Steve Douglas

I highly recommend the Keldan 4's. You can switch out the batteries rather than having to remove them from your setup to charge. They hold a full day of diving when charged and their build quality is excellent. While the Keldan 8s are even more powerful, the 4's are a more convenient size to lug around. Steve

I agree, darn good for a first time film maker but I also agree that 20 minutes is far too long. Usually, and as much as it hurts to do so, you produce a better and more interesting film when you cut a project down in duration. Try not to fall in love with your own footage. You definitely need some good video lights so bring your girlfriend to the Salvation Army and let her pick out three pairs of shoes. Okay, at 3:37 and another at 3:45 you have jump cuts so pick two of the three clips and cut them. Prior to those shots you have a good downward facing establishing shot of the divers on the wreck but then you jump to the upward shot. Why? The establishing shot should lead to a further shot of the exploration of the wreck imho. At 3:56 you have two, nicely focused shots of a ray. The 2nd is moving away from you and that would be the one I'd cut. First frogfish clip could be shortened a touch if not cut completely since you have a moving behavior shot of it following which is the better of the two. 4:19 moving through the wreck all the way to 4:31, cut in half. 4:37 moving through the wreck again....I'd cut the whole clip Okay, I am at 5 min and I can see that you have some great clips, steady hands, no lights but great potential. I know it hurts to do so but start cutting with 5 min 15 seconds as your goal. Keep clips no longer than 5/6 seconds unless they are fantastic behavior shots. When possible always attempt to shoot up at the subject rather than down at them which will flatten out the image. Get her those slippers and you get the lights; a fair trade. Steve

Here's a pretty good tutorial for doing this topside....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPcdWxhLwoA

Sadly, I couldn't view the videos that were posted here. One said it wasn't available in the U.S. I was sent this email this morning and it completely disgusted me. http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/50552/alarming+sight+thousands+of+shark+fins+drying+on+hong+kong+rooftop/

Mark, Do you have an idea regarding how long a flight from Manila to Bali would be? Will be in Anilao from 2/23-3/3 and was thinking of popping over to Bali for a couple of days. steve

Really enjoyed this Eric. You're one lucky guy. Steve

The Cocos have always been my favorite place to dive and have been there 12 times since 1992 but only during their rainy season from late May through Sept. which is when the large schools of scalloped hammers come in. I never tire of the spotted eagle rays. Over the years I have seen a terrible decline in the numbers of silver tips and silkies and even the marble rays were not as numerous when I was there last in 2011. Great dolphin clips. Did you see many long lining boats while you were there or run into the lines while diving? Steve

Wow is all I can say. Very steady for the amount of distance you had to be from it. Hey Mark/Cam Diver...how is your housing for the Black Magic Cam coming along? Any test footage yet? Steve PS Happy New Year Everyone

Marshall Monitor has been sold.

and Happy Holidays to you as well Adam. Wetpixel remains at the forefront as the best diving and filming community.

Forgot to add a new Marshall V-LCD50 5" DSLR monitor which sells for $595 and will sell for $350.00 Holophone's 5.1 PortaMic Pro Sound Microphone-excellent condition and was used to record the Olympics by the TV stations Also Lens Baby Composer lens, new but tested for a few shots. Elgato Turbo 264 HD Snowball PRO USB microphone and stand ATC 9K POV camcorder with mounting accessories...used only for a few test purposes. Complete BBC audio library on a new, in box, Lacie D2 Quadro 500gig Hard drive

It appears to be more in the mids so use the middle wheel for that. Also, and very important, keep your waveform monitor and vectorscope open and have them help guide you. Are you using an external monitor for this or your computer monitor? Steve

Personally, I would never trust a cloud based system with my master footage. If their server goes down and you need access to it, you're stuck and if a client is waiting on it, you're out of $. However, if it is just for a second or third back up, I see no reason why not. I back everything up at least 3 times using both an Accusus RAID configured as a RAID 5 and a Drobo Pro as well as a ton of other external drives. I wouldn't take chances on just a cloud based back up. Steve

"Sadly will be trying to engrave the letter 'H' into my newly arrived Emmy award after waiting so bloody long for it only to see my new job description is now CINEMATOGRAPER! Illiteracy at NATAS too, crazy beans." A big congrats on the Emmy..that's the most important thing. Steve

These items are new in the box. They retail for $285 each and will sell for $200 plus shipping. Judging by the size of their boxes, shipping shouldn't be more than $15.00 Azden FMX-DSLR portable mixer BeachTek XLR adaptor for DSLRs Canon 580EX 11 Flash Unit..never used. $450.00 Editors Keys SL300 USB Condenser Microphone $100. Never used, I have two. Varavon ProFinder Loupe for either the Canon 7D or 5D.-sells for $385 plus tax....am selling for $250.00 It was removed from the box one time for testing but comes with its own case and original box. Apple 23" Acrylic monitor, no dead pixels..Just haven't used it for a few years. Best offer gets it. If interested, just PM me with any questions or concerns Steve

Nick...I usually start with bringing down the blacks a touch before I move to the rest of the image. CC is especially hard for me as I am color blind in reds and greens but I have learned to compensate for it and to make sure I have someone check it out before I publish. The one thing I really miss in the FCPX color corrector is the auto white balance with the eye dropper and I never, ever use the auto color corrector in X. I think it actually can ruin the shot. Happy Holidays Steve

Richard, Here are two articles, while dated, will provide you with instruction on how to get comfortable with the 3 way color corrector. http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/cc_legal_fcp3.html http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/cc_legal_fcp4.html While these articles came out with legacy FCP versions 3 and 4, the 3 way color corrector stayed the same. Ripple Training also has a great Color Correction tutorial which can be downloaded via iTunes. I have the original DVD which I am not sure whether you can get anymore but here is their url for the CC tutorial. I can say that their production values are very high. http://www.rippletraining.com/categories/apple-pro-apps-tutorials/final-cut-studio-tutorials/color-correction-in-final-cut-pro-expanded-itunes-edition.html Hope this helps, Steve BlueFace....we'll have to form a trip there then and cross it off our bucket list.

Richard, Since you are fairly new to the editing process, I would suggest that you avoid using Color in your FCP Studio at this time. It is a very deep and complex application and there is very little that you can't do with FCP 7's own color correction tool. Learn the 3 way color corrector and how to use you waveform and vector scopes along with them and you will pick up on it pretty quickly. Drew and others are correct that there are certain shots that really need it...the moray scene is very red but that can be fixed once you learn to use the tools you have at hand. Some really great clips there. I must be the only diver in the world not to have been to Palau....YET. Steve

Very nice and I agree with most everything that has been said. You probably won't like this addition, but I have heard this same music on way too many films. Best to use or change to a different version perhaps. Of course, having to change the music means a whole re cut of your demo which means a ton more work. Steve

I would tell anyone that they should get a minimum of 4 gigs of ram. Apple ram is very hi quality but is also expensive. When I buy a new computer I get it with the least amount of ram I can and then order the ram I want from Crucial. Ramjet is also good. Both companies make very high quality ram and are considerably less expensive. I have never had a problem with any of the ram cards I have ever purchased or was given.

Really enjoyed this unique video. Steve

Still waiting on mine to get here. Question, does the battery for the HERO 1 or 2 fit the HERO 3? What are the steps for manual white balance. Steve

Great behaviors and footage. The money shots are yours. Very steady for such a tight shot. Steve

For noise reduction, I highly recommend Neat Video's Noise Reducer which blew the competition out of the water on a test I did a couple of years ago comparing a bunch of different noise reduction filters. However, Resolve was not in the comparison so I can't say anything on that score. The Magic Bullet Suite has so many great plug ins, it all depends upon what you need and are looking for. My only complaint with them is that they don't use your registration info to let you know when new upgrades are out.

Excellent synopsis of the 4. Would have clicked on 'Like This' but there doesn't seem to be one of those under Drew's posts.