[Dave Felder]

Thanks for the responses. I think the cameras into a UPS is probably the best way to go. Don’t see any point in spending hundreds of dollars for KPro recorders to back up what is already a very expensive camera.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

“Big – screen” cinema is not so much a format as it is a file system containing the proper files that the digital projector is looking for. Think of a DVD or Blu-Ray disc; there are several non-media files, in a specific folder, that instruct the player what to do. That’s what digital cinema projectors look for. The system is referred to as “DCP.”

Blu-Ray is not digital cinema quality. Or maybe, it’s better to say that Blu-Ray is not the format that Hollywood distributes movies in.

We use PPro to create files for big screen projection. We output audio as WAV and the movie as a TIFF sequence, which is then encoded using “openDCP.”

When setting up your sequence, you have to know if the theater is using a 2K or 4K projector. You don’t want to edit at 16:9 and then output at 2.39:1 or 1.85:1 (the most common movie formats). That’s as bad as editing at 4:3 and outputting at 16×9. In other words, start with the proper sequence settings, don’t try to output a square peg into a round hole.

Here’s some screen resolutions that might help:

4K
Cinemascope (2.39:1) 4096 x 1716
Flat (1.85:1) 3996 x 2160

2K
Cinemascope (2.39:1) 2048 x 858
Flat (1.85:1) 1998 x 1080

Dave Felder

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

Yes, the DVD has the correct file structure. The client provided 3 masters over a week’s time.

It’s an issue in the old duplicator tower – I guess the firmware in the drive or controller. The duplicator works fine, this is the first problem we ever had with it, and other discs copied since then copy fine too. Strange.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

Thanks for the reply Angelo. I have reached out to the convention center, I just thought someone here might have some experience to share so I can discuss it being a little better informed.
Regards,
Dave

[Dave Felder]

I don’t know anything about removing XML data, that’s way above me.

Would it make sense to put all your footage on a timeline, select everything, right-click and “Unlink”. Then select just audio tracks 2,3&4 and delete them?

[Dave Felder]

Thanks Steve. I know, you get what you pay for.

Still, not one review on the B&H website mentioned anything about soft focus, I think I’ll give Marshall a call and see what they say.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

Thanks for the responses.

Premiere is working fine. If it’s running in the mode that Adobe originally intended, or in compatibility mode, I’m not sure.

To Al Bergstein – thanks for your detailed response. It’s a stand alone PC (right out of the box from HP). It is web-connected through an ethernet connection in the wall that feeds into a large switch in an office suite (as opposed to being through my own Cablemodem/FIOS line), but I am not on anyone’s network, per say. All sharing is turned off on my PC, so unless there’s a hacker out there, nobody has access to the machine.

I talked to an IT guy in the building and he suggested updating my video drivers. He also said that if the problem is resolved, Windows will turn off compatibilty mode without asking me.

I just thought: the crash that elicited the compatibility mode was a Premiere crash, but it happened while I was rendering a file to WMV in Adobe Media Encoder. Instead of using the WMV presets, I used the “High Quality Widescreen” setting but then told it to use Maximum bit depth and Maximum Render Quality. It crashed twice. The first time, it just crashed. The second time is when I used the compatibility message.

The third time, I used the plaine preset and it rendered no problem.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

Thanks Peter.
I wasn’t sure if this was one of those “everyone knows that won’t work,” or a problem with my setup.
Dave

[Dave Felder]

Hi Phil,

Just bought the 250 myself. I don’t know as much about the camera as Jeff Regan, although I’m going to sit down with his answer to you and go through the manuals term by term until I learn. I can give you a “corporate videographer’s” point of view.

Few people will to tell you that they just wasted $8K on a camera, so I’m obviously going to tell you why I made a wise decision. Hopefully, I’ve included enough content that it will serve as info and not just opinion.

I upgraded from a Canon EOS5d to the HPX250. (No argument that the EOS5d gives a great image, but no servo, short recording times if you’re doing meetings and seminars, and no professional audio capability.)

Before then, I rented the HPX370 and EX3. I own a JVC DV5000 and Sony DXC50/PVV1. Obviously, those last two cameras haven’t been used in a while, I just can’t throw something out if the power LED comes on when I throw the switch.

So far, the HPX250 has been a great investment. I’ve done 5 shoots in the past two months and am very very happy with the cameras performance in low light, the dynamic range (remember it’s a 1/3″ chip camera) and it’s useability. The long lens gives me more shooting opportunities with less equipment moving.

I’ve had to kick up the gain a few times and at 6dB couldn’t see any noise.

It fits in the overhead bin on a plane in a Portabrace, which also carry’s everything you need for a week’s worth of shooting. The camera lets you back up your P2 cards directly to an external hard drive without needing a PC.

The main reason I chose the 250 over similarly priced HD cameras was because it’s Panny’s newest model, it’s got 4:2:2 color processing which makes it truly “broadcast quality” if you’ve got clients asking for that, it uses relatively cheap batteries and P2 cards are proven technology versus SD and CF cards which do “die” from time to time. (if you don’t believe that, look on a website that sells the CF or SD cards and read the reviews).

Finally, AVC Intra 100 is at the top of its class (at least today, anyhow). Why settle for 35 or even 50 Mbps when you can get the AVC Intra100 at the same price? This might be like still camera megapixel bragging, I’m not sure. Most of my clients put their stuff on YouTube and their websites, so maybe the codec isn’t that important, but I figure may as well shoot at the highest quality level possible to try to extend the life of your footage.

One unexpected surprise: The old edit system (i3-3 Ghz) doesn’t really handle the 1080P 100Mbps stream too well. I haven’t got the horsepower.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Dave Felder]

Anyone who’s bought one of those cameras will tell you why their decision was the best. Me too. 🙂 I just went through the same decision making process, so here’s a little about what I did and why.

I already have an EOS 5D Mark 2 (want to buy it?) I was in love with the image, but dual system audio is a pain and shooting a meeting or seminar is impossible, due to the 12 minute record time restriction. Also, lack of a servo zoom is tough – if you’re shooting “video.” If you’re making movies or working with dollies & cranes, that is probably much less of an issue.

So, I wanted a video camera with servo zoom, built in balanced audio and a good picture. I was looking to spend in the 6-7K range for the camera alone. Media cards, batteries, and a new, good fluid head tripod add to the cost. (You don’t want to put a good camera on a cheap tripod.)

Sony FS100 – no servo zoom. Great image, but if I can’t zoom I can’t shoot corporate video.

EX1/EX3 – 4 year old model. only 8 bit, 4:2:0 recording. Not really broadcast quality (I’ll duck the slings and arrows from the Sony users out there) Honestly, I’ve rented the Ex3 a dozen times and love it, but why buy something that’s approaching the end of its lifecycle? I’ve also pulled good green-screens from it, so the 4:2:0 isn’t really that big of an issue, unless you have clients that are specifying “broadcast standard.” But, it’s more expensive than the Panny 250.

I ended up with the Panny 250. It’s essentially the same camera as the 370, with a different form factor, the ability to use much cheaper batteries, and a lot easier to carry on an airplane without buying it a ticket. I’ve rented the 370 several times and it’s a good camera, I just didn’t see it as worth 4 or 5K more than the 250.

The 500 was out of my price range. It’d be great to have a camera with those larger chips, but since I don’t shoot as frequently as a full time cameraman, I didn’t think it was worth the investment. If you’ve got paying clients that are happy paying PD-170 prices, it’s going to be a hard sell to get them to pay HPX500 prices, unless you’re a heck of a salesman.

I’ve had the 250 for about a month and a half and have used it on 5 shoots and am very pleased. It’s got a ton of features I never went shopping for that I use every day, like the waveform monitor and ability to back up to hard drive without a PC. It’s got a 22x zoom lens, which is a long lens at that price point. Right now, there are some great prices on the camera and a $730 rebate if you buy a 64GB P2 card when you buy the camera, which is like getting the card for free. Buy the Panny250 and you’ll have lots of left over money for a good HD monitor, a case, some extra batteries, etc….

Whatever your decision, good luck.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ