Posted by Richard Crowley on 02/04/06 23:31

"Mark" [apparently at UCLA] wrote...
>> Good advice, but this all depends on the size of his "set." He
>> hasn't said if it's a rat running around in a little 3-foot square
>> maze, or a much larger area. A description of the conditions is
>> necessary.
>
> It will be more like 1-foot square.

A couple of Chimeras (or even a couple of fluorescent
"shop lights") with electronic balasts. Frequently seen
at home-improvement warehouse stores for $10-15)

> Yes, I'm at UCLA, but I brought my camera from Australia. I was
> thinking that the PAL - NTSC shouldn't be such a big deal as we can
> also just give it to the TV station to convert. They must do this all
> of the time when they get overseas footage to show??

Shooting PAL in NTSC land (or NTSC in the PAL territories)
is a *HORRIBLE* idea. Even the most expensive standards
conversion makes significant and visible reduction of
quality to your video. It is one thing if it cannot be avoided,
but to intentionally shoot in a "foreign" format and rely on
standards conversion is just NUTS (or DAFT if you prefer).

If you are really on a UCLA campus somewhere, there
must be hundreds of excelent-quality NTSC cameras within
a few miles radius of you. Not to mention the resources of
your own institution.

Have you actually contacted any of your own internal resources?
If this is "for the media" are your own media relations or PR
or whatever people involved? They almost certainly have
contacts and resources for bringing in a crew with decent
lighting and camera if it is for public consumption.

>> Addiionally, I might add that UCLA has HUGE video production
>> resources there on campus. He should consult with those departments.
>
> Yes, I've been thinking that too. However, I don't know how to contact
> them or where they are. I did a quick search of the ucla website and
> didn't come up with anything obvious.

Google took only a few milliseconds to find the Contact
page for your School of Theater, Film and TV ....

http://www.tft.ucla.edu/contact.cfm

If they don't do stuff like that, you might find someone
who could at least identify somebody with a decent
NTSC camcorder and lend you a couple of softlights,
etc. Or they could at least point you towards the right
people on campus.

[Back to original message]