GL2 problem

[nho]

I bought a Canon GL2 a few months ago and have been doing a lot of testing with it and really "getting to know" the camera. Well... i've become very upset somewhat recently. I look up footage of the GL2 on youtube and other streaming video sites and see a lot of great footage. All of which aren't using any lens adapters or any extras on the camera. My camera isn't producing the footage that some of the videos I see have. I know the GL2 is perfectly capable of producing some great footage, as I have seen. I've used Sony Vegas for about 4 years now and, in my opinion, have become very good with it. I also have Premiere Pro CS3, and After Effects CS3. I have seen footage in which the description says just some color-correction was done in post with AE or PP. So I was thinking maybe it's the fact that I'm using Vegas still. Then, I'll see a video in which the description says it was edited and Vegas! I even saw a description that said he didn't change any settings on the camera, and just did some slight cc in AE afterwards.

What is going on here? Is it my render settings in vegas? Should I be using PP and/or AE rather than vegas? I haven't looked into AE much but have fooled around with PP. The only reason I don't switch from vegas to pp is because I don't know if pp is better than vegas and I have become so used to vegas and know it so well that I would hate to have to teach myself an entirely new program. Vegas is a great program and from all the tutorials i've read for PP, vegas can do all of the things PP can.

Help would be greatly appreciated. I really can't figure out why I can't obtain the footage others are getting.

[Huy Vu]

Well, that exactly is it that you're unhappy with? 95% of the quality that you get from the camera comes from shooting the footage right. It doesn't matter what NLE or program you use to edit or render; if the basic footage is bad it's going to come out bad. If the footage looks good on the program but renders out in poor quality, then you need to put your render settings. If it looks bad from the get go then you need to tell us what is bad about it so we can give you suggestions for future shoot.

A general advice is to always expose properly, keeping both the background and the subject from being too dark or blowing out. Zoom in and open up the iris to max to get shorter DOF.

[nho]

it's really not about my main footage. I'll see videos where someone says all they did was go outside and do a little experimenting with the camera, using no lens adapter, no special lighting or anything, and just doing some color-correction in post, and it looks better than what I get. I know that your main footage is very important, but a good video editing program for CCing and such helps as well. I'm just wondering if i'm not obtaining the outcome I want because i'm using the wrong editing program..

[Huy Vu]

That's kind of my point. It's all about the skills, shooting or editing. All the major NLE does pretty much the same thing in term of the tools available. It's never a question of popping a simple filter on and have it look good. It's composition, choice of subject, exposure, lighting. Shooting in low light is a guarantee way to make it look like crap, for example. Without any specific examples, there's not much I can say. Post a few stills and I'll comment on it.

[srfer919]

I agree with Jade. Post some stills of your unedited video and we can go from there.

[Winston Vargas]

The Gl2 is a great camera. I have been using it for TV news which is shown on all the networks in NYC as well as CNN and others, there has never been any complaints on the quality of the video. We have 2 shooters using the GL2 and dubbing to Beta for broadcast. We have been using it for years. The NLE that you use has nothing to do with the quality of the video. So don't despair It's a great camera, and the same goes for the GL1.

[srfer919]

Yes, the GL1 is just as good. I own one of those too and I still use it. It's a great camera! I can't believe how long it's lasted me.

[JaviBUSA08]

I bought 2 gl2s and used them for two shoots and they worked great. But now I am selling them. But I still think they where great cameras...

[spikeman]

I sent you an email.

[spikeman]

I bought 2 gl2s and used them for two shoots and they worked great. But now I am selling them. But I still think they where great cameras...

I send you an email

[bigair22333]

I am having some trouble with the video quality of my gl2. I bought it used a couple of months ago and it was in good condition except for some minor external scratches. I got it mainly to shoot snowboarding and other various video projects. I just got a new monster firewire and stared importing some of the footage. I have a mac and used the normal imovie program even though i plan on getting final cut shortly. The video quality of the footage i imported was poorer than i expected and when displayed in full screen looked very pixelated. I mean the quality was almost as bad as my sony dcr-sr40 that is hard drive based. I bought the gl2 for its reputation of having very good video quality and many manual features. Could you please tell me if there is anything that i could be doing wrong or if there are ways or techniques that i could use to improve this poor video quality? I mean it could be the bad software but i use it in school and the footage i upload looks way better and the cams we use are basic consumer cameras. This is very disappointing to me because i was expecting the quality to be WAY better. Please help!

[bigair22333]

I am having some trouble with the video quality of my gl2. I bought it used a couple of months ago and it was in good condition except for some minor external scratches. I got it mainly to shoot snowboarding and other various video projects. I just got a new monster firewire and stared importing some of the footage. I have a mac and used the normal imovie program even though i plan on getting final cut shortly. The video quality of the footage i imported was poorer than i expected and when displayed in full screen looked very pixelated. I mean the quality was almost as bad as my sony dcr-sr40 that is hard drive based. I bought the gl2 for its reputation of having very good video quality and many manual features. Could you please tell me if there is anything that i could be doing wrong or if there are ways or techniques that i could use to improve this poor video quality? I mean it could be the bad software but i use it in school and the footage i upload looks way better and the cams we use are basic consumer cameras. This is very disappointing to me because i was expecting the quality to be WAY better. Please help!

[Nate Haustein]

First of all, turn of "frame mode," it brings down the resolution. Then make sure the custom preset isn't messing anything up with super-low sharpness. Next switch the camera to full-manual control. Open up the aperture all the way, turn down the gain to 0db, and set your shutter speed to 1/60. Make sure your shooting environment is well lit. Also, you'll get more quality in 4/3 mode rather than 16/9. The cam has 4/3 CCDs, so the 16/9 only chops the top and bottom of the picture, lessening resolution.

If you're watching the footage in quicktime, make sure the "high quality" checkbox is activated in the video options, accessed by pressing command-J. GL2 is a great cam, but you can really bring down the resolution if the settings aren't right.

[Pasi Rutanen]

I'm using the PAL version of GL2, the XM2 and i think it gives me very pleasing footage. I have some small clips up here http://www.vimeo.com/user364717 and here http://www.youtube.com/passman

You should always turn down the color phase and sharpness a few steps to avoid creating too much artifacts.