Misc. Open DV from 2003
 

Anyone tried out the New JVC DV5000U Yet?

25P or 30P with older cameras
 

Hi everyone,

I was just going through the watchdog and came across this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=4271

It seemed rather incredible that a camera without progressive can can be tricked into producing video which is 25P (for PAL)... I actually tried it out with my old PC100E with FCP 3 and it really works!

Sorry if this seems to be repeating the thread, Chris you may remove it if you want but I just thought it is incredible and would like to bring it to everyone's attention in a more general section of the board.

Regards,
Adrian

Adobe / Avid certification?
 

Hi there,

I'm trying to find out where in New Zealand offers courses for Adobe Premiere or Avid DV certifications? Avid mentions unitec on their website , but i can't find any courses there.

Thanks in advance.

Multicamera Microproduction
 

DV.COM has a really interesting article on a few multicamera DV shoots for concert videos. It covers a few lesser known bands as well as a multi-camera concert shoot at a Garbage (www.garbage.com) show. Definitely worth checking out!

AlamDv2 SFX software (anybody here using it?)
 

I have just signed up with alamDV2 a sort of "community" SFX software.

Owners of the software send in SFX files they have created. Blood, gun shots, muzzle flashes, light sabers.

Basically, with the software you can incorporate SFX into your movie. I signed up yesterday, but keep getting a file error problem once I have downloaded the program. It won´t install with my XP system.

The site is: http://www.csb-digital.com/alamdv/

Once I get this downloaded and installed properly, I think it will be fun playing around with it.

Interested in seeing what others think of this program.

DVD from stills/quality
 

I'm about to make a documentary based almost entirely on still photos. I'll be using Canopus Imaginate to pan/zoom etc. and Premiere to edit the whole thing, adding basic dissolve transitions, color correction and sound.

The finished program will be published on DVD.

What should be considered during editing and especially encoding to mpeg2 to have the best possible quality? What settings should be used, should I go for interlaced or progressive?

Sony IMX
 

This past Saturday I went to see a film playing at the Florida Film Festival entitled "The Technical Writer". I didn't know anything about it from a filmmaking perspective - I only went because I used to be a Technical Writer in a past life, and was curious about the subject matter.

While watching the film on a fairly large screen (Universal Cineplex in Orlando, FL) I originally thought it was a standard 16mm film, maybe even 35mm. Great colors, vivid, sharp. Then I noticed a few digital artifacts that threw me for a loop. Then as I started paying closer attention, I realized this was a digital film (there were some specific scenes that gave it away). Luckily, the filmmaker was actually present and fielded our questions. Turns out, it was one of Sony's new IMX cameras.

So I did a search, and found this.

http://www.sonympeg-imx.com/articles/article_38.shtml

All I can say is that while I generally really notice digital-to-film transfers rightaway, this one totally fooled me at first. It's not perfect, but it is the best I've seen yet. The progressive scan kept the frames clear and sharp, the colors were great, and it totally stood up to the test of having it projected on a large theater screen.

They even had some outside night shots that used only available light (!!), and it looked surprisingly good.

Needless to say, I was impressed.

sony sc 100,looking for links
 

Looking for a sony sc100 I can buy as a backup unit.Anyway to
convert to black and white viewfinder?

VIdeo rack enclosures inquiry
 

Hello all:

We are in process of acquiring equipment for a video duplication system. We are looking for professional rack enclosure vendors/distributors in the Philadelphia, PA area.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Julia Moreno
James DeCrescenzo Reporting
1700 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
www.JDReporting.com

The Widescreen and Progressive mode on the TRV-60
 

Hello people,

On another forum I started a thread about two ways of achieving widescreen on the TRV-60:

As a reference we'll start with the normal 4:3 image:
http://home.planet.nl/~snuve011/bram/normal.jpg

The widescreen mode is simple: Select the widescreen mode on the cam. It will capture a wider image from the CCD, compress it horizontally *BEFORE* writing it to the MiniDV Tape (720x576)
The result would look like this:
http://home.planet.nl/~snuve011/bram/widescreen.jpg

(when played with PowerDVD for example, the image will be stretched on the fly to get the correct proportions again)

This cam happens to have a progressive mode, which is 25 fps progressive and captures a wider horizontal and vertical view and is stored on the same 720x576 resolution. It would look like this:
http://home.planet.nl/~snuve011/bram/progressive2.jpg

If we cut out a 16:9 image out of this progressive image like this:
http://home.planet.nl/~snuve011/bram...rogressive.jpg

...we theoretically get an image with a LOWER resolution than the original widescreen because we simply have cut off the top and bottom *AFTER* having captured to PC

Now we resize this lower resolution image back to 720x576 so we lose the original proportions and get this widescreen image image:
http://home.planet.nl/~snuve011/bram...e-enlarged.jpg

(again, this is stretched on the fly when played to get the final proportions)

Now the funny thing is: How can this cut-out image (which is actually a 720x420 image resized back to 720x576) be sharper than the 720x576 original widescreen image?

----

To (partially?) answer my own question: I think the 720x576 resulution is higher than most cams can actually use. By that I mean the TRV-60 for example will record LESS detail than the MiniDV format can save. When the progressive mode is activated, it gives us a little bit more detail which still can easy be saved on the MiniDV tape.

If you look closely you'll indeed notice (apart from the wider view) the progressive mode is more sharp/detailed than the normal mode.

I actually think this mode is so much sharper that if we cut out a 16:9 image out of the progressive image, the resulting (enlarged back to 720x576) image is still sharper than the original 16:9 widescreen.

Would this be an acceptable theory? Any comments welcome...!

Matching a DVX100 to an XL1s
 

Does anyone have a set method for doing this? The XL1s would be in frame mode, if that helps. My friend with the DVX has been waiting for some instructions on how to do this, but he doesn't know about the pros (that'd be you guys) so I hoped I could get some help sooner. I'd rather not just have to plop them both down with monitors side by side and tweak.

Secrets Of The Jvc Gy Dv5000-hour Meter
 

The MAIN menu of the JVC GY DV5000 displays ONLY head drum hours.
But did you know there is a hidden menu which displays every function as it relates to the actual time utilized by a specific function?

Why is this important? Well, for the videographer who wishes to purchase a used, refurbished or demo unit you can check actual overall hours used for different functions. For instance, you purchased a USED JVC GY DV5000 from another videographer. He states that the camera has little use on the heads. You think you just got a bargain until you check the HIDDEN MENU and discover the camera was used as a studio configuration for 1200 hours which you checked via the total power-up time located in the hidden menu!


Here is how you find, locate and execute the hidden HOUR METER:

1. PRESS BOTH the + and - EDIT SEARCH BUTTON

2. While holding the above -PRESS the STATUS BUTTON

3. NOW press AUTO/FAS and LOLUX while pressing the STATUS BUTTON

4. A HIDDEN MENU APPEARS WITH A LONG LIST-DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH THE SMALLER HIDDEN MENU WHICH APPEARS BY PUSHING ONLY THE STATUS, LOLUX and FAS/AUTO BUTTON. YOU MUST PRESS THE + and - EDIT SEARCH BUTTON and the STATUS BUTTON-- THEN THE ABOVE BUTTONS TO OBSERVE THE LONGER MENU.

5. SCROLL down to the hour meter-drum hours

YOU CAN NOW CHECK THE FOLLOWING:

DRUM HOURS
TOTAL DRUM HOURS
POWER METER-TIME POWERED-UP
REEL FWD TIME
TIMES LOADED
TIMES EJECTED
TOTAL FWD/REVERSED
TOTAL FF/REW
TOTAL HEAD CLEANER TIME-I ASSUME THIS IS THE INTERNAL HEAD CLEANER

By using the above menu selection you will be able to establish not only the amount of unit time used but what type of functions were used etc.

STAY TUNED-got a 'goodie' next time.

Lou Bruno

Thoughts on JVC GR 70
 

I was considering buying this for a low cost dv camera. It would only be used for "industrial" quality film. Nothing fancy. I know it is a low budget camera and I don't expect it to take the place of my VX, but just for simple things and fill in work. Also, is there something better that can be had in the 400-500. The only "deal breaker" is I need a nightvision mode of somekind.

Thanks for the help.

Frame dropouts
 

I have yet acquired my first miniDV (my GS100K-K is on its way...), but paid attention people often lament on frames dropouts with more or less frequency.
I was wondering what can cause such effect ?
Loss of video synchronization ? FireWIre communication issues ? Insufficient PC power to accept isochronious (continous timing) data for prolonged period ot time ?

Also, any links to miniDV (or DV ?) format technical information ?

regards, Alex

GV-D900 and GV-D1000 differences
 

can somebody tell me what are the differences between those two ? (becides the larger screen on the 900) ..

just wondering wich oen to get .. too bad none of them had DVCAM playback too :)