Various GL1 / XM1 questions
 

Downloading to DV500 plus

I just put together a P4 1.7 GHz computer with a Pinnacle DV500 plus capture card with Premiere 6.0 for editing. I've had some real problems getting device control to work with my GL1. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, did you solve it?

Help!

Daniel, as with all hardware, make sure you have the latest driver. If you do here are some DV500 querks you may want to check.

1. Make sure your card is installed in the first PCI slot.
2. Install it to it's own IRQ, do not share it with anything else.

Don't use Win98 or ME. Use WinNT or 2000(pref W2K)

I had heaps of problems getting mine set up but once I did it works a treat.

You might like using Windows XP. Naturally there are the expected rough edges but from what I can tell the OS is a gigantic improvement over 98SE.

When installing XP it PnP configured my "generic" Texas Instruments 1394 OHCI compliant card and Premiere 6 blemish free. Although, I have heard complaints about XP not working properly with "some" firewire cards.

The PCI slot and IRQ mentioned above are probably your best bets for getting back to work...

FWIW, my firewire card is in slot 3 and sharing its IRQ 10 with the USB host.

Daniel, how are things going. Making any progress. Personally I wouldn't go the XP way yet. Sure it's good to have the latest but it has only been out for a month or so. I'd wait for the first revision at least to let MS get the bugs sorted. Also Pinnacle hasn't written the drivers yet, they are almost in Beta but it will still be a while. The same thing happened with W2k. Pinnacle aren't the greatest when it comes to drivers, they usually take a while.

I use W2k, and it works beautifully. If you use NTFS you won't have problems with the 4GB file limit and the file system is fast and stable. Download the Version 2.0 driver if you have Premiere 6.0 also the PPE tool

Audio Additions to the GL1
 

1) Is the Lightwave Systems mic equalizer worth buying? Canon lists it as an "authorized" accessory and offers it at $150. What does it actually do?

2) Where can I find out basic info about adding shotgun mics and wireless lav-type mics thru Beachteks' adapter for the GL1?

3) What options are there between say, Sennheiser quality and Radio Shack quality mics?

4) When using a Beachtek adapter, audio tracks 3 and 4 are utilized along with the ever present built-in GL1 microphone?

Thanks...

Ed

Monitoring GL1 audio with headphones
 

When plugging in a pair of stereo headphones with an adapter that reduces the standard stereo "phone" plug down to a stereo mini-plug (with 3-conductors) --- it produces a major hum but no audio.

The cable that came with the GL1 to connect to composite video (yellow) and audio (red & white) has male phono plugs on one end and a male mini-type-plug (with four-conductors) on the other that is inserted into the same port that headphones are supposed to use.

What type of adapter do I need in order to be able to use headphones to monitor the audio while shooting with the GL1?

I would just go to Radio Shack but those people often know even less than I do... :-)

Thanks, Ed

The LightWave Equalizer is a wind muffler. It works very, very well on my XL-1. However, I am not all that impressed with the onboard mic on the GL-1. Before I bought the Equalizer (which is excellent), I would certainly think more about getting a better mic for the GL.

There are a lot of people who like the BeachTeks: I have heard of few complaints. There is suppose to be another one that the BBC likes to use with their systems that may be a little better, but the name escapes me.

As for info on audio, I would call www.crossroadsaudio.com. They seem to be very up on the various mic systems available and have good prices to boot.

Between Sennheiser and RS? Try Shure. Radio Shack sells them and for reasonable prices too. BTW, though the MKE2 lav from Sennheiser is great, that $30 one from RS is no slouch either.

Ass far as wireless systems go, I always start off by telling people DO NOT GET THE SONY WCS-999...ITS JUNK. The rest of Sony gear is quite good, but the WCS-999 does not even make a good paper weight.

My favorite wireless is the Sennheiser eW112p (Evolution 100 series with an omni lav). It cost around $400-$450, but works extremely well. If you are on budget, Nady makes some great ones too and if you do not mind VHF, can be had for around $150.

Your biggest problem with GL audio is the lack of controls. The GL's AGC works very well, but not as well as an all manual system. The BeachTek will help lots.

Nathan Gifford

Thanks to all for some great information!

I did some research of my own, and, according to the Pinnacle website, the DV500 plus card doesn't support the GL1!!!!

It's okey though, since I had borrowed the GL1 and have just purchased an XL1S, which is supported (my fingers are crossed!!)

Again, thanks for the help. As soon as my XL1S arrives, I'll try the firewire and see if it truly works. If it does, I'll pass it along.

2)the following link has some good audio info

http://www.equipmentemporium.com/articles.htm

1)i would NOT spend the $$ on the equalizer for the on board mic ! the mic does pick up sound BUT "quality is not good !

i would spend $$ for a equalizer for a external mic ... i use a AT 4073 and use equalizer i100% of the time for interior and exterior ...

3) what model senn are you thinking of ... if something like a me 66 then RS makes NOTHING close to it !!

4) using a XLR adapter like beachtek puts the audio on track 1& 2
once you plug anything into the gL mic input it disables the onboard mic ... the GL does NOT do 4 tracks of audio

perhaps i'm don't quite understand where you are plugging in the headphones ??

look at your manual the headphone output is by itself. has it own plastic cover ..only jack under cover ... it is located below the BIG cover that you are finding the VIDEO OUT ... it's a very small cover ......

the cable you are talking of ( yellow , red , white ) is for going from/to GL video ( yellow) and other 2 are audio ( not to headphones they are "LINE" in/out ) ...... IE going to/from VCR , analog camera ,


the GL does take a mini stereo jack for the headphones ...

most headphones you buy today come with mini plug and adapter to make it phone size ......

Daniel, bad news, I don't think the DV500 supports the XL1s. The XL1 it does, flawlessly but the XL1s being new and Pinnacle being about 6months behind the times, I have my doubts. They are currently writing new drivers to support Windows XP and hopefully XL1s suppot will be in there, hopefully......

Donatello,

Gee, so that's what you plug headphones into???

Thanks for telling me exactly where to look--- because I couldn't tell from the manual that there was a jack there.

THANKS!!!!

Ed

Rain slickers for GL1?
 

Does anyone know of a good "raincoat" for the GL1? I've seen a few things from Porta Brace that are along the lines of what I'm looking for, but I'm unable to find one that will fit a camera of the GL1's size.

Thanks!
David

Hi David,

PortaBrace has the model RS-GL-1 for the GL1. I have their XL1 rain slicker and although I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet, it seems to be a well made piece. They have a new model that will cover the XL1 with MA200 if anyone needs something like that.

Kata also lists model numbers RC-13 and RC-14 for compact and medium size cameras. One of those would probably work for the GL1. All are available at good prices from www.zgc.com.

Ed Frazier

Thanks!

GL1 Audio Gain Adjustment and other ?'s
 

I realize a feature the GL1 doesn't have is the manual gain control of audio input. I plan to use my GL1 to record a local bands concerts mainly. Any Idea how the quality is going to be vs. the XL1's audio with it's manual audio gain controls and better mic? I would also like to know if I purchase a different mic for the GL1 if there are mics that have manual audio gain controls for the mic, etc... I would also like to know if anyone has shot concert type lighting with a GL1, do the lights bleed terrible bad like on a standard 1CCD cam?

Thanks.

Hey Lozar,

You might try getting your hands on a Sony MD with the USB attachment. You can take a feed straight from the mixing desk then capture it using the Capture audio function in premiere.

This is what I do and it works well. You get a nice clean feed without the room echo etc.

Downloading to DV500 plus
 

I just received an email reply from Pinnacle and the bad news is they do not support the XL1S or the GL1 and refuse to be pinned down on when or even if they will address the problem.

So my feeling is to dump my DV500 Plus card and get a new one. I'm looking for suggestions on another card that is:

1. Fully compatible with the XL1S and the GL1

2. Fully compatible with Premiere 6.0

3. Will work with my P4 1.7 G and ATA100 60 GB 7200 rpm drive

4. Priced in the same ballpark as the DV500 Plus

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks,

Dan Hess

Thanks
 

Will do that for the Audio. Was actually talking about that with the singer of the band right after I posted. However I still haven't decided if I should get the GL1 or an XL1. I believe the GL1 will probably handle the lights better because it should auto adjust more for the light shifting? (I'm probably totally off on this.) I won't have much time to dink with the cam for manual focusing and stuff because I'm also the sound and light man.

First, for concerts, best sound is usually from the house or band mixer/soundboard, if you can get it. Next best is to get directional (e.g., cardioid pattern) mics in front of the audience. Single point stero mics such as the AT-822 or perhaps the Sony ECM-MS957 can give reasonable results. But be aware that very loud venues will put low and moderate cost mics in to a high-distortion (> 1%) range quickly. You may find it convenient to record on MiniDISC (if you can't setup the camcorder near the mics) and sync the sound later.

For most live music, recording at the MIC ATT setting is probably going to yield better results, including providing a lower noise floor.

A device such as the Studio One or Beachtek XLR adapter can provide level controls to keep the GL1 out of AGC mode and out of clipping.

The on camera mic is usually a last resort. Ther is no comparison between the XL1 and GL1 audio capability. The XL1 has a better standard mic than the GL1. The XL1 mic preamps have a lower noise floor than the GL1. The XL1 allows you to adjust audio levels manually for best results, and it provides metering.

Recording good audio is a bit of art and magic. Best to practice so you understand the GL1's audio characteristics and what gives you the best results in similar situations before you do a shoot that counts.

Problems with PC Firewire cards?
 

Can someone explain the reason why PCs seem to have so much trouble with firewire cards and working with different manufacturer's computers and video cameras. Everything I've read says to contact the manufacturer to verify that it will work with both your computer and your camera, etc.

With my Mac system, everything just works together, I didn't have to contact anyone. This isn't trying to start some Mac vs. PC argument, but I've just been wondering why are there so many complications with PC systems and Firewire? I've been thinking about putting a Firewire card in my PC system, but I'm hesitating because I don't really feel like dealing with the hassle.

The Mac has been a closed system, closely controlled by Apple. One could play in that world without Apple's permission. This allows feweer problems, but Macs are not totally problem free.

PC is and has been an open system - any one can play. Which accounts for the PC overtraking the Mac in user base and being generally lower in cost. And it means lots of choices for everything - video cards, sound cards, network cards, drives, controllers, capture boards, software, bios, motherboards, RAM, etc. But the down side is that there is no tight control on the detailed hardware standards, timing, etc., (even within windows itself) so subtile differences in timing among components can cause problem with software, especially software that is at the margin. This often is the case with progrms that aere written to get close to the hardware and for maximum processing speed.

On the GL1, thought that Pinnacle finally released drivers for the GL1 and DV500 earlier this year, but that is not the DV500+. Believe that it took over a year to get the DV500 driver fix out - probably can expect the same for the 500+.
My observation is that Pinnacle is rather slow to patch drivers, I suspect they outsource the programming.

Some one know where to get a PAL GL1 (XM1)?Please help!!
 

Hey,

How are you doing?I'm looking for a PAL GL1 to use as the second camera for my PAL XL1.Anyone know where to get one and hopefully for a good price?
Also, what are the differences between the gl1 and xl1 besides the ccd size(low light performance),no exchangeble lens and no manual audio control?Does it still have the same manual controls of the xl1?(manual focus,zoom,white balance,shutter speed,gain,aperture, so on)

Thanks guys.Just want to make sure the gl1 is up to the professional task.


Adam

Try B&H as I saw a listing of PAL cameras in thier catalog. Several difference in the XL1 vs. GL1 but you might just try a side-by-side comparison at a site like pricegrabbers.com or Yahoo Shopping. hope this helps

WG

Thanks for replying.

Adam

Hi Dan,

I don't have any experience with the DV500 Plus other than seeing a lot of messages about it not working too smoothly on many systems/camcorders.

When adding firewire to my new P4-2.0Ghz with ATA100 80gb 7200 rpm drive, running Windows XP, I opted for the firewire (1394) ADS Pyro Platinum PCI card. It came bundled with Premiere 6.0 (full version) and several other video programs (Boris, Acid etc).

It plug & played with no fuss or muss in my Gateway system and captured video from my GL1 without any dropped frames on my very first attempt. I have also used a Zip250 drive connected to the 1394 card and it works perfectly too. Premiere and the other programs in the bundle installed with no problem, too.

The ADS firewire card does not have analog inputs (the 500+ does?) if that is important to you.

I think the list price is around $350 with street prices near or below $235 to $240 (which seemed almost too good to be true to me).

ADS claims that this is the best selling 1394 card so maybe others in the forum might have comments on this card? I fear that since the ADS retails at about half the price of the DV500 Plus that there might be major differences or short comings that I just don't know of. You know the old saying about if it seems too good to be true... The card is also available without the software but I don't know what pricing for the card alone is.

The ADS card really does work fine on my system though... Hope this helps you some.

Ed

Does the ADS card have Real Time capabilities? The major difference between all these cards is the number of streams they can handle in RT. The bottom line is you get what you pay for, the DV500 can handle 2 streams in RT, depending on the transitions you use and the speed of your processor. If you go to something like the Canopus DVREX RT you get 6+ RT streams

I've been using the DV500 with my XL1 for about 18 months and the only problem I've encountered is Pinnacle are very slow to write drivers.

Hi Adrian! I guess it only makes sense that the ADS Pyro 1394 card (which I bought) is not in the same league with the Pinnacle DV500 or 500 Plus since it costs less than half as much? (I fully agree with "you get what you pay for").

The Canopus REX RT (I checked their website and it looks fantastic) costs _LOTS_ more, so it is probably even that much better still but, way out of my (inadequate) price range.

What do multiple real-time "streams" mean? You capture more than one video "stream" at the same time? I guess you figured out that I'm new to this... sorry if I am asking incredibly stupid questions. I guess that if it was simple, everyone would be a video-expert? <grin>

By the way, since I am asking dumb questions here, what is non-linear editing? I see NLE mentioned everywhere.

Thanks for any help you can throw my way, Ed

Kenko 0.65x Pro Wide Angle Lens - for Canon GL-1
 

Is the Kenko 0.65x Pro Wide Angle Lens - for Canon GL-1 any good? B&H has it for $159

How is it?

Mark

Need 2X converter for GL1
 

Does anyone have any experience with 1.4X or 2X converters for the GL1? Century has one listed but I wonder if there is a cheaper alternative.

How to Capture GL1 photo for cropping,printing???
 

I need to capture max quality stills of a scene I'm gonna shoot- to look like a scene freeze frame that turns into a photo which a character will handle in a following scene. If I use GL1 photo mode at end of scene ,how do I extract and save file from premier and get into Photoshop Lt for printing at service bureau? Anybody done this?

External Mic Choices
 

I am new to DV. I recently purchased a GL1 and have only used it a couple of times.

I will use it primarily for outdoor landscapes and sporting events. My a priority for sound is recording personal interviews - inside or outside.

I picked up a condenser mic from Radio Shack. Here's what happened on my first outdoor attempt ... I set up an interview with a very important individual. The mic checked out fine inside, but when reviewing my interview tape (great video) I had NO AUDIO!!!!! It did this twice!

I checked power ... the plug connection ... all was proper.

The mic works fine inside but gets nothing when outside. Is it possible that ambient noise overcomes or confuses the mic and therefore blanks out?

Confused ....

Are you saying that the mic wortks with the GL1 indoors but not outdoors? Strange. No reason it should not work outdoors if it works indoors, unless you have a cable problem of some kind.

What is your mic budget?

A lav is good for a talking head when only one person will do allthe talking.

A hand-held is good for interviews with more than one person, or to get that 'reporter' look.

Shotgun is good if you want the mic out of the photo, need a bit of stand off distance, or in a noisy environment.

Decent mics cost money; shotguns list for over $300, handhelds and lavs list for over $120.

Mic Choices
 

Kindest thanks for your response.

I would like to have the capability of speaking comfortably with a subject or have them speak with me off camera without mics in the picture. Mobility / walking about would also be nice without worrying about a handheld - possibly a two mic set up.

My budget probably needs to inflate passed Rado Shack .. however, I have seen some mic systems costing several thousand dollars ... I don't have that by a long shot.

What specs do I need to be aware of for compatability with the GL1 connection?

Sincere thanks!

The GL1 mic input jack is 600 ohms, unbalanced stereo in a 3.5 mm mini-phone jack.

You will need something that converts your external mc system to that form cable.

Your description seems to indicate that a wireless mic might give the flexibility you seek, as long as you are not planning on doing serious instrumental music.

Your consideration of Radio Shack implies a modes pocket depth.

You can find system that will work well for voice at near reasonable prices. UHF systems tend to be better, check models from Samson and Azden. Look for diversity receivers. A bit lower cost are VHF systems, check the Azden WDR-PRO related models. You can get a lav mic/transmitter and a small transmitter module that connects to a standard mic XLR jack for handheld use.

Possibly some operator error too.
 

Your first attempts may have been more operator problems than anything else. Even experienced shooters sometime forget to check batts, switches, and hookups. After you have messed up a few you remember to be more cautious.

RS lav mic is not real bad and within its price range is not bad at all.

Wireless is a great way to go, but not cheap. I use a Sennheisner Evolution 100 which I bought for about $458. Great system, but diversity, and I have not missed it one bit.

Nady and Sampson make some nice wireless rigs too. If you are real budget conscious, you could get a VHF unit probably around $200 or less. Whatever money you have left over you could purchase a BeachTek mic box that mounts easily on the bottom of your GL.

Happy Mardi Gras,
Nathan Gifford

Mic Options
 

Is this the system you were referencing?

EW112P(C) Camera Mountable UHF Lavalier Wireless System with EK100 Receiver SK100 BodyPack Transmitter and ME2 Microphone

This does have the mic on a cable with lapel clip, right? Is it possible to add another mic to this system?

Here's the link to B&H where I found this system ...

http://www01.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___200569___SEEW112PC___REG___CatID=3785___SI D=EB951B565B0

Thank you all for your help.

I like the one from Canon.
 

I use the one from Canon all the time and I think it's pretty good. I think they are about $150 or so, maybe a little less.

Even though I have not got an XM1/ GL1, I work for a photographic shop which sell converters.

What about a Raynox Converter (pro series)

Website URL
http://www.raynox.com

They are pretty cheap some below £100


Hope it helps,
Ed

Make sure your camera is connected to IEE1394 port and camera.

In Premiere click on FILE, CAPTURE, STOP MOTION.
Turn your camera on to VCR mode and cue up tape. Hit PLAY on camera and when you get to the still image either hit SPACE BAR or click CAPTURE. this will then load up a full size image of the picture, click on the 'X'/ CLOSE button, it will ask you to save it click YES and then name the file, click OK. There we go one image captured from camcorder. (It saves the images is *.BMP files).

OR

Capture the footage like you would normally do, through MOVIE CAPTURE. once you have finished editing the footage in the timeline move the EDIT LINE over the bit you want stilled, select FILE, EXPORT TIMELINE, FRAME, select settings if you want it to be saved as something different, give it a file name and click OK. It is know saved ready for manipulation in Photoshop, or Premiere.

Hope it works

Ed Smith