Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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With the way rates are falling, I wouldn’t do this unless it would be booked a minimum of 100 days per year. Anything less than that and you probably won’t stay in business long enough to amortize the cost.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[David Bauman] “Thank you for the tips. I wish someone had told me all of this earlier. I’m using FCP 7 which I know is also fairly prosumer, it took my footage and adapted it to HDV 720p30. Everything looks good for the web, because a copy of all of this will be sent to the web. But when it’s full screened on a computer, some of the graphics titles get messed up and the footage looks a little grainy. I don’t remember the original settings of the camera, but it certainly wouldn’t have been progressive.
All that being said, is there a particular kind of camera you would advise purchasing for future projects?
My superiors also wish there to be four 40 minute videos on one DVD. I am assuming this is not possible, or else not possible without losing tons of quality?”
HDV is a compressed format. If your a Final Cut user one of the best low loss codecs you can use is already on your system, Apple ProRes 422.
If your using FCP, you should transcode your source footage to Apple PorRes 422 (standard ProRes, not ProRes HQ), and edit in a ProRes timeline, rendering in ProRes as well. Then output that timeline as a self-contained Quicktime movie without recompressing it. Take that to Compressor and use it to make your mpeg2 files for DVD use, and to output your desired format for the web. For use in DVD Studio Pro you can either use the Compressor presets for Best 90 minute DVD, which will look decent, or you can use the inspector to modify the presets for a little better quality if your familiar with Compressor/DVDSP workflow. There is a limit on how much you can jack up the bit rate on DVD’s, and there is some debate Constant bitrates, vs Variable bitrates. You should run your own tests and see what works best for your footage.You can get 160 minutes on a DVD, but the bitrate will have to be much lower than it would for 60 minutes. When you get to that level of compression, it does drop the quality. And of course keeping the recompression to a minimum, and staying away from lossy editing codecs in your workflow will help preserve quality if you need to cram a lot on one disc. I suppose you have to judge it with your audience, and source material in mind. Even at that level of compression, it would still look better than the best quality VHS.
As for cameras, I wouldn’t know whats best for your situation. If you have a lot of motion in what you generally shoot, avoid CMOS image sensors. If the majority of your work is for DVD, and occasionally the web, consider sticking with 720 cameras. Given similar budgets, a better quality 720 format camera might be a better deal, than a lessor quality 1080 camera. That extra frame dimension is meaningless for for DVD, and probably the same for web use.
Some of that saved money could go for other items to make your projects look better like lights, grip and support equipment, quality mics, etc.
Go for progressive, over interlaced unless you have a compelling reason to shoot interlaced. Interlacing is a form of compression and a necessity for some deliveries, but not DVD or web. Shoot 29.97 fps, and avoid the trendy film frame rate of 24fps. Despite what the hipsters are saying, more frames per second equals more quality. Period. 24fps is a form of compression. Don’t fall for the hype.
Given a budget, my preference would be to buy one better camera, instead of two mid-line cameras, unless there was a compelling reason to have two cameras. If that is the case, at least get two matching cameras.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Probably not the best forum for this question.
Perhaps Field Production forum, or brand specific for cameras you might be interested in.
That said, best camera, is like asking whats the best house, or best car.
Whats best for you is hard to determine without knowing what your intended use, and experience is.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[David Bauman] “So I’ve begun a project filming in HD with two HD cameras, one being the Sony NEX VG10 and the secondary, the Canon 7D. After compressing all the footage, it lost quality of course. Nothing too serious until I put it in full screen mode. Everyone has told me this always happens with HD. Yet when you watch big name movies, all of it looks like it was shot in something greater than standard definition.
This is obviously a very amateur question, but I was wondering how to get the best footage when you have a lot of footage to shoot (ie more than 40 minutes) and you want to put it onto DVD for commercial use? Is there just no point in purchasing HD cameras?
My footage just doesn’t look very professional after compression, to my mind. I’ve read about softening techniques and such, but I feel kind of like I’ve wasted a lot of time and money on these cameras, which show great footage before compression and then just lose so much resolution later.”
First off, DVD’s are not HD, they are SD. You can make a DVD 16×9, but they are still SD. And if your primary objective is to shoot HD to compress down to SD DVD, anything over 720 is a waste.
40 minutes is not a lot of footage, you can easily get 60 minutes on a SD DVD with good results. Acceptable results can even be had up to 90 minutes, done on s single layer DVD if your source material has decent quality, and your edit workflow is managed carefully. Although keeping under 60 minutes will be give better results, I wonder how many consumers will have a good enough eye to see the difference between properly done compression for 90 minutes vs 60 minutes of material.
Lets talk about your cameras. The Sony NEX VG10, shoots 1080i, which IMO does not look as crisp as the smaller 720p. And the larger 1080 frame is wasted if your delivery target is SD DVD. Unless you need interlaced footage for your delivery, shoot progressive. And then there is the CMOS image sensor, which can introduce numerous artifacts into your footage depending on what type of subject you’re shooting. The video is recorded in a highly compressed format, which if mishandled, will give poor results.
The Canon, suffers from the same drawbacks as the Sony, but can at least record full 1080p. But then you run into the fact these two cameras won’t look the same in post.
To expect professional results from pro-sumer equipment is asking a lot. And when that equipment is primarily a still camera, with video capabilities, is also asking a lot. In order to get better results the footage would have to have the most pristine post workflow available, and since you didn’t mention your post workflow I’m guessing it is not up to speed, and that is where you are loosing a lot.
So are you wasting your money? Perhaps. To produce quality video there is a chain of custody that starts with the lighting, and shooting, post, and then output. Judging by the amount you are spending on cameras, I’m making an assumption that the other parts of your production process is equally underfunded for the desired results. It is real easy to be fooled into thinking you can get cinema quality results just by buying ‘camera x’, but unfortunately that is all advertising hype that doesn’t take into account the users experience, and other parts of the production workflow.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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Slightly OT, but I think the reason the cold soak works is the bearings have worn and minute metal ‘wear particles’ have taken up the clearance in the bearings where they are acting as a ‘brake’, making them too tight for the motor to spin up. The cold must contract the parts enough to allow free spinning. After the drive is warm, and long as it stays spinning, there is probably enough inertia to overcome the tightness, but once it stops the motor probably doesn’t have enough torque.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Greg Andonian] “If it IS transitory, the transition is going to be longer than Steve wants us to believe. Unless someone comes up with a miraculous new video codec, it’s going to be a long time before anything streamed online comes anywhere close to Blu-ray quality. And even if I’m wrong, there will be ISP-imposed data caps to contend with.”
Not to mention that only about 40% of America has affordable access to broadband.
I do dozens of DVD’s of every project I work on. Perhaps my clients are not on Jobs cc list, and didn’t get the memo that DVD’s are dead.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[jensen yancey] “Starting a production company and need some advice”
In short, my advice is, don’t.
Lot’s of things going against you, here are a few I can see right off the bat:
Haven’t done a business plan
Bad economy
Trend of plummeting rates
No reason that the partnership is beneficial to the business
Glut of people doing the same thing
No established clients to service
Limited experience
No partnership plan
No start-up capitalThis is just a 2011 version of ‘Babes in Arms’.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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No wheels.
No swivel.
No arms.
Minimalist/narrow fixed back.
Darker color surface. Prefer fabric, leather has a tendency to squeak.I take a stool with me since it’s easy to carry, in case there isn’t a good option when I get there.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Scott Carnegie] “1. Copyright is instant upon the creation of the show, you don’t have to do anything else.”
FYI, here is the actual text from the copyright office web FAQ:
When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”Why should I register my work if copyright protection is automatic?
Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration” and Circular 38b, Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), on non-U.S. works.I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?
The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?
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[Scott Carnegie] “I don’t know if that’s true, it certainly makes it easier to prove your claim thought.”
That info is straight from the US copyright registration office.
I would assume a lawsuit brought into court without having an accompanying documentation from the copyright office would get dismissed in pretty short order for lack of standing. It’s a gray area for sure, but it would probably take a high power entertainment industry lawyer to get past the lack of registration with the copyright office.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair
Where were you on 6/21?