jmfreefly

Actually, the pic I saw was a BOGEN mount. Personally, I don't like the BOGEN mount. The stroboframe is a better bet if low-profile is what you want. If lightness is what you want, go with the Velbon QRA-635 (I think..) The newest models have a silly bubble level in it, but you can find the older models still being sold if you look hard enough. I use the Velbon. j

Just my .02 on this whole debate. I wasn't at nats, and never read the releases, but if they are as people said, then: 1) I agree that the inability to 'opt-out' of inclusion in the Nationals production is wrong. Unfortunately, I don't think that will ever change. "Sign it or don't compete". Who knows.. maybe it will change. 2) I disagree with an attempt to limit the use of footage by the 'author' of the video, unless they are under contract (e.g. National Geographic,etc.). I can understand signing a release for use, but not a release of 'ownership'. 3) I -do- agree with the idea of charging money for a production-quality copy of the footage (within reason). I have done our DZ's year-end video the last 3 years (with various co-producers), and the amount of hours to put quality footage together is a lot. Heck, just making DVD Menus look good can take a while. ( I am sure some idiot from my DZ will pipe up with some silly insult here..

I'll try to take some pics this weekend. If you look at a normal shirt, the arm joins in a circle to the main body. On the Butte pattern, it is like half-an oval.. round on the top, but straight across the bottom (if I remember correctly).. All I remember is saying 'boy I would do that differently next time'. j

Yep, I have made 1 jumpsuit and 2 freefly pants from greenpepper patterns (adapted of course) (the Butte jumpsuit, and the powder pant respectively). Just a word of warning, the way the arm connects to the body on the jumpsuit is a bit strange (I took off the little wingy things too). If you really want, I can take pics of the suit I built.. If I did another suit, I would make the arm connections different. Additionally, the legs have to be much longer to make the leg closures/flop properly. And one last thing, the way the two parts (top and bottom) connect together, make sure you have extra material on each part. Nothing worse than making a suit that permanently rides up your butt. j

Yeah, I am going to have to disagree with the idea that on-time delivery can't really happen. My background is Industrial Engineering (manufacturing), and I have to say that most of the practices that skydive mfgs employ are contrary to consistent, timely delivery of product to their customer. Don't tell me a date that you think I want to hear, tell me what you realistically can expect. The fact of the matter is the reason they don't deliver on time is because we put up with it. Granted, the industry is a fairly small one, and thus not HUGE volume. I have -never- gotten custom gear without it being late, in error, or both. 2 rigs, 2 canopies, 2 wingsuits, 1 rig bag, and 7 jumpsuits.

Hahah. AVID can handle 12 bit, as exemplified by last years video. Just that digitizing both combined is a bit more tedious than Premier (from what you say). Don't understand the 'want it to render' comment refers to. j

I am right there with you re: EOS repairs. I just sent mine to MACK Camera (who suck), and they initially quoted $100 bucks.. then they called back and said 'an extra $50'. New ones are $145, so I told them to stuff it. So they charged me $45 fee to look at the camera.. peckerheads. Should have just had them repair it had I known. oh well. lessoned learned. Where did you get the rubber band you are referring to? I always end up using gaffers tape, which can be a royal pain sometimes. j

As nacmacfeegle said, tmpgenc works well. http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html

?? What lens does this?? I think there may be some crossed thoughts here. On fixed focal lenses, the focal length is locked. On variable focal length lenses (like the 12-24), there is an external adjustment, which would need to be secured to ensure you are shooting the focal length you think. Is this what you mean? As for manual focus lenses, I don't think I have seen one that doesn't have an external ring for adjustment (save for crappy digitals that you set it in the menu, but they dont take external lenses). Some of the sigmas do have their manual focus ring that can 'snap' into a position that allows the focus to adjust without turning the ring (and vice versa). This is useful for photogs that use autofocus, and want to hold the camera by the barrel and not affect the focus process. am i just missing what you said? j

?? Sure it did.. the problem that brought my machine down was a driver problem for disks over 137 gb. It was Microsoft trying to install 'better' drivers. Okok, I lost a Boris project for some reason, and Boris needs to get their act together.

Kevin922 (www.flybirdman.com) has some of his GPS data on the website. Here is an example http://www.flybirdman.com/projects/ftraw.html Parent page about his project here http://www.flybirdman.com/projects/flytrack.html The one jump shows max of 129 mph with a ~15 mph tail wind. You will have to ask Kevin about how exactly that was computed, etc. I am sure he will chime in.

I am an AVID Xpress DV (3.5) user, which I have had good success with, although it is somewhat pricey (compared to some other packages). However, the newer versions (and AVID Xpress DV Pro) are XP (or Mac) only, so that probably doesn't help you much. I use Xpress DV in conjunction with Boris Continium and Boris Red 3GL for efffects, titling, and such. I used to use Ulead Media Studio Pro, which was a fairly good program, except the slo-mo features pretty much stunk. Newer versions may have gotten better. AVID does terrific slo-mo. j

In fact, it is not an evolution of the Tempo (according to Aerodyne). It is a new design, but a few of the designers came from PdF, makers of the Techno. I have heard that a lot of the design points of the Techno are similarly found in the SMART reserve.

HA! I guess maybe no one else finds this high on the pucker factor scale??

YO! WTF!!???! Did anyone else see a canopy below the video guy??? dat ain't right..

Well, I haven't seen or played with this yet (but I do have waycool lenses en-route, and both a pc100 and pc9, so I can test) -- however, the key that I think some people may not be factoring in is that the lens is a larger lens, meant for a 37mm, and they are stepping down to a 30mm.. so there. Again, I have no idea if this works as expected, but I shall see.. will post updates when I have the lenses.

The real change in digital will occur when they get a 1 to 1 sensor that is reasonably priced. The whole focal multiplier sucks for our desire for wide angle shots. It is funny that people are still focusing on megapixel count, while the quality/noise/lens sharpness has surpassed pixel count as the issue to worry about. Another big issue (for skydiving digital photo) is dirt on the sensor. 120mph is just hard to seal against. Some of the newer cameras are featuring 'ultrasonic dust shakers' which I have yet to hear the verdict on. My dad has an old D1X, and I can't fathom putting that thing on my head. It would be really nice if someone made a remote battery pack for these.. that would take a few lbs off your head. j

Yeah, converting to high quality MPEG sucks. Period. (well, unless you have a mpeg converter card) What program/settings are you using? I recently did our year end video, (1 hr 10 min about), and each 3-5 minute segment took abou 3-5 hours to encode at vbr 2 pass, with high quality noise reduction. Pisser was, that I ended up having to re-do it 3 times, as I kept missing settings (like interlaced input, interlaced output).. ugh.. I wasted about 1-2 weeks with that crap. myDVD will do it, but I haven't been very successful with it. I use TMPGEnc, its free for 30 days and encodes pretty dang nice for the price. Rivals Procoder and other, more expensive encoders. The fee is like 50 bucks or so, and quite reasonable (additional features??). I think premier can export mpeg2.. (at least the newest versions can).. is that what you are using? By changing the quality and method (I ended up using CQ_VBR), the quality of the video is essentially the same, but it encodes a bit quicker. If you are making something under an hour, you can go with straight CBR at max rate (as there will be no savings, and the DVD can hold it at the max rate). CBR should encode quicker. There is an exact calculation to figure out the true 'break even point' for this, but I can't remember it. Hope that helps. PM me if you want more info. j

Summary of issue: According to airtec, Cypress 2's mfg May-Late July may encounter this problem. Supposedly the ones mfg'd after that have a modification that prevents this problem: After jumping, some units have their LCD screens blank. Airtec says this is a static issue that requires the right combination of temp/moisture/pressure.. (?), and doesn't happen often. Airtec claims that the unit is still on (as if one does the on/off cycle 2 times, the unit is on -- faulty logic IMHO). Cycling the unit twice supposedly (not clear in article) brings the LCD back online. Airtec said they will mod the units when they see them at 4 year, or if the unit comes in their shop earlier. They said they will fix any unit that a jumper sends in early at no cost to them. My point is: if the LCD is blank, how does one know that it is working properly, as the LCD is part of the feedback loop. I contend that the answer is -- they really can't. I think they should be more diligent in getting the units fixed. (I think I am pulling mine out and putting my new vigil in until I get it back -- who knows how long it will take) I think I am irritated just as much that there is NO information about this on their website. I told my rigger about this issue (he hadn't read his skydiving mag yet), and he looked for more info on airtec's websites and found no info. j

Yes, that is my point. I just find it silly that Airtec wouldn't say the same thing.

I just read the article in Skydiving last night. Does anyone else think that Airtec is making faulty logic over this problem? Additionally, why isn't there ANY info on the cypress or cypress 2 website about this issue?? I contend that the control unit is part of the diagnostic system, and non-presentation of 'ok status' brings the unit's usability into question. How can Airtec effectively say that the unit was on and working properly (and would save my life) if no information is presented back to me? Based on what they say to look for in their manual as evidence of proper functioning, I would contend there is no way to know. From the Cypress 2 manual p8: " When the display unit shows 0v, the self-test has been completed successfully. If the selftest has resulted in errors or discrepancies, CYPRES will not assume operating mode but will switch itself off after displaying an error code. This error code indicates why the selftest process was aborted (see chapter 5)." p9: "2. CYPRES has fail-safe error detection. Two processes are activated in CYPRES once the unit has been switched on: a primary working process and an independently operating controlling process that monitors the working process continuously. In case of errors while the working process is active, the backup controlling process will switch the unit off." --- So here is airtec's logic (as I can interpret it from the article) 1) the screen shows nothing on the ground after the jump. 2) If the unit got an error, it would have turned off. 3) Is this unit (with no screen feedback) on or off? 4) Go through the turn off sequence (which is the same as the turn on sequence). 5) Since the unit didn't turn on.. it must have been on already and turned itself off. I see faulty logic there in 5. Just because the unit didnt turn on, doesn't mean that it WAS on before and is now off. (This is why I always disliked the fact that the on and off sequences are the same). If the unit is having a problem (as it OBVIOUSLY is, as the screen doesnt work), then it could also be affecting the 'on/off' functionality. And just because it the unit can be turned on later, and the screen show proper functioning, doesn't mean that the unit was ready to save me with the screen off. Does this concern anyone else? I am pretty sure my cypress-2 falls into the batch that may have this problem. In my opinion, this should be a 'send it back now and we will fix it' thing, not a 'we will address it at your next 4 year' (which is 3 years away for the units in this batch). I guess they did say 'if you send it in early, we will fix it then at no charge', but it seems to me that this is being a little too lax about it. The lack of information from airtec directly concerns me.. j

When I think about it, I try to blank it with a picture of clouds or a skydiving bumpersticker or something. That way, if I mis-cue a tape while shooting a tandem video, it doesn't look as much like a screwup..

yep, most likely. the frame probably reached one side of the chip (and hence can then see the side of the lens). Usually people don't notice that because the pan itself is distracting enough. When I first started shooting video and playing with NLEs, I noticed the black corners would dance around on lenses where you could see the corners.. I scratched my head at that for a while, until I remembered how the steady shot works on these cameras. Again, the optical stabilization (like trv 900 and its sucessor (??)) works differently.

One other thing on that thread: Many NLEs can compensate with jogged timecodes (that go back and forth) with assemle-edited footage on a tape, however, all the ones that I have used will have a problem with no-timecode footage (e.g. you have a gap in footage on a blank tape). Best solution is to put timecode on a blank tape before use. That way if you have an 2 or 3 frame gap, it will use the timecode on the tape that you dubbed previously. Easiest way is to set the camera up, and record from beginning to end on the tape. j

Just checked your other thread, and wanted to mention something that came up on the other thread. Someone asked why there was vinetting (sp?) from the still picture, but it doesn't show up on video. The answer is (I believe): Still pictures use all the pixels on the CCD Video only can use so many pixels (that corresponds to NTSC, or PAL). So what does it do with the other pixels that it has in there? Why image stabilization, of course! On the sony cameras that have steady shot (not the optical stabilization like on the TRV-900), the camera basically moves the frame around on the CCD to 'stabilize' the image. Additionally, if you are looking at the image on a normal TV, often 10% or so of the image (top/bottom, left/right) is cropped by the plastic around your picture tube. Sometimes this hides vinetting (sp?). j