[Craig Alan]

Thanks.

Any pros and cons for any of these?

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Open system preferences and click the flip4mac icon and make sure the correct boxes are checked in each tab.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I use both. If you were comfortable on the Sony with manual focus, push focus, aperture, a little gain maybe, and audio levels, then I’d say the xl2 controls are more intuitive not less (most of the common controls have their own button or knob and labeled clearly) — but I would read through the manual before the shoot and try them all out. With the Canon you can choose an aspect ratio. Once you learn the Sony, it’s easy to remember; but as you know, it’s a sequence of button and dial and push-in dial as button. The Canon has a more analog feel to it. I would not try to shoot a wedding hand held with either. Get a good tripod with a quick release plate. The Sony will be better balanced on low-end tripods. Get a spider brace shoulder support for $80 or so. Works great on the canon, pretty good on the Sony. Or try out the rental ones. The optics are better on the xl2 with a more powerful zoom. However, the Sony is a champ at available/low light—often the case when doing events. The canon will shoot 16×9 native and you can choose a cinema look if the bride is into that romantic feel, though you can also play with this in post. But do you have enough light? The down side to the canon is it can have head alignment/head clogging problems and not play well with VCRs in post. Try the rental out before the big day. And you might have to use the canon itself as the capture deck, extra day rental? Also the LCD on the Sony is way better than the mini TV you get when you flip up the viewfinder on the canon. That said the LCD blocks your view of the aperture wheel and push focus control on the Sony. Through the viewfinder, both are ok at focusing though I would not judge aperture that way. Shoot some test footage using the zebras or auto adjust and play it back on a decent monitor. Record using different settings, which you note by reading them out loud and then you’ll have a good starting place. By far, the biggest challenge to shooting an event, particularly solo, is sound. How will you mike the event?

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Drag every app you can off it. this should leave the finder and trash. Choose dock preferences and make it as small as possible. turn magnification off. turn hiding on. put it on the right. Even if you accidentally turn it on, it will barely get in the way. I think it would be nice to have it stay hidden until you call it up with a keyboard command. I’m still on tiger so I hope all this still applies.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I use

Westcott Westcott Masterpiece Washable Muslin Background – 10×24′ – Pearl hanging from a drop-ceiling grid.

It is grey/beige tone and has worked out very well.

It too changes color very easily both during production and in post. It’s natural color is very pleasing. I find it easy to light.

That said, the same b.g. gets boring.

I like using a black b.g. as well.

Try to get the talent away from the b.g. to avoid distracting shadows falling on the background and softer focus on the b.g.

The loop in the cloth is designed to hang vertically from a pole, but I ignore that and use tarp clamps and drop ceiling hangers to hang it, using 24’ as the width.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

First, turn off “show warning to empty trash” in finder preferences (command-comma or in the Finder menu).

Then command-delete>command-shift-delete is two quick taps. your hands remain in the same place.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks for F2 and ESC hints. Mousing in a save dialog window to the cancel button (and then mousing back to my place in the source window) has always been a pain. Control F2 is a great way to browse all the menu items in any app when you have forgotten or don

[Craig Alan]

you might try a search for a third party print driver. try something like “gimp print driver os x 10.5.” Can’t understand why HP/Apple didn’t work this out during the beta stages.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Is this for a printer? HP has been very good with updates historically.

OSX 10.4.11; Quicksilver Dual 1 gig; G5 dual 2.5 gig; FCP 4.5, 3.0.4; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

17/18) good points!!!

19) try finder preferences under finder menu.