Among my interest in shooting video in the zen like Solo VJ paradigm, I also research quite a bit on the idea of paring down ones possessions as a means of reducing ones clutter, simplifying your life if you will.

One area that I’ve taken an interest in is in the realm of what solo video journalists can actually utilize that combines small size, yet has as high a quality of image and take that same concept into the post production process.

For those who see the web as a viable platform for content distribution, the burden of carrying large, heavy and expensive video gear becomes a thing of the past.  Myriads of consumer, and prosumer HDV video cameras are available that take this idea and can make it work.

So I’m going to touch on my recommendations for gear for those who are serious shooters, not the typical writer who is having to shoot video as a part of their work.  This first in this series is about the best solution for cameras based upon price versus performance up to this point in time.

Cameras:

There are HD video cameras available on the market that provide the necessary functions for shooting video content at more than a casual level.  I have mentioned the necessary features in the past but I’m going to repeat them as a refresher.

• Microphone Input
• Headphone jack to monitor audio
• Manual White Balance
• Manual Mic Audio level adjustment
• Manual Exposure Control
• Manual Focus Control
• Firewire Connectivity (Tape based ingest)

Each of these features should be available to the shooter, no matter what their level of expertise is.  This comes from personal and professional experience. You can shoot in auto everything and as you gain experience, you begin to find you want more control over the cameras features – having these options available allows you to become more creative in your shooting as you gain experience.

The cameras will typically be one chip HDV or AVCHD cameras.  The ones currently on the market that have become mainstays for solo vj’s looking for a balance of small size and high image quality include the:

Tape Based Cameras

Tape based acquisition is still considered by many the best solution due to the tape being the immediate archive of acquired footage.  It’s readily available, inexpensive, and reduces the need for purchasing hard drives to archive the content as compared to content shot to memory cards.

The tape based cameras I suggest include:

• SONY HC7, HC9
• Canon HV20, 30, 40
• SONY A1U, which is unique for having XLR mic input compared to the other cameras which utilize a 3.5mm or 1/8″ mini jack.

I recommend these cameras because the HDV codec is a known quantity – is well supported even in older NLE’s that support it and produce broadcast quality footage when setup properly in exposure.

AVCHD Based Cameras

Flash memory HD acquisition is based around the highly compressed AVCHD codec standard.  These cameras utilize either a large capacity hard drive inside the camcorder or use flash based cards that provide immediate access to the files on the card – which for tight deadlines, can be an advantage.  The trade offs are you need a hefty computer to transcode the AVCHD files to be able to edit them.  I recommend staying away from cameras that have an internal hard drive and instead, find a camera that has dual memory slots to allow for uninterrupted shooting  without fear of moving parts breaking down – which is typical for traditional hard drives when they are handled roughly.

The cameras I recommend include:

• The Canon HF-S series of cameras
• The SONY CX-300 and 500 series cameras

AVCHD cameras are the new kids on the block compared to HDV based cameras.  They provide excellent image quality, but at the cost of a highly compressed file format that can bring most computers to its knees when trying to edit the file format.  Transcoding (to be discussed in a future article) is the best solution – especially if laptop editing.

MIC Jacks

With regards to the type of mic jack available on the camera, my research has concluded through personal experience and advice from other pro’s that there is virtually no difference in audio quality between these two connector types.  XLR does provide a wider range of higher end shotgun mics and a more robust connection, but as you’ll soon discover, using a mic with a 3.5mm lack isn’t any less effective than using an XLR type mic – old prejudices don’t die easily.  In addition, the mini jack type mics currently available are quite affordable and I’m going to try and dispel many opinions that what is needed for higher end broadcast type work is overkill for producing video for the web – even as technology pushes into the realm of 1080p video for the web.

In Part two of this equipment series, I’ll look at compact mics for use on these compact HD cameras.

Paris, France/Nevada City, Calif., March 2, 2010 — Continuing to extend the reach of its EDIUS® PC-based nonlinear editing (NLE) software, at NAB 2010 Grass Valley™ will unveil the latest updated version, which now includes real time, full resolution AVCHD editing already released for the EDIUS Neo 2 Booster package.  This new feature is ideally suited to the professional and prosumer videographer who shoots and/or edits AVCHD video and desires native real-time performance when editing material compressed with the AVCHD format. In addition, EDIUS 5.5 is now fully Windows 7 compatible.

AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is a format for the recording and playback of high definition video. The format allows recording HD video onto DVD discs, SD/SDHC memory cards, and hard disk drives. AVCHD is also compatible with the Blu-ray Disc format and can be used for authoring and distribution of HD video.

Aside from EDIUS, no other NLE on the market offers native, full-resolution, real-time editing of multiple layers of AVCHD material. With the new Grass Valley AVCHD engine, EDIUS 5.5 can edit more than three layers of full resolution, full frame-rate AVCHD in real time.

Current users who have registered their EDIUS (5.0 or higher) software can download and install the update with Win 7 support and this new AVCHD support at no additional charge. Upgrading will bring all the benefits of EDIUS 5.5, including bonus software, GPU fx, partial clip transfer, Blu-ray disc writing and more, in addition to this new AVCHD editing capability and Windows 7 support.

“EDIUS has proven to be particularly successful in news editing and professional production, but is also being used for independent filmmaking, commercial production, creation of video exhibits for court, and other applications,” said Jeff Rosica, Senior Vice President of Grass Valley. “The new features in EDIUS help streamline the AVCHD workflow for potentially thousands of EDIUS users who are working with the new generation of smaller, lightweight camcorders that capture images with this format.”

While EDIUS had previously supported native AVCHD editing, the workflow was not practical, as users generally had to convert AVCHD clips to the Canopus HQ format before editing – requiring a manual process and a time delay before editing could begin. With the release of EDIUS 5.5, professionals can now bring native AVCHD clips to the bin within EDIUS and drop them on the timeline without experiencing any performance limitations. They can add clips and stills in any format supported by EDIUS at the same time without transcoding and rewrapping. There are no extra steps necessary before editing can start.

EDIUS is unique in its ability to allow editors natively in full-resolution and in real time, using any mix of formats that EDIUS supports. With EDIUS, users can mix and match formats, codecs, resolutions, aspect ratios on the timeline and still edit natively and in real-time. Now, With EDIUS 5.5, this is possible with AVCHD as well.

Pricing and Availability

As of April, the new Grass Valley EDIUS 5.5 will be available free for all current users of EDIUS 5.0 or higher.  If a user has already created a login on our support site and registered their EDIUS 5 product, the update will be available there as soon as it is released. Users who have not registered should create a login and register their EDIUS 5 product.

Users of EDIUS 4.x can upgrade from EDIUS 4 Pro to EDIUS 5 for $399 or EDIUS 4 Broadcast to EDIUS 5 for $299. They should then register EDIUS 5 as indicated above. The update will then be available there for download when it is released.

After being an advocate for SONY Vegas since version 7, the latest iteration has become too unreliable to rely upon in my video post production work.

The last project I shot and started initially editing in Vegas Pro 9  resulted in a mess in trying to edit content that had been transcoded to Cineform Neo Scene AVI files that were “SUPPOSE” to work no sweat in Vegas Pro.  Known issues with Red frames on clips that required restarting several times, lackluster timeline playback, glitches with Cineform not displaying properly in the preview monitor – I had my fill.

I had to find another cost effective tool to use, and I had to find it quickly.  I had upgraded to Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, which is probably the best OS Microsoft has produced in several years, but Vegas Pro 9 64 bit, which is suppose to be certified to work on Windows 7, became even more unstable than ever for this approximately 6 minute video I shot and needed to get edited, so I had few choices available to me.  I had used Cineform Neo Scene transcoded AVI’s as usual – it seemed I was left with a mess and wasn’t sure if I had any viable options.

I caught wind of Edius Neo 2.0 by Thompson Grass Valley and since they had a fully functional 30 day trial, I thought I would give it a shot.

Edius is now owned by Grass Valley and is well known in the broadcast industry.  Their hardware  is considered defacto standard in many tv stations around the world.  Their acquisition of Edius has rounded out their hardware offerings with an NLE that is rock solid and just works.

Unfortunately, I had to rebuild my project from scratch since Neo 2 has no provision for importing EDL’s, and besides.  I later discovered that  Vegas Pro doesn’t export a proper EDL in the first place, so I was left with no other choice but to rebuild the project from scratch.

I went back and forth, placing clips on the timeline as they were laid out in Vegas and recreating my first part of the edit in Edius Neo 2.

Then I needed to continue building the project with additional clips accordingly.  IT was building nicely with no issues at all.  I took my original m2t clips and then let Edius do it’s magic.

A compelling feature of Edius is it has it’s own codec built in to transcode – the Canopus HQ codec.

Similar in concept to  Cineform Neo Scene, Avid DNxHD and Apple’s ProRes.  It transforms Long GOP footage and transcodes it into frame based AVI’s for better performance in editing while maintaining image quality if having to take the footage out to another application like After Effects for advanced color grading, etc.

All I can say is Edius Neo 2 is solid as a rock.  Performance is exceptional.  Edius Neo 2 is feature limited – there are no scopes, no advanced file format support, or ability to do advanced audio editing, but I found the last item can be circumvented to a degree with free Audio VST plugins that allow you to sweeten the audio.  But for the vast majority of web based solovj’s it’s an ideal tool for post production.

In many respects, the Edius Neo 2 is the Windows counterpart to Apple’s Final Cut Express.  But with the ability to utilize Neo 2 on a Windows based desktop and laptop – both of which are substantially lower in cost compared to Apple’s proprietary hardware offerings, Neo 2 far surpasses FCE in overall total cost and performance.  IN addition, for those wanting to edit AVCHD footage in real time, Grass Valley released Neo Booster 2.5, which allows for three or more AVCHD video tracks to play back in real time – with the appropriate computer hardware (the new Intel i5/i7 CPU’s).  Otherwise, you can transcode to Canopus HQ AVI’s and you’re good to go.

The downside of transcoding is two fold.  The time it takes to transcode in itself and the corresponding increased hard drive space required to work with Canopus HQ AVI’s since they expand a clip as much as eight times it’s original size.

But that’s the trade off  one has to make for improved performance.

I’ll still occasionally use Vegas Pro – especially for older projects I edited with it, but after this experience, Edius has become my new NLE.

For those producing video based content for the web, Edius Neo 2/Booster 2.5 is just the ticket.

I highly recommend it.

You can learn more about the Edius Neo 2 from Grass Valley and download the 30 day trial from their website

“Why I’m glad I made the transition from ABC News off-air producer to New York Times videojournalist.”

That’s the introductory statement NYTimes VJ Erik Olsen made in an article posted on Digital Journalist – and one I feel speaks loudly above the cacophony of the detractors of self contained shooter/producers.

The changing landscape of creating video content is creating a wave of hostility around the massive paradigm shift that continues to take place – diverging away from multiperson news video production crews to self contained “Digital Journalists” or as I like to say – being a “One Man Army”.

As visual content creators, we need to reinvent what we do and how we do it.

Ive begun to edit another shooters work, who comes from the old style of shooting.  This has shown me just how threatening it can be to those who are use to shooting with several people while trying to manage all that is entailed when beginning to work in a self contained paradigm.

The quality of the work as I edit speaks for itself.  And I’ve begun to realize that for my professional colleagues, the ability to manage wearing several hats at the same time – and do it well, may end up pushing them over the edge.  Others – like myself, actually thrive on the challenge and I have found through trial and error that I actually become a better shooter/producer in the process.

Back to the article, Olsen goes on to say that:

Like any photographer, as a shooter/producer, you ultimately develop your own specific techniques, and you’re learning new ones all the time by watching others’ work…

Being a VJ means that you are totally responsible for what the viewer sees. These are your images, your words, your edits. You are usually alone in the field. And since you are working out in the real world (and not, say, a studio) where things don’t always go according to plan, you have to think on your feet.”

I have learned that this is very much the case – at least in my work.  The agility of being self contained has its rewards – but in many respects – can be more difficult and there are limitations to what you can produce.  I don’t see these as limitations as much as parameters in which I can operate effectively.

The ability to go out on my own, find a story, research it, shoot it – while not only having to maintain all that is entailed with the technical aspects of shooting a story, but shoot a COMPELLING story is the stuff that gets my juices flowing.  I know that what I shoot, how I shoot it and edit the piece, is my vision – no matter what tool I use to capture the content.

“I think we have one of the best jobs in journalism. Video is exploding online, and there is a great deal of experimentation going on with new tools and narrative forms.” says Olsen.

I think he’s absolutely correct in this statement.  The playing field has been leveled, the gatekeepers have been fired, and it is upon us to utilize this opportunity and make sure the high standard of quality is maintained, while competing in this field since many will make the assumption that they will automatically become pro’s just because of the tools they use – without the necessary skills needed to be considered a working professional solo vj.

Olsen concludes with this:  “Being a one-man band…  allows us remarkable editorial and creative control over our work. It is a real thrill to not only define and develop the narrative for a story, but also to choose the images that will go along with it, and then be able to come back and assemble them according to your own vision. Having come from network television news, where we had cameramen and soundmen and producers and editors and so on, I know that this is a rarity. But this is obviously the direction that much of the industry is going. That’s why being a digital journalist today, despite the troubles the industry as a whole is facing, is one of the most exciting and interesting occupations around.”

I couldn’t agree more

Yes – it has been awhile.  Too long To be honest.

With the economy having made many a casualty (including yours truly) of Wall Street Corporate Greed, those of us who have the passion to continue when all seems lost, have had much occur in our field of endeavor.

In that time, DSLR Video Cinematography has taken hold, proving yet again the accelerated pace at which technology can outpace ones ability to keep up in equipment upgrades.

I spent two and a half hours in a skype voice chat with my mentor David Dunkley-Gyimah recently and the insights into what solovj’ism is becoming has begun to reshape – to go through yet another paradigm shift into a realm of whether true journalism in itself can be one’s bread and butter.

Having said that – I think shooters who are looking at dslr video as the savior of the profession need to take a hard look at the profession as a whole.

I have a personal take on this:  It’s the operator, not the tool people.

Many are trying to do it all , but it’s my belief that when one tries to be everything to everyone, the end product  usually ends up being a mediocre one.

Shallow DOF is a gimmick for most – there are those complaining that they aren’t moving to it because it doesn’t work in auto focus – quit being so damn lazy.  Todays latest generation of shooters have virtually no idea of what it means to use a total manual focus setup and train yourself to follow focus.  I did it back in the day of shooting with my Canon T90’s and even the original EOS 620’s I used – I still shot in manual focus and I very rarely missed a shot – it separated the men from the boys so to speak.

Many are so obsessed with all the gear, the cameras, high speed primes, matte boxes, shoulder mounts, etc, that they’ve forgotten the true essence of  serious visual content creation – they’re more interested in looking cool than doing more with less.

It’ s time for arm chair shooters to go thru a paradigm shift – quit complaining because in essence, you’re lazy – learn to use the tools you have at your disposal – most barely use their current  tools to their fullest capabilities – myself included (I still use my tape based SONY HC7’s – they still produce technically excellent footage).  If you can’t accomplish a project with your current tools, that’s when it’s time to look at upgrading – but let’s be real here – it’s the operator, not the tool that creates compelling content.

Get over the hamster wheel upgrade cycle the camera manufacturers and the propagandists would have you buy into and get out and shoot something worthwhile.

Michael Rosenblum, the ever present wave maker in the profession of shooting video, has once again proven his point around why the move to the solo video journalist paradigm is inevitable – even more so with this recent announcement from broadcast giant ABC.

Rosenblum posted that ABC News announced major layoffs with 300-400 positions being eliminated.

Most interesting in the announcement  is the decision by David Westin that the network news organization is going to move toward VJ based newsgathering.

Imagine that??? (Sarcasm mine)

In his posting Rosenblum points out the  transformation will have six basic components:

1. 1. In newsgathering, ABC intends to dramatically expand their use of digital journalists. They have proven that this model works at various locations around the world and believe they can take it much further;
2. In production, ABC will take the example set by Nightline of editorial staff who shoot and edit their own material and follow it throughout all of their programs, while recognizing that they will continue to rely upon their ENG crews and editors for most of our work;
3. In structure, ABC will combine their weekday and weekend operations for both Good Morning America and World News;
4. In special events, ABC will rely upon their program staff through the day and night to cover unexpected events and marshal personnel from across the division to cover scheduled events;
5. In newsmagazines and long-form programming, they will move to a more flexible blend of staff and freelancers so that they can respond to varying demand for hours through the year; and
6. Overall, ABC will eliminate redundancies wherever possible.

Many a detractor who comes from the traditional broadcast shooting environment rails against the idea of self contained production – claiming it diminishes the quality of the final product.

Have you seen the quality of what comes from broadcast these days?  It’s stuck in the 90’s in it’s creativity – ie; there isn’t any.

Rosenblum chides the detractors with the following statement:

…one of the questions that I have been asked ad-nauseum for the past 25 years has at last been answered:

“If this is such a good idea, how come no network news operations do this?”

Now, they do.

Hear that???  It’s crickets chirping since the detractors have nothing to say…

MultimediaShooter has an excellent posting entitled “Multimedia Rules To Live By and Seven Steps to Training Yourself”, which I find interesting in that I’ve been doing this for my professional life first as a photojournalist and later on crossing over into the realm of shooting as a solo video journalist.

The posting on MultimediaShooter delves into such topics as “Before you can break the rules, you need to know the rules.”

Richard Koci Hernandez goes into detail with  a few rules he lives by and some tips on how to train yourself.  Although he writes the posting with a visual journalists perspective, I still believe it can be applied to specialization – ie; shooting video only.

I’m a firm believer in going the route of intensive bootcamps for training as well as self study to acquire a true sense of ones ability to produce compelling content.  Many spend a great deal of time in formal education only to come out with formulaic cookie cutter skills that not only put them in debt, but when it comes time to go to work, are being paid a substandard wage most of the time.

Although I have no qualms with going through a formal education, I do believe the best way to get from point A to point B is via the shortest route possible.

Richard goes on to mention in the posting his Seven Steps to Training Yourself and I realized after reading his list, I’ve been doing the very things he’s recommending.  And I highly recommend it to others who may not be so inclined to go through four years of formal education.

Richard is a gifted visual content creator and I’ve admired his work from a distance. He is also a gifted teacher so any advice he provides, I’m applying to my own self study to further my capabilities.

Look over the article and I believe for many, it will hit the nail on the head to become more successful in this ever increasingly competitive profession.

A lecture by Tom Kennedy

Former National Geographic Director of Photography and Managing Editor of Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive speaks about his and the visual journalism profession’s transition to the digital age.

Mr. Kennedy uses examples from his illustrious career to shed light on the future of journalism and lay out the 20 lessons he has learned from his experiences. Kennedy is currently a Resident Professional at the Knight Center for International Media at the School of Communication, University of Miami. This lecture took place on February 17, 2010 as part of the School of Communication’s annual “Communication Week.”

The Neiman Journalism Lab’s Ted Delaney interviewed NBC News digital journalist Mara Schiavocampo recently about her leap into working in multiple media.

Part 1
(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)
Click On Image To Watch Video – Part 1

Part 2
(Please open the article to see the flash file or player.)
Click On Image To Watch Video – Part 2

Again, the detractors stating that news video journalism needs to be done with a multi-person production crew is debunked.

You can read the complete two part series on the Neiman Journalism Lab’s website

As I progress to become more solid in my shooting process, one area that has eluded my understanding is how to use Zebra stripes – and when to use them.

My HC7’s give me the option to set either 70 or 100 , but it’s confused me as to which one to use for a given situation – and why.

I posted my question on the ever helpful SONY Vegas Forums and requested in layman’s terms which setting to use and why.

Douglas Spotted Eagle, who is well known in the SONY Vegas community and is part of Sundance Media Group offered this very straight forward answer to my question:

Image Courtesy of The Dvshow

Image Courtesy of The Dvshow

If you’re looking at skin, then overexposure is a major concern. IRE set to 70 is a good indicator point, and commonly used. Skin falls nicely between 75/85 IRE. Seeing a tad of zebra on a balanced face isn’t an issue at all. Seeing a lot of 70IRE zebra on a balanced face is a big flag.

100 IRE displays the upper limits of exposure. If you hit 110 IRE with a camera, you’re blown out/irrecoverable, and will have white “splotches” in the video.”

I also followed up with the question around using a white card for determining max value for white and then adjusting accordingly until the Zebras just disappear off the card.  It appears my thoughts around this were correct – you have a base exposure value and all other tonal values fall accordingly below the pure white of the reference white card.  This would be an excellent technique in a controlled lighting situation such as when interviewing someone with a lighting kit.

It’s important to fully understand this fundamental skill for shooting video right the first time by obtaining correct exposure – and why getting a video camera with the necessary features is critically important – more so than being sold a bill of goods on a camera that is more than a solo vj needs for specific kinds of work.

Cameras like the SONY HC7/9, Canon Vixia HV20/30/40, and other cameras that provide this feature can be utilized as an entry point for shooters looking to a career working as a solo video journalist ie; self contained videographer.

My thanks to Douglas Spotted Eagle for providing a straight forward response to my question.