Our test film “Thornwood Park”

[Noah Kadner]

And chance of an AVI or MOV for us Mac heathen?

-Noah

[Lars Wikstrom]

If you download flip for mac there should be a free plugin that will automaticly open a WMV using quicktime for us Mac users.

I thought the chase video was pretty funny. Is that just the HVX200 or did you also buy a wide angle adaptor? I just got my HVX200 today and it dosen’t seem as wide as your shots. I might be wrong though.

-Lars

[Eric Steinberg]

Thanks for the clip, enjoyed it!
I just bought the HVX200, and I’m considering buying a camera stabilizer for it. Which one did you use (Steadycam, Glidecam, Hollywood Lite, Magiqcam….), and do you have any general recommendations about a suitable stabilizer for this camera?

Kind regards,
Eric

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Thanks Bill, Fun. Its funny I have been looking at 24P so much the 30P looked odd. Nice job. I like the surprise when you got out of the swing and the other guy was there. I didn’t see him back there at all. Was that real, he was just that well lined up, or that the next shot had him there?

Thansk good job.

Best,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, AG-DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Bob Woodhead]

My god man…. NO CATERING?!?! Have you lost your mind! That’s no way to shoot a Film…errr… video. Blasphemous heathens. And in a Public Park.

Seriously – LOVED it… great work on the fly. (dug the title treatment, sfx, music too)

Were any squirrels harmed during the taping of this Film… errr… video?

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
G5 DP 2G, 10.3.4, 3.5GB RAM, FCP 4.5, Aja IO, Huge 320R [raid3]

[Noah Kadner]

Unfortunately the flip4mac software is not yet updated for Mac Intel so any chance of a .MOV or .AVI?

Noah

[Bill Oneil]

I uploaded the film (ok video) as a trusty mpg file for the Mac users. I should point out that Windows Media Files are becoming the standard. They look the best at the smallest file size. The mpg version came in at over 20 megs and looks worse than the wmv file at 11 megs. Unfortunately, Apple makes you work hard to be able to play wmv files on the Mac but it can be done.

Thanks for the kind words. This little “short” started out as a joke and we decided to edit our tests into a goofy little film where nothing really happens.

There was no stedicam used. The rotating shots were done by grasping the tripod at the neck with the legs extended a bit to create a pendulous action. Your arm acts as an auto stedicam by absorbing some shock from your body movement. It takes some practice but with a light grip you can get really smooth stedicam-like moves with this technique. Unless you’re Hercules, the shot has to be short enough that your arm doesn’t fall off and with the weight of this camera (plus the tripod) it can be exhausting.

There was no wide angle lens used in the film- just the glass that

[Lars Wikstrom]

For Mac Folks you should think about posting a Quicktime movie file using the H264 codec. you need QT 7 but it will blow the doors off of both formats and make a much smaller file. Use a setting of 30% on the slider. It looks great.

-Lars

[David S.]

[Bill ONeil] “I should point out that Windows Media Files are becoming the standard. They look the best at the smallest file size.”

Actually, QT h.264 looks much better in my view. I don’t know where you support the view that WMV is becoming the “standard.”

From what I see h.264 QT on either Mac or Win looks fantastic.

best wishes

[Alex Viarnes]

You guys are being kind ! wmf are just plain bad and far from becoming a standard.
Aloha
-A