I saw on another forum a different approach to getting a "film look"

1. Slow the clips down to 50% and render.

2. Bring into a new project and re-set the speed to 200%

....fyi....

erhm. whats the logic in that?

Give it a try and see for yourself...then we'll talk logic...:-)

Sounds like taking the long way around to de-interlace...

I was a bit unsure also until I tested a small piece of video....

>1. Slow the clips down to 50% and render.

Render to what format? DV, MJPEG, MPEG2 ?

Will this work for any program?
interesting...

When you alter speeds (at least in FCP and I'm assuming it's the same for any other NLE), either faster or slower, it does a little something called "Frame Blending" which simply is creating new frames that are little more than crossfades, or simple repeating frames.

I'm guessing that since this would probably smooth out the picture you'll get some sort of overall blending effect that makes it look more like film.

I'm also guessing that, like with most film look techniques, you'd want to shoot at 1/60.

It will probably result in resolution and framerate loss though.
Any other people tested this? What were the results?

Sounds interesting - what is the link to the other forum wher this was first mentioned - are there any examples posted there?
Scot

I think I found it

http://www.guygraphics.com/index2.html

> When you alter speeds (at least in FCP and I'm assuming
> it's the same for any other NLE), either faster or slower, it
> does a little something called "Frame Blending" which simply
> is creating new frames that are little more than crossfades,
> or simple repeating frames.

Exactly. The nice thing is, in the Motion tab, it is possible to apply Motion Blur to clips without having to change their speed. I can control the strength and the amount of samples. The more samples, the more render time, the smoother it looks.

If I add to this some non-linear luma effect (like Stib's Film Curves) then I get a really very 'film like' result. Well actually what I see is similar to that of film transferred to video.

Applying 'film' curves helps get more contrast from the mids, this especially helps if I underexpose a bit, wich also keeps the highlights from being slammed video style.

It is also possible to use Stib's curves to seperately affect color channels, adding a non-linear tint to the picture. This makes for a really nice effect as seen on many music videos.

Of course, any blurring will --well-- blur the picture a little bit. This might seem like a resolution loss sometimes, but it has the added advantage of reducing noise and chroma artifacts, which is something good if using Stib's Film Curves or something like that with DV-originated material.

So as you see it all kind of fits together, 'film' curves, motion blur, underexposure...

This what I do in the camera:

Sony PDX10 in 16x9 mode, 1/60
Sony WA adapter. It softens the image a bit.
Turn down edge enhancement ('sharpening') to almost a minimum (custom preset).
Set chroma ('color level') to somewhat less than default (custom preset).
Adjust AE point so as to underexpose a bit.
Try not to move the camera too much, almost never zoom.

This is what I do in FCP4:

Set 10-bit YUV processing.
Deinterlace.
Use Stib's Film Curves 1.0 (slightly) and Stib's Simple Levels.
use Too Much Too Soon's Black Restore.
Sometimes desaturate highlights and lowlights.
Sometimes, use Too Much Too Soon's noise reduction. *
Sometimes add saturation with the Proc Amp filter.
Use FCP4's Motion Blur slightly, 4 samples, 100.

* After using Stib's curves to get more contrast from the midtones, noise becomes more visible, so I usually apply some noise reduction algorithm to clean it up a bit. This is probably much worse if you are using a noisier camera.

Stib's and Too Much Too Soon plugs are free:
http://www.digitalzoo.com.au/lunchtime/lunch_docs/related_02_free.htm

I would love to post some footage but I can't right now because of bandwidth and space limitations.

Sorry for the long post. Hope it helps.