[Jen Musselman]

Hi Stan,

Thanks for your response and your help. (Can I just tell you how annoying it is to Google questions about Adobe products, and find that their forum posts don’t exist anymore?! Why couldn’t they have moved their forum or at least archived the threads?)

An Encore guidebook I have states unequivocally that “A video thumbnail button can only display the video from the timeline to which it is linked. You can’t link the button to one timeline and display the video from another.” So…. there’s that. Of course that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a trick out there, but I haven’t found it yet.

I did finally do the workaround that you described. I brought the six 15-second “chapter videos” into a video editor and composited them at the correct size on the menu background. Then resaved the new video as an MPEG-2, which is then used for the menu’s background video in Encore. Ditched the in-Encore video buttons and simply added subpicture frames around the six squares to create new “video buttons.” The quality of the video buttons is not great, given all the transcoding involved, but it’s not too bad and it gets the job done (the most important part!).

But if there is an actual Encore workaround that anyone knows, please post!

Thanks again for your help..

Jen

[Jen Musselman]

OK, thanks. My original blacks are hitting near 0, so I will try raising them a little.

This is just for YouTube and Facebook video. I guess it might be used elsewhere someday, but right now web distribution/sharing is all we’re doing.

Yes, the guide I found has a pretty good description of using the histogram to adjust the blacks and whites. No expert, but I think I get the basic concept.

-12 db is in the guide for my audio recorder too – I just didn’t know if that was a guideline for live capture or for a finished product. But sounds like that’s good to go with.

Thanks again for your help.

[Jen Musselman]

Can I ask you two more questions? First, if I layer the audio recorder tracks, what db level should I shoot for with the loudest material? I’ve never attempted that before so I’m just curious as to how loud it should be (so I know how many dupe tracks are needed).

And as far as the exposure – I found good directions online for using the FCP 3-way color corrector. The picture is underexposed and it’s the whites that need boosting. However, if I follow the directions online that advise boosting the whites to reach near the 100 level (which improves the picture a lot), I get an excess luma warning. I have to dial the white way back down, almost to the point of pointlessness, before the luma warning goes away. So my question is: how worried do I need to be about the luma warning?

Thanks so much for your help with this. I am learning!

[Jen Musselman]

I am back with my results!

Well, exposure was kind of a disaster. I did set a custom white balance, but unlike previous concerts, the house lights were kept on so there was not as much of a contrast between the house and the stage – and that kind of threw me off. I have been trying to learn how to set Final Cut Pro’s color corrector this morning in an attempt to better expose the image. It’s still not great, but I think I did improve the image. I’m thinking I should have just left the WB on auto, since I had the exposure on auto – wondering if that made everything worse.

And then there is the audio recorder. Also unlike every previous concert, the choir did not do an on-stage warmup before the concert, so I was not able to get an accurate level. The accompanist did help me get an idea by playing the piano for me ahead of time, but I was terrified of distortion and set a very conservative level. Well, the audio is audible but too soft. (But it DOES sound great! Such an improvement in clarity over the echo and audience noise captured by the shotgun mic.)

So now I’m trying to figure out if I should (or can) boost the audio levels of the recorder track (and not use the shotgun audio) or combine the recorder and shotgun mic tracks. The shotgun would boost the volume, but the clarity of the recorder is so much better – I hate to ruin it. What do you think?

[Jen Musselman]

I have figured out how to set the white balance to 3200 Kelvin. None of the presets are for “shooting from a dark audience into stage lights” so I’ll go with that for now. The picture seems very cool here in my studio but maybe it will work for the auditorium.

As far as the exposure: the camcorder has a feature called “exposure compensation.” Basically, if the automatic exposure isn’t right for a certain shot, you open the exposure panel and can touch a subject on the screen to force the automatic exposure to readjust. Alternately, you can also adjust the exposure manually at that point too, with values, which can be locked. And automatic exposure can also be re-engaged from this panel.

What I’m wondering: if the auto exposure is good at the wider shot, shouldn’t I just open the exposure panel and lock the exposure at that value, and then it will hold for the zoomed shots? I actually read similar advice on another forum. Is there a downside to doing this?

I forgot to mention: while I still am only using one camera, I am adding a separate digital audio recorder for this concert, which I believe you or another poster recommended. It will be set up on a tripod right in front of the choir. I’ll still use my shotgun mic but hopefully the recorder will capture clearer sound that bypasses most of the audience noise and echo. This is the test run though and I’m a little nervous about it!

[Jen Musselman]

Hi Mark,

The advice on the tripod made SUCH a difference! The external zoom controller was a game-changer. I can’t believe how much easier that makes everything. I am still struggling with working the rubberband-pan apparatus (it’s harder in tight situations), but when it works, it works much, much more smoothly than just using a hand. Then there was the tilt/balance issue. Apparently my tripod head model actually has a real issue with balance, so the problems I was having were normal (I found a review by a pro that described it). That said, I was able to better balance the camera so that it holds tilts and pans without me having to engage/disengage the locks all the time. Seriously, I have improved so much with the advice here!

Back to the current problem. The manual calls iris “aperture adjustment.” I have it set now so that the camcorder automatically adjusts aperture and shutter speed to obtain optimal exposure. You can also set the shutter speed manually (and the camcorder automatically sets aperture) or set the aperture manually (and shutter is set automatically). There is also a manual exposure option where you can adjust both manually as well as the gain. (I will now admit that this is the part of the camcorder that I least understand!) The manual lists available aperture value settings from F1.8 to F8.0.

I guess what I don’t understand is – would I need to manually adjust the aperture value every time I zoom in or out? Is that how it works? (Yikes – I can barely manage the zooming and panning themselves!)

I understand the concept of white balance and how to set it – the problem is, I don’t know how to set it for my current situation. Even if I set it manually before the concert, once the lights go down, the lighting will be completely different. So how can you set white balance manually in that situation?

The camcorder does have assignable buttons. A button can be set to jump to the White Balance panel, where you can switch between auto, a number of presets, or manually set the temperature. Another button can be set to Exposure, which I believe jumps to the panel where aperture/shutter/gain are all set manually. Are these the type of buttons you are talking about?

Thank you so much for helping me!

– Jen

[Jen Musselman]

Got the Varizoom – Wow! This little device is going to make my life much easier. Thank you so much for recommending it! And I got a long rubber band that probably will help a LOT.

Spent a good hour today trying to adjust the balance. Hopefully someone experienced can address the issues I ran into:

First, the tripod instructions say to align the camcorder lens with the “LENS” mark that is on the underside of the mounting plate. Do they mean the actual lens or the front of the lens hood? (The plate can’t go far enough to align with the front of the hood.)

Then I followed the directions for balancing the camcorder on the head – it says to loosen the tilt drag and lock and then slide the camcorder back and forth until you find the balance point where the head remains level under the load of the camcorder. This is impossible. The entire apparatus just wants to tilt backwards, even though I have the plate slid forwards as far as it will go. I figure I’m obviously doing something wrong here.

Then there is also a separate dial for the counterbalance system. Manual says: “To balance the off-centre weight of your equipment (the weight is off-centre when you tilt the camcorder), the head is provided with a spring-loaded counterbalance system.” There are three settings that correspond to different equipment weights. Nevertheless, the instructions don’t work: it says to tilt the camcorder forward, and if it stays put, that’s the right setting. But the camcorder tips backwards on all three settings. And I should probably be using the setting for 5.5 lbs, but the setting for 11 lbs actually works better. I can only get the camcorder to stay level by using the 11 lb setting.

Even with all these problems, I can get the tilt to stay put without the lock if I use a very strong drag. But whenever I zoom in, the camcorder always tips up a tiny bit before holding (without the lock). I have tried moving the plate back and forth on the camcorder base but I can’t get rid of that popup (and I know it’s probably tied to the problems above).

Sigh! What I am missing here? Do I need a longer plate? Is that the problem? Please forgive the long post. I’m just super excited about the zoom controller and rubber band, and I really want to get the balance thing right too. I can see how the camera could potentially hold the position without the tilt lock but I can’t quite “lock” this down (pun intended). Thanks to anyone who has insight.

[Jen Musselman]

[Mark Suszko] ” It’s also not clear to me that you have an actual fluid-head pan head, or just a spring-tension/friction head – that’s kind of important.”
As far as I know it is a fluid head. This is it:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/683559-REG/Manfrotto_504HD_504HD_Fluid_Video_Head.html

The plate attaches to the camera with a screw. The plate is fairly long compared to the camera and I have it positioned somewhat forward so that the battery release on the bottom is accessible. You slide the plate from the back straight onto the head until it clicks, and at that point it can only slide backwards and forwards. There is another lock that locks it in place after that.

If you have a tripod head you recommend, please let me know.

I have purchased the Varizoom VZ Rock. Next concert is Thursday so I will practice with it as soon as it comes.

Thank you so much for the tips on balancing – I will do my best.

And I found some long rubber bands. I’m hopeful that even if I can’t figure out the balancing issue, the advantages of the Varizoom and the rubber band may provide some improvement at least. Fingers crossed!

[Jen Musselman]

Thanks so much for all the replies!

Unfortunately, a second camera and/or a 4K camera are not possible right now. (Also, since this is gratis work, I generally avoid most advanced editing.) As for the mic, that’s the least of my worries right now – the Rode does seem to get the job done – but I do think a separate audio recorder on the stage will be possible in the future for some concerts. And I will try out the rubber band trick, which I have tried in practice but haven’t had the nerve to do at a live event.

[Mark Suszko] “You want more spring tension and more fluid drag to start with, so you can hold the shot without using the locks.”

Can you elaborate on this? Right now I have the tilt tension set about medium and the pan tension very loose. Should these be set differently? I’m just not sure what you mean. When I had the pan tension tighter, it seemed like my movements were even more stuttered.

[Mark Suszko] “Be sure the camera is balanced to naturally return to the right level, hands-off, and you won’t spend all your muscle energy holding the shot. With a well-balanced camera and head, you only need fingertip pressures to hold a shot or initiate a move.”

Clearly this is an area I need to work on. I thought I set the balance correctly when I first got the tripod, but I confess to only minimally understanding how to do. it. If you can give me any reference or links to help with this, I’d definitely appreciate it.

[Mark Suszko] “Pan moves will improve with added mass on the camera and head to dampen shake, as well as with using longer arms. You may consider getting a heavier tripod and head than the camera needs, just for the stability.”

How would I obtain more mass on the camera? I’m not sure a heavier tripod would help – the camera is already pretty small (about 3 pounds with the Rode) and the tripod is rated to hold up to 16.5 pounds.

[Mark Suszko] “If the camera has LANC connection ability you want to add an aftermarket zoom controller to the arm of the pan head. “

I will look into the zoom controller immediately – I didn’t know that kind of thing existed! – because I have thought if I could just move that zoom rocker to a better location, things might improve! Is there a particular controller that you recommend?

Again, thank you so much for all your help! Obviously I have areas to work on. 🙂

[Jen Musselman]

Yes, it does seem to be a problem with Quicktime.

I started a thread on the Adobe forums too, which generated a number of responses, including one from a guy who claims to have a fix. You could try his idea. I haven’t, because Encore continued to work on my Tiger computer. I’ll try it on the Leopard one in the future when Adobe puts out some bug fixes. They still have not put out an update to address this problem.

Here is the link to the thread:
https://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c063cf3/18
It’s in the Adobe Forums-Encore-Flash Export forum. I see that just today there is a post from another person with the same exact problem! Wish Adobe would address this already, it’s been months since it was complained about.