Doug Graham
Forum Replies Created
-
Yes.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The pixels ARE a different shape…DV pixels have a .9091 aspect ratio; they’re a little bit taller than they are wide. HDV pixels have a 1.33 aspect ratio; they are short and wide.
But that’s different than your horizontal and vertical pixel count. All flavors of HDV have more pixels than 720×576.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Thanks for the tip, Jerry. I did two things: First, I added a couple of drivers to my system that improved its performance considerably. Second, I took your advice and tried the Cineform utility.
I’m still not sure that there isn’t something wrong with my system, despite the improvements. When using Cineform, I got the following results:
– With the software set to either “convert on the fly” or “save the M2T and convert on the fly”, about 3 to 6 minutes of material would be captured, then the software would stop the camcorder while the conversion process caught up.
– Capturing the M2T only, the software successfully captured about 33 minutes of a 58 minute tape, and then garbled the video and audio data of the remainder. (Since Cineform doesn’t have a video display, this didn’t become obvious until after the fact).
– Conversion of the M2T to intermediate format took a little longer than real time, about 1 hr 15 min. for a 58 minute clip.
I’m just starting to play around with HDV…is this sort of behavior normal? System is AMD 4800+ dual core, ASUS A8N-SLI premium, 2 GB RAM, 1TB RAID 0 in 4 SATA drives.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
He means, “Focusing sharply and accurately on the subject of interest”.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Broadway Photo is another one of these sleazy low-ballers.
Before buying from any mailorder firm, check them out at https://www.resellerratings.com
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The Sony TRV-900 is a fair to good low-light performer, about one to one and a half stops less sensitive than the VX-2000. Out of production now, but clean used ones can still be found. Avoid the TRV-950, its replacement, which does not perform as well.
For a very tight budget, the old Sony TR-81 single chip Hi8 handycam was a terrific low light performer. Image quality probably isn’t competitive with today’s DV camcorders, though.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Lots of videographers put up highlights clips on their sites and notify their clients that they and their friends and relatives can come and view them.
Some are indeed delivering the video on an iPod. A few include the iPod, already loaded with the video, and engraved with the couple’s names, as part of the package.
Haven’t done this myself, so I’m no help with encoding suggestions.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
“I have a long program – a wedding about 1.5 hours. I currently save each segment – ceremony, and reception and then put them together.
I find that Vegas is not very forgiving if you go into a long program and start chopping out parts and bringing them back together for a “condensed version”“my main problem is that (even though I am careful to try and make sure that all clips with extra video and audio are “grouped” and the ignore groups is off.. many time things still seem to get out of sinc (added music for example) or audio and video end up getting out of order.”
First, I would ignore added music; your highlight should be cut to its own music bed.
Second, you could select short segments out of your working project(s) as you go. Simply copy them, and then either drag the copies to their own “highlight” file folder, or simply position them way down at the end of the timeline.
When you’re done with the main program, you’ll have a group of clips for the highlight video. You could then delete everything else and save the result as a new “highlights” project. Arrange and adjust the clips to a nice music bed.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Matte’s right…what lighting you require depends on what you’re planning to do. In fact, for a great many purposes, an on-camera light is not the best solution.
I recommend Jon Cooksey’s “Digital Lighting Magic” instructional DVDs, available from Elite Video. They’ll teach you a lot about OFF camera lighting.
The on-camera light is a compromise…it’s quick, it’s portable, it doesn’t require anyone else to help set up…but it gives a “flat” lit appearance to people, can make them squint, and casts unfortunate shadows. For most purposes, a 25 to 50 watt light, with some sort of diffusion to soften the glare, will do. A dimmer is a very useful option, and some lights have one built in. You’ll also need a power source…a battery pouch or belt.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The equation is P=ExI, where P is power in watts, E is volts, I is current in amps.
If you have a 25 watt, 12V lamp, it draws I=P/E =25/12 =2.08 amps. If your battery has a 12 amp-hour capacity, it should run the light for about
12/2.08 = 5.77 hours.
Figure in a 25% fudge factor to account for losses, spec rated at different temperatures or draw rates, possible partial charge status, etc. You should get about 4 1/2 hours out of it.
If you use a dimmer, and do most of your shooting at a reduced light level, it will of course increase the time you can run.
Regards,
Doug Graham