I am currently working on a tutorial for this effect for fun. Have you considered having the person walking across the content. Most of the time when I talk to non film people they are more impressed with the video when the person is actually on top of content and then walks off. The key looks really good by the way :) The only add I can think of would be to use a shotgun mic to get rid of the lav mic to keep the clean look you have.

Hey Josh, thanks for the reply. I really think I'd need a cyc greenscreen to do someone walking. Just the static full-body shoot takes my whole 10'x20' muslin screen. Having to keep the talent a good 5' away from the screen (to avoid shadows) eats up most of the screen.

Have you seen any good tips (or sites) that deal with actual walking chroma keys? The "walk-on" vids I've seen lately by Rovion, etc. just pop-up, similar to mine. Some aren't even full-body.

If I get a bigger boom, I could sure hang my Rode hyper right down near the talent's head. That's a great idea.

Cheers,
Brian

I would love a tutorial on this. Anybody have one or know where I can find one?

Hopefully I will post one in the next week :p One thing to keep in mind is that you only need the area around the tallent to still be on the green screen. You can do a garbage mat around the non green screen bits to get rid of it. I did a very quick and dirty test yesterday using Ultra for the first time. Just filmed and keyed with a rinkled green screen. Will try and do a full body walk on with my 10'*15' screen next.

For fun you can check out the first time I tried to do a green screen with a bedsheet and some home depot lights and a GL2

http://www.simplethoughtproductions.com/2005/11/27/green-screen-chromakey/

This is my new short movie for test, it is called "Refuse".
I used 1080/25f , shutter 1/50, gain 0, preset n.18 (Panalook).
I recorded it in Turin town - Italy
Please, tell me all indications and toughts about it, thank you.

you could see iy here:

http://www.vimeo.com/460153

I don't get it, but that's probably because I don't understand what she said at the very end. lol. What did she say?

I get it, the tv only shows garbage. One big comment would be to not touch the zoom. Find your shot, hit record and then don't even think about zooming. Feels too cheesy.

Ok, Jerrod she said:"but it is (TV), that is stinking so bad!".
So the Steve's idea is true; thank you Steve for your comment; I'll try in the future.
Bye bye Luca Ghione

this is great, can we see next episode?

Hi all,

I have my XH-A1 for some time now but haven't had the time to shoot some more serious footage. Last week I finally took some time and shot some nature images in my backyard.

I used the CP17 preset in available light. It was shot at 4 pm-ish what resulted in some nice magic hour sunlight in some of the shots.
No adapter was used and no color correction.
I used an old photo tripod (waiting for a new one to arrive) which wasn't stable enough for some shots.

I rendered out 2 versions.
720p (38MB): http://www.binaryconcepts.nl/xha1/a_winter_day-720p.wmv

480p (15 MB): http://www.binaryconcepts.nl/xha1/a_winter_day-480p.wmv

I would appreciate your comments.

Regards, Andre.

Pretty nice. I would recommend trying to lock down your tripod more for when you do a rack focus, ore make use of the button on the side of the camera where it will do a rack focus at the touch of a button, either method still requires a locked down camera to prevent the shake that I saw. Overall very nice and relaxing. I would have preferred more shots with the sun on the leaves that created interesting shadows and really showed the frost melting. Good work :)

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the remarks.
Yes, as I don't have a follow focus unit yet, the rack focus was done manually and that shook the tripod. I had some more footage with rack focus action but those had really bad shake (it was cold and my hands started shaking...) so I had to leave them out.

In my next short I will definitely pay more attention to that.

Sounds good. I will be waiting for em.

Hey everyone. I'm really new to posting to The Digital Video Information Network forum. Please forgive me if I make a mistake :p

Just want to post a link to this site to show you my recent 'experimental music video', as taken with the Canon XH-A1. Backing music is by Boards of Canada - using "Dayvan Cowboy".

My aim in creating this short clip was to experiment with the zoom pre-sets, panning on the tripod, manual exposure control with f.stops, sticking to 1/50th shutter, and the CineGamma 2 setting. It was also a test to see how well my computer and Adobe Prem Pro 2 would with with HD footage.

I hope you like! I still only have under a month of experience with this camera under my belt, so I'd really like your own feedback, tips, comments. Yeah... Thanks very much :D

- Andrew

Vimeo link: http://www.vimeo.com/468432

(When playing this Vimeo video, hit (Full Screen) in the bottom right of the picture - this will play the video in High-Def. Alternatively, you may download the 147MB, 4min clip by clicking the link at the bottom right of the Vimeo page. HD video will download as high quality, 1280x720p MP4 video)

What a beautiful place! Just a personal preference, but the jerkyness of the pans and zooms were a little distracting for me in a place that seemed so peaceful, calm and idylic. Colors and sharpness of the picture were very nice.

Sweet, point taken.
Thank-you!

Just wanting to check, jerkyness as in the time-laspe sections inbetween the smooth pans/zooms? I understand that - yup.
I need to invest in a proper fluid-head tripod otherwise, for the general, real-time panning sections.

Thanks again Jim.

Andrew,

Nice job. I left some comments on you vimeo channel. I agree with Jim on the smoother pans but the handheld shots also helped give it an edgy look. Maybe a combo of both.

My brother is associated with a company that makes high performance radio controlled vehicles and we did a shoot together to show some rough bashing of his products. these are the first cuts put together, I've still got a long way to go with it, working on graphic titles and different transitions, also some of the shots in the video will not be used in the final. let me know what you think of it so far.

thanks!

http://www.vimeo.com/474972

It is not easy to film fast RC Cars. But if they are standing on place - use a tripod to film it. Unstable pictures never looks good.
Always try to go low with the camera and let the car comin into picture - not get out. Try to show really performance - not only flying and damages.
Look at my old "just for fun" video.
www.arkdelfina.neostrada.pl/emaxx.wmv

yeah i know what you mean. i used a tripod for a lot of the shots but unfortunately it was tripod meant for still cameras. so that made it quite difficult.

and i showed a lot of the speed shots and the damage because it's for my brothers company to see the limits of the cars and what they can/can't handle.

thanks for the comments.

My wife's 98-year-old grandmother died last week, and the funeral was Saturday. Because my father-in-law is ill, I took my A-1 so he could see his mother's ceremony by video.

No, this wasn't any cinematic triumph by any means -- I had just gotten the camera back from servicing by Canon and they default all the settings and I was so rushed I didn't set it up right, it's noisy, dark, blah blah blah.

BUT -- my two daughters learned their great-grandma's favorite song the night before the funeral and sang it, and I like watching them so much, I figured I might treat you guys to it, too:

http://www.mostlymagic.tv/as_time_goes_by.mov

(Pardon the forgotten lyrics of one of my girls, they had never heard of this song...!)

After the funeral, the guy from the mortuary asked me for my card and if I was available for other funerals. No, I don't do funerals for anyone other than a relative, but it made me think there must be a business in there for someone.

great lyrics and comp

How did you manage audio?

There was a mic, a PA system there, and I used a radio mic attachment to tap into their sound unit, via the headphones out, so sound came in pretty well.

Just got a second video up that can be viewed here:

http://www.vimeo.com/607291/

Was shot in the lounge of woxy.com on January 10th. It's a bit more straightforward than the first SCL video. Will eventually get the 720p HD and iPod versions on softcitylights.com

As always, would appreciate any feedback.

Working on these little projects is really getting me familiar with XH-A1 and I'm loving it more and more everyday.

Cheers!
Kevin

I am very VERY new to this but this was a wedding that we photographed a few days ago. We could not get on the stage at all, not allowed so had to make the best of what we had, and our main job was the photography, they at the last minute wanted some video.

www.kyserphoto.com/Highlights.mov

always open for ideas to make it better.
Denny

a couple clips from surfing a few days ago in RI. my local beach. cold and small but still quite fun. i only got a chance to shoot for about 5 minutes because i was in the water the rest of the time....

http://www.vimeo.com/613390

i hate uploading to video sites.... :-(

You surfed here in RI? Wow I didn`t know it was possible ;) How are you liking your A1? Not many locals use it or have used one.

You surfed here in RI? Wow I didn`t know it was possible ;) How are you liking your A1? Not many locals use it or have used one.

yeah RI is actually my true home, and a great place to surf if you know where and when to look. I'm just in Boston for school. still on break!

i love the A1, it's really a fantastic camera and i'm learning more and more with it everyday.

by locals, who are you referring to? local film makers?

I dont see a wire or mic, how did you get that audio voices?

Local anyone with cameras haha. I`m in Warwick, and finding not many people around here know about HDV, its all either lumped with HD and 'thats too expensive' or everyone is just shooting SD. At any rate, I'd gladly film your next surfing venture for some good old practice ;)

I had a shotgun mic and a lavalier mic on the groom, was in his inside coat pocket.

Clean little waves, looked like a fun day. Minus the wet suit. You won't catch me out in that cold water.

This is for my second short film Five Minutes Flat. Its only half filmed right now, so the fighting will be redone to look alot better. It was filmed using VIVIDRGB with i think the black increased.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1067853/five_minutes_flat_teaser_trailer/

Hi!

Cool action!
Sadly metacafe provides just a pretty bad picture quality - would you mind uploading it to vimeo.com? They are free and also support HD-vids.

With best regards,

Oliver

woah thanks for the tip. I`ll give it a shot

I just have the XH A1, so here's a little impression after one week playing. I used the music that Steven Dempsey also used for one of his clips from "The Village", not very original but it's just to try out the camera. The location is the place we were maried 10 years ago.
VividRGB, Tripod. No adapters. FCP 5.1.4. Quicktime plugin required.

http://www.wijdh.nl/page2/page2.html

Robert

Here's a song from one of the bands I filmed tonight, it's heavy, be prepared.

The lighting was awful in this basement, all I had was that one work light sitting on the cab in front. I guess you could call this my first low light test.

I had to shoot 30f, shutter was at 1/30, and aperture was at 1.6. I think I was using 0 db gain. Does this look as good as possible given the scenario? Or does someone sense there could have been more done to help the image?

Thanks!

Chris

aaaand here's the link:
http://students.oneonta.edu/nachcj44/bulldozer.mov

I found the position you were shooting from not ideal - both visually and light wise - the band was playing more towards the dark open area and that would have been a better place to be parked to get more of the 'front' of the band and give us more of an audience feel. This would have also avoided the worklight being so close to the camera blowing out the highlights on the guitar player

if the light had been positioned to cover more of the band - off to the side but more frontal (as opposed to direct side lighting) and your camera was positioned in the audience you might have had more to work with

the footage itself doesn't show much noise, if any, so I think the camera did as well as is to be expected in this situation

very pumped up group : )

trish

Yes they are always pumped, haha.

I wish that even one of your suggestions were possible that night, but unfortunately none were. There was no where for me to stand in the crowd, this was the most cramped basement I've ever seen. And also, all the amps and mixers were taking up all the outlets, the only one left was in that corner.

Sadly, what you see is the very best option I had!

Hi, I'm an amateur starting out. I've been playing with my xh a1 for about a year and will be shooting my first short this week inside, with the existing florescent lighting (and some spot and fill where its needed). I am wondering about any suggestions from folks about suggested camera settings for my horror/mystery as I see that many of you are jogging between 24f and 30f (30 appears to be nearly exactly like 60i except perhaps a bit softer?).

Also, if I shoot in 60i with highest settings, can I in post apply various film looks and still have great quality and blacks or is it better to shoot in 24f or 30f to achieve that softer film like look?

I just did some test shooting and the 60i, and 30f came in normally, the 24 came in as individual clips. I am feeling like "holy crap, now I got to figure out how to deal with these individual clips" before my deadline on Friday for a short film festival. Any feedback is welcomed. What to do what to do.

I use Sony Vegas Pro to edit in hdv.

Thank you

Tony in Duluth

If you are using Sony Vegas 8 you cannot capture 24F,, however you can capture 24F in Sony Vegas 7, I ran into the same problem but it does work great in Vegas 7, then just open that captured footage in Vegas 8 for you editing.

Hope that helps

Paul Cox

If you are using Sony Vegas 8 you cannot capture 24F,, however you can capture 24F in Sony Vegas 7, I ran into the same problem but it does work great in Vegas 7, then just open that captured footage in Vegas 8 for you editing.

Hope that helps

Paul Cox

Thanks I will try it.

Tony

Valentine's Day:

Came home from school with all my gear for an epic swell that hit New England. Newport, Rhode Island was firing all afternoon at a beautiful spot right in front of some of the most historic and beautiful mansions in the country.

waves were BIG with up to 15+ foot faces. water temperature was frigid around 40 degrees and the locals were all thinking of excuses to tell their sweat hearts for why they were MIA on valentine's day.....

enjoy:
http://www.vimeo.com/698184

Can't believe that's Rhode Island! Looks like Santa Cruz, except for the wet suits. What frame rate did you shoot it in?

Can't believe that's Rhode Island! Looks like Santa Cruz, except for the wet suits. What frame rate did you shoot it in?

yeah i know looks like Mavericks huh? i shot it all in 60i

Looks like great footage. Unfortunately Vimeo sometimes does not do it justice. It runs a bit choppy. But the editing and music works very well.

Looks like great footage. Unfortunately Vimeo sometimes does not do it justice. It runs a bit choppy. But the editing and music works very well.

thanks

Yeah I noticed Vimeo makes it choppy, which is quite annoying, but I think if you let it load all the way through and then watch it, this helps.

Saw some of the great things people were doing with B&W and decided to make something of my own.

All of the footage was shot the next day after I got my A1 so the settings were: 60i. Auto Shutter and Aperture. Factory Color Preset. Auto WB. Auto Gain. Handheld. OIS on.

1. Placed 60i footage into 24p Vegas timeline.
2. Slowed it down to anywhere from 80 to 30 percent of original speed.
3. Increased saturation and contrast.
4. Used Levels filter to crush blacks.
5. Added Film Effects filter. (Dust, Hair, and a few Scratches.)

Used the Sony AVC template for Render. 1280x720. 4mbps.


Uploaded to Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/710112


Any advice and critique is welcome. I am especially hesitant about the really high contrast of the piece. I know its probably much too high for most applications but I figured since this was more of an artistic piece...

Also, what do you guys think of the dust/hair/scratches? Should I keep them or take 'em out?