Be sure and get the large rings if you order them separately most Lens kits come with the right size that matches the lens.

Remove the adhesive backing on the ring and attach it to the camera like I did here. Center it around the lens area. It fits right around the lens extrusion.

One extra trick, I took one of the extra rings and cut off about a lower one 1/3 of it and placed it on the bottom of the ring.  There is a slight angle on the camera body surface and that extra little piece at the bottom really helps to level it out.

Check out the video with and with out the wide angle adapter.  You should also be able to find a telephoto adapter as well.  But I think wide is best.  This will come in handy when you are the only camera person and the talent. It just gives you that extra little headroom or leadroom that you might need with out the normal cramped feeling you get when you’re shooting at arm length.

This is shot from the Zi8, half way through I add a 0.45 Wide Lens adapter. It’s magnetic so it just snaps right on.

This was shot at arms length, see how much more room you have if you want to do an intro or any kind of stand up for a video you’re working on and none of your goofy friends will help you out.

I’m sure I’ll have a few more tricks for modding out your Zi8 soon. Please Kodak make it so I can edit right on my Zi8 or how about an Audio only mode since I have a mic input, or just ask me what features I’d like to see in your Zi10.

Stephen Knapp in the photo. Photo taken by Tony Gasbarro

I think all filmmakers, content creators and bloggers should have one in their bag of tricks. Well filmmakers should have 2. Why should a filmmaker have two? I’m sure there’s many times you have extra hands on set helping you out. This is a perfect time to hand them a camera and have them get behind the scenes footage or do a quick interview.

It could be used in your extras, blog or promotional material. The image quality will come closer to the look of the film you are shooting. Plus it won’t look like a completely different format which tend to make extras look like a after thought. IMHO

If you’re a hyperlocal news person or blogger this camera and future cameras like this will be the future ENG/EFP cameras

What makes this camera a great ENG/EFP camera?

1. HD Video, already off to a great start with full 1920×1080 HD resolution.
2. The mic input. With this adapter you can plug in any kind of microphone. Like a reporter type mic, shotgun(that’s the one I use), even a Lavalier mic (you could even plug that in to a wireless system). Don’t forget any extension cords you might need depending on what kind of mic you pick up.
3. Replaceable battery. If you do a lot of shooting you’ll want extra batteries. Get at least one extra but 2 are always a better bet. Here’s a charger for when the camera is in use. Want REALLY long life? Check one of my earlier blog posts.
4. SD Cards. Need more recording time pop in another card, up to 16 gigs!
5. Still images. Check out these, at 5 megapixel they are great for any broadcast situation

Macro setting

This one was aided with a wide angle lens, more on that in a later post.

Here’s a tip need to do a V.O.? Set the camera to a lower video resolution and use your external mic to do your V.O. That way you get a make shift audio recorder since you don’t need the video track it will just make it more manageable.

Kodak the only bit of advice I have is make the door easier to use to get the card out and you can drop the USB port. I’d never dangle that thing from my computer unless I was desperate.  Oh and maybe make an audio mode.

Depending on your shooting needs your battery choice will vary. Also if you click on the image it will take you to flickr where you can view the hotboxes I put around the items in the image.

This is this setup:

1. Zi8
2. Griffen Dual USB Car Charger
3. Bescor 12 Battery with Cigarette lighter plug

One of the great things about the Zi8 is its new charger.  Plugs into a wall outlet but the cord goes from USB to a regular power connector.  You take that and the USB Car Charger and now you can hook it up to a 12 volt battery belt of your choosing.  How many of you have one of these 12 volt batteries just laying around?

Time to charge it up again!

Now you can shoot all day, well depending on your battery I bet you could shoot for days.  Now you’ll need to go buy more SD Cards.  The best thing, the 12 volt battery supplies enough power to keep your Zi8 fully charged for when your battery belt finally does run out of juice.

Here’s a simple solution for low budget filmmakers or audio podcasters. This is a combo of my video double sound kit and my podcasting kit.

In the image:

1. Zoom H2
2. 20 foot 1/8 inch headphone cable
3. Gitzo 3 section Fishpole mic boom
4. Mounting screw for the mic boom

Click on the image and go to the flickr page to see a more detailed description of the parts.

You’ll need the head phones for sure but that’s a given when recording audio. The nice thing about this mic boom is it has 2 standard mounting options included in the end where you normally mount the mic holder for the shotgun mic.

Just flip the mounting screw around and it should mount into any standard recording device you have that has that 3/8 screw mount on the bottom like the H2.

Here is the H2 mounted on the end of the Fishpole. As you can see you’ll need the head phone extension cable and headphones. But now you can extend the pole and get the H2 in over a crowd or close to the ground for some Foley work.

TIPS:

1. Don’t forget the head phones
2. Always make sure you press RECORD! ( With the Recorder so far away it will be easy to forget. It’s not like you’re wasting tape anymore.)

Try to get shots from low angles and high, close ups and wide shots.  That way you can bring a lot of images together in Photoshop.

Even if you can’t paint out the elements that give away the scale of the snow banks, you can use it as a lighting study or as a foundation of your painting.

Once elements are removed that give away the scale of these snow banks, it might be pretty hard to tell these are just piles of snow in a parking lot somewhere.

Don’t you think this could be some alien world or some place near Outpost #31?

I’ve created a set of images on my Flickr page called “matte painting raw” just in case you live somewhere where you don’t get snow.  I also have clouds in there too.  You just never know when you might need to do some sky replacements.  Feel free to use mine.  If you do, please send me link so I can check it out!

If you’re like me and still don’t own a blu-ray burner you are still archiving on lots of DVD disks. At least I have a Duel Layer…

Maybe this is obvious but when doing a lot of backups in a series and you’re not sure how many disks it might take up.

Just write “1 of” ( 1 of 5 ), leave the second number blank the when you are done you’ll know how many disks you have and you can fill it then.

If you have any other tips share them with me.

I use 3D Studio Max and the Adobe Creative Suite. So my folder structure is geared to what I use and my workflow. It’s easy to arrange and rename the folders anyway you need for whatever software you use.

The benefits.  Archive is the main one. With everything split up in to folders it’s easy to split up the project depending on the disk size you have to archive on. The other is memory… As I get older it’s harder for me to remember where I put things. So if I start off with this it’s much easier to find where things go without having to think about it. I’d rather be creating than managing.

You can download this folder here or click on the image!

I’m a PC but there is no reason this wouldn’t work with a MAC. Stuff-IT will open it no problem just be sure to extract it so all the files keep their parents.

Quick Tips:

1. Change the folder names for your project.
2. Rendered folder already has blank folders for all your render passes
3. Most folders have sub folder for further organizing files.
4. Use the extra folders under “06_video_vidcaps” to separate different tapes or memory cards. Plus it’s easier for archiving.
5. Delete folders you don’t need.

Let me know what I left out, can’t think of everything.

The problem I couldn’t see what I had in the bag.  So on my last visit Target I took a look around.  With wife in tow of course.  Didn’t want to be seen in cosmetics by myself….

Anyway found these little gems clear and just the right size.  The great thing is they fit into my video and audio bags easily.  I also have my adapters divided up for different uses.  Now if I don’t need some of the adapters I can leave a bag or 2 behind.

So I did!

It’s taken me about 2 years to get a handle on it myself.  The good news is a lot of people are trying to make something of this.  The even better news is everyone well most everyone is still trying to figure this out.  So there is still time to get in and make something happen.

Is this a race? YES! But I think it’s one everyone (content creators) of all types might win out on.

What’s the show about?

You can hear me and others talk about the state of new media in the Midwest, ideas behind new media and Internet distribution. But that’s not the only thing we’ll be talking about.

The show will also be full of tips and tricks things we’ve learned and things our guests have learned while making content for the Internet. We’ll find out what kind gear they use, the computers, software and how they put it together on a shoe string budget.

Are people making money with this yet and where do we see it going.  Even though the theme of the show is the Midwest, there are projects being created around the world that are great examples of what can be done with an idea and some hard work.

We are just starting this up so things are a little rough right now and I’m not sure how good of a host I’ll be.  I do know I’m deeply interested in the ideas and opportunities the Internet has grown into over the past few years and I just want to talk about it with other like minded people.

So listen to the show and if you want to be a part of the conversation and share your thoughts or the project you’re working on then click here.  Let others know about all the creative hard work that is being done right here in the Midwest.

But I figured if it can be done in Photoshop it can be done in After Effects.

It’s a pretty simple concept and so many other people have done a great job of explaining it, I figured why should I even bother.

But I figured I could do it one better by making an After Effects file you can use!  You can download it here.

In the file you’ll find a version for HD and SD.  You can drop in your own footage by just replacing the image I’ve included in the project file.

TIPS:

If you replace the footage un-parent the null object first, then do a replace footage command.( I used a null because I was using a digital image and I wanted to scale.)

You can adjust the blur of the image and the feather of the mask.

Keep in mind the band of focus should be narrow.  But with this technique you can move the mask around and make any part of the image have the miniature effect.

I hope this is useful.

Oh yeah, The photo is Downtown Kansas City, MO!