The Birth of a Violin

Shot with the brand new RED Mysterium chip at full 4K with a Leica 90mm Macro lens.
Shot and cut by Jon Salmon (MGMT Kids video)
Color work by Niko Pueringer (Modern Warfare Tribute)
Gaffer/AC: Shaun Dixon
Music by Freddie Wong (Guitar Hero, Modern Warfare Tribute, / freddiew )
Produced by Alex Afzali
The violin maker is Robert Cauer, who famously restored the multimillion dollar Stradivarius that was stolen a few years ago. The violinist is Jonathan Rubin and several of Cauer's staff are also featured working in the video.

www.cauer.com

[@celeocanth]

sumptuously made. i like all the closeups with different areas in focus and the golden colour of the film. a worthy film

[@JMorr1029]

this quality is simply unbelievable.

[@DMPO1984]

I am amazed at the clarity in this video truly eye popping stuff

[@guitars2112]

thank goodness for HD videos

[@Pessimal]

Beautiful cinematography.

[@followyourabbit]

This is so much deeper than one could anticipate.. This is such a beautiful narrative and there remains an application that escapes the borders of Violin making. Timeless piece.

[@The4Wuz]

This, my good sir, is ART

[@seaniedan]

amazing violin maker, beautiful violin, fabulous video.

[@DennyDFW]

Jon, that was the perfect project for the 4K. Art captured by art!

[@alexdau9]

wow great shots and quality- put this in film festivals, def

[@onejanedoe2003]

Good to see old arts still being utlitzed! Making something with your hands is so personal. I'd love to have one and learn how to play the violin! It'd be special, being handmade through love.

[@Celru2]

Oh! Amazing this resolution, with a 1080p display you can see there is more than what you can see at the TV! Just amazing, i hope this resloution come true and "cheap" at the next few years! If 1080p is awesome this is ridiculous amazing!

[@brianthehawk]

Great production work.. I wish more TV could be like this. I also like the pacing. No flashy millisecond cuts like is so common these days (for whatever reason). Really draws you in!

[@phiddler]

@Bosingr It's the Gavotte from the 3rd Partita in E Major for solo violin by J. S. Bach.

[@ykwia1]

amazing quality

[@freakingscared1]

your an awesome director please continue

[@cailanthegreat]

that violin looks beautful.

[@VortexMotiveVision]

Looks great!

[@ghoward779]

fantastic video

[@MossMan5000]

really good video, i love the violin it has the most purest sound

[@GeorgeTsirogiannis]

great frames. the RED is the world's best camera.

[@TalKissos]

very well shot!

[@spork1192]

absolutely beautiful... I'm going to go learn to play violin now... :)

[@riveraluciano]

now videos like this and some others i've seen are really worth the 4K resolution =)

[@Mxsmanic]

@LiivingMyLife Even if you are watching at 1080p, 4K will provide a slightly better image because of the greater depth of modulation that the higher pixel count provides. In other words, the quality of each pixel at 1080p is improved slightly if the original source had more pixels, because the optimal value of the pixel can be calculated more accurately.

[@fventura03]

very good quality

[@aaron5364]

Holy crap, Freddiew (AKA Freddie Wong) did the music for this vid! That is so strange and awesome at the same time! It says in the description.

[@justdoinurmom]

holy shit this video is gorgeous in 4K like omfg

[@lee38458]

I think i will fall in love with violin.. :)

[@ShinAkuma204]

KZbin should be offering higher bitrates and 60 fps rather than resolutions nobody can really appreciate in this format.

[@njso18]

watching this thing on my 2560x1440 monitor...looks incredible.

[@745917203views]

@Mxsmanic, it can provide a better image, or perhaps more accurate representation if 4k is downsampled to 1080. But sometimes artifacts can appear. Also it mostly results in a slight palette and brightness shift. Basically the image looks about the same. But as you said, each pixel on 1080 is put to better use since it has been taken from more info of 4k.

[@matthewholloway81]

No, Retina is beyond 1080p. I'm not entirely sure of the resolution but I do know the pixels are pretty much invisible to the naked eye.

[@runlikeleon]

you know i just built a violin and now im playing it like a boss!!!

[@Zazoo1995]

I play the violin... and I loved this :D It is interesting to see something like this.

[@EloTheMan1]

Is it just me or does this vid have more quality than a dvd in fullscreen mode?

[@GargantulaKon]

@uetzel Thanks that makes sense. I forgot about bit rate quality for that moment. I was not familiar with the 4K resolution.

[@snarkishly]

This played super smooth on my PC at "original" quality. Looks amazing even though I'm down-sampling it to roughly 1080. The 1080p version looks better, as you might expect since it's showing at close to native res, but the 4k version is definitely richer in colour and tone.

[@parasole42]

The power of the masters hand

[@uetzel]

OH MY GAWD 4k all the way!

[@goldfya]

@jsalmon Agreed. Skills of the trade are what makes society. Although we do have machinery to mass produce we still need the people with the skills to use their hands and minds to repair/build THAT machine. It is saddening to know certain skills are dying such as pottery, pin stripping and glass blowing just to name a few. Its the dedication, the care, the meticulous planning and appreciation for the finished product that generates that sense of great pride and accomplishment.

[@theadonn2791]

@Flawrey u have to use the *original* setting and if ur video is 4k it will be uploaded in 4k

[@Eamesam]

Bach-Gavotte En Rondeau is the piece at the end. :)

[@Muscleduck]

Even in the SD and 720p and 1080p video you can see the quality is realy crisp for their resolution. The 480p picture quality is far superior to 99.999% of the 480p material on here.

[@ewofinwefoinwefqw]

BOOM! MacBook Pro Retina bossed it! Sliky smooth!

[@Shawshank00]

My MBP chewed through the video. Looks amazing on a 2560x1440 res screen

[@WillyToons]

I will have to go to an IMAX theater to notice a difference.

[@Turin524]

@Jchema8 yes, that's because you're downsizing it to view it on what's probably only a 1080p screen.

[@DoctorSess]

this is the kind of video that should be on youtube. obviously it is... i just mean... well you know what i mean.

[@misetskyyk]

Watched on my MacBook Pro Retina and it's fucking gorgeous ! WOOOOOOOW !!!!!

[@jsalmon]

@blackkittypounce The quicktime I uploaded was 50 MB/s, but I have no idea what algorithm they used to get to the final flash video.

[@tipoomaster]

@Bobbias That doesn't change anything I said. I'd rather them improve bitrates for the lower resolutions than release even higher ones.

[@askwhyz]

Thanks for this great piece. If everything we purchased were made with such care, it would be more expensive, but also likely not fall apart after a year like most of the junk made in China. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks so after watching this vid!

[@ChevyGuy566]

August 2012. Flash Player Version 11.4 is released. Video is almost playable on macbook pro. Progress. We'll get there one day

[@botobotoboto]

@mruddo1971 and remember this 4k2k video is compressed. Actual 4k2k video is 250mbit(varies) so you'd need 25x the internet speed ;)

[@Atomcitypasi]

The best things in the world always will be made by hand.

[@flickded]

gavotte en rondeau :D great piece.

[@Eamesam]

The song at the end is Bach's Partita Violin. :')

[@ZeecheriumCA]

That violin sounded amazing...and looked amazing, and even better in 1080p. (Broadband too slow for 4k, unfortunately.)

[@uetzel]

@GargantulaKon because the bitrate of youtube 1080p is very low... you get artifacts, you do not have that problem with the 4k res

[@fusion311]

dont know how to play a violin but still find this interesting!

[@tyapka]

I do know. I use Opera, and it shows video using html5 and WebM codec. And the maximum resolution I can find in the menu is 720p.

[@GralGrievous]

So basically we need to buy a $70,000 USD TV to be able to watch this in full resolution? great.

[@AndrewPhelps611]

I'm never going to want to watch 720p again.

[@SnkyCyanTurtle]

Good vid.

[@pgice]

yeah thats right..watching this video on the Nexus 10 will only get the 1080p video..but still it looks great..to get the true res you need to download the original video and its in 4096*2304

[@kotsios555]

thanks

[@tipoomaster]

@blackkittypounce Thats what I was wondering. KZbin 720p is probably lower bitrate than a standard DVD.

[@Imbetterthanmost]

@PeterL571 this is a common problem... it may be that your pegs don't fit the peg holes... this is a really simple fix. Just take it to a local violin luthier (maker/fixer), and he can custom fit pegs for you.. this usually doesn't cost more that 20 dollars :)

[@breakingbboy]

omg, thats such a cool profession

[@daviangel]

@daviangel Okay just got an error from from KZbin page after posting this response that an unsupported form of compression is being used. So I guess the 4K video stuff is still kinda buggy and beta that's probably why video stopped halfways like I mentioned.

[@mojohand43]

@jsalmon Looks gorgeous on a 25" monitor but I doubt most people will be able to tell it from 1080p.

[@745917203views]

@745917203views, I meant without skipping, not "within". maybe YT will get editing one day.

[@jsalmon]

@ludvan64 You've struck upon the whole reason I chose this subject matter. I've always been fascinated by watching skilled craftsmen work with their hands, whether a Tibetan peasant slicing a coconut or a watchmaker making minute repairs, there's something hypnotic about watching it and it gives you a pride in our species. And like you, I love the idea that the skills of this trade literally haven't changed in the last 400 years...

[@AvindraGoolcharan]

@corsair831: Actually it IS about that lol. It's in youtube's 4k video demo playlist.

[@DragonTamer2345]

Laptop (C2D at 2.2) crumbled under this video. Desktop runs it nicely. 20% load on my i7 with an ATI 4850.

[@recneps1212]

@WeEatBrainz It's for people who want to show youtube videos on HD projectors.

[@SirKyanite]

Playback isn't always smooth. That aside, the visual quality is awesome. Now someone needs to make, "The Birth of a Stratocaster". Now that would rock even more. :D

[@tipoomaster]

@SK1887 The video IS GPU accelerated on my system as I confirmed with GPU-Z, but for some reason when I go to 4k the GPU acceleration gets turned off and its all on my processor.

[@SK1887]

@tipoomaster Did you try with IE9 beta? That's so weird, but I think it may be adobe flash's fault too. If there is a way to download the 4k vid and play it with vlc media player, it would be cool to test if it works better!

[@Bobbias]

@tipoomaster I agree that google should focus more on bitrate for their video. But really, all it takes is making sure that all the internals in the player support 4k. Actually, their html5 player, which is my default player (in google chrome) doesn't support 4k resolution video yet. And to be honest, their other video rates are pretty good, too. I watch a lot of content at 720p and I have a pretty bad connection. 3mbit/s and with a couple minutes to buffer, things are fine.

[@daviangel]

hmm seems to freeze @ 1:23 on 4K for some reason? Anyways differences from 1080 to 4K apparent to my eyes anyways with cleaner edges around violin bow string @ 2:00 for on 4K version for example. Easily runs on my i7 950 with 460gtx vidcard averaging 20mb/sec connection.

[@bigmeierhouse]

@Dunceiam Apple has 3 options in terms of displays for there MBP 15" models. 1. Normal 2. High res 3. High res + anti-glare high res is 1680x1050. It honestly is not bad seeing as this is a 15" display. My 20" has the same resolution.

[@Saihtam001]

I can almost taste the pixels, thanks youtube!

[@Tristanisms]

@chairmansaab wait your phones screen can adequetly represent 4k and the youtube app acutally dispayed it in that resolution?

[@TheLGR9]

right click on video and left click "show video info" if it is 4096 x 2304, it's 4k video..

[@NitroGadvRules]

@Motogu jeez my laptop went straight through in chrome and on opera on 4k. This video is upscaled though so its kinda of a waste

[@sakethballa36t]

@Quasarman1 i think youtube scaled down the bitrate by a lot....because i am doin 2MBps and thats the same as 1080p that i watch

[@pgice]

looks fucking amazing on the Nexus 10!..but i think you need to download it to get the true highres?

[@laitela01]

@goldfya Yea. the last part your said touches only the one who made it. Although its a nice feeling to own something handmade...

[@ststephen]

wtf how come original lags for me now iv been able to watch original a while back on any video like water even 3d 4k. did i disable something or change anything?

[@sirdavidspagnolo]

I can see how the cooling system might help a with it a bit, but the mbp with retina runs crazy hot anyways, and the battery? How is the battery gonna help? It just means the computer will run longer.

[@justdoinurmom]

Is it crazy that I can see the difference between 4K and 1080p without a 4K display??

[@fixxxer928]

You're right, i've never played a violin. I play the guitar so that's the only thing i can compare it to. Doesn't the metal strings eat away at the bridge? Does it create grooves?

[@adonisds]

If we can choose 6 different resolutions, then why can't we choose the bitrate? This low bitrate problem is very serious, 720p videos look like crap.

[@irwfcm]

I like this guy, a true craftsman. Someone who is passionate about his work. I respect that. Yeah, you could buy a cheap piece of crap from China, but I'd rather have what this guy is selling any day of the week. We used to have a lot of people like this in our country, what happened to them? Now to look into upgrading my video card. Holy cow!

[@TyrKohout]

My computer just isn't up to snuff for playing this back at 4k. :(

[@mariomariobrosluigi]

best buy says that they sell only full hd like 1080p.but this is way over there hands.even their best mac high speed internet and best video card can't compete with this!!!! that means"THIS HIGH RESOLUTION IS HOPELESS ON KZbin IF NOBODY CAN EVEN WATCH IT!!!radeon company should do a powerful video card!!!i hope it is in the 6000 series!

[@tipoomaster]

Weird. Monitoring my CPU and GPU load under GPU-Z and task manager, on 1080p the two seem to share the job of playback nicely. On 4k though, the GPU isn't used at all. I wonder where the blame lies for that. If it was, I think my system would have adequate power to play 4k since it only used 10-15% GPU on 1080p.

[@Dunceiam]

@bigmeierhouse 1680x1050 is high resolution? Since when?