[David Rehm]

Hi Jeff,
Thanks a million for your help. I’ve downloaded HC Encoder 025
from their site https://hank315.nl

There seems to be 3 program files (??)
2 that say HCEnc
1 that says HCgui (This has many tabs across the top)

Again I appreciate the help but I have only 1 question for now:
How do I PM you? Through this site?
I’m sorry (lol) but I’m oblivious to most social media stuff. I still have never been on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks,
David

[David Rehm]

Do NOT get the Canon T3 version (which is what you listed) for video work – it doesn’t have some of the features you need. Get a Canon T3i – make sure it has the “i” after the T3.

The Panasonic DSLRs are nice but I personally would stick with a Nikon or Canon DSLR. You have many options for lenses, etc… Of course you could use these with the Panasonic (I assume) with an adapter.

The Nikon D7000 or it’s offspring the D7100 is a nice camera.

LD

[David Rehm]

That’s awesome – thanks for the heads-up and link.

David

[David Rehm]

Premiere has templates for lower thirds that could do the job for you but if you’re just making static lower thirds I would do it in Photoshop.

Here’s a tut to start you out:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/harrington_richard/photoshop_designing_lower_thirds_1.php

David

[David Rehm]

Agreed. The monitor can wait because you can always get a cheap loupe that works for $20 or $30.

David

[David Rehm]

Yes, I agree with others – get some sound equipment.

Many recommended the Zoom H4n – which is a great unit but the Tascam DR-40 is much less and delivers just as well with tons of features. I would purchase a filed recorder and a shotgun mic (Rode). You’ll have a little bit left over – maybe buy your wife some flowers/candy. If you’ve already done that buy some extra cards and a good card case that is waterproof. We just got our income tax and, like yourself, my wife is “letting” me spend $400. I was content with that until my editing machine started giving me problems that wasn’t worth fixing. My wife just “let” me order a whole new build (YEAH!!!). Now I will finally be able to play HD footage in Premiere without everything looking like a robot.

About cards – for video work you don’t need to buy these fast cards. Photos are more demanding than video. Save your money and buy the 20MB/sec cards – which is more than enough. You can’t beat this deal here for a PNY 32GB card for 14.99 (and free shipping). I bought 5 of them.
https://www.bjs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?catalogId=10201&storeId=10201&langId=-1&pageSize=40&currentPage=1&searchKeywords=32GB+PNY&tASearch=&originalSearchKeywords=pny+32gb

I have a Nikon D7000 and the only cards I have used are PNY. I have 2 better cards and the rest are the 20MB/sec cards. I have never had a fail in 2 years. I shoot extensive video. A few weeks ago I shot all day (almost 4 hours of sermons/lectures with no problems.

The reason to get the higher-end cards are for shooting photos and to have a water-proof and shock-proof card – which the lower end are not.

David

[David Rehm]

Go on eBay and look for the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 E-Series lens. Make sure it’s E Series. It has a manual aperture ring. They are just as sharp as the new ones today and you can get them for around $50.

David

[David Rehm]

I remember Chris Meyers did a tutorial for this same problem on Lynda.com
Here is the link (you’ll have to become a member though)
https://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tutorials/Dynamics-processing/81919/83187-4.html

Honestly, I find I have the best results doing it manually (selecting the breathing and lowering the levels). It’s time consuming but the results are what I am looking for.

David R.

[David Rehm]

You may want to read these 2 articles. At first the process will seem like a big hassle but after a couple of times it becomes easy. It works better than AME does when scaling HD to SD. You will get the pro results you are looking for.

https://www.precomposed.com/blog/2009/07/hd-to-sd-dvd-best-methods/

https://www.precomposed.com/blog/2010/10/hd-to-sd-dvd-cs5-revisited/

And here’s another link to Jeff Belune’s site going through this process step by step.
https://bellunevideo.com/tutlist.php

David

[David Rehm]

Thanks for your reply but you may have misunderstood me (or maybe I didn’t explain myself well).

When I say shoot “flat” – I’m not speaking of the screen being flat. With DSLRs, shooting flat, means you set the camera to pull all the saturation, etc.. out. In post you can put this back in and more.

If you shoot in Standard mode with a DSLR – colors become crushed, esp. the Blacks, and it gives your picture a harsh look. Shooting “flat” takes care of this problem. That’s what I meant by “flat”.

Setting the camera to take out saturation would obviously rid the green color of the screen less vibrant and I was looking for some ideas and advice.

Thanks,
David