[James Dow]

Thanks John. I had to trash my preferences and everything was then OK.
When I changed my logging bin the same thing happened again.

JPD

[James Dow]

IMHO Dread Zepp was much better with Tort Elvis, their original lead singer. Gary Bibb was the lead singer on the disco stuff that Mark mentioned. I quit following them some time ago. They are not to be confused with Lez Zeppelin, which is a current tribute act of a completely different ilk.

JPD

[James Dow]

Several years ago I sent some Anton Bauer 30/13 Belts to this place…
Provisional Battery Inc, in Duluth, Georgia.
800-408-9954

Ask for Maria. They might be able to help you out.

Good luck!

JPD

[James Dow]

Yeah, that was next on my list if I couldn’t get the HDMI to work.

JPD

[James Dow]

So if it’s the 2 devices talking to each other via HDMI, with this particular deck, will I be able to import anything from DVD? What’s my workaround?

Thanks for your time.

JPD

[James Dow]

Also just trying capturing a DVD that I produced, with no encryption, and it’s doing the same thing. Bad HDMI cable?

JPD

[James Dow]

I did push play.
In regards to the security protection, the DVD that I want to import contained segments from TV newscasts and a clip from the Daily Show. It was produced for internal corporate use, and no encryption was used on the DVD master. Does this still sound like the HDCP security blocking?

Thanks,
io Newbie

JPD

[James Dow]

I put my HVX200a in a backpack, along with extra batteries, P2 Cards,lav mic, headphones. I carry this on, along with my laptop. I check my tripod in a zippered PortaBrace bag. I put some items in the zippered compartments of the PB bag, but some personal items disappeared at the airport in Puerto Rico, so beware. I pack a portable hard drive inside my checked suitcase that contains my clothes. I figure I can always buy clothes when I get to my destination, so If I need more gear, it goes inside this bag. Sometimes I will buy a new portable hard drive (for redundancy) at my destination, and have someone ship it back to me.
I sometimes ship my light kit in advance (take the lamps out first and pack in bubble-wrap) then ship back when finished. UPS is cheaper than United Airlines! I once carried on a BetaCam with a dead battery. When security asked me to power up the camera, we had a situation. After about 20 minutes of questioning, they finally let me through with my camera. If you’re camera can’t load a tape at least you won’t have that problem.

JPD

[James Dow]

[Mark Suszko] “Also, don’t believe anybody that says a monitor next to the lens or above it or below it is “good enough”. You can always tell the difference by viewing, and a real beamsplitting mirror with a lens behind it is the only way to go.”

Yes, but there are times when it is “good enough.”

If you don’t need your “talent” to be looking directly into the lens, then a LCD monitor positioned where an interviewer would be standing and some cheap prompter software to scroll a word document can do the trick. There are lots of situations where I don’t want a “news anchor” straight on read. If your on-camera subject has something prepared, or just can’t remember their lines, this approach works much better than cue-cards, and isn’t very expensive to implement. If you need to have your subject looking straight into the lens, then I would agree with Mark.

Now, if you still need to rent a teleprompter please call my friend Mark.

JPD

[James Dow]

FWIW….I do a lot of 3rd world shooting and I know it’s tempting to travel as light as possible. You didn’t mention anything about gear, so forgive me if I’m stating the obvious. If you know that you can’t rent any gear where you will be, then you must travel with a decent tripod. This is a pain in the airports, but it is worth it. Smoothcam in FCP should be a last resort for getting rid of those “zoomed in handheld shots.” Worst case, take a monopod. Also, if your not traveling with a light kit, at least take a small flex-fill reflector and a small box of aluminum foil. If you have a camera light, try to soften it with some tuff-spun or other diffusion material. You mentioned wireless mics…you never know in other countries, in regards to interference, so take a wired lav mic, just in case. Good Luck!

James

JPD