Slow motion

[Ian Stark]

Hi all,

I want to record a (deliberately cheesy) clip of two people running along a beach, towards the camera, which I will then slow down in post to about 25% (in Vegas 7). I want to freeze the action at one point but retain a sharp image, ie no motion blur.

Can anyone please give me some pointers as to the optimal settings for the XL2 (PAL). The sequence will sit in among other sequences which have already been shot widescreen, 50i, shutter speed 50fps.

Thanks in advance.

Ian . . .

[Jarrod Whaley]

You're probably going to want to use something like Twixtor for after effects. There's really no way to get decent slo-mo out of this camera without heavy postprocessing because of the fact that your frame rate options are pretty limited.

The situation you're describing sounds kind of tricky to pull off, because some of the things you can do to get certain effects you describe will cancel out other things you can do or will otherwise make smooth slo-mo even harder to achieve. For example, you can eliminate motion blur by using a fast shutter speed, but it will make your slo-mo somewhat choppier. And since you're going to want to slow down to a still, you'd want to shoot progressive in order to avoid interlace "jumpies" when the motion stops. However, interlaced is the better way to go for slo-mo in general because you're getting more motion information.

I think you're probably going to have to compromise on quite a few things here.

[Ian Stark]

Many thanks Jarrod. I've read good things about Twixtor - I'll see if I can't get hold of a demo.

I am completely in agreement with you on all you say - I think compromise is the thing here. OR fifteen takes with different shutter speeds and 50i and 25p etc etc! The talent won't be smiling by the end of it!

Off topic, I own a postage stamp sized piece of land not far from you, in Lynchburg. I named my kids Jack and Daniel and my mum wrote to the president of a similarly named distillery to tell him what a fan I was of their product. They made me a Tennessee Squire, for what it's worth, and gave me the deeds to a piece of land. I did some work in Chattanooga a few years back but nobody bowed or doffed their hats to me. I was in disguise though, in case I was recognised . . .

Thanks again for your help, Jarrod.

Ian . . .

[Jarrod Whaley]

Several (or many) takes might be a good idea. You'll be able to compare things and see what works best. I hope it works out.

You're right, Lynchburg's less than an hour from here. :) It's a shame that there was no hat-doffing when you were here; we southern folks pride ourselves on being polite and amiable. I'm sure if you'd been wearing the insignia of your rank as Squire, things would have been different. :)

Anyway, good luck with the slo-mo shot.

[Ian Stark]

You know what, people don't even show me that kind of respect in my own country so please, no need to apologise! ;-))

[Jarrod Whaley]

Oh, make no mistake, we don't show each other that respect as often as we show it to outsiders (yankees excepted unless they submit to the maxim that iced tea must be sweet). :)

[Roger Rosales]

Ian, check out this tutorial on slow-mo. It's pretty cool and might offer some good alternative to doing the slow mow.

When you're done, show us the clip !

http://rarevision.com/articles/slow_motion.php#