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Got my HMC-150 – Recommendations how to solve two problems
Hello All;
I just got my HMC150 a few weeks ago and had a chance to use it for a real project this morning and will use it again tomorrow morning.I encountered two problems that I would like recommendations on how to fix. I also have one question.
First, the question – how do I get Adobe Primere to recognize the .MTS files from the camcorder ? I downloaded the AVCHD transcoder4 from Panasonic’s site but that didn’t seem to help.
And now the two problems. This morning, I had to shoot video of students giving a presentation in a conference room. The lights were out and the presenters used a LCD projector. The problem I had was that the display from the projector was bright but the student talking was fairly dark (Illuminated by only sunlight coming into the room and the projector lighting). I was able to open the iris up until I could see both but the projector screen was way overexposed – kinda readable but still overexposed. I am wondering what you’d suggest in a situation like this? Assuming I can’t control the lighting, is there any camera setting that will help this situaton and/or is there any way to fix it using Final Cut Pro in post-production ?
My second problem is that when I move the camera slightly, or the student moves from side to side, I get slight noise on the edges of the person. Anyone know what could be causing this and if there is a setting that will prevent this ?
I would like to try to get some suggestions of things I can try to see if I can improve my video tomorrow morning when i’ll be in the same shooting situation.
Thanks much.
Tim
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4 Replies
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Q1: how do I get Adobe Primere to recognize the .MTS files from the camcorder ?
Hmmm… Is this the latest version of Premiere ?
I haven’t used Premiere in a very long time, but I had thought that the latest version of Premiere had no problems with AVCHD files, including those from the HMC-150.
I edit with Sony Vegas Pro 9.0e, which has absolutely no problems with the files my HMC-150 creates.
Q2: This morning, I had to shoot video of students giving a presentation in a conference room. The lights were out and the presenters used a LCD projector. The problem I had was that the display from the projector was bright but the student talking was fairly dark (Illuminated by only sunlight coming into the room and the projector lighting). I was able to open the iris up until I could see both but the projector screen was way overexposed – kinda readable but still overexposed.
There is nothing you can do. When I shoot in these situations, I do not allow the presenter to turn off all the lights in the room, so that I am able to still get a good exposure on the presenter. Otherwise, I have to bring a small fresnel light like the 250 watt Lowel Pro Light, which I aim at the presenter, and then dim it down to balance with the projector light.
Q3: when I move the camera slightly, or the student moves from side to side, I get slight noise on the edges of the person. Anyone know what could be causing this and if there is a setting that will prevent this ?
Are you shooting in 24P, 30P, 60P progressive mode, or are you shooting in 60i interlaced mode ? Progressive should look great, but interlaced my give you motion “combing” if the footage is viewed on a computer and has not been de-interlaced first.
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Thanks, Guy;
Your info. will help a lot.I am using the version of Adobe Premiere that came with CS3. Not sure what version that is other than just Premiere CS3.
Thanks for the info. on the lighting. Good suggestions. I’ll see if they can leave a few lights on tomorrow morning. May not be possible. The exercise today and tomorrow is a learning experience and I may have to invest in some lights so I can have better control of the situation the next time.
I actually don’t remember what mode I shot the footage in this morning. I didn’t receive my high capacity battery yet or my high capacity 32 GB SDHC cards yet (Both are on back order – tough luck for me) so I had to switch the quality down so that I would have about an hour of battery power and memory. I’ll remember to shoot in a progressive mode tomorrow morning to try to avoid the problem I had today.
Tim
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Premiere CS5 is the current version, and upgrading to it should solve your import problem.
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CS4 was the first version to accept AVCHD files. I also shoot with a HMC-150, and CS4 handles the files very well on a strong machine. You can also spend relatively small bucks on Cineform’s Neoscene which will convert your camera’s files in to a much more edit-friendly format.
Steve Brame
creative illusions Productions
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