[George Burbano]

Hey Chris,

You can rent these units rather affordably in the city, since you mentioned B&H. There are several rental houses, in NY that will rent you, lectronics or sennheiser, Evo or G2 setup.

If you need to find a place, email me, Im constantly in these places in the city.

Stay away from some of the cheaper units, the least expensive and high quality ones would be the Senn G2, They are around $500, the lectronics can be over $1200 depending on the setup..

George

[George Burbano]

Shooting without a model release is like, walking around with a sign that says, “Sue Me..”

People may not necessary object to being shot, or appearing on a video, but the minute you sell it or you make money, they will want some also..

You mentioned “Youth Camp” even more potential trouble…You should be presenting this model release to the parents or guardians. Advise them that their child may appear in a video, and that the video will be distributed and available for purchase. Give them a free DVD or discounted, where their child appears, in return for the model release signed. If they dont sign it, then just make sure you dont include their child in it.

The easiest thing to do , is gather a few kids ahead of time, and speak to their parents, get the releases and just include them.. Just a thought..

[George Burbano]

I agree with alot that you said. But I can beat that edit in 10 sec. or less if the sound and video are recorded properly and with an accurate reference or 1 has the TC with a reference. It really is not that complicated nor does it take that much once you practice. You are right… though. It must be shot correctly and carefully. I dont like to discourage anyone with so called “Cheapo-Cams” If you have the reference it doesnt matter what the TC is.. Many films and Tv shows have been shot without any TC, only ref Claps.. My point was that while there are some luxuries such as TC slates, TC input/output on higher end cams etc… it isnt that necessary. It’s nice but not that complicated..

1. So for those that are recording either in a dual audio setup, where the cam and an external recorder is doing sound. This is my advise.
a. Always roll the camera first, for at least 5-10 secs. before calling for audio to roll, hit the reference, then roll that for 5-10 secs before calling for action..

*you can never go wrong if you allow this time.. ** Many of us dont need that much time, but if you are just starting then give yourself the time*

As far as tapes go, never use a tape that hasnt been pre-striped.. That is before you use the tape, record a blank screen on the deck or camcorder, till the end. This way you will never have a timecode break..

As far as Cams go, **avoid using TOD (time of day) Use Recorded Time)

Have someone write the Shot Sheet. (Write down the shot, TC start, Audio TC, etc..) The Sound person should be giving you a sound sheet also..)

tks

George

[George Burbano]

Actually you dont need TC from the camera to match with the audio recorder, you just need a reference. While I use the Ambient TC Slate RF, its really just a luxury. But 1 of the 2 should have a TC. Getting a recorder that keeps TC is a great thing and more necessary than a camera with TC.
Get a good old clap slate, or use a cheap photo flash or clap your hands loud to get a reference. In FC then import both the audio and the video, adj the Aux TC function for the video clip, line it up with the reference clap to sound and viola ….perfect match..

As far as the recorder goes, the 722 and 744T, depends on what you really need. 1 does 2 channels the other 4 and the new 788 does 8 Channels. Again, you dont need the 4 or 8 unless you are dead set on seperating the audio for each talent. While this is nice, not necessary.It is nice to have your talent’s audio on each track, but do you really need 4 or 8 most dialogue occurs between 2 people. Getting a good sound mixer to go along with the Recorder is a nice feature. Want 4 channels without spending an extra $1500 on another 2 channels? Get a good 4 ch mixer feed 2 channels directly into the camera with appropriate levels, record the other 2 channels on your recorder and again,you have all audio..

I did alot of research on this to record a few music videos, and did make a good size investment. I purchased a 722T, and an ambient TC Slate RF. I recorded the music as a master on the 722T, and used that along with the TC recording with my HVX. No problem..works fantastic. Hope this helps..

[George Burbano]

Procomm has both wired and wireless systems..Depending on the run, some need additional items check out procomm website or B&H they are currently closed due to passover, but their website has info on the items, just search for pro-video-intercom systems..

George

[George Burbano]

Hi,

The portacom and eartec systems are pretty good. I use the eartec system since it was relatively cheap, and I never need to go more than 100ft.. shooting events. The eartec system is full duplex between 2 people, and you can add more that can listen but not talk back. The portacom is full duplex I think up to 4 people.You can get an eartec for less than 800.00 but the portacom I think is over $3000.00

I think the portacom system has more range and more features, but if it is costly..

The wired systems work best, are more reliable and clear, but of course use wires..

Hope that helps.

George

[George Burbano]

I hope you got the vest with that merlin.. Or your forearms are going to be hurting the next day..

Not a good idea to use an on-camera light with the merlin or any other Gimbal system, it exagerates the pendulum type effect and makes the merlin more difficult to balance correctly.

But if you are going to use a light and want a good one, get a powerful one with dimming control. I like the frezzi 100watt dimmer with the softbox. Nice light. The Varilight is also a really nice light, and soft without a softbox.. but larger.. Both lights will be better if held seperately, rather than on the camera, while on the merlin. Once off the merlin, it produces a great light on camera..

[George Burbano]

I use the FW 410 from M-audio and have no problems recording audio, into FC, Soundtrack, or Garageband for that matter. I use that on my powerbook, and I use the Alesis FW8 on my Powermac. Both provide excellent audio with no problems, no noise etc…

On the Alesis I feed 3-4 mics… on the M-audio 2 for location.

Have you tried the mic on a seperate recorder, and see if it produces static. It sounds like the problem may be in the mic. It would be abit unusual to have noise get into the sound mix, from the computer, so its probably coming directly from the mike or picking up static from a bad ground loop in the mike. Check your cables also.. Just a thought.

[George Burbano]

If you have an email client that will allow you to use aliases, like Mac Mail, then you can create an alias use that alias and then change it from time to time, that will take care of spammers. Not difficult to do.

[George Burbano]

It sounds like, you recorded at 1 format, then the camera’s recording format was changed. The camera will only play back footage that was recorded if it is currently set at the same format as the recorded footage. What that means is if you recorded at 720P, but changed the camera setting to 1080, you will not be able to play back your 720 footage. You must go to the camera menu and put the camera back in 720p mode. Each clip will appear with a red X, and you cant play it back.

As far as what happened while you were importing, not quite sure, but if you can see the clips in the camera, try and placing the camera back to the same format as the recorded format. If it plays back fine, then try and re-ingest the footage to your computer. remember that with FCP you must choose import P2…Hope that helps

George