UWOL #13 - "Order on a Giant Scale" - Mike Beckett

Annie Haycock · June 3rd, 2009, 03:40 PM

Excellent it of film there, though the lack of saturation lets it down as you know. I like the sense of scale with the giant's organ. One little criticism of the push focussing at 1:03 is that you rush off to the next clip without giving the viewer time to see what you are re-focussing on.

Your comment at the end about people getting of the buses, taking a picture, then rushing back on again reminded me of the southern tip of Gibraltar - people tumbling out of buses to take a picture across the straits to north Africa, then back on the bus without seeing anything else - never mind the kites and harriers flying a few metres above their heads after battling the winds to cross the straits on their spring migrations. But then, I'm biased towards the birds.

Mike Beckett · June 4th, 2009, 11:58 AM

Annie,

Thanks for the comments. The saturation issue is really beginning to bug me, it's not much fun seeing everything go to pieces in the final encode.

I am figuring out how to fix that, clearly my encoding needs to change, but there's not a lot of options in CS3 at the encode stage. It pains me to see the much cheaper Elements 7 giving you so much better results!

You're probably right about the focus pull. There's a few things I could tweak, but time was pretty short this time round.

Marj Atkins · June 5th, 2009, 01:57 AM

Okay, I am now glow-in-the-dark green. Amazing place to be sure.

This is another professional production from you Mike. Very nice theme and very beautifully filmed and narrated. You have a very good eye for composition - your scenes throughout are beautifully framed.

Two minor problems for me - the music going up and down in volume a bit too obviously between the breaks in the narration and your bug-bear, the somewhat fuzzy compression of the Uwol upload.

Mike Beckett · June 5th, 2009, 10:50 AM

Hi Marj,

Thanks for the kind words. You're probably right about the music, and I would re-write the voiceover in places given the choice, but you don't always get good critical commentary until you get it reviewed by your peers. My family wouldn't say anything other than "it's great" which is very annoying!

I really do have to work on the encoding. I tried the Sorenson Squeeze trial and got brilliant results, but it's $500 that I don't currently have. I may try Quicktime Pro to see if it's any better than CS3.

Maybe I should practice my UWOL encoding well before the last few hours of the challenge!

Mike Beckett · June 5th, 2009, 01:02 PM

And special mention to Annie for her help with my compression/colour correction issues.

I guess I'm going to have to try getting my head round that Steve Hullfish book again. I gave up last time when I fell asleep reading it in the bath!

Annie Haycock · June 7th, 2009, 04:56 PM

Mike

I've been playing around with elements7 again this evening - using some clips of woodpeckers I took a couple of weeks ago - that's how difficult it is to find time to do anything these days.

Anyway, I found some other options under the "share" button - different export settings. I tried a couple, and found that the colours and saturation were likely to come out pretty poor compared with exporting as MPEG-2. Maybe I'd have had the same problem as you if I'd exported as anything else. I did see a setting somewhere in there for "Sorensen" but I didn't try it.

Vimeo is taking forever to upload the video, I exported it as 720p this time, and the colours don't look as good as with 1080p. No other settings changed, so far as I can see.

woodpecker- http://vimeo.com/5050980

Mike Beckett · June 8th, 2009, 02:11 AM

Annie,

That's the problem - time! There's so many options in there that can be tried, and I typically leave this to the last thing on the night before the deadline!

I also have the disadvantage of a pretty ancient computer that makes export slow, and I can't edit in HD either, so I have to downconvert in-cam to DV befor editing, which probably hits the image quality as well.

Nice woodpeckers, BTW. Always nice to find something that isn't small and brown!

June 3rd, 2009, 03:40 PM	#16
Annie Haycock Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales Posts: 734	Excellent it of film there, though the lack of saturation lets it down as you know. I like the sense of scale with the giant's organ. One little criticism of the push focussing at 1:03 is that you rush off to the next clip without giving the viewer time to see what you are re-focussing on. Your comment at the end about people getting of the buses, taking a picture, then rushing back on again reminded me of the southern tip of Gibraltar - people tumbling out of buses to take a picture across the straits to north Africa, then back on the bus without seeing anything else - never mind the kites and harriers flying a few metres above their heads after battling the winds to cross the straits on their spring migrations. But then, I'm biased towards the birds. __________________ Canon XH A1; Canon XF100; Nikon D800

June 4th, 2009, 11:58 AM	#17
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Annie, Thanks for the comments. The saturation issue is really beginning to bug me, it's not much fun seeing everything go to pieces in the final encode. I am figuring out how to fix that, clearly my encoding needs to change, but there's not a lot of options in CS3 at the encode stage. It pains me to see the much cheaper Elements 7 giving you so much better results! You're probably right about the focus pull. There's a few things I could tweak, but time was pretty short this time round. __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

June 5th, 2009, 10:50 AM	#19
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Hi Marj, Thanks for the kind words. You're probably right about the music, and I would re-write the voiceover in places given the choice, but you don't always get good critical commentary until you get it reviewed by your peers. My family wouldn't say anything other than "it's great" which is very annoying! I really do have to work on the encoding. I tried the Sorenson Squeeze trial and got brilliant results, but it's $500 that I don't currently have. I may try Quicktime Pro to see if it's any better than CS3. Maybe I should practice my UWOL encoding well before the last few hours of the challenge! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

June 5th, 2009, 01:02 PM	#20
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	And special mention to Annie for her help with my compression/colour correction issues. I guess I'm going to have to try getting my head round that Steve Hullfish book again. I gave up last time when I fell asleep reading it in the bath! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

June 7th, 2009, 04:56 PM	#21
Annie Haycock Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales Posts: 734	Mike I've been playing around with elements7 again this evening - using some clips of woodpeckers I took a couple of weeks ago - that's how difficult it is to find time to do anything these days. Anyway, I found some other options under the "share" button - different export settings. I tried a couple, and found that the colours and saturation were likely to come out pretty poor compared with exporting as MPEG-2. Maybe I'd have had the same problem as you if I'd exported as anything else. I did see a setting somewhere in there for "Sorensen" but I didn't try it. Vimeo is taking forever to upload the video, I exported it as 720p this time, and the colours don't look as good as with 1080p. No other settings changed, so far as I can see. woodpecker- http://vimeo.com/5050980 __________________ Canon XH A1; Canon XF100; Nikon D800 Last edited by Annie Haycock; June 8th, 2009 at 02:04 AM. Reason: addition of link

June 5th, 2009, 01:57 AM	#18
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	Okay, I am now glow-in-the-dark green. Amazing place to be sure. This is another professional production from you Mike. Very nice theme and very beautifully filmed and narrated. You have a very good eye for composition - your scenes throughout are beautifully framed. Two minor problems for me - the music going up and down in volume a bit too obviously between the breaks in the narration and your bug-bear, the somewhat fuzzy compression of the Uwol upload.

June 8th, 2009, 02:11 AM	#22
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Annie, That's the problem - time! There's so many options in there that can be tried, and I typically leave this to the last thing on the night before the deadline! I also have the disadvantage of a pretty ancient computer that makes export slow, and I can't edit in HD either, so I have to downconvert in-cam to DV befor editing, which probably hits the image quality as well. Nice woodpeckers, BTW. Always nice to find something that isn't small and brown! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube