Clint Fleckenstein
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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That’s a fantastic question – I was considering trying that this weekend. I’ve been out with my Canon still camera lately, tracking the ISS as it flies overhead. If I get a chance to try it, I’ll post some results.
Cf
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I had a few minutes so I removed the EX-3 viewfinder and held it up to an EX-1. I got the impression that you didn’t have one of these to play with, so I figured I’d give it a try and show my results. It didn’t work very well, but was better upside-down than it was the way it’s oriented on the EX-3.
First hurdle: The base of the EX-3 viewfinder piece isn’t flat. It doesn’t match the face of the EX-1 LCD in that regard. Unless the gaps are taped shut, it’ll let outside light in.
One other source of interference is the tab for the shoulder strap (does anyone actually use those?) – it protrudes to a point where it would hit the EX-3 hood unless you offsest it to the left a bit.Conclusion: It’s not a matter of simply holding the viewfinder to the LCD. Yeah, with enough gaffer’s tape you might make it work. It’s got its issues, but it is possible. Even if it’s ugly, if it makes the viewfinder work in a situation where it’d be otherwise unusable, then go for it. I didn’t investigate whether I thought the LCD support was up to the task of supporting the weight of the viewfinder (and whatever means of attachment one would use) – that’s another factor that I’d suggest investigating.
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Why not one of each? That’s what we did 🙂
All joking aside, the EX-3 viewfinder is fantastic for outdoor shooting (and it doesn’t attach to the EX-1 screen without a lot of tape). The connectors for video out are durable BNC connectors, no silly little “AV” cord like the EX-1 (something you would expect on a $500 consumer camcorder). The adjustments for the viewfinder LCD and the over/undercrank are readily available knobs, not just menu items.
The removable lens has not been a factor for us; in fact, for wide angle stuff, we use the same bayonet-mount Sony WA converter that we use for the EX-1. We don’t find ourselves needing extreme telephoto.
The EX-1 works with our Steadicam Merlin vest rig. The EX-3 would not.
They each have their strong points, although I’d have to say the EX-1’s is simply its size.
Cf
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Yeah, in FCP you can highlight your clip in the timeline and hit option-L to tell it you’ve got a Stereo Pair (also in the Modify menu on the top bar).
Cf
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When we’ve sent our Canon XL series cameras in for factory service, they’ve always advised removing anything that’s removable (aside from the lens cap) and they’ve provided a note of everything that was attached to the camera upon arrival to our work order.
Since the EX1 lens is not removable, I’m guessing it’s okay to leave it attached 😉 It would be interesting to see what they would do if someone sent them an EX1 with the lens pried off…any volunteers?
Cf
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“So I just copied the clips from the SxS cards on to the HD.”
This presents the million dollar question: Did you copy the BPAV folders to your hard drive, just the MP4 files, or did you try to combine everything? If you did anything but the first one, you just made a terrible mess of things. This piece of information is necessary to help you out.
“I didn’t use XDCAM EX Clip Browser, since I just got it and didn’t know how to use it when I imported all my footage.”
Big mistake. I’m not going to get all snooty and berate you for it, but you really should have learned the workflow beforehand. This tapeless stuff is very particular about workflow. If you didn’t use Clip Browser, and can’t organize your clips, I doubt that you’ve successfully “imported all my footage.”
I’m a nerd, and have been a taskmaster around here as far as the XDCAM workflow goes, so I don’t have any experience to draw upon as far as rescuing a pile of orphan clips. In any case, we need to know just what exactly you have on your hard drive waiting for import: Do you have BPAV folders for each card? Do you have the various subfolders? Do you simply have the MP4 files? That’s going to have to be the starting point.
Cf
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Which version of Final Cut Pro do you have? I think those codecs shipped with Final Cut Studio 2. Some of the components may install with the Clip Browser or XDCAM Transfer applications. There’s a Final Cut Pro “Log & Transfer” plugin to download from Sony as well. Then there’s the FAM driver for Mac. You need to make sure all of these things are installed.
I’ve run into that similar issue and used a program called Pacifist to pull the components I need from my Final Cut Studio install discs and install them again. That’s a pretty complicated and lengthy process, but first we need to make sure you’re running a current enough Final Cut Pro version and have installed all the necessary Sony components.
My guess is all the codec-related stuff is a Final Cut install, the FAM driver and stuff like that is part of the Sony packages. Click here for the XDCAM EX Downloads are of the Sony site.
Cf
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Step one: open New Explorer Window. You should find it under the File menu if I remember properly Please don’t take my brevity as a wiseguy answer, once you get that new window open you’ll be ready to rock I’m sure.
Cf
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For me it starts with three little letters: HDV. Bleah.
After that, it’s the tape dropouts. I will never go back to tape, especially those silly little DV/HDV cassettes. Nothing but nightmares. When the tape manufacturers changed their DV tape formulation for HDV (tighter particles but also different dry lubricants) we found our DV/DVCAM stuff clogging up constantly.
Cf
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Yes, I do mean optical disc – at this point, DVD. In the future, XDCAM disc. For us, archiving the MOVs is a quick time-saving maneuver in case the project timeline needs to be resurrected; sure, we could go back to the BPAV folder and re-wrap again, but archiving the MOVs actually used for the project means I can restore a project to editable status in very short order.
This mindset has worked well for us repeatedly in cases where a client wants to refresh their project even years later. Against the urging of some I’ve kept our old Canopus systems in mothballs and, as recently as last month, was able to do a re-edit of projects we never expected to come back. Diligent archiving has allowed us to restore projects quickly, make the changes, and kick out the new video cheaply. Often clients don’t have the money for a new video, so the ability to sell them a quick re-edit means the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. It may also mean a serious head start if you do get tasked with a major overhaul or new video.
Again, one thing I don’t think we stress around here enough is that everybody’s workflow is going to be different; sure, there are basic “doctrinal” things that we can set in stone such as the use of Clip Browser for CRC transfer and folder management. For more specific archiving details, that’s just going to take some homework and forethought by each facility. We do a good job of trying to discourage people from thinking that they’ll never have to go back to a project or edit in a system other than what they’ve got now… but each person needs to figure out what they need to plan for the unexpected.
Cf