[Al Bergstein]

Thanks for the kind words. I do agree that I got pretty close on the color balance across all the cameras. There are minor issues I would like to have changed, but overall I agree that for all practical purposes it was fine. I was trying hard to prove that with a bit of advance planning, and a couple of good shooters, it is possible to balance out three different camera formats. I think the trick is controlling your light source carefully.

I still like the xf305 the best, as it gives an incredible subtle range of tones, whereas the 7D and GH2 tend to be contrastier, and the 7D can shift a bit to the reds. It’s pretty hard to tone down the contrasty nature of the GH2 to match the xf305.

Anyway, Mark has been a great client, we started from some pretty simple ideas he had a year or so ago, and I’ve gently made suggestions to improve things. Moving to hiring a stage to shoot in was a huge leap of quality, and we found some good inexpensive stages. Next was to bring in a real sound engineer to help with managing the sound, and finally hiring on a few extra hands for B cameras. I’ve shot some multicam work alone, but it’s very stressful. I do often shoot for some clients by mounting a small camera in the back of the venue, then a left or right B camera and start the A camera running and move to the hand helds on the side for variety. It requires thinking your end product in advance. Understanding where you will cut and just letting the cameras run.

By the way, we recorded this on very expensive mics, onto a mixer that fed a Tascam HD-P2. I got the best complement from our sound engineer, who told me that he didn’t think he could record cleaner or better sound on his studio gear, so he wanted to just go with it. He’s enormously picky, so I was happy he felt that way. I do like that gear, though it is seeming a bit dated given the choices in the market today.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Thanks. Actually putting the L in the first time seems to have kept it from being seen. I took the L out the second time. Go figure.

We shot the “A” camera (straight on) with a Canon XF305. The B cams were a GH2 and Canon 7D

It didn’t match totally, but by white balancing going in, we got pretty close, and used Vegas to get us the rest of the way.

It’s not perfect but good enough for the budget we had and the results we needed. The client is very pleased with the outcome.

Also on Youtube in higher res. The podcast web site was rendered in Ipod since Amazon, the hosting site, seemed to have problems with our high res versions. Not sure why.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

I don’t know why the COW is not allowing it. Try typing it in your browser. the link is working on my system.

https://www.markpearsonmusic.com/

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Jorge, what is the configuration of the machine you are running CS5 on? How much memory, etc. Has it ever played any footage back smoothly? It would be helpful to us to make sure that there isn’t some fundamental problem with the way you are using the product, rather than assume that the footage is the issue. As mentioned above, also knowing how the footage is being stored could lead to a solution.

There is a place in your profile with the COW to put in your standard gear, so we can view it before replying . I looked there but didn’t find any info. Might be a good time to fill it out.

Thanks and good luck!

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

I think you ought to work on your script before worrying about your cameras. Your knowledge of cameras and the current technology needs serious research. You seem to be getting the cart before the horse. Good luck to you.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

If you are just looking for a cheap match to your handycam (you didn’t specify what model you are currently using or whether it’s HDV, HD or what), any of the low end models like your old one are likely to match up ‘good enough’. If it’s for Youtube, and you don’t have a lot of experience in getting highest quality, or don’t care to, then you will likely be fine if you light everything the same and simply have three of the same manufacturers cameras from the same price range. Your wildcard is if your old camera is HDV or even SD. Then any new cameras, even cheap ones, are likely to be noticeably better picture. But you can do some things in post to soften them up (G).

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Steve,I guess we are describing two different ways of approaching the same problem. I have routinely shot long concerts with the xf305/100 and can easily drag and drop multiple clips onto the timeline and stitch them together with Vegas without even thinking about it. It doesn’t slow down my workflow, and I actually never even thought that I should look to stitch together the clips in some intermediate way. I suppose that would make some sense, though it really doesn’t seem to slow me down to do it my way. It seems it would create larger files that could take even longer to prep. I don’t know, I suppose it’s just the way each of us approach the workflow.

I don’t miss it, and I guess I might find it useful if I had it. But until just now, I didn’t even know I might want it (G).

Probably another way to solve this could even be to drop the two/three clips onto the timeline and then render them out as a separate clip. That would take about as long as running some intermediate program to do the job, yes? And I could easily rename the clip anything I want. I’ve never been a fan of filenames that are simply date form. That’s why we have long file names. To be able to use something more meaningful.

Not trying to be sarcastic, but am I just not understanding something about how effective the PMB workflow actually is?

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Right. You don’t end up with one continuous clip on the timeline, but Sony stitches it all together seamlessly. I’ve not experienced any problems with this. Has anyone else? I’ve shot a number of performances with the camera using this stitching. I don’t know any other camera that shoots nonstop for endless amounts of time without the stitching effect. I suppose a Nanoflash will do it, but they rely on file formats too, which are the limiting factor. What is the JVC MOV file size limitation?

Maybe I can put together a small clip of such a transition for you later today, if the wind storms here in Puget Sound don’t take out my power! We’re expecting a really bad blow starting in an hour or so. Going to grab my camera and head for the lighthouse, which is always an interesting place to be when the winds are blowing 60MPH or better. 6 to 10 foot seas expected.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

yes it does. I use a xf305 but the formats are the same I do believe. Just the same camera with less features.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Mike, glad to hear it. Have you also validated this bug with Neoscene? I was over on their web site, especially their tech log (August 24: Ver 5.5.4 Build 332 is their current build) and they did not mention it yet. They have been a pretty good company in the past, as I’ve found, very responsive to problems. I would make sure you get this into their bug reports.

Not sure what the GOPRO acquisition of Neoscene has meant to their teams there. It’s a bit disconcerting to see that most of their tech updates seem to have ended back around April, when the buyout happened. Their RSS tech feed has been silent since then.

But let us know if you report the bug and what they say.

Al

Alf