DSE

Slo mo is posted, along with a different 24p clip. http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=5f0e6287-0a9c-49a6-ab6a-7a9431fe3407

If EVERY dropzone out there put up a "hidden" skyride page, with keywords in it, and links to "good" dropzones in their specific area, the word about Skyride would quickly get out there. Keyword your own dropzone, keyword all the various names about Skyride, and use all the information found in this thread and on various Skyride marketing pages including Ebay. You could also put up screenshots of their various pages so people can instantly recognize these scams as they come up on their screens during searches. If everyone were to do it in their area, this would quickly create a negative powerplay for Skyride. Our local DZ has a statement at the bottom of their website saying they are not affiliated with Skyride (and goes on to list their other names as well) and the DZO says it has helped a bit. FWIW, Skyride has no Utah DZ's that support it, so at this point, the Department of Consumer Protection is looking into it, and a local news station recently did an expose' on Skyride.

you just want me to play instead of work, don'tcha? I'll post super slo mo examples later today.

It captures 12 seconds, which then becomes 48 seconds.

Sparky, I wish like all hell you were still jumping, still jumping out of the King, and jumping at my DZ. I learn a lot from your posts, and have heard so much about you from one guy in particular...I'd probably be a much better skydiver in a much shorter time. Patience isn't my strong suit. On the other side...As much as I'd like to be This Guy in the air, I'm not qualified, IMO. I'm hoping that I'm This Guy on the ground, helping with packing training, teaching exits, helping newbies meet experienced, and generally doing what I can around the DZ when needed. But I think all smaller DZ's probably have quite a few of This Guy.

I couldn't agree more. What...? Political ads can't be entertaining? I'd submit that nearly all entertainment has a political point buried somewhere in there, so I've no problem with a political ad having some entertainment in there. I hope the DZ's in Colorado are raking it in after that advertisement aired.

Fortunately, that plane is still flying...I've had the unpleasant experience of a premature container opening cause my helmet to now have permanently embedded paint in it, that perfectly matches the blue paint on the body of that King. That a/c has been through a lot in it's life time, eh, Sparky?

I guess the reason the ad doesn't bother me and I *do* find it clever because as a full-time producer I live in the world of (apparently) deceiving viewers into believing what they see in order to express a message, whether that message is political in nature, or "boy meets girl and walks on water to prove it." If some of you had *any* idea of how much fakery goes on at CNN, MSNBC, etc....you'd never watch again. And *that* is supposed to be news. Not entertainment. As any good photographer will tell you, the less in the frame, the more interesting and compelling the image. A TI in the shot would have distracted from what the Mayor had to say. And wouldn't have been important to the message or focus. It's a dramatic piece, kudos to the agency that conceived it. I'd bet the Mayor didn't consider one way or another that it would have been important to show or not show a TI, as a point of writing a story or message, the less in the frame the better. That's a straightforward, basic norm in *any* scene blocking. I guess some would submit it's wrong to shoot television commercials the way Joe Jennings, Norman Kent, Tom Sanders, and others do as well, because they're generally aware that something will be done in post to create a different message/image than the original footage would have shown. Kinda like the BASE jump seen in the Tahoe commercial. Can you believe the gall of Charlie Sheen in "Terminal Velocity? Actually having the balls to pretend he drove a car out of an airplane? At least the Mayor really jumped. Apparently more than once. Sheen/Kinski used a bluescreen and suspension system for several scenes. Point Break, Drop Zone, Cutaway, Gypsy Moths, Ripcord, all the Bond films have faked scenes too, but they've brought a lot of positive attention to skydiving, and lots of people became skydivers as a result of the movies. Perhaps the Mayor's skydive will have a similar impact, even if only on the local enonomy.

I think Sony walked away from dual clock...great feature that it is. It's 60i in the US or 50i in the "rest" of the world. Super slowmo goes to 12 seconds, rather than just 3. I wish they had an option to install more buffer mem, or allow you to port slo-mo to the memory stick slot so you've got additional slow mo time. Can you imagine such sweet quality for a full 60 second skydive?

weight is 3 lbs, 6 oz

I think that is one of the most odd statements I've read in this community. It's entertainment, folks! And advertisement is engineered to garner attention and entertain for the most part. Obviously the ad worked; people are discussing it and talking about it. Dinosaurs are on film (Juriassic Park) and the Titanic has sunk how many times now with how many heroes? What about "Mars Attacks?" It's entertainment. It's designed to cause viewers to disengage with the moment and engage the message. It's designed to get you to quit thinking about the fact that you're trying to decide between sleep and mowing the lawn and that the neighbor next door bumped your fence and whatever.....and think about what you're seeing, or in the case of films/Hollywood, to allow you the disreality of escapism to stop thinking about your life and for a brief moment enjoy someone else' life. Do you really believe Halle Berry can jump around like a cat just because "it's on film?" The Mayor had a message to share. He wanted people to pay attention. He got their attention through an unusual means (referred to as a Startling Statement in the industry). They listened more closely because his message was unusually delivered. That's classic advertising/entertainment. But what's not classic advertisement, is the guy jumped from the plane. So what if it was a tandem that they keyed out? He was committed enough to the message that he really jumped instead of being in a studio with fans blowing, key drop to replace the sky, and Foy rig to allow him to fly up/down/sideways. That takes balls, as far as I'm concerned. Wesley Snipes could barely do that and he was allegedly a "tough guy." either way, the ad worked. People are talking about it, they remember it, and while I don't know if he won his issue or not, I'd be surprised if he didn't. Damned creative, IMO.

I'll get some additonal info and post it here. Upshot is...I'm a new flyer, and don't have any issue putting it on my head. Slightly larger than the A1/HC1, but lighter in weight. Norm Kent jumped it and it didn't faze him at all, even with a much heavier cam also on his helmet. but it's easily twice the weight of an HC3. However, small batteries are the order of the day. An FP570 (small battery) lasts 4 hours!

On the review/comments page you're seeing, click the "read" button in the upper right corner. that will either take you to the article, or take you to a signup page so you can then read the article. I would submit it's an unfamiliar layout to you, and maybe that's why you're having trouble. I'd hesitate to call anyone "dumb" for not being able to read it.

There is freefall footage, but I'm not permitted to post it due to copyright issues. However...there are stills from both interlaced and progressive shooting modes on that review page. Page is working fine from here, and has had over 100 views this morning, so I'd believe it's working correctly. You do need to register/login (free) to view and download the content.

Sony released the HVR-V1U today. Very nice cam, have about 30 jumps with it at this point. If you're interested in knowing more... Read more

no one suggested that people who jump more or less often are more or less capable. There is a standard set forth by the USPA as to what is current and what is not. While some may apparently relegate that definition as to to is and who is not in need of "being watched," that in no way was part of my commentary. However, people who jump "less often" and are not in compliance with currency standards, may indeed "need to be watched more carefully" in some instances, even if that isn't true for yourself. I know that if I'm away from my daily regimen of work for any long period of time, I don't have the same fluid workflow that I might have had 3-4 months previously. If you don't suffer from that loss of proficiency, I'd say that's quite commendable. Congrats.

There is. Same with ACID Planet. WEED has some creative commons licensed music too.

"I have skydived"=implies "I have done this in the past." Maybe once, maybe one thousand times... "I am a skydiver."="I am currently engaged in the sport of skydiving." Maybe once a day, once a week, once a month...Anything less than once a month would suggest the person is not current, and therefore not actively engaged in the sport. This all takes away from the original point regarding the drop in numbers. Personally, I think it boils down to two primary factors: Cost/difficulty of achieving a recreational access to the sport. Attitude on the part of current, existing skydivers. I can't begin to comment on how many times I've been to various DZs and felt out of place, in spite of trying to make conversation. Two DZ's in my short history as a skydiver, neither manifest nor the DZO bothered to offer so much as a "good morning" or even bother to look at me. They looked at my license, and little to nothing more. Conversely, on our local DZ, not only do you get a welcome, but the DZO or manifest person makes an effort to try to introduce newcomers to a few key people on the DZ. If they're students, they're usually offered the packing area floor to talk to more experienced folks until their AFF instructor is available. If we want new skydivers in the biz, we've got to reach out and embrace them, and do so without attitudes, IMO. Hell, I've only been active in the sport for a little over a year; what do I know? I doknow what it feels like to be new on a DZ as both a student and as a regular.

Ouch. Bad story. Some of the 30"s also have issues just from the refresh rate designed to allow you to see native vid on the screen as well. We ended up buying a bunch of Samsungs, to compliment the Sony 234b's we use for screen work. Whether switched to the G5's or PC's, they look wonderful. Be very happy you got your $$ back!!

Ron, Thanks for posting this. Just a couple weeks ago, a highly experienced guy wanted to fruitloop my daughter who had 20 jumps at the time. The didn't connect because she didn't understand what he was attempting to do. I didn't know what a fruitloop was at the time either. Now I do, and I'm a bit tweaked that he planned on *surprising* her with this maneuver which is apparently something that a low-number newbie shouldn't experience, especially if they don't know exactly what's happening.

If you use stock remote, you have to use Sony's remote. I'm *sure* there is a way to convert it to being a dual switch, one that can act like a Cameye and a bite switch at the same time, but I've not dissasembled one to see what it would require.

Arrghh, the blue cover (usually signifying LANC, isn't. Headphone, not LANC. Apologies. I saw that and assumed, given it's the color usually used (if not black) to indicate LANC. There is no LANC on this cam. Perhaps to keep the price down, they discluded the LANC as it involves a license payment to Sony.

Cloudi, great to meet you and Justin in person. BTW, you didn't leave me much gaffers tape. So folks are clear...Norman Kent is doing a project related to something else, and Jay's jumps are a small part of that project. My project is entirely about Jay, the charities, the volunteers, and the overall event. In other words, folks will have the opportunity for two very different views on the event, which hopefully will cover everything there was to be seen.

It has a LANC, yes. I think the imager struggles a bit with motion when the cam is moving, haven't dissected the macroblocks yet. If anything, it's imager/stabilizer related, and that's an electronic/software fix...timing overall, and that can be tweaked. Canon was thrilled to have some skydiving footage to work with so they could look at other aspects of the cam. Also bear in mind the one I have is a pre-production unit, so it's not 100% of what the release will be. I'll be buying one, because unlike the HC3, it has audio input/output.

NYC NAB Post Plus show. http://www.nabnewyork.com/ pm me if you want a guest pass. ecit, thanks for fixing my clicky. Just had a double root canal a couple hours ago, not terribly focused at the moment.