My review of Vortex Media's mastering the Sony PMW-EX3 DVDs

[Jay Gladwell]

Going back to a post I made about the presets available on the Canon XL2...

The number of possible presets was "10,604,499,373. That's ten billion, six hundred four million, four hundred ninety-nine thousand, three hundred seventy three possible picture adjustments!

"That does not take into account the variables of gamma, color matrix, knee, black, NR, and vert. detail."

From what I've seen on the EX3 it would easily surpass that! Therefore, hopefully you can see that asking for the "best PP" or asking for someone to explain them all would be an exercise in futility.

[Chuck Spaulding]

Originally Posted by Jay Gladwell

Going back to a post I made about the presets available on the Canon XL2...

The number of possible presets was "10,604,499,373. That's ten billion, six hundred four million, four hundred ninety-nine thousand, three hundred seventy three possible picture adjustments!

"That does not take into account the variables of gamma, color matrix, knee, black, NR, and vert. detail."

From what I've seen on the EX3 it would easily surpass that! Therefore, hopefully you can see that asking for the "best PP" or asking for someone to explain them all would be an exercise in futility.

That's not really true. There are just as many variables in flying an airplane but you can learn the basics and then develop your own personal limits, style, look etc..

I'm not saying that its not complex, but I'm sure it can be made manageable in a way that it can be effectively demonstrated in a DVD or book.

[Les Nagy]

What I expected was something like:

"Here is feature X that has these variables, and if you adjust these variables you will get an effect on this aspect of the image or gamma or colour or... with some simple examples."

I don't expect every single permutation to be represented and analyzed.

To me that makes much more sense that providing an hour and half of "here is button X that is labeled X and it preforms function X". The time spent stating the obvious that is in your face for an hour and is presented clearly in the manual could have been much better spent going over PP variables in at least simple form.

Anyway, this review was my opinion and it is one of many possible different ones. I was merely sharing it so that others can make a more informed decision to buy or not buy based on the information provided on Picture Profiles. If someone had presented this information before I did, I would have saved some money needed for other things.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Les Nagy

...that makes much more sense that providing an hour and half of "here is button X that is labeled X and it preforms function X". The time spent stating the obvious that is in your face for an hour and is presented clearly in the manual could have been much better spent...

You have to realize that there are a lot of folks counting on just that sort of simple explanation. These are the people who for whatever reason rarely crack open the owner's manual, and they're the ones most likely to buy a training DVD set.

Clearly it cannot represent all things to all people, nor can it meet everyone's expectations of what it should be. The good news is that you'll find the resale value to be very high. I think you should sell it. I think you'll probably get at least 80% of your money back and possibly more by selling it used in our Classifieds forum.

[Mark David Williams]

Hi Chris

Unless you're using the camera all the time it can be hard to remember everything. I think the DVDs are a great reminder on things you may forget or as a refresher. Seeing someone using the Camera is so much better than reading it and Vortex from the free chapter does this so well, its like watching a film on your fave toy! I would say its the best DVD out of all the training ones so far. The only real problem I have is the price which I feel could be dropped some and maybe available as a download. Then I would definately be interested.

[Bruce Rawlings]

I think the great thing about Doug's EX1 DVD and I presume The EX3 Version is that it gets you up and running very quickly. I had the EX1 DVD 2 weeks before my camera arrived and so I was shooting good stuff with just a few hours of putting in the suggested settings. The production values are excellent and the cost is nothing compared to camera,cards etc. Now thanks to those on this forum card costs have become so low that buying the Vortex DVDs is a no brainer - treat yourself.

[Jay Gladwell]

Chris pretty well nailed, so I won't say any more in that regard.

Les, let me tell you why I bought the DVD set and why it worked for me.

I had a BIG client who had a job for me. They wanted the video shot in HD for future proofing reasons. Based on our relationship, I explained to the client we haven't yet moved to HD because the vast majority of our clients, including them, are incapable of viewing video shoot in HD. They said they understood, but insisted it be shot in HD. I told them in order to do that I would have to buy an HD camera. They said, in so many words, 'Fine, we'll pay you in advance and include enough to purchase the camera.' It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

I ordered the EX3 and Doug's video the same day. The DVDs arrived on Monday. The camera arrived on Tuesday. I started shooting on Thursday. Had I not used the video as an crash course on the EX3, I would have been in a world of hurt. So for me, in this specific situation, the DVD set was a life saver!

[Rob Taylor]

While I have the Vortex DVD on the EX3 and like it, does anyone know of another video for the EX3? I would like to see what other training material that is out there.

Rob

[Craig Seeman]

Noah Kadner - Call Box has one
Call Box

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

Noah Kadner - Call Box has one
Call Box

Craig, that's the EX1. Rob was asking about the EX3.

Evidently, Call Box doesn't have any video on the EX3, at least not on their site.

[Craig Seeman]

Noah pokes his head in here now and then. Maybe he'll see the request.

[Zan Shin]

I took a weekend trip over Columbus Day to West Va. for a fall color tour. A one night stay in a Holiday Inn in Shelbyville, KY (about 20 miles back from Frankfurt, that was all sold out due to 2 college Homecomings) cost me about the same as the Vortex EX1 DVDs. I got there at 10 p.m., and was gone by 7 a.m. The bed was hard. The breakfast was ho-hum.

This summer $125 bought me less than 25 gallons of gas in Alberta, Canada, and was less than half what I paid for a 1-night stay in a hotel room in Banff National Park.

Last weekend my screen-writer sister-in-law and friend were in town, and I paid for dinner: right about $100 (and only 1 glass of wine drunk by one person).

My point being that none of these expenses are still with me today -- all gone. Personally, I got some rapid knowledge out of my DVD set, and even referred back to the section on Special Effects when I felt I was ready to try using those features. As for picture profiles, what I have learned from review of the thread on this topic in these forums is that PP is very subjective, and not very easily accomplished and shared. (I do not have a ton of experience with Pro cams, mostly higher-end prosumer DV cams like PD150 and GL2 and lesser.)

But at least you can sell your Vortex EX1 set on eBay or Craig's list for about $80-$100 to someone who can use it, and get some of the money back. Surely you can't say you didn't get an equivalent amount of education from the set for the same time and money spent going to a movie...

[Les Nagy]

It is good we all have different views on things. Otherwise it would be a dull world!