Lens Flair Problem

Just before last night's set, i grabbed my wa lens and i got finger print all over it. oil from hand gave me lens flair not matter how may time i used to lens clothese to clean it with solution. i wonder if there is a way to redue the look of flair, and / or if the flair is annoying to you (to me it is deathly annoying)

here is the video:

http://207.44.160.90/~admin8/testmedia/testfile.wmv

[Jeff Donald]

I don't find the flare objectionable at all. In fact I'm not sure how much is the result of the palm print. Any time you shoot directly into lights, flare will result. Your footage shows exactly what I would expect given the limitations of the stage, camera position etc.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Any time you shoot directly into lights, flare will result. Your footage shows exactly what I would expect given the limitations of the stage, camera position etc. -->>>

Hi,

So I did clean up the thig right. I thought it was weird because I used solution and freshly washed lens clothes to clean it twice. Front and back of the WA lens. But wait, when I took of WA angle lens, all the flair went away. Maybe I'll post the footage without WA lens? What would you say?

<<<--I don't find the flare objectionable at all. In fact I'm not sure how much is the result of the palm print. -->>>

That gave me piece of my mind. I thought I screwed up the whole show.

[Wayne Orr]

here is the video:

http://207.44.160.90/~admin8/testmedia/testfile.wmv -->>>

How the heck do you view the video? When I click on the link, all I get is the gibberish. Is there a way to download the file and open it in Windows Media?

I am on a iMac.

[Jeff Donald]

I'm on a Mac also. Either right click (if you have a two button mouse) or Control Click and Download to Target (Desktop?). If you need a player, I recommend Mplayer or VLC as players. Download and install from Version Tracker. Highlight the video file on your desktop and click Apple Key (Command) and I key. Click on Open With and choose the player you have just downloaded. Now any time you download that type file the player you choose will be the default for that format and the files will play with no problems.

I purposly encoded as window media *8* so mac user can watch it... I saw peopole ise wmv player for mac, so that might be something you need. Right click on it and save as.. would let you save the video on hdd (oh how partonazing for me to say that I am sorry. but I don't know how much you know about computer) Are you using wmv player for mac?

Jeff, do you have any idea when window media *9* will be compatible with mac? the codec are great. Want to use it.

[Jeff Donald]

Maybe never, maybe before the end of the year. Microsoft thumbed their nose at MPEG-4 so Apple is in no hurry to adopt Windows Media 9.

you know one of my class is taught by ex-Microsoft development manager for www.eshop.com first thing he said in the class was that it is good idea to steal from competitor whenver possible when it is legal to do so.

oh dear, what do i expect from ms. well they spent lots of money developing wmv 9 so maybe they deserves it. i mean audio codec avilable on qt is just so out of date and they never borther to do any sort of modificaiton on it

[David Mintzer]

Hey ANne--that flare looks great--has nothing to do with your finger print---just the angle of your lens to the light----good footage!

thanx david you just reduced the level of anxiety by 10 fold Yo

[Wayne Orr]

Thanks to Jeff for helping me with my major brain fart.

To Ms. Anne, your footage looks fine. That light is pointing directly into your lens, so if it bugs you, the solution is to move a couple of steps right or left. Of course, then there will probably be another light pointing in your lens. But I don't see any distortion as you mentioned in your other post. Looks like you are overexposed about a full stop, however. Notice the face of the lead singer at the microphone? Looks like his face is "clipping," that is, there is a loss of detail from overexposure. This is where you want to set exposure, on a face at the microphone. You can't be responsible for what the lighting people do everywhere, but we really want our lead singers to be correctly exposed. Did I say that? Check out the "Motown" style show on my website for an example of a pretty well done concert look. http://www.digitalprods.com/institutional.htm
I set a stop of 5.6 for all three PD150 cameras, and we never varied it for the entire show. Its up to the lighting people to keep the show "balanced."

Keep having fun. And work on the spelling thing. "Touched by a Wide Angel Conversion lens."

Could you please explain a bit about "stop" concept. I did noticed that the picture is over expsed, but ofthen LCD monitor lies and the last 4 show where I used custom color, custom exposure and so on, everything turned so awful when watched on computer screen... looked great on LCD.

[Wayne Orr]

OK, first two comments, Anne:
1. Everything looks great in an LCD screen. Unfortunately it is not accurate for setting the proper exposure (your camera's f/stop, those numbers you see in manual exposure mode). Nothing ever looks as good as it does in the lcd.
2. A computer monitor should not be used for any critical judgements of your video. You need to get the output from the computer to a professional video monitor for best results. If you cannot afford the 600-1K for a professional monitor, then a very good tv will have to do, until you get a monitor. (I thought your video looked pretty good, just overexposed)

The best way to set your exposure and white balance in a club setting: before the show, ask the club's lighting people to give you the "key" light they will use on the performers, at the "level" they will use for the show. Then have someone of similar skin tone stand in for the lead at the microphone. Have him hold up a white card and do a manual white balance on the card. Then, set a manual exposure to his face: with the camera in manual exposure, press the exposure button. Now the camera is in auto and will set the exposure. Press the button again to lock this exposure. Be certain it is locked by seeing an f/stop in the viewfinder/lcd.

Leave these settings for the duration of the show. It is the responsibility of the club's lighting people to maintain the levels. If they are all over the place, that is a bad show and no effort on your part can ever make it come out right.

If you walk in cold in the middle of the show, or the club is unco-operative, use the "bulb" preset for your white balance, and zoom into the lead singer and repeat the above suggestion for the exposure setting. Do not go full tite on the zoom. Back off just a bit to avoid a problem in low light situations called "portholing." Don't worry about it.

Wow. All this and we haven't even talked about recording audio. See my tag.

[Alex Kamm]

<<<-- Originally posted by RagadyAnne : you know one of my class is taught by ex-Microsoft development manager for www.eshop.com first thing he said in the class was that it is good idea to steal from competitor whenver possible when it is legal to do so.

oh dear, what do i expect from ms. well they spent lots of money developing wmv 9 so maybe they deserves it. i mean audio codec avilable on qt is just so out of date and they never borther to do any sort of modificaiton on it -->>>

OFFTOPIC BUT

I'm laughing! I love what you said! about microsoft :)