Slow Motion

S

sabbott

New member
Hi all,

I know this stuff has been written about, but I can NOT for the life of me figure out all the settings I need in order to shoot in slow motion (ie to overcrank).

I've tried what feels like everything.

Some of my recent attempts involved:
- having camera in FILM CAM mode
- setting format to 1080/25p
- setting VFR to on
- dialling the frame rate in to 50
- choosing shutter speeds (in three different tests) of 1/60, 1/120 and 1/250.

Questions:
- is the 50 fps rate I dial in meant to override the 25 fps that's set by the 1080/25p recording mode?
- why is the footage shot in these tests identified by FCPX as being 25p (when I start a new project and tell it to use a timebase based on the first clip I drag in, which in my view SHOULD BE 50p)??
- which one of these series of settings (if any) should give best results?
- can frame rate not be altered when in VIDEO CAM?

Also, and unrelated to slow motion....
Everything I recommends shooting with a shutter speed that's double the frame rate (eg. 25 fps, shutter speed 1/50). Why then is it not possible to select a shutter speed of 1/50 when the AF100 is in 1080/25p and in FILM CAM mode? The nearest thing is 1/60.

I KNOW these are seriously basic questions but I really need some clear answers. Please, if you take the time to help (which I REALLY appreciate) could you include every single setting I'll need to get right in order to follow your instructions.

Thanks so much!!!
 
I don't know about the AF100, but here's some basic slow-motion information:

There are those cameras that just have the ability to shoot in 50/60p, 100/120p, etc. and you slow it down later in post, and there are those cameras where you choose your frame rate and your project/timeline rate...and the camera conforms the footage for you internally.

(1) The most common situation for many (in your country) is to shoot everything in 25p and edit everything in a 25p timeline. When you want slow-motion, you change your framerate to 50p. Shoot as you would and keep in mind this footage is supposed to be in slow-motion later.

Later in FCP X, when you drop your 50p footage into the 25p timeline, all you have to do is highlight everything, click the RETIME button, and then choose AUTOMATIC SPEED. All of your regular 25p clips will be green at 100% (speed doesn't change), and the rest of your clips will be orange at 50% (slow-motion).

Note: You have to drop the 50p footage into a 25p timeline. If you try to drop it in a new timeline that FCP X will try to create for you, it will choose a 50p timeline and that's probably not what you want.

(2) If your camera has the ability to set a framerate/project rate, then you want to set your framerate to 50p and your project rate to 25p. This footage will be conformed inside the camera. When you import it into your NLE it will be recognized as 25p, but will already be in slow-motion. You don't need to do anything else.

Shutter Speed: 1/100 - 1/250 is pretty normal in my opinion. I've used up to 1/2000 for sports. It's best to experiment and see what you like. The higher the shutter speed, the sharper your footage may appear (especially frame by frame if you're in focus), but motion may also be affected as well depending on what you're shooting.
 
If I remember correctly I just had to press the button on the back of the AF100 and turn to desired frame rate and if it already was set to 50fps I could start recording straight away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top