[Shawn Miller]

I used to shoot quite a bit with the DVX100, and I’ve been shooting with the HVX200 and the HPX500 for the past few years. I recently started using the AF100, and I’m very happy with it. The AVCCAM CODEC is sturdier than I expected, and the AF100 has all the things I’ve come to like about Panasonic cameras; nice, natural color rendition, over and under crank (in 1080p no less) and familiar gamma/matrix modes. There are also some new features that I would find hard to live without now; built in waveform monitor, interchangeable lenses, focus in red, great low light performance, NTSC/PAL switchable, built in ND filters, etc. That said, I’m really curious to see what the Sony FS100 will be like, I understand it has the same sensor as the F3… so it should be pretty hard to beat at that price range.

Thanks,

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

“To add much-needed further clarity to any argument inherent in your post:”

Hmmm… I’m not sure I made any arguments here. I just stated that the AF100 and FS100 don’t record uncompressed signals internally (not everyone knows that, BTW), and I didn’t say anything about the signals that any DSLR outputs… so I’m not sure how there could be any ‘argument inherent in my post’ about that.

At any rate, I’m not trying to start a fight, or imply that you’ve made some sort of false statement about the limits of DSLR recording or the h.264 CODEC. I’m only ‘clarifying’ that the AF100 and the FS100 both record MPEG4 internally… that’s it. What I should have said was, “If you wan’t to capture uncompressed video with the Af100 or the FS100, you’ll need an external recorder. There is no internal mechanism for doing this on either camera.”

Thanks,

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Sorry, I meant to include a very informal but good comparison of the F3, FS100 and AF100 by Philip Bloom.

https://philipbloom.net/2011/05/05/bloomshootout/

Thanks,

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

“The AF100 and FS100 will both let you capture footage uncompressed when you need to.”

Actually, neither the AF100 nor the FS100 will record uncompressed internally. The AF100 will output an 8bit 4:2:2 signal over HD-SDI or HDMI, and the FS100 will (AFAIK) output 8bit 4:2:2 over HDMI only…

“You’ll get a lot more mileage out of that uncompressed signal than h.264 at any bitrate.”

All three of these cameras record in MPEG 4; h.263, AVCCAM and NXCAM are just different implementations of the same CODEC.

Thanks,

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Can you post the full clip? It might help to see the motion you’re talking about.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Interesting insight, thanks Walter.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

“About the only stumbling block is the 16GB RAM limit.”

What about processors? Do you feel that it will be worth it to give up the dual Xeon configuration of the Mac Pro?

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification. I should point out though, that AE has been in use on high end projects for a long time… just not necesarily for compositing. AE’s built in grain/noise tools and MoGraph capabilites have been a staple in Hollywood for years… though most post houses haven’t liked talking about that in the past. Things are changing though, as the CS5 Suite has been getting a better reputation, boutique houses are getting less shy about admitting their use of AE and PP. Truthfully, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Motion was being used for certain, quick and specific tasks on big feature films… it just doesn’t sound as sexy as saying that ‘you’ used Inferno to develop and finish 30, 10 second VFX shots on Ironman V. 🙂

Anyway, as a Premiere Pro user on Windows 7, I’m hoping that FCPX will be as good or better than advertised… I’m even hoping for a souped up version of Shake, just to keep Adobe on it’s toes. Hopefully, Apple will even make a tool or a Suite of tools so good (and cost effective) that I will have no choice but to invest in a Mac and go bi-platform. 🙂

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

“But after dumping Shake they have fallen so far behind both AE on the low end…”

I’m wondering what (in your mind) makes AE a “low end” application (not offended or anything, just curious).

I’m not a Mac user, but I’m pretty interested to see if Apple releases something like a ShakeColor hybrid for less than $2,500 US… this would make me strongly consider buying a Mac. But they should hurry, Blender’s Composite Nodes is looking pretty compelling… and it’s free. 🙂

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

“How can I control vibrations up the c-stands to the mikes?”

What Ty and Bill have said… plus 15 lbs. sandbags at the base of your stands… they’ll (the sand bags) help stabilize your stands and assist in “vibration control”.

Shawn