Archive for May 31st, 2010

Camcorder Techniques Master class

WOW your audience amd make you feel like a pro  by taking the next step and using advanced techniques

 

From citizen journalism to video blogging to funny YouTube clips, people are shooting video to serve any number of needs, and they’re shooting it on DSLRs, iPhones and webcams, while exporting it to everything from Blu-ray discs to streaming servers.

high definition camcorders have imported the best features from your computer and DSLR

Optical Image Stabilisation
Sometimes an old fashioned mechanism can better results than the latest digital technology


Digital video, digital cameras, digital TV and just about everything else that’s gone binary in the last few years . its easy to assume that anything with digital in the name is inherently superior to it’s analogue or mechanical predecessors, but optical Image stabilisation is a powerful exclusion to the rule,

 

Even in your best elbows-in, circular-breathing  filming position , your hands will sometimes shake , while you’re shooting, and the resulting twitches and tremors will show up in your footage, particularly if you we zoomed the shot even a little, The accepted Digital Image stabilization found On most camcorders uses a small fender zone of pixels around the edge the (CD to compensate for shake. 015 analyses your shots frame by frame, looking for unwanted motion and adjusting which pheels are ‘live’ in each shot to make sure that the edge the frame remains unvarying end-to-end a clip. Its an efficient system, but between the fact that it does all the work processing after the image has already passed through the it rends to be slow to react whilst occasionally kicking in when you don’t want jt to, resulting in a stuttering effect on your panning shots. Fortunately, mid range and high end cams tend to feature good old fashioned Optical Image Stabilisation, which works actually moving the Imaging equipment it in the camera as film, either moving the cco in relation tome lens, or the elements in relation to each other Because Optical Image Stabilisation happens as you shoot and is a response to genuine movement as opposed to the camcorder’s interpretation of movement the result is a smooth, pain in the ass free way of steadying shots.

 Optical image stabilisation is a smooth, trouble free way of steadying your shots:’

Optical Zoom
Another example of a mechanical solution that is better than its digital counterpart optical zooms should be at the top of your shopping list

It is seen that optical stabilisation as an old method , is better than its modern counterpart , An optical zoom screams its superiority from the rooftops through a loudhailer. That’s not to say that there aren’t times when a digital zoom comes in very handy, but the difference between the workings of an optical and a digital zoom is often the difference between good and bad quality footage as well.

An optical zoom works in a similar fashion to a telescope, by altering the distance between lens elements or, in most cases, the lens and the COD in order to alter the focal length and angle of view in the shot, compressing the foreground to bring distant objects closer, A Digital Zoom, on the other hand simply magnifies the picture detail that has already been recorded, spreading the information contained on one pixel over several. This has the advantage of magnifying an image without the need for a huge lens barrel for the lens elements to move around in, but also has the disadvantage of spreading the same amount of picture information over a larger area, resulting in a loss of resolution that starts off almost unnoticeable, but will eventually torn your shots into something that re5embles soft focus footage of a Lego village. Digital zooms can be useful in moderation, and the big numbers (500x digital zoom etc.) sound impressive, but an optical zoom produces a far superior image. 


Mic Attenuation
Improving the quality of camcorder microphones has created new challenges

Once upon a time, camcorder microphones seemed to be an afterthought on the part of manufacturers . Even the big names in camcorder manufacturers , the microphone were poor , constructed from cheap, unshielded components and prone to hissing and spitting as if every bit of footage you recorded came across as bad.

Manufactures slowly began to improve the quality of mics , due tech advances and videomakers where camcorders can record in pseudo-surround sound, or zoom the pick-up pattern of their shotgun mic to record better long distance audio, You can even forego the onboard mic entirely and plug in a high quality external Unfortunately, the upshot of all this is that while we can now record significantly better sound, it has also become much harder to do so.

 Camcorder microphones have gone from being the weakest link in the chain to one of the strongest picking up a range and volume of noise far greater than the camcorder’s circuitry can process without overloading; fortunately, there are all sorts of features that will help out, most notably in the form of Mic Attenuation. In the simplest terms, Mic Attenuation just seems to turn down the volume of your camcorder, but in actual fact switching your Nic Attenuation on is dropping the microphone’s sensitivity by as much as 30Db. Where a volume pickup reduction would eliminate the quietest of noises, Mic Attenuation works by making sure that the loudest of noises recorded stay within the tolerance of the camcorder’s circuitry, meaning that you avoid distortion or complete audio blackouts from massive audio peaks, Mic Attenuation is handy in situations where you want the effect of Audio Gain Control without the bother of monitoring the audio, but it really comes into its own at concerts and stage shows where you’ll be recording your audio from a in particular powerful source such as an external microphone or by cable from a mixing desk.

 

Advanced Features Mini Buyers’ Guide

When it comes to optical zoom ratios, there are some camcorders that by going that extra millimeters.

lOx is the usual magnification on a camcorder, and the most common extent of an optical zoom by a landslide,.Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon to find the occasional camcorder with a 22x or 25x zoom as its strongest selling point, and even in these days of ultra-compact camcorder chassis you can still find the odd model that goes a little bit further than lOx. Camera operators use their zoom as a composition device, an aid to concentrate, for outstanding effect or simply just to close the distance between them and their subject Whether you’re filming play from the back row, doing a bit of long distance wildlife photography or simply trying to crash zoom for effect, here is our pick of the five camcorders that go that little bit further.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-TH1

While the VPC-TH1 has the lowest genera score of all the models in this round up, it offers far and away the most power for your pound when it comes to choosing a camcorder  or it’s zoom ratio. The TH1 will set you back £18O/ $260 quid, for which you’ll get a market leading 30x optical zoom,

Canon Legria HF200

Next up is the HFZOO, a Canon cam that earned itself an awards for it’s excellent design and image quality, but which also offers you a very impressive 15x optical zoom,

Sony HDR- XRS2O

One of Sony’s flagship models, the XR25O is jam-pawncked to hilt with high end features and it also has a 1 2x optical zoom.

Sony HDR-CX520

The CX520 complements it’s excellent video and stills image quality with an array of useful features, not least of which is a 2x zoom.

Panasonic HOC H5300
A 12 x zoom is just one of the reasons why the HS300 earned top scores for features, handling and execution,

A guide to best  buy hd camcorders on the market , Including the new flip slide hd camera

 

Farm Ville Secret Ebook

You’ll find more everyday people joining the ranks of Farm ville every single day. No-one can certainly get enough of this game and there are several good reasons why.

On Farm ville, you may get far from the disturbance as well as difficulties of everyday life. Just take it easy, grow a little bit of seeds, harvest a few crops – certainly not a wrong tactic pass some nighttime. So when you do this, you can easily progress in levels with time.

There will arrive a time, although, when you wish to go for a bit more from the The farmville game. When you go up a level, you unlock different seeds, decorations, and also other discretionary things. Which means to acheive just about the most from your FarmVille experience, you’ll need to level up pretty fast so that you can unlock numerous items together with bonuses as possible.

Farm ville Secret E-book – The fundamentals

Yet exactly how would you make this happen? There are many factors to keep in mind if you want to gain levels quickly in FarmVille. It is likely you already know that for you to level up, you need to accumulate experience points. As an example, any plot of land you plow will get you 1 experience point. In early stages of game play, the quantity of experience points you receive by plowing land and planting crops will be enough to make it possible for you to advance at a good pace. After you finish the first stages , you begin to need alot more experience points to be able to level up.

Give attention to Experience When you want to create experience points rapidly in The game, you will need to supplement what you achieve in your usual harvests together with various other actions. Creating enhancements to your farm is without a doubt a good way to get some fast chunks of experience points. Buildings generate the many, nonetheless you can get experience from putting up just about any decoration and structure. You have to pay close attention to the number of experience points every item will deliver. Its also wise to take experience points into mind anytime determining which crops to plant. Crops which take only a 1 day in order to grow only yield One experience point, while crops which take more time yield 2. It does not necessarily mean you simply are going to plant crops that offer Two experience points however. If you’re able to get back and also harvest these once they’re ready, crops for instance strawberries is going to bring you more than Two experience points each day due to the fact you can harvest them every 4 hours.

You should be on top of the harvesting and planting cycles to be able to make progress in this way though. Putting up buildings on your own farm is always the easiest way so you can get huge boosts in your current practical knowledge very fast. Save your cash for those, and you’ll be on the right track to unlocking many of the reachable items in FarmVille.