[Leo Ticheli]

Yes, I still use small Moles for background lighting when I want it to have a nice warm look.

I must confess I’d love to have a bunch of very small HMI’s; they simply cost too much! When we need things we don’t own, we rent.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Divas are absolutely brilliant. Don’t know what you’re comparing them to, because I find them very light-weight and easy to rig. I’ve heard stories about the older ones having ballast troubles, but I’ve never had a Kino Flo failure in the several years I’ve owned them. I actually much prefer the built-in ballasts to having them all over the floor.

Even a 400 Diva has not enough punch to key a subject in front of a daylight window; I use the Mole Biax Eight for those shots, or a Chimera on an HMI. I’ve got several Diva 200’s that I find very versatile, and fine for soft kicks. Kino has some new fixtures with more punch.

A 400 HMI and a Chimera is a tough combination to beat, but it costs considerably more and the soft box takes up a lot more space than a Kino. Still the most beautiful key, in my opinion.

Tungsten has had it’s day, at least for me, except in the studio and for special location shots. Too hot. Too heavy. Too power-hungry. Wrong color temperature and practically worthless with enough blue gel to go to daylight.

Good shooting!
Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

The net won’t work because his DP is demanding wide depth of field.

Personally, I detest such shots where the background is in sharp focus, but perhaps there is some reason for it that trumps cinematic beauty.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Shame on me! And, Robert Goodman please forgive me!

Robert’s book is an absolute must-have and should be issued with every VariCam sold.

Thanks, John; hope to see you again soon.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

There is little doubt that Safari is trouble-prone, but we have never had a problem downloading software from DeckLink using Safari.

Best regards,
Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Thanks, Walter,
I think that clears up what you meant by “test.” I thought I remembered that you said you had trouble installing the card.

Sorry you couldn’t do the install; one must remember that thousands are quite successfully using DeckLink cards on a daily basis.

For those who don’t know, I’m a host of the DeckLink Forum here at the Cow. My own experiences with DeckLink and Black Magic have been quite different from Walter’s. I’ve not used the Kona 2 card, but I’m confident it’s a good solution. I like AJA; good company and I use a few of their products, all of which have been excellent.

Best regards,
Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

What tests did you perform?

What model cards from BM did you actually test?

What do you mean, exactly, by, “it just performed better?”

Best regards,
Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Hi Bob,
Yes, you’ve got to cut the key light off the net.

I like the ND gel idea; since there is no window behind the subject, maybe a large piece of glass would work.

Best regards,
Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Time of day. Shoot at Magic Hour and you can make your key a little softer as well.

I would suggest a big black net, perhaps a 12′ x 12′, but your requirement for deep depth of field, makes that impossible.

If you can’t lower the level of the background, you’ve got to raise the foreground level; that means a big HMI, say a 12 or 18 K.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

The Ouantel Editbox is an NLE. It’s slow and buggy as hell, but it’s still just an NLE.

This still makes no difference, unless, of course, they don’t have a DVCPro HD deck.

Good luck,
Leo