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camcorder technology, film making course

Your new Camcorder or Camera / On-line Camera Advice

Oct 7th

Allcam/e-Study Member Service

You are in the market for a new camera, we help you to choose your new video equipment online, or at a store near you!

Photo-, or video camera?
Camcorder and digital cameras are purpose built, one for video and the other for photos. Over the last ten years or so, most camcorders have had limited photo capabilities and most digital cameras a limited video feature. The photo quality of camcorders hasn’t really evolved that much in the last years. However, since more and more the tape, disc and hard drive has disappeared and the flash memory seemed to become the standard recording media for low-, and mid end camcorders, an interesting phenomena is occurring with digital cameras.
The video capability of digital point and shot cameras as well as SLR cameras has improved big time!
Full HD and stereo sound are common amongst the latest mid range models of most brands. It even goes that far, that digital cameras are disguised in a camcorder appearance to give the user the camcorder feel.

Upmarket cameras and camcorders
If it is a camcorder, besides features and brand the main questions is – Tape, Disc, HDD or Flash Memory?
Is it a Digital SLR, the main concern is the Brand – Canon, Sony, Nikon …
Which camera or camcorder is best for me?

Are you confused?
The best way to make the right decisions is to become self educated! Don’t fall for clever brochures and misleading advertising. Often the hype is about a feature, which easily can be updated and improved with the successor model. This certainly is done in a more frequent way you want to know about, which leaves you with an outdated model after only a couple of month.

Price comparison
In my opinion, this is the worse part. Just consider the choice of hundreds if not thousands current models which are replaced on a regular basis. It starts with custom built models for different markets around the world. I wouldn’t be surprised, if large retailers have their own cameras manufactured. Considering an earlier point I made about new model releases at an ever increasing rate, we have end up with a flood of different cameras and camcorders, where price comparison and availability of certain cameras is almost impossible. Certain camera models are just not available at the different retailers.

More questions you should ask yourself before the purchase
Here are more questions you should ask yourself, but often cannot be answered without the right expertise.

How important is it really to have equipment with the best specifications?
Is my camera outdated in a year or less?
What is a good brand and model?
How do I go about archiving my video footage?
How do I watch/playback old media?

Who is educating you?
I’m not saying that we can always find the right solution to your camera issues, but you should consider the advice from an electronic technician, author and lecturer who has repaired thousands cameras of most brands and models. Let’s face it:

What do brochures and booklets of certain manufactures have in mind?
Some articles and test reports are sponsored by…
Who educates and sponsors the sales people in specialties stores? – Manufacturers

I am not saying it is bad or wrong information, but don’t you think it might be a little manipulated or biased toward a certain outcome or product?
If you are serious about your money, results and more important good value for money, you cannot get past some self education. Last but not least it is time and money well spent, as you can apply new found knowledge when handling your new equipment.

Summary and answers to most of your questions
At this point you might wonder how you can profit from this article and choose the camera or camcorder, which is right for you. Simple, as a new part of our service we would like to provide help for you to make the right decision about a new camera or camcorder. We go as far as advice on brand and model, which you buy for the best possible price online or a store near you.
It doesn’t stop here, we would like to help you to familiarise with your new camera including assistance to set it up and achieve the best results with your equipment. In other words, we are here to solve your camera and setup issues as well as answer your questions before and after the purchase.

How does it work?
Simply go to the member area and fill out our form. We’ll get back to you within 2 working days.

camcorder technology, camera advice, camera buying advice, camera guru, filming advice

Camera Setup and Troubleshoot Assistance

Oct 7th

Allcam/e-Study Member Service
How to connect and work your equipment to achieve the desired results

Setup
Video filming and photography can be a complex task these days. It is not just the camera itself, there is a computer, software in post production and often the internet for sharing your photos and videos involved. What do you do, if you if you can’t get the results you want, or the whole setup doesn’t work at all? Or you just started and don’t know what to buy or how to set it up.
Purchase
Of course, there are specialists for computer sales and service, camera sales, less for camera repairs and video editing. What do you do, when you don’t know the cause of any setup issues, or you are not sure, what you need to accomplish a certain task in the most effective way. If you have any setup issues, it is not always obvious, if the problem is caused by camera, computer or software.
Often you don’t need the most expensive feature packed camera, the fastest computer and most sophisticated editing software to publish a short holiday video on U-Tube.
The thing is, once you go to a camera-, computer- or software retailer, you will find, that their area of expertise is just what they sell in the shop. To make things worse, they try to push you towards the promotion of the week, which is not necessarily what you need. Advice from friends and family is often outdated or reflects any sales person and brochure advice, which is most of the time biased towards a certain product.
Repair
In case you have an hardware issue with your camera, an internet search perhaps reveals, that other people have a similar problem and may talk about a solution, but to follow through and rectify your issue is a whole new story altogether.
Once you have found a camera repair centre and call it up for advice, in most cases you can’t get past the receptionist, who suggests to book it in for a quote, which costs between $50 -$100.
This could be a tricky situation if you have an older camera, where this fee is already a third or a quarter of the replacement value of the camera. If you do go ahead, the chances of an expensive repair bill or even an uneconomical repair is possible.
Of course it doesn’t have to be this way, a simple repair or an adjustment could rectify your camera problem. Our ‘Free Estimate’ service takes out the guess work, so you can make the right decision about your camera and video equipment.

Solution
Simply fill out our ‘Trouble Shooting Form’ in the member area and you’ll have a response within 2 working days.

camera advice, camera guru, camera repairs, error message, film making course, video production advice

No Frills – Straight to the Point On-line Camera Courses

Oct 7th

Education for Better Video Filming Results!

Cut years of study and save hundreds of dollars compared to a formal education.
Enjoy an ongoing support and education with all aspects of camera, film and
Television technology.

Whether you are a home-video maker, an amateur film maker, or an aspiring producer, you can benefit from ALL-CAM’s e-study camera courses. Learn how your camera and equipment works and use it to get results. Complement your existing film knowledge by integrating the technical aspects of filming, and have the base knowledge you need to get the most out of every filming opportunity.

Make your camera work for you, instead of working around it.
ALL-CAM Film and TV Technology offer unique, e-study courses in the following areas:

Camcorder Technology
Shooting
Camera Care
Damage Protection
Film & TV Technology
Television Production
And more…

Learn online, at your own pace. Learn while you attend film school, or just whenever you want to improve your technical film knowledge.

With ALL-CAM camera courses you can:

Learn how to maximise camera capabilities and take your skills to a whole new level
Understand how your camera and equipment works
Basic trouble shooting
Spend more time filming

ALL-CAM courses offer:

Unique Content: Find out how to manage your camera so you can get results – whether you are using it for movies, TV, or your own personal entertainment. Get only the information you need to enhance your skills, instead of having to muddle through filler content to get to the good stuff.
Several Delivery Methods: Audio visual presentations, videos, podcasts, and e-books cover all the angles in a fun, easy to learn manner. Photos and diagrams help you understand the lessons at hand, and help is available, when you need it.
Free Updates: become a lifelong learner, and keep abreast of all the new trends in film technology today with a lifetime of free learning updates on any course you purchase.

Start improving your technical filming knowledge and see just how far a great background in camera technology can take you!

About the author and presenter
Thomas is an experienced technician and lecturer with over 25 years of electronic experience and a passion for amateur filming. He designed these courses for the beginner to intermediate camera person, who wants to increase their technical knowledge in order to get more out of their camera. ALL-CAM courses give you a great background in the technical side of camera operations, so you can enhance your camera skills and spend more time making films, instead of wasting time trying to get your camera to work the way you want it to.

Allcam/e-Study camera courses and e-books:

Camcorder Technology (Audio Visual Presentation, podcast and e-book)
Know your camcorder from the inside out
details
Video like a PRO (Audio Visual Presentation, podcast and e-book)
Take your film making skills to the next level
details
DIY Camera Care & Protection (Video and e-book)
Save on repairs by learning how to keep your camera serviced and clean
details
Camcorder Handbook (e-book + Bonuses)
Save money on repairs, increase confidence and great results!
details
Television Technology (Module 1/3) Audio Visual Presentation, podcast and e-book
From Scene to Screen
details
Chroma Process (Module 2/3) Audio Visual Presentation, podcast and e-book
How colour is added, coded and transmitted from the camera to TV receiver.
details
Television Production (Module 3/3) Audio Visual Presentation, podcast and e-book
Going Pro – from a professional camcorder to a full production set up
details

Film & TV Technology (e-book and Podcast)
Companion book to the 3 in 1 Film and Television Technology Course
details

camera course, camera training, film courses, film making course, filming advice, filming school, video production advice

Digital Still Camera for Video Production

Sep 8th

Sure it is a compromise, but you will be amazed, how far it can take you, when it is done right.
To start with, the picture quality of most still cameras is similar to a camcorder of the same specification. There could be some limitations what the lens concerns, but on the other hand you have a camera, which fits in your shirt pocket. That is convenience. At the same time you have a camera handy, which takes excellent still shots. If you are like me, who takes a lot of pictures and the occasional video clip, a little point and shot camera is the ideal solution for holidays or any other event.
There is a setback though. Since these cameras don’t have a good image stabiliser, it is important to hold it steady with some sort of mechanical support or use a little table tripod.
Filming yourself couldn’t be much easier. Position the camera with tripod, choose the right framing with the zoom and switch on the self-timer. Any excess footage at the end of the video clip can be cut in post production.

Video setup

Post production
The recording format of digital still cameras is handled by most editing software. Since you recorded with a still camera, I can imagine that you have a good mix of still photos and video clips on your memory card, which you want to use in your video production.

I would like to suggest, that you place all video clips and pictures in order on the time-line.
After you trimmed the video clips, stretch the display time of the individual pictures as you need it.
Now use your camera to record an audio track, which will be added to the original sound. To get the timing right, playback the whole time line while you speak your comment in the camera’s microphone.
Add your newly recorded audio to your video project and place it as a second audio track under the video clip.
Once both audio tracks are displayed, you can highlight one or the other and change the volume if required.

Summary
Personally I like the convenience of shooting video out of my shirt pocket during holidays. However, I would like to point out the importance of tripod for proper image stabilisation again.
If you want to learn more details about post production, read my article ‘Budget Video Production – A Step by Step Guide’ or visit me on my camcorder blog.

camera advice, digital camera, film courses, filming advice, video production advice

How to record the perfect sound track – Part2

Aug 2nd

In our quest for good images, we often forget how important sound is to our production. Bad sound can ruin any image. Even the greatest sound cannot salvage bad visuals, but good audio can enhance almost any scene. Of course you can go out and purchase the most suitable type of microphones and set it up for best performance. However, if you don’t follow the guidelines in this article, the results still can be less than satisfying.

ext. microphone for cold shoe

Clip-on microphone

Transmitter unit

Some fundamentals for Audio recording
Focus control
Some camcorders have manual focus controls situated dangerously close to the camera’s built-in microphone. You might not see this as a problem, but try fiddling around with the focus while the camcorder is recording, and you will soon discover, that handling noise is picked up on the soundtrack.
To overcome this, make sure, that you focus your shot correctly before pressing record. This way, you will not only have a perfectly sharp shot, but your soundtrack will be free from unwanted noise.

Get the background – or ‘wild’ sound
Professional sound recordists always record a minute or so of background noise (known as ‘buzz’) at each location. This is particularly useful when you are cutting a dialogue where the background sound of the scene might be changing.

Headphones
If you want to hear what your camera hears, plug a set of phones into your camera to listen how it sounds. Remove them once you happy with the result.

AGC can be bad (Automatic Gain Control)
This feature makes the microphone hear things in a quiet environment what you and I cannot. It will even try to enhance its hearing to find something to record, like the air-conditioner or its own camcorder mechanism. Find the controls, where this feature can be disabled and manually adjusted.

Sound check
This is a simple but effective check. Try to gauge how your on-screen talent will sound, and how well the microphone or camera is positioned.

More helpful Tips for recording great audio

1. Use an external microphone
You pick up less mechanical noise from your camcorder (drum, tape transport, zoom and focus
motor). You can even use a microphone with a more suitable characteristic.

2. Place the microphone close to the talent
This way you will limit ambient noises and disturbances.

3. Listen through headphones while you shoot
You need to know what the camera hears. It can be quite different depending on the noise levels
and AGC settings.

4. Keep hand movements on the camcorder to a minimum
As discussed earlier, it not only influences your scene composition negatively, but also creates
handling noises, which can be picked up by the microphone.

5. Use a handheld microphone for man-on-the-street interviews
That is the way to go, if you want to get your microphone really close to the talent.

6. Use a wireless microphone to avoid cable hassles
This is a more expensive option. However, it is easy to set up and gives you much more flexibility
and very good results.

7. Keep audio in mind, when scouting locations
Wind noise can be very dominant and annoying. It is therefore prudent to make use of a decent
wind-screen or a barrier on the windward side of the camera when shooting outdoors.

8. Do not move microphone cables while recording
Depending on your equipment and set-up – too much movement can cause interference in your
audio.

9. Avoid long cable runs to minimize interference
This is sometimes a matter of trial and error to get the best results.

Summary
If you would like to improve the audio and have more impact with your video production, start by implementing some of the rules, tips and tricks outlined in these articles.

camcorder technology, film making course, filming advice, filming school, video production advice

Audio – Why is it so difficult to get it right?

Jul 21st

What is the reason, that the audio on our videos sounds often so much different as we have heard it during the recording of our footage? Without getting too technical, I would like to explain the principles of electronic sound recording. Once you understand how a microphone works, you can use it in ways to improve your audio track.
The two main characteristics, which determine the sound, is the polar pattern or directivity of the microphone and the sensitivity (volume), which is controlled by the electronic circuitry.
Capsule design and directivity
A microphone’s directionality or polar pattern indicates, how sensitive it is to sounds arriving at different angles about its central axis. Let’s have a look at a simple microphone device for converting sound into electrical energy. Its basic component is a diaphragm, that responds to the pressure or particle velocity of sound waves.
The inner elements of a microphone are the primary source of differences in directivity. A pressure microphone uses a diaphragm between a fixed internal volume of air and the environment, and responds uniformly to pressure from all directions, so it is said to be omnidirectional. A pressure-gradient microphone uses a diaphragm, that is at least partially open on both sides. The pressure difference between the two sides produces its directional characteristics. Other elements such as the external shape of the microphone and external devices such as interference tubes can also alter a microphone’s directional response. A pure pressure-gradient microphone is equally sensitive to sounds arriving from front or back, but insensitive to sounds arriving from the side, because sound arriving at the front and back at the same time creates no gradient between the two.
The characteristic directional pattern of a pure pressure-gradient microphone is like a figure-8. Other polar patterns are derived by creating a capsule, that combines these two effects in different ways. The cardioid, for instance, features a partially closed backside, so its response is a combination of pressure and pressure-gradient characteristics.

Polar patterns

An electronic circuitry controls the volume and sensitivity of the microphone and sound.
Below are some terminologies as used by professionals. Please keep in mind that any poor sound captured during production can be salvaged during post production.

AGC (Automatic Gain Control) is a circuit to automatically adjust a microphone’s gain (volume) to prevent too high levels, causing distortion or to raise sensitivity to hear quiet noises. It goes as far as an inbuilt camcorder microphone picks up the mechanical noises of a tape or disc drive. In this case it is a good idea to use an external microphone, which is positioned further away from the camera and closer to the action.
Below are some terminologies explained as they are used by professionals.
Audio Jargon
Ambient Sound
Background audio of a given environment. On-camera dialogue might be primary sound; traffic noise and refrigerator hum would be ambient.
Hiss:
Interference in audio recording, result of circuit noise from a playback recorder’s amplifiers or from a tape’s residual magnetism.
Lavalier:
A small microphone, that can be worn around the neck on a cord or clipped to a shirt.
Noise:
Unwanted sound or static in an audio signal.
Pickup Pattern:
Defines a microphone’s response to sounds arriving from various directions or angles.
Sound Bite:
Any short audio segment for use in an edited program – usually a highlight taken from an interview.
On this microphone the pattern can be influenced by turning the knob from “tele to wide”.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (S/N):
Relationship between signal strength and a medium’s inherent noise. Audio S/N specifies amount of background tape hiss present with low or no-volume recordings. Higher figures represent a cleaner signal. Usually cited in decibels (dB).
Wild Sound:
Audio recorded independently of picture i.e. rain on roof or clock.

In the 2nd part of this article I will elaborate, what you can do and how to apply several techniques to enhance audio in your video production and how poor sound captured during production can be salvaged in post production.

camcorder technology, camera training, filming school, video camera course, video production advice

Film and Television Technology Part 3 Television Production

Jul 2nd

Television Production

Students and experienced professionals in the video industry will find technical knowledge beneficial, as it helps to enhance your production skills and get the most out of your equipment. Discover how to tackle the technical challenges of making short films and videos, and help make every film you make a great one.

Why and how can you benefit?

I can’t stress this point enough; technical Know How gives you the flexibility to improvise, when things are not necessarily go according to plan. You can learn and adopt yourself faster, when working with new equipment. Advance your film making skills to the next level.

What is the purpose and benefit?

Know the operation and adjustment of a professional camcorder to a full production set-up including:

Principles of manual adjustment to professional camcorders, and when to use them
Different types of professional video formats, media, and their purpose
Utilizing the features of your professional camcorder with confidence
Identify the equipment required for different productions
Understand the building blocks of a production setup

What topics should be covered?
To be really effective with your work, you should have the knowledge of:

Camera Functions (professional controls)                      Professional Video
ATW (Auto Tracing White Balance)                                    Camera controller
AWB (Auto White Balance) & Preset White                    Tele prompter
Adaptive Highlight Control                                                  Formats
White Clip                                                                               XDCAM / SD / HD / EX
Zebra                                                                                       Production
Black Balance                                                                         Workflow & Equipment
Black Clip                                                                                 Professional Disc Media
Black Gamma                                                                         Workflow and Editing
Black Shading                                                                         Camera control configuration systems
Colour Bars                                                                             TV Network
Sub-carrier Phase Control/Horizontal                               Event shooting
Phase Control
Crispening & More…

How to acquire the right knowledge?
Find a complete and thorough reference, that will teach you how to get the most out of your professional camcorder. Work with a guide on how to troubleshoot issues when filming, and how to set up a production shot.
Complement your film school knowledge with the technical aspects of film making.

A film school or college alternative when you need the education, not the degree
Don’t have the time and money to go to school.
Do you need to have results fast?
Do you prefer to learn at your own pace, whenever you want?
How about a home-study with various forms of delivery?

A complete course with a PowerPoint presentation, as well as a full and complete e-book and complementary podcast.
An e-book that provides an easy reference so you can find the information you need, quickly.
The podcast is delivered as an mp3 file so you can easily listen to it from your computer, CD player, or on-the-go through an mp3 player or iPod.
A course, delivered in straight forward, easy to follow language with many full colour illustrations to ensure maximum comprehension.

The benefits of a home-study:

Self-Paced: no more rushing to complete assignments, or trying to squeeze your life in around your courses.
Comprehensive Reference Materials: have everything you need to reinforce your learning handy, and take it with you for on-location reference.
Easy Formats: view the presentation using just your web browser, and the e-book only requires Adobe Acrobat, which is a free download.
Comprehensive: e-book, slide show, and podcast cover all angles, and provide multiple study methods for different types of learners.
Affordable: home study courses are much more affordable then classroom driven courses at film school, so you can learn more for less.

Summary
For beginners, intermediate and advanced camera users a television production home study course will provide the final piece of the puzzle. Once completed all three parts of the home study, you will understand all aspects of filming: Television technology, colour reproduction and TV production. Thorough, affordable and simple to use, this is the answer for those, who want to enhance their technical and production skills.

A straight to the point, affordable and simple to use home study course can be your alternative
or better complementary technical education to college or film school.
Remember, extraordinary results is no accident, applied knowledge makes all the difference.

Film and Television technology Part 2 Television Colour Reproduction

Jul 2nd