Phil Balsdon
Forum Replies Created
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I’ve done this in reverse successfully using the camera in a PAL environment to create NTSC DVCAM 4:3 so I assume it will work in reverse.
You need to set the camera to shoot 1080i 50 (because PAL is 25 fps and 50 fields per sec) then set the camera to export DVCAM 4:3 which should be a SD image at 50 fields per sec.
This I did on a shoot in Australia with a locally sourced Sony Z1P for National Geographic Television (shooting 1080i 60 and exporting DVCAM 4:3). Response from USA was very positive they had no problems the pictures at all.
All that said it is the only time I’ve worked with this camera and otherwise found it an extremely inconvenient tool to work with in a predominantly run and gun handheld situation moslty under available light.Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
Use MPEG Streamclip to save the M2T files to media drive as Apple HDV 720p (24 or 25 etc) Quicktime files. They can then be loaded direct into FCP project (use Easy Set Up HDV 720p (24 or 25 etc). MPEG Streamclip is a free download from Apple.
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A couple of years back I was at a 10th annivesary for a production company. This company operated solely with freelance cameramen and editors so we rarely met. One particular cameraman turned up later in the evening and was introduced to everyone, in unison all the editors said “So you’re “D o P” (Name witheld)” and proceeded to bombard him with complaints about his habit of not reseting the heads.
The producer eventually calmed the situation, took the editors and the cameraman to the edit suite and showed him the problems he caused. Despite 30 years experience and being a very good shooter he was totally unaware of the problem.
Take your cameraman to the edit suite and show him the problem.
Unfortunately these days anyone can buy a camera and run around shooting. Companies seem to think it is unnecessary to properly train operators and operators think they are beyond or often are unaware of the basics. Every cameraman should spend time watching some of his footage being edited to learn how he can improve things and every editor should spend some time in the field to appreciate shooting is often far from a controlled environment with coffee machine down the hallway when you need to take a break. -
This was a problem on SP Beta and earlier cameras. Often the cameraman would put the camera into “Save” mode if there were extended periods of time between takes. This saved battery power and head wear on the VCR. Buttoning on with the heads in “Save” would cause a timecode break. The solution was to put the camera back into “Standby” mode and then hit the Return button on the lens before rolling the next take. This would then replay the last few seconds of previous take and reset the camera to the last timecode frame. Sometimes this was impossible if you had no control over the event you were shooting. Most new cameras are capable of compensating for this situation.
However as a cameraman I was always taught to; a) leave enough run in time for the editor anyway and b) as you are very aware as an operator when “Save” start up happens as you can hear it, to leave about 8 – 10 seconds if possible.
I would consider it very arrogant and stupid of any cameraman, made aware of this issue, to refuse to adjust his style. I would also wonder about the editor who considered himself high enough up the chain that he had the authority to fire the cameraman, unless he was also the producer or director. -
Could be to do with Beta SP and all other PAL except DV CAM is Upper Field dominant. DV CAM is lower field dominant (who invented that one? As if there aren’t enough incompatibility issues already).
Nattress has a plug in that fixes this. -
Download them from the Apple website using the machine you used to post this message. Burn them to CD and then load them onto your edit machine from the CD.
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
I bought the G4 733 as a used item to learn FCP. As a cinematographer I heard “we’ll fix it in post” too often and often wrongly quoted on the set. It really is important these days for DP’s to understand all that can be done in post to enhance their work.
I did a few small jobs and nothing that required huge renders, so yes sometimes a minute of video would require 10+ minutes to render with just a few transitions or a filter or two applied.
About a year down the track I got my first big job and upgraded to a G5 2.7 and instantly cut my coffee intake. My advice to editors with G4s who charge by the hour for their work would be don’t upgrade to a G5 you will probably halve your income. (I don’t see any facility for smileys on this forum).Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
Could try iStopMotion.
I’ve used this successfully but you need to firewire out of the camera into laptop then set your frame rate and record direct to the hard drive and export as Quicktime.Demo and samples available here; https://www.istopmotion.com/
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
My G4 733 1Gb RAM with OS 10.3.9 ran FCP 4.5 and DVD Studio Pro 3 without a hitch (DV video). You may find it will only support a 120Gb external firewire hard drive though (or only see 120Gb on a larger drive).
Now running FCP 5 on G5 2.7 I don’t see any of the frequent 10 minute render times that allowed me a coffee break on the G4 733.Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production
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Try running a head cleaning tape through the DSR-11. If the tape was old and reused many times as you described chances are it was shedding oxide and sounds as if it has clogged your heads. With the cost of tape stock so low it really isn’t worth recycling them.
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production