The Complete Guide to ProHD DVD (Volume 1) available now
 

The press release: http://www.dvinfo.net/prohd/press.html

The preview site: http://www.dvinfo.net/prohd

Hi Tim

Great stuff !

Just wanted to know if the image control chapter of the DVD is presented in a way that could be applicable to other camera menus & the colour matrix section uses the DSC Chart to create custom looks, scene files etc...
Regards.

Yes. The theory is the same. Knee, gamma curves, color matrix and toe (black stretch/compress) are all common controls in modern pro cameras. Some may have slightly different names, but function the same.

Hey Tim, this is great news!
I´m going to buy one now.

Thanks!

Sold ! looking forward to it ...

Thanks, Tim. Your posts, comments, recipes, et al have already helped me become a better cinematographer, and I'm sure this DVD will expand my knowledge even further.

Really, thanks to everyone here for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas. DVInfo has shortened my learning curve exponentially -- what did people do in the old days before the internet? Oh, I guess they went to film school! -- not to say that film school wouldn't be a great idea even now :)

Best regards ~ Lee

Hah! I'm in film school and I still read this forum religiously. :-)

Cheers,
- Sean

Excellent....I see the PAL version is due soon?

Ordered. Didn't even read the press release. Already got a mile more than my money's worth from you Tim.

Yes Awesome Tim
 

any rough timeframe on the PAL version?

thanks

Adam

I hate to give timeframes because the only way I was able to produce this video was to work on it in my "free time." I'm shooting 3 short films in May (and just heard about a possible fourth), I may be teaching some ProHD seminars in Asia in early June and I have big plans for the subtitle languages in the PAL version. My best estimate is that I could possibly have them replicated and ready for sale by mid-late June, but don't quote me on that!

The conversion to PAL video is easy and will actually be finished in a few days. I'll explain my workflow.
The DVD was shot almost entirely in 720p24, except for menu system screens which were captured as NTSC and pillarboxed/upconverted into 720p. I edited every sequence in 720p24 (except for the ones specific to NTSC.)
The 720p24 sequences were then downconverted and encoded to NTSC in 24P for the version that is now shipping. The PAL version will be sped up by 4% to 25fps and downconverted from 720p source as well. I chose this workflow for two reasons: 720p24 can be downconverted nicely to either NTSC or PAL and since the focus of the DVD is always achieving a "film look" is seemed appropriate to use 24P and 25P.
The added benefit is that I may have an extra 4% of space on the PAL version to add "bonus content" back in.
Don't fret if you have an NTSC version because the bonus content will always be available for free at www.dvinfo.net/prohd. There will be more and more bonus tutorials available as I encode and upload them for the web. These tutorials go above and beyond what is already in the DVD and will include

• "How to shoot a slow motion music video" (already posted as Bonus 1)
• "How to use the TC IN/OUT of your HD250 to efficiently shoot music videos" (a podcast version of my presentation from the 2008 FCPUG Supermeet)
• a detailed tips and tricks guide to the HZ-CA13U adapter
• "How to shoot convincing day-for-night"
• "How to add the Anton Bauer DR-HD100 mount hardware to the HD200 series cameras"
• and more....

The other thing is that I had started working on post-production workflow tutorials early last year but realized quickly that they changed so rapidly with each NLE update it was pointless to put them on a DVD. We'll have to work something up on dvinfo.net that allows us to update the suggested workflows as firmware and software upgrades are released.


BTW, I'm a little surprised but about 50% of the sales of the NTSC version since we launched the site on Wednesday have gone overseas! I'm glad I decided the last second before submitting my master to remove the region 1 encoding and go region free.

I have a couple questions.
Is anyone having any issues watching the quicktime files or seeing the content on www.dvinfo.net/prohd ?
We know there are some style-sheet issues with the sidebars but Chris is going to fix those when he gets home from Vegas. (We built and launched the site from various hot-spots at NAB.)
I'm more concerned with the video content. Should it be encoded at a lower bit-rate or maybe into Flash to make it easier on Windows or dial-up users?
Opinions?

^^ The vids work fine for me Tim (on a mac) and I don't necessarily have the fastest broadband connection at the moment. In fact they play straight away without any lags/stream pauses.

Thanks Tim!

I Just Ordered DVD Tim
 

I just ordered the DVD I can't wait till it arrives! How long on shipping generally?
Thanks for the help Tim.
Mark Cowherd
GY HD-250u w/17x lens but I'm looking for used 13x WA Lens

Tim,

I've watched some of the QT videos while waiting for the DVD, and I've had no problems with the streaming (on a 6Mbps downstream connection).

However, I did have a very hard time (basically impossible) reading the text on your computer screen, when you were working in an NLE -- but this may be because my own monitor is set to 1920 x 1200 resolution. However, I imagine many in your intended audience may be viewing this content on monitors set to high resolutions, so this might end up being a problem for your NLE tutorials.

I don't think I had any problem reading the camera's menus, and the video as a whole was good.

Brent

Good call Brent.

I originally created that tutorial for the DVD so I will go back and do close-ups of the FCP screens for the smaller internet version.

Old Fart : New Tricks
 

For that reason (wanting everything bigger) I just saved and opened them in the QT Player, viewed at 2x. I learned some stuff! That's always good =D

..and as soon as my lazy clients pay me, I'll be ordering this as well. I have 5 interns at the moment, with a sixth on the horizon ;=)

Wow Tim. Just got the DVD. Looked over the main menu and got sucked in to the depth of field section instantly. Can I say this on here - Holy $&*%# you did a great job visually explaining all the angles on this subject. I'd go through more sections now but I need to be wide awake for this..

Thanks for all the work you put into this DVD. Tremendous value.

Congratulations, Tim. I just received your DVD. It is outstanding and will be very helpful to anyone who seriously seeks excellence in camera operation.
Regards,
Ken Maxwell

Tim,

The DVD arrived today -- thanks so much! (Now just waiting for my 1-year-old to take a nap long enough for me to watch this and take it all in...)

I couldn't resist loading it up for a second, though, and it looks fantastic.

Thanks again,
Brent

This is great news! Can't wait for the PAL version!

Thanks for your fine work Tim!!!

Hey Tim,

Received the DVD today, thanks!

Wow. That was shipped April 24th from Canada so that isn't bad at all. One week for halfway around the world!

Tim, that's not fair-mine was shipped the 23rd and it's still not here. And I'm in New York City. What's up with that?

I can't speak for the USPS. The odd thing is that some customers in California received theirs in under 3 days. It's probably luck of the draw with USPS nowadays.
It is supposed to be 4-7 business days. That means your shipment should arrive today or Monday. We say "allow up to two weeks" just incase.

Strike that..
 

I just went down to my mailbox and found the DVD; so everything's fine. Thank you Tim:-)

I got my DVD the day before yesterday.

VERY IMPRESSED.

It was well worth the money, and will take me some time to go through it all. Thank you so much for being so thorough, detailed, descriptive, and for making it all available to us.

DVD previews look good, Tim. Looking forward to getting mine soon.

Question for you: does the DVD discuss use of your wonderful scene files? I'm expecting my order to go thru this week for my new 200 and I don't have a LOT of time to make some serious decisions about how to shoot: native or ultrawide. I do have time to do grading in post, just not sure what the absolute best work flow is.

I discuss and demonstrate the effects of each and every control found in the CAMERA PROCESS menu.
The printable pdfs with all of my scene files are also on the DVD-ROM portion of the DVD. I added them in case anyone wanted to laminate and keep them with their camera rig.

I'm quite confident in the HD200 wide latitude scene file being the best way to go for colour correction in post. I use it all the time. I made some matrix adjustments in there that I had not done on the original HD100 versions, and the extra bit of black stretch gives you room to underexpose an additional 1/3 stop or so and still retain some shadow details.

Ultimately though it is really best for you to use my scene files as a starting point and then make adjustments that suite your lighting style. I try to light within a 5 stop range and adjust the contrast in post, which is very limiting in some locations or natural light conditions. Some people aren't comfortable working that way and prefer a WYSIWYG approach.

Dear Tim,
I can't wait for the PAL version so I placed my order today. I presume that I will be able to see it on my computer or on the multiregion dvd player that I have.
Let's see, how lucky am I ? How many days for shipping to Romania?!
Thanks again,
Eugen

Sold! I didn't even check the samples and previews; I know this will be good...

I dont paypal, but visa credit card!
 

I dont paypal, but visa credit card!
IWANT BUY THE DVD!
lIVE IN peru sudamerica

No problem! the system accept!!!
 

No problem!
The system eccept mis payment visa credit card!!
Now to wait for the DVD.
Thanks

Dear Tim,
We got your DVD yesterday (me & my HD 201...). Really useful. Thank you.
Greetings from Rome.

Superb!
 

My copy arrived in the post today (for those ordering their copy from Australia, it took about 2 and 1/2 weeks to arrive here via Canada Post).

It's an absolute treat to be walked through every aspect of this camera by the world's leading ProHD camera expert. (And absolutely no offense is meant to our other leading experts and their fabulous contributions to this board!)

Honestly, it's so thorough that I reckon you could take someone who'd only ever shot with a sub-$1k consumer DV camera and all you'd have to do is give them this DVD plus the camera and lens still in their shipping boxes and that person will be able to do a competent job of assembling and shooting with the camera (Tim even gives a 14 minute section on Depth of Field). That person's artistry with the camera is a different subject, of course.

Dealers should ensure that no JVC ProHD camera is sold without this DVD.

And I was also impressed with the compression done by Tim for this DVD. It actually stood up quite well when viewed on a 1200 line screen (and this was the 480 line NTSC version).

Kudos to you, Tim.

DVD in Lima Peru
 

My dvd arrived yesterday at Lima Perú
Very happy! thanks friends!!! Tim an dvinfo friends

Hi Tim,

Might there be an inkling as to whether the PAL version is fairly imminent?
I'm half toying with ordering the NTSC version, although I can hang on that little while longer...!

Many thanks.

^What he said!!

I'm really looking forward to getting a copy.

great video

Something to fix for future DVD printings
 

Hi Tim.

I just followed the procedure for masking dead pixels in your ProHD DVD and found that it "didn't work". The scroll wheel kept skipping over the PIXEL COMPEN option and I couldn't get it to stop on that option (and so was unable to select it).

So I did a forum search and found this post by Ken Freed of JVC:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....26&postcount=5

where he mentioned that the procedure will only work in 24p.

So I changed my frame rate from 25p to 24p and then the pixel compensation procedure worked perfectly and fixed my dead pixel.

I watched the DVD section again to see if you'd mentioned about 24p, but couldn't find any mention of it.

Perhaps, for the PAL DVD and future printings of the NTSC DVD, you could superimpose a lower third title for a few seconds stating, "You must be in 24p mode for this operation."