Tag Archives: webinar

Are you confused by the Sony Cinema Line?

Screenshot-2023-07-10-at-15.56.31 Are you confused by the Sony Cinema Line?Don’t know which camera from the cinema line to use for what? When would the FX30 be a good idea and when would the FX9 be better? I’m hosting an interactive webinar on this on Wednesday the 12th of July. Please – ask questions, this free session is an opportunity for you to ask those questions about which to use and the pro’s and cons of each. https://www.visuals.co.uk/events/events.php?event=eid1991778057-924

Sony FR7 Webinar

Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-11.31.32-600x390 Sony FR7 WebinarWant to learn more about the new Sony FR7? Why not sign up for this webinar where I’ll show some recently shoot FR7 footage. The FR7 is a new remote control pan/tilt/zoom camera based on the FX6, so it offers the image quality of a Cinema Line large sensor camera but in a PTZ style housing. 

I’ll be there along with Sony Expert Jin Koide and minicam specialist Dan Greenway.

Dan Greenway runs a hire company specialising in minicams and remote head cameras, providing equipment and crew for shows such as Gogglebox, Million Pound Drop as well as live events and sports. He’s already conducted one FR7 shoot for a primetime ITV production.

Alister Chapman is a freelance TV cameraman, Director of Photography (DoP) and Digital Imaging Technician (DIT). He is also a well-known instructor for shooting techniques and production methods.

The workshop will be followed by a live Q&A session.

Click Here for more information and to sign up.

Streaming and Live Feeds.

With some difficult times ahead and the need for most of us to minimise contact with others there has never been a greater need for streaming and online video services that now.

I’m setting up some streaming gear in my home office so that I can do some presentations and online workshops over the coming weeks.

I am not an expert on this and although I did recently buy a hardware RTMP streaming encoder, like many of us I didn’t have a good setup for live feeds and streaming.

So like so many people I tried to buy a Blackmagic Design Atem, which is a low cost all in one switcher and streaming device. But guess what? They are out of stock everywhere with no word on when more will become available. So I have had to look at other options.

The good news is that there are many options. There is always your mobile phone, but I want to be able to feed several sources including camera feeds, the feed from my laptop and the video output from a video card. 

OBS to the rescue!

The good news is that there is a great piece of open source software called OBS – Open Broadcast System and the Open Broadcast Studio streaming software.

OBSDemoApp2321 Streaming and Live Feeds.
Open Broadcast Studio Software.

 

OBS is s great piece of software that can convert almost any video source connected to a computer into a live stream that can be sent to most platforms including Facebook and YouTube etc. If the computer is powerful enough it can switch between different camera sources and audio sources. If you follow the tutorials on the OBS website it’s pretty quick and easy to get it up and running.

So how am I getting video into the laptop that’s running OBS? I already had a Blackmagic Mini Recorder which is an HDMI and SDI to thunderbolt input adapter and I shall be using this to feed the computer. There are many other options but the BM Mini Recorders are really cheap and most dealers stock them as well as Amazon. it’s HD only but for this I really don’t need 4K or UHD.

Blackmagic-mini-recorder Streaming and Live Feeds.
Blackmagic Mini Recorder HDMI and SDI to thunderbolt input adapter.

 

Taking things a step further I also have both an Atomos Sumo and an Atomos Shogun 7. Both of these monitor/recorders have the ability to act as a 4 channel vision switcher. The great thing about these compared to the Blackmagic Atem is that you can see all your sources on a single screen and you simply touch on the source that you wish to go live. A red box appears around that source and it’s output from the device. 

atomos_atomsumo19_on_set_in_studio_4kp60_1576110181000_1334246-e1584607746226 Streaming and Live Feeds.
The Atomos Sumo and the Shogun 7 can both act as 4 input vision switchers.

 

So now I have the ability to stream a feed via OBS from the SDI or HDMI input on the Blackmagic Mini Recorder, fed from one of 4 sources switched by the Atomos Sumo or Shogun 7. A nice little micro studio setup. My sources will be my FS5 and FX9. I can use my Shogun as a video player. For workflow demos I will use another laptop or my main edit machine feeding the video output from DaVinci Resolve via a Blackmagic Mini Monitor which is similar to the mini recorder but the mini monitor is an output device with SDI and HDMI outputs. The final source will be the HDMI output of the edit computer so you can see the desktop.

Don’t forget audio. You can probably get away with very low quality video to get many messages across. But if the audio is hard to hear or difficult to understand then people won’t want to watch your stream. I’m going to be feeding a lavalier (tie clip) mic directly into the computer and OBS.

I think really my main reason for writing this was really to show that many of us probably already have most of the tools needed to put together a small streaming package. Perhaps you can offer this as a service to clients that need to now think about online training or meetings. I was lucky enough to have already had all the items listed in this article, the only extras I have had to but are an extra thunderbolt cable as I only had one. But even if you don’t have a Sumo or Shogun 7 you can still use OBS to switch between the camera on your laptop and any other external inputs. The OBS software is free and very powerful and this really is the keystone to making this all work.

I will be starting a number of online seminars and sessions in the coming weeks. I do have some tutorial videos that I need to finish editing first, but once that’s done expect to see lots of interesting online content from me.  Do let me know what topics you would like to see covered and subject to a little bit of sponsorship I’ll see what I can do.

Stay well people. This will pass and then we can all get back on with life again.

Free ProRes Raw and Sony Venice Webinars

I will be doing a couple of free interactive Webinars with Visual Impact in July. The first is on ProRes Raw looking at what it is, the equipment you will need and how to shoot with it.

http://www.visuals.co.uk/events/events.php?event=eid11028-839

The second is about my practical experiences shooting with a Sony Venice using the version 2 firmware.

http://www.visuals.co.uk/events/events.php?event=eid14021-841

Both webinars will feature a Q&A session where you will be able to ask questions online. You will find the full details about both webinars by following the links above, including how to register. The webinars are free but registration is required to obtain the login details for the events.

 

Webinar Recordings.

In case you missed the webinars I presented yesterday here are recordings of the 2 afternoon sessions. The first one on HDR, what is it and what does it mean for you. The second is a question and answers session on Sony’s large sensor cameras, from the FS5 to the F55. There were quite a few a6300 and A7s questions thrown in there too!

Hopefully I will be able to find a sponsor that will be able to make these a regular event.

 

Free Webinar Day – July 26th 2016.

On Tuesday the 26th of July I will be hosting a series of free live webinars giving you the chance to ask me questions about many of the things I write about here. This is a trial run, I’ve done webinars for many people in the past and they have always gone down well, but these webinars are going to come live from xdcam-user HQ.

If they are a success I will make this a regular event with a webinar day once a month with new subjects covered each time as well as an open Q&A session.  This will give you the chance to ask questions on any aspect of video production, so start thinking about what you want to ask.

If you haven’t attended a webinar before here is how it works: You log in online to the webinar using the link provided. You will hear me and any guest presenters and see any pre-prepared information slides that I have on your computer/tablet/phone screen.  You ask questions by typing them into a question box, nobody will see or hear you. I will try to respond to as many questions as I can within the one hour time limit. The session will also be recorded and can be downloaded later if you wish. There are dedicated online versions of the webinar page for computers, tablets and smart phones, so you should be able to log in almost anywhere where you have an internet connection.

There will be 2 webinars where I will take questions on any of the Sony large sensor cameras, including the FS5, FS7, F5 and F55.  If you want to know about settings, exposure, LUT’s, slow mo, lenses or anything else you can ask me on the 26th. These are timed so that there is an opportunity for people in most countries around the world  to join one or the other at a sensible time of day.

Click on the appropriate link below to register.  Please only register for sessions you will actually attend as numbers are restricted.

Session 1: Ask anything about the FS5, FS7, F5 and F55. Tuesday July 26th, 8am – 9am GMT. (9:00 BST, 10:00 CET,  12:00 Dubai, 13:30 Delhi, 16:00 Singapore, 18:00 Sydney).

Session 2: Ask anything about the FS5, FS7, F5 and F55. Tuesday July 26th, 18:00 – 19:00 GMT. (19:00 BST, 20:00 CET, 14:00 NYC, 11:00 LA).

HDR Session 1: What is HDR and what do I need to know? Tuesday July 26th,  10am – 11am GMT. (11:00 BST, 12:00 CET,  14:00 Dubai, 15:30 Delhi, 18:00 Singapore, 20:00 Sydney).

HDR Session 2: What is HDR and what do I need to know? Tuesday July 26th,  16:00 – 17:00 GMT. (17:00 BST, 18:00 CET, 12:00 NYC, 09:00 LA).

If you can’t attend I will make the recordings available after the day. If you think this is a good idea then please share this page so others can also join in.