So, little Suzie had her big recital, and you brought the new camcorder and tripod, enduring “Who does this guy think he is, Spielberg?” stares from other parents (and likely your spouse). Now it’s time for your big reward: You get to show the world the gorgeous new video of your future American Idol winner. You finish up the basic video …

You’ve found an irresistible video on YouTube that you just have to show to your friends, so you want to download it to your Apple iPod. You search in vain for theDownload to iPod button that should be there on the YouTube page but isn’t. YouTube doesn’t make it easy; you’re going to have to do it yourself. Before getting started, let’s …

I performed two rounds of testing with the camcorder, an extensive series of lab and real-world testing that revealed an auto-focus problem that prompted me to return the camcorder for diagnostics. (At press time, Canon had yet to report the resul

You set the main controls via the familiar power dial that toggles you through VCR, automatic, TV (shutter priority), AV (aperture priority), full manual, spotlight, night, and easy recording modes. It took me awhile to get used to the operating c

The Canon XH A1 is as close to perfect as any camcorder in its price range, with great resolution, very high contrast ratio, and extraordinary customizability. I did find the auto-focus somewhat lacking, which may be a concern for some potential b

Most of my shoots are on-location events like concerts, ballets, and weddings, where I use on-scene lighting or, at most, an on-camera light. When I've done training videos and other similar shoots where I had more control, I've used "ad hoc" ligh

I’ve produced a number of HDV-source projects in Premiere Pro, with generally good results. Recently, however, working with some multicamera projects, I started to notice some anomalies. When panning and zooming inside a clip in the multicam sequence, quality wasn’t what I expected. As you probably know, one of the benefits of shooting in HDV mode for SD output is …

It all starts with the camcorder. Not to state the obvious, but whether you’re shooting weddings, concerts, or interviews, or editing in Premiere Pro, Vegas, or Final Cut, each project begins with the shoot. This inescapable fact of videography life, plus a price tag that can approach five figures, makes camcorder selection a critical business decision.   Figure One. If …

All of us have had audio rise up and bite us in the rear on a project or two, usually when we were focused elsewhere and not paying attention to levels, connections, and the like. Fortunately, with the right set of software tools and a bit of background information, you can eliminate many errors with little audible residue. The final …

On January 14, 2006, I had surgery for a herniated disc. It’s worked well so far, knock on wood. It’s the same surgery Joe Montana had, and he played six weeks later, so the outlook is good. I’m writing this column because better work habits might have prevented the whole problem, and because it might be helpful for me to …