In Box

Join the Club
Reading about the woes of Paul and Alex ("In Box," December 1997) with their Bravado 1000 digitizer boards prompted me to offer a story very like theirs. The lock-ups and the jerky frames during playback all were mine too. After changing the motherboard three times and the hard drive to Ultra DMA, at last I have a system that is workable. It would be even more remarkable if it worked as well as Truevision's advertising leads one to expect.

Richard Anderson
Killarney Vale, New South Wales, Australia

Taken to the Tube
Thanks so much for Loren Alldrin's article on video in worship centers ("Holy Video," February 1998). At our church, we do most of the things that he described so aptly. However, we have taken video one step further; we have a twenty-four-hour Christian television station which broadcasts locally and is carried on cable. We receive programming from Family Net, Worship Net, Praise, Cornerstone and independent producers.

A converted Sunday-school room is our studio, control room and office. We use mostly prosumer S-VHS equipment including four S-VHS camcorders, 16 S-VHS VCRs, an MX-50 SEG, an MX-12 SEG, a couple of Titlemakers, and a Digital Video Mixer.

This low power television station is duplicable for about $150,000 anywhere you can get an FCC license. A more bare-bones station could be built for under $100,000.

Bob Pettitt
Appleton, Washington

Artistic Pizazz
The article "10 Artsy Camera Tricks" ("Getting Started," January 1998) was very interesting. I enjoy making creative videos and have been using the strobe effect, freeze frame (especially for ending a production), out of focus dissolve, wipes and fades since the late 1980s. I have created some video art with the use of various types of filters and received some stellar results. I love the dissolve and macro mode more than any effect on any camcorder. I used it to create an effect using a candle holder and a candle which won high plaudits because it was an original effect.

I have encountered many photographers and videographers who are afraid to venture beyond the ordinary, so their material is usually so borrrring.

Paul A. Thomas
Boston, Massachusetts

Web Site Cheers
When I was looking for magazines about video, I could find very little where I live in Iowa. Only after I checked into your Web site (www.videomaker.com) did I know how and where to send for a subscription. Thank you for hosting this site. It has provided very valuable information for me in my start-up video editing.

I've learned a lot from Videomaker in the past few months. My original plan was to do video editing for home use; now I am trying to make video for the program I teach at a community college.

I enjoy the reviews in the magazine and the editing tips. Keep up the good work.

Bill George
Internet

Not-For-Profit
While you occasionally devote space in your fine magazine to the pursuit of profiting from the creation of video, I appreciate that you don't neglect your readers who create video for other reasons.

For example, I create video as a way of improving the quality of life in my community through the public access channel of our local cable television service. It is a welcome resource, and my videos of local concerts, lectures and public events are always well received and appreciated. I have also become the resident videographer at our local museum and historical society.

Therefore, please continue to include in Videomaker some articles about the many opportunities there are for non-commercial videographers to be creatively involved with their local public access channel and community organizations.

Rod Garside
Tuolumne, California

You've got it, Rod. See the profile of Sara Pellegrino in this issue.

--The Editors

Invisible Mike Gag
Loren Alldrin mentioned in "The Invisible Mike" ("Sound Track," January 1998) that the only limitation to mike placement is our imagination. Well, my imagination really started running when I saw where the mike was placed (hanging from an overhead fan) in the picture on page 31. If someone gets too warm and decides to cool things off, you may want to keep the camera rolling. I'm sure America's Funniest would be happy to air the footage. Great article in spite of the chuckle.

Kerry Myers
Internet