[Dan Brockett]

Some questions?

1. What frame rate, raster size were you shooting?

2. Do you have EVF detail engaged?

3. Did you use the Focus Assist at all?

Auto focus at any 24P frame rate is so slow as to be almost useless. Auto focus under poor lighting is useless anyway. Always use manual focus and the focus assist and you should have sharp, in-focus images. The HVX LCD is not the best way to judge focus, espcially in poor lighting situations, an on board hi resolution HD monitor is better. They cost around $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 for a good one.

I only use autofocus as a last resort when I just can’t track a moving subject in bright light. On interiors, I use the LCD with detail on and the focus assist and I have become pretty good, I rarely have out of focus shots anymore, but it has been tough to learn as the HVX LCD is so low resolution, I kind of “feel” when something is in focus as much as I see it is in focus.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Tim:

That is strange. I have not heard of any random artifacts with the 170 before this. Do you have the SDI EDH turned on or off? I would try it with the EDH on and see if that improves it. Also make sure that you are using healthy SDI cables with no shorts or loose connections in them.

No, the whole reason the HPX has SDI is for doing what you are trying to do, I would not use the analog component, SDI is cleaner (unless you are on a time schedule and HAVE to have it done perfectly this second!) You definitely have the menu items all ticked correctly for outputting NTSC the way you need it (squeezed, pillar boxed or 4:3?)

You checked playback straight off of the cards in camera and no artifacts?

I would also just hook up the SDI output to an SDI monitor and see if you are still getting the artifacts. You need to narrow down the distortions to whether or not they are coming from the camera, the deck, the cable, EDH not being on, etc.

Let us know what you discover.

Dan

If none of these do it, you need to call Panasonic.

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Noah:

Thanks! Glad that you found it interesting. There really is an interesting lineage from the DVX100 to the HPX170.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I agree with Bob. My K3 lost analog audio output last year, I tried all kinds of re-installations, zapping PRAM, etc. with the help of AJA Tech Support. They then sent me a new K-Box and it as worked fine ever since then.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

You got it Rick. I only use the minus green when lighting people. What I was saying was that the additional green spike is helpful for making green screen more green, thereby making keying easier.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Rick:

Yes, I have used minus green but for lighting green screens, the spike actually helps saturate the green fabric I am using. In this case, it’s actually a plus.

Our buddy Richard over at Coolights is going to be shipping a 600 LED version that is the tungsten equivalent of 600 watts in December for $379.00. It will be a superior value and it looks to be a better light than than the Flolight (Yushua product). He will be shipping with a free carry bag and will also offer AB brick and V mount battery plates for less than $100.00. I think he is going to own the low end LED market for a while 😉 The CRI looks to be in the 85-87 range though and it would not surprise me if these also have the green spike. He will have a very limited number of 3200k versions available for those who prefer them.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

My HPX170 doesn’t seem to exhibit the issue but plenty of peoples new HPXs do. Waiting on Panasonic to provide the exact plan of action about how they will fix this issue.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I have been shooting with the Flolight 500s from Prompter People. They are not bad but have a nasty green spike and I am not crazy about the quality of the light they put out. Its not controllable like a tungsten fresnel and its not soft like my Kinos, its kind of in between. To me, the in between is a no-mans land that isn’t really that useful for my style of lighting. The Flolights are excellent for lighting green screens, I have been using them for that application and they are perfect.

The ones I am excited about are these new LEDs that our buddies at CineMills have introduced http://www.led-z.com They are really great but about the same price as HMIs. You get what you pay for. In the future, when we can buy these types of light for $600.00, I will be in heaven.

Kino has a new line of color temp switchable LEDs coming but they too will be pretty expensive for non-pros, I heard that they will start at around $1,500.00 and go up from there.

I hate the large LitePanels, they shift color temp too much when dimmed but the little on-camera LitePanels are excellent but too small to light a set with.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Yes and no. Does the MKH416 sound better than the AT? Yes, a little. Will it make your end product sound better? Depends on if your audio person knows what they are doing. Audio is 80% skill and about 20% gear. A skilled mixer could obtain killer sound even with my little cheap Audio Technica AT875r.

It won’t hurt to rent a better mic but it won’t necessarily help that much either.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi:

FCP has always had it’s nominal levels at -12dB because of the popularity of DVCAM. That’s right, recall how Sony decided to that 0dB analog equals -12dB digital with your good old DVCAM deck? I am staring at the audio meters on my DSR-40 here and yes, they do have a notch at -12dB.

Recall that MiniDV/DVCAM and to an extent, DVCPro were the first low end, professional digital video formats back in the early days of FCP? Back then, you really didn’t have too many people operating FCP with DBeta decks, those people were all still on AVID Media Composers.

I agree, it is weird and somewhat arbitrary but that was the reason why.

It is a remnant from the early days of FCP and DVCAM. It would be nice when they do a total, from the ground up re-write of FCP to get it back to -20dB like every other pro application and hardware on the market.

Dan

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