Small Outside Broadcasting Unit with 2 - 4 cameras

If Standard Digital recording (delivered on DVD) will suffice for your needs, we record the event with a small outside broadcast unit – 2 or 3 cameras plus a feed directly from the computer, that contains the overheads, to our vision mixing desk; this ensures that you get high quality images of your slides/other overheads (an image recorded from screen with a camera looks awful). Recording with the small OB unit also ensures that minimal editing is required afterwards, keeping the cost down.  (When no overheads are used, four cameras can be set up.)

We can also record your event in High Definition – the cost will just be considerably higher.

As editing is expensive and time-consuming, the longer the event, the more sense it makes – especially from a financial point of view – to record with the multi-camera SD unit.

We can rig several microphones for events such as choirs/stage productions. The cost of such recording (not including editing and travel) is approximately R12,500 per day and half-day rates can be arranged. Set-up of the small OB Unit takes approximately 2 hours and it takes an hour to strike.

During editing we add opening and closing sequences, titles, music and your logo (to be supplied as a high quality graphic). We also add edit points, amongst others, for each speaker. (We need a programme with the correct sequence of events and correct spelling of names and titles.) If you wish the programme to have closing titles/credits, these should also be supplied.)  Editing is done strictly sequentially, unless we are informed, prior to the edit, that certain sections should be omitted/moved.

We have a great deal of experience with event recording – amongst others, the Annual Championships of the Field Band Foundation (bands of up to 200 in a stadium), Applous, The Four Schools Choir and various other types of concerts in venues such as the Musaion, the Aula, Atterbury Theatre, etc.  You are welcome to collect an Event Show Reel or make an appointment to come and look at examples.

One-camera event recordings

If you require a one-camera shoot, much more editing will be required to get a professional end-product – and the overall coverage (including audience and other shots) will obviously not be as good. In addition, overhead projections, shot with a camera from the screen, will yield a fuzzy picture. 

A one-camera shoot cannot handle an event with questions/contributions from the audience – in other words, one camera can only deal with an event if all the speakers use the same microphone at the same podium.

We recommend a one-camera shoot only if

• the speakers stand as far to the side of the screen as possible. (We basically HAVE to light the speaker and keep light off the screen – so we definitely do not want a light screen behind the speaker, as this will make the shots of faces, that are darker than the background, very dark)
• you wish to have the recording only for record purposes, that is, not edited afterwards. Such a DVD of a camera tape will not be a slick, professional production
• the recording is a short lecture, with few overheads, presented by a single speaker.

What the event organiser can do to ensure high quality video

When overhead projections such as PowerPoint slides are used, please bear in mind that a TV screen cuts off approximately the outer 10% of what you see on a computer screen; therefore, essential information and any text should be well away from the edges of the slides. (We can provide you with a slide template).

Do NOT use white/black for slides; a TV screen does not handle that kind of contrast well at all and e.g. a presentation with a white background and black lettering will bleed all around the writing when shown on a TV screen.  Use a coloured background for slides. The reason the clarity of a computer screen or projection is better than that of TV, is that a computer screen has a much higher resolution than the 720 x 576 pixels of a standard TV screen (your computer screen is probably set to resolution 1280 x 800), so small print looks fuzzy on a video/TV SD screen.

Use approximately 44 font size for headings and preferably not less than 32 for the body of the slide.  If needs be, we can easily split slides into two (prior to recording) to ensure that the font will be legible on a TV screen.

Lighting can be a headache with overheads, as the screen/projection is a light source behind the speaker, so please ensure that

• the speakers stand as far to the side of screen as possible. (We basically HAVE to light the speaker and keep light off the screen-and definitely do not want a light screen behind the speaker, as this will make the shots of faces that are darker than the background – very dark)
• Do not put the speaker behind a podium with anything white on/near it  (e.g. a shiny, white table cloth over the podium) and please do not use a metallic, reflecting podium
• Do not have anything white directly behind the speaker if you can possibly help it!
• Speakers (especially those wearing dark suits) should NOT wear a white shirt -- that is why you often see TV presenters wearing, e.g. blue shirts. (What you see on TV that looks white, is in fact not – it is beige or light grey.) The darker the suit, the darker the colour of the shirt should preferably be. (White can only be used successfully in a studio set-up --where there is a lighting rig against the ceiling -- and the budget makes provision for a lighting specialist who will take hours to set up)
• Speakers simply cannot wear anything with pinstripes or herringbone – such patterns shimmer and there is absolutely nothing one can technically do about it.  Post box red – too saturated a colour – should also be avoided as it tends to bleed.

For a quote, please click on the menu link to the left (scroll up) and fill out the relevant questionnaire.

We record Special Occasions such as a 21^st or 60^th Birthday Celebration/Bar mitzvahs, Christenings, etc.

Copies are inexpensive and make great personalised & unique gifts for everyone in the family.

And if you are stumped for a truly special gift for the person who has everything, do consider a Life DVD.

Such a production can consist of anything that can be scanned & old/new footage, from video and/of film. We can add any music (anything from CD or digital files) and you can even record commentary to go with the visuals. Such a DVD is not only a unique gift, but a great hit during the special occasion itself. Moreover, it will be viewed again and again and become a family heirloom. (Inexpensive copies of the production will be cherished gifts you can present to all the family members of the person whose life history is contained in such a DVD.)

Please Click on Transfer to DVD below for more information on tranferring old footage and to find out what you can do to make the production of such a Life DVD run smoothly, thus keeping the cost down.

VHS machines are virtually out of date and are getting scarce! Very few companies can still service and repair them -- which means the writing is on the wall: since you surely wish to preserve your old family video and 8 mm footage, do have it transferred to DVD as soon as possible!

In addition, the original material deteriorates every year, so the sooner you have it done, the better the quality that will be preserved on the DVD.

One great advantage of transferring such historic material to DVD is that DVDs can be chaptered -- which means it becomes very simple to find the exact section you wish to view; you don't have to spool and search as one had to do on VHS and this makes the material infinitely more accessible and valuable.

There are two different ways of transferring old footage to DVD

• Direct transfer from VHS or 8mm to DVD (in other words, the material is transferred exactly like it is -- machines do all the work). This is the least expensive option, but it may not be the most satisfactory and only a limited number of chapters can be programmed onto the DVD.
• Transferring the material onto an editing system and, once the edit is done (adding music, titles, removing unwanted sections, changing the sequence if necessary, adding unlimited chapter points), and then transferring thr footage to DVD.



The second option is more expensive -- however, we are convinced that if something is worth doing (particularly if it involves family heirlooms), it is worth doing well! Furthermore, while the Master DVD is not inexpensive, copies are -- and make absolutely terrific, highly personalised gifts for everyone in your family!

Music of your choice (anything on CD), e.g. that is suitable to a particular era, adds tremendously to the enjoyment of a DVD. You could also go one step further and add voice-over commentary if you wish. This would entail viewing the footage, writing a "script" and making sure that the voice-over will be no longer than the visuals over which it is supposed to go.

Adding titles ensure that everyone who is viewing the DVD, also in future, will know exactly what they are looking at and who the people are that appear in the footage.

Note that while VHS is a very forgiving format, a DVD is much more finicky. A VHS machine will "wow" and become unstable on e.g. time code breaks on a VHS, but it will keep playing. A DVD, on the other hand, tends to get stuck on time code breaks and pixilised sections (usually when going from one day's recording to the next on the original video), so these little bits should be removed during the editing process. However, it is entirely possible that your VHS is still in shipshape and needs no such editing -- it all depends on what machine it was originally recorded, how old it is, how it was stored and how often it was played.

We prefer to put no more than 90 minutes of material onto a DVD -- ensuring that we can encode the DVD at the Standard bit rate of 6000 bps in order to yield the best quality possible. One can package DVDs in presentations boxes that can hold up to 8 DVDs.

All chapters of the DVD are listed on the face of the DVD as well as on the back of the presentation case -- each "forward" will get you to the next chapter.

Authoring

DVDs can also be authored (considerably more time-consuming and expensive!) with personalised menus.

The more prep you do, the less our DVDs are going to cost

If you can provide us with a list of what has to be done with your old footage, it will save a great deal of editing time -- and thus, money.

1. Sort your old videos/films in chronological order and name the tapes/films (e.g. Tape 1, 1987 -1991) 2. To make such a "shot list", spool your video back all the way to the beginning
3. Ensure that the video machine's counter is on 00.00.00
4. View your video and take notes of the timings (minutes and seconds) of

• chapter points (and note the name of the chapter)
• any "black holes", time code breaks (where the picture is unstable), etc. that should be removed.
• any sections that are out of order and should be moved.
• sections that are too dark/light (one can considerably improve the images during editing by means of applying various digital filters.)

Then come to us with your old footage as well as the notes, and we will do the rest. When the edit has been done, we will ask you to come and check it on the editing computer time-line before finalising the DVD.

If you no longer have a VHS machine on which to view your video and do the prep, we will digitise the video, identify the obviously different scenes/events, add a title template for each chapter and then ask you to come to the studio to check the chapters, provide chapter names and/or choose music.

• 2D and 3D animation
• Audio recordings
• Copies (including bulk DVD copies). A variety of packaging types are available -- from plain clam shells to DVD presentation boxes that can house up to 8 DVDs. The more copies made simultaneously, the lower the unit price.
• Design & page layout for all your printing needs: We provide material to be printed on disc or liaise with the printer and deliver the completed job.
• DVD authoring: We can either provide chapter points only (with a list of the chapter points on the back of the DVD box inserts) or do full authoring of the DVD with as many menu items as required.
• Language Services: Editing/proofreading and writing (Afrikaans and English) and translation services (all languages).
• Slide presentations: We must be the world's PowerPoint experts and can turn your presentations into high quality video & add some stock footage to liven things up.
• Property Sale Videos: A short video, complete with voice-over (you provide the basic text) of the property you wish to sell) tailor-made for private sales of property. Or you can supply photographs and we can turn these into a video with commentary, titles and music. Such a video, which you can then upload to the internet, is a great deal less expensive than agent's commission.