shooting checklist

[Vito Defilippo]

Nice list.

I shoot with the PD150 all the time. So, yes, get everything on manual to avoid having the camera wreck your shot.

Something I would add is to make sure there is plenty of pre and post roll at the beginning and end of the tape. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to crash record the very start or end because a cameraman has given me tapes where the lack of post or preroll prevents batch digitizing. I also strongly second the comment to leave pre and post roll before and after each shot. Man, would that make editing easier.

I don’t stripe my tapes. I don’t see why I should put extra wear and tear on the camera or deck transport to stripe them, and then use what is effectively now a used tape for a shoot. I do add at least 30 seconds of colourbars at the start, and I record extra garbage at the end after I’m done my last shot. If I review a shot, I use the “find edit” button (or whatever it’s called, I forget at the moment). This will let the camera find the last frame you recorded, and stop there. Also, on a wedding shoot, I never turn off the camera, ever. I have a couple of big batteries that last the day. Shooting this way, I never have a timecode break.

I do events (weddings, corp events, etc). For weddings, and any other run and go shoots, I leave audio on Automatic Gain. The Sony does a great job I find. When I get tapes from guys that try to shoot a wedding and adjust the audio levels manually as they go, they invariably forget at some point, and the audio is, clipped, or incredibly low. Not once have I regretted Automatic Audio Gain at a wedding, but I’ve regretted manual every time. A common example is boosting the level at the ceremony to catch the speakers, then everything is blasted with music. Fortunately, we mic the groom for better audio.

Now, I don’t recommend this for other types of shoots where you have the time to set audio levels correctly…

I’ll get grief for this, but the one automatic thing I use a lot is autofocus, at least for parts of the day. I use manual on tripod at the ceremony, for parts of the reception where I know the focus will pump, etc, but I have auto on for much of the bride and groom’s house, and anywhere I have to chase things around. Sometimes, though, I will switch to manual to redo a shot that the auto focus didn’t handle well.

Interesting thread, thanks…

Vito

[Vito Defilippo]

Oh, I just remebered. Label your tapes properly!

[Tore Gresdal]

[Mark Suszko]
Shoot a minute of room tone, wherever you are shooting, and mark it as room tone by shooting a scribbled note saying so while doing it.

A good one. Thank you for that! Added it to the refined list.

[Todd at UCSB]
The couple things that I run into, that was not on your list, is tape speed SP NOT LP and tape stock. Although it hasn’t been a problem lately, we have had tape problems in the pass with certain brands not playing right on our decks. For some reason, TDKs were a problem.

Yes and no, I had it in mind but LP doesn’t exist on Sony Prosumer cameras and I don’t think you’ll find them on Canon, Panasonic or JVC either. (somebody tell me if I am wrong.. I haven’t checked them all) But I could allways change the list to say TAPE SPEED instead to broaden the spectrum.

[Pixel Monkey]
Man, I can think of a ton of photogs that would take a checklist the wrong way…
Yes, but you allready know that they are professionals and trust them to never make any of the mistakes on the list anyway, and therefore wouldn’t have to present them a list at all. But in my opinion it has a lot to do with the way you present your list as well… There are *many* ways of presenting it, and at least half of them are ways of putting it nicely without offending anyone.

[Pixel Monkey]
Just for the DV, DVCam and MiniDV record, all them formats suck timecode wise.
Ok, my lack of experience is unabling me to respond to that… I can think of one thing, but I don’t know if I am offending you by saying the obvious… There are settings for adjusting the timecode offset and preroll of the tape in the device control on most DV editing programs. But why is frame accurate batch capture so important…? (The question is out of curiousity and not sarcasm) I allways grab a little extra for handles anyway.

[gaspar]
Label your tapes properly!
Ah! Can’t believe I forgot that one! Thank you! I have bought a DYMO Labelwriter with miniDV sized labels myself and I relabel everything that comes in. (very useful because since fontsize 6 enables me to write a lot on the labels 😉 ) Oh, and I also give all my tapes individual serial numbers and use that for tape names when I am logging and batch capturing.

I have refined the list and restructured it a bit:

• Tape speed (DV, DVCAM, SP, LP)
• Gain level
• Continous timecode
• Clean lens
• AGC – Audio gain control
• Brightness on LCD/exposure
• Shutterspeed
• Labels tapes properly
• REC pre and postroll on tape (min 30 sec. at beg. and end)
• leave handles on all shots (min 3 sec.)
• REC 1 minute room tone
  • Whitebalance
  • Audio levels
  • Focus
  • Exposure

The last four of them is supposed to be cycled through all the time, and would be in the blood of any photog with some experience. This way you can just present the list and say; I know this is in your blood, especially the last part, but could you just scan through this and have it in mind…

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I think this thread made some of us (and others that read the thread without responding) do some thinking. It’s allways good to look for ways of improving your workflow. At least for my part this list was motivated by the desire to work on the edit and not spending ours on fixing up what other could have done in ten seconds with a few buttons.

Regards
Tore Gresdal

[Tore Gresdal]

Here’s a low-res version of the card I created today… click here to see As you can see the idea is just to have a reminder of the things to check… not to teach anyone how to use the camera.

Email me if you want a copy of the photoshop file. All the layers and text is intact so you can modify it as you please and it will scale to any resolution. Email: tore@gresdal.no

Regards
Tore Gresdal

[Charley King]

[Tore Gresdal] “But why is frame accurate batch capture so important…? “

Ever need to revise a program, commercial, etc? Ever want to use a previous sequence but with original footage? Try this without frame accurate time code and you just might end up with some bad cuts.

Charlie

[Tore Gresdal]

Hmm… I made myself look kinda stupid didn’t I… 🙂

Sorry, I must have misinterpreted Pixel monkey. I do a lot of batch capture in Premiere Pro and I even temporarely delete all the source footage from my harddrive to get enough space to work on another projects now and then as you can easily batch capture everything into the system again.
I have never had any trouble with the accuracy of the batch capture… And please don’t assume that I wouldn’t notice if it was 6 frames off just because I am a student. 6 frames is a lot and is very noticable if you’re doing the standard hollywood continous seamless edit.

I assumed that the system would be off 6 frames all the time and therefore not move any of the cuts as they were edited after the initial capture. Meaning that you capture with a system running at 6 frames off, edit it with the timecode 6 frames off… and if you then delete the footage and recapture it again, it would still be 6 frames off and no harm done to your cut.

But it is a totally different scenario if the system is 2 frames off one time and 5 frames off the next… In the light of your response I take it that it is the case, and that I have just run lucky so far.

Regards
Tore Gresdal

[Charley King]

[Tore Gresdal] “But it is a totally different scenario if the system is 2 frames off one time and 5 frames off the next… In the light of your response I take it that it is the case, and that I have just run lucky so far. “

No I have not had the opportunity to find out, I have only been associated with top quality systems, that have reliable timecode, no delays to contend with. I was just responding to the comment that accurate time code was not important. I really don’t mean any disrespect, only making observations. I would presume when speaking to or about students, any comment could be taken literally and cause problems later on when any of them should happen to enter the real world of professional video.

I have found this thread quite interesting, and many points are absolutely correct. Most of the people I have worked with learned their craft under fire, as I did. Never had a checklist to work with, and in many cases not enough time to go through a checklist before shooting. YOu had to rely on your equipment and the fact that you (hopefully) used it last and it is set the way you want it to be setup, or the person who used it last was also a profesional that took pride in his equipment also.

Charlie

[Tore Gresdal]

[Charlie King] I really don’t mean any disrespect, only making observations.

No worries. The comment was not aimed at anyone in particular. It’s just that I am usually met by a lot of prejudice since I still have the student title and many don’t even bother to hear what I have to say because of that. So I was just trying to be pre-emptive 🙂

(I am also trying to tune into the tone of this forum… many internet forums are sceptic to newbies and assume them to be rather stupid until proven otherwise, so I thought I would try to work on that)

Glad to hear that you have enjoyed the thread. I have appreciated your engagement and feedback. There is nothing more productive than a constructivist argument, as they say in the managment class.

I have a strong passion for editing combined with a strong urge for learning and an almost annoyingly strong curiousity, so I both hope (and know I will) run into an argument with you guys again.

PS! I am from Norway in case anyone is wondering why my english is far from perfect.

Regards
Tore Gresdal

[Chris Bové]

For more on that whole DV/miniDV thing, go here.
https://www.creativecow.net/forum/read_post.php?postid=110897480614939&forumid=45

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/-o-o-\
\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

[Charley King]

[Tore Gresdal] “I am from Norway in case anyone is wondering why my english is far from perfect”

I’m originally from Texas, so mine is worse than yours.

Charlie