Tagged with hardware - Personal View Talks

Sound mixing board for use with Premiere Pro CS5?

Brian_Siano — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:36:11 +0000

I'm working on several projects where I could get a LOT of mileage of having a hardware sound mixer (sliders, etc.) by my keyboard while I'm editing. Are there any sound mixers that are small, cheap, and interface with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5?

Optimizing your lenses

Brian202020 — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:13:30 +0000

Both http://www.rplens.com/ and http://www.ducloslenses.com/Duclos_Lenses/Main.html will optimize your SLR and DSLR lenses to be used in more of a cinema situation. They put on a simi-permenant lens gear, a step up ring to 80mm OD/77mm ID threaded, and they de-click the iris. I beleave they also dampen the lens. You get all this for $250 per lens. I've been debating doing this to all of my lenses for a while now, but the problem is, I want to upgrade a few of my lenses first. Until I do I'd like to benefit from the standardized 80mm OD/77mm ID threaded step up rings. Does anyone know where to get these? They are more than just the standard step up ring especially the ones from http://www.rplens.com/.

New Macs from WWDC

pvjames — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:53:32 +0000

Today was the WWDC conference in SF. New Macs released/announcements.

Macbook Pro with & w/o Retina Display

Mac Pro

OSX Mt. Lion

Discontinued 17" laptops. No new Imacs (yet).

I like the new MBP w/Retina. (w/Ivy Bridge) MacPro is a minor update. No USB3/Thunderbolt. Was hoping to see new Imacs.

Available at:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro

Bushido prod. rigs

Zed — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 04:51:56 +0000

Bought this rig at Bushido production ebay seller. It should be delivered tomorrow I think. I can take some photos if anyone is interested. Looks like the quality and overall design are very good. It seems it's fully USA made product at a decent price. Actually the prices were even lower sometime ago. I've got mine for $255 plus 65 bucks for the shipment to Russia. Anyway the sellers feedback is 100% positive and I think it's a good deal. Pay some attention some of current deals are about to end soon.

http://stores.ebay.com/bushidoproductions

http://www.xfactor1.com/index.html

HDD issues and repair topic

inqb8tr — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 06:14:29 +0000

Yesterday I have copied footage from cards on a hard drive, and while watching clips, i noticed some kind of glitches and drops appearing. I realized that it happens only with footage copied to one particular hard drive - 1-2 months old 2TB seagate ST2000DM001. When I copied files from same cards onto another hdd everything was ok. When I copied files (with drops) from seagate to another drive, and played them from the healthy drive - footage was damaged, video glitches like half frame drop, something like that, in movist it is like bright green blocks, in other players and Premiere they are just transparent half frame drops, similar to damaged beta tape, if anyone remembers that. Some files don't have glitches but when I copy them on the same drive but to another folder, they get damaged. This happens with MTS files and also after transcoding to Prores422 HQ. Luckily I always backup new jobs immediately, but I have some other projects on that drive.

Is that hdd dying? I didn't know that dying hdd can damage video files internally.

GH2 Hardware modifications - (not for the faint-hearted)

Roberto — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:48:14 +0000

As GH-2s get used and misused, a number of unrepairable items and units will start to accumulate in repair shops. I was taking a look through the repair manual to see if it would be possible to remove the LVF or the LCD and re-locate it elsewhere; (for me, to the side of the lens as with a shoulder-mounted ENG camera). This would be effectively replicating a bench-testing setup but requiring a separate housing for the viewfinder outside the existing camera body. Extension cables exist, like the Part No RFKZ0477 which connects the EVF further away (on the bench top) to the circuit board , for testing purposes. A similar cable may exist for the LCD screen.

Well, this mod looks at first to be doable by the tech savvy or foolhardy. (!) CARE! viewfinder screens can carry high voltages!! [Edit 18 May] Added picture: for some of us it is highly desirable to have a camera truly on the shoulder with the sensor-plane rotating on the axis of the operator's body. A re-located eyepiece can enable this.

Cost: Longer ribbon cable $60. Electronic work: Zero, except perhaps encasing the cable in shielding and insulation. Main skills needed: Design, care with tiny screws, safety, maybe cutting & bending plastic, adhesives.

Thoughts/comments on possible RAW hardware hack?

brianluce — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:50:33 +0000

Discussion abound regarding hardwiring a $500 board to the GH2 for RAW image capture... Something like the Andromeda.

Which tripod to get for my needs?

Gabel — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:19:53 +0000

So, I've recently upgraded my whole rig from a Canon 7D to a GH2. Now it's time for the tripod, stepping up from my Manfrotto 501.
I'm somebody who shoots mostly tripod-mounted and a good tripod is very important for me.

The rig I'm using is a GH2, with old Nikon AI-primes, a TrusMT follow focus and matte-box and a SmallHD DP4, all mounted to a Gini Rig with just the rods (I remove the shoulder pad and handles when on sticks I should add).
This is my base rig. I need a tripod that is good and will handle this. However, I want some future proofing too. Right now, I rarely shoot with a barebones kit and if I do, it's never any jobs, so my demands for this is smaller.
But as I'm shelling out a bit on it, I don't want something that I'll have to get rid of once I upgrade my camera. It won't need to handle a RED or an Alexa, but I'd like something that at the most could take an F3 with Compact Primes, using the same setup for the rig.

I'm also adding a Kessler Crane KC8 crane. So I will be mounting the head on top it.
I live in Sweden and will order from the UK or Germany (if you find any of these cheaper, let me know!)

My alternatives:
E-Image 7083
(£525)
http://www.proav.co.uk/E-image-EI-7083-AA-Video-Tripod-Kit/p26789.aspx
Pros: The cheapest of them all, 100mm, the legs can take a crane. Handles the most weight (13kg/26lbs), supposedly great quality for the price.
Cons: Still an "off-brand", so I'm not 100% about it, not much less than a Vinten, current rig might be too light!

Vinten Vision Blue
(£610)
http://www.proav.co.uk/Vinten-Vision-Blue-Tripod-System/p29084.aspx
Pros: A real Vinten that is supposed to deliver anything one could expect from that. Pretty cheap too!
Cons: Smallest weight range at 2kgs to 5kgs (4lbs to 10lbs) and don't know if it could handle a larger camera and screws to adjust the tripod!

And then there's Sachtler. They have some kits over at Creativevideo with the ENG 75/2 D legs, which I saw and they didn't impress me. I need some legs that are a bit sturdier. So I thought, why do I need their legs? I could get a nice head and then pick up a decent set of legs (E-Image or Libec) over at ProAV anyway (suggestions here are welcome)!

Sachtler CineDSLR
(£506 for the head)
http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/index.php?t=product/sachtler_cine_dslr_head
Pros: Designed for my needs, could balance up to 9.7 kgs (20lbs!), so it should work! Oh and it's a Sachtler.
Cons: Ehm... Legs might be worse? Still haven't seen it with a bigger camera.

Sachtler FSB6
(£589 for the head)
http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/index.php?t=product/sachtler_0407
Pros: It's a Sachtler. Alternative to the CineDSLR.
Cons: Don't know if it's better or worse than the CineDSLR. The most expensive of the bunch.

Other suggestions are welcome!