Hello all

I thought I would introduce myself - now don't yawn!

I work as a Medical Photographer for a District General Hospital in Airdrie, Scotland. Airdrie is sort of in the middle of a triangle formed by Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling in the central belt of Scotland.

My primary function is to photograph patients for clinical purposes. If you think of X-ray Departments imaging on the 'inside' of the body then we image on the 'outside'. The majority of our patients come from Accident & Emergency, Dermatology (skins), maxillo-facial (mouth), ENT (nose jobs) and operating theatre.

The department uses an XL1 to record training videos, in the main for surgeons and I use a Pinnacle DV500plus capture system and edit using Permiere V6.

I am delighted to have found this forum and have learned alot already. Can I apologise in advance for the daft questions that will be posted in the future. Presently i am trying to look at the previous postings so I do not repeat things - but there is a lot to read!

Regards to all.

Ross

Welcome to the board. I hope you find the info you need, and if not, post daft qestions its the only way you can learn and the only way that others will learn as well.

Use the search facility (top right ^) to find the things you need.

Hope this helps,

All the best from the south of England,

Ed Smith

Welcome aboard Ross! Seems your at least in an interesting
(thought I can imagine, weird) job. So after the movies and the
military hospitals are using the XL1 too. Fun! Good to have
you with us and as Ed pointed out if you cannot find the answer
to one of your questions using the search feel free to post.

Good luck!

Thanks for the welcome chaps. If ever you need any information on filming in an operating theatre - I'm your man ;-)

Regards to all

Ross

Hehe... will keep that in mind. Who knows! Heh.

I recently saw the XL1 hung on a rig above the operating bed on Holby City on BBC 1 (as a prop). I was wandering whether you do the same sort of thing. I guess it can get quite grusome sometimes.

All the best,

Ed Smith

Hi Ross,


<<Can I apologise in advance for the daft questions that will be posted in the future.>>

There ain't no such thing as a daft question.....only a daft answer.

Have a Mc Ewan's for me....OK then make it a couple.

Nice to see you here.


Cheers
Andrew

<<<-- Originally posted by Ed Smith : I recently saw the XL1 hung on a rig above the operating bed on Holby City on BBC 1 (as a prop). I was wandering whether you do the same sort of thing. I guess it can get quite grusome sometimes.

All the best,

Ed Smith -->>>

I do not have the benefit of having the camera on a circulating arm - the difference between TV & reality - so I am often up a set of step ladders.

As the old saying goes 'seen one seem them all'. You do need to become detached and not regard what you are filming as a person. I know this sounds hard but you would crack up otherwise! Most people have seem the kind of thing we record but you miss out on the smell........

Glad to be on board.

Ross

I'm glad that I found this site as there is'nt anything like this in the UK.
I recently purchased a Canon XM2 and I am looking forward to using it . I use Pinnacle DV500+ and Abobe Premiere ver 6 to edit. I am a member of Livingston Camcorder Club. We have been going for about 10 years and we have done various video projects about local historical features.
I am looking forward to conversing with other video enthuiasts from all parts of the globe.

Cheers!

Tommy McDonald

Welcome aboard Tommy! Hi from across the pond. Glad you've
found us and that you've already found interesting things. See
you around!

Howdy from Tokyo, Tommy.

Glad to have you join us! I hope we'll get the chance to see some of the projects you and the Livingston Camcorder Club have made.

In the meantime, we'll see you on the boards.

Hello from Hampsire,

Nice to see more people from the UK on this forum. I also use Pinnacle DV500 and Adobe 6. Its a powerful tool with lots to learn.

All the best,

Ed Smith

Hello from Vancouver, Canada!

Hey Tomy, I'm just down the road in Glasgow, I keep meaning to try and find a video club to go to, you don't know of any in the glasgow area do you?

John.

Hello Tommy,
I'm curious about your "various video projects about local historical features". Are you shooting historical plays, documenting traditional crafts (like distilling) or interviewing old folk?
It's great to see a camcorder club devoting itself to useful community projects.

I'm just across the North Sea from you.

Welcome, Tommy. My wife and I were in Scotland in the late '80's. Beautiful country. We went to Inverness but didn't get a photo of the Loch Ness Monster, darn it.

There's always the Ogopogo here in BC. I think that the Japanese team has now given up looking for the darn creature.

I was driving on an ice and snow covered road around the edge of Lake Okanagan about 2 in the morning in February one time back in the '80's and I think I saw the Ogopogo. Or, it could have been just the reflection from all the empty Labatt's Blue cans in the back seat....

If you would have had Canadian, or Extra Old Stock, you would have seen 'er for sure. Buck-O-Five (Gimli Goose) works even better.

Hello from Norway! Welcome aboard.

Ivan

Welcome from Florida Mr. McDonald. So your from the country that makes the second best whiskey in the world?
Nice to meet you.
You'll find folks here a freindly and informative bunch.

Och Aye The Noo Tommy!!!

Nice to see another fellow British Island Dweller...even if you are on the wrong side of the border...Just Kidding!!! Im from Sunderland so just south of the border.

Its a nice place here...very much glad I found it!!!

Have fun making videos, even if it is hard in our island of lots of rain, but scotlands got some great scenery to film

Hello from Airdrie - sorry to say not the Canadian one but the original one 20 minutes along the M8 from you :-)

Regards

Ross

Hello, welcome.

I was born in Aberdeen, and moved out here to Canada when I was 10. I no longer have the thick accent though :)

Hello everyone,

I have just purchased my very first DVCAM - a PD150P. It's waiting for me a home, so needless to say I'm like a kid on christmas day!

I've perused this site over the past few days and find it very informative, along with a friendly culture also, which is always welcome.

I'd like to think that next summer I can progress into full time corporate and wedding video production. To this end, I'm considering my mics already.

I plan to keep hold of my 150 for about 12 months or so, then 'move up the ladder'. With this in mind, can someone please recommend a few good wireless (lapel) mics and a better mic for my DVCAM, bearing in mind that I'll probably upgrade next summer.

Any further suggestions would be welcome.

Many thanks and regards,
Neil

Welcome aboard Neil! I can imagine it is Christmas for you already
hehe.. I hope you have fun with your camera! I can't offer you
any sound advice because I don't know this field much. If no-one
responds to your audio question please post that question again
in our dedicated audio forum Now Hear This (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=53).

Good luck!

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your encouragement. I've already had a good reponse to one of my questions from Derrik.

I'd didn't really notice the 'Now Hear This' section until after I had posted - thanks all the same!

Cheers,
Neil

Your welcome! No problem you didn't spotted the forum. That's
what us wranglers are for (among other things).

Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your self here.

I use the EV100 from Sennhieser, although the one I have does not have the lapel mic (I went for the XLR adapter thing) it has given me good reseption, and nice quality. But be aware there are licenses one would need to get if used in certain areas, and on certain frequencys.

All the best, From the south of England,

Ed Smith

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your response.

Do you have any further info in relation to the licensing and freqency issues in the U.K.?

This is something I never evn thought about.

Cheers,
Neil

For licensing and frequency information:

http://www.jfmg.co.uk

Hope this helps.

There are about 4 frequencys which you do not need a licence for. But at the moment I can't place my hand on it. You will have to bare in mind though, that if you are using the mic on one of these frequencys there maybe other people using it as well. So you will get interferance.

Hope this helps,

Ed

Thanks Ed,

Something else to bear in mind...

Cheers,
Neil

Fitlike Neil?

I was born scottish but reside in Canada. Lost my accent, but still have the hairy legs!

Hello Andrew,

I've visited Toronto many times as I have relatives that live in St Catherines.

Do you ever go to the Burns Night ?

I've never done the Burns Night here, I haven't done anything 'Scottish' in a while, too many things on my mind :)

Hi from the Scottish Borders [gods country]
I recently took early retirement from my job as a lighting engineer to renovate my house and as it is near completion I hope to spend more time using my new XL1s.
I have for many years been interested in wildlife photography using a 35mm camera so with my new equipment I should be able to see them move.
At the moment I am using a Canon XL1s, 1.6 Extender and a Manfrotto tripod and use Pinnacle Studio 8 to edit on my PC.
I would be delighted to hear from anyone in my area with wildlife photography interest

Hi Henry, welcome to the boards from the south of England. feel free to wonder round and ask questions.

Welcome aboard from accross the pond Henry!

Aye, fit like? I'd love to go back to Scotland (born there) for shooting. One day!

Welcome, to be sure, from a descendent of your country. You couldn't hope for a more photogenic place to use your cameras. All my folks came over from Leodhas in the Western Isles.

If it's wildlife you're after, and you have that long XL1 lens (1.6X extender recommended), I'd bet you've gone up a bit north to catch the wintering Barnacle, Greylag and Pink-footed Geese. I once raised flocks of these on my farm in Oregon and I've always wanted to visit the homeland with a camcorder to record footage of them and everything else in sight.

The XL1 is one of the best choices for shooting Nature subjects, especially on those long open stretches in your region. One of my older camcorders is a Canon L-1 and with the extender, its 30X pulls in those distant critters very well. My new Sony VX2100 with a 2.2X extender for 26.4X, comes close to it.

If you've tossed off your job and finished the house, you're in prime position to become a hardcore videomaking addict. That's personal experience from which I'm saying that. I worked 12 hours a day for a year to rebuild my own family house and now I'm going wild with the freedom to do as much videomaking and bicycle riding as I want-----sometimes both things together. Good luck in adjusting to this good life and tell us about your video adventures.

Steve McDonald
Eugene, Oregon, USA

Hi I am from Edinburgh in Scotland and I joined back in December 04. I have found the advice on this site very useful.

I work with two XL2's and having worked with Macs for ever I edit in FCP 4.5 and use DVDSP 2 for dvd production, Motion for 2D animations and Cinema 4D for computer modelling and animation. I work mainly on producing educational related products, but would one day like to turn my hand to producing short films.

I am still learning my way around the XL2 but have been delighted with the quality it produces. I have also found on more than one occasion, that people tend to take you more seriously when you unpack your XL2 for it looks like it means business..

Hi Eric, glad to have you aboard!

Hi guys, been hiding in the shadows for a long time learning some great tips and thought it was about time I became a member and introduced myself.
Im 25 years old and im currently in pre-production for a short movie i will be shooting with my canon XL2
I intend to show this around some local film festivals.

Hi Chris,

Nice to "see" you come out of the shadows. :) Welcome!

Best wishes on that movie; maybe you can share some favorite clips here when it's completed.

I understand there are some heavily haunted castles in or around Glasgow. Have you tried the Ghost Hunter thing yet?

I understand there are some heavily haunted castles in or around Glasgow. Have you tried the Ghost Hunter thing yet?
The castles around this area make for great sets, as most will accommodate film makers, But i dont think ghost hunting is my thing ;) . When I get some footage from the short I will be uploading clips to this site to get a bit off feedback.

I live not far in Cumbernauld.
I am new to this video shooting. History is my thing and I have upgraded from a Canon XM1 to XL2. I would like to get some tips from someone with more knowledge in filming.

Hi Chris and Alex above. I live in Larbert which cant be far from alex. Do you know of a good club for video nuts like us in the glasgow are. I dont mean the sort of club where they hold a pic competition once a year and the rest of the nights they just practice one upmanship and brag about the equipment they have.
I was once in a club like that in Fife

oops. Its been a while since I was last here, thanks for the nice welcome. Its great to see im not the only one in the area! Alex Calderhead I must be within 5 miles of you, would be great to meet for a beer and discuss projects!
My short movie is coming along nicely but I have also taken on two documentrys and a feature length movie thats eating up my time too, but as promised I will get some clips posted of my projects when I can.

I received your email. I Have sent you an email to your personal address.
Drop me another email with your phone number and I will give you a call.