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I have uploaded a further selection of clips from the PMW-350 shot in Norway to YouTube. It’s also on Exposure Room if you want better quality.

UPDATE: You can download some frame grabs from the shoot-out by clicking here.

I just spent the day shooting the same scene with 6 different file based cameras. I am working with Visual Imapact to produce a series of DVD’s containing sample clips in their native format and file structure from a range of cameras. On the set today I had the following cameras: Sony PDW-700, Sony PMW-350, Sony EX3, Panasonic HPX3700, Panasonic HPX301 and a Panasonic HVX200. We also recorded the output from the PMW-350 on a NanoFlash and this footage will also be available within the DVD set. The idea is to provide people with a way to directly compare the image quality and workflow of all these cameras, in effect, side-by side.

In order to keep things fair each camera was set to it’s factory defaults. Now I know that with careful tweaking all the camera are capable of better pictures, but it was decided the fairest test was to present them in their default settings.

The scene used in the shoot comprised of a colorful Lego train on a small circle of track, some crumpled foil to give bright specular highlights, a chamois leather for natural texture along with a couple of rose blooms. A metal bodied torch and paint brush finished off the still life. In the background there is a sharpness chart and a color chart. All this was then placed on a chroma key green fabric covered table with a chroma key blue back drop.

The scene was shot at 3 different frame sizes in 1080P25, 1080i50 and where available 720P50 and SD. The scene was shot at 0db gain and also at +6db gain. It was exposed using a 50% grey card measured with a Hamlet Microflex scope to ensure matching exposures. A slate was used at the beginning of each shot to identify the camera, the frame rate, aperture and recording mode. The Panasonic P2 cameras were used in both AVC-I modes and DVCPROHD modes. All the 2/3″ cameras used the same Canon HJ14x4.3 lens but I did in addition use the kit lens on the PMW-350 for comparison as well as an SD lens on the PDW-700. The HPX301 and EX3 used their standard lenses.

I’ll be spending the next couple of days checking the footage and compiling the DVD’s, but hope to have the full set of disks available for purchase very soon.

We’ve all heard the word, but what does it mean? Well Metadata is simply data about data. In the world of tape we had a couple of kinds of metadata, one was timecode and the other was log sheets or tape labels. In the file based world however Metadata is easier to store and most file based formats, xdcam included have the capability of storing lots of metadata.

Why is it important?

Taking XDCAM as an example, the actual files on the discs or SxS cards have names made up of strings of numbers and digits that you never see if you have the correct XDCAM drivers or software installed. The file names that you see are actually stored as metadata with the XML files that accompany the video files. If you are file based it’s really important that you set up clip naming in the camera now and make good use of it. If you don’t in several years time you will end up with hard drives (or other storage) full of thousands and thousands of clips with meaningless names and possibly duplicate names.

Taking this a step further, what if, for example you are editing a corporate video and need a shot of a power station. Perhaps on a previous job you shot a power station, but how do you now find that clip. This is where matadata really can help. If you add shot descriptions to your footage you can use a search tool (clip browser or transfer tool for xdcam) to search through your clip library to find the shots you want. How detail you logging or clip notes are depends on how much time you want to spend on them. But even if all you do is select all the clips from your power station shoot and tag them as “power station” then find material in the future will be so much simpler.

The Sony PDW XDCAM camcorders (and PMW-350 in future) have the ability to accept “forward planning metadata”. This is data that can be uploaded to the camera prior to the shoot. The data then gets added to all the clips as you shoot and the clips get named appropriately. You could include things like the names and job titles of interviewees, the location, client and crew details.

Other kinds of Metadata.

Metadata is not just text or clip names. The EX cameras for example record information about exposure, zoom and camera setup as you shoot. This can be played back in the Clip Browser tool and is useful for fault finding or trying to work out what’s wrong with duff clips or footage. You can also add markers to clips to indicate interesting points with a shot, for example to mark a good sentence in a speech or piece to camera. The XDCAM HD cameras can mark clips as “Good” or “NG” and you can filter clips according to their status in the edit suite to save searching through bad takes looking for the good ones.

At the Recent Sony Power of Images event in London I got  demo of a clever way of using a smart phone to add metadata to a PDW-700 while shooting. The PDW-700 will be getting a WiFi adapter (as will the PMW-350 I believe) that allows you to log in to the camera with a WiFi device. Low resolution video is then streamed live from the camera to the phone, the phone user can then add shot markers, good – NG markers and other notes to the clips on the cameras disc while the cameraman shoots. The beauty of this is that there are no log sheets to be lost, there is no need to view or write down timecode. When the disc is taken from the camera to the edit suite all the data stays with it and becomes available to the editor. Again in future productions you will be able to search back through all this metadata to find archive clips easily and quickly.

I have placed a zip file on my server with 30 seconds of 35Mb/s footage from the PMW-350. It is a short edit so second generation and is saved as XDCAM EX MP4 within the zip file. The original material was shot at an airshow and is 50i. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t link externally directly to the file. It’s a large file and if I find it being downloaded via direct links on other sites I will remove the file to protect my bandwidth. Please link to this page: http://www.xdcam-user.com/?p=378 if you wish to post about the footage elsewhere. Click here to download the zip file.

I was recently asked about how to find my tornado stock footage in some of the stock footage libraries that represent me. Click on the links below to go to my weather footage collections:

Thought Equity Tornadoes
Thought Equity Flooding
Thought Equity Royalty Free. Clouds, Stormy Sea, Tornadoes, Lightning.
Thought Equity, UK storms, UK Snow, Arizona Monsoon, UK Floods.
Thought Equity, Lightning, hail, storm clouds.
Thought Equity, Hurricane and Hail
Pond5 Royalty Free
Ingenious TV (one of my own sites)