Joe and other ENTS, I have gone MAC full bore. I have a MacBook Pro with a 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Dup processor, very fast, with 4G 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM, 200G HardDrive on board and two external drives outboard (both almost a Terabyte each). The 17 inch widescreen allows the 1920x1200 resolution so HD looks great full screen. I am using a Sony HDR-HC7 digitcam with 10x optical zoom and lots of tricks. I have been editing first with iPhoto to do the quick and dirty chopping and then Final Cut Express which has sophisticated cinematographic effects. All in all an awesome system for doing video.
I am ready to do some forest ecology video, just have to find the time. Gary On Oct 28, 2008, at 12:08 PM, Joseph Zorzin wrote: Ed, I purchased the Canon HV-20 which won numerous awards in '07 for a "consumer camcorder". It records in full high def: 1920x1080 resolution at 60 frames per second. Unfortunately, by the time you get it on any online video site, it degrades considerably. The originals do look much better. It comes with a built in 10X zoom but I found a wide angle lens is necessary for forest work- so I got a very wide angle adaptor- comparable to a 20mm lens on a 35 mm camera. You get a little "barrel distortion" along the edges which is noticeable if filming buildings and telephone poles, but barely noticeable filming trees as we all know few trees are straight. I also bought a very nice "shotgun microphone" which mounts on top of the camcorder. I still need to buy a good mic which I can plug into my PC for voice overlays. I'll probably add a version to YouTube- but that site can't show high definition- whereas Vimeo can show the lesser version of high def which is 720p (1280x720 res.). YouTube can only do 640x480. Sticking with Vimeo I'll lose some people with telephone connections but even YouTube sometimes downloads very slow. At least with Vimeo, if it's downloading slow and you click on the pause button it will continue to download- after much of it downloads, click on the pause button again- and click on the full screen mode. The result is 720p, but not as good as the original 720p which I uploaded since Vimeo like all web sites will greatly compress the files. I have a very nice Manfrotto tripod designed for outdoor work- and recently topped it off with a "fluid video head". I should get a wireless mike but after last year's negative income and this years slightly above zero income (did someone say we might have a Depression?)- I'm already maxed out with spending money on such luxuries. I only did it with the camcorder as I feel an urgent need to "speak truth to power"- that is, confront the absurd propaganda of the forestry establishment with video truth. Since these are my first attempts at video- I have a lot to learn. My next projects will include filming good forestry and high grading. I'll start with some footage of colleague Mike Leonard, one of the most conscientious foresters in Mass. I don't mind at all filming a competitor! I also plan on filming Michelle Wilson, a consultant from Conway who said she's interested. I'll show these foresters at work- and good logging crews. I also intend to film more of the lousy work on state land- such as the debacle at Robinson State Park. I should also go to Mt. Tom to film Bob Leverett doing his favorite thing- measuring trees! Just let me know Bob when you want to do this. <G> By the way, for those of you interested in getting into video- you had better have a vast amount of time on your hands. These modern camcorders are very complex and you need a high end computer for editing and good editing software which I don't yet have- I'm using MS Movie Maker which comes with the Vista OS. It's OK as training wheels. Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Frank To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 11:38 AM Subject: [ENTS] Re: video on uneven vs even aged silviculture Joe, I added a link to your new vireo on Vimeo on the Joe Zorzin Channel page of the ENTS website. I would encourage you to post a version of the video to You Tube also as that site receives many more viewings than does Vimeo. What kind of video camera did you end up getting? Do you have ay accessories like a wireless mike to go with it? Ed "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. " Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920. ----- Original Message ----- From: Joseph Zorzin To: ENTS Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 10:45 AM Subject: [ENTS] video on uneven vs even aged silviculture How interesting that the boom in clearcutting on state land coincides with subsidies available for private owners to clearcut- both practices supposedly to enhance biodiversity and wildlife- just when the state wants to increase biomass production. How convenient! We will soon see far more clearcutting on private land if not state land (due to increasing public resistance). I recently talked to a procurement forester from the "far north" who said that up there in a few years there will be far less lumber being sawn- partly because the forests up there are wasted- and partly because the industry is learning how to make products from raw fiber, along with the increased market for pulp and wood energy. The industry in southern New England is on the ropes, dying fast- the ones that want to survive will join this "sea change"- they'll high grade what they can (sending logs north), clearcut the rest and claim it's all wonderful ecoforestry. The entire forestry establishment at all levels are pushing this change. What would make far more sense would be to use the new demand for pulp and wood energy to thin the forests intelligently based on great silviculture. It would help if the forestry establishment discouraged clearcutting! Any help given to the wood industry should be based on that industry thinning the forests, not clearcutting them. Huge grants have been given to some firms for biomass projects- firms with reputations for high grading! Go figure. Thinning the forests is far superior- resulting in removing low grade wood while enhancing future high value timber- in the interest of the forest owner, the profitability of the wood industry, creative work for licensed foresters and a far better forest ecosystem. I've uploaded my second video showing the difference between thinning forests and massacring them. It's all a bit ironic- one would think that the reality would be about private land being slaughtered while the state shows how to do it correctly, conservatively, ecologically intelligent, without damage to recreational and aesthetic values of OUR state forests- but alas. These videos are in high definition, what's known as 720p. If they stop frequently while trying to download- just click on the button in the lower left corner which will pause it- but it will continue to download- then click on the play button again. Also, in the lower right corner of the window is a button to click for "full screen". Go to: http://vimeo.com/2090043 (my first video is at: http://vimeo.com/1993866) Joe --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
