VIDEOMAKER 2014-11

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Does it matter?

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ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD UPDATE page 12

NOVEMBER 2014

DSLR

Mirrorless

YOUR GUIDE TO CREATING AND PUBLISHING GREAT VIDEO

Unlock the Tools for Post-production MagicSlow Motion. Animated Opens. Dust & Flickering Light. Exploding Logos. Loop Expressions. Day-for-Night. It’s all a part of the post-production magic at: videomaker.com/magic

330 November Cover 2014.indd 1 9/23/2014 11:05:54 AM

With JVC’s 23X Zoom, your shots will take center stage.

©2012 JVC. All trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective proprietors. Camera shown with optional shotgun microphone.

Innovation Without Compromise

14X vs. 23X

Our new GY-HM600 is your ticket to amazing performances. With the new GY-HM600, JVC introduces the next generation of handheld ProHD cameras. Light and easy to use, it’s equipped with a newly developed Fujinon 23X Wide Angle(29mm–667mm) Zoom lens, and delivers remarkable imagery. The GY-HM600 offers intuitive features that make it ideal for shootingnews, sports, and independent production. You can also count on superb low-light performance with excellent sensitivity (F11@ 2000lux). Here’s some other great features:

• Three 1/3-inch 12-bit CMOS sensors (1920 x 1080 x 3)• Produces ready-to-edit HD or SD files in multiple file formats: .MOV (Final Cut Pro™), .MP4 (XDCAM EX™), AVCHD • SDXC/SDHC memory card recording (2 slots for simultaneous or relay recording)

For more information on the GY-HM600 Series, talk to the Pros at JVC. Visit pro.jvc.com

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V I D E O M A K E R > > > N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 1

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Features

Columns2

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ReviewsPanasonic DMC-GH44k Mirrorless Camera By Chris Monlux

Adobe CC Update 2014Professional Editing SoftwareBy Chris “Ace” Gates

Kino Flo Celeb 400 DMXProfessional LED lightBy Ty Audronis

Libec AllexCamera SupportBy David G. Welton

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Next MonthHow to Take Advantage of High Dynamic RangeSelective Color CorrectionCamcorder Buyers GuideThe Anatomy of a Lens

On Sale November 25, 2014

Contents Volume 29 • Number 05

NOVEMBER 2014

ViewfinderShooting for Funby Matthew York

Basic TrainingTen Ways to Think Like a Proby Kyle Cassidy

PlanningA Plea for Pre-Productionby Odin Lindblom

DirectingDirector: Hands Off the Cameraby Peter Biesterfield

AudioHow to Use a Mixing Boardby Chris Monlux

EditingOrganizing the Timelineby Chris “Ace” Gates

Production TipsGetting Started With Adobe After Effectsby Russ Fairley

Why Your Tripod is Your Most Important PurchaseOther than your camera, a tripod is the only piece of equipment you own that will go to every shoot. The best filmmakers never underesti-mate the importance of having a great tripod.By David G. Welton

The Rapid Evolution of the Consumer CamcorderIn stark contrast to the giant VHS-cassette based cameras of the 1980s, today’s camcorders are sleek, feature-filled and affordable.By Russ Failey

DSLR or Mirrorless: Which is the Best Choice for Video?With so many cameras available from so many manufacturers, purchasing your first interchangeable lens camera can be a daunting task. Your first question might be mirrorless or DSLR? by Odin Lindblom

How to Decide What Lens to UseZoom in; zoom out; telephoto; wide. Which lens do you use and what feeling does that lens give to your viewer? The answer is as much an emotional decision as it is technical.by JR Strickland

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57On the Cover

Nikon D810 vs. Panasonic DMC-GH4

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HEAR THISAt 140 decibels, the human ear is past the threshold of pain. It’s like standing within 165 feet of a roaring jet engine.

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V I D E O M A K E R > > > N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 42

Shooting For FunAs adult humans existing within a Western culture, we live in a world where most of our activities are driven by obligation, expectations and increasingly higher goals for improve-ment. For most of our waking lives, the value of any activity in which we engage is measured by its productivity and profitability. By this standard of measure, anything that can be accom-plished with more efficiency, by taking less time, or more economically, by re-quiring a lower investment of financial assets, is deemed more worthwhile. Many of us have been conditioned to evaluate the ROI in regard to the way we use our time and resources. We are drawn then to evaluate the comparative value of the activities in which we choose to participate in comparison to other activities that might be judged as better uses of our time and energy. As a result, we must look for reasons to justify our hobbies as worthwhile because there may be some sort of measurable return that might one day bring a payoff. And so we systematize our relaxation and feel pressure to strategically squeeze out the maximum amount of enjoyment from our limited windows of oppor-tunity for leisure. We take something that should be fun and we create stress around it, making an activity that might be replenishing instead deplet-ing. It saps our joy. This is not how we have always functioned, and it may not be the best way to continue. What if we stopped?

Children at play are not concerned with time, cost or return. They’re able to participate in an activity purely for the sake of enjoyment. Often, the only measure of value attached to playtime is the degree of fun that the child experiences. As a result, children are not stressed as they play, and they are highly creative. It is no surprise that fun and enjoyment lead to greater cre-ativity. Creativity leads to satisfaction. Adults attach fun to quality. Typically

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our degree of enjoyment is attached to a level of proficiency; so a person who finds they are good at golf will find enjoyment in participating in that hobby. Kids do not do this naturally. A child can take great pride in creating a perfectly terrible painting. They can enjoy the process apart from the result.

Many of us began making video for pure enjoyment. Maybe you still do. But, somewhere along the line, I suspect that some have lost sight of that joy. Maybe you have been caught up in a cycle of pressure and deadlines and demands and profitability that has dampened your spirit and limited your creativity. If so, let me encourage you to step outside your routine and pro-duce something made solely for your enjoyment and purely for fun. There is freedom in doing something that is not attached to a deadline, not required to deliver a return on investment and not subject to critique. My hope is that you re-discover a love for making video that will spur you on to greater creativity. You may find that by remov-ing the pressure, you ultimately realize that the greatest ROI is a deep sense of satisfaction in the creative process.

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Videomaker empowers people to make video in a way that inspires, encourages and equips for success. We do this by building a community of readers, web visitors, viewers, attendees and marketers.

Matthew York is Videomaker's Publisher/Editor.

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Matthew YorkPatrice York

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For comments, email: [email protected], use article #17014 in the subject line.

330_C1 Viewfinder.indd 2 9/24/2014 8:14:50 AM

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Go MobileReading on the go? Find Videomaker on your iPhone and iPad along with apps that help video producers on location. Go to www.videomaker.com/r/676.

Advice WantedQuestion: Trav Baum: In the past I have dabbled with video editing here and there via a video game podcast I was a part of for a few years. I’ve recently started a new job, but after the bosses discover-ing some video work I’ve completed in the past, I’m offi cially their audio/video director. I’ve been doing video “profes-sionally” for 2 months now.

I enjoy the videos I have fi nished for the company fairly well, but I’d love some outside constructive advice re-garding the work I’ve wrapped to date. Videos will be linked out below. I edit in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.

Thanks for the advice, in advance! vimeo.com/102482409

Reply: Jackson Wong: Very cool work Travis. Nicely composed shots on the whole, and I especially loved the fl ying shots in the Wonder Works video. Seems like you really like editing with music, my personal taste is a little smoother between VO and music. I had to do a double take to match the VO with Marshall, though I can imagine the con-straints you had there. Across all your videos I’d take a close look at the focus and white balance. In the cooking class video, some of the food and skin tones look a little unnatural.... See more at: videomaker.com/r/021

Starting a Video Business: AdviceStarting your own business is a high risk, high reward scenario that can seem like a daunt-ing task. Those who have been in the trenches have valuable insight into what it takes to be successful. videomaker.com/r/019

November 2014

What’s on Videomaker.com

Talk to us online! Love Videomaker? Tell the world! Share your videos, fi nd extra content, talk to us! We want to know who you are.

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Starting a Video Business: Creating a Business PlanWhether you plan on being a solo act, or you’re going into business with partners, hav-ing a solid business plan will give you the best chance of success. www.videomaker.com/r/020

Put Your Best Foot ForwardEntering the world of video production is an exciting venture. Knowing some of the fundamental rules and techniques can help you increase your production skills while avoiding common pitfalls. The editors at Videomaker have created The Beginner’s Guide to Professional Results, outlining the things you need to know to get presentable video right out of the gate. Available in DVD and digital downloadable formats. Learn more and watch the pre-view video at: videomaker.com/BestFoot

You have questions. We have answers.Send your video-related questions to us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or via [email protected] and watch our weekly responses at youtube.com/videomaker.

Must-See Time-lapse VideoSome people go a bit be-yond the norm and create something that pretty much redefi nes a genre. Jeff Frost’s ambitious Kickstarter-funded project, “Circle of Abstract Ritual”, is a time-lapse art piece of epic proportion.videomaker.com/r/022

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YOUR JAW WILL DROP.The only question is if it’s from

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fects? DPO will fiddle with system settings to get your particle systems humming. Dell claims that industry standard benchmark tests have proven that DPO increases application performance by up to 121 percent.

Since the v2.0 update, Dell Precision Optimizer is now optimized for Autodesk 3ds Max and Inventor, Adobe Cre-ative Cloud (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Media Encoder), Autodesk (AutoCAD, Maya), Dassault Systèmes (CATIA, Solidworks), PTC Creo, and Siemens NX.

professional grade video codec, XAVC. XAVC is Sony’s Ultra High Definition codec; one designed to squeeze everything possible out of MPEG4/H.264, including frame sizes up to 4K and frame rates up to 120 fps. The a5100 is capable of shooting 1080p at 60, 30 and 24 frames per second using the XAVC S codec, and there are additional shooting and format options as well.

In other awesome video news, the Alpha 5100 also supports uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 output via the HDMI output.

There’s more to the Alpha 5100 than just a sweet sensor and cool video codecs. For those dark and stormy nights, the Alpha 5100 is more sensitive than someone who just watched "Les Misérables," capable up to ISO 25,600. Toss in manual focus peaking, zebra, and wi-fi with NFC connectivity, and the Alpha 5100 is a very capable addition to Sony’s already-stocked stable of mirrorless cameras.

Pricing for the Alpha 5100 will be around $550 for the body only, or $700 with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.

NEW GEAR

Dell recently announced the arrival of new members of the Precision series of workstations. Three new tower models — the 5810, 7810 and top-of-the-line 7910 as well as a rack version of the 7910 — landed in power-hungry production offices as of September 9, 2014.

The new workstations have been updated across the board. They are all powered by the latest Intel Xeon processors, up to a terabyte of DDR4 memory, and top-level NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro graphic card options.

Also adding to the performance boost is the inclusion of Thunderbolt 2 technology, which supports data transfer speeds of up to 20Gb/s while allowing for simultaneous 4K video file transfers.

Dell has also included the latest version of their innovative Dell Precision Optimizer v2.0 (DPO) software. DPO runs in the background and optimizes system settings, based on the applications which are running. Playing around in After Ef-

Gear for the Power-Thirsty

With all of the buzz flying around the video industry about the Sony a7S, another impressive mirrorless Sony cam — the Alpha 5100 (a5100) — nearly flew under the radar. The NEX-5T’s heir apparent brings some similar technology and some new features to the table in a nice, affordable package.

Similar to the NEX-5T, it replaces are a 24.3MP APS-C ExmorCMOS sensor and BIONZ Ximage processor. The big news for video enthusiasts is the inclusion of Sony’s

Sony Rolling out Alpha 5100 Mirrorless Camera with Pro XAVC Video Codec

Dell Announces New Precision Tower and Rack Workstations

b y R u s s F a i r l e y

330 D5 New Gear.indd 6 9/24/2014 8:30:55 AM

Lenses and accessories shown are not included

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REVIEWS

b y C h r i s M o n l u x

$1,700

Compact 4K

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4MILC

Panasonic USAwww.Panasonic.com

STRENGTHS• Many Frame Rate Options• Flip out Screen• Fast Focus• Several Resolution Options• Bitrates up to 200Mbps

WEAKNESSES• Lots of Noise at ISO 800 in 4K• Cropped Sensor• Audio Input/ Pre-Amp Could be stronger

With so many different camera options out there, manufactur-

ers are getting resourceful in their fight for your camera dollar. The Panasonic DMC-GH4 is one heck of a camera and it’s sure to capture a wallet or two. It’s a mirrorless interchangeable lens cam-era (MILC) and its claim to fame: 4K! With an impressive range of recording options and fast data rates, the resolu-tion isn’t the only thing that makes this camera commendable. And let’s not forget that it’s also capable of shooting

stills, coming in at 16MP with fast 49 point auto focus. While shooting 4K is certainly its key stand out feature, there is so much, much more packed into this small form factor.

Look, Feel, Attitude The GH4 looks just like the GH3. Other than the name on the body, you’d be hard pressed to find many differences. Just like the GH3, it has a great feel and is easily operated. The weight distribution and its comfort-able grip make shooting handheld a breeze, and it feels stable and natural when you hold it. The body’s front and rear frame are made of die-cast magnesium alloy. It feels really stout and ready for professional use on a daily basis. It’s weather sealed and its shutter is rated at 200,000 releases.

With a camera this size — you would have guessed it — there are a few drawbacks. It lacks quality audio inputs and has weak audio meters and video output capabilities. However, with the LUMIX DMW-YAGH grip, Panasonic addressed these issues, making the GH4 something to be reck-oned with. The grip integrates well with the camera, and offers HD-SDI BNC output, 2 XLR audio inputs and easy-to-read audio meters. The GH4

with the grip challenges full blown 4k professional cameras with much higher price tags. Although the grip comes with a larger price tag than the body itself, together, at a price of MSRP $3,699.98, the I/O capabilities rival cameras twice its price.

The GH4 has loads of resolution options including DCI 4K (4096x2160) for a 17:9 cinema aspect ratio, UHD (3840x2160 ) for 16:9 4K television and of course 1920x1080 all the way down to 640x480 for standard defini-tion. One important note is that 60 frames per second is supported up to 1920x1080 for frame accurate slow motion in post. The Digital Live MOS sensor has a fast signal speed which is tech speak for reduced rolling shut-ter. This is a huge plus if you shoot a lot of fast moving subjects. To the delight of editors everywhere, it also offers four different video formats: MOV, MP4, MPEG-4 and AVCHD. In addition, there’s a huge array of frame rates. In MOV/FHD/100 mode it offers 2fps, 12fps, 20fps, 22fps, 24fps, 26fps, 28fps, 36fps, 48fps, 60fps, 72fps, 84fps, 96fps. Another standout feature is bit rate options that go up to 200Mbps, which gives a lot of room to pack detail into your shots. Couple that with the flexibility to choose from so many dif-

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Slim body with a deep grip


TECH SPECS

Sensor Size/Type: MOS, 17.3x13.0 mmEffective Megapixels: 16.05 Mega-pixelVideo Format: MOV, MP4, MPEG-4 AVCHDResolution/Frame Rate: • 4096x2160p (24fps)• 3840x2160p (24fps, 25fps, 30fps)• 1920x1080p (24fps, 25fps, 30fps, 50fps, 60fps)• 640x480p / (25fps, 30fps)

shoot differently, and on the other side of the coin, as a shooter it causes you to edit differently. Adding photo styles used to be something consid-ered during post, but with the built in picture profiles, you can have creative control in the camera that al-lows changing saturation, sharpness, noise reduction and hue. The GH4 also offers pre-made styles: standard, natural, vivid, monochrome, portrait, scenery and one for your own cus-tom settings.

One of the big things that stood out to us was that a few photo options that the GH4 offers are now weaker than its predecessor. Now instead of shooting 16.2 megapixels, it shoots 16.1MP. It’s forgivable, since the video options have been improved so greatly, a little give makes sense. After all, who wouldn’t lose a few features to be able to shoot in 4K? You also lose image stabilization, however if you have a lens with IS, then it's not an issue. Lastly, although not directly a photo option, the GH4 comes in slightly heavier than the GH3 by 10g, weighing 560g.

Many new cameras now offer im-proved focus control. Going with that trend, Panasonic is now offering 49 focus points over the 23 on the GH3. With better focusing comes faster focusing with high speed autofocus. Dubbed high-precision, The GH4's Contrast Autofocus integrates DFD, or Depth from Defocus, technology, al-lowing bursts of 12 frames per second in AFS mode. 12fps is a huge increase from the GH3, where its best was only 6fps. But more pictures faster means your battery won’t last as long. Tout-ing 500 pictures per battery, take too many pictures too fast, and you’ll be scrambling to find a wall outlet.

Shutter, ISO and dynamic range have all been upgraded as well. With a maximum shutter of 1/8000s and minimum of 60s the GH4 doubled the max of the GH3. The ISO sensitivity however has suffered with a max of

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4

REVIEWS

ity to flip and tilt the 3 inch rear LCD monitor, the shooter is able to find a comfortable viewing angle no matter what the situation. Taking it one step further, Panasonic made the rear view-finder with a touch screen interface. This along with other intuitive button locations makes the GH4 a truly fun camera to operate. The live viewfinder, or LVF, has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. Plus, switching between the two view-

finders is simple — it does it automatically with its eye sensor.

There are many up-dates with this cam-era, but just like with the GH3, the GH4 offers Wi-Fi connec-tivity. Integrating NFC for Wi-Fi connectivity allows you to control remote photo and video shooting with the Panasonic Image App. It will also em-bed location informa-tion to your photos after they’re taken; now that's some cool metadata!

As an editor, the GH4 causes you to

ferent video formats, frame rates and a slew of resolutions, it’s hard to believe it comes up costing less than $1,700.

It’s amazing how many DSLRs have fixed rear mounted viewfinders; the GH4’s flip out monitor gives it a huge advantage over others in its class. When you’re shooting, it’s always a bummer to have to contort your body just to monitor the shot because of glare off the viewfinder. With the abil-

Recording Media: SD, SDHC, SDXCDisplay Size/Resolution: 3" Touch-screen Swivel OLED (1,036,000)Lens Mount: Micro Four ThirdsIncluded Lens: N/AAudio In: 1/8"Audio Out: 1/8" Headphone, AVVideo Out: HDMI D, AVShutter Range: 60 - 1/8000ISO Range: 200-25,600 (Extended Mode: 100-25,600)Battery: 7.2VDC, 1860mAh

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SUMMARY

The GH4 is tiny, has loads of frame rate options and shoots 4K. Pana-sonic outdid themselves. Don’t kid yourself, the GH4 is more than just an MILC — it’s a video behemoth with a really nice still camera built-in.

Chris Monlux is the Creative Services Manager at an NBC and CBS affiliate.


6,400 ISO over the 12,800 ISO from its predecessor. Unless you’re talking about extended mode where the range is ISO 100-25600.

4K: How well does it run the race?When putting the camera through the paces, one would expect a little learn-ing curve. However, with an intuitive menu, button layout and overall feel, it was a cinch to get great looking vid-eo on the first attempt. The viewfinder was easy to see and maneuver. For this review the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm f/2.8 Asph was used.

The first test was just shooting 4K in natural light — no supplemental light-ing — to see what it could do. We shot a child watching his morning cartoons in a room with a few windows. The picture was sharp; however, at ISO 800 there was more image noise than we would wish for. This is a bit concerning because when shooting at ISO 800 on similarly priced cameras (such as the Canon 7D), noise isn’t introduced until ISO 1600 and above. Once we properly lit the scene, the noise wasn’t an issue.

The 4K is such a cool feature to use, but what’s the catch? The GH4 shoots super whites, meaning the highlights go to 110 IRE instead of 100, which is an inconvenience that may result in clipped bright spots in your video. The Canon 5D Mark III, for example, offers around one more stop of dynamic range out of the box than the GH4, and it wasn’t hard to see the differ-ence. To get the same result with the GH4, you'll have to reduce the high-lights in post.

To further test the dynamic range, we shot the exterior of a home that had both very bright, full sun areas and dark areas with highnoon shadows. The ex-posure choice was made for the middle areas that were neither in full shade nor full sun. There was still plenty of infor-mation in the dark shadows, but the sky and the roof of the home were overex-posed. We also tested this by shooting a subject inside the home, facing toward

the window with the sun beaming in. This is always a tricky process if the windows aren’t tinted or filtered and the room doesn’t have an abundance of natural light. There just wasn’t enough dynamic range to shoot the outside in perfect expo-sure and not have the inside dark or have the inside correctly exposed and not have it look like heaven on the other side of the glass.

To fight the complexity of the shot, evening the exposure by illuminating the inside helped a lot, but still didn’t do it completely. However one would be hard pressed to find any camera that did this well, as its a notoriously dif-ficult shooting situation. Lastly, we shot in a shaded area outside. The camera performed brilliantly. With an abun-dance of diffused light, the shot came out great. As a side note, the focus ring on the 12-35mm f/2.8 was extremely smooth and allowed for an easy rack fo-cus. The focus assist came on automati-cally, leaving the shooter with no doubt the scene was sharp and crisp.

Taking the 4K footage into an edit system, it became very apparent how nice it was to have the extra resolu-tion at our fingertips. Shooting in MOV mode, the video was easily imported into Adobe Premiere CS6. Although some formats tend to create dropped frames in playback as it attempts to keep up, the 4K MOV from the GH4 previewed smooth and allowed for a lot of flexibility. Posting in a 1920x1080 sequence, it was nice to have the option of cropping a shot to exclude something or allowing for digitally zoomed in close up with no resolution loss. This made it very easy to create a dynamic cut without the

need for a wide, a medium and close shot of the same subject. The footage took color correction well, and in one shot, adjustment of the white balance did not affect the quality of the shot in any way.

Finally, Some Results For its price tag, shooting 4K, rugged build quality, and ability to expand using the DMW-YAGH grip interface, the GH4 can truly be a full pro rig for very little coin, especially if you compare it to other cameras with the same capability. All that and its one killer photography camera, too. If you, have a limited budget and it’s options you’re looking for, Panasonic has you covered with its highly flex-ible and cost effective GH4.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4

REVIEWS

Articulating LCD screen

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REVIEWS

b y C h r i s “ A c e ” G a t e s

Up in a Cloud

Adobe CC Update 2014

Adobe Inc. www.adobe.com

STRENGTHS• Tight integration of shared tasks across applications• New tools in Premiere Pro CC to decrease round-tripping and increase efficiency• Kuler integration and mask effects in After Effects CC• Upgraded user efficiencies in SpeedGrade CC

WEAKNESSES• Response time of Dynamic Link on older systems• No updates to 3D rendering or integration

This year, users of Adobe Cre-ative Cloud learned more about

how Adobe is handling upgrades to Creative Cloud applications. One of

the advantages of a Creative Cloud subscription is that the user gains im-mediate access to updates as they are rolled out. Updates are available at no additional cost, and are released quite frequently. The question that loomed for many users was whether or not there would be multiple versions of the software. The answer is yes, there will be versioning of the Creative Cloud. On June 18, Adobe rolled out the latest version of Creative Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud 2014. The 2014 update is filled with new tools and workflow improvements across all of the Creative Cloud applications.

The majority of Adobe’s updates to the video apps revolve around the use of Adobe Premiere Pro CC as the central editing hub for the Adobe video workflow. Adobe increased the efficiency and reliability of the dynamic link between Premiere Pro and the other video applications, such as Adobe After Effects CC and Adobe SpeedGrade CC. New features and increased functionality for common tasks were added into Premiere Pro CC to decrease the amount of round-tripping needed between Premiere Pro and the other apps. Likewise, the interoperability of tasks begun in Pre-

miere Pro now carries over into other programs, such as After Effects, to increase the efficiency of specialized tasks that can only be performed in a particular program.

Premiere Pro UpdatesAdobe put several new features into Premiere Pro CC, allowing the video editor to remain in Premiere Pro to perform common, routine tasks that previously had to be executed outside of Premiere Pro. The first being new Live Text templates from Adobe After Effects CC projects. A Live Text tem-plate is set up in After Effects, with designated text fields for use in Pre-miere Pro. A video editor can place an After Effects composition as Live Text template into a Premiere Pro timeline. Then the editor can change the text inside of Premiere Pro without having to open the After Effects project. This is highly beneficial for video editors who work on productions that require the frequent use of lower thirds and title templates.

Another feature video editors will find useful is the new Masking and Tracking tools in Premiere Pro. Users can make a selection with a mask and have that mask track with the footage.

Available to current Adobe CC subscribers, new subscriptions $50/month for a one-year subscrip-tion

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TECH SPECS

TESTED ON:OS: Mac OS X 10.9.3CPU: 2.93 GHz i7RAM: 12 Gb 1333 MHz DDR3Graphics / VRAM: ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MBADOBE CC 2014 SYSTEM REQUIRE-MENTS:Creative Cloud desktop Apps: Micro-soft® Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, Mac OS X v10.7, v10.8, or v10.9, internet connec-tion requiredFOR ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS CC AND ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CCWindows:Intel Core2 Duo or AMD Phenom II pro-cessor with 64-bit support, Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Win-dows 8, or Windows 8.1, 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended), 5 GB of available hard-disk space, Additional disk space for disk cache (10 GB recommended), 1280 x 1080 display, OpenGL 2.0–capa-ble system, QuickTime 7.6.6 software required for QuickTime featuresMac OS:Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support, Mac OS X v10.8 or v10.9, 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended), 5 GB of available hard-disk space for installation, Additional disk space for disk cache (10

of the clip in use throughout the edi-tor’s timeline. Features such as this, and the increased efficiency of the direct link between Premiere Pro CC and programs like SpeedGrade CC, definitely give the video editor more time to work on their projects as op-posed to wrangling their tools.

After Effects UpdatesAdobe After Effects CC 2014 received several upgrades to improve perfor-mance and efficiency, as well as a couple of new tools. Most notably is the increased integration with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Users can now as-sign text layers to be Live Text fields when imported into Premiere Pro.

Another new feature found in Premiere Pro is one now also found in After Effects. Users are able to assign effects to masks on a piece of foot-age. In the past, users would layer up duplicates of a single piece of footage, create masks selecting specific regions of the clip and then apply the effects to only the masked layer. Now this type of operation can be performed on a single clip with multiple masks and multiple effects. Moreover, a mask generated in Premiere Pro can be brought into After Effects for further adjustments and additional effects through the Premiere Pro interchange.

Visual effects artists receive some new tools with new keying effects, such as Key Cleaner and Advanced Spill Suppressor. Key Cleaner helps to fix problem areas when performing a chroma key, especially in detailed regions such as hair. The Advanced Spill Suppressor works as one would hope, removing chroma spill from a chroma screen.

For some time, Adobe After Effects was in need of a color swatch panel, especially for motion graphic artists working with type and shape layers. After Effects CC 2014 now has that with Kuler integration. This is accom-


REVIEWS

GB recommended), 1440 x 900 display,OpenGL 2.0–capable system, QuickTime 7.6.6 software required for QuickTime featuresFOR ADOBE SPEEDGRADE CCWindows: Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 pro-cessor with 64-bit support, Microsoft® Windows® 7 with Service Pack 1 (64 bit), Windows 8, or Windows 8.1, 4GB of RAM (8GB recommended), 1GB of avail-able hard-disk space for installation, 1440x900 display required; 1920x1080 display and second professionally cali-brated viewing display recommended, OpenGL 2.0-capable system, Adobe-certified GPU card with at least 1GB of VRAM recommended),QuickTime 7.6.6 software required for QuickTime featuresMac OS:Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support, Mac OS X v10.7, v10.8, or v10.9, 4GB of RAM (8GB recommended), 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation, 1440x900 display required; 1920x1080 display and second pro-fessionally calibrated viewing display recommended, OpenGL 2.0-capable system, Adobe-certified GPU card with at least 1GB of VRAM recommended, QuickTime 7.6.6 software required for QuickTime features

New to the Adobe workflow is the abili-ty to apply effects to the masked region of the clip. This means users no longer need to stack duplicate footage when using masks and effects together. If a video editor needs to perform greater visual effects than what Premiere Pro

can handle on a selected mask, the clip and mask can be sent to After Effects CC for more developed work.

The new Master Clip effect feature allows the video editor to apply an effect once to a master clip and that effect will carry over to each instance


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plished through the new development of HTML5 panels in After Effects.

Other updates include improve-ments to the popular Curves effects. There is also TypeKit integration as seen in many Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

SpeedGrade UpdatesAs mentioned, Adobe SpeedGrade CC 2014 offers an improved Dynamic Link with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. In similar fashion, the SpeedGrade upgrade includes the new Master Clip effect, functioning just as it does in Premiere Pro. This speeds the color grading process along, especially on long projects with multiple clips pulled from a single master clip. SpeedGrade also includes a new range of SpeedLooks, preset color grading looks which allow the editor to more easily explore their creative options.

An important upgrade for video editors is the enhanced video scopes, as well as the new YUV Vectorscope. These allow the editor to have a more technically accurate reading of the changes they make to footage through the color correction process.

Performance TestsThe upgraded Adobe Creative Cloud video applications were tested using an older system. A 27” iMac with a 2.93GHz i7 processor, 12Gb of RAM and running Mac OS X (10.9.3). Each of the new features, as listed here, were tested on various HD clips.

Everything worked as it should without any hangups except for the Dynamic Link between Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC when work-ing with Live Text templates. The Live Text templates feature did work and was easy to understand, but it had a tendency to lag whenever there was an edit to the text. Rendering with the new effects and features didn’t create any unexpected delays. In fact, timelines rendered quickly as would be expected. The Dynamic Link between Premiere Pro CC and SpeedGrade CC was quick and efficient. Tracking in Premiere Pro CC was much faster and more accurate than was expected, making it a nice ef-ficiency for the video editor who needs to blur out a face or color correct only a small portion of a clip.

The new chroma key effects in After Effects worked well in cleaning up a

key of ProRes 422 HD footage. Traces of loose hairs remained intact while the green screen disappeared. The new masking effects were easy to apply and kept the timeline neat and orderly. The integration with Kuler worked flaw-lessly and synced directly to the host Adobe account’s Kuler profile.

SpeedGrade CC worked well with Premiere Pro. The new Master Clips effect allowed for a stylized look to be applied in a couple of simple clicks, saving lots of time.

Overall ImpressionThe Adobe Creative Cloud 2014 up-grade doesn’t disappoint. It’s a well thought integration of the various Adobe tools across their entire spec-trum of applications. The new method of versioning within Creative Cloud answers many questions for users concerned with interaction across mul-tiple generations of workstations. The strongest and most notable upgrades of this release are present in Premiere Pro CC. It appears the approach Adobe is taking with their video apps is one of a fully integrated suite, positioning Premiere Pro CC as the central hub. They continue to build upon their base programs, Premiere Pro and After Effects, while expanding their capabili-ties for specialized tasks, such as those performed in SpeedGrade.

SUMMARY

The Adobe Creative Cloud video applications received some sig-nificant new features, as well as workflow improvements that are beneficial to users of all skill levels. The upgrades trend toward increased efficiencies, especially for the video editor who wears multiple hats.

Chris “Ace” Gates is an Emmy Award-winning writer and video producer.



REVIEWS

Premiere Pro CC timeline


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REVIEWS

b y T y A u d r o n i s

$4,570

Kino Flo Celeb 400 LED Light

Color Temperature Made Easy

Kino Flowww.kinoflo.com

STRENGTHS• Even light• Low power consumption• Variable color temperature• Variable dimming

WEAKNESSES• Expensive for prosumer use• Need a heavy-duty light stand

To be perfectly honest, this author went into this review warning

Videomaker, “You know, I’ve never been a fan of Kino.” It’s true. Vides-sence have always been my lights of choice. Not only that, this author has avoided an LED light panel like the plague due to high-rate flicker causing issues at certain frame rates. I tried. I really, really tried not to like the Kino Flo Celeb 400 DMX, but frankly; the Celeb 400 is just... amazeballs!

This Kino Flo light panel generates the equivalent to more than 1,000 watts of light, and in the tungsten

world, is known as a 1K light. But unlike a tungsten light, you can use it in rooms without a commercial air conditioning system preventing the temperature from skyrocketing and turning your set into an Easy-Bake Oven. You can also plug more than two LED light panels into a single circuit without blowing a breaker! In reality, you could plug up to eight of these into a single circuit, as they’re only 1.8 Amps per fixture. Your typi-cal tungsten 1K light is somewhere between nine and 12 Amps.

Easy Color TemperatureYou hear 5,600K, 3,300K — what’s the color temperature of these lights? Well, in short, the color temperature is up to you. Everything you take into con-sideration when lighting a shot is variable with this LED light panel. And we don’t just mean the dimmer. The same dial you’d use to dim any Kino Flo light also doubles as a manual adjust-

ment of the color temperature on the Celeb 400, get this, with an accuracy down to 1K (that’s Kelvin, not watts). There’s a digital readout on the back of the LED light panel that tells you exactly what color temperature it is emitting. There are also nifty preset buttons along the back to instantly set the light to your classic color tempera-ture settings. But what does this really mean? It means much easier green screen lighting. It also means no more white pieces of paper. Just dial in the selected setting on your camera and lights — boom, you’re white balanced.

Soft and BeautifulNo, it’s not a L’Oreal ad. Truly, this Kino Flo light panel has a ton of

Rear controls and digital readout

330 C5 Kino Celeb 400.indd 16 9/24/2014 8:40:05 AM

You may be contacted by unauthorized subscription agents asking you to renew your subscription. These companies are not authorized to represent Videomaker nor are they affiliated with us in any way. Please do not give out any personal, payment or credit card information to the companies listed below. Videomaker will not accept orders from these companies and if you choose to renew through them you will likely never receive any issues of Videomaker. Please do not renew your subscription by mail, phone or Internet through any of these unauthorized companies: • American Consumer Publishing Association, Inc. (ACPA) • American Magazine Service • Associated Publishers Subscription Services • Circulation Billing Center • Circulation Billing Services • Consolidated Media Services • Consumer Publishing Association Inc • Deal Galaxy • Dominate Marketing, LLC • Global Publication Service (s) • IC Marketing • Lake Shore Publishers Service (LSPS) • Magazine Billing Center • Magazine Billing, LLC • Magazine Billing and Collection Service • Magazine Billing Services • Magazine Payment Services • Magazine Readers Service Center • Magazine Subscriber Services • MBN • National Magazine Services, Inc. • Orbital Publishing • Periodical Billing Services • Platinum Publishing Service • Premier Subscriber Services • Publisher’s Billing Association • Publishers Billing Center • Publishers Billing Emporium • Publisher’s Billing Exchange • Publishers Billing Services • Publishers Distribution Services, Inc • Publishers Educational Services • Publisher’s Payment Services • Publishers Periodical Service • Publisher’s Processing Services • Publishers Services Exchange • Rapid Magazine Collection • Readers Payment Services • Rocky Mountain Readers • Shopping Central • Subscription Billing Services • Subscription Collection Associates • Subscription Payment Services • Web: http://acpai.comAuthentic Videomaker renewal notices will only come with zip code 95927 (Chico, CA) on the return address envelope. If you are contacted by any of the companies listed above, please let us know immediately by writing to:Videomaker Customer ServiceP.O. Box 3780. Chico, CA [email protected]

SUBSCRIBER

ALERT!

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TECH SPECS

Input Voltage VAC: 100-240VAC, 50/60Hz, 210W, Amperage VAC: 1.8AColor Temperature Range: 2700-5500 KelvinDimming Range: 100%-1%Weight: 26lb.

SUMMARY

The Kino Flo Celeb 400 DMX is packed with features and delivers outstanding, even light.

Ty Audronis is a high-end video professional. He’s consulted on building multi-million dollar studios, and studios on a beer budget alike.


Kino Celeb 400

REVIEWS

What are the negatives?It’s true, nothing human-made is perfect. So what might you find dis-appointing if you were to purchase the Celeb 400? For starters, if you’re doing standard three-point lighting, you probably won’t like the $13,500 you’d spend on three of these bad boys. However, you could possibly get away with one Celeb 400 DMX, a reflector and a small LED back-light to achieve a similar effect. You also may not like its need for a very hefty stand. Although the light isn’t actually that heavy, it’s so large that it can tip a stand over by leverage alone. It’s also so long that you need a van or SUV with the seats down to transport it.

On the price front, look for rental options for the Celeb 400 DMX if you’re not ready to make the pur-chase. They’re spectacular, and defi-nitely worth renting at least once in your career.

But be warned — you won’t want to return it!

surface area — 45-inches x 14-inch-es — and there are zero hot or cold spots. Perfectly even light over that much surface means very soft shadows with no need for umbrel-las, filters or scrims. The Celeb 400 DMX does, however come with an angled honeycomb (just in case). The dimensions make for a perfect studio light, but you’d better have a very strong stand in order to floor mount it.

If you can afford the Celeb 400 DMX though, we’re pretty sure you can snag a great stand — or 10. The cost of this light is exactly what

you’d expect for these features. At just north of $4,500, investing in the Celeb 400 DMX isn’t for the faint of heart. Think about it for a second though. These are LED lights. That means that bulbs last much longer, gels won’t burn up, power consump-tion is less — no generators or hunt-ing for multiple circuits — and the list goes on. In the end, if you have this money anywhere in your budget, the Celeb 400 could be the most im-portant purchase you make this year.

Multipurpose dial

THE CELEB 400 COULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PUR-CHASE YOU MAKE THIS YEAR.

330 C5 Kino Celeb 400.indd 17 9/24/2014 8:40:13 AM

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REVIEWS

b y D a v i d G . W e l t o n

$980

Silky-Smooth

Libex ALLEX S Kit Tripod/Slider System

Libec Sales of Americalibecsales.com

STRENGTHS• Professional camera movements• Sturdy, durable design• Reasonable price

WEAKNESSES• Slider resistance control has little range• Non-adjustable tilt drag

A quality tripod is one piece of video equipment that can last a lifetime

— not something you can say about a camera or computer. The Libex ALLEX Camera Support System is one such quality product that will support our cameras today and into the foresee-able future. And there’s more: a slider.

A slider is a sturdy device that al-lows a camera to smoothly glide along a short track, often mounted atop a tripod. Strategic, small camera move-ments can have a big payoff. Today’s sophisticated audience is accustomed to more than pan, tilt and zoom camera moves. The slide component of the AL-LEX system offers a way to make your

videography look more like the pros, at a cost that won’t break the bank.

The ALLEX system includes three pieces: ALLEX T tripod, ALLEX H head and ALLEX S slider. Combining these three components produces dynamic camera movements. Let’s look at each part more closely.

Legs of ThreeThe 8.4 pound (including head) ALLEX aluminum tripod sits on three grippy rubber feet. The 2-inch round feet allow a generous range of swivel to conform to uneven surface variations — like the top of a granite boulder.

Twist the rubber feet and a metal spike appears. Keep twisting if you wish the tripod to sit on 100 percent spikes — perfect for the fairway of the local disc golf course. Twist a lit-tle less if you want a rubber foot with just a hint of spike in the middle.

Sturdy plastic knobs secure the tripod at the de-sired height. Two nesting leg seg-

ments telescope to heights of about 25-inches to 59-inches, as measured to the shoulder of the tripod — where the legs attach. The usable height of the tripod increases after attaching the head.

An adjustable mid-level spreader assists with tripod stability. A knob on each of the three spreader elements allows for locking throughout the ad-justment range. For maximum stability, fully extend the spreader; this is essen-tial when using the slider.

A clever locking clamp with a handy strap holds the legs together for transport. The folded length is about 26-inches and fits securely in the included padded travel bag.

Convenient, folding legs

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TECH SPECS

TRIPODMaterial: Aluminum and plasticWeight (head attached): 8.4lb (3.8kg)Height (head attached): 29-inches - 65-inches (736mm - 1651mm)Ball diameter: 75mmLeg Sections: 2 stage HEADType: FluidMaximum Load: 9lb (4kg)Drag Mode: FixedTilt Angle: +90° / -80°Bubble Level: Illuminated

SUMMARY

Libex ALLEX S Kit Tripod/Slider Sys-tem delivers silky-smooth camera movements at a reasonable price.

David G. Welton is a professor of Media Studies.


commodate a 33 pound camera. This set-up would produce a dramatic ef-fect, for example, when placed on the road surface of a busy highway.

The slider has its own bubble level, but ignoring it can produce interesting results. A tilted slider can help make an otherwise boring product shot come alive. Simply let go of the cam-era and let gravity smoothly glide the camera down the slider. The results were professional quality.

Ball bearings and special grease are the magic that brings the smooth gliding motion to the slider. A friction control knob allows for slight adjust-ment in slide resistance. Another knob locks the mechanism. The slider ships with a small brush for removing dust from the rollers and track. Noise gen-erated from the slider is minimal, but enough to require an external mic to capture audio while sliding.

Looking to do more than just pan, tilt and zoom? The Libec ALLEX Cam-era Support System can take your vid-eography to the next level by adding smooth sliding camera movements to your production work.

release button activated, simply tilt and lift the camera for removal. The system moves fore and aft to achieve perfect balance for a camera that might be front or back heavy. A lock-ing knob secures the mechanism once equilibrium is found.

The camera mounts to the quick release plate with a standard 1/4-inch screw and a spring-tensioned align-ment pin. You’ll need a flat-blade screwdriver or coin to attach the plate. An extra 3/8-inch screw stores under the locking plate.

Smooth SlidingThe 4 pound slider offers a silky smooth range of 28-inches. The type of professional camera movements possible through this relatively short distance is nothing short of amazing.

A clever design feature allows the slider to attach directly to the tripod via a 3/8-inch connection, freeing the head to mount atop the slider. Adding a second head directly to the tripod increases the range of movement all the way to 100 percent vertical. A nice touch is a mount on both ends of the slider for monitors and other accessories.

Once removed from the tripod, the slider uses its adjustable legs to sit on any relatively horizontal surface. In this configuration, the slider can ac-

Head and ShoulderSmooth — the word that describes the number one requirement of a video camera tripod head. Smooth is what the ALLEX H head delivers. The fluid head weighs about 3 pounds and sup-ports up to a 9 pound load — enough for essentially all affordable cameras including DSLRs.

The pan and tilt movements also lock using knobs. Unfortunately, once unlocked, pan and tilt drag effort is not adjustable. This is a shortcoming, but our tests revealed that the pre-set pan drag level permitted smooth cam-era movement. When tilting, the head has a propensity to return to the level position when unlocked. The supplied pan handle mounts on either side of the head. When mounted on the left, it’s possible for the pan handle to interfere with the pan and tilt knobs — an easy fix with a little adjustment of the handle.

The head attaches to the shoul-der of the tripod with the adjustable 75mm ball that allows the videogra-pher to find a perfect level. A 3/8-inch screw mounted at the end of a special handle does the attachment work. An LED illuminated bubble balance con-firms when the head is plumb.

A one-button quick-release mecha-nism makes fast work out of mount-ing and removing a camera. With the

Two-stage, twist-lock legs

Attachment: 3/8-inch screw or 75mm ballQuick Release Plate Sliding Range: +/- 1.6" (40mm)Camera Plate Attachment: 1/4" screw with alignment pinWeight: 2.9lb (1.3kg) SLIDERMaterial: Aluminum and plasticWeight: 4lb (1.9kg)Tabletop Payload: 33lb (15kg)Head Attachment Screw: 3/8"Rail Length: 32.5" (830mm)Sliding Range: 28" (708mm)

Libex ALLEX S

REVIEWS

330 C5 Libec Allex S.indd 20 9/24/2014 8:16:51 AM

Transfer files at ThunderboltTM 2 speeds.

Offload your work, faster A comprehensive line of hubs, card readers, and storage drives, Lexar® Professional Workflow products allow you to quickly transfer and back up files from multiple cards at once. The latest offerings include the Professional Workflow HR2 hub and CR2 CFast™ 2.0 reader—both leveraging next-generation, high-speed Thunderbolt™ 2 performance, so you can quickly transfer RAW image, high-res photos, and HD, 3D, and 4K video.

Pick and choose the right Professional Workflow products for your needs, add a selection of high-capacity Lexar Professional line memory cards, and take control of your workflow.

All products sold separately

©2014 Micron Consumer Products Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. Lexar, the Lexar logo, and When Memory Matters are trademarks of Micron Consumer Products Group, Inc. Micron Consumer Products Group is an authorized licensee of the CompactFlash trademark. The Micron logo is a registered trademark of Micron Technology, Inc. CFast is a trademark of the CompactFlash Association. Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. Micron Consumer Products Group, Inc. is a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc.

333-464 VM Rev A

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With so many cameras available from so many manufacturers, purchasing your first interchangeable lens camera can be a daunting task. Your first question might be mirrorless or DSLR?

BY ODIN LINDBLOM

Which is the best choice for video?

DSLRorMirrorless

330 F6 DSLR or Mirrorless.indd 22 9/24/2014 8:29:26 AM


With so many cameras available from so many manufacturers, purchasing your first interchangeable lens camera can be a daunting task. Your first question might be mirrorless or DSLR?

BY ODIN LINDBLOM


Mirrorless

Image SensorsWhile most mirrorless cameras are smaller in size than DSLRs, they often have smaller image sensors as well. There are many DSLRs with full-frame (35mm) image sensors, but the Sony A7 series cameras are some of the only mirrorless cameras to have im-age sensors of that size. The sensors in higher-end, mirrorless cameras are usually APS-C (a 1.5x or 1.6x crop fac-tor from 35mm) or Micro Four Thirds (MFT) which is half the size of 35mm (a 2x crop factor). With a full-frame image sensor, it’s easy to get video with a shallow depth of fi eld, but that shallow depth of fi eld also makes it harder to keep the camera in focus while your subject is moving. It’s also important to note that full-frame sen-sors typically have sharper images and less noise.

DSPThe digital signal processors (DSP) in both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras vary widely in capabilities. A slow pro-cessor not only affects the number of stills per second you can take with the camera, it also affects video perfor-mance. The frame rates, resolutions and bit rates a camera can shoot are all affected by the camera’s processor. Just because a camera is more expen-

There is a great debate as to which type of camera is better for shooting video. Let’s take a look at the differences between mirrorless and DSLRs, as well as some of the

other signifi cant factors in how these cameras perform.

Size MattersOne of the major differences between mirrorless and DSLR cameras is size. A DSLR has a mirror in front of the im-age sensor, allowing the user to look into an optical viewfi nder and through the lens. When the shutter is released to take a still picture, the mirror drops momentarily exposing the image sen-sor. When shooting video, the mirror remains down, and the video can be seen on the LCD screen in the same way ason a mirrorless camera.

Because of the mirror mechanism, DSLRs tend to be larger and heavier than mirrorless cameras. DSLRs, at their smallest, weigh around a pound and a half and can fi t in a small bag. Mirrorless cameras can weigh as little as half a pound and can be pocket-sized with a small lens. If you’re shooting on a tripod or a shoulder rig, the difference in size can be insignifi cant.


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CompressionMirrorless cameras and DSLRs both record video with varying levels of compression. It can be hard to get past all the technical descriptions and figure out what specs you need to shoot your videos in. Simply put, the more compression used on a video file the smaller it is, and the more likely you are to see a loss in image qual-ity. Compression not only affects the image quality of your video, it also affects the changes you can make to it in post-production such as color correction and chroma keying. Highly compressed video is difficult to alter in post.

If all you need to do is shoot videos and upload them to the web with no color correction or effects, then any camera that records highly com-pressed video might be a good option for you. If you need to do mild color correction and effects to your footage or you want a better picture quality, then a DSLR or a mirrorless camera that records in higher bitrates (larger files with less compression) would be a better choice. If you need to do

sive doesn’t mean the processor will work well for video. A camera’s ability to record in higher frame rates (like 60fps) and higher bit rates (25Mbps or more) is a better indication of the processor’s ability to produce high quality video.

LensesDSLRs have the broadest selection of lenses: from macro lenses to super-telephoto, to fully manual cinema lenses. You can find a lens for almost any application to fit your DSLR’s mount. While the selection of lenses for mirrorless cameras is limited, the lenses are smaller and lighter than comparable DSLR lenses. You can often find adapters for DSLR lenses to work on the smaller lens mounts of mirrorless cameras, but these adapters vary in quality, and some lens func-tions such as autofocus and iris control (aperture control) may not work.

ViewfinderMany mirrorless cameras lack view-finders. Those that have them use electronic viewfinders, or EVFs, which can make it difficult to see detail. Fortunately, many come with the ad-vantage of being able to digitally zoom from within the EVF for focus assist.

When a DSLR is in video mode, the optical viewfinder is disabled, and the video is viewable on the LCD screen, much like a mirrorless camera.

AutofocusUntil recently, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras only had contrast detection autofocus in video mode. Contrast detection looks for the areas of highest contrast in a shot and then moves the lens until these areas are sharp. This is what gives you that drifting in and out of focus in videos shot with some cam-eras. Today many mirrorless cameras offer faster phase detection autofocus for video. This technology is used by DSLRs predominantly for stills. Some cameras use a combination of both systems and call it hybrid autofocus.

a lot of effects work and heavy color correction or want the highest image quality, then using a camera that can output an uncompressed signal to an external recorder via an HDMI or SDI output is the path for you.

When you look at the broad range of mirrorless and DSLR cameras, DSLRs do tend to have lower rates of compression when recording video. However, some higher-end mirrorless cameras do offer low compression re-cording options. The types of produc-tions you shoot will determine what will work best for you.

PCM vs Compressed AudioMany DSLRs and most mirrorless cameras record compressed audio, often using AAC compression. Much like compressed video, you may not always notice a difference listening to compressed audio, but you can start to have problems when you try to use noise reduction, EQ or other effects. Even having the audio re-compressed when it’s uploaded to the web can reduce the sound quality. Recording audio in PCM (wav) format gives you

UNDERSTANDING CAMERA SENSOR SIZES

All of the terms used for the size of digital image sensors on cameras can be over-whelming, but you need to understand image sensor sizes in order to determine what size lens you’ll want to use. Sensor sizes still relate to 35mm film, and a full-frame sensor is said to be around the same size as a 35mm film frame. Smaller sensors are identified by their crop factor from 35mm. The more common sizes for video are: •Full-frame(1xCropFactor) •APS-C(1.5x-1.6xCropFactor) •MicroFourThirdsorMFT(2xCropFactor) •NikonCX(2.7xCropFactor) •2/3inch(4xCropFactor)While the crop factors seem odd at first, it becomes useful when you try to figure the effectivefocallengthofalensmatchedwithasensor.A50mmlensusedwithaMFTsensorwitha2Xcropwillhaveaneffectivefocallengthof100mm;thatis,it’sequiva-lenttousinga100mmlenswithafull-framesensor.Ifyou’retryingtomatchtheviewangleofa50mmlensusedwithafull-framesensorandyourcamerahasanAPS-C1.6xCropFactor,thana30mmlenswillgiveyoua48mmequivalency,whichisprettyclose.

There are websites and mobile apps that have calculators for focal length. By under-standing how image sensor sizes alter effective focal length, it’s easier to figure out the types of shot framing you’ll achieve with different lenses on various cameras.



25V I D E O M A K E R > > > N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4

more ability to alter the audio and retain sound quality.

Functionality and I/OOne of the main advantages to mir-rorless cameras is their small size, but this factor also limits the number of manual controls, and input and output ports on the camera. The same is true for many smaller DSLRs. Many small cameras lack video out-puts, audio outputs and even micro-phone inputs. While most controls are accessible through the menu, many controls on smaller cameras, like audio levels, are not there at all.

Recording times vary greatly among DSLRs and mirrorless cam-eras. This can be due to the type of memory card used, the formatting of the card or the compression used on the video. If you need long re-cord times on a camera with a clean (free of the camera’s UI) HDMI out, pairing with an external recorder is a good option. Because of size, the battery life on smaller cameras is also often limited.

AccessoriesWhile some camera accessories are fairly generic, like monitors and re-corders, some are model specific, like battery grips (these attach to the bot-tom of the camera and tend to carry two camera batteries when the cam-era can only hold one). DSLRs have a lot more accessories available to help you shoot video. Some of these can be used with mirrorless cameras, but the options are limited.

Recorder/monitor combos like the Atomos Ninja can help you get longer record times and also speed up your workflow by recording to a 2.5” SSD or a hard drive that can be plugged straight into an editing system. These recorders can be used with any camera that offers clean HDMI out.

Cinema-style follow focus units can be helpful in pulling focus or control-ling your zoom. They are difficult to use on small lenses so they may not work well with all mirrorless camera lenses.

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26 V I D E O M A K E R > > > N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4

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Community SupportBeing able to find answers to techni-cal questions and creative challenges regarding your camera online can be very helpful. There are more online resources to be found for video pro-duction with DSLRs — from techni-cal information to stylistic ideas and guides. There are a few mirrorless cameras like the Panasonic GH3 and GH4 that have large online followings, but resources are otherwise limited.

What’s Your Style?Do you need a camera that’s super compact and lightweight? If so, a small, mirrorless camera like the Nikon 1 might be right for you. Are you looking for a camera with a full-frame sensor that’s under $2000? Canon’s 6D DSLR or Sony’s mirrorless Alpha a7 are great options. Do you have to shoot and post online ASAP? Consider the mirrorless Samsung Galaxy NX which runs An-droid 4.2.2 and has built in WiFi and 4G. Do you want an affordable camera with a huge variety of lenses and accesso-ries? The Canon Rebel T5i DSLR should be toward the top of your list.

Many of the newer models of mirrorless and DSLR cameras share similar features, making the difference between these two types of cameras minimal. Besides the mirror, the big-gest difference is weight and size. On a tripod that doesn’t mean much. With the camera handheld, more weight and a larger body can make the cam-era easier to keep steady.

Focus on the features that are important to you, rather than mak-ing your camera decision based on mirrorless or DSLR. Think about what you’ll be shooting and the environ-ment you’ll be working in. Finding a camera that has the right features for the types of shoots you do is the first step in selecting the best gear.

Odin Lindblom is an award-winning filmmaker who also shoots commercial and corporate video.

For comments, email: [email protected], use article #17139 in the subject line.P

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Zoom in; zoom out; telephoto; wide. Which lens do you use and what feeling does that lens give to your viewer?

BY JR STRICKLAND

What Lens To UseUsing a long lens and using a

short lens convey two com-pletely different emotions.

Once you understand what emotions each lens gives off, you will be bet-ter prepared and more confi dent in which lens to use and under what cir-cumstance. I’ve learned a lot of these techniques from my fi lm teacher, fi lm director Gary Sherman, and his class Directing for Camera. Also, another good resource is Hollywood Camera Works. Now let’s dive in.

In order to to understand why you should choose a certain lens, we must fi rst know what our options are.

Zoom and Prime LensesThere are two types of lenses, zoom and fi xed, also known as prime. Most are familiar with zoom lenses; when you press the zoom rocker marked “t” on your traditional camcorder, you

How to Decide

zoom in, and when you press the “w” you zoom out. With prime lenses, you stay at one spot. You can not zoom in or out.

The length of the lens is measured in millimeters. For a zoom lens, you may have the ability to go from, let’s say, 25mm by pressing the “w” as far as it can go, to 200mm by pressing the “t” as far as it can go. Different zoom lenses have different ratios. With prime lenses, again, they are set.

For this example, we’re going to use three types of prime lenses, 25mm (wide), 50mm and 85mm (telephoto or long). So when you zoom out, you’re moving closer to the 25mm end of focal-length, getting wider while the lens is getting shorter, which means we can see more. When you zoom in, the lens is getting longer, the fi eld of view is narrowing and you can see less.

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Zoom in; zoom out; telephoto; wide. Which lens do you use and what feeling does that lens give to your viewer? What Lens To Use


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the more trippy and surreal that image looks. So if you’re going for the trippy feel, explore using a wide lens.

Wider lenses also keep more subjects in focus.That is why, when shooting establishing shots or shots of nature where you want to include a lot of information, wide lenses are awesome.

Why telephoto?Let’s zoom in, or move to a telephoto lens like an 85mm. Now the shot is tighter. We don’t have as much information from left to right. We’ve also dramatically decreased our depth of field, so few-er objects are in focus. In comparison to our eyes, i.e., 50mm lens, with the 85mm we are more fo-cused on a subject and less on the environment. We also don’t have that drastic distortion on the edge of our frame. Everything is flatter.

The longer the lens, the more intimate the shot. It is perfect for beauty shots such as head-shots; for example, a shot of a leading lady or alternating shots between a man and a woman who are saying something important. With the 85mm, we feel physically closer to them, and we want to relate with them.

For nature shots, these longer lenses are used to show detail and focus our eye. A wide shot of a plant gives us a lot to look at. A longer lens with a shallow depth of field focuses our eyes on the area that’s sharp. Our eyes are drawn to what’s in focus. When everything is in focus, our eyes wander. When a specific area is in focus, our eyes are attracted to that area. Every time our eyes try to wander, they’re pulled back to that area that is in focus.

ReviewThe general rule of thumb is this: If we want to draw specific attention to something or create a more intimate shot, we go with a longer lens or telephoto. If we want to show off more of the en-vironment, give the viewer more breathing room, and let the eyes wander more, we go with a wider lens. And if we want to recreate exactly what the human eye sees, we stick with the 50mm.

Now, your framing may be the same when using different lenses, but the effect and mood will be the different depending on the lens. For instance, a closeup is a closeup, no matter what lens you use. If it’s a person, you’re still framing mainly the head. If you use a wide lens, you will have to move the camera closer to the subject to keep just the head in frame. The longer the lens, the further you would have to move back to keep the head in frame. So with a headshot or a beauty shot, you’re focusing on the face, not the background. If you’re getting too much detail in

For now, we’ll focus on when to use a wide, middle and telephoto. Whether you’re on a prime lens or a zoom lens, the principles are still the same, as long as you know roughly what mm you are at and if you are on the wide side, in the middle or on the telephoto.

50mm approximates what our eyes see.When films are shot on 35mm, a 50mm lens represents what our eyes see. Even if you’re shooting digital, if you have a 35mm sensor, or adapter, keep the “50mm equals what our eyes see” as a rule of thumb. Now that we know that, let’s explore what happens when we go wider.

Why wide?The wider we go and the more we get that fisheye effect. We get to see more. More objects are in focus. Also, the wider we go, the more the image starts to distort and round off on the sides. You may have seen that look with a GoPro which uses an ultra wide angle lens. Wide lenses are great for capturing a lot of the environment. They are also good when there is not a lot of room for a longer lens. That is why GoPros use wide lenses.

In a narrative, wider lenses are great for giv-ing off a surreal look because again, comparing it to the human eye, we are wider. Our eyes aren’t use to seeing that much information from left to right without turning our heads. The wider the lens, the more distorted the look, and

How to Decide What Lens to Use

Wide• More objects in frame• More subjects in focus• Greater distortion• Great for surreal or environmental shots• Fits in smaller places

Telephoto• Fewer objects in frame• Fewer objects in focus• Great for focusing attention• Shoot subjects from further away• Intimate shots

50mm• Approximates the human eye• Between wide and telephoto• Balanced depth of feild• Great for creating a sense of realism• Versatile

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the background and you want it out of focus but you like your framing, move the camera back and use a longer lens or zoom in. Your framing will stay the same, but the emotions and the effects you desire are dependent on the lens you choose.

Something to keep in mind, however, is that while your framing may be the same across lenses, the perspective of the lens changes. For example if you’re shooting a closeup with a wide angle, the person’s face will appear to have

more depth, i.e., really big noses. On the con-trary, the longer the lens, the flatter the subject’s face will appear. Again, to approximate the hu-man eye, and therefore achieve a more realistic looking shot, stick with the mid, or 50mm.

How to ImproveWhen looking at your favorite photographs or while watching a movie or a video, try to guess. Little distorted on the sides? How much is in focus? Do you think the camera is far away or close up? Is the image flat?

Think of what emotions these images give you. You’ll start to see a pattern. You’ll also notice why some images don’t work. You may notice that the intent was to create an intimate feeling but the lens choice may have worked against it. You may not know the exact length of the lens, but just guessing wide, medium and long should do the trick.

Now that you understand which lens does what, apply it to your shoot and create the emotions and mood that you want your viewer to feel through the art of choosing the right lens.

JR Strickland is an award-winning director, filmmaker and musician. He specializes in strong, narrative storytelling.


THE EMOTIONS AND THE EFFECTS YOU DESIRE ARE DEPENDENT ON THE LENS YOU CHOOSE.

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BY DAVID G. WELTON

Consider this scenario. A proud parent stands on a chair in the back of the school audito-rium. At full zoom, he valiantly tries to

capture a 45-minute dance recital. As fatigue spreads to fingers, hand, arm and shoulder the video starts looking like San Francisco earthquake footage — not good.

The solution is a tripod. Tripods were conceived when cameras were roughly the size and weight of a small refrigerator. No human could hoist one of these cinematic dinosaurs onto a shoulder. Today, cameras are so small that they can fit into a wrist-watch. Have tripods become obsolete? Absolutely not.

In this article, we’ll endeavor to con-vince you that the stabilizing power

The versatility of tripods is incredible. Other than your camera, a tripod is the only piece of equipment you own that will go to

every shoot. Despite all the talk of the latest 3-axis gimbals or drones, you should never

underestimate the importance of having a great tripod.

5Reasons Why a Tripod is Your Most Important Purchase

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330 F22 Why Tripod is Important Purchase.indd 33 9/24/2014 8:27:23 AMpage 32

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a child pirouette across the stage. Control knobs located on the head adjust pan and tilt drag — or allow the head to lock completely.

The smoothest tripod head uses an oil-type fluid to dampen and control camera movement. Ball-and-socket and other friction type heads don’t typically offer acceptably smooth camera movements. Four manufacturers of fluid heads are Manfrotto, Sachtler, Miller and Libec — you can even buy legs and heads separately to get just the right combination for the size and weight of your camera.

Breathing Life into Old PhotosThe next scenario involves a woman with a box of old photos. Only her 94-year-old aunt can identify the people and places. Time to get busy capturing some family history. Why not convert that unruly box of images into a folder of digital files.

You don’t need to send your photos off to a pricey service that digitizes images. You don’t even need a scanner — although that could get the job done. All you need is a decent digital cam-era and a tripod.

First, find a way to securely hold the photos in a vertical position. The perfect solution is a music stand or easel, but with a little improvis-ing, you can turn a clipboard resting against a wall into just what you need. Even magnets on the fridge will hold photos still.

The magic begins once the images are station-ary. Use the camera’s pan, tilt and zoom features to bring movement and interest to a still photo-graph. A good tripod makes it possible.

For example, a tripod can help animate a historic still photo of a child’s birthday party. First, establish the scene by showing the entire image. Next, zoom in and begin smoothly pan-ning across the guest’s faces. Finally, slowly zoom into the glowing candles on the cake. The scene comes alive. Don’t attempt this sans tripod — you won’t be happy with the result.

In order to achieve professional results with historic images, a level tripod is necessary. Some tripods feature a bubble-type balance allowing filmmakers to achieve a plumb tripod by tele-scoping individual legs up or down. A locking device secures the telescoping legs in position — typically a ring that tightens or a lever that snaps into a locked position.

Another leveling solution is a cellphone app. Built into iOS 7 for iPhone is a leveling feature in the Compass app. Also available are free leveling apps for other iPhones and the Android operating system.

of these three-legged creatures easily overshad-ows the minimal effort required in hauling one around. We’ll meet five videographers chal-lenged by very different filmmaking scenarios where a tripod becomes their best friend.

Heads Above the RestLet’s explore the dance recital scenario de-scribed at the beginning of the article. The biggest challenge to overcome is distance — the space between the camera and the stage. A tight shot is necessary in order to see the expression on a young dancer’s face. To get a tight shot from the back of an auditorium, the magnifying magic of a zoom lens is necessary.

At high zoom settings, the lens will accentu-ate even the tiniest twitch and bob. No human can hold a camera steady for an extended time — even with image stabilization technology. Solution: Use a tripod with a good quality head.

The head is the single most important mechanism on a tripod. It must offer silky smooth video camera movement — anything less is intolerable. Tripod heads designed for still cameras are typically not smooth enough for video use.

A good tripod head offers dependably consis-tent resistance to movement. That movement can take the form of a pan (side-to-side move-ment) or tilt (up and down movement). The steady resistance allows the operator to execute controlled movements like smoothly following

Reasons Why a Tripod is Your Most Important Purchase

The fluid drag on a video tri-pod head, like this Manfrotto 502, is what separates video from photo tripods.



useful on grass or dirt surfaces where they bite into the terrain.

For stability, a tripod has three legs. This configuration creates a stable triangular de-

Rock Climbing ChallengeLet’s follow the adventure of a young filmmaker setting out to document the sport of rock climb-ing. With little budget, the filmmaker elects to use his iPhone 5 camera. Is this camera choice a fatal mistake? No. An iPhone captures HD quality 1080p video. But can you attach an iPhone to a tripod? Yes.

There are multitudes of universal and model specific accessories that make mounting cell phones and tablets to tripods a snap. Our young filmmaker could also add an accessory lens to the iPhone to bring the action closer.

There’s nothing level about the surface of granite boulders, the location where the young filmmaker sets up his tripod. Fortunately, he packed a tripod with a bubble-type balance that will allow him to achieve a level tripod by tele-scoping individual legs.

But what if two legs are on rock and the third is on dirt? No problem. Many tripods have feet that transform between a spike and a rubber pad. The retractable metal spikes are particularly

Most tripods have a bubble-level, but due to positioning, visibility can be an issue. In the case of this Miller Air head, that’s not the case.

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Before pressing the record button, make sure all three wheels are pointed in the desired direc-tion of travel. For best results set the camera lens to wide angle to lessen the intensity of bumps and jiggles.

What if the living room has deep plush carpet? The dolly’s wheels would certainly thump when making the transition from wood to carpet. The solution is to place the tripod on a specially de-signed track similar to a roller coaster. This sys-tem offers a fluid solution to following the action over varied surfaces. Tracking rails can get pricey, but the resulting silky-smooth camera movement may be worth the cost. One source for tracking rails is Libec.

The Product ShotOur final videographer’s task is to shoot a video commercial for a new yo-yo. The client wants movement and excitement in a shot of a yo-yo sitting on a table. Sounds like a challenge! The excitement-generating solution is a slider.

The slider is an accessory that attaches to a sturdy tripod and allows a video camera to smoothly slide along a short track. The setup can even be used between two tripods. The slider offers just enough camera movement to result in an engaging yo-yo image destined to catch the eye of the audience. Libec is one company that manufactures sliders.

A round knurled ring attached to a bolt typi-cally secures the slider, or a camera, to the tri-pod head. Some tripods include a quick release mechanism allowing for easy attachments. A plate attaches via the threaded tripod socket and mates with a locking mechanism on the tripod head.

The best quick release mechanisms offer feed-back that docking is complete with a reassuring “click.” If the mounting system doesn’t give this feedback, physically check the camera to ensure it’s secure — anything less could lead to picking up camera pieces off the ground. Ouch.

Sure, the type of shaky handheld shots made famous by mockumentaries like The Office and Modern Family are popular. But, no matter what the production, there’s always a place for the steadiness offered by a sturdy tripod. It’s time to take your dusty tripod out of the closet and let it prove its place in your gear bag.

sign. The geometry was even steady enough for an unfortunate dog named “Tripod” owned by famous American photographer Edward Steichen (1879-1973). The scrappy Beagle was missing a leg.

Rock climbers use aluminum for the same reason videographers do. The aluminum cara-biner is an essential fastening device used in rock climbing. The strongest ones, made from high-grade aluminum, can safely support a small car yet weigh only a few ounces. Aluminum af-fords the same lightweight strength, safety and durability for tripods.

Strong as it is, make sure all controls are locked before walking away from a tripod. With legs fully extended, especially in windy situa-tions, anchor a tripod with a sandbag or other weight. Better yet, in adverse conditions, don’t leave a precious camera unattended.

Hello DollyWe meet our next filmmaker as she prepares to shoot a scene for an episode of her YouTube web series. The scene calls for a tracking shot that follows the star walking from kitchen to living room. The script demands a rock steady shot, so letting her DSLR camera go handheld is not an option.

One solution is a dolly — a wheel and sup-port system attached to the foot of each tripod leg. If the kitchen and living room share, for instance, the same smooth wood laminate flooring, the dolly will roll smoothly across the floor, giving the filmmaker the desired steady shot. Dolly manufacturers include Manfrotto, Sachtler, Miller and Libec.

David G. Welton is a professor of Media Studies .


Being able to remove the tripod’s head means you can attach sliders or other advanced support systems.

Reasons Why a Tripod is Your Most Important Purchase


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Lens not included

Pocket Cinema Camera

• Active Micro Four Thirds Lens Mount • Super 16mm Sized Image Sensor • Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) at 220 Mbps• 3.5” LCD with 800x480 Resolution• Uses SDXC and SDHC Memory Cards• EN-EL20 Compatible Rechargeable Battery • HDMI, LANC, 3.5mm Audio Input and Output • Records Full HD 1920x1080 CinemaDNG RAW • Portable Design (5" Long & 12.5 oz) • 13 Stops of Dynamic Range

#BLPKCINECAM

Lens not included

Cinema 2.5K / Production 4KCinema Interchangable Lens Camera’s with EF Mount

• Canon EF and Zeiss ZE mount compatible lens mount• 2.5K image sensor • 12-bit RAW, ProRes,

DNxHD, and CinemaDNG RAW formats• Super wide dynamic range • 5" display size• Variable frame rate recording• Records to removable 5” SSD drives• SDI video output and Thunderbolt Port• Includes DaVinci Resolve and UltraScope• Uncompressed and compressed recording

Production 4K Step-up Features: 4K super 35mm sensor

#BLCINECAM ....................................... #BLPRODCAM4K .................................

Lens not included

EOS C300Cinema EOS/PL Camcorder Body

• Super 35mm CMOS sensor• Dual CF card slots• Multiple recording formats• HD-SDI, HDMI, XLR audio• Canon DIGIC DV III image processor• Timecode I/O, Genlock in & Sync out• 50 Mbps MPEG-2 EF or PL lens mount• Canon XF Codec - 4:2:2 color sampling• High-resolution VF and 4", 1.23 MP LCD• High-Speed, Slow-Motion, Time-Lapse and Stop-Motion

#CAC300EF........................................... #CAC300PL ..........................................

Lens not included PMW-F5 / PMW-F55 CineAlta Digital Cinema Camera’s

• 8.9MP Super 35mm CMOS Image Sensor • 2K and HD Recording• Highly Modular Design• SxS Pro+ media cards • Dynamic Range Rated at 14 Stops • Native FZ-Mount and PL-Mount Adapter • Olivine Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries • Optional AXS-R5 docking recorder enables

4K and 2K resolution video recording in 16-bit RAW

PMW-F55 Step-up Features: 4K /2K /HD Recording

#SOPMWF5 ......................$16,490.00 #SOPMWF55 ....................$28,990.00

Lens not included

Lumix DMC-GH44K Mirrorless Micro 4/3 System Camera

• 16 MP Live MOS sensor• DCI 4K 4096x2160 at 24p• UHD 4K 3840x2160 at 30p/24p• Full HD up to 60p • 3.0” OLED monitor

and OLED Live View finder• Support for 59.94p, 23.98p, 50p, & 24p• 4:2:2 8-Bit or 10-Bit HDMI Output• Built-In Wi-Fi connectivity with NFC• Variable frame rate recording of 2fps to 96 fps capable• Magnesium alloy, weather-sealed body

Body Only #PADMCGH4Bwith DMW-YAGH SDI/XLR interface unit #PADMCGH4BK

Lumix DMC-FZ10004K Digital Camera

• 20.1MP 1”high sensitivity MOS sensor• 4K QFHD video recording at 30 fps• Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 16x zoom lens• 25-400mm f/2.8-4 (35mm equivalent)• 2,359k-Dot OLED Live View finder• 3.0” Free-Angle LCD monitor• Built-In Wi-Fi connectivity with NFC• HYBRID O.I.S. 5-Axis image stabilization• High-speed AF with LUMIX DFD focus• ISO 25600 and 50 fps continuous shooting

#PADMCFZ1000B

NEW

Alpha a7SMirrorless System Camera

• 12.2MP full-frame Exmor CMOS sensor optimized for 4K QFHD and low light video

• Uncompressed 4:2:2 UHD 4K video HDMI output capable

• Compatible with Sony E-mount lenses and many others with adapters

• Sony dual XLR microphone kit (optional)• 3.0" tilting LCD monitor and OLED electronic viewfinder• Built-In Wi-Fi connectivity with NFC • Pro-workflow with Picture Profile, S-Log2

and time code • 50Mbps XAVC S2 1920x1080 at 60P, 1280x720 at 120P• ISO 100 – 409600 with low noise and unprecedented 15.3 stops of dynamic range

Body Only ##SOA7SB

NEW

EOS-5D Mark IIIDSLR Camera

• 22.3MP Full-frame CMOS sensor (1.0x crop factor) • 3.2” clear view high resolution LCD / Pentaprism VF

• HD 1080 video capture in 30/25/24 fps• HD 1280p video capture in 60/50fps• DIGIC 5+ image processor• 61-Point high density AF• Extended ISO range (50-102400)• Up to 6.0 FPS continuous mode• Built-In HDR and multiple exposure modes• Dual CF and SD memory card slots • Durable magnesium-alloy construction

Body Only #CAE5D3

D810DSLR Camera

• Full-frame (1.0x crop factor) • EXPEED 4 image processor • 36.3MP FX-Format CMOS sensor without an optical low pass filter

• 3.2” LCD monitor / Optical viewfinder• Interval timer/time-lapse shooting• Continuous shooting to 5 fps in FX mode• Expandable sensitivity to ISO 51200• Multi-CAM 3500FX AF sensor w/ 51 points• HD 1080 video capture in 60/50/30/25/24 fps• Wi-Fi capable with optional Nikon WT-4a • External mic and headphone inputs

Body Only #NID810

NEW

Videomaker 11-14 JN140755.indd 1 8/27/14 9:57 AMFullPageAD_NEWTemplate.indd 37 9/18/2014 10:45:52 AMpage 37

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1057135-REG/panasonic_dmc_fz1000k_lumix_dmc_fz1000_digital_camera.html?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Panasonic-LUMIX DMC-FZ1000

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/GH4/Ntt/PADMCGH*/N/3963548124?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Panasonic-LumixDMC-GH4

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/964117-REG/blackmagic_design_blackmagic_pocket_cinema_camera.html?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Blackmagic-PocketCinemaCamera

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1044728-REG/sony_ilce7s_b_alpha_a7s_mirrorless_digital.html?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Canon-Sony-Alphaa7S

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/SONEXVG30*/Ntt/SONEXVG30*/N/0?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Sony-NEXVG30

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1062499-REG/nikon_d_810_digital_slr_body.html?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Nikon-D810

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/SONEXVG900*/Ntt/SONEXVG900*/N/0?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Sony-NexVG900

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847545-REG/Canon_5260A002_EOS_5D_Mark_III.html?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Canon-5DMarkIII

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/CAC100EF*/Ntt/CAC100EF*/N/0?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Canon-EOSC100http://

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http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/CAC300*/Ntt/CAC300*/N/0+4294203908?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Canon-EOSC300PLandEF

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/SOPMWF5*/Ntt/SOPMWF5*/N/0?cm_mmc=MAG-_-VideoMaker-_-_1114__-_-Retail_Sony-PMWF5andF55

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Prices, specifications, and images are subject to change without notice. Manufacturer rebates are subject to the terms and conditions (including expiration dates) printed on the manufacturers’ rebate forms. Not responsible for typographical or illustrative errors. © 2000-2014 B & H Foto & Electronics Corp.

Page 2

When in New York, Visit our SuperStore

420 Ninth Ave.Corner of 34th Street

New York, N.Y. 10001

Over 70,000 square feet of the latest gear

The most knowledgeable Sales Professionals

Hands-on demos

Convenient free parking available

Subscribe to our free CatalogBandH.com/catalog212-444-6633

VIXIA HF G30 HD Flash memory Camcorder

• Full HD 1920 x 1080p Recording at 60 fps • Canon 2.91MP 1/2.84” HD CMOS Pro Sensor • Canon 20x HD Video Lens (3.67 - 73.4mm) • Record in MP4 (35Mbps) or AVCHD

(28Mbps) • Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Slots • Built-in Wi-Fi & Free Movie Uploader App

• OLED 3.5” touch Panel display & joystick • Color 0.24” Viewfinder

• Optical Image Stabilization

#CAHFG30

HDR-FX73 CMOS HDV Camcorder

• 3 1/4" CMOS, 16:9, ClearVID technology sensors• Carl Zeiss 20x Vario-Sonnar T Lens• High-Definition 1080i recording• Super SteadyShot optical stabilization• Expanded focus assist • 3.5" LCD screen & Color viewfinder• Zoom and focus rings• Focus and zoom precision controls• Built-in ¼ & 1/16 ND Filters• HDMI, Microphone, Headphone, & LANC connectivity

#SOHDRFX7

HXR-NX30Compact HD Camcorder

• Shoots AVCHD Up to 1080/60p at 24Mbps

• Balanced Optical SteadyShot• Equipped with Dual XLR Inputs• Built-In 96GB Flash Memory Capacity• Pro Audio Control & Level Adjustment• Built-In Projector & 3.5" LCD Monitor• Built-In Stereo Shotgun Microphone• Super-Wide Carl Zeiss 10x Optical Lens• Features SD or Memory Stick Card Slot

#SOHXRNX30U

HC-X9203 CMOS Flash Memory HD Camcorder

• 3x 1/2" back-illuminated CMOS sensors • 12x optical, 25x advanced Leica Dicomar

lens (f/1.5 maximum aperture)• Record to SD/SDHC/SDXC media• Remote WiFi mobile device

tether plus Ustream sharing• Manual controls• 3.5" (16:9) LCD screen & color viewfinder• 3D recording capable with optional Panasonic VW-CLT2 3D lens• Optical image stabilizer • Microphone & headphone input

#PAHCX920K 20MegaPixels

12x optical, 25x advanced Leica Dicomar

®

HERO3+ Black EditionUltraHD Sports/Helmet Camcorder

• Supports 4K, 2.7K, 1440p & 1080p video• Capture up to 12MP photos at 30 fps• 20% smaller & 30% longer battery life• Ultra wide angle glass lens• Camera housing waterproof to 131'• Improved wind-noise reduction• Protune is an advanced video mode• Supports both NTSC and PAL systems• Auto Low Light & SuperView video modes• Built-In Wi-Fi & Wi-Fi Remote 600'transmission range

#GOH3PBEA

UltraHD Sports/Helmet Camcorder

12MegaPixels

GC-PX100HD Everio Camcorder

• HD 1920 x 1080p recording• SC/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot• 3" touch panel LCD• 1/2.3 back-illuminated

12.8 MP CMOS sensor • 29.4mm f1.2 wide angle lens• Optical image stabilizer with A.I.S.• 10x optical zoom & 16x dynamic zoom• Supports shooting speeds up to 600 fps • Built-in Wi-Fi• Capture still images in bursts of nine frames a second

#JVGCPX100 12MegaPixels

HDR-TD30V3D Flash Memory HD Camcorder

• Dual 1/3.91 back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensors

• Record to SD/SDHC/SDXC MS PRO-HG Duo & XC-HG media

• 1920 x 1080 Full HD 24p/60p video• Sony G series wide 10x 17x extended zoom lens• 3.5" (16:9) LCD screen & Color viewfinder • 5.1-ch recording • Optical image stabilizer with Active mode• Watch 3D on 3.5" (16:9) LCD without special glasses• Built-in GPS • Microphone & headphone input

#SOHDRTD30VB 20MegaPixels

HDR-AS100VPOV Action Cam

• Record up to 1080 60p (50 Mbps) video• XAVC S HD 1080p recording • 1/2.3”Back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor• Built-In GPS & Wi-Fi connectivity• One-Touch NFC smartphone pairing• Micro SD/SDHC Memory Stick Micro• Included housing is waterproof to 16.4’• Wide Zeiss Tessar lens • SteadyShot image stabilization• Interval still recording • Smartphone, or optional Live-View remote (RM-LVR1)• 24p high-speed 120 fps and 240 fps shooting with sound.

#SOHDRAS100V 13MegaPixels

Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopterwith Integrated FPV Camera

• 14 MP stills and 1080p video• 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Downlink

for Smartphones• Smartphone mounts to

controller for FPV• iOS/Android App for monitoring/control

Phantom 2 Vision+ Quadcopter with Gimbal-Stabilized Camera• 14MP, 1080P Camera stabilized & controlled

with an integrated 3-Axis Gimbal

Phantom 2 Vision #DJPV �� Phantom 2 Vision+ #DJP2VP ��

• iOS/Android App for monitoring/control

Phantom 2 Vision+

Phantom 2 Vision

XA10Professional HD Solid State Camcorder

• 64GB Internal and Dual SDHC/SDXC card slots with relay recording

• 1920 x 1080 CMOS Image Sensor• Canon 10x HD Video Lens• 8-Blade Iris and Manual Focus Ring• DIGIC DV III Image Processor• 24Mbps Recording (AVCHD)• 3.5" High-resolution touch panel

LCD and EVF• Dual XLR terminals

#CAXA10 �� $1,499.00

XA20 / XA25 Professional HD Camcorder

• 1/2.84” HD CMOS sensor with RGB primary color filter• 20x HD Zoom Lens • 2 x SD/SDHC/SDXC card slots

with relay and dual recording• Canon Digic DV 4 image processor • Built-in Wi-Fi technology with FTP transfer

capability • Optical image stabilization • 3.5” LCD screen and color viewfinder • 2 phantom-powered XLR audio inputs • Native 24p and slow- and fast motion recording

XA25 Step-up Features: HD/SD-SDI output • Pre-record 3-sec. buffer

#CAXA20 �� $1,999.00 #CAXA25 ��$2,499.00

• 2 x SD/SDHC/SDXC card slots

AG-AC90AAVCCAM Handheld Camcorder

• Three 1/4.7" HD 2.19MP CMOS back illuminated sensors • 1920x1080 native with variable 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p frame rates

• Five-Axis optical image stabilization• Dual SD Memory Card Slots• 12x zoom (f/1.5) and 25x digital zoom lens• 3.5" LCD screen & LCOS color viewfinder• Six scene presets, and seven programmable user buttons• Interval Record, Pre-Record, Record Check, Last Clip Delete• AVCCAM HD Recording Modes • Two-Channel XLR Audio Inputs

#PAAGAC90A

Videomaker 11-14 JN140755.indd 2 8/27/14 2:55 PMFullPageAD_NEWTemplate.indd 38 9/18/2014 10:46:04 AM

Prices, specifications, and images are subject to change without notice. Manufacturer rebates are subject to the terms and conditions (including expiration dates) printed on the manufacturers’ rebate forms. Not responsible for typographical or illustrative errors. © 2000-2014 B & H Foto & Electronics Corp.

Page 2

When in New York, Visit our SuperStore

420 Ninth Ave.Corner of 34th Street

New York, N.Y. 10001

Over 70,000 square feet of the latest gear

The most knowledgeable Sales Professionals

Hands-on demos

Convenient free parking available

Subscribe to our free CatalogBandH.com/catalog212-444-6633

VIXIA HF G30 HD Flash memory Camcorder

• Full HD 1920 x 1080p Recording at 60 fps • Canon 2.91MP 1/2.84” HD CMOS Pro Sensor • Canon 20x HD Video Lens (3.67 - 73.4mm) • Record in MP4 (35Mbps) or AVCHD

(28Mbps) • Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Slots • Built-in Wi-Fi & Free Movie Uploader App

• OLED 3.5” touch Panel display & joystick • Color 0.24” Viewfinder

• Optical Image Stabilization

#CAHFG30

HDR-FX73 CMOS HDV Camcorder

• 3 1/4" CMOS, 16:9, ClearVID technology sensors• Carl Zeiss 20x Vario-Sonnar T Lens• High-Definition 1080i recording• Super SteadyShot optical stabilization• Expanded focus assist • 3.5" LCD screen & Color viewfinder• Zoom and focus rings• Focus and zoom precision controls• Built-in ¼ & 1/16 ND Filters• HDMI, Microphone, Headphone, & LANC connectivity

#SOHDRFX7

HXR-NX30Compact HD Camcorder

• Shoots AVCHD Up to 1080/60p at 24Mbps

• Balanced Optical SteadyShot• Equipped with Dual XLR Inputs• Built-In 96GB Flash Memory Capacity• Pro Audio Control & Level Adjustment• Built-In Projector & 3.5" LCD Monitor• Built-In Stereo Shotgun Microphone• Super-Wide Carl Zeiss 10x Optical Lens• Features SD or Memory Stick Card Slot

#SOHXRNX30U

HC-X9203 CMOS Flash Memory HD Camcorder

• 3x 1/2" back-illuminated CMOS sensors • 12x optical, 25x advanced Leica Dicomar

lens (f/1.5 maximum aperture)• Record to SD/SDHC/SDXC media• Remote WiFi mobile device

tether plus Ustream sharing• Manual controls• 3.5" (16:9) LCD screen & color viewfinder• 3D recording capable with optional Panasonic VW-CLT2 3D lens• Optical image stabilizer • Microphone & headphone input

#PAHCX920K 20MegaPixels

®

HERO3+ Black EditionUltraHD Sports/Helmet Camcorder

• Supports 4K, 2.7K, 1440p & 1080p video• Capture up to 12MP photos at 30 fps• 20% smaller & 30% longer battery life• Ultra wide angle glass lens• Camera housing waterproof to 131'• Improved wind-noise reduction• Protune is an advanced video mode• Supports both NTSC and PAL systems• Auto Low Light & SuperView video modes• Built-In Wi-Fi & Wi-Fi Remote 600'transmission range

#GOH3PBEA 12MegaPixels

GC-PX100HD Everio Camcorder

• HD 1920 x 1080p recording• SC/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot• 3" touch panel LCD• 1/2.3 back-illuminated

12.8 MP CMOS sensor • 29.4mm f1.2 wide angle lens• Optical image stabilizer with A.I.S.• 10x optical zoom & 16x dynamic zoom• Supports shooting speeds up to 600 fps • Built-in Wi-Fi• Capture still images in bursts of nine frames a second

#JVGCPX100 12MegaPixels

HDR-TD30V3D Flash Memory HD Camcorder

• Dual 1/3.91 back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensors

• Record to SD/SDHC/SDXC MS PRO-HG Duo & XC-HG media

• 1920 x 1080 Full HD 24p/60p video• Sony G series wide 10x 17x extended zoom lens• 3.5" (16:9) LCD screen & Color viewfinder • 5.1-ch recording • Optical image stabilizer with Active mode• Watch 3D on 3.5" (16:9) LCD without special glasses• Built-in GPS • Microphone & headphone input

#SOHDRTD30VB 20MegaPixels

HDR-AS100VPOV Action Cam

• Record up to 1080 60p (50 Mbps) video• XAVC S HD 1080p recording • 1/2.3”Back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor• Built-In GPS & Wi-Fi connectivity• One-Touch NFC smartphone pairing• Micro SD/SDHC Memory Stick Micro• Included housing is waterproof to 16.4’• Wide Zeiss Tessar lens • SteadyShot image stabilization• Interval still recording • Smartphone, or optional Live-View remote (RM-LVR1)• 24p high-speed 120 fps and 240 fps shooting with sound.

#SOHDRAS100V 13MegaPixels

Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopterwith Integrated FPV Camera

• 14 MP stills and 1080p video• 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Downlink

for Smartphones• Smartphone mounts to

controller for FPV• iOS/Android App for monitoring/control

Phantom 2 Vision+ Quadcopter with Gimbal-Stabilized Camera• 14MP, 1080P Camera stabilized & controlled

with an integrated 3-Axis Gimbal

Phantom 2 Vision #DJPV �� Phantom 2 Vision+ #DJP2VP ��

Phantom 2 Vision+

Phantom 2 Vision

XA10Professional HD Solid State Camcorder

• 64GB Internal and Dual SDHC/SDXC card slots with relay recording

• 1920 x 1080 CMOS Image Sensor• Canon 10x HD Video Lens• 8-Blade Iris and Manual Focus Ring• DIGIC DV III Image Processor• 24Mbps Recording (AVCHD)• 3.5" High-resolution touch panel

LCD and EVF• Dual XLR terminals

#CAXA10 �� $1,499.00

XA20 / XA25 Professional HD Camcorder

• 1/2.84” HD CMOS sensor with RGB primary color filter• 20x HD Zoom Lens • 2 x SD/SDHC/SDXC card slots

with relay and dual recording• Canon Digic DV 4 image processor • Built-in Wi-Fi technology with FTP transfer

capability • Optical image stabilization • 3.5” LCD screen and color viewfinder • 2 phantom-powered XLR audio inputs • Native 24p and slow- and fast motion recording

XA25 Step-up Features: HD/SD-SDI output • Pre-record 3-sec. buffer

#CAXA20 �� $1,999.00 #CAXA25 ��$2,499.00

AG-AC90AAVCCAM Handheld Camcorder

• Three 1/4.7" HD 2.19MP CMOS back illuminated sensors • 1920x1080 native with variable 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p frame rates

• Five-Axis optical image stabilization• Dual SD Memory Card Slots• 12x zoom (f/1.5) and 25x digital zoom lens• 3.5" LCD screen & LCOS color viewfinder• Six scene presets, and seven programmable user buttons• Interval Record, Pre-Record, Record Check, Last Clip Delete• AVCCAM HD Recording Modes • Two-Channel XLR Audio Inputs

#PAAGAC90A

Videomaker 11-14 JN140755.indd 2 8/27/14 2:55 PM

NYC DCA Electronics Store Lic. #0906712; NYC DCA Electronics & Home Appliance Service Dealer Lic. #0907905; NYC DCA Secondhand Dealer – General Lic. #0907906

Page 3

800-947-9925212-444-5025

Fax:

212-239-7770

Store & Mail Order Hours:

Sunday 10-6 • Mon.-Thurs. 9-7Friday 9-1 EST / 9-2 DST

Saturday Closed

We Buy, Sell and TradeUsed Equipment

Over 300,000 products, at your leisure.

www.BandH.com

HXR-NX5U3-CMOS NXCAM Flash Memory Camcorder

• Three 1/3” Exmor CMOS sensors, with a ClearVid array• Capture uses Memory Stick PRO Duo /

SDHC Cards, with relay record capability (optional HXR-FMU128 flash memory unit)

• 20x wide G series lens • HD-SDI & HDMI output, SMPTE

Time Code in/out, Dual XLR inputs• Built-in GPS system• 3.2” Xtra Fine LCD

#SOHXRNX5U

Capture uses Memory Stick PRO Duo /

XF100 / XF105HD Professional CF Camcorders

• 1/3" CMOS 1920 x 1080 CMOS sensor• Dual CF card slots• 50Mbps MPEG-2 recording • Canon's MPEG-2 4:2:2 color sampling • 60p/60i, 30p, 24p MXF File Format • 10x HD zoom lens• 3.5" 920K dot LCD monitor• Stereoscopic 3-D recording capabilities • Dual XLR inputs • Waveform Monitor

XF105 Step-up Features: HD/SD-SDI, SMPTE Time Code, Genlock

#CAXF100 ..........................$2,499.00 #CAXF105 ..........................$2,999.00

NEX-EA50UHHD Shoulder Mount Interchangeable Lens Camcorder

• Exmor APS-C CMOS sensor (AVCHD / MPEG2-SD) • Add lenses without being locked on a lens brand or lens mount

• Supplied 18-200 servo power zoom • E-mount interchangeable lens system• Use Alpha A-mount lenses with

15‐point phase detection AF • Mechanical shutter Still Picture• 3.5’’LCD Panel • Records on media card and FMU128 Simultaneously • Record onto Memory Stick/SD/SDHC/SDXC/HXR-FMU128 (Optional)

#SONEXEA50UH

GY-HM600 / GY-HM650 ProHD ENG Camcorder

• Three 1/3” (1920 x 1080) 12-Bit CMOS sensors

• Dual SDXC/SDHC card slots, dual-backup, continuous recording

• MPEG-2 / AVCHD / H.264 Recording • 23x Fujinon wide zoom lens • F11 Sensitivity • Optical image stabilizer • 3.5” LCD screen with focus assist • HD-SDI and HDMI connections

GY -HM650 Step-up Features: WiFi with Apps for iOS/Android, Live transmission (streaming), Secure FTP File upload via WiFi

#JVGYHM600U .................................... #JVGYHM650U ....................................

AG-AC130A / AG-AC160A3-MOS HD Handheld Camcorders

• 3x 1/3”, 2.2 MP CMOS sensor - 18-bit dsp• 22x optical zoom lens • 1080p 1080i 60/p30/p24 & 720p60• Three rings; Manual Zoom, Focus & Iris • Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC card slots• AVCHD & DV recording (SD) modes

AG-AC160A Step-up Features:• HD-SDI & LPCM audio recording• 59.94 Hz / 50 Hz switchable • Slow/quick motion recording mode

#PAAGAC130A .................................... #PAAGAC160A ....................................

• 3x 1/3”, 2.2 MP CMOS sensor - 18-bit dspAG-AC160A

FDR-AX1/PXW-Z100Digital 4K Camcorder

• 1/2.3" back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS Sensor • 3.5" LCD screen

• Dual XQD Memory Card slot• Records 4K video resolutions

(Up to 3840x2160 60P/50P)• 20x Sony G-Series zoom lens• Records in 2K and 4K: 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p • Video format XAVC S format, MPEG4-AVC/H264 • XLR audio Input

PXW-Z100 Step-up Features: • 4K XAVC Intra 422 MXF •3G-SDI • Slow & Quick • Wi-Fi Remote

#SOFDRAX1 ..........................$4,499.00 #SOPXWZ100 .......................$5,499.00

PMW-200XDCAM HD422 Camcorder

• Three 1/2" Exmor CMOS sensors• MPEG HD422 at 50 Mbps recording• HD422 1080p at 24 & 30 fps HD422

720p at 24, 30 & 60 fps Fujinon 14x zoom (servo/manual) lens

• Dual SxS memory card slots• Four Channels of 16-bit audio• Supports MXF and XDCAM EX

workflows • Articulated 3.5" LCD screen• Timecode & Genlock input • Cache recording Up to 15 seconds

#SOPMW200 .....................$6,299.00

PMW-3003 CMOS XDCAM HD Camcorder

• 3x 1/2" Exmor HD CMOS sensors • 14x Fujinon HD Series lens• 50Mb/s HD recording at MPEG HD422• Interchangeable EX lens mount • HD-SD/SDI and HDMI outputs • Record to SxS, SD, Memory Stick,

& XQD cards • Semi-shoulder style camcorder • 3.5" color LCD viewfinder

• Advanced signal processing • Timecode and genlock interfaces • Optional wireless adapter

#SOPMW300K1 ................. $7,999.00

3 CMOS XDCAM HD Camcorder

camcorder • 3.5" color LCD viewfinder

XF300 / XF3053 CMOS Solid State HD Camcorder

• Record HD 1080/720 onto Compact Flash cards

• 50Mbps MPEG-2 4:2:2 recording• 3 1/3" 2.37Mp CMOS sensors• 18x Canon HD L series lens• DIGIC DV III image processor• 4" 1.23 Mp LCD monitor • 1.55 Mp Color EVF• Over and under crank

XF305 Step-up Features: HD-SDI Output, Genlock & SMPTE Time Code

#CAXF300 ..........................$4,999.00 #CAXF305 ..........................$5,999.00

3 CMOS Solid State HD Camcorder

FDR-AX1004K Ultra HD Camcorder

• 1" Exmor R CMOS sensor with direct pixel readout

• XAVC S, AVCHD, and MP4 recording options

• 4K ultra HD video at 30 fps• Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* Lens• 0.39" OLED EVF• 3.5" XtraFine LCD• Wi-Fi / NFC connectivity• Optical image stabilization

#SOFDRAX100 15MegaPixels

GY-HM70U Shoulder Mount AVCHD Pro Camcorder

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THE RAPID

EVOLUTION OF

THE CONSUMER

CAMCORDERBY RUSS FAIRLEY

330 F22 Evolution of the Consumer Camcorder.indd 40 9/24/2014 8:45:03 AM


In stark contrast to the giant VHS-cassette based cameras of the 1980s, today’s camcorders are sleek, feature-filled and some are being suction cupped to jet skis as this very moment.

Think back, long before the dawn of smartphones with cameras, DSLRs, point-and-

shoots and mirrorless cameras, and remember a time when affordable home video production had but one option: the noble camcorder. These days, lots of devices can shoot video, but unlike the aforementioned op-tions, a camcorder is one device with video capture as the primary func-tion. Some camcorders might shoot stills, others could have simple editing features; but with a camcorder, job number one is shooting video.

Modern camcorders have gotten smaller, with higher resolution and more features than ever, but they weren’t always so svelte.

Rewinding Back before we were mounting ac-tion cameras to our heads, cameras were used primarily for feature films and broadcast, and the home user had few options for making their own masterpieces.

By 1965, however, the release of handheld Super 8 and 16mm film cameras freed up the enthusiast crowd to create motion pictures and play back their results by film projec-tor. While still a true luxury item, the market grew relatively quickly to give burgeoning Deakins and de Bonts more options and formats to shoot in, but ease of use and elegance were lacking.

The big change came when broad-cast had a need to make their out-of-studio setups totally portable, and some major manufacturers created videocassette based systems for the broadcasting teams. Prior to this sys-tem, broadcasters had to use remote recording systems to capture the foot-age they shot.

This switch to cassette inspired the truly portable camcorder as we now know it. Well, bigger, uglier and clunk-ier, but basically as we now know it.

Betamax and VHS-based camcord-ers came trundling along in 1975 and 1976 respectively and quickly went to

work fighting for an audience. They were relatively easy to use, and, if you had a sturdy shoulder and back, quite portable. Unfortunately, the early camcorders were really expensive and it took a number of years — and a plummeting entry price — for them to really catch on.

These two popular home video formats did battle in the camera stores as well as on the video rental shelves. Both formats, with their large, over-the-shoulder design could produce nice stable footage. Eventually VHS won the war, with the format control-ling 60 percent of the North American market by 1980, and Betamax faded out over the course of the ‘80s. While the consumer format died off, Beta still lives on in an updated broadcast version called Betacam.

The videocassette format pro-gressed, mostly becoming smaller with more storage, evolving into the form of Hi 8, Mini DVD and ultimately in a variety of formats for the DV video standard.


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resolution comes a few challenges, in-cluding the need for more storage, and cheaper storage. Today, camcorders rely on digital storage using memory cards and solid state drives to hold the large footage being shot. This shift to readily available and inexpensive stor-age has lowered the cost and simpli-fied the workflow of modern cameras.

Going Pro at HomeA great example of the evolution of camcorders is the GoPro Hero series cameras. From their initial release in the early 2000s, each iteration of the GoPro Hero camera has had the ability to shoot multiple frame sizes at different frame rates with a fixed wide angle lens onto a cheap memory card. Their exo-skeletal cases come in wa-terproof varieties, and as they evolve the frame rates get faster and faster, at larger resolutions. The current genera-tion GoPro Hero3+ can shoot 4K foot-age at 15 frames per second, 1080p at 60 frames per second and 720p at 120 frames per second. It also shoots less conventional frame sizes and rates such as 2.7K at 30 frames per second, 1440p at 48 frames per second, and 960p at 100 frames per second. With the ability to choose how wide the field of vision is, a port to plug in a professional microphone, waterproof cases, being small enough to toss into a pocket and nearly-infinite mounting

What’s DV? DV, or Digital Video, is a standard introduced by a cooperating conglom-erate of the world’s leading video re-cording companies to help reduce the growing variations in digital formats. The DV format specifies a number of features to be standardized for digital video recorders.

Resolution RevolutionDuring the 1990s and early 2000s, the camcorder industry also under-went the major shift from standard definition to high definition. Standard definition, which in North America refers to footage with 480 or fewer pixels in horizontal resolution, began to give way to interlaced footage 1080 pixels in width or progressive foot-age at 720 pixels in width. Storage methods, pixel aspect ratios and consistency across camera standards varied widely, but the trend continued to be toward bigger, better footage and high-end specs trickling down to the consumer level.

Today we see the shift to higher res-olution continuing with mainstream consumer cameras shooting up to 4K, which is, depending on the standard, either just less than or greater than 4,000 pixels in horizontal resolution.

Camcorders have certainly come a long way from the old film and cassette cameras. Along with higher

A snapshot from Videomaker’s camcorder buyer’s guide from 1989.

options, the GoPro succinctly show-cases the evolution of today’s consum-er camcorder.

All of the cool factors going into the Hero over the years have made them wildly popular, and the action camera market has seen explosive growth as a result. This past March, the company went public and has a current valuation in the neighbor-hood of 3 billion dollars.

Fixed-Lens CamerasGoPro isn’t the only game in town for camcorders. All of the usual suspects (Sony, Canon, JVC, Panasonic) are still creating incredibly capable cameras for the consumer market. Powerful optical and digital zooming, vibrant color touchscreens, larger bodies housing great image stabilization and autofocus systems and space for external controls make traditional camcorders an excellent choice for many shooters.

These consumer camcorders are good enough for more than just home movies, too. Motion pictures such as “Paranormal Activity,” “[REC]” and “Cloverfield” were all shot on con-sumer or similarly-chipped prosumer camcorders. Additionally, hundreds of documentaries and independent films have been filmed on the same camcorders sold at Best Buy locations across the nation.

This is the magic of a camcorder. The simplicity of a device designed specifically to make shooting video easy means everybody from a docu-mentary filmmaker to an 8-year-old child can focus entirely on what they’re capturing.

Interchangeable-LensesDSLRs and the latest wave of mirror-less cameras, while not specifically camcorders, all take advantage of the large photo sensor they’re packed with to shoot video. This larger sensor can make for some brilliant image qual-ity. They are a good and inexpensive option for video, though moving from a camcorder to an interchangeable lens camera will involve a learning curve, but can yield some really dramatic results.

THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF THE CONSUMER CAMCORDER


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THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF THE CONSUMER CAMCORDER

Consumer camcorders are great for shooting video. Many include options for stabilizing the picture, continuous autofocus, automatic exposure set-tings, beautiful bright screens for moni-toring a shot, and many other great options. Even with all of those tools available, there are some conditions which can leave a camcorder wanting.

Fortunately, there are tools to comple-ment a camcorder’s drawbacks and take them to the next level. Here are a few popular choices:

Stabilization - Wait a sec. We just finished saying that camcorders often have stabilization options built in. While many image stabilizing features help a shot tremendously, there’s no replacement for a truly stable shot. Some options to add usability and stability to a camcorder are tripods and stabilizing systems. Tripods are the standard go-to for video pros and enthusiasts alike. They can be placed, adjusted for height and angle, and can provide panning and tilting shots as well as locked off shots without any of the shake associated with hand-held shooting. Stabilizing systems can be as simple as a hanging counter-weight below a camera to smooth out shake, or as complicated as a near exoskeleton full-body system which can mount lights, monitors and other peripherals. For getting started, a tripod or simple stabilizing system will do the trick. Start with durable options from Manfrotto or Sachtler and work from there.

Lighting - Cameras and action wouldn’t be the same without some lights leading the charge. Even with growing image sensors adding good low-light capa-bilities to cameras there can always be more light — or maybe better light is the right way to put it. Some cameras offer a small continuous light, which can help a bit, but playing with the available light — and augmenting it if possible — can make all of the difference between a lack-lustre shot and a fine one. Light can add drama to a scene or shot, or it can help illuminate a subject who might be silhouetted by a strong light source behind them. Lights can mean some-thing as simple as moving lamps around a room to better highlight the subject of the shot. Alternatively, there are low cost LEDs which can be mounted onto a camera. Even cheap LEDs from the dollar store or camping outfitter can be placed around a room to balance light-ing without taking the balance out of your budget. Take a look at Lumahawk for some cool on-camera options.

Microphones - While most consumer cameras have a microphone of some sort, it’s not going to cut it if the audio of a shot is even slightly important. The problem is that the integrated micro-phone is usually not terribly sensitive; it’s mounted inside of a camera contain-ing moving (and humming and buzzing) parts, and it’s closer to the camera operator than the subject of the shot. External microphones can be positioned closer to a subject, even on them, and can capture high quality audio directly from the video subject. Options include

TAKE SHOOTING WITH A CONSUMER CAMCORDER TO THE NEXT LEVEL

shotgun microphones on long poles, wired or wireless lapel — or lava-liere — microphones, which clip onto shirts, lapels or nearly anything else, and there are cardioid microphones, which are most often hand-held by someone on camera. Shure and Audio-Technica offer great options to start with.

With all of these add-ons there are additional costs, and these cameras are often used in shoots with no budgets, like home movies and family event videos. Look at what the pros use and take note of what factors make them good options. Weight, light output, stability, multiple wireless channels and a lot of other factors make for great gear, but there are many inexpensive options which may not have been intended for video originally. Work lights can take the place of pro lights in some cases. Music stores may have less expen-sive microphone options than the local video store, and tripods come in shapes and prices for all budgets. Cameras can balance in a lot of places, depending on how risk averse the operator is.

Pro gear is usually the best, and will typically last longer and cost less over the long haul than replacing cheap gear, but the goal is to get out and shoot. If that means balancing a camcorder on a table, using a cheap vocal microphone and a rusty old reading lamp, that’s just fine; what-ever works, works.

Action cams, smart-phones and DSLRs form the veritable trifecta of entry-level camcorders today.



and iPads and extend their usability by adding mounts for lenses, micro-phones and tripods.

Conclusion So do all of these types of cameras flooding the market spell the end for dedicated camcorders for consumers? Cheap options like entry-level DSLRs and options we already carry around like our smartphones certainly mean that casual videography might be spread across a number of devices, but don’t count out the trusty camcorder.

Get Smart Current smartphones and tablets offer the ability to shoot decent quality video as well. Depending on the phone, fea-tures can vary widely. For example, So-ny’s Experia Z2 can shoot 4K video, and Nokia’s high-end Lumias offer optical image stabilization that gives prosumer cameras a run for their money.

With various apps extending the functionality of the smartphone’s integrated camera, smartphone film-making is taking off as well. Devices such as the iOgrapher take iPhones

Russ Fairley owns a Toronto-based video production company and is the host of RFShow.TV.


New cases and mounts transform smartphones and tablets into legitimate camcorders.

GoPros are being suction-cupped to just about anything that moves, and handheld camcorders are still in great use around the world.

The beauty of camcorders are that they make shooting video fun and easy, not clouding the experience with fussy settings, adjusting for light or finding focus with an interchange-able lens camera. The future for camcorders looks pretty bright, too. The market is still growing, particu-larly in the area of action cameras, and the ability to dream up and shoot independent creations grows right along with it.

While there are myriad options to choose from when it comes to con-sumer cameras, the risk of making a bad choice gets smaller and smaller. The most important part is to get a camera and get out and shoot!

You’re only as good as your equipment & crew. You might have an idea

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Learn more at: videomaker.com/doc-crew

THE RIGHT PEOPLE+ THE RIGHT GEAR=GREAT DOCUMENTARY

VM Documentary Equp and Crew DVD half hor.indd 48 7/24/2013 8:38:20 AM


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BASIC TRAINING


Technical aspects of videography are relatively easily learned. There are magazines, books, YouTube videos, and instruction manuals that come with gear. It’s easy to become distracted by these technical details while ignoring how these details influence to overall impact of your story. The world is filled with ex-tremely boring, but technically per-fect videography. You’ll see perfectly-lit talking heads promoting products, smiling brides standing at attention with their words captured flawlessly by exquisitely placed microphones, and directors who imagine that they have filled all the requirements for a great video.

Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten about the artistic process was from re-nowned comic book illustrator Michael Zulli who said, “Learn everything about your craft and then forget it.” This seemed a bit obtuse to me at the time, but then it unfolded like a flower and I realized that bit of wisdom contained everything I needed to know about art.

One secret of a craft like making video, or creating illustrations, is to learn all the rules so well that they burn into your brain and you don’t need to think about them while plan-ning your shots. Your subconscious makes decisions about the best light placement so that you can spend your time arguing with the caterers about when the gaffers will be fed.

Amateurs spend a lot of time mired in the details of how to operate the camera, set the white balance, the exposure, focus and audio levels. Pro-fessionals worry about how the fram-ing of a shot affects the mood, what a certain depth of field will suggest.

Ten Ways to Think Like a ProApart from income and experi-

ence, what often distinguishes

professionals from amateurs isn’t

technical knowledge, but how they

approach a problem.

b y K y l e C a s s i d y

Conversely, pros view each element of videography as one piece in the larger puzzle of telling a story

Understand that problems and technical issues are part of video production.Things go wrong; expect that they will and plan accordingly. People will show up late. One of your cables will introduce a weird buzzing noise into the soundtrack. It may rain on a day you’d planned for sun. Much of suc-cessful videography is in the pre-plan-ning. Pros in big budget movies some-times spend years figuring out details before they start shooting. You don’t need to do that, but you should always be thinking, “What if THIS cable stops working? How will I get audio? What if THIS camera malfunctions? Is there a backup? What if THIS lens is stolen, can I get the coverage with another? What if it rains today? Is there another scene that I can shoot? Will we have access to this location again?”

Don’t be shy about calling atten-tion to issues.If your actors aren’t doing something the way you’d like, let them know. If a piece of costuming is too bright under a particular lighting setup, say some-

Professional videog-raphers and directors are able to focus on the tasks that really impact a production.

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BASIC TRAINING


thing. A director’s job is to take the producer’s money and make the best product possible. Often times directors wear multiple hats. It’s entirely possible you’ll end up being the director, the camera operator and the sound person. But all of these roles are subordinate to that of creating the best product possible with the finances available. When you don’t mention a poor wardrobe choice, you hurt the final product. Your crew is looking to you for direction, but also compassion. Saying, “This is a terrible costume choice,” is different from saying, “Hold on a sec. Looking at this right now in this light, I’m noticing this pattern is a bit too distracting. Do we have something else we could change the talent into?” Once you’ve identi-fied a problem, deal with it head on. Be firm — it’s your show — but don’t be mean.

Keep the big picture in mind.I had a producer once who I complained to about a particular aspect of a project — the executive producers weren’t paying attention to

BASIC TRAINING NOVEMBER 2014

something and I thought they ought to be. He listened to me and asked, “Is this the hill you want to die on? Because if it is, I’ll bring it up to them and we’ll fight it, but if it’s not, let it go and we’ll save that fight for something else.” It was sage wisdom that has lived with me ever since, in and out of video work. Choose your battles. It’s easy to get lost in the details to the detriment of the larger project.

Part of a directors job is to call atten-tion to any issues that arise, then decide how to resolve them smoothly and quickly to stay on schedule.


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Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re wrong and give credit where credit is due.Sometime in the course of your career, you’ll be adamant about something and a member of your crew will insist the opposite is true. You may argue that a scene shouldn’t be backlit, or that you’re positive you left the footage with the assistant camera operator, or that you told everybody to be on the set at nine o’clock instead of 10. Some of these times you will discover that you were wrong: the backlit shot is beauti-ful, you have the drive with yesterday’s footage in your gym bag, your email says 10 and not nine. When this hap-pens say, “Woah, I was wrong, Sorry everybody.” The camera operator you praise in front of the crew for coming up with a great shot you thought was going to be a failure is a camera opera-tor who will continue to do their best to help your video get made.

There are famous movie directors that some actors say they will never work with again. After you’ve won an Oscar, you can decide whether or not you want to be a jerk on the set of your next movie, but until then, a rep-

Continue to manage the crew and talent.When you’re in the room, you’re the boss. A good director knows how tight a rein they need to keep and on whom. Invariably, there will be members of your cast and crew that you know you can trust to follow directions and create a quality product — actors who you know will show up on set with their lines memorized, camera operators who can safely be sent to a second location to come back with great foot-age. You’ll also learn who needs more of your management time, who gets distracted, who spends too much time worrying about details that don’t mat-ter, who’s going to be late if you don’t have someone call and wake them up.

Keep a level head.You need to be the calm eye of the storm. When something goes wrong, your cast and your crew will immedi-ately look to you to solve the prob-lems. While your first impulse may be to break down and shout or cry, remember that not only does this not solve the problem, it erodes the faith that your people have in you.

“We’ll fix it in post,” is often thought to be the battle-cry of a sloppy movie maker. It brings to mind a harrowed director on a tight deadline who just doesn’t care. The microphone’s not working? We’ll loop the audio later in the studio. The white balance isn’t set? We’ll apply a filter during the editing process. Leading man is wearing a different shirt than he was in the last shot? We’ll zoom in on the footage and crop it tight.

Fixing things in post does a few things. Notably, it usually makes a lot of work for one person later and less work for whoever is on the set at the time. On a big set where you’re paying 20 or 50 people, it’s amazing how fast your money burns up and every minute spent replacing a broken cufflink can

KNOW WHEN TO FIX IT IN POST.

be costing you dozens or hundreds of dol-lars. Making the decision to pay an editor to work for two hours to fix something may make sense, but very often it doesn’t.

Don’t get overwhelmed when things go wrong. Before asking yourself if it can be fixed in post, ask yourself, “Can I just skip this thing?” Too often, movie mak-ers get distracted fixing small problems at the expense of time, when the most expedient way to resolve the issue might just be to skip over the thing that’s not working. Camera crew showing up in a cast member’s sunglasses? Rather than spend half an hour having a grip come up with dulling spray or moving the cameras to cut down on reflections, consider just removing the sunglasses.

Before you start shooting, spend time thinking of ways to avoid situations where

things that go wrong will create disas-ters. Inconveniences are unavoidable, and careful planning will keep them from blossoming into crushing defeats. If, for example, there’s a prop that you can’t possibly work without, make sure you have a backup in the event that one breaks. If you’re planning on shooting outside on a particular day, have a plan for what you’ll do in the event of rain.

While you’re on the set, weigh the amount of time you’d spend to fix some-thing while everybody is there against how long it will take to fix later. You may not always get this right and find you’ve wasted days and thousands of dollars on something that would have taken 20 minutes on the set, but the more you learn about the job, the better you’ll be at making these critical decisions.

utation as a difficult person to work with won’t get you anything good.

Keep a positive attitude, especially if there are clients involved.Nobody wants to hear that the shoot they’re financing is a disaster, but sometimes it’s news you have to bring.

A newbie directory may say, “This actor is terrible, they’re ruining this sock commercial,” A pro will look at the same problem in a different light: “We have other resumes and we’re go-ing to replace this person to make sure we get the best performance we can.”

Always explain to your clients what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and why it’s a good thing. If you can’t explain those things, you probably shouldn’t be doing whatever it is you’re doing. Don’t be afraid that ad-mitting you made a mistake will make you look bad. Doggedly pretending that you were right when everybody knows you weren’t is worse.

Don’t be afraid to make your cast and crew work for their paychecks.Dumped in the woods with a 32-page synopsis of the story and some




Kyle Cassidy is a writer and artist living in Philadelphia with his wife and four cats.


tents, the cast of 1999’s “Blair Witch Project” also had a note from co-directors and editors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, which stated, “Your safety is our concern. Your com-fort is not.” They endured cold weather, damp conditions and being terrified at night by the filmmakers running around their campsite making spooky noises. The film was likely bet-ter because of it. Your cast and crew are there to make a movie; don’t be afraid to make them work. Your time should be spent solving prob-lems, not carrying gear.

Understand that retaking shots is routine business.Not everybody gets it right the first time. It’s not uncommon for directors in major Hollywood films to have to go back and reshoot things. Days, (or weeks, depending on who’s telling the story) into the shooting of 1976’s “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Ford Coopla, the director fired lead-ing man Harvy Kitel, replaced him with Martin Sheen, and reshot every scene Kitel had been in. Actors aren’t the only reason that you might

need to reshoot. In 1962, Director John Franken-heimer was horrified to discover that the focus was off in a shot of Frank Sinatra from “The Manchurian Candidate” so he re-shot the scene, but Sinatra’s performance wasn’t as good. Even-tually, he used the out-of-focus shot.

Don’t be afraid to admit if you’ve made a mistake. Cast and crew will respect transparency.

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PLANNING


want to use to tell the story?3) How will the audience view the

production?

StoryIt’s a lot less expensive to work out the story or message of your produc-tion on paper than it is in front of the lens. Having a strong idea of what you want your finished piece to be before you shoot will help you relate that idea to everyone involved, which becomes more necessary the larger your team is. It will help them and you stay focused on your goal. There are several ways to do this: outlines, treatments and scripts.

In pre-production, you’ll review the script, make any desired changes, select your cast, find locations and make your plans for production and post-produc-tion. Even if you don’t have a script, you need to figure out the message or story that you’re trying to convey to your audience. For a documentary-style shoot, you’ll want to figure out the questions you’ll ask your subjects in pre-produc-tion. These steps will help you decide everything from the camera shots you’ll want to what the audience will hear. Pre-production is your time to plan out your entire project. Even though the focus of productions can differ greatly from capturing a live event to the telling of a fairy tale, the way in which to best prepare for a production doesn’t differ all that much. You’ll always want to start by ask-ing yourself the same three questions:

1) What story or message do I want to tell the audience?

2) What style and techniques do I

A Plea for Pre-ProductionPre-production is dreaded by many;

some consider it tedious, non-cre-

ative work. However, it can not only

save you money and time, but also

enhance the creative process.

b y O d i n L i n d b l o m

PLANNING

OutlinesMany writers use outlines to define the beginning, middle and end of their stories. They may also include plot points or story beats of major events that will happen to their characters throughout their production. For a documentary-style shoot, your outline may be as simple as a list of questions you want to ask your documentary subject. For an improv piece, your outline could be just a list of scenarios for your actors.

TreatmentsTreatments can range in length from a few paragraphs to several pages. They tend to cover the important plot points of your story, as well as the characters and locations. Written in a narrative style, a treatment reads like a short story of your film.

For a documentary style shoot, a treatment can help you decide the type of footage you’ll need to tell your story before you shoot. For an improv piece, your treatment might include character sketches that each actor will portray.

ScriptsIf you’re planning to shoot anything from an indie feature to a training

Even at the highest levels in Hollywood (including J.J. Abrams and the cast of Star Wars 7 to the right), table reads are an integral part of the director con-veying the script to everyone involved.

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PLANNING


b y O d i n L i n d b l o m

video, you’re going to need a script. Even 30-second commercials have scripts. A script isn’t just about dia-logue; it tells you where the action is taking place and what it looks like. A well-developed script is a road map to your story.

Scripts are typically written in a specific format that is familiar to cast and crew. There is software available like Final Draft or free software like Celtx that you can use to write and format your script.

In addition to writing and revis-ing your script in pre-production, you may want to consider having a table read of your script. In a table read, you typically have differ-ent people reading the characters’ dialogues as well as a narrator who reads the action and location de-scriptions. Hearing your script read out loud is a great way to gauge if the dialogue is working or not. If you do your reading in front of an audience, you can get some valu-able feedback.

How You Tell The StoryThere are many different tools to help you develop the style and techniques you’ll utilize to tell your story during production. From storyboards and shot lists, to look books and play lists, there are many ways to get your ideas about how your production should look, sound and feel across to your crew. Even if you are a crew of one, these techniques can help you develop your materials as well as keep you organized.

StoryboardsIf the story you’re telling relies heavily on visual elements or if you have complex visual effects shots, storyboards can be a big help. Sto-ryboards are illustrated breakdowns of the shots of your film. They can be as simple as line drawings placed in comic book-like frames, although some storyboards can be quite de-tailed like the oil paintings director

PLANNING NOVEMBER 2014




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Akira Kurosawa (“The Seven Samurai”) created for many of his films.

Shot ListA shot list is a breakdown of every shot you’ll need for your project. It can be integrated into your script, or it can be its own document. A shot list can be helpful to insure that you’ll get all the shots you need for the finished piece and help you decide what order to shoot them in.

LookbookFor traditional film production, a look-book is developed by the production designer in pre-production after read-ing the script. The book is a collection of images, often a mixture of photos, paintings, illustrations and fabrics, that show the desired style or look of the production. This book is used as a guide to all decisions on costumes, props and sets. The lookbook is often reviewed by the director in pre-pro-duction and any necessary changes are made. Even if you don’t have a production designer, you can still put together a lookbook.

PlaylistsPlaylists are not just a group of tracks to be used as score, but a guide to how

your project from pre-production through post. Budgets typically in-clude a 10 percent contingency fee, money allotted to unforeseen disas-ters. Again, this is important to ensure that lack of funds won’t keep you from finishing your film.

If you have products or services that are being donated to your produc-tion, it’s a good idea to figure out their value as well. This can help you bud-get future productions where you may have to pay for everything.

SchedulingIt’s one of the most important aspects of planning for any produc-tion. The more you schedule, the less you leave to chance. Even if it’s work you are going to be doing, schedule it. This will help you pre-vent common mistakes like commit-ting to doing more than is possible in one day. If you schedule all of your tasks for your project and track the actual hours worked, it will help you to create better schedules and budgets in the future.

Productions tend to average shoot-ing three to five pages of script per day, but it can vary greatly depending on the experience of your crew, the complexity of your shots, the number of setups, etc. The more you shoot, the easier it will be to determine how much you can do in a day.

If you’re using multiple locations, you’ll want a shooting schedule. A shooting schedule can be created on industry software or you can create a schedule using a spreadsheet. For this, you’ll group your shots by location first and then by the cast involved. It’s most cost effective to shoot everything in one location before moving on to the next, which is why most produc-tions are shot non-linearly.

MeetingsEveryone on your production should believe that they are working on something important. One of the easiest ways to do this is to meet with them before you shoot. Let them know the focus of your production

you want the audio of your production to feel. Some directors use playlists to inspire visual and thematic elements as well. Director David Lynch (“Blue Velvet”) is known for putting together playlists for his films and even listen-ing to tracks from them in between takes while he’s shooting.

BudgetOnce you have your story and you know how you will tell it, you can work on your budget. Even if you’re creating a small project that you’re paying for yourself, it is important to figure out a budget. Not only is it good practice for when you start working on larger projects, but it will help you determine and track all the resources you’ll need for your project. It will also ensure that you have enough funds to finish your project.

There are sample budgets for all types of productions available on-line as well as books dedicated to the subject. For feature films, Movie Magic Budgeting is a popular software tool, although you can find templates online that work with Microsoft Excel. You could also customize a simple spreadsheet for a small production.

Your budget should contain all the expenses you think you’ll incur on

Pre-production software like Adobe Story helps organize your shot list and itinerary.




Odin Lindblom is an award-winning filmmaker who also shoots com-mercial and corporate video.


and how they can help. Take note of their ideas and thoughts as well. You may have to schedule many separate meetings to do this, but you will end up with a much more focused production and post.

ReleasesMany locations require releases and permits to shoot, even for amateur productions. Some mu-nicipalities may have the legal right to confiscate your camera equipment until after a hearing date if you are caught shooting without a permit. Proper releases and permits can save your pro-duction a lot of time and trouble.

Having releases for any person appearing on camera can keep your production from having legal and distribution problems. While an attor-ney is always the best source for releases, sample release forms can be found online. Attorney Mark Litwak has an affordable CD-Rom of templates called Contracts for the Film and Television Industry that has everything you need for your project including clearance forms for music. Un-less, you are using royalty free tracks, even music must be licensed.

The Audience ExperienceIf you’re shooting a dance competition for a web-site, your audience can view your video on their living room TV or their phone. If you’re shooting

a short film to send to film festivals then your audience will be watching your film on a movie theater screen. Planning ahead for how your audience will view your production will help you with everything from how you frame your shots to how you mix your audio. It will also determine what formats you will need to master to like Blu-ray, DVD or a digital file. Planning for these deliverables in pre-production helps in-sure that your post-production runs on schedule and within budget.

ConclusionThe best set is a happy set. Whether you’re leading a crew of one or 100, your disposi-tion and outlook will affect everyone on the production. The easiest way to ensure a calm, cool director is through a smooth production, and the best way to create this environment is through the proper preparation of a thorough pre-production.

Your budget doesn't have to be pretty or use video-specific software. Microsoft Excel works just fine.

PRODUCTION INSURANCE: DO I REALLY NEED IT?Best practice for businesses dictates having general casualty insurance. This is particularly true for the videographer who is venturing into production whether it’s shooting weddings or a web series. Production insurance can protect you from lawsuits that can arise from any unfor-tunate accidents on set. If you have a company, your business policy may also cover your creative work. If not, you may want to get a policy for your shoot. Many locations will not allow you to shoot without insurance.

Production insurance may or may not cover gear rental. Most rental houses will not lease you gear if you do not have insurance or they may require larger deposits.

Being prepared is important for pre-production, but it’s also a necessity for protecting yourself and your business from any unforeseen acci-dents that can occur.


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DIRECTINGDIRECTING


Stepping it UpHere’s the deal about starting out as a filmmaker. Whether you’ve been to film school or simply attended weekend filmmaking 101 workshops, chances are you were all over the cam-era and lighting. This is as it should be. You got up close and personal with the craft of cinematography and the job of the director of photography, or DP.

Now you’re ready to step it up a notch. You are serious about mak-ing a living as a serious filmmaker. You want to make movies that get

attention for riveting storytelling and accomplished directing.

Maybe in your life after film school, you played the lone wolf operator as shooter, director and editor on a no-budget zombie movie or maybe even on a paid gig or two. These are all notches in your belt, but a reel full of these early samplings won’t get your serious movie financed.

The lens is your eye into story.It’s no secret there are celebrated di-rectors who can’t keep from fiddling with the lens and are actually not bad shooters. James Cameron and Stanley Kubrick come to mind. The latter’s shooting chops went down in cinema lore on “2001 A Space Odyssey,” with this oft-told tale: After many takes, Kubrick’s camera operator couldn’t quite frame up that iconic slow-motion close-up of the animal bone soaring high into the air after the monkey whacks it. Move over Rover, let Stanley take over — Kubrick nailed it on the first take. It’s his shot you see in the movie.

Cameron can be excused. He’s a tin-kerer — a cinema technology innova-tor. Kubrick came from still photogra-phy, so he knew lenses. And so should

Director: Hands Off the Camera

They say you’re as good as your last job. This holds especially true for film-making. If you’re a director and want someone to fund your movie, the first thing your producer-backer will ask is, “Show me your reel.” And therein lies the rub. Most fledgling filmmakers don’t have a reel... yet; at least not a reel that contains the kind of quality and sizzle that inspires confidence in a prospective producer-investor.

What makes for a good reel? Short answer: great storytelling and

great directing.So, how do you get there? Slightly longer answer: Start by

making short, low-budget indepen-dent films with talented cast and crew — and stick to directing.

Pull up your director’s chair and let’s chat about how keeping your hands off the camera might just make you a better director.

Filmmaking is a team sport. Trust

your director of photography to inter-

pret your cinematic vision and spend

your time with actors and focusing

on story.

b y P e t e r B i e s t e r f e l d

If you can’t afford, or don’t have access to a lens finder, feel free to use the tried and true finger-viewfinder technique, or use mobile apps like Artemis HD.

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DIRECTING NOVEMBER 2014

DIRECTING


you. The lens is the director’s eye into the scene — into the story.

Depending on scene content and purpose, you want to be sure to mount a lens with the appropriate characteristics. You know for example that a fixed wide-angle lens will produce an entirely different look and feel from that of a zoom lens. But this doesn’t mean you rummage through the lens case yourself to pick out your glass and snap it onto the camera.

Conversely, when your DP suggests a lens selection and the explanation is riddled with technical DP-speak, you want to be able to understand what he or she is talking about and be confi-dent their suggestion matches what you’re imagining.

A useful tool for setting up your shot and communicating your cinematic vision is to scope out every shot with a director’s viewer or viewfinder — some-times called a lens finder. This short telescope often seen dangling from Hollywood directors’ necks letsyou see exactly what you see when you look through the camera viewfinder. The viewer lets you select camera formats and aspect ratios.Some call it a lens finder because it can also be used to se-lect the focal length you want to shoot with, so you can say to your DP, “I want to shoot this static, cowboy (hip height) on a 24-mill.” You can end up spending between $200 and $700 on a decent professional director’s viewfinder. For the budget-conscious, mobile apps like Artemis HD bring lens finder-like func-tionality to your phone or tablet.

Trust your collaborators.Many DPs find technically-minded directors uninteresting to work with. Yes, as the director you should know about lighting and how it can support the story, but don’t spend time futzing over where fixtures should go. Discuss the look or the mood of a scene with your DP but then trust them to do the work and interpret your vision with fresh ideas of their own.

Know your cinematography and your visual storytelling, but make sure your collaborators contribute their

Director: Hands Off the Camera

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DIRECTING NOVEMBER 2014


special knowledge and experience to make your film the best it can be.

This frees you up to concentrate on the most important tools in directing — the script and your actors. Emotion is everything in a film — that’s what audi-ences remember. Once you’ve commu-nicated the technical requirements of a scene, don’t hang with the crew to see how they do it. Instead, go spend time with your actors and with the script.

Shooting coverage is not directing.If you’ve had any kind of production training, you’ll be schooled in the me-chanics of coverage — shooting a scene or an action from a variety of camera angles and shot sizes for editing purpos-es. In fact, if you’re a newbie director, you’ll be preoccupied with coverage. But shooting coverage is not directing. Directing is knowing your screenplay and the purpose of every scene. Your

job is to make sure that it all ends up on the screen, whether the scene advances the story with a plot turn or signposts a transformation in the protagonist’s character.

Reading the screenplay should make your imagi-nation soar. You can see with your mind’s eye how

you will shoot a scene and cut individ-ual shots together in editing, but know-ing the purpose of a scene will inform everything you do as a director.

Looking through the viewfinder yourself when the camera rolls to make sure the framing is just so and your camera moves are perfect will take up all of your concentration leaving little room for attention to scene content.As director you should be concentrating on what your actors are saying and doing, and how they’re moving. Is it working for the scene and the story? Is it authen-tic? Is it believable?

Searching for Your DPSo, how do you get an experienced DP to work for you?

Short answer: Start by networking.Browse online filmmaking hangouts

to find out who is doing what; Craig-slist.org is good for that. Go to their

Peter Biesterfeld is a seasoned script-to-screen televi-sion and video producer with specialty in documentary, current affairs, reality television and educational pro-duction.


Consider directing your next project without ever watching a monitor. Try to free yourself of technology and focus on the actors’ performances.

down the script is typically done by the first assistant direc-tor or the production manager, but on an indie, low-budget project, be prepared to do a lot of this work yourself.

With production documents in-hand and an intimate understanding of the script and its production requirements, you have a solid foundation for bringing a worthy film to the screen. And most important, you now have some resources that will let you communicate effectively what you want and need to cast and crew, especially to your DP. Filmmaking is a team sport. Let your team play.

Take off your technician’s cap, sit down in your director’s chair and focus on story, story, story.

PREPARATION

As a serious indie filmmaker, the best thing you can do for your film is to be prepared.

Read the script several times and make notes for every scene. Write down your visual ideas and the purpose of the scene in the overall story.

Then start making lists: make a list of actors and extras; make a list of locations and indicate how long it will take to shoot at that location — what technical challenges might that location present; list your props, wardrobe require-ments and other production elements, such as vehicles.

A script breakdown document is useful for identifying everything you need for every shoot and set-up. Breaking

film and TV jobs board where you’ll see what directors are looking for in a DP. Mandy.com is a great comprehen-sive production web portal that deals only with film, TV and video jobs.

When putting out a call for crew, make your project irresistible and interesting without over-hyping it. Try to come across as someone who can get things done as this will be just as important to luring professionals to your crew as your command of the story. Explain your film, your passion for it and your production realities, lo-budget or no-budget, and see where that goes. Chances are that if you’ve communicated your project well and authentically, someone with significant cinematic chops might just want to talk to you about DP-ing your indie film.

When the applications for DP come in, you can easily check a cinematog-rapher’s work on his or her website to see if their work matches what you’re looking for.

Scouring the online filmmaking discussion groups the consensus says, when you’re ready to make filmmaking your profession, work with a DP from the outset. Keep your hands off the camera until the DP asks you to check what’s lined up in the viewfinder.



Next to the gain on most profes-sional quality mixers are two buttons: one is a bass roll off, allowing you to roll off low frequencies being picked up on sources that shouldn’t have low frequencies. Using this feature prevents undesirable low frequencies from muddying up your mix. The second button is a pad. Pads come in many ranges,-10db, -20db, -30db and so on, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll say it’s -20db. Choosing to use the pad would reduce the input gain by 20 decibels. This will allow you to utilize the gain knob when the incoming signal is too hot (loud), even when the lowest amount of gain is be-ing applied. This may be a particularly

sensitive mic or a line level signal coming in too hot.

The next section of a channel strip is the equalizer, or EQ. The EQ allows you to add or subtract a

given frequency. On a simple board, it’s broken into high, mid and low. Some mixing boards expand to high,

What do you do when you have more mics than inputs on your camera or audio recorder? It’s simple: get a mixing board. A mixer will allow you to sum up all of your inputs into one stereo pair. Most mixers allow for XLR, ¼ inch mono, ¼ inch stereo (tip ring sleeve) and RCA inputs. XLRs are typi-cally microphone inputs, while ¼ are line level inputs or instruments and RCA can be for a whole host of inputs.

When you look at a mixer for the first time, it can be quite daunting. There are so many knobs and faders that make it seem very complicated. But once you realize that every channel in a mixer is typically the same as every other one on the board, it’s a lot easier to understand. Whether you have a two-channel mixer or a 32-channel mixer, you only need to know how to oper-ate one channel in order to use the entire board.

Each channel, which can be either mono or stereo, is made up of five sections. At the beginning of the signal flow chain is the gain. Gain is a shield for the incoming signal that controls the amount of amplification — boost-ing the signal — or attenuation — reducing the signal — needed to raise or lower the signal to a “normal” level. Your level is normalized when you have a healthy sound signal coming in that still has enough headroom, so the loudest portions aren’t overmodulat-ed. Overmodulation occurs when the incoming signal is too loud and your signal becomes distorted. Too much gain equals distortion.

AUDIO

Learn the basic workings of

a mixing board, how to set up

mics and other inputs, and

how to record into a camera or

audio device.

b y C h r i s M o n l u x

How to Use a Mixing Board

The gain knobs control the incoming signal to give you a healthy sound.

YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW HOW TO OPERATE ONE CHANNEL IN ORDER TO USE THE ENTIRE BOARD.

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AUDIO NOVEMBER 2014

sometimes can be fixed by placing different sound sources at different places in the stereo image. If you’re running three mics into a two-channel recorder, you can pan two of the mics all the way left, and one of them all the way to the right. This will at least give you some sepa-ration in post-production. Try to keep the most similar mics panned the same way.

Last, but not least, is the level fader or knob. This allows you to control the level of any given channel that will be sent to the main mix. So if you have an input that you would like to fore-ground in your final recording, you would put the fader up to full, allowing it to be the main thing heard in your mix.

That is the main structure of each channel in a mixer. There are two other things you might commonly find on a channel strip. The first is phantom power — to be used with condenser

microphones that need power to function. Many times, this will be indicated with “+48v.” You must be careful though because some micro-phones like ribbon mics can be destroyed with phantom power. The second is a phase switch. Once pushed, a phase switch allows the phase to be changed so the signal cone is flipped to pull instead. This is very helpful with mixing drums. When you hit a drum, the top goes inward, and the bottom goes outward. If you put a micro-phone on each side, and mix the two sounds together, the two waves will counteract each other and sound thin or cancel each other out. This is known as out of phase. Choosing to press the phase button on the mixer will flip the phase on the bottom microphone making the sound expand and become robust.

So now you have your first input sounding great. The gain level is not so high as to create distortion or overmodulation, the EQ is setup for optimal clarity, you have panned the input to create the best stereo image and the level is up where you want it.

Levels and OutputYou won’t hear anything if you don’t have the main fader or mix up. This controls the master

high-mid, low-mid and low frequencies. Many beginners will make a common mistake when using this section of the board by boosting EQ frequencies to achieve a given sound. This is technically incorrect. The best practice is to use an EQ to remove troublesome frequencies, thus allowing you to have a clearer, less muddy sound. It’s getting the result you need by sub-traction, rather than addition.

Moving down the channel strip is the Auxilia-ry or AUX. This is where you can send the input from the channel you are using to an outboard piece of gear, like an effects rack. You will be able to return the affected or wet signal to anoth-er channel, giving you control over the amount of effect you want on the returned sound. The effected sound is considered wet, whereas one without any effect would be called dry.

A simple, yet easily overlooked section is next: panning. Panning allows you to move the sound to the left or to the right or keep it in the center. This will allow you to play with the stereo image. The stereo image is the perceived spatial location of a given sound source. If you put an input at 30 degrees left, it will sound like the sound source is coming from 11 o’clock. Playing with the panning of each channel will give you more space in your mix. A muddy mix

EQ allows you to add or subtract a given frequency.

The pan knobs allow you to make the sounds perceivably come from the direc-tion of your choice.

PLAYING WITH THE PANNING WILL GIVE YOU MORE SPACE IN YOUR MIX.

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Chris Monlux is the Creative Services Manager at the local CBS and NBC Affiliate television Station.


AUDIO NOVEMBER 2014

volume level from all those input sources, and sends it out of the mixer. This is where you control how hot the signal is going into your recording device. You can choose to record the mix to a standalone audio recorder, or into your video camera.

Monitoring your mix is crucial. If you don’t have a way to properly monitor what you are doing, you’re throwing darts in the dark and hoping for the best. You’ll want to monitor off the main mix. This is how it will sound going to your recording device. Of course, it’s a good idea to check the signal from the recording device as well, so you can hear what is actu-ally being recorded.

Understanding signal flow is key, and it all starts with your sound source. Plug into a channel in the

mixer. Adjust the input gain allowing for proper headroom, then notch out any undesirable frequencies. Repeat this process for each sound source, and use the faders to set the level of each channel in your final mix. Finally, adjust your main mix level. Remember that just like a single channel, your overall mix can be

distorted if you crank up every input signal to the highest level.

Everything is relative in your mix. If you turn down every channel fader 10 decibels, you’ll keep the same relative volumes while gain-ing the headroom you need. The right amount of headroom gives you plenty of dynamic range for what-ever you’re recording to be quiet and loud and not distort or over-modulate. Once you’ve got the right mix, send the stereo signal out from the mixer. Some mixers offer XLR outputs and some have ¼ inch. Run those cables into your camera or recording device, and you should be good to go. Be sure to have the cor-rect cable adapters to get the audio signal from the mixer to your device.

Don’t be intimidated by a mix-ing board; it’s just the same thing repeated many times over and it’s an affordable option to get multiple audio sources into your existing recording device. Understanding the basics of how it works can help you accomplish more complicated tasks and get bigger jobs. It’s a great tool that becomes easier to understand the more you use it.

Your main fader controls are your master volume level for all import sources.

Use phantom power for condenser mics.

IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO CHECK THE SIGNAL FROM THE RECORDING DEVICE.

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EDITING


Video editing is messy. At times it

feels like there is an insurmount-

able number of items to keep track

of, inside and outside of the video

editing timeline.

you’re less likely to be able to pull your head out of the undergrowth and see the big picture of a production’s organization. That’s why organization starts outside of the timeline; when you get editing, the content is ready to line up and play nice.

What’s in a name?One of the biggest favors a video edi-tor can do for themselves is to come up with a standard naming conven-tion that they consistently apply to all files in all of their projects. A nam-ing convention is simply a standard taxonomy for the structure of a name given to files. It should be easy to un-derstand and allow you to immediately

A video editor can feel overwhelmed under a mountain of video clips, music tracks, sound effects, various compositions, graphics and multiple deliverables. It’s a different story if you establish some standard working prac-tices to keep organized and on top of everything that enters your timeline.

The timeline of any video editing program is the foundation of an edit. It’s the place where you dig your hands in and get dirty. More often than not, it’s going to be a thicket of weeds. An organized timeline helps you work ef-ficiently through a project. It gives you more time to make creative decisions, try out multiple cuts and fix production issues that can only be fixed by a skilled editor with time on their hands. Those problem areas of an edit that need fixing are much easier to see and work through with an organized timeline.

When you’re buried at eye-level with their media in the timeline,

Organizing the Timelineb y C h r i s “ A c e ” G a t e s

identify the file upon seeing only the name. This will save hours in the long run. When it comes to editing in the timeline, you can identify stray clips without having to scrub through to figure out what they are.

Laying TracksLike consistent naming convention across projects, a consistent timeline structure is enormously beneficial. Over time, building these habits into your workflowwill help take care of mechan-ical redundancies of an edit and allow you to concentrate on the portions of a project that need your attention.

A good place to start in establishing a timeline structure is in assigning and layering tracks according to the content they will hold. This can be tricky with video layers and at times you’ll need to break away from the standard in order to get things to work, but it does help when setting up an edit. One way to start this is by determining what kind of production the video edit is for and understanding the different types of footage and content that will be used in the timeline. You can make the deci-sion that only certain types of media go into particular video tracks. For

When you’re working with dozens, hun-dreds or thousands of files, having a nested folder structure is essential.

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EDITING NOVEMBER 2014


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330 VM Ad Index.indd 68 9/25/2014 8:39:21 AM

video tracks 7, 8, and 9 would be for graphics and overlay effects. This technique can scale to the size and scope of the project. It doesn’t always hold up, but it’s a good place to start when laying out a rough cut.

This same technique can be applied to audio and many times it’s a much more efficient technique for audio work. Different audio tracks can be assigned to different voices within a piece, regardless of the video’s intent. Likewise, different tracks can be assigned for sound effects and music tracks. This makes it especially

User Interface EfficiencySome of the greatest organizational tools in video editing programs lie outside of the timeline. The UI (user interface) is an exceptionally well designed organizational tool. Developers go to great extents to make sure their UI designs are practical and effi-cient for their users. They also understand that a UI is not a one size fits all solution; that’s why most video editing programs have a customizable UI. The customizable UI allows the user to manipulate the appearance of the software to best support their workflow. Here are five quick tips on how to best utilize a customizable UI for video editing.

Don’t Settle For Just One Set-UpCreate and save multiple UI set-ups for different tasks. That way, the tools needed for a particular post-production task are immediately on hand when needed, and safely tucked away when not in use.

Expand The TimelineMost editing work gets done in the timeline. The default setting for most video edit-ing programs tries to distribute a balanced share of screen space across multiple editing panels. Reclaim precious ground by reducing the size of windows and panes that aren’t widely used and occupy the reclaimed space with an expanded timeline.

Take a ShortcutThere are shortcuts in life, they’re on the keyboard. Use keyboard shortcuts to expand, collapse, hide and reveal tracks in the timeline. There’s seldom a reason to see every waveform or keyframe all at once.

Keep the Search Light OnMost video editing programs allow the user to turn the search bar on and off. Keep it on. A search becomes highly efficient when paired with a standard naming conven-tion.

Turn Off the NoiseSome video editing applications let the user show or hide the timeline’s transport controls. Create more screen real estate by turning of the on-screen transport but-tons and use keyboard shortcuts.

example, if you’re putting together an interview-centric piece they may decide that video track 1 and video track 2 will be for any two-shots of the interviewee and the interviewer. Then you would assign video track 3 to close-up shots of the interviewee. Video tracks 4, 5, and 6 would be used for B-roll clips, while

After Effects Flow Chart

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EDITING NOVEMBER 2014


tool. A video editing timeline is most often filled with a large number of clips. More often than not, groups of these clips go together well and once sequenced, will stay together through-out the edit. It’s the positioning and in-teraction of these different groups that ends up getting shuffled around. When large groups of individual clips are selected and moved around there’s a great chance that pieces will be lost or placed out of sync within the timeline. You can turn these large groups into individual subcomps, in which they appear and function as a single clip in the timeline, keeping things much more organized. The subcomp remains highly functional as you can still open it up and edit the individual clips in the subcomp to suit their needs.

Mark It UpMarkers are a very simple tool that can be applied to the timeline and to individual clips. Timeline markers are a great way to denote various portions of an edit. One of the most frustrating mishaps for an editor is when several synced clips stacked up on another get accidently moved. Placing a layer marker on each clip, to note where they line up with overlapping clips and with the timeline, helps visually line clips up when they are accidently rearranged. Markers also provide an easy way to attach reminders and notes to frames inside the timeline.

Video editing can get dirty. There’s a lot to toil through with every production and the deeper you get into your time-line, the deeper you get into the mess. Organization is a habit that’s formed from intentional and consistent meth-ods. Most of all, organization is a tool — one that helps efficiently manage the chaos of the creative process. There is a beautiful order that underlies even the messiest situations, and truth be told, it takes a lot of hard work and patience in the dirt to grow something beautiful.

Chris “Ace” Gates is a four time Emmy Award-winning writer and video producer.


efficient for a video editor who is au-ditioning various music beds, they can mute and solo individual tracks know-ing they will only hear what is intended.

One of the greatest pervasive ad-vances in video editing software is also one of the simplest: color coding. The majority of video editing programs allow the video editor to color code tracks and even individual clips. Just like naming conventions, a consistent use of color coding will help you visu-ally identify various clips and tracks in the timeline. Color coding is especially helpful in those situations where you have established tracks for particular types of media and shots, but needs to place a clip out of context within that structure to create a particular effect. Color coding is also useful in identifying nested sub-compositions within an edit.

Dig Deep With SubcompsSubcomps (or sub-compositions, often also referred to as nested sequences) are compositions that are placed as a single clip within the timeline of an-other composition. It helps to think of them as Russian dolls — one composi-tion opens up to reveal another. At first glance they appear to be complex and confusing, but when used properly, and with good intention, subcomps become an excellent organizational

Depending on what you’re working on in your editing application, you may want your UI to be organized differently. Don’t be afraid to make as many preset layouts as needed to work efficiently.

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Start by choosing the text tool from the tool panel at the top of the After Effects interface. Click in the composi-tion window, or preview window, to bring up a text cursor.

In the Character Panel on the right hand side of the interface, change the font to something bold, like Impact.

Type a word. Russ is always a good one to use. If the text is too huge or tiny, it can be adjusted in the Charac-ter Panel on the right hand side of the screen as well.

Once you’re happy with your word (move it around, scale it up, have fun), drag the texture image from the project window to just below your text layer in the layer stack. It will appear behind your text.

Next, in the timeline, change the TrkMat (Track Matte) switch to Alpha Matte “X”, where X is your text layer name. If you don’t see TrkMat, right click Layer Name then choose Columns and make sure Modes is checked.

Voila! Your texture should now ap-pear on your text. This concept of lay-ers and how they appear and interact with layers above and below them is the second half of the foundation of After Effects. Try playing with Blend-ing Modes, Masks and Keying (green screen) to see what else is possible.

We’ll be sharing more beginner tips for After Effects in the near future, so stay tuned to Videomaker.com!

The possibilities for creating anima-tions with Adobe After Effects are pretty close to limitless. We can com-posite complex scenes, add thousands of lens flares to Star Trek footage, or create fun graphics without any live action footage whatsoever.

So with all of these possibilities, how does one figure out exactly where to start? After Effects basically boils down to two things: animating parameters — anything that can be set with a number like scale, brightness, blur, etc — and manipulating layers — how the visuals are stacked on top of one another.

Let’s take a look at two beginner tech-niques that illustrate these concepts.

Basic AnimationTo start, let’s create a new composi-tion, or comp, that matches our foot-age dimensions and settings. Select the footage to be used in the Project window, and click and drag it onto the “Create a New Composition” icon right at the bottom of the Project window. This will automatically format a com-position to match the settings of the footage being used. It will match the size, frame rate and length of the clip being used.

Now that we have a comp, you’ll notice the footage appears as a layer in the timeline window, and a look at the first frame will show up in the Composition window.

First thing we’re going to animate is the opacity of the footage to make it fade in. We’re going to fade in the be-ginning of the footage over one second.

Look for a small twirl-down arrow to the left of your footage’s name in the timeline. Click the arrow to reveal

b y R u s s F a i r l e y

Getting Started With Adobe After Effects

the Transform properties for the foot-age. All of these properties — Anchor Point, Position, Scale, Rotation and Opacity — can be animated. Note the small stopwatches next to each property name. We’ll use these stop-watches to create keyframes, which will determine the property value at that time on the timeline.

Start by clicking on the “100%” property next to Opacity and replace 100 with 0. This will reduce the layer opacity to 0%. That layer should now be invisible.

Now click the stopwatch next to Opacity. This will create a keyframe on the timeline, locking in 0% as the opacity value this time on the timeline.

Next, drag the Current Time Indica-tor, or CTI, to the one second mark.

Change the opacity value to 100. This will increase the opacity of the layer to 100%. Notice the footage has appeared.

Take the CTI back to the beginning of the footage and hit the spacebar to preview the animation.

Congratulations! You’ve completed your first animation and have learned the basis for one half of the founda-tion of After Effects. Just about any pa-rameter in any effect in After Effects can be animated with keyframes. Look for the stopwatches, apply effects and experiment.

Remember: there are no rules, so dive in and see what you can do!

Creating Textured TextBefore you start, try to find a photo of a texture by doing a Google Image search for something like “metal texture” and import it into an After Effects comp.

Russ Fairley owns a turnkey video production company, featuring Web videos, television commercials and live event coverage.

PRODUCTION TIPS

Everything in After Effects boils down to two concepts: animation and layers. Try these two beginner techniques to get your hands on both.


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