TV DNA celebrated their 10th anniversary at dvDepot last night. The TV Diva Networking Alliance is a group connecting women working in the TV industry. They meet periodically to share knowledge and resources. Membership is exclusive, limited only to women actively working in television, and based on recommendations of current members. The members include producers, network executives, production managers, line producers, among other positions. One of our owners, Deborah Wolpert is fortunate enough to be a member and hosted the anniversary party.

At last night’s meeting, dvDepot also set up a demo of our HD cameras for the Divas. We went through the advantages and disadvantages of several HD cameras including the Sony EX1, Z5U, and A1U, also the Varicam and HVX200 from Panasonic. Comparing cost to picture quality to post workflow, each camera is appropriate for various situations. The demo was a success and then the men of dvDepot scurried out to leave the Divas to their celebration.

You can read more about the TV Diva Networking Alliance at http://www.tvdna.net and see more picture from the event on our Facebook page.

Last month, dvDepot covered Fashion Week. New York City’s Fashion Week is followed internationally. Each September and February, the hottest designers, both up and coming and established, gather in Manhattan’s Bryant Park to debut their collections for the next season. Last month was displaying fashions for Fall 2010. For the past few years, we have been working on this event with Shanghai TV’s “The Style Today.” Host Penny Wei conducted interviews at 9 different shows including Max Azria, Tibi, and Diesel and shot the runways. These photos are “live” from Bryant Park on February 17th.

Roger Coraggio has been shooting for “The Style Today” since they first came to us several years ago. His excellent work and coverage of Fashion Week events have produced a strong working relationship with Shanghai TV, which is owned and run by the Chinese government. On this shoot he used the Panasonic SDX900 shooting with the DVCPRO50 format. Along with Roger were sound recordists Dennis Brioso and Diana Milani and Production Assistant Daniel Pleacoff.

Fashion Week is a fantastic event that occupies the entire city’s production resources. At every show, we meet people we know also covering the event. Add celebrities, exciting fashions and a healthy dose of overseas production crews and you have one of the more enjoyable jobs of the year for us.

With EX1, HVX200, and other cameras that shoot to memory cards becoming more popular every day, the work flow on sets is changing. Log and capture used to be an important phase of post-production, but now, data transfer is a part of production. We’ve had our share of trial and error here at dvDepot trying to figure out how the future is going to look.

1. What to call them?

Nobody seems to have any idea of what to call this position. Data wrangler comes up a bunch. More common is “a guy to, like, do transfers and stuff.” Some people just call them camera utilities or assistant cameras. We eventually settled on memory card transfer technician, so that the duties are specific. We’ll shorten this to “card tech” or “transfer tech” most of the time.

2. Can a camera utility or AC do this?

A lot of utilities will know how to do this. But a lot don’t. We sent one of our best utilities on a job to do P2 transfers and he ended up taking twice as along as expected. Any time there was a problem with the camera, he jumped in to help fix it. This is what he’s good at, so it makes sense. This shoot also only ordered two 16GB cards per camera for several multicam interviews in a pretty short time. He had to be constantly dumping and wiping cards to keep up with shooting. We didn’t have time for him to do anything else.

3. Can I send an editor or assistant editor?

It’s tempting to send post people out. They have experience doing file transfers. They know the different formats post requires. We had an editor out once who really knew the transfers down pat and how to format the drives. However, when the camera decided not to recognize the memory card, he had no idea what to do. We sent one of our in-house technicians to solve the problem pretty quickly, but somebody without any knowledge of using the camera on set is missing an important piece of the puzzle.

4. How do you keep the cards organized?

We worked on one shoot when they were making fast transfers. The transfer tech noticed that he was missing the last batch of footage from camera B. None of the cards were labeled. We had to go through each card again and figure out which one had the missing footage. Most camera operators know to label their tapes, but some overlook labeling their memory cards. Labeling your cards is more important than labeling your tapes because cards will be wiped and then the footage is lost forever.

Most people don’t realize it, but P2 cards have an area on the back that is designed for using dry erase markers. You can easily label the cards with A2 or something similar. SxS cards unfortunately don’t have this same convenience. For now, we use paper tape because gaff tape is too thick and can get stuck in the camera. The important thing is training our transfer techs in making sure that all cards are labeled and that they never accept a card from a camera without it being properly labeled.

5. So who do you send?

We decided that we needed people who are specifically suited to being card transfer techs. They need experience working on set, often as an AC or camera utility. The techs are often called upon to assist in the camera department and they need to be prepared. Additionally, the best candidates are often trained editors. They understand the problems that can arise with file transfers and can deal with them. A lot of our techs are working toward becoming full time editors. Using this as our starting criteria, we have recruited a pool of freelancers who are specifically assigned as transfer card technicians.

By finding the right people to handle the job and making sure the process they use is correct, we’ve turned memory card transfers into a smooth process. We are curious to find out how other people are dealing with this situation. Let us know what you’re doing in the comments below.

If you’re shooting with a camera that uses memory cards, we highly recommend assigning a qualified crew member to this position. If you’re like to hire somebody from dvDepot, please contact our crewing department, by emailing crewing@dvdepot.com or by calling 212.333.5100.

With 10 nominees for Best Picture, predicting the Oscars is a whole new ball game! What your guess on who will win?

AutoTrader.com regularly hires dvDepot to photograph car shows around the country. Megan Green, an excellent photographer, has been handling this job since 2005. We just received her photos from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, one of the biggest car shows in the world.

The Audi e-tron is a battery powered sports car. It is a leap forward in battery powered cars, with a top speed of 124 mph. Each wheel has its own electric hub motor to increase speed. The battery gives the car a range of 155 miles. A new heat pump system surrounds the lithium-ion battery, keeping its temperature steady even in hot and cold weather, which was previously a major barrier in electric cars.

The 2011 Ford Mustang features a return to its roots. Since 2001, the Mustang has been made with 4.6 liter engine that some purists felt lacked the power of the previous models. At NAIAS, Ford unveiled the comeback of the 5.0 engine. With 412 HP this is a return of the power Mustang. The 2011 Mustang will be available in the Spring.

The GMC Granite was presented as a concept car. Recent government mandates require that car companies must increase their average fuel efficiency. GMC’s line is almost entirely gas guzzling pickups. If produced, the Granite would be GMC’s smallest car and is designed to be so fuel efficient that it would drastically increase GMC overall average. Dubbed an “urban utility vehicle,” GMC hopes it will appeal to young, hip city dwellers.

Megan has just wrapped shooting the Philadelphia International Auto Show and the Washington Auto Show and we’ll have pictures up soon.

Everybody’s raving about Twilight now, but a lot of people were surprised when it was an enormous blockbuster. Showtime jumped into the game early and got an exclusive deal for showing the Twilight movies. Obviously, they wanted to turn the premiere into an event with specials and behind the scenes material. We were lucky enough to help on the material shot in the New York area. You can see some of our footage in the video shot below or at Showtime’s video site.

Shooting underwater takes not only an experienced shooter, but the right kind of equipment. From the normally hidden world of the ocean to the underwater antics of a pool party– underwater footage is a desirable addition to many projects.

Here at dvDepot we have two great models of underwater housing that can be used with a variety of cameras, such as the Sony V1U, Z1U, Pansonic DVX100, Sony DCR-VX2000 and DSR-PD150. In addition to this we also have some audio gear that is suitable for water based shoots -the Lectrosonic MM400C transmitter and M152 mic.

The Sony V1U is best paired with the Equinox HD8 Underwater Housing which can be seen below. The Equinox can be brought to depths of up to 75 meters (250ft). It also has BRS ( Ballast Release System) for easy travel. This is also useful if trouble occurs on a dive–just pull the release pin and the Equinox will shoot straight to the surface.

Ewa-Marine V2000 Underwater Housing can be used with a wider variety of cameras such as the Sony PD150, Sony Z1U, Panasonic DVX100, Sony DCR-VX2000, and Panasonic HVX200. This housing enables the user to film up to 10meters (33 ft) below water. It features a double laminated PVC Construction and an Optical Glass port. The bag shape makes it easier to carry. Also included are weight straps, which makes it easier to achieve buoyancy. It is also ideal for filming while snorkeling, shallow diving or moving in and out of the water. This type of underwater housing has been used to good effect for the show “Made” which airs on MTV Saturdays at 3pm.

The Lectrosonics MM400C Lavalier transmitter is ideal for use in heavy rain,humidity and/or water based shoots and can be submerged in the water if necessary. Also featured is a waterproof On/Off/Mute reed switch and non-detachable antenna. The switch is removable to avoid accidental switching caused by the talent. A machined finish provides a non-corrosive housing, preventing rust and oxidation. The use of the MM400C results in greater range with minimal noise.

The Lectrosonics M152 is a highly sensitive omnidirectional microphone that can be used with the MM400C. It also features a watertight mini connection that makes it ideal for a shoot that’s water bound!

If you have a shoot coming up that requires water-friendly equipment, feel free to contact us and we can put together a package that suits your production and budgetary requirements. We look forward to working with you!

A series of Earthquakes absolutely devastated Haiti on Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, BET called us to shoot a series of PSAs to help raise awareness, get people to contribute and to connect people with loved ones in Haiti.

We cannot imagine what the people of Haiti are undergoing, our thoughts and prayers are with all those suffering in Haiti. The outpouring of support over the last week has amazed everyone and we hope it continues.

The Weinstein Company is releasing their new movie “Youth in Revolt” starring Michael Cerathis month. dvDepot worked on a series of promos for the film featuring Michael Cera and the cast of MTV’s The Jersey Shore.

As anybody who watches the show knows, the Jersey Shore kids are a wild bunch. They did not disappoint us here. DJ Pauly D took one look at Michael and decided he needed a makeover. They changed his wardrobe and spent an hour giving him Pauly’s signature hair style. Also, once they heard there was a hot tub on the roof, there was no keeping them out of it– not even the 20 degree weather. In spite of all the fun they had, our crew reported that everybody was professional and easy to work with. We can’t wait until the promos premiere so we can see our finished product.

The promos were shot on three Sony EX1s with our operators Jeremy Leach, Andreas Wagner and Chris Piazza. We had two audio techs on set to mic all the people: Diana Milani and Michael Correa. Kevin Provost was a camera utility and handled data transfers. Joseph Bandelli was our PA. We worked with Partizan, who were producing the spots.

You can see more pictures on the sites we borrowed these from: People Magazine and the Huffington Post. We also get mentioned in the article at New TeeVee.

Today, we’re prepping for a multicam reality shoot in January. Those sorts of shoots require a lot of preparation and often take days to get ready.

One exciting piece of gear on this shoot is our Starlink wireless monitor system. The Starlink is a powerful wireless transmitter and receiver that can be mounted onto the camera. We’ve cameras down to the street and received the signal in our seventh floor office. On a multicam reality project, it allows a producer to monitor all cameras from a centralized location, no matter what environment they’re in.

Has anybody else used the Starlink? Are you as excited by them as we are?