DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution

Andrew Hood · January 16th, 2014, 06:00 PM

Better late than never starting this - clearly I'm organised this time around.

I realised after uploading, the V.O. is fairly quiet, so you probably have to crank the volume up to hear anything. But it's mainly there to partly fill the silence - which would probably benefit from some music or sounds. But there's issues with sound for high bitrate video on Magic Lantern, and with shooting RAW. And I need to organise a library of usable music for video work. It's usullly the thing I run out of time to do properly.

I wasn't in it to win it, just wanted to finish one for once. Like usual, started out with bold plans that never came to fruition, but then thought it was a good chance to play around with the modified firmware 1% has been tinkering with (Tragic Lantern) as an offshoot of Magic Lantern. And there's lots of features I'm still figuring out. If you've got a Canon DSLR (550d up to 5d) it's worth checking out (regular Magic Lantern at least) - even just features like auto restart for recording can be invaluable at events - you lose about 1-2 seconds in between.

The kangaroos in the green grass area regularly visit that paddock in the 'middle' of town. but are still timid if you get within about 20m. The others on the outside of town (shots with yellower grass) are more wary, and bolt away readily. So the 3x zoom (1:1 cropped mode) was rather handy.

Hopefully some of the shots are interesting .. I was inspired to a point, I still need to find more.

Tim Lewis · January 16th, 2014, 06:45 PM

Hi Andrew

I trust you are keeping well away from the 43 uncontrolled fires still burning this morning in Victoria.

I liked your VO, especially more than mine! I found the level to be OK, but I know I had to pump mine up to get it where I wanted it. The shots were interesting, but I felt they lacked a little bit of story to hold them together. The VO was a good linking device as an alternative, but both together would have been stronger.

It was also informative to hear about some of the aspects of DSLR video, which I do not do at all.

I don't know what program you are editing your video on, but I am an Apple user and use either Final Cut Express or iMovie. I have organised all my soundtrack music, sound effects and foley into three smart playlists in iTunes so I know where to find things. I find this very helpful when searching for music etc.

Lorinda Norton · January 16th, 2014, 07:43 PM

Proof that audio is 70% of what you see. I found your words inspiring, particularly at the end when you mentioned you had lost your inspiration and that 2014 may be the year to find it again. Love that! But you primed the pump with some great images. You can't go wrong, especially with someone from Idaho, with fab footage of kangaroos!! Thanks, Andrew. Hoping to see more of your work throughout the year!

Dick Mays · January 18th, 2014, 09:57 AM

Andrew,

I hope 2014 is the year we both recover our inspiration. I can identify with that feelings. I liked your video, but wasn't clear about what camera feature was being demoed. Liked to have seen back to back shots with standard and raw mode labeled, but perhaps the difference is lost in online compression.

I played with magic lantern myself, what is tragic lantern? I would feel more nervous about loading tragic lantern over magic lantern, just with the name. Is A/B focus pull now part of the firmware? If so, I got to get it and try it again.

I found this very inspirational, as it will actually get me doing something again with this firmware.

Dick

Trond Saetre · January 20th, 2014, 10:34 AM

Hi Andrew,

This was nice to watch!
Really easy to understand your VO.
As already mentioned, some side by side comparisons of raw and "regular" would have been cool.

I'll send some inspiration down south to you, and I look forward to see your future films.
Well done!

Andrew Hood · January 20th, 2014, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the comments. I think the main drawback was that there was little coherent flow, and the shots are vaguely organised. I should have been more systematic, and then I could directly compare.

Which shots were which? The first Moon shot was in RAW, then all the shots following (2nd Moon shot to the end of where the kangaroos are in green grass [2:44]) are in H.264. Then the following roo shots and final Moon shot was RAW. The Moon was easy to shoot 'full res' (~1792x1008 - only 5D III can do 1920x1080) in RAW with the reduced framerate (2-5fps), but the kangaroos were filmed to 960x540 so the buffer wouldn't fill too quickly and stop recording at 25fps.

Tragic Lantern is a fork (a test-bed for experimental features) of Magic Lantern. It has the newer RAW features that 1% is working on. Some of the features will make their way into the next version of ML.

There's a general guide to getting started with RAW here: RAW video & ML -- Beginners Guide, FAQ & Useful Links -- READ FIRST

And a guide for rack focusing: How to Rack Focus with Magic Lantern | DSLR Video College

I barely scratched the surface really, and still have a lot to learn. Things like histograms and focus peaking can really help when eye-balling it on the LCD can get you into trouble later. Maybe I'll learn something new each time I do another entry.

January 16th, 2014, 06:00 PM	#1
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Better late than never starting this - clearly I'm organised this time around. I realised after uploading, the V.O. is fairly quiet, so you probably have to crank the volume up to hear anything. But it's mainly there to partly fill the silence - which would probably benefit from some music or sounds. But there's issues with sound for high bitrate video on Magic Lantern, and with shooting RAW. And I need to organise a library of usable music for video work. It's usullly the thing I run out of time to do properly. I wasn't in it to win it, just wanted to finish one for once. Like usual, started out with bold plans that never came to fruition, but then thought it was a good chance to play around with the modified firmware 1% has been tinkering with (Tragic Lantern) as an offshoot of Magic Lantern. And there's lots of features I'm still figuring out. If you've got a Canon DSLR (550d up to 5d) it's worth checking out (regular Magic Lantern at least) - even just features like auto restart for recording can be invaluable at events - you lose about 1-2 seconds in between. The kangaroos in the green grass area regularly visit that paddock in the 'middle' of town. but are still timid if you get within about 20m. The others on the outside of town (shots with yellower grass) are more wary, and bolt away readily. So the 3x zoom (1:1 cropped mode) was rather handy. Hopefully some of the shots are interesting .. I was inspired to a point, I still need to find more.

January 16th, 2014, 06:45 PM	#2
Tim Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Perth, Western Australia. Posts: 591	Re: DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Hi Andrew I trust you are keeping well away from the 43 uncontrolled fires still burning this morning in Victoria. I liked your VO, especially more than mine! I found the level to be OK, but I know I had to pump mine up to get it where I wanted it. The shots were interesting, but I felt they lacked a little bit of story to hold them together. The VO was a good linking device as an alternative, but both together would have been stronger. It was also informative to hear about some of the aspects of DSLR video, which I do not do at all. I don't know what program you are editing your video on, but I am an Apple user and use either Final Cut Express or iMovie. I have organised all my soundtrack music, sound effects and foley into three smart playlists in iTunes so I know where to find things. I find this very helpful when searching for music etc. __________________ Cheers Tim

January 16th, 2014, 07:43 PM	#3
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Re: DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Proof that audio is 70% of what you see. I found your words inspiring, particularly at the end when you mentioned you had lost your inspiration and that 2014 may be the year to find it again. Love that! But you primed the pump with some great images. You can't go wrong, especially with someone from Idaho, with fab footage of kangaroos!! Thanks, Andrew. Hoping to see more of your work throughout the year! __________________ Lorinda

January 18th, 2014, 09:57 AM	#4
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	Re: DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Andrew, I hope 2014 is the year we both recover our inspiration. I can identify with that feelings. I liked your video, but wasn't clear about what camera feature was being demoed. Liked to have seen back to back shots with standard and raw mode labeled, but perhaps the difference is lost in online compression. I played with magic lantern myself, what is tragic lantern? I would feel more nervous about loading tragic lantern over magic lantern, just with the name. Is A/B focus pull now part of the firmware? If so, I got to get it and try it again. I found this very inspirational, as it will actually get me doing something again with this firmware. Dick

January 20th, 2014, 10:34 AM	#5
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Hi Andrew, This was nice to watch! Really easy to understand your VO. As already mentioned, some side by side comparisons of raw and "regular" would have been cool. I'll send some inspiration down south to you, and I look forward to see your future films. Well done!

January 20th, 2014, 08:31 PM	#6
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Re: DVC/UWOL 2013 - Resolution - Andrew Hood Thanks for the comments. I think the main drawback was that there was little coherent flow, and the shots are vaguely organised. I should have been more systematic, and then I could directly compare. Which shots were which? The first Moon shot was in RAW, then all the shots following (2nd Moon shot to the end of where the kangaroos are in green grass [2:44]) are in H.264. Then the following roo shots and final Moon shot was RAW. The Moon was easy to shoot 'full res' (~1792x1008 - only 5D III can do 1920x1080) in RAW with the reduced framerate (2-5fps), but the kangaroos were filmed to 960x540 so the buffer wouldn't fill too quickly and stop recording at 25fps. Tragic Lantern is a fork (a test-bed for experimental features) of Magic Lantern. It has the newer RAW features that 1% is working on. Some of the features will make their way into the next version of ML. There's a general guide to getting started with RAW here: RAW video & ML -- Beginners Guide, FAQ & Useful Links -- READ FIRST And a guide for rack focusing: How to Rack Focus with Magic Lantern \| DSLR Video College I barely scratched the surface really, and still have a lot to learn. Things like histograms and focus peaking can really help when eye-balling it on the LCD can get you into trouble later. Maybe I'll learn something new each time I do another entry.