Everything was shot to a RAW 16GB CF card and down loaded through the high speed RAW Firewire card reader on to LaCie harddrives supporting editing in Final Cut Pro on MacBook Pro.  Along with demonstrating a number of tabletop shooting situations, I had enough time to show a very basic NLE workflow.  Student received a Sonicfire Pro disk and suggestions on the use of royalty-free music in their future video and still to video productions.

The students asked lots of questions and quite a few got a chance to try the equipment for themselves in actual shooting situations.

Below is the tabletop wine video we did in the workshop.

Below is the tabletop push-in we did in the workshop.

Katie-Britt Breenway with Chimera Window Pattern projected on background

Chimera has a new window pattern system that makes having a small, versatile and portable set of cookie patterns available to you on location or in the studio.  Like the entire Chimera, line the window pattern system is sturdy and well thought out. This was evident from the moment I opened the box and found the kit comes in a heavy-duty long zippered bag.

One of the problems of the traditional cookie is that it is usually a full size 48 X 48 or larger pattern made out of wood. This makes it hard to take it with you.  Another problem is that even if you do have that kind of space, you are still limited to one pattern unless you have a grip truck with room for multiple 48 x 48 boards.

Chimera Window Pattern projected on background

Chimera has gotten around that by starting with a collapsible metal frame with a very smart pin system that works with standard grip head to hold it securely and prevent the frame from twisting.  Then there is a black matte to control light spill that fits to the frame with elastic at each corner and is flexible so it rolls up.  The patterns then attach by Velcro to fill the center open square.  The patterns are black and white designs on what looks like a litho film.  One of the beauties of this is that you have a choice of number patterns with the same frame and matte.  If you don’t like one pattern, in seconds you can have a different one installed.  Since there are Velcro tabs on both sizes of the matte, you can combine two patterns.  Note in the image showing the pattern a second pattern is hanging from the Velcro ready to be put in place instantly.

Terry of Chimera told me of a way he uses the system where he attaches the frame to a c-stand and then an arm to the c-stand to hold a light in an open-faced Chimera softbox. This allows for easy movement of the complete light/pattern system together and even more control of light spill.

Chimera Window Pattern in Foreground with Lee White Shooting Video

Depending on your needs, the frame/matte combinations come in three sizes 22X22, 42X42 and 48X48.  For more info go to www.chimeralighting.com

Either way, Marshall’s Peaking Filter would have come in handy. A peaking filter is used to help in getting a sharp focus which is especially hard with the tiny LCD on the back of HDSLRs that is normally used. How it works is the picture is turned into Black and White on the Marshall V-LCD70XP HDMI monitor with a red color appearing in the edges of areas where the picture is in focus. Peaking Filters work best after setting the picture to the best exposure and there is good contrast in the areas that need to be focused on.

There is the added benefit of being able to place the camera in positions, such a high or low angles, where focusing with the camera’s LCD would be difficult, by using the appropriate length HDMI cable and being able to continue to pull focus.

Peaking Filter

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.

Marshall Electronics describes their False Color Filter in the following way:

The False Color filter is used to aid in the setting of camera exposure. As the camera Iris is adjusted, elements of the image will change color based on the luminance or brightness values. This enables proper exposure to be achieved without the use of costly, complicated external test equipment. To best utilize this feature, you must understand the color chart and have a basic understanding of camera exposure. Normally, when shooting subjects like people, it is common practice to set exposure of faces to the equivalent of approximately 56 IRE. The False Color filter will show this area as the color PINK on the monitor. Therefore, as you increase exposure (open the IRIS), your subject will change color as indicated on the chart: PINK, then GREY, then a few shades of YELLOW. Overexposed subjects (above 101 IRE) on the monitor will be shown as RED. In addition, underexposed subjects will show as DEEP-BLUE to DARK-BLUE, with clipped-blacks indicated with a FUCHSIA-like color. Lastly, the color GREEN is used to indicate elements of the image that are approximately 45 IRE. This represents a “neutral” or “mid-level” exposure commonly used for objects (not people).

If you have come to any of my workshops, you have seen a practical demonstration of Marshall’s HDMI monitor’s False Color Filter in setting exposure. The latest Marshall 7 inch HDMI Monitor is the V-LCD70XP HDMI.

Surprisingly, Gale found Marshall’s False Color filter so useful that he seldom used his handheld meter while shooting with the 5D.

False Color Images

False Color Table

Any photographer learning video production would have been very interested in the Cine Gear Expo 2010 at  Paramount Studios in Hollywood.   One of the highlights was cinematographer Gale Tattersall,  DP  of the TV show House, part of Canon’s EOS presentation on using the Canon 5D  for the final episode.  I had a chance to chat with Gale for awhile privately before and after the presentation as well, so I was able to get a bit more information on his digital workflow.

Anyone who wants to see top work with a 5D Mark ll should watch the House finale episode.  To keep everything I’m going to write about this  in the right perspective,  we must keep in mind that Gale is the DP for what I hear is the most watched TV show in the world.  He has a team of experienced professionals working with him and the resources of a major network behind him.  These are not unlimited resources, but they will do.  Plus, he was concerned that he and his team only had three weeks of testing to refine the workflow before he started actually using the camera to shoot the episode.

Right off there was some concern about projecting the clips on a full size movie screen at the Expo.  Banding is a problem when you start off with a highly compressed format like the H264 coming out of the 5D Mark ll.  Everyone in the theater was impressed including Gale and moderator Tim Smith of Canon with how well the picture held up.  Remember, they made sure they started with the picture style set at neutral, the exposure was right on (I’ll write about this more later) and the color balance was right where they wanted it.  Plus, (and here is a big tip) a little film grain was added to smooth everything out.

More on this and what else I saw …

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

Sennheiser also has the on-camera mounting MKE400 small shotgun mic which is great for reportage and much better than the onboard mic but not very good for most productions.  On camera is usually not the best position for a microphone as placement is for best picture not best sound.  Of course, there are pigtail adapters from mini plug to XLR but that puts a lot of strain on the mini connector, so try and figure out some method of strain relief.

Beachtek-DXASLR

The 7d is still completely automatic gain controlled, or should I say out of control, audio with no explanation why Canon is able to do a firmware update for the 5D but not the 7D.  Of course, the 7d has the nice selection of video formats, which the 5D does not.  The 7D chip size is close to feature 35mm film size which gives both a similar DOF look, which is another plus. Beachtek comes to the rescue with two DXA adapters that both have agc disablers.  By disabling the agc and manually controlling the audio levels, you will not have the wild swing in your audio recording that often causes distortions and problems in editing your sound.

I will give each of the Beachtek adapters their due in up-coming entries.  Until then, remember sound is often considered 50% of the production until it’s bad sound and then it’s 80%.

While Powerpoints don’t take a lot of processing, it takes quite a bit of processing power on the projectors part to show the Final Cut Studio editing demonstrations I do at a high resolution.  The XJ-S57 handles my FCS demonstrations with ease.

The XJ-S57 is amazingly bright for its size and size is important when traveling.  It is small enough to conveniently fit in with the rest of the precious camera equipment as carry on.  It saved me several times when  there were problems with the rented projectors at the venues.

Casio also has a new green XJ-A series of Eco-Friendly compact data projectors  with a Solid-State light source.  These new projectors use a mercury free laser-LED hybrid light source that is more ecologically friendly with better color.  They are also more economical as the light source lasts much longer and for anyone who ever replaced a bulb in one of these projectors, they know it can easily cost $400 or more.

The new projectors also allow for quick startup/shutdown, which makes them easier to use than other projectors.  Of course, they have maintained the slim design that makes them so convenient.

Now that almost every business of any size has an online presence, there is a dramatic upswing of moving imaging content that photographers can tap into for increased sales. The imaging content can range from simple short clips to slick professional productions.

Weddings have been videoed for many years but now brides are being more familiar with the idea that the photographer can provide video and not have to go to the extra work of finding both a photographer and videographer.

There is more but I’ll let you read the article to find out the rest.