Hey guys,

coming from using an XL1S and switching over to the GL2, I find myself in a small jam. I prefer the picture quality and sharpness of the GL2 but the control knobs or lack thereof are causing me some problems- let me explain;

today while shooting some vid of a hawk in a tree, the hawk moves from a light sky background and sometimes back into a shaded darker tree-limb background- the GL2 would try to expose correctly for whatever scene was being shot- going into manual mode is a bit of a pain as I have to press the Menu button then fumble through menus til i get the AV-TV M modes- because 1 button controls all these functions- my video is looking erratic as on the fly adjustements are a bit cumbersome to control smoothly. On the XL with the Iris and Shutter speeds being on different dials- you could theoretically change these settings on the fly and keep a constant video going without changing the look of the video drastically-......

...is there a workaround to having TV and AV on the same push dial? Or should I return this GL2 (only 2 days old) to B&H and get a Panasonic DVX?
(Pan has external Iris control etc)

1 dial performing both AV/TV is a bit of a drawback for my shooting style....I really hope some of you guys can explain how you shoot smoothly with your GL's in Manual mode while making changes while video is running....any words??
Thanks guys.

Hello Steve,
Unfortunately there's no shortcut for switching program modes on the GL2. I, too, would like to see the GL2's mode selection placed on an analog control rather than a menu.

Hey, last I recall weren't you shooting with a JVC Streamcorder?

I'm curious what everyone's experience is with recording dialogue on the GL2's built in mic. Is the sensitive enough to make the dialogue sound rich and dynamic? Does it sound warm and professional, or tinny and "home-video" like? Can you shoot a scene and expect respectable audio?

I plan to purchase a shotgun mic at some point in the future, but budget won't allow it for some time. I'd like to get some idea of whether this mic can handle the quality expectations one might have for filming a short movie or commercial.

Any opinions?

Ken,

No- I was contemplating a Streamcorder and despite it's 700+ lines of resolution- it never did receive glowing reviews on- or offline.....

I did however buy a Panasonic AG DVX100 today.....and already I have 2 problems;

lack of zoom.....I think the DVX zooms around 5X or so, not good for the nature videography I like to do.....

secondly....my Firestore (which i was gonna sell) wont seem to accept commands from the DVX (DV)..I can get it to start recording, but I have to manually stop the recording process on the Firestore itself (button).not a good deal......
I've spent a ton of money on what is essentially a hobby for me ($7000 this week alone!) and I can't find the ideal setup (although the Apple 23" HD Cinema Display has been great).....if i can figure out how to get the Firestore and DVX to work erfectly (stop and start recording from the camcorder with no input to the FS unit itself) then i'd be a happy camper...as for the lack of zoom on the DVX, B&H tells me Century is working on an add-on lens to increase the zoom capabilities.....time will tell......


If Canon- put Shutter and aperature controls on the outside of the cam, the GL2 would have been perfect!!
So far the XL1S is the best for long range videography- improve the lens sharpness and it would be an all out winner.

...pluggin away with the FS and DVX til i got this stuff working right.

For TV, I don't think it's good enough. You don't need a shotgun mic to dub in voice. Get a mic for voice. I don't think they cost that much, unless you want the best.

For good, rich sound you need to have the mic close to the person speaking. No way around this. Even shotguns do best if within a few feet of the speaker. Put the GL that close to the person speakign and it will sound OK too. - but then the speaker's nose gets fat <g> in the image.

I was hoping to record some images from a TV show in about an hour.
I've just set up my camera and connected an S-video cable from the TV external output (through scart) and another cable for the audio.

I'm able to record the image and the sound onto DV tape but the colors are black and white, while the TV show is colored.

What could this be and what should I do in order to record in color mode???

OK, the manual shows to use an S-video cable, but I've just disconnected the S-video cable and connected the yellow cinch cable.
Now I'm using only one AV cable, the one with white, red (audio) and yellow connector.

AND .... this works. I'm recording colors now.

Does still anyone knows why the colors were black and white when using an s-video cable?
I thought this cable was the best quality option.
Also the manual says to use an s-video cable ....

Probably a bad (broken wire, bent pin) S-Video cable. I would try a different cable first. If you try a cable that is known to be good and it's still B & W then I would suspect one of the connectors is at fault. But try a different cable first and we can trouble shoot from there.

Hi folks!

I've just been re-reading the XM2 Manual.

It tells me I can set this function DV Control "ON". So far I've never done this. I use the XM2 to capture to Sonic Foundry's VideoFactory 2.0 and Vegas Video 3. Having never used this function, it appears to operate without me doing this - why should I invoke this function? What am I missing out on? - If it is there, there must be a reason - yes?

As far as I can tell and see, DV control works for Capture and Print To Tape.

However, sometimes I get a blue screen. For example 3 episodes in a 59min project. The Cammy and firewire external MAXTOR hard drive momentarily stop - 0.5 second - and then continue down the project. I have always thought this is a "feature" of my Dell Inspiron's fan/s callout to the BIOS, tripping up 1394 flow. Yes, that's correct! Mr Dell has a laptop design that allows the BIOS to be influenced by the fan/s temperature controller - GO FIGURE!

So . .. I don't think it is the XM2 "DV COntrol ON" feature. I was getting this when using an analogue Panasonic AND a relative's DV Sony. So.... I really don't think it is this function would improve this. BUT I'm open to suggestions.

Regards

Grazie

DV control is used when you are linking two devices on through
firewire and you want to control the other device (slave) from your
GL2 (master). In other words, if you hit record on your GL2 the
other machine will record the signal on its tape or harddisk (given
that this device understands DV control).

You do not need it when capturing, that is another thing and
will always work.

I hope this explains it a bit for you!

Regarding the blue screen, what OS are you using? It is not a
DELL feature that the laptop controls it CPU and fans speeds
and what not. All of almost all the laptops out there do that
so they can preserve battery power and give you longer times
to work with it!! You will not need the same CPU capacity when
you are doing word processing instead of watching a DVD.

But you can turn this off (I have done that). You can enter the
bios and change how the laptop handles the CPU etc. (be careful
not to change anything else in there!). Also you get setup windows
to not cut back on power etc. If you don't know how to change
such settings I suggest to get someone who knows how to do
it (computer expert).

Good luck!

Thanks Rob.

I had a thought that this might be the case, ie Device<>Device control.

OS WinME.

I really am interested how you changed the BIOS settings. Be rest assured, I will not do this until I've made other enquiries.

So, what you are saying is that the PTT is a CPU intensive function and that for some reason the CPU pulls in power therby "tripping-up" the 1394 flow - yes? This makes sense. Now how one goes about nullifying this would be well worth knowing. And yes I can also understand and appreciate that this type of function would be to conserve battery power. However, all my DV editing/capturing/PTTing is done with the laptop "docked" and powered by the mains. So are you saying there is something one can adjust to allow the CPU know it is getting mains voltage and doesn't need to access the fan/s using some form of power or CPU activity to redirect?

As I said, please give me a clue and I'll either email you directly and/or consult with others on this.

Thanks in advance

Grazie

WinME is definitely not the best OS for such work and could
easily explain your BSOD. Most people either use Windows 2000
Professional or Windows XP Prof. They are a lot more stable
for such things.

If you want to know what I changed in my BIOS etc. please
send me an e-mail at visuar@iname.com

Good luck.

I wish to get a Polarizing filter for my GL2.
Do I need any special kind??
Does any one here have any experience with this filter on a GL2?
Thank you for your help.
Tom

I'd just recommend getting the best circular polarizer you can afford. Do a Search on "polariz" and you'll turn up dozens of threads on this subject. This (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5238&highlight=polarizing) was a recent discussion.

I will be getting Adobe Premiere next week for editing footage from my GL2.
If I have shot footage in diffrent modes , will it edit correct if it is De-interlace /Interlaced, Normal/Frame mode footage mixed ?
Thank you

Ok So It can be done. But Do I need A vcr that has S video Cable In put? I am haveing trouble doing this. Can Some one please help me step by step if possable. Thanks.

Thomas,
Premiere will have no trouble mixing frame-mode and standard mode footage. In fact, it will have no idea which is which; they're both just NTSC (29.97 frames/sec) footage as far as the program's concerned.

Once you get your feet wet with Premiere you'll want to begin inspecting and comparing your footage closely (with a good pro monitor if possible). It may lead you to decisions concerning how to best use and/or mix these modes effectively for your work.

No, you don't need S-VHS connection. Page 103 of the GL2 (English) manual presents the essence of the process.

Hi All,

I've been looking for a good shock mount for the ME-66. What do you recommend?

On the BH Photo site I've seen the Sennheiser MZS-CAM Shock mount... any experience with this model? Any other suggestions? Would love any recommendations.

Also, if anyone has any good experience with one type of boom pole or another, I'd love to hear...

Thanks!
Noka

thanks so much. I got it! I found the first short film that me and my brother did back in 95 when I was 10 of 11. I really want to put it on the internet. It's pretty funny.

I found a PVC pipe with thick rubber bands works fantastic.

If you want later i could take some photos my beast.

Zac

If you could post a picture that would be excellent!

The MZS-CAM does an excellent job of dampening camera noise, but the inability to tilt it up and down is a probem with the ME66, which is a very directional mike. Also, I can't stand the hot shoe attachment, which is made out of plastic and can't be tightened very securely on to the camera for fear of stripping the threads. I recently ordered a hot shoe adapter for my trusty Audio Technica shockmount that I've previously had excellent results with when mounted on a boom pole. Haven't received it from B&H yet, so I can't say how well it works.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___68160___AU3760057___REG___CatID=0___SID=F3 A2B59BA10

Here's the shockmount:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___68143___AUAT8415___REG___CatID=0___SID=F3A 2B59BA10

The GL2 is a video camera. A cheap digital still cam, around 2megs, will be able to capture cleaner, sharper pictures than what a camcorder can.

What Frank is saying is that basically you're right -- they don't want it to compete with the Powershot line.

The firewire card is recognized, and the canon dv is recognized, but when I go to capture is just does nothing. When I first plugged it in, it wanted to install canon av/storage, but it couldn't find the file even on the disc that came with it. What should I do?

Mac or PC? What software are you trying to use to capture and edit?

The conventional wisdom is that the GL2 sacrifices a little bit of resolution in Frame Mode. So obviosly it's better to use Normal Mode and then deinterlace in post.

My question is this: What is the best program for de-interlacing? Is there any good share-ware out there?

Steve Nunez mentioned "Cleaner 5.1.1 using the Sorenson 3 codec" in another thread. When and how is this used?

Alex,
There is a current thread already running on this subject over here (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6275). I think you'll find it useful to review.

BTW, post-deinterlacing is not necessarily better than using Frame mode.

Hey guys, after a month of fiddling with my new XM2 I've got a quite a few questions for all you helpful folk at dvinfo.net, heres my first few.

What exactly does Setup Level do?

I'm assuming it's basically like a in-camera electronic brightness setting.

Which brings me to my next question, what exactly technically speaking is the difference between gain and brightness (setup level). There is a noticable difference between the two in terms of looks, but what does each actually do to achieve this?

I've found using a lower setup level, darkness aside, produces slightly more contrast and more 'filmic' blacks.

To get to the ultimate point; if your shooting in low light situations, in what order should u start manually changing settings to achieve the best image with minimum grain.

Would this order be the following...?

1) Appiture (iris, f-stop) - nb/ does a wider appiture give greater depth of field?

2) Shutter Speed

3) Setup Level

4) Gain

5) Lower Sharpness to remove grain once over about 6db gain


Thanks guys.

Don't change sharpness too much in either way. It will affect your
picture in a way that you will see it has extra sharpening or is to
blurry.

Now I don't know exactly what the difference between gain and
setup level is, but if I'm not mistaken it is the following: setup
level shifts the window in which the XL1s paints slightly to the
left (blacks) or right (highlights). This allows you to control the
floor of the signal (the ceiling can be controlled by iris, shutter,
gain etc.) to make sure it is in the range that is legal (for TV) or
the range you like.

Gain simply changes the sensitivity of the CCD's by either giving
them more/less power or altering the signal after it gets off the
CD. The signal is weakened (-3 db), left alone (0 db) or increased/
enhanced (+xxdb). This will add noise since it is increasing a signal
and not increasing the quality/resolution of that signal. Which will
introduce noise. This might be acceptable giving the circumstances.

Generally the wider the lens (low f2.0 for example) the more light
it will let through. Also the lower the shutter speed (1/30th or
lower for example) the more light the camera will see. Ofcourse if
you go below 1/30th your image will start to exhibit strange side
effects. DOF will be reduced when opening up the lens and zooming
in.

To answer your questions:

1) use as low as possible (f1.8 for example) to get more light
2) use as low as possible (probably don't want to go below 1/30th)
3) i have this down a notch or two to create more black detail
4) gain is the last thing you should change, because it will affect
the noise levels which can be seen easily. Only if you cannot get
enough picture with the lowest settings above do you increase
the gain
5) sharpness seems to be a personal preference, don't use it too
much though!

Hope this will help in some way....

can anyone recommend any settings to match the look of an xl1 (first generation) using the 16x zoom. i'll be using my gl2 as a b camera.

i normally have my sharpness up one click and i'm not sure if i should set it dead center to match the 16x lens or if how i have it set now will be fine.

any advice would be appreciated.

mb4

Hi Alex,

I'm a fan of the Sorenson 3 codec- which is basically a compression scheme people use to reduce the file size of video. Raw Dv footage is about 13GB per hour- as where using a codec can compress the footage (file-size wise) so that video can be presented online or saved and played via CD-rom, DVD etc...

The thing with codecs are- the many different codecs employ different compression schemes and priorities- so for some you'll get better audio- for some better motion performance etc....Media Cleaner let's you adjust certain aspects of the compression so that you can vary them to suit- for websites you'd apply alot of compression as to not keep people waiting forever to see a 2 minute clip (usually at the price of video quality.) You can vary the compression so that it's optimized for cd-rom delivery etc....

..I hope I didn't confuse you more- but hopefully you got the idea of what "compression" does....now you'll have to buy software to compress your footage- unless you have a Mac with QT Pro- you can export via QT to various formats.

Cleaner 6 is highly touted....good luck.

I am shooting some B-Roll for possible broadcast this weekend. Is there anything I should note in prepping the material especially for broadcast? Would I just take the tape to a post house and have it transferred to Beta? Any comments or advice would be appreciated...

Hi, I have recently bought a GL2 (XM2 since I live in Sweden). I feel that there is something I should know about the colour bars, but I have no clue as to what, since the manual doesn't say very much at all. I read somewhere that you should always record a few seconds of bars on a new tape. I don't get the use of them though.
Can some on fill me in on this?

Fredrik, Sweden

Hello, i forgot to ask in my thread about colour bars that about colours. When I watch a dv tape on one tv, it looks darker or more colourful then the other, same with watching a dv file on different computers; you perhaps have to adjust the brightness or color gain to get a good picture. That led me to the question: what are my taped materials TRUE colour, brightness and so fourth?? (I have a Canon XM2). Is this what the colour bars are for perhaps?

Color bars provided a standard signal on tape that can be used as a reference to check/setup/adjust analog components in the signal path, incluing the monitor. (Note that the original XL1 and GL1 did not have standard color bars.) However, typical full-field camcorder bars are not the best for montior adjustment.

There is a lot of difference in default adjustment of TV sets, so video is likely to look different on differnet sets. This is especially an issue with NTSC (never the same color).

I don't know, but maybe you should record 10 or so seconds of color bars at the beginning of your footage.

The only way to know how your footage actually looks is to use
calibrated (professional) monitors/TV's.

There is a current thread about this here (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7095).

If you have a specific broadcast organization in mind, check with them to see what they expect Exampels may include bars and tone at the start, no program material in the first 60 seconds of tape, and so on.

You could also take the footage into a computer and examine the data pixel by pixel, or with a waveform monitor/vectorscope.

I suppose that it depends on how you want the cameras to match.

Do you want the GL2 (XM2 over here) to match the warmth of the XL1s or do you want your XL1s to match the GL2's more neutral look?

It would be interesting to hear from other users of both cameras and how they achieve this balance...

I am by no means an expert here, but I might be able to help you out a bit more.

Like Don answered before me, the purpose of the bars is to provide a tool for adjustment of monitors etc.

If you show the final result of your product on a consumer TV set (or a monitor for that matter), most people will adjust the picture to "look good". However most people have no clue how to accurately adjusting the controls, so the picture will end up being too bright or too dark off in colors etc.

One important setting is the "brightness". A bit of a misnomer, since it is actually an adjustment of the level of black. Imagine if you turn brightness down too far. Then all parts of your picture that were supposed to be varying shades of darkness (but not black) will all appear equally black. Ie. the details are lost in blackness.

If you turn black level up too highly, what was supposed to look black, will actually look grey.

Part of the SMPTE color bars can let you adjust precisely this. Take a look at this pattern:

http://www.greatdv.com/video/smptebars.htm

Near the bottom right is a "pluge" pattern. On a black background are 2 vertical stripes. One is "blacker than black" meaning it is slightly below reference black. The other is slightly lighter than black.

The point is that "blacker than black" is supposed to look just like black, whereas the slightly lighter than black stripe is supposed to stand out from the black background. You adjust the brightness control to accomplish this.

Likewise the contrast can be adjusted for good greyscale and so low that the picture doesn't "bloom" - white lines get distorted.

Color shift can be adjusted too. This is explained on the page I linked to.

This was a brief explanation. To get a thorough introduction to this subject, buy "Video Essentials" or "Avia" on DVD. Both include excellent audio and video calibration procedures.

Last, the SMPTE stems from the NTSC world. Test signals usually look different in the PAL world - I live in Denmark. I usually use NTSC though, so cannot help you out there.

Hope that helped a bit.

Hans Henrik

The local TV stations here are pretty flexible, I can take them just about anything.........they have no problem with DV tapes or DVD's. (DV tapes they need us to bring in a camera so they can capture it)

But, I do put a 3 second tone, and 9 seconds of color bars up front and they've never asked for anything other than what I've listed here.

The local NBC affiliate is the easiest to work with since they outsource most of their work to a production company in the same building.

We were over there last week delivering a commercial, and while we were "ogling" their gear....the production dude said "I can't get anything off your camera, there's nothing on the tape".
After looking at the camera, I realized that he had shut the door on the XL1s, but never pushed the tape mechanism closed.......duh........I guess even the pros do it <;~)

If you are shooting outdoors try the sunlight icon setting or white balance the GL2 by using a white sheet of paper outdoors, which for me gave an even warmer shot than the sunlight icon setting. I think the GL2 is a tad sharper, so I would bring the sharpness down maybe a notch.

on both the lcd/viewfinder in the upper left hand corner there is a display (horizontal sliding bar) that indicates when you zoom from telephoto to wide. a couple of seconds later this zoom status indicator becomes a + and - indicator. it appears to be some type of light sensor. does anyone know what the function of this indictor is? i can't find any info in the manual.

mb4

This bar appears when you're shooting in Manual mode. The +/- format shows your relative exposure, with the centerpoint being the "proper" balance from the camera's point of view. Just watch the indicator as you adjust exposure settings or point towards brighter or darker subjects.

I will be shooting a lot of video at the scene of major EMS and fire operations for training purposes. This will put me and my camera outside in all sorts of weather conditions. Any comments on experience with weather covers for the GL-2? I've seen adds on three: Camcote, Kata and Portabrace.

Mark Haas

I've used the Kata and the PortaBrace. Both are functional and will keep the camera dry in wet (but not necessarily soaking-wet) conditions.

I prefer the PortaBrace cover. Better detailing. For example, the Kata's lens closure pull has a nasty tendency to bounce into the frame.

For cold weather protection I use a PortaBrace Polar mitten cover. Excellent detailing, although a bit awkward by nature. But it works pretty well at preventing freeze-ups and premature battery drain.