new Mac Mini

In the last week Apple has announced a new Mac mini - now I don’t usually get excited about this machine, even though I do confess to owning one of the early models. What caught my attention is the new Mac mini now has an HDMI port. The obvious use is to plug your Mac into your 32 inch or larger LCD or Plasma screen, and enjoy a gigantic screen which you likely already own. For me my interest is in playing HD video out of the HDMI - can it work through FInal Cut Pro by switching on External Video. Can QuickTimes play in HD direct out of the HDMI? I suspect we will see this HDMI port appearing on more machines in the near future.

Rick Young

June 13, 2010

New Lumix HD video compact camera

This one caught my eye in the news this week, the Panasonic DMC-FX75K, HD camcorder - a cross between a traditional compact still and a video camera:

Rick Young

May 30, 2010

Call in the consultants

The world is full of experts with knowledge-filled minds that can sometimes lead one astray on the path to completing video productions.

Rick Young