Shutter speed for slowmo at DVinfo.net

Tim Davison · August 25th, 2011, 08:41 AM

To assist with slow motion shooting is it advisable to really ramp up the shutter speed (to the highest number possible taking into account available light) when shooting at 60p?

Jon Fairhurst · August 25th, 2011, 10:41 AM

I don't know that it needs to be the fastest possible, but you want it to be fast enough to avoid motion blur. It's much easier for the software to estimate motion based on hard, well-defined edges than on soft edges. Soft edges include a mix of the background and foreground. Once the background and foreground are mixed, the software cant separate them and move them in different directions.

Justin Molush · August 25th, 2011, 12:16 PM

Whenever I shoot in 60p my shutter speed is in the range of 1/125 - 1/160th and its worked well.

Kelly Langerak · August 26th, 2011, 01:55 PM

My shutter is around 1600 / 60p. Works great for me. I then conform with Apple Cinema Tools to 30p and then bring it into Apple's Motion then back into FCP to slow it down. No special plugin needed and it looks amazing.

Jon Fairhurst · August 26th, 2011, 04:57 PM

It really depends on the scene. Lets say you are filming from a sidewalk with a 35mm lens as a couple walks down the opposite side of the street. 1/120 is probably fast enough. Now a car passes by near the camera. 1/1600 might be necessary to keep the car crisp. (Not to mention that the car will move so far between frames that the software might not handle it well.)

1/250 is probably adequate for moderate motion. If the motion too fast (as in the car case), a faster shutter will be needed to get sharp edges, but it might be moot if the software can't handle large displacement anyway.

1/1600 is fine though, if you have enough light. There's no such thing as too fast a shutter. They key is to get crisp edges on motion.

Phil Eldred · August 29th, 2011, 02:41 PM

I try to shoot at at least 1000 for anything im going to slow down, using Twixtor, 1000 at 60fps has produced some great results.

Justin Molush · August 29th, 2011, 03:19 PM

Everyones talk of using a really really high shutter got me thinking... I routinely use 1/160th for things I twixtor, but those also aren't things that go very quickly and I am usually shooting a wide lens...

Ill have to give this a go tonight.

Patrick Janka · August 30th, 2011, 10:13 AM

One of the problems of jacking the shutter speed too high is if you ramp from normal speed to slow mo and back. The slow section will look fine, but at normal speed it'll be all strobey.

Jon Fairhurst · August 30th, 2011, 01:36 PM

One way to counter that is to make it all super slowmo. When going back to normal speed, blend the frames to create artificial motion blur.

Charlton Chars · November 11th, 2011, 06:15 AM

Are you using Twixtor or some such software? Slow Motion plugins like to have higher shutter speeds to work with because there is less image blur, and thus, it's easier for the software to work.

August 25th, 2011, 08:41 AM	#1
Tim Davison Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: London, England Posts: 183	Shutter speed for slowmo To assist with slow motion shooting is it advisable to really ramp up the shutter speed (to the highest number possible taking into account available light) when shooting at 60p?

August 25th, 2011, 10:41 AM	#2
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo I don't know that it needs to be the fastest possible, but you want it to be fast enough to avoid motion blur. It's much easier for the software to estimate motion based on hard, well-defined edges than on soft edges. Soft edges include a mix of the background and foreground. Once the background and foreground are mixed, the software cant separate them and move them in different directions. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

August 25th, 2011, 12:16 PM	#3
Justin Molush Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 388	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo Whenever I shoot in 60p my shutter speed is in the range of 1/125 - 1/160th and its worked well.

August 26th, 2011, 01:55 PM	#4
Kelly Langerak Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area Posts: 522	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo My shutter is around 1600 / 60p. Works great for me. I then conform with Apple Cinema Tools to 30p and then bring it into Apple's Motion then back into FCP to slow it down. No special plugin needed and it looks amazing.

August 26th, 2011, 04:57 PM	#5
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo It really depends on the scene. Lets say you are filming from a sidewalk with a 35mm lens as a couple walks down the opposite side of the street. 1/120 is probably fast enough. Now a car passes by near the camera. 1/1600 might be necessary to keep the car crisp. (Not to mention that the car will move so far between frames that the software might not handle it well.) 1/250 is probably adequate for moderate motion. If the motion too fast (as in the car case), a faster shutter will be needed to get sharp edges, but it might be moot if the software can't handle large displacement anyway. 1/1600 is fine though, if you have enough light. There's no such thing as too fast a shutter. They key is to get crisp edges on motion. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

August 29th, 2011, 02:41 PM	#6
Phil Eldred Tourist Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Egg Harbor Township, NJ Posts: 3	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo I try to shoot at at least 1000 for anything im going to slow down, using Twixtor, 1000 at 60fps has produced some great results.

August 29th, 2011, 03:19 PM	#7
Justin Molush Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Montreal Posts: 388	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo Everyones talk of using a really really high shutter got me thinking... I routinely use 1/160th for things I twixtor, but those also aren't things that go very quickly and I am usually shooting a wide lens... Ill have to give this a go tonight.

August 30th, 2011, 10:13 AM	#8
Patrick Janka Major Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 623	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo One of the problems of jacking the shutter speed too high is if you ramp from normal speed to slow mo and back. The slow section will look fine, but at normal speed it'll be all strobey.

August 30th, 2011, 01:36 PM	#9
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo One way to counter that is to make it all super slowmo. When going back to normal speed, blend the frames to create artificial motion blur. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

November 11th, 2011, 06:15 AM	#10
Charlton Chars New Boot Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 23	Re: Shutter speed for slowmo Are you using Twixtor or some such software? Slow Motion plugins like to have higher shutter speeds to work with because there is less image blur, and thus, it's easier for the software to work.