Add versatility to your films with the awesome Cam Caddie Scorpion. You can fit any small camera’s on to the Caddie, including Digital still cameras, DSLR camera’s and of course video cameras. The range of shots you can acheive with the Cam Caddie are endless. You can pan, track, swoop, elevate, twist the camera in smoother ways than ever before, you’ll even find yourself inventing new ways! The Cam Caddie is traditionally the Skater Cam dream, but it doesnt stop there. If your in the mountains snowboarding, riding your bike in the woods or even rock climbing the Cam Caddie will certainly become a valuable asset to any film makers kit.
The Cam Caddie will allow you to float the camera with your hand to eliminate any vibration caused from footsteps or movement. You will be able to get smooth flowing shots that would be impossible to achieve without spending thousands of dollars on bulky & elaborate camera stabilizing devices. Please note, if you plan on filming with a fisheye/wideangle lens - make sure you have image stabiliser turned off on your camera’s settings to avoid any vignet shake on the edge of your frame.
If you’re interested in a Cam Caddie click on the picture, we’ve found the Caddie on B&H video at $59 which is $5 cheaper than on the Cam Caddie website!
CTL + ALT + M = save a screen grab. No wait, it was CTL + SHFT + N. Arghh, I cant remember.
Not even the best video editors out there, can remember all the shortcuts. There are too many! If it’s not hard enough as it is, shortcuts differ depending on your editing software.
If your serious about video editing, then not using shortcuts is like reading from an atlas on your lap, lost on the motorway instead of using your Sat Nav. They’re there to speed things up, save time and hassle and in return your films are well pollished in time for deadlines.
We found this site not long ago and we had to share what they do because well, what they do is pretty damm good!
You can either buy your own keyboard or keyboard stickers to stick on your old keyboard. But best of all, you can also buy silicone sleeves to put over your keyboards or on your laptops! All the stickers, sleeves or keyboards are unique to the editing software you use providing instant access and refference to the shortcuts of your choice.
A must buy from Mark Christiansen. With just under 500 pages of useful techniques, tips and break downs of some of After Effects newest features. I treat this book like my bible…
These days, if we need to find out about anything in the world, we simply pop onto google and we ask google whatever it is on our mind. So why do I need a paperback book in 2009? Google isn’t always the best way of learning. Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the correct search terms or the most relevant area to locate your question. When you’ve found what you need to search for, which, out of the hundreds of different search results, do I choose? Well, google searches do work brilliantly, I’m not going to lie but the internet isn’t everywhere. The internet isn’t on the tube. It isn’t on the beach. Books don’t have pop ups, and certainly don’t have MSN, Twitter or facebook. So it’s you, your book and your films.
Whether you’re a Motion Graphic artist, intergrating photoshop elements or you’re a compositor, adding 3D animations into real video sequences using motion tracking. The possibilities that AE CS4 offer are endless. Mark uses awesome color examples to explain in detail some great techniques. He back’s this up with a companion DVD featuring demo’s of After Effects CS4 software, sample footage and software plugins!
I have read a variety of books on editing software, nothing as user friendly and readble as this. At work, if we ever have a problem in our Avid Suite we refer to this HUGE great monster of an Avid manual, telling you everything you need to know about STUFF. But that’s just it, it’s just STUFF, it’s remains jargon and technical gobbeldy goop unless its explained well. I fear “Fatal Exception Avid Error” knowing my only way out is via this Avid dictionary of a user manual.
Well thankfully Mark brightens things up with this CS4 book and clearly explains even for beginners, methods of approaching and tackling the most professional looking visual effects. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Ex-Pro High Power Plus+ BP-2L , BP-2L12, BP2L12, BP-2L13, BP-2L14, NB-2L12 - 2 Year Warranty Replacement Lithium Li-on Digital Camera Battery for Canon models :- HV30, HV20, DC230, MV940, MV950, MV960.
These little batteries do the job well, it’s reasuring to know they have a 2 year warranty, and at just under £8 a pop, what’s stopping you from stocking up? Avoid the humiliation of running out of juice in front of a client, or halfway through a take!
The Canon XH-A1 is one of Canon’s latest prosumer cameras that provides High Definition Broadcast quality at an affordable price. The image quality is superb, and with the countless custom preset options, you can fine tune your picture until it is exactly how you want it.
Lens Rings The camera’s lens has 3 rings: a focus ring, an aperture ring and a zoom ring. Each ring has a different texture, so they are easily recognisable by touch. The furthest ring, which is also the widest, is the focus ring. When first using the camera it can be quite stiff, but after some use it loosens up and works well for quick focusing.
The middle ring is the zoom ring. I personally do not use this as I get a smoother result with the normal zoom; however, I have heard people who swear by it. The nearest ring is used to adjust the aperture. This is far easier to use than on an XM2 for example, where there is only a small scroller on the side of the camera.
Focus As mentioned previously, the manual focus works very well, however, the auto focus is quite poor. I would not recommend using the AF when zooming as it takes a second or sometimes more to find its focus. There is also an instant focus button that can be useful when changing lenses to get a quick focus.
Aesthetics The camera itself looks very professional and would fit in well on a professional film set.
Weight wise the camera is quite heavy for its size. I have been filming with a medium sized battery and a Century optics fisheye, and found filming for long periods of time can become tedious due to its weight.
Filming formats Like most Canon cameras, the XH-A1 gives you the option of filming in interlaced or progressive frame modes. Although it is not true progressive, canon’s 25F still does a very good job, and I challenge anyone to differentiate between canon’s 25F and say Panasonic’s 25P.
If you are working on an SD project there is the option to film in 4:3 SD. However, the quality doesn’t match that of an XM2 for example, and so I would recommend filming in full HD and down sampling the image in post.
Audio The on-board mic works well when set to auto in most situations, but the manual options allow for fine tuning when high or low levels need to be recorded. The 2 XLR ports on the camera are essential for live PA feeds of audio or run and gun style interviews, with audio controls alongside that are easy to control and monitor.
One thing that must be noted is that the on board microphone is flexible straight out of the box. People often contact Canon thinking that this is a design fault, but in fact it is meant to reduce any audio interference that vibrations might cause.
For Skating
Like most cameras that are used for skating, the XHA1 has a solid handle that is essential for filming fisheye shots and for carrying conveniently. The record button on the handle is in a perfect position for your thumb to switch on and off, as well as a small zoom switch.
The Century Optics 0.3 fisheye, that I use, does have a large amount of vignetting which is frustrating, especially for the price of the lens. To avoid this, I take advantage of a zoom preset on the camera which keeps the zoom locked at my desired distance and reduces the vignette by half. This doesn’t have much of an impact on the fisheye’s angle distortion which is still great. You will find the widescreen HD versions of this lens, have less vignette. It must also be noted that the image stabiliser should be turned off when filming fisheye, otherwise you’ll find the vignetted black edges will shake.
Here are a few shots recently filmed by Dom on his travels around the world.
woods or even rock climbing the Cam Caddie will certainly become a valuable asset to any film makers kit. 
The Canon XH-A1 is one of Canon’s latest prosumer cameras that provides High Definition Broadcast quality at an affordable price. The image quality is superb, and with the countless custom preset options, you can fine tune your picture until it is exactly how you want it.