[Doug Graham]

That’s a pretty good deal for a light, dimmer, and belt. The belt is probably lead-acid, which is about twice as heavy as nicads for the same number of watt-hours.

I use lead-acid battery belts (they’re just so much less expensive, and the batteries last a looooong time even without careful charge management). But I had my wife add suspenders to them, to take the weight off the kidneys and put it on the shoulders.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

I agree with the recommendation on the VX-2100/PD-170. But in your budget range, there is another choice as well: a used JVC DV-500U. This is a professional shoulder-mounted camcorder with a true servo zoom lens.

The Sonys have the advantages of superior low light performance, small size, color LCD, and compatibility with any NFP batteries you may have for your TRV-900. The JVC has the advantages of smoother zoom and iris control, a better lens (and you can upgrade the lens even further), more camera real estate to hang your light, wireless mic receiver, and shotgun mic on, the stability of a shoulder mount, and more control over the final image. The JVC will be about one to one and a half stops more light sensitive than your current TRV-900.

On the downside, the camera takes more practice and skill to use well, it weighs about twelve pounds, and it requires more expensive accessories (batteries, charger, case, tripod, etc.)

The two cameras are very different. Both have their strong points; it’s just a matter of what you want to do, and what tools you like to use.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

The settlement isn’t final, so you can’t spend your money yet!

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

Another way that’ll work with any NLE:

Trim clip to desired length.
Slice off one frame at the end.
Stretch single frame to the length of time you want to display the still image.

And another way that’ll work in Vegas:
Position cursor at desired still frame.
Make sure the video display window is at full resolution, best quality.
Use the “snapshot” (camera icon) button in the display window to save the image as a still.
Drag the new still image to the timeline.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

The blockiness is most likely a small head clog. Run a cleaning tape for 10 seconds max and re-try.

The failure to communicate may be another issue…could be a broken Firewire port on the camera.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

I think that one’s covered under #7. 🙂

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

Photographer blocks shot
Officiant limits shooting position
Theft of equipment and/or tapes
Illness or accident prevents you from showing up

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

Make sure that deck control is disabled, so Vegas Capture knows that you will be starting and stopping the camera manually.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

The RCA audio outputs from your camcorder are line level, same as the outputs of your cassette deck.

There are three levels of audio signal in most systems:
1. Mic level. This signal is a few millivolts, and typically comes from a microphone (hence the name).
2. Line level. This signal is used to move audio from one device to another, and has a level of one volt.
3. Speaker level. This is the signal that comes out of your amp and is connected to your speakers (unpowered speakers, that is).

Feeding the wrong level of signal to an input that’s expecting something else can result in a very low/no signal (mic level into a line level input), or a very high level signal with terrible distortion (as in your case). It can also burn out the preamp circuits in your gear.

(There are also differences in the levels that are considered standard for consumer and professional equipment, but they do not cause the problems that mixing mic and line levels do.)

You’ll find all sorts of audio connectors used for either mic or line level signals, but typically mic level signals will be on an XLR, a 1/4″ phone plug, or a miniplug. Typically line level signals will have RCA connectors, on consumer equipment. But this is no guarantee…either signal could be found with any type of audio connector.

Your computer sound card will usually have both a Mic In and a Line In jack. Try using a 2-RCA – to – stereo miniplug adapter to hook up to this jack.

If you MUST use the Mic In jack of your sound card, then the item you need is an audio attenuator, sometimes also called a “pad”. Radio Shack sells these in a couple of forms, as an audio adapter or as an adapter cable, both with the attenuation built in. You can also find them at https://www.markertek.com

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

You might see if you can find a Videonics “Titlemaker” CG. This will allow live keying of titles over video, and you should be able to plug it right in to your existing mixer. This is old hardware, so look on eBay and other sources for a used unit.

A more expensive, but all-in-one solution might be the NewTek TriCaster, https://www.newtek.com

Regards,
Doug Graham