Hello Everyone--

A friend out in LA wanted me to pass along this message of wanting to acquire video footage for a show airing in Court TV, called Most Daring (airing sometime in Sept.?).

He's currently looking for any rescue video footage from natural disasters, fires, sports, etc.

You can contact him at:

Wondu Dikran
Nash Entertainment / Court TV
Segment Producer
323-468-4798
wdikran@nashentertainment.com

Thanks!

--Jeff Anselmo
www.madjavaproductions.com

Has anyone sent a camera to fletchersite.com? Any reviews?
Does anyone know of a reputable repair shop that they have used with great results?

I just received a hood/glare for the LCD on my HC1 but the heck if I know how it goes on! There are no instructions for it. Anyone have an idea? It is a fabric Petro with a DV Proline plastic piece.

Kind of tricky, but I figured it out. The pictures on the net are never that clear...

Hi,
I'm thinking of selling my camera, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. I want to go HD. Early this year I had an acciedent whist film an action sports event. The competitor was air born and landed on top of me from behind. Resulting in being air lifted to hospital, etc. The doc as recommended I stop filming as my back can't hold still the weight of a full size camera any more.

Filming is in my blood, I'll never stop. my days of using the big boys toys may be over - But I can get a lighter camera and do my own work. So the big question is how much should I expect to get for the following.

Sony DSR 370P with a Canon IF Y20x8.5B4 (KRS Sx12)Lens, EVF DXF-801CE, mic + Rycote Softie. I-Cuff replaces the eye cup and tripod plate. In very good condition, Lens was relpace due to damage focus ring and chips on glass.

Camera hours are (Only used at weekends)
A 0271 hr
B 0140 hr
C 0394 hr

Also 3 IDX endura e-50 batteries, Portabrace and a Vinten Vision 3 Tripod with softcase.

Gratefull for any help

Mark - Got my eye on the new Sony EX1

The place I'm working at right now is looking at going tapeless (looking at both Panny and Sony solutions) and there is one workflow point I'm stuck on in terms of post. The vast majority of our shoots are ENG or EFP style covering video game conventions/events and our post workflow right now is we get the tape back, log it w/particual naming conventions, capture it, and put the clips in their appropriate places on the xSan (there are 14 editors here that the media is shared between). A while ago we took an HVX200 out to cover an event as a test run and everything seemed to be going well until I go to import the footage into FCP and instead having a few tapes that I'll log into probably a dozen or so chunks per tape I have 144 clips that need to get renamed. This put a rather large crimp in the faster-than-tape workflow we were hoping for. Not only did it take a while to rename all of the clips, but when working w/it there was a lot more clips to open and scrub thru when looking for b-roll. It just turned very cumbersome. I'd love to be able to select a group of clips and be able to import them as one big clip into FCP (assuming no TC breaks in the source clips of course) but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that.

I'm curious as to how other people that have similar style shoots have adopted to going tapeless.


-A

Anyone using one of these discs for white balancing? It looks to be consistant, handy and for multicam setups.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/387801-REG/Stratos_SIWBF82_Color_Calibration_Disc_CCD_.html

I just finished a large project that was set into motion over a year ago. It is a DVD for a client of ours. My coworkers and I were looking for a place to submit this video to see if we could possibly win an award or two for it. It didn't air, it is a recruitment DVD that is supposed to attract workers to come and work here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Joel

I am looking into a product that will convert VCR tapes to Digital (and subsequent DVD creation). I saw the Dazzle Video creator 150 and wondered since it is relatively inexpensive if this is a good product or some review on it.

Hi all,

Can anyone recomend a place in Vegas to get a dub from DVCAM or Mini DV to Betacam ?? Will be in town, and we have a need to get a dub done locally..

Thanks all,

I normally shoot in 24P with my canon XL2. I capture to P-Pro-2 via fire wire. Then, edit in 24P. My Pc is connected (via fire wire) to my NTSC monitor via a canopus ADVC 100 through an S-video (from ADVC to NTSC).

When I playback from P-Pro-2 timeline through the NTSC the video looks like the old combing effect. You know... when you play back interlaced video on a PC monitor. In this case... it's my NTSC monitor. I have to go into each clip (in the timeline) and select deinterlace. After the change... playback on the NTSC looks normal.

Am I missing something here?

Hi, I have scenario for large studio quizz and I'm trying to find someone who can produce that quizz. The quizz has never been seen and it is brand new. Can somebody help me to find someone who can help me with production.

I'm using Ulead Movie Factory 6 Plus to author dvd's. I'm exporting a quicktime out of Avid Free and importing into MF. When I burn a dvd the audio is "choppy" and intermittent. I did a search on the Ulead forums and looks like it may be an issue of the software not being crazy about quicktime. Although it does import quicktime, it certainly has issues in the Mpeg2 conversion. Just wondering if anyone else who may use MF6 has had a simiular issue?? If so what was your work around??? I'll try converting the quicktime file to Mpeg2 then importing into MF6 when I get home tonight to see if this helps.

Thanks!

I need to digitize component video (plus audio of course) coming out of the video switcher, in order to get it into the computer via firewire in DV format. I did some research and two boxes came up: Canopus ADVC-700 at $1600 and the Datavideo DAC-15 at $767.

They both seem to do the same thing, so why the price difference? Anyone having experience with these boxes please help.

Thank you,

Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you knew a place where I could maybe get some experience shooting on film. I've only shot video in my life and I wanted to maybe try to get a cheapo film camera to try some things but I don't even know the first thing about what to do.

Anyway I'm just looking for something that's maybe like a weekend long or nights that is hands on. I've seen some weekend film school things but they seem very geared towards the whole overall process and probably don't involve actually shooting and especially not on film.

Just need to vent a bit.

Been using a Konica-Minolta Magic Color 2300 laser color printer for a fw years. I've been happy with the results for a modest cost printer. Great for DVD jacket covers.

As with all, printers, toner is expensive, a set of OEM toner refills can cost more than the printer did with toner included at buy time.

Thought I'd save money by refiling. Work great for a while, but soon toner began leaking out of some the refilled cartridges. For no apparent reason.

Lesson learned, not worth the savings.

Switched to a HP LaserJet 2605. SO far, happy with the results.

I've been using Roxio Media studio 9 for my standard dvd's, I've upgraded to their HD-Pro software, after many "costers" with various bit rates etc. I can't get as good quality (jaggies etc.) as I do on my $69.00 consumer software. anyone out their using both programs. Gary

Hello everyone - I suppose my question is more of reassurance than it is confusion but I am wondering if I am right that one of these recorders is simply the equivalent to a memory card that you can record your digital footage to and then upload it to your computer for editing.

If I am wrong, which I probably am, could someone outline the detail of the benefit of one of these recorders?

Thank you!
-Terry Lee

I've got a shoot at the end of the month in stockholm and was wandering if anyone could recommend a good rental house there. Looking to hire some 1/2k blondes, tripod and a dolly

any info would be greatly appreciated

Does anybody know if new CCE supports Premiere CS3 with export plug-in? And also HDV?

Is there a trade show that would be good place for new director to meet people? thanks!

The day after thanksgiving is a crazy day of crazy sales and I plan to get parts for a new computer then...but I was curious...do they have software crazy sales too? I`d love to get the Adobe Suite for under $1700 since thats almost 2 months of work money without eating food for that time.

I'm curious about why new video cameras don't offer a zone-based autofocus found in either DSLR cameras or even the new round of Point&Shoot cameras that are able to identify a face. Some cameras can at least show the region they've used to autofocus. Without these aides, video cameramen are forced to manually ride the focus ring, often yielding a lot of focus hunting, as we can see on a many shows with a mobile camera. Likewise, using AF (tapping AF button on Sony VX or FX/Z) to find a target but freezing the focus in manual mode requires extraneous zooming and target selection to help the AF. I'm fing the zoned AF in Movie Mode on my Canon Point&Shoot to be more accurate than my Sony Z1U.

Will we be seeing improvements in video camcorder AF systems ? I didn't see any improvements between the Sony Z1 and VX2000 other than a 2x zoom button that will only function while the camera is not recording.

I'm using NeroVision Express 3 and have imported a DVD movie I did of a friend's funeral. There is a small section of it that I want to remove and place another movie [both are mp3's] into the area I want to remove.

Is it possible and how do I do it? I can't seem to figure the program out. I know Premiere would make it very simple but have an older version and don't have it installed on this machine. Bottom line, can't use Premiere at this time.

Any suggestions and thanks in advance!!

Ellen

I have the sony hdr fx7. On the status check screen it says that the mic input is EXTERNAL MIC- even though there is nothing plugged in. I can only get audio if I plug in an external mic. Is there any way to change the input back to internal mic so that I can use the onboard mic?

I have two Canon XL 1s camcorders and would like to use them as TV cameras connected to JVC KM-3000 component special effect generator.
Is there any way to get RGB signal from the camcorders, I mean, for reasonable price?

I have a live setup where one of the cameras (Sony Z1U working SD) is connected to the switcher via component cables, about 100 feet (RG58 I believe it is). The cable ends in BNC connectors on the switcher side and an RCA plate on the wall on the camera side. The camera connects to the plate via the supplied component cable (about 3 feet) extended with another 5 feet extension cable. Quality is as expected from component.

But occasionally I would love that camera taken off the tripod to get closer to the subject - my question is, how long of a cable can I attach? I see in stores 25 feet cables, that would do it, but will the quality degrade?

Thanks,

I just bought an Elmo MN401e 1/2" lipstick cam on eBay. It's normally an expensive camera, and used ones in passable condition don't come up for sale often. The seller said it was tested and working, in "MINT" condition. I took a shot...

It came today, and not knowing what the actual quality of these tiny 'broadcast' cameras would be, I have to say, I was really impressed. While a bit over-sharpened for my tastes (and unchangeable as such) the picture was lovely, and could be cut invisibly into any good SD footage. I don't yet have one of the proprietary lenses for it, but it came with a c-mount adapter, so I put a Zeiss 25mm prime on it and was thrilled with the result.

But that was during the day - later, at night, I wanted to test its low-light capabilities and noticed 2 problems only present (or perhaps only visible) when gain is added. First, a dead pixel. Whatever, no big deal. Second, however, in extremely dark areas, part of the left side of the frame gets much darker than the rest, like it is burned-in. Even with gain fully on, it looks fine in normal light, but shows up in shadows - say any pixel exposed 30% to 100% looks fine with gain or without, but any exposed 10% or lower drops to zero. Does that make sense?

These cameras originally came out in 1999, so clearly the CCD is just showing its age, but is this problem indicative of something acute that's going to keep getting worse? The condition is definitely not as stated, but do you think this is severe enough to breach the usual buyer-beware standard? Should I try and return it?

I paid less than what those Chinese, consumer lipstick cameras sell for usually. Is this a nice enough score that it's worth working around? Normally, I hate using gain anyway, but part of the reason I wanted this was when some stealth was necessary, so a little gain could conceivably come in handy.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm looking for hands-on workshops to learn some outdoor lighting and shooting techniques. Pluses would be that it take place in Florida (no travel expenses) and possibly involve shooting in HDV.

I've been self-learning to shoot with my Sony Z1 for about a year now but I've now got a new customer where I need to shoot people (specifically bikini models, yeah - tough gig) in outdoor and remote locations where power usually won't be available. I know this is some fairly specific training, but if anyone has info on such training I'd appreciate it. Or perhaps other suggestions like being the bounce-card boy for "Bikin Destinations" for a week to see what they do?

Thanks,

Bruce...

i have to replace my video card i have a p-4 3.4 ghz 2 gig ram 2=110 gig hard drives running liquid getting ready to upgrade to the latest version. i use a cannon gl2 cannon xl1s and just purchased a cannon a1. so hopefully hd is in my future. wich video card should i buy?

Eddie

hey, guys.

it's been a while since i've been back. all has been going well, until...

i've got some films i need to unload off of my sony screenblast movie studio 3.0. for those of you who know the system, when you make a movie, there are several rendering options, one of which is the "advanced render" option. you click on this tab and it allows you to change the default render settings through the "custom" tab. well, my custom tab is grayed out for some reason, so my rendering option is stuck on 320x240/sorenson 3 compression (medium quality). thus, my final products look like crap.

there must be a way to improve the render settings, otherwise they wouldn't bother including advanced/custom tabs to begin with. does anyone know what i might be overlooking (what box i should click or unclick, etc etc...)?? i have to get some projects out of there at the highest quality possible!! i shot the footage w/ a canon xl-2 at 30i, so the problem isn't w/ the fact that the uploaded material is no good.

help!!

...thanks

peter

Just looking for good tips and suggestions on what worked well for different settings and situations etc.

Hi ,

can somebody recommend a simple Matte Box for using a Canon YH12x4.8 when used in 16:9?

Thanks

ULI

Hows it going. I just got a new laptop with Vista on it(dont think thats the issue). When I try to capture video as Im shooting it I get a prompt saying the program cant find a capture inpoint try to increase the preroll. I checked on my main computer and all the settings in both computers are the same, but I dont have that problem on my main computer. Any clues are help...? Thanks in advance

anyone know the process for exporting from final cut pro to
a flash file?

Thanks to all for taking advantage of our spectacular sale on Century 16:9 adapters for the Sony, Canon, and 58mm screw-in varieties. We have sold out of our 16:9 adapters. They are still a current product and we can manufcature more on demand but we will no longer stock or offer the lens at $99. Again, thank you for helping us clear some year end inventory. We will continue to have significant inventory reduction sales on various products.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Is there an media player (WMP, VLC, etc) that will allow me to simultaneously watch onscreen and send the image to an external broadcast monitor the way I can do in my NLE.

Greetings -

I just purchased a Canon XH-A1 and I'm trying to configure a system to meet my needs, but I've become very confused. Currently, this is what I have to work with:

1.8GHz, 17" iMac G5, 160GB HDD, 512 memory, 128MB video Card.
2.1GHz, 17" iMac G5, 160GB HDD, 512 memory, 128MB video Card
MacBook Pro, Dual Core 2.1Ghz, 2GB RAM, 256 Video Card, 15.4" glossy display.
Final Cut Express 3.5 HD
Just ordered Final Cut Studio 2
QuickTime Pro

My 2.1 Ghz iMac is being updated with a new WD Enterprise Server SATA 320GB drive (WD3200YS) with a MTBF of 1 million hours. I'll also update the RAM to 2 GB.

I perform the following tasks:

1) Edit video in SD format for editing and final output as QT movie formated for NTSC 720X480 4:3 output for TV broadcast on public access TV.

2) Edit prepared broadcast ready DVD content for broadcast on public access TV. The DVDs need to be edited because they contain 1:15 lead time of color bars and 1K tone. I edit out these leaders, and create a short (30 second) trailer with local information prepared in LiveType. These edits are made using Mac equipment at the TV station with final output in QT movie format as described above.

3) Capture raw DV footage from Panasonic SD cameras (GS-180 - a fine little camera, and others), Canon XL1s, and HDV footage from the XH-A1. The captured video is edited for later broadcast, or possible DVD output in SD format, usually 4:3, but more requests coming for 16:9 output. So far SD is fine, but will move to HD delivery by mid/late 2009.

4) Capture Time Warner cable broadcasts, both SD and HD format, through Cablevision DVR - Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD. There are two 1394 connectors, and HDMI and SATA connectors, but Time Warner claims that they have disabled anything other than the Component and standard DV out. I record programs for later viewing, but would like to capture this video in a permanent format, including burning to DVD, iPod video or other formats.

The problems:

(1) Apple hardware requirements suggest that both iMacs will not be able to handle all of the Final Cut Studio programs, limited by too little video RAM and display output.

(2) I don't know how to address (4) above, but I'd like to use all of this video for my own legal purposes.

(3) The Apple store people tell me that the MacBook Pro "may" work, but isn't powerful enough for what I want to do.

Right now I copy the VOB files onto my desktop, then transcode using FFMPEG to get a QT output which I import into FCE for editing. From there I edit out the bars, recode at QT for final output. The rendering and conversion take 6-8 hours, a long wait but OK given the limited number of times I do this and the fact that once it's done, I don't have to do it again. When I asked the Apple people how much faster the MacPro would be compared to my setup, no one had an agreed time, but suggested half the time. I don't see the need to spend $5K to save 4 hours in coding, but I would do it if it were less expensive.

I also have all of these machines networked together using Airport Express routers (2) with one a repeater. There are printers connected to the USB ports on each router, allowing full access to any printer for any computer. Finally, the MacBook Pro does double duty as a work computer and has Windows XP and other programs under windows installed. There are no OS-X compatible programs that run these programs, so I must have Windows access. I plan to upgrade the Airport express to the new Base-Station server. With that option I'd consider adding a shared HDD for all the computers to access so that I can share iTunes audio/video files. I'm not sure what iTV is a better solution.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Hello folks!!
I hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday season and enjoying the Bowls like me!!

Anyway, I am wondering the impact of having a shutter set too fast. I am using an XL2 but don't think this pertains to that unit. Over the holiday in the Mountains the temp got up in the 60's and I had the opportunity to have my childeren out side. The sun was setting and the lighing was very good. I have 13 month old twinns and a 6 year year old football freak playing with his cousins.

I used this chance to tinker with some setting's. The color setting was good etc..etc.. I had the Iris open and the shutter at 1/1000 (very fast).

I was able to get very detail shots of the white stripe on the football as it rotated while being passed. However, my shots of the everything else did not seem as good as I would have expected. I know this shutter is extreme, but what I am wondering is how much does it effect the other slow moving image quality with this type of shutter?

Does anyone has any experience with this?

Just my novice experience tells me that these images will not be as crisps as there is less exposure time (at that moment).

I purchased this VCR back in 2000 and used it for a few months and then put it in storage.

When I took out of storage the other day, I plugged it in and it played a tape fine. But, I'm having one problem with it. When it's off and I first insert a tape, it powers on, and then immediately powers off. To play the tape, I have to push the "ON" button again and press play. I forget if there's a timer of sorts that powers the VCR off when it's not in use, but is this normal for this unit?

I've also noticed that just after I push "EJECT" and the tape comes out, the VCR powers off on its own within 3 seconds.

What gives?

This post would go perfectly in a "script writing" forum, but seeing as there isn't one here yet, I guess here will do...

Does ANYONE know where I can find the script for the film "Hot Fuzz"?

I've been searching the Internet for hours, but I just can't seem to find it.

Where can I get a hold of it? There MUST be a way!

Thanks!

Chris!

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy a small HD camcorder. It will spend most of its life bolted to a car (i.e. it will be vibrated a lot).

I've been advised many times that CMOS camcorders are a poor choice for car mounts because the rolling shutter found on many (all?) CMOS sensors turns images to jelly when vibrated.

So, my question is a simple one: are there such things as HD camcorders which fulfil the following requirements:

1) small (HV20-sized)
2) cheap (<£1000)
3) doesn't have a rolling shutter

Put another way: what I'm looking for is an HV20 with a CCD sensor instead of CMOS!

(Please, I don't wish to start a heated debate about rolling shutters - I just want to know if I'm correct in believing that all the currently available HD prosumer camcorders use CMOS sensors).

Anyone know if you can take apart and clean the ball bearings in a Glidecam 2000? Just didnt want to unscrew random parts and not be able to get it back together.