Hello From Chicago!

Hey gang,
I have 20yrs experience in audio production
8yrs experience in video production
and 3yrs experience in DVD Authoring.

I've used a friend's VX2000 for the last 6 months (nice friend) but he needed to use it for a weekend and I thought, "I can't live without this camera"...so I bought one of my own.
While I've worked with AVID and Discreet video editing systems, I find that I can do everything I need at home using Final Cut Pro.

Anyway, I'm looking to find out more information about this great lil' camcorder. I've heard about the audio hiss, but I've never experienced it. Maybe because I've never used the onboard microphone. I always use a lavalier or a shotgun on a boom pole.

If youse guys have any questions on DVD, let me know.
I also moderate an Apple DVD Forum at
http://www.DVDMadeEasy.com

- Chip

[Chris Hurd]

Hi Chip,

Thanks for joining us and welcome aboard! Sure appreciate the link to your site, it looks most helpful and I recognize the name of Ralph LaBarge on your forums. Effective and effecient DVD creation is still a mystery for a lot of us including myself so hopefully we can learn from each other and establish a mutually beneficial relationship. We're at your disposal and it's great to have you here.

[Rob Lohman]

Welcome aboard Chip! Good to have you with us. What'd you use
to make DVD's? Scenarist I assume? I've always wondered what
professional DVD authors use for mpeg encoding, you know?

Hi Rob and Chris, thanks for the warm welcome.

As for encoding, I typically use a Sonic Solutions SD-2000 hardware encoder. I author with either Sonic's Creator or Apple's DVD Studio Pro. I'd like to note that you can get some pretty good encodes with Apple's software MPEG2 encoder, as long as you have good source material.
As for the use of Scenarist, it's really expensive. Creator on the Mac or Fusion on the PC are much more popular (as are other pro DVD authoring suites).

- Chip

[Ryan Krga]

I am new to the board. I have been looking around for about a month or 2 and just signed up recently. This board it great for upcoming DV filmers. It has helped me out so much already. I was just wondering how you find out about these DV "tradeshows". I have never been to one and I think it would be a great experience. I live in the Chicago area, so if it was downtown at the McCormick place or somewhere like that it would be very easy to attend.

Thanks
Ryan Krga

[Chris Hurd]

Hi Ryan,

Click the "calender" link above as we post them there as we go. Not aware of any in the Chicago area yet, but that can always change. Primary venues are in order: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco.

[Rob Lohman]

Welcome aboard Ryan! Good to have you with us!

There are usually some threads as well regarding this subject.
Before any major event usually somoene starts a thread, so
keep your eyes open on that. One such (long) thread can be
found at:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?threadid=8

[Gilbert Xiong]

I am a 21 year old film enthusiast.

Canon GL2

[Rob Lohman]

Welcome aboard Gilbert. This must be the shortest introduction
ever. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you are
doing or planning to do with the GL2?

[Gilbert Xiong]

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : Welcome aboard Gilbert. This must be the shortest introduction
ever. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you are
doing or planning to do with the GL2? -->>>

Hi Rob... I decided to make a short intro to see if this forum has users willing to say hello reguardless of the first impression.

I plan to use the GL2 for a documentary project I have for 2003. The documentary will be about underground music disc jockeys. I will be doing a bit of traveling to the west and east coast to cover events and interviews with some DJ's I have lined up.

Besides that, the GL2 sits in it's hard case waiting for a project or an idea.

I am still putting a short together for this summer...

[Rob Lohman]

Well, you've got a reply from at least one "user" :)

Sounds interesting your project. I've been visiting the underground
DJ scene here in hollland every once in a while and usually enjoy
it very much. Great relaxed parties.

Summer is great time to shoot a short and ideas usually can
be found everywhere. I myself have a tendency to have big
ideas (which require a lot of talent, grand locations or other
impossible things for a low-budget indepedent movie maker).

I wish you luck with your projects, and see you around!

[Ken Tanaka]

We seem to have a rush of new Chicago-area members lately. It's good to have you with us. pop the lens cap off of that GL2 and fire-away!

[Eric Thompson]

Hello,

This is my first post. I just wanted to introduce myself to the community. Apologies ahead of time for my tendency to type too much (and for the smell but technology precludes you from worrying about that).

I graduated from college a little over a year in ago. A little under a year ago, I realized that I have absolutely no interest in what I studied. While a business degree is by no means a waste of time, it doesn't exactly float my boat. Maybe there are kids out there who grew up saying, "Someday, I'm going to collaborate on inventory management strategies for point-of-sale fulfillment initiatives," but I wasn't one of them. So I've decided I want to do something creative with my life and have spent the last year dabbling with various creative endeavours, when not staring blankly at a computer screen in a drab cubicle. I'm intensely interested in writing and hope to someday make a living with the written word. I've only recently stepped up my efforts to submit pieces and writings though that rowdy voice of self-doubt in my head tells me I might have better chances of success playing the lotto. If there is one thing that keeps cropping up as I read and research, it's the notion of persistence. Without persistence, would anyone achieve their dreams? (not to mention effort, money, support, resourcefulness, luck, inspiration, perspiration creativity, etc.) I think there is something to be said for artful communication and it is my intention to do it over a variety of mediums, including film, among others, with all the expected and unexpected speedbumps along the way.

Lately, I've been attempting to diagnose myself with personality disorders in hopes of explaining my behavior and so far I've come up with mild social anxiety disorder (which may help explain my troubles with women), Chinese buffet addiction (which may also help explain my troubles with women) and I-Can-Do-That Syndrome, which manifests itself when I read the newspaper or listen to radio documentaries or watch television documentaries. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I can reproduce the work of the greats in any field but I can't help but think that with a little effort and determination, I can contribute to the creative world. My goal is to produce/direct/write/film/screw up/create documentaries and have several ideas for projects tumbling around in the mill. It seems like such a genuine form of communication. Of course, I know nothing about it, which is why I'm here.

I've been researching DV and the craft of filmmaking for a while and discovered DVinfo.net only recently. It has proven to be an extremely valuable source of information and stands out amongst the crowd as a well-organized, well-reasoned and up-to-date wealth of knowledge, especially in terms of practical know-how from a collision of wisdom and experience that the members bring to the forums. It is refreshing to find a group of people so enthusiastic about their shared interests. I will certainly have plenty of questions for everybody as I take my first wobbly babysteps into the world of filmmaking. My hope is that eventually the number of answers in my head will outweigh the number of questions.

I live in the Chicago area, am about to invest in a camera (most likely GL2), have a decent computer and am excited about contributing to this community. I'm looking for any experience I can get so anybody seeking assistance in the Northern Illinois/Chicago area don't hesitate to drop me a line.


- Eric Thompson

P.S. told you I type too much

[Ken Tanaka]

Your self-introduction reads like the introduction to any number of current comedic films. Interesting and fun to read. You'll find that a keen sense of humor comes in handy here.

Glad to have another Chicagoan with us. We actually have had quite a few folks from our area join lately. For a long time were were deluged with Texans.

[Rik Sanchez]

The ears of Texas heard that Ken, it seems like there are enough people to have a Chicago vs. Texas baseball game(with the members who post regularly, with 3,040 members, less than 1% are on at any given time-come on people, let us know you are alive)

Welcome Eric, don't worry about the long post, it's always good to hear someone's story. You have a good attitude which is important, never give up untill you attain your goals. Ask away, we are all happy to share our experience, and like Adrian said(I think it was him) "the only dumb question is the one that is not asked"

I was in Chicago once, great city, see you on the boards.