Checklist One: Assembling the Video Production Kit

Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 1
Checklist One: Assembling the Video Production Kit
Media Center hours and policies are posted at technology.cca.edu/hours/media-services
For most purposes equipment checkout is limited to one-day sessions. Equipment checked out on Friday does
not have to be returned until Monday. At other times Media Center staff require a letter from your professor or
department head in order to grant an exception to the one-day limit.
A typical field production kit should include:
 camcorder (Canon XA10)
 AC adapter and power cord
 2 rechargeable lithium-ion camera batteries
IMPORTANT: The Media Center's standard video reservation kit includes a single battery, which is likely as not
to be discharged when you receive it. Request an additional battery and perhaps an external charger (only one
battery at a time may be charged inside the camera with AC adapter, and only while you are not using the
camera for recording). Allow time to fully charge both batteries before your recording session. In everyone’s
best interest it is your responsibility to recharge batteries prior to returning your gear to the Media
Center.
 microphone mount for external microphone
 USB cable
 composite video/audio cable (yellow, red, white plugs)
 component cable (red, green, blue plugs)
The built-in mic is NOT a consistently reliable source for recording audio. It is recommended
that you also check out the following:
 shotgun microphone (Audio Technica AT897 or AT8035, for example)
 foam windscreen for the microphone
 pistol grip, if available
 male-female XLR cable, about 10 feet long for typical 2-person roving crew
 headphones (Sony MDR-7506 recommended)
Media Center’s standard kit will NOT include the camcorder manual or the memory card. You
SHOULD be recording to memory card rather than to the camera’s built-in memory.
Additional items may be reserved from the Media Center as needed, subject to availability:
 memory card type: SDHC. Speed class 10. Capacity 16 or 32 or 64GB.
 Canon XA10 Manual
 tripod: For video purposes always request a fluid head.
 additional XLR extension cables in various lengths
 microphone boom kit with Rycote heavy duty windscreen
 microphone pistol grip kit with fuzzy blimp windscreen
 portable lighting kit
Media Center does not stock the following items, so you must furnish your own:
 AA battery for the microphone: Use a fresh one for each recording session; pack a spare.
 LCD screen and lens cleaning fluid, tissues, canned air, and gaffer tape
 a sturdy and comfortable bag or backpack
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 2
Checklist Two: Preparations and Camera Setup
Canon XA10 operating manual is available for download on the class web page.
 Charge batteries early and thoroughly.
Note that 105 minutes recording time requires 150 minutes of charging.
The BP-808 kit battery is rated for 105 minutes maximum recording time. The BP-827 spare is bulkier and lasts
for up to 5 hours.
 Clean the lens gently with air or lens cleaner if necessary.
Before you do anything else, restore menu settings to factory defaults (p.162).
Remove battery and disconnect camera from any other power sources. Press the reset button with the tip of a paper
clip or other pointed object to reset the camcorder’s settings to default values.
Rather than trying to unravel and modify the previous user’s peculiar settings, you will have better luck starting with a
clean slate. Regretfully, this means that you will have to re-enter the date, time, and time zone again when you turn
on the camcorder again.
Good News: Once you have painstakingly calculated and adjusted all function and menu settings to serve
your purposes, you can save those custom settings to a memory card for instant download the next time you
borrow this camcorder or another of same model (p.92).
 [DATE/TIME] [TIME ZONE/DST] Set the date and time, and your current time zone (pp.34-35, pp.151-152).
MEMORY CARD INSTALLATION
Use an SDHC memory card rather than the camera’s internal memory for your recordings. SDHC cards are
available for borrowing from the Media Center, but it’s a better idea to purchase your own in order to safeguard your
recordings and maintain ready access to your preferred camera settings.
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 3
Recommended Memory Card type: SDHC.
Speed class 10. Capacity 16GB/ 32GB/ 64GB.
 To install the memory card:
1 Turn off the camcorder.
2 Open the LCD panel
3 Slide the card slot cover open.
4 Insert the card straight in slot A, with label facing front of
camera, until you hear it click in place.
5 You may put a second card in slot B if you wish.
6 Close the memory card slot cover.
ALWAYS turn off the camcorder when inserting or removing a memory card.
When the access indicator light is flashing, DO NOT disconnect power, turn off camcorder, or remove memory cards.
MANUAL OPERATION
 Automatic or Manual?
Set AUTO MANUAL CINEMA switch on the opposite side
of the camera. For maximum control and superior image quality, always choose
MANUAL mode.
LCD SCREEN
With camera in MANUAL mode, familiarize yourself with icons and settings displayed on the LCD screen. The touch
screen is most responsive to clean dry fingers, but you may have better success with a stylus, or navigating menus
with the remote control.
1 Touch this button to open function menu.
2 Aperture indicator. Neutral density filter, too.
3 Shutter speed.
4 Gain.
5 Focus control (MF indicates manual focus).
6 White balance (this example set for sunny
daylight).
7 Audio levels meter.
8 Touch this button to take a snapshot.
9 Zebra pattern (on and set to 100% level).
10 Touch this button to open setup menus.
11 Indicates audio monitoring assigned to
headphones.
12 Video quality indicator (MXP is maximum
quality).
13 Memory slot selected and recording time
remaining on this memory card.
14 Battery charge and time remaining on this
battery.
15 Image stabilization setting.
16 Pause/ record indicator (changes to a red
dot when recording.
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 4
FUNCTION AND SETUP MENUS
 Select a memory format for recording (p.38):
FUNC > MENU >
> Record Media for Movies > (Memory Card A).
 Initialize the memory card (p.40):
Initialize any memory card when you use it in this camera for the first time. You can also initialize a card or the
built-in memory at any time to delete all the data that it contains.
FUNC > MENU >
>Iniitalize > Memory Card A > Initialize.
 Set recording mode quality (p.49):
FUNC > MENU >
> [Record Mode] > (MXP).
 Select the frame rate (p.50):
FUNC > MENU >
> (60i).
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 5
 Use headphones to monitor audio (p.81):
FUNC > MENU >
> [AV/Headphones] > (Headphones).
 Set wind screen to AUTOMATIC in order to suppress wind noise and rumble when using the camera's built-in
microphone in typical field recording situations (pp.147-148).
 BUILT-IN MIC DIRECTIONALITY. If using the camera's built-in microphone, usually select NORMAL (p.147).
FUNCTION PANEL
Best of the Buttons
The variables that you desire to insist on controlling are focus, exposure (aperture + shutter speed + gain)
and white balance. You access these controls through the function panel, and you can make them more readily
available by assigning custom buttons.
 Manual focus adjustment is discussed in the manual (pp.51-53).
 Activate peaking to help you focus more precisely (p.52).
 Manual exposure adjustment (pp.64-66).
 The zebra pattern provides a terrific visual tool for monitoring exposure (p.65).
 White balance (pp.67-68).
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 6
More secrets
 Choose Dynamic Image Stabilization for most purposes (p.60):
FUNC > [Image Stabilizer] > (Dynamic)..
 Turn off Notification Sounds (p.150):
>[Notification Sounds] > (OFF).
 Turn off Tally Lamp (p.151):
FUNC > MENU >
FUNC > MENU >
>[Tally Lamp] > (OFF).
 Activate Pre-recording (p.86) to begin recording 3 seconds before you have pressed the trigger:
FUNC >[Pre REC] > (ON).
SETTING UP AN EXTERNAL MICROPHONE
While the camera’s built-in microphone is capable of picking up some ambient sound and a lot of camera handling
noise, an external microphone will yield superior sound, and is recommended at all times.
1 Connect the mic to an XLR cable and plug the cable
into CH1 XLR terminal on the camera’s handle
assembly. Plug in the headphones.
2 Set the audio input switch to EXT (This setting affects
both channel 1 and channel 2 simultaneously).
3 Set the XLR terminal switch for the selected channel
to LINE or MIC or MIC+48V.
ATTENUATION: The ATT switch position reduces the
audio signal strength by 20 dB when a microphone is
specially designed to be more sensitive or when sound
is excessively loud and distorted.
PHANTOM POWER: Electrical power (+48v) can be provided to the microphone from the camera through the audio
cable. Some of the Media Center’s microphones use AA battery and some use phantom power. IMPORTANT:
When connecting a microphone that does not support phantom power, make sure that the XLR terminal switch is set
to MIC. Setting the switch to MIC+48V risks damaging the microphone.
4 After setting the switches on the handle, turn the camera on and select the recording channel:
FUNC > MENU >
> [XLR Record Channel]. Touch the desired option and then touch X.
• Option CH1 records audio to each channel separately, CH1>CH1, CH2>CH2.
• Option CH1/CH2 records audio input of CH1 to both channels. Audio input into channel 2 will not be recorded.
5 Adjust audio recording levels with the thumbwheels on the handle. Have someone speak into the microphones and
set the levels to peak around -10dB. Adjust levels separately for CH1 and CH2.
Spontaneous Cinema for Design Research
CCA DESGN-614-03 . Spring 2013
28Jan2013 rev. page 7
RECORDING
1 Make sure electrical power or battery is attached.
2 Turn on the camcorder.
3 Remove the lens cap.
4 Open LCD screen or look through the viewfinder.
5 Select MANUAL mode.
4 First, set the white balance.
7 Second, focus and frame a scene.
8 Third, set the exposure.
9 Press START/STOP to begin recording. Press START/STOP again to pause recording.
10 Focus, frame, expose, and record several more scenes.
NOTE: If the LCD is difficult to see in broad daylight, resort to the viewfinder or else turn on the LCD backlight to
make it brighter by pressing the DISP button for more than two seconds. Repeat to switch LCD backlight between
normal and bright. Changing the brightness of the LCD screen does not affect the brightness of your recorded signal
(p.27).
PLAYBACK
1 The CAMERA/PLAYBACK button on the side of the camera toggles between record and playback modes.
2 In the Date/Index screen, you’ll see still images of the scenes you have recorded. Touch a scene to play it.
3 Touch the screen while a scene is playing to reveal playback controls.
4 Touch the pause button to pause the playback. Touch the stop button to return to the Date/Index screen.
5 If you have a lot of scenes, you can swipe your finger across the Index screen to reveal additional scenes.
6 Use the zoom control to switch between 6 scenes per page and 15.
7 To delete a scene, select EDIT > DELETE > YES > OK.
8 Select individual scenes by touching their thumbnails. A checkmark indicates that a scene is selected; touch it
again to deselect the scene. You may select multiple scenes at the same time. Touch OK and a confirmation
screen appears. Touch YES to delete (all) the scene(s) you have selected.