Smooth Slow motion shots with GL2???

Jim Rog · November 25th, 2005, 10:28 PM

Hello

What good plug-ins are available for vegas or stand alone that can give very good slow motion?

Thanks

Ben Winter · November 26th, 2005, 12:18 AM

MotionPerfect by Dynapel.

Go to my site, and watch the "One Headlight" music video. I used MotionPerfect for a good 80% of that film.

Be sure to film at high shutter speeds to avoid motion blur, which can be icky when slow-motioning(sp?). I filmed on a sunny day at 1/15000 which is the highest shutter speed the GL2 goes at--but you need a lot of light for that to work.

www.dynapel.com

Jim Rog · November 26th, 2005, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben Winter

MotionPerfect by Dynapel.

Go to my site, and watch the "One Headlight" music video. I used MotionPerfect for a good 80% of that film.

Be sure to film at high shutter speeds to avoid motion blur, which can be icky when slow-motioning(sp?). I filmed on a sunny day at 1/15000 which is the highest shutter speed the GL2 goes at--but you need a lot of light for that to work.

www.dynapel.com

was this a plugin you used? what program?

Cameron Jeong · March 1st, 2006, 01:01 AM

I have just recently had time to have a play around with doing slow motion in premiere. Make sure your footage is interlaced. Also, this is for Premiere Pro 1.5.

I should warn you its a very time consuming process, however the results are pretty much perfect, no flickering or ghosting.

Create a new sequence.

Select your video clip and place it on the "Video 2" track. Reduce the speed to 50%, and deinterlace it. Make sure, "Frame Blending" is not selected. We'll call this "Clip A".

Copy this clip onto the "Video 1" track. We'll call this "Clip B".

You should now have two identical clips.

Now, right click on "Clip B" and select "Field Options". Select "Reverse Field Dominance". Click "Ok".

Before you continue on, if you intend to keep the Audio from these clips, you must "Split" it from the Video. You can delete one of these Audio tracks, as they will both be the same. You can now "Lock" this audio track.

You should now have Two Video Clips on Video Tracks 1 and 2, and One Audio Clip on either Audio Track 1 or 2 (this track should be locked).

Now here's the time consuming part. You need to make a Trim on every single frame. The easiest way would be to use the keyboard shortcuts for "Avid", so you will need to change your settings to this.

Select "Edit", "Keyboard Customization" then use the drop down menu to select "Avid Express".

Now, go back to your Time line, and Scrub to the begining of the Sequence.

Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key.
Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key.
Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key.

Continue this process until you have reached the end of the clip.

Now that you have "Trims" on every frame you can now go through and delete alternate frames on "Video Track 2".

Delete the very first frame and delete every second frame from there, all the way to the end of the clip.

Once completed, you should now be able to play the sequence back and you will have smooth slow motion.

You can now drop this Sequence into another Sequence where the slow motion clip is required. Also if you want to slow it down even more, you can adjust the speed on the Sequence, however reducing the speed too much will cause slight jerkiness.

EDIT:
I have also just tested slowing down the sequence by 50% and applying the Twixtor plug in (with some tweaking), the result is very smooth slow motion, 200% slower than the original clip.

I hope this works for you all.

Let me know how it goes.

Leonardo Silva Jr. · March 1st, 2006, 02:50 AM

Thanks Cameron for this very well written piece. I would just like some clarifications on the "time consuming" part. Do I have to apply the trim on clip A (vid track 2) or clip B (vid track 1) ?

Also, I will scrub to the very first frame of the clip then press left then h?

I thought it would go like right then h then right then H...sorry for my ignorance just for clarification thanks again.

Cameron Jeong · March 1st, 2006, 08:28 AM

Haha you're right I do mean "Right". I'll fix that.

You should be making trims to the clip on VIDEO TRACK 2. As this is the track that you will be deleting frames from.

However when using the keyboard shortcuts, the trims are made to both tracks. This doesn't matter.

Kevin Shaw · March 1st, 2006, 10:29 AM

As long as we're resurrecting an old topic, isn't it now the case that you can shoot "real" slow motion footage using the Panasonic HVX200 in various combinations of recording and playback frame rates?

Cameron Jeong · March 1st, 2006, 10:08 PM

Yes, but for those who don't want to fork out $6000 for a new camera (just for the slow motion capabilities), I'm sure this is the obvious answer.

Dave Ferdinand · March 2nd, 2006, 08:34 PM

Okay, so I decided to use Cameron's technique for a 5 second clip.

It was shot with the GL2 (obviously) using 60i and output to 24 fps. IMO it looks really nice and smooth.

I used PPro 1.5 and here's the Quicktime file:

http://www.geocities.com/headlesspup..._slomo_24p.zip

John Wheeler · March 2nd, 2006, 09:44 PM

i am so in love with slow motion. saving up for the pana hvx200 ...anyway ...did this quickly and easily with the xl2 ..60i ....took the footage into vegas ...slowed the playback rate to .250 and selected "smart resample" .....no saying it's great slowmotion ..but it's easy ..and decent

www.elpez.com/slowmo2.wmv

Xavier Etown · March 2nd, 2006, 10:38 PM

John, that was a very nice slow-mo clip. What were your camera settings, like shutter?

Here's Barry's Green advice for shooting/NLE settings:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...t=glass-smooth

"Shooting 60i at 1/120th, and playing back at 50% speed, delivers glass-smooth slow motion, but with an overall softer image."

I think he did mention using "smart resample" in another post that I can't find at the moment.

John Wheeler · March 2nd, 2006, 11:30 PM

unfortunately i dont remember the shutter speed. The only setting i know for sure was 60i ...and i had the camera in auto mode

Alan Craven · March 3rd, 2006, 02:54 AM

John,

the quality of that is first rate! I just wish I could get results like that using Premiere Pro.

I believe Canopus have a small program for speed control available for free download. I tried this once, but i could not get it to recognise non-canopus files. This one has the advantage of being able to vary speed over the clip.

John Wheeler · March 3rd, 2006, 10:31 AM

alan. I know i tried this with premiere back in the day ..and it seemed to work just as good. Maybe it's just a settings issue? ...it's crucial that you use 60i ....other than that..i'm not sure what i had selected ...no special plug-ins or anything ..just stardard premiere 1.5 i believe

Alan Craven · March 3rd, 2006, 11:26 AM

Thanks John.

Maybe I had better give it another try - I have not tried it with Pro 1.5, I was still on 6.5 when I could not get it to work.

Do you mean by 60i that you had to use de-interlaced footage? As far as I recall, I did not de-interlace. I am in PAL land, so it would be 25fps for me, and thus 50i?

I have had a look on the Canopus site and it does not seem to be there any longer - I shall have to search my archived downloads. I believe you had to have a Canopus codec installed too, and there was another utility to enable you to view and use the finished file, I think?

November 26th, 2005, 12:18 AM	#32
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	MotionPerfect by Dynapel. Go to my site, and watch the "One Headlight" music video. I used MotionPerfect for a good 80% of that film. Be sure to film at high shutter speeds to avoid motion blur, which can be icky when slow-motioning(sp?). I filmed on a sunny day at 1/15000 which is the highest shutter speed the GL2 goes at--but you need a lot of light for that to work. www.dynapel.com __________________ BenWinter.com

March 1st, 2006, 01:01 AM	#34
Cameron Jeong New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6	I have just recently had time to have a play around with doing slow motion in premiere. Make sure your footage is interlaced. Also, this is for Premiere Pro 1.5. I should warn you its a very time consuming process, however the results are pretty much perfect, no flickering or ghosting. Create a new sequence. Select your video clip and place it on the "Video 2" track. Reduce the speed to 50%, and deinterlace it. Make sure, "Frame Blending" is not selected. We'll call this "Clip A". Copy this clip onto the "Video 1" track. We'll call this "Clip B". You should now have two identical clips. Now, right click on "Clip B" and select "Field Options". Select "Reverse Field Dominance". Click "Ok". Before you continue on, if you intend to keep the Audio from these clips, you must "Split" it from the Video. You can delete one of these Audio tracks, as they will both be the same. You can now "Lock" this audio track. You should now have Two Video Clips on Video Tracks 1 and 2, and One Audio Clip on either Audio Track 1 or 2 (this track should be locked). Now here's the time consuming part. You need to make a Trim on every single frame. The easiest way would be to use the keyboard shortcuts for "Avid", so you will need to change your settings to this. Select "Edit", "Keyboard Customization" then use the drop down menu to select "Avid Express". Now, go back to your Time line, and Scrub to the begining of the Sequence. Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key. Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key. Press the "Right" Arrow Key, then press the "H" Letter Key. Continue this process until you have reached the end of the clip. Now that you have "Trims" on every frame you can now go through and delete alternate frames on "Video Track 2". Delete the very first frame and delete every second frame from there, all the way to the end of the clip. Once completed, you should now be able to play the sequence back and you will have smooth slow motion. You can now drop this Sequence into another Sequence where the slow motion clip is required. Also if you want to slow it down even more, you can adjust the speed on the Sequence, however reducing the speed too much will cause slight jerkiness. EDIT: I have also just tested slowing down the sequence by 50% and applying the Twixtor plug in (with some tweaking), the result is very smooth slow motion, 200% slower than the original clip. I hope this works for you all. Let me know how it goes. Last edited by Cameron Jeong; March 1st, 2006 at 08:34 AM.

March 2nd, 2006, 08:34 PM	#39
Dave Ferdinand Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 359	Okay, so I decided to use Cameron's technique for a 5 second clip. It was shot with the GL2 (obviously) using 60i and output to 24 fps. IMO it looks really nice and smooth. I used PPro 1.5 and here's the Quicktime file: http://www.geocities.com/headlesspup..._slomo_24p.zip __________________ Do or do not, there is no try.

November 25th, 2005, 10:28 PM	#31
Jim Rog Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: PAL Zone Posts: 188	Hello What good plug-ins are available for vegas or stand alone that can give very good slow motion? Thanks

March 1st, 2006, 02:50 AM	#35
Leonardo Silva Jr. Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Manila, Philippines Posts: 124	Thanks Cameron for this very well written piece. I would just like some clarifications on the "time consuming" part. Do I have to apply the trim on clip A (vid track 2) or clip B (vid track 1) ? Also, I will scrub to the very first frame of the clip then press left then h? I thought it would go like right then h then right then H...sorry for my ignorance just for clarification thanks again.

March 1st, 2006, 08:28 AM	#36
Cameron Jeong New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6	Haha you're right I do mean "Right". I'll fix that. You should be making trims to the clip on VIDEO TRACK 2. As this is the track that you will be deleting frames from. However when using the keyboard shortcuts, the trims are made to both tracks. This doesn't matter.

March 1st, 2006, 10:29 AM	#37
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	As long as we're resurrecting an old topic, isn't it now the case that you can shoot "real" slow motion footage using the Panasonic HVX200 in various combinations of recording and playback frame rates?

March 1st, 2006, 10:08 PM	#38
Cameron Jeong New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6	Yes, but for those who don't want to fork out $6000 for a new camera (just for the slow motion capabilities), I'm sure this is the obvious answer.

March 2nd, 2006, 09:44 PM	#40
John Wheeler Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: San Antonio Texas Posts: 85	i am so in love with slow motion. saving up for the pana hvx200 ...anyway ...did this quickly and easily with the xl2 ..60i ....took the footage into vegas ...slowed the playback rate to .250 and selected "smart resample" .....no saying it's great slowmotion ..but it's easy ..and decent www.elpez.com/slowmo2.wmv

March 2nd, 2006, 10:38 PM	#41
Xavier Etown Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 71	John, that was a very nice slow-mo clip. What were your camera settings, like shutter? Here's Barry's Green advice for shooting/NLE settings: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...t=glass-smooth "Shooting 60i at 1/120th, and playing back at 50% speed, delivers glass-smooth slow motion, but with an overall softer image." I think he did mention using "smart resample" in another post that I can't find at the moment.

March 2nd, 2006, 11:30 PM	#42
John Wheeler Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: San Antonio Texas Posts: 85	unfortunately i dont remember the shutter speed. The only setting i know for sure was 60i ...and i had the camera in auto mode

March 3rd, 2006, 02:54 AM	#43
Alan Craven Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: York, England Posts: 518	John, the quality of that is first rate! I just wish I could get results like that using Premiere Pro. I believe Canopus have a small program for speed control available for free download. I tried this once, but i could not get it to recognise non-canopus files. This one has the advantage of being able to vary speed over the clip.

March 3rd, 2006, 10:31 AM	#44
John Wheeler Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: San Antonio Texas Posts: 85	alan. I know i tried this with premiere back in the day ..and it seemed to work just as good. Maybe it's just a settings issue? ...it's crucial that you use 60i ....other than that..i'm not sure what i had selected ...no special plug-ins or anything ..just stardard premiere 1.5 i believe

March 3rd, 2006, 11:26 AM	#45
Alan Craven Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: York, England Posts: 518	Thanks John. Maybe I had better give it another try - I have not tried it with Pro 1.5, I was still on 6.5 when I could not get it to work. Do you mean by 60i that you had to use de-interlaced footage? As far as I recall, I did not de-interlace. I am in PAL land, so it would be 25fps for me, and thus 50i? I have had a look on the Canopus site and it does not seem to be there any longer - I shall have to search my archived downloads. I believe you had to have a Canopus codec installed too, and there was another utility to enable you to view and use the finished file, I think?