Terry Martin
August 14th, 2007, 05:38 PM
After some recent months of scouring this site to support my new found addiction to HDV, it is about time I post something to thank Chris and all of you for such a well organized and effective source of both fundamental and cutting edge technology.
My background includes a past life as a Physicist, software developer, still photographer, musician, and pro audio engineering.
About 6 months ago my video credits included occasional romps with a vintage Sony VX1000, Pinnacle 8, and the hope to someday shoot multi cam music/ band videos, but nothing that you would even want your relatives to see.
So 6 months ago I was commissioned to produce a video of a Ballet production that included my wife. I normally did the still photography for the group, but the ballet director learned that 1) I owned a video camera, and 2) I was much cheaper that a professional (i.e. free).
It didn’t take long for me to realize that my equipment was outdated, so after modest research I came up with a plan to finally get serious about video. It was simple, just purchase two “hot” HDV cams and use professional editing software. I am now a Canon fan for video hardware so I got a HV20 and a XH A1. I had previously purchased Avid 5.2.4, but never got it to run on my pro audio workstation PC.
The last months have been quite an experience. I did shoot the ballet in HDV, edit it in Avid, and produce a successful SD DVD. This forum was essential for me to learn enough to make it all happen.
Along the way, I had to learn about HD specifications and the best path from HDV to SD DVD. Avid was fun, because I did not know it was so picky about PC hardware. I ended up building a dedicated PC for Avid, although the AMD X2, ATI 9800 system was built from spare parts and is far from the Avid specifications... but it works!
Next month I will get to shoot a multicam music video. Thanks to you all for making it possible, because I now realize that the key ingredient for successful video is knowledge.
I will eventually post more on this forum as my experience grows.
My background includes a past life as a Physicist, software developer, still photographer, musician, and pro audio engineering.
About 6 months ago my video credits included occasional romps with a vintage Sony VX1000, Pinnacle 8, and the hope to someday shoot multi cam music/ band videos, but nothing that you would even want your relatives to see.
So 6 months ago I was commissioned to produce a video of a Ballet production that included my wife. I normally did the still photography for the group, but the ballet director learned that 1) I owned a video camera, and 2) I was much cheaper that a professional (i.e. free).
It didn’t take long for me to realize that my equipment was outdated, so after modest research I came up with a plan to finally get serious about video. It was simple, just purchase two “hot” HDV cams and use professional editing software. I am now a Canon fan for video hardware so I got a HV20 and a XH A1. I had previously purchased Avid 5.2.4, but never got it to run on my pro audio workstation PC.
The last months have been quite an experience. I did shoot the ballet in HDV, edit it in Avid, and produce a successful SD DVD. This forum was essential for me to learn enough to make it all happen.
Along the way, I had to learn about HD specifications and the best path from HDV to SD DVD. Avid was fun, because I did not know it was so picky about PC hardware. I ended up building a dedicated PC for Avid, although the AMD X2, ATI 9800 system was built from spare parts and is far from the Avid specifications... but it works!
Next month I will get to shoot a multicam music video. Thanks to you all for making it possible, because I now realize that the key ingredient for successful video is knowledge.
I will eventually post more on this forum as my experience grows.