Training

[bluegrass]

Before I get carried away asking a bunch of neophyte questions here on this forum, maybe someone could point me in the direction of some free online training or a good book I can purchase from Borders. I imagaine that I might not be the only one pregnent here as the saying goes. I've been shooting with basic consumer level camcorders now for a little over a couple years. Now comes along what appears to be a great camera I'm moving up to but still falls into the consumer grade but is catching the interest of more professional type of videographers. I'm jumping into the HV20 with both feet and hands and want to learn everything I can. I'm already fascinated by the 35mm add-ons I've been reading about and from the looks of some sample files, it will be a great way to make my videos stand out among my peers if I make the leap into that area. Is there a place to go that deals with that aspect of video shooting or is it still so new everyone is just learning how and what they can do with that type of add-on. I don't even understand why it's not just a lens add-on to show you how much I know. Anyway, I thought training (self-training) is going to be a big part of using this new Canon sucessfully. Any links, books, places to go to step my knowleged up to the next level beyond a basic point & shoot person would be greatly appreciated. I will recipricate with all of the video samples worthy of pushing to this site and my hands on experiences.

[lilewis]

Bluegrass,

I bought the HV20 and then Vegas 7 editing software with no more experience than you. At first I thought of it as similar to learning a new language.

But now I figure it's more like having bought a helicopter without knowing how to fly.

I'm also now looking for the same kind of education as you.

[Mal]

Well, it's a FUN journey, that's for sure, and you are doing it with fantastic equipment.

Not sure of any books, although they are out there. Maybe check AMAZON for FILMMAKING.
Lighting and audio will be the TWO areas where you should invest some time in.

[lilewis]

Can't argue with you there, Mal. lol

I'm playing like a little kid with a new toy.

Thinking about telling my kids, who always tell me they don't know what to buy for my bday, to buy one of the Vegas instructional videos. But maybe I'll be doing it myself because I don't want to wait that long.

The only problem I see with those dvds, is that the ones I've seen on eBay only seem to work on pcs and I'd prefer to put the training video on a stand-alone player next to my pc so I can be looking at them both at the same time without having to flip back and forth or minimize the screens.

Btw I see you were offering lens caps... I'm really sorry I missed that

[David]

I'm going to say something that might sound trite, or even rude, but the first place everybody should start would be the manual.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but I've found that very rarely does anybody read manuals anymore. Either because they feel like they know it all already, or just because it doesn't seem interesting.

My bet is that if you understand every page of the manual, you'll be miles ahead of a lot of people. It may mean googling up definitions or explanations of things, but if you get all aspects of whitebalance, Tv, Av, shutter speed etc, then you're off to a really good start.

Beyond that, I might suggest a book like "Digital Video for Dummies". Yes it's "DV" and not "HDV", but my guess is that a lot of the info is completely transferrable from one to another. And if you're having trouble understanding the technical aspects of the camera from just the manual, I bet the Dummies book will help. In general they seem to do a good job of walking you through the concepts and explaining them clearly.

If you're looking for basic info about 35mm adapters, I'm not sure what to tell you.

If you're looking for basic info about putting together a 'movie' (some kind of narratively structured story) then a good starter book is something like "Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video" It will take you through the basics of composition, framing, lighting, editing, depth of field etc. It's a great starter book that's in very clear non-technical language.

[lilewis]

Hi David
I just wrote a long reply to your last post, but for some reason, the group logged me out and when tried to post it, it disappeared.

So now I'll try a shorter version.

I don't consider your reply trite or rude. I'm always preaching to my kids to read the manuals when they buy something new. It's of course the right thing to do, and I've been doing it myself.

As an Olympus E-500 DSLR user, I'm pretty familiar with some of the basics common to both photos/video (menu driven, exposure, shutter speed, white balance, DOF, etc), and I understand what the HV20 offers in that respect. Finding each of them quickly will take a little more practice though.

I'm still not at all clear on what the advantages/disadvantages of each of the HD options are, but I think over time, I'll 'get it'.

I'm pretty sure I also tried to bite off more than I could chew by immediately taking a clip from the HV20 and running it into Vegas 7 without any experience it THAT area. But I'm confident that over time, it'll all fall into place.

As soon as I get thru reading what I already have, I'll likely take ride to the local Borders bookstore and take a look at your suggestions.

Thanks for your reply.

[duzzit_madder]

When I started out I bought everything I could get my hands on but if you want to make narrative films the one book that stands out in my mind as a wonderful place to start is, "Cinematic Story Telling" by Jennifer Van Sijll. It's the one book I keep going back to long after I've read it.

[Numbox]

I for one have read the manual from cover to cover, but i'm still confused with 24p, cinemode, apperture size, whn it's 1440 and when it's 1900 etc. Add to that that i have a PAL version, so it's not 24 but 25 and all the other differences, so i'm pretty much in the dark. Sure, i' play around with all the options, but usually i just go through all of them and then use those that seems the best for the given situation. I even thought that cinemode IS 24p.

Also, is OIS enabled by default? Does camera have it's own light that can be lit for night shots?

How & where can i learn all that stuff?

EDIT: found the light button

[Murrelet]

Oh my God! I'm NOT alone.....