Michael Slowe
Forum Replies Created
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I follow exactly what Doug Jensen suggests in his Vortex Media DVD on the EX 1 and the pictures are perfect.
Sorry can’t remember all the details but if you can’t find them I can look at the DVD or my camera sometime.
Michael Slowe
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Bill, ALWAYS headphones? Try monitoring your audio in a stressful run & gun situation (it usually is stressful) and I have to say also that in these situations AGC is essential since there is no way you can continually check the audio settings. In a nice controlled shoot yes, you are right, but for rushed, tight, catch as catch can – no way.
Michael Slowe
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Wow, that’s an eye opener! Ever since I adopted Vortex Media’s EX DVD (Doug Jensen) as my ‘bible’ I followed that and shoot at -3db gain in common with most other people. Never thought about the downside.
Michael Slowe
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Many thanks Craig, my supplier thought that Sony were not yet up to speed on this.
Michael Slowe
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Firstly can I ask Doug how he thinks Compressor compares in quality with BitVice for encoding DVD’s if he’s ever used it. I find it’s terrific.
As to the question of making SD DVD’s but retaining an HD version I edit in an HD timeline and export a QT .Mov and let BitVice do the downscale. That way my HD programme remains intact.
How are people making Blu-Ray DVD’s? That has to be our distribution format in a year’s time surely?
Michael Slowe
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Jay, that’s much more like it – terrific editing and the band’s not bad either!
You mentioned earlier that you set the cameras on auto, these exposures weren’t auto, they were fine and with that bright background auto couldn’t have managed. We do see three shots of the other cameras, just when I was wondering how yo managed to avoid them being in shot!
Michael Slowe
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My one sincere word of advice – use a TRIPOD or at least some sort of brace for the camera. Your pics aren’t too bad but way too unsteady.
As to picture profiles, I followed Doug Jensen on this quite successfully. White balance for exterior can be set at 5600 K at almost any time of the day but for interiors I feel safer by doing a manual set.
For audio, obviously the line from the board would be good and an on board mic for ambient FX sounds OK. You could mount a radio mic either in the band somewhere or on the vocalist himself if he’ll wear it. It all depends on conditions, movement other sounds. Experiment and have plenty of different mic options in your kit bag. You could get someone to hold a mic for you but you’ll want to keep them out of frame.
Michael Slowe
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Thanks Wickham, can you please just confirm that this version is good with OS Snow Leopard and what QT and Boris Red versions should run with this?
Michael Slowe
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Well Thomas, yes cinema as in film but they projected video through their expensive (very!) digital projector. Sometimes my SD DVD’s upscaled through the Panny Blu-Ray player, sometimes a proper Blu-Ray disc through the same player. Both looked pretty good but not, unsurprisingly, as good as good old 35mm film!
Michael Slowe
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Sofi, I have just read this thread and I wish I’d seen it sooner.
I have been through all the problems that you have and I now get wonderful SD DVD’s from my full HD footage and I do this:
Export the HD timeline (in Media 100) by reference to a QT .Mov file.
I then use BitVice to downscale the media and encode to M2V. The key is in the quality of the downscale, I think BitVice is the best of all of them and their encode is also top quality. They do this in two passes at a VBR which, for a short film, I set an average of 6.5.
I use Compressor only for converting the AIFF audio to Dolby ac3, then Studio Pro to format and mux the M2V and ac3 and finally Titanium Toast to burn the disc.It’s a lengthy process (the downscale and encode takes 5 X the running time of the production) but the result is well worth it. I never have any play problems on any machine and nor does anyone playing my discs. I have seen my DVD’s projected in cinemas on a huge screen and the picture (upscaled through a Blu-Ray player)and it looked great.
It’s worth taking the trouble, I don’t have any connection with BitVice but I suggest you visit their site, the company is Innobits and is based in Sweden.
Michael Slowe