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What is a good choice for a lavalier mic set? Preferably, the cheapest...?

I own a Sony HVR-V1 camcorder with XLR inputs. I need to get an additional microphone to boost sound quality during interviews. What are my best and least expensive options. I already have the shot gun that came with the camera, now I am looking at lavalier sets. How do the wired work, are they essentially plug-n-play or do they require additonal equipment? What are some cheap options for wireless?

After spending all that money on the camcorder, don't undercut your investment by going cheap on audio.

Wireless base stations come in two basic "footprints":

Big ones are generally used for bands or studio or more "static" installations. They are about the size of a small book and need AC ower using a wall wart.

The small ones are closer to the size of a fat Blackberry, are designed to be mounted to the camcorder and are battery powered so they are totally portable. These are more geared toward "ENG" (electronic news gathering) environments.

the actual mic element is connected with a wire to a body pack. The battery powered body pack connects wirelessly to the base station. the base station connects with a cable to the audio-in jack on the camcorder.

Best would be UHF, full diversity. VHF is OK - but not best. Do not get the cheap "shared frequency" unts (900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz). They are cheap because they are in share spectrum and can pick up interference from garage door openers, wifi transmissions and home wireless phones - among many other things.

Having some flexibility is a good idea... Look into the Sennheiser or Audio Technica or Sony (professional) portable, camcorder mountable) systems. Many can do either lav or handheld (the flexibility I mentioned). They aren't cheap - but less then $1,000 is possible.

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I cannot connect my camcorder to my computer and have the videos show up.?

I have a panasonic PV-GS19 and when i hook up the usb cord to it, it show up but there is no way to see the tape or anything. I think i might have to download something any suggestions.

You cannot transfer video to your PC via USB!!! Video transfer is accomplished with a firewire connection ONLY!!! Visit the Panosonic support site for your camcorder model for further instructions!! You will need to purchase a firewire cable and most likely visit your PC support website to see if your PC has a firewire port. Good luck.

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Nokia N95: Designed to Suit your Personality

Mobile with a difference, that is what one can say about the Nokia N95. With its dual slider design and high performance features, it really stands out. Being one of the latest Nokia N series phones, the device offers consummate multimedia applications and advanced 3G mobile technologies. A complete mobile package with full entertainment and productivity tools – its the Nokia N95 .

Nokia's innovative and feature rich products are well known in the global mobile phone market. And the company has always delivered products to meet consumers needs and preferences in every respects. The Nokia N95 is another one of the best examples from the company. The device can otherwise be called as a mini camcorder. Featuring advanced multimedia player and a 5.0 mega-pixel camera with Carl-zeiss optics lens – the device ensure superb sound quality as well as perfect picture quality.

The unique dual slider design of the Nokia N95 lets you access instant multimedia as well as phone features. Just slide open the phone upward and downward and access phone and multimedia features with ease. With 5-way navigation button, browse all the frequently used applications. The display screen of the device is very large – 2.6 inch and at 16 million colours, watch videos and phone features with ease.

In addition to its design, the device offers many office features to suit users from the corporate world. With Quickoffice tools, users can view documents in different office formats such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. And with Series 60 OS – download software applications and add more feature rich applications.

Moreover, the device comes with a 5.0 mega-pixel camera with Carl-zeiss optics. Capture some treasured moments and share high quality pictures with friends and family via MMS, Emails and Bluetooth. For music fans, the device brings superb quality media player and FM radio – play your favourite tracks or tune in to any FM radio station and keep listening. With 1GB of external memory card support –download more and have more fun.

Being the first HSDPA equipped device from Nokia N series phones, the device offers fast data and broadband internet connectivity – transfer multimedia files in no time or enjoy high speed mobile internet anytime-anywhere. With the Nokia N95 everything is possible.

Nokia N95

About the Author

Alice Erin is an Expert Author. He has written good quality articles on Mobile Phones
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Help!!! Best answer 10 points?

So... I found some old tapes that go into the old camcorders...How can i get them turned into vHs or dvd's??? Like where can i get them?? Thanks!! Links to websites would be great! P.S the old camcorder is broke so i cant use that!!! THANKS

I had a bunch of old movies that I needed to have transferred and was not savvy enough to do it myself. I looked around the web and found a site http://www.stashspace.com that you can send all your tapes to they will put them in your account then you can edit them and have them burned to DVD. Go to their site and check them out.

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10 Best Christmas Gifts For Him - 2009

Any woman seriously considering the best gifts for him in 2009 - in particular, for a husband or boyfriend - needs to be aware of some of the latest and smartest items currently available for his personal use. Think of gifts he'll really enjoy and you'll be on a winner! To make it a lot easier for you, here is a list of top selling items for men that was compiled from research with large online retailers.

This list was prepared with a view to his personal satisfaction. It goes beyond household goods or products that he might use once and never return to again. Remember, he'll think of you each time he uses it!

1. Massaging Seat - Homedics SBM-300H Therapist Select Shiatsu PLUS Massaging Cushion with Heat
This turns any chair into his own personal massage chair. The cushion has a programmable control with six different settings and he'll feel as though he has a personal massage therapist hiding within it. The cushion has back support and the soothing heat travels up and down his back. It is perfect for treating tired and aching muscles. Of course, if he leaves it at home, anyone can use it!

2. Webcam - Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000
The high quality, clear video calling will make it look as though the other person is right there in the room. It attaches to laptop computers and is fast and easy to use. He - or you - can see and speak to others online and easily stay in touch with family and friends.

3. Portable DVD Player. Coby TF-DVD18503 8.5-Inch Widescreen TFT Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with Swivel Screen.
The system has excellent features without costing the earth. The screen rotates 180 degrees and there is an 8.5" display screen. It plays not only DVDs but also CDs and MP3s. There is special anti-skip circuitry, so the image/sound doesn't jump when playing. There are also connections for video games and for private listening.

4. Video Watch - Metallic Video Watch with OLED Screen
A beautiful watch with a full color display screen and 2 gb of memory. Audio is accommodated with MP3 playback. A built-in microphone allows him to record notes. It can playback for up to 7 hours (4 hours for video). Has a metal case and a stylish band.

5. Nintendo DSi
Some men just like to play! This is a handheld video game system which is very portable and has a larger display screen than earlier models. It also contains a camera for instant snap shots that can be sent to friends. The system connects to the internet and will play music. A versatile toy for big boys.

6. Handheld GPS Navigation - Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping.
This will function even when hiking through forests and canyons. It has an inbuilt electronic compass that displays bearing and altitude information. It even measures barometric pressure so changes in weather conditions can be detected.

7. Netbook Computer - HP Mini 1150NR Mobile Broadband Edition 10.1-Inch.
In case you haven't noticed, mobile computing has been getting a lot smaller. This is the little brother of the laptop computer, with a 10.1" color screen. It is so light it can be carried anywhere with ease. It has wireless capability with mobile broadband, internet access, email, and video chat. Will handle webinars and most normal computing. Only 1" high.

8. Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes
The flip camera is taking video recording to a new, even easier level. He only has to power on, point and shoot. Within seconds he'll be recording high quality HD video. The camera has 8 gb of memory, which is enough for 120 minutes of HD recording. No tapes or other memory cards are required. There is a simple USB connection to his computer for transferring data. Editing software lets him customize what has been captured

9. Portable TV - Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Portable Handheld TV with Built-In Tuner.
Let's face it, there are times when he can't be at home in front of the big screen and he needs to watch a favorite game or program. This portable has a 7" LCD screen and bright, clear colors. The rechargeable battery allows 100 minutes of viewing time. It can also be plugged into a normal power supply.

10. Personal Organizer - HP iPAQ 111 Classic
Every busy man needs a personal organizer which allows him to go online (Wi-Fi) as well as keep track of emails, dates and appointments. It has a 3.5" touchscreen and a sleek, stylish casing. A great companion to a cell phone, it's like having a personal assistant in his pocket.

About the Author

This is just a small sample of the hundreds of great Christmas gift ideas for him that have been researched, grouped and indexed, with more details, in a free illustrated Guide you can download now at: Gifts for Him It is also available at: http://www.GiftsForHimWithLove.com/GiftsForHim-FreeGuide.html Get it now!

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Making of Ras Star – Indian Kenyan Cinematographer Rajiv Jain

Making of Ras Star – Indian Kenyan Cinematographer Rajiv Jain

RAS STAR IS CURRENTLY FEATURING AT THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN FILM FESTIVAL.

Raj next job was on a short film, Rasstar, based on the life of Kenyan rapper Nazizi, which was aired on M-Net.

Synopsis: A teenage rapper, Amani, from a staunch Muslim family teams up with her brother Abdosh, an emerging con artist to figure out a way to make money and get her into the talent show finals. As the story unfolds, Amani and her brother get caught up with a local gangster and a stolen phone incident and use her brother's glib tongue to get them out. Through absolute blind luck they manage to find the money they need only to come to blows with their Uncle Shaka, the family patriarch and Mlandimu, the local gangster who finally saves them.

Rajeev Jain, a well-versed Bollywood Cinematographer and Director of Photography, discusses his new Award-winning film, Ras Star, and the unique camera approach he used specifically for this film about one young woman’s quest for life. With a background as director of photography for features such as Army, Badhaai Ho Badhaai, Carry On Pandu, Kadachit, Kalpvriksh – The Wish Tree, Mirabai Not out and Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, Rajiv has had more than enough experience behind the lens to make the leap to cinema. He also has cinematography credits for the Award winning Kenyan TV Series Heartbeat FM.

Where are you from and how did you become a cinematographer?

[Raj] I am from Lucknow in the North West of India. My first degree is in Science and it took a while to find my way into a more artistic world. After several meanders I ended up at the Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts (Bhartendu Natya Academy) studying drama. I managed to direct a few short plays and did camera for many more. Since then I have enjoyed both documentary and drama camerawork with each informing and advancing the other.

How did you approach the cinematography of Rasstar?

[Raj] Through discussions with Wanuri, finding films we both liked visually. We wanted to find separate looks for each story and a different look for the present day. We found a visual 'theory' for each section ( for example a deep red and black colour scheme for Amani story, long lenses for Abdosh story and very wide lenses for Mlandimu). The looks had to be able to implement quickly (then aided in the grading) because of the very tight schedule. We then applied the visual theory to a shot list (which we often had to do this the night before due to locations changing or not being found yet)

what was it like working with HD for the first time?

[Raj] With a 35mm camera you are looking directly through a beautiful lens and seeing the scene in colour and can trust your eyes as part of the photographic process. With an HD camera you are looking at a tiny black and white image through the viewfinder so you need a large (ideally 24") HD monitor to properly judge what you are filming. This is huge and totally impractical with such a small crew and  low budget so we managed with a 14" monitor a fair amount of the time but up a mountain or on a remote beach only a small battery monitor is possible. This was very frustrating and led to some things that could have been better.

HD is horrible looking if any area is overexposed. This proved most problematic in outdoor which we chose to shoot on very wide lenses meaning there was a lot of sky in the shot. Unfortunately the skies were particularly flat and overcast but relatively bright white.

The biggest advantage to HD was being able to travel a lot lighter with a couple of zooms up the town for instance and being able to film 2 hours worth of material with no worries ( which would have been roughly 12 huge cans of 1000 feet of film to carry and load). It also meant Wanuri and I could go off at weekends and film city shots and pickups very easily.

Does storytelling matter?
 
[Raj] Storytelling is a huge part of life from an early age. It’s a way of finding meaning in the world.  For a child it’s a way of understanding the world through metaphor – not that a child thinks of it in that way.

If the world blew up and the few stragglers met up it wouldn’t be long before they gathered around a fire and someone started telling tales to make sense of things. Stories entertain, provide an escape or catharsis, stimulate thought and debate and make you laugh.

What was the best thing about making Rasstar?

[Raj] The best thing was being up in such a beautiful part of the world working on a script that used the Kenyan slum as part of the story.

What was the worst thing?

[Raj] The first day of the action sequence in market. The crowd took so long to get onto the location that we on the camera crew were reduced to making beards out of moss and a feature length documentary on clouds (some very fine clouds though).

Can you tell us a couple of interesting/little known/behind the scenes things about the making of Rasstar?

[Raj] Wanuri is certainly one of the hardest working directors I’ve worked with but I think I found her limit one Saturday night. We were filming in pub (climax performance) and pick-up shots and had a choice to go to the local pub where some of the crew were tucking into lamb shank and downing some fine beer or head off. The light looked too tempting though so we headed off towards and thank goodness we did because the light over was astonishing.  Deep red light was bouncing off them making them glow against the black background. There were so many midges we had to set the camera running and run around to draw them away from clustering around the camera. We shot for ages and the light was low but still great approaching.  I tried to get one last shot with long DJ console in the foreground when Wanuri suggested we had enough and should go, words I never thought she’d say! (The shot was a nice one and made the final film).

Have you worked on anything since Rasstar?

[Raj] Since Rasstar I’ve filmed the film Kalpvriksh – The Wish Tree. It was a great experience to film in such a remote and interesting place. Mahableshwar I've filmed a half hour comedy for Channel : 'The Smallest Man in Town' and I’ve also filmed and edited a half hour documentary in Dubai about a cleaning lady who works in  Dubai. I have recently been Dop on a low budget feature “Carry on Pandu”.

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My Cinematography Style | by Rajiv Jain | Indian Bollywood Cinematographer

FIRST OUTLINE:

For some time, I've been meaning to put in writing my views on cinematography and my aesthetic style and now, here it is.  This doesn't mean I follow them dogmatically - it's simply what works for me in broad strokes.  As an Indian cinematographer, I should be able to give the director or production whatever look I'm asked.  But within the visual and aesthetic constraints of any production - or the occasional lack thereof - an element of me is always there. Rules were meant to be broken - but only when you have a full understanding of the rules.  While I can't claim to know all of them, I'm learning with each production.  Here are some of my thoughts...

The aesthetic of a project needs to be established early to the audience.  It's distracting to introduce a new aesthetic or editorial style too late in a story without a proper justification or motivation.

Another area that gets too little attention is on atmospheric shots - those shots that fill the space between scenes.  It gives the audience some time to breathe and to think and can be a moment for the music to affect the audience.

I find graduated filters too fake and unnatural.  It doesn't focus our attention and instead, usually calls attention to itself. I don't think I've ever used them and have yet to be criticized for my decision. 

Most directors cut too soon both on set and in editorial.  On set, wait to say, "Cut".  Sometimes an actor can give a gem of a moment at the end of a scene if you wait.  It's worth it and I'm surprised how often a director will use that moment in the final cut.  It's nice to hold on an actor at the end of certain scenes to allow the audience to take in the moment and reflect. 

People change and so do their views.  So I'm sure my views are likely to change, too.  Till then...

 

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Cooked Art: Cinematography ... by Pocket – Sized Indian Cinematographer Rajiv Jain

I love films that are made like artwork; each scene is masterfully photographed for brilliant composition to create lines of action, symmetrical balance, with a fine use of space, texture, colour, and perspective. Here are two movies which I recently saw again, and depict wonderful visual language.

So what the hell is a cinematographer? If you want to get into semantics, it means 'writing in the movement.' But their job, mainly, is to have control over the camera and lighting crews in a scene, and therefore have a lot of creative input into the final image. Though if you consider the fact that the art director is responsible for the mise en scene, the storyboard artist plans out the shots and what is actually happening, and the director is going to want to have a piece of the action, then it's no small wonder how films end up looking great. Here are some of the guys that managed to do this (in my little opinion)

What qualification did you study at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts and when did you finish?

I went straight from high school to Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts and did a 2 year Diploma in Dramatic Arts, majoring in Lighting and graduating in 1985. The courses are run differently now.  It is run more like a film school than an art school, which I think is excellent! It allows students to make earlier decisions on their chosen field within film & television, be it a cinematographer, director, producer, editor etc. It also better prepares the students for working in the industry.  It is teaching so much more than just how to make films.

What did you think of the facilities you recently saw at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts (Bhartendu Natya Academy)?

The facilities at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts are fantastic; I would say world class even.  The main production studio is very well equipped.  The post production facilities such as the edit suites and sound mixing rooms are just like what is being used in much of the Indian film and television industry.

I am also particularly impressed with the production value of the recent student films at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts. I think the standard of work is quite high.

I think it is fantastic that the students get to shoot projects Film is the international industry-standard format for feature films, as well most overseas television drama. It is rare for students to get the opportunity to work with film now that the digital formats are becoming more and more prevalent.  If you are able to shoot and work with film, then you will be able to work in any format that you come across out there.  It doesn’t work the other way around.

What I mean by this is that the principals of filmmaking are the same whichever format you shoot in.  However, shooting film requires a different approach, both technically and creatively.  These principles can be applied to shooting digital, but shooting film requires a greater understanding of lighting and exposure.

The digital equipment at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts is of a standard and quality that will enable the graduates to go out into the industry and understand pretty much the workings of any other piece of equipment they will come across. There is no reason why the quality of the student projects can’t match the high quality of professional projects because the equipment they are using is the same.

I am also particularly impressed with the production value of the recent student films at Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts. I think that the standard of work is quite high.

What was the first break or job that was key to setting you on your way in your career?

I have had a number of breaks I guess and many of them lead onto one another. A series of fortunate events you might say, but if I was to think of one particular big break it was one night when I had just finished editing my new cinematography show reel. (A show reel is like a portfolio of work, a cut down of my best cinematography edited to music.)

Just as I had finished, an email came through to me that was forwarded by someone that I barely knew. The email said that a Kenyan production company was looking for an Indian cinematographer to shoot part of an international film that was to screen at the World Expo in Nairobi, Kenya and they wanted to see show reels.

I went to the post office the next morning and sent mine off express mail. I received phone call only days later confirming that I had the job.  I was flown to Nairobi and I worked with a full professional crew on what was my first major job.

The people I met on that project liked my work so much that I got a call a month later and they flew me to Darussalam to shoot some commercials. I eventually returned to India with a new and improved show reel.  Having international work on the reel raised my profile further and got me bigger and better jobs and an agent and I was away…

A case of the right timing I guess!

What qualities do you think are needed in order to make a career in the creative industries?

The quality that I admire in successful creative professionals is the ability to take pride in one’s own work.  Whatever your creative pursuit, I think that if you are doing work that you really enjoy and that you take great pride in, then you is lucky enough to have one of the best jobs in the world.

I also think that challenging oneself by working outside of your comfort zone is important and realising that to succeed you have to be consistent, positive and work really hard.

Whichever creative field you are in, it is going to be a hard slog to get your career underway. With creative careers you are judged on your body of work and your track record. The first thing one need to do is create a portfolio, or in my case a show reel, and then prepare yourself for criticism and knock backs, never giving up and use those knock backs as incentive to work harder and set your standards higher.

I also think it is important to do ‘passion projects’ that allow you to experiment with ideas or further your experience. By passion projects, I mean ones that you do for the love of it and not the pay. I shot a lot of ‘freebies’ to get my show reel up to scratch and to get experience before I started getting paid for my art.

Also it’s important to work on your network of contacts.  You never know when that person you might consider as a rival might actually be the one to pass some work your way or introduce you to new collaborators. The film industry is too small to make enemies.  We should be like a support network and learn from each other in order to continually make better projects.

For you, what are the 'must see' benchmark films in terms of either outstanding or pioneering cinematography?

Well for starters the cinematography on the recent Indian feature films Kalpvriksh – The Wish Tree – Yours Dreams Are Just a Touch Away and the soon to be released Carry on Pandu are quite outstanding. Ha!

No, seriously, some of my favourite and most influential films in terms of cinematography are not the ones with the big crane shots or the world’s longest steadicam shot, but the ones that create a real mood and atmosphere.  Films that convey emotion to an audience and help to communicate the subtext of a story by saying more about the characters than dialogue alone ever could.

I think the most influential films for me would be anything directed by Satyajit Ray (Aparajito (The Unvanquished), Parash Pathar (The Philosopher's Stone), Jalsaghar (The Music Room) for his use of mood, atmosphere and cinematic techniques of storytelling.

Also, classics such as Pather Panchali (Song of the Road). It took me a while to realise why it is considered the best film ever made. The use of deep focus in this film is not just a technical achievement, but also a storytelling one.

I also really liked Shakha Proshakha (Branches of a Tree), Agantuk. They are both quite rough and hand held at times, but very beautiful and you really felt like you were ‘inside’ the movie.

That is what I was trying to create on the most recent film that I shot, Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree.

I want the audience to feel like they were there in Kalpvriksh, with the characters, to feel it, smell it and taste it.

 

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Key lights: Defining moments in cinematography since the Kalpvriksh – The Wish Tree

An interview with Rajiv Jain, Indian Cinematographer and owner of Rajiv Jain Films, Cinematography and Grips – Dubai - Mumbai - Nairobi.

Q: What is your job title? Where are you employed?

A: Director’s director of photography, director of photography. I have my own company, Rajiv Jain Films, Cinematography and Grips, and I’ve been doing it for about twenty-five years.

Q: How long have you been a cinematographer?

A: I’ve been doing it for several years, but I started my own company.

Q: What type of training did you have to become a cinematographer?

A: I went to the Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts.  I had a two-year diploma degree in theatre arts. That put me into a position to see how the industry has changed a lot. Coming out of college, kids should just start their own company.  First, they should decide what they want to do in the industry and then go for it. The sky’s the limit depending on the career path you choose.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

A: Working for myself. Having the freedom to make your own decisions, to make your own path about what you want to do. But you can go for a month without working if you’re on your own, so definitely put yourself on a business path as well as a creative path. Take businesses classes, not just liberal arts. The film industry is a business, just like the music industry. You have to be a self-starter.

Q: Describe your typical day on the job.

A: Which job? Normally when I’m not working, I’m in my office doing paperwork. From your office, you might have to go somewhere on location and that can be anywhere from two days to thirty days. A lot of our stuff is remote locations. Every job is unique. As soon as you think it’s typical, it changes.

Q: What career were you in before becoming a cinematographer?  Do you feel that it helped prepare you for becoming a massage therapist?

A: I was doing theatre, photo journalism, working at a local channel and making a decent earning. I found myself incorporating paramount to my words, and when I started taking pictures and filming, I realized this was what I’m most passionate about. But when you have a creative bone in your body, like writing, it’s easier to expand into other aspects of a different creative trade.

Q: What traits do you feel are necessary to be successful as a cinematographer?

A: Everybody takes different paths to be successful. But you have to keep up-to-date. Editing and graphics has changed so much. The whole dynamics has completely changed. You have to be totally flexible and stay with the current trend.

Q: Would you say it’s imperative to have a college education for a career such as this one?

A: I don’t think it’s imperative, but what I got out of college is I networked a lot. I don’t think it’s a hundred percent necessary. But, of course, you should have a good school to teach you what you need. When you’re in college, you need to start working on building a portfolio and college can help with that. If two people went for the same job and they both had impeccable portfolios, but one also carried a four-year degree, you can bet that person’s going to land the job. To be in the industry full-time, not just freelance, means it’s important to get that degree.

Q: Would you recommend this career to someone else?

A: Yeah. I can’t think of anything better to do. I see things that people don’t see. Is it for everybody? I don’t think so. You have to have thick skin. You have to work for months on end. Don’t set your expectations too high. Be realistic. My first recommendation would be to go to college and get that full-time job. Get a feel for what the industry is all about. It’s hard to just have a good portfolio, unless you’re an amazing cinematographer. Doing it without college is extremely hard to do.

Q: What is your next career move, if any?

A: Retire and go village. No, but seriously, I’m going to do more projects. I want complete control of my future projects.

 

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Kalpvriksh - The Wish Tree - Yours Dreams Are Just a Touch Away – Rajiv Jain Cinematographer

Two-time Winner Indian Cinematographer Rajiv Jain ICS WICA Creates Special World of Light, Shadows in his recent film Kalpvriksh the Wish Tree Yours Dreams Are Just a Touch Away

Rajiv Jain has a way of seeing that takes an image to its outer limits. In his years as assistant, electrician, grip, and in the past 16 years as director of photography, he has developed a visual sensitivity and expertise.

Rajiv takes his inspiration from directors such as Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali) and cinematographers Ashok Mehta, ISC (36 Chowrangi Lane) and Binod Pradhan (Parinda) for their use of colour and lights and shadow to amplify the emotional content of stories. I find the ability to allow the characters to operate in shadow is a real art, he says. Ashok Mehta allows his characters to function in darkness. He lights everything so the blacks are really rich - yet you can see everything.

His work in Kalpvriksh, a film by director Manika Sharma exudes a period quality with an edge. Rajiv was especially intrigued by the non-narrative, fragmented script, because it offered a myriad of visual possibilities. Shooting primarily on Kodak to give contrast to the exterior scenes, Rajiv experimented with warm and blue filters to get the look he wanted. The result is a stark, almost surreal journey into the minds and actions of the film's bizarre characters.

Up-front collaboration on any film is essential, Rajiv emphasizes.

It's important for me to go through the script scene by scene with the director Manika Sharma, Rajiv says, to try to see what is in her mind. I want to know what the scene is saying, who the most important character is at that moment, and how the characters move through the scene. We also share photographs and movies, which gives us a visual base to work from.

A graduate of Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in Drama and a beginning still photography, Rajiv took a course in filmmaking. Intrigued by the film medium, he saw the possibilities of combining his interests with film in commercials. Searching for a way to learn camerawork, he offered his assistance (unpaid) to director of photography Subroto Mitra to learn the craft.

He taught me about his SR package, what the lenses were, and how to load magazines, he said. Then he started me by working on Shyam Benegal’s documentary on Nehru.

In 1996, Rajiv got the first opportunity to shoot a film, Army, with Mukul Anand. After eight weeks of stressful shooting - his every move was watched.

After 6 more features, then came Kalpvriksh in 2007, allowed Rajiv to explore a new visual technique to add nuance to the story. The film includes a dreamlike journey that Rajiv wanted to give a dreamlike quality. We tested filters and a bleach bypass process to give that section of the film its own special look," he says. "Instead we decided to use a swing tilt, a view camera attachment that allows the operator to change the plane of focus. It let us throw different parts of the frame out of focus, which is difficult to do in a wide shot because of increased depth of field.

Rajiv is currently finishing production on Carry on Pandu, a feature being shot in Mumbai, as well as doing Commercials.

 

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Full of Surprises! Rajiv Jain, Indian Cinematographer / DOP, Talks About... KALPVRIKSH (THE WISHING TREE): YOUR DREAMS... ARE JUST A TOUCH AWAY...

Like any artist, Rajiv was born with innate talent burnished by experience and cultural influences. Born in 1968, his first introduction to movie magic came while observing his uncle as a projectionist at Ravindralaya Theatre, Lucknow. “I remember sitting in that little projection room and watching films with my uncle,” the Indian cinematographer recalls. “It was like watching silent movies because you couldn’t hear sound in the booth. I just saw the images and would try to understand the story. My uncle would show us Charlie Chaplin movies, which, of course, were silent. There is no doubt that he put his dream of becoming a cinematographer into my heart.”  Originally from India, cinematographer Rajiv Jain ICS WICA studied at the Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in Lucknow, India.

The day after completing his studies, Rajiv went to work as a trainee on an anamorphic picture. He contributed to ten more movies as assistant director of photography before becoming a DOP. “From that moment on I considered the camera to be like a pen that you use to draw images,” he states. “Operating a camera is mainly about composition and rhythm. I also operated the camera for Bollywood songs. It was very primitive. While we were shooting, someone with a watch was timing every pan and zoom. He would say, ‘You have 5 1/2 seconds to do that zoom.’ It was a great lesson for me, learning to make each element of a shot work in that amount of time.”

I thought it was fascinating that film speaks a common language that everyone in the world can understand," he recalls. "That's especially true for cinematographers, because we are communicating with the audience non-verbally." “To me, making a film is like resolving conflicts between light and dark, cold and warmth, blue and orange or other contrasting colours. There should be a sense of energy, or change of movement. A sense that time is going on — light becomes night, which reverts to morning. Life becomes death. Making a film is like documenting a journey and using light in the style that best suits that particular picture… the concept behind it.

The first important decision regarding the visuals was to shoot in anamorphic (2.4:1) format, as they had done on Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree. Rajiv explains that Manika likes to manipulate the subjective and objective viewpoints, sometimes in the same frame or even at the same time. In a simple example, a shot will begin on a subject, and then an actor will step into the frame, creating an over-the-shoulder shot, changing it from subjective––in which the viewer sees what the character sees––to objective. "One of my first suggestions was shooting Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree in Super 35 format," Rajiv continues. "I felt that would give the film an edge that you don't expect to see in Drama. I felt we could use the wider frame to create a claustrophobic feeling in the Shabana’s cave and more interesting composition showing Shabana in the world." She, director Manika Sharma, designer Mansi and other members of the creative team discussed the possibilities for composing Kalpvriksh – the Wishing Tree in widescreen format, while drawing upon such visual references as another drama with an improbable theme. Though Manika storyboarded scenes, Rajiv utilized the sketches primarily as a communications tool. While shooting, the director remained open to veering from the storyboards to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. “Our production designer Mansi and costume designer gave us rich sets and costumes. Even though pushing two stops in the development sometimes is not as faithful to colours, their collaboration with this technique allowed us (especially in the dinner / fantasy sequences) to have a warm and yellow-looking scene, as if all that was lit was candle light,” he says.

In one dramatically lit scene, the school principal (Mahabano Kotwal) is sitting on the chair, looking out a window at the falling rain. “The whole scene was lit with one hard day light, an ARRI  6K,” says Rajiv. “We brought one light through the window. In order to light the door, we used a 4 by 4 mirror just out of frame to the right. The light is modulated by the rain on the window, and it stretched over to the book. We were ‘gathering chestnuts.’ It was serendipitous, and it all worked out with one light.” “For fill light on this movie, we used either very, very little or absolutely none,” he adds. “I find that with the film stocks we were using, if you’re overexposing a little bit, you can read the shadow detail incredibly well. When I saw the picture at Theatre on the 70-foot-wide screen, on the dark side, which is dead black, you can actually see hairs going into actors’ heads. I found it very interesting. I hope it works on a subconscious level for the audience.” Even though Rajiv knew that he could not shoot wide open at a T2 or a T2.8––because the Super 35 format chosen has a shallower depth––he still wanted this tool to give the story a greater stage presence. The bigger negative allowed him to push the envelope. And, he knew the grain would still be acceptable, if he stayed within the T2.8 to T4 ranges on interiors. “We could still use real sources and it wouldn’t be hard for our camera crew to follow focus,” he says confidently.

Like many of his colleagues, cinematographer Rajiv Jain has many concerns about changes that can be introduced to imagery during the post process of our electronic age. Such considerations only become intensified when one is dealing with a profusion of visual effects, which was the case with Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree. "I tried to make a concerted effort to stay as involved in postproduction as possible - which is sometimes tough because it's 'off to the next job' - to work with the digital effects and optical house to ensure that there wouldn't be any problems with the answer printing process. “You don’t see any lights in the master shot,” he says. “The master shot that we started out with was an impossible shot to light. We were jammed back in the corner with a 35 mm lens and there was a two-way mirror in the background. So we used a technique Rajiv Jain called a ‘driller.’ Simply put, you’re normally shooting horizontally across a room, and there are horizontal surfaces, like the tops of mantels and tables. If you come from directly overhead with a light and drill it down onto that surface, it works quite well. It doesn’t seem wrong. If light comes from a place that’s not normal or usual, people seem to accept the element that’s being illuminated without really figuring out what’s going on in terms of a source. Shadows go straight down, so they don’t end up looking strange or calling attention to the source. You see it on the table and then it comes off the table and lights the faces to a degree. It’s interesting because you’re not lighting the people at all. You’re lighting the environment that they’re in.

Anamorphic gives you the space in the frame to do that,” Rajiv says. “Manika has no problem filling an anamorphic frame in a contemporary picture. The story also has an elegiac aspect, so it seemed better to tell it without rock video cutting and frenetic camera movement. With the amazing cast, we knew this film would be about the performances. All those ideas––as well as ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’––factored into our decision to shoot anamorphic.” To determine a visually appropriate approach for the various moods needed in Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree, Manika and Rajiv chose to forego in large part the usual business of viewing other films during prep. "We used a lot of book work, referring to other kinds of artists working in two-dimensional forms, still photography and drawings mainly," Rajiv relates. "This was a nice and different way to prep. Looking at movies to see how a particular sequence worked is great, but this approach started me on this incredible round of self-education, covering still photography from 1890 up 'til now. Now I can't stop myself from buying the books. It is amazing how much visual reference source material is out there when you go back to basics. These were great jumping-off points for us.

The cinematographer also had to avoid telltale reflections of camera gear and personnel on the water surface. Along with a disciplined crew, that required careful light placement and camera angle selection. He discovered that putting the plastic at the right distance from the lens for tighter shots from Shawn's point-of-view rendered slightly distorted images with a hint of grain, which amplified the look that he and director Manika desired. Rajiv also occasionally added reflections of characters and objects on the water's surface to draw attention to the barrier separating the boy from other people. Sometimes the camera takes a subjective, spectator-like stance while other times the audience seems to share Shawn's life-in-the-bubble experience. "There was no simple formula for deciding when to put the audience inside the bubble with Shawn. It was a question I asked the director for each shot in every scene. Are we with Shawn inside the bubble, or are we outside looking in?"

I didn’t believe this and obviously neither did neither director Manika Sharma nor producing company Rhombus Films. Another picture shot in an old house in Bollywood required us to actually operate two generators to power all of the lights. By the time we were done, however, I was able to shoot two-thirds of a long sequence by dollying along with the reflections seen in a long fishpond at night (Shabana’s cave). “I think it’s a visual reflection of the fact that one’s position in life can change almost instantaneously,” he says. “It’s extremely effective visually. It seems to work on a number of different levels. Using this different approach seems to freshen up all your overs and reverses. There’s a very interesting scene between Shabana and kid that was staged on an under the tree, and there’s a sense of disquiet and possible aggression. It’s very ambiguous, yet the spatial dynamics really underscore the feeling.”

There is a great advantage in working on location versus a studio. For example, the muslim house I mentioned had real marble floors. An experienced DOP knows how to utilize this reality something he can only simulate in a studio," mused Rajiv. Reflectors were used extensively throughout the film, usually on the fill side to pick up some ambience or an edge of the keylight, and to redirect some of that light to the fill side. In most cases it was very subtle, however, just reflecting in the shine of the skin. “We used the reflectors as almost more of an eyelight,” Rajiv says. “There is such tension between these three characters. There are a lot of internal emotions beneath the surface of this movie. I felt that the audience needed to have access to the internal life of the characters, so I tried to keep eyelights going, especially when we’d get in close. Often it was done with a small reflector thrown in at the last moment.

One of the most important aspects included previsualizing the character of Shabana herself. "To nail her down, we started off by working on storyboards with an artist," says Rajiv, "who drew terrific boards and is a brilliant artist as well. We told him our thoughts on how the Shabana looked and he set to work. Manika credits him with creating a good part of the final look, since his drawings were used to communicate to hair, make-up and wardrobe departments what Manika wanted for his look." Part of Cave ' guise involved the use of a wig that often obscured the actor's face - which on occasion made for a less than ideal lighting situation. "During hair and make-up tests, I saw that while Shabana looked amazing, they were going to be difficult to deal with for 2 weeks. She had a big headgear and a huge costume also, so there was a question of whether we were ever going to be able to really see her. I told Manika that at times she was on the verge of becoming a headgear with hair. Being very sensitive to the needs of actors, Manika didn't want to get the hair out of her face, so we tried not to mess with her and solve it on our own."

On Kalpvriksh – The Wishing Tree, Rajiv opted for Vision 200T (5274) for everything but night exteriors, explaining that the smooth grain of this non-intrusive emulsion records deep blacks, true colours and a wide tonal range. Rajiv shot day exteriors on Eastman EXR 100T (5248), using an 81 EF filter to half-correct and retain the cool blue of winter. Daylight-balanced 250D (5246) Vision stock was selected for day interiors, while he exploited Vision 500T (5279) on most night interiors and exteriors. Since shooting, the cinematographer did extensive tests with different materials to search for the right thickness and translucency. "It's the same as using a cheap filter on the lens and we realized that any distortion or loss of focus would be magnified when the lab optically 'squeezed' the images into the 2.40 aspect ratio. In addition to selecting the right plastic, it was important for us to record a strong negative with properly focused images. We were shooting through filters at least 90 percent of the time.

While shooting forest scenes with the lead actor, Rajiv employed what he calls a Nine-light sandwich. "Others might call it a book light, but in any case, we were bouncing a Nine-light Maxi Brute off a piece of bead board, then letting the light pass through a diffusion frame usually fitted with either 216 or light grid. The resulting soft light striking He had a very beautiful quality, plus some serious pounding of foot-candles. This soft light had enough to punch through Shabana’s hair, and I could control the amount of light just by clicking off various globes. But it also required a lot of flagging and took up much space." On other occasions, Rajiv illuminated the Forest by directing the light from more extreme angles. "I came in much lower and more frontal with his key than I would have normally, but the approach succeeded in letting her hair fall naturally, so, while it was tough, it worked. It did make me thankful for the scenes when Shabana is dressed up with her hair pulled back, since I could get a nice edge on her through side lighting."

When kids arrive at tree before the climax, production established the famously setting by filming the actors in front of blue screen and green screen. Those elements were digitally composited with stock background plates culled from Ladakh. Harry and Arjun from Red Chillies’ in-house facility supervised the visual effect shots. "I don't think these scenes could be any more believable if we had travelled to Ladakh to film them live," marvels Rajiv. "How can you miss when you begin with 70 millimetre background plates? We matched everything to those plates."

There were a few daylight scenes in there, so we decided that cracks in the cave roof let hard sunlight in," he continues. "I put some signs of this in on the walls behind the actors and let some light bounce off the floor. For the most part though, the cave scenes are set at night - lit by firelight or lanterns or the imaginary glow coming off, which isn't plugged into anything. For the Water, I chose to use a slightly blue key light on the actors but didn't put any flickering movement in because I felt that it was distracting. The only flickering on their faces comes from the actual water. What I did add was a slight flicker effect on the walls, which I found to be more pleasing while lending a bit of realism.

Front-end lab work was done by Gemini, which provided film dailies. "After her experiences in the commercial world where you work on a monitor all the time, Manika loved watching film dailies - it opened up a new world for her," says Rajiv. "For example, there is a shot of a Shabana delivering a line at the end of a long shot under the tree. When Manika saw it played back on the [video tap] monitor, she didn't feel good about it. She seemed too small in the shot. She remarked that maybe her line would have to disappear in editing. After some time, Manika saw it projected on a big screen and loved the shot." When asked if such glad tidings extend to the on-screen drama as well, Rajiv smiles, and says, "Would you be surprised if I said there is a happy ending?"

The cinematographer does not use diffusion on the camera lens, instead preferring to soften his subject as needed by selectively affecting the light source. "I've never liked it in films when the overall resolution of the lens changes visibly during cuts in to a close-up during a scene," he declares. "The whole business of putting heavy diffusion in front of the lens to make [an actress] look 'better' is just crazy to me. I don't want to see the cinematographer's effort to make someone look good. Instead, I want to see the character look well, and I think that happens when the actor is both integrated into the scene properly and lit in a flattering manner. My solution is to soften at the source of illumination, and let the image be as clear as possible. Some people think Primo lenses are too sharp, but I love all that perfection. When you combine years and years of research and development on the film stocks from Kodak, with what has gone into these Arri lenses and the lab work at Gemini, and then put all that into a film being projected properly on screen, the result is such awesome perfection! So I take a lot of pride in delivering a really perfect negative. We may want to mess it up later, and that's fine, but I believe in starting with something well-exposed and sharp."

With all the many visual treatments necessary to depict the Shabana's perceptions, Rajiv and Manika needed to settle on parameters early on for the more elaborate manifestations requiring visual effects. "We're telling a story that is seen in part through the eyes of a crazy person," offers Rajiv. "She's an incredibly brilliant crazy person, but crazy nonetheless, so there's a sense of the fantastic about these visions, but they are not in the tradition of science-fiction movie effects. We had submitted a wish list of visual effects for budgeting, but it came back priced four or five times higher than we hoped. This meant we had to pull back, and that decision ultimately worked better for the film we wound up making. Most of the effects are things we did ourselves, with practical light cues, or as a combination of those cues with digital enhancement."

I'm glad that this movie's look seems interesting to the eye, but I'm also pleased that the visuals don't supersede the story. Early reviews are praising Shabana's performance as one of the best she's ever given, so it wouldn't make sense to do anything that took away from that aspect. Lots of films now seem overwhelmed with effects, but Manika isn't one to tell that type of story.

When Indian Cinematographer Rajiv Jain, ICS WICA is asked if, he would do anything differently today, the master artiste replies, “Ninety-nine percent of the time when I see my old films I am serene. It was the best I could do at that time of my life with what I had to work with. What’s important is your life and how you evolve as a human being and as an artist.

 

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Q & A with Rajiv Jain, ICS WICA Indian Cinematographer on Film Kalpvriksh - The Wish Tree - Your Dreams Are Just a Touch Away

Indian Director of Photography, Rajiv Jain, ICS WICA is a Cinematographer based in Mumbai, India. Rajiv specializes in shooting television commercials in the 35mm motion picture film format as well as HD Digital formats. Rajiv started in the early days of the music video revolution, before venturing into narrative filmmaking. His eclectic body of work includes Army, Badhaai Ho Badhaai, Carry on Pandu, Kadachit, Kalpvriksh - The Wish Tree, Mirabai Notout,  Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and Rasstar .

QUESTION: Where were you born and raised?

RAJIV: I was born in Lucknow, India. There was no seminal event that happened to me as a young person that made me want to be a cinematographer. It certainly wasn’t the quality of the light in Lucknow. I remember it was gray; was stained brown from the traffic and the sky dark. But as I say that, I realize the suppressed palette of the place did affect me emotionally. Saturates leaped out against that neutrals, as in a dream or a post-industrial nightmare.

QUESTION: What did your parents do?

RAJIV: My parents were just ordinary folks. I don’t think they were particularly ambitious for me. Their main concern, I think, was that I wasn’t an embarrassment. We moved to the Etawah and then back to Lucknow, where I completed my education. My degrees were in Theatre Arts.

QUESTION: Did you have a career goal at that point in life?

RAJIV: I wanted to be a writer, but like Mohan Rakesh I thought too much and wrote too little. That is too say I was more a reader then a writer, more academician then poet. I got very interested in semiology and structuralism (the study of how language encodes ideas). Initially I studied how the spoken and written language worked, but then became more interested in how codes worked in other languages, like the language of film. My interest in film language led me in a rather convoluted way to cinematography.

QUESTION: That’s interesting. Can you be a little more specific?

RAJIV: I became very interested in understanding how in altering light, composition, camera angles and camera movement a cinematographer alters an audiences perception of the visual event, and thereby the audience’s emotional response. It is a difficult thing to quantify. I remember specifically thinking back to seeing Pather Panchali  when I was a child, and how its images had always remained in my imagination, not only for their pure beauty and sublime scale, but because they affected me emotionally, striking some unconscious but responsive cord. Later I saw Ray's "The Apu Trilogy". I had much the same response, but now my understanding was informed by my studies. It would be accurate to say that the cinematographers of these two films, Subroto Mitra, were those who most influenced my decision to become a cinematographer.

QUESTION: How did you make a connection between words and photography?

RAJIV: In writing essays and articles about film. I realized that film images worked very much the way the spoken/written language works. You want to express certain ideas. There are culturally agreed and understood codas. These shapes, which we call letters, have agreed upon pronunciations. These letters form words. These words have agreed meanings. But it is of course arbitrary. The word “cat” has no innate “catness” about it, but on hearing this word the listener forms an idea in their brain. A cat. We can then add adjectives, and qualifiers, to make it a black cat, or an angry black cat. These words are codes, but not universal codes. They are specific to a culture that shares that language. Photography in some respects is a much more complex language system. The denotative (specific) or connotative (symbolic or implied) meaning of an image can be ambiguous, but also complex. Perhaps the best literary analogy is the Haiku poem. The fewer words have greater potential meaning — the more words that are added in longer literary forms, the more specific the meaning. An image offers both specific and non-specific meanings. It can work on many layers, conscious and not.

QUESTION: Did you have any mentors or were you totally self-taught?

RAJIV: I’ve learned a lot from other DP’s. But it’s mainly from studying their work. Ashok Mehta and I talk a lot, and he’s given me a great deal. But I was self-taught. I studied art extensively, particularly early 20th century artists, and late 19th century artists. I learned a lot about light from them. I’ve stolen an idea from every good film I’ve seen, probably. Particularly the work of  Subroto Mitra (ISC), Ashok Mehta (ISC), Binod Pradhan, and Santosh Sivan (ISC).

QUESTION: Do you think of yourself as an artist, a technician or both?

RAJIV: I think that’s a very important distinction. I don’t want to sound pretentious, but if you consider the nature of art, it is meant to give us new eyes to see the world. I want audiences to respond viscerally to what our intentions are for a film. I think that cinematography works very much like music in that it is difficult for us to measure or quantify why audiences respond to what we do. So it is an art. And its practitioners must therefore be artists.

QUESTION: Tell us more about your analogy of music and cinematography.

RAJIV: I can sit in dailies and I can see the other people watching the film with me respond physically and emotionally to the images; but it is very difficult quantifying what they are responding to. If you watch people listening to music, they may also respond, but you would hard put to quantify why they are responding.

QUESTION: I’ll borrow a phrase from Subroto Mitra, who said, cinematographers are the authors of the images. But, that isn’t widely recognized.

RAJIV: Part of the problem lies with our collective culture. Films are reviewed as theatre rather than as a unique art form. Critics will talk about scripts and performances. They talk about things they understand, but they understand them because their own cultural antecedents are principally in traditional theatre, though they may not recognize that. In this context, cinematography and music aren’t understood, except to say they were beautiful, because there is not a particular language developed within criticism for their description. Unfortunately, many reviewers don’t recognize how decisions made by the director, cinematographer and composer made a profound impact on the visceral reactions and intellectual responses of audiences. I’m not saying that cinematographers aren’t recognized. We are, at least within the industry, but not in the consumer press. I don’t think I read a single review that mentioned the significance of Subroto Mitra’s (ISC) decision to use 16mm film and other formats in certain scenes in The River, yet that made a profound impact. I consider that a significant artistic decision worthy of comment, in fact, essential to an audiences understanding of the film’s artistic treatment.

QUESTION: The collaboration between directors and cinematographers is unique.

RAJIV: An important thing about that collaboration is that cinematographers have to integrate their vision for a film with the director’s vision.

QUESTION: Do the many music videos you shot influence you today?

RAJIV: Not really. None of my films look like music videos, but the great thing about music videos was that we could experiment with different lighting, film stocks, lenses and filters. We would decide to try putting four filters on the lens, force process the film, or put a negative through a reversal film postproduction process to see how it comes out, and then try it again the other way around. It was a great way to learn.

QUESTION: Are there other cinematographers whose work you follow?

RAJIV: I can mention all the obvious names, but the truth is I learn from all cinematographers. I can watch a television program shot by a 29-year-old cinematographer and find something that he or she did that is quite interesting. I’m constantly learning from other people. I still read every magazine and journal about cinematography and photography that I can lay my hands on. I still study art. I collect books of photographers and paintings. But it’s not just the good work that others do that I learn from. I learn from my own mistakes that I have had ample opportunity to make over these last 20 years. When my son Adam was in the seventh grade, he wrote an essay in which he was required to say who his hero was. He said it was me. “My father is my hero because he messes up all the time, and he lets me see it.” So I feel o.k. about messing up. I think that’s a hugely important lesson to learn. It’s o.k. to mess up, and you will sometimes mess up if you’re willing to push the limits of your craft.

QUESTION: Did any other mentors influence your thinking?

RAJIV: I was a graduate from the University of Lucknow for a short while. That’s where I met Renu Saluja who was a really important mentor. She pointed me down some really interesting avenues as regards film theory.

QUESTION: How do you decide that something is a film you want to do?

RAJIV: Early in my career anything that was offered was a film I wanted to do. Today, two things are likely to affect my decision. One is my first meeting with the director. That relationship is like a marriage only, oddly, much more intense. You have to decide whether you’re going to be able to get along with that person for the long time that you’re going to be together. I think I have gotten along well with over 90 percent of the directors I have worked with, and many have remained friends. The second thing is the photography. I’m always interested in doing new and different things. If the project is very much like what I have done before, and the script is not great, then it is less likely I will be interested. Sometimes a project comes along that is just so interesting it is impossible to resist.

QUESTION: What do you tell students and other young filmmakers when they ask you to share the secret of success? Do you tell them the truth about the odds?

RAJIV: I think you have to be patient, and not let yourself believe that things are going to happen quickly. You need integrity and honesty about who you want to become. That way, even if you fail, you can fail with some dignity. If you compromise and fail, what do you have left?

 

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Quick notes by Indian Cinematographer / DOP Rajiv Jain on Cinematography and aspiring Indian Cinematographers:

A quick "filler post" while I try to get something actually substantial written: 

The most hits I get for my blog are from people searching keywords like "Indian Cinematographers" "cinematography career path" and "how to be a great Cinematographer." I can really only offer my own personal experience.

Rajiv on advice for young, aspiring Indian cinematographers:

An advice for all cinematographers is to be very aware of the digital era that ìs right on top of us, but still stay true to film at this stage and maybe experiment with both. We're at the crossroads of film into digital. I've just had some tests with film compared to digital and film is still better. Film still holds more information than digital cameras do even though they're getting better all the time. But the way to go now that's very smart filmmaking is to shoot on film whether it be 35 mm or super 16 and do digital intermediate and put it together on film at the end. I've done it with my last three or four films and I'll be doing that again with my next one. It ìs really smart filmmaking to be able to use the digital technology to manipulate images. (In regards to helping me make decisions on the day of shoot), I saved shooting Kalpvriksh Öon average about 10 minutes a day by making decisions like:

There ìs a flare coming off a window; send the grips up to get rid of it. We hadn't got time. I can fix it digitally. It ìs very easy later on.

There ìs hot light coming off the top of the Muscos light ñ big flares. We cant get rid of the flares at the top edge of the frame. Don't worry about it. If you're going to have to set giant flags, it ìs going to take 20 minutes for us to do it. Forget it. I know I can fix it digitally.

Every now and then I make decisions like that knowing that I could make corrections at a digital intermediate. That ìs a very smart way to go. It is more expensive than conventional timing but it ìs getting cheaper all the time. It ìs just going to be the norm very shortly.

I think (it ìs good) for young cinematographers to embrace that (and) to visit the digital houses (which) are more than happy to show people around (and) to show them the tricks of the trade. It ìs truly a unique experience. Once anyone has done it, they'll never look back.

I haven't done commercials for a long time and I just tend to go from feature to feature. (But) most cinematographers who shoot commercials if they follow them through certainly get to see the digital technology work if they're going through the television process.

Now on to the master of the camera, Rajiv Jain:

My favourite Indian Cinematographer’s are:

Ashok Mehta (36 Chowringhee Lane, Moksha, Bandit queen)

Binod Pradhan (Parinda, Devdas)

K K Mahajan (Chorus, Maya Darpan, Uski Roti, Sara Akash)

Santosh Sivan (Dil Se, Iruvar, Kalapani, Perumthachan)

AND

Subrata Mitra (Pather Panchali, New Delhi Times)

You should definitely check them out. I've written about a couple of them.

As for a career path, I am still figuring that out myself. I remember listening to Cinematographer Ashok Mehta about how he got to the point of finally shooting features. He worked as assistant camera and camera op for a while until he got a steady gig shooting those commercials. He eventually worked his way up to Cinematographer, and has shot quite a number of films, including 36 Chowringhee Lane and Bandit Queen. It took him around 10 + 30 years to get to the level he is at currently. And that's the big number I learned as well. It will take you about 10 years on average to become "successful" (in big Bollywood terms) in your field.

All I can advise is get onto set. Get on a camera crew, whether it is PA, assistant camera, camera op, or the person who cleans dirt off the camera cases. Watch the Cinematographer. Listen to the Cinematographer. Ask questions of the Cinematographer and camera crew. Whatever you're doing, even if it's the most inane and boring job on set, do it spectacularly and be incredibly happy to do it. People will notice your attitude. Make friends, but especially with the camera crew, not just the Cinematographer. (Also make buddies with the assistant director. They can give great recommendations.) Learn everything you can. Get a camera (still SLR or camcorder) and explore your own style. Try something new every day.

As for how to be a great Cinematographer:

Remember you are telling a story. And serve that story with humility, loyalty, creativity, passion, and open eyes.

And either make sure you know what you're doing, or get really good at winging' it. (Another post on "knowing [sort of] what you're doing" is in mid-write, as well as some reflections on being a Indian Cinematographer thus far in my journey. Should be interesting.)

For cinematographers who are just making films, they may not have had that opportunity but I'd strongly recommend going to a digital house. I've done all my work through Prasad. They have the resources of all the greatest optical engineers and designers, (as well as) electronic experts from Panavision. Prasad is truly wonderful Öbeen a huge help to me shooting to know that I have a good lab and great cameras.

I think that aspiring cinematographers have to be aware of both formats ódigital and filmó, but I tend to be (Pause) not ignoring the digital cameras, but I'm putting it off as long as I can. (Laughs) I'm a little bit guilty of not really following up on the latest technology as far as digital (high definition) cameras are concerned, but I have done tests on them. I'm still a film man. I love film.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

 

AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY: Piyush's passion for travelling began after an impressionable ride on Towers "Around the World" aged eight, where the sights and sounds from all around the world planted the seed for exploration and travel.

After University Piyush embarked on a backpacking trip to Australia via South East Asia then moved to London to study journalism. He gained an Hons Diploma from the London School of Journalism in 1996 and has worked as a journalist since 1997, mostly as a freelance, but also taking staff jobs in broadcasting.

Tags: bollywood, bombay, cameraman, cinematographer, commercial, director photography, dop, dp, dubai, india, indian, isc, jain, kenya, mumbai, rajiv, rajeev, tvc, videographer, videography, wica

About the Author

Piyush's passion for travelling began after an impressionable ride on Towers "Around the World" aged eight, where the sights and sounds from all around the world planted the seed for exploration and travel.

After University Piyush embarked on a backpacking trip to Australia via South East Asia then moved to London to study journalism. He gained an Hons Diploma from the London School of Journalism in 1996 and has worked as a journalist since 1997, mostly as a freelance, but also taking staff jobs in broadcasting.

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With the recent advances in technology, TV has not just stayed an avenue for basic entertainment with viewers watching destined channels on it. It has grown with time and become equivalent to the theaters, which were considered the ultimate in entertainment. You can now watch programs on TV, enjoy the most recent DVDs and even connect the camcorder and enjoy the latest digital pictures with your friends and family. Philips too is not one to remain behind in this rat race. It has introduced several new models which have the best technology and perfect prices. Philips HDTV reviews are the best sources for info about the most recent Philips models. You can read the Philips television reviews before purchasing a Philips product.

Welcome the 480i format Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings

Not only Philips, but all the other TV companies followed the same old CRT technology and 480i broadcasting format. The CRT technology was soon succeeded by LCD and Plasma TVs. There are 18 new broadcasting formats now, out of which 5 have prominence. They're 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p formats. 480i creates a standard definition picture in the interlaced format. In this format, 480 lines of info are sent. The strange lines and the even lines are shown in rapid succession so that the viewer can see a regular picture. Philips HDTV reviews will tell you more about this.

What about the 480p? Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings

In the same way, 480p creates boosted definition picture which is shown in the progressive format. 480 lines of info are shown but in a single frame at one time. This trumps the standard definition picture because there is no blurring or flickering and the image looks more natural. In the Philips televisions of yesteryear, the sets used to come in 480i and 480p. You could read about the available models in Philips HDTV reviews. These Philips TV reviews also carried information about the other features and specifications.

The crown goes to the HD resolutions
Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings
Then comes in focus the high definition resolutions. The pictures are formed in 1280 x 720 pixels in a progressive format. The majority of the television programs are now broadcast in this format. In a standard room, the effects are like a theater. Plenty of the most recent Philips TVs are available in this format. And the present day Philips HDTV reviews write all about these models.

Time for the 1080p? Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings

ultimately, both the 1080i and 1080p come into the picture. Plenty of the most recent Philips models broadcast in 1080i. 1080p requires a particularly wide bandwidth, which is not practicable for the TVs of modern times. You can get this format if you watch pictures from a Blu-ray disc player. The effect will be tremendous if both happen to be Philips names. Most of the data about the resolution, connectivity, design, black levels and lots more things can be learnt by reading Philips HDTV reviews. You can rely on these Philips TV reviews to offer you the most unbiased feedbacks. You can definitely buy a Philips TV that may last you for years . Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings

Carpet Mississauga

About the Author

Find Consumer Product Reviews and Ratings

Good/Cheap Camcorder?

Ok, I know there is no such thing as a good but cheap camcorder so I will ask this. What is a pretty good camcorder for a not so high price?

Basically I would only use it to shoot videos around my house or something, not for professional use or anything. But I would like a camcorder with something like 3 Megapixels just so nothing it blurry.

So any camcorders like that out there? Also, I highly perfer using one of those square Sandisk cards over mini-dvd's and what ever those things are called...mini-vhs or something?

Anyways, please help me if you can!

hi yeah, we can have a good produt with rather low price! i always buy my electronics in a online wholesaler which products are rather good at low price! here are 11 pics camercorders, u can have a look! hope this give you a choice. detaisl at
http://www.sourcingmap.com/digital-camcorder-c-986_1423.html

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Really useful websites to help you grow your online internet business

 Hi there,i run an online business and love the internet for many different purposes:watching a good film for free,website creation and much more.I also enjoy sharing knowledge with people because it can only make life more fun for them.I am an associate of MyInternetBusiness.com and am a full time internet marketer.I used to be a documentary maker and film editor.If you enjoy the information below please check out my site at www.whosalexhall.com for loads of more info on online business oppurtunities and creation.Thanks for reading.

 Google:

Yes you might laugh at its simplicity,yet there is so much more to google than you think!Aswell as being the worlds best search engine,it's also the best place to have your email,Google has just bought YouTube which ofcourse is a great video upload site.Google is also the founder of Adwords,which is the most popular form of PPC (pay per click )advertising.If you are not familiar with this;- it's those little box adverts which you see on nearly every google search page.Generally some companies and solo affiliate marketers pay Google for the advertising space,and then hopefully they make some money through affiliate sales.It costs only 5 dollars to set up your Adwords account,you then chose your keywords and advertise virtually anywhere in the world.More on this later.Google also hosts Google Earth a satellite function which allows you to zoom in on buildings,perhaps even your own home!Google also translates pages for you,offers a scholarly info and a lot lot more.

Video Upload Sites:-

There are so many!Allyou have to do these days is 'Google' the term 'list of video upload sites', here's a list of just a few,remember this list will always grow with time.

YouTube/YahooVideo/Myspace/MSN video/Metacafe/Revver/AOL/Break/Dailymotion/Blip/Veoh/Crackle/Imeem/Stupidvideos/Sclipo/Viddler/Howcast/5min/Vimeo/Kewego/Myvideotalk.

There's a handy site called Tubemogul and another called TrafficGeyser; which both allow you to upload one video and that one video is then uploaded automatically to multiple sites,so you only have to upload once.Bare in mind you may have to register with some of the other sites listed first.Remember most video sites have their own file size and upload requirements,including lenght and format,if you are not sure of this you can usually find the answer in the help section usually at the top of the browser.

Online free film sites:-

Im a big lover of films and documentaries(I used to make documentaries).There's an awesome site called www.watch-movies-links.net.It's the best site out there for watching free online films.Click on any film you want to watchand try to choose a file with the highest percentage.The percentage rate refers to the quality of the film not popularity.Bare in mind some of the japanese and chinese files can be slow to load.Megavideo is usually the best link provider:though it only gives you an allowance of 72 mins per viewing,which can be very annoying as it's often before the end of a film.Allyou do in this case is keep closing and opening the same file and it should bring the wait time down to about 20 mins.Ther's lots of different genres.THere are other sites but this one beats the others easily.

File Sharing Sites:-

There are such sites as Piratebay.org,however,i am not encouraging people to use these sites as laws on them are on fickle ground at the moment.It is the best file sharing site in the world that is all i will say!!

There's a lovely site called Vuse(formerly Azeurus)where you can download films,music etc.It has a really nice clean look to the site.Just be aware that if you do chose to download files,some may be trial versions only,some may be in a foreign language,and ofcourse some may contain bugs,worms,or trojan viruses.These are file sharing systems known as peer to peer (or P2P),essentially you have one or more people with files on a film for example and they send fragments of that film to the person seeking it on another computer and that person is then able to build up the film file slowly and hopefully end up with the entire film.There's a site called Graboid which one of those sites which gives you something but is also trying to get something out of you to subscribe.However it does allow you to download two films per month for absolutely free,and the quality is awesome.I downloaded a film off it once and the quality was dvd quality,i was impressed.

Website building Companies/Sites:-

You can go out and buy programs such as Dreamweaver which will cost you money,but they will also demand that you need a thorough understanding of how to use them which takes time.So the following information is about free website building tools.I would recommend you take a look at KompoZer(formerly NVU) Frontpage/Blinkweb/Synthasite/90-second website builder.

I personally use Blinkweb for my own site.www.whosalexhall.com.I would definately recommend it.What is so cool about Blinkweb is it allows you to drag-and-drop your titles,text,widgets,video,photos and more from a panel on the left of the page straight onto your page so you really really can build a site fast.Also it offers you a menu with 100 layouts to choose from,catering for different subjects like photography,business,cars etc.

Web Hosting services:-

I also use Namecheap.com to host some of my other sites and it only cost me 10 dollars a year per site to host these accounts which is very good.I believe GoDaddy is cheap aswell.There are lots of other hosting companies you can just google for a list-however always check contract terms:-i.e.if there's a charge for transferring a domain to another site (your website for example) or if you might have to pay to finish a contract early.

Forms of Marketing-PPC:-

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click and can be a very effective form of marketing if you know what you are doing.Warning! if you do not have experience of PPC there's a large learning curve.At the same time i am not discouraging anyone.There are some legends out there in the ppc world or affiliate marketing world such as Chris Carpenter, a very bright Californian man who wrote the Google Cash program/book.I own the latest edition of this book,which i bought on the internet:-it's a very wise book which explains how to try to become a master at google adwords/yahoo advertising and content advertising.

I am also a member of PPC Classroom,which i pay about 60 dollars for each month,this is a very new online ppc training classroom:it's the best out there:particularly if you are learning from scratch how to run google adwords campaigns.

Also you should check out Perry Marshall,Brad Callen,The Super Affiliate Handbook,and GoogleShadow (an Englisg guy who essentially has teamed up with Chris Carpenter to create an amazing program to beat others at adwords.If you look at Perry Marshall+Brad Callens site you will probably be able to get some free PDF file downloads on SEO(search engine optimization) and fast tips for adwords.I know i did!I have an artillery of free pdf downloads which i got from Perry Marshall and the rest!Often to do this you need to put your email and name in the box on their page and they then send you emails with links to downloads.It is worth setting up another email for them however as you are most likely to be bombarded with emails!

PLEASE remember! If you get involved in ppc marketing do not blow too much money! Google adwords does allow you to monitor and set limits to an advertising budget on a campaign:-infact the people who are best at ppc are rewarded by paying less for their advertising because they are getting a higher quality score with google.It is possible to get good at adwords but it is a different world altogether in its own respect.Adwords adverts (campaigns) require careful planning,combination of the right keywords,and a lot more to be successful,including spy tools,wordtracker and more.

Blogging:-

Blogging is a bit like having a simplified one page website only it's amongst other blogs within a kind of forum/blogging site.

You have Hubpages/Squidoo/WritingUp/BloggerParty/BlogFeast/BlogEvolve.There are actually hundreds and hundreds of blogging sites now so what i would recommend is just type in 'directory of great blog sites' into google search and you will certainly find a list of blog sites!Hubpages and Squidoo are certainly two of the most recognised and they integrate well within the google search engine.

Social Networking Sites:-

Facebook/Myspace/twitter/Orkut/43 Things/Book Crossing/Couch surfing/del.icio.us/deviantart/Digg/Dopplr/Flickr/Furl/Lastfm/Librarything/Linkdin/Livejournal/Ma.Gnolia/Metachat/MonkeyFilter/MyGamercard/Pandorradio/paperbackswap/picasa/reddit.co./runner+/slashdot/Sportsfilter/steam/stumbleupon/tribe/videosift/vox/we.endure.wikipedia.

That's just a few!Again these days you can just 'googl'anything so if you are looking for more just ask google!Also remember some of these sites allow you to add videos,photos,or music to them,some of which can be incorporated with Youtube videos.Some of these sites such as Facebook also offer advertising (though it's not free for a placement ad).

Article writing/Article sites:-

Article sites allow you to place a written article on virtually any subject within an article site.It could be a very serious political article or something trivial depending on the subject matter and author.The most widely recognised article sites are Ezine Articles/ArtilesBase/and Buzzle.However again there are hundreds of siteswhich you can find by doing a google search.There are also article distribution services such as SubmitYourArticle and uniquearticlewizard.These sites will often allow you to send the same article to many other sites.However there may be a charge for these services.

One of the greatest things about these sites ofcourse is they allow you to place a link to your website or landong page so you can get free traffic to your site.This ofcourse is one of the best ways to get free traffic.

Skype:-

I love Skype! Skype is a free download to pc or macintosh computers.You just need to buy a headset(headphones with a mouthpiece microphone attached),plug it into the headphone socket of your computer.Then if another person also has Skype you can talk to them like a telephone service for NOTHING on your computers via the internet.(so you must be connected to the internet for a call obviously).

However if someone does not have skype on the recieving end you will have ot buy credits up front to pay for the call,yet it is still cheaper than most calls to a landline within that country.

Additionally Skype offers video calls -so if you have a webcamera hooked up to your computer you can film yourself whilst talking and even take stills of the call!It does not matter if the recieving person does not have a webcamera linked up too,you are still able to show your face as the caller!

Roboform:-

You can download for free a program called Roboform and this basically is an automatic system which keeps all your log-in and passwords in a memory vault so you will not neccessarily have to type them in every time you log into an account.

Zip/Rar Files:-

These are really useful systems which compress information to make it smaller and thus save space ultimately on your computer hard drive.There are many different types;WinZip/7Zip and many more.With many of these you can get a free trial (usually 30 days or more) before they ask you to buy the product.I personally use RAR which is a German produced file system and am very happy with it.One key factor is that whichever file compressor you use you nedd to use one which will be compatible with a few other different file formats.Some companies offer more compatibility than others.I paid about 30 dollars for my RAR file system and it works great with many different files types for me on a windows Vista.For example it allows me to compress 200 e-books which i now have on a cd-rom thanks to the compression possibility.

Some basics:-

Try to make sure you have some basic programs installed on your computer such as ADobe Acrobat Reader which allows you to open and read PDF downloaded documents off the internet.For example most free e-book downloads/reports come as a pdf file for instant download so you should have this already.If you don't you can just go to the Adobe homepage and you should be able to download it for free.As for many programs a company will often offer a  trial version of a program for free.

More expensive programs such as Dreamweaver (advanced webdesign) will not be free though.I know a lot of people willl know this already however i am trying to keep the complete newbies in mind.

As for computer security/anti-virus software I would recommend Kaspersky.I used to use Norton for a while until i heard from a serious computer tecchie friend of mine that it's not the best.McAfee is good aswell.Just remember some computer stores may offer you free computer anti-virus software when you buy a pc from them,yet it will not neccessarily be the best,and do not neccessarily believe verything you are told in a shop!Sometimes staff may be a little naive themselves and/or just chasing a commission by selling something to you.It is good to test everything! Always ask questions,and as many as you like!

You can get free anti-virus software instantly downloaded from the net such as AVG:however as i said i would personally recommend Kaspersky: and don't forget if you are going to be plugged into the internet you must have a reliable anti-virus/firewall protection set up on your computer otherwise you are asking for trouble after a while.

Did you know that some sites have tracking cookies? A tracking cookie is when a company's site plants a small piece of text in your web browser.Some tracking cookies can have a life of 3 or 4 months,some longer.They allow a companyies website to track and analyze user data, i.e.how often someone might visit their site,and what they might buy.Cookies are neither maliscious or spyware,but they may slow down or affect a users web browser.

So when you have a program like Kaspersky,Norton 360 etc, do try to learn a little about what you can use,how to use it and the difference between switching some functions on and off.Another reason why i mention this is because sometimes you may not be able to visit/open a site webpage if certain security program settings are switched on. 

I would also definately recommend running atleast the quick scan function on your computer at the end or beginning of each day.Last week Sky News reported a bug on Twitter (the social networking site) and in other words this could have affected the computers of thousands of people.These are reasons for looking after your pc or mac.

Video Programs:-

At some stage if you decide to become a member of myinternetbusiness.com you may want to produce your own videos for YouTube for example.I am an experienced Final Cut Pro Video editor(as this used to be my profession).Years ago i used to hate computers,though it was only through video editing that i learnt to appreciate how useful they are.

The good news is you do not have to be clever,or experienced to make a semi-decent video for YouTube,yahoo.revver,or wherever you decide to publish to.All you need is either a good quality web-camera,a digital camcorder,or even a digital stills camera with an mpeg video capture card in it.Ofcourse if you use a webcamera you will need to be near your computer as the cables usually aren't very long.If you have a camcorder you can ofcourse record video outdoors and return to your computer for editing later.If you are using a mini-dv camcorder you will need either a firewire cable or an av cable.

I would use a firewire cable if appropriate to the equipment though because the quaility will be so much better.Remember pc and macintosh AND the cameras can have different connections and cable types.You may also need a video card in your computer if there's not one already.

If you have a macintosh computer,most come with the basic imovie( high definition) software,which actually is very very good for what it is.On a pc with windows you should get a very basic video editing program called windows movie maker.I don't use it but i do know that it can provide the basics of assemble editing.If you wish to become really good at video editing i recommend avid,finalcutpro,or adobe premiere.

However it will,if you are new to serious video editing,take you a while to get good at these programs if you are starting from scratch.As i said the imovie program on the mac is perfect for beginners.There are numerous other cheap video editing software tools out there if you don't want to spend that much money.You have adobe premiere elements/corel video studio pro x2/roxio creator 2009/ uleadvideostudio 11 plus.These are some of the cheapest which you may find in a store.

There are also great dvd making programs by Roxio,Nero,Sonic, and idvd for mac.If you want to get more serious with dvd creatiion on a macintosh there's dvd studio pro.Also remember that there are lots of great videos on YouTube which you can watch and learn how to use various programs.

Publishing a video to YouTube:-

When you feel happy wiath an edited video and want to upload it to say Youtube for example:first you will need to open up a free account with Youtube.You can only upload videos which are no longer than 10 mins and 1gigabyte in size.There are also recommended resloution sizes which are 640X480 and a frame rate generally of 30 frames per second to get the best results.

If you are new to all of this do not be freaked out! All you have to do is click on the help section in your web browser help page to find the exact results you are looking for to upload your video correctly.Most public video upload sites such as youtube are just recently cracking down on copyrighted music.It is not likely that you will be sued!However they may well remove your video abruptly if you use music which is obviously not your own!

Remember nearly every video site only allows a limit of ten minutes for a video and a lot of these sites have different file size requirements -so check these files first before exporting a file from a video program for the net!

When you are filling in a description of your video don't forget to add tags to it and tags which are relevant.This will help others to find your video more easily.

Jing:-

Jing is madly clever! You can download jing for free,it then places a bubble at the top or bottom of your computer screen (they call it a sun).If you move your mouse cursor onto the sun,3 rays snap out of it,each one with a different function:capture,history and more.Now if you click on capture a large cross hair appears on your desktop which you can then move around on your desktop screen.Jing is designed to allow you to capture video or an image form your desktop!The image will be exactly the same as it appears on your desktop except you can crop the image also.It is very very cool and clever.I believe Camstasia is the superseeded version of this product.I know a lot of webinars,and the best leaders in the internet marketing world use this to produce direct training videos off their pc screen to an audience.Such a simple yet brilliant idea.It also allows you after a capture to send your video or picture to someone else via email,the web or save to your hard drive.

I've spent about 3or 4 hrs typing this today so will updtae articles later!-all the best Alex Hall

 

 

About the Author

My name is Alex Hall,I used to be a tv cameraman,and editor.Now i make a living as a full time internet marketer.I love working really hard,as it doesn't feel like hard work because i enjoy it!I live on the west coast of Ireland near Galway,beside the sea.When i am not sitting by my laptop im surfing,or taking friends out fishing in my boat,or watching the dolphins.I am an associate of MyInternetBusiness.com. Life is good.

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Consumer Electronics FAQ

Burn a dvd?
I'm trying to make a spectator sport tape dvd for a college... I enjoy a dvd with two entire games on it, but I purely want like seven minutes of one winter sport. How can I get the hobby off this dvd (i.e. gather it to the computer) and onto its own disk??

Burned cds surrounded by dvd player?
i want to play my burned cds on my Sony dvd player but when i insert the disk it say no disk found. is in that any certain kindly of disk that will work or something like that?

Burned DVD won't play within player?
So I have tons burned dvd's. I copy my dads and use them for myself. That isn't illegal right?! lol. Anyways, So yesterday I signed up to this website where on earth you pay a levy and you can download unlimited movies. So I downloaded the Lion KIng and Beauty and the Beast for my daughter. I burned them to DVD and now it say "PLayback prohibited due to area limitations". What the heck does that aim? Why will all other burned DVD's play except the one's I burned? It played on my computer. But not contained by the player. I don't understand. If you necessitate more info, ask a question. I will check rear periodically and answer any questions you might own.

Burned dvds playback problems?
the movies that i burn on my blank dvd-r discs play fine on my computer but when i try to play them on a regular dvd player the picture starts to break up near the lapse of the movie. can anyone tell me why and administer me suggestions.

Buying a camera...?
I'm considering purchasing a new digital camera. Does anyone own any tips or advice on what to look for? I will probably purchase it from Best Buy.

Buying guitars?
where can i grasp an electric guitar in oregon?

Cable or satellite tv/internet?
What are the pros/cons of each

CallinG!?
if i'm in the US and i wanna variety a phone call to taiwan is this possible? if so....what do i do to do this? gratefulness

Camera and dvd player?
where can I attain a good mini dv camcorder, and a flawless portable dvd player, for under $200 for the cam and lower than $100 for the dvd player. Nowhere online, or that requires credit card use please.

Camera assist??
ok, so my mom's birthday is coming up, and i want to get her this $130 digital camera at circuit city. i want to buy it alone so my mom won't know but my friend said i have to pay warranty. is it true? because my dad bought me a $130 camera also but i he didn't recompense warranty.

Can a 120 V radio that be plugged into a 220 V electric socket be repaired?
The radio is not a tube radio.

Can a CVD play on a DVD player?
I purchased a Korean Drama named "My Lovely SamSoon 16 VCD set. I enjoy a Magnavox DP170MS8 DVD player, hope it will work.

Can a dvd player produce 720p?
I've asked this question past, and got suggestions roughly burning software, but not an answer to my question. If i convert a 720P VIDEO FILE INTO DVD FORMAT AND BURN IT, will it display on my tv as 480p or 720p? i hold a 1080p lcd tv with an upconverting dvd player.

Can any entity from India who have be to Turkey please give a hand?
Can the plug for a digital camera battery charger be inserted into the wall socket of a Turkey hotel directly, or does it hold to be through an adaptor? If an adaptor is needed, where within Mumbai can I find it, and what should I ask for?

Can anyone guess what the electrical problem might be?
This is when I try to charge up my Game Boy Advanced. I'll plug it in and sometimes it won't work. I plug it into a different socket and it will work for a couple of days, later it stops. Then I hook it back into its untested socket and it works again. I have to rotate sockets to carry it to charge. It looks like adjectives the sockets are working, because I put other appliances and such in here and they work. Which makes me meditate the problem is the GBA plug. But it works, I just hold to rotate sockets I use. Why would it work sometimes in respectively socket, but not everytime? And shouldn't it not work in any socket at some point if its the plug? What could the problem be?

Can anyone notify me where on earth to attain operating instructions for weightwatchers babyliss 8976U electronic scales.?
I have simply put new battery in and I hold forgotten how to use them, the instructions are lost. Help!

Can anyone report me how they hooked up a digital converter box next to a tv, dvd player, and a vcr?
We are using a RCA converter box.

Can anyone serve me fix my speaker!?
ok, so my speakers are very frail. they are Boston Acustics and they are kick ***... or at lowest possible they were until that time they stopped working a few weeks ago. they literally just stopped working (the nouns just cut out). I open up the subwuffer because the two small speakers plug into it and i thought something snapped or something, but everything looked fine. im not entirely sure power is flowing through them, bu then again, that might not be the problem at adjectives. New speakers are gonna cost way too much so if i can fix these, i will tremendously very comfortable. PLEASE HELP!!

Can Deluxe Whirlwind Cotton Candy Machine work at home ?
It says that it entail 25 Amp line and 120 Volts for it to operate. I don't know if the electricity at my home can work or not? http://www.instawares.com/deluxe-whirlwi...

Can eyes our make out the difference between a 1080p and a 720p resolution??
discarding the distance and lighting. i just want the concrete answer. i be determined whats the maximum resolution our eyes can actually "see".

Can I bring a portable dvd player across the american border?
I am going to Duluth from Thunder Bay and people said that I necessitate to do some sort of paper work if I want to bring it to and from the states. please serve..

Can I buy an HD converter very soon, or do I hold to skulk 'til 2009?
Can I buy an HD converter now, or do I enjoy to wait 'til 2009?

Can i fix come first phones?
i kinda broke my lil sis's head phones. they snapped right contained by half how can i fix them, right presently shes at karate so i have almost an hour befor she gets rear.... HELPPPPP!

Can I listen to my TV beside a bluetooth headset used for cell phones?
My room is right above my dad's and I watch TV while he sleeps. He have been complaining that he can hear it through the floor/ceiling. I want to catch a wireless head set so just I can hear it, but I move around alot and don't want to wear a pair of earpiece. I'd like to know if here is a way I can use a bluetooth point for a cell phone, so i just own one small thing clipped to one ear. Is that possible? does a product close to that exist? Can I buy something that will let me use a cell bluetooth for that? If nearby is and someone can tell me where on earth to get it I would be eternally greatfull. Thanks In Advance.

Can I Play Games On My Portable DVD Player?
I Have A Venturer 8 inch Screen . It has A Standard Red, White, Yellow Slot. But it say audio out, Video out. When I try to play a game i gain just nouns and no video. Do i need a special cord. If so where on earth do I get this. I tried RadioShack But i didn't no what to look for. Please provide a relationship if you can help

Can I plug a multiple outlet on a voltage convertor?
So that I can run a TV and a DVD player from the same convertor? I own US appliances that are 110 and need to run them im 220.

Can i plug an electronic into a something else instead of an outlet or generator?
I want to plug something into maybe a mobile and not an outlet or generator. I preferably want it to be a small as possible.

Can i plug contained by a phone headset into my computer and homily be capable of address and hear individuals next to skype?
or also I have a headset from my ps2 that take USB would I be able to use that?

Can I plug surrounded by a lavalier mic addressee directly into an amp or must I use a mixer?
It's basically for a weekly set up for our director to speak to the chorus during rehearsal so the a reduced amount of steps (and lugging out of equipment), the better.

Can I recharge Duracell and SuperEnergy betteries surrounded by an Energizer recharger?
I tried to, but the red light be blinking.Instead of just buying and buying, are in that any other good rechargers, if Energizer, out there?

More Consumer Electronics Questions & Answers please visit : CesFAQ.com

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Mini Dv Camcorder Consumer Reports

Whats the best camcorder on the consumers market?

I am trying to find a decent camcorder that I can use to make a basic commercial. I am not looking for anything professional grade, but need something a little more robust than these little handycams. The main features I have been searching for is a camcorder with an internal hard drive, can record in HD, has hopefully a hdmi / dv port (to hook up to a pinnacle device). Another nice feature would be to be able to switch out lenses, but I have to stay under around $500 - $1,500. I can live without the lenses capabilities, but all in all, I need an easy to use camcorder that offers a truly remarkable image. Preferable 24Mbps recording capabilities, and flash / night-shots as well. I know Im gettimg rather specific, but there are so many different cameras out there, its rather insane. If you happen to know of a camera that you think will meet my needs, please let me know! Thanks.

I would recommend Canon VIXIA HF S11
- Exclusive: 1/2.6” 8.59 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor
- 1920 x 1080 Full HD Recording
- 24Mbps Recording
- 24p Cinema Mode
- 30p Progressive Mode
- HDMI Terminal
- 64MB internal memory
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LASLZS?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002LASLZS

or another good one with same features but does not come with internal memory Canon VIXIA HF S100
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OI2YZQ?ie=UTF8&tag=computer0bd-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001OI2YZQ

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The History of Home Movies:

In the 100+ years or so that home movies have been around, we have seen them evolve from use by only the extremely wealthy to anyone with a digital camera or mobile device. If we look at the major milestones in film and video development over the years, it’s easy to see how we got to where we are today. The next 100 years should be equally fascinating!

Overview

Since the first introduction of moving images in the late 19th century, we have been fascinated with its powerful entertainment and storytelling capabilities. Capturing the essence of people moving around, talking, and gesturing is the highest power of documentation. It surpasses the letters, diaries and still photography that previously had been the primary method of recording and communicating.

In a sense, the consumer-accessible film that became available in the early 1900s represents the 20th century version of what we now call user-generated content. From the moment that manufacturers like Eastman Kodak Company provided consumers the ability to take home movies on their own, the industry began a wonderful and complex evolution that has brought us to the YouTube video generation of today.

Now, anyone can be his or her own historian and upload moving images to the World Wide Web. But how did we get here?

Evolution from 16mm Film to Digital Video

The introduction of motion picture cameras and projectors in the 1880s created enthusiastic audiences for this new medium, and prompted wealthy individuals with the financial resources to go out and purchase a home movie camera of their own.

Early efforts at producing cameras and projectors for consumers were quite expensive, however, and to make matters more challenging, the early film was manufactured out of a nitrate, a highly flammable and dangerous material. Many of the early silent films have been lost due to their nitrate composition.

One of the more successful formats to subsequently emerge in the 1920s was 16mm film by Eastman Kodak. (The mm increment refers to the actual width of the film strip). Recognizing its significance, several manufacturers started producing cameras based on this format. Unlike the nitrate film of earlier years, the newer film was manufactured on a celluloid base, for greater safety. The cost for a typical family, however, was still somewhat prohibitive. Only the rich and privileged had the means to buy the equipment necessary. This fact galvanized the market into experimenting with less costly film formats for mass manufacturing.

This led to the introduction of 8mm film in the early 1930s. At half the width of 16mm, 8mm film was less expensive and easier to use. The 1930s saw other key developments as well, including the ability of sound and new color film for consumer use, including the famous Kodachrome film.

For the next few decades, both 8mm and 16mm film formats were used to make home movies, with average consumers preferring the smaller gauge of the 8mm film, and more professional videographers opting for 16mm. Home movie making continued its gradual increase in popularity until 1965, when a new format called Super 8 was launched. Unlike the previous formats, which required manual loading, it was housed in a cartridge system. Super 8 film was easier to use and less expensive, and helped expand home movie technology to the many individuals and families who could not afford the 8mm and 16mm formats. As a result, more and more people started to take home movies to record their family milestones.

One of the elements that facilitated the next major evolution in home movies was television. In the 1970s and 1980s, TV stations switched from film to videotape, which was easier to work with, more affordable, and could be viewed immediately – no more hassles of shipping off the film to a lab for processing. This made the evening news more “real time” than ever before.

While film was still the best media format for color and vibrancy, the ease of use and affordability of videotape could not be denied. VHS (Vertical Helican Scan) and Betamax had emerged in the 1970s as two competing formats, with VHS format eventually winning out. Consumer-grade videotape was available as VHS, VHSc (a compact version), and 8mm tape. The advantage of VHS-C and 8mm tape was that they enabled an even smaller videocamera to be used, instead of the bulky systems that were so heavy and cumbersome. Further refinements in technology also allowed for longer and longer recording times on the tapes, increasing from 30 minutes to several hours.

Consumers had quickly caught on to the advantages that the TV stations were already enjoying, and during the 1970s to early 1990s video camcorders and their accompanying VCR (video cassette recorder) systems exploded exponentially in popularity. An entire generation of young families was able to capture their children on video for the first time, using affordable camcorders and cassettes that were much easier to switch out than their predecessors.

This proliferation and increase in familiarity with home movie making paved the way for the digital revolution. Now that a majority of individuals had used camcorders, or at least viewed home movies made by other amateur videographers, the transition to digital was fairly intuitive. The first mini digital video cassettes in the 1990s prompted the manufacture of even smaller camcorders, providing the ultimate in lightness and portability. These MiniDV cassettes also offered extended longevity and many other advantages including digital image clarity and lower cost.

In the last few years, the most significant milestone has been the development of videocameras that record right to a DVD disk or to the camera’s built-in hard drive, thus eliminating yet another step in the process of transferring the footage directly to digital formats.

The power of digital video and the increasing sophistication of the Internet fortuitously converged in the early 21st century to create the phenomenon known as social media. Once video is in digital form, anyone can upload the content to the World Wide Web and make it accessible to hundreds of thousands of viewers. Consequently, user-generated content in the home movie world has moved from one-to-a few to one-to-many to one-to-millions. No more clunky projectors, clumsy camcorder hookups with a myriad of cables linking to TVs, or dealing with fragile physical media such as videotape.

The Future of Home Movies

Today, hundreds of moments are captured daily on digital video – there probably has never before been a generation that has been so completely documented in its every activity and movement.

Yet, boxes and boxes of unconverted old home movie film reels and videotapes remain trapped in families’ basements and closets everywhere. These formats, ranging from 8mm to VHS tape, pre-date the digital revolution.

Fortunately, there are new organizations and services that have formed with the goal of preserving these old formats and publicizing the urgent need to get these physical media into the longevity of the digital world as soon as possible. Organizations such as Home Movie Day ( www.homemovieday.com ) hold worldwide celebrations to commemorate amateur filmmaking, and provide a venue where families can screen their old home movies to catch a glimpse of their heritage.

In the last 100+ years, moving images have become increasingly more affordable, convenient, and accessible through a variety of devices, whether it’s television, computers, cellphones, or other mobile devices. More than ever, we have the ability to record and view personal slices of life to add to the professional footage captured as part of broadcast news segments, documentaries, and Hollywood films. It will be interesting to see what the future brings as video user-generated content matures. If history is any example, the trend toward lighter, faster, easier, less expensive and more widely shared home movies will continue.

About iMemories

iMemories is a leader in the dynamic Web 2.0-generation of Internet services. The company transforms old-media memories into crystal-clear digital files that consumers can enjoy and share—whenever and wherever they like.

In iMemories’ 8,500-square foot fiber-optic studio, production professionals use state-of-the-art technology and techniques to convert old home-movie films, videotapes, photographs and slides into organized archives and full-length digital productions. Memories that were deteriorating in the dark are preserved forever on optical disc—and easy to edit, organize, store and share worldwide through iMemories’ private, secure online user experience.

Share online video with family and friends. Home Movies on DVD.America's #1 trusted brand for transferring home movies to DVD.

©1998-2007 iMemories. iMemories name and iMemories mark are trademarks of iMemories, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Disclaimer:

This article is provided as an educational guide for iMemories customers. Use of or reliance upon the information set forth in this article shall be at the reader’s own risk, and shall not establish any contractual or other legal relationship between the author and the users of this information.

Sources:

Background information for this article was obtained from the following sources:

www.ce.org

www.homemovieday.com

www.kodak.com

www.wikipedia.org

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Best Hard Drive Camcorder Under $500

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My JVC camcorder GR-SXM200 has an error message of lens cap . I don't know what to do . Mehrdad?

this is a fault with the ccd, go to jvc web site , customer surport. it be repaired free mine took 5 days

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Find Dect 6 Cordless Phones Today!

In the world of cordless phones, there are many out there to choose from. Dect 6 Cordless Phones are a popular type of cordless phone on the market today. With impressive interference free technology, all calls made by these phones are always crystal clear. The ranges on these phones far surpass the 5.8 Ghz technology that has been very popular recently.

There are a variety of Dect 6 Cordless Phones, accessory handsets and kits available, depending on your needs, there will always be one for you to use.

A basic Dect 6 phone starts at around $29 for a single accessory handset, and rise in price to almost $400 for a large phone kit. There are many differences between kits, so be sure to research what you need before purchasing an accessory phone or kit.

This kit includes one corded, a 2 line phone, and four 2 line cordless handsets. This would be an ideal set for a small business looking for cost effective communication.

Accessory handsets are available for all of the kits on the market, always check compatibility with sets prior to purchase. These handsets vary in price and functionality.

For mobile office staff, or just about anyone on the go, the Dect 6 hands free Blue Tooth headset Cordless phone is the way to go. This versatile phone lets you go hands free without worrying about being too far away from the speaker phone. This set retails for just under $300. The range on this set is about 300 feet, much farther than a traditional cordless phone. The hands free Blue Tooth set is a cordless landline/VOIP phone, allowing you to transfer from a landline, to a cell phone to a VOIP call.

Trying to find a multi functional phone? Then the Dect 6 Digital Dual Keypad 2-Handset Black Cordless Phone with Goog-411 and Digital Answering System is what you're looking for. For less than $90, this versatile system has many features including Google's free 1-Touch Business Directory assistance. A digital answering system with 14 minutes recording time and remote message retrieval provides call screening and voice prompts in English and Spanish.

For those searching for sleek and stylish, look no further than the GE Designer Series Phone Curve. This phone is expandable to 4 handsets and is hearing aid compatible. It has a wood grain finish, and sleek design. It also has a digital answering machine. This phone retails for about $60.

Looking to go hands free with your handset but don't want a Blue Tooth system. A wireless headset, compatible with many handsets is the way to go. For about $50, you can get a lightweight headset that is compact. This headset has a 3 hour talk time window before needing to be recharged.

For someone looking for a moderately priced cordless kit, the Panasonic Dect 6.0 Series 3 Handset Cordless Phone System with Answering System is a wise choice. For less than $80, this 3 handset kit is packed full or many features. I wish you the best of luck in finding the cordless phone of your dreams!

About the Author

Digitally Does It has a large selection of digital cameras, including more information on
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JVC HD Camcorder Review

JVC is leaping into the future. They came up with the world’s first ever affordable HDTV pro-camcorder. If you can canvass the stores, you’ll realize that HD camcorders are very expensive.

On average, a model costs $50,000. This is pretty much the same price range as those of professional videographers.

But for those who just want to make their own good quality home videos, they can always turn to the JVC HD Camcorder.

JVC has developed a system which answers the demand for cheaper camcorders. This marvel allows the user to record high definition videos at 30 frames per second. The recordings are stored on inexpensive mini DV cassettes.

Each cassette can record up to 63 minutes. These videos can be played back directly from the JVC HD Camcorder or onto an HDTV monitor with the component inputs. The results are so startling because this is nothing you’ve seen in any camcorder.

To think you paid for the model at a cheaper price compared to the other camcorders available in the market today.

The JVC HD Camcorder is also used to make scan recordings in the 480/60P mode. This is ideal for viewing today because most people use their high-quality DVD players. The JVC HD Camcorder is compatible with these kinds of models.

And of course, the user must make it a standard recording if they are going to save the video in the Mini DV format compatible. They have to check the wide range of systems that go with the JVC HD Camcorder.

In order for them to maximize these features, they have to know the capabilities and specs of their camcorder and see if these go with the systems available for their purchase.

Most users wonder how JVC HD Camcorder made this possible. This is because JVC is the pioneer of data compression. It is also one of the original licensors of the MPEG compression technology.

They already developed the technology for the high definition code (decoder, encoder), so they simply just had to pack the HD recording as well as the playback feature into a tiny camcorder and make it possible for Mini-DV digital cassettes to store the videos.

As much as possible, they want their customers to save because this is their advantage over their camcorders.

Aside from this, JVC has also allowed the bitstream recording of any high definition data as long as it is in MPEG-2 format. This allows the camera to act as a standard Mini-DV camcorder just by flipping the switch.

JVC has incorporated its past inventions along with this revolutionary model in order for customers to buy more models from them.

They also made it relatively cheap so that they can get their money back because surely a lot of users will opt for this model.

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Canon Mini Dvd Camcorders Reviews

How Can I record My Tv With A Panasonic SDR H18 Camcorder?

I Was watching a video and they said as long as u can connect a red white and yellow AV cable into ur cam corder from a duel end or a special Camera hook up you can record things from your TV to your Camcorder but I have tried and I can't find out how to do it, plus i lost my book. HELP!

you can download an electronic version of the users guide for free from the Panasonic support website:
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/support/Cameras-Camcorders/Camcorders/Hard-Disk-Drive/SD-Camcorders/model.SDR-H18.H

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Hdr-Cx100 Handycam Do Not Buy Any Sony Camcorder Before Read These Reviews

People cannot trust how compact this thing, Sony HDR-CX100 Camcorder, is.

Outstanding EXMOR Sensor and graphic processing engine, the Best as for right now! Smaller size. Entire HD. Fast get started. Even with "Limited" functions has a lot of them. Camera instantly detected in PC-XP Pro and Mac-OS/X. I will not care about 4MP however shots, so won't even bother to speak about it.

Native MTS camcorder format isn't supported by numerous gamers. It demands being converted to H.264 usable by BlueRay players ...
I was reading evaluations just before acquiring this camcorder, and was just surprised how significantly ridiculous stuff people were saying. Some have no clue what to do with this (or Canon...) HiDef camcorders! Speaking about this CX100 - there's absolutely nothing for being scared about. Nor about Canon's or other people Sony, Canon Panasonic's ... all making use of slightly distinct flavors/methods of recording AVCHD. Sony take place to mark their motion pictures with MTS extension. I have ~6 years old Pentium 4 Two.8HT/2 GB RAM/XFX with NVidia7600GT card/DirectX 9.x. (Window Media Player +Xvid plugin) playback seriously isn't great, slightly choppy but acceptable. Please note, that should you pc preview is smudgy and choppy, this is just not a Camera fault! Similar video is played perfectly fine on Blue Ray player when converted to H.264. I also have new unibody 2008 Mac Book pro OS X - laptop detects photographic camera appropriate away and launching iMovie08, offering picture transfer. For those who have older, non Intel Processor Mac - forget about this photographic camera - and ALL OTHER's AVCHD/H.264 camcorders - most likely they is not going to be doing work for you personally. So, please, don't write negative testimonials, don't confuse individuals, OK?

I usually do not use Component and AV cables (they even now inside the box). In case you do, that you're downgrading HiDef online video media to patetic Analog excellent. I refuse call it a "Standard Definition". High definition tv is new Normal! And that other issue is, Analog. So, I use just a Higher definition tv cable to direct look at on High definition tv, and USB cable television to move records to Tough generate.

This camcorder when attached by means of USB cable is detected as external get, not just a camera. No huge deal to me, even more convenient. I favor to be able to conserve original records by Copying them to folder I made on my tough get. When photographic camera is connected to laptop, ensure - don't delete films from camcorder this way. Films "List/Previews" even now is going to be displayed in photographic camera LCD preview. Wholly delete records in develop in memory only utilizing in-camera controls. And format removable Memory Stick only in camcorder, not in laptop. I trust, it is common to all camcorders.

In the event you already have High definition tv - LCD or Plasma, you can view footage immediately from camera connecting by means of High definition tv cable television. It can be looking actually beneficial on my Samsung LCD, as very good as any non-studio recorded HD content material. But it is only a short-term remedy. You'll ought to empty memory to get additional video's, correct? I wanted to have the ideal picture from this camcorder also it is all about conversion of MTS to H.264. You will discover different answers for Mac and Windows customers. Hold examining.
MY OBSERVATIONS and recommendations immediately after 1st week of playing about
1. Usually record in highest achievable resolution [HD FH].
2. Set colour to X.V. Colour!!! (if you could have Sony Blue Ray player/and High definition supporting that (Sony, Panasonic...) you'll be able to have benefit of enhanced colors). But it might be much better turn it Away in actually sunny evening. Colors may be way saturated (red/blue/yellow) virtually fluorescent. And in many cases with x.v.colouring away - consider me, camera will create quite great movie! And use of x.v. colour could be quite beneficial for cloudy days, or for dimmer lighting.
Three. Make sure that you just have graphic stabilization (STEADYSHOT) tuned ON!
4. ...all other settings We've on Auto. You decide on yours.
Five. There is bunch of helpful presets like Beach, Landscape, Gentle Portrait ... I have to check it out yet.
6. Camera is extremely light, so you'd far better keep it steady, or attach it to something. I've smaller tabletop tripod and We've it attached towards the bottom - it works for me like an added handle.
7. Even when photographic camera is on the tripod - pan (sweep left/right) as slowly and smoothly as it is possible to. Many individuals have to understand this, due to the fact some statement excessive blur - it not worse than very much extra pricey camcorders. It really is YOU - you should discover tips on how to "drive" your new toy. Ultimately, it will eventually appear to you, no worries.
8. Get a Polarizer, or UV filter - to determine with the glare of glass or water. This is Quite good point to own on the bright sunny day!

CONCLUSION: You'll find far better camcorders about there. I truly like new Canon HF S100... But it really is all over ~900! And this cutie, for beneath 460 --- it may be beat! And even in the "pocket" size - it can be real Hi Definition camcorder, just use it to total capacity! Later on, when I become a Pro cameraman, and also have tons of money (3500-4000) - I am going to surely go for any Scarlet from RED. But now -- I'm happy with CX100. When I get decent video's I am going to post it on.

See a total Sony HDR-CX100 Camcorder buying guides and reviews….

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My name  is Joe and I have just completed a College course doing a tad of VB and I'm searching to expand my awareness into the language, specially to server/client applications, and also to utilize directx in some programs moreover.

Panasonic Camcorder Cable To Tv

Canon XH-a1 vs Panasonic AG-DVX100B???

I am going to be purchasing one of these two prosumer camcorders and I need advice. I know that in one hand I have HD and the other is not. They are both widescreen ratios. They both have XLRs. Since I will be using the camcorder for Music Videos, Documentaries, and small independent shorts, I need help deciding. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Get the A1. Period. The A1 is the same as the DVX except newer, HD, and made by Canon.

I have owned both and have shot both professionally. The DVX100B is older and is SD, whereas the A1 does 1080i HD. No, the DVX does NOT do native widescreen. It has a fake "squeeze mode" to mimic it, but it is not native, as the A1 is, and has much less quality.

The cameras are pretty comparable otherwise. There is no doubt that you should go with the A1 at this point unless there's some reason you need SD. HD is 6x the quality of SD. Yes -- SIX TIMES -- so you'd be throwing an awful lot of quality out the window if you were to get the DVX instead. Get the A1.

Again, I've owned both, and also have samples of videos I've shot with each of them, so let me know if you want to know more.

EDIT: After looking at the other answers, I had to respond because I cannot believe this. HD is not "overrated." It is not a small tiny increase. It is a SIXFOLD increase in quality. I do agree with the last commenter that your lighting is much more important than your camera, but the camera still matters, and the price difference between the DVX and the A1 is so miniscule in comparison to the quality difference that you're just wasting cash if you spend almost as much money for far less quality.

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I wan't to buy a High Definition Camcorder ... Help me decide?

Hello, I'm a student in Turkey. I'm interesting in video art and video activism. I have some shorts and some activist videos played on some regions of Europe. By editing a few videos I have to work very quickly to catch the day. My old cam, SONY DCR 39E is a DV tape camcorder that is a time consuming to catch bands. Now, I want to buy a new camcorder to a new short film. I need for an HD camcorder with hard drive (or memory card) ... I can not decide to make and model. I have around $ 800. SONY HDR-SR10E JVC Everio GZ H05 Canon VIXIA HF100 Canon Vixia HG 20 or some other ... Please help me to make a decision ...

Ladies, it does not matter that the video camera means which brand. All issues is what you will do and who can perform better for you. HiDef camcorder is common today's but try to find one that has most of these things: 1.Long lasting battery 2.Wider or larger lens, which gives you a better view and wider angle. Furthermore, it shall have the option to add a second lens, such as telecommunications, wide or filter. 3.It must have the opportunity to set the lens manually than auto. Do not notice the auto lens with autofocus. These lenses have the problem of moving objects that move slowly in focus. 4.It should give you maual white balance. It is so important to capture natural scences. 5.Input and output ports are also important. A full por camcorder is a cam having at least the link (IEEE 1394 or FireWire), USB, in and out, S-Video I / O to Video Component, I / O for audio component and microphone input. 6.Ability attach another microphone with the Hot Shoe. 7.Hot shoes that makes you put extra units as Mic, DC Light, DC Flash, and the like, remember, bigger and fuller color LCD will not help you more. Automatic and artificial AE programs will not help you catch better. Zooms a specialy digital zoom is not good features. Because you will not need more than 10x zoom in most scences. Recording in 1080p, record in 24p format should be on your list.

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DXG Launches New Pro Line Geartm High Definition Camcorder

Introduced today its new Pro Gear ™ line, featuring video cameras equipped with high-end video capabilities, and simple touch-screen controls that appeal to both expert and novice video-takers. The DXG-A80V is the first model in the new range of products and is available at retailers today for $ 299.99.

The DXG-A80V sports an ultra-compact ergonomic design for comfortable filming and playback on an impressive 3-inch LCD touch screen. With the ability to record full 1080p at 30 fps or take digital still images up to 10 megapixels, the DXG-A80V is the most advanced camcorder DXG's current line of products. The DXG-A80V can also capture 1080i resolution video with 60fps, which is ideal for sports and action shots.

Equipped with a built-in gyro sensor for electronic image stabilizer and 5x optical zoom, you can easily and steadily catching hours of action-packed movies. The DXG-A80V also equipped with an AF lock function that disables the video camera's autofocus feature, which gives more experienced video enthusiasts to manually verify and refine the focus on a topic.

Support high capacity SD cards up to 32GB, and is equipped with an HDMI video interface and included HDMI cable, you have support for hours of recording capacity and ability to operate seamlessly share all your experiences on an HDTV. While a useful digital Voice recording feature allows you to make immediate to-do lists before to pick up the kids or on the way out to your next adventure. "We are very delighted to launch a whole new line of Pro Gear ™ products to take particular technology and functionality needed for experienced video takers, but is intuitive and affordable, so beginners can films like pros in no time, "said Paul Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for DXG USA." The DXG-A80V is equipped with a smart, very comfortable design and is the first of our products to offer touch-screen technology and 1080i recording at 60fps, making it the ideal gadget to capture action-packed films. "

DXG-A80V Specifications

- Availability: www.dxgusa.com January 7, 2010

- Price: $ 299.99 - Dimensions: 5.25 "(L) x 2 1 / 8" (W) x 2.50 "(H)

- LCD: 3 "TFT screen

- Storage: Built in 128MB, SD slot for expansion memory up to 16GB

- Video Resolution: 1920 x 1080/60fps - Still Photo: 10 megapixels

- Power Supply: Li-ion NP-120 - Zoom: 5x optical digital zoom/10X zoom

- Color Effects: Color, black and white, sepia

- Connections: HDMI for connection to HDTV (HDMI cable included in box), AV connection to a standard definition TV, the USB connection to PC or Mac

- Video Editing Software Included: Mr. (photo editing), Video Works (standard definition video editing) ArcSoft Total Media Extreme (high definition video editing)

- $ 99 retail value

Other features: Dual-Capture Mode, High-Speed Sequential Shooting mode, Digital Voice Recording, PC and Mac compatible, self-timer, LED flash, TV-out (NTSC, PAL), USB 2.0, Optional remote control In addition to announcing the DXG-A80V, DXG will announce improvements in their other lines, including:

New Luxe Collection: DXG will add stylish new designs to its popular Luxe line of couture high-definition camcorders. New styles will include Chelsea Series (houndstooth design) Paisley Series (Paisley design) and Kensington Series (tartan design) with vibrant color combinations. These haute camcorders feature full HD video capture, a 3-inch LCD screen, 8 megapixel still camera, and comes with a matching clutch case. The new Luxe Collection will be available in January 2010.

DXG Quick Shots: DXG will do HD video capture technology available to every consumer with its new Quick Shots line of colorful cameras. Combines the key design and performance features for easy video capture at a budget price, Quick Shots will be the ideal gadget for video enthusiasts, seeking quality and reasonable prices. Quick Shots will be available in Q1 2010th

DXG Sports adequacy: DXG creates real waterproof HD video capture technology with its new sports line of adequacy, found this summer. With features such as 1080p HD video recording, a built-in 12 megapixel still camera, and waterproof construction up to 10 meters, the adequacy of Sport line will be perfect for any water adventurist.

About the Author

The GadgetGuyColumn keeps you updated with latest gadgets and gizmos for home, media players, computers, digital cameras, home theater, hd camcorder, pocket camcorders etc.

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soooo what did you do?

what have you got for xmas? I got a Samsung flash memory camcorder, digital photo keychain, victoria secrets puple pocketbook with lotion containing, bath and body works lotion and shower gel, a back massager with heat, and the beads that circle around your back, 50.00 gift certificate for Beals, large hoop earrings an in loving memory keychain of my late mother, a shark vaccuum and Blue Man Group Tickets

Wow cool gifts! Well I got a Vera Bradley purse, a penguin webkinz, Cute clothes, and lots of sweets! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

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Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera (Keychain Remote Car Style)

4GB DVR Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera in a car remote keychain style clothing. Coming in a compact form factor and presented in Raven black, this covert spy camera disguised as a standard car alarm remote on a keychain. A DVR device with a hidden camera to record motion video of your surroundings or unsuspecting people CVSD-G12 is a great spy gadget that is easy to use. With its deceptively normal facade and easy to place on flat surfaces this is the perfect unit for any aspiring secret agents! Effortless record high quality color video at 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution at 30 fps for smooth playback - Simply connect a spy device to your PC via USB to access your recorded footage.

Comes with 4 GB of internal flash memory, you can be sure never missing something important scenes. Use this spy gadget to record hours of business meetings or interesting events on the sly. Be a step forward on this incredibly fun, discreet and unique digital video camera. The device can also be used as a standard of high-quality DV and still camera for honest shot, but in a very convenient form factor. This amazing gadget can also used as a standard USB memory device is easy and convenient to transport your important computer files - simply connect it to your computer via USB and copy your files over to it!

This is a really useful dual-function item which can be used by anyone, anywhere! Place it on your desk, on a shelf in the background close to - it is the perfect concealed device to record footage! Easy to use and convenient, this compact and pocket-size device is designed with maximum mobility in mind to fit discreetly everywhere. This Spy Camera is also a great portable video and photo recording tool for people working in business, education, HR, security, media, press relations, tourism and related fields and may need to make rapid, spontaneous videos. The CVSD-J12 in stock now for your single piece or equipment orders and is available exclusively from the number one wholesale source for surveillance cameras, Chinavasion.

At a Glance ...

• CVSD-J12 4GB DVR Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera (Car Keychain Remote)
• DVR Spy Gadget
• Record video in 640 x 480 (30 FPS)
• Takes digital stills
• Automatic AVI file encoding
• USB storage devices
• Great for candid shots

China Manufacturer Specifications

• Main Function: Video recording "Spy Device" and USB drives with 4 GB's memory
• Device Characteristics:
  - Color CMOS Sensor
  - Auto White Balance adjustment
  - Focus Range: 150mm ~ Infinity
  - Internal Flash Memory: 4 GB
• Digital Still Camera Specifications:
  - Format: JPEG
  - Image Resolution: 1280x960 (1.2MP)
• Digital Video Recorder Specifications:
  - Format: AVI
  - Frame: 30 fps
  - Capture Resolution: 640x480 (VGA)
• Power supply: Internal rechargeable 280 mAh
• Maximum recording time: 60-90 minutes
• Dimensions (mm): 50 (L) x 32 (W) x13 (H)
• Ref: CZ3LW6SFAZZ9

Product Notes

• Compact, lightweight and pocket-size
• Easy USB Charging / Transfer
• Charge via computer
• Popular resale names = keychain camera, the Pocket DV camera

Package Contents

• Model CVSD-J12 4GB DVR Digital Video Recorder Spy Cameras (Car Keychain Remote)
• USB to mini USB cable
• Mini CD with manual - English

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

• Does this product have also a voice recorder, too?
  The product has a microphone, but the topic will be near the device to record sound clearly.
• How can you record video with your device?
  Press the power button for about 3 seconds until the yellow LED light appears, so the point is on. Then press the record button for about 3 seconds, the yellow LED flashes 3 times then stop. This means that the device is recording video now.and enters recording mode. Press the record button again, the yellow LED light will reappear, and the device will stop recording the video and save the file.
• How can you take still pictures with the device?
  Turn on the device, the yellow LED will appear and be firm (no flash). Just press the record button once, the yellow LED will flash once to show that it has taken a photo. The image will be saved automatically. The yellow LED will flash once each time it takes a photo.
• How do you make time video and images captured with the device?
  Create a new txt file on your computer named "SetTime". Open the file, enter the date and time in the following format: year, month, day, hours, minutes and seconds format (for example: 2009.05.18 18:28:23). Then save the text file, you must connect the device via USB and copy text file to the root directory of your device, then disconnect the device. Then turn on again to record a video, as usual, connect to the computer again and you will find the date and time has been changed to a set you had. If this method does not work, try formatting the device first, and then repeat the previous steps.

• Login for wholesale price
• Posted By: DT

Visit the website: http://www.boutic.power-heberg.com
You can find much more.

Reviews: 5 This product was added to our catalog on Monday, June 22, 2009.

Reviews for: (Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera (Keychain Remote Car Style))

cool a discreet by ROSSIGNOL LAURENT on 08/03/2009: Trà ¨ s bon produit avec une qualità © surprenante pour cette taille! Fait de belle photos et des vida © OS avec son de bonne qualità ©. Grà ¢ ce à ces 4Go on peut faire de trà ¨ s sà © longues sequences.

Very Awesome Product by Danie Roberts on 07/15/2009: Very very good product. I am very impressed with this product, video quality is very good, good not to bad.agree with Dave F on the sound.

excellent product! by George Georgoulas on 07/11/2009: I love the quality of this camera. Thank you

Excellent product !!!!!!! thanks !!!!!!! by George Georgoulas on 07/08/2009: Chinavasion you rock men, very nice video quality!

Very Awesome Product by Dave F on 07/02/2009: The tiny camera is fantastic! It records video with great clarity, even under poor lighting conditions. Its small and discreet size allows you to record video almost anywhere without being detected. The sound could be a bit better, but all in all I give this two big thumbs up! You wont be disappointed! About the Author

The Best Distributor Of Chinese Wholesale Electronics.
China Electronics Wholesale and Dropship: Gadgets, Cell Phones, Car DVD Players, Digital Cameras, Digital Camcorders, MP4 Players, MP3 Players, Spy Cameras, Security Products, PC Accessories, and more...
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Camcorder error?

I have a camcorder Hi every time I want to record or play my video I see a bug, it's "PRESS press the reset button" If I record 1 second it works properly again, what should I do?

Have you checked with the video camera support?

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