[Tim Kolb]

I’ve never tried this…

The concern becomes if the camera is actually flagging where one clip ends an the other picks up when it’s playing out via SDI…

Have you attempted this and it didn’t work?

(I don’t use Machina to capture myself, but I don’t see any control for scene detection in there…)

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

Finally…so much of what’s on television is only fit for chimps to watch…it’s about time they start pitching in.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

The EX cameras are sensitive to Infra Red and it usually manifests this way.

Tiffen makes an IR filter that was basically a direct response to this issue.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

[john sharaf] “I don’t think it will be long before S-Log or similar extended dynamic range curves are available in many cameras.”

I agree. I’ve shot motion RAW and it’s wonderful stuff to be sure, but I do see many who seem to want to shoot it for everything. There are some sorts of projects that won’t benefit from the latitude inherent in RAW files to the extent that they add complexity to their post workflow.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

Both the KiPro and the nanoFlash have their sweet spots…

The KiPro really isn’t designed for that “attach to the back of the camera like another wireless mic receiver” portability, but it has a frame for tripod operation and it can of course be cabled to the camcorder.

The Nano does very high quality, high bitrate MPEG long GOP or I-frame

The KiPro does very high quality ProRes I-frame.

Both run in FCP real time on a timeline designated to do that (yes, I’ve run them both in FCP).

As odd as it may seem, ProRes is actually supported as a source file (you can’t export to it) in Adobe Premiere Pro PC whereas in versions CS3 and CS4, MPEG bitrates over 35 Mbit (EX XDcam HQ) are not supported without Main Concept’s plug in. In FCP, bitrates over 35 Mbits can be handled with the 50 Mbit preset, but you can’t export any MPEG format over 50 Mbit at it’s native bitrate…exports to Color, etc., are all exported at 50 Mbits as far as I can tell…

The Nano hangs on the back/top of the camera, or anywhere else you can attach it, is very light and doesn’t consume a lot of juice.

The KiPro needs a bit more mounting, and the below-the-camera cage has one disadvantage in that a video camera is moved even farther from the pivot point for the tilt, and therefore the nodal point in the camera moves quite a bit when tilting. I prefer to have the KiPro off to the side if I’m using that unit.

The Nano can be a tad inconvenient when you want to use it as a master record “VTR” as it is heavily menu driven and the display faces up when it sits on a table vs. the KiPro front face with tape transport reminiscent controls…Convergent Design makes the full size Flash XDR, which is a bit more surface button driven if that’s what you’re looking for, but it still lays ‘face up’.

For Greenscreen work…10 bit available on ProRes means advantage KiPro (I’ve had 100 Mbit footage from a Nano keyed and it works very well…hell, I’ve keyed HDV before and it can be made to work, but there is no question that 10 bit is helpful for compositing and color correction purposes.)

For more portable production (Michael P. and I have spent some time out on racetracks shooting performance automotive footage), the Nano is simply easier for a single operator to carry and operate.

The KiPro has a fairly wide selection of connection choices, where the Nano is designed specifically for HDSDI and HDMI.

The Nano will record 4:2:2 MPEG files wrapped as QT, MPG or MXF at a variety of datarates…The KiPro is specifically ProRes at a variety of datarates.

The KiPro uses a spinning harddrive*** which gains capacity over the Nano’s dual Flash slots, but harddrives aren’t as robust as solid state in abusive field conditions (heavy vibration, jarring, etc.)

***AJA has a solid state drive option, and the KiPro will also record to Express34 cards as well, which makes the media more robust, but of course these options bring the capacity down somewhat.

The KiPro has AJA’s up/down/cross conversion built in. Feed the thing SD/720/1080 via analog or SDI and record to any of those resolutions in ProRes while converting on the fly.

…this list could go on and on, but I’ve worked with both of these products and they are both excellent devices in their own right. They aren’t optimized for the same situations, but neither are any two camcorders, NLE software packages, automobiles or athletic shoes you’d care to compare.

The key is to do some research and figure out what equipment and software works best for your application.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

Keep in mind that products from RED that shoot motion RAW will be great, but not every job will require that much of a post procedure to reach adequate quality levels.

I know of so many self-funded film festival type projects being done on the RED that end up taking users into a relatively complex post workflow while ‘Public Enemy” was shot on HDcamSR tape…high quality images to be sure, but not RAW.

I think that most people who are using P2 and are happy with it would be well-advised to at least take a look at Panasonic’s higher end offerings that still record to P2. I’ve been quite impressed with the image quality of the Varicam’s descendants. The P2 post workflow is well-established, so it would be an easy move to upgrade your images in the short term.

Motion RAW is great and their may be a day when we all shoot it for every purpose and modest post equipment will handle it without any stress at all…but that’s still a couple years off in my opinion.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

[Todd Terry] “The longest HDMI cable we’ve actually ever used here in our building is 50′, to feed an upstairs monitor.”

I assume you weren’t running 10 bit. Many who are looking at HDMI are examining it as an option to DisplayPort for 10 bit connection to a DreamColor or similar device.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

[Todd Terry] “By and large, for anything broadcast as part of a signatory project with union talent, then there are specific time usage limitations.”

Yes, of course there are other circumstances that would limit the latitude of the production vendor and the client. The client can’t use SAG talent longer than the agreement allows…and obviously the production vendor can’t re-use anything that shows any client confidential intellectual property…all protected by agreement in advance in any production project that is set up by pros.

I think most of us understand what we’re speaking of here. we aren’t talking about violating SAG rules or breaching intellectual property agreements.

We’re talking about who footage of the client’s retail product, or a generic forklift shot in the warehouse, (or any other image that has no other obvious contractual limitations outside of the client paying for every hour the production crew spent acquiring the image and any supplies expended) belongs to once the invoice is paid.

Lots of reasons for opinions on both sides…

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

[Chris Blair] “But if I spend hours doing concepting, hours doing location scouts, hours doing pre-visualization and storyboards, then hours setting up, lighting and blocking shots for a production, it certainly has potential value to me.”

Most of us try to bill for that. The value is transferred when the check is deposited.

On some of the more “entrepreneurial” endeavors that have been discussed lately where work is being done ‘on spec’ I think the creating entity absolutely maintains rights.

…but the construction company doesn’t set up a toll booth after the work is done if the state paid them for the road construction…

I don’t think any of us would claim that our work has ‘no value’…it’s more a question of what the client is paying for. That tends to be a much more subjective question.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Tim Kolb]

HDMI would work, but if you need a long cable run (client sitting a long distance from the camera, etc), you would want to run analog component as HDMI has a finite run limit (I can’t think of what it is right off hand…but it isn’t all that long.)

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,