I'm about to enter the wedding videographer world. I don't have any equipment yet. I'm looking at the Canon XL2 and a PowerMac G5 2.7.

What accessories do I need for the XL2 and the Mac. What software as far as effects should I get that works with Final Cut Pro?

If anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated. I was a Radio, TV, and Film major in college, but technology has totally changed since I was in college.

If someone could refer me to some classes, courses, and any advice on the whole business would be great also. Thanks in advance for all your help.

FCP for the Mac... definately.

But, I would re-evaluate your GL-2 decision. The Sony PD-170 is a more versatile camera and will out perform the GL-2 in low light (which is more important than you may realize now) Go the extra grand and get the 170.

A PD-150 used could be had if money's tight, and it still outperforms the GL-2 in low light and versatility.

As far as accessories, a wide angle adapter (included with the 170), audio matchbox (markertek.com) and good solid tripod, and a lightweight mono-pod to start off.

Back to the G5, RAM RAM and more RAM (just don't buy from Apple. Better deals can be had.) Hard drives. I prefer IBM / Hitachi Deskstars and WD Caviars. Stay away from Maxtors... Lot's of problems being reported again, and I've never had one NOT fail on me in less than a year.

I buy FW enclosures from Coolmax USA and mount drives in these for expanded storage. I've got 11 such configurations currently running and 2 more waiting in the wings. Not a problem yet and some of these drives are pushing 3 years old.

Training! Get as much training as you can. Seminars, DVDs (Rippletraining.com) online, offline... And practice.

Practice.

Practice.

But before all of that... Market research. Do market research. Write a business plan. Include EVERYTHING.

Contact the Small Business Administration and ask about mentor programs.

Read. Read a lot. Start with www.creativecow.net/articles/lindeboom_ron/clients_or_grinders/ and keep going from there.

Go to the library or bookstore and read Zig Ziglar, Michael Gerber, The One Minute Manager, Cameron Foote's The Business Side of Creativity... Keep reading, keep learning.

Welcome to the fray :-)

David,

I was looking at the Canon XL2 not the GL-2. What accessories should I get for the XL2?

Also, what effects software works with Final Cut Pro? How much RAM do I need to start and how much GB do I need internal and external?

I started with GL-2 and then changed over to Pd-170. I would recommend PD 170 over the xl2 unless you are deeply committed to learning, because the xl2 is a more complicated camera and probably requires at least an intermediate understanding and knowledge of camera work.

But if you're really committed and have the time...sail on...

I have a GL2 which I use for weddings. I've never used the PD170 but with my GL2 I do have to be careful with the lighting, really low lighting that is.

I love my GL2 but there are cams that from what I read here and elsewhere, out perform my 'Lucy'. So Like David says, read read read and read some more. http://droptodesign.com/test/camera_setup/ was my initial setup, more or less it's still the same. One regret I did have is when I bought my wireless, I skimped on the price and regreted it. I replaced it with a Sennheiser EW100ENG-G2 less than a year later.

Don't skimp on anything essential, especially your tripod.

I'm a PC head, I've long since threatened to cross over to MACs. (Although this is usually when my pc is crashing) In the long run you should go with what feels comfortable for you. Alot of the software allows for demo downloads, I would try that as well.

I was doing video for fun before I started with weddings a couple of years ago. I love weddings in general so my target is weddings. But don't limit yourself, get experience doing other things. For example, I thought my feet hurt after a wedding, until I did a two day training course where I stood for both days. So experience will teach a lot.

And preperation is crucial, communication with the B&G highly important, and respect for your customer's is priceless.


I'm sorry if I rambled, but I'm pre-coffee here.


Steven Davis.

I was looking at the Canon XL2 not the GL-2.

Sorry 'bout that... I transposed G5 and to GL2. My bad.

But my advice is still the same. The Canons just don't hold up under low light conditions the way the Sony's do.

2gb of RAM minimum. But get as much as you can afford.

As far as HDDs, consider that an hour of DV costs about 13gb of space. If you come back with 4 hours of raw footage, that's 52gb. If you edit it to a 90 minute program, then allow another 20gb for render files, and you're up to 72gb... Round up to 75gb to accomodate ancillary files (music, graphics, etc.) per project. Add 10gb if you are authoring DVDs yourself.

A single 250gb drive should comfortably hold 3 such projects.

Now get 3 such drives. The first being your projects drive. You'll end up using 1 or more for "Keeper" files. Music , CG, video clips I want to hang on to for a demo... That sort of thing. I have a drive that is nothing but music and Digital Juice clips. Another that is nothing but DVD files, ready to burn. The third drive you should use to back up your projects drive daily. Nothing like spending 40 hours editing a project and having a hard drive fail on you.

In FCP, there is an autosave feature. Set it to save a copy of your project file to a different drive than the projects drive every 10 minutes.

Google "Final Cut Pro Plug Ins" and you'll find a ton of stuff available both free and for sale.

Don't look at other videographers videos for inspiration. Instead, keep current on what's on TV and at the movies. Avoid flash in the pan gimmicky shows and look at what's tried and true. Find YOUR voice and be true to yourself. As my buddy Ken Ehrhart says: "Produce what you want to see, and you'll find your audience."

I shoot weddings with an XL1s and as far as accessories go our needs would be similar.

-Tripod, (Not an accessory of course, but make sure you get a good heavy one, the XL series are not light cameras)

-A remote zoom control that goes on your tripod handle, Necessary for shooting a good wedding.

A long range lens, I believe the default with the xl2 will be great for shooting the ceremony, personally I use the 16x Manual Lens and love it.

A short range wide angle lens for reception footage, I use the 3x Auto, but again, whatever you feel fits your need; Its nice to have a lens that can work well in tight spaces.

Wireless Lapel Mic - I recommend the Audio Technica UHF device I have linked here, I have had nothing but wonderful luck with it, And find I use this mic for 75% of my ceremony audio. Excellent Sound Quality. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=244802&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

A wireless hand held mic will also come in handy, though if not in the budget a wired mic can be used to pick up interviews in noisy locations and music, eventually you can upgrade a good wired microphone using an adapter pack, the device I just showed you also sells an adapter like I speak of.

On camera light, the Canon VL-10i has served me well for the low price, its compatible with my batteries; Only complaint is the light is too bright that it can hurt some people's eyes, I tape film gells over the light to get about 50% transparency and a more amber colour.

Craploads of batteries. Might as well just get them now, you will need them down the road.

Cases: Very important, you need to be portable and you need your equipment protected, a good hard side case cut for your camera is a must, make sure it has wheels and get another smaller case that you can fit all your audio equipment and whatnot in, and you can set it on top of the camera case; carry your tripod in your other hand and your perfectly portable.

Okay, I'm going to shout this one... MONOPOD! it is quite simply the best 40 dollars I have spent on any single piece of equipment, hands down. My video has improved by leaps and bounds because of this simple stick, Im able to shoot in different locations, different angles, no jitter, and even use it to hold the camera well up over my head and get a top down view at receptions. I got a Bogen Manfrotto or something for a very reasonable price, its small compact and I just throw it in my tripod bag

I'm not sure I would recommend '2gigs of ram minimum' for an editing computer. I would say you can easily get by on considerably less, and upgrade when prices go down even more. I would say anywhere between 512-1gig should serve you fine; Just buy your ram in a configuration that makes it upgradeable without having to throw anything away.

Good luck!

I'm not sure I would recommend '2gigs of ram minimum' for an editing computer. I would say you can easily get by on considerably less, and upgrade when prices go down even more. I would say anywhere between 512-1gig should serve you fine; Just buy your ram in a configuration that makes it upgradeable without having to throw anything away.

Excellent advice, Josh.

Just to pick a nit, and this only from memory as I haven't cracked open my G5 is quite some time, but...

RAM must be installed in pairs. The max being 1gb DIMM. So, in order to get max RAM, you must purchase max DIMMs. If he get's only 1gb with a pair of 512s, he'll have to throw those 512s away if he ever decides to max out his system.

I started with 1gb, and went to 2gb within a week. (Yes. I have a pair of 512s that I'll have to throw away someday :-) ) Just doubling opened up a whole world of realtime preview and faster workflow. Honestly, instead of minutes, renders are down to seconds... The speed increase wasn't doubled. More along the lines of 4-5x faster.

NLE's LOVE RAM...

FCP5 system requirements (from apple's site): 512MB of physical RAM; HD features require 1GB of RAM or more (2GB recommended)

Don't mess with Jobs, man! ;-) He's got Pixar and he's not afraid to use it.

Ooops, didnt notice he was looking at a mac, no I dont know squat about macs, on a PC depending on the type of ram your motherboard needs you may or may not need matching pairs. My computer does, but thankfully dell has a whole extra pair of dimms ready for another 512 in my machine down the road, without having to throw anything out, Too bad RD-RAM never came down in price though :(

Anybody else got any advice?

My best advice is to follow this link:

http://www.weva.com/