Don Greening
Forum Replies Created
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Janet,
You haven’t specified where you’re storing your media. It should always be on an external drive and not on your startup drive. Having a good media transfer rate will make a huge difference on how smoothly FCP will play back your footage.
– Don
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Try playing the tape in another camera or deck. If the display is gone then it’s not recorded to the actual tape and you’ll be able to turn that feature off in the XL-H1’s menu. If the display text is actually burned into the picture on the tape there’s nothing you can do about it other than to re-shoot.
Sorry.
– Don
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[C David Miller] “So my real question is will Sony be that quick? Thanks Canon for taking care of your pro users. “
Yes, but it really boils down to the particular repair facility you’re dealing with and the people who are working at that facility. My experience with Canon repair in Canada has been one of mostly frustration with repair turnaround time averaging about 6 – 8 weeks. Unacceptable if you’re trying to run a business. Heck, it’s even unacceptable if you’re just a consumer palmcorder user.
On the other hand one of the major Canadian Sony repair facilities is a 20 min. drive from my doorstep. I took a PD170 in for cleaning and adjustment at mid afternoon last year and they phoned the next morning to say it was ready for pickup.
I love my Canons but have been buying Sony now for just this reason. When you own your own business getting camera maintenance done in a timely manner is everything to me.
– Don
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[Derek Hall] “Excuse me for being loud, but ALWAYS MAKE A BACK-UP. “
You probably weren’t loud enough, Derek. Perhaps a permanent sticky up top would help. Another thing all EX users might take note of is that you can lock any file or folder that contains files so that they can’t inadvertently be deleted. Highlight any file or folder (like a BPAV folder) and choose “Get Info” from the file menu or hit Command (Apple) – I. In the window that appears put a check mark in the lock box. No more mistakes.
When it’s time to actually delete your EX media (after back up and transfer) there is a keyboard shortcut that will delete even locked files or folders en masse but I forget what it is at the moment. Maybe that’s a good thing, too.
– Don
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Each individual BPAV folder should reside in another individual folder with a unique name of your choosing: something like “Name of your Project or Shoot-card 01”. For example if you have 5 card transfers on your media drive the 5 BPAV folders should be inside 5 more uniquely named folders. Don’t change the actual BPAV folder name to anything else, otherwise the Sony Transfer Tool will not see them.
Start the Sony Transfer Tool and navigate to the first “Card 1” folder and open it. The Transfer Tool will see the BPAV folder. Choose “Import” and all the filenames inside that folder will be transferred and unwrapped from .mp4 to the format your computer is working with.
.mov format for Mac
.avi format for Windows– Don
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Highlight the file (don’t double-click) you’re trying to open with another player and then choose “Get Info” from the file menu or hit Apple-I. Down towards the bottom of the get info window you’ll see the Title “Open With”. Choose the player you want to open the file with from the list. Afterwards your file will always open with the player you’ve chosen.
– Don
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First of all, don’t save anything else to that hard drive until you get your missing files back. If you do then you risk overwriting the ones you want and then you really won’t be able to get them back. Do the retrieved QT files that you say you can’t open have the .mp4 suffix?
– Don
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[Kaya Hacaloglu] ” I’ve been waiting a long time and I’m not sure if I should jump into the wagon. yet.”
I was thinking the same thing last fall but then thought it’s like anything else: if you wait until the next greatest improvement in technology comes along, be it cameras or computers, you’ll never buy anything. I have not delivered one scrap of HD yet but I’m glad I bought the EX when I did. The biggest advantages for me are the faster workflow, the widescreen, the low light capability and last but not least, the downconverted SD footage is light years ahead of my other cameras that shoot only SD.
Of course, the final decision rests with you, but you’ve been smart enough to ask the questions that allow you to make a choice with eyes wide open.
– Don
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I was using a Varizoom piece with my GL2. We have two of them and still use them with other cameras.
https://www.varizoom.com/products/supports/vzlsp.html
– Don
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[Chris Burns] “‘I’ve had the camera set to Manual and I had been trying to set the shutter speed as high as I could while adjusting the aperature to still get the proper exposure.”
For myself, I only went for a shutter speed change on my GL2 as a last resort to reduce the amount of light coming in. Otherwise I kept the shutter at 1/60th sec. I would suggest that you try a number of tests at various shutter speeds to see what kind of look you’re after and what works for the smoothest slow mo. High shutter speeds will result in a “Private Ryan” stroby look while slower speeds will have smoother motion. If you’re outside on a sunny day and want to keep a set shutter speed (and the built in ND filter isn’t enough) you’ll need to buy another ND filter for the front of the lens.
[Chris Burns] “Would it be advised to raise the gain in order to achieve a higher shutter speed? “
Pumping up the gain should be used as a last resort to increase light levels and should be avoided because of the increased picture noise.
I personally have not had issues with bad looking slow mo and I always try to keep the shutter speed at 1/60th sec. regardless of light levels. Doing a white balance will not affect your slow mo result, but it will affect the way the camera records colour. If you’re noticing that your GL2 colours go towards the reds too much in low light shooting I’ve got a fix for that.
Do some tests at various shutter speeds with people walking/running etc. and see what works for you with regard to the best slow mo result.
– Don