Hardware « IN[FOCUS]

01.05.10

Mistakes to Avoid to Succeed in Wedding Video

Matt Davis with you. As “The Head Coach of Wedding Videography,” I was privileged last month to be joined with Chris Jones of Mason Jar Films, and co-founder of IN[FOCUS] on a conference call with almost 500 videographers providing them free information on some trade secrets and lessons that we have learned over the years. We had such a great response from that.

With the new year approaching, some of us need to ask our selves if what we are doing isn’t working. Some of us need to write down the things that did work for us in 2009 so that we can emulate that success in the coming years. But regardless of whether you are a seasoned veteran or just starting out, I believe we can all appreciate some tips that make such a hectic situation as a wedding day that much easier. Above you’ll find a segment from our webinar “Mistakes to Avoid in Order to Succeed in Wedding Video”. This 10 minute audio clip covers some tips and techniques that you can begin using on your next wedding that will not only make you more profitable, but will save your sanity. Here are some things you’ll learn in the audio.

How To Create Immediate Synergy with a Photographer
Getting the best audio from a wedding (non hardware specific)
Multiple Shooter Communication
Making the edit more simplified and profitable by doing things on the wedding day
A very necessary tip to help you with your post production ideas

Enjoy! Also, for those interested in further help, more details and strategies on how to grow your business, we are now enrolling for a very unique opportunity for event videographers. You can sign up for our 2010 coaching online webinar entitled “Sales & Marketing 101: What Most Videographers Don’t Know About Making Money”. Check it out. First session starts January 27th,2010.

See you in Austin!
Matt Davis, Lifestage

Posted in Blog, Business Planning, Hardware, Marketing, Shooting

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12.10.09

Maintaining your DSLR – Sensor Cleaning

sensor

As an avid DSLR video shooter I am often shooting under very low light which means a wide open aperture, or close to it, and a very shallow depth of field. Occasionally I venture outdoors and end up shooting at something like f16 or f22 and there have been times when I’ve noticed dark spots or blotches on my footage. If these spots appear on the same part of your video, in different shots and with different lenses, then you dust on your sensor! (Well, to quickly clarify, it’s not actually on your sensor but on a filter or glass cover over the sensor).

The first step in cleaning your sensor is to actually be able to visually identify how dirty the sensor is, and my favorite way to do this is with a sensor loupe from VisibleDust. With your choice of 5X or 7X magnification and built in LED illumination, it’s easy to spot the offending particles.

sensor_loupe

My next step (and this is something I do before each wedding I shoot) is to use an air blower such as this Giottos Rocket Air Blower.

giottos_blower

I personally don’t like to use the compressed air blower canisters as there is a risk of spraying moisture into your camera (if you do use one, give it a short burst of air before beginning cleaning, and also make sure to keep the canister upright during cleaning). Dust is attracted to your sensor with static electricity, and one way to combat this is with this new Zeeion Blower from VisibleDust, which claims it’s unique compound reduces static charges.

The next step would be a dry cleaning method such as the Arctic Butterfly. Here is a manual with details on the cleaning process, but basically you gently clean with one uniform pass and then make sure to remove the brush and keep it away from the camera before turning on the spinning bristle cleaning function.

If your sensor is extremely dirty you may need to resort to a wet cleaning methods such as those offered by DustAid or Photographic Solutions. Here is a video from DustAid on cleaning the sensor of the Canon 5D Mark II.

For more information on sensor cleaning, I recommend two articles: one from Luminous Landscape and another one on the Thom Hogan website.

If you maintain yours differently, I would be interested to hear from you in the comments section below.

Happy cleaning!
Vlad

Posted in Blog, Gearbag, Hardware, Shooting

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12.08.09

DSLR Lenses, Part 3: IS vs. Non-IS

In part 3 of the DSLR lens series I wanted to show the difference between IS (Image Stabilization) and non IS lenses. Specifically I’m talking about the Canon 70-200mm L lenses. There is definitely a big price difference between the two lenses. The question to ask yourself is what is necessary when shooting video on these DSLRs.

Happy Filming!
Joey Mathews
31Films

Posted in Blog, Gearbag, Hardware, Shooting

(3)

carter harkins says:

05/08/2010 at 6:20 pm

Thanks Joey! This was exactly what I was wondering… same lenses too! Very helpful.
Ivan says:

05/27/2010 at 11:00 pm

Awesome. Thanks for the comparison!
David Harvey says:

08/08/2010 at 9:16 pm

I have a canon kit lens with stabilizer and a tamron 200mm lens without it. I never noticed a difference but maybe that’s because I didn’t even know what the stabilizer was for at first.

12.02.09

Ray Roman – Cinevate Shooter Showcase

IN[FOCUS] is proud of our presenters and bloggers who are a part of Cinevate’s featured filmmaking team. This month, Ray Roman gives you a heavy dose of motivation:

Cinevate makes some of the coolest products you will ever get your hands on, so sign up to IN[FOCUS] 2010 and meet the best in our business to learn how to master their tools.

More of the IN[FOCUS] team below:

November Shooter Showcase – Kevin Shahinian from Cinevate on Vimeo.

October Shooter Showcase – Joe Simon from Cinevate on Vimeo.

September Shooter Showcase – Casey Warren from Cinevate on Vimeo.

Posted in Blog, Hardware, Shooting

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11.19.09

ShuttlePRO v2 Review

Although it’s tough to beat Chris P. Jones when it comes to speeding up your editing workflow, I recently discovered a product that is saving me so much time and I can’t believe I’ve been using Final Cut Pro without it all these years! It is the ShuttlePRO v2 by Contour Design.

Paired with a mouse in one hand, you use the ShuttlePRO in your non-dominant hand, and while not replacing the keyboard altogether it can greatly simplify and speed up your editing. The jog/shuttle knob can be used for precise frame by frame control of your video and the 15 programmable buttons are within easy reach for playback controls, in and out points, next/previous edits, insert and overwrite edits, etc.

The device comes preprogrammed for Final Cut, but the beauty of it is that you can customize the ShuttlePro to suit your style of editing. For example, the default functions for the four buttons on the bottom are:

Clear In and Out

Undo

Trim Edit

Return

For me this wasn’t that useful, so I set them up as shortcuts for my most used tools – Selection Tool, Roll/Ripple Too,l and Razor Blade. I also love having one button programmed to toggle between the clip viewer and the timeline canvas, allowing me to do an insert edit then instantly return to the viewer to select more in and out points to create a rough edit faster than ever before. I’m editing with one hand and eating a sandwich in the other-amazing stuff! The ShuttlePro has a solid feel to it and is a bit larger than I expected (see photo below). It can be ordered directly through Contour Design, although it’s a bit cheaper at B&H Photo and Video and also on sale at Amazon.

Posted in Blog, Hardware

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