Mic & camera questions

I'm spec'ing out video podcasting hardware for a client - he uses a new-ish powerbook, is not super-tech-savy, and wants to do video podcasting for educational purpouses. We'd like the production to be easy to see/hear, but it doesn't need to be studio-quality either.
He will be doing mostly in-person interviews in office/closed door (but not studio) environments. We're pretty much settled on using the iSight camera - my main question now is audio.
Question 1:
If both persons are within 5 feet of the camera, will iSight's mic be enough to pick up both parties clearly? if not...
I'm looking at the MobilePre USB & two MXL 990's.
Question 2:
If the interview involves more than two people, can the MXL 990 be placed between two people on a table and pick up both reasonably well?
Question 3:
Will the shock-mount shown here sit happily on a table? we want to avoid mic mounts.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Live/Sound/Microphones/Wireless?sku=27315 6
Question 4:
Will people have to speak right into the mic or is 1-1.5 feet distance okay (ie. can it function on the table)
Thanks for your help!
-Hannah

can't help there, but be sure to buy from Musiciansfriend.com, they have the best prices!

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Digital Camera Questions

So how do I send files TO my digital camera? Every time I connect a digital camera it opens iPhoto and then prompts a file transfer TO my Mac, but how do I manipulate the files OUTSIDE of iPhoto? And I can't find a way to send pictures to the camera and onto the SD memory card. Besides showing up in iPhoto, I can't find a single place where the camera is recognized by my Mac. Isn't there a way to manipulate and transfer the files of the camera outside of any program, say through Finder? I need to transfer an old photo to the card in my camera so I can take it to the local drug store to have it printed. I'm new to Mac, and I would do this in Windows by simply opening the camera in the Windows Explorer window by dragging and dropping. I have to be missing something because only being able to use a camera through iPhoto seems immensely limiting, especially for a computer like this that prides itself on media functionality. Thanks

No offense, but I refuse to believe that Apple intended for me to buy an external card reader so that I could perform such basic functions as transferring files to and from a digital camera. Apple prides itself on media functionality, and REALLY is trying to avoid the stigma of incompatibility, which is what you were telling me, that my camera is incompatible with my Mac in the performance of receiving files. If iPhoto can recognize the presence of a digital camera, why couldn't the rest of the Mac? If it can access the files on that cameras digital card, why couldn't it place files on it? I have never ever ever ever heard of a computer that only allows one way transmission of data with an external device such as that. It makes no sense that Apple would only allow you to deal with digital cameras through iPhoto - that is extremely limiting, providing almost no functionality at all. And it's not the camera since I was able to do this with Windows. Did Apple purposely decide to NOT let you manipulate files outside of their programs??? Did they make it impossible for me to edit the files on my camera (a basic computer media function) without using iPhoto? Is there no way I can use a digital camera outside of iPhoto? What if I didn't want to use iPhoto at all?? And another thing, why doesn't everything I attach to this computer show up in the finder? Much less than half of the times I'll enter a cd will it show up in the finder. Much less than half of the times I attach any usb device (besides mice) like flash drives with music only on them show up in the finder. Am I crazy or does it make absolutely no sense whatsoever to only allow access to devices through predesignated and unchangeable programs created by Apple?

Multi CAM Question!

Okay so I have two questions here
1) How do you sync two cameras together? For example I will be filming a school event and I want to make sure they are both synched up so that when I go into post editing it will be very simple to use the MultiCam function. Someone told me to have someone take a Picture with flash on the stage once both cameras are rolling and to place the input on that point in FCP
2) Once I import the footage from the XH-A1 how do I go in and input the footage from the Canon Mark 2? I already have a shortcut setup for this camera as far as the codec goes but how do I import the footage when the settings are already fixed for that of the xh-a1. Does that make sense? And once I get them both imported and on the same timeline how will they function together sense they are slightly diff as far as resolution goes.

The flash does not sync the cams, it simply gives you one easily identified moment to set your IN point. I prefer a clapper as it is easier to find using the audio waveform and audio is sampled many more thousands of times per frame so it can be more accurate.
Lots of posts here on how to import material from the Mark 2. Do a search.
For multi cam to work, the footage must be the same codec, time base and resolution.
Once captured, convert everything to the same ProRes format, including timebase and resolution.
Read the section in the Manual on Multicam +very carefully+ before you start. I suppose there are some online tutorials as well.
x

Disable camera question

I recently got a new MBP and have one question. How do I disable this stupid built in camera so iChat does not recognize or let other users recognize that I have one?
I have people suddenly popping in video iChatting without realizing there's a thing called ETIQUITE.
I want to keep other iChaters from seeing that I have this ability.
Did Apple not think some of us may not want the world popping in on us like this?
Thanks,
Chris

Chris:
The following link describes a method of disabling the camera, but I haven't actually tried it. Use at your own risk.
http://techslaves.org/index.php?page=17
Dennis

P2 camera question - which video files do I keep, Card files or Quicktime?

Hi everyone,
I use a P2 camera.
In final cut pro, when I log and transfer I get Quicktime files made up and they sit in my "Capture Scratch" folder.
I have been reading via this forum that I should also copy the entire contents of the P2 card to my hard drive.
As this eventually fills up my hard drive quicker, is there anything negative about wiping my P2 cards as soon as I "Log and Transfer", since I can simply keep my converted Quicktime files.
Or should I be asking, Which format is better to keep? The MXF files or Quicktime?
Thanks for your assistance.
Kris

Thanks everyone for your input.
I am not a high end user of the P2 and my workflow isn't all about having clients in and mixing edit systems between Avid and FCP, and most certainly any clients wouldn't be walking out with the master copy of the MXF files, only a DVD of the finished product.
I work for a Health Union and I'm usually filming around hospitals and Ambulances, and filming the odd press conference as well as full day health forums etc.
I do like Shane Ross' theory of "What if a future version of FCP supports native MXF editing." As well as the fact that storage is so cheap now.
Up until now I have dumped the cards files to the trash after log and transfer and I have edited the Quicktime files without saving the MXF files. So far this has worked for me and I simply import the the old Quicktime files from the original project to the new project if I ever need to use the footage again in a future video. (This usually happens as I edit a yearly wrap up video for the Union which encompasses all footage that I've used over the past 12 months).
So I guess I'll keep doing what I've been doing and look into keeping the MXF files when i acquire more hard drive space. At least for the time being I'm not shooting myself in the foot with a really dodgy workflow.
My questions have been answered and I appreciate everyones time and efforts in replying to me. Cheers.
Kris

Unique Multi Camera Question. Can't Find answer.

I have an existing sequence in Adobe Premiere. I have pain stakening taken the time to line up all my cameras. Some of cameras were only running some of the time during the wedding. And others were turned on and off during the wedding. (I know...not smart) Adobe was unable to sync the audio automatically beacuse it was pretty bad on some of the cameras.
My questions is....how can I turn the difference tracks in the sequence I've already lined up into multi-camera mode. I really don't want to have to turn on/off each track to see what the best shot is and using markers will be very difficult as well.
Is there a way to do this?
See all the little clips?
Thanks for your help in advance!

Yes, I've looked at a few "Multi Cam" videos.
I don't want them to sync my audio (I've already done that), I want to turn all my tracks into multi cam. I'll try to do what Jim below says and see if it works.

Camera question: Canon Optura 50

Like others among you, I'm preparing to buy a camcorder to use with my Mac, either with iMovie or one of the Final Cut versions. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the Canon Optura 50. I consulted Consumer Reports, and found it to be the only model they tested that was a) tape based (a propos of a valuable pointer elsewhere in these discussions that only tape-based cameras will allow post-production editing), and b) have all four of the following features, which I desire: 1) A/V input, 2) external mic input (very important to me), 3) headphones output, and 4) firewire capability.
Any feedback on this model (Canon Optura 50), or other suggestions/pointers? Thanks.

Welcome to the forum.
You don't say what program you'll be using nor what computer you have nor your mode of shooting nor your artistic goals - but here's some generic advice.
1. Canon cameras are notorious for their weak implementation of firewire and timecode - two significant issues when working with Final Cut.
2. Their implementation of the firewire protocol is non-standard. Be sure to use FIREWIRE BASIC (a reduced instruction set) as the device control protocol when working with them.
3. Canons don't play well with other devices on the same bus. Since all firewire ports on a Mac connect to the same bus, if you are using an external hard drive, you may need to install a firewire card (PCI, PCMCIA or Expresscard34 depending on your machine) to create a second bus for the camera. This isolates the camera from the hard drives. Once this happens, they may work flawlessly. If you have a computer model that lacks the capability of adding a second firewire bus, you could be SOL
4. Some Canon cameras have never had an issue connecting and capturing. Some have major issues. In fairness to the brand, other cameras have connection issues as well but not to the same extent (as it would seem from the posts on these boards).
5. Inexpensive cameras have inexpensive tape drive systems that will cost nearly as much as the camera to fix if they blow up. These cameras do not like the hammering of jog and shuttling when used as capture device.
Good luck,
x

H264 and HD video camera questions

So I just got a miniDV HD video camera and was learning how to use imovie 06 HD. So much more confusing then 08. I got really spoiled with just clicking, dragging and deleting parts of clips I didnt want, this seems much more complicated.
Question is, once I finish a project, how do I use this H264 to compress the HD video? I didnt see an option for it when I clicked "Share" and then selected Quicktime. I just upgraded to QT 7.4.5 for Leopard. Any help would be great, thanks

Nevermind, just found the option. Is it supposed to take like 15 min to render a 30 second clip? Thats ridiculous.

New camera questions

It's time for a new camera and it looks like it's not going to be a DV tape camera this time. I'm considering the Canon VIXIA HF G30 so if anyone has any feedback on that particular camera that would be much appreciated. On to the questions....
1) I generally produce the edited output on traditional DVDs - no need for Blu Ray, at least not yet. Will PrE downres the video to SD?
2) Can I mix DV-AVI and AVCHD or MP4 in the same project so long as I am producing SD output? Occasionally I need two or three cameras and I'm not ready to buy several of these.
3) Preferences on AVCHD vs MP4?
Thanks everyone!
Bob

Scaling down - just be aware that your AVCHD shooting 1920x1080 is around 2.1 megapixels whereas DVD (assuming NTSC) is 720x480 which is 0.35 megapixels. So your output resolution will only be 1/6th that of your shot footage. Flipping that equation means that the downsizing process discards 5/6ths of the image resolution. Your output DVD will be of lower quality. There are so many posts on these forums complaining of poor quality when converting HD to SD - when this is an inevitability. I think what many do is connect their camera to the TV to watch their raw footage (naturally in glorious HD) and are then disappointed when they edit it and convert it to DVD. So long as you are prepared for this in advance you should be fine.
PRE can cope with mixed footage on the timeline, it's just not generally considered sensible. What most recommend is creating an HD project for your HD clips, output it to an SD DV-AVI Type 2 file and import that to an SD project containing your other SD clips. But you could also do some experimentation - put all your clips into an SD project and see what the output looks like or put all your clips into an HD project and see what an SD output from that project looks like.
PRE natively edits AVCHD so go with that.
Searching 'Canon Vixia' will give you a lot more discussion results that may be helpful.
Cheers,
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children
If this post or another user's post resolves the original issue, please mark the posts as correct and/or helpful accordingly. This helps other users with similar trouble get answers to their questions quicker. Thanks.

WPA MIC alert questions

I have a few questions regarding WPA MIC errors which I seem to encounter quite frequently on the wireless network that I operate.
I'm running on WCS version 4.2.97.0.
On my WLANs, most of them are configured with WPA and WPA2, with both encryption types (TKIP and AES) checked. My auth key mgmt is PSK.
I'm in a university environment so unfortunately most of the laptops connecting to the wireless are personal machines.
My questions are as follows:
1. Does the above configuration sound ideal? I am unsure if it is wise to have both WPA and WPA2 with both encryptions enabled or not. Could this be a cause of the WPA MIC alerts?
2. Also, I seem to recall mention about being able to configure the hold-time when a client triggers the WPA MIC alert. Would it be a good idea to lower the number from a default of 60?

1)Message Integrity Check (MIC) incorporated in Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) includes a frame counter which prevents a man-in-the-middle attack. This error means someone in the network is trying to replay the message that was sent by the original client, or it might mean that the client is faulty. If a client repeatedly fails the MIC check, the controller disables that WLAN for 60 seconds as per the WPA protocol requirements. This prevents a possible attack on the encryption scheme. These MIC errors cannot be turned off on the controllers.
2)Use the "countermeasure tkip hold-time" configuration interface command to configure a TKIP MIC failure holdtime. If the access point detects two MIC failures within 60 seconds, it blocks all the TKIP clients on that interface for the holdtime period.Default is 60 seconds which is a good value to be configured.If needed the time can be reduced.

Skype ignores mic/cam settings, forces all enabled

This is completely unacceptable. No software should be permitted to bypass system settings without a confirmation dialogue, and it certainly should not be able to enable hardware which is explicitly (if not destructively) disabled.
The mic I can deal with (at least it has an option to use an inactive input), but not allowing the webcam to be turned off? Who thought that was a good idea?
I can never make video calls and I can physically block the camera, but why is that necessary? Why can't I just say "don't use this" and be done with it?

Eaxcatly the same symptoms for me - help would be appreciated

N95 8GB Camera question

Hi,
I just got my phone and I love it so far! but I'm puzzled as to why the camera is unprotected? Didn't the earlier version have a shutter?
I'm very careful with it, and really don't want to hide it in a custom "sock" :-) ... I'm just surprised. Why offer 5mp and a Carl Zeiss lens and leave it unprotected?

03-May-2008 10:35 AM
henry_bell wrote:
Incidentally, according to my local nokia shop, they decided not to include the shutter on the N958GB because people complained about the shutter catching on their clothes and opening in their pockets.
Sound like nonsense to you?
To be honest, yes. I've never had my N95's shutter open on its own in my pocket and it sounds more like the bloke was searching for a plausible answer to the question why the shutter was removed.
I think it was simply a way to reduce the production cost of the handset.
Maybe Nokia will consider putting it back on future models if enough people raise the concern.
Was this post helpful? If so, please click on the white "Kudos!" star below. Thank you!

Remote camera question

Not sure how to do this of if it can be done.
I'd like to be able to use a remote wireless camera paired with either my iBookG4 or PBookG4 and be able to access the camera's lens from a remote location online. In other words, if I have the remote targeting a certain area of my home while I'm not there, can I use my other laptop for viewing???
Mucho thanks,
Carolyn

Yes, presuming that the camera either can connect directly to a network or that it's connected to a computer with appropriate webcam-type software.
You might find this CNET article helpful.
Cheers.

N73 vga camera question

Hi,does anybody has the same problem as me >
the 3g camera shows very bad quality and when i go to a dark place i see nothing,just blue dots?

sure, the 3G Cam is made on under light conditions it doesn't work effective under dim lights, if you close light behind you it will work, the blue dots resemebles the lack of Light, get light and it'll get rid of the blue dots..

Updating Media / Camera question?????

I am thinking of updating camera equipment and shooting media and formats... final output is dvd... currently shooting with sony PDRx10 3 ccd....
dvC tape
Anyone got any favorite cameras for bringing projects to completion in FCE.... ?

Trying this around the block again.
I am looking for info on what camera or media format you prefer to shoot in for your FCE projects

Mic & camera questions

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