How to get best cleanest slo mo?

Chad Johnson · December 11th, 2010, 03:31 PM

Nice super-slow-mo Kent! Nice piece in general too.

Paul Cronin · December 11th, 2010, 04:13 PM

Kent I enjoyed watching. Really enjoyed the music and how well it fits the footage.

Is the dancing slow motion 720p 60/30p from the camera? Not the jumping slow motion I know that is Motion Optical Flow 4%.

Very nice of you to post and show your results. Sure it is not a Phantom but the best I have viewed from a EX1R running that slow.

Mark OConnell · December 11th, 2010, 04:21 PM

That came out much better then I would've expected. Nice!

Kent Beeson · December 11th, 2010, 04:23 PM

Thanks Paul, Mark...I shot everything at 720 24p, S&Q mode 60fps...then I slowed down to 4% of that just the ultra slow mo shots...

Doug Jensen · December 12th, 2010, 06:05 AM

Kent, great footage! I never would have believed that sort of slow-mo would be possible with an EX1 and Motion. Very nice. It inspires me to go out and try it myself.

Kent Beeson · December 12th, 2010, 08:32 PM

Danke...so it's SONY EX1R and careful planning, shooting slow mo to begin with, play with shutter speed, and playing with Optical Flow, tried 10%, went down to 3 or 4% and saw how it worked - thing is to have good lighting (better than I had), clean, non-busy BG, not a lot of movement from the subject.

Walter Brokx · December 13th, 2010, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kent Beeson

......., not a lot of movement from the subject.

That is true....
I did some testing with splashing water and Timewarp in AE (which is said to be an almost similair effect as Optical Flow) and the effect at 20% was already hilarious. AE had no idea what was happening.... I shot 60frames over 25 at 1/250... the software can't figure out which drop is going where: too much movement in all directions. Maybe I'll post it after christmas (to busy now ;-) )

Anyway: great work.
You seem to have managed to avoid most of the 'cross-fade-feet' that shows in your test. That was really the only real giveaway of the postprocessing.

Craig Seeman · December 13th, 2010, 05:38 PM

Basically there needs to be no other movement beyond the subject and no moving planes crossing each other. I tried this with a tennis swing and it was a complete disaster. The racket crossing the body resulted in the "ripple/water" effect.

Kent Beeson · December 13th, 2010, 06:06 PM

You're both right about movement - and thanks only to editing you don't see the awful artifacts of feet, unless you look real carefully at the very end of almost every ultra slow mo shot.

Tim Polster · December 14th, 2010, 06:38 PM

Thanks for posting. Great work. I really like how there is no strobing with the super slo-mo shots. I guess that is a function of the software doing a great job.

Did you have detail turned down or off on the EX-1? Your footage has nice soft edges. Not very "video-ish" at all.

Also, did you test the super slow-mo with normal shutter like 1/60th or even 1/48th? It would be interesting to know if you could still get away with 4% with a slower shutter and more motion blur.

Kent Beeson · December 14th, 2010, 09:06 PM

Good questions - no I never (my mistake) tried shutter below 250, probably even better results (I think) if I went to 120 or so, as far as better exposure/light. I shot everything at 24p so that helped get rid of "video" look, more filmic, but also used Magic Bullet Quick looks and three way color corrector in FCP to make it a little better than no color grading.

And Optical flow did OK, again not Phantom quality but hey at least I know in certain circumstances, under the right conditions,etc I can shoot ultra slo mo with my EX1R and Optical Flow.

December 11th, 2010, 03:31 PM	#46
Chad Johnson Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Arcata, Ca Posts: 750	Nice super-slow-mo Kent! Nice piece in general too. __________________ My Work: http://www.youtube.com/ChadWork1 Sony FS5 :: Panasonic GH4 :: Sony PMW-EX1 :: FCPx :: AT4053b :: Rode NTG-3,

December 11th, 2010, 04:13 PM	#47
Paul Cronin Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,048	Kent I enjoyed watching. Really enjoyed the music and how well it fits the footage. Is the dancing slow motion 720p 60/30p from the camera? Not the jumping slow motion I know that is Motion Optical Flow 4%. Very nice of you to post and show your results. Sure it is not a Phantom but the best I have viewed from a EX1R running that slow. __________________ Paul Cronin www.paulcroninstudios.com

December 11th, 2010, 04:21 PM	#48
Mark OConnell Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 420	That came out much better then I would've expected. Nice! __________________ http://www.markoconnell.org

December 12th, 2010, 06:05 AM	#50
Doug Jensen Vortex Media Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,442	Kent, great footage! I never would have believed that sort of slow-mo would be possible with an EX1 and Motion. Very nice. It inspires me to go out and try it myself. __________________ Vortex Media http://www.vortexmedia.com/ Sony FS7, F55, and XDCAM training videos, field guides, and other production tools

December 11th, 2010, 04:23 PM	#49
Kent Beeson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: West Texas Posts: 266	Thanks Paul, Mark...I shot everything at 720 24p, S&Q mode 60fps...then I slowed down to 4% of that just the ultra slow mo shots...

December 12th, 2010, 08:32 PM	#51
Kent Beeson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: West Texas Posts: 266	Danke...so it's SONY EX1R and careful planning, shooting slow mo to begin with, play with shutter speed, and playing with Optical Flow, tried 10%, went down to 3 or 4% and saw how it worked - thing is to have good lighting (better than I had), clean, non-busy BG, not a lot of movement from the subject.

December 13th, 2010, 05:38 PM	#53
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Basically there needs to be no other movement beyond the subject and no moving planes crossing each other. I tried this with a tennis swing and it was a complete disaster. The racket crossing the body resulted in the "ripple/water" effect.

December 13th, 2010, 06:06 PM	#54
Kent Beeson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: West Texas Posts: 266	You're both right about movement - and thanks only to editing you don't see the awful artifacts of feet, unless you look real carefully at the very end of almost every ultra slow mo shot.

December 14th, 2010, 06:38 PM	#55
Tim Polster Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arlington, TX Posts: 2,231	Thanks for posting. Great work. I really like how there is no strobing with the super slo-mo shots. I guess that is a function of the software doing a great job. Did you have detail turned down or off on the EX-1? Your footage has nice soft edges. Not very "video-ish" at all. Also, did you test the super slow-mo with normal shutter like 1/60th or even 1/48th? It would be interesting to know if you could still get away with 4% with a slower shutter and more motion blur.

December 14th, 2010, 09:06 PM	#56
Kent Beeson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: West Texas Posts: 266	Good questions - no I never (my mistake) tried shutter below 250, probably even better results (I think) if I went to 120 or so, as far as better exposure/light. I shot everything at 24p so that helped get rid of "video" look, more filmic, but also used Magic Bullet Quick looks and three way color corrector in FCP to make it a little better than no color grading. And Optical flow did OK, again not Phantom quality but hey at least I know in certain circumstances, under the right conditions,etc I can shoot ultra slo mo with my EX1R and Optical Flow.