HMC-40 is the cat's meow
 

Actually, the HMC-40 recorded the cats' meows ... nearly 200 of them...at a regional Cat Fanciers' Association today at our local fairgrounds.

It was inside a tin building with florescent lighting. I knew I shouldn't have used auto white balance inside but I was being lazy. And because of that, there are some blue-tinged shots. Grr. But overall, I'm happy with the color.


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Hi Sherri,

Nice work. Can I ask what type of microphone you are using? I like the quality of the audio a lot.

I have the HMC-150 myself and just love it.

Simon

Who knew there were so many types of cats. I didn't see one I recognized.

Auto white balance seemed to fair acceptably under the lighting conditions. The HMC manual is somewhat misleading regarding Manual WB. The LCD actually isn't needed to perform the task. After zooming on white, use the WHITE BAL button to cycle to AWB Bch, hold the button down till you see AWB ABB Active, release button, LCD will go black for a second, then you'll see AWB ABB OK. I use a small white baby washcloth that I can stick in my pocket as a WB target.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the compliment. Believe it or not, I'm using a Rode Videomic plugged into the standard jack on the camera. For what I do, XLR microphones are overkill. I didn't have it on inside the building, but outside I usually use the Rode Deadcat on the mike to dampen wind noise. I've recorded in really windy conditions and never had an issue with wind noise.

Dan, I tried to set white balance manually once or twice when I was on my cruise a couple months ago. I apparently left out a step or two and never could get it to work. Perhaps it is time to try again....:)

Rode Videomic? Wow! I am impressed.

I would not have thought that.

What do you use to edit? I am PPCS3 and AECS3 guy though everyone keeps talking about how amazing Avid and FCP is. hmmmm! I am looking to upgrade next year to some REAL software.

Keep up the good work.

Simon

I use PPCS4. You would think I would naturally be able to edit in AE too, since they are complementary programs, but AE is one program I haven't been able to teach myself. I would love to be able to add the whiz-bang effects to some of my videos.

Final Cut Pro = essentially a counter-intuitive version of Premiere. Avid = too complicated.

As far as the Videomic, I have been very happy with its performance. To me, it sounds as good as the XLR mike I use on my Sony HVR-V1U.

Hi Sherri,

I love AE. Though I am not an expert I definitely use it a lot for any complicated animations.

I love AE MUCH MORE than PP.

If you are ever in Maryland, let me know, I can give you some tips on how to use it.

Good luck!

Simon
p.s.
Avid is too hard? I hear it is just different than PP so that makes it hard. Performance-wise it seems to blow away the other video editing systems. I just saw a seminar on the latest version of Avid media composer and I was blown away. I most likely will get it next year.

Actually, Simon, I think you hit the nail on the head....I'm just not used to the Avid interface. It is so different from PP that when I tried to use it, I got frustrated because I had no idea of what I was doing. I have colleagues who rave about Avid, but they are producing DVD packages for clients; I just put my videos on the web at this point so I don't really need all of Avid's extra features.

First off, let me say that I use Avid, FCP, Adobe, and (to a lesser extent) Vegas. I love and hate every one of them for different reasons.

Unlike the other packages, Avid is not a mouse-based editor to the extent that the other three are. Although you can do many functions with the mouse, it is better to learn the shortcuts so that you can navigate your timeline and perform edits without taking your hands off the keyboard.

It's also designed in such a way that your system remains responsive while you are actually editing (which, for me, is when it matters). However, the file-based footage that you throw at it will usually require a rewrap to get it into a format that Avid is designed to work with.

At the moment, Avid doesn't support the AVCHD format. You'll have to use the Panasonic AVCHD Transcoder to convert this to either DVCPRO HD or standard def DV AVI before you'll be able to edit the footage in Avid.

A lot of the shoots that I do occur at the end of the day. So, after the shoot, I queue up the footage for transcoding, go to bed, and by the next day the footage is ready for editing. If you're the type of person who needs to be able to edit footage instantly, then you should look at the other editors or try out the Avid trial to see if you can find a workflow that works.

Bryan,

I am a videographer for a daily newspaper chain, so unfortunately, I am usually always working on deadline. Which is why I use PPCS4, which now with the 4.2.1 update, allows the program to work as smoothly with HD files as with SD files.

In my next life - when I retire and do freelance work - Avid's on my list to learn.

Great video Sherri, I'd love to see the HD original footage as well. I think this is going to be the camera I purchase so it's good to see people are really liking it. Haha and don't worry about the AWB issue, I think we've all been burned by that at one time or another.


Who says Premiere isn't REAL software? It's easily just as capable as FCP, and IMO FCP is modeled off of Premiere. AE is such a powerful bit of software it's unbelievable. To me, Avid is an entirely different beast. Personally I hate it. Many things you can do relatively easily in FCP and PP is far more complex in Avid, and I just don't like the GUI of Avid or its mechanics either. Granted the classes I took for Avid seemed to have a relatively poor instructor so maybe had that been different I'd have a different outlook on the program.

By all means, try the other two, but don't be so fast to knock what you've already got just because some fan of another program tells you yours is inadequate. ;)