Hd Camera Operations

Course Content

The course will be based on the Panasonic AJ-HDX-900 DVCPRO with HD LCD screens but will also use DSR 570 and Sony Z1 cameras to help illustrate the differences and variations between the various formats.

The bulk of the course features practical exercises exploring the functionality of HD cameras and the various techniques, skills and knowledge needed exploit them.

INTRO to HD

• Formats and Standards
• HD / HDV / S
• Progressive Scan / Interlaced / Frame
• Aspect Ratios - Widescreen, Tapes

DE-MYSTIFYING HD

• Definitions - Pixels and chips, CCD, CMOS, Sharpness
• Focus, lenses and Depth of Field
• Contrast and Lighting
• Style of shooting
• Transmission or DVD?

CAMERA SET-UP / MENUS

• Auto - Manual, basic settings, set-up cards
• Downconverting,
• Playout - Component / composite
• SDI / HDMI, Firewire etc.

USING THE CAMERAS

• Eyepiece / viewfinder set-up / focusing
• Auto - v - Manual functions :-

FOCUS

• Manual - Auto / Zoom Controls
• Professional Lenses - back focus, 2X converters
• Depth of Field, Macro
• Pro-sumer lenses - Push-Auto focus / exposure

EXPOSURE

• Auto - v - Manual
• Contrast and Exposure
• ND Filters
• Shutter / Gain / Iris
• Iris Control - F-Stops
• Shutter Speeds
• Gain / Hypergain set -up
• Exposure Methods - Averaging, Zebras, judging
• Pro-sumer cameras - backlight / AE functions

COLOUR BALANCE

• Auto - v - Manual
• Daylight / Tungsten - Indoor Presets
• Manual White-Balance - Mixed Lighting
• Black Balance (Professional Cameras)

SOUND

• Auto - v - Manual
• Phantom Powering
• Basic Mic Types - usage
• Camera controls- meters - sound menu
• Line / mic inputs, attenuation
• Setting levels
• Various Exercises for Practical Sections - Basic Camera Controls, Focus with framing, Manual Exposure, Sound, Colour Balance, Hand-Held work.