Using multimedia for fund raising

I was in Fortaleza, Brazil this week doing some pro bono consulting work at a school for street children, and a church. They both iterated their belief that multimedia is highly important for the promotion of their work and for fund raising, and also their confusion about how it could actually help them in a measurable way.

That second part is a killer.

I worked for nearly 11 years on-and-off for a large fund raising machine and they could never figure it out. We knew that the multimedia product was helping to bring in money, because we had donors write letters and say so. However, we were not able to come up with a substantive way to measure how much.
I’m going to leave the comments open on this one, so please share your ideas!

Thanks!
- DC

Editing XDCAM EX

It seems that some video editors are still having trouble with this format even though it's become popular and is supported in all of the major editing software.

The basic things you need to know are that there is software and guides by Sony and JVC that will make the process easier.
Here are the links to that:
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/HDTV/soft/log_and_transfer/index.html
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcamex-downloads-XDCAMEXClipBrowserWindowsMac.shtml

Things I Would Like On The JVC GY-HM100U

The JVC GY-HM-100U is user upgradeable. JVC has already made a firmware upgrade available on its website. Therefore, I would like to suggest a couple of things I would like to see them do for us!

1. Give us the option of turning off the video to record only PCM audio files to the SDHC cards. They could even put a large, full-featured VU meter on the LCD screen that's selectable with the index button! The camcorder is small enough to make a nice, professional sound recorder.

2. Give us 1080p output at the HDMI port.

3. Put the color temperature selections for presets and white balance on the first page of the top menu. Put card format and file handling right there too.

4. Give us an auto lock. Sometimes I can get the results I want in auto mode faster than manual, but I'd like to be able to lock the settings in place once things look the way I want, and not have them drift before the end of the shot!

5. Do something about the short battery life. I'm not sure what, but the batteries die too quickly.

6. Make some kind if write caching so I can start the next clip before the previous one finishes writing. Quick shots should be a major advantage of memory card recording!

7. Give us some faster lens stabilizer choices. The current curve reacts too slowly to be useful on such a small, light camera.

That's all I can think of right now, but please feel free to chime in with comments! I hope someone at JVC sees this and takes note!

GY-HM100U Display Settings

Check the little display button on the camera body, near the menu button! By pressing that button you can change the quantity of information that shows up on the screen four different ways. The other day I was complaining that the video seemed dark and the camera was less sensitive than I thought it should be, then I discovered I had left the ND filter on after coming inside an outdoor scene. Then I complained that the camera didn't give me an on-screen indication that the filter was on as I was accustomed to having with previous cameras. Then I discovered that you can set the camera to display this information and everything else that's going on.
I just need to stop complaining.

JVC GY-HM100U

I don't know if I should laugh or cry. JVC released a FCP plug in to transfer .MP4 from the GY-HM100U. That's the .mov camera, remember?

DVD Still A Viable Format

I was at BlockBuster the other day to rent a couple of films and i noticed something. They still do not have very many titles on Blu-ray. I also noticed that they had fewer Blu-ray copies than DVD of the ones they did have. Of course, it's true that BlockBuster is closing some stores, and I found their rental prices to be high, so maybe they need some help with marketing practices, but they are still considered a market leader.

I think they are finding that people are getting a "good enough" feeling of value from their DVD experience. I would agree with that. I like the look of a DVD video played full screen on my HD LCD TV screen.

Also, if multimedia producers are smart, they will recognize that a DVD is good for more than just showing movies. I just made an instructional DVD that includes only still photos, text and audio. The viewer has total control over how fast to go through the material and which direction to go. You can play the DVD on one of the very cheap DVD players you can get almost anywhere.

JVC GY-HM100U Firmware Update

JVC has already released a new firmware update for it's GY-HM100U professional camcorder. It adds support for Class 10 SDHC cards.

Planning And Common Sense

It's good to be a go-getter, or so goes the popular response. The thing you want to avoid is going to get something without having priorities, or a plan. In the military I learned that, when you go charging into new territory, there would most likely be bullets flying your way. You need to have a plan to protect yourself, and succeed.

Order your priorities. Ask yourself, "What do I want to accomplish?" Then write down the steps to get there in order of importance.

Finally, have a backup plan. Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that could happen?" Then prepare for that. Also, be prepared for some or the more common hindrances such as weather, regulations, and outsiders.