parachutist

I believe there was: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=144397 Chris

That is some great stuff, Jarno. It's a refreshing change in WS vids. Congrats to all who competed

I was playing with a CX500 in Fry's Electronics a couple days ago, and I ruled out this cam for my skydiving. Besides the OIS issue, this camera has another shortcoming that its predecessors (CX7 and CX12) shared: The microphone points up. When you're trying to record audio of someone sitting in front of you on a plane... you want a mic that points forward. The mics my CX7 and CX12 would pick up every noise in the plane and you could barely hear the subject speaking. CX100s have a mic that's in the correct orientation for our skydiving uses. When the CX100 is used as a handcam I can even clearly hear screaming.. makes for some great audio when you have a tandem student with a good pair of lungs. That isn't really possible with the CX7/12/500

Just tie a kite string to her zipper tab, pull out the leaf-blower, and you can start training her

That could be done, but think about other possible issues if you're having trouble pulling the reserve ripcord. What if you have a spinning main canopy? Likely the pull force on the cutaway cable will not be light either. If the tension was under 22lb and you have difficulties pulling the ripcord, the best idea is to hit the gym so you can handle any situation, IMHO

Not me. I use a zoom many times on each tandem skydive. Maybe not in freefall, but I often use it on ground footage before the jump, zooming in on the pilot's hand on the throttle on take-off, the customer's face right after wheels up, the student's friends further back in the plane, and most importantly, on the tandem pair descending under canopy before landing. Never had a bust because of a zoomed in vid on a tandem. But I think vids I see shot with only one very wide lens setting the entire time are kinda amateur looking. Just my too sense... Everybody's got their preferences. I like simplicity and I think it can make for an enjoyable video... the camera body just needs to be moved around more instead of the in/out zoom function. Either way can work to produce a good video. I just like the simple way of a fixed lens because it's more consistent for me. I think I found one of yours online. Assuming it's yours, you did run into one of the pitfalls that goes along with zooming in & out: focus issues. There's a fuzzy landing shot as a result. I am confident it happens to everyone eventually if zoom & focus are not fixed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q80jlLOp5E Chris

Personally, I like zoom buttons completely blocked off. I've never had a customer complain about lack of zoom in their video... but when it's accidentally zoomed in and you didn't know it... refund time =\

That looks awesome. Does the little tab with rubber loop keep the LCD screen closed in freefall?

I must be watching a different video than you are, because I see the videographer's fingers gripping the student's hand the entire time... right up until they separate. I think she was just following the camera guy's lead. He releases and she does the same.

It's a little tight on the head, but overall it works well. This is version 1 and there are a few changes that are going into V2 soon, including a Hypeye D Pro instead of just the Hypeye D mini. The last pic shows the underside with a shock cord attached... it was added to kill some shake I was getting. V2 should be a little more stable without the bungee cord. Here's a fast tandem vid from a couple days ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy4Mva7GQlw

Bill, In the Tandem Videos Made Easy DVD, we mention automation similar to what you're describing. Also we include a sample script for this purpose and a trial version of a macro program to use. In my sample script, the macro program runs in background 'listening' for a card to get inserted into a particular slot. When the card is inserted, all MPEG files are copied from that card to a New Folder on the hard drive. Then the macro pauses until you rename that New Folder to a more appropriate name, like Jane_Smith or something. Renaming that folder is the only part in our script where you need to input data manually. I didn't see a usable way around that part. You could use current time/date, which could be automatically pasted in as the folder title, but that wouldn't help much for identification later, like when the student calls 3 months later and says they lost the DVD and would like a replacement copy. I've tested this scripting with Production Assistant + Vegas in a few versions of Windows so far: XP, XP64, Vista, Vista x64, and Win7 x64. In each different version of Windows, the script needs to be tweaked a little to adapt to security changes and other differences, but it can be adapted pretty easily. Chris

Ditto! Watching Eli and other Flyboyz at the 1999 WFFC inspired me to learn more about canopy flight. I was observing their carving landings and thinking "You can't DO that!!!" Nice video, Justin

Some of us are on the West coast & want to see this formation flying. Tell Scotty to put down the Corona for 5 mins and post some vids!!!! =]

It sounds like you're asking the right questions before purchasing. You'll need to shop around and find some royalty-free music that gives you better rights when you buy the license. For example, here is a copy of desirable rights, granted from one particular distributor: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RIGHTS GRANTED Synchronization Rights The right to use the music as a soundtrack 'synced' with visual images as part of your production. •You have the right to synchronize the audio content from any Wavtracks Royalty Free Music product (without any further payments) with audio and/or visual productions or applications such as film & video productions, training and marketing presentations, corporate videos, on hold messages, radio presentations or commercials, television presentations or commercials, musical recordings, live performances, Web pages, multimedia presentations, interactive programs, computer games, audiovisual or computer generated displays, programs or presentations which may incorporate streaming audio or podcasts. (hereinafter referred to as "the Production"). •You may create unlimited copies of the Production. LIMITATIONS Copyright infringement is a serious offence. Wavtracks protects its copyright by all necessary means, including legal action. You are not authorized to: •Sell, Loan or give away unsynchronized sounds from any Wavtracks Royalty Free Music product. (Although the music can be sold as part of the Production) •Claim ownership or authorship of the music represented under this agreement >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bill, Here's one source I used for royalty-free music: http://www.wavtracks.com/ Quite a few other collections are available online if you do a search, and they're pretty affordable. You can hear some of these songs in tandem videos by checking out our recent YouTube uploads if you'd like: http://www.youtube.com/user/UtahSkydive

It can be done, but not recommended. Sometimes it's necessary. For those occasions, I relax completely after tossing the PC... shoulders, neck, back, & legs loose, chin already on my chest... staying level. If you fight it by tensing up it only makes things worse in my experience. I've done 10-12 second delays using tail pocket & mesh slider. When the formation you want to dock on is 1,500 feet below you, sometimes you just have to deploy at terminal if you want to get there fast.

I was curious about the black hole sun issue, and release date for the HD GoPro... so I e-mailed their tech support, and heres' the answer I got: From: support@goprocamera.com Sent: Jul 28, 2009 5:15 PM To: wxyz@mindspring.com Subject: RE: GoPro Case 08642: When will the HD version be available? Hi Chris, Sorry, but at this point we do not yet have an estimated release date for the HD HERO. The image sensor that will be used in the HD HERO will be able to accurately represent direct sunlight. Please let us know if you have any further questions. Many thanks, GoPro Support http://www.goprocamera.com

2.2

Canopy Control: Core Essentials is a good video, all about learning your canopy and your flying environment. It's available at several skydiving retail stores. disclaimer: My opinion of this video may be biased because I helped write it and produce it. Here's a third party review of the video. This review was recently featured on Dropzone.com's front page: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=714

The set screw is all that's holding my symbols. I think they're probably just stuck at this point & need to be broken free... unless the previous owner got tired of the loose-fitting symbols & super glued them in place.

In your original thread you mentioned a downdraft that you experienced while you were at low altitude. Downdrafts don't just appear out of nowhere. There are telltale signs you can learn to guide you toward smooth air. Another riding analogy that fits here: It's like when you first start riding in a busy city environment... cars are everywhere and you trying to predict what they're each going to do seems impossible. After years of experience however, you feel like you're one step ahead of their actions. You see signs of what motorists are planning to do. Example: A car ahead of you starts drifting slightly to the left... good chance it's cause he/she is looking in the mirror and soon going to change lanes to the right. So a little red flag goes up in your head. How that relates to canopy flight - supposing you're at 1500 ft and you notice the winds changed in the last few minutes.... so you're rearranging your landing pattern. Maybe you picked a great spot to land in earlier, but now that winds have changed, the same area may be treacherous now because of obstacles that are upwind of your landing area. A red flag should go up in your head and you should pick an area that has no upwind obstacles. While you're on the couch instead of in the sky, I'd say take this opportunity to learn. There are books and videos available at your favorite skydiving stores. You can develop skills much more quickly using tools like those.

Those who put it together know the best way to take it apart: http://www.skysystemsusa.com/contact_us/

We had a boogie at Skydive Utah recently, and Aerodyne was there with demos. I jumped a Sensei 101 for about 10 jumps. I was pleasantly surprised with the canopy: I had a good list of likes and no dislikes except the fact that I don't have the $$ for my very own new one right now Openings: very similar to Pilot openings. What I got was a medium initial snatch, then shake-shake, then canopy completes the fill... and open on heading or very close. I'd be comfortable using a Sensei for camera jumps. This was the best-opening crossbraced canopy I've jumped yet. Flight is fun, with a pretty wide range for getting back from long spots. In every jump on this I could tell an improvement on how much swoop I could squeeze out if it. There's still lots of room for me to improve my approaches with the Sensei, so I know it would take another 100 or more before I could really compare the swoop performance to other canopies. Compared to my X-mod VX109 however, I was already getting more distance with the Sensei 101 after 7 or 8 jumps. Packing: This one was brand new, but it was not so difficult to pack. It was made of the new Aerodyne ZPX fabric. I was doing fast pack jobs, just leaving the nose cells hanging in the center, and quartering the slider. It opened smooth and on heading every jump. I like it :)

Wow. I didn't know Jade did CReW, too... I'm surprised to hear Jade talking about "the other guy" who didn't back up. Even if you're planning to film an intentional cutaway, who's responsible for your skydive? Not the other guy.

An outright ban is the way to go. There is already an outright ban on CRW with tandems and it's a sensible idea. Tandem instructors have enough to deal with... there's no need to add a third party to their canopy flight. Tandem students have sensory overload galore on a standard jump, making them swear their money was well spent. Another "wow" out of the tandem student seeing a flying suit go by isn't worth the risk.