MacVideo "Rick Young's Blog"

Do it properly

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:08:00 GMT

You've got to wonder, with all the millions of cameras out there, why don't people white balance?

Revolution going on

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:38:00 GMT

There's a revolution in audio acquisition going on.

More thoughts about tape

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:35:00 GMT

Following on from last week... So if tape is so close to death than why am I buying in 100 tapes or more every three months - the answer is cheap insurance.

Tape is past the prime of its life

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:32:00 GMT

You know tapes not dead, but it is certainly past the prime of it's life. In fact it has reached the point, for a lot of projects, that tape is completely unsuitable.

RED blazes a new direction - the world is watching

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:38:00 GMT

At NAB 2008 RED Digital Cinema showed off prototypes of Scarlet and Epic. Scarlet was to be a 3K digital cinema camera and Epic was to be 5K. RED boldly declared that the one thing we can all count on with RED is that everything will change. They have lived up to this motto and now, once again, in mid-November 2008, RED has rewritten the camera rulebook, completely redesigned both Scarlet and Epic, and lived up to their reputation as being the most innovative of the camera manufacturers on the planet today.

Dealing with audio

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:47:00 GMT

I'm filming in the South of France, brought enough gear to do most things and I'm glad I did.

The Movie Camera is a Time Machine

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:40:00 GMT

I was watching some footage from 1927. Most of it was overexposed and fluctuated in quality but it was historic so the quality was insignificant compared to the content.

Do we need the Speed

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:48:00 GMT

USB has become what I use for pretty much all my editing work these days. Once I was FireWire only - now I buy USB at the rate of several each month.

Shoot to kill

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:47:00 GMT

I've been on a Compact Flash odyssey for months now. This has been been a journey of success and frustration. What seemed ideal - the idea of dual shooting to card and tape has worked to a point but not with total success.

Genuine Parts Please

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:25:00 GMT

I ordered in two Sony NPF970 batteries for my HVR-Z7 this week. I must have a collection of 6 Sony batteries which work with this camera, some up to 10 years old and barely working, and another 3 from a third party manufacturer.

Chasing Payment

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Had an invoice outstanding for over 3 months. So I called the client weeks ago and they promised to sort it out.

64 Gigabytes of Freedom

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:25:00 GMT

EX1 loaded with 2 x 32GB cards. At High Quality that gives just under 4 hours of recording time. At Standard Quality it is closer to 5 hours.

Terabyte Drives for £89

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:35:00 GMT

So I ordered in two USB one terabyte drives.

Dealing with clients

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:46:00 GMT

All they want is the gold and no dirt.

Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 heralds new era for HD acquisition

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:59:00 GMT

Within days of IBC concluding Canon announced to the world that the replacement to the EOS 5D digital still camera would be released. This is a full-frame digital still camera and the first to record 1920 x 1080p video. For anyone following the digital movie recording on D SLRs this is exciting news.

Unlocked music tracks and implications for video downloads

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:57:00 GMT

It was announced this week that 7digital.com is to offer music downloads, in competition with Apple's iTunes store - for the same price of 79P per track - but with a difference: the download files will not be locked.

High end digital still cameras to shoot video

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:04:00 GMT

The madness of it all

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:13:00 GMT

A 16GB card costs £425. A 32GB costs £870. What I really want is 2 x 32GB cards which will give close to 4 hours shooting, which is just what I need. I’ll be shooting at least 4 hours each day.

But the dilemma is shelling out the money. To spend £1750 on cards is a significant amount of cash. I could buy 4 HDV tapes for less than £10 and...

The Modular Camera

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:13:00 GMT

The first productions I ever worked on were shot and cut on 16mm film. Arriflex BLs and Eclair NPRs and ACLs, 400 foot loads, Magnatechs and PAGs in the audio mixing room - these were monstrous machines, running in sync, loaded with 16mm mag-sprocketed tape. We worked with ridiculous shooting ratios, the workflow was primitive but solid and reliable, and in the editing room all we could do was cut, not even dissolve.

Warranties

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:59:00 GMT

Got myself a Sony Z7 camera. Had it for 4 and 5 months. This camera does what Sony calls “hybrid” recording, meaning it records to both solid state media and tape. I find it very useful for clients who want tapes handed over. I shoot to tape and card, they get the tapes, and I’ve got a record on CF card. For me it’s the best of all worlds.

Well my...

Got myself an iPhone

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:32:00 GMT

Then the 3G iPhone hit the market. I was ready to jump into membership of the iPhone club but there was no way I was going to cue up for the privilege. I was far too busy to wait in line and waste valuable time. I would wait until they were readily available.

Less than a week ago I visited the town centre close to where I live, dropped by the O2 store and they said they...

Don't Panic

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:54:00 GMT

The job took 2 days to shoot, 3 days to edit. It all turned out well. I was proud of the work I had done.

The Media Manager is Bliss

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:27:00 GMT

For years I've been working with the Media Manager in Final Cut Pro and always had an absolute liking of this incredibly useful, though sometimes imperfect tool.

Blu-ray is good but...

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:14:00 GMT

You know Blu-ray is good but I find it just doesn't offer the capacity I need.

Why I Love My Redheads

rick_young@macvideo.tv — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:37:00 GMT

In the mid to late ‘80's I was at film school. We shot with Arriflex BLs and Eclair ACL's and NPR's. Sennheiser 416 gun mics and Red Heads and Blondes for lighting.