Doug Graham
Forum Replies Created
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You can get an internal card from Canopus that will do the same job as your external A/D box…but it wouldn’t gain you any quality, just a slightly neater desktop
Regards,
Doug Graham -
“…is there any frame lag (very important for my scoring work to be spot on)”
Any time you feed video out of Vegas via Firewire, through a conversion device (a camcorder, deck, or box) to an NTSC monitor, the signal going by this path will be delayed about a half second behind the timeline cursor. The audio and video will be in sync, but you can’t, for example, watch the video on the monitor and listen to the audio from your computer’s sound card. You have to watch and listen from the same location.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Most couples book earlier than that, but there’s always some last-minute shoppers.
Anyway, you should advertise ALL the time, in some form or other…your website, primarily. Bridal shows are a big form of advertising. Advertising in print media often isn’t cost-effective.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
I have personal experience with several types of shoulder brace, and with the Varizoom FlowPod.
I prefer the FlowPod in monopod mode to any of the shoulder braces I’ve used. The one thing I’d like to add is a pan/tilt head. Bogen makes a monopod with a little head on it, and little foldout feet, too, so it can stand on its own if you must let go to do something with your hands.
Like any handheld stabilizer, the FlowPod in stabilizer mode tires out the arm quickly. The lighter the camera you use, the better off you’ll be…but if too light (an HC-1, for example), you’ll need to add weight to the camera end of the stick.
My colleagues who’ve used the DV Rig Pro like it very much. They tell me that moving shots aren’t as smooth as with a true stabilizer, but smoother than handheld, and that stationary shots are almost as steady as a monopod.
You’re right that there’s no single support system that will “do it all”. The tripod is about as close as human ingenuity has come so far.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
For your cam, the Firestore that’s specifically made to interface with it is probably your best choice. Other makes and models will work, but you’ll have to rig some sort of mounting scheme.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The LEDs are cool, long lived, and stingy on power draw. On the other hand, you pay big time to get these advantages.
For weddings, I like an on-camera light with a dimmer, and no more than a 50 watt lamp. A diffusion grid, plus a sheet or two of Rosco TufSpun diffusion paper will soften the light nicely, or you can use an on-cam soft box. Barn doors are a plus, but not an absolute necessity. If you are using a camera that’s good in low light, such as a Sony VX-2100, you can get away with a much smaller instrument, like the little 10/20 watt lights that will run piggyback off the camera battery.
You don’t need a dichroic filter unless you are using the light outdoors in daylight, as a fill light for harsh shadows cast by the sun. The dichroic filter gives the light a bluer cast, to match the sunlight.
For interviews, or any situation where the cam and your subject are stationary and you have time to “set the stage”, an on-camera light is not your best choice. Better to have a lighting kit to set up two or three point lighting, which is much more flattering to your subject. The “DV kits” sold by Lowel are a good choice; they include three lights, with a Rifa-light softbox as the key instrument.
You have two basic choices in battery belts: heavy and cheap lead-acid types, such as Bescor’s, or lighter and more expensive ni-cad belts, such as NRG’s. Ni-cads weigh about half what lead-acid batteries do, for the same watt-hour capacity. The NRG battery “vests” are the best for distributing the weight, but are also the most expensive route.
Elite Video, https://www.elitevideo.com, sells a great instructional DVD set that covers a number of low-cost lighting techniques for the budget videographer.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
You probably need a more capable playback deck. A professional VTR will have better tracking ability when the signal from the tape gets weak. It will also have a built-in genlock to send a strong sync signal to the capture card (or if not, the signal can be sent to an outboard genlock before sending it on to the computer.)
If this footage is very important, there are companies that specialize in recovering and restoring images from old or damaged media.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
In your area: The Broadcast Store. They sell all over via mailer and internet. I think the prices are too high, but you may not.
There’s also a huge video swap meet in Orange County held once or twice a year. Someone local will have to chime in with the details.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
On the other hand, I’m used to using 100 IRE zebras (since my first prosumer camera only had the one option). Any setting will work OK, if you understand what the zebras are telling you. For example, if using 100 IRE as your zebra setting, only allow a few zebras to show, on the very brightest areas…such as lights, or reflections off a bald head, etc. On the other hand, if you have strong backlight, there will be a LOT of zebras showing if you expose your subject properly.
70 IRE is generally considered a good exposure level for skintones, so if you’re using that setting, you should set exposure so about 60-80% of the talent’s face shows zebras.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
It’s not the color, it’s the intensity.
Video doesn’t have a wide dynamic range. You’ll either need to set your exposure for the stage as a whole, and let the spotlit person be totally washed out, or (more likely) set the exposure for the spotlit person, and let everything else go dark.
Or, better yet, leave the spot off. If the rest of the stage lighting is too dim, rent a couple of 1K floods and light stands and set them up on either side of the stage.
Some spots have an adjustable spread. If yours do, and can be set wide enough, maybe they can be used to illuminate the whole stage, not just a “spot”.
Regards,
Doug Graham