Here I mentioned the upgrade of my system to one of the new octomacs that came out last month. The thing is blazingly fast. Lightning. It’s incredible. But, to sum up the issue, it wouldn’t read any of DNxHD footage, this was a result of the lastest QT updates (the only thing I could figure out) so I re-transcoded.

I compared 3 different codecs: Blackmagic 8-bit uncompressed, Photo-JPEG, and Apple 8-bit uncompressed. Each codec looked amazing…for transocded HDV. Every one of them naturally, looked better than the DNxHD footage. So after comparing the same frame on each codec, I settled on Photo-JPEG. Pretty old school I know. But, the uncompressed codecs just left huge file sizes and Blackmagic’s codec pixelated the hell out of the highlights and the Apple codec had mushy shadows. If anyone has a better codec than Photo-JPEG, let me know (that’s free).

So my current HDV/Sony HVR-Z7U workflow is thus:

Shoot 1080i at 59.94

Transcode via MPEG Streamclip to 1440×1080i Photo-JPEG (you have to specify 59.94 otherwise it will default to 29.97)

Edit in Premier as normal.

Then I can go back and forth between Premiere and AE without having to render until final output. Pretty sweet…for HDV. I think however, I’ll be losing the Blackmagic card in lieux of the Matrox MXO. I discovered I can’t use to it to color correct as I wanted…only after researching for a monitor today :/ Ugh. It’s brand new though so it’ll resell well I think.

Tags: dnxhd, hdv, Photo-JPEG, print, tech, tools, video, workflow

There are always snags. Some are big and some are little. In this case, I’ve been super-busy trying to get a new print publication out the door and get scripting done of the Asia work I’m doing. Additionally, I’m building things and gather gear and setting up for the big shoot next week for one of Peacemaker Ministries’ new resources.

That said, the plan was to collect the gear from various locations and drop it off tomorrow with maybe a little setup. However, I just found out after calling today to simply touch base about tomorrow, that I can’t get into the space until Monday morning.

Yikes.

Fortunately, Rob Bedford who I’ve hired to do 2nd camera and some editing will be here to get things setup with me. Below you’ll find a shot from the planned location of Cam 2 (jib) with buddy Mike K. doing some walking, then a shot from Cam 1 (dolly) with me pretending to be a flamboyant speaker..I’m actually a flamboyant dork.

I plan on vlogging from location all next week. Cheers!

Shot Test from Location from J.R. Friesen on Vimeo.

Tags: location, print, Production, video, workflow

Every so often, Peaemaker Ministries produces a new resource. Most recently it was the Peacemaking Church Resource Set. In there are materials for pastors, small groups and peacemaking teams. The overall strategy of the ministry and church/christian equipping is this PCRS (as we’ve come to nickname it).

The Product

They’ve chosen to develop new “modules” to bolster and add to this. The next module is on Leadership. Specifically shepherd leadership in the context of the local church. We have some great teachers lined up including Tim Laniak who’s studied biblical shepherd leadership extensively.

The production is going to distributed via DVD. Possibly web, but we’ve not broached that topic yet. It’s going to consist of 10-12 30 minute teaching sessions with included animations and visual aids. The teaching will be done in front of a group of 6-10 as an “audience.”

Question: would you want the teacher to teach to the camera at all or strictly to those in the room?

The Production

I plan to do a 3-camera shoot. Tapeless with a dump to a portable array at the end of each “class.” My A cam is going to follow the teacher with primarily a medium shot. My B cam is going to be a medium close angle shot. C cam is going be my money cam; utilizing the jib and rails/dolly for some movement to break up the static shots.

I’m still debating a couple things though. Although I don’t like having mics in my shots, I’ll probably be utilizing a wireless lav for the audio to cam A. I wouldn’t be opposed to testing to mics hanging from the ceiling and mixing them together. I’m also undecided if I want to reset timecode for each class and do each as an individual sequence.

Currently, we’re looking at a location and I’ve sent out my budgets and production scheduling for the tech side of things. I desperately want some outlines so I can plan my shots much better but so far, I don’t have anything so it could be a produce on teh fly sort of scenario; not the best, but not a huge problem. The location question is a big one right now. I’m not a set designer, but unfortunately, will probably end up being that too.

Additional Materials

In addition, I’ll be doing all the layout and design work for the project. We’ll probably hire out the main “look” for the logo, etc. But I’ll be putting together all the print, materials as well. So it should be a nice, long, and large project for me. It’s exciting. The schedule for this production is the first week of February. Then I leave for SE Asia.

Tech

I’m going to be producing this with the following:

• Sony HVR-Z7u
• Panasonic HVX-200
• Canon XL-H1/Sony EX-1
• 30′ of track
• jib
• Two HDD arrays (still in process of building: more later)
• 2 Camera ops and a grip
• 2 Sets of Arri and Lowell lights
• Premier, After Effects and Encore
• Photoshop and Indesign

I’ll be taking pictures and all that as well as we start getting things set up. Might even blog from the location as I get a chance.

Tags: audio, design, print, Production, video