If you've ever browsed the Tools section of Arri's website, you've probably seen their ALEXA simulator, along with a number of other great resources. Well, here's some good news for those of you who are curious about the new AMIRA - Arri recently released the first version of their AMIRA simulator.

Canon has had great C300 and C500 simulators available on their site for a while now, allowing users to explore the full menus and function buttons on the camera.

Have you ever found yourself wondering about the image a particular camera and lens would produce? Well, if you have your phone on you, there's now an easy way to find out. DIRE Studio has released an app called Mark II Artist's Viewfinder, which has the ability to preview and capture hundreds of camera and lens combinations.

One of the most popular blog posts I've written was a guide to Applying LUTs to Log Footage in various NLEs. Since I posted it, a lot has changed in the popular NLEs; the tools used to apply Look Up Tables are now included in many of them, and they are generally better than ever. Here is a break down of how to apply LUTs to Log footage (or any footage) in Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer 7, and Resolve 10

We've discussed many of the advantages of shooting Log C on the ALEXA before, but often one of the biggest roadblocks is the preconceived notion of an overly complex workflow. While this can be true if you need to grade the majority of your footage, often times (especially if you nail your exposure), a simple translation is all that is necessary.

Not sure if your monitor is up to spec? SpectraCal, the company behind CalMAN monitor calibration software, recently announced that their Colorchecker Software is now available as a free download. This software, once only available for purchase or as part of a larger CalMAN product suite, allows users to determine whether their monitor is true to industry standards such as Rec709, DCI or Adobe RGB.

DaVinci Resolve has become one of the most popular tools for color grading and creating dailies, and now Blackmagic Design has released a pretty major upgrade to the program: DaVinci Resolve 10.

One of the more interesting features of the Sony F55 is its ability to record in 4K XAVC video while simultaneously recording in HD. This gives you the option of editing right away in the Sony MPEG2 HD format as a proxy, and then linking back to the 4K XAVC compression for finishing. Sounds great right?

With every new camera, come many new questions about workflow. The term "workflow" can be fairly broad, but today I am looking at importing Sony F5/F55 footage into various non-linear editing systems (NLEs). Both the F5 & F55 can record in MPEG2 (XDCAM), XAVC and HDCAM SR formats internally. With the addition of the AXS-R5 recorder, they can also record in Sony Raw. This article is focused on MPEG2 and XAVC, but be sure to keep an eye out for future blogs on working with Sony Raw and HDCAM SR.