Just got A1..need to test with presets. at DVinfo.net

Jeff Hinson · July 12th, 2010, 09:40 AM

Newbie...A1 owner.

Id like to have 3 "blow you away" presets to test my XH-A1. Ive download the presets spreadsheet and pres.
Im coming from a Canon GL1...so it wont take much to impress me.

Id like to have 3 presets to experiment with. (I will be doing mainly music video and weddings).

Your recommendation to get me close to this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o

Low-light for church clips
Outside rich color
Best Black&White for rich look.

I know its personal preference.....but right now I have no preferences. :?)
Thanks,
Jeff Hinson

David Dalton · July 12th, 2010, 10:01 AM

Hi Jeff

A couple of years ago one of the Forum members, Gert Kracht, produced this video showing a whole range of presets: yours to choose.
There's a link in the stickie above, but here's a direct link.

Regards

Jeff Hinson · July 12th, 2010, 10:06 AM

Thanks David...
So much to learn and sooo little time. :>)
Frustrating but fun.

Jeff

Allan Black · July 12th, 2010, 02:29 PM

Jeff the bad news is they can drive you to distraction .. the good news is some very clever folk have been there before and done the hard yards. :)

If this is any help .. VIVIDRGB for good colours and PFVISION for low light. I put them in the order I usually use them .. and you can set a custom key as a CP backwards key to cycle through the CP options from last to first, very handy p66.

Set the 'protect' function on the ones you want to keep. Hope this helps..

Cheers.

Jeff Hinson · July 13th, 2010, 03:25 AM

Thanks Allan....I will do just that.

Im realizing, after purchasing my A1...Im in this "way over my head". Life was so simple before HD. I shot some video, captured, edited and produced a DVD to my customer.

Now Im realizing HD work flow is forcing me into a VERY STEEP LEARNING CURVE.

Im really struggling right now to learn, cam, new capture rules etc.... Ive spent more money than I should have, for cam, updates to NLE, and I understand I need to get a "capture cam..HV20, to keep from destroying my A1.

My brain hurts, and my pocket is empty. haha

Thanks for the info............I will come back hopefully with more knowledge in a few weeks.

Jeff (it's true; "you can't teach an old dog new tricks")...Im living proof. :?/

G. Randy Brown · July 13th, 2010, 06:28 AM

Hey Jeff, are you the DownSouthStudio from the Sonar forum?

Jeff Hinson · July 13th, 2010, 08:44 AM

Yes...Randy...that's me.
You would think I had enough headaches with Audio to take on video too. ha

Im getting into video with weddings and of course our beloved music videos. Looks like a long learning curve ahead, but I had to go through that with SONAR....

Great to hear from you....I need to get over to the SONAR forum, and hear the lastest. On second thought, I dont need to purchase anything else this year. ha

BTW....I lived 10 years in El Paso...used to ride bike up to LC a lot....love the South West.

Best regards,
Jeff
index page

G. Randy Brown · July 13th, 2010, 09:04 AM

It seems there are a lot of musicians that also do video and vice versa...anyway, I'm in the same boat, I just sold my two XL1S' (for a small fraction of what I paid for them) and just bought a used XHA1 and a new HD40.
I was freaking over how much more there is to the SD to HD transition than I thought there would be but it's all starting to gel now thanks to forums like this....in fact it's pretty exciting again!
I don't know what kind of SD cams you were using but I'm finding some pretty easily attainable good looking footage compared to SD 4:3...I can't wait to try some of these presets these guys have come up with....but that's another thread....just below this one everyone ....in case you're curious!
Anyway, hopefully these guys can indeed teach us old dogs a thing or two.

Jeff Hinson · July 14th, 2010, 01:30 AM

in answer to G. Randy Brown... (there was no "quote" button to click).

We must be in the same boat. I too just purchased a "used" A1 off ebay. I "think" I got a good deal. According to the seller, he had bought it and never used it. By the looks of the A1 he's telling the truth. Had a nice case with it too. Im way over spending this year, and would like to have an HV for capture..but will have to wait.

Hopefully some wedding gigs will pay for my plunge, whereas my real love would be music videos. The A1 features, combined with the audio capabiliities of my Daw and Sonar, should allow some good productions.

Im right now a little overwhelmed with the A1...definitely not a "point and shoot only" box. Its a big step up for me from my trusty GL1 Canon. The manual controls along with custom designed presets, should make some nice MVs. Your experience using the XL1 puts you a giant step ahead of me on the learning curve....but I will catch up with time. ha

Thank God, I found this great forum ! It's unbelievable how much information is here. The entire site is the best Ive seen...video or audio. Ive seen some of the members A1 clips...and Im convinced great video is possible with this cam.

If you, or other members, find a "HV series" cam for sale, please let me know. I cant afford a new one right now.

Good Luck with your A1
Jeff Hinson

Michael Wisniewski · July 14th, 2010, 02:00 AM

My 3 favorite presets are: TRUCOLOR, PFVISION, and VIVIDRGB.

Low light: PFVISION + the Neat video plug-in can give you decently clean video. Push the ISO to see how high your visual pain threshold is.

I used to waffle between TRUCOLOR and VIVIDRGB, but I shoot mostly with TRUCOLOR now, mainly because I'd rather not oversaturate in-camera.

Jeff Hinson · July 14th, 2010, 12:01 PM

Thanks Michael...

I think I will be using the Trucolor preset also. The trouble with "strong" presets like VIVIDRGB...is that you are stuck with the saturation. Whereas one can always increase saturation in post...but I sure Vivid will be one of my favorites.

Ive got a problem..maybe you or some member can tell me what Im doing wrong.
I shot some video, I thought, at 60i 16x9....after camera converting HD-SD and capturing, my video looks more like 4x3...or some odd ball ratio. After editing and making a avi video, and then burning a DVD...when I play it on a LCD widescreen TV....it still looks 4x3 ??? or close to that. The WIDTH seems to be off..so it looks distorted.

The video quality is good...but Ive screwed up the 16x9 format either during capture or editing. I cannot adjust ratio in my source monitor either...both horiz and vertical move together.
Please...any suggestions as to whats wrong?

thanks,
Jeff Hinson

Allan Black · August 1st, 2010, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Hinson

I've got a problem..maybe you or some member can tell me what Im doing wrong.
I shot some video, I thought, at 60i 16x9....after camera converting HD-SD and capturing, my video looks more like 4x3...or some odd ball ratio. After editing and making a avi video, and then burning a DVD...when I play it on a LCD widescreen TV....it still looks 4x3 ??? or close to that. The WIDTH seems to be off..so it looks distorted.

The video quality is good...but Ive screwed up the 16x9 format either during capture or editing. I cannot adjust ratio in my source monitor either...both horiz and vertical move together.
Please...any suggestions as to whats wrong?

thanks,
Jeff Hinson

Not sure what else is wrong but check your camera settings for a start. Capture as HD not SD, edit then render to SD DVD.

By the way, to make it easier for others to find answers, a new question should be asked in a new thread :)
Cheers.

July 12th, 2010, 09:40 AM	#1
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	Just got A1..need to test with presets. Newbie...A1 owner. Id like to have 3 "blow you away" presets to test my XH-A1. Ive download the presets spreadsheet and pres. Im coming from a Canon GL1...so it wont take much to impress me. Id like to have 3 presets to experiment with. (I will be doing mainly music video and weddings). Your recommendation to get me close to this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o Low-light for church clips Outside rich color Best Black&White for rich look. I know its personal preference.....but right now I have no preferences. :?) Thanks, Jeff Hinson

July 12th, 2010, 10:01 AM	#2
David Dalton Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Uckfield, UK Posts: 69	Presets Hi Jeff A couple of years ago one of the Forum members, Gert Kracht, produced this video showing a whole range of presets: yours to choose. There's a link in the stickie above, but here's a direct link. Canon XH-A1 Custom Preset Movie on Vimeo Regards

July 12th, 2010, 02:29 PM	#4
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,932	Jeff the bad news is they can drive you to distraction .. the good news is some very clever folk have been there before and done the hard yards. :) If this is any help .. VIVIDRGB for good colours and PFVISION for low light. I put them in the order I usually use them .. and you can set a custom key as a CP backwards key to cycle through the CP options from last to first, very handy p66. Set the 'protect' function on the ones you want to keep. Hope this helps.. Cheers. __________________ Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated. Last edited by Allan Black; July 12th, 2010 at 05:01 PM. Reason: typos

July 13th, 2010, 03:25 AM	#5
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	Thanks Allan....I will do just that. Im realizing, after purchasing my A1...Im in this "way over my head". Life was so simple before HD. I shot some video, captured, edited and produced a DVD to my customer. Now Im realizing HD work flow is forcing me into a VERY STEEP LEARNING CURVE. Im really struggling right now to learn, cam, new capture rules etc.... Ive spent more money than I should have, for cam, updates to NLE, and I understand I need to get a "capture cam..HV20, to keep from destroying my A1. My brain hurts, and my pocket is empty. haha Thanks for the info............I will come back hopefully with more knowledge in a few weeks. Jeff (it's true; "you can't teach an old dog new tricks")...Im living proof. :?/ Last edited by Jeff Hinson; July 13th, 2010 at 04:09 AM. Reason: adding comment

July 13th, 2010, 08:44 AM	#7
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	Yes...Randy...that's me. You would think I had enough headaches with Audio to take on video too. ha Im getting into video with weddings and of course our beloved music videos. Looks like a long learning curve ahead, but I had to go through that with SONAR.... Great to hear from you....I need to get over to the SONAR forum, and hear the lastest. On second thought, I dont need to purchase anything else this year. ha BTW....I lived 10 years in El Paso...used to ride bike up to LC a lot....love the South West. Best regards, Jeff index page Last edited by Jeff Hinson; July 13th, 2010 at 08:46 AM. Reason: post script

July 12th, 2010, 10:06 AM	#3
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	Thanks David... So much to learn and sooo little time. :>) Frustrating but fun. Jeff

July 13th, 2010, 06:28 AM	#6
G. Randy Brown Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Las Cruces, NM Posts: 288	Hey Jeff, are you the DownSouthStudio from the Sonar forum?

July 13th, 2010, 09:04 AM	#8
G. Randy Brown Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Las Cruces, NM Posts: 288	It seems there are a lot of musicians that also do video and vice versa...anyway, I'm in the same boat, I just sold my two XL1S' (for a small fraction of what I paid for them) and just bought a used XHA1 and a new HD40. I was freaking over how much more there is to the SD to HD transition than I thought there would be but it's all starting to gel now thanks to forums like this....in fact it's pretty exciting again! I don't know what kind of SD cams you were using but I'm finding some pretty easily attainable good looking footage compared to SD 4:3...I can't wait to try some of these presets these guys have come up with....but that's another thread....just below this one everyone ....in case you're curious! Anyway, hopefully these guys can indeed teach us old dogs a thing or two.

July 14th, 2010, 01:30 AM	#9
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	in answer to G. Randy Brown... (there was no "quote" button to click). We must be in the same boat. I too just purchased a "used" A1 off ebay. I "think" I got a good deal. According to the seller, he had bought it and never used it. By the looks of the A1 he's telling the truth. Had a nice case with it too. Im way over spending this year, and would like to have an HV for capture..but will have to wait. Hopefully some wedding gigs will pay for my plunge, whereas my real love would be music videos. The A1 features, combined with the audio capabiliities of my Daw and Sonar, should allow some good productions. Im right now a little overwhelmed with the A1...definitely not a "point and shoot only" box. Its a big step up for me from my trusty GL1 Canon. The manual controls along with custom designed presets, should make some nice MVs. Your experience using the XL1 puts you a giant step ahead of me on the learning curve....but I will catch up with time. ha Thank God, I found this great forum ! It's unbelievable how much information is here. The entire site is the best Ive seen...video or audio. Ive seen some of the members A1 clips...and Im convinced great video is possible with this cam. If you, or other members, find a "HV series" cam for sale, please let me know. I cant afford a new one right now. Good Luck with your A1 Jeff Hinson

July 14th, 2010, 02:00 AM	#10
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	My 3 favorite presets are: TRUCOLOR, PFVISION, and VIVIDRGB. Low light: PFVISION + the Neat video plug-in can give you decently clean video. Push the ISO to see how high your visual pain threshold is. I used to waffle between TRUCOLOR and VIVIDRGB, but I shoot mostly with TRUCOLOR now, mainly because I'd rather not oversaturate in-camera.

July 14th, 2010, 12:01 PM	#11
Jeff Hinson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Down South, IN Posts: 422	Thanks Michael... I think I will be using the Trucolor preset also. The trouble with "strong" presets like VIVIDRGB...is that you are stuck with the saturation. Whereas one can always increase saturation in post...but I sure Vivid will be one of my favorites. Ive got a problem..maybe you or some member can tell me what Im doing wrong. I shot some video, I thought, at 60i 16x9....after camera converting HD-SD and capturing, my video looks more like 4x3...or some odd ball ratio. After editing and making a avi video, and then burning a DVD...when I play it on a LCD widescreen TV....it still looks 4x3 ??? or close to that. The WIDTH seems to be off..so it looks distorted. The video quality is good...but Ive screwed up the 16x9 format either during capture or editing. I cannot adjust ratio in my source monitor either...both horiz and vertical move together. Please...any suggestions as to whats wrong? thanks, Jeff Hinson Last edited by Jeff Hinson; July 14th, 2010 at 12:43 PM. Reason: cant spell