I Do It Digital

HDV. It was the topic of discussion for the 4 days I was in L.A. Every year, twice a year, the DV community gathers to talk about the latest and greatest. This week long event starts off with certification courses in all sorts of applications such as Final Cut Pro and Avid Xpress Pro. Then it goes into the conference part where you listen to industry leaders talk about the topics that everyone is talking about. Then of course the expo floor opens and everyone is encouraged to play with all the “toys” of the industry. My main focus was Canon’s new HDV camera, the XL H1. They had 8 of them set up, 4 on a counter, and 4 set up to hd monitors with a well lit scene to play with.

The conference portion was great. Again HDV was the topic that most people were talking about. I started off with a lighting class with Bill Holshevnikoff. He made many key points about what to look for when lighting both a person and a background with multiple examples. After that it was a audio post workshop with Douglas Spotted Eagle. Now since audio is my weakest point I learned a lot from this guy. First and for most, not to use a boom mic indoors. Second, how to use certain plug-ins to get rid of unwanted noise. After that it was a class on getting the film look with John Jackman. He went into detail about the film look and film itself. Again I learned a few new things that will help me achieve getting that film look. Other classes I took while there were editing HDV by John Jackman, high end results with your digital video camera with Adam Wilt. Now it was nice to meet this man because I have read tons of his articles through out the years on cameras and hardware geared towards DV. But the person I was most pleased to meet was Kimberly Reed. Kim started her career as an editor of video, then edited words about video as DV Magazine’s editor-in-chief. She is currently a post-production consultant in New York City, where she is in post-production on an HDV documentary and in development on a film drama. Again another person I hold in high esteem when it comes to the DV world. She held the Postproduction Strategies for Film & Video class and then the HD/HDV Panel Discussion the following day. This was where the top 4 manufactures discuss their HDV cameras and tell us why we should buy theirs. It gave me a clear understanding of the 4 and what each of them do best. Then I closed the conference with a color correction course by Steve Hullfish. This was most needed since it was the only element of post that I hadn’t been thoroughly taught. I now know how to use a vector scope and the color wheels. Now it’s just a matter of practicing with them to get them down 100%.

While I was on the expo floor I sat through a demonstration of Avid’s newly acquired “all in one softwareâ€?, Liquid. Liquid is an all in one post solution. From editing, color correcting, to motion graphics, all the way to dvd authoring; all from inside the same app. I am still up in the air whether to get Avid Xpress or Avid Liquid, but at least now I know the differences.

All and all this trip was incredible. I didn’t learn a ton of new stuff, and a lot of the same information was covered by everyone I sat through, but what I did learn was greatly needed. I’m not sure if I will make the DV Expo East in New York over the summer but it would be nice. Photos from the trip and at the confrence are posted at clintcomer.textamerica.com

CRC