[John Sharaf]

Chris,

It’s not a metter of “proper cable”, you only get one channel at a time out of the test spigot (Y, Pb, Pr) so what you’ve got is all you’re going to get. Sorry, but you’ll have to make good with B&W pic with visable TC. For color, you’ll need add’l monitor connected to HD-SDI spigot. The only way to get both is with internal downcovert card.

JS

[John Sharaf]

You can get viable time code out the test spiget, but must have a HD monitor capable of analog component input, like the Panasonic 8.4″.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Adam,

If you’re working on a NLE, the film origional, whilst shot at “true” 24fps, is converted to 23.97 when telecined. You can create “true” non-fractional speeds in all the cameras too, but be very careful, they won’t sync with the sound.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Harcharan,

Make sure your frequency setting on pg 4 of the menu under “options” is 59.94.

Best monitor for color correction is eCinema Display ot Cinetal, or broadcast CRT. Any other LCD monitor creates false brightness. The real problem is that standard def release (DVD), High Def and filmout all require different gamma and color space. You must coordinate your color correction with the finishing party, or better yet have them do it too, otherwise you’ll have no recourse for complaints.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Galen,

There is no such thing as 1080i/24p. When the HDX900 is set to recors at 1080/24 it writes progessive frames with “flags” just like a recording from telecine, where each progressive frame is repeated in a 2:3 pulldown cadence. NLE software can remove the extrda frames and integrate the resulting 24 frames per second into a 24fps timeline/project.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Nick,

Not exactly; the F900’s (Cine Alta) slow down the tapr when recording at 24 (or 25fps) and only write the 24 frames per second, unlike the Panasonic cameras which write the tape as if it’s the result of telecine to include the pulldown frames.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Ray,

I’ve had this problem before with Varicams, and always solved it by going back to factory set (Initialize) and then rebuilding my custom settings from there. I’ll bet anything it is operator error and advise you to start from scratch rather then risk money and humiliation by sending to service depot. You can find out quite easily by just re-initializing the camera. Good luck.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Ray,

Sometimes, and I’ve noticed this especially with the color LCD VF on my F900R, the brightness control on the viewfinder being too high obliterates the zebra pattern. Could this be the problem?

JS

[John Sharaf]

Despite what you’ve “heard”, 24p exactly imitates film motion, 30p has a progressive “film-like look” and does not give you “more of a film look than 24p”. In truth it gives you less of a film look than 24p. These are the facts supported by the laws of bio-physics.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Mark,

The “color of the Varicam” is an abstact term. The Varicam comes with matrix off and zeroed out, yielding a very bland and desaturated look. As you run up the dynamic range it gets more bland and less colorful. Some cameras like the Cine Alta have matrix tables with preset color looks, but the Varicam does not, so that if you want to build such a look you have to do so yourself (as I have done with mine), ideally withe DSC chart as I’ve described earlier in the thread.

JS