Assorted posts from 2002Q1 -- more
 

Hey Guys,

How are you !I hope you're all doing fine and shooting a lot.
I have a question for you with experience out there.I'm trying to put a better system than the one i have together.
So, let me explain the context so you can understand my question.

I want to get a camera which has manual zoom lens(good quality one), high resolution and professional features .An Xl1 is an awesome option to get all that but to do so you need to dress it up(manual lens, BW viewfinder,Xlr box and so on) and this dressing comes in a high price( for my budget).
So i had an idea to get my system together and need your opinion if it would work like i'm thinking it would or if it is a bad idea.I don't have a lot of experience in the field yet but i want to make sure i will spend my money in something i can get good quality work out of it.
That's the deal: I found a pal camera in Europe for a very good price( my girlfriend is from europe so i have easy contact ) but it's just a camera ,not a camcorder.You need to hook it w/ a recorder in order to use it as a camcorder.It's a Pal 3 CCd's professional studio camera w/ 14x manual professional zoom lens, BW viewfinder and it's capable of 800 lines of resolution.It's a ten years old camera but a i heard the camera head itself hasn't evolved that much in the last ten years,what evolved a lot was the recording deck and i heard it's a very good camera anyway.
My idea is , to buy this camera and hook it up to a sony gv-d300e(pal) or maybe the gv-d900 (so i could get a lcd screen) and so i could have a digital camcorder w/ performance on the level of a expensive camcorder (like the panasonic dvc200 and similars) for a vx2000 price.Using the sony's walkman dv vcr would give me the same portability of a normal camcorder since i could attach it to the camera's body.(i haven't figured out how yet but if i need to tape it to the camera i don't care) .I also could still editing it on my PC.
I'm not sure it would work so i need some opinion from professional D.P's and videographers and more experienced peolpe out there.It might have some technical limitations i'm not aware of.
Sorry if this question sounds weird and if it is a long post but i really need some professional feedback here and i thank all of you for your help and time.

Thank you very much.

bets regards,

Adam

DVD authoring
 

I have a vx2000 camera and am getting ready to buy an editng workstation. I want to know if it is possible to do DVD authoring and have good resolution on a standard tv or hdtv. Is anyone doing this? I have seen DVD authoring packages available, but was wondering how good of a final product I might expect. Thanks.

It really depends on the bitrate you choose to encote at.

MiniDV vs. DV vs. Film resolution
 

Every once in a while, I hear of features being shot "digitally." Not for television, but for real theatres that presumably project reels of 35-70mm frames.

Now, a 35mm slide has much higher resolution than 720x480, which I think is the frame size for MiniDV. And the best we can get out of DV can't be much better than HDTV resolution, which I think is 1080xSomething.

Now, for a film like Toy Story, or Shrek, or Final Fantasy, the problem disappears because you have total control over the resolution at which you render each frame. So rendering a frame big enough to look good on 70mm isn't technically hard, it's just time consuming and expensive to print.

But if people are shooting live-action movies "digitally," what technology are they using?

/j

See the thread titled "Why does handy cam not look like film?"

I don't think that very many entire features are being shot on DV and being released commercially. Maybe a few independent art films here and there. George Lucas shot Episode II digitally, but he did so with special hardware and not a DV camera.

Pioneer A03 problems
 

Recently I installed a Pioneer A03 DVD burner in my dual PIII system. It works fine, except that it refuses to burn CD-R discs.

Pioneer suggests "dumbing down" the IDE interface -- disabling DMA, using PIO mode, using a 40 pin IDE cable to connect. None of this has worked.

I've also tried installing the latest VIA 4in1 drivers (4.37), which not only didn't work, they trashed my video card installation.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any solutions out there? The drive is currently set as the master on the secondary IDE bus. It has version 1.65 firmware. Burning software is the included Prassi Primo with the latest software engine upgrade. I've also tried VOB Instant DVD, with similar results.


System: ABIT VP-6, PIII IGHzx2, Award BIOS version YT, HPT RAID 0 array, HPT BIOS 2.3, ATI Radeon 8500, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, Windows 2000 SP2, Canopus DV Storm.

Problem solved. Required reinstallation of W2K.

It's on the way!!
 

Well after much debate and reading. I went with the XL-1s. It should arrive soon. I went with ZGC.

What is the 'E' on the box?
 

I have noticed that on the box of most camcorders and cameras there is an 'E' on the end of the model. For example DM-XL1 E, dose this 'E' mean Europe or PAL system or something completly different?

Is it the same on models from America and around the world?

Or is it to add extra printing chargers to bump up the price????

Your help would be appreciated in this,

Ed Smith

It's usually the designation for a European (PAL) model. Hope this helps,

Hey, best of luck! Keep us tuned in on how you like it.

Video Monitor Recommendations
 

I'm trying to take my video production skills to the 'next level' so to speak, and to do that, I'm thinking of investing in a decent mic for my GL1 and a video monitor for my FCP workstation. I'm interested in shooting in 16:9 mode on the GL1, so I need a monitor that'll squeeze it. Price is a big issue, since I am currently out of work (and video is a hobby, not a profession, at least so far). I've been looking at the Sony monitors, since I have a lot of other Sony gear, and it's all been rock solid, and all my computer monitors are Trinitrons. I'm looking for as big a monitor I can get with a reliable picture and a somewhat flat tube. I've been lusting after the PVM-2950Q, but that sucker's way expensive. (Though I've seen them for $600 on eBay.) A 14" or 20" would probably work just fine, though. Thanks for any advice you can give!

I think you'll want the Sony PVM-14N6, should be right at $500 from B&H (check price from ProMax as well). It's a 14" and it does 16x9 with its own letterboxing. I'd stick with a 14" as it's easier on your eyes and definitely more portable. Ya never know when you'll have to lug it around for a presentation or shoot or something.

XL1 dump to puter via Firewire. . how to get Audio2?
 

im only getting the audio.


what program will do thihs?

Command Post
 

I am looking for hardware to go between XL1, and other audio devices i.e. CD player etc, and the computer, often refered as a 'Command Post'. I'm running Adobe Premiere 6.

Anybody know about this? or where i could get one in the UK?

Ed Smith