dance club settings

[Craig Chartier]

I will be shooting a promo of a dance club. lots of people, and several high-end techno lighting fixtures. etc. I am shooting with the XL-2 over the H1 due to the XL2's better low light abilities. Has anyone done simalar shooting? and what can I get away with on the gain?? I'll have an on board led litepanel or a Kino ring light. any thoughts on what to exspect. thanks

[Chris Hurd]

In my experience, a shutter speed of 1/30th with a gain of +12db is surprisingly clean. Test drive it first if you can though.

[Kevin Calumpit]

I think with the on camera light your gonna get people squinting if they look towards the camera......that would be my only concern......cant you just tell the club owner to turn on the lights????? lol

[Jason Varner]

If you're shooting a promo of a dance club and not dancers I'd lose the litepanel. When you expose for the people in front of the camera you're going to lose the background and give it a news footage look. It will also take away from the impact of the movers as they cross the bodies of the dancers. If you have it bring it but it might be an unnecessary rental. Then again it might just save someone from an embarrassing moment "Geez you looked a lot diffferent last night"

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Craig Chartier

I will be shooting a promo of a dance club. lots of people, and several high-end techno lighting fixtures. etc. I am shooting with the XL-2 over the H1 due to the XL2's better low light abilities. Has anyone done simalar shooting? and what can I get away with on the gain?? I'll have an on board led litepanel or a Kino ring light. any thoughts on what to exspect. thanks

Craig,

During a few moments of shooting behind the scenes at the Texas HD Shootout, Pete Bauer with XLH1/stock lens and I with XL2/16X manual did a side by side comparison of a low light scenario. Despite all the claims to the contrary, the XLH1 was actually giving a brighter image than the XL2 with both set to the same shot framing, f/stop, shutter, and gain values.

I have used the XL2 in a club environment. I like to use a small wattage on camera light as a 'kicker'. You should white balance to 3200K since club lighting is gelled tungsten and you want the same coloration the lights provide.

Another good tip that I read somewhere about shooting the dancers. Don't walk up and point at their face when turning on the camera light. Start rolling and turn on the light with camera pointed downwards and slowly pan up to face level. This tends to not startle people and gives them a bit of warning.

-gb-

[Craig Chartier]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Craig,

During a few moments of shooting behind the scenes at the Texas HD Shootout, Pete Bauer with XLH1/stock lens and I with XL2/16X manual did a side by side comparison of a low light scenario. Despite all the claims to the contrary, the XLH1 was actually giving a brighter image than the XL2 with both set to the same shot framing, f/stop, shutter, and gain values.


-gb-

Was ths watching playback of both tapes or off the imager? The "dancing" I've seen on the H1 when viewing playback of black areas shows quite a bit of artifacting. By dancing I mean watching the camera try and handle ( compress and uncompress) solid black shadow areas. Thanks for all of this input. I've got some testing to do ;)

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Craig Chartier

Was ths watching playback of both tapes or off the imager? The "dancing" I've seen on the H1 when viewing playback of black areas shows quite a bit of artifacting. By dancing I mean watching the camera try and handle ( compress and uncompress) solid black shadow areas. Thanks for all of this input. I've got some testing to do ;)

Not from tape...we were looking at each camera's viewfinder. Doesn't the H1 do SD as well as HDV? If you are ok with using the XL2, maybe the H1 in SD will work out for you. Let us know how your testing works out.

-gb-

[Wajahat Abbasi]

i know this is a old theard , but i am going to be shooting in the same kind of situation and thought ill just post my question here...i am very new to the professional video filming and this might be a very newbie question for many of you...

i will be shooting at a night club in few days with my Canon XL2 where a band is preforming (with night clubs low lighting) , later ill be shooting people dancing on the dance floor again with same kind of ligting, also i wont be on a tripod, which means ill be moving constantly. in between we will interview people taking them outside of the club (due to to loud noise inside). interview would be 2 to 4 question from random people, like that the think about the club and band etc, i will have the camera on a Glidecam.

my question is what mode (with what setting) should i shoot in? 1st for inside the club with low lights..... i want a film look but every time i tried any thing with 24p i always get a "jerky" video frama, so am scared to go 24p (i left every thing on Auto)...

should i go 24p or 30 p? with what settings?

also when i go outside the club (with most likely street lights ) should i be switching persets to some thing else for a better look?

i was also thinking i will try Blue Barn Pictures presets manager with Custom Preset files tonight...

any help would be great ...

[Jonathan Kirsch]

Hi Wajahat...

I'd go with 30p...not as "jerky" (motion blurred) as 24p but still has that "film" feel. You might loose a stop or two of light, but it's worth it. There was a post here (I think...) for live concert settings (or do a Google search). Sorry I can't remember them or I'd post here.

As for the interviews, before you get started, white balance outside, save that as a preset, then white balance inside with one of the dance lights as "white", and save that as another preset. Then just switch back and forth.

I agree with the previous threads about the on-camera light...doesn't capture the "dance-club" feel. But, the XL2 isn't the best in low-light conditions. Also, when you're moving around, keep the image stabilizer on...helps a lot, especially with the front-heavy 20x lens.

Let us know how it goes and what settings you used.

Jonathan

[Wajahat Abbasi]

Thanks jonathan ...i was thinking shooting with 3X Wide lense... to capture wider view...

would you suggest to with 20x ? why? also 3x dosnt have a image stabilizer

thanks

[Wajahat Abbasi]

Also for the dial .. do i leave it on A (auto) , Tv, Av, or M ???? when i am using a preset?

[Jonathan Kirsch]

I think only the 20x has the stabilizer (it's the only one I have ever used, so I could be wrong). The trade-off with the 3x, as you said, is you can get closer to the subject and still be able to see a lot around them, whereas the 20x doesn't have that wide angle (obviously).

Personally, I never use anything but manual mode. But I'm guessing any presets you create (whether it's a white balance preset or one of the three presets you can set in the camera's menu) will work on whichever setting you use (except auto...the green box), since Tv and Av have more to do with auto iris and shutter. Again, I could be wrong since I don't use those settings.

Good luck.

Jonathan

[Wajahat Abbasi]

ok so far this is what i am thinkng ...
to shoot inside the club

ill go with 3x lense ....30p... dial on M .... shutter speed of 1/30th with a gain of +12db and Custom Preset called lowlight.bbp

is that ok ??? should i worry about any other settings?

also what settings should i consider outside daytime (sunny/cloudy) and night.... to have the pretty good film look ?

[Jonathan Kirsch]

I'd say keep the shutter speed at 1/60th. That'll give you the better "film" look while on 30p. As far as the gain, you'll just have to see what it looks like when you are there.

Is there any way the owners of the club will let you come in a few nights beforehand to test everything out so there are no surprises?

Jonathan

[Wajahat Abbasi]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Kirsch

I'd say keep the shutter speed at 1/60th. That'll give you the better "film" look while on 30p. As far as the gain, you'll just have to see what it looks like when you are there.

Is there any way the owners of the club will let you come in a few nights beforehand to test everything out so there are no surprises?

Jonathan

gerat! but i should use the preset "low night"? correct ?

ill be going with the band who is playing in the club on tuesday and i wont have access to the location until then ....

what preset do u suggest for outside day (sunny/cloudy) and night shoots?? for the film look.... should i have any gain with day light? or left it to zero and what shutter speed?

thanks