Mick Haensler
Forum Replies Created
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I showed the comparison to my prefered shooter who has used the Panny on a few productions and loved it. His response to the shootout was…”Well the Panny footage doesn’t look baaaaddd”.
snickersnicker
This changes everything…..
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
[Craig Seeman] “Make absolutely sure you don’t have any ground issues or hum showing up in strange places.
“The studio” has been a commercial/project recording studio for the past 5 years with seperate and conditioned power, no hums or buzzes to speak of.
Set up a Mac in your home. You won’t regret it. Or maybe get a MacBookPro you can take home (and out on shoots with the camera).
I’ve been considering a MacBookPro to take on shoots and back up footage, don’t think the budget will withstand and extra $2000 though.
What are you doing specifically in designing an IT workflow given that’s the workflow for the EX1.
The MacPro will only be handling creative tasks, mostly video and sound design. I have a 16 track Tascam SX-1 Digital Audio Workstation for straight recording, it outputs broadcast wav files which should be compatible with any software. Office duties and Internet will be handled by a couple of trusty PC’s already in use for such tasks.
Are you handling access to the files through a server of some sort for example?
No, don’t have a need yet.
How are you handling data archival?”
This remains to be seen. For the time being, I’ll back up to DVD-DL seeing as an 8 gig SxS card will fit perfectly on one. We’ll see what the third party developers come up with this year.
Great questions. How are you handling these issues, I’m open to any and all suggestions. Man I love The Cow…you just can’t beat peer input.
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
[Craig Seeman] “Nope. There’s an XDCAM Transfer Utility that one downloads from the Sony site for Final Cut Pro. It works with the EX1 as well as XDCAM disc cameras.”
Once again thanks, you’ve been a great help. Next time I’m in NYC I’ll take ya out for a cold one or two….alright three then.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to set up the Mac system until the new studio is finished. I’m hauling boxes into storage right now in preperation for the painter tomorrow. I spent 3 hours with the cabinetmaker last night designing the workstations. It’s going to be a busy month.
FYI…. by using a local cabinetmaker to build the work areas I’m saving major $$$$$, and I get exactly what I want!!!
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
Thanks Craig, I’m assuming by Sony transfer utility you mean the clip browsing software that came with the camera. As I don’t have my Mac yet I’ve been using the software on a PC laptop just to be able to view some clips. On the PC version it doesn’t rewrap the clips as .mov files, I think that’s what was confusing me. I take it the browsing software does this rewrap automatically in the Mac version as I could find nothing in the software manual eluding to it.
I tell ya, switching to Mac and shooting tapeless is making me feel like a big dummy. Glad I’ve got some time for training set aside.
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
[Don Greening] “I’m using a dual core 3 Ghz Mac Pro 8 Gigs RAM, X1900XT grfx card. XDCAM native .mov files will play just fine at full frame 1920×1080 using Quicktime as a stand alone app. FYI the fact that I’ve got 3 750gig internal media drives configured as RAID 0 might also have something to do with full frame playback. I’m also watching playback on an Apple 30″ Cinema display, which is even harder on the grfx card.”
Hey Don
Your machine has the exact same specs as the one I’m about to order except for the 8 gigs ram, I’ll only have 4. As I’m brand new to Mac, I
don’t really understand the difference between viewing from the FCP timeline and “QT as a standalone app”. Could you elaborate?? You also say your using “native .MOV files”, how are you reencoding? The files are coming into the Sony browser software as MP4 files. Also, I’ll be using 2 Dell 24″ displays, one for editing, the other receiving component out from the Kona card. Anyone forsee any issues.Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
[Craig Seeman] “While editing with FCP 6.0.2 on my PPC G5 Dual 2.3 is a breeze, playing back the same files (XDCAM converted to mov with xfer software) is slow at full frame size. 720p60 plays at 10fps (Use Play All Frames in Quicktime 7.3.1).”
So if I understand you, your not getting full playback on your system?? I’ll be editing on a dual quad core 3.0 with 4 gigs of ram outputting from a Kona card. I really hope I can get full frame full motion. I haven’t ordered the system but will be in the next few days. I need to call my sales rep at Promax and find out.
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
Great stuff… I went out New Years Day and shot some bald eagles and red shouldered hawks. It was my first day with the EX so I was shooting auto just to get used to it. The footage is in a word “AMAZING”… I don’t have the time to post it right now, I’m swamped trying to finish up at my job before the new studio opens.
And thanks for your workflow input on my other thread.
Mick Haensler
Higher -
Thanks for the warm welcome Tim. I will gladly keep the forum updated to the progress. I was even thinking of possibly doing a blog about the experience. It surprises me how little information on the business end of things there is. Just look at the number of posts here vs the the technical forums. I look forward to being an active part of this community.
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media (website to be launched January of ’08) -
First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Mick Haensler, and after years of lurking here I finally joined a few weeks ago. This is my first post.
This thread hits home for me. I’ve been working a corporate job for the last three years doing everything from shooting and editing, to event light and sound design, and even DJing on some events. I work an average of 62 hours a week with hardly any weekends free. This past summer I hit the burnout wall. After months of deliberation, financial figuring, market analysis and so on, I have decided to go back to working for myself out of my home. We have a large historic home that my wife already works out of. And although our neighborhood is zoned residential, my wife has had her practice here for almost 10 years with no issues. Most of the neighbors consider her business an asset to the community. We have informally polled them as to our plans for my work and all have been supportive. So even if your home isn’t zoned for business, there are ways, albeit a little risky, to get around things. If you keep yourself low on the radar, it’s been my experience most Zoning officials couldn’t care less what you do as long as you don’t draw attention to yourself. Once they get a complaint they will come a knockin’.
We have a 16 track project recording studio already in the home that will be reworked as a full multimedia studio with a new dual quad mac and 48 inches of HD display. We will be shooting XDCAM HD. Now here is the thing.
My wife and I have no children, no debt, lots of equity to tap, low overhead, and a not to shabby investment portfolio. We have run the numbers and know what I need to make. I have already secured 3 months of work that is willing to wait for me to jump. I have joined the Chamber of Commerce as well as utilized all my contacts from my current job to get the word out. There is hardly any competition in my area except for wedding videographers(no offense, I’ve certainly done my fair share in the last few years). In other words, we have planned extensively and are going into this with eyes wide open. I have no need to make a ton of money, although I won’t turn it down!!!
This is not my first sojourn into self employment and the biggest thing I have learned is LOW OVERHEAD!! I have no need for a “proper” office. My only fear is that I am not the most disciplined person in the world and am not great at the paper work side of things. Therefore, my wife and I will be hiring someone to help on that end of both businesses. We are fortunate in that we live close to a major business school so eager young undergrads willing to work cheap are easy to find, and love getting the entrepreneurial experience.
A home based studio is certainly not for everyone and isn’t feasable for most. But it fits the bill for me. I look forward to keeping this forum updated on the progress. I will be leaving my current job at the end of January ’08.
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media