Jim Feldspar

Thanks, Michael, that's a big help. If I could follow up, when talking about the audio drift I would have to compensate for the differnce between 24 f.p.s. and 23.976 which is -.024 so would it be a simple adjustment of speeding up the audio in post by .001001% (the percent from .024/23.976) if I'm understanding how to do the math. Also, I'd have to see how to do that in Final Cut Pro. I guess that I'd select speed and add the extra to the default 100% ? At this point, due to other things, not math phobia, it looks like we'll probably use the HVX-200. That's a great suggestion to have the video/audio reference on the the laptop and thanks for posting the picture. I want to make sure I understand it correctly. 1. In Final Cut Pro timeline, put ten seconds of black then load song and have timecode play in video section of 23.98 timeline created when song is loaded. 2. Shoot screen with timecode providing a slate that corresponds to song. If already into song, start ten seconds before desired shot. Call "action." 3. Record playback as reference track and match shots after capturing to existing timeline. 4. However, unless I use the laptop for playback audio on set (not sure how to do that loudly enough) how does shooting the playback video provide a useful reference. It seems that I would have to be playing audio from that exact timeline when shooting but I'm not sure that's what you suggest. If you could clarify, I would greatly appreciate it.

I've shot sync sound at 24 f.p.s. but I've been told that many music videos use a motor that is controlled to run at 29.97 f.p.s. to match television, at least SD t.v.. 1. Is there a desired frame rate for shooting music videos in which the artist is lip syncing? 2. What is a good playback system for reference for the artist to lip sync and for recording as a scratch track? Would a standard C.D. boombox be reliable or could it vary enough to not match the song when it's dropped from a file into the editing timeline? 3. I was told that sometimes the cameras (set to 29.97) deviate after a minute or two of continuous running. Not that I'm planning such long takes for a three minute song but is this so? 4. If we decided to shoot using say an HVX-200 would the same issues apply and would we benefit from shooting 30P rather than our preferred 720P 24N or 720P 24P? Thanks.

THANKS a lot guys! I'm much reassured and going to bed! (well, after packing and going over the shot list...)

Thanks for all your help everybody on my questions this week. I'm going to shoot 720P 24 but I'd like to shoot 24N because it gives me 20 minutes on an 8GB card. I'm going to edit on Final Cut Pro 5.12. I haven't edited 24P footage before. Is there anything that I should know before committing to 24N tomorrow? I know I should have this all figured out and tested by now but I've been scrambling to do a lot of other stuff due to no art dept., audio dept.,p.a.s., etc.. Thanks!

Thanks for all the advice. I have to do this shoot Sunday because the actors will be unavailable thereafter for quite a long time. However, it's simple lighting of a conversation in one room and only a couple of pages so probably the best situation if I use the camera to send the P2 data through Firewire to the new Lacie hard drive I got today. DVCPRO 50 sounds good. Longer record times and good quality, plus possibility for variable frame rates. However, I've heard that stuff shot in HD looks better when converted to SD than anything shot in SD (with of course good lighting, camera, etc.) Is that accurate? Is it better to shoot HD even to make an (ultimately) SD product look better? There is a possibility of this being projected at festivals, as it will be submitted, but projected digitally. We're certainly never going to film out. Would shooting HD help here and how so? This would be my first time editing HD in Final Cut Pro. Is there anything I need to know about shooting 720P 24N as opposed to one of the 24P over 60 modes? 24N sounds great and I'd like to do it and I've read that the quality is superior to other 24 modes but what should I know before I commit? I have a MacBookPro which won't accept P2 cards and runs Final Cut Express so I can't capture the 720P 24 HD footage with it. (The Final Cut Pro system that I can use is in a room and not portable.) I bought the Lacie so I won't be spending any more money this week. I have to learn how to play the P2 footage from the camera to the hard drive, how to format the hard drive, how to verify that the clips have been captured (verifying adds more time to this I understand) and then how to "erase" (is that right?) the P2 card. I'm doing a lot of preproduction and certainly don't want to be in this multi hat position again but these things seem possible to learn in order to get this shoot accomplished. Anytghing special you can clue me into as I test tomorrow? THANKS!

I have a shoot Sunday that cannot be rescheduled. I have an HVX-200 with 8 GB card but was supposed to also have Firestore and workflow tech. person. Now, I have neither. I can shoot tape if I have to but what about these options? 1. Shoot to P2 and buy a Lacie (I can swing a couple hundred $) 80 GB or 100 GB and offload to that via Firewire when card is full. I'll have to learn how but I've read up a bit and it seems doable. 2. Shoot to P2, then downconvert to Mini-DV and re-use card? What's the difference between that and capturing HD footage and editing and then downcoverting to SD for DVD copies? If I shoot P2, downconvert and then capture that tape, in either case it's going to be SD DVD as the final product. 3. I have heard that one can shoot P2 and tape simultaneously (using tape SD copy as a back-up) but in reading the manuals this does not look possible. It seems to be an either/or situation. Anybody know? Thanks!

That's great info. especially about the old school D.P.s! "However episodes that are all studio you would never know that it wasn't real daylight." That's exactly what I was wondering. Thanks! Thanks for answering John and Calvin Coolidge would be impressed with your brevity but to be clear, are you saying that a. tungsten and tungsten is the most obviously not sunlight light that's supposed to be sunlight? (A man told U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, who was known for being taciturn, that the man had made a large bet that he could get the President to say at least three words during a dinner. Prseident Coolidge said to the man, "You lose." and said nothing else for the evening.)

Thanks. How do you feel about Stickypod Pro for the HVX-200?

I found this review of the 3000 with a lot of discussion about wedding/event shoots: http://www3.baylor.edu/Comm_Studies/engine...ideCam_Info.pdf I am puzzled however because on the Glidecam company site, I can find no mention of a 3000 model. I use and like the 4000. The 2000 is great but the 4000 can take extra weight. I definitely recommend the forearm brace. I hope this helps. I have a post on here asking a similar question about people's experiences with the HVX-200 and the Glidecam 4000 and a lot of views but no responses. On its site, Glidecam recommends the 4000 for the HVX-200. You can get that and the brace and come in well under $800.00. The Glidecam is also nice because you can set it down when you want to rest and it will stand upright. I wouldn't walk away from it with an expensive camera on top...but you could if you were careful and not arounda lot of commotion. You also can bang off some quick shots that way. One other thing: Get a quick release plate and mount it on your Glidecam camera plate. This is a major time saver when going back and forth to your tripod!

I looked at your link and that mount looks pretty sturdy and seems to be not a bad price if and I can't tell by looking, it can also mount on he door so that you can get conversation shots looking in at the driver and passengers. To be more specific, it looks like it would probably mount (although how does it handle curved surfaces) but can you tilt the cheese plate to get the shot? Thanks. I don't know the Panther Multi-mount. How does it compare to the other rig discussed here? Thanks.

This started out as a post for "On DVD and television" but I think that it belongs more on here now. I was watching "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964) on HBO and there is a scene at Coney Island. It starts with an establishing shot, looking like it was bought from a stock footage company, of people at the beach and then cuts to what is obviously a set with a water tank. For the "daylight" what would they use? Maybe some soundstages allow sunlight in but that did not look like the case here. I think this era was pre HMI. Carbon Arcs had exhaust stacks for the smoke from the rods burning down. Would they have had a way of using those? Would they use tungsten and color it in printing? Did they gel lights for color correction in those days? For that matter, these days something like the courtroom scenes in "Law and Order" clearly look to be meant as having daylight coming in through courthouse windows. Now I'm wondering, do they let those scenes go a little blue somehow? For example, if somebody shot the same scene indoors in a room with no outside light coming in and: a. shot tungsten stock with tungsten lights b. daylight stock with H.M.I.s c. tungsten stock with an 85 and H.M.I.s d. tungsten stock with an 85 and full CTB on tungsten lights e. daylight stock with an 80 and tungsten lights could you tell the difference? Obviously, it's often easy to tell work done on a soundstage simply because the atmosphere doesn't have that outdoors look ("Greystoke, Lord of the Apes" is great but I just knew that jungle was a set) and real daylight streaming into a room often looks like, well, real daylight but can you always tell if all you can see is that which is lighted? Thanks.

Thanks guys!

I have a shoot next week and plan to shoot 720 24P and don't have a production monitor but at the location there is a television. The t.v. is 1080i but also has a DVD player hooked up to it that outputs DVDs at 480P, I'm told. Could I use this as a monitor and how would you hook it up? Through the DVD player or straight into the DVD player and with what connections? Double post, sorry!

I have a shoot next week and plan to shoot 720 24P and don't have a production monitor but at the location there is a television. The t.v. is 1080i but also has a DVD player hooked up to it that outputs DVDs at 480P, I'm told. Could I use this as a monitor and how would you hook it up? Through the DVD player or straight into the DVD player and with what connections?

Absolutely. Makes sense. I was thinking of maybe a five foot dolly move, no booming or anything (not that I have a dolly that booms) and see if I can even make that work. Thanks!

In another thread there's a reference to doing this but I think in the context of having a Redrock adaptor on the camera. With the stock HVX-200 set-up, have people used the Glidecam 4000 and how have your results been? Also, I have a Stickypod Pro that I love but I've generally used it for smaller cameras although it should be able to hold an HVX-200 as I believe that it's within the weight range. Still, that's a lot of $ hanging on a car. Yes, I do tend to safety the heck out of hanging a camera but still do any of you use a Stickpod Pro for hanging an HVX-200 on a car for moving shots? Thanks.

Regarding the photo here, if Kiefer wants to post on here I'm sure he's welcome but he should sign up! Seriously, that must be a blast getting paid to watch them shoot ! Juan, in many cities there are photography shops that sell refurbished light meters, including cine meters, for great savings with decent guarantees. Usually they got them when somebody decided to trdae up but they often have all kinds. A friend got a 3 temperature color meter for $500.00 that was worth more than twice that and it works great. Sekonics are usually 40% off new prices and they're good if you find a good shop. Good luck!

Wow, talk about finding out through the grapevine. Thanks! Thanks! Do they do lots of Steadicam shots on "Scrubs"? I know they do lots of long moving takes but I figured with those smooth hallways they could probably dolly a lot of the time without tracks. You might enjoy (although as a Steadicam guy you may know) that on the specil edition of the "Rocky" DVD, Garret Brown is on the commentary track and among other things he talks about doing the famous shot up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum. That's hilarious about the tape. I thought I had a sharp eye but I've never noticed that. Going to check it out. Okay, now for fun I'm going to see if I can put together a short dolly shot and see how close I can come to make such an effect work. I've been wanting to work on my matting skills (I'm fairly good with Final Cut Pro in many areas but not so much with mattes) so this might be a fun exercise too in conjunction with my human motion control experiment.

On the beginning of "Scrubs", the title song plays as the various characters dissolve into each other until the last one hangs up an x-ray. During this the camera is dollying left. I've been wondering how they achieve the smooth dissolves (so that the characters don't 'jump' in space) with the dollying. Would this be done with repeated dollies or lateral moves with a motion control system?

Yeah, but what about those Bolex lenses? I used a Bolex for some shots to intercut with footage from a 16BL with an Angeneiux 12-120 and yeah they were both 16mm but they didn't match real well and maybe they're not intended to but it made me disinterested in Bolexes.

Even still, ...since you mention it, what is "brushed SS"? Thanks. Back on topic: Some party scenes provide their own justified practical lighting, more commonly in restuarants where tables have candles in glass containers but perhaps if your story would allow this party to have had a party planner or designer you might be able to introduce some practical lighting into the apartment to help out, although a grid does seem to be necessary. I think I just found the other thread. Brushed stainlesss steel? Makes sense now.

What about dulling spray? I've heard of that. Does anybody use it? I thought that it's intended for exactly this type of situation.

You're getting 4 lights and accessories for $600.00? Is that what Britek charges ?

Thanks, I think that's the right track because I realize that it's likely a frequency issue so refining it slightly to work with 50 HZ makes sense. Thanks, that's a big, big help. I had one other suggestion (off-forum) relating to the pluge bars (although not explaining which ones they are like you did) but saying that I should go into the camera and adjust the bars, which I didn't want to do (and then wouldn't I still have to have known what angle to be looking at the monitor to do so if I still were without a production monitor (which I also would have to set up...!) Tilting the monitor until seeing what you the right display looks like (thanks a lot for including the right and wrong examples) is exactly what I was hoping to know. In this case, the camera is set to 0 IRE for black level but the link is great for reading about 7.5 set-up. Yes, that makes sense about Kinos. Maybe for some people it's becoming a generic phrase for flouorescents. The 1/50 or 172.8 is perfect.

This is from a post on another thread: "The Panasonic HVX 200 is rated at 320 ASA. So for night construction scenes you will have to pump in quite a bit of light. But fortunately for you, i think there will ba alot of places to hide lights in a construction set right? Aslo make sure you dont shoot the camera wide open. f2-f2.8 would be desirable. I have shot wide open on this camera in low light situations, and the blacks come out milky, and grainy. Not the effect i was after in that situation. Another side note, when shooting dark scenes, it's a good idea for you to shoot looking through the eye piece rather than the flip screen. The viewing angle of the flip screen is very narrow, and you will be looking at the image with the wrong exposure if the screen angle is not exact. A way around this is to look through the eye piece. a while ago when i was shooting with this camera, i was shooting the NTSC version (in singapore that shoots PAL). I noticed the kino pulsing. This is easily fixed in camera." I haven't been able to get an answer there to this question: Is there a correct angle for viewing at which the L.C.D. is most accurate? I'm usually above it a bit but it certainly looks different from different angles. I often do not have a production monitor and do not use the eye piece. Also, does anybody know about the second comment and exactly how to fix pulsing lights in camera? Thanks!