1. Provide the tpwn with three PEG stations (channels 11, 12 and 13)
2. Continue to maintain an I-Net with 16 locations around town.
3. Provide up to 80 hours of trianing from Charter.
4. Provide a one-time capital fund transfer in the amount of $120,000.
5. Provide yearly operating fund transfer in the amount of $45,000 per year, with a 5% increase year over year.

As we negotiate these terms, it's important for Spencer Cable Access to gain understanding as to the needs and wishes of the town.  That's why we've launched a survey.  We want to hear from residents so we know what services SCA may be able to provide and determine if that will require operational upgrades, additional funds and the like.

Please take the survey here.

While the Committee will not be negotiating rates or programming options, feel free to leave your feedback on your satisfaction with Charter Communications.

I am very excited to welcome a group of kids from DPHS, self-named "Prouty Productions".

This group of energetic students will produce a promotional video for David Prouty High School to be seen by current 8th graders.  The objective of the production is to show the Jr. High students the many great programs and academic opportunities available at DPHS.

After that, the students would like to produce a news broadcast that covers all the things that are going on at Prouty and in town.

Look for updates on our Twitter and Facebook page from Prouty Productions.

I wanted to let everyone know that SCA has added new music to SCA 12 and 13.

The music is licensed through DMX, a music licensing and subscription service.  You will hear today's hottest hits, country, classical, showtunes, and more.  A full music schedule is available here.

Please let us know what you think about the new music lineup.  There is a wide mix of styles, so I am hoping there is something for everyone.

How I Got The Meatball Rolling

During this year’s two Thyme In The Kitchen productions, I tried testing out some new tools and techniques. Part of the reason was from my frustration with the old ones. For example, in the Spring when we worked on Meatballs, we did part of the show at home in Agawam with our six year old granddaughter, Kaycie. As luck would have it, the video tape and video camera I used were just not happy together. When I went to load the video track into the computer, the entire segment was garbled. We ended up having to reshoot everything a week later.

The second time, I went tapeless. I had a very inexpensive HD video camera with very few “professional” controls or features. It’s really just a PHD camera (press here, dummy). Fortunately, it’s really all I needed. To make things even more interesting, I shot all my overheads with my iPhone handheld. Crazy? ... but it worked.

On To The Holidays With Toys

For our next shoot, many months later (our Holiday 2011 show shot in November), I decided to continue shooting tapeless with my cheap HD camera. Really, I think I am done with tape for good. I didn’t want to use the iPhone though. I really need something on a tripod that lets me zoom in close. It turns out that Paul McKinney, who often helps on our projects in Spencer, has a nice Canon DSLR camera. It’s a model 60D and it has HD video capability. It records to SD cards, just like my cheap camera. So, with the right lens, I knew it could do nice overheads...and no tape!

I have other friend, Richie from Worcester, who offered to come by with his own Canon DSLR. He also has a bunch of interesting lenses I could use. I was now swimming in new toys I could use. I was going to have some fun.

Paul and Richie wanted me to use both of their excellent cameras for the entire shoot. They joked about how cheap looking my tiny HD camera was. Now, I know it’s fun to play with toys, but when you’re doing work for real, you have to go with what you know. My cheap HD video camera may look inferior, but worked before, so it stayed.

I would only shoot with one DSLR for overheads.

Now, there is one problem with my HD camera. It can’t do external audio. That is, there’s no way to feed our excellent pro quality microphones into it. I ended up using a notebook computer to capture the audio feed coming out of my audio mixer. I had to do this with Meatballs, too. Now, I would have three things to worry about in my editing: main, overhead, and audio. I’ve done this before. No problem. Right?

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

When it was all said and done, some things went very well and some not so well. There were Gotchas.

One thing about the Canon cameras is they use larger imaging sensors. This means that they can produce video with  very shallow depth of field. That’s where things appear in focus over a narrow range in the image. Objects near and far are nicely out of focus and only the subject you want everyone to look at is sharp. You see this technique used a lot in Hollywood movies.

With any camera, the closer you are to what your recording, the shallow the depth of field is even more exaggerated. In this case, for example, when I pointed the camera down into a mixing bowl to provide an overhead look, with the larger sensor, either the front of the bowl or the back was in focus. Not both. If I was careful, I could make this look quite nice and artistic. That is, until someone moves the darned bowl.

I had to constantly adjust the camera trying to keep up with Pam or Lee as they mixed things and moved the bowls about. (I never use autofocus for stuff like this and I can almost guarantee it would have produced worse results had I tried. So don’t ask.)

There are fewer overhead shots in our program, now, because I couldn’t get everything I wanted in perfect focus. Some of the experts out there will say, “Well, why didn’t you stop the lens down, blah, blah, blah...” My answer, “Because I didn’t.”

Another Gotcha had to do with batteries. Normally, when I record with the studio’s cameras, I have one on AC power and the other on a battery that I know can last six hours. (Our shoots never run that long.) My cheap HD camera could run on AC and I used it that way. The Canon cameras didn’t have AC adapters, so I had to rely on batteries. I had three. One was made by Canon and two were not. I started with the Canon battery but it pooped out somewhere after an hour, between takes. I switched to the non-Canon batteries . But, because they are not made by Canon, they gave no clue as to how much power was left during shooting. So, I never knew if I had enough to complete a take. That’s risky.

Say What?

Another Gotcha? Sure. The Canon camera twice decided it just didn’t want to record anymore. It said, “Your video has stopped” on the LCD screen, or something like that. I asked Paul about this and he said, “Oh, yeah, the camera can only record for ten minutes and then it stops.”

What?

He told me he had warned me about this. I said, “When?” He told me he did that in an email message about two weeks earlier. Like I would remember.

Actually, I’m pretty sure the camera pooped out sooner than the 10 minutes because I checked the takes on my computer later on and they were all under 10 minutes before they pooped. There must have been something else going on. I read that these cameras have sensors that can heat up from too much continuous use. I wonder if they quit then, too. Hmmm...

Sounds Fishy

I ended up having problems with audio. Another Gotcha.

Normally, during a shoot, we used lapel mics and a shotgun mic on a boom. These go through a mixer and then into the main camera. Unfortunately, the main camera - my cheap HD - didn’t have an audio feed. So, I had to record audio to a separate, third device. I used my notebook computer.

For some reason, the notebook recorded the audio with sync problems. It started off just fine, for the first fifteen minutes, but got worse and worse as the day went on. So only about 10 minutes of the first part of the Holiday 2011 show’s audio comes from the good mics. The rest comes from the tiny, built-in mics on one of the cameras. I could use the audio from the cheap HD camera, or from the Canon DSLR.

I decided to use the Canon camera’s audio. It was physically closer to Lee and Pam during shooting (by a few feet) and I knew I could make adjustments in my video editing software to match how things sound. In fact, the pro-level mics - when the notebook recordings worked - sounded so good I had to degrade them to make them match the camera’s built-in audio.

Oh, and another thing. The Canon camera was handled a lot during all this recording. All of these sounds, too, got recorded. Thinks like adjusting the tripod column up, or moving it around the floor. As the camera was capturing overheads, and I didn’t need continuous coverage, I knew I could get away with doing these things. I forgot that the audio would pick up these sounds. So, I had lots to fix later on in editing.

Speaking of which...

Stuffing Squash?

There was a funny moment during our recording session. Paul was sitting in the next room. Now, once we start recording, you’re supposed to be very quiet. In fact, I usually announce “Quite on the set!” before preceding with “Action”. Then you have to be dead silent. Really.

The recipe Lee was demonstrating was Stuffing and Squash Casserole. Paul could hear her talk, but probably wasn’t listening to what everything she was saying. He certainly forgot we were “live”.

He heard her say something about “stuffing” and then “squash” and he just blurted out loudly, “Stuffing squash?”

Good question, Paul.

This, of course, was picked up perfectly by the Canon camera’s microphone.

Even though he was twenty feet away, it was recorded as if he was in the same room.

And we couldn’t “un-stuff” the squash with a retake.

Lessons Learned

I like using cameras that don’t rely on tape. In fact, I will avoid tape completely going forward. I hate tape!

I am amazed at the competence of my very inexpensive HD camera. I will always have it handy as a backup but I hope never to have to use it as a main again because it doesn’t have a separate audio input.

I really liked working with a DSLR camera that can record HD. However, the shallow depth of field has to be managed. It’s either a problem or an opportunity and I’ll take that into consideration when planning shots and lighting.

The DSLR’s are limited in the amount of time they can record. (The Canon stops at 10 minutes and sometimes sooner if it feels like it.) There may be other reasons why these cameras could stop (overheating?) So, don’t play with toys! ...know your tool for when you need to really rely on it.

I need a much better audio recording solution. The notebook will never get used again! I’m looking into a portable field recorder with inputs for this. It’s nice to have. In fact, it’s always nice to have redundancy when doing recordings.

Sometimes you just have to be lucky. When Paul blurted out his question, "Stuffing Squash?", all the mics picked it up clear as day. The editing station, on playback, reproduced it perfectly. I could cut around the segment, but it would have disrupted the continuity of the shot. I didn't want to do that. As luck would have it, when Paul shouted, both Lee and Pam weren't talking. They were mixing something. They talked again a few seconds later, and then mixed some more. I was able to clone the second mixing sound onto the part where Paul shouted and it eliminated his mistake. That was luck, pure and simple Sometimes, you just gotta have it. So, bring some with you each time!

Spencer Cable Access hosted a live demonstration of two of JVC’s new HD professional video cameras on Tuesday.

JVC GY-HM750UJVC GY-HM150UKen Freed, JVC Northeast District Sales Manager, paid us a visit and brought two of his close friends – the JVC GY-HM750U and little brother JVC GY-HM150U.

Ken’s presentation was excellent – as expected. He’s been with JVC for more than 12 years and has built a reputation for having more knowledge than one knows what to do with. These cameras have many technical features which he easily translated into benefits for shooters. Nicely done, Ken!

Now – the cameras. The feature set for each makes these cameras perfect for cable access stations, video journalists, and even film hobbyists. The 750U is a full-size shoulder mount unit which provides for excellent stability and reduces fatigue.

Both units record in multiple formats and frame rate combinations. This flexibility allows the shooter the convenience and freedom to shoot what they need or what they’re most comfortable with. The cameras even shoot in SD mode. I find this feature particularly useful since most small production facilities (local access stations) are not equipped with other HD gear.

That said – it’s still advisable to shoot in HD if you have a Final Cut, Avid, or Premiere editing system. The cameras record to standard SDHC (class 6 or 10) cards. Each camera has two (2) card slots which can be exchanged on the fly, while recording. So – if card A gets full, the camera automatically, and seamlessly switches to card B. When card B is recording, the shooter can remove card A, and insert a blank card. When card B is full, it will go back to slot A and continue recording. No break.

The shooter may also set the camera to record to both cards simultaneously. This is useful if it’s important to have a back-up card in case one fails, or if you need to give one to a producer and one to an editor. Very convenient.

By the way – when you’re finished shooting, you are able to add the clips directly to the timeline in your NLE without transcoding or ingesting. It’s immediately editable right from the camera. No waiting. Brilliant!

The image quality on both cameras was superb. The 750U uses 3 1/3 inch CCDs which rival most ¾ inch units on the market. I took some test shots in 1080p and was very impressed. The 150U uses quarter inch CCD’s. I did say CCD’s. Not CMOS chips. JVC did not cut corners here.

Both cameras come standard with 2 XLR inputs. Audio is uncompressed on both units.

SCA is purchasing 2 150U’s and 1 750U in January.

For more information on these excellent cameras, visit JVC’s HD camera section online.

On Saturday, December 3, the Town of Spencer along with surrounding towns, got together for the 3rd Annual Christmas Parade of Lights.  Wendy Berthiaume, Chair of the Spencer Celebration Committee, told me that there were 35 floats in the parade.

The parade has seen increased participation, both in floats and crowd attendance, over the past three years.  In addition to being a wonderful parade, the event is also a friendly competition. As the floats keep getting better, the competition is more intense each year.  The competition categories are "Best Lighted Float" and "Best Ligthed Fire Engine."  The winner of the "Best Lighted Float" category is awarded $300 by the Spencer Celebration Committee and the winner of the "Best Fire Engine" category is awarded a beautiful crystal cup.  The cup stays with the winner for the entire year until the next parade where it is up for grabs again.

This year, we were honored to have Lidea Berube, Spencer's oldest residet at 101, serve as the parade's Grand Marshal for the second year in a row.  She was presented with a certificate of appreciation by Selectmen Tony Pepe and Donnie Berthiaume.

The winner for Best Float was the Spencer Emergency Management Agency.  This is the third year in a row that they have won first place and received the $300 award.  Other winners include:

Best Lighted Float
Third place - Spencer Furniture
Second place - Camp Marshal

Best Lighted Fire Engine
Third Place - Spencer Fire Department, Ladder 1
Second Place - Spencer Fire Department, Forrestry 1
First Place - Spencer Fire and Rescue

Spencer Cable Access was on hand to cover the event in partnership with Charter Communications. Charter was kind enough to bring their remote broadcast van to get some great shots of the parade.  I want to thank Joseph Peters and Kris McMullin from Charter for coming out to do this, as well as Kyle Sullivan, Caleb & Sarah Itterman, and Ashely Gervais from Spencer Cable Access for covering camera and bearing the cold.

Here is a 10-minute excerpt from the parade.

The parade can be seen on SCA Channel 12 as well as on Charter OnDemand.

Every year on the first Saturday of December, the town gets together to light things up.  It's an inspiring sight when float after float rolls down Main Street showing off their creative and unique lighted vehicles.

This year, the parade takes place on Saturday, December 3 beginning at 8:00 PM.  SCA will be there with Charter Commnunications to cover the event.

Wendy Berthiaume, Chair of the Celebration Committee, expects over 40 floats - that's double last year's turn out.  If you'd like to join the parade, you can download an entry form here.

The Parade of Lights is fast becoming a favorite in Spencer.  We hope to see you there!

Over the past decade, SCA has been fortunate to be under the leadership of Carol McPherson.  Her first priority was keeping us volunteers happy; and she did.  Together with her husband, Bob, they ran this station effectively and efficiently.  Carol was in charge of the overall operation of the station and Bob was responsible for all the technical aspects of broadcasting our programming.  If there was a new way something could be wired, Bob found it!

Carol and Bob took over the management of the station after Wayne Proctor stepped down in 2000. As SCA's first Station Manager, Wayne built the studio from the ground up and managed operations for two years.  He recruited and trained many great volunteers and set the framework for the future of SCA.

Carol and Bob immediately began finding ways to enhance and accommodate the needs of the studio. They even installed a state-of-the-art live television production studio; the envy of many surrounding stations. And, slowly, they built the station up to what it is today.

It was probably early spring when I realized that someone new would soon take over.  Bob had been sharing how difficult it was to get up to the station and do the work he needed to do.  That's when I told Carol that I would be interested in the position if and when she decided to step down.

At the next Board meeting, she announced that she and Bob would be leaving SCA at the end of the summer.  She informed the Board that I had expressed interest in serving in the role.

My one stipulation, however, was that Carol and Bob's daughter, Beth, stay on board.  There's no way I could do all this without her.  We have worked so well together in the past, both professionally and at Spencer Cable Access.  Together, we produced the 250th Celebration Documentary which won an award at the Northeast Alliance for Community Media.

Luckily - Beth agreed.

As station manager, my number one priority is to recruit new volunteers from our community.  You don't need any special skills or training.  All you need is dedication and passion.  We can make the rest work. Currently - there is a need for both production and administrative help. Anyone who is interested may contact the station directly at (508) 885-7967 or drop me an email at keyes.aaron@gmail.com.

I am very much looking forward to working with the community and bringing new programming and fresh ideas to SCA.  The more community involvement we have, the more we'll be able to do.