The Nikon P7700 – a compact stills/video powerhouse.

Video DSLRS have revolutionized the way we shoot video at all levels of production. But can the same thoughts now be applied to smaller internal-zoom cameras? They can all shoot full HD now. Add a microphone input, a built-in hot shoe & image stabilization, and lots of external controls, and it becomes a capable production tool.

The advantages are obvious. You don’t have to carry around several different lenses, or bother with lens changes because something is too close or too far. Another key advantage in this particular camera is the f2 – f4 28-200mm, image stabilized, Nikkor lens you get in a $399 (street) camera. A DSLR lens alone with that capability would cost you considerably more than the Nikon P7700, before you even add a camera body.

But what are the caveats?

Mastering the Dallas Screenwriter’s Association – 2011 Short Film Showcase

What does it take to master 11 DVD’s, 4 WMVs, and 3 .mov’s onto one disc? Not a lot. But it does take a thorough of understanding what goes into mastering a DVD and what the shortest distance is between Source and Delivery.

The Dallas Screenwriters Association had gathered more than 12 movies for it’s 2011 Showcase. Add to this some PSA’s and some new media created specifically for this program, and you have the makings for a special challenge. But there’s a way around this potentially tricky multiformat maze that enabled the finished DVD to be delivered in just a couple days- and that includes delays for work on other projects, and the need to create a few new media bits.

You Tube Rents Videos – Mine Included!

YouTube recently added rentals to their streaming portfolio, and with a catalogue of outdoor adventure videos that were basically sitting dormant here, I decided to bring the entire video series into the new Millennium- including direct sales on Amazon, streaming on Amazon Unbox, rentals on YouTube and availability on Netflix’ portfolio.

I’m in the finishing the Amazon process with my first video there, and was just notified that two of my videos were approved for rental on YouTube.

Incredible Sony Z7 information!

You may just want to learn French to really understand (correctly) all the information on this site. I’ve included a little bit of it here, and did my best to straighten out the rough automated translation– but all of this is just one section, of FOUR.

So without further hesitation, here’s the Sony HVR-Z7 as you’ve not yet seen it (in English):

HDD / floppy now does FW800.

I’ve mentioned this handy dandy little dock twice before, but now it adds FireWire 800 which makes it usable with far more computers than with just the SATA revision it previously received. This is good news.

Despite USB 2.0 being ubiquitous, test speeds have repeatedly demonstrated that it can’t even keep up with FW400. Now that you can treat your hard drive like a floppy (stick it in the slot- read the data) and do it at FW800 speeds. This little tool seems pretty darn handy at just $166.

CompactFlash Media Test Results.

We’ve worked with an early adopter of the Sony HVR-Z7U to test 10 different compact flash cards currently available. The test results of Marshall Levy, of Maverick Productions, will answer the following questions: Do you need to spend the extra money to get the absolutely fastest media available? What does the extra money actually buy? What kind of errors will we have by starting and stopping recording to compact flash over 100 times?
These are the questions we answer right now.

Open letter to Steve Jobs. Re: Mac Mini Pro.

Dear Steve,

The MacBook Air is cute. The iMacs are cute.
The Mini is cute. iPods, cute again.
But the Mac Pro is an expensive behemoth.

You see, I’m one of those “Pros” that you target your $1300 software to…
I’m not looking for “cute.” Nor am I looking to get screwed.
So, I’d like you to make a Mac Mini Pro.

Firewire increases from 400 to 3200 Mbps. But why?

I am an event videographer who has long used DV and silently given thanks many times to those engineers who replaced 12+ cables between my Betacam deck and my capture system (Y in, Y out, R-Y in, R-Y out, B-Y in, B-Y out, Aud-L in, Aud-L out, Aud-R in, Aud-R out, Genlock, RS-422) with one, small wire. FireWire (as apple calls it) and iLink (as Sony calls it) are the IEEE-1394 specification. (Bonus points for the first person who can identify the black AV IO box pictured here in the comments)

First it was FW400 (400 Mbps) and then FW800. But many years have passed since FW800 shipped and the normal rate of development that had us expecting FW1600, etc, left us grossly disappointed for years.

Well, now the 1394 Trade Association has ratified a FW3200 speed.
But will anyone care? …