I just received my Workprinter this week, and am most impressed. I had to get a step-down transformer as I live in the UK but I did a search on the internet and found a suitable one from a firm who had a branch locally. cost about £40.
I followed Roger's instructions caerfuly on aligning the camera and focusing. I'd recommend a decent tripod and a solid floor if possible. I have a faily cheap tripod and soft carpet which makes it more difficult to align. It would be great to have the space for a permanent setup.
The films I'm transfering first are my family home movies which aren't very sharp to start with, but I have an old Disney film here which I might transfer as this should allow me to make sure I have it set up and focused properly.
I found manual focus and exposure best. My camera -- a Sony TRV740 megapixel - has an option for auto shutter on/off. I know about shutter settings in standard 35mm camera's but the only description of this in my manual is to automatically activate the electronic shutter when shooting in bright conditions. The default is on. Can anyone recommend whether to set this on or off when using the Workprinter? Any other tips would be welcome also.
All the best,
Barry.
The Workprinter
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
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Andreas Wideroe
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Barry,
Welcome to the gang of WorkPrinter owners!
Check out this thread:
Best practices with the Video WorkPrinter
It might be useful! Good luck!
Andreas
Welcome to the gang of WorkPrinter owners!
Check out this thread:
Best practices with the Video WorkPrinter
It might be useful! Good luck!
Andreas
Andreas Wideroe
Filmshooting | Com - Administrator
Please help support the Filmshooting forum with donations
Filmshooting | Com - Administrator
Please help support the Filmshooting forum with donations
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MovieStuff
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Do we all get leather motorcycle jackets with "WorkPrinters from Hell" on the back?awand wrote:Barry,
Welcome to the gang of WorkPrinter owners!
How about "Give me K40 or give me death" ?
I know, bump stickers that say, "They'll take my 8mm when they pry it from my cold dead fingers."
We 8mm types are a dangerous lot.
Roger
I don't know about the leather jackets, but if somebody wants to come up with their own personalized S8 bumper sticker, try here:
http://www.makestickers.com/
Tom,
Video CineMate Owner and, in approximately two months or so, a WorkPrinter, Jr. Owner
http://www.makestickers.com/
Tom,
Video CineMate Owner and, in approximately two months or so, a WorkPrinter, Jr. Owner
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Andreas Wideroe
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- Contact:
Hehehehe! :lol:MovieStuff wrote:Do we all get leather motorcycle jackets with "WorkPrinters from Hell" on the back?
You should consider printing t-shirts with that slogan... I would kill for one!
/Andreas
Andreas Wideroe
Filmshooting | Com - Administrator
Please help support the Filmshooting forum with donations
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Guest
The Workprinter
Barry,
I'll try to give you a more serious answer now that the rest of the gang seem to have finished their T-shirt antics!
I have a Sony DCR-TRV720 that I've been using with a WorkPrinter 2 for the past several months and I'm very happy with the results. The TRV720 is a slightly older Digital8 model (from 2001) and may be reasonably equivalent to the TRV740 (2002 model). My camera does not have any reference to auto shutter on/off, but it does have a slow shutter feature. I have never used it, but presumably it is a manual feature where the shutter speed can be altered. My camera manual lists 4 shutter speeds in this mode (1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4). Otherwise, this is what my manual says about the Slow Shutter feature: "You can slow down the shutter speed. The slow shutter mode is good for recording dark images more brightly. However, the image may be less clear." What I don't know is what the shutter speed is in auto mode. However, according to my understanding of shutter speed, I cannot figure out how any exposure time for a single frame could be longer than 1/30th of a second when shooting video onto tape, since the camera in my case is running at 30fps (NTSC). However, in the case of WorkPrinter capture at slow speed, say 1fps, it might be feasible to use these lower shutter speeds if there is any advantage (under exposed scenes?). It should also be noted that in the slow shutter mode, you are forced to use auto exposure. Anyway, I would imagine that your camera would have equivalent shutter speeds in manual shutter mode, i.e. auto shutter off. It would still seem that auto shutter on is what you would normally want.
I'm also transferring my family's home movies (mostly regular eight), some of which are from as far back as the early 1940's. Again, in my case, the movies are not real sharp, but I'm still quite pleased with the results and I believe I have set everything up properly, including optimum focus. For most of my conversions so far I have used manual focus (naturally), but auto exposure. This seems to give me good results in most cases, except for a couple of incorrectly exposed frames following scene changes. In addition, peoples faces are some times overexposed, depending on the overall lighting conditions. I have tried using manual exposure, but find it a bit tedious, since a lot of my movies have great variations in the original exposure from one scene to another. Consequently, I have to adjust the exposure back and forth on my camera when transferring the movies with the WorkPrinter.
I would be very interested in hearing more about your experiences as your work progresses.
Best regards,
Sig
I'll try to give you a more serious answer now that the rest of the gang seem to have finished their T-shirt antics!
I have a Sony DCR-TRV720 that I've been using with a WorkPrinter 2 for the past several months and I'm very happy with the results. The TRV720 is a slightly older Digital8 model (from 2001) and may be reasonably equivalent to the TRV740 (2002 model). My camera does not have any reference to auto shutter on/off, but it does have a slow shutter feature. I have never used it, but presumably it is a manual feature where the shutter speed can be altered. My camera manual lists 4 shutter speeds in this mode (1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4). Otherwise, this is what my manual says about the Slow Shutter feature: "You can slow down the shutter speed. The slow shutter mode is good for recording dark images more brightly. However, the image may be less clear." What I don't know is what the shutter speed is in auto mode. However, according to my understanding of shutter speed, I cannot figure out how any exposure time for a single frame could be longer than 1/30th of a second when shooting video onto tape, since the camera in my case is running at 30fps (NTSC). However, in the case of WorkPrinter capture at slow speed, say 1fps, it might be feasible to use these lower shutter speeds if there is any advantage (under exposed scenes?). It should also be noted that in the slow shutter mode, you are forced to use auto exposure. Anyway, I would imagine that your camera would have equivalent shutter speeds in manual shutter mode, i.e. auto shutter off. It would still seem that auto shutter on is what you would normally want.
I'm also transferring my family's home movies (mostly regular eight), some of which are from as far back as the early 1940's. Again, in my case, the movies are not real sharp, but I'm still quite pleased with the results and I believe I have set everything up properly, including optimum focus. For most of my conversions so far I have used manual focus (naturally), but auto exposure. This seems to give me good results in most cases, except for a couple of incorrectly exposed frames following scene changes. In addition, peoples faces are some times overexposed, depending on the overall lighting conditions. I have tried using manual exposure, but find it a bit tedious, since a lot of my movies have great variations in the original exposure from one scene to another. Consequently, I have to adjust the exposure back and forth on my camera when transferring the movies with the WorkPrinter.
I would be very interested in hearing more about your experiences as your work progresses.
Best regards,
Sig
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Lunar07
Re: The Workprinter
BarryBarry wrote:I just received my Workprinter this week, and am most impressed. I had to get a step-down transformer as I live in the UK but I did a search on the internet and found a suitable one from a firm who had a branch locally. cost about £40.
[......................]
Barry.
I am thinking bout getting the WorkPrinter XP or Pro. What is the interface of the mouse that comes with it? Serial, PS/2, USB? I ask because Serial interface is out of question on my PC. If mouse is PS/2 is it ok to use it with a USB adapter?
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MovieStuff
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Re: The Workprinter
I can provide either a PS2 or USB mouse with the WorkPrinter.Lunar07 wrote:What is the interface of the mouse that comes with it? Serial, PS/2, USB?
Roger
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Barry
Hello Sig,
My camera has a range of what sony calls 'program ae' (auto exposure) settings for filming in different situations like spotlight, backlight, sunny beach and so on, and a setting called auto. Then there is a separate menu item called 'auto shutter'. The manual doesn't go into any detail about shutter speeds. Anyway, I decided to just leave auto shutter on. I have exposure set to manual and adjust on each scene. Some of these films have quite a range of exposures on different scenes. I know that the light meter never worked on the camera so it was set up by guesswork on each shot. The results are great I only wish the original films were of better quality.
My main concern at the moment is with white balance. I don't know about your camera Sig, but mine has no options for it at all. It's completely automatic. It's not even mentioned in the manual. I was doing a transfer this evening and stopped the machine during the transfer as I had to do other things for a couple of hours. I left my camera switched on hoping it would keep the settings. Later, I came back and carried on with the transfer but on playback, there was a clear change in the colour balance. I think I'll have to do the transfers in one go to avoid this. I wish I knew how this camera determines white balance and how long it keeps it set for.
I'll keep you posted of anything else I find out.
I must just add that I felt a bit bad yesterday. I emailed Roger with some trivial question about the Workprinter, and a while later I heard the news of the tragedy they were having over there. It rather puts things in perspective.
My camera has a range of what sony calls 'program ae' (auto exposure) settings for filming in different situations like spotlight, backlight, sunny beach and so on, and a setting called auto. Then there is a separate menu item called 'auto shutter'. The manual doesn't go into any detail about shutter speeds. Anyway, I decided to just leave auto shutter on. I have exposure set to manual and adjust on each scene. Some of these films have quite a range of exposures on different scenes. I know that the light meter never worked on the camera so it was set up by guesswork on each shot. The results are great I only wish the original films were of better quality.
My main concern at the moment is with white balance. I don't know about your camera Sig, but mine has no options for it at all. It's completely automatic. It's not even mentioned in the manual. I was doing a transfer this evening and stopped the machine during the transfer as I had to do other things for a couple of hours. I left my camera switched on hoping it would keep the settings. Later, I came back and carried on with the transfer but on playback, there was a clear change in the colour balance. I think I'll have to do the transfers in one go to avoid this. I wish I knew how this camera determines white balance and how long it keeps it set for.
I'll keep you posted of anything else I find out.
I must just add that I felt a bit bad yesterday. I emailed Roger with some trivial question about the Workprinter, and a while later I heard the news of the tragedy they were having over there. It rather puts things in perspective.
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Guest
Re: The Workprinter
Sony NTSC cameras with digital image stabilization (which your is) typically have a 1/100 shutter speed when steadyshot is ON, and 1/60 when it is OFF. Auto Shutter allows the shutter speed to go higher when bright light conditions dictate. For WorkPrinter use you would probably want to turn steadyshot OFF, turn auto shutter OFF, and get as much manual control as possible.Anonymous wrote:Barry,
What I don't know is what the shutter speed is in auto mode.
Sig
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Guest
Anonymous,
Thanks for the info. What you’re saying seems reasonable. I agree that it is desirable to have the ability to use as much manual control as possible. Unfortunately, when I turn the shutter to manual, I'm forced to use auto exposure, which I may not want to do.
Barry,
My camera also does not have adjustable white balance in a direct sense. After I read your post tonight I played a bit with my camera, in particular the manual shutter, manual exposure (iris) and the “program ae” function. What I found is that these three features appear to be mutually exclusive, i.e. if you use one you cannot invoke either one of the other two at the same time. However, it appears that the various “program ae” settings are selections of exposure (iris), shutter and white balance. If I aim the camera at a piece of white paper and run through the different “program ae” settings, there is a noticeable difference in the colour and exposure and at least one of the settings (low lux mode) clearly shows that the shutter speed is very slow. Let me know what you think.
Does anyone else out there have any information about these features of the Sony DCR-TRV720 and 740? The manuals do not provide any background or deeper understanding of these features.
Thanks,
Sig
Thanks for the info. What you’re saying seems reasonable. I agree that it is desirable to have the ability to use as much manual control as possible. Unfortunately, when I turn the shutter to manual, I'm forced to use auto exposure, which I may not want to do.
Barry,
My camera also does not have adjustable white balance in a direct sense. After I read your post tonight I played a bit with my camera, in particular the manual shutter, manual exposure (iris) and the “program ae” function. What I found is that these three features appear to be mutually exclusive, i.e. if you use one you cannot invoke either one of the other two at the same time. However, it appears that the various “program ae” settings are selections of exposure (iris), shutter and white balance. If I aim the camera at a piece of white paper and run through the different “program ae” settings, there is a noticeable difference in the colour and exposure and at least one of the settings (low lux mode) clearly shows that the shutter speed is very slow. Let me know what you think.
Does anyone else out there have any information about these features of the Sony DCR-TRV720 and 740? The manuals do not provide any background or deeper understanding of these features.
Thanks,
Sig
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Barry
Thanks! It doesn't tell you these things in the manual. I did switch steady-shot off anyway.Sony NTSC cameras with digital image stabilization (which your is) typically have a 1/100 shutter speed when steadyshot is ON, and 1/60 when it is OFF
Yes, that's what I concluded. As I understand it, the shutter speed won't make any difference with the Workprinter, because you're only capturing still frames. I'm just wondering whether we could get over the white balance problem by using one of the program AE settings, or whether these settings only alter the white balance 'relative' to how it's set at the time. (I'm trying not to make this sound all technical without much success!). Though can you use these settings with manual exposure? I'll have to get the manual out again. I wish I could justify buying one of the better cameras with manual evertyhing. I went for the hi8 model because I also have some old 8mm video tapes I also want to edit, and this transfers the output to digital for me.it appears that the various “program ae†settings are selections of exposure (iris), shutter and white balance
Sorry, I forgot to say thanks!Barry,
Welcome to the gang of WorkPrinter owners!
All the best,
Bazz.
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sigr
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Barry,Though can you use these settings (program AE) with manual exposure?
I believe the three features (manual shutter, manual exposure (iris) and “program ae”) are mutually exclusive, i.e. if you use one you cannot invoke either one of the other two at the same time. At least that is what I have found.
Sig