[Tony]

This used to be a dirty little secret but it is well known today.

Varicam on board compressed dvcproHD recorder is 960×720. No it is a full raster recording instead it is anamorphic. If you record to hard drive or HDCAM SR tape directly out of the Varicam you can get full raster 1280×720.

FYI HDCAM does the same anamorphic recording except in this case it is 1440×1080.

HDCAM SR is full raster 1920×1080.

So if you are really concerned about all those pixels then step up and go full raster with HDCAM SR or direct to hard drive via the Kona but be willing to pay the price.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

Hire a freelance gaffer who own the truck and lighting/grip gear on a per need basis as job require it.

Save your money and hire those who do this for a living.

The practice of hiring freelancers on a per need basis is standard practice for alot of production companies.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

I like to read it once forward the twice backwards to make sure I don’t miss a thing.

In addition reading it in a non-linear fashion is another option given the article layouts.

Keep up the good work Ron.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

standard def dv is 60i as in interlace not 60p (progressive) in anycase there is not tc standard for 60 frame it is treated as 29.97 tc when dealing with the downconverts.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

F900/3 or F900/R do not upconvert ever.

The CCD imager is 1080×1920 and you get obtain a full raster image when recording to an external HDCAM SR vtr.

Reason why clients might request F900 over HDX 900 could be based on an established post production workflow.

Comparing the F900/3 to the HDX-900 is sort of like comparing bananas to apples.
Yeah the both are fruits but each has a unique “taste”.

Hypergamma in itself is a major plus on the F900/3 similar to the concept of film rec on the Varicam.

FYI depending on which version of the varicam you have the HDX-900 will most likely be cleaner in signal to noise especially in the low end of the signal. The Varicam F and lower models are a major dissappointment in terms of the noise floor. One major reason why the 27H had the dark compression vtr feature added.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

I have a CMX-3600 edit controller I will gladly sell to you cheap.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

Considering renting the camera which really suits your needs.

Try before you buy and don’t get stuck with a camera long term which does not serve all your needs.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

If you can use tungsen light sources consider using space lights which are lights in a fixture (size and shape of a oil barrel) and can have multiple lights installed 1k to 6k worth.
Hang them from a grid or ceiling.

Space light are great for lighting green screen sets or a large background when you need a soft even illumination. But they can also be used to light a broad open spaced area.

In anycase you need to consider renting a generator and a cable package for your power needs.

Highly advisable to hire an experienced gaffer and crew along with the gear.

What city is the shoot going to take place. I may be able to offer you some referrals.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

The SD to SD anamorphic features I have been requesting this much needed features for years.

Thanks for finally including it.

Well done.

Tony Salgado

[Tony]

Don’t do away with recording bar as they serve much more than would appear.

In the field they are the fastest method to verify unity throughout your signal flow chain. From calibrating field monitors to verifying signal flow etc color bars are a useful and benefical video test signal.

Futhermore the can be use in post for verifying proper recording levels in the event you recorder is misaligned or has problems.

One last note in post or during digitizing verifying bars video level playback against actual video can verify if there were issues or problems relating to the exposure, recording level etc etc. Unity throughout the chain need to be verified with a standard video test signal which is what color bars can serve as.

So in nutshell don’t just give up on not recording bars on your tapes.

And one last thing allowing a short break between tape reloads to record bars give the crew a short period to take a break during the course of a long production day as well as allowing the DIT or video engineer to QC recording tapes during the reload process.

There is no sense in forcing non stop shooting to occur without the chance to validate and QC the recordings and signal flow through the production shoot unless you like to find out all the errors later in post.

Tony Salgado