Caught the end of the DV Dojo show here on public access TV in Manhattan. It's a good show for seeing what works and what doesn't in MiniDV when put into a broadcast setting.

Most of the students use GL1s so it's very interesting to see how they have worked around their production issues. Basically it's a a nice fast practical overview of what works and what doesn't with the GL series, so you don't have to make most of the same mistakes yourself :-) Can't wait till they get some GL2s to see how those images differ.

Lighting really becomes an issue because you can see right away what looks like "home video" compared to the other network and cable shows. Gave me a good appreciation for the differences - especially the blown out highlights. Also gave me a good appreciation for how un-creatively some films and TV shows are lit.

Thankfully, many of the badly lit videos on the show had good story lines or okay editing so you didn't notice as much.

On the other hand, A View To A Kill just looks horrible next to some of the naturally lit amateur video on the show ...

I would have loved to have seen this, but being in Chicago...

As many of us have remarked repeatedly, lighting is one of the cornerstones of a professional-looking production. I would argue that the three most important elements are, in order, (1) lighting, (2) sound quality, and (3) imaging/camera quality. But the first two are markedly higher in value than the camera.

The GL-2 will not compensate for poor (1) or (2), nor will the upcoming wave of 24p prosumer cameras.

Yeah I can really see that now!

I also noticed that proper camera handling and editing made a big difference in the "quality" and "professional look" of the videos, it was a good eye opener.

Do they still have that independent cable news outfit, Channel One, in NYC? A few years back, they were using mostly highend consumer cams, like the TR101 and the A-1 Digital. If they're still around, it seems likely they've got something now, like the GL1/2.

Steve McDonald