[Craig Alan]

Well the price seems to be falling for digital cinema quality cams. Hard for me to judge without looking at side by side comparisons with the same scene and light and comparable grading for each camera’s footage.
Your Canon footage link does seem to have vibrant colors. But again without a side by side its hard to tell. I have ordered an URSA and accessories to help use both it and the 5D mark III for video: follow focus, door dolly, and a couple of canon lenses. 50mm cinema prime and a couple of L series photo zooms that can be used with either cam. When i was researching this choice I would have loved to get the Canon EOS C500 4K Cinema Camera (EF Lens Mount). But it was out of my range and I thought the ursa was a great package for cinema style shots. I am shooting mostly in a studio with lots of lights. I certainly considered the c100. I liked the fact that black magic seems to be interested in upgrading their cameras with both firmware and replaceable parts. Again I see the lenses as a longer term investment. The fact that the ursa has an ef mount made me comfortable with the ursa even if it gets replaced in a couple of years down the line.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

The 70d was a huge step forward if you are using dslr for movies. It allows a camcorder type focus system. But no dslr can compare with a camcorder for movie making ergonomics. Prosumer level is really still about 5-6000$. And there is the tripod the bag the mikes the editing system and lighting.

For a canon consumer cam go with the hfg30. 1200 at bhphoto and gives you. A 20x zoom and a sensor borrowed from prosumer line. Still no Xlr or SDI in and out. The advantage if 70d is lenses u buy will work for other cams as you upgrade. Ef mount. Though a good still lens will cost $2000 and up and the cinema lenses will cost way more.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

If it’s not a done deal Check out the black magic ursa. The ef model uses canon lenses. Not sure why you got rid of your 5d lenses. They work on any ef mount cam and for that matter the 5d is a great still cam that comes in handy for lots of shoots. But money is money. If you really want cinema look not only do you need to set profiles in cam but you’ll need to learn how to grade particularly if you are shooting raw.

All that said the ursa is 16 pounds and may not be the best choice for run and gun. I think canon if they haven’t already will. Answer the competition with their next update of the c line of cams. Hold on to your lenses. That’s what will travel from cam to cam.

Another point about the look of footage often overlooked is lighting. I really think most of the look is how you light your subject. Trying to compare run and gun shots to movies with high end cameras and a full pro crew is just not reasonable no matter how good the new sensors. Speaking of which the ursa was designed with a sensor that can be updated. Of course who knows what that will mean by the time a new sensor comes out. Worth the cost? But it’s an interesting feature. Much of the weight btw is it comes with features that are normally additional gear: three monitors including a broadcast monitor that is quite good fir framing and even color. It also comes with a copy of resolve thus your grading color correction software.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

What if you played the clip from the camera with interlace settings and recorded it in progressive with a video recorder?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

John what is the advantage of compressor over handbreak? I’ve had good luck with handbreak when I’ve needed to compress a project. Looks really good for the amount of compression.

.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I used the Canon HV 30/40s for a few years for the cheaper cams in our arsenal. Became a pain when our macs would balk at the firewire in – not seeing the canon at all. Tried one of the new HF Vixia-s and was not a happy camper. I would combine those resources and update your entire workflow. I would consider cameras that use a better codec.

Rather than buying a lot of cheaper cams I would pool that money and buy better ones. Have your students work in teams and take turns as camera operators. Do your really need that many total cams? Are they loaners? The prosumer cams are more robust and the beginner classes would feed the more advanced classes with students gaining experience with the same tool set. Card based cams have less parts that break than tape based. Those little consumer cams will break. And they just don’t work as well in this day and age as the HVs did back then.

Adobe says they are supporting CS6 on the current releases of Windows and Mac OS, but do not have plans to support it on the next releases coming out from Microsoft and Apple… In other words, within less than a year it’s likely that CS6 will not be supported to run on newer operating systems.

I would go with either CC or FCP X not hang on to legacy software from either company. Money being tight I’d go for FCP X which by the way is an easier program for the beginners and will grow with the advanced students.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

CCC is third party cloning software that does cost money. It’s worth it. If you keep a CCC clone updated on a regular basis you will never need panic or take much time to get back up and running after your computer or hard drive or OS dies, The recovery partition is a small additional piece of that equation. The recovery comes with any new mac and you may or may not have the need for it but its small and in certain circumstances might come in handy.

CCC is also great to have for backing up folders and media that you want protected that might not be on your system drive. In short it will clone any part of any drive to any other part or whole of any drive.

Very easy to use.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Apple’s reputation for an interface that was functionally better for creative applications was rooted on the one hand by a more graphic (user friendly) design and on the other by allowing users to do things the way they wanted and leaving many decisions up to the end user. This did not mean that days didn’t go by in which an apple user spent way too much time getting the damn thing to work vs getting work done. But often as a result you’d learn even more how to control your computing environment.

Because of the quick Progression of updates and the direction it has taken, it’s harder to keep up. And apple’s approach is both more evolved and less open, less facilitative and more a benevolent schoolmarm. Unless you tell me not to, the spelling suggestion will be used in place of the one you typed. Do you want to update now or tomorrow. How about bug off till I’m ready. Of course there are workarounds if you’ve kept up with the latest version of the os update. Windows used to piss me off when without asking the PC would reboot in 30 seconds to do an update and I didn’t get a veto option. Much worse.

On the one hand, I like to know when a text or email comes through, but I find myself constantly interrupted by them. Yes I can turn off the feature but I don’t want that as much as control over it.

Finding my open Windows in safari is way harder not easier. Thank you for allowing command-tab to still do it’s magic with apps even though this does not work the same in IOS.

Fcp x needs to allow custom layouts mapped to shortcuts. Easily. Not harder than Fcp 7.

On the other hand, it just works a whole lot smoother than it used to. And since my layout looks like everyone else’s , finding help is a whole lot easier. Yes, mam.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I agree. I found the edits upstaged the subject(s). Did not seem natural or seamless to my eyes. Particularly when it had the look of fast pans.

Once you back up the lens to take in a vast stage, things appear slower not faster. Yes the timelapse is any interesting magic trick that reveals the flow and patterns of say seasonal changes or traffic or construction, but what was interesting here was individual and small groups of very photogenic people. The theme seemed to be about their soul and depth. The voice had a beautiful tone and a cadence that begged for detail that the quick cuts did not allow.

Even in the beat where it suddenly slowed to take a breath, it quickly got cut up.

I watched it twice after quitting on my first attempt. Yes, read the article. Very interesting and many of the complementary design elements he used to sequence adjacent shots would play differently at a slower pace. That said, his is only somewhat faster than what seems the norm.

I think it might play better on a big screen where you can just give into it and allow yourself to be hypnotized for the few minutes it takes. I find that hard to do on small screens.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

A clean install is never a bad idea but is more work. It gets rid of a lot of clutter. If you are experiencing any sluggish or weird behavior, good time to clean things up. If not, clone, and give it a shot. Reinstalling from app store is really easy. Everything else still on clone. Library stuff in mail and safari work from mav to yosemite no problem. Third party stuff may get broken. I had to reinstall driver for external monitor and it was a bit of a pain going through black magic site. (slightly legacy card). FC worked better after the install. I do miss the old safari where I could command~ my way through all open windows. Other than that Yosemite seems more stable.

Either way make a screen grab of all your apps and drivers plug ins and the like and check out each one for compatibility/updates.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.