[Mark D’agostino]

Thanks Todd. I’ll check it out.

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Hi Todd,
Did you have a chance to test the Magic Bullet product? Which suite is it?

Thanks!

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Interesting. I’ll give that a try and let you know.
Presently I adjust a clip’s level either by simply raising it and/or adding compression and then copy that clip’s audio attributes to all the appropriate clips in that track in the sequence. It works beautifully but is an extra step I think should not be necessary.
Thanks for the input!

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

An engineer explained it to me years ago. It has something to do with the variac’s flat sine waves or something of that nature. I’m no engineer and forget the details of the explanation except that it works and that however variacs work they don’t cause filament buzz. I’ve tried pepper pots and demo-ed various other industry dimmers over the years and all created the same buzz much to the dismay of the sales reps trying to convince me otherwise. The only time I use an Omni these days is as a location back light with a 420W lamp when space is cramped.

By the way, I also broke in with a D-Vision, (spent a few years with Media100&844X) and am now FCP. One more sidetrack, I just got back from visiting my son in Baltimore…nice city…a lot warmer than Syracuse, NY.

Mark

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Bob,
I’ve been using variacs from Staco out of Dayton, OH, (https://www.stacoenergy.com/variable_transformers.htm), for over 20 years on a variety of fixtures and I’ve never has a lamp buzzing issue even with the Omnis. The downside is the weight but they are the only quiet solution I’ve found for all instruments.

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Robyn,
I tend to leave the half shutter in for time lapse. My reasoning is that if I am shooting a photograph and the subject is moving there will be less blur at a 60th of a second than there would be at a 30th and the same holds true for a frame of video. This is probably not critical if time lapsing a flower blooming but probably helps with faster action being captured.

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Hi Bob,
We actually did do a test flight and things for that looked fine. Here’s the “oops” part though. For the actual flight the client rented an HD zoom lens. We swapped lenses. The diameter of the HD lens was too large for the Tyler mount piece attached to the rods that helps stabilze the lens. We tried to rig something and had to fly and that’s when we had the problem. I’ve since learned that one should use the shortest, (physical length), lens possible or even better, a prime. Also the added lens support is critical. This was the first time in 20 years we flew without our own lens. Fortunately we were able to fix the vibrations in post. Thanks for your input though.

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Thanks for the reply Jeremy,
On the 900 the meters can be switched to 1/2 or 3/4. However, channels 3/4 are automatic levels and cannot be adjusted. Given that I can look at 1/2 and 3/4 separately I would have thought they’d be independent of each other so I would not be seeing a “mixing” effect.

I have been boosting in FCP but since we’re so careful to set levels in the field I guess I expected the process to work properly in the flow to fcp and not have to employ a work around to boost. I’m going to contact Panasonic to see if they have an answer.

Thanks again!

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Hi Goran,
I took Jeff’s advice and purchased the cable, (and a backup). That did the trick, (thanks again Jeff). The connection is extremely reliable and we have not had ANY issues with the firestore not “rolling” since. We do still cover both ends with gaffer tape and always will. The link to the site for the cable is: https://www.angledcables.com/firewire-angled-6-to-angled.html . I’m still a bit nervous using the firestore on fast action handheld stuff and do always record to tape for safety and archive.
Mark

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com

[Mark D’agostino]

Goran,

To control start/stop for the FS100 from the camera go into the system settings menu, option mode, 1394 control, select “both”.

Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com