[Jeffrey Krepner]

Hi Jeremy, you know I did read that article… I didn’t even put 2 and 2 together that it was you. That was a really helpful, btw. (I’m reading another thread now about calibrating the Dreamcolor as we speak) I own a HP ZR30w, which I love, btw.

Option 1: AJA i/o RGB 10-bit out on a 720P or 1080P timeline makes the Dreamcolor engine work.

Option 2: Same as above but if using an interlaced format add the HDP2 to de-interlace.

Is that about right so far?

I know you love the Dreamcolor, but do you have any experiences with the Eizo CG243W or CG245w? From what I’m gathering, it’s engine doesn’t need to be feed an RGB progressive signal in order to take advantage of the 3D LUTs, etc. If that is true, I could keep the MXO2 and go out 10-bit YUV assuming one can get from HDMI to display port.

Do people think Dreamcolor and Eizo are in the same ballpark accuracy wise? (or is that a whole other cans of worms>???) My searches comparing Dreamcolor vs. Eizo haven’t yielded much info yet.

Thanks again
Jeff

Jeff Krepner
producer-shooter-editor-cat entertainer

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Oh yes, been reading endlessly on it. I like the HP Dreamcolor but from what I gather it works best when feed a progressive RGB signal, which in the case of these boxes won’t do that. They send 10-bit YUV only (RGB 8-bit). The next options are the Eizo 24″ models that cost about the same as the Dreamcolor that do accept YUV 10-bit but only have DVI and Displayport connections. DVI is usually 8-bit so I was wondering if a HDMI to Displayport adapter would pass along the 10-bit signal.

Follow me? With any luck, FCP 8 could maybe allow proper monitoring without using an after market box for those of us that basically just need the output from the capture boxes.

Thanks again!
Jeff

Jeff Krepner
producer-shooter-editor-cat entertainer

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Shane, thanks for info. Do you know if it is possible to go out from the HDMI (on the Mini or AJA) into a displayport on a monitor and get a 10-bit signal?

using something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/DisplayPort-HDMI-Video-Adapter-Converter/dp/accessories/B0017K6BDW

Thanks for the advice everyone.
Jeff

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Question, other than the SDI i/o is there much difference between the AJA i/o express and the Matrox Mini? I see AJA mentions HDMI being ver 1.3a but I don’t see Matrox’s version listed.

I bought a Mini but am having some audio glitches and a couple of trips to the Matrox forum has me wondering if I should jump ship before the return period is up.

I’m leaning towards an Eizo 24″ for a preview monitor (I guess HDMI to DVI or HDMI to display port) so in theory I could get a 10bit signal from FCP. Current setup for this edit system is a 17″ MBP.

Thanks in advance.
Jeff

Jeff Krepner
producer-shooter-editor-cat entertainer

[Jeffrey Krepner]

All very good points guys. I’ll keep you posted and if they actually pay me for the 2nd project I’m going to play the odds and buy as many Powerball tickets as I can since I must be on a lucky streak. Once I win, I’ll sell all of my gear and then move to the islands where I can read The Cow and laugh at everyone’s Grinder issues as I drink Singapore Slings w/ mescal on the side.

Thanks again.
-Jeff

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Bob – Well said. Unfortunately, I think that I’m the one being lied to this time. I’ll try to lie better… and more often going forward. I’m lying right now.

T2 – Thank you for the clarification regarding changing contracts around mid-stream. I supposed if people could change interest rates or late fees on a whim, we’d have chaos.

Jonathan – No contract pers se. I did work with them on one other project a couple of years ago so I figured things would be ok. Now that I think about it, last time I billed the end customer directly, otherwise I’m sure I would have realized this is a Grinder not a client back then. I’d like to thank Ron Lineboom for bringing the term Grinder to my vernacular. In case you missed it: https://magazine.creativecow.net/article/clients-or-grinders-understanding-the-three-market-types

Nick/Stephen – I have communicated with Grinder. He has calmed down now, so there is no longer the threat of being sued. He explained why he can’t pay me until his firm gets paid, but as we said his payment terms with his client are his and not mine.

Since there isn’t a contract I wonder if I can’t simply just walk away from this and if need be eat the $500 for the shoot? Maybe I can explain to him that I don’t accept those payment terms and that I will make the footage I shot available to him once his account is in good standing. That way he has to pay me for the shoot and I’ll be paid for the work I did so far and then everyone can go about with their merry little lives.

Am I nuts here or what? I suppose I could play by the Grinder’s rules and deliver this video and hope he is kind enough to pay me when his firm gets paid. Perhaps I’m making too much out of this. Would anyone shoot & edit and turn over a video with no payment up front and no set date for final payment? Man—I thought I was smarter than this!

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Thanks for the info guys–always a pleasure being here. I really need to participate more at the Cow instead of just reading.

Ok, back to the story.

After a careful email on my part I’ve diffused the situation to a more reasonable level of loathing for both parties. They are willing to pay me, but there is some mumbo jumbo about why they can’t pay me until the end customer pays them first. I think I get frustrated because I expect that other people are as prompt in paying hired hands I am. Unless we are talking a giant sum of money, I would never dream of paying people after I get paid. This isn’t a tiny company either and my thinking is that your lack of liquid working capital doesn’t necessitate me working without pay.

Mark is right. Mr. Big wants to keep his money parked and he doesn’t want me to bill the end client directly because the end client would then learn the amount this service is being marked up.

Perhaps I should re-invoice for the shoot with terms of Net 14 and add a note that late payment results in a weekly penalty of 20%. I’ll also make it clear that I won’t start the post on this until the shoot is paid for and I get either 1/3 or 1/2 of post upfront. That at least makes my terms somewhat clearly written out if things go off-track.

I really hate all of this. I should be doing something creative instead tracking down small amounts of money from toxic clients. I guess my time was due as I’ve been extremely fortunate with my clients always paying promptly up until now and certainly won’t associate with this client once the project wraps.

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Walter, I wasn’t very clear in my post–I have no intention of doing an end around in any way shape or form. I do not want to do business directly with the end customer. I truly just want to finish this project and leave it be and never look back.

[Jeffrey Krepner]

Amen to that. If I knew this place was so dickish I would have never agreed to work with them. Most of my clients pay net 30 or quicker, so this is new to me and like I said, I’ll never do work with them again.

Their client is happy with the video I produced so far and I’d like to complete the next (and final) video for them but the trick I’m trying pull off now is getting paid upfront to finish… oh and not get sued.

[Jeffrey Krepner]

First time chiming in on this particular COW forum, but to speak to the original poster–yes, it is worth it and here is why (or at least my thoughts as to why I jumped in.)

I bought a T2i instead of 7D or 5D though I could have afforded the higher priced models. My thinking is that all of this HDSLR stuff is happening so fast, my goal is going to be to buy quality support gear that will work with the next round of HDSLR or video cameras with full frame sensors (the new Panny and Sony or RED, etc.) without over buying on the camera portion today. I’d rather have $5K wrapped up in glass, quality shoulder rig, filters, etc, instead of spending $5k on a all in one camera that doesn’t carry over next year when something better comes out.

I bought a wonderful Cavision rig with follow focus, LCD swing away hood, and nice Zeiss (Nikon mount for full manual aperture ring) lenses. The camera only cost $900. Next year when the Nikon/Canon/Sony/Panny/Red full frame body with full manual controls, XLR ins, proper viewfinder, camera is released I should be able to transfer all of my existing gear to the new body and only be stuck with a super nice little DSLR camera as a B-Cam.

The cavision rig is $850, btw, so you don’t have to spend nearly $2K on other products to get what you want.

Good luck!
Jeff