How was I going to break this? I decided to hop on my bike.  Usually it’s just me and bike. This time, I decided to throw my camera on my back.  Good thing I have a really small travel bag for my DSLR.  As I was riding, more like dodging runners and other bikers on the Lake Shore path, I was trying to just find about five shots that I could throw into a quick 40 second clip where I could test Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 a little more.  Here’s what I got – nothing special, nothing crazy, just a few nice shots of the city.

And that busted up my creative funk.  Here are my three tips for busting up a funk you’re in:

1. Back to basics: I cover a lot of sports, and teams always say they’re working on “fundamentals” when they’re losing.  Well being in a funk is like a losing streak.  Go back to your very basic skills.  For me, with video, it’s basically just shooting what I see on an everyday basis.

2. Think different: I know that’s an old Apple slogan from the 90s, but it’s the same here.  It’s like writer’s block, just for video.  Think about what you AREN’T doing.  For me, I decided I wanted to try the DSLR rather than my usual P2 camera.

3. Do it for yourself: This was just a lame video for my purposes.  I’m not selling this to anyone.  Hell, I don’t even want to show it to anyone, but this blog post would be pointless without it.  I did it for personal growth, learning a new program, and messing around with some new features on the camera that I didn’t use before.  Try to do something for yourself.

I’m writing this from 39,000 feet, somewhere over Arizona as I head home from my marathon week at the NAB Show is Las Vegas. If you are a video guy, you need to get out there at some point. So many resources, so many good people, so many nerds. As I keep digesting everything I learned there, I will add more blog posts, so be sure to keep an eye on this blog. I am trying to write more as I grow DietzMedia.

Adobe – I learned in journalism school that you always put the most important stuff at the beginning of the article. Many of you know my love for Adobe, as I have a great relationship with their reps and their products. I sure don’t hide the love. Adobe didn’t really have anything that totally surprised me, as I have been lucky enough to be on their Beta testing program, but what did surprise me was how they were the buzz of the show. They had sellout crowds at their demos, and everyone I talked to was blown away by small new features.

First, Adobe finally put an end to their need for a true ingest tool. Everyone loved “log and transfer” from FInal Cut Pro, where you could add metadata and such. Adobe Prelude is better. Let’s say I have an entire P2 card that I need to ingest. I just shot a ton of stuff for a corporate client and some product demos. I can now load the card in Prelude, screw P2 viewer, and trim the clips to what I want. I can transcode the footage from P2 if I want. The best part, I can ingest this to multiple hard drives. This is huge for me. I am a backup machine. Need everything in two places. I can add metadata and I’m ready to go.

Next up is Premiere, which I use almost exclusively for clients like DreamChamps and Entrepreneurs Unpluggd. It just works. Now in Premiere, everything is faster, the Warp Stabilizer is built in, and there are actually big thumbnails. Adjustment layers and track mattes will boost my creativity. Nothing huge, but definitely great small tweaks.

Adobe Media Encoder…ummm…can you say lightning fast? Adobe told me it is 20 percent faster. It could be more in my tests. That is huge for those half hour shows I do for Northwestern.

I will go into After Effects some other time after I get my head around it. That should do it for now. I will post some more thoughts on AJA and BlackMagic tomorrow. See you at MDW.

rd

The best shots are how the cinematographer was able to rack focus from the pitcher to the batter back to the pitcher.  Just phenomenal to be able to do that in that short amount of time.  Anyway, watch for yourself, and see some great work of how a money-strapped minor league team got their story out with video.

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Let me take a brief break from my typical media/digital/video slant on this lil’ blog.

In order for you to stay current, relevant, competitive, whatever, you need to keep reading.  I got some inspiration as I was looking through some blogs of people I knew as a kid and just reconnected.

Reading is easier than ever.  It’s freer than ever.

Just. Keep. Reading.

This is a QR (Quick Response) Code for DietzMedia.  You scan this code with your cell phone, it will take you to DietzMedia.com.  You see QR codes everywhere, advertisements, magazines, and commercials.

Now, what are the possibilities of this QR code?

I think they’re infinite, especially for video.

I have been working on videos for QR codes since September with Professor Clarke Caywood at Northwestern University, for his most recent book, The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communications.   You can find the book at his website, CaywoodHandbook.com.  Each chapter has a QR code that goes to the webpage of the author, full with a bio of the author and an interview with the author about the chapter.  These videos add to the chapter, create a connection between the reader and the author, and often times sum up the chapter very well for the reader.  McGraw-Hill says it hasn’t done anything like this before, so why not do it for every book?

I realize more books are heading towards iBooks, but the truth is, video for education is very important.  You can show rather than tell.  That’s how these QR codes work so well in actual books.  It gives you that extra layer of information.

Where else can we use them? Besides books, I think more businesses should be using them.  Why don’t products have QR codes on them? I was recently at Costco, looking at televisions.  I would have loved to have a QR code on the box that I could see more information about the TV.  Why not on food? Give me recipes and cooking videos.

So, this is what we’re working on now.  We are trying to show businesses they need to utilize the cell phone / tablet craze and embrace QR codes, as goofy as they may look, because it’s the key to reaching their customers on a whole new level.

What other ways can we use QR codes? I’d love your feedback.

AVID+iPad = Adobe Premiere Elements, but nicer: I talked to a rep at Avid last week, who assured me to stay up to date with what is going on there.  I told him I wasn’t totally happy with how Media Composer 6 works, and he said to stick along for the ride.

I guess the ride stops at an iPad app, which is a little better than iMovie for the iPad, but still does not provide nearly enough tools for some quick editing.

Where Avid Studio works really well is at the consumer/prosumer level.  Journalists and bloggers will love this.  I’m going to cover the Chicago Auto Show next week, and this would be perfect for me to plop my DSLR in a bag with my iPad and be ready to edit straight to Vimeo or YouTube or Facebook.

Here’s my workflow.

I had some DSLR footage on a card, plugged in the camera connection kit to my iPad, and then imported into the Photo Gallery.  From there, Avid Studio reads your library and imports all the footage.  After adding some sound, maybe some narration, and adjusting levels.  I then exported it out as an HD 720 movie (I don’t call 720 HD though, but that’s for a different day), and used the YouSendIt app to send it to myself, my editor, whoever.  30 seconds roughly equals 35MB.

Basically, all Avid Studio brings to the table is that it is Adobe Premiere Elements for iPad.  It has a storyboard, which is good for a consumer user.  It has vivid colors for the kids.  And it has a few professional features like frame by frame editing and trimming.  For five bucks, it’s a keeper for me. Will I use it? Probably not, but it’s fun to play with.

Mutlicam in Final Cut Pro X is better than you think, but I still am not a fan of FCPX: I’m an all-Adobe guy, and I encourage the freelancers I work with to use Adobe so we can share files and projects easily, but you know me, I like to stay on the cutting edge and keep up with all the editing software.  I downloaded FCPX 10.0.3 earlier this week and began to mess with the new multicam function.  I must say, it works pretty well.  I come from Adobe, where I fell in love with the multicam function and then converted to Adobe from Avid.  FCPX easily matches up the clips, just by selecting the clips you want to use in a multicam sequence and then creating a “new multicam clip.”  It can sync by timecode or even audio.  Then you just open the Angle Viewer and are able to switch between the clips while playing the timeline.  I wish the Angle Viewer were larger though.  Have to look into that.

However, I’m sure Adobe is just shaking its head, as I heard whispers CS6 will have these syncing features as well when it is announced at NAB.  So, I’m sticking with the Adobe folks.  Still don’t like how FCPX edits.

The key to the event was that it was all one-man-band.  Two cameras, two locations, one guy.

This is something we have done before.  In fact, many times, but the fast-paced event made preparation necessary.  Before you go into any video shoot, it’s important to know your surroundings.  In this case, I was unable to do a site prep before the show.  I made sure that we had the essential equipment for the show and then anything else we might need that the venue says it will provide, but may not.

I brought two cameras to the event, my Panasonic HVX-200 P2 camera and a Canon 60D for a stable side shot.  Both were able to match color and look fairly well.  The 60D was a little bit grainier, but still provided a nice second shot, especially since I was the only person shooting.

Overall, the event went off without a hitch.  A few things we learned for next time, but overall, a great show, and a great networking opportunity for me and all the attendees.  I can’t forget to thank Tim and Stella for putting on the event, as they are pros at this by now.  Can’t wait for the next show.

When I started this company, I wanted to do something different.  I wanted to tell stories for people through video while building a relationship along the way.  We’re not going to just come in, set up, and leave.  We want to make sure you’re getting what you pay for, we want to tell your story, whether it be a corporate event, an about us video, or a documentary.  I think we have so far done that well.

We’re really about word of mouth.  I’m not going to go out and hassle people for business.  That’s why I wanted to thank all of you, our partners and clients.  I really appreciate you telling people about the good experiences I hope you’ve had working with Aldi, Matt, Andrew, Jeff, and me.  We take pride in what we do, and we love doing it.

We’re already working on a number of projects for 2012.  There will be many short documentaries to go along with the stories of companies and people around the Midwest.  Stay tuned, have a great 2012, and I will talk to you soon.

Dietz

I’ve always been afraid of the DSLR world for video.  It always seemed amateurish, bulky at times if you have “the rig,” and lacked features that I need. Coming from broadcast, I’ve always been about professional cameras, which is why I first purchased a Panasonic HVX-200A for DietzMedia.  P2 was the professional standard for me, and that camera had all the tools I needed for most shoots. On board audio, large uncompressed video, and incredible color and control.

So I said, forget it, let’s do some testing.

I love testing new equipment.  I almost wish companies would send me “screeners” of equipment because I think I would be a good tester for them.  The DSLR was no different.

BODY/BUILD

Let’s say this first: it’s a plastic body.  Unless you go all out for the 7D or 5D, you’re stuck with the plastic body.  Although, it feels like a metal body to me. Feels great in your hand and has a nice grip on the side.

WHAT MAKES IT STAND OUT

The reason I bought this one over the 7D is because I will not use it with a huge rig, meaning additional audio recorders, monitors, etc. The camera has a flip-out LCD screen, just like most professional video cameras now.  I absolutely needed that for what I do, a lot of sports, with unique shots off the pod or with a high tripod.  This is also great for low shots.

The 60D also has a microphone jack, which is rare for these.  The audio is pretty solid based on the mic you have.  I would recommend a RODE VideoMic Pro.  Pretty solid shotgun for what you’re doing.

WHAT I DON’T LIKE

It takes some time to learn how this camera works.  It’s certainly not a plug and play camera.  You need to know how to use all the settings to make the video look best – shutter, ISO, etc.  I would recommend setting the shutter to 1/50 if you are on 24fps.

Also, I just hate the idea of how these cameras can only shoot for about 10 minutes at a time.  Until that changes on these cameras, I don’t think they will be used extensively for events or presentations, which is a huge market of what DietzMedia does.

VIDEO

The video it takes is pretty spectacular – if you know what you’re doing.  It’s much better in low light than my HVX-200A and has that sexy depth of field we’re all looking for in our videos.

Overall, it’s a camera I’ve been trying to fit into my shoots.  I’ll probably use it on Wildcat Fastbreak quite a bit for Northwestern and I’m working on a Chicago project that I will explain in a later post.  I love some of the features and I can see myself shooting better the more and more I use it.  At $900 for the body, you can’t beat this camera.

So I’m stepping into that brave new world of DSLRs.

We took a three-camera setup to The Grounds for Hope Cafe in Lisle, Ill., for the TEDx conference, stacked with powerful and inspiring speakers from all over the world.  It was just the start of what we hope is a wonderful relationship with the group and we’re thankful for the opportunity to provide our services for the event.

All the final videos are available here at TedXNaperville.com.