Templates:
Download HD PSD – Photoshop template for LCD / Plasma / OLED / projection displays including “Broadcast Safe” markers. Full HD ready for designer.
CODECs:
HQX – Format we sometimes use to distribute “intermediates” . Test files and CODEC installer. (more info here)
Product recommendations 2025 – by Chris
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Camera
Clients often ask “I want to buy a camera to capture behind the scenes of events / conferences … maybe the odd social media interview with someone. What is something small, cheap and easy to buy?”
This is a hard question to answer! People often default to a phone, which isn’t terrible, but uses battery life, can be annoying for copying video files off and uses up your phones storage. It’s also hard to pass around to people! (think lock screen) Enter, a dedicated camera.
For General “behing the scenes” / Casual filming by anyone
Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo : Pocket sized camera with a stabilizer and wireless mic for close-distance interviews. Great for wide shots and someone presenting close to camera. If there is a Pocket 4 out by the time you read this, it’s likely it will include extra features. Keep in mind it’s a fixed lens which is perfect for wide open spaces or subjects you can walk up to. Capturing the buzz of a room or event? Perfect. At time of writing, it’s just over 1000 AUD.
However, if you are filming a person from the back of a room then you’ll need a much larger camera with a zoom. This is the second situation people request cameras for.
For zooming / capturing a stage from rear of a room
Panasonic HC-X2100GN : It’ll take a half-day of practice to get used to – and even then – recommended for someone who has at least some camera experience. It has 4 essential features :
– Amazing zoom with good anti-bump stabaliser so you can film a lectern or presenter with a tripod at the rear of a large room.
– Rock solid auto focus so it’ll lock onto a face and stay there.
– A 4 hour battery with the ability to plug into a USB power bank for more power. 20 hours (or more) recording time.
– Professional audio inputs for feeding in conference or live-event audio.
I’d absolutely recommend engaging a professional camera operator for essential presentations, but for “nice to have” recordings from the rear of a room or even “in-house” capture – this is a solid performer. Don’t be talked into a “mirrorless” camera with lenses for rear-of-room capture – it’s the wrong tool for the job. This will set you back about 4k AUD, but the Panasonic is very reliable. Canon and Sony have similar options – but consider the lack of professional audio inputs (for conference work). For in-house work consider adding a small wireless mic kit.
Tripod for filming over heads
Note how specific this is! Unfortunately almost every photography tripod will be less than 150cm in height, and thus, can’t reach over heads.
A decent tripod to match the recommended Panasonic above, would be the Manfrotto MVK504XTWINMA (504X Fluid Video Head with Aluminum Twin leg tripod system). At 170cm (plus height of camera) it should be able to frame someone on a stage from the the rear of a room in most situations. It’ll be high enough that if someone medium height walks past, they won’t cross frame. It also has a quick release for easily getting the camera down. It also comes with a case and is easy to sandbag down for safety. About 1.2k AUD, but good video tripods are expensive.
(At Cybertrix we use 200cm carbon fibre tripods, but they are cost prohibitive to recommend!)
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Bag for equipment
– Manfroto have a series of bags that are strong and proven. The “C” series is a great case.