Misc. Open DV from 2005
 

Thanks and happy new year.

Has anyone shoot with the DV300U, JVC yet?

and if so....has anyone used the streaming kit?
How was it? can you post a report please before
I purchase.

Thanks!!!!
Tom

Putting together productions to make $$
 

Hey guys....

I am an established video guy/editor... in Houston...


I would like to talk to other people about ideas to use all this great technology to make $$$

I do alot of stuff for the Web....

Anyone have any good leads for cable/satellite tv?

I just ordered the new Sony HDV cam... and would love to let anyone use it locally.... (HOUSTON)

Contact me at: resmedia at gmail dot com

Let's talk some $$$ ideas!

Another "homemade" production case option
 

I got tired of lugging around lots of little bags and wanted something tough, large, and that has wheels to carry around my equipment. Problem is, I didn't want to fork over several hundred dollars for what is essentially $30-worth of foam and plastic--so I started looking for other options.

I wound up buying the "Stanley Metal Rolling Workshop XL" and I'm really happy with it so far (Here's a picture of one). It's divided into three compartments:

The bottom is large enough to hold an XL1 with a 16x lens AND MA-100 attached. You have to remove the viewfinder...but I plan on making a foam "lid" to slide down on top of the camera to further secure it, and then put a cutout in the top of the "lid" to hold the viewfinder--all fitting snugly in the bottom compartment.

The middle compartment has a sliding drawer and then a group of small knick-knack drawers. I use these to hold batteries, my Sennheiser Evolution series stuff, etc.

And then the top portion looks like a toolbox--basically an empty box with a tray that fits on top.

The whole thing is made of sturdy plastic, with thin metal siding...and has a retractable handle and sturdy built-in wheels. It sounds heavy...but really it isn't. The price is $69 at Home Depot (the web site says $79, but I got mine at the store for $69).

I'm looking now for some black foam to make inserts in the bottom compartment (hard to find in this neck of the woods)... but other than that, it's ready to roll right out of the box. The biggest downside to it is that it's rather conspicuous. Shiny aluminum siding, with black and yellow plastic trimmings.

Just wanted to share this info. I probably wouldn't want to ship it or check it in as airport baggage, but it'll be great as a "throw-in-the-back-of-the-Blazer-and-go" case.

More cool Palm applications for camerapeeps!
 

pCam and pCine, created by 1st Camera Assistant, David Eubanks are great tools to have.

They are both shareware and can be found at www.davideubank.com

Check out his resume, this boy's definitley got it together!

RB

Accu-Rack: Is It Still Available?
 

I've been interested in the Accu-Rack product for assisting in doing rack focusing on ENG and Prosumer lenses, which has a website at www.rack-focus.com

Several attempts to contact this person via the phone number and email address posted on this website have resulted in nothing.

Was just curious if anyone either knew of this person and their product, if the product was still "real" and available (would hate to do an online purchase to someone who is "vaporware") or if they had any information on how to contact them?

Any help appreciated!!
email: ken.grohs@seattle.gov

I guess I'll just give up after a sufficient wait period.

Live Mixing
 

I did a show last weekend and used a Videonics MXPro, (for the first time) but due to budget constraints, had to go to SVHS. Not very impressed! But then I didn't expect miracles. I really wasn't happy though with the MXPro. There was a definite lag time betwwen making a "Take" and having it happen. Having 249 transissions really doesn't interest me either. I really need to go DV in and DV out with a solid looking board and simple fades and dissolves are all that I want. I loved the color correction on the MXPro though. The MXPro DV just doesn't grab me and for over 2K. Why do I need over 700 transissions?

Anyway, what I'd like is a DV in DV out mixer and not at NBC studio prices and I'll solve the SVHS problem by trying the FS-4.

Any set up suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Soft Cases/Backpack Help or info Please
 

I just recently bought a GL-2, and love it. Now i got a big hard metal shell type case, which is excellent for keeping my camera safe, but when i start going out for car shows and such i am going to want something small and compact, pref soft bag.

Now someone told me about Lowepro backpacks, but when i visited the site, it seemed everything was for digital cameras?

HAs anyone ever used a lowepro bag, or can they steer me in the right direction for a small compact bag?

Thanks in Advance!

Sony price trends
 

I have seen on some of the German price comparison sites, graphs that show the price life of items. (Introduction at ie1000, 3 months later at 950, 2 months later at 900 for example..) This does no good for US prices!

Has anyone noticed at actually tracked Sony prices in the US at the big retailers (BH, Adorama....)

I am curious where the FX1 and VX2100 are headed in the coming months. If the FX1 drops below 3k, it makes a very interesting item for me!

Any price trackers out there?? Thanks

SET SECRETS
 

Hi Community writers

I have some questions about "on set" productions, especially about sitcom productions. I`ve heard, on a sitcom set the stages are very small and compressed. Are these guys using wideangle lenses for shooting? How`s the size of such a stage like Monica`s room in "Friends"? It`s pretty difficult to find out informations about that.

Hope you can help me a bit

thx sandro

observations from the jackson trial.....
 

I spent most of last week at the MJ Circus and both fortunately and unfortunately will probably be spending the next five months or so watching the elephants, freaks and clowns dance back and forth in Santa Maria. ( I really should not complain as I can use the work)

One thing Ive noticed is that while strolling about and observing the hundreds and hundreds of press cameras here a few things stand out.

1) If HD is such a big deal? Why is it that broadcasters from around the planet are here and I havent seen at least one HD cam?

2) Beta is still king, and Beta SP is still the king of all

3) The DVX100 is runner up after the beta's. Its the most numerous of the many dv cams here. (Talking to a few shooters I want to throw up hearing the day rate they are getting as do most of the beta shooters)

4) DV has a wide acceptance, seems like almost everyone has a use for it.

5) I have not seen any PD-170s seems the 150 which is the close runner up to the DVX is still good enough and nobody sprung for the upgrade.

6) the VX-2000 is also popular

7) There are a few XLs so far Ive seen 2 XL2's and a few more than that XL1/xl1s seems broadcasters are not using them but those doing documentries are......

8) I have yet to see one GY-DV500 or 5000 they are as scarce as a HD Cam which means non existant.

9) The still photogs still have a better spot than anyone else :(

Just some things I have noticed, what else can I do in the hours he is in court but stroll the line....

M

future: charge a Lithium ion battery in 6 minutes
 

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7081

-----------------------
Moderator note: It's fine to post links to stories on other sites, or short quotes, but for legal reasons we can't include the full text of an article from another website without their permission. I've made your link "clickable" to make it easier to read. -Boyd

sd dv hdv hd comparison chart?
 

Does anyone here have a link to a "sd-dv-hdv-hd" comparison chart where we can see the differences between these video formats?

Thank you very much

Free hosting and the posibility of seeing your work on tv. Check this out.
 

So I thought everyone here might be interested in this. It's a website that is run in collaboration with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) caleld Zed. www.zed.cbc.ca is where you can sign up and get an account for free to host your videos. The best part is it's set up like a comunity and is open to anyone of any country. This means that your work can be seen by any of the members and you can see their's. Zed is an artists comunity made by artists for artists. To top it all off they have a show on CBC at 11:25 ET every night that showcases stuff from the site, so that little film you thought might just sit on your computer could get exposure to the Canadian CBC audience which is pretty large. I just thought everyone might like to know.

Video conference, anyone ever gone?
 

I subscribe to videomaker magazine and they are offering a video conference in a city that would be easy for me to attend. Has anyone ever been to one? Do you think they are worth it? $109 is nothing for a day of learning as long as they really teach. The one in Clevland is May 14th and the one in Chicago is the 21st. Any feedback would be great.

confused about mounting plates...
 

I want to mount my Audio Technica ATW-R100x receiver to my VX2100, but I'm confused about which camera mount to get. When I bought the receiver, one of their recommended purchases was a mounting plate that fit the U100...will that one work for me or will I need something else? Are there several mounting options? ie front-right, rear-right...or am I stuck with mounting the receiver to only one location?

trv 900 or panasonis pv-gs70
 

I currently have a panasonic pv-gs70 but have the opportunity to get a trv 900. I'm wondering if this is a good idea or if I should stick with panny. I've used a trv900 once but don't remember it well enough to make a decision. please any help would be greatly appreciated cause I need to make this deal soon. thank you


nick

JVC GR-D30 Firewire Solved !
 

Dear friends,

I´m writing this message to tell you that my problem with firewire port was solved !
Well, my PC didn´t recognize the camcorder, but I noticed that this JVC GR-D30 has some incompatibility with some firewire cables (I tried 4 different cables). So I went to the store and bought a new one, and BINGO ! My PC recognized the cam ...
So, I want to tell you all to test your cam with a lot of cables before spend some money with another ones ...

BIG HUG,
Gabriel Brazil

Acting workshops in T.O.??? Need Advice.
 

Hi,
Since this is an OpenDV section, i want to ask around for recommendations regarding good acting classes or workshops or programs in Toronto, ON/GTA

I am usually behind the scenes guy, but i want to learn acting to improve my speech and overall presentations. I know its kinda weird, but I just finished YorkU with Psychology degree and Marketing Certification on the way ...so I want to prepare for the real world of Marketing. Thus, talking with various VPs and Execs. they suggested that drama/acting classes significantly improve your presentations skills. I don't care about learning acting to get jobs/work in the movies, since i plan on working behind the camera during my other life and gelp em also understand how far i can push the actors.

Achieving the best results?
 

If you were going to blow up DV to film, which camera would you use?

The XL2 or the DVX100?

I understand that the XL2 comes in native 16:9. But how much of a difference in resolution does that make?

Sure you can use different lenses for the XL2, but what if you were planning to buy the Micro35 adapter for 500 bucks?

Also, if I was using the Sony TRV-950 for Televised short film work, what would be the best program to achieve the film look. Magic Bullet? Vegas? etc... (this is after having the best lighting, actors, and script I could possibly muster)

Thanks in advance guys.

data code to JPG EXIF question
 

Using a Sony DCR TRV18E and have 30 hours of footage over 2.5 year period. Would like to capture still images from the footage and have the "data code" date/time stamp inserted into the JPG image as EXIF data ie "date picture taken".

When i try it now i always get _todays_ date in the JPG EXIF data, not the date that the film footage was taken. This is done by capturing the still photograph on the camera (while replaying old film).

Can anyone suggest software or equipment to overcome this problem? Can be Linux or Microsoft. Or perhaps point me to an approriate thread? Looking to extract around 1000 - 2000 stills so i don't mind if i have to spend some money. But you can see why i want the data code data to go into the EXIF given the volume of pictures and the fact that i really can't tell exactly when a lot of it was filmed (because there is so much!)

Will be using PERL scripts to sort my photos once i have the correct EXIF data in them. This is by creating folders for the day of the image was taken, and then putting the picture in there.

Alternatively I could write a PERL script to plug in the correct EXIF data but this means keeping a huge list when capturing the stills of what was filmed, and when.

Thanks Nick.

What do you think of the HDCAM HDW-730s?
 

Hi

What do you guys think of the HDCAM HDW-730s? Is it a good camera? Is it worth buying to use later on for projects to be convereted into 35mm for theatre display and for tele-serial production? And why is this camera cheaper than the rest in its family of HDCAMs?

If I'am going to buy a digital betacam then might as well get this HDCAM HDW-730 in the same price range as the digital betacam and I can use it in a variety of projects, right? Plus is there any loss in shooting on HDCAM and transfering the final project into digital betacam to be telecasted?

Thanks

From the big screen to the two inch screen
 

Hi I am Stephen George, I am not sure where to place this question. I have a company that makes short films, I was wanting to find out about the different formats to produce those shorts so they will play on the new two inch screens for cell phones. This looks like an outlet for possibly recouping some money on short projects. Right now we shoot on digital and film. I'm not sure of the different styles needed to produce films for this market. I would appreciate any discussion.

Low-End DV Cameras Panny PV-GS9 v. Canon ZR-100
 

i recently purchased two open-box cheapie cameras, a panasonic PV-GS9 and a Canon ZR-100. i plan to send one to my nephew for his graduation present (he has all the makings of a video geek!) and i plan to use one as a deck and as a pocket model for making on-the-fly videos of my 4 yo daughter.

my priority for deciding which camera to keep and which to send is, that i want to keep the best possible deck for myself, to spare my high-end cameras. if my nephew gets seriously bit by the bug, i can get him a real camera later. i am pretty sure that he will be happy with receiving either camera.

any opinions/advice on which of these two inexpensive cameras has the most sturdy tape transport/vtr function/capture reliability?

i am guessing that image quality is roughly the same, unless someone knows otherwise....

thanks in advance....

UK Broadcast Production Show
 

Probably a bit late for most UK people. But the Broadcast Production show trade exhibition is on at Earls Court Today (Wednesday 1st June) until Friday 3rd June.

This year being held at Earls Court, London.

http://www.broadcastproductionshow.com/

I'll be there Thursday and Friday...

Cheers,

Which to buy?
 

Hey two questions for all you who are veterans here and have knowledge far beyond my own...I was thinking about buying an XL2 soon to start up a company filming weddings, corporate stuff, maybe shoot an indie film or two, but I wanted to know if it worth going up to the price range of like the JVC 5100U or whether I'll see much of an improvement or if it is neccesary for what I will be filming. Or whether I should wait for a (hopefully HD) XL3 as I am 19 and will be saving up for the next 4 months for everything I need anyway...

Second question...
I do video at my church and we currently use a decent robocam and a JVC GY-DV500U and we are looking to get a really nice primary camera to use to film services and use the 500U for stuff we would film outside the building. Budget is going to be around 30k but we can probably go a little over, I been looking at the new JVC's and a couple Sonys, but like I said I fairly new to pro level video ( I work at Best Buy, and I know alot more about the consumer/prosumer level models). Just wanted some opinions about any particular models/ lenses to look for...

Just to let you guys know the camera we'll be using needs to be good in low light, allow us to use colored stage lights without looking weird as we are running the live video through New Tek's VT4 and we need some good zoom, we currently use a 18:1 Fujinon with 2X extender. Thanks guys.

Anyone here for H.264 SD and HD(MPEG-4 Part 10)?
 

What's your opinion on H.264(MPEG-4 Part 10)?
The future of HDV? The future of web VOD? I'd really like to hear from you!

Making an action movie in New York?
 

If anyone's currently working on an action movie in New York...

I'm an aspiring filmmaker very interested in making action movies of all kinds, though especially martial arts ones, and would love to see how a more professional production is made (any production is more professional than the backyard videos I've been doing so far). I humbly request anyone willing to have me on the set let me know when and where filming will take place. I could do some miscellanious tasks on the set (i.e. errands, etc), or be an extra guy to get kicked around (13 years of Tae Kwon Do, 5 Kung Fu)/shot up a bit. I could also bring an extra Canon XL-2 to be used, as a token of appreciation. Yeah, I'm pretty much desparate to meet other filmmakers in the area and get more experience with people who take the craft more seriously, no matter the production values, talent, or any other variables. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Michael Johnson

stepdown convertors: where?
 

Hello all,

I am looking for a step down convertor from 77mm to 37mm, can someone please give me a few places of where i can get them.

Any help would be appreciated.

B.Sundry

Sony DSR-1 discontinued...
 

I noticed this at the Sony Pro site. This is weird, since they have no other DVCAM dockable VTR. Is Sony abandoning the dockable system altogether, at least in DVCAM? If so, then the DXC-D50 cameras are expected to be mated only with "higher-end" format VTRs, such as the DNV5.

They've already quit the 1/2"-CCD market, which wasn't altogether unexpected, since they never introduced a digital replacement for the DXC-327B. Here's an idea I had: what if they had introduced a 1/2"-CCD digital camera head as well as a D8 replacement for the EVV-9000, or maybe the latter alone? If the price was right, I should think there would've been a good market.

I don't think I'll ever understand Sony's marketing strategies. Maybe they want to push everyone to XDCAM...

Lens equivalency calculator?
 

I usually use the Panavision one, but it doesn't have 1/3" 16:9 CCDs as an option. I was curious to know what the 35mm film lens equivalency of the Fujinon Th13x3.5BRMU 1/3" lens is.

Camera Insurance for hire purposes in UK??
 

Hello all,

I have a Canon XL2, which I purchased for short film making. This wont be taking place until later in the year so it will just be sitting there for most of the time. So I thought I would look into the possibility of hiring said camera out.
I've never done anything like this before, so was just looking for some advice - especially about getting it insured for such purposes.

Cheers.

DoP or Cinematographer books?
 

Does anyone know where I can get some good books or dvd's on training or just information about Cinematography and Director of Photography.

Thanks

A datarate problem
 

A datarate problem

Home made greyscale chart
 

I am wondering if it is possible to make my own accurate greyscale chart using adobe photoshop and a high end laser printer. Has anyone tried this?
Thanks
Bryan

2 Way radio microphone compatibility
 

hey everyone,

As my productions have grown larger, most everything is shot with dual cameras, i've decided to invest in a set of Cobra PR 4000-2 WX 2 way radios to be able to talk between cameras. I selected this model/brand since a photographer i work closely with uses the same radios and i wanted to ensure we could always communicate with him and my other cameras.

I want to get headset microphones so you can talk without disrupting any camera work, however i'm not very impressed with cobra's selection - a whopping 2 different mic's....

Does anyone know if i were to purchase another brand's microphone setup - provided it is a single jack microphone/speaker connection - will it still work with my radios? Ie like radioshack/motorola?

thanks
~Mike

Realtime windows media HD encoding
 

Have several inhouse training projects that require 720p wmv HD. Direct encoding to 2-pass VBR 720p, in software, from the NLE timeline (PPro 1.5), takes about 12hrs for each hour of product. I'm looking for a realtime solution.

I could get another workstation and hand-off the rendering chores to that, but I could spend the same money getting a more dedicated hardware solution to directly encode to wmv hd.

1) Is there a solution that will tie into PPro, thus exellerating the encode?
2) Should I just render an uncompressed avi to a large array, and then re-encode to 720p wmv? I'd save several hours per project at the very least.
3) Much of the jobs are under 1.5hrs, so I'm authoring to standard DVD. Is there a solution that will burn wmv HD direct to DVD, and in realtime?

Anything I can do to avoid 12hrs encode per 1 hour of content would be greatly appreciated.

some advice on lenses/accessories for filming skiing
 

I'll be working with a canon gl-1, and need some advice on a wide angle lens and some filters. I dont have a very big budget, so I'm trying to save money but not loose too much quality. I need a wide angle or fisheye lens, polarizing, and uv filter


1. I will be shooting with the wide angle/fisheye on sometimes and with the normal lens sometimes. I dont need to be able to zoom when the wide angle lens is on. should this effect my decision on what lens im getting(Im not sure if this means that i will be able to get a cheaper lens)? Im hoping to get something .65x or wider. Im not sure if I should get a fisheye, or wide angle, Im assuming that you get more distortion with the fisheye, Im not really sure what the difference between the two is though. I dont really have to be worried about distortion though


2. I'm thinking about getting a kenko Pro .65 wide angle lens(58mm inside thread and 82mm outside thread, but this can change...
I dont want to have to buy two sets of filters if possible. Will it affect my quality that much if I just get 58mm filters and put them on before the lens instead of having two sets (58mm and 82mm)for when i film with the W/A lens off/on respectively.

3. Should I be getting a certain type of polarizing filter? I dont know the difference between linear and circular...


Thanks
-Dylan

Question about the HDCAM HDW-730s model
 

Hi

I'm reading a lot about the HDW-730s and HDW-750, now I have a budget just enough to purchase the HDW-730s but after I researched more about the camera, I'm afraid that I would go and waste my money on a camera that would not fit my needs.

First of all I would like to use the camera for two main purposes:

1- Achieve cinmematic look for my projects especially films, corporate videos and commmercials.
2- Use the end product and down-convert it into SD, to be televised in PAL stations.

I read in several places that HDW-730s don't give you a cinematic look or feeling to your project, is that true? Would it be a waste of money purchasing that camera, when all I am looking for was to ahieve that film look?

Can somebody help me out...

Thanks

Pulldown flags survive dubbing?
 

Hello, sorry if this question has already been answered but I haven't been able to find it addressed. I've shot almost an entire independent feature on 24p DV (specifically MiniDV with a Canon XL2). Of course I want to make copies of the tapes ASAP.

I have a little Sony TRV-27 (miniDV) which I use as a deck connected to my Avid system - I was told that 24p pulldown flags (2:3:3:2 in this case) that are on a tape (shot on the XL2) could play back from a cam/deck even if the cam/deck couldn't create them itself (the TRV-27 can't). So far, so good.

I have a firewire cable that can connect the Canon XL2 directly to the TRV-27, and I can dub tapes directly to the Sony (press play on Canon, press record on Sony), and I'm sure the transfer quality is good, but I'm concerned about the pulldown flags surviving the process, since the TRV-27 itself probably can't create them. Thus I'd have a 60i interlaced version of the video that Avid presumably would NOT be able to reconstruct into 24p.

Anybody have any ideas about this? Of course it would save lots of money and time to make the backups myself but the whole point of shooting 24p might be lost.

Thanks!

-Nate

Canon Releases New Camcorder
 

Just today, on the Canon website, canon relased a new camcorder - The Optura 600. Many may already have known this, but I just want to raise a point - could this mean the upcoming arrival of some new 3-chip prosumer cams? Or maybe, the arrival of Canon's first Hi-Def prosumer?........