I gather we appeared on Torrent yesterday, the Canadian G4 tech TV series hosted by Amber MacArthur. (Gosh, wasn’t it great when we had a channel like that in the US?).

We knew we were going to appear, but weren’t sure when. The last few months have had more than our share of ups and downs, but we have a couple things in production, due out very soon, and I’ve got a brand-spanking new Macbook just itching to edit some video!

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During our trip to Taiwan, some of the plans we’d made went horribly awry. First, I had a series of technical problems that ruined a fair amount of the footage. (Lessons learned, one and all) Second, my father-in-law’s “High Speed” cable connection turned out to have the effective throughput of a 48K modem, which really fouled up John’s and my plans to develop and edit content simultaneously on two continents. It was difficult enough to upload photographs, transferring video was impossible.

We did produce some pieces, which will show up in later episodes.

Since my return, between work and a progressive series of cold and flus for myself and my family, time hasn’t been available.

However, with the new year, we’ve got a couple episodes lined up and I should be posting them shortly.

We really appreciate the support and feedback we’ve received so far. It makes it all worthwhile.

Thanks!

Episode Three – The Field Kit

Show Notes
Episode 3 discusses a minimal list of equipment you can carry when travelling.

Sometimes video can be successful no matter how poor the technical quality just by having a camera at the right place and the right time, but more often success comes down to planning more than anything else.

When you’re travelling on holiday, you don’t necessarily want to carry a large amount of gear, but you can choose a few items judiciously that can be of considerable value.

Kit Items

• Camcorder – It should go without saying, but your camcorder is the cornerstone of your field kit
• Headphones – Microphones don’t work like human ears. Noises that you can tune out become blaringly obvious once recorded. Using a set of headphones on location to listen to the sound can reveal ambient noises that can distract the listener and ruin the recording. (If you’re shooting for a while, you should periodically re-check the audio, sometimes a breeze comes up and spoils the later takes (I’ve heard that happens ))
• Microphone – Microphones come in many kinds, but for lightweight convenience, the lavalier microphone can’t be beat. Lavalier mics clip to your clothing and are generally only good for one person. You’ll probably need some way to extend your distance from the camera. If you use an extension cable, make sure that it doesn’t generate noise. A more expensive option would be a wireless arrangement, but do make sure that you can legally use the frequency the mic operates on.
• Batteries (and Charger) – Batteries add weight, but in the field, the more batteries you have, the longer you can record. Plan accordingly. The batteries will become useless if you haven’t got a means to re-charge them.
• Tripod – For lightweight travel, a small portable tripod can serve you well. Be aware that small tripods can be unstable, so protect your camera and tripod from being knocked over.
• Wide-angle Lens – I’m taking a wide-angle screw-on attachment. They’re great taping in small rooms, or when you’re trying to take in a wide vista. Be aware that they can make people look unflatteringly fat. This is strictly optional, but I’ve found it useful enough to add to my standard kit.
• Telephoto – Like the wide-angle converter, this is strictly optional. I consider digital zoom to be pure evil, so I like to enhance the optical zoom on my camera as much as possible.
• Lens Cleaning Kit – Make sure have something lens-safe for cleaning the gunk that builds up.
• Filters – If nothing else, get a clear filter and put it on the front of your camcorder and leave it there, just to protect the lens. There are a varierty of other filters, skylight, UV and Neutral Density that you may wish to have to compensate for certain lighting conditions. We’ll discuss filters in greater detail on a later episode.
• Editing computer – Although not exactly in the “field kit” a laptop computer and appropriate software for video processing means you can work on your footage whereever you are.

Although not directly mentioned in the episode, make sure you’ve got a convenient case or pack to carry your equipment in and keep it handy. Make sure you’ve got plenty of tapes, and pen/marker for labelling them. Label the tapes as you open them and put them in the camera, and log what you shoot. It’ll save lots of time in post-production.

The next episode of Ninja Team will be posted from Taiwan, stay tuned to see what it will be about. Also, I’ll be putting my kit to the test by vlogging and blogging over at lonelocust.com starting September 27th.

During September, John will be out working on a movie shoot in Colorado (I had to back out for family reasons ) and I’ll be getting ready of a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is vlogging tour of Taiwan. More on that in the episode when it is released. In the meantime, get your H.264 players ready.

You can find it at videolan.org. It’s great!

That’s why we started this site.

Incidentally, I won’t normally blog other people entries, but very seldom do I see an entry somewhere where someone so clearly “gets it.” Clint also has some good tech videos. Check them out.

Clint Sharp’s Blog an’ Vlog » Blog Archive » Why can’t bloggers understand text turned to video?

Question: Why do you use H.264 codec? Where can I get it, all I can find is Quicktime 6.5?

Answer: H.264 is really, really cool. It’s produces amazing results. It can reduce a 1.85gb DV file to 150mb at full resolution with very little degradation of image quality and no visible problems with high-motion scenes. It is the coming standard for multimedia from cell phones up to High Definition TV.

We assemble this program on a Powermac using FinalCut Pro. Quicktime is the default format on a Mac, and QuickTime 7 has been available on the Mac for some time now, and in this case, H.264 is the best quality codec available to us.

The problem is that QT 7 hasn’t been officially released on the Windows platform. The Preview Release for Windows has been available for some time now, and it works well. We’re really surprised the final version hasn’t been released.

Meanwhile on the Apple site, the QT Preview Release is a little hard to spot, so here’s a direct link: Quicktime 7 for Windows Public Preview 2
The direct link for the Mac version is here: Quicktime 7

Depending on how things go, we might consider producing an XVID version if demand warrants it. In the meantime, thanks for being patient.

Episode Two – The Tripod

Show Notes

Episode 2 covers an introduction to tripods, one of the most important accessories you can have with your camcorder. If you don’t know your way around a tripod, this episode is for you!

• Wobbly shots, while all the rage these days, are nauseating and should only be used sparingly.
• Tripods have three legs
• The legs are usually collapsable and extendable
• Holding a camcorder at the end of your arm and pointing at yourself does not produce a pleasant picture
• The camcorder attaches to the tripod’s head
• Pivoting the head so that the camcorder angles up and down is called vertical title
• Pivoting the head so that the camcorder moves level to the horizon is called horizontal pan
• Raising and lowering the head without changing the tilt or pan is called pedestal up & down
• Many tripods have a spirit level which facilitates getting the tripod level. This allows more accurate reference for tilts and pans
• Do not adjust or setup your tripod with the camcorder attached, disaster could result
• When extending the legs less then their full length, use the thicker part of the leg for greater stability
• Some tripods have convertable feet/spikes on the ends of the legs. The rubber feet are for hard surfaces, or those that might be damaged, the spikes are generally for outdoors or heavy carpets
• When you plant the tripod, place one leg aimed directly at your subject, this can help save your camera lens should the tripod be knocked over
• There are many types of tripods, including mini-pods designed especially for travel
• Monopods, while not as stable as tripods, can also improve the stability of your video and may be more convenient to carry
• You can also improvise means to stabilize your camcorder, for example, a simple sandbag can be used to cradle your camcorder and compensate for an uneven surface.

Next episode we’ll be talking about something else.

These videos are in Quicktime, H.264 codec. Sorry Windows users, the final version of QT 7 for Windows isn’t out yet, but the preview release works and can be downloaded from the same URL. We were hoping the final version would be released before this episode hit the streets.

Video files hosted at Archive.org – Internet Archive

H.264 Quicktime – Large, 720×480, 150mb
H.264 Quicktime – Small, 360×240, 44mb

Episode One – Introduction

The Ninja Team Video Project introduction has been released.

H.264 codec required, download Quicktime 7 or (Quicktime 7 Beta for you Windows users) at Apple

These are the titles for the show. They’re here as a test of the enclosure mechanism.