Al Bergstein
Forum Replies Created
-
Thanks for clarifying. Right, if all you want is speed, then RAID 0 is a logical choice. And enterprise drives are the right choice for that.
I did err in my blathering when I said a parity disk, obviously the Parity is spread across all drives in the array.
I use RAID 1 so I won’t have to backup as frequently. I store the original footage I offload onto a RAID 1 array, and burn the same data to Blu Ray so I can take it offsite to my storage box at my bank. I do this because there were some high profile thefts by Meth heads in Seattle last year where they stole the equipment of graphic artists. Emptied the entire office at one theft. I decided to protect against that by taking everything offsite as much as possible, until cloud services are faster. I then buy a second 1 TB drive and store all changed data on that as local backup in the event of a catastrophic RAID failure, which *shouldn’t* happen, but… I don’t store anything but OS and Program files on my C drive, and so if I lose that I simply reload the unchanging bits. I’ve even thought of loading the Vegas program on it’s own drive, but not sure that would help. Do you know?
I don’t use RAID 0 because I think, maybe erroneously, that drives are fast enough now that I don’t need the hassle for the slightly faster throughput? Maybe I should do some real analysis of this…I assume you are actually seeing dramatically better improvements in speed, from your post.
Alf
-
As to the Perfmon (Resource) counters Norman, one thing to think about is that it seems you are running C drive with your OS, your App and apparently your data too? That is a recipe for a slow playback, since your OS is in contention for your drive when your playback is trying to use the drive too. You need to move the data to an external drive. (If I missed something earlier on in the thread, I apologize).
On a multicore machine, you should see the multiple cores in use, and remember that Windows is a multithreaded OS and as such, it does it’s own prioritization of the processing being done. Certain OS level events will always take precedence. You should see Windows taking advantage of all the cores you have as Vegas should be written to let Windows manage that task, but it won’t necessarily be spread evenly across all cores. I have seen my cores act at different amounts during rendering and playback. Hard to be definitive, I think. Memory should not be showing Hard Faults. The blue line you ask about is Maximum frequency I believe, which is showing how much of the GHz of the clock you are using. Nothing to worry about. It should be higher than the CPU utilization, I do believe.
There is a lot to Resource Monitor. You should go to the Microsoft Technet Site and see about finding an article on it.
Alf
-
John, why are you running Raid 0? Raid 0 is not mirrored, meaning that you are getting performance, and extended size, but no redundancy…a single failure will take down your RAID entirely.
It would seem like you should be running Raid 1 at a minimum, which at least is creating a mirrored set. That way if one disk goes down, you carry on with the good one. You lose performance, but gain backup automatically.
RAID 5, as I understand it, creates a parity disk. You need 3 disks minimum to implement RAID 5. Correct? Failure of one drive does not require immediate replacement of the defective drive.
Am I missing something in my understanding of this?
Alf
-
Yes, that’s the one. Looks like it dropped a little in price since January. I agree with some of the reviews that you should have a rain cover on it if you are going out in driving rain. A black heavy garbage bag works just fine and is light weight. I don’t agree with the problems the 6′ guy was having. I’m 5’10 and I haven’t had that problem. Perhaps his bag was defective???
Dividers are fine for my needs, and I hold spare batteries, lavs etc. in there. Could it be bigger still? Yes, but really how much do you want to backpack? This holds everything but the field mixer. It will even hold a laptop on the front zipper pouch. The pack holds the 150 in the center divider, and the accessories on either side.
As to the shooting, no, it was done with the AT shotgun, not the onboard mics.
If you are interested in the pack, contact me offlist at abergstein@hotmail.com.
Alf
-
The case is a Petrol Paboose Back Pack Small. I paid $200 for it. It is apparently used for rentals in LA, and could be carried into the back country if needed. It’s great, if that’s what you need. I don’t.
Also, the built in shotgun mic is *ok* but a true shotgun is better. I did record some “live” sound off the AT shotgun, and you can hear and see the results of handholding the DVMultirig and the 150 at the following link (or below). This was done as promotion for a major bluegrass event out here. This will be used for next year,primarily. It was my first experience shooting with both the 150 and the Multirig. It could be more solid, but it was ok for what it was. You get tired after shooting with it for 10 hours! All sound off the shotgun using room mix from the room sound system. A field mixer would have helped, but it came out acceptable!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXa7et-VoL0
Alf
Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Google Youtube” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
-
Hi. Here’s some of my kit accessories
Batteries: Yes I use Panasonic also. I beleive someone has just recently brought out some alternatives. But I’ve already bought mine.
Bag: I have found that after a bunch of trial and error I end up using a Tamrac 979 that fits the camera. If you decide you want to go with a backpack, I have one I’ve never liked. So it’s new and I’d sell it for 1/2 price, probably about $125. Let me know if you are interested.
If you need a hard shell case, I can’t help there.
Controls/Handholding: I bought a DV Multirig, and I like it alot. It’s very portable when folded, and it allows you to handhold very well. I also added a Varizoom, which allows me to mount a zoom control on my Multirig. A must have I would say, to keep your hands away from the zoom ring. I think this is the most important access. I’ve bought. There is also a more expensive one that allows you to also adjust exposure, but I stay away from more than one button for live shooting. I always seem to choose the wrong button (G).
Tiffen 72mm lens access. including ND, Polarizing, etc.
Mics: I went with the Audiotronics Lav and stereo reciever. While I fought a defective unit that was fixed easily, it allows me to mount two lavs in a shoot. The fix was done with no questions asked and returned within a few days. Very good customer service.
EV RE50/B Omni Dynamic mic: For interviews in the field with no need for phantom or battery power. The standard for news gathering for a decade.
Oktava MK012 – A nice versatile tool for any kind of field mic need. Three heads gets you any kind of field of coverage. Requires Phantom, which can come from the HMC150 or the MixPre.
OPTIONAL but VERY USEFUL: MixPre field mixer. This has made a HUGE difference in my field recording. If you have a sound person traveling with you that’s great too. YOu can add a Gitzo boom which can work just fine and telescopes out of the way for transport.
Lights: After using cool lights I’m back to hot lights. Lowells do a much better job of lighting humans in an interview. Don’t waste your money on cool lights, other than those on camera.Digital Multitester! – I use so many batteries for all the accessories, etc. that I’ve found that a digital multitester is essential to getting maximum battery life from AA and AAAs. Anything less than 1.30 v is pretty much useless. $20 buys you one.
Ikan 6″ atriculation arm for getting accessories like a small screen away from the camera. $79 or so.
I use a AT 897 shotgun but I hear the RODEs are very good too. I have no complaints with the AT 897.
Tripod: I use a Bogen 535 w/a 503v head. It’s somewhat heavy, but I deal with a lot of strong winds in the Pacific NW. It seems indestructable, and was less than $750.00, which I consider a bargain, since I’ve seen many recommended over $1500.
OPTIONAL: SmallHD or similar 8″ monitor. The exposure in the viewfinder is not accurate (it underexposes). This will help you see what you have and give you an accurate exposure and color balance. I don’t use it much, maybe 25% of the time, if that. But when I need it, it’s essential.
Headphones: I too use the Sony’s MDR7506’s. I wouldn’t waste my money on anything else. Folds up, gives excellent response.
HARD DRIVE STORAGE: if this is your first foray into HD, you will need more storage. I think NASA has lots of storage, but if you can’t access it, you will have to buy more! Believe me!
I’ve really liked my 150 and shot a lot with it since December. I still think that it is the right choice in that price range. If I had more money I might have gone with the Sony PMW-EX3 at about $9k, but hey, I bought all those access. for the difference!
Alf
-
Sorry, back again. I just created a DVD tonight for a friend. Created a standard def DVD on my HP desktop machine using DVDA. Nothing special. Used MainConcept MPG2 and created a WAV file for the soundtrack (it was a live concert recorded in HD on a HMC150). Burned fine on the HP, played fine on both the HP and my MacBook Pro. No issues. Played on the MBPro DVD player just like any old commercial DVD. I don’t believe I have ever installed anything special on the MBPro to play a Windows based DVD. I’ve played hundreds of DVDs on this machine. Not sure what to tell you. Did your client get back to you with any clues? I’m curious because for my current other project, I’m going to be burning a lot of DVDs in standard def. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Alf
-
You didn’t say if this DVD was HD, SD, AVCHD or Blu Ray or not (Or I missed it). I have two Macs and two Windows 7 boxes. Commercial DVDs work fine in all four. So there’s something in what you burned that is not set to play properly on the Macs. If it was a BluRay disk, Macs don’t have Blu-Ray play capability, as Jobs won’t license Blu-Ray from Sony. So you can burn a Blu-Ray on a Mac, but can’t play it (sigh). I routinely burn them on my mac and watch them on my Windows machines, as sometimes it’s essential to be using FCP. However, burning standard DVDs with Windows/Vegas/DVDA is not a problem. Hope this helps!
Alf
-
I have rails and a matte w/french flags for my 150. There is follow focus if you want to spend the $$. I haven’t yet. I just haven’t needed it. I’d probably spend it for my T2i first though. It needs it (G). A depressing lack of ability to do follow focus on the DSLRs. I can easily make do with my 150 without the extra cost.
Tom is right, I’d say, in that there are techniques that aide the ‘film’ look, rather than just equipment. Find the best of both worlds and you will achieve your ‘look’. But it might be better to just upscale your costs and get something that does it *out of the box*.
Not long ago, I looked at Noah Radner’s independent video production of Formosa, shot with the Panasonic SDX-900. I asked Noah offline if he would use that camera again if he shot it today, as the production looks very ‘filmic’. He said he would probably shoot it on a Canon 5 if he did it again. That about says it all to me.
You might be interested in reviewing his article
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/kadner_noah/formosa.php
given your interest in it. Maybe he will weigh in.As to your question about Magic Bullets etc. that’s an issue that just depends on your editing suite. For example, MB doesn’t fully support Vegas for all it’s effects. You would be better off using After Affects if you wanted some of their ‘looks’.
Alf
-
I am going to jump in but preface my comment by saying I’ve not shot with the DVX-100, but do have the HMC-150 and a Canon T2i. I would say that the film look of DOF of the Canon has made me carry it far more lately than the 150, which is a great camera. They are two very different tools, but depending on what you mean when you say to shoot a ‘feature’ I would say that I would seriously consider the Canon for shoots that don’t require long takes, and hassle with the voice syncing using a high quality field recorder with mixer (I use the Mixpre and Zoom, but if I was doing a real feature, I’d be using something better).
That being said, the 150 gives superb results, but you need to work around the DOF issues, like getting the background further away, using telephoto more, etc. I’m still struggling with the razor sharp edge of HD and find that the Canon, while having the ability to give me crisp HD, also can defocus without turning into the mush I’ve seen with the 5.
I really dislike the lack of XLR in on the Canon, and the general ergonomics of it stink compared to my 150, but the trade off for DOF is worth it. And it’s pretty cheap! It’s making me rethink a lot of my shooting with the 150, which should make me a better shooter in the end.
Alf