I am about to start equipment purchases for work on an indie film project within the next 6 weeks, and need to make a few budget-concious decisions on the inital "stuido" setup.
The film is going to be a action/comedy "zombie" flick, feature-length, shot entirely in 24p 2:3:3:2 with intent to distribute on DVD and transfer to film for theater viewing. It's more for fun than any planned profit, but we don't want to sacrifice quality if we don't have to, and want to use the equipment for profitable projects in the future. We are admittedly amateurs, but are willing to work at learning, and not technically inept. I'm a lifetime software developer and tech geek, and if you require proof of geek magnitude: www.clan-flare.org/files/lightsaber.mpg (shot with Sony Digital8, edited with Premeire, After Effects, Photoshop for hand rotoscoping old-school Lucas style)
While I am beginning to grasp many of the more sophisticated concepts, I would prefer some more professional opinions before we commit cash on hand.
The DVX100A is our camera of choice due to massive feature-set and picture quality for price range, specifically 24p w/ 2:3:3:2 pull-down (thanks for the excellent tech info on this site, I understand it now). It has become apparent that we are going to be forced to spend another $800+ (ouch) on the anamorphic lense, and I am definitely buying the guide as soon as my Paypal account works again...
Anway, here's my short list of hardware, please help me out if I'm missing something essential (very possible) or am pointing at something that will do more harm than good:
a) DVX100A
b) Anamorphic Lens adapter
c) Audio Technica AT-897 shotgun mic
d) extra battery (recommendation?)
e) tripod
f) ONE brand of high-quality DV tapes (recommendation?)
g) looks like I need a Mattebox, but have to admit that it makes my brain hurt to pay $400 for a squared cone made of velcro, especially when I have a cardboard version that fits (blasphemy, I know). The only question is filters. I'm sure someone willl (and should) tell me that I need X, Y, and Z filters that fit in ABC mattebox around my panoramic lens adaptor... probably just gonna have to clench my teeth and take the $1,500 hit like a man.
When recommending hardware, remember that I will be shooting 24p advanced, anamorphic widescreen for maximum resolution, so it will have to work in those conditions (or please give me an alternative)
For editing, I have a PC, but am planning on aquiring a laptop to handle a lot of on-site work. My target is the Toshiba P25-S676, with a 3.4 Ghz P4, up to 2 GB RAM (I'll probably have to go with 1 GB), 80 GB hard drive, 128 MB nVidia GFX 5700 graphics card (excellent for a laptop), and DVD-burner. I can always add firewire hard drives later. I plan to use the laptop as my VTR in real-time as much as possible. When shooting indoor still or small movement shots, both the camera and the laptop will have their power cables plugged in, and the video will be recorded directly to the laptop with the camcorder's mechanical heads never having to turn a single rotation (it's how I recorded the lightsaber clip on an older 1 GHz p3 Toshiba). A 17" wide-screen monitor will sure beat the viewfinder for showing the project leaders what's being shot. Before we get into huge hours of usage, however, I will get a low-end MiniDV cam for playback to PC. Of course, any recommendations for "cheap-but-won't-eat-your-quality-or-tapes" camcorders would be greatly appreciated, as well as any other hardware that I'll need.
Finally... here's the big flame-bait question that I will try to tone down with requirements: What software?
a) 24p 2:3:3:2 capture, editing, PLAYBACK, and back to DV tape.
b) capture live from camcorder without the camcorder actually recording to tape. (If the old $100 Studio DV can do this, surely a $2000 software monster can)
c) special effects: Green-screen, CG video overlays, color correction, particles, and text/titling of course, all to match the film look and framerate/exposure.
d) Export to DVD, and in prime condition for transfer to 35mm film.
e) require no proprietary hardware
What I read about Avid Express has me a bit confused... do I have to have additional hardware in my machine to use the 24p framerate for editing (isn't that Mojo?)? If so, that pretty much scraps the idea of using it for laptop editing.
I have been watching videos and reading tutorials on Discreet's Combustion 3.0, and saw on the system that I was allowed to play on that it can create 24fps projects. I don't know if it's a capture engine, but it looks awesome for compositing effects and just about everything else. If anybody has experience using 24p footage from the DVX in Combustion, please stand up.
I haven't seen anything that seems to compare to it's power for special effects mentioned in FCP or AVX, or Vegas... I'm trying to keep my development environment as simple as possible, because I may end up being able to use a room full of PC's for editing if I find something affordable and friendly enough that I can train some monkeys (pc gamers playing movie extras) to do some of the more mundane visual review jobs.
Anyway, sorry for the huge post, and thanks for any help you can provide.
The film is going to be a action/comedy "zombie" flick, feature-length, shot entirely in 24p 2:3:3:2 with intent to distribute on DVD and transfer to film for theater viewing. It's more for fun than any planned profit, but we don't want to sacrifice quality if we don't have to, and want to use the equipment for profitable projects in the future. We are admittedly amateurs, but are willing to work at learning, and not technically inept. I'm a lifetime software developer and tech geek, and if you require proof of geek magnitude: www.clan-flare.org/files/lightsaber.mpg (shot with Sony Digital8, edited with Premeire, After Effects, Photoshop for hand rotoscoping old-school Lucas style)
While I am beginning to grasp many of the more sophisticated concepts, I would prefer some more professional opinions before we commit cash on hand.
The DVX100A is our camera of choice due to massive feature-set and picture quality for price range, specifically 24p w/ 2:3:3:2 pull-down (thanks for the excellent tech info on this site, I understand it now). It has become apparent that we are going to be forced to spend another $800+ (ouch) on the anamorphic lense, and I am definitely buying the guide as soon as my Paypal account works again...
Anway, here's my short list of hardware, please help me out if I'm missing something essential (very possible) or am pointing at something that will do more harm than good:
a) DVX100A
b) Anamorphic Lens adapter
c) Audio Technica AT-897 shotgun mic
d) extra battery (recommendation?)
e) tripod
f) ONE brand of high-quality DV tapes (recommendation?)
g) looks like I need a Mattebox, but have to admit that it makes my brain hurt to pay $400 for a squared cone made of velcro, especially when I have a cardboard version that fits (blasphemy, I know). The only question is filters. I'm sure someone willl (and should) tell me that I need X, Y, and Z filters that fit in ABC mattebox around my panoramic lens adaptor... probably just gonna have to clench my teeth and take the $1,500 hit like a man.
When recommending hardware, remember that I will be shooting 24p advanced, anamorphic widescreen for maximum resolution, so it will have to work in those conditions (or please give me an alternative)
For editing, I have a PC, but am planning on aquiring a laptop to handle a lot of on-site work. My target is the Toshiba P25-S676, with a 3.4 Ghz P4, up to 2 GB RAM (I'll probably have to go with 1 GB), 80 GB hard drive, 128 MB nVidia GFX 5700 graphics card (excellent for a laptop), and DVD-burner. I can always add firewire hard drives later. I plan to use the laptop as my VTR in real-time as much as possible. When shooting indoor still or small movement shots, both the camera and the laptop will have their power cables plugged in, and the video will be recorded directly to the laptop with the camcorder's mechanical heads never having to turn a single rotation (it's how I recorded the lightsaber clip on an older 1 GHz p3 Toshiba). A 17" wide-screen monitor will sure beat the viewfinder for showing the project leaders what's being shot. Before we get into huge hours of usage, however, I will get a low-end MiniDV cam for playback to PC. Of course, any recommendations for "cheap-but-won't-eat-your-quality-or-tapes" camcorders would be greatly appreciated, as well as any other hardware that I'll need.
Finally... here's the big flame-bait question that I will try to tone down with requirements: What software?
a) 24p 2:3:3:2 capture, editing, PLAYBACK, and back to DV tape.
b) capture live from camcorder without the camcorder actually recording to tape. (If the old $100 Studio DV can do this, surely a $2000 software monster can)
c) special effects: Green-screen, CG video overlays, color correction, particles, and text/titling of course, all to match the film look and framerate/exposure.
d) Export to DVD, and in prime condition for transfer to 35mm film.
e) require no proprietary hardware
What I read about Avid Express has me a bit confused... do I have to have additional hardware in my machine to use the 24p framerate for editing (isn't that Mojo?)? If so, that pretty much scraps the idea of using it for laptop editing.
I have been watching videos and reading tutorials on Discreet's Combustion 3.0, and saw on the system that I was allowed to play on that it can create 24fps projects. I don't know if it's a capture engine, but it looks awesome for compositing effects and just about everything else. If anybody has experience using 24p footage from the DVX in Combustion, please stand up.
I haven't seen anything that seems to compare to it's power for special effects mentioned in FCP or AVX, or Vegas... I'm trying to keep my development environment as simple as possible, because I may end up being able to use a room full of PC's for editing if I find something affordable and friendly enough that I can train some monkeys (pc gamers playing movie extras) to do some of the more mundane visual review jobs.Anyway, sorry for the huge post, and thanks for any help you can provide.
