Mike is that he has been at the forefront of designing the Canon 5D work flow since the camera was created. He understands the camera platform inside and out, how it writes its media and is a genius in post production process. Mike takes the time to get out there and do the research by blogging or reading about technical data. He constantly educates himself about the medium and always has a can do attitude with a smile. It is an honor to have his brain trust on our blog because Mike’s IQ is about 180.

Media Management for DSLR’s

“I am Mike McCarthy, the Director of Technology at Bandito Brothers.  I have been working with Bandito Brothers since the company started in 2006, and have been involved with projects using almost any format imaginable. (Film, SR, HDCam, XD, EX, P2, Red, Si2K, and DSLR among others)  I work with many different hardware and software companies through their beta and development programs, to find the best solutions to the work flow problems presented by new formats and tools.  I also document many of the solutions I come across on my own website hd4pc.com, and do occasional consulting work for companies that are trying to adapt their existing work flow to new tools and formats.

At Bandito Brothers, we have been working with Shane over the past year or so, to really push the Canon DSLR work flow to the limits.  This is in regards to both visual quality and organizational efficiency, factors which are both critical to being able to scale the Canon DSLR video work flow up to larger projects.  Hopefully the things we have learned from this process, and presented here, will be of benefit to others who are sure to find themselves in similar situations.

A large part of my job over the past year has been to develop a solid work flow for handling Canon DSLR footage, from shooting through to final delivery.  This work flow has evolved dramatically over the last year, as new projects had different needs, and new tools have been developed.  While media management is a subject that has been touched on by previous articles on this site, this one is going to focus on certain steps you can take to process and sort your media as you shoot, that can greatly simplify your post process.  We have developed this work flow while supporting many different Canon DSLR shoots, from commercials to feature films to documentaries.  Most of these tips can be applied to any project and will improve your editing experience regardless of whether you are cutting in Avid,Final Cut or Premiere.

CF Cards (Click for larger images)

Backing up your Footage:
The first step in that process is to make multiple backups of every card before it gets wiped and re-used. Due to the possibility of drive failure, I make sure that every clip is backed up on at least two drives before releasing the card to use again.  Usually this will be a copy from my Express Card CF Reader onto my laptop HD, and onto an external drive.  If I have power available, this will be an eSATA drive for best performance, but frequently it is a bus powered USB drive sitting on the palmrest as I work in the seat of my car, or where ever else we happen to be shooting.  Once the footage is on two separate drives, I rename the folder on the card.  This causes the camera to acknowledge that there is data on the card, but shows nothing in the playback window.  That way the camera assistants know that the footage is backed up, and also that they need to format the card before they begin using it again.

Laptop1 with Drives (Click for larger images)

As long as the footage is duplicated on two drives, I feel safe, until the end of the day, when I make up four copies at night and send them different places.  Once I have the footage safely on a Raid5 array the office, I wipe all but one of the backup drives and return them to the field.  The copy on the Raid becomes my master copy, that I use for for all the remaining steps detailed below.

MOV Files (Click for larger images)

Sorting your Footage:
Good media management is clearly important for any tapeless workflow, especially with DSLRs, and that goes far beyond just making backups.  Naming conventions play a large role in organization, since having all of your footage named MVI_####.MOV is not ideal, especially if you are shooting with multiple cameras.  Eventually you are likely to have overlapping numbering, leading to duplicate filenames.  I deal with this by sorting all footage by camera as it is shot and backed up.  This is a much simpler process if all of the cameras are shooting in totally different ranges of numbers.  The cameras can be forced to start numbering the files where ever you want, and once you have the footage sorted and logged, it is a good idea to rename each file using a convention that makes it easier to sort through and organize them.  I have a very specific breakdown of how I would recommend doing that posted on my site here. www.hd4pc.com/techblog/2010/03/28/managing-footage/

Footage Log in Excel (Click for larger images)

Logging your Footage:
Keeping a log of your footage and file names is important, not just for sorting through the content, but because it allows you to retrace your steps if necessary, and it can also assist in automating certain steps in the work flow, for example the file renaming process.  Once you have a folder full of properly sorted and renamed MOV files, (and a few backup copies as well) you are ready to begin the real post work.  I will give an overview of the post production options and recommended work flows in another post coming shortly.”

What I love about Gene is that he is a one man sound mixing machine. He delivers top notch quality audio as the only member of his sound department, so it fits perfectly with our small footprint work-flow. Gene always has a smile and can do attitude that is required to be one of the cowboys with this new technology in the wild, wild West.

Indie Film Sound And The 5D

“Sound is never noticed unless it’s bad.  It can make a beautiful film or meaningful documentary painful to watch.  So, for the Canon 5D you’ll need to make a small investment to enhance your film’s sound.

The 5D records 16-bit 44.1kHz linear PCM audio and you have no real control of the camera’s input levels. Its AGC (Automatic Gain Control) is ok for general b-roll, but it’s going to amplify any loud unwanted sounds (near by lawn mower/wind).  I know there is a firmware hack that changes the settings, but it’s still not the final solution.

First lets avoid spending more money than you need or just buying items that don’t really solve the Canon’s sound issue.  The BeachTek DXA-5D and the JuicedLINK CX231 both add XLR inputs, phantom power and gain control, but just plug into the camera’s 3.5mm input leaving you with the same 16-bit 44.1kHz audio.

Double system is the only true solution for the Canon 5D. Treat it like film. Just like the Red One camera, both can record sound, but any sound recorded on the camera should only be used for reference in post.  It will add a little more time in post, but the result is well worth the time. The most important step in doing double system is a slate.  Whether it be a actual slate, the clap sticks from a slate or even the clap of your hands you just need to ensure the clap is heard by both the onboard camera mic and whatever mic you may be using for your external audio recorder.  In post if you look at the audio waveforms of the camera and your external audio recorder you’ll see a spike in the audio when you clapped your slate/hands. Once the two audio clips are lined up via the spike in audio you’re now synced.

Zoom H4n

There are many options for an external audio recorder, but the best solution for the money is the Zoom H4n ($299).  The Zoom H4n can record up to 4 tracks simultaneously via 2 onboard microphones and 2 external inputs via XLR or ¼”. It records WAV audio files from 44.1kHZ 16-bit to 96kHZ 24-bit.  (Typically we would record at 48kHz 24-bit) The Zoom records on SDHC cards up to 32gb, which would give you 15hr and 25min. It also has phantom power if needed and has a headphone jack for monitoring.  If you are using the Zoom’s onboard mic’s for ambient audio recording outdoors you’ll want an additional windscreen.  Rycote and Red Head both offer windscreens for the Zoom H4n that will protect you from unwanted wind noise.

Zoom H4n

Tip: If you wanted you can get a y-cable to split the headphone jack and use one side for your headphones and plug the other into the 5D’s 3.5mm input jack.  This will make it easy to sync the audio in post, plus if you play back your files from the camera you’ll have your actual audio (reference only) to listen to while viewing back your shots.

G3 wireless

As far as what mic’s you’ll need to capture dialogue there is a very large variety.  For the money if you need a wireless system Sennheiser G3 is the way to go.  They come in a kit with everything you’ll need to get started.  As for a boom kit, you can’t go wrong with Rode.  They are very well priced and offer a 10yr warranty on most of their products.  The best boom mic for most dialogue situations would be the Rode NTG-2 or the Rode NTG-3. Both are good microphones and will get the job done, but the NTG-3 is more than twice the money.

Rode VideoMic

If in the end you just want an improvement of the 5D’s onboard mic, again go with Rode.  They have two different options, the Rode VideoMic and the Rode Stereo VideoMic.  Both are battery powered and have a hot shoe mount for easy mounting on the 5D.  Again these are best for improving ambient audio recording or just creating a better reference camera audio track for syncing your audio later. The audio is still controlled under the camera’s AGC.  If you did NEED to record dialogue this way you would want the Rode VideoMic and would need to be fairly close to the subject speaking in a not too loud environment.”

To rent or purchase any of these items please visit www.audiodepartment.tv or call Toll Free: 1(877) 566-6526