Notes On Video

I downloaded the trial for VoltaicHD to see whether it would be a better alternative to the Final Cut Express import process for AVCHD files (or even if it would be useful for converting AVCHD files that aren't recognizable by FCE.) Note: the demo is good for 10 conversions, with a maximum file size of 50MB First the good news: It converts .MTS files (native AVCHD files) no matter where they are, so that's a big plus over FCE and will be useful for archiving .MTS files. I copied a .MTS file from the camera card onto the Desktop and then successfully converted it. The program has a simple, but intuitive interface; drag the files into a list, where you can select them if you want to transfer them, and you can see a preview of the first frame of the clip by clicking the Details button. There's no In and Out point selection as there is in FCE, but I can live with that. The bad news: it takes much, much longer than FCE to do the conversion. A 15 second clip took FCE 32 seconds ...

To provide a little more illumination on how the SDHC conversion works in Final Cut Express; When you either mount the camera in disk mode (or have the SDHC card inserted in a card reader) and open the Log and Transfer window, the name of the volume appears with a spinning progress indicator: After about 20 seconds, a list of clips appears. You can preview them, set in and out points, or simply drag from the top window to the bottom. The bottom window is a queue of clips to be converted. Note that FCE only seems to recognize AVCHD files if they are contained within a valid file structure. If you try and copy the .MTS file into Log and Transfer from another location, you get an error message:

I had two concerns when considering getting an AVCHD camera: 1. Dealing with archiving all that video content that I could no longer just file away on the tapes on which it was recorded. 2. Editing the AVCHD content I’m still working on 1, but issue 2 seems to work okay…though there are issues. I’ve been using Final Cut Pro for a couple of years, and Apple announced support for the AVCHD compressor with the latest release of it and FC Express. That meant upgrading, and – long story short – I ended up buying Final Cut Express 4.0, because it was cheaper than buying the Final Cut Pro suite. After shooting some video with the Panasonic AG-HMC70U – and installing the software – I tried inserting the SDHC card into the card reader, mounting that, and accessing the files. The card mounted fine, and revealed a somewhat confusing directory structure, but I eventually found what I took to be the data files (.MTS) in a folder called STREAM. Unfortunately, these files were completely unrecognized...

The AG-HMC70U comes with a 2GB SDHC card. That should hold about 20 minutes of video at the highest quality setting. Not too bad for playing about with, but not enough for everyday use. B and H Photo (where I bought the AG-HMC70U), lists – amongst accessories - a Panasonic 16GB Class 6 card for $129.95. Considering what I’ve paid over the years for Compact Flash cards, that’s almost like giving them away, but I thought I could do better. A search for SDHC cards at Amazon came up with only a few 16 GB cards (though I think the number increases each time I go back there!) My first preference was for a name brand card. The SanDisk Ultra II seemed like the obvious choice, which they were selling for $89.99. SanDisk is a “known” entity; they have been around for a while, and I have several cards from them already that I have been happy with. But a little research revealed that this card is a Class 4, with a maximum transfer rate of 15 MB/sec. The AG-HMC70U maximum bit rate is 13, so in theo...

A few first impressions of the AG-HMC70U: It’s pretty big. I was expecting that, but it’s somehow bigger than I expected or imagined. I guess I’ve been spending so much time with “small cameras” I forgot how big, shoulder cameras tend to be. The size isn’t an issue when on your shoulder, but it does make it more awkward to schlep around, and though I have a large bag I carry the HDR-FX1 around in, it’s too large for that. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised at how solid the body felt. Frankly, I was thinking that it might feel like a big empty plastic box, given that there’s no tape mechanism, the electronics are probably pretty small, and I imagine there’s a lot of empty space in that shell. Weight wise it’s probably a little heavier than the FX1, but not by much. Speaking of the body, it’s surprisingly devoid of buttons and switches (the FX1 is covered in them.) The BNC and XLR jacks certainly take up a lot of space on the back, but take those away and there are not many oth...

I'm not a big fan of those unboxing videos and articles that people keep doing, but since I got the thing and I had a camera near by... Unboxing the Panasonic AG-HMC70U: Open the box (left), and you find inside another box (right) that looks almost exactly the same; only slightly smaller Open the top, and you see the software discs, memory card (2 GB) and the side of the camera. The right-hand side compartment holds the power supply. Lift that tray out, and you see the lens cover and remote (right) and protective packaging: Take out the next layer, and there's the camera, sitting in a protective baggy: And here she is, right out of the baggy, with a piece of protective wrapping around the viewfinder arm (the rubber eyecup for the viewfinder isn't attached); Here's the camera, with all the parts in front, clockwise from left: * Manual and CD's (one has electronic manual and the other has software). * Battery * viewfinder eyecup * battery for remote * remote * should...

I have had a Sony HDR-FX1 for about three years now, and wanted to get another HD camcorder so that I could do multi-camera shoots. I had been looking at the Sony HVR-HD1000U; a long name for a fairly straight-forward camera. The HD1000U is a one chip HD camera in a shoulder-mount form factor. Its big selling point is that it sells for $1,599. That’s basically half what the FX1 cost. Also appealing – for me - was the shoulder-mount form factor. While I like the FX1, it’s one weakness is that it’s not usable on the shoulder; so most of the time I hold it in front of me. That’s fine for a lot of things, but sometimes a shoulder-mount camera can be really useful. An additional plus point is that being from Sony – I felt – would mean that color reproduction was probably pretty similar to the FX1, and I thought it would make for a good pairing. Then I heard about the Panasonic AG-HMC70U. Like the HD1000U, it’s in a shoulder mount form factor, but it also has XLR audio inputs, which - if you...

It’s hard to get excited about a camera I know I will never buy ( okay, maybe not that hard ) but I keep finding articles about the Sony PMW-EX3. The EX3 is a “serious” camera (since it supports interchangeable lenses and costs over $13,000) so we need some serious people to look it over. Alistair Chapman provides a very deep overview of the features , that is in English, even if the navigation isn't! As one obviously favored by Sony, his review might be a little too positive (though it is early days to really evaluate it) but he covers all the ins and outs of the camera. Michael Perlman does a much briefer hands on at camcorderinfo, while Philip Bloom covers his own exploits using the camera for some testing, and has a video you can watch! All good fun, though as one forum poster noted; $13,000 seems like a lot when you compare it to offerings from Red One.

The Casio EX-F1 would be just another 6MP, 12x digital camera if it wasn't for one neat trick: burst shooting capabilities that promise 60 frames per second at full resolution and up to 1200 fps at 336 x 96. The high-frame rate is cool, but it comes at a price: as you go higher, the frame size gets smaller (and the quality of the image itself progressively gets worse too.) Gizmodo has some test clips , which show that at 512x384 and 300 fps you can get a pretty good image. The 600 fps and 1200 fps clips aren't nearly as good; the frame is small, cropped strangely, and the image gets darker and more pixelated. I would consider the 1200 fps material unusable. It would be interesting to take a 300 fps clip from this camera (which, at 512 x 384, is close to - but not exactly the same as - Standard Def) and compare it to a clip captured with a regular camera and slowed down using editing software. My guess is that the EX-F1 clips would be useable; and a better effect.

B & H sends out an electronic newsletter and it often contains some nice little articles showing you things you can spend your money on(!) The latest one has a short piece on how to get better sound without a sound man . There are some good ideas about setting a mic up on a boom - and some interesting gadgets -(though personally, a wireless mic is a lot easier to use if you don't have a soundman.) There's also an article that explains the differences between CCD and CMOS cameras . After reading it, I couldn't help but think that maybe CCD's where better than CMOS (even though manufacturers seem to be moving to CMOS more and more.) Sometimes, the more you know, the less you understand.

I’ll admit to being a Red One skeptic from the beginning. Maybe I just don’t like hype or freaky fan boys, but something turned me off, and I was skeptical that they could even pull it off. But they did release their Red One 4K Camera on time, Peter Jackson is a fan , and so are others ; it’s getting harder to maintain that cool indifference. And now they have gone and announced the Scarlet , a 3K resolution camera that they expect to release next year at a price point under $3K. Not only that, it will support frame rates from 1-120fps and a 180 fps burst mode, Compact Flash storage and full manual shooting modes are promised, as well as wi-fi control ( hmmm… ) It’s enough to turn the head of any skeptic; even if the design of it does look a little like some underwater diving camera. Camcorderinfo.com has an interview with Ted Schilowitz from Red One, who seems to think that soccer moms might want to use the camera. I’m not so sure about that; an 8X zoom seems a little on the whimpy ...

It’s NAB and everyone is making announcements! Seems like Sony just likes to torment me. First came the PMW-EX1, a really cool looking semi-pro camera that records to solid-state SD cards. Part of the reason I like it – perhaps – is that it has the same basic camera shape as my HDR-FX!; just squashed down a bit. I’d really like to get away from tape, but at $6,000 the EX1 is out of my reach. Well, now they’ve gone and announced the PMW-EX3 (what, no EX2?!) which is going to cost $13,000 and has interchangeable lenses. The body has also become more angular at the back, and I wonder if that will make it any better for shoulder shooting. PMW-EX3 On the bright side, it makes the PMW-EX1 seem almost affordable. Or, you have until the third quarter of 2008 to save for the EX3. Though I have a Panasonic VCR that has lasted for years, I haven’t had many dealings with their cameras. Maybe that should change as Panasonic went and announced the solid state HPX-170 which records 1080 HD and SD t...

There's an "unboxing" at Tracy and Matt's Blog of the HDR-TG3E (the Europena version of the HDR-TG1. I often find these unboxings pointless, but there were some interesting snippets: First impressions are that this is an amazingly small and light camcorder. The size and weight isn't achieved at the expense of build quality either as the TG3 looks and feels very solid, probably thanks to the chassis being made from titanium. [...]I recorded a few sample clips in low-light conditions last night and I'm very impressed how well the TG3 performs. [...] there are no obvious compression artefacts. As the camera uses no moving parts for recording there's no tape or DVD motor noise on the playback and it also means that recording is silent.

Some interesting bits of video news from the last few days: Canon has announced updates to it’s XL H1 camcorder Building on the success of its acclaimed XL H1 High Definition (HD) camcorder, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging technology, has introduced the new shoulder mount XL H1S and XL H1A HD camcorders , which include new advanced features requested by professional users for improved operation and image control. Canon's new XL H1S and XL H1A camcorders feature an updated Canon 20x HD Video Lens with three independent manual adjustment rings (focus, zoom and iris), as well as enhanced manual focus and zoom control. Wicked cool looking, and wicked expensive. Expect the XL H1S HD in early June for $8,999, and the XL H1A will be out in mid-July for $5,999. Firewire news (“I’m not dead yet!”) I love Firewire; it’s how I connect all my video cameras to my Macs. When it first appeared it was amazing because of one thing: it just worked. Suddenly I could get video into a c...

Apple has just shipped Final Cut Server , almost a year after they were supposed to ship it. "Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets, allows searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes, and enables viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a PC or Mac." There's a bunch of interesting tutorials on Apple's website. Cool that you can add a single Final Cut project file to server and it will automatically upload all source materials. At $999 for 10 users, it makes sense for a work group, but hard to justify for individuals. Like Final Cut Pro, you need a Mac to run the Server (OS X 10.5+) but there is a Windows client that works with the server (I guess for those creating assets on Windows machines.)

It started off with a short article about Sony’s new tiny, AVCHD camcorder the HDR-TG1 . I saw a mention of it on Engadget, and Camcorderinfo had this longer article that I went to check out. The camera is built in the pistol-grip style; it’s very small and supports 1080i. The HDR-TG1 looks cool, even if it does record to Memory Stick, a format I have so far been able to avoid. Not that I have anything specifically against Memory Stick other than the fact that I already have about 20 GB of Compact Flash and SD cards. I was checking it out –not really serious about getting one- when I saw an ad for the Manfrotto MODOSTEADY . This is a shoulder support/counterbalancing stabilizer/table tripod all-in-one! I’m always interested in ways to improve the stabilization/carrying of camcorders, and Manfrotto makes good stuff; even if it is often expensive. A look at B and H Photo’s website revealed just three reviews. Two were basically positive: This is a nice versatile product. Works as a shou...

I posted before about the Sony XDCAM EX, a really cool, three-chip HD camcorder that records to solid-state memory, which I just can't afford. But I'd really like to get another HD camcorder so I can do a three camera shoot. Sony's HVR-HD1000 looks interesting. Here's the Pros and Cons (from my perspective): Pros: 1. Relatively inexpensive (about $1,600 right now) 2. Records to minitapes. (While recording to solid state memory is appealing, until I have a better way to backup and archive large amounts of material, tapes are an inexpensive and attractive medium. Still, if I get this, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last tape-based camera I buy.) 3. My other cameras are Sonys, so I should be able to figure out the thing and colors probably match better than buying another brand. 4. I really like using a shoulder mount camera for some things, and the other two cameras don't really work well that way. 5. To the uninitiated, it looks like a "real" c...

The battle for the High Def Disc format has been decided: Blu-ray has beaten HD DVD. It had been a muddled and scrappy fight, with studios and hardware manufacturers lining up on either side. For over a year, each had minor victories, but it seemed that the war could go on for ever. It was surprising how quickly it ended. Warner announced that they were going Blu-ray exclusively a few days before the January CES show, and it was all down hill from there. Walmart, Best Buy and others quickly followed suit, and Toshiba saw the writing on the wall and pulled the plug in February. Arguments were made about the pros and cons of each format, but a compelling case could be made for either format. In the end, is appears to be Sony’s PS3 that made the difference. Though it wasn’t the big success it was supposed to be as a game box, every unit included a Blu-ray player. And while sales of the set-top HD DVD and Blu-ray players ran about even – HD DVD often selling slightly better – PS3 sales swu...

Sony announced the PMW-EX1 HD video camera months ago, but it’s only in the past month that articles about it have started to appear, and it still seems to be in pre-order status. And first things first, this is an expensive toy; $6,699 is the price at the moment, putting it out of reach of the video hobbyist. But what a camera. Sony sells a variety of HD camera’s, and this one bridges a gap between their semi-pro cameras and their true pro cameras. On the semi-pro side, existing cameras like the HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U feature three chips, a fixed lens, record to tape (MPEG-2) and cost about $3,000. In size and shape they are very similar to the PMW-EX1. Then you jump to the professional cameras like the PDWF330, which feature interchangeable lenses and record to optical discs using Sony’s XDCAM format. But it’s a big jump; $15,000 is at the low end for these cameras. For me, the intriguing thing about the professional XDCAM cameras is the move away from tape based recording. Except for t...

I've just spent some time playing with Photomatix an interesting little tool for creating High Dynamic Range images. What? If you have a digital camera, you probably know that they have a very limited dynamic range. Imagine you are taking a picture of a person sitting under a sun umbrella. If you set the exposure for the person, the surroundings will be over exposed. Set exposure for the surroundings, and the person will be underexposed. No matter how you adjust the settings, the camera doesn't have enough dynamic range to capture detail across the scene. HDR photography is kind of a trick. Put the camera on a tripod and take three (or more) photographs; one correctly exposed, one under exposed and one over exposed. Then merge the three images to create a single image with a higher dynamic range. That's the basic theory. How? Well, pretty simple really; get a camera and a tripod. Many digital cameras have an auto exposure bracket function; turn the feature on by setting ho...