What was it like when zoom was first introduced?

Don Bloom · September 24th, 2009, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

What?? You got 72 gigs for $4000? I got my first 9 gig SCSI HDD for $5000, and I had two of them for the Toaster Flyer! Did I get ripped off???

Sorry, I meant to say Mb. Not Gigs.

Philip Howells · September 24th, 2009, 11:29 PM

[QUOTE=Noel Lising;1393184]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Snow

Was every cut emphasized with juvenile transitions? use it in every shot. /QUOTE]

when NLE first came out, I was guilty of using dissolves too many times, it was such a pain to do a dissolve before NLE came out and having the ease of doing it makes one trigger happy.....

Until NLE came out my recollection is that it wasn't possible to do dissolves unless you were working with One Inch or Betacam (-SP) ie frame accurate/genlocked in a very swish edit suite - or am I wrong?

I do echo the same sentiment though because my first dissolves were made by backwinding the film in a Fuji Single 8 camera. Now that did require some production planning!

Noel Lising · September 25th, 2009, 06:36 AM

[QUOTE=Philip Howells;1395033][QUOTE=Noel Lising;1393184]

Until NLE came out my recollection is that it wasn't possible to do dissolves unless you were working with One Inch or Betacam (-SP) ie frame accurate/genlocked in a very swish edit suite - or am I wrong?
/QUOTE]

As far as I know that was the only way, and back then the U-matic player has a plus minus differential of being off by 5 frames so it was no easy task, once you matched the frame, you have to manually do the dissolve. We use to shoot in VHS and dub it to U-matic for editing, the high end clients are being shot in U-matic

lets be thankful for NLE

Philip Howells · September 25th, 2009, 06:46 AM

[QUOTE=Noel Lising;1396217][QUOTE=Philip Howells;1395033]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noel Lising

lets be thankful for NLE

Hear hear to that!

Ethan Cooper · September 25th, 2009, 07:12 AM

The only trouble with NLE's is that racks of gear with blinking lights, knobs and buttons sure looks cooler than a monitor.

I've often times thought about setting up a refrigerator sized rack right next to my edit desk and hooking up tons of old gear that you can get on the cheap off Ebay or just tossing some multi-colored blinking LED's in metal cases that look like they're doing something just to impress clients.

Shaun Roemich · September 25th, 2009, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethan Cooper

The only trouble with NLE's is that racks of gear with blinking lights, knobs and buttons sure looks cooler than a monitor.

I've often times thought about setting up a refrigerator sized rack right next to my edit desk and hooking up tons of old gear that you can get on the cheap off Ebay or just tossing some multi-colored blinking LED's in metal cases that look like they're doing something just to impress clients.

Actually, I did that in my last edit bay! I picked up some used surplus TBC's and distro amps from a live venue client and hooked them all up with the blinking lights next to the edit computer, my Mac G3 Blue and White 450. The only problem was the acrid smell of burning electrical components and the heat they darned things gave off made me rethink my choice.

I DO like to keep my edit bay suitably "technologically cluttered" though...

Jeff Kellam · September 25th, 2009, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethan Cooper

The very people we're selling our work to are looking for modern and trendy. Your typical 23 year old isn't thinking about watching these videos 30 years from now so much as having a really cool clip to stick on youtube or their facebook page.

Your clients are way too young Ethan.

Raise your prices, that seems to keep the kids away!

On topic: My first Kodak 8mm film camera had a fixed lens and a wheel you rotated to adjust the aperture. Looking back at those films from the 60s to 80s, you don't even notice there is no zoom. I think nowadays we are all caught up in technology far more than in the past. But at least our current day on camera lights are not (4) 200watt spotlight bulbs any more. That was a little crazy even back in the day.

Ethan Cooper · September 25th, 2009, 11:13 AM

**EDIT**
I think I'm just grumpy today, nevermind.

Ken Diewert · September 25th, 2009, 12:32 PM

I remember distinctly my first experience with a real NLE for the first time back in '94. I rented some studio space to edit a doc I had shot on Hi8 and the studio had something called D-Vision. I was completely blown away - looking at the first frame of every clip on a monitor, that you could then trim, and rearrange, even set up dissloves..., I used to rave about the MASSIVE 20 gb hard drive that this system had.

It was off-line only but spat out an EDL at the end that you could then take to the on-line suite.

To get back on topic... Personally, I dislike on-camera zooms - unless there is a real good reason for it, and the thing I think that is overdone these days is overprocessed color grading. And while I don't think using shallow dof is bad, I think too much rack focussing can take a rest for awhile.

Bill Vincent · September 25th, 2009, 11:04 PM

I agree with lots of what has been said here regarding overuse of any given effects. I think the bottom line is always whether a transition or effect enhances (or distracts from) the storyline. Beyond that, some transitions definitely look dated. I tend to stick with the simplest of transitions - cuts and dissolves, which will never go out of style. And, it's amazing the subtle ways in which you can manipulate a dissolve - just within that one basic transition is a multitude of speeds that can make a statement or move a transition along smoothly almost without being noticed at all. Same with cuts in the right places.

Anthony J. Howe · September 29th, 2009, 02:33 AM

I will only use a transition, when the cut really needs it.
A far cry from the first time I did create a video, zooming in and out, transitions at every cut' did you know I remember they even had falling cows transitions. Huge transport wheels coming towards you ugghh!
Thankfully they seemed to have disappeared a long time ago.

September 25th, 2009, 06:36 AM	#18
Noel Lising Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 789	[QUOTE=Philip Howells;1395033][QUOTE=Noel Lising;1393184] Until NLE came out my recollection is that it wasn't possible to do dissolves unless you were working with One Inch or Betacam (-SP) ie frame accurate/genlocked in a very swish edit suite - or am I wrong? /QUOTE] As far as I know that was the only way, and back then the U-matic player has a plus minus differential of being off by 5 frames so it was no easy task, once you matched the frame, you have to manually do the dissolve. We use to shoot in VHS and dub it to U-matic for editing, the high end clients are being shot in U-matic lets be thankful for NLE __________________ Noel Lising

September 25th, 2009, 07:12 AM	#20
Ethan Cooper Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Houma, La. Posts: 1,400 Images: 5	The only trouble with NLE's is that racks of gear with blinking lights, knobs and buttons sure looks cooler than a monitor. I've often times thought about setting up a refrigerator sized rack right next to my edit desk and hooking up tons of old gear that you can get on the cheap off Ebay or just tossing some multi-colored blinking LED's in metal cases that look like they're doing something just to impress clients. __________________ ∅ -Ethan Cooper

September 25th, 2009, 11:13 AM	#23
Ethan Cooper Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Houma, La. Posts: 1,400 Images: 5	EDIT I think I'm just grumpy today, nevermind. __________________ ∅ -Ethan Cooper Last edited by Ethan Cooper; September 25th, 2009 at 01:31 PM.

September 25th, 2009, 12:32 PM	#24
Ken Diewert Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vancouver Island, Canada Posts: 1,200	I remember distinctly my first experience with a real NLE for the first time back in '94. I rented some studio space to edit a doc I had shot on Hi8 and the studio had something called D-Vision. I was completely blown away - looking at the first frame of every clip on a monitor, that you could then trim, and rearrange, even set up dissloves..., I used to rave about the MASSIVE 20 gb hard drive that this system had. It was off-line only but spat out an EDL at the end that you could then take to the on-line suite. To get back on topic... Personally, I dislike on-camera zooms - unless there is a real good reason for it, and the thing I think that is overdone these days is overprocessed color grading. And while I don't think using shallow dof is bad, I think too much rack focussing can take a rest for awhile. __________________ C100, 5DMk2, FCPX

September 25th, 2009, 11:04 PM	#25
Bill Vincent Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 253	I agree with lots of what has been said here regarding overuse of any given effects. I think the bottom line is always whether a transition or effect enhances (or distracts from) the storyline. Beyond that, some transitions definitely look dated. I tend to stick with the simplest of transitions - cuts and dissolves, which will never go out of style. And, it's amazing the subtle ways in which you can manipulate a dissolve - just within that one basic transition is a multitude of speeds that can make a statement or move a transition along smoothly almost without being noticed at all. Same with cuts in the right places.

September 29th, 2009, 02:33 AM	#26
Anthony J. Howe Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 55	I will only use a transition, when the cut really needs it. A far cry from the first time I did create a video, zooming in and out, transitions at every cut' did you know I remember they even had falling cows transitions. Huge transport wheels coming towards you ugghh! Thankfully they seemed to have disappeared a long time ago.