Video World

In the events biz, it’s no secret that COE (Cost Of Ownership) is an ongoing issue. There’s one area in particular that rings up the cash register on a regular basis — namely, xenon lamp replacement. Whether the projector’s part of the rental inventory or permanently installed in a theater, it’s the same situation. In terms of lamp runtime, at somewhere between 600 and 2000 hours, the lamp needs to be replaced — and the cost (per lamp) for these little hand-made high-pressure xenon beauties can top $1,000, depending on the wattage. And speaking of COE, we’ll disregard the fact (for now) that each time you light that 7K lamp, another turbine has to spin up at Hoover Dam.

Well, there it is again — that little mountain range display on my point-and-shoot camera’s LCD screen.  What’s it doing there?  How do I get rid of it?  What’s it for, anyway? One would imagine that you’ve asked the same set of questions from time to time, especially when you’re fiddling around with your camera’s little multi-function circular thingy (that’s the actual official name, I think).  It’s certainly happened to me — it usually appears when I try to skip through a series of pictures, and suddenly the mountain range shows up as an overlay.

By now, having read my last column, I’m convinced that you ran out and spent your federal tax return on a new Canon or Nikon DSLR, and you’re gearing up to shoot videos and roll-ins for that big national touring company. Since you’re on a budget and a Red Epic (or equivalent high-end camera) is not in the cards, the DSLR offers a great alternative. With a high-resolution sensor (beyond HD), portability, superb depth of field, interchangeable lenses, excellent low light performance and affordable pricing, it also produces gorgeous pictures. All in all, today’s new-generation DSLRs offer a great way to shoot high-quality video on a budget.

For both corporate and live events, video elements are often a major part of the show.  If the clips are pre-produced, a significant amount of planning, pre-production and shooting is always required.  Traditionally, you’ll need a crew and a few cases of expensive video gear to accomplish the task, but a new twist on an old trusty photography tool suddenly makes the job a bit easier.  In fact, it’s the DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera — a mainstay of the professional photographer for high quality stills, but now, an equally remarkable video tool.  SLR-type cameras enable photographers to see exactly what’s captured on film or digital media, because shots are composed directly through the lens.

If you’re just starting your career in the biz, please gather round the campfire.  Perhaps more important, if you have children entering high school, college or a university — please read on.  As I climb up on my soapbox, this is a subject that I’ve preached about for years, and in our harsh economic climate, it still rings true.

When I crossed over from the television broadcast domain to the live events market a few years back, there was a fairly steep learning curve regarding all the lighting, staging and video equipment required to produce shows. With LED walls in particular, I figured that you simply connect a video signal to the LED wall, and presto — I-Mag images appear on the wall behind the lead singer. Well, not so fast, Sparky.

You guys in the lighting industry have all the fun.  I mean, seriously — you have a thousand knobs on your consoles, all the sliders in the galaxy, buckets of colors for painting your sets, luminaires that move in three dimensions, and a variety of remarkable pre-viz software apps to choose from.  Out here on tour in video land, on the other hand, it’s Slim Pickens.  We have projection screens, LED walls, HD cameras, and, granted, we have some wonderful video switchers on which to cut the shows — but the design elements of the set have typically been cast in concrete by the time we show up.

Back in those halcyon days of childhood, mom n' dad packed us all in the station wagon and took us to the drive-in every few months. I'm sure many of you have similar memories of those long aisles of cars, the squawk box on the window, pajamas and blankets and a wonderful family film on a summer night. Over the years (and ever so slowly), the drive-ins disappeared – typically replaced by shopping centers and housing developments. Yet here and there, a few steadfast hold-outs remained.

So, there I am in my projector 101 class, and things are progressing quite nicely.

"Let's discuss the mechanics of focus and lens shift," says the esteemed professor. "No problem," says I … easy terms and concepts.

"Let's ponder the mysteries of color space," says the master of PowerPoint. "Gotcha," says I, as we dive deep into the CIE color space chart in all its beauty.

Now and then, outside of my "bread and butter" role as the world's finest tech writer and world's worst fly-fisherman, I get the opportunity to venture outside of the corporate vacuum – out where the crews work. This wonderful perk has taken me to Rascal Flatts concerts, The Who concerts, Reba McIntyre concerts and many more – to meet the crews and write about how the creative LDs and set designers put their video tools to work.