[Rob Mcwilliams]

Thank you much.

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Thanks.

Do tell how to select square pixels?

[Rob Mcwilliams]

I’d love to shoot HD, but record times are an issue.

If no HD then at least 16×9. Is there such a beast?

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Jared:

What kind of camera are you using? Are you using preset? Is flolight your only source or are you adding any other lights?

Dumb question, but have you white balanced with the flolight on? If so, what does it do to the BG.

As you said earlier, correcting with a gel cuts down transmission quite a bit. So 1/8 to 1/4 is about it.

Rob

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Aaron:

I throw my two cents in. See below.

The company I work for has committed to a job in which I will be required to produce from beginning to end several episodes of a brand new show for nationwide cable broadcast. I had no say in the matter and, in fact, I was just informed about this project this week. I have never done this before and don’t know where to even begin. Who is going to produce? WHo will direct? Who is going to write? Is the show on location? In studio? Is there talent? How many episodes? How long is each epsiode? Will they be strictly broadcast or also be webcast? Will there be graphics, music, announcer, etrc.

I have a strong feeling that the equipment we have is inadequate for this type of work. I will list what I have below. I’m confident enough with my storytelling, shooting, and editing abilities that I think I can manage that end with a fair level of competency. But I really struggle with formats and equipment…the technical gunk. Before you get involved in technical gunk, you REALLY need to find out what your doing? Also, are you talking MSNBC, CNBC, etc or regional cable?

Here’s what I have at my disposal.

One – Sony PD-170 Camera (Mini-DV/DVCAM)
One – Sony PDX-10 Camera (Mini-DV/DVCAM)
Two – Sony UWP-C1 Wireless Mic’s
One – Sony DSR-11 Deck (Mini-DV/DVCAM)
One – Mac Pro OS X (10.4.9) 2 x 3 GHz Dual-Core Xeon 750 GB Hard Drive
Final Cut Pro Studio 1

First off, I see no mixer, no lights, no grip equipment. Hard drive seems way too small for what you are contemplating. Even discussing equipment without a working knowledge of project is kind of useless at this point.

My boss asked if it was possible to do everything Mini-DV and have a local TV station transfer to BETA for broadcast. Is that possible? What kind of quality do I sacrifice by doing that? I don’t have a budget yet, but I imagine it’s very small or nothing. And I’m almost positive I will not be able to hire anyone to help with production. Going from MiniDV to Beta isn’t the best scenario IMO.

Also, two quick broadcast editing questions:

1. When color correcting for broadcast, do I just need to make sure that everything stays between 0 and 100? If you mean blacks at 7.5 and peaks at 100 ire, yes! For braodcast you’ll need a waveform/vector to ensure your keeping everything in spec. Chroma, phase, clips, etc.

2. When mixing audio for broadcast, what level should I peak at? -12db, 0db, -1db?
Always set tone at 0db and keep peaks there as well. Of course when recording to MiniDV you always want to make sure there is plenty of headroom as well. What we to is record bars and tone to 0 db then back off to -3db for recording audio. But again, were putting the cart before the horse when you don’t know what the project even entails.

You might want to tell the boos you will need to bring in an outside company who can bring this all together. Sacrificing quality and reputation in the name of profit isn’t the right way to go in my opinion.

Good luck.

[Rob Mcwilliams]

yes watch Home and Garden TV. This isn’t Home Depot forum.

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Sorry to jump in late.

Put a speaker phone on the interviewee’s lap.

I do these all the time for the networks. We use a JK audio hybrid with comtek IFB.

But for the low budget or someone who doesn’t own phone gear, just put a speaker phone near intview subject. When doing this method, keep in mind that interviewer must stay silent during answers and make sure interviewee not start answer until interviewer is done. And, when using speaker phone, interviewee’s tend to talk louder for some reason, so make sure they are hip that they should talk in a normal tone.

Hope this helps.

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Wow:

What great posts.

This how these forums should work.

Here is a little trick we use to ensure we’re recording with TOD timecode. After setting TC’s, and reset control track to 00:00:00 and you’ve rolled bars and tone and checked playback, switch display to control track. That way when you glance at deck you will know your recording. And you’ll know exactly where you are on the master.

Control doesn’t budge unless your rolling.

[Rob Mcwilliams]

John:

Sorry top jump so late but I have been on the road the last month.

I own an HVR and what I do (if I’m OMB) is use two custom made XLR’s and put the recievers in a fanny pack and run the cables up to the camera. Having them in a fanny pack you can rotate it to the front so they are facing your subject and your body won’t interfere with the signal.

Good luck

[Rob Mcwilliams]

Newbee:

Are you shooting from a fixed position or handheld?

Hard wire is the best option but (ONLY) if you can dress the cable and keep it out of harms way. You have to take liability into consideration whenever your running cables in public. People tend forget the business side of things. People do sue over getting tripped.

If your hand held, then wireless is your only option. A good affordable choice is the Sennheiser ew100ENGG2. They have 1440 channels so frequency issues are less. Meaning you’re sure to find a frequecy that works. If you go with this option remember to carry adpators. Line to mic pads, XLR barrels (male and female) and 1/4-inch to XLR’s (male and female) as lots of mixers have their XLR outs tied up (or they don’t have them) and the only option sometimes is 1/4-inch out put. Oh and remember to get the pre-amp feed, so you have clean audio.

I have been shooting for over 20 years and have always been able to do wireless in most these situations. Another quick option (if mixer won’t give you a feed) is to hang a dynamic mic off a monitor in the room. Not great, but it works.