Category: geek stuff
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Amen! Film Flap asks: “Where, Oh Where, Has the Mic Input Gone?”
If you want to do anything remotely related to serious video work, it is arguably the most important jack to have on a camcorder: the mic input. Why? Because unless you’re shooting in a phone booth, or super-extreme-close-up, your camera is farther away from your subject than you want your mic to be. If you…
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NYT’s Pogue Agrees: Tapeless Camcorders Not All They’re Cracked Up To Be
Ever since DVD-R and hard drive based camcorders came on the scene I’ve been pointing out that their supposed convenience is outweighed by the difficulty of editing the video files they create. To me, being able to edit the video you shoot is the reason to have a digital camcorder. I don’t know too many…
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O’Reilly Reviews New Digital Audio Recorder
Digital audio recorders that use flash memory are finally becoming common and inexpensive enough to be good tools for independent media makers. And, it’s just in time to pick up from minidisc, which has probably gasped its last breath. At work I’ve been experimenting with the Zoom H4, which is a moderately priced (~$250) digital…
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Minidisc in Bizzarro World, or, It’s a Wonderful Format
CNET.uk has a feature on “Format wars: the tech that should have won,” sizing up some media and computer systems that lost out in the marketplace, despite their technical advantages. The article imagines a world where technologies like the 8-track and Betamax predominated, instead of cassettes and VHS. Two of my favorites–that I still use–are…
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Compact Digital Cameras in Low Light – How Good?
I don’t blog too much about photography, though maybe I should. It’s become one of my main hobbies over the last five years or so, really helping me improve my sense for composition, which has carried over into my professional video work. I hate to use flash on compact digicams because it always looks harsh,…
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More Free Video Editing
The Camcorderinfo blog has posted a round-up of video editing apps for “non-video folks” and a couple more free video editing apps. I haven’t tried most of the apps listed, except iMovie, so I can’t vouch. Using a free app (whether it’s free as in beer, or free as in speech) is a good way…
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Can Data Storage Media Ever Be Retro-Cool?
It must be retro-goodness week. While I’m musing about cassettes, Aj files a Requiem for the Floppy. I actually backed up all my old 3.5″ PC floppies onto CD-R (two copies each, of course) this past spring. Less than 10% of them were bad, but because I’m kind of obsessive about backing up, it seemed…
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Next Big Retro Thing: The Cassette Revival
I’m not known for my trend-watching skills. I won’t be selling my consulting services to corporate America in order to peek into the mind of youth culture or what’s hot with generation Z. But occasionally my antennae are sensitive enough to pick up a low-level lame-geek trend. It occurred to me today that there has…
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Keeping the Archive Alive
If you’re engaged in any sort of media making, a thing that it’s smart to consider is how you’ll keep your works alive and accessible. Magnetic tapes, hard drives and optical discs all have a lifespan that is only somewhat known, and often unpredictable. Even media like photographic film, which has shown itself to be…