Hello all! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Matt, I live in Phoenix, AZ, and have loved making movies my entire life. It was never anything serious, but I always loved taking whatever video camera I could and just making... something. I started with the age-old Tyco videocam. Now I am much matured, have a beautiful baby daughter, and amazing wife. I figure now is the time to realize my dream and begin making all the films I have been storing in my head. I know a less than fair amount when it comes to the technical aspects of higher quality video cameras - but I am ready and able to learn. I am about to take some filmmaking college classes, and want a quality tool while doing so. As opposed to a previous thread I saw here, I am looking to spend whatever is necessary for quality. I know I will probably want a 3-chip camera, but thats about as far as I know... I want something that can delivery the result of something seen on TV at least. However, I know not to buy ANYTHING without advice from fellows such as yourselves. Obviously, I want to spend as little as possible for that quality, but whatever that costs I am aware can be high. I was looking at the SONY HDR-FX1 HDV 1080i - it seems to get pretty good reviews and people say it is amazing for the price... is this true? Is it a good camera? Is there something better that is close in price? I need advice! Thank you all!
Yes, another question about what camera to buy...
- Thread starter Hecubus114
- Start date
I cut four feature length movies on an iMac with 256MB ram. Not exactly a massive amount of memory. But I know PC's are differnet so I'll let others help you there. I know cameras, not editing software.
I use Final Cut Pro to edit on my Mac (Powerbook G4). 1 GB OF RAM. I don't know much about computers either, but my set up seems to work well for me. To edit you will of course need editing software. Again I have somewhat limited experience, so all I can recommend is what I have: (a GL2, Mac, and Final Cut Pro). They've all been reliable and fairly easy to use. I don't think that Final Cut Pro needs tons of memory to use, but I'm not running a hundred different programs either or downloading anything that might eat into my memory and slow things down. All I really use my computer for is storing photos, listening to music, and editing.
shawn, is there stuff of yours I can see that was shot and edited with what you listed?
Depending on your computer, storage (harddrive) space will be your sticking point...luckily, harddrives are cheapish now. 1 full DV tape (1 hr of footage) takes about 10 Gb of storage. If you capture just the clips you need from the tape, you'll be able to fit larger projects on it as you don't have all of the cruft saved on the harddrive.
What kind of computer do you have (windows/mac OS version, processor, ram, harddrive)
What kind of computer do you have (windows/mac OS version, processor, ram, harddrive)
well, I have a dell laptop w/windows that is almost maxed out on memory as it is... so I will mosst definately be getting a new one devoted just for film editing.
That being said... I am starting to get very discouraged... its sounding like the bare minimum of what I'll need for what I wish to do will end up costing like 5 thousand - which I dont have...
That being said... I am starting to get very discouraged... its sounding like the bare minimum of what I'll need for what I wish to do will end up costing like 5 thousand - which I dont have...
uh - I'm not sure on that - its a dell inspiron E1505 with windows medai edition... if that means anything...
as for cost, I meant total cost of camera, editing program, and computer (assuming the computer is the cheapest of all those). I mean, I would need all those things to really do anything, right? I know theres a lot more I would need - but those three things are pretty essential, wouldnt you say?
as for cost, I meant total cost of camera, editing program, and computer (assuming the computer is the cheapest of all those). I mean, I would need all those things to really do anything, right? I know theres a lot more I would need - but those three things are pretty essential, wouldnt you say?
Welcome to the world of making movies.
And after you spend all your money on all those things you are just beginning
to spend money. Making a movie is damn expensive. If that discourages you,
you're in for some sad, sad days. Wait until you start pricing mic's and lights.
But i know what you mean. It's not cheap to make a movie. Especially if you
need to start from the ground up. So, you could start smaller. Get a cheaper
camera and cheap editing software using the computer you have. Not the easiest
and not the best, but I can tell you for certain that not one of us here started
with the best equipment and the optimum computer.
I know, I know... dont get me wrong - I didnt expect it to be cheap, if I had the money to spend I gladly would... and by the time I muster up that kind of money, the things I was saving for will probably be out of date.
At least I know actors wont be a problem - I lettered in Theater Arts in high school and most of my still good friends did as well... it'll be a long road from now before I even have a use for actors though
At least I know actors wont be a problem - I lettered in Theater Arts in high school and most of my still good friends did as well... it'll be a long road from now before I even have a use for actors though
Since you're looking at the PC world, let me give you a breakdown of what I spent last year just getting geared up to make some DV short films (I used the equipment to produce a couple of 20-30 minute documentaries already for family and friends, but nothing in the public domain):
1) Camera: Canon XL1s - $2400 used from E-Bay, and it came with an excellent Bogen tripod with fluid head, a Sennheiser ME66 microphone with blimp and a few cables (total of about $7500 in original retail value)
2) Camera case: $300 (Pelican)
3) 16x manual lens: ~$500 used from E-Bay ($1600 original retail value)
4) Blank tapes and spare batteries: ~$200
5) Canon MA-200 for XLR inputs: ~$300 used
6) 400GB internal hard drive for editing and a 500GB external drive for extra storage: $200
7) Adobe Production Studio Premium for PC: ~$1700.00
8) I work in the computer industry, so assembling the PC cost me next to nothing relatively speaking through bartering and labor trades, but my entire setup is an Intel Core2 Duo with 2GB RAM, an ATI FireGL V7350 (~$1500 retail value for this alone), DVD burner, Creative XFi sound card, 24" widescreen flat panel, 5.1 surround sound, IEEE 1394 Firewire card for camera interface, and other basic accessories. To build this system would cost over $4000 today. This is overkill for standard definition, but I'm ready to make the leap to high definition and plan to do some 3D rendering on it as well. It's a multi-purpose workhorse. It's running Windows XP Pro.
9) I built my own microphone boom for $26: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=8863&page=2
10) Construction lights (4x500W), can lights, black wrap (black aluminum foil), white foam core, 3x DIY 6'x6' iron water pipe frames for mounting lights and felt and sound dampening (mattress foam covers), extension cords, dimmers (one 1000W dimmer included), parchment paper for light diffusion, microphone stand (in case I am sans boom operator): ~$500 for everything
11) Video slate with markers, various gels for changing color temperature of the lights, and a decent cine' light meter: ~$400
Grand total investment for 2007 (not including the computer): ~$6526. Add $4000-5000 if you were to match my computer setup, and this takes startup costs over $10,000.00.
Now imagine if I decided to take the plunge into learning and growing using actual film cameras and not DV.
This is not a cheap endeavor.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the filters for the camera: 3 ND filters of varying intensity and a UV filter: ~$200
I updated and augmented my film and writing library with about 10 new books: ~$250. I am always reading something. Learn something new every day.
I still need to make a handheld camera stabilizer, dolly tracks, a jib arm or crane - lots of work to do in 2008. I already wrote one short and am about to start writing another short and a feature. It's time to justify to the wife why I spent all this money last year.
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Have you considered finding a person who already owns a camera
to be a partner in your project? Maybe someone who shoots
weddings but wants to do some short movies. Maybe a freelancer
who likes your script.
Over the years I've corresponded with filmmakers in Phoenix. There
seems to be a pretty healthy filmmaking community there. The Phoenix
Film Festival is in April - how about volunteering there? You're bound
to meet someone with a camera. Have you thought of contacting
the Phoenix Film Office? Or the Phoenix Film Society?
to be a partner in your project? Maybe someone who shoots
weddings but wants to do some short movies. Maybe a freelancer
who likes your script.
Over the years I've corresponded with filmmakers in Phoenix. There
seems to be a pretty healthy filmmaking community there. The Phoenix
Film Festival is in April - how about volunteering there? You're bound
to meet someone with a camera. Have you thought of contacting
the Phoenix Film Office? Or the Phoenix Film Society?
Wow - an even bigger challenge than I thought...
I never know where to find info on film festivals and such - another reason I'm glad I found this place!
Well, here's an idea...
I have a very good credit score... yet the highest limit CC I've ever had was a $3500. Assuming I could get one - would it be a good idea to just have a high-limit CC devoted to this stuff? Or is that a bad idea? Would I just bury myself in debt? This doesnt seem like a hobby that pays for itself exactly... and I'm still in college...
I never know where to find info on film festivals and such - another reason I'm glad I found this place!
Well, here's an idea...
I have a very good credit score... yet the highest limit CC I've ever had was a $3500. Assuming I could get one - would it be a good idea to just have a high-limit CC devoted to this stuff? Or is that a bad idea? Would I just bury myself in debt? This doesnt seem like a hobby that pays for itself exactly... and I'm still in college...
Wow - an even bigger challenge than I thought...
I never know where to find info on film festivals and such - another reason I'm glad I found this place!
Well, here's an idea...
I have a very good credit score... yet the highest limit CC I've ever had was a $3500. Assuming I could get one - would it be a good idea to just have a high-limit CC devoted to this stuff? Or is that a bad idea? Would I just bury myself in debt? This doesnt seem like a hobby that pays for itself exactly... and I'm still in college...
Well, I'm a bad candidate to talk about credit. Most of my investment was on credit cards. I wasn't worried because I have enough high limit cards, and they always send me balance transfer incentives where I can keep the interest rates low by moving the balances around.
Unless you can make enough money to offset the interest, your $3500 in equipment won't be $3500 by the time you pay off the debt, more like ~$7000.00 or more depending on how long it takes. Imagine the camera you could buy with the interest money. Best to save and pay cash.
Oh, no - believe me, I would happily spend whatever I needed to just to do it for fun... but with school and a 7 month old daughter I very much want the "practical" way to do it - if there is one, LOL. I have no delusions of any money I put into it coming back to me besides me paying it off myself. I just want to make sure I dont spend needlessly - since I have a limited knowledge thus far...