Thursday, May 21, 2009

My Kind of Town...Chicago Is

May 21, 2009
Chicago, Il
What a gorgeous day. High 70's, low 80's and no humidity. This is a time of the year that Chicago looks great, fall is another. I grew up in Aurora, IL not far away and Chicago has become prettier and more gracious, as I have gotten older. I wish I could have grabbed Ole Betsy (my trusty Panasonic HMC150 camera) and shot the skyline and along Lake Shore Drive today. It would have been stunning. But, alas, I was once again being the AVCCAM Evangelist. So, on my next trip to Chicago, I hope the weather will co-operate and I will try to shoot something wonderful.
But hey, if you have to work inside, work on something that you believe in, something that you feel passionately about, and I am all over this format AVCHD, and Panasonic's Professional line of products AVCCAM, that use the AVCHD format. But, I would guess you have gathered that by now.
Anyway, on to the day's activities.
First, rush hour in Chi-Town. Come on, I left Aurora to go to UCLA Film School. Having lived in LA for many years, I know rush hour traffic (it is in fact a 24 hour phenom).
But, I experienced it here in Chicago this am. And the roads are not as good as LA. They have huge pot holes from all the ice and snow. And the drivers are worse. (Sorry, Chicago)
Trusting my loyal GPS, I headed off for Resolution Digital Studios, a great studio and venue. But, the GPS had a mind of it's own, so I got to see the Cook County Jail, up close. I hope never up close and personal! And I got to see parts of Chicago I have never seen before and you will not find in the tourism guides. But, not to worry, I arrived safe and sound, if a tad late.
Hey, I operate on LA time.
Roscor, one of Panasonic's great dealers held their Roscor 09 event. Sort of a recap of NAB for those who couldn't attend NAB. This was day two of the event. You will remember, or can remember, if you read yesterday's post, I missed day one of the Roscor event, as I was at the Illionis Videographer's Association meeting, a scant 12 miles away. Hence my rant on Chicago rush hour this am.




This picture shows me at the Roscor event with my trusty Ole Betsy (HMC150 camera). Thanks to Arthur from Panasonic for shooting this pix, as you know, I am rarely in my own pix. If you look closely on the 17" monitor to the right of the picture, you might be able see Arthur shooting the still. He is being captured by the HE100, a really cool robotic camera, which is actually the HPX200 in a robotic housing. Thanks, Arthur. The check is not in the mail :-)
It was a great event. I got to speak to a number of Universities, and Schools that were very interested in the HMC150 and having me come out and do a presentation to faculty, students and staff. Also met with a number of corporate clients that also showed interest in this low cost, incredible HD camera line up. It was fun and I was glad to support Roscor.
After the event, Ned Johnston of Panasonic and I visited Calument Photographic. We discussed the possibility of an upcoming AVCCAM presentation at Calument. When we have firmed up the details, I will post here.
I have a ton of editing to do this weekend. Oh, wait isn't it supposed to be a holiday? Yeah, right.
I am also writing all the NLE white papers for editing AVCHD on www.panasonic.com/avccam.
Currently, FCP, Adobe and Pinnacle are done. I am working on Edius, and Sony Vegas and the rest. When they are done, I will post here as well.
And next week I am in Miami
Life on the road with Ole Betsy is good.
More to come.
The Road Warrior

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