DAC100/200 Standalone Units

Canopus AVDC 110 Standalone Units

Converting VHS/Video8/Hi8 tapes to Digital  Everyone has a bunch of analogue tapes at home which need to be converted into digital so you can edit them and stick them on a DVD to watch them.  Admittedly you can buy cheap "DVD Makers" which grab the video and stream it into your computer's USB port BUT the quality and audio/video sync is shocking to say the least!!!

Here is the CORRECT way to do it...it might cost a bit more initially but these units take your analogue signal and convert it into an IE1394 Firewire output in realtime and then your normal NLE can capture it as a true DV-AVI video without loss.  You simply plug your analogue Camcorder or VCR into the Video and Audio In sockets and the units will convert your analogue signal into digital

Be wary also of the cheaper units that don't give you a full sized clip..some only capture at 640x480 or even 320x240!! Make sure your unit does 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480(NTSC). Also beware of units that compress your video into an MPEG file. These work fine but if you want to edit the video, re-rendering of the MPEG will lose you a lot of quality.

FINAL HINT ??? : A lot of standard domestic camcorders sport analogue inputs and you can simply use the camcorder as a "convertor". Just check first to see if the camcorder has "pass thru" (in otherwords any analogue signal will be sent directly to the firewire port). If you can get you hands on a small camcorder with analogue and it doesn't have passthru you can STILL just capture from your analogue tape onto MIniDV and then transfer the MiniDV content to your computer later.

Making Fake Blood  If you are making an action movie with tons of simulated wounds then you will need a good supply of fake blood. This recipe is not only realistic but it's also non-toxic (if not a little messy) and all you need to do is raid the kitchen cupboard. Here's what you need :

• Tin or tube of Golden Syrup or Honey
• Red, Yellow and Green Food Colouring

Simply pour a generous amount of syrup into a container (around 250 grams is about right). Now add 2 caps of red colour and 1 cap of yellow and mix it up. Finally add just a few drops of green colour to darken the blood so it looks realistic on camera (most blood from limbs is already a bit de-oxygenated..hence the essential green addition). For a fresh wound use it as it is and if needed add a little more green for blood that is congealed. To make the wound a bit more ragged, you can also add in some uncooked oats flakes (pre-dipped in your mixure) and to make it even more gruesome (torn flesh etc) try using a few rice-pops cereal.

How to make a safe fireball explosion  This method of making a pretty impressive looking fireball is unique because it does NOT use any explosives whatsoever. (The fireball is real however and you can get badly burnt from it). However the important thing is that the ingredients are non-flammable and non-volatile and are found in your kitchen!!!

How does it work??  Many huge explosions all over the world occur from non-flammable materials. The most common are in grain silos which have the unfortunate problems of dust explosions. Our fireball maker uses non-dairy coffee creamer...WHAT?? you heard it right! Coffee creamer will not burn if you simply apply a match to it BUT launch it skywards and it creates a mini dust-exlosion and the fat content in the creamer actually burns. What makes it even safer is that the individual particles of creamer burn out almost instantly so when they hit the ground they are already safe. (a bit messy but nothing a garden hose won't sort out).

Simply arrange a length of plastic tubing with a funnel in one end and prop this up against a brick or block. Now take a charcoal briquette or BBQ starter block and get it burning quite close to the funnel. Pour in a small amount of creamer down the funnel and into the pipe. Move to the other end and blow as hard as you can. As soon as the creamer disperses in the air it ignites and produces a short duration but spectacular fireball. You may have to experiment with different creamers too!! The high fat ones seem to work the best. BE CAREFUL the products are inert but the fireball is REAL.

                How to make REAL sound effects

 Movie studios still use Foley artists to create their ambient and special sound effects for films so there must be doing something right!! If you just can't find the right effect on the internet as a "ready-made" wav file then consider these ideas to make fx the old fashioned way!!!

• Fire   -   Crunch cellophane wrap or wax paper
• Rain   -   Sprinkle rice, birdseed or coarse sand on a metal sheet or other thin surface
• Thunder   -   Flex or jiggle a large sheet of aluminum.
• Broken window pane   -   Drop small strips of aluminium on a hard surface.
• Icky slime   -   Squish pasta with your hands, or squirt it out of a rubber glove.
• Frying   -   Touch wet rags to a hot surface (stove burner).
• Ticking bomb   -   Close-mike a mechanical alarm clock.
• Walking through bush   -   Crackle corn husks or squeeze the whisk of a straw broom.
• Mechanical door   -   Roll a metal-wheeled skate or skateboard on concrete or metal.
• Slap   -   Clap two thin boards together, or clap wet hands together.
• Body blows   -   Hit a pillow or fabric sofa cushion. For a lighter sound, slap a vinyl cushion.
• Horse hooves   -   Hit coconut shells on a hard surface or gravel.
• Footfalls in snow   -   Step down on cornstarch or cat litter.
• Footfalls in leaves   -   Crunch corn flakes or potato chips with your feet or hands.
• Clothing rustle   -   Rub different types of fabrics together.
• Bone Snap   -   Break celery to create the sound of breaking bones.
• Walking on Grass   -   Step on tape from an unraveled audio cassette to make a convincing substitute.
• Gunshots   -   A heavy staple gun makes the sound of gunshots.