Yes. Hope to have an update online prior to DV Expo West in two weeks.

Tips n Tricks
 

Hey all,
I was just wondering if anybody had any interesting tips or tricks they've used in the field, whether it be for shooting or sound or whatever. For instance, I read one trick where a fella got a small mirror with an easel and placed it on train tracks. He shot a tight on the mirror and got a great shot of the train coming right at him. Stuff like that is always interesting. Thanks in advance!

I had an uncle who was a railroad engineer who was impaled by a piece of mirror that flew up from the tracks. I woooonder.....

Actually...this isn't so much a trick as putting stuff around you to good use. Due to the fact that I live in a huge city, there are lots of moving sidewalks, indoor and outdoor escalators, glassed-in exterior elevators...and they all work great as ready-made dollies and cranes.

P.S. The mirror idea is great, Daniel.

Upcoming trade shows
 

Hello everyone!
Does anyone know where I can find out about upcoming trade shows that will showcase DV cams?? I am interested if any are coming near Atlanta, GA.
Thanks
Jean King

Don't know of any near Atlanta, but we're starting to add major events to the Community Calender (link along top right row of buttons on this page).

noise filtering/encoding
 

Is there a general rule (whether to use or not to use and if so, how much) regarding noise removal before mpeg2 encoding from a miniDV (XL1) source?

I'm making a project for big size projection, do you recommend using noise removal in this case?

If so, which filters are the best? Comments about the remove noise filter of tmpgenc?

I have a nature project that includes lots of small detail, so preserving detail is a primary issue.

Well, I say it depends on how much noise is visible. MPEG encoding
is indeed much more effective with the less noise there is. But
you can also overdo it. I suggest you try out a some samples.
Within TMPGEnc you can set an encoding range, so you can limit
the encode (and the time it takes) to a small test portion.
Try it with and without the noise filter (and different levels) and
see what you get.

All in all in depends on how much noise is in your image and to
what level it is acceptable for you and/or your client.

Renting "down under"...
 

Hey you all Aussie people :)

I am planning to go off next year and finishing a special about Whalesharks. To do this i need to add some interview footage and location shots which my happy photographer forgot to do when he was here shooting whaleshark footage. So instead of toting my own cam and sound gear halfway around the world (i live in Sweden :) i thought i'd rent it on location instead. So thus presents a few questions.

1) How hard / expensive is it to get hold of PAL cameras in Australia.

2) Anyone know any good rental business in the Exmouth area (since this is where we will do our principal photography).

Regards,
Henrik

Henrik,

Australia is a big place and Exmouth is about as far away form anything that you get. I could pretty much guarantee that you won't be able to rent anything in Exmouth, a four wheel drive yes, an XL1, I seriously doubt it. Perth would be your best bet. I can't help much more than that as I haven't been to Perth for years.

PAL camera are easy to come by in Aus as that is the standard TV system down there. Again you should be able to find something in Perth. If not then you'll have to look in Melbourne or Sydney.

Exmouth is a remote but beautiful place and the whalesharks are magnificent. I hope you get the footage you are after.

24 with Keiffer Sutherland
 

I've watched 24 since day one - like the p in p stuff that establishes where various players are at the same moment and sometimes shows action from two camera angles. Tonight's episode included a neat segment with Jack in front of an airplane window, a perfect light edge on his silhouette in the opening shot, then played with in subsequent clips. What got me was the camera movement when focused on him. Lateral, left to right, then back, not shaky cam but deliberate pan. Not sure what it was intended to convey, maybe that planes aren't straight and true, maybe an attempt at tension..situation too fluid to stand still. I'm accustomed to locked down shots in scenes like this one. Anyone care to comment on the approach - why, how, where else it's been used?

David Hurdon

If the 80's "Twilight Zone" movie comes on cable, check out the final sequence (the great bit with John Lithgow as a panicked passenger). It was primarily shot using Steadicam with the intention of creating the feel of a plane flying through turbulence, as well as an uneasy feel similarly to what you describe in "24". Certainly this sort of approach is effective in helping sell a set on a soundstage as being shot on an actual airoborne plane. Another common practice is to mount the light source being used as the sun (if the scene takes place during the day) on a large stage crane and flying it up and around during the take so that the direction of the sun through the windows appears to shift slightly, just as it would if the plane was banking or turning--very popular in cockpit shots.

dvd authoring
 

Has any one used the new Sonic REELDVD Pro software?

If so what do you think?

Thanks- Nori

I've seen a demo and liked what I saw. If I was purchasing today, it's the one I would choose.