Tom Hepburn

I might check out some stock footage sites and see if you can find some birds landing on a wire or something similar (with blue sky is ideal). Since you only need it in shadow form the details of the bird are not important. You could compare that to what it would cost for a 3D person to animate it, but I think the stock footage may be cheaper and obviously look more natural. I've been involved where a particle generator was used for fire, but it was easier and more realistic to use the stock footage in the end. Tom BTW, you'll need to use your real name here.

What I did for a frame was went to Home Depot (Yeah that's right David, HOME DEPOT :lol: ) and bought some 1/2 pcv pipe. I think they come in 10 foot sections. Then I cut them down to the size I needed to make the frame I wanted. Then I just bolted a clamp to the sides with a washer in between and clamped them to my old microphone stands. Not pretty, but they can be rotated as needed. I use them for soft boxes, but they may work for your purpose. All in all it took me an hour and 10 bucks, max. see here: clamp frame Tom

Hi Evan, The first thing I would ask is if you know the history of the camera? If I bought it off of Ebay, which I did myself, I think it would be money well spent to get a camera tech to look at it and get it up to speed. Also, what about the lenses? They may need collimation. Have they ever been used successfully? I have had bad loops on my ACL and it did in fact badly affect the focus, but not to that degree. I would guess that it could be a combination of things, but I'd wait and get more responses. Sorry the tests didn't come out well, but it's good to find out early. Tom

Hi Rolando, I'd be interested in hearing more about it as well. For example what kind of camera did you use and are you focusing by eye or using the video assist? I'm trying to do the same thing, but would like to make it so it can be removed quickly to focus through the viewfinder, then attached for framing reference. Looks good though. Tom

Hi Elliot, The footage looks great. The best parts are nice, clean, and clear. I recognize the landscape ;) Tom

Hello Folks, I've got the classic black changing bag and I'm trying to keep lint and dust to a minimum. How are you keeping them clean? Dry cleaners, I fear might have some destructive chemical. How about the ole duck tape? Or would that do more damage than good? Those are the only two ideas I have. Thanks, Tom

Check this link out: The Camera Assitant's Manual I buy a lot from them, but only in the USA. As you can see this link is for Australia. Tom

Hi Nick, As Saul said I have used the A-minima loads in my 200 ft. mags without a problem. You just thread them on the feed side so they will turn counter clockwise. I would also advise that you just buy one and make sure that it works with your mags. FYI, I have two 200 ft magazines and they are both French. Hope that helps. It's nice to have that extra 100 feet. Tom

Steven, I would hold off if possible so you can take advantage of a student discount with Apple, if you're going that route. Personally I would opt for a mac, but that is chosen based on my situation. Good luck, Tom

"Anyone got the lamp code for that one? " Although I didn't buy them from this place, here are the ones I used: http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampftk.html Tom

Really enjoyed it Ashley. Very entertaining. Tom

From Kodak's website under Reps. http://motion.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Educa...ships/index.htm Entertainment Imaging Kodak Ltd. Hemel One Boundary Way Hemel Hempstead HP2 7YU England Tel No: +44 (0)870 8501904 Fax No: +44 (0)870 8502418 Tell them your situation. Good luck, Tom

ruiresende, I wouldn't worry about it. Some people may have forgotten (or for other personal reasons) what it's like to be at the stage that you're at. We've all been there. Ask anything you want and I'm sure if you're respectful, as you were, you should get respectful responses 99.9% of the time. FYI, you'll also need to use your real name on the forum. Good luck, Tom

Are you sure you've got the right link there Joe? Says, "can't be found" Tom

Not a lot of detail as to why David. Any chance you could expound a bit? Thanks, Tom

Hello, I just got through watching High School, by Frederick Wiseman. I'm not sure where, but I seem to remember hearing it was shot on an Eclair NPR. I saw it years ago before I owned a 16mm camera. Looking at it from a post 16mm camera purchase, I have to say that I was very impressed with the cinematography in a lot of ways. Not that every shot was perfect or that the lighting was beautiful, but that during "live" circumstances without actors hitting their marks, they were able to "get the shot" with minimal rehearsal and not a lot of control over the "set." For those that aren't familiar, it's a documentary done in 1968 in a high school in Philadelphia (in B & W). Here is a link if you're interested: http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2001/highschool/thefilm.html I have the more modern version of the Éclair, the ACL II. I'm going on the assumption that a 16mm NPR was used for this. I was very impressed how they got such tight grained footage in low light situations and all in pretty good focus. It appears that there was no additional lighting. So my questions are: What kind of stock do you think was used as there were shots in a gym, inside a classroom, in a hallway, in an office, with no additional lighting as far as I can tell. I assume there was a super fast lens, any thoughts on the go to lens of the time under these circumstances. How could the camera operator be sure he was hitting the focus when the depth of field was so shallow? Now I'm much less experienced, but there were cases when for example, there were rows of desks that were 3 feet apart from each other on a horizontal plane, and he knew just where to stop in crisp focus for each row, every 3 feet as he went from row #1 in the foreground to #4 in the background and stopping perfectly at each row in between. He MUST have been able to see if it was in focus through the viewfinder, and this was while the camera was running. On my ACL II, I can see through the viewfinder for framing, but I can't come close to making a focus judgment, while the camera is running. It's very frustrating if you're not in a controlled environment. I suppose they could have marked the lens, quickly, before hand and had a focus puller do it, but I'm not completely sure that was how they did it. I enjoyed the movie, but obviously, I'm left with more questions than answers. Thanks, Tom

my five for today only : Stranger Than Paradise Psycho Citizen Kane Raging Bull Soy Cuba

Hans, I can't watch it. It says, "this video is private." T

No doubt. New seller too. How unique.

Checked it out Dave and it's been removed. T

Hi John, I bought a camera off of Ebay. Knowing what I know now, I would also factor in what it would cost to have a good camera tech give it the once over. Tom

Hi Gareth. The SM58 as Brett mentioned is a live mic. It's also a beast that would probably bend a telescoped pole :) I would look at a shotgun mic. As the name implies, at a reasonable distance you can point them in the general direction of the sound(s) and it should pick it up and reduce the ambient sounds around it. In terms of the minidisk, I'm not sure what the compression would do to a good well recorded signal. Tom

Hi David, I'm going to make the change back to Final Cut Pro when the new macs come out. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on going from Premier to FCP, as I'm currently using Premier myself. I've had some road blocks with it. Tom

I used them a few times 6 years ago and had good results. No surprises. Tom

John, Keep positive and hope it's getting a little better each day. Tom