[Will Salley]

I would add that another factor in getting the best interview sound is room softening. I always keep 3 or 4 sound blankets in my truck, along with C-stands and pole to hang the sound blankets. They won’t get rid of AC hum and HVAC noise, but they will help the HVAC noise and certainly reduce room echo.

It’s best to set up the sound blankets after the set is lit. You don’t have to be right up on the talent, but the closer you can get without getting in the lighting, the better. Fly the sound blankets as high as you can if it’s a tall ceiling and lay one or two on the floor if it’s hard. Try to block the nearest reflective surface, be it a ceiling, wall, mirror, etc.

I usually sit in the interviewee’s chair and clap my hands while listening for the source of the reflections and noise. If I know the space is “live” or noisy, I’ll carry a lot more sound blankets – as many as 12.

Anything above 4 blankets used is an extra charge as it does take a lot of time to set up/wrap that many.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

My reply was a bit confusing. I should have stated that the effective imaging area of the chip equates to a 1280×720 frame in terms of optics. In other words, the depth-of-field is back to being equal to a 1/3″ camera. That might not be an issue with many shooters, but it also means, as has been stated earlier, that finding a proper wide-angle lens will be very difficult because of the dreaded conversion factor.

An infinite depth-of-field may not be such a bad thing with this particular camera out of the box, because without an additional monitor of viewfinder, it will take some very good eyesight, and a little luck, to achieve consistent focus.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the camera is very innovative and holds a lot of promise for future revision. The idea of an on-board SSD recording to those formats is a huge benefit. It reminds me of an Apple designed product – very clean design, simple controls, yet elegant. Unfortunately, professional and creative shooters need very precise control and the ability to manipulate optics, and that requires a more complicated camera…and it includes an ability to monitor your image in something close to the resolution to which you’re shooting.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

Thanks Ty. I’ll give em a call and see if they want a challenge.

Oh yeah, I meant to say Shure SM-81 in my sleep-deprived fog.

Both that mic and the Beyer, which is a really great axis-aligned stereo large diaphragm, work, but both have some grounding or isolation issues. Picking up commercial radio broadcasts even.

I appreciate the info.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

You can use the XDCAM Transfer utility app to rename the card. When you put the card in the camera, it will ask to do a restore, but the name will stay. I have a dozen or so cards that I do this with and only need to rename if I have to re-initialize in the field, in which case, I’ll have a laptop to rename the card with.

This works with Mac OS10.6. Have not attempted with Windows OS or Lion.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

Looks like a great concept. Unfortunately, it has a very small effective sensor area (roughly 1280×720)

https://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/techspecs/

So that’s where the execution falls short. As mentioned in an earlier post, maybe it’s a precursor to a larger sensor model.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

Maybe I shouldn’t respond this post in the current state that I’m in – having just spent the last 7 hours trying to activate Avid Pro Tools software that I bought and paid for two weeks ago but still can’t use.

But since I am Avid Media Composer certified I feel I have something to say as well. I have not used Avid since 1998. I switched to Media100 and then to Final Cut Pro in about 2002. I have still used Pro Tools throughout that time, and have been incredibly amazed at the audacity of the company.

The original Media Composer was very groundbreaking in a lot of ways and Avid set a standard as far as reliability and performance that left everyone else playing catch-up. That dominance had a quick and apparently long-lasting effect on the company’s mentality (and greed). Everything they did so far as development, compatibility, and support was dictated by how much extra cash they could squeeze out of their user base. They practically invented the word “proprietary”.

Now here we are many years later contemplating the future of Avid. I do think the company will survive? Probably, but it will take a heavy dose of restructuring and re-focusing to keep it going. There are not enough professional users to keep them afloat and they have made a whole bunch of them steaming out of the ears mad.

I’m hoping they stay around simply because Adobe needs the competition.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

[Craig Alan] “will the audio quality be as good as the 744T?”

Short, and very delayed answer, NO.

I have both of these devices and use them regularly. The SD 744 has superior pre-amps that are much quieter and have more headroom. That, as Gary pointed out, is because the 744 is designed from the ground up to be an audio recorder. On the Ki Pro, audio is secondary to the video capability.

IS the difference enough to justify the cost? Depends on your intended use.

• • • • • •

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.8 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

In my opinion, the pre-amps on the 744T are far superior to the Ki Pro. The monitoring circuit is also better. I do use both of them together when I need six channels of audio (which is rare).

While it does what it’s supposed to do, the Ki Pro leaves a lot to be desired in terms of features.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.3 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

I’ve never had a problem doing that. Are the sound files multiple-mono or poly? Do they have the .wav extension or .bwf? I don’t believe the recorder will even stamp it with .bwf since several firmware updates back, but I could be wrong. Have you tried to drop and drag the file onto the STP icon instead?

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.3 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.

[Will Salley]

Bob, I’ve done this setup except using EX3s instead of the EX1. I selected 30P on the EX and kept the Cineframe off on the Z1. Since I was using a pair of EX3s, I had more footage from those and I converted all of the Z1 clips in post.

The first obvious point is the softness of the Z1 footage as compared to the EX footage. 1440 vs. 1920 would explain most of that.

Another problem I had was trying to match the Z1 setup to the much more logical and useable PP settings of the EX.

And finally, the Z1 HDV footage did not fare well with the EX timeline. The previews looked fine, but on export, the HDV clips were way out of sync. It was, and may still be, an obscure bug in FCP. I tried a direct ingest from camera into a Blackmagic Multibridge Pro but that didn’t work at all.

After re-capturing and re-linking the Z1 footage, I was able to get an acceptable export. My solution to the different look of video was to give the Z1 clips a heavy film effect via After Effects.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.3 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite – FC7.0.2 – CS4 Prod Prem.