Re: New to list

[Brian Johnston <darienhandlebars@hotmail.com>]

>Hi everyone I'm new to this list, and wanted to introduce myself.



Hello, welcome to the list.  I've been a subcriber for a only a few days 

myself, but still welcome.



>

>I am a PXL2000 owner (I even got the cute little TV monitor!). I'm

>relatively new to video. I use a Radius VideoVision Studio in a Mac 

8100/110

>for capture/editing. I live in San Francisco.

>

>I had a incredible stroke of luck finding a mint-condition camera

>set.  Someone who worked for a company that made parts for the 

>original literally found this thing in a pile of junk in a warehouse. 

>I was lucky enough to be the first taker.



Lucky isn't the word for it.  Blessed, more like.  Do you have any idea 

how hard it is to find one of these things for free?  Anyway...



>I've shot a bunch of PXL footage, but haven't really used any of it. 

>I'm still experimenting. Here's what I've observed so far...if anyone 

>has any suggestions I'd really appreciate it!



>1. The camera seems to have definate needs in the lighting area. The

>contrast ratio seems to give about 4 grey levels. In daylight it's 

>really easy to get a wash of white with little detail. I have not 

>had any success at all shooting indoors (I have no lighting 

>equipment).



The lighting always was a problem for me.  I've gotten my best results 

shooting early in the morning or towards twilight, but anywhere from 

11:00 AM to 5:00 PM and everybody turned into little black blobs with 

white backgrounds.  I've used that effect to my advantage a few times in 

the past, however.



>2. The internal microphone is nearly useless due to the motor >noise. 

>I've considered running the audio onto DAT and trying to sync it 

>later...but haven't yet had to deal with it.



Very few people use the built in mike anymore.  A lot of people use an 

external sound source and just record video only from the pxl.  Also, 

motor noise shouldn't be a factor even if you're using the built-in mike 

because not too many people record onto the casettes either.  I'm a rare 

exception, but I only record onto cassette when I'm going to be totally 

replacing the audio and I'm taping outside.



>3. Has anyone tried to shoot PXL footage with the intention of 

>chromakeying the subject? I am very interested in this, but obviously 

>since the camera is B&W there is no blue or green response...has 

>anyone tried something along these lines? I use AfterEffects to do 

>keying, so the key color really doesn't matter, but I've had limited 

>success getting the subject itself to be a solid image (this is where 

>I realized that the output seemed to have only 4 greyscales).



In my upcoming movie "Blue Box", which is 100% PXL, I'm going to be 

adding a blue tint to the final product using borrowed equipment from a 

friend.  If you're talking about colorization, I don't think anybody has 

gone there.



>4. Is there any potential benefit to using the internal tape to store

>images, or is it universally considered better to modify the camera 

>for direct output to another recording device? I assume that the >audio 

tape format introduces artifacts, I'm just not sure what kind >since my 

camera is stock...



Yes, after you play a PXL2000 audiotape about 5 times, it starts getting 

scratchy, and actually more grainy.  Most people have modified the 

camera to output baseband video, and as said above, use a seperate audio 

source.  I'm using a b(r)oom mike, which is a cheap radio-shack 

microphone on the end of a broomstick (sans bristles).  I hope I helped 

you out a little.



-Brian G. Johnston I

Overcaffeinated Films





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