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CJ Henke III

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    Cinematographer
  1. Yes the film has been color graded, but just exporting a 29.97, 30p or even 60i file to 23.98 would cause the footage to be jittery/ jerky right? wouldn't if have to go through a strong frame rate conversion in compressor or an alternative? Thanks for the reply.
  2. I understand that there a multi-coated and varies degrees to which these are manufactured, but when someone puts Achromat next to a lens does this always mean that it is a "Macro Lens" technically speaking? Or are there different types of Macro lenses. Are these basically the same lenses? (Forget the obvious difference in Macro Strength and Brand/ Quality) http://cgi.ebay.com/MACRO-10-CLOSE-UP-LENS-FILTER-72mm-NEW-n- http://cgi.ebay.com/Marumi-DHG-Achromat-Ma...3%3A1|294%3A200 Thanks, Concave - Convex is about all I know about lens shapes.
  3. A feature was made with an FX-1. (HDV format) and edited together on a Premiere Pro system. Now it is currently getting post sound work done, but in order to help save time and money what should be done now. Here are the scenarios that will shortly become real situations. As you know the FX-1 records in 1440x1080i, Not 1920x1080 square pixels nor progressive. For a film out it should be at least 2K, so how to go about the post workflow? Examples, They could give it to the post house as is, which will not be cheap. 1. I could convert the final film in (print-lock) to ApplePro Res 422 (HQ) and save them some money, but should it be converted (using compressor) to 1920x1080?, or should it be up-resized before hand? Should it be placed in a specific codec (DPX, Cineon, Animation, ProRes, etc.)? I am really just confused and post houses are not going to tell me information that will take added money away from their work flow. So can someone help? Should it be in DVCProHD? etc. etc. etc. The final film will need to be ready for a Print (film-out) and a HD version meeting broadcast and blueray requirements. Other then a (film-out) it will have to be ready for display on digital projects (which format is that). Thanks, I hope this helps other forum readers in the future.
  4. Thanks for all of the advice. It is exactly what I have been thinking. I know they are going to try to push for me to work, 12 hour days. After an initial interview I was told that I would basically be doing all that was said above. Sometimes, (if I had the DP's & editor's "trust"), that I would be shooting and editing some stuff together, and getting it to the Playback guys a day before they need it on the set. Additionally, when there are LCD monitors on set, I would be "the playback" guy for some shoot days. Then, Randomly, out of nowhere. I was said that I should also search for local sponsors / advertisers, local footage to incorporate into basically, a television network stream with news anchors, a fight or two, & commercials all to be used in the film. Then, I was told that they would make up some job title for me, but I am still confused, because after what they said to me, I would basically be doing a producers job (that gets handed off to the assistant producer, and then maybe to a PA or secretary assistant). A second unit director's job, that I would not be getting any credit for and I mentioned that I know motion graphics (which in my opinion would be necessary for such a task), but I wouldn't get any credit there. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the director, I know I will get the job, but who should I ask and discuss my pay with??? Would it be an butt move once I show the director how much I can do, to ask him for the obvious need for a pay increase? Thanks, CJ Plus, they are all from L.A., it is a Lionsgate 30 million dollar film. I don't mind getting some experience in exchange for a little less pay, but I have a feeling they are really going to use all that I have to offer, thank me for it, and then take all the credit. By the way, I do not feel like putting peoples names out there, but if decide not to take the job, or the offer is re-tracked, I will post all of the films information. Thanks Again.
  5. I production has come into my town and I am definitely looking for a job, but I don't want to run into working over 70 hours a week for only $600/ wk. Here is the job description, does this sound right to you? And what would the title for this crew position be? (CJ is me fore short) CJ, we are looking for a person to coordinate all of our video playback on the film. this person would work closely with the director, producer and 1st AD to list all, wrangle, get to editor for editing, put into correct format of all playback and get to our playback person on a timely manner for each day of shooting that would require playback to be done onset. rate; $600 wk. (not a lot of money but a good job to work closely with director and producer on the show). position would start on Monday 3/23 and go till the 3rd wk of June and maybe the end of june. let me know if this might interest you...........thx
  6. Rick, I was interested in that, but Phil was basically saying that I wouldn't see much of a difference than working with firewire. The camera I would use 99% of the time would be the Sony HVR-Z1U, HDV camcorder. I just noticed in doing some research on SDI capture and Export cards, that most- if not all of them- have hardware downconverting, and it could have sealed the deal for me when it comes to spending the extra money on a SDI capture card verses just buying more hard drives for the computer. All in all, I'm looking for all of the benefits a capture card has to offer, and all the cons as well.
  7. It looks like they went for all natural lighting. It is easy to see based on the color temperatures with color correction added on. I agree with the lens, but how many people really have a few grand to drop on a longer heavier lens? (Especially if they are shooting a feature with the FX-1 on all digital. Good job Sanjit. I hope to see your movie soon.
  8. ...Excuse the large pictures... I always take uncompressed files and use compressor (with the settings above) as the last step. It mainly has to do with artifacts and anti-aliasing. DV ORIGINAL MPG via Compressor DV ORIGINAL TWO MPG via Compressor TWO Can you see the differences around edges, lines, etc. (The top logo appears to be squeezed, but it is from the screen capture) The problem truly occurs when a small .mpg is stretched to fit a larger screen with these artifacts.
  9. My workflow: If video footage is involved, I capture in FCP, editing, (Make graphics in after effects, export with alpha or pre-made background in Animation files .mov), Place them into my timeline. Then export another animation file. Open up compressor, and export the .mpg file with these settings: MPEG2 files must meet the following specifications. Resolution – 720x480 Aspect Ratio – 4:3 Stream type - System stream Audio type – Mpeg1 Layer2 Audio sample rate – 48Khz Bitrate type – CBR or VBR Bitrate – 5 to 10 Mbps Or I may make the entire commercial in After Effects, either in HD, or DV NTSC, export animation file. Do the same as above in compressor. And upload the final .mpg to an ftp account. I do not have betacam-anything (no doe for that), I am curious about delivering the commercial in some other means, while remaining cost effective. Please note these are the accepted methods of spot delivery in order of preference. Betacam SP tape Betacam tape Betacam SX tape Betacam Digital tape DVC Pro tape DVCAM tape Mini DV tape (except long play) DG Systems electronic delivery Fast Channel electronic delivery Vyvx electronic delivery MPEG2 file via FTP ¾” tape I always assumed with compressor that the video files would maintain their quality, but once converted to .mpg's (they die). Would HD to SD hardware down-conversion help with this problem? Or should I look for some sort of USB MPEG2 encoder? Thanks Again.
  10. Ok so let me get this straight. You want to make a mock tv news broadcast and have it playing on a television in the room that your actor is going to be filmed in? Correct? If so, I know a few ways to do it, but a lot depends on your television, DVD player, and Camera settings. (Also, take into factor, that if you composite the image on the TV screen, lighting will be a factor. (reflection on the glass, or not, are you trying to capture your actors reflection in the screen while they are watching it? etc.) If you have your shots already pre-determined I could give you an exact answer, but in the meantime look into doing as follows. 1. If you have an extra camera, (same forumla works with DVD player), you can record the News Anchor footage with that camera, then just plug it into the TV and push play. However, if you have a tube television, you may or may not get the horizontal lines moving up and down, (test out your HVX on the television first, some TV's work, some don't). The same thing would happen if you recorded the footage and put it onto DVD, but if you are going to do that, test out your DVD player with the TV first while you are recording it. Some dvd players change the HZ rate, or differer based on the connection to the television and, may or may-not cause the nasty horizontal lines. If you have an LCD TV, Plasma, or Computer monitor, in most cases there should not be a problem. 2, Compositing, which I have done before. It takes a little bit more after effects, shake, etc. knowledge to pull it off, but it will look however you want it to in the final version. (You can add reflections and all to the television. Step one, film your news anchor. Step 2, if you have an LCD TV, burn a DVD with a color that you can key out (such as a green screen), make sure to place 4 points in a square to motion track later on. Something such as this The blue lines in the corner will allow you to determine the curve and distortion near the edges of the television. (You do not have to use this part, unless you need to accurately replicate the edges of the screen). Then you simply motion track the shot, you can use after effects perspective corner pin for tracking or I recommend obtaining various track points and merging them via TrackerViz Long - Super Long A** tutorial in three parts: Part 1: http://www.mackdadd.com/CG/trackerviz/TrackerViz_part01.zip Part 2: http://www.mackdadd.com/CG/trackerviz/Trac....1_tutorial.zip Part 3: http://www.mackdadd.com/CG/trackerviz/Stab...ackerViz_01.zip Download: http://www.nabscripts.com/downloads/scripts/TrackerViz.zip Visit Nabscripts.com, for more information (in French) ----------- With that said, any basic knowledge of compositing will greatly help your chances to conserve time and get it done. A simple Mesh warp effect in AE will help to give the composited screen a curve. 3. Just do a cut away and fake the screen around your shot... (super easy), a step above that is compositing the entire TV into the shot, if it's a still shot it's not a problem, but it seems pointless if you just used a LCD screen and played back your footage. A nice DVD set to loop the video would make it easy to film multiple takes.
  11. Phil, thanks, that was information that I was looking for. Question then, what do you recommend? My main purposes for this work is to export for the internet (which means nothing), but I do upload TV commercials to comcast via Mpeg2 and I notice (aside from the loss of compression for MPEG2) that most video quality drops before hand. Would a Hardware down conversion piece of equipment (such as Blackmagic or AJA) be a good investment for such means? Thanks Again.
  12. A lot depends on your budget IMO. I will go from what I know which are all under the $10,000 range and if you are using the GRHD1, then I know you are working with a conservative budget. From top to bottom is my list. 1. Sony PMW-EX3 (Like someone else mentioned shooting uncompressed is the best for any situation, but don't forget to add SXS cards into your budget) 2. Sony PMW-EX1 (Same recording format as the EX3 minus some features, and will save you more money). I have seen these shoot in super low light and work perfectly. 3. Sony HVR-Z7U (It picks up picture at 1.5 LUX, lowest of the HDV cameras and also supports recording uncompressed with it's compact flash storage unit. 4. Sony HVR-Z5U, Z1U, or FX-1, these mid range work phenomenally well in low light. I recommend sony for this because they have worked the best for me and my friends in every low light situation / problem, we've had. The HVX200 will work with High Gain, but still needs more light. Based you put up, a lot of cameras have a spotlight feature on them, which is meant for those type of situations (a hard contrast between darks and lights).
  13. I am a FCP editor and I just purchased a Sony HVR-Z1U. Instead of capturing via firewire, which has worked fine in the past - - I would like to get the best out of the footage that I shot. I was guessing that purchasing an SDI capture card would be the next best step, but which one? I'm not concerned with down converting, just more or less interested in capturing the cameras data at it's best. My comp specs: Quad Core Mac Pro, 2.66 HGz Intel Xeon 5 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM 4 500 GB Hard Drives. ATI Radeon X1900 Would something such as this work for my needs? http://cgi.ebay.com/Blackmagic-Decklink-SD...3A1%7C294%3A200
  14. Each year it seems that the latest Sony, Panasonic, Canon, etc. "Professional -to- Prosumer" camcorders are released out of thin air. Last year I was fortunate to be a DuArt in New York and hear about the PMW-EX1 and HVR-Z7U before they were released, but no far away from New York I do not have a clue as to when the next generation of camcorders will be released. Do you? or better yet, where is a good place to find information on them before they come out. I hate buying a new camera and then realizing that the latest model will be out in a few months, help me to avoid that. Thanks, CJ
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