Also, what do you guys think of the dust/hair/scratches? Should I keep them or take 'em out?

This was a fun piece. A nice retrospective for the campers I'm sure.

I did a project where we were simulating old film stock and had an opportunity to try out the dust/hair/scratches filter on my NLE - our marketing team came to the conclusion that we either had to go "all the way" and really sell it, or just leave it out. To me, your video is in that 'half-way' area. Sometimes I noticed it, other times I barely noticed it at all depending on where the hair/scratches lined up on your footage. The result is that the viewer can't tell if you're doing the effect on purpose, or if your camera was just malfunctioning occasionally. I would say that if you're going to use the effect, go big and really make it look authentic!

And personally, I liked the contrasty look!

-Brendan

I agree with Brendan. Sell it all the way and put some blur in there too. Way too sharp for and old time film look. I liked what you were trying to do though.

Jim and Brendan thanks for the encouragement. I find it nearly impossible to step back and make a decision after I've seen the same footage 700 times. Its really good to get some feedback. :)

I will make the adjustments and upload a new clip for comparison.

Maybe add a yellow or brown filter to everything to funk it up a little, make it look old timey...

Last fall I posted several links to my new web series "Pink" shot on the Canon XH-A1. Since then we've had just shy of 5 million online views (from Myspace, YouTube, Revver and iTunes).

We're gearing up now to shoot 25 more episodes and will eventually release the series in HD, probably by download and on Blu-ray. We've had lots of request for this, but we've been waiting to get more content together, etc.

But, in the meantime, we have decided to release an HD teaser from Season One. So if you're interested in checking it out please click the link below. This forum is the first place we're posting this information, as kind of a test. Currently we have it available as a 720p WMV file. An H.264 QT version will be up soon too.

http://www.blakecalhoun.com/pink_teaser-01.htm

Thanks!
Blake

Downloading as we speak. I'm looking forward to the next season.
Really liked the first one.

Dude, I can definitely see this on Showtime or something. You should like combine all of the episodes from Season 1 to make an hour long episode and send it in. This show is bad ass. I finally finished the rest of season one, and the line about how Pink is her favorite color is just an awesome line.

Thanks for watching the show and glad you like it!

We've been approached by several entities to explore the idea of taking the show to television or a feature film. We are definitely looking into this. But for now we're forging ahead with the next season(s) to be seen online (with a DVD in the works - playing the episodes back-to-back to make roughly two hours worth of content).

Hi all!

This is the link to the clip #3, the exit from the Church and the photo city-tour (as from Napoli's tradition).

http://www.vimeo.com/731186

Enjoy!

i like!

handheld on most of the clips?

Yes handeld. Only in church on a tripod (video not uploaded). Next wedding video will be shooted almost entirely with the Glidecam Smootshooter stabilizer.

I just have the XH A1, so here's a little impression after one week playing. I used the music that Steven Dempsey also used for one of his clips from "The Village", not very original but it's just to try out the camera. The location is the place we were maried 10 years ago.
VividRGB, Tripod. No adapters. FCP 5.1.4. Quicktime plugin required.

http://www.wijdh.nl/page2/page2.html

Robert

Hello Robert, I liked your video in New York, You used adapted music and good images.
Did you use a tripod?

Hi Luca,

Thanks, it was actually shot on a Panasonic GS300 SD camera, without Tripod but for some shots I used the Manfrotto 585 Modosteady, as sort of handheld tripod / steadycam that can only be used on smaller cameras. Not on the A1 unfortunately (to heavy).

Reagrds, Robert

Hi again!

Here below I write the links to the latest clips.

The clip #4

http://www.vimeo.com/739922

regarding an exciting "serenata" with the famous neapolitan song "Anema e core".

The clip #5

http://www.vimeo.com/744898

regarding the screenshots and end credits.

I hope you will enjoy with these clips.

comments welcome

shot with xh a1 and letus extreme

http://www.vimeo.com/692055

http://www.vimeo.com/712837

Some really pretty shots and the music went well with the video. My only gripe is that it made me feel guilty for spending the day here on the computer instead of getting outside.

Well here is our video we made for Campus Movie Fest.

We shot with two canon XH A1, one with a letus lense adaptor and 50mm nikon lens.

The awards were last thursday and we won best comedy (??) and viewers choice and will be entered at the reginal level. The whole team got ipod shuffles lol...

Anyways enjoy...

http://www.ourstage.com/video/channel/66-cmf/GCGCOFANIPYZ-vigilante

pretty cool. We did one again this year as well. Also on an XH-A1.

http://www.ourstage.com/video/channel/66-cmf/YGZPUGUHIGIY-how-i-won-campus-moviefest

lol.

Looks great josh, who are the actors? They look really familar, hmm.

you know its true...we spend so much time on the internet and check out those wonderful videos with wonderful feedback and wishing about having a video like that... and not enough with our camcorder...thats why i decided one day to just go out and shoot video and do nature...it took me two hours to shoot and one hour editing and uploaded it on the internet .and wow i got my first feedback..just like that....i may not get a lot of feedback but hey its a start, its my first nature video anyway ..


so go out and shoot video/edit/upload and then you will get your very own first FEEDBACK....

I think one of them was your roommate at some point in life. Have to admit though, college was mainly a blur though.

well, 1) he still is my roommate 2) your still in college. I think your lifes a blur, come to the sober side!

Hey Guys,

This is my first post of a sample clip. I have really enjoyed learning by reading comments and critiques. Thought I might submit a clip I put together last week. Love the XH-A1. Learning the controls, but not quickly enough since I have a corporate video job coming up in a couple of weeks. Any comments, critiques are welcome. As always, it is a large file so give it a couple of minutes before clicking the play button. Thanks.

Here is the link:

http://web.mac.com/tomkubicki/Kubicki_Family/Winter_Creek.html

Looked like a beautiful place to visit with nice golden lighting. I would suggest using a tripod and loosing the quick zooms. Some scenes looked a little out of focus so pay a little more attention to that.

Mark,

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I wish I had my tripod with me. Couldn't resist the opportunity. Half of the time I was standing on a snow covered slope.

Mark,

I visited your site and previewed some of your clips. This is great stuff. Did you use XH-A1 for the clips posted on your site? Just curious. Great work

Tom,

Thanks for the site visit. No HD, I use and SD Panasonic DVC30 camera. I have stuck with SD because I produce SD DVDs and this format is easier to use on my editing system. I am interested in HD and like viewing others work. I would suggest going over to vimeo.com and viewing some of the HD videos posted there on the HD channel which feature some really nice work. You also may want to sign up with them. It is free with 500mb weekly uploads. I think you have a good eye from viewing your video. Just need to practice on compostion and detail. Its good to develop a pattern to setting up a shot if your a "set up" kind of shooter vs. a run and gun type. You can probably guess I am a "set up" type. When I see what I like I set my white balance first, then try to frame the shot to present the best asthetic view, then focus first using auto then manual to fine tune the focus, then its on to "zebras" for setting exposure. 99% of the time I am locked down on a tripod. I usually use really slow zooms which to me is more pleasing. Just a few tips. Hope it helps. You have a great camera and I am sure you will enjoy it. Keep posting.

Be honest.

I can take it.

:-)

http://www.vimeo.com/745654

ha ha, is like a frog party... I would so use some of this stuff for visuals in a show, it's awesome!

Nothing wrong with it. The only thing was that I thought the background audio was looped. Is that true?

Do you have a housing for the U/W stuff?

Should be on National Geographic Channel. Except maybe the 4-way with the girl and three guys! LOL.

Thanks for the comments. If anyone has suggestions about how it could be improved I'd be pleased to have them.

I left out the more pornographic shots and tried to make it family viewing!

The sound is a live recording. So it's in real time but I did cheat a bit by adding snippets here and there for the shots that weren't miked.

The sound was recorded simultaneously with the water level shots. I used two miniature mics taped to a coathanger to record the stereo sound. Recording onto a Fostex FR2 LE sound recorder.

There's a bit of my hand splashing around in the bath in the shot of the crowd of frogs hopping around as it seemed too quiet. All the other splashes are real time recordings.

The film was actually shot with two cameras, an XH A1 and my older camera, a Sony A1E.

I bought a secondhand 'sport housing' which isn't made for the A1E but works with a minor modification.

Shot some video segments for my brother's online music magazine, Amplifier Magazine.

http://www.vimeo.com/757267

It's the XH-A1, but standard def, unfortunately. I'm doing other stuff in HDV as I continue to learn about the camera, lighting, sound, editing, etc. Any recommendations for where to host full-size HDV clips? Dreamhost maybe?

Anyway, if you like this clip or are a fan of indie pop music, you'll probably enjoy his mag: www.amplifiermagazine.com.

--Greg

Might try adding some 'creative lighting' to the interview shot... You can also create some depth if you can get her off that wall a little bit and move the camera way back and zoom in so that she is framed on one your thirds... A backlight on her will help separate her from the background.. If you could add a party gel on the light lighting the background it would probably suit this venue much better...

I can't tell if you white balance is off too or if that was a look you were going for...

Also, I think your audio levels might be clipping...

Thanks for the input, Doug. I agree with your lighting comments. Problem is, the room is about 12 feet wide so there's no room to pull her away from the wall and no room for a backlight.

And I used a warm card so it's not true white balanced. Didn't notice any audio clipping--will have to check it again.

Hello All,

This is my first try at shooting some footage and editing into a finished and short clip. I used auto focus for all of it because I need a LOT more time with manual focus. I captured with Cineform HD and into Vegas 8 and then rendered to mpeg4 640x480. Cineform to folder and then open each file into Vegas....is that the correct way to get the files into Vegas? Any feedback and suggestions are appreciated!






http://www.dropshots.com/erinheere#date/2008-03-05/22:54:58

Ok as a result of endless searching here, I think I found how to do Vimeo which is very cool....as soon as I render I'll post the link to the same video only it will be in high def....thanks

here's the clip on vimeo

http://www.vimeo.com/763167

based on settings recommended for the site...peace

protected :-\

Hey Bill,

The clip is public now so anyone can view it...sorry about that. I rendered to MainConcept Mpeg4 with all the settings that Eugenia Loli recommended. I noticed some weird blurring that occurs in the very beginning that is not on the original footage. I tried a bunch of different settings but it still ends up with the same results. Frustrating! I shot in 24F so maybe there is some setting I need to change. peace

Hi everyone!

This is my first post, but I've been visiting for a few months.

I did this piece with the indislider 36" and XH A1. My Letus35 Extreme is on it's way (ordered Feb 20th), and I just can't wait.

Let me know what you think, and what I could have done differently.

http://www.vimeo.com/769216

-Dmitry

very nice footage, i really want and indiSlider now=o which macro u use? A cinivate or redrock or something else?

Thank you Loren!

I suppose I mislabeled the post, it's not actually a macro lens...

The footage was shot with the stock Canon XH-A1 lens, which is a 4.5-90mm 20x zoom. It works out to be a 32.5mm-650mm in the 35mm world. I searched the forum and the genius minds here have already figured out the 35mm focal lengths for each zoom number (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=81683&highlight=a1+lens).

I've ordered a Letus35 Extreme about 2 weeks ago (Feb20), and it should be in the mail any day now..they usually ship 2-3 weeks after you place your order.

I've followed Steven Dempsey's example and got an indiSLIDERpro 36" after seeing his original "Snow Motion" footage (http://www.vimeo.com/709560).

Tim at http://www.indifocus.com is the gentleman to talk to about the slider, and he's incredibly nice, and will go to any length to answer any questions you might have. Since placing my original order for the slider, I've also picked up a set of 18" support rails, and a follow-focus.

So far I've been buying used Nikon SLR lenses and have come up with:

24mm f/2.8
50mm f/1.8
60mm f/2.8 Macro
135mm f/2.8

I'm still looking around for an 85mm and possibly a 105mm.

Sorry for the long post, I didn't have time to write a short one.

-Dmitry

hahaha alright thanks! thats good to hear as I'm thinking about buying indifocus gear, and also my dad at his work is thinking about it too! Thanks for your input!

I had a great opportunity to get my A1 outdoors for the first time this last weekend for a music festival put on by our local Symphony and other musical groups. It was my first time using the VIVIDRGB preset too. Target was a sponsor so you'll see lots of red shirts which vividrgb saturates quite a bit. Also, I had to down-convert to SD so it's a little soft on focus - my new PC for HD editing arrives Saturday. (drool...) Other than that, I'm really pleased with the look of the color.

http://www.vimeo.com/782029

-Brendan

Man, I'm hungry! What's for dinner?

Nice video.

Makes me wish I had been able to come over and visit.

I liked it.

Colin

Hey Everyone,

Here is a quick, one minute clip showcasing the footage I was able to get from the "Indie Ultra Macro" D.I.Y. effect.

The footage was originally HDV (1920x1080), cropped to DV (720x480).

It's all raw, minus the last clip which I color-corrected a bit.

Let me know what you think!

Halved Version [H.264] (18MB) 360x240

http://www.LoftonFilms.com/videos/HDVtoDV.Attempt1.SM2.MOV

Full NTSC DV [H.264] (109MB) 720x480

http://www.LoftonFilms.com/videos/HDVtoDV.Attempt1.SM.MOV

Thanks,

John

I liked it - Nice effects and music. Looks like you have to keep that lens very clean though. I seemed to notice some dirt here and there but then I imagine that is quite difficult when the set up focuses so close. nice job.

very close! I love macro stuff. What kind of DIY have you concocted?

that indieslider would work fantastically with your macro setup.

Trish