I don't do that many weddings (four per year), but when I do I try to make them as memorable as possible. Last year I had the opportunity to do some camera and audio work with my good friends Ralph Jean-Pierre, Andy Russell and Bryan Tosh.  We had a great time shooting the video. I am convinced more than ever to use DSLR's for wedding videos. 

Otis Rolley is a candidate for Mayor of Baltimore. I had the opportunity to film him about his education plan while at his campaign headquarters recently. I used a Canon 5DMK II and lowel lights and the Tascam DR-100 for audio.  If you look at my gear page on my blog you can see what I use.  

Recently Canon released the EOS plugin for Final Cut Pro it is posted on their web site that says:

...the H.264 compression format requires that files be transcoded into a format better suited to editing, effects, and color grading; this would usually be Apple ProRes. The transcoding to ProRes can be a fairly time- and processor-heavy intermediary step that pays off later with superior speed once the post production process begins.

I have tested the plugin and done a short video tutorial of how it works and it really works very well and may save me from using MPEG Streamclip and Compressor workflow. Click here to download the plugin and click here for the instructions (PDF).

I have been enjoying using my Canon 7D almost daily for filming various projects and doing tests. One thing I knew I was going to face is the audio capabilities, or lackthereof.  I called up Guy Cochran of the dvestore and he told me about a solution he used for getting good audio. So my set up is the Tascam DR-100, I use that to get my audio and I use Plural Eyes Software in Final Cut Pro to sync it. At first I thought the process was going to be very painful, but it was very easy.  I am gong to hook the Tascam directly up to my Canon 7D and see how it works. UPDATE: March 15, 2010 I now use a cable I purchased from Trew Audio then I connected the Tascam DR100 line out to 7D Mic In via the Remote Audio 1/8” Padded cable. This process automatically turned off the ACG on the Canon 7D, no syncing necessary. I could have never done an interview like this without a field recorder.  Here are some videos I completed for Johns Hopkins University and used the Canon 7D and the Tascam DR-100.

This is probably the last video tutorial I will do for 2009 and I have done many of them this year.   By far, the most popular is the Flip Video Workflow. Some folks ask me why are you giving away your knowledge for free?  You should be like Izzy Video and charge for it.  Well, I do agree on some levels, but for now I can do tutorials at my leisure with no pressure. Let's see what 2010 has in store , but until then, enjoy this and best of luck with your videos.

Here is a brief tutorial on my workflow for transcoding HD footage from the Canon cameras using MPEG Streamclip.

I have two words for the new Canon cameras that shoot photos and HD video: GAME-CHANGER.  I have to admit, I read a lot of information on blogs and web sites praising the camera, but I wasn't truly sold until I shot with the camera and edited in Final Cut Pro.  Hat tip to Rich Herard who shot this footage and I edited the footage, the lens used was a Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L One drawback of this is that the editing on my iMac (3.0g GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB RAM) it took about 53 minutes to compress this video.