[Bob Cole]

Thanks very much. How did you learn about the zoom-out vignetting problem? I haven’t seen that anywhere, but it is a major issue, as you point out.

[Bob Cole]

[Ty Ford] “Over 30 days when Iona told me she’d “take care of it right away!!!””

I’ll bet that Iona SUBMITTED the invoice “right away” and the clock for payment (within the bureaucracy) only started then. You may be pleasantly surprised.

[Bob Cole]

Good for you, Ty, for pursuing this. It is taking more of your time than it’s probably worth, but if you didn’t go after them, they would “win.” And they shouldn’t. It is extremely disrespectful to hire someone and then not pay them promptly. I feel your indignation.

Meanwhile, I’m curious what most of you consider “overdue.” It seems that slow payments have become more common.

[Bob Cole]

[Scott Sheriff] “This business is transitioning from an art or craft, to nothing more than an ordinary job, to something as common as shooting your own stills.”

While I disgree, there is a trend on the web toward low production values – which seems to be equal parts cheapness and style. Just today I saw a rather ugly web video produced by a very sophisticated company.

To announce its new “5.5” release of Creative Suite, Adobe released a number of videos. Most were very simple, but well-shot, with an alpha channel motion graphic background. But the most prominent video had zero “production value.” Man behind desk, very toppy lighting, humongous lavalier clipped prominently to the shirt.

This is Adobe, folks. They know what they’re doing. I suppose the thought was, “This will be CREDIBLE” if it looks really straightforward. After all, the speaker probably was using a teleprompter, and Adobe probably has all sorts of video professionals, right?

[Bob Cole]

[Noah Kadner] ” Try exporting an HD timeline to SD 16:9 ProRes first.”

Noah, I’d be curious as to what you think about Chapman’s advice regarding the FCP Flicker filter, and 4-pixel blurring, during this HD-SD downconversion prior to MPEG encoding.

Does the advice here about DVD creation also apply to creating much smaller files (e.g. 320×180) for the web?

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Craig Seeman] “My own thought is that good encoding software will take this into account when coming from HD source to SD DVD (MPEG2) encoding.”

good encoding software, such as…?

That is very appealing, especially compared to the various steps in Craig’s post summarizing Alister Chapman’s advice.

I already have several choices for encoding software (Compressor, Digital Rapids, ProCoder). Does any current software, including BitVice, have a significant edge in the category of HD-to-(SD)DVD encoding?

I’ve definitely seen the problem of creating DVDs from HD sources. Very frustrating. Thanks.

Bob C.

[Bob Cole]

[Todd Terry] “watch most any film from the 1970s and they’re full of zooms.”

Very true! There are some fine films from that era, but when the lens zooms they really lose the mood. (I think “Laugh-In” used zooms for comic effect.)

The chief offense of the zoom is that it tells the viewer what is important. My first Angenieux 12-120 zoom was the devil’s toy. I have sinned in this regard quite a lot, but I’m trying to improve. I still like a slight “push” during a shot occasionally, to underline a moment.

But one of my favorite documentary moments of all time was in “The Farmer’s Wife.” Husband and wife are having a tough time economically, and maritally. They sit in facing kitchen chairs, in a two-shot. They argue. The husband is so angry that he stands up and leaves the frame. And the cameraman intuitively does just the right thing. Where many documentary shooters would zoom in on the wife’s tear-streaked face… this shooter did… nothing. He kept rolling on the two-shot, showing the wife in her chair, facing the now-empty chair across from her. Wow.

What to tell the boss? Zooms can be great, but nowadays, they’re a bit out-of-fashion, unless they really help tell the story.

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

This definitely looks like a try-before-you-buy investment.

I don’t think it would work very well, for one reason: the cameraperson/interviewer has to be almost superhuman to keep the interviewee focussed on him or her. With the “interrotron,” any discordance in the relationship between interviewer and interviewee is much more obvious. It is much more disconcerting to see someone look away, when their main eyeline is to camera. When someone is already looking off-camera, that break isn’t nearly as obvious or dramatic.

[Bob Cole]

[Dennis Size] “A dozen Source 4 Junior zooms”

Please say why you’d go Source 4 Jr. Is it for their focus, the internal blades and patterns, the quality of the light, or some other factor? Would you have light controls in front of the lens as well, and if so, what/why?

I was going to recommend a distantly-hung China Ball to establish a very low base, along with fresnels.

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Andrew Rendell] “Air conditioning – it is very important that the room has good fresh air circulation as well as temperature control.”

Great point. It is easy to overlook this, but there will be days when a lot of people are in the room, and they can actually use up the breathable air.

If you lack good lighting, have a lousy chair, etc. — you can still edit. Lack of oxygen — no editing!

Bob C