John Sharaf
Forum Replies Created
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For film-style PAL shooting, set the systems frequency at 60 Hz, the frame rate at 25 fps and the shutter at 180 degrees. All will be mellow!
JS
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Mike,
I don’t know but your questions really reveal that you might be in over your head; the lens has little if nothing to di with “film liik”. The real distinction in the lenses is that there are shorter, lighter, wider lenses (11x) which are more consusive to hand held documentary style and then there are longer, heavier lenses (21x) which are more appropriate to tripod use as in theatrical projects. There are further distinctions for “cine” style lenses which offer larger nomenclature for a camera ass’t to see, less breathing and no built in servo motor, as well as longer turning ratio to focus, all of which make the lens more filmlike in operating style.
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Kevin,
Travelling in this post 9/11 era is even more daunting than before. The ploriferation of Betacam shooters in all markets large and small, the expense of shipping excess baggage and many other reasons have limited such excursions.
When traveling on airplanes (I presume) you must know the weight limits involved (they differ slightly by carrier) to avoid even higher charges. You must pack your cases so the the TSA inspecors can open and close them with out everything falling out. You cannot lock them, but I usuall tape some zip-ties to the case and ask the inspectors to seal them that way after inspection, because I can’t tell you how easily they can open and spill in transit.
It’s also common for some cases to go missing or be delayed, so I often split critical things like batteries and tapes into seperate cases to minimize partial loss problems.
As far as lighting equipment, it’s important to try and plan what type of situations you’ll encounter and pack appropraitely. Myself, I consider HMI’s to be the most useful, because of their efficiency, small profile and daylight color balance (which can easily be converted to tungsten with gel), but because of the reliability factor, I always pack HMI’s like Noah’s Arc – two at a time. This way I’ll most likely have at least one that works. Special care should be taken to bubble wrap for rough airport handleing.
There is some disput about the best way to carry the camera; some prefer to carry it in a soft case as hand carry and stash in the overhead, but some commuter planes are two small for this. The alternative is to use the full on shipping case and put it in the cargo hold. The issue here is what do you do with the large case once on location. If it’s in your rental car/van it takes up valuable space. sometimes you can leave it in your hotel room if you’re overnighting.
I’ll always bring the soft case for the camera too, to protect and carry the camera on location. I’ll often pack tape stock inside while it’s in shipment or hand carry it with other fragiles like my wide angle lens.
Like all things production related, you’ll descover overtime and with various experiences, your own methods and habits regarding travel, which usually will continue to evolve as changes in your kit, job requirements and airline regulations do too.
JS
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Joni,
Congrats on you choice of Varicam. The fact that you have so many questions tells me your mind is expanding on all the possibilities the system offers!
The 12fps thing is simple; you don’t need to correct the speed to get the blurry look you’re after; only if you want to compress the action to “speed it up”. I don’t really know why anyone would do that.
Just remember, for simplicity, when you do plan to apply FRC effects, keep all the shots at the same off-speed on seperate roles. This will make the importing easier.
Good luck,
JS
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Mike,
Sounds like youur interested in buying one! I wouldn’t worry about it becoming obscelete, as far as SD goes. Perhaps Panasonic will choose to create a lead free model for European sales (if they feel there’s a significant market for it there), but the real question is how long will standard def remain with us (you). It’s undeniable that HD is on the way, there’s no turning back, and any documentary producer must think seriously of protecting their investment in current productions by shooting HD.
The Varicam is the ideal camera and the DVPRO100 format very condusive to low cost native HD editing and storage. In the mean time, the footage is easily downconverted for SD use while protecting the future sales and use (and even cinema release) with high resolution, wide screen and 24p film look.
I know it’s probably a matter of money (it usually is!) but one must seriously weigh the expense of purchasing an SDX900, glass and edit deck vs. a Varicam, lens and 1200A deck; it’s probably more than double, but I’d suggest the useful life is also more than double!
JS
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Mike,
If your specifications are professional quality 16×9 format and 24p frame rate, then you are limited to full sized cameras like the SDX900, XDCAM, IMX, new Digibeta or even a Varicam or Cine Alta (and use downconverted master). Unless you are familiar with using these sized cameras you will be handicaped by the presures involved in the run and gun situations you describe. If you were familiar with this type of camera you’d know that it is designed for just this type of work! It would be worth considering some practice with the camera before the actual production begins.
JS
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Jeff,
Your reply begs the question; how are you able to provide dead sync in the “H” camera without the extra board and power issues?
JS
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Leo,
So, of course you knew about the two frame offset!
Because in my shop we’re editing long form documentaries, where we often add materials as we go along, we leave the origional offset throughout, so that there there is consistancy!
Others must make an informed decision about when to correct the sync; but be aware that at some point it must be done!
Regards,
JS
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I’m suprised that Leo doesn’t know about this!
The Varicam does record the audio two frames early; this is because the compression carried out on the picture requires so much number crunching and therefore time.
The correct workflow is to ignore this offset until you’re completed editing and then make the two frame correction.
The new “H” model provides an option to put the sound in dead sync, but this does create potential problems when mixing footage with “V” or “F” models, be forewarned. The menu setting is in the VTR page!
JS
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Anecdotal evidence not withstanding, Panasonic must have suffered some damage to CCD’s (lit pixels) in shipment of cameras to the states that led them to change to boat shipments. Fact of the matter is that I too have shipped my Varicams (and Betacams) on airplanes many times with out damage, but I must admit it does cause some concern, especially on long trips such as to and from the Hawaiian islands!
JS