Holycowseattle
Forum Replies Created
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Sorry–forgot to mention my orignal point.
We ended up using the CAVISION gear and follow focus knob for follow focus work. For CRITICAL follow focus work, there is significant ‘lag’ and softness in both the electronic controllers we have. For everyday use they are convenient and wonderful…but if you are doing some serious cinematic stuff with very shallow depth of field….use the mechanical controllers. They allow you to feather much more precisely. (And yes, we tried the ‘big wheel’ option on the varizoom.)
Again, the electronics are great for everyday shooting.
Mechanical for critical follow focus.Beyond that, remember as wonderful as the HVX is it can’t do everything as well as the ‘big-rigs’. Compared to our other rigs (whose lenses cost more than the HVX camera)….Zoom and focus are a limitation on this unit. Sometimes you have to consider using a more appropriate tool for certain shots—OR simply adjust your shooting style to compensate.
Regards
-P -
We bought a Varizoom AND a BEBOB before we realized our annoyance was with the HVX camera.
(There is no way to ‘feather’ slowly into a zoom on this camera as you can with full-size cameras. There is ALWAYS a ‘bump’ when you start the zoom from a dead stop. The zoom motor has a minimum operating speed….and there is a significant gap in that speed between MINSPEED & ZERO.) A 3rd party controller CAN’T help you overcome that limitation. We thought so. All 3rd party controllers do is relocate the on-camera controls…off-camera. You gain no functionality, only convenience.
Both controllers (VAR/BE) work equally well within the limitations of the camera. They send the same messages within the avalable protocol. They allow you to zoom/focus and contol the iris. If you need more control/better control than what they offer use a full-size camera/lens.
Ergonomics are the main difference. Find someone who sells ’em retail and try them for yourself.
Regards
-P -
Just my little tidbit.
We have discovered over the years that the TOP/TOP/TOP Apple machine is not always the most compatible/stable with 3rd party cardsets.
Now before everyone gets their fur all ruffled…Apple makes great machines…and all the manufacturers we work with make great products.
We swear by the products we use….however…over the past decade we have had fewer long-term issues with HW/SW compatability/Crashes, etc when we bought the (next to top of the line) machine as opposed to the (top of the line/fastest, etc.)We typically buy the MOR (middle of road) machine and have fewer issues with hardware compatability.
We ARE currently using 2 8-core machines with Producer with no ill effects (Our AE workstations). But we keep all our current video hardware in the 4 core (2.66 and 3.0) machines.)
Regards
-P -
Just a quick thought…..
Is the 12-bit audio on this particular camera UNLOCKED?
Remember there are twop types of audio with DV LOCKED and UNLOCKED.
LOCKED: Good for everything.
UNLOCKED: Not so good for long form projects.This alone could be causing the problem.
-P
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If the boris Folks don’t have what you need (or at the price you are looking for), we have a top of the line P6000 (XS) lossless with DV and SDI and both breakouts we can sell you for a nominal fee. (Latest SW versions: 8.2.3 for OSX and 7.5.1 for OS9).
We also have a non-lossless P6000 board and BOB with DV (no SDI) as well.
Feel free to e-mail or call.
Punit
888-876-4126
punit@nwcmedia.com -
The issues you may face when switching to the Dual 1.25
1) MANY of the Dual 1.25 machines are NOT OS9 bootable. (Apple disabled MANY of them to help force users over to OSX.) Verify OS9 operability beofre you proceed.
2) You are running Version 7 (As opposed to 7.5) of the Media100. This may require you to install a FRACTIONAL OS and Quicktime install to work properly. (You may not be able to load OS 9.2.2 and Quicktime 7.1) You may have to load it into OS 9.0.2 and Quicktime 6.5 or something like that. Keep in mind the numbers (OS & quicktime) that I just used to illustrate the potential situation have not been researched. (You will need to read the old CPG guides for yourself.) We had experienced this issue in the past with an older system.
3) The easiest way around the potential Media100 version7 (Mix/Match OS and QT versions) conundrum….is to contact Media 100 for a SW upgrade. They sell a current update (7.5.1 for OS9 and 8.2.3 for OSX) for a nominal fee. Talk to them…they are pretty good about pricing. Typically the SW update includes a FULL SW update to the XS version.
FYI- Version 8.2.3 Media 100 in a dual 1.2 runs great under OSX.
That’s about it.
Good luck. -
We tried this several times in the past unsuccessfully with the same machine.
SCENARIOS:
1) Adding a second PCI video card. This forced us to remove one of the Media100 cards (FX board). The video card caused issues at startup and with higher data rates (125k/frame and higher) we had artifacting. (PCI badwidth issues.) DID NOT WORK.
2) Addded a PCI expansion chassis. Again, same problems. In this case, we were able to use all of our PCI cards (SCSI, Media100, Media100FX and Second ATI video card, ) BUT the PCI badwidth was exceeded…and we had artifacting issues. DID NOT WORK.
3) We upgraded the processor to a faster single. (1G). This did not work either. It was at this point we knew for CERTAIN that the issues were PCI bandwidth. (AND yes, we had already tried to “downgrade” the ATTO SCSI card’s maximum Data rate/speed–to help “free up” some bandwidth.)DID NOT WORK.
SOLUTION:
We upgraded to a Dual 1.25 G4. We upgraded the stock AGP card to a dual head…and everything works great. (to this day.) -
You have run into a common problem.
There are many of us who spent in excess of $15k for these systems a few years ago—-systems that still work flawlessly today—yet have to be sidelined due to their slow render times for compositing.
They pop up on EBay for about $1k every once in a while (complete systems) and boardsets appear (with current software and BOB’s) from $199 to $650.
Most people (newbies/potential buyers) are miffed when they find out that the M100 boardsets don’t work with FCP, so they usually seem to buy a ($550) Blackmagic instead. This makes it hard to sell these older Media100i systems.
We decided to keep one of our M100i XS/DV/Lossless systems online–(we have two more on the shelf as backups)—-for simple A/B realtime edits. In this manner the (now 7+ year old!) Media100i system STILL runs circles around FCP for realtime monitoring reliability with no lagtime. We use it for tape offlays, and quick recaptures for DVD or web video clips. It has actually worked out very well. It is bombproof compared to some of the newer systems we run in house now.
My suggestion. Try working it back into your workflow.
In my perception, most of the people who understand/appreciate/value this type of system still have one. In contrast—to a “new buyer” FCP is way too flashy–so you will not convert any younngsters to this “old religion.” Still, if you need cash, you may get lucky and find someone on Ebay with a few buck$ who needs to replace their older failing system….(but don’t hold your breath.)That’s my twisted perspective. Sorry it doesn’t hold any visions of Dollar$……
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We have two used p6000 boards, etc for sale if you are interested.
Please call.
360-876-4126
888-876-0026Thanks,
Punit -
I am going to play devils advocate here.
Previous: I agree it is about storytelling.
So tell the story. Get people excited about the website by showing the CONTENT of the website….NOT the website. Hepatitis in Sparta has got to be a visual, interesting story. Images of sick people, hospitals, researchers, foreign lands…there’s a wonderfully compelling VISUAL story there. Show THAT for a few seconds…and then perhaps transition to a still image of the website with a simple messsage (visit the site to learn more…).
The site (as all websites are in general) static and boring (compared to video).
Stop trying to make the WEBPAGE exciting. Its the content that poele are interested in.POINT RETIERATED: Make a promo ABOUT the website. Stop showing footage of the WEBPAGE. Sell the content.