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G’day, blog followers!

Jet Kaiser here today to share a little time/money saving technique for us event filmmakers.

Those that are using DSLR’s know that it can be a pain to locate clips and stay chronological when editing from multiple cameras. When you transcode your footage, the original date created time is terminated since it is a newly created clip, making it impossible to view the clips chronologically once in FCP. Batch renaming your clips prior to transcoding will ensure that your clips stay together just as they were shot. When you are editing, you will have all you ceremony footage together and the toasts and dances from all angles will be sequentially and chronologically numbered to the precise second.

Batch renaming workflow is as follows-

1. Back up the footage!
2. Place all of the footage from all your cameras into one folder (some might choose not to include prep footage with the batch considering their might be footage from 2 different locations that you might not want to be sequenced together).
3. Using a renaming program, batch rename all the clips together while the files are arranged under “original date created”. Renaming a file does not change the date/time created (shot), only the name.
4. Transcode files as normal (MPEG Streamclip, Compressor)
5. Import in FCP

First and foremost, this workflow has increased our delivery times and has saved us a lot of time searching within our FCP browser to find related clips. Batch renaming clips might not be for everyone, especially those using the EOS plugin within FCP. I have not found a way to log and transfer renamed clips using this plugin.

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Thoughts? Comments? Am I out of my mind? Let me know (in the nicest way possible) by commenting below.

Bye!
Jet Kaiser
Jet Kaiser Films

Jet

Jet Kaiser saved up enough money to by his first camcorder at the age of 14 and he's been creating films ever since. He eventually created the Indianapolis-based, Jet Kaiser Films where he collaborates his with his lovely wife, Dani. Together they produce cinematic, story-rich, "motion pictures for those in LOVE™ "

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Throughout this video, I present some of the pros and cons with using teleconverters.   One must personally weigh these pros and cons to determine if teleconverters are right for their project. If used under the right circumstances, teleconverters can greatly enhance  the emotional impact of a production. Be sure to comment and let us know what your thoughts are on teleconverters and feel free to share any stories with using them.

Thanks for watching!
Jet Kaiser
Jet Kaiser Films

Jet

Jet Kaiser saved up enough money to by his first camcorder at the age of 14 and he's been creating films ever since. He eventually created the Indianapolis-based, Jet Kaiser Films where he collaborates his with his lovely wife, Dani. Together they produce cinematic, story-rich, "motion pictures for those in LOVE™ "

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

Hey everyone. How goes it?

Today I’m going to talk about two features on Canon’s EOS line of cameras that can bring your footage to the next level. Most shooters (at least the good ones), know how to white balance their camera. But many people think it ends there. Not so fast, my friend! These cameras come equipped with additional features that allow you to fine tune your camera’s output. These features are the WB Shift and the custom picture styles.

I talk briefly about both of these features in the video above, but a few things to note about each. The WB shift allows you to go beyond the Kelvin temperature setting, but rather adjust the white balance on a 4-color axis. This is extremely helpful in shooting situations where the lighting is not optimal for filming (basically every wedding you film!) By incorporating this feature into your shooting techniques, you no longer have to shoot and pray you can fix it in post. It allows you to take full control of your camera, and be extremely meticulous about what your shot looks like.

The other feature are the picture styles that come with your camera. While I will normally not change this setting throughout the day, it is just another way to customize the look and feel of your image directly out of the camera. This can be extremely helpful when shooting something like a same-day-edit, where you know that time just does not allow for thorough color grading. You can change these settings to fit your taste, and cut down on your editing time for the SDE.

Furthermore, by shooting with a more flat setting your image will have a higher dynamic range and allow you more leeway when working in post. In the video I mention the custom picture styles that can be uploaded to your camera via the EOS utility on your computer. A tutorial covering the details of that can be found here: http://www.vimeo.com/7256322

As always, I encourage questions/comments…I’m eager to hear your experiences and offer any advice I can. Holler at me on twitter. @erickmetz

Love you.
Eric

Eric Kmetz

Eric Kmetz is the lead filmmaker for Epic Motion, based in Detroit, MI. Named one of the 2010 EventDV top 25 filmmakers, Eric has been a full-time wedding filmmaker since 2009. In his spare time he devotes himself to being as kmawesome as legally allowed. Furthermore, 83% of people agree…he's the bees knees. True story.

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