First Time 24p settings?

[Darryn Carroll]

Hello all, I would like to shoot a project this weekend with a little more of that "cinema" feel. I understand its not as simple as setting my FX1000 to 24p, are there some other settings for this first time shooter in 24p? I will do some experimental shooting this week. Thanks all.

[Adam Gold]

You posted this in the HD1000 forum, but say you have the FX1000, which is more like a Z5 and will give you a pretty different picture. Can you confirm which cam you have? There's not much you can do in-cam with the HD1000 but a few things you can do with the FX.

That being said, you're always best off shooting 60i and doing all your pretty stuff in post.

The HD1000 doesn't do any form of progressive so I'm going to go ahead and assume you have the FX. The FX doesn't really do 24p. It's what they call 24psf, which is 24p converted to 60i for capture and editing. I've never used this format on my Z5s, so I can't comment on how it looks, but 24p isn't the secret to the cinema look.

I'd urge you to read the many other threads on what really does give you the film look. 24p only mimics the worst aspects of the film look. It's not the only thing or even the most important thing.

Nearly everything you want to do can be done in editing these days, even changing DoF (what the kids call bokeh).

But if you want to do some stuff in Cam, I'd go to manual shutter and fix my shutter speed at 30, and also use a very wide aperture (which will probably mean the use of ND filters beyond what the cam has internally) for the shallowest DoF possble. Don't use auto-exposure -- allow some parts of your frame to be too light or too dark as long as the key parts are exposed properly. Remember, auto exposure averages everything and they don't do that in Hollywood. (Speaking of Hollywood, do a search for posts by Charles Papert here at DVi and read everything he's ever written.)

I'd also try to lower my contrast by using CONTRAST ENHANCER (p.68) and set your PICTURE PROFILE to CINEMA (PP4). You can monkey around with the individual settings and create your own PP, but PP4 is a good start.

BTW, what they don't tell you in the GAMMA CURVE and COLOR MODE settings in the PP is that the difference between CINEMATONE 1 and CINEMATONE 2 is that one is for film negative and one is for film reversal. But I forget which is which and I doubt most people can tell the difference. You should experiment. I might also lower the SHARPNESS and SKIN DETAIL a bit.

But again nearly all of this can be done in post and that's how I recommend doing it. It's just me but even in my college days, I would argue with Directors who wanted to do all this stuff in-cam and I would always maintain that we should have the cleanest, most neutral, "accurate" image possible to start with and then we could do anything we wanted to later (and this was when we were all still shooting film and none of us had the great toys everyone has now to do all this stuff in post -- not even Spielberg). But you can't take salt out of a dish if you put too much in to start with. Sure, DPs win Oscars for putting a stocking over the lens but what happens if later you decide that doesn't work or some client or producer decides they don't want it that way?

And even after all this, how you light the set and how you move (or don't move) and frame the cam have more to do with it than anything else. Or not, depending upon who you listen to.

Experimenting is the key -- very good idea! Make sure you view raw tape directly from cam via HDMI on a good normal HDTV -- not a PC monitor -- before you judge the results.

Originally Posted by Darryn Carroll

C'mon Adam, I am a male, I don't read manuals or ask for directions :)

Ah, yes, now I remember! This is one time you may have to break your rules.... Take a look at the PICTURE PROFILE section beginning on p. 37, where they suggest you connect your cam to a TV, and fiddle with both the cam and the manual and see what you like. That's really the best way.

Your FX1000 is a remarkable cam and will give you an amazing picture if you just treat it right and take it out for a nice dinner on Friday. Maybe some flowers.

[Darryn Carroll]

Thank you Adam, sorry for posting in wrong category, I think I jumped the gun when I saw "1000'.

All great advice and as much as I will start messing around, I think I will take the good advice and shoot the way I always shoot since I only have one shot at my event next Saturday. Its event coverage of a charity run, but I am hoping to make it a little more like a documentary style so was looking for the more film look. I use Corel VideoStudio Pro X6 for editing which I know is a more consumer type product but I will take a look, google and read.

Oh, BTW, I did order a manual way back when we last spoke, I will break it out for some reading :)

[Adam Gold]

If you need the manual electronically, look no further:

Frank's thoughts on HDV - Documentation Index

Virtually every relevant manual ever is here.

From what I can tell, Corel Pro 6 may not have all the effects you need, but Ultimate might. If not, there are a ton of plug-ins available, most notably from NewBlue FX.

[Adam Gold]

Here's one of the many good threads I was thinking of:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/techniqu...ce-sticky.html

After all these years, the advice is still pretty solid.

Of course in reading it, I realized I goofed in the shutter speed recommendation above, and the one in the thread is correct.

There are many other good discussions on this topic in this subforum, so a quick browse or search will turn up a multitude of good ideas.