Another reader turned writer! Welcome welcome! Since you've
been reading a while the board doesn't need any introducing
to you eh. Anyway, welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard OJ!

Hello All
 

I am principal of PR/Design, a small consulting firm that provides communication, research, and design services for organizations and individuals (i.e. candidates) involved in public affairs and politics. In practice, I spend the bulk of my time doing writing (communications planning, Web copy, press releases) and Web design. DV is new, though I had lots of theatre and some film expereince in school.

I am interested in bringing the "DV revolution" to non-profit advocacy organizations that have traditionally priced out of the market for video production services -- and so have been denied access to the most important (for good or ill) political communication media in the U.S.: television and video.

I have taught at the college level and I am currently a member of the adjunct faculty at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove PA where I teach a Jr. Sr. course on leadership. I've done some scholarly writing on international political communication and was trained as political scientist. In my academic life I study American political communication and rhetoric and international political communication.

After messing about with a Sony TRV-17 for a year so so to learn some basics of DV and digital editing, I recently purchased Canon XL1s and have begun work on "A Citizen's Guide to Economic Development" in Pennsylvania. I use Final Cut Pro for editing on a Mac G4, which I also use for my other design work.

Welcome aboard Peter. This board also has a great set of MAC threads.

Jim Northern VA.

new member,new XL1/s user
 

Just received my XL1/s a couple of weeks ago and all of my accessories have trickled in...all but my tripod. I ordered the Matthews Libec LS-35 and they're saying that it could be another month before Japan ships...Any comments on the libec good or bad... should I wait or attempt to go with another brand. I currently use Gitzo w/ my betacam @ the station but need to stay around $600..Anyway LOVE my XL1/s...great site!

Welcome!
A month sounds like quite a long wait for this tripod. Perhaps another vendor can deliver quicker? B&H Photo (www.bhphoto.com) has the LS-35 in stock at this writing for $570.

Anyone In DADE or BROWARD Florida
 

Looking to meet NL-Editors and DV camera people in my area..

Hello from Phily
 

I think I'm the first to post in Phily. I hope more follow. Looking forward to bouncing ideas, and experiences with everyone.

Rafe D'Amico

Unfortunatly No, Have had several vacations all over Florida and would swap rainy old miserable Buckinghamshire here in the UK anytime.

I've got news for you, Peter. It has done nothing but rain here for the past two weeks. Still want to swap? I'm willing :)

Hi George- I'm just North of you in Brevard. Howdy!
Keith

Welcome aboard Rafe, good to have you with us!

Welcome
 

Rafe,

Glad to have you here. I'm right across the river in Pennsauken.

Bill

Returning from server crash... we're back.
 

Okay, after being down for close to 24 hours, we're now back online with a few bumps and bruises. You may have noticed that we've lost about a week's worth of posts... I believe approximately 600 or so. The current count is 14,750 which is down from I think about 15,350. It really hurts but I'm grateful that it wasn't any worse than this. We've also lost track of about 40-something new members; if you're one of these folks, unfortunately you'll have to re-register.

This sort of thing is never predictable and always happens at the wrong time, but I'm working at this moment on finding a more reliable hosting solution with a back-up of the message board database every 24 hours. I've got to leave for MacWorld on Monday and will definitely find a new home for us before then.

In the meantime please accept my sincere apologies for this 40mph crash into a brick wall; the airbags have deployed and we've got a few seatbelt cuts and a broken tooth or two but we'll survive.

If you posted something last week, it's gone forever so if you can remember what we were talking about in this particular forum then by all means say it again!

Still shaking,

I am also back :-)
 

Hi everybody,

Well, I am back as well. I will try to rewrite and post again some of my last messages. Nice that the connection works again.

Later,

Hello from the farm..
 

Just getting to know my Sony PD150. We're anxious to use it for short "living history" projects, filming redcoats, minutemen, Civil War reenactments on our living history farm...

Please keep me abreast of your process of documenting living history on video. In another life, long ago from 1986 to 1998, I supervised a living history horseback riding program for high school students at a local military academy. We were IWP cavalry, circa 1874. Currently I'm putting together a mounted post-WW2 U.S. Constabulary impression. I've always been highly interested in all aspects of living history and historical recreations of all time periods.

Living history...
 

You'll probably hear more from me than you want to!<g>

I'm Baaaaack... greetings from DFW
 

Well, after a seemingly long dvinfo.net drought, I'm back to catch up on things. I've changed industries from technical software sales to digital prepress. A strange migration but a familiar one to say the least.

My next endeavor is independent film making i.e. taking another of my scripts to the digital world. So, if there are any DPs or other crew type folks in the are who are up for making a feature length digital film (in the DFW area) then let's touch base.

Glad to be back.
wgardner
scenic Frisco, Texas

Welcome back! Glad to have you with us again. A few things have
probably changed while you were away. Take a look around and
enjoy!

in Wash.DC -- in search of PAL camera or deck (rent/borrow)
 

Hi --

I've got a project coming up, where I'll need to load some PAL DV material (a couple of miniDV tapes, from friend in Rome -- it's from a PAL Sony VX2000) to my Storm system (then transcode etc.)

Problem: I don't have a PAL DV camera or deck.

Question: is there anyone reading this in the Wash.DC area (or not too far away on East Coast) with such a camera or deck, with whom I might be able to strike a deal (rent / borrow / trade something), for use of the deck or camera for less than 2 hours?

Otherwise, figure my options are:
1. purchase a DSR-11 -- which I'd like to have, but at $2K, too expensive at the moment
2. purchase a small 1-chip PAL camera -- e.g., the new JVC model DVL120 (costs only $400). This I could afford. Would have to get a friend to buy it for me in Asia (which I could do) and ship it -- would take some time, and $400 is a lot of money to spend when I'm not 100% sure the JVC will work flawlessly for these Sony-recorded tapes.
3. Rent a DSR-11 (prob. can find one professionally somewhere in town) -- I assume it might cost $150 or so for a day. Kinda costly just for one small job.

I DON'T want to send it out and transcode it -- at least I don't think so. Am planning to use ProCoder to transcode & MPEG encode in one fell swoop. But first thing is, gotta load the stuff.

Any thoughts / solutions / offers / suggestions -- kindly advise!

thanks,
d.i.

p.s.
 

p.s. -- just posting this p.s. so I can toggle on the "email notification" option)

Another shooter from Miami
 

Just joined the Community last night. Rather than bore everyone, anyone interested in knowing more about me or Good Dog Productions, simply visit http://www.gooddogproductions.com

Thanks, Chris, for the board. It's a great idea! You should get some sort of award for your contributuions to the digital video community and in educating the masses on the Canon XL1!

Welcome aboard here! It is indeed a great place to be and for
me to help out with. Glad to have you with us.

Hello from Northern Illinois
 

Well, I started editing home videos in college in the mid-1980s, on a very clunky (but at the time, kind of cool) Videonics unit which took forever and eventually wore out the tape shuttle mechanism on two VCRs. This was unsatisfying enough that I eagerly jumped on the first Amiga Video Toaster systems when they came out. Still a pain. I put the cameras aside for a decade while I pursued other things.

In 2000, I picked up a copy of a popular computer video magazine and was ecstatic to see the advances that had been made in prosumer-level cameras and editing gear since 1990. I've been diving ever-deeper into it since. I built an editing sytem based on the Pinnacle Pro-One board, bought an XL-1 (recently traded in on a XL-1S), started a company, and over the past year I've been working hard at it in my spare time. We have three major projects going on right now, the biggest one of which being a specialized aviation instructional video which will be sold commercially on DVD. We also just finished shooting our first local TV ad.

I love this stuff. I just might quit my day job and make DV a full-time gig!

I look forward to reading and participating on this board. There are a lot of very knowledgable people out there, and I look forward to learning from you all.

Welcome aboard Buck. It is great to hear that you have refound
your love and that your having a blast doing it! As for the board,
yes, there are indeed a lot of knowledgeable people around.
Good to have you with us!

La La Land
 

Not too many out in the Hollyhood from the posts. We've got mountains, deserts, and ocean. Lots to film here.

MrGranger

Be sure to come out to Burbank this week for the L.A. DV Show. Drop by the Pro-Tape booth and say hi, I'd like to meet you.

Info at www.ladvshow.com

I'm out in LA LA Land
 

I'm over in west hollywood. Yeah, I know. Welcome on. These posts rock. Really. What do you do with DV?

Christian Calson
Nebunule Films

greetings from Austin, Texas
 

I'm a new member and come to DV from a 25 year still photography career, I currently specialize in shooting Glamour/Pinup images.

I am working on a MAC system using a GL2 and Final Cut Pro. Video is a new venture for me so forgive me if I ask some very basic questions.

If I can be of help for any one in the way of still photography film or digital please don't hesitate to ask.

I look forward to learning from all of our shared experiences.

Mark Daughn

Welcome aboard Mark! Glad to have you with us. Fire those
questions right away, that is what we are here for afterall
(whether they are basic or not).

Cheers!

Greetings from Memphis
 

I'm actually a converted still photographer who has come into the light...the hot lights in this case. I've finished one short that's been picked up by two film festivals and is being reviewed by a distributor, and am planning on starting a feature this fall.

We're fortunate here in Memphis that we have a media co-op with several up and coming filmmakers, office space and a 100 seat digital theatre. Our first film fest is next month if you're planning on being in the area.

Digital video is just a blast and filmmakers are, by and large, a pretty cool group to hang with. Looking forward to being a part of this forum. Hopefully there are some of you nearby.

You know what I think is the best thing about the digital revolution...that small groups of people can get together and tell a compelling story on screen without the need to put anyone through the meat grinder of the Hollywood establishment.

Make your mark. Make your movie.

Welcome aboard! Good to have you with us. Sounds like your
doing a thing you love, and you know what, that's great! Enjoy!
Some great tips too. Thanks.

Austin, eh? We might know the same people. Great to have you with us, Mark!

Introduction
 

Hi All,

My name is Sjef Beekmans, born in Holland, and living in Montreal, Canada since 16 years now.

I always had an interest in videography, and got thrown into it a few years ago, and trying to keep my head above water doing pretty much everything on my own from pre to post production.

My knowledge is perhaps not deep enough in any of the fields I cover, but I am staring to get a pretty wide base of knowledge and sure am happy having found this forum.

I hope I can expect as much help over the next few months as I received in the last few days on one topic alone, and will certainly be helping someone should the occasion arise.

Keep in touch guys!!
( now I gotta find a way to get my email on this thing..)

I've got your e-mail link showing, Sjef... great to have you with us and welcome aboard,

DSR-PD100A ,seeking guru.
 

just got my hands on this baby! any gurus out there? eating up the manuel like a condemed mans last meal. i'm sure i'll have a ton of ????? 's. like best price on tape... and so on. i cruised this site for hours last night,informative/provocative exchange. thank you all for your extremely valueable input.

chris shot

You're always welcome to utilize our Sony camera forum... although it's earmarked for the VX2000/PD150, Mike Rehmus and the gang should be able to answer any questions you have.

For DV tape, consider our sponsor Pro-Tape in Austin, Texas at www.pro-tape.com -- they have superior service at competitive prices. Welcome aboard!

Anyone in the Denver area?
 

Is there anyone on here who lives in the Denver area who would be interested in getting together to compare notes/experiences/equipment?

This place is Great!
 

Hello all,
Boy am I glad I found this place! It sure beats some of the other discussion pages that seem to only contain the typical Sony vs. Canon/which is better/my camera can beat up your camera/etc threads.

My name is Greg Vaughn and I'm from the Kansas City, Missouri area. For the past year, I've been seriously getting back into video work after being out of it for over 10 years. I got suckered into the computer field and hate it now. Most of my experience comes from still photography (the old fashion film kind - remember?!?) and a brief summer stint at NYU film school working with 16mm film and a 35mm production. I hardly remember any of it - I seem to remember always being sleepy. Non-union hours I guess.

Anywho, I just purchased a new Canon XL1S and can't believe the quality compared to what I used over a decade ago (SVHS was just catching on - high end was 3/4" U-Matic). Most of the work I've been doing in the past year has been for non-profit organizations for experience. So far I have one mass market videotape and several cable shows under my belt.

Until I can get Santa Claus to bring me a FC Pro-ish or Avid-ish editing system, I use an old Panasonic Postbox NLE that was donated to one of the non-profits I'm a member of. Anyone else out there still use one of these? It looks like it was quite a machine for its time (still is). I also have an old Compaq 96 GB SCSI array that I'm hoping I can get to work with the P-Box. Even though a single hard drive could probably replace the entire array, it looks cool and uses the same HDs as the P-Box.

Well, hope to meet some of you and start picking your brains soon!

Best Reg's,
Greg Vaughn

Welcome Greg!
 

This is formally known as the "Rumplestilskin Syndrome". To get over the shock of ten years of video quality improvement we recommend deep-breathing exercises at the earliest onset of your first "Whoa!" symptoms. If you feel faint, breathe into a paper bag for 10-20 seconds. Repeat as necesary.

Glad to have you aboard. It sounds like you're making the best of the gear available to you. Hopefully Santa hasn't been hit too hard by the recent market swoon so you may find a shiny new FCP system under your tree in December (if you've been a good boy, that is).