I don't think we have anything scheduled yet but if I find a solution we can put together something quickly.

Thanks Paulo, that would be nice. As a side note, using as many HD100s as you guys do, are there any backfocus issues? I have set mine a few times, and it doesn't seem to stay focused at all. The issue may be entirely operator error.

I noticed it...nearly fell out of my chair. I was going to mention it but I feel like these guys are bringing us some great content and I can overlook a few production/post glitches.

I'll second the notion on the QT encode...very nice and it really shows just what a great codec H.264 is in terms of files size/quality. When we start getting hardware encoding like we eventually got with MPEG2, this codec is going to really shine.

-gb-

I check and adjust backfocus every time we start shooting, for each camera. I know it a pain in the ass but you can decide by asking yourself a simple question: are you absolutely sure that the backfocus is right?
I know that I can't answer yes to that question, not if I load the camera on a truck, drive over a bumpy road, get the camera off, maybe bump the case around a couple of times.
That's why, at the cost of irritating the people waiting, I insist on checking the focus. Get a chart and think in advance how you can position it at a good 7-8 feet in front of the camera. In other words, prepare a good support system that you can easily and quickly prepare.
BTW, I want to take the occasion to thank Scott Chambers for helping with this. His flexibility and cooperation are greatly appriciated.

That's just it, I'm not sure. I open the iris up, zoom in and adjust, zoom out and adjust, again, and again. It never really seems to hit that spot where it stays focused. Keep in mind, my eyes aren't young anymore, and I never knew about back focus until I got this cam.

I agree. Jonathan and Paolo have asked us for constructive feedback so I felt I should pitch in my two cents. The content is fantastic and the audio issue by no means detracts from that!

OK, there are a couple of thing to try. First, try the peaking. Crank the dial at about 80%. I don't know what you use for back focues, I have the DSC chart and it creates a "bowtie" patter when you hit focus. A Siemens star, if printed sharply could work as well. Anyway, place the chart at about 6-8 feet distance. Open the lens, zoom in and focus. The peaking will help you determine when you are on the spot. If that doesn't help use the FA.
Now zoom out, if the image becomes soft then adjust the backfocus. Lock it and zoom in and try again.
If you can't achieve focus then it could be that your lens is slightly off. Disconnect it from the camera and re-mount it. Usually this works.
Of course, before you attempt any adjustment, rememeber to remove the mayo filter ;)

I'm using a Siemen's Star that I printed. It is a bit larger than the one in the book, and it also has a set of bars and lines in the corners. These seem to help me find focus easier. I also use the peaking over FA, as it is more acurate for me. I just can't get it to stay in focus while zooming.

Sound levels
 

All sound levels should be set properly in post and if they are not, this does not reflect on the location sound recording, which in the case of Jody's episode was done by me and I believe done right.

All levels were strong and were not clipping, which means that they can be matched easily when and where they must be -- in post. And by the way, this is not "fixing it in post" anymore than editing picture is fixing anything. It's just doing the normal editing job.

That refers to matching the levels of Jody's and Jamie's interior business as well as matching those levels compared to the levels of both men's exterior lines.

In this shoot, the two speakers are always recorded on their own audio channels. Consequently, they can easily be matched to each other in any NLE I've ever used.

The interior material was recorded with wired lavs, and exterior were done wireless, and with different brands of mics by necessity. The comparative levels of the interior and exterior levels can also be matched easily on the timeline.

And levels are just the beginning of sound editing, a good sound editor should be able to EQ away tonal differences, reduce background ambience, replace momentary noises with clean room tone or wild sound, and a million other things -- let alone match levels. It blows my mind that anyone would think otherwise and try to slag off the location sound.

I can only imagine that the post rapid production schedule is the real issue, the team is turning these around amazingly quickly.

But to nit pick about this and then wonder if this is a post issue or a location issue speaks volumes, but not about the location recording.

Tip McPartland

Tip, I'm not as experienced as you are with sound editing and I hope I didn't say anything before that sounded like I was giving you responsibility for the sound issues, since I wasn't. The procedure that I followed for sound processing was to convert the two channels to mono by using Soundtrack Pro "Convert to mono", mixing left and right channels. I then normalized the track to -3db, added compression, a touch of EQ and then verified that nothing was peaking beyond 0db. I didn't have the time to do any other polishing except for a little bit of noise suppression for the indoor segment.
Jody's and Jamie's voices are quite different, tone and volume wise, and I didn't try to match the levels. As we mentioned before, we had issues to solve in the editing and exporting, we just didn't have the time to do that kind of post work. Hopefully we will be able to adjust that in the future. Keep in mind that we shoot on Saturday and release on Friday (initially it was Wednesday)

Yes, that's what i remember, and also that Jody was talking much more loudly than when inside. He was much more animated etc. I kinda liked the difference of tone since it was underlining the stark difference of the look, the outside being quite controlled and the ourside being ... out of our control. I din't think much of it at that time. I'll go back and re-evaluate it. If it's excessive I can still fix it and re-release the video. That's the convenience of Web delivery.

Hope this helps.

Tip:

I apologize if it seemed to you like I was nit picking or indicating that there was a big issue with the audio in Episode 5. As I said in my first post above about the sound issue, I believed that the slight difference in level was "probably not noticeable to most people." Whereas I did assume it was a production issue and not a post issue I did not intend to denigrate your abilities or imply that it was your fault.

Jonathan and Paolo have asked for constructive feedback of each episode to help make the next one better. I brought the issue up just in case there was a true techincal reason behind it. The audio levels from the inside shoot to the outside shoot did jump noticeable and I mentioned that I assumed it was a post, not a production, issue.

With both the inside and outside audio, I could have listed a handful of possible causes that came to mind but instead just brought up the point to offer my two cents, not meaning to point a finger at anyone--after all, it was constructive feedback and not criticism.

If you believed that my comments were not constructive, you could have emailed me in private. But please do not turn this into a personal attack on a public forum. Your inference at the end of the sentence above is not appropriate.

I want to make it clear that I appreciate each and everyone of you who work on 2nd Unit. You each are offering valuable service to the film making community. The amount of time you take out of your personal lives to do so is admirable.

Sound
 

Sorry guys, I just got back from a very stressful pitch meeting in Washington D.C where we made presentations to Discover, TLC, Travel, Animal Planet and National Geographic channels over the course of a day and a morning. Perhaps I was a bit stressed, so my apologies to all if I overreacted.

That having been said, I worked very hard to make sure that Jonathan got great sound during the last shoot I was on. There were some problems on the first day I did location sound for 2nd Unit, caused by a very loud George and a very quiet Jaime, and by the fact that Audio 1 is on the right on the HD100 and on the left on every other device in the audio universe. Anyway, I took my lumps on that one but resolved to provide an error free job on the next one.

And I did know I did a great job this time, and then to have to read a critique that was unsoundly (pun intended) based, but which nonetheless did attempt to specifically lay blame on either location or post at various times, was upsetting. As part of the way that I feed my three children is doing location sound, to be set upon in a public forum and "blamed" for problems in the final mix does demand a response.

My apologies to Paolo, I didn't realize that he had also edited this episode, I knew that he did the George material but he does live in Santa Cruz so I guess he's basically been hijacked into a nearly full-time job at 2nd Unit. Paolo is a wonderful person as well as brilliant, and has done so much for these forums. My hat is off to Paolo for everything he's done.

Tip

Hey Tip, don't worry about anything. We all go through stressful times and sometimes get a bit "jumpy" :) Happens to the best of us.
Glad to hear that you're getting involved with the big guys of national TV. As we get more comfortable with the schedule and tools and codecs for 2nd Unit we will give better tratement to your sound. Speaking of which, if you have any tip about producing good sound out of the NLE, I'll be listening :)

Take care.

Tip:

We obviously have gotten off to a rough start in our communication with one another and you clearly have had a stressful few days. As I indicated above, I did not intend to "blame" anyone and specifically did not point a finger at you nor "set upon" you. Since I was not there, of course I posited my statement on a priori knowledge and not a posteriori. That is why I used the word assume.

However with your reply, you have once again implied something negative about my character or abilities by using the phrase "unsoundly based." If 2nd Unit does not want feedback, especially feedback provided to bring attention to issues (potential or real), then that should be clearly communicated. I too feed a family through my work in media and have done so for many years. My time is just as valuable. Perhaps I could use it more wisely elsewhere.

Once again, if I offended you, I do apologize. Your name was never mentioned and I presented the issue as a minor one that most people would most likely not notice. I admit using the phrase "mixing in production" which was obviously a poor choice of words as I should have just said production or post.

That was MY shirt!!! and the doctor said about 6 weeks! ;-)