We finally arrive! Rip away all, I'm looking forward to your critical feedback and seeing what you each have come up with!

Cheers, Cat

What is it? by Cat Russell - UWOL 36 on Vimeo

OK Cat


WOW is all I can say!!!!!!! this is by far the best work I have seen of yours!!!

Prior I stated there are always the ones that make me say , "Why do I even bother!"

this is one!! I reminds me of "by design" in one of the distant past videos that was unbelievable!!

Thank you ever so much for such a treat!!!!

I will be sharing this with my wife this evening.

Cat,
You've done it again!!! Dale summed it up... Wow!!!
What suspense, what timing, how educational in it's rhyming!! :)
I could simply watch this film over & over! This is one of those films from UWOL that i think is a classic. There are a couple of shots that i am sure you would have replaced if you had been able to get the shot that fit the narration, like for instance a shot of ice crystals where it is mentioned. However, these criticisms are but minor & really i'm starting to sound like a whiner! (see what you've done!! :) )
Honestly Cat, while i always thought you made great videos, you're now making very highly polished, very informative, & most of all fun videos to watch!
Thank you so much for sharing this one with us.
Regards,
Bryce

Cat, that was wonderful. You out did yourself on this one. Not only were your pictures, videos, graphic and music perfect, but your narration had the same sense of urgency as your production. The pace was incredible. This is one of your best. My only comment is that there may have been a few places were you needed more visuals to match the narration. This needs to go up as a Public Service Announcement for climate control. Bob

Hi guys:

Thanks so much for the kind words!

Dale -- You ask, "why do I bother??" Because your contributions are awesome, that's why! And LOL, if the "by design" video you mentioned was mine, I don't even remember that one! Ha!

Bryce --LOL! Swoon! You are a poet too? ;-)

Bob and Bryce, I am eager for your critical comments and I want to go through it again with what you have said about visuals. With your input, it can always improve!

Thanks so much for the watch!

YAY! Cat's Back!!!!

So nice to see you back Cat! It's like a family reunion this round wit so many faces from earlier years submitting films again!!

There's really nothing to rip away on with your film.
The only thing that distracted me was the ghosting of the birds at :09. Is that a rendering issue or did it record that way? It happened to me once when I filmed a duck taking off from a creek and I can't remember what it was that cause it for my situation.

You've stepped into Marj's shoes and gave us an entertaining but very educational piece.

I'm a sucker for clouds and you had some great shots of them in this.

Oh, I guess there is one more thing I can rip on your film and that was it was lacking a koi pond!!! :)

Seriously Cat, you should be really pleased with this one. You wove a message into it while entertaining us along the way.

Your narration and pacing were spot on.

Feel good to be back?

Hi Kevin:

It feels wonderful to be back with everyone and I feel extra fortunate because Dale returned after a long stint as well! How wonderful is that!

I've missed you too, Kevin. And LOL, I somehow didn't work in a koi pond in this one! What was I thinking?

Well, concerning your keen eye and the ghosting... you nailed my achilles heel and I hang my head in shame. It's my camera. It's the only camera I have to work with and it's, well let's just say... lacking. It works great if nothing moves though! ;-).

I've been reading what all of you guys in UWOL land film with, so I know what I would like to save up for and aspire to, but that will be aways down the road. So until then, I just do the best I can with what I've got!

Thanks for the watch Kevin! And most of all, the laughs! I'm on your entry first thing tomorrow. Cheers!

Cat,

You have no reason to hang your head in shame. The birds is the one shot where it's really noticeable. Everything else is fine.

You wanted critical feedback so I dug extra deep looking for things. It doesn't detract from the story or the message. Just looks like there are twice as many birds as there really was. :)

I really need to get out to your neck of the woods and film one of these days.
If I manage to get it on the books, I'll bring an extra camera for your to play around with!

Hi Cat
This is another interesting piece from you and you made it all ryhme. As I've said before it amazes me how you come up with these ideas. Well done and I hope to see you in the next challenge to.

Gordon

Catherine, you did it again!
You definitely raised the bar with this one, so I expect to see more quality work from you in the February challenge.
I like your creativity and how you work that into a great story combined with awesome footage.
Noticed the bird shot Kevin mentioned. Was that a camera issue?

Thanks for sharing! Well done! It's good to have you back in the uwol world.

Hi All!

Kevin and Bob
-- I would love for you to make it over here sometime. Bob, you too, Rocky Mountain National Park is here for the taking and I know it was your old stomping ground Bob. What a blast that would be, just like the UWOL get together next year. Awesome!

Kevin
--No offense taken, Kevin! I'm so glad you dig deep, keep it coming friend. Critical feedback from you is a dream come true.

So summing up feedback so far, this little clip is fun to watch, could use a few more appropriate visuals to go with the narrative and there are a few spots that show the real weakness of my camera. Address these things and the clip will definitely improve to a new level. I'd say that's spot on and all true. I'd say as far as ripping goes I've gotten off fairly gracefully from all of you :)

Trond and Gordon
-- Thanks for the watch, guys. Trond, yup, it's a camera issue. I've been chatting with Kevin about that. It will take a new camera to fix that, which might be awhile before I can replace it... so you guys might have to bear with me for awhile! ;-/

Cat I use to get that a lot shooting interlace footage of flying birds. Not sure what a person can do about it.

Gordon

Hi Gordon

Strange enough, this is all progressive shooting and processing. Interesting to hear you've seen it in interlace as well.

Hi Cat

That was well done. The timing of cuts to the VO was spot on and the range of shots you managed to incorporate was truly impressive. You managed to get the whole story in in just four minutes! (It might also have suited the DVC "Mystery" theme we had a while back.)

Trond, yup, it's a camera issue.
You are sure it's the camera and not something that happend during post process?
But if you already talk to Kevin about it, you are in good hands.

I'll tell Santa you have been a good girl and deserve a new camera!

Could be as simple as the editing software is interlacing interlaced footage when it imports giving you a ghost image that's only seen when something moves.

Hi Trond!

Thank you! I'd much rather see a new camera from Santa than sticks and ashes!

Sadly, the camera, purchased many years ago, has had issues from the start. It doesn't bode well when you have to send it back the day it arrives because the focus was severely out of whack. It has always severely ghosted, pixilated in motion.... the list goes on. The company refused to refund, but I got a memory card out of the bad situation (oh joy!) ;-). Ah well! Making the best of it till I can afford an upgrade. I've used it many years and I have learned a lot on it.

I've read up on the cameras you all are using, and am very impressed with your tools! You guys are testimonials for what good cameras can do! Cheers!

Hi Kevin:

Well, I'll look into this. I'm shooting progressive and strangely the file format it collects in is TOD which must be converted before anything can read it. No matter what I convert to: progressive mov, mp4, avi ... the footage shows ghosting and other problems.

Any ideas? It would be awesome to find a solution and learn that it was post processing all along!

Thanks friend!

I remember reading here in the forum years ago that some editing software, at least back then, converted progressive to interlaced (or was it the other way, I can't remember details).
Maybe something like this is causing the trouble for you?

You should send me some raw footage and let me look at it.
What kind of card does it record to?
If I have some extras laying around I'll send you one to send back with some forage and seen if there's anything you can do.
What do younger to edit the footage?

If it helps, in addition to Kevin, I can have a look at some raw footage too, so we can check out if the different editing suites give different results.
If you use Dropbox, that's an easy way to share footage online.

Trond and Kevin:

I'm there! You are both awesome. This would be Christmas come early if you can help me find what I'm doing, if it's not the camera.

I will send you both a short clip to look over. I will look into this more closely myself as well. As it is, it's rare I'm even able to grab a still frame from video footage it looks that bad. The subject must be completely still for me to do that.

Thanks for everything! This being said, I am honestly well overdue for a camera upgrade and need to start doing what it takes to make this a reality. Perhaps all of you in the UWOL community can help me out with some good suggestions for a camera in the $2,000-$2500 range? What do you think?

Look for my email directing you to my problem clip. Yay, help is on the way :)

Here is a collection of cameras.
Professional Camcorders | B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Pro-Camcorders-Cameras/ci/1881/N/4256818814)

For Canon, maybe the XA25 or XF100?
My camera is the Canon XF300 and I am very happy with this one. (The price tag is above your specified range)

Others can probably suggest cameras of other brands.

Thanks Trond for the suggestions!

Okay Kevin and Trond:

Well here goes. I looked into my clip problem one more time. When I brought the original TOD file (with the pigeons flying close to the camera) into MPEG Streamclip, the footage of the pigeons ghosted as what I've grown accustomed to. This is why I was thinking it was my camera because the original TOD file didn't look good.

Spurred by your input I forged ahead, changing codecs and changing processing selections. And ... Here you go! Still not the greatest still footage, but no more ghosting.

I can't thank you enough for picking up on this and pushing the issue that it could be a post processing problem and not a camera problem. This is a huge relief and better late than never rooting out the problem and finding a fixable solution. You are the best! And I am very humbled I was ignorant for so long... years!

That is fantastic news Cat!
So glad you pushed to see if there was a solution!
You're ready for February now!! 😀

It is interesting Cat that you have had this problem. We are not all shooting on the latest and greatest, but these discussions help us all get more out of our work. I had some problems with my camera too and didn't even realise what it was until I stopped for a breath during final rendering.

I am in Canada with only a minimal equipment list and do have to make allowances for the fact that my camera does not allow me to control everything. The Canon HF200 is a well featured camera for an amateur piece of kit, but it is not at the same level as a pro camera for controls. The lovely shot in my film of the silhouetted out of focus duck is there because I couldn't get the bloody camera to focus on the duck! It is sometimes seeing the serendipity that counts most.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Happy days ahead!

LOL! Tim, that's a humorous confession -- I liked the duck shot and would never have guessed it was not quite how you intended it to be :). And I never would have guessed by your video that you weren't shooting with the latest and greatest, either.

This is a fantastic forum to hone skill, because it really is an accepting community. We can get a lot of wear and tear out of the gear we have before we reach for something a bit better. If something stumps you along the way, post it and I'll bet you will get very good answers! I've just launched into a whole new world of filmmaking because of solutions found for my issues today!

Trond and Kevin -- I owe you one. Look out for February 'cause here I come. ;-)

That is great news Cat!!!
Actually, on that note, i think i have a problem with my camera too. In fact, the camera that Kevin uses would be best i think. Alas, i cannot afford to replace the gear i have currently, so i am proposing that Kevin shoot all my footage for me from now on?? :)

Cat that's good to hear that things are looking up. Yes this is a good place to be.

Gordon

Hi Bryce and Gordon!

Bryce.... you hold your own, buddy, on your own! But I knew I would get a poke from you concerning my blaming all my problems on my camera! ;-) I still can't believe it myself!

Gordon, thanks for sharing my after-glow of discovery. You all are awesome.

Oh sorry Cat,
I certainly wasn't having a poke at you. Absolutely not. I am really glad to hear that you got your issue sorted. It just goes to show what an awesome place this is!!

Bryce,

I'd shoot whatever you needed but we all know that a lot of the satisfaction comes from looking at good footage and saying " I can't believe I shot that"! :)

Showed my film to my bosses this morning and they're like "you shot that"? No, I'm just showing you someone else's work. :)

But if we're ever in the same neck of the woods I'd be honored to go out filming nature and wildlife with any of the UWOL family!

Caught ya!

So, Kevin. Rocky Mountain National Park. When can we make it happen? No tourists this time of year...

Just do it!

If I didn't just get back from Montana, I'd be there Cat!

I'm going to try and figure out next years travel plans tomorrow so I'll see what I'll have available.

Going to the UK for the UWOL meet up will eat up a lot of my travel budget but it's a great opportunity to check out some great films and meet some of the friends I've made here!

Cat, I was once told that the best camera in the world..."is the one you have in your hand when you see that magic shot". How far are you from Fort Collins? If I remember it is not that far. Bob

Kevin,
You are absolutely spot on. Just being out there for me is something to treasure, coming home with footage in the can is a bonus. At the end of the day, the more work you put in, the better your chances are of getting the results you are happy with. I have learnt so much from the great people here & i have you all to thank for that!
I have the same sentiments when it comes to getting out filming with any of the folks here at UWOL. I think i mentioned in another post that i spent a little bit of time with my parents recently in Yellowstone. I would love to get down there again soon to spend more time just filming. Maybe one of these days we could have a meet there too??
Of course Lyons Colorado would be cool too Cat, maybe we could all stay in the Poultry Palace, that place looks pretty chi,chi!

Hi everyone:

How great it is to have our threads become chat rooms. All are welcome here on mine!

If there is an opportunity a rendez-vous could happen in the vicinity of Colorado, I would do everything I could to be there.

Bob, I'm only about 50 minutes drive or so from Fort Collins. Are you in the area anytime soon? Your old stomping ground RMNP isn't far away. It would be great to meet up for a day up there.

Bryce, have you always been this witty? I find myself chuckling time and again at your posts. Believe me, the Poultry Palace is deluxe and our ladies know it. Is it any wonder I can't afford a new camera? ;-) We are an old crew around here anymore and we used to have it hopping (over 40 laying hens)... now in that deluxe house, only 8 chickens and two geese roost, (even though geese don't really roost).

Nice film
Well if there are time lapses of clouds i really tend to ignore everything else, and you have clouds at so many places and in so many forms , its simply wonderful.
I am so new to videos that i cant comment on the ghosting that appears with the birds shot.

over all i like the video

Hi Vishal:
Thanks for the review. I also forgot to mention in your post that you used the slider effect really well!

Hi Keven and Trond:

Ghosting Take #2

Well I'm close but not quite? Her is a still grab from later on in the newly-processed pigeon clip that I thought took care of the ghosting. As you can see, it's still there, much less noticeable, but there. Is this something that should be expected since my camera wasn't trying to focus on them in the first place and they flew through the field of view in a split second? Or do I still have more processing work to do? Thanks for your thoughts and expertise, everyone!

It's certainly a ghost issue as the ghost image shows the birds wings in different positions unless they are not flapping their wings.

It's like the camera does one scan and then goes back to get the second scan after the birds have moved.

Shouldn't be happening if you're shooting progressive I would think.

I know there's something about my camera shoots interlaced and then does something to turn it to progressive footage but I've never really bothered to understand it.

Something weird is going on. You shouldn't have such bad ghosting going on. Glad it's getting better so at least we're making progress.

I am so new to videos that i cant comment on the ghosting that appears with the birds shot.



Hi Vishal: I'm happy to walk you through what we are discussing about ghosting issues in my video if you want to weigh in. It seems to be a post processing thing I'm doing when for the longest time I thought it was my camera! You might have the perfect solution to what I'm doing :)

Hi Kevin:

I so appreciate your insights. Going deep here, the only settings on my camera for shooting video is full HD, 1440 and Standard. I actually have no idea if it's shooting progressive or not. I set progressive at the stage of processing the raw TOD file.

Fire any ideas?

For grins I'll process the raw footage as interlaced to see what happens. If it works, then perhaps the deinterlacing can enter in at the final processing of the movie. (?)

Hey Cat,
Glad to hear you are getting closer to solving your ghosting issues. What camera is it you are using again?
As Trond had suggested, maybe uploading the clip of the birds to dropbox would allow a few of us to try some different things & help you work out what is going on.

Hi Bryce:

Will do. I'll post a link here when I have it uploaded. Who knew the worst shot in my entire video entry would become so... famous... infamous?

Thanks for your interest everyone. I sincerely appreciate the help.

Is it okay to say what camera I am using? I didn't want to give a bad rap on a brand that millions enjoy using. Also, the problems most like are in the post processing, but also keep in mind the camera shipped damaged and had to be returned for repair. Straight out of the box, trying to focus on a bird on a wire, the best I could do was get a double image where the wires were about a foot apart. Not a great start to a serious (for me anyway) investment.

I'm sure everyone here is more than happy to help out however we can Cat.
Would the camera be a JVC brand by any chance? I don't think there is anything wrong with most of the cameras around today, but you do need to know the camera well in order to get the best from it. Maybe there is something that you are missing that will make all the difference.
When you import your footage, how do you go about it? Do you follow a procedure recommended by the camera manufacturer, or simply pull the files off the card, or cameras drive directly to a folder on your computer? There maybe something special needed in how the footage is transferred??
Anyway, glad to help. At least i hope i can be of help!! :)
Bryce

And the focussing issue has been fixed for sure?

Cat, a very powerful piece of work, with excellent use of the commentary and rhythm, with though provoking images and music.
I liked the use of the timelapses to show the movement of the atmosphere, and the use graphics and music to provide tension.
Super!

Cat,

I shoot birds all the time as you know. Ghosting is always a problem. I have seen it in progressive and interlaced.
If your program has a place to turn off the resampling that will often solve the problem.

Even with interlaced I do that and I lower the play rate to 75% and I get clear proper wing beats.

It is also better to shoot at a slower shutter speed. I shoot 60 to 120 max for ariel footage.

Hi everyone --

A bit of catching up to do!

First, a bit more trial and I've seemed to hit something that works (for now). Digging into the manual I've learned that the camera films in i not p. I've also discovered that if I don't deinterlace on processing, it makes it much worse. Changing the codec again has helped a bit more.

Attachment 1 is the H264 version I thought did the trick at first but although vastly improved from my original version it still ghosts slightly.

Attachment 2 is an MP4 codec which seems to work.

Why this is I have no idea. The settings for both codecs are the same. I'm still uploading the raw TOD file to drop box (2 hours more), but I'm happy to cut it if you think I'm on the right track.

Now specifically:

Bryce: yes, you're right on every point. My camera is a JVC, and knowing my camera well is a big factor here. Digging up the manual has reminded me that there are manual settings I had forgotten to look into and will make a point to get more familiar with them before next challenge. Thanks for all the suggestions and willing to help in this!

Kevin: I think the focusing issues have been fixed. I use auto and manual focus interchangeably all the time and in some cases, I'm not overly thrilled with what I've been able to do in manual mode where no matter what I do it just doesn't seem to hone in. The camera? Maybe. Most likely it's me though. Not completely sure!

Paul: Thanks for the fun comments and I'm very glad you liked it!

Dale: I know all too well you shoot birds and a master you are at it. Thanks so much for weighing in your thoughts and I will look into and try out everything you suggest. I have no idea if I can turn off resampling but I'll try and find out. Perhaps inherently this was the difference between the H264 and MP4 codecs in post processing that made the difference? Thanks also for the shutter speed tip in how you shoot birds in the air. I have a lot to work on between now and next February!

Thanks you guys! I had no idea joining in on the UWOL forum would have such instrumental consequences! I feel so honored!