Unofficial Tex Murphy

CS5 is probably the most rock solid version I have used in the entire collection and/or history of Adobe anything. I am absolutely in love with it and cannot seem to crash it no matter how hard I make it work. Rocking Max 2011 with it and everything works together SO well. Finally everyone plays together well! My comp also needs an upgrade. It's 2 years old and it's showing it's age. I actually can't remember what the hell is in it for hardware but I do know that it is still giving new stuff a run for it's money. Still need a new comp for what I do though, more than adequate for just a regular computer but when you start rocking the Hollywood level equipment it starts take it's toll.

We shoot our stuff on Canon 5D and 7D and all of that footage can be very taxing on a computer, but the footage is OH so sweet. What kind of production gear are you guys using? I am curious I wanna assume you rented a RED but really I can't tell. I know my buddy is contemplating selling his house right now to get one.

I've heard some really good things about the 5D MkIIs and 7Ds. For their price point they are a no-brainer for achieving some stellar results, and the fact that you can just plug in any lens and get that nice shallow depth of field is just fantastic.

For this shoot I used my own kit, which is a Panasonic HPX172 (the HPX170 in the US/Canada), and it was all shot in 1080P. It uses the DVCPRO-HD codec. It's a P2 camera so it was all solid state recording onto the P2 cards. I am in love the the P2 workflow, as it's so simple to use and no capturing or pre-rendering required before you can get in and start cutting. We also used the stock lens on the camera for this shoot. Because it's a 28mm it's already much wider than most other stock lenses on the market, so you can achieve some really great results when doing shallow focus. I also hired out a Glidecam HD-4000 stabilisation rig for the camera, because I wanted to test it out and see whether or not it is work buying. I was really impressed with how it worked, almost as good as a full Steadicam rig.

I haven't shot with RED yet, but I am seriously considering it for my next shoot. It all depends on budget, because despite being the cheapest of its class by a long shot, it's still expensive. Buying one is a whole other story. I am finding the HPX172 a very solid camera for the time being and you'd be hard pressed spotting the difference between it and something significantly more expensive when you are looking at a 1080P project.

-Cub. =o)

"Uh, just one more thing sir." - Columbo

I've used the P2 cards and wasn't too impressed with em. I like that they are hot swappable but other than that. Meh. Don't get me wrong I hate dumping footage too but the Canon's use standard Compact Flash cards that are much cheaper than a P2 card for essentially the same thing. You just drag and drop that footage to a computer in minutes. Saves an awesome amount of time. Their only downfall is that they shoot a maximum of 12 min for one continuous shot (how often do you really need more than that? If you're going longer than that for one shot, you're most likely doing it wrong) and depending on the size of the card can get annoying when you have to swap em out and dump to a laptop on set, it is manageable though.

The Panasonic stuff. Panasonic has some sort of partnership with the college here so the equipment is here. I'm not our tech guy but there is a very specific reason we don't use them and that has to do with the fact they are not actually full frame. The 7D is also like this but the 5D is full frame, true 1080p. The fact that they made this camera and sold it to consumers HAD to have been a major mistake on their end. As it stands it is the only true competition for the RED camera. It's an awesome alternative to it when you want to keep your production costs down.

We have a buddy here that made a feature film using the RED and looking at it, you would never know it was shot on it. The RED is only good if you know how to use it. I can't tell you what those differences are or what we know (separates us from everyone out there, sorry bud, but that goes for you too) but with a little research you can find out why we chose what we chose and for the prices that we chose. Having said that, I would recommend (hint hint) that you look at the possibility of getting a 5D yourself (hint hint.) The 7D just makes a good B camera and shoots at 60 frames a second for that nice natural slo-mo effect. Gets crazy hot though, even in -30 degree temperatures.

All of our gear, we own outright. It is the reason we are so broke. Sure we may be living in a shanty, but we have all of our own gear and can just go shoot what we want, when we want. People in the industry will tell you that that is insane, and it is, if you start out and buy a bunch of equipment without knowing how to monetize it. Every piece of gear we bought was well researched and bought for a specific reason. With every big gig we get, we usually dedicate a portion of those funds to getting new equipment so we are continually upgrading. I can't recommend this path for everyone, but it has worked very well so far for us.

I noticed in the other post you mentioned you used a Glidecam, we were and are still looking at getting one. We found a cheap Chinese knock off called the Menbo by Huge Union. People are a little sketchy about that one but it is cheaper than both Steadycam and Glidecam. Right now we are determining if we should go with one Glidecam system or get 2 Menbo for cheaper knowing that they are indeed "cheaper." What was your experience like with the Glidecam?