[Tony Cope]

I’ve been using our HVX with the DVX batteries for 4 months now – and they work fine. You’re right – the small ones die pretty quickly, but I had just assumed the batteries were at the end of their life span (since those were the initial ones I purchased with the DVX.) One note – if you are shooting with the Firestore – get an additional battery (180m battery is really the way to go) and grab an extra firewire cable to have as backup.

Good luck,
Tony

[Tony Cope]

Thanks so much for the time and energy of your response… very valuable info. I’ve talked with the woman at the base camp – and I can use their portable gas powered generator — waiting on it’s specs, but I’m guessing it’ll be a decent one. Also, I like the idea of the p2 cards – I’ll have 8 of them with me, so that should get me through a day.

I’ll be taking 2 HVX cameras, but I’m now the only camera guy going on this trip – so I think I’ll have the Firestores there, just in case – and use them for timelaspes, and possibly longer form interviews.

Thanks again,
T

[Tony Cope]

Thanks for posting this info again… I remember reading it in a prior post, but couldn’t find it.

This is what I know about the system I had linked to…
22 Watt high-efficiency PV panel (monocrystalline)
Sealed, maintenance-free battery (18 AMP hrs)
300 Watt AC inverter with one AC plug

What seems good is that it includes an AC inverter as well as the ability to charge the battery from a wall AC outlet or car DC plug. What I’m hoping to do is make use of the base farm (with a large scale solar power) every 2 or 3 days — and then hope to get through 2 or 3 days at a time shooting on batteries (10 batteries for the HVX, 4 batteries for the Firestore, laptop batteries…) and then use this system or something like it to run the external hard drive when dumping footage as well as charging batteries when needed… using the solar panels to try and keep the Solar battery topped off.

I might get this system and try it out a bit at the office – so I’ll know what I can expect from it… I am planning on shooting HD… but I guess I can fall back on shooting on DV tape if it comes to that.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Tony

[Tony Cope]

Wow – that’s some good detail. Thanks.

Questions for you — if I’m using the larger batteries for my HVX, what should I expect the power requirements (watts per day?) to recharge each battery to be? Any thoughts on a powerbook 1.5 gh/15in laptop? I just need to run the laptop long enough to dump the footage off the P2 cards each day. I guess I’ll also have to run a terabyte drive or a couple of 500 gig drives to collect all of the footage.

How can I figure out all this on my own? (Not a gaffer… electricity is a s much of a mental danger for me as it is a physical danger…)

Thanks for your help,
T

[Tony Cope]

Thanks for the feedback. This is def. in the infant stages of a production. I’m thinking of running 2 HVX200s – and will have 6 8gig P2 cards + 12 or so batteries. I’m also thinking of getting 3 of the small 15W-30W solar systems to charge a couple of batteries at a time + one for power to recharge the laptop – and a place to run the archive hard drive.

I’m starting to really liek your advice of leaving the Firestore drive behind… or simply having as a back up.

[Tony Cope]

When you switch your camera to the PLAYBACK mode – you will initially get the thumbnail viewer (for footage on the P2 card.) Push the button on top of the camera marked THUMBNAIL – and you will get a solid blue screen. Then press play on your Firestore drive, and it will playback the footage. One thing to keep in mind – you can only playback footage matching the P2/tape setting on the camera. If you recorded 480i DV (tape mode) you need to be in that setting to view the clip. The same goes for footage shot in the p2 mode.

Good luck,
T

[Tony Cope]

Has anyone tried the Glidecam with the vest mount? Would that compare to a steadycam?

Actually, I purchased a simple telescoping monopod, and use it for a fairly smooth handheld shot. Also, I found that if I support the camera with fingertips from both hands on the bottom of the camera, and let the monopod be a counter-balance, it helps with keeping the horizon decent, and prevents the drifts I got when using one hand on the pole. (First time I’ve written that statement on a legitimate web site…)

Anyway… I’ve been wanting to try out the Glidecam with the vest, but it’s not very easy to come by – and the rental cost almost makes it worth just buying regardless.

[Tony Cope]

OK – so from the original question: do you think I actually recorded at a high frame rate, but maybe I need to make sure my sequence in FCP is set to 24fps…??? Still not sure why 36 fps would play back normal speed, regardless if the sequence is 24 fps or 60 fps… seems it would playback faster than real time if the sequence is 60, and slower than real time if sequence is at 24 fps.

Thanks,
Tony

[Tony Cope]

Thanks. (It’s always the simple solutions that I miss. DOH!)

[Tony Cope]

Just to clearify – I am NOT complaining at all about posting here…. just very glad I’m aware that I don’t understand something.