Shoot w/two FX1's at DVinfo.net

Nate Weaver · January 30th, 2005, 11:59 PM

After shooting with two FX1s last tuesday, I finally arrived at a rough cut late Friday night. I directed this, but I come from a film/camera dept. background, so I'm my own D.P. too.

For those who haven't seen my other posts, I'll let you all guess about the slow motion! Also, this is a rough cut. There's some dead spots in the first two sequences that I have to spruce up, so hold your directing commentary please :-)

Eric Gorski · January 31st, 2005, 12:37 AM

awesome. that footage looks tight. how about alittle info on the camera settings and lighting/filters used?
i'm guessing the slow mo is %50, achieved by deinterlacing and making each field a frame??

it could easily pass for film. especially at that resolution.. how does the footage hold up when viewed at full res? still as dynamic? or does it get into home video territory?

good stuff.
eric

Hayden Rivers · January 31st, 2005, 01:45 AM

"I'll let you guess about the slow motion!"

I found the post where he talked about doing slow motion here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38145

Pretty clever. Here's a snippet:

"2-I needed slow motion for this project. I decided to try (and then tested last week) shooting in 30i, and then slowing down and simultaneously downconverting in After Effects. The idea was to treat each HD field like an SD frame, thereby giving 60fps source material to work with."

Nate, give us more info. The slo-mo was great.

Ivan Hurtado · January 31st, 2005, 03:46 AM

Nate, great video!

And the slo-mo trick is amazing! I read how to do it but i have some problem understanding the meaning of the "simultaneous" downconverting procces. Maybe it´s because im still awake... And with some good sleep will get it.

Did you used the mini35? Im sorry to make so low questions... Im really tired. But the prime mission of this post was to congratulate you for your stupendous work and i think is done. Better questions after resting in bed for couple of hours.

Christopher C. Murphy · January 31st, 2005, 07:56 AM

Hey, thanks for posting Nate. Great job!

The one comment I have is that the footage overall looks a little dark. Was this on purpose? Was it done in post? How did you light it???

I'm flying out to LA on Friday, so if you're up for a beer let me know!

Thanks again!

Darrell Essex · January 31st, 2005, 11:02 AM

Nate Weaver, any chance you could post the video at full rez somewhere?
would love to see it at 1920x1080.
or how about a short m2t file?

Nate Weaver · January 31st, 2005, 07:14 PM

Thanks for all the compliments, everybody. It's very cool to hear kind words.

So I shot all the slow motion stuff in 30i, and simultaneously slowed down and downconverted to DV in After Effects. I originally did the slow down by applying time stretch (40%), but AE was having problems doing this for a whole 40 minute tape. In the end I used the conform fps feature in the Interpret Footage dialog (12fps).

My comps in AE were 23.98fps, which I then added pulldown to in the render stage. Going from 60 fields to 24 frames allowed for a 2.5x slowdown.

All band performance was CF30, and was stright downconverted to 29.97 DV. I edited in FCP in DV sequences. All color correction was also in FCP, along with the vignette effect.

The web version is too dark and too saturated...on NTSC it looks much better. This is the first video I've done where I think I'll have to make a custom colored version for web.

I only lit the band for the performance...no lighting for the running/hearse shots. I had 1 1.2K HMI, and 2 4bank Kinos...and my lighting scheme only started to look good as the sun was going down. Instruments like that are no match for mid-day sunlight.

Also, for the one person who asked, there is no HD version of this, mainly because I don't need one. I used the FX1 for the extra resolution after downconvert, and for the field/frame slow motion trick.

Simon Wyndham · February 2nd, 2005, 04:45 AM

Nate, that was a fantastic video. An extremely good example of a simple concept brilliantly executed.

Could you tell us how long it took to shoot? You US guys are so far ahead of the UK for these types of music videos.

Jeff Parker · February 2nd, 2005, 09:05 AM

Hey there neighbor... Cool stuff. Like it! Love the location too. Is that over off of Santa Fe and about 6th st.?

Joel Corral · February 2nd, 2005, 11:56 AM

that was sick! man you did a great job. how did you avoid any motion blur? because thats one major setback of the HDR-FX1. i saw none in the video.

joel

Nate Weaver · February 2nd, 2005, 02:47 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Simon Wyndham : Nate, that was a fantastic video. An extremely good example of a simple concept brilliantly executed.

Could you tell us how long it took to shoot?-->>>

Thanks. It was a one day shoot, first shot at about 8am and last at about 5:30pm

Nate Weaver · February 2nd, 2005, 02:50 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Parker : Hey there neighbor... Cool stuff. Like it! Love the location too. Is that over off of Santa Fe and about 6th st.? -->>>

Somewhere around there. I think somebody said we were under the 6th street bridge, on the east side. Somebody else scouted it for me, so I didn't get too familiar.

Nate Weaver · February 2nd, 2005, 02:57 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Joel Corral : that was sick! man you did a great job. how did you avoid any motion blur? because thats one major setback of the HDR-FX1. i saw none in the video.

joel -->>>

Well, if anything the way I slowed down the video would have accentuated any MPEG-2 motion blur...you're seeing each field for a longer period of time. I see the MPEG blur, but it's not BAD. Not a show stopper to me, unlike some folks. Or put another way, I prefer to see the glass as half-full.

Anyway, all I did was shoot a 120th shutter on the slow-mo stuff. The idea was to replicate the shutter speed a film camera would have had if you were shooting film at 60fps.

Joel Corral · February 2nd, 2005, 03:12 PM

120th thats good to know, your the second guy who has talked about shooting in 120th. i'll try that next time i am shooting some surf footage with my HDR-FX1.

thanks,

joel

Nate Weaver · February 2nd, 2005, 03:19 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Joel Corral : 120th thats good to know, your the second guy who has talked about shooting in 120th. i'll try that next time i am shooting some surf footage with my HDR-FX1.
-->>>

No no, don't be shooting normal footage in 120th just to counteract the MPEG motion blur. The 120th shutter will impart a whole 'nother look to it that won't be normal.

That is, unless you're going slo-mo with it.

I had an inexperienced cameraman on Warped tour that shot the whole summer using shutter speed to control exposure. I just about killed him when he got back and I saw the footage, because most of it was handheld and the greater than 1/50th shutter speed made all his stuff very hard to watch in some spots.

January 30th, 2005, 11:59 PM	#1
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	Shoot w/two FX1's After shooting with two FX1s last tuesday, I finally arrived at a rough cut late Friday night. I directed this, but I come from a film/camera dept. background, so I'm my own D.P. too. For those who haven't seen my other posts, I'll let you all guess about the slow motion! Also, this is a rough cut. There's some dead spots in the first two sequences that I have to spruce up, so hold your directing commentary please :-)

January 31st, 2005, 03:46 AM	#4
Ivan Hurtado Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Granada, Spain Posts: 75	Nate, great video! And the slo-mo trick is amazing! I read how to do it but i have some problem understanding the meaning of the "simultaneous" downconverting procces. Maybe it´s because im still awake... And with some good sleep will get it. Did you used the mini35? Im sorry to make so low questions... Im really tired. But the prime mission of this post was to congratulate you for your stupendous work and i think is done. Better questions after resting in bed for couple of hours. __________________ IvI

January 31st, 2005, 07:56 AM	#5
Christopher C. Murphy Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,707	Hey, thanks for posting Nate. Great job! The one comment I have is that the footage overall looks a little dark. Was this on purpose? Was it done in post? How did you light it??? I'm flying out to LA on Friday, so if you're up for a beer let me know! Thanks again! __________________ Christopher C. Murphy Director, Producer, Writer

January 31st, 2005, 11:02 AM	#6
Darrell Essex Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: kelseyville, ca Posts: 123	Nate Weaver, any chance you could post the video at full rez somewhere? would love to see it at 1920x1080. or how about a short m2t file? __________________ darrell

February 2nd, 2005, 09:05 AM	#9
Jeff Parker New Boot Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Los Angeles - California - United States Posts: 14	Another FX1 music video Hey there neighbor... Cool stuff. Like it! Love the location too. Is that over off of Santa Fe and about 6th st.? __________________ Jeff Parker Motion Synonymous To Thought stickandmove.org

January 31st, 2005, 12:37 AM	#2
Eric Gorski Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Western Oregon Posts: 138	awesome. that footage looks tight. how about alittle info on the camera settings and lighting/filters used? i'm guessing the slow mo is %50, achieved by deinterlacing and making each field a frame?? it could easily pass for film. especially at that resolution.. how does the footage hold up when viewed at full res? still as dynamic? or does it get into home video territory? good stuff. eric

January 31st, 2005, 01:45 AM	#3
Hayden Rivers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 53	"I'll let you guess about the slow motion!" I found the post where he talked about doing slow motion here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38145 Pretty clever. Here's a snippet: "2-I needed slow motion for this project. I decided to try (and then tested last week) shooting in 30i, and then slowing down and simultaneously downconverting in After Effects. The idea was to treat each HD field like an SD frame, thereby giving 60fps source material to work with." Nate, give us more info. The slo-mo was great.

January 31st, 2005, 07:14 PM	#7
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	Thanks for all the compliments, everybody. It's very cool to hear kind words. So I shot all the slow motion stuff in 30i, and simultaneously slowed down and downconverted to DV in After Effects. I originally did the slow down by applying time stretch (40%), but AE was having problems doing this for a whole 40 minute tape. In the end I used the conform fps feature in the Interpret Footage dialog (12fps). My comps in AE were 23.98fps, which I then added pulldown to in the render stage. Going from 60 fields to 24 frames allowed for a 2.5x slowdown. All band performance was CF30, and was stright downconverted to 29.97 DV. I edited in FCP in DV sequences. All color correction was also in FCP, along with the vignette effect. The web version is too dark and too saturated...on NTSC it looks much better. This is the first video I've done where I think I'll have to make a custom colored version for web. I only lit the band for the performance...no lighting for the running/hearse shots. I had 1 1.2K HMI, and 2 4bank Kinos...and my lighting scheme only started to look good as the sun was going down. Instruments like that are no match for mid-day sunlight. Also, for the one person who asked, there is no HD version of this, mainly because I don't need one. I used the FX1 for the extra resolution after downconvert, and for the field/frame slow motion trick.

February 2nd, 2005, 04:45 AM	#8
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Nate, that was a fantastic video. An extremely good example of a simple concept brilliantly executed. Could you tell us how long it took to shoot? You US guys are so far ahead of the UK for these types of music videos.

February 2nd, 2005, 11:56 AM	#10
Joel Corral Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brea, CA Posts: 356	that was sick! man you did a great job. how did you avoid any motion blur? because thats one major setback of the HDR-FX1. i saw none in the video. joel

February 2nd, 2005, 02:47 PM	#11
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	<<<-- Originally posted by Simon Wyndham : Nate, that was a fantastic video. An extremely good example of a simple concept brilliantly executed. Could you tell us how long it took to shoot?-->>> Thanks. It was a one day shoot, first shot at about 8am and last at about 5:30pm

February 2nd, 2005, 02:50 PM	#12
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	Re: Another FX1 music video <<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Parker : Hey there neighbor... Cool stuff. Like it! Love the location too. Is that over off of Santa Fe and about 6th st.? -->>> Somewhere around there. I think somebody said we were under the 6th street bridge, on the east side. Somebody else scouted it for me, so I didn't get too familiar.

February 2nd, 2005, 02:57 PM	#13
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	<<<-- Originally posted by Joel Corral : that was sick! man you did a great job. how did you avoid any motion blur? because thats one major setback of the HDR-FX1. i saw none in the video. joel -->>> Well, if anything the way I slowed down the video would have accentuated any MPEG-2 motion blur...you're seeing each field for a longer period of time. I see the MPEG blur, but it's not BAD. Not a show stopper to me, unlike some folks. Or put another way, I prefer to see the glass as half-full. Anyway, all I did was shoot a 120th shutter on the slow-mo stuff. The idea was to replicate the shutter speed a film camera would have had if you were shooting film at 60fps.

February 2nd, 2005, 03:12 PM	#14
Joel Corral Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brea, CA Posts: 356	120th thats good to know, your the second guy who has talked about shooting in 120th. i'll try that next time i am shooting some surf footage with my HDR-FX1. thanks, joel

February 2nd, 2005, 03:19 PM	#15
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	<<<-- Originally posted by Joel Corral : 120th thats good to know, your the second guy who has talked about shooting in 120th. i'll try that next time i am shooting some surf footage with my HDR-FX1. -->>> No no, don't be shooting normal footage in 120th just to counteract the MPEG motion blur. The 120th shutter will impart a whole 'nother look to it that won't be normal. That is, unless you're going slo-mo with it. I had an inexperienced cameraman on Warped tour that shot the whole summer using shutter speed to control exposure. I just about killed him when he got back and I saw the footage, because most of it was handheld and the greater than 1/50th shutter speed made all his stuff very hard to watch in some spots.