BBC TopGear Film Look

Richard Lewis · November 8th, 2004, 01:08 PM

Miguel, some fantastic shots there. Some fabulous locations too.

A few of you links seem to be broken.

Miguel Lopez · November 8th, 2004, 01:12 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Richard Lewis : Miguel, some fantastic shots there. Some fabulous locations too.

A few of you links seem to be broken. -->>>

Thanks! Which ones are broken?

Richard Lewis · November 9th, 2004, 12:45 PM

The picture of your desktop, and the example of a finished video.

The second one may just be down to this computer.

Miguel Lopez · November 9th, 2004, 04:28 PM

It works fine. Thanks!

Does anyone has an answer to the fields question?

Jose di Cani · November 10th, 2004, 04:09 PM

You will NEVER get that BBC loook with a 5000 dollar camera. YOu need 15000 more for the pdw cam they use in their shows. I think there must be a way to get that quality. The PDW is a 3 ccd like the canon xl2 or the dvx and both have 25 fps so mmm.

PDW-530P Key Features

OPTICAL DISC RECORDING on 23GB Media
DVCAM / IMX (50MB/s) Format Recording
True 16:9 Widescreen PowerHAD EX 3-CCD Block, Switchable for 4:3
Advanced 12-bit A/D Conversion
Sensitivity of f11 at 2000 Lux (3200°K)
Resolution 800TVL (16:9), 850TVL (4:3)
10 second "Loop Recording" buffer
Sony B4 2/3" Lens mount
IEEE-1394 'Firewire' (out only) & DVCAM output from MPEG IMX playback
25P shooting mode for "film look"
25P Progressive Scan shooting for a "Film Look"
All PAL XDCAM Camcorders offer a 25P mode, or progressive scan shooting, which is specifically designed to provide a filmic feel. Just as with a film camera, rapid pans or zooms will cause blurring - so much the same discipline in composition is required as with a film camera shooting at 24 frames per second. Independent experts, such as cameraman Ged Yeates, have said 25P is ideal for providing a filmic look on TV drama shoots with a tight budget.

If you want the option to convert to film, then 25P is again a good option – PAL Camcorders are specifically sold in the US market for this reason. Vertical definition is 20% higher with PAL than NTSC, while slowing 25P to 24P is relatively straightforward (with pitch correction for audio in post-production). Scott Saunders' The Technical Writer, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Independent Film Festival 2003, was shot with a PAL version of the MPEG IMX MSW-900P Camcorder – a tape-based forerunner of the XDCAM PDW-530P – and converted to 35mm for theatrical distribution.

Price £21650 (ex. VAT) £25438.75 (inc. VAT)
€32578.70 (ex. VAT) €38279.97 (inc. VAT)
$39986.68 (ex. VAT) Please note:

Jose di Cani · November 10th, 2004, 04:21 PM

HOla MIguel,

Eres un fenomeno de Madrid. Eres mejor que Almodovar macho!
ME gusta el programa de coches del BBC y su forma de grabar las cosas pero tu estilo de grabacion y edicion es muy , pero muy similar al original. Claro que los effectos del coche y todo necesita mas tiempo y quizas podrias intentar usar un sequenciador en vez de las opciones de audio que te da VEgas. Usa Cubase sx que es la ostia. Cone ste programa puedes mejorar el audio y editarlo hasta que te caigan las bolas al suelo. MIra a ver si puedes jugar con plug-ins VST (reverb, emuladores de tubo, echo, EQ, etc etc).

COn un shutter speed de 250 (buena falta hace con imagenes movidas) lo tienes bien grabado. NO usarias paletas de color en la grabacion(colour cards) para crear ese efecto natural que tienes aparte de usar efectos en lapost produccion.

Suerte .

NOw in English, otherwise I wll be banned.

I said that his work was amazing and that if he used cubase sx to add more effects and stuff, he would be the next steven speilberg of cars in spain.

Karel Bata · November 11th, 2004, 11:49 AM

Really brilliant footage Miguel. Especially with the camera you have. What's your background?

Yes, as reported in The Producer, Top Gear are testing out the 530, but for the most part my deeply undercover contacts tell me it is still mostly shot on Digi Beta, with some DVCam. Then Resolution (a post house in Soho) grade everything in Symphony (with the film stock grade plug ins) and apply a film effect - de-interlace, crush all the blacks, saturate the colours and vignette the edges which gives it that 'filmic' look. It's not something you can do easily - they have a great colourist there, and work mostly off a tried and tested template - tweaking as they go.

Simon Wyndham · November 11th, 2004, 11:57 AM

Thanks Karel!

At least now we know that the do in fact deinterlace the footage. I do find this odd however as they would obtain a lot better image if they used the progressive mode available to them on the DB camera. That's the one drawback of their pictures is that sharp edges suffer from quite harsh aliasing sometimes.

Karel Bata · November 11th, 2004, 12:13 PM

I'm going to double check on the de-interlace.

Simon Wyndham · November 12th, 2004, 01:13 PM

Cool. Keep us informed.

Jose di Cani · November 12th, 2004, 07:53 PM

I don't think it is interlaced. IT is 25 fps second material. If you lok at the fat sections (fast cars racing on a racetack), you see lesss blurr/motion than those hollywood car movies.

And those interlace-artifacts (typical of pal or ntsc footage) can be seen on some of the pics posted earlier.

Simon Wyndham · November 15th, 2004, 06:07 PM

No, we were wondering if they DEinterlace in post or if they shoot the footage using a 25p progressive camera.

Watching the show last night they seem to have added some form of ultra slow motion camera to their equipment.

Richard Lewis · November 16th, 2004, 12:50 PM

Yeah Simon, I noticed that too. Super slow motion shots of the tyres, fantastic stuff. I wonder how they are doing that. I had heard about some cameras that can record at really high frame rates for short bursts, I can’t remember the details off hand.

BBC, ever the innovators.

Simon Wyndham · November 16th, 2004, 12:59 PM

Hehe! They probably read these forums, realised we were closing in on their techniques and felt they had to move the goalposts!

Karel Bata · November 16th, 2004, 05:32 PM

After asking around, I have the definitive info now from someone working as a camera asst on the show!

I'm just waiting to hear from him giving permission to reproduce his email here, and then you'll have it!

A couple of surprises...

November 8th, 2004, 01:08 PM	#31
Richard Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Manchester and Kent, UK Posts: 256	Miguel, some fantastic shots there. Some fabulous locations too. A few of you links seem to be broken. __________________ Richard Lewis. Steadicam Owner / Operator

November 9th, 2004, 12:45 PM	#33
Richard Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Manchester and Kent, UK Posts: 256	The picture of your desktop, and the example of a finished video. The second one may just be down to this computer. __________________ Richard Lewis. Steadicam Owner / Operator

November 11th, 2004, 11:49 AM	#37
Karel Bata Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Antarctica Posts: 199	Really brilliant footage Miguel. Especially with the camera you have. What's your background? Yes, as reported in The Producer, Top Gear are testing out the 530, but for the most part my deeply undercover contacts tell me it is still mostly shot on Digi Beta, with some DVCam. Then Resolution (a post house in Soho) grade everything in Symphony (with the film stock grade plug ins) and apply a film effect - de-interlace, crush all the blacks, saturate the colours and vignette the edges which gives it that 'filmic' look. It's not something you can do easily - they have a great colourist there, and work mostly off a tried and tested template - tweaking as they go. __________________ What are the Alternatives to YouTube?

November 11th, 2004, 12:13 PM	#39
Karel Bata Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Antarctica Posts: 199	I'm going to double check on the de-interlace. __________________ What are the Alternatives to YouTube?

November 16th, 2004, 12:50 PM	#43
Richard Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Manchester and Kent, UK Posts: 256	Yeah Simon, I noticed that too. Super slow motion shots of the tyres, fantastic stuff. I wonder how they are doing that. I had heard about some cameras that can record at really high frame rates for short bursts, I can’t remember the details off hand. BBC, ever the innovators. __________________ Richard Lewis. Steadicam Owner / Operator

November 8th, 2004, 01:12 PM	#32
Miguel Lopez Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 187	<<<-- Originally posted by Richard Lewis : Miguel, some fantastic shots there. Some fabulous locations too. A few of you links seem to be broken. -->>> Thanks! Which ones are broken?

November 9th, 2004, 04:28 PM	#34
Miguel Lopez Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 187	It works fine. Thanks! Does anyone has an answer to the fields question?

November 10th, 2004, 04:09 PM	#35
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	You will NEVER get that BBC loook with a 5000 dollar camera. YOu need 15000 more for the pdw cam they use in their shows. I think there must be a way to get that quality. The PDW is a 3 ccd like the canon xl2 or the dvx and both have 25 fps so mmm. PDW-530P Key Features OPTICAL DISC RECORDING on 23GB Media DVCAM / IMX (50MB/s) Format Recording True 16:9 Widescreen PowerHAD EX 3-CCD Block, Switchable for 4:3 Advanced 12-bit A/D Conversion Sensitivity of f11 at 2000 Lux (3200°K) Resolution 800TVL (16:9), 850TVL (4:3) 10 second "Loop Recording" buffer Sony B4 2/3" Lens mount IEEE-1394 'Firewire' (out only) & DVCAM output from MPEG IMX playback 25P shooting mode for "film look" 25P Progressive Scan shooting for a "Film Look" All PAL XDCAM Camcorders offer a 25P mode, or progressive scan shooting, which is specifically designed to provide a filmic feel. Just as with a film camera, rapid pans or zooms will cause blurring - so much the same discipline in composition is required as with a film camera shooting at 24 frames per second. Independent experts, such as cameraman Ged Yeates, have said 25P is ideal for providing a filmic look on TV drama shoots with a tight budget. If you want the option to convert to film, then 25P is again a good option – PAL Camcorders are specifically sold in the US market for this reason. Vertical definition is 20% higher with PAL than NTSC, while slowing 25P to 24P is relatively straightforward (with pitch correction for audio in post-production). Scott Saunders' The Technical Writer, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Independent Film Festival 2003, was shot with a PAL version of the MPEG IMX MSW-900P Camcorder – a tape-based forerunner of the XDCAM PDW-530P – and converted to 35mm for theatrical distribution. Price £21650 (ex. VAT) £25438.75 (inc. VAT) €32578.70 (ex. VAT) €38279.97 (inc. VAT) $39986.68 (ex. VAT) Please note:

November 10th, 2004, 04:21 PM	#36
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	HOla MIguel, Eres un fenomeno de Madrid. Eres mejor que Almodovar macho! ME gusta el programa de coches del BBC y su forma de grabar las cosas pero tu estilo de grabacion y edicion es muy , pero muy similar al original. Claro que los effectos del coche y todo necesita mas tiempo y quizas podrias intentar usar un sequenciador en vez de las opciones de audio que te da VEgas. Usa Cubase sx que es la ostia. Cone ste programa puedes mejorar el audio y editarlo hasta que te caigan las bolas al suelo. MIra a ver si puedes jugar con plug-ins VST (reverb, emuladores de tubo, echo, EQ, etc etc). COn un shutter speed de 250 (buena falta hace con imagenes movidas) lo tienes bien grabado. NO usarias paletas de color en la grabacion(colour cards) para crear ese efecto natural que tienes aparte de usar efectos en lapost produccion. Suerte . NOw in English, otherwise I wll be banned. I said that his work was amazing and that if he used cubase sx to add more effects and stuff, he would be the next steven speilberg of cars in spain.

November 11th, 2004, 11:57 AM	#38
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Thanks Karel! At least now we know that the do in fact deinterlace the footage. I do find this odd however as they would obtain a lot better image if they used the progressive mode available to them on the DB camera. That's the one drawback of their pictures is that sharp edges suffer from quite harsh aliasing sometimes.

November 12th, 2004, 01:13 PM	#40
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Cool. Keep us informed.

November 12th, 2004, 07:53 PM	#41
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	I don't think it is interlaced. IT is 25 fps second material. If you lok at the fat sections (fast cars racing on a racetack), you see lesss blurr/motion than those hollywood car movies. And those interlace-artifacts (typical of pal or ntsc footage) can be seen on some of the pics posted earlier.

November 15th, 2004, 06:07 PM	#42
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	No, we were wondering if they DEinterlace in post or if they shoot the footage using a 25p progressive camera. Watching the show last night they seem to have added some form of ultra slow motion camera to their equipment.

November 16th, 2004, 12:59 PM	#44
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Hehe! They probably read these forums, realised we were closing in on their techniques and felt they had to move the goalposts!

November 16th, 2004, 05:32 PM	#45
Karel Bata Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Antarctica Posts: 199	After asking around, I have the definitive info now from someone working as a camera asst on the show! I'm just waiting to hear from him giving permission to reproduce his email here, and then you'll have it! A couple of surprises... __________________ What are the Alternatives to YouTube?