Thursday, August 20, 2009

Burnin' Up Miami


Thursday August 20, 2009
Miami, Fl

Lil' Buster (The Panasonic HMC40) camcorder got introduced to the sun and fun of Miami this week. Reactions from dealers and shooters were all positive. They believe that Panasonic has a new "Big" star. With it's low price, light weight, time lapse, prerecord and the fact that it also shoots 10.6 megapixel stills, it is appealing to all types of folks. And it records on MPEG 4 instead of the old MPEG 2.

Naturally, the question of workflow pops up. It is amazing how many misconceptions are still out there. People believe that AVCHD footage is impossible to edit. Not true. I have edited on Final Cut, Final Cut Express, iMovie, Adobe Premier, Sony Vegas, Pinnacle, ULead, Avid and Edius.
In fact, when Lil' Buster ships later this month, Panasonic is bundling a free copy of Edius Neo 2 which edits native AVCHD.

I have written a white paper on the Edius workflow which appears on www.panasonic.com/avccam. In additon, there are quite a few workflow papers on this site. Check them out.




Next week Lil' Buster and me will be in San Diego.
More to come,
The Road Warrior

Monday, August 17, 2009

Lil' Buster Boffo in Hollywood


August 13, 2009
Hollywood, CA

Tonight, Lil Buster (the Panasonic HMC40 camcorder) rocked Tinsel Town!
We had standing room only for a 2 hour love-fest at Birns and Sawyer in the heart of Hollywood. The enthralled crowd included not only production folks, but also educators, corporate videographers and web designers. And they loved Lil' Buster.
Why?
1. Price - under 2K (street price)
2. Light weight - just 2.2 pounds
3. Hi-def video and 10.6 megapixel still pix
4. Great low light performance
5. Scalable bandwidth (from 6 to 24 megabits per second). Great for web.
6. Pre-record. You will never miss a shot.
7. Time lapse record
...and the list goes on and on.
Great interest in using the HMC40 as a "B" camera on productions that are using the bigger brother HMC150 as an "A" camera.
Birns and Sawyer were so pleased with crowd of "new" customers that we have been invited back for a Christmas holiday presentation.
Hey, we can then wow 'em with the new HMR10 recorder/player and POVCAM. But that is another story.
More to come
The Road Warrior

Monday, August 10, 2009

Lil' Buster In The Rain


Aug. 3, 2009
New Orleans, LA

As fortune would have it, Lil' Buster (the Panasonic HMC40 AVCHD camcorder) and I found ourselves in New Orleans. Great opportunity to shoot some amazing HD footage, I thought.
Well yes and no. It rained. I mean New Orleans style buckets of rain. So, this picture shows my rather ingenious rain hood for the camera. It is a one gallon zip lock bag. Naturally, I couldn't shoot with the camera in the bag, but it did keep Lil' Buster dry. I wish I had a zip lock bag for me. I got soaked three times walking around the French Quarter.
However, during the brief spells of sunshine, I marveled again at the versatility of this great camera. You can imagine how hot and humid New Orleans got once the rain stopped and I pulled Lil' Buster out of the baggie. Well, since there are no moving parts, I didn't have to worry about head clogs, and could start shooting immediately. No dew sensor came on and told me to wait. Ah, you gotta love solid state recording.



Haven't had a chance to edit the footage yet, but I am looking forward to it.

This week, I am on the road again. Tomorrow night at the GA Professional Videographers Meeting. For information please see: http://app.talkfusion.com/fusion2/view.asp?NDU3Mjgx_2814712
Wed, I fly out to LA for an event at EVS. For further info, please see: http://www.evsonline.com/contact_us/index.shtml
On Thurs, I will be making a presentation at Birns & Sawyer that is entitled: Shoot Cheap - Load Fast - Think Panasonic
When: Thursday, August 13th
Where: Birns & Sawyer Camera Division
6381 De Longpre, LA 90028
RSVP: info@birnsandsawyer.com

If you are in Atlanta or LA, please stop by.

More to come,
The Road Warrior