Charlotte Gets Secrets of Video Production for Photographers

Secrets of Video Production for Photographers is coming to Charlotte on June 18 and 19. I’m looking forward to my first visit to what promises to be a charming city.

Friday night is going to be the APA evening presentation from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at Paradox Film & digital where I give a basic outline of the process of video production. I do this keeping in mind video is an additional component to a still production. I will discuss the techniques and tools needed to do video production. See http://charlotte.apanational.com for more details.

Saturday’s workshop is always fun and informative as I have more time to really get into video production. In the morning, we look at the basics from a different point of view and then build on those basics including when to call in a post house like Rawworks to help. In the early afternoon we do some lighting and camera techniques followed by a short commercial shoot with the latest equipment from Manfrotto, Panasonic, Ziess, Marshall Electronics, Redrock Micro, Beachtek, Sennhieser, K-Tek, Hoodman, and LaCie. I then take that video into Final Cut Studio, edit it and output it for various distribution methods. The day gives anyone interested in video production a good outline to follow in video productions. See www.tiny.cc/june18 for more details.

Video production is changing by the day and can be confusing to photographers just getting into motion. Having a working understanding of the overall picture, helps give the photographer getting into video production an understanding of how to judge what equipment and software to use.

Christopher Lozano www.tlsHollywood.com did this time lapse click (MOVIE) of the LA evening presentation.

Final Cut Studio’s Compressor Stands Alone

Apple’s Compressor in Final Cut Studio is being improved in each version of Final Cut.  This is good because HDSLRs are now so popular to shoot video and because of the need to transcode the files into a less compressed and more edit friendly codec.  Up until now, you have been able to use Compressor by itself by bringing in files directly into Compressor.  If you did bring the files in directly, then you were able to work in Final Cut Pro at the same time Compressor was encoding.

But, if you wanted to use compressor to encode your sequence from versions of Final Cut Pro up to 7, you would use Menu directions File>Export>Using Compressor… which was handy because this would open Compressor (if not already open) and place the sequence file in the project window of Compressor.  All one had to do was drag the settings, set the destination and submit to start the encoding.  This was great except for one thing, now Compressor was working inside Final Cut Pro instead of as a stand-alone and you were not able to do anything in final Cut Pro until compressor was finished.  If you had an hour encoding, then you had to wait an hour to start using Final Cut Pro again.

Final Cut Studio 3 has changed all that.  Now you do not Export>Using Compressor but you Send To compressor, which means Compressor, although linked to Final Cut Pro, is a stand-alone application.  Final Cut Pro is still able to send your sequence to Compressor and place it in the project window but since Compressor remains as a stand-alone application, you can now continue to use Final Cut Pro as Compressor encodes the sequence.  This is just one of the huge improvements made in Final Cut Studio 3 in the encode area of the suite.

By the way, I always wondered if the three dots after the old Using Compressor… didn’t used to mean, “Go get lunch, I’m going to be awhile”.  It’s time to upgrade!

Final Cut Studio

Chicago Welcomes Secrets of Video Production

Chicago was surprising.  As with the other cities, I had no doubt that the photography professionals attending would be welcoming but I had not expected the warmth they extended to me.  I did both my Secrets of Video Production for photographers evening presentation and Saturday workshop at Callie Lipkin’s very spacious studio.  Callie and her husband/studio manager Robert were great hosts and they have a great space that is also a rental, so if you are in need of a studio in Chicago, give them a call 773.853.2339.  APA’s Midwest director Megan was indispensible in getting things set up for my events.

Everyone was intent on learning about video production as this is a no nonsense group of professionals that see video production is the next stage of the now ever-changing landscape of professional image making.  They understand the days of being a pure professional photographer are fast disappearing and they are willing to take the next step, which is into video production.  I had at least two photographers  who drove from Columbus Ohio to attend.  Two more came from Milwaukee and plan on sharing what they learned with the rest of the crew at QuadPhoto.  Dave Busch of QuadPhoto was nice enough to send me an email that included the following quote, “The combination of facts, experiences and practical ideas you presented will undoubtedly save a lot of money and pain for any photographer that is just beginning to investigate video production.  Plus the tools, toys, and software you shared were a real eye opener for those of us who have already started shooting HD video with DSLR.  Thanks again for making the event well worth our time and the 180 miles we drove to attend!”

It was exciting to share with them some of the new development I saw at NAB a few days earlier in Vegas, including the exciting developments of Litepanels new hybrid LED that flash sync’s.  Zeiss’s new cine compact prime series was well as introducing them to Zeiss’s HDSLR series lenses for Canon and Nikon cameras.  Sonicfire’s new Voxal vocal albums and, of course, Redrock Micro’s upcoming wireless follow focus were just a few of the items I told them about.

I have no doubt that the Chicago professionals I met will have little problem making some great short form video content.  I look forward to them sharing some of their video experiences with me.

Workshop image including Lastolite light modifiers, Manfrotto 536 MPRO tripod (sticks) ©Megan Erskine

Lee White preparing to shoot commercial with model Maya using Marshall Electronics V-LCD70P-HDMI, Redrock Micro eyeSpy, Beachtech audio adapter DXA-5D ©callielipkin

Lee white talking about framing which is illustrated in the Marshall Electronics V-LCD70P-HDMI ©Megan Erskine

Secrets of Video Production Blows into the Windy City, Chicago

Video production for photographers is coming to Chicago on April 16 and 17. I’m looking forward to the windy city right after visiting NAB in Las Vegas for a few days.
Friday night is going to be the APA evening presentation from 6:30pm to 9:00pm where I give a basic outline of the process of video production within a still production and the additional software and equipment needed. Richard Wiser of VMI Broadcast and Professional video said of the evening, “ I found the information accurate and interesting and your presentation top-notch.” See http://midwest.apanational.com for more details.

Saturday’s workshop is always fun and informative as I have more time to really get into video production. In the morning, we look at the basics from a different point of view and then build on those basics including about when to call in a post house like Rawworks to help. In the early afternoon we do some lighting and camera techniques followed by a short commercial shoot with the latest equipment from Manfrotto, Panasonic, Ziess, Marshall Electronics, Redrock Micro, Beachtek, Sennhieser, K-Tek, Hoodman, and LaCie. I then take that video into Final Cut Studio, edit it and output it for various distribution methods. The day gives anyone interested in video production a good outline to follow in their own productions. See www.tiny.cc/chiapr17 for more details.

Video production is changing by the day and can be confusing to photographers just getting into motion. Having a working understanding of the overall picture, helps give the photographer getting into video production a understanding of how to judge what equipment and software to use. Once the photographer is producing video, there are a number of ways to market their new skill set to current and potential clients.

Christopher Lozano www.tlsHollywood.com did this time lapse click (MOVIE) of the LA evening presentation.

Seattle hosts Video Production for Photographers

“I found the information accurate and interesting and your presentation top-notch” – Richard Wieser video professional services for VMI Broadcast and Professional Video.

Seattle’s Secrets of Video Production for Photographers evening presentation and workshop was a blast.  Both events took place at the Seattle Pacific University, a beautiful campus in northern Seattle.  Along with my past sponsors of Apple, Manfrotto, Zeiss, Panasonic, Redrock Micro, Beachtek, Smartsound, Marshall Electronics, Sennheiser, LaCie, Hoodman USA, there were the new and very welcome sponsors of Rawworks, K-tek and Agencyaccess.

I’d like to say a little bit about these new sponsors who along with my other sponsors that help bring photographers across the nation the information photographers are going to need to compete in the new media world.  Rawworks is a post house, which means it finishes the video with editing, audio sweetening, color grading (color correction) and format conversions.  Although Rawworks handles all type of video, it has taken a special interest in HDSLR post-production.  I suggest before embarking on a video project involving serious post-production, consider talking to them.  Check out their website at hdirawworks.com.

K-Tek has also joined in spreading the video production information to photographers.  They added important items to the equipment I have been showing which are a superb shock mount and a combination fuzzy with shock mount.  These improve the sound quality by reducing the unwanted vibrations and wind noise that otherwise would be picked up by the microphone.  Their website is ktekbooms.com.

And, of course, all the right equipment and hard work in producing video means little if you are not letting the world know you have added this new service.   This is where Agencyaccess becomes an important part of your overall plan.  They can help you in getting the word out to potential clients by supplying you an up-to-date database of prospective clients and a wide variety of ways of getting your promotions designed and out to them.  To see more of their services, go to agencyaccess.com.

Friday evening’s group was there to find out what this new convergence of photography and video is going to mean to them and get a glimpse at the new tools and techniques they would need to use.  Richard Wieser of the VMI video, www.vmivideo.com, was there to answer questions for some of my sponsors like Panasonic, Sennheiser, and Marshall Electronics. VMI has stores in California and Washington and is an excellent resource for video gear.

Some of Saturday’s group already had upcoming projects that included a video component and were seriously looking for answers to the many questions shooting video brings up for the photographer.   I gave the group a good overview of how to get started and what to prepare for in video production.  I also had a chance to answer specific questions about individual photographer’s problems concerning their future productions.

Secrets of Video Production Coming to Seattle

©Lee White

The Secrets of Video Production for Photographers continues on to Seattle this week with two events at the Seattle Pacific University, 3307 3rd Ave W, Seattle, WA.  After having a short break following three intense weeks giving presentations and workshops to hundreds of photographers in New York, Atlanta and Denver I’m ready to go again.

Plus I was not sitting back but rather collecting new equipment to test and show from Zeiss, RedrockMicro, K-tek, Sennhesier, Hoodman and talking with Rawworks about post-production.  I also started instructing the first two weeks of my sixteen week college class in video production for photography students at Santa Monica College.

You will also see some new faces in my sponsors including Agency Access who I have used with  great success to get my still and video work out to potential clients.  Online is the way to best show your latest and greatest in video to potential clients and you need to keep updating them regularly.

If you are in the Seattle area I hope to see you at one of my events this week, please come up and introduce yourself.  The next three series of events are happening in Seattle, Chicago and New Jersey.

For more information on my Seattle events and workshop see www.apanw.org or for just my Seattle workshop  tiny.cc/seamar6.

Snow Storm Could Not Keep Photogs Away!

One of those historic snowfalls did not deter New York photographers from getting to Secrets of Video Production for Photographers.  Over 170 professionals enjoyed getting in from the snow and ice in the Root studio to see my Secrets of Video Production for Photographers.  New Yorkers, always being right on top of the latest, asked probing questions and took copious notes.

Just that day, The Wall Street Journal broke the front-page news “Google Jolts Telecom Rivals” about Google starting to supply higher speed connection than presently available.  Google stated it was to improve the rapid downloading of video.  I has been saying this is the year photographers will be have to move into supplying video along with photography or begin to lose ground.

I’m is scheduled to continue spreading the latest in tools and techniques of photography/video in upcoming presentations in Seattle, Chicago and New Jersey.

Atlanta “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers”

There was another big turn out for my Atlanta “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers” given for APA Atlanta.  Along with gear I had from my sponsors Apple, Manfrotto, Zeiss, Panasonic, SmartSound, RedRock Micro, Beachtek, Marshall Electronics, Sennheiser, LaCie and Hoodman, Apple was there showing Final Cut Studio and gave away a $1000.00 Final Cut Studio suite of video editing software.  The Zeiss representative showed their special Canon and Nikon mount lenses with long focus barrels and color-matched glass.

Showcase camera store of Atlanta, a beautiful fully stocked professional camera store, also supplied additional gear from the above mentioned sponsors to give attendees a chance to see the various pieces of equipment up close and personal.

Big Studio, 404-874-6111, was a wonderful host of both the Thursday evening event and Saturday workshop.  It is a great studio to work in and Megan the studio manager was both gracious and professional.

Below are pictures Lindsay Lewis the director of APA Atlanta took during my evening presentation.  The first is me talking about the false color filter of Marshall Electronics V-LCD70P-HDMI monitor.  The second is me talking about the Sonicfire Pro program and five royalty-free multi music tracks.   I have arranged for every attendee to either of my events to get the music tracks for free.

Lee White with Marshall Electronic false color filter

The Saturday workshop was especially interesting for me, as I got to really delve into shooting video with stills then editing.   We talked about planning and equipment in the morning and after the lunch I provided from a tasty deli nearby, we got into the gear.

Everyone had a chance to try some hands on using a complete video rig.  I did a couple of lighting demos and shot a short commercial.  The picture below shows me shooting the commercial using a Reckrock Micro rig with a microFollowFocus geared to a Zeiss ZE 50mm F1.4 lens, on Manfrotto  sticks (tripod) and fluid head with a Beachtek 5d audio adapter cabled to a Sennheiser ME66 microphone.  On top of the rig, you can see the Marshall monitor showing the camera feed.  In the foreground is a Litepanels MicroPro LED light and in the background a medium Lastolite Skylite diffuser.

After shooting the video, I took it into Apple’s Final Cut Studio and showed how to transcode the files into a more edit friendly format using Compressor onto a LaCie rugged drive.  A step you can bypass when using video cameras from Panasonic.   Then I show everyone how to get the files into Final cut Pro, edit them into a commercial and output several distribution formats.  I ended the workshop by showing how easy it is to match music from SmartSound’s Sonicfire Pro with video or pictures.

Denver Video Workshop Loads of Fun!

My Saturday’s workshop was a fun and educational experience.  In the morning, there were a few hours of chatting about video in general and the new skill set needed to estimate and shoot video along with stills.   After a quick lunch provided by APA-LA, there was a simple combination photo/video lighting demonstration followed by a hands-on follow focus experience by each attendee.

I then set up a simple commercial spot production and shot clips to be edited into a commercial.  Following the production, I delved into putting the clips together in Final Cut Studio to finish the commercial.  First, I showed them how to transcode the HDSLR files into a more edit friendly format of ProRes422. You can skip this step with video clips from video cameras like the Panasonic.  I brought the clips into Final Cut Pro to edit them into a sequence and did some color correction. I then showed a couple of output options.

Following all that, we had a chance to explore the Sonicfire Pro application and how it creates custom length royalty-free music.

I make sure every attendee to either my Thursday evening presentation or Saturday workshop gets a copy of the Sonicfire Pro application and five free multi-layered music tracks they can use commercially.

Denver’s Video Production for Photographers

Denver had a great turn out for my “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers” an APA-LA event that is a first step in building the APA Denver chapter. One photographer drove six hours through the snow, literally it snowed, I’m here, I saw it, to attend. First let me say the people in Denver are great, especially the folks at Denver Pro Photo who helped put on both last night’s Thursday APA event and the upcoming Saturday workshop.

If you are in Denver and need equipment, supplies or rental, Denver Pro Photo is the place to go. Beyond the well- stocked store, they also have a number of different size stages including a huge one, football field huge, plus a complete grip room.

Some of the sponsors like Zeiss with their long focus pull lenses, Marshall Electronics with their video monitors and SmartSound with royalty music, were there to answer specific questions on their video solutions. I understand a lot of this is completely new to photographers so it is good to have experienced resources to answer the large variety of questions photographers have.

I had a chance to meet some of the attendees and once again heard some unfortunate stories of jobs lost because the video component could not be handled. Some were as simple as snips for the web but it was smart of the photographers not to get into something they knew little about. It is much harder to get a client back after messing up a job than truthfully saying, presently, part of their needs cannot be met.

During the presentation there was lot’sa interaction and after the presentation, I had a chance to answer some questions about challenges some of the photographers were facing with learning video production.

I want to thank the nice lady who won the complete Final Cut Studio program that I personally provided for the raffle for giving me a hug. She was so excited.