7dSLR
An amateur journey of digital recording
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An amateur journey of digital recording
Sep 19th
Having recently upgraded to the CS5 suite of Adobe products, I decided to attend the Kelby training for Down & Dirty Tricks for Adobe Photoshop CS5. It was an “All Day” seminar with classes beginning at 10 am and ending at 5pm. The seminar was conducted Corey Barker a instructor part of the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals).
They covered designing and working with photos in Photoshop including layers and compositing effects, designing with type, and several sessions on tips and tricks with Photoshop CS5. They showed the tricks on how movie poster effects and magazine ads are made with using your photos and Photoshop.
For $100 for Non NAPP members, it was a great deal. I learned quite a bit and further honed my Photoshop skills. I also decided to join NAPP. With membership, you get discounts to places like B&H photo, Apple and others as well as free access to training, technical support for Photoshop and a great Photoshop magazine that has 8 issues a year. By signing up at the conference, I also got free DVD tutorials and book valued much more that the price of the two -year membership.
If you are interested in learning more about how to use Photoshop, I highly recommend taking one of these seminars. You can find more about them at www.kelbytraininglive.com.
Sep 7th
Vinten®, a Vitec Group brand and a global leader in camera supports, is launching its new Vision blue at IBC2010. This new, competitively priced pan and tilt head and tripod system is designed to provide the experienced camera operator with professional support to match the extremely high-performance of today’s popular small lightweight camcorders and DSLRs equipped for video.
Vision blue addresses the need for a broadcast quality tripod system capable of genuinely balancing the smaller, lightly accessorized cameras, managing payloads between 4.6 – 11lbs (2.1 – 5kg) with a low center of gravity of approximately 55mm.
The Vision blue head incorporates Vinten’s innovative and award winning Perfect Balance technology, an integral part of Vinten’s existing Vision range, which enables consistent movement and easy positioning of the camera at any angle helping operators to achieve perfect shots with minimal effort. It also features infinitely adjustable Vision LF drag technology for silky smooth movement and precise framing. This functionality has never before been available for such light cameras, and will bring a new consistency of movement to every user.
The Vision blue is sold as a pan and tilt head, or as complete system with a two-stage aluminum tripod and a choice of floor or mid-level spreader. It also includes a high contrast blue LED illuminated leveling bubble for quick and accurate set-up in all lighting situations.
“All camera operators and professional videographers want the same thing: smooth, predictable and controllable movement; fast set-up; and a reliable product,” said Peter Harman, Vinten product manager.
“With Vision blue, we can now bring true Vinten Vision performance to users – ensuring for the very first time – that operators of the smallest professional cameras can work without creative compromise. We know this is something the market has been waiting for and we are delighted to be able to showcase the Vision blue for the first time at IBC2010,” concludes Harman.
For further information, please go to www.vinten.com or contact: Vinten, 709 Executive Blvd., Valley College, NY 10989, Phone: 1 888 2 Vinten, Fax: 845-268-0113, Email: info-cd-usa@vitecgroup.com
Sep 2nd
I recently attended the Cincinnati JACL Potluck. Great food and company and Taiko Drummers. The room was relatively small. To shoot the video, I used the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC lens my Canon 7D with my zoom H4n for audio. Finally, I matched up the audio and video using Final Cut Express. (Can’t wait to get FCP)
First, it was a very good thing i decided to use the Zoom H4n for audio. When I got home, the audio off the Canon was severely clipped and sounded like, well… you know what it sounded like. In order to get the transients corrrect on the H4n, I had to manually reduce the recording level to 20 (Which is real low). The results speak for themselves. The audio really does capture the dynamics that we experienced live.
For the first video, I thought I would try to record in 720p 60fps. My thought process was that the high speed of the drummers would be better captured at the higher frame rate. When I looked at the full res version of the video I was, not impressed. Here is the video below.
I was really surprised to see all the digital noise on the drum casing. At first, I thought is was an issue with the lens. Luckily, I recorded one of their later songs (performance?) in 1080p 24fps. There is a significant difference. See the video below.
Even in the compressed youtube version, you can still see a significant improvement in the digital noise. What gives. So I looked at my settings for my Canon 7D. In the 720p mode, I have the shutter speed set to 125 or roughly double what the fps (frames per second) spec of this recording mode. In the 1080p mode, I have the shutter speed set to a lower 50 speed. From these settings I can assume that more light will get let in at the lower setting. This makes sense.
I guess I learned the hard way that if you shoot at higher frame rates, you need more light. Duh. The ambient light was not enough to prevent the digital noise captured in the 720p mode. Good lesson. Let me know what you think.