Signs On Dundas

Sean and DV Dude Are Watching This Right Now

And giggling, they are.

Sean's Notes From The Edge: "Having a field day testing field monitors!"

The Marshall 5-inch HDMI LCD in now in stock! We compared it against our other Marshall displays and were very happy to see that it lives up to the Marshall name!

The glossy 5-inch LCD delivers a lightweight, bright and crisp image!

When mounted to the top of an HDSLR it's barely noticeable!

A must have for any video shooter! Only $549! (It's on my x-mas list! Thanks Santa!)

We've also put our HDMI Splitter to the test today. It can easily output a signal from our 7D to the three demo Marshall displays without breaking a sweat.

Please note: Sweating electronics should not be used and disposed of forthwith (sorry, couldn't resist)

Demolition Derby!

The demolition work for the new store started last night. We're erasing the last remnants of the TD Bank - the old ATM room, the cash cage office, old ugly carpet and tile, etc.

Once this destruction is done, the hard work building the new store begins.

Lights! Camera! Who Called The Cops?!!

The new store was the site for a movie shoot today, with acclaimed director
Pete Henderson of Steam Films doing a personal short film.

Besides the on-screen drama, there was some behind-the-scenes drama as one
of the tenants in the plaza did not like having a movie shoot in the plaza,
and called the police. Oh the drama! Never a dull moment at the DV Shop.

FYI - Pete Henderson and DV Dude have a history - they attended film school
together.

Big River Man

If you've ever felt like your life sucks and you can't get anything done, you need to watch this movie.

Big River Man - Trailer from KNR Productions on Vimeo.

What a Concept!

We've all seen concept cars at auto shows, but this is unique - Canon showed
off a concept camera, an 8 MP camera that can shoot 4k video. Canon added
that it has no plans to build this.

Ah, perchance to dream...

Let There Be Light!

The 411 on Various Lighting Types from WikiBooks:

Video/Film recording lights use many different bulb types. Some are standards from Edison (tungsten) but others are cutting edge of the 2000s (LED). Most bulb types use a filament-ignition process to produce light. A wire of some electrically excitable material is put under voltage in a oxygen-depleted environment, causing it to 'burn' without lighting afire. Fluorescent bulbs and LEDs function rather differently from filament bulbs.

Tungsten

A tungsten light is basically a more powerful version of a common household lightbulb. While a household light bulb may only take a few hundred watts at most, lights that are used to light film sets are easily 1000 watts (1K) and often over 20,000 watts (20K). The tungsten light bulb naturally produces an orange hue, similar to indoor lights. Tungsten lights have a color temperature ranging from 3200 to 3400 Kelvin. One typically uses a CTB filter to balance the color temperature with outdoor or HMI light.

Redheads

Redheads are a specific type of open-faced light made by Ianiro. They are very compact and come in 600 and 650 watt versions. They are also known as Mickey-Moles (when made by Mole-Richardson). The term is often used to loosely describe smaller, open-faced lights.

Blondes

Blondes are a 2k open-faced light. Because they are open-faced, they tend to put out more light than a 2k fresnel.

Halogen-Quartz

Halogen-Quartz bulbs, often known as "Halogens" or "Quartz" are a staple of lighting. Halogens rarely posses a color temperature outside of 3200°K. These same bulbs are often used in car headlights, portable worklights, and recently in house-decor lighting. The bulbs come in wattages ranging from 15W-3500W. Additionally the are manufactured in a wide range of enclosures, bases, and connectors. Common are the "T", and bayonet base. Halogens emit significant amounts of heat during operation, so much so that oils on the glass surface of the bulb case lead to un-even heat distribution and rupturing (through thermal shock to the glass) or heat build-up and exploding gas within the bulb.

HMI

An HMI light is used very often to light film sets. One requires a ballast in order to power and creates a loud noise when turning on, so it is set protocol to yell "striking" in order to warn others on set to both ignore the noise and avoid looking at the light. The HMI light is a different type of light bulb than the more common tungsten. An HMI emits ultra-violet lights and emits a blue hue. HMI lights produce a color temperature around 5600 Kelvin. One typically use a CTO filter to balance the color temperature with indoor or tungsten light.

Fluorescent

Fluorescent bulbs were not used for lighting film and video until recently. This was because of problems with flicker and a tendency to emit more of a greenish hue. The Fluorescent lights used in film now are made to be flicker-free and come in both daylight and tungsten balanced bulbs. "Kino-flo" is one of the major companies involved in making fluorescent bulbs and fixtures for film and video production. Fluorescent lights tend to be very soft, but do not put out much light in comparison to other lighting instruments.

LED

Until the last five to ten years Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have seen little implimentation. Recent advances in production costs and chemical advances used in the diode junctions have led to inexpensive LED 'bulbs' as well as even color temperatures in multiple bulbs. LEDs are manufactured in all colors, and white comes in many color temperatures; 3200K being the most common, but ranging from 3000K to 5600K+. Diodes, due to their engineered design tend to have a very directional light. The front lens is parabolic, focusing the light to a small dot even several meters away.

Sean's Notes: Comparison Zoom H1 and Zoom H2

H1 Recorder:
-2 mics for stereo recording
-Entry Level Recorder
-Perfect for meetings and journalism
-Accessory kit is optional (USB Cable, Windcover, case, tripod, AC Adapter)
- Uses Micro SD Cards
-Easy to use!

H2 Recorder
-4 mics for stereo and surround sound recording
-full feature recorder
- Can be used as a USB Mic
- Built-in Chromatic Tuer (for voice and guitar)
- Accessory kit included (Windscreen, USB cable, headphones, audio cable, stand, Mic hand stand etc)
- Auto Record feature
- Many customizable options
- uses SD/SDHC cards

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

A Few Accessories Can Make Your Camera 80% More Gangster

Dude looking sad shooting with a lonely 7D.



Add a few accessories...





And voila!



The coolest Dude on the block!

A Coke By Any Other Name...

99 cent deals at our local convenience store.

Coming Soon To a Theatre Near You: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Fox just bought the rights to this stellar piece of fiction. Maybe Edward Norton will play the lead.

And Did We Mention The Free Parking?

One of the biggest determining factors in the selection of the new DVS location, after factoring in size, cost and the condition of the building, was parking. Being on the South side of Dundas street, we have okay paid parking right now but whenever we mention that the new place will have lots and lots of free parking, not to mention wheelchair access, that seems to put a smile on everyone's face. No more getting towed for being parked on the North side of Dundas between 4 and 6. No more broken parking ticket dispensers. No more altercations with a 6'3" parking cop.

Vive le parking libre!

Your Tuesday Morning Dose of Craziness

If you were reminiscing this morning over Fruit Loops and Jack Daniels about the insane craziness of Will Sasso doing Kenny Rogers on the late-great Mad TV, the clip above should give you a little pick-me-up this morning.

Where are you Will Sasso?

DV Shop 2: The Next Generation

As DV Shop hurtles towards its 10th anniversary, a number of changes are
coming, but this is going to be the biggest one - a new store. We can
officially announce our that our new store is going to be located at 3422
Dundas St. West (at Windermere), a five minute drive from our current
location.

The new location was formerly a TD Bank, and yes the vault is still there.
We may use it as a "Time Out Room" for any unruly customers or staff.

Below are a couple of "before" pictures, and we'll be posting updated pictures as we
renovate. A lot of work is ahead.

The new location is twice the size of our current store, and will allow us
to do a lot of things we've been meaning to do for years but didn't have the
space.

DV Shop 2: The Next Generation. Bigger. Brighter. Better.
Coming January 2011.