EventDV articles from January 2008

EventDV archives from January 2008

Trash or treasure?(the nonlinear editor)
January 1, 2008... One interesting thing about being an editor is the letters you get from readers. Many are complimentary, which is both flattering and rewarding; some are angry, even vaguely threatening, some plain quizzical. Others are pithy and derisive,...

New year brings new products in all categories.(gear & now)
January 1, 2008... Having turned your attention to various year-end holidays, you may have missed some of the new product announcements made in late 2007. New gear-including cameras, microphones, lights, decks, presentation devices, and even office accessories-is...

The Tao of dress trashing.(studio time)(Cover story)
January 1, 2008... Photo/video outfit Still-Motion principals Amina Wojcik and Patrick Moreau had just returned home to Toronto from a week-long assignment in the Dominican Republic. Despite an early October chill in the air, a 14-hour delay in the Santiago...

Cool toys versus ROI.(strictly business)
January 1, 2008... In case you haven't noticed lately, high-definition (HD) is being advertised everywhere. Analog TVs are being pulled from the shelves of big-box electronic stores, and your local TV channels are promoting themselves through HD high school...

Cut lines: creating dynamic video titles, Part 3: more with motion.(final cut pro tutorial)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Happy New Year! This month I think we're well-balanced with Cut Lines. We'll finish with the third and final part of this little motion graphics crash course. It's been a lot to cram into this short column. But...

The three A's.(the amen corner)
January 1, 2008... In the world of postproduction and motion graphics, which affect many of this column's readers in their day jobs as event videographers as well as in their work at their local houses of worship, there are three major players: Adobe, Apple, and...

Graphic thoughts: photo montage efficiency using keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Photoshop.(tutorial)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This past week I had the incredibly difficult job of creating a photo montage tribute to a friend who lost her life to cancer at the age of 36. As with most memorial tributes, turnaround time for the project was...

Mastering the stage event market, Part 1.(stage to screen)
January 1, 2008... Potential is the capacity for growth, and in the event video production world, a market with potential is one that you can build a business around. Although my original business plan overlooked this growing and lucrative niche market, as luck...

Special interest videos: earn residual income by producing and distributing your own videos.
January 1, 2008... As a videographer, you can expect to be approached by people with great ideas for a video. They are certain that Blockbuster will want to stock it and that their local PBS affiliates will want to air it. The video might take the form of a...

HDV grows up: Sony's HVR-S270 and HVR-Z7.
January 1, 2008... Sony recently unveiled its latest HDV camcorders to the world. This wasn't just any ordinary product announcement; with the release of these new models, HDV arrived as a true professional video acquisition technology. Just as MiniDV was a...

Adventure on the high seas: what does it take to be a cruise ship videographer?
January 1, 2008... Are you a gypsy with a wanderlust heart? If adventure, travel, broadcast media, video production, and never-the-same routine appeal to you, then a job as a cruise ship videographer just might be for you. Is the job really as fun as it sounds? I...

Panasonic AG-HPX500 HD camcorder.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SYNOPSIS: If you do corporate work, serious sports shooting, indie filmmaking, and the like, Panasonic's HPX500 is an awesome camera to use. It's a little lighter than other cams at its level (perhaps due to the...

proDAD Mercalli.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SYNOPSIS: proDAD's Mercalli is a versatile and usable image stabilization plugin that produces excellent results on footage with a range of stability issues. In testing, it produced results that were clearly...

Setting goals for 2008.(the reel deal)(Conference notes)
January 1, 2008... Setting goals is pretty standard around the New Year, and this year should be no exception for you and your business. The difference this year should be that you write down your goals. Studies show that you have a 70% greater chance of...

What's in a name.(cradle to grave)
January 1, 2008... As event videographers, there are many words that we would like to see associated with our businesses. For most of us, these include creativity, quality, value, imagination, and priceless. But have you ever thought of the word integrity?...

Core performance.(the moving picture)
January 1, 2008... These days, this is how edit-bay economics shakes out: You can get a dual-processor, 3GHz quad-core Dell Precision 690 for $5,510 or save about $1,700 bucks and get a single-processor, quad-core system for $3,321. Which renders your projects...