Over the past 30 years one of the aspects of film and video production that I have enjoyed the most is tracking and learning about new technologies and how to use them in a production and post production environment to maximize workflow.  I have been accused of being on the “bleeding-edge” of technology and there is certainly some truth to that.  But I love the challenge of creating systems that work so I’m always looking for new gear and gadgets.  Over the years I’ve worked on many linear and non-linear editing systems and we’ve shot film, 3/4”, Betcam SP, DV, HDV, HD, tape, hard drives, DVD, etc. 

Well in case you are wondering what formats Credence Pictures is currently working with let me give you an idea.

Production:

We are currently using (2) JVC GY-HD250 cameras that work really well for taping interviews, allowing a Medium - Medium Wide Shot along with a Close Up shot of the interviewee, which gives a producer a lot of choices in post.  The cameras are capable of true 24p, 30p and 60p recording and lock together with time-code sync.  We have a full compliment of lighting and sound gear including (2) Lectrosonics wireless systems.  We also have a portable tele-prompter system and a small camera jib system.  Having traveled to 23 countries over the years we have learned how to maximize the amount of gear we can travel with and we love to travel.

We are working on a HD-SDI recording option for the cameras in order to take advantage of the 1280x720 image in an uncompressed recording format.  More on that as it develops.  We partner with other producers so if a production requires XDCAM or other formats (including 35mm film) we can put the package together that our clients require.

Post-Production

About seven years ago I made the switch to Apple’s Final Cut Pro as my editing software of choice.  At Credence Pictures we edit on a Final Cut Pro HD system with a new Quad Core MacPro.  We use a Matrox MXO2 unit for video inputs/outputs and format conversion.  We also use a SONY 52” HD LCD along with Mackie surround speakers for monitoring.  We edit on a G-Technology Disk Array, backup to firewire drives and will soon be adding Blu-Ray recording for archival.  We have the equipment and software to master DVD’s and will soon add Blu-Ray mastering capability as well.  We edit SD and HD with Apple Pro Res and Pro Res HQ with full-width 1920-by-1080 and 1280-by-720 resolution.

We’ll try to add some production and post production photos of our setup as time allows.