Sony FX1 or Z1 owners in Portland, Oregon?
 

Hi all,

I am a wedding videographer and I am looking for someone who might be able to rent me an FX1 or Z1 for a few weddings until I have the money for my second FX1. Please let me know if you are interested. I am fully insured thru WEVA.

scott@ambientsky.com

Cheers,
Scott

Battery Question 7.2V vs. 7.4V ???
 

Hi.

I use a Sony Digital8 DCR-TRV120.

My battery is acting funny. It wont charge. I think it is dead and i need a new battery. I went to an electronics market to find a battery and here is what happened.

My current (dead) Sony factory battery has this info on the back: 7.2V 1350mAh.

I looked at a new, non Sony, replacement battery today that had this info on the back: 7.4V 3700mAh.

Several salesmen told me that the 7.4V battery will work just fine in my camera. They said it would not harm my camera. Actually i tried one in my camera and it seemed to work just fine for the few minutes i tried it.

Here is my question: Is the 7.4V battery ok? Even if the battery that my camera came with is 7.2V? I know the increase in mAh means longer battery charge, and indeed this new battery is a bit bigger than my current (dead) battery.

Also, i am in Asia, not America. I dont know exactly how things work here but i have a feeling that if my camera gets hurt, i may have a hard time getting someone to answer for it.

So if someone out there with experience in this matter could just tell me, that would be great, because i just dont know.

Please help.

Thanks.

A video someone had posted a while back....
 

It was a guy riding home on a Bus...

What video was that?
Where is the post?

I can't find it...

THANKS

or maybe like a Ground level Subway

Looking for used C-Stands in Canada?!
 

I am slowly gathering equipment for my lighting kit. I have a nice light, but I need a C-Stand for it, but I am not sure where I can get one used (Canada preferrably so save on shipping).

Also looking for a Frenal glass and Barndoor for my light.

Thanks!

Timecode on the filmset
 

As an aspiring film composer I always deal with TC from a post-production perspective. But I’d like a little more knowledge of how timecode is used on the set of Hollywood productions with cameras running at 24 fps and audio running at 30 fps.

In post I deal with all TC formats and the hour figure usually stands for the reel number or show number. Now I don’t think this is the case for production footage (film and audio), so how does it work?

I’ve read several articles on the subject, but seem to be unable to get a clear overall picture.

- What TC format is used (30 fps ND for the audio and 24 fps for the film?) and how is everything connected? What device generates the TC to which all recorders and cameras slave? Where does a smart slate come in? Is it all LTC?

- They don’t go back to 00:00:00:00 for every take, so what counting method is used?

- What does ‘time of day’ mean?

- What’s ‘jam-syncing’?

- What do film cameras actually do with the incoming TC?

- I noticed from watching behind the scenes footage that when a smart slate is clapped, it shows two different timecode addresses, one before the clap and one after. What’s that about?

- Is syncing up audio and picture in post the only purpose of production TC?

I’d appreciate any help!

Thanks,

Roy

CineForm/HDLink Question
 

Hello

Why is it that CineForm puts all the files into individual files when capturing the video? is there any way to capture the whole video as one file in HDLink? Also what should the size be for 21 mins of video? Mine has turned out to be just under 14GB is this correct? is there any way you can change the settings in CineForm HDLink so it takes up less space?

Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving & Holiday Shooting tips
 

We would like to thank all of our customers and friends for your support and patronage throughout the years. Every year around this time I refresh the following article and post it for everyone to share:

Videoguys' Tips for Shooting Family/Home/holiday Video
If you're like me, you shoot tons of video of your family. I've got hours and hours of videotape of my kids. Over the past 10 years I've learned a thing or two about getting the best possible footage. No matter how cool your NLE system is and how many awesome special effects you can add, the bottom line is this: The video is only as good as the video you shoot. http://www.videoguys.com/family.html

Gary

Need help answering question on warranty!
 

On an extended warranty registration form a question is asked as to whether the equipment is to be used professionally or not. What does the answer here mean in terms of how the warranty provider will cover a claim? Anyone know? Will the warranty company be harder on a non-professional's claim or a pro's claim? Are there warranty companies which provide different extended warranties for amateurs and pros?
Thanks!

Flickering deshaker result - why?
 

I wish to use deshaker through virtualdub. The compression codec is huffyuv. They are all the latest versions. My problem is that even very carefully following guides and instructions on how to set up Pass 1 and 2 of the deshaker program the result I get flickers which is unuseable. Has anyone out there had the same problem. Did you find a solution which you may share with me. I'm completely stumped having spent 2 days trying everything. It is an AVI 720x576 interlaced PAL file.

Thanks
Shane

Firewire Hub?
 

Where I work (for UW-Milwaukee for the union AV department) we are currently revamping our video setup/gear. We have decided on the XL-2 as a main camera and probably a GL-2 for B-Roll. We would like to have the video (From the firewire) from the XL go to an external harddrive off a laptop AND we would also like the Firewire line to go to a Mini-DV/VCR combo tape deck (for backup in case the laptop/harddrive fails). Is there some type of firewire Hub that can accomplish this task?

As for the GL2 I want to vouch for the Firestore FS-4 but it seems to be *slightly* unreliable. Any input on the compatability of these two devices?

Thank you,
Max

Video Statistics?
 

Anyone have any (or links to) statistics regarding use of video? For example: "Sutdies show that people respond 75% better to video advertising than print alone."

I just made that one up, but anyone have anything that I could throw at my potential clients to convince them that video is their business' friend?

Thanks!

Digital Transfers in NYC
 

Hey Everyone
I'm going up to New York City to meet with my publicist, visit my sister and I also need to have my feature film transferred to DigiBeta and Beta Sp, but I'm not sure which facility is the best one. I am going to ask my publicist about it, but I'm curious what you guys have to say about it.
Thanks
-Russell

Great alternative to a viewfinder on a Mac
 

Not sure if this should be posted in this forum.

The best thing I have notice with this program is you get a big screen to view why you shoot. Also let's you capture not sure about the quality but it is a nice alternative to QuickTime and Finalcut. This program was developed to capture your tv programs.

Program download:
http://developer.apple.com/samplecod...kTVCarbon.html

info on the program.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/01/26/hacktv.html

link to combine this program with Ical:
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/...02/hacktv.html

If anyone finds other uses for this let me know.

--Jose

Timecode on video shoots
 

Being a film buff I’m currently studying TC on the set. I know how TC is used on film shoots, but I was wondering how it is used on professional video shoots (whether they be SD or HD). So far I can't seem to get a clear overview.

What’s the TC situation..

- When recording audio with an audio recorder and using one video camera?
- When recording audio with an audio recorder and using multiple video cameras?

Is the audio recorder used as master or will there be a dedicated master TC generator? Are timecode slates used? Is TC recorded to all tapes? Do the cams just record TC onto one of their audio tracks or actually slave to incoming TC? What framerates are used? What about genlock?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

type of Camera questions
 

I do outdoor videos i notice on some of the hunting shows they have a small camera lense that mounts either on there hat or on the gun barrell does anyone know what this is it is about 3-4" long and round looks like it has a cable going to another device

Eddie

Spherical Aberration
 

Does anyone know if there is any windows software that can do real-time rendering of video, or stills for that matter, to correct spherical aberration ?

Any help is appreciated

Richard

Australia

Invisible Screen???
 

Hey All,

I was reading a post on here the other day about creating a shallower depth of field. Someon suggested using "invisible silk" between the subject and background. I tried researching it online with no luck. Anybody got some info on this stuff? Where I can order it, or better yet, any of you guys going out of business and feeling charitable to give me sopme, along with all of your other equipment?

Hey...it's Christmas.

THanks for the help!

Bryon <><

JVC GR dvl300 can't output dv-in to analog
 

My business partner has this camera and when you start viewing footage from FCP (firewire) it turns of the analog output. We would like to use this device to output to our new 13" sony trinitron monitor but obviously this isn't working.

Is there any firmware hacks availible to make this work, I know we can use our XL1s but we'd rather not unpack it and leave it hooked up just for this purpose.

Any suggestioins welcome
Kevin

oh, and mods feel free to relocate this to a more appropriate forum if need be.

Nikon Zoom Lens
 

Hey,

Is it recommended to use a Nikon Zoom lens with my Mini35 and HD100U? And if so, which one is reocmmended? Something under 2K please, or around there.

I was looking at a Nikon AF Nikkor 70-210mm 1: 4 Zoom Lens. Worth getting?

Thanks

About RAWDV
 

What exactly is RAwDv??

Looking For A Little Help
 

I recently made a film for an online contest. Some of you have already seen it because I posted a link to the film here a few weeks ago. The film page at the contest allows people to rate the film on several categories and include a comment. While these comments/ratings don't affect the voting, I'm asking people to view the film and post a review . . . just cause its cool to have a lot of them, and I definitely value all comments/opinions/critiques I have and will receive.

You can get to the film here: http://visiongatefilm.com/films/browse/?f=80

Mine is at the bottom titled, "Invitation".

Thanks for you help,
Larry

DVChallenge #4 - See the movies!
 

For those of you who don't follow our DV Challenge short film competition, I invite you to come take a look at the entries we have this time around. There will be more tomorrow as well, enjoy!

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56206

Transmitter for Lipstick Camera
 

G'day all,

Been a while since i've posted on here....

I'm looking for a small video transmitter, 2.4Ghz or above to be used on a lipstick camera which will be mounted onto a person. I'm looking for something stable & very small. I've seen some 10.543Ghz transmitters being used at sporting events like the cricket for their stump cameras which work very well. Has anyone got any recommendations?

doubts on multi-camera shoot via firewire
 

I'm preparing to do an interactive, long term, not-for-profit children's series (DV for now) in southern Brazil where I live. Since I do all the editing, as well as coordinate (direct/produce) things, I'm looking to gain some time by capturing all video as standard DV via firewire, to either a portable RAID array, or a single CPU, then transfer via Gbps Ethernet or Firewire to my editing suite later.

Here's the available equipment in this studio setup followed by my doubts:

2 DV cams (with XLR inputs for synced mic input)
2 HDV cams (1 with XLR inputs for synced mic input)
3 hidden, balanced super-cardioid mics (phantom powered) feeding into cams
1-UHF transmitter with headset mic for main talent (feeding into cam)

Now, my doubts:

1- though the sets are fairly small, the distances from cams to capture point could possibly exceed 30ft. Too far for IEEE-1394, right? How do I do it without a very expensive solution?

2- what is the best way to input those 4 streams of DV video/audio into a single RAID or multi-disk equipped CPU for transfer to my editing setup later?

3-Is it better to input each Firewire channel to a separate disk or to a fast RAID setup? I have a spare CPU with both IDE and 4 disk SATA RAID. Does each firewire input need a separate disk? If so, why, since DV capture is way below the speeds of those disks?

4- I normally edit in PPro 1.51 and plan to purchase Multicam 4-camera software to help with the multi-cam editing. Is this good, or unnecessary? Since there will be many cutaways/animations/visuals, is there a better way?

Okay you multi-cam pro's, I need some good advice...

Stephen Armour
ABE Prod.
Chapecó, Santa Catarina, Brazil
http://www.abeprod.com.br

Dream Shopping Spree
 

Okay everyone,

So our DVD has come out and gotten good reviews from local media. We hit a thousand sold in our first ten days. The producer and myself are feeling pretty good about it and then... He gets word that a very wealthy
(hundreds of millions) man has a couple of projects that he wants us to do. He thinks we have talent. (Boy, do we have him fooled.) Cost is of no object. This would go all the way down leasing office space for us to work out of.


My question is this... what would you buy? I want to base it around the XL-H1 and want to include EVERYTHING. Audio equipment, post production, a BIG Plasma to hang on the wall, for viewing the product of course. hehehe. Everything!

So quit salivating and start writing.

Now, I'm waiting to hear from you upper level guys. Chris Hurd, Ash Greyson, and Shannon Rawls

Thanks,
Bryon <><

pc101 or pc9?
 

hey guys, could does anyone know the major differences (if any) between a sony dcr pc101 and a pc9?
thanks
Jeff

Sony PD170+Varizoom FlowCam GT, will it work?
 

Currently I own a Sony PD170 and just purchased a
Hollywood Lite (Varizoom FlowCam GT) GTX Stabilizer
http://www.adorama.com/VDHLGTX.html
(and) http://varizoom.com/products/stabilizers/vzgt.html

The deal seemed very good, but now I wonder if they will work properly together. I've gone through the descriptions and one says will work with cam 2-16 lbs the other says 6-16 lbs.

I was considering purchasing the Glidecam Smooth Shooter and Glidecam 4000 combo, has anyone ever worked with either or both, which do you prefer? I'd very interested in your input. Thanks in adavance!