Newbie Needs Help...

Hey friends, I been working on film for a few years now. And really havent spent much money on a camera. I am looking to upgrade from my Panasonic MiniDV Cam (3CCD) It visually looks pretty good, but the camera is old and it takes forever to upload the tape into the computer for editing. My friend has been telling me to make the jump to Hard Drive for sometime now.

I guess you can say I am entertaining the idea. What camera would you recommend? I think I will be able to spend $900 - $1200 by the summers end. Or should I just stick with the Panasonic?

Thanks!
 
"Sound is half of the experience."

How is your sound kit? Got a shotgun, a cardioid and the associated accessories? It may be the right time to make the investment in sound gear and how to get the most out of it.

Uncle Bob jumps on his soapbox...

Sound gear is a great investment; with the exception of digital recorders everything else is a long-term investment that will not become out of date in 18 months. Almost all of it will still be relevant and compatible twenty years from now (I've had one mic for 35 years now, several others for over 20 and they still sound great). This is ROI - Return On Investment.

Uncle Bob jumps off his soapbox...

I know that realtime downloading is a huge PITA. But you can use that time to make notes, and since you cannot stop you get some gut reactions and maybe some quirky but excellent ideas. When a new (long-term, paying) project arrives in my audio post facility I watch/listen to the whole thing without stopping (boy is that hard because I can always want to hit the pause button). I then watch without sound (very hard) and lastly listen without picture (even harder). Yet my preliminary notes end up being my map for most of those projects.

Sometimes I get the feeling that we are in too much of a hurry to get things done and miss things that a slower pace can reveal to us.
 
Like I always say in these threads, hard drive won't solve your problem. It puts you right back in the same situation you are in or worse. Production comes to a complete halt while you go dump the footage off the camera. Get something card based.
 
As I learn more about HDDs, I see they are good if you have multiple cameras and can afford one in "downtime". Something to keep in mind too:

If you are using one HDD camera, if you have a shot of a couch, you'd best hope you have shot ALL your footage from that angle using that couch for your film, or have a laptop handy to download: otherwise, taking the camera off, downloading it, and putting it back on, chances are you won't have it in the EXACT same angle-and if you want to end up doing stuff that will be noticed, "close enough" won't cut it when it comes to continuity (I learned that the hard way ;))

DV or SD, you yank the card/tape out, slap in a new one, your camera has not moved an iota, and you can continue shooting what you need without breaking continuity! :D


(This is to anyone): How do the HDD/SD cameras like I linked work out? Any reports of problems? Seems like he could have the best of both worlds with the combo cameras....
 
You all have been really helpful. Thanks.

As for sound gear I have an Audio-Technica Mic, Boom, Condenser Type. 3-Pin XLR, then reduced down 1/8" to adapt to my camera. I'm very interested in beefing up my sound too, the mic is pretty much it. I'm not limiting myself to Panasonic brand. I want something that will allow me great visuals and controls, on the current model I have I cant manual focus the lens. I'm not sure if I can record to SD card on mine, it does have a slot.

Also, if someone could recommend some sound gear ideas, like field recorders and what not… That be great.

I have some stuff up on my youtube site. If anyone want's to see, samvegasmovies, thanks again guys!
 
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As for sound gear I have an Audio-Technica Mic, Boom, Condenser Type. 3-Pin XLR, then reduced down 1/8" to adapt to my camera. I'm very interested in beefing up my sound too, the mic is pretty much it.

Which AT mic do you have?

You may be interested in the juicedLink CX-231 mic pre/mixer.

You should also have a cardioid condenser mic for indoor usage - it will get rid of most of that "roomy" sound.
 
Which AT mic do you have?

You may be interested in the juicedLink CX-231 mic pre/mixer.

You should also have a cardioid condenser mic for indoor usage - it will get rid of most of that "roomy" sound.

the "roomy" sound is that hum, correct? I been trying so damn hard to get that out!

My mic is AT835b Line+Gradient

I'm looking for a field recorder, any suggestions? Not too expensive- I guess I could stick with my camera and dump a butt load on amping up my sound since I have next to nothing other then the mic.

Thanks, Alcove.
 
The AT835b is an oldie but a goody for the price.

Sound for picture is a tough gig at any time, but especially so on a micro budget. Lot's of folks are hot of the Zoom H4n (about US$300) although I was not impressed with the sound, but that may have been a problem with gain-staging, etc.

"Roomy" is that echoey sound you get in overly ambient spaces. Shotgun/lobar mics, because of the way they are designed and the laws of acoustics, tend to make the dialog recorded in "normal" rooms (kitchens, living rooms, etc.) sound like the are in an tiled bathroom.

The hum is another aspect of how technology can only do what it is designed to do, not what you want it to do. You ears/brain have a built-in "editing function" that allows you to ignore sounds you don't want to hear. A mic records only mono instead of 360 degrees like you do, so sounds of which you are not aware are greatly overemphasized; things like traffic, refrigerators, computers, dryers and other appliances... you get the idea. It could also be a problem with the audio recorder itself, or hum caused by the proximity of the audio recorder to an intense electrical field. (When I was a musician I played a club in a skyscraper in Manhattan where all of the electrical conduits for the entire building were directly behind the stage wall - HUM HELL!!!)

The playback system also plays a role - it can only reproduce stereo or at best 5.1 or 7.1 surround. I was privileged to listen to a demo of Charles Morrows 360 sound system, in essence a 14.2 system. It required a very complex mic/recorder system in the field and while very convincing it still required a lot of manipulation of the sounds to create the illusion.
 
The AT835b is an oldie but a goody for the price.

Sound for picture is a tough gig at any time, but especially so on a micro budget. Lot's of folks are hot of the Zoom H4n (about US$300) although I was not impressed with the sound, but that may have been a problem with gain-staging, etc.

"Roomy" is that echoey sound you get in overly ambient spaces. Shotgun/lobar mics, because of the way they are designed and the laws of acoustics, tend to make the dialog recorded in "normal" rooms (kitchens, living rooms, etc.) sound like the are in an tiled bathroom.

The hum is another aspect of how technology can only do what it is designed to do, not what you want it to do. You ears/brain have a built-in "editing function" that allows you to ignore sounds you don't want to hear. A mic records only mono instead of 360 degrees like you do, so sounds of which you are not aware are greatly overemphasized; things like traffic, refrigerators, computers, dryers and other appliances... you get the idea. It could also be a problem with the audio recorder itself, or hum caused by the proximity of the audio recorder to an intense electrical field. (When I was a musician I played a club in a skyscraper in Manhattan where all of the electrical conduits for the entire building were directly behind the stage wall - HUM HELL!!!)

The playback system also plays a role - it can only reproduce stereo or at best 5.1 or 7.1 surround. I was privileged to listen to a demo of Charles Morrows 360 sound system, in essence a 14.2 system. It required a very complex mic/recorder system in the field and while very convincing it still required a lot of manipulation of the sounds to create the illusion.

I have a friend that has the Zoom H4n and she claims it works really well. Maybe the newer models are better then the old. She had one a year ago and upgraded to this, and she is very satisfied and claims the hum noise is gone.
 
The AT835b is an oldie but a goody for the price.

Sound for picture is a tough gig at any time, but especially so on a micro budget. Lot's of folks are hot of the Zoom H4n (about US$300) although I was not impressed with the sound, but that may have been a problem with gain-staging, etc.

"Roomy" is that echoey sound you get in overly ambient spaces. Shotgun/lobar mics, because of the way they are designed and the laws of acoustics, tend to make the dialog recorded in "normal" rooms (kitchens, living rooms, etc.) sound like the are in an tiled bathroom.

The hum is another aspect of how technology can only do what it is designed to do, not what you want it to do. You ears/brain have a built-in "editing function" that allows you to ignore sounds you don't want to hear. A mic records only mono instead of 360 degrees like you do, so sounds of which you are not aware are greatly overemphasized; things like traffic, refrigerators, computers, dryers and other appliances... you get the idea. It could also be a problem with the audio recorder itself, or hum caused by the proximity of the audio recorder to an intense electrical field. (When I was a musician I played a club in a skyscraper in Manhattan where all of the electrical conduits for the entire building were directly behind the stage wall - HUM HELL!!!)

The playback system also plays a role - it can only reproduce stereo or at best 5.1 or 7.1 surround. I was privileged to listen to a demo of Charles Morrows 360 sound system, in essence a 14.2 system. It required a very complex mic/recorder system in the field and while very convincing it still required a lot of manipulation of the sounds to create the illusion.

What I'm liking about the Zoom so far is that it has XLR inputs. Both my mics are XLR. All the others dont have this feature.
 
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