Mac Book Pro as Field Monitor

PAULSTOTHEWALL

PAULSTOTHEWALL

Member
Hi... Looking to get into legal videography, the set-up seems to be DVX, 4 channel non-portable mixer (like Shure SCM268), 3 wired lavs, a room mic, a monitor and DVD burner. Since I'm in the market anyway for a Macbook Pro (waiting for second gen to drop hopefully next month) I was wondering if it will act as my monitor and DVD burner? Will need to record to miniDV tape as master for legal reasons, so don't necessarily have to record straight into internal drive. What would be my best workflow for this? Anybody have experience with shooting depositions and whatnot? It seems DV Rack for Macbook Pro is spotty at best, getting mixed reviews on different sites. Can I use FCP for the monitor? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, PAULSTOTHEWALL
 
Hi Paul:

A MacBook Pro is an expensive monitor for legal depositions. I use a 7" Monitor/DVD Player from Radio Shack as well as a Radio Shack DVD Recorder. In addition you will also need an auto-reverse cassette recorder and a 5' x 7' Back Drop. I would recomend that you get 4 lavs like the Sony ECM-44B's or 55B's off of eBay. A lot of people use a Shure M267 Mixer, I got mine on ebay for $99. You will need 2 pairs of Sony 7506 headphones, one for you and one for the Court Reporter. Buy a good 4 channel 25' XLR to XLR Cable. Lastly you will need a Lowel Tota Light Kit with Umbrella, they sell for $189 on B&H.


Monitor/DVD Player
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...y=4&x=14&s=D-StorePrice-RSK&parentPage=family

DVD Recorder
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...vd+recorder&kw=dvd+recorder&parentPage=search

Sony TCM-500DV Auto-Reverse Cassette Recorder
http://martelelectronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?page=MDH/PROD/TR/977

Denny Manufacturing Backdrop
http://www.dennymfg.com/cgi-bin/sho...hstart=0&template=Templates\SearchResult.html

PortaBrace Production Case
http://www.portabrace.com/product_detail_A.php?id=3130
 
I don't believe that you can use FCP as a monitor... but I hope that I am wrong and someone will jump in and correct me!

I can't use DV Rack (mac g4 laptop) but I have used Red Lightning's demo. They are trying to provide a mac solution for dv rack.

http://www.redlightningsoftware.com/Home.html

Good luck. I'll check back and see if someone else corrects me about the fcp question.

Ted
 
If you already haven't, check the CLVS Site. There is a 3 stage process to get certified, first you must take a 2 day seminar, second you must pass a 100 question multiple choice test and third you must pass a production exam.

http://clvs.ncraonline.org/Certification/

The next seminar and production exams will be offered in Reno,NV on March 9th,10th, & 11th
 
Ray- Spoke with a guy who runs his own video depo company who said the certification wasn't required, a lot of freelancers don't need it. Thoughts?
 
If you can afford to get it, I would. Then you will have your certificaton and be recognized by the NCRA and the Legal community. In addition you will be listed in the CLVS Directory.
 
You can use FCP as a monitor but it lags quite a bit and doesn't offer magnification. You can then use Apple's built-in magnification to get a larger image (see the system prefs).
 
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