DSE

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Posts posted by DSE

  1. Quote

    See what the wear and tear is over the course of a season with a couple of hundred jumps and cylces. A single week is'nt enough to prove anything unfortuantually.


    Agreed.
    The point is, the threads linked in previous posts suggested that the gear would fly apart once the cushion of air was removed from the disk, and it would happen virtually immediately. Engineers from Nnovia (former Seagate team) and design engineers from Sony both say this isn't so. It's not a big thing to me to be concerned one way or another, but given that we regularly use HDD systems above 12,000 feet in subzero weather for World Cup, America Cup, and other events. We've yet to have one failure, which is why we use HDD vs tape. Tape can't handle the cold. We've purchased a few XDCAM HD systems that use BluRay, but unfortunately, those can't be jumped without a special harness rig. We'll likely modify our Dalsa Origin rig to fit the XDCAM, which should perform very well. Intial tests with helicopters have shown great result.
    I realize I'm OT here in discussing other formats, but overall, I can't accept previous claims of drives blowing apart above 10k. While manufacturers may suggest one thing, and certain specifics may support those suggestions, actual use, whether once or a dozen times, suggests the tolerances are greater than suggested.
    Does that make it "OK" to jump with HDD-based systems? Obviously not. I'm putting a cam on a cameraman, plus carrying one in my pocket to test in a non-controlled environment for purposes of convincing myself of what I believed I'd find. Which is that the drives won't fail above 10k as suggested in several other threads. Firestore claims they're putting FS4 devices on the exterior of non-pressurized aircraft in a military observance area with Z1 camcorders on them. Obviously, they don't fail. I don't know what altitude they're flying at, but I'm quite certain it's above 15k.
    4 HDD-based devices, one flash device, all running all day at the same altitude being at least 30%past suggested tolerances and zero failures suggests that suggested tolerances are not accurate.
    Not trying to start an argument; I'm probably from Missouri at some point in my life, because my sign is the excla-bang.

  2. Long day of jumping, results of the HDD jumps:
    6 jumps with the Nnovia, all from 13,500
    2 jumps with Citidisk
    7 jumps with iPod
    13 flights with Rio Carbon
    All are HDD-based systems, the iPod and Rio are microdisks.
    We also jumped the new Sanyo HD1 flash-based HD camcorder. (1280x720)
    Observer/copilot flew with Rio Carbon, operatingall day/all flights
    Nnovia handled all jumps as expected. no dropouts, no crashes, no problems.
    Citidisk worked for second jump only, but it wasn't expected to work, the product is for crap. Files read properly and write to properly after two flights, but it never works for DV capture anyway, so it was just thrown in there cuz we had it. I'm tossing the crappy thing once I remove the 80 gig drive from it.
    Nothing died, all gear working as it should.
    Obviously, , it just demonstrates that the tolerances are probably higher than they suggest. Can't go higher than 13,500 without oxygen for any length, and it's not worth it to me to spend the bux to find out any different.
    So, no earth-shattering news or destroyed gear as I'd somewhat hoped to see happen.[:/]

  3. Our DZ is at 5000 ft, we climb to 13,500 each flight.
    Nnovia isn't a vendor, they manufacture the device used. It's also used for the Marine Combat Camera Group, and used by law enforcement as an on-body recorder.
    Whilst I am reading and accepting the information your're posting and related links, we regularly are taking drive-based equipment into very high and difficult environments. Heck, Telluride is that high at the top of the ski runs (13,700) and we're shooting HD to HDD up there every year, for hours on end in subzero weather.
    That said, I also feel there is a margin for error that isn't accounted for here. There is a significant difference between mathematic and design theory and actual use. I'll keep jumping my Nnovia until something happens to it, and go from there, since the president of the company has assured me they'll cover it. For giggles, I'm gonna jump a POS CitiDisk we have as well. It's junk anyway and would never be used in a production, so might as well see if it survives. No shock, no strength to the plastic case, and just simple power as well. It's worth it to experiment with. It's got a Hitachi drive in it as well. Basically it's just a plastic covered drive with a Firewire connector and battery.
    I'll post what happens after jumping it tomorrow.
    The iPod (and my Rio Carbon) are both microdrive-based.
    I'm quite aware of what the hole in an HDD are for, our facilty operates with approx 40TB at any given time, and usually more, depending on the time of year. Our productions range from extreme snowboarding and motoX to shooting in fires, water, volcanos, etc with our gear. Whether we're shooting with our LDK5000, HDCAM, or our HDV cams, they're usually in less than ideal conditions.
    I'm not at all advocating that anyone follow my practice; I'm in a position to afford testing these devices without expense to myself or my company.

  4. Quote

    So does the quality of the HD footage change at all during the editing process on the MBP, or is it just not adequate to view on the screen of the MBP? Something just hooking up a 30" cinema would fix?



    No, where/how the media is stored and previewed makes zero difference in quality of output, only quality in playback and preview quality. Once you render to a final output source, whatever it may be, the quality of the originally captured footage is what will be used for output.

  5. Appreciate the explanations, guys. Just got off the phone with the engineering boys at Nnovia, they assure me I've got nothing to worry about. My A2D has 9 jumps from 13,500 so far and no issues. It's an IBM Travelstar loaded in a doubleshock mount case, with analog input over Y/C.
    The Sanyo HD1 only has 2 jumps on it, but it's also only a couple weeks old, so we'll jump it til it dies, if it dies. I've been totally unaware of the altitude limit on the microdrives tho.
    Interesting about the iPod comment, too. My canopy coach wears his often on his arm, far as I know, he's been doing it for at least a year. I've jumped with my Rio turned on in the plane, and only remove the earplugs just before the door is opened in the airplane. Sounds like I should be on the lookout for weirdness.

  6. You can indeed deinterlace before or after.
    Bear in mind that if you deinterlace before, and you deliver an interlaced project on a DVD, then your deinterlaced stills will be reinterlaced.

    As far as Vegas, ask away. I'm one of a couple certified Vegas instructors in the world, and am one of many certified Premiere instructors.

    Don't let the Vegas interface throw you. I'm happy to help, either here in the forum, in other forums I moderate, or via PM.
    FWIW, I have several training DVDs out on Vegas as well.
    I HIGHLY recommend Vegas Movie Studio over Vegas 4, BTW.

  7. Quote

    I can't find any thing at all on a product with that model number, do you have a link to it?

    Is it a MinDV, DVD or hard drive based camera? If its the last two its not an option to jump at all.



    Why do you say this?
    I've been loaning the DZ camera guys my bullet cam and Nnovia HDD systems, and have also jumped the Sanyo HD1 on their helmets, all images have been as expected. The Nnovia is entirely HDD-based, and the HD1 is Flashmem based.
    DVD is unstable, but HDD is actually more stable than tape, and no fear of dropout on an HDD system.

  8. Premiere Elements doesn't do this so well, neither does Premiere Pro 2.0.
    there are options.
    1. Download the DebugMode.com frameserver for Premiere, frameserve to Vdub and extract stills from that.
    2. Write an action for Photoshop, it'll do the same thing.
    3. Download Mike Crash's smart deinterlacer. I don't have the web addy, but you can google him. He's in CZ.
    4. Try Sony Vegas Movie Studio, it does an excellent job of outputting stills. Vegas full version can export a sequence of stills very easily.
    5. In Elements, select Quicktime for your output, and choose the sequential TGA option. That'll import to most graphics apps.

  9. Quote


    If you re-read what I posted: “What is gained for a face to face on any matter can’t be bought or sold.” I said nothing about writing to a dealer.



    Unfortunately, there are no dealers where I live, other than the DZ, and they are exceptionally limited. I have good trust in the DZO, have known him and his wife for a long time, and face to face is indeed better. Sure, maybe after 200 jumps I'll change my opinion, but it's unlikely. I buy my scuba and motoX gear on the web too. I no longer have a dealer in my area to be face-to-face with.

    I'm a reseller of sorts in my business. The *only* unique benefits we can offer our customers/clients are:
    1. Experience based on a lifetime of product use
    2. Trust
    3. Good relationship and after-production services and information that may be used in future purchasing decisions.

    Our competitors offer everything that we offer outside of the above aspects. So does the manufacturer.

    This is true in just about any business.

  10. Quote

    This is just a guess but I would say that most newer jumpers in the market for gear have access to an experienced gear dealer.



    I'm a very non-experienced jumper, but without naming names, I've written to four dealers in the past 10 days asking for information on canopies and pants, and not one dealer has responded. On the other hand, I sent email to Performance Designs and Freaknsuits and had a response within a couple of hours. So, while I'd like to deal with dealers, if they're not going to respond... Then they don't deserve my business, and won't get it.

    I'd MUCH rather consistently deal with a reseller/vendor *if* I could establish a relationship in which I trusted their advice and input, and thought they weren't just after my bucks at any cost. Otherwise, I'm stuck doing research at the DZ, here, and other places on the web. When I have to do the research, get advice from friends, DZO, instructors, the web, and anywhere else, I'm gonna buy at the best price because I've done all the legwork and know exactly what I want.
    In other words, just because dealers exist doesn't mean I'll go there. They've got to earn my business just like any other business that I deal with for personal or corporate purchases.

  12. Quote

    The thing about "HD" screens on laptops [read: PCs that claim as much] is that they use pixel blending. In english, the computer creates a high resolution interface [lets say 1920x1200] and the graphics processor scales it down to the screen's physical resolution [say 1440x900]. So while you're getting the workspace of a high-resolution screen, you're getting a blurry, crappy mess.



    Well....given that I edit HD every day of my life (for shows you might watch) that is simply not so.
    And it's quite easy to demonstrate with a pixel map or a Spyder, or any other similar system.
    Additionally, we have 5 G5duallies, and a slew of Cinema's. And several 234b's, and at least 3 Sony laptops with 1900 x 1200 screens, all are calibrated every time they move into a new lighting environment, yadayadayada. For broadcast and film, we aren't capable of working with "blurry, crappy, messes."
    Did I mention I have a Wintel system as well?

    FWIW, even if it was scaling, there are some significant benefits to scaling down IF it's done appropriately, even tho it's not accurate for compositing and color correction.

    There is a significant difference in working with 1080 HD on a 1900 x 1200 monitor vs 1600. Which also has PAR issues...but that's another thread.

  13. Quote

    there is something comforting about a knowledgeable person who knows when to step up and speak, yet is also humble enough to know when to stand down;):)ps... nice avatar.... how is the skydiving going.?? I hope you're having fun.
    jmy A3914 D12122 :)



    At the risk of taking the thread to a new direction...
    It's going exceptionally well. I'll have my first solo exit this morning, assuming winds cooperate. With the winds, a monster 280 canopy, and some luck, I've been able to stick every landing but one where I had to slide in on my butt due to a dropout at 20'. My instructor is already allowing me to jump with my Bonehead flattop (sans cams) so I can get comfortable with it, and I've been wearing a belly lipstick feeding an SS recorder (whole thing weighs less than .5 lbs) so I can view my face, arms, and get an idea of my positioning, plus great canopy shots that allow me to see how I'm doing with turns, stalls, etc. It's only 640 x 480, but it's not for distribution, it's for me to see what I'm doing.

  16. given that I'm still in student status, and daily flight checks begin with testing on pulling reserve, I've been taught that
    1. We must have a decision altitude of 2500 feet. Some DZ's say 2k, from what I've read and am told.
    2. Procedure is:
    Look for pillow/cutaway handle, put right hand on it. (look to be sure you've got the handle and not cloth from your jump suit)
    Look for reserve handle, hook thumb thru it.
    Pull pillow/cutaway
    Pull reserve
    Look to see that the canopy is there and square.
    Perform any line twist procedures, prep for PLF.

    More or less straight from the SIM. Dunno if that answers anything, I'd sure like to see a response from the original poster about what happened. My first flight ever was a tandem cutaway, and it was impressive how the TM managed it. It wasn't til I saw the canopy floating away that I knew anything was wrong, his execution was so smooth.

  17. A caveat to throw in...
    At F8, you're stopped down below the resolution level that Bayering applies to the cam. F4 is the max you should stop to on a 1/3 camcorder in order to achieve full chroma resolution and luma sampling. This means you need an ND filter on the glass so you can stay open on your aperture. On a 1/4 chip, you shouldn't be stopping past 3.5, again requiring an ND filter. On the smaller chip lenses, you can still shoot to infinity at 3.5 or 4, and you'll see a relatively significant greater saturation of colors, particularly reds and blues if you keep the aperture at F4 on 1/3 camcorders. This is somewhat critical for HD/HDV shooting.

  18. Yes, they are nice. But...the resolution sucks at only 1680 max. Can't do full rez HD on the display. In the broadcast/corporate/event editing world, everyone is complaining about it. Sad that they make such a big deal about FCS realtime HD, but then give us a non-HD capable screen to work with. I'd like to think they didn't do this just to sell more displays.
    I have a 15" already, and while it runs most of my Windows apps wonderfully and fast, the lack of resolution makes it exceptionally difficult to work with, particularly for C/C and compositing.

  19. DVD Architect can do this, Encore 2.0, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, Nero Digital/home, and Ulead DVD Workshop all perform this.
    It has little or nothing to do with the DVD player itself. Only very high end DVD players won't do this as they are usually T/C based.
    In your authoring app, simply set the video you want to loop with an end action that will fit back to itself. In DVD Studio Pro or Sony DVD Architect, set the desired video as the "First Play" video with nothing else there, and it will auto-end action to itself.
    If you want to post the app that you use, I'll gladly reply with specific instructions.

  20. Welcome to the forum. 'Nother noob here, but the program is pretty specific. 25 jumps to your A license assuming you pass all course level jumps with your AFF instructor(s). Remember, you can fail a jump or technique, and the instructor gets to determine whether you must re-do the jump.
    I'd highly recommend you download the SIM (Student Instruction Manual) from USPA.org, take the downloaded PDF file to Kinkos, and have it printed and bound. Live it, breathe it, talk to your instructor about what's in it. Learn everything you can outside of jump school and that'll help not only prep you, but help your mental attitude too. Ultimately tho, your instructor determines most everything you'll do in the initial stages.
    You'll love going through AFF. I'm nearly through, would have been today had winds been below 15mph on the ground, and I can't get enough. After you complete AFF, you're still a novice, and won't move to an A license til you've got your 25 or however many jumps your instructor feels you require up to your last AFF. You should also consider a canopy coach following your last AFF jump.

  21. Quote

    My understanding is that firewire and USB 2.0 have almost the same transfer rates (well as for how they are rated)... Firewire being somewhat faster depending on the task and system architecture....



    Technically, this is so. Realistically, it rarely is.
    USB2 shares system resources with the CPU determining priority and traffic flow. If you've got controlled fans, antivirus, heat sensors, Outlook, NIC, etc all on and seen by CPU, the chances of the USB2.0 bus being given priority are rather slim. Firewire is it's own resource, doesn't rely on the CPU for priority assignment, and is ALWAYS speed-stable. Many NLE apps will not support USB2.0 capture for this very reason. Even tho transfer from a cam to an HDD is just a data transfer, it requires a sustainable transfer rate of at least 3.6MBps or 25Mbps. USB2.0 can't guarantee that rate simply because your CPU might have another priority come up. Use Firewire/ieee1394/i-Link whenever possible for consistent positive result.
    HTH

  22. Wanted to thank Dropzone.com.
    Today, I took my FF4,5, and 6, aced all written, oral, and jump exams. Instructors all wanted to know where I was getting my information from, even ended up correcting an instructor when he kept referring to the "SRL." None of them are computer geeks, so had only heard about Dropzone.com. When I showed them some of the pix from the site, and showed them some of the sites linked from here, they were pretty shocked at the amount, quality, and depth of information this site offers. The DZO was saying that he'd like to add this site to their "highly recommended" list.
    No way in hell would I have aced the written or orals without the information I've absorbed by lurking in the community here.
    thank you!!!!!!
    (Also FWIW, I moderate several broadcast and film fora, and have always found it marginally amusing to see a "thank you" post because the information I share is information that I live and breathe. It feels great to find myself on the other side of the post)

  25. Quote

    I'm not sure if anyone has asked this yet, but the HC3 states that it can take a still photo while shooting video. Can this still photo be taken via the remote?



    You can take a still via their IR remote, but I'm not sure if you could make a LANC that would do this for you. There is only a small advantage to actually taking a still vs extracting a still from your NLE, but if you're not using an NLE...then I guess you'd need the still, eh?