720/25pn at 50 fps rushes (M2+Nikon+Steadicam)

Looks like you exported in 4x3, squeezing the video. And then it's expanded again in the Flash...

Did you import an flv into a flash document, drag it to the stage and change its size/aspect there?
 
I havent tried Flash before, but my hosting plan now only accepts .SWF files, so I downloaded the 30 day demo.

You can do custom sizes inside the encoder, I just dialed in a 16x9 size that was dividable by 8.
When done I dragged it onto the stage in a SWF document.

Actually it looks MUCH better than the H264 at the same datarate....
 
Hi Anders,
Your shot with the three soldiers is very rich in both composition and picture quality. It seems you are really pushing the potential of this camera in all the footage you have shared so far. It's rare for me that HD(especially on the cheaper end) looks aesthetically pleasing. I enjoyed the second shot as well and didn't mind the noise from the gain at all. Very nice.

I really liked the enhanced detail (+3)coupled with the sallow DOF. I was wandering with the same or similar settings you posted with this footage, do you feel that the camera could be used (with the m2) to pull optimal keys? I thought your keying/compositing for the Captain America video was good, but do you feel that those keys could have been pulled with the m2 + the detail boosts you used for this RUSH3 footage? Of course not with the shallow DOF but, what if say the lens was closed to f4 or f5.6?
 
Very nice Steadicam work! I wish I could afford a clipper.

I noticed that you're getting very similar edge softness that I've experienced on my M2, however. Out of curiosity, which achromat are you using? I've yet to see anything from the HD mount and I'm wondering if it really does help any.
 
I think I have a really bad video card because it was really noisy, but other than that it looked amazing.
 
Anders,

Nice work. All of the kudos from the other posts apply from me as well. One comment that I think could have taken the 2nd clip from great to terrific would be to have the light coming in from the adjacent room cut out a little earlier and cut back in a little later. As it is now, it still feels like your shadow as you cross this light. If you could have flagged it when it was still a rim or even 3/4, then the change wouldn't have been as noticeable as it is now and dropping the flag in to a level just off the floor would have kept the nice little slash on the floor as you come around from behind the subject.

A totally picky comment on otherwise spectacular work.

Keep it up!

-filmstox
 
Haakon said:
Very nice Steadicam work! I wish I could afford a clipper.

I noticed that you're getting very similar edge softness that I've experienced on my M2, however. Out of curiosity, which achromat are you using? I've yet to see anything from the HD mount and I'm wondering if it really does help any.
Click to expand...

Haakon, I believe much of the edge softness is from the Nikon primes.
I have a Canon 5D, and at full aperture the edges of the nikon primes are pretty soft here as well. At 2.8 they are much better...

I use the 72mm Achromat.
 
M82Lee said:
I really liked the enhanced detail (+3)coupled with the sallow DOF. I was wandering with the same or similar settings you posted with this footage, do you feel that the camera could be used (with the m2) to pull optimal keys? I thought your keying/compositing for the Captain America video was good, but do you feel that those keys could have been pulled with the m2 + the detail boosts you used for this RUSH3 footage? Of course not with the shallow DOF but, what if say the lens was closed to f4 or f5.6?
Click to expand...

Using a lens adapter for keying is a bad idea. Even when shooting HDCAM with the Pro35 and zeiss lenses you'll get a much better key with a Good HD video lens.
Turning down the Detail of the DSP is the way to go.

Also shallow DOF is a problem when compositing, it's better to create the shallow focus with a good lensblur on the background.
If you shoot key elements with a out of focus background element, it now dictates how much you composited background must be blurred (always more than the front layer) and it might be too much. But then there is no way to get it less blurred.
 
filmstox said:
Anders,

Nice work. All of the kudos from the other posts apply from me as well. One comment that I think could have taken the 2nd clip from great to terrific would be to have the light coming in from the adjacent room cut out a little earlier and cut back in a little later. As it is now, it still feels like your shadow as you cross this light. If you could have flagged it when it was still a rim or even 3/4, then the change wouldn't have been as noticeable as it is now and dropping the flag in to a level just off the floor would have kept the nice little slash on the floor as you come around from behind the subject.

A totally picky comment on otherwise spectacular work.

Keep it up!

-filmstox
Click to expand...


Yes, this was a compromise that I had to swallow. The main Steadi move in the praying sequence is a long track from way back in the room right up to the man and then a 180° move around him, and at the exact point that he is sitting up the light shines through.
The rotating track was just quick extra shot that I made up.
We didn't have a flag so the redhead is dimmed by panning it back and forth to the target. It should have been feathered more, I agreee :-)
 
i knew that was an art piece. The lack of distractions, and sparse nature gave it away, it was great. i am a muslim artist and i have been working with a similar theme lately. it was very nice, what is the artists name?
 
TimurCivan said:
i knew that was an art piece. The lack of distractions, and sparse nature gave it away, it was great. i am a muslim artist and i have been working with a similar theme lately. it was very nice, what is the artists name?
Click to expand...

Please note that the sample I posted are just some rushes I had on my P2 cards. The finished edited piece will be different. The artists name is Morten Lundgaard.
 
Hello Anders-

Sparkling stuff. Superb. We can all nitpick about a little softness or what not but we have to remember we are looking at these clips isolated as showpieces. Put this stuff into a story or 'complet' piece and no one is looking for perfection any longer.

QUESTION---

I am going to be shooting my film with the exact same set-up soon. I was just wondering if you could tell me your workflow for setting up the M2 to get the best possible focus? Thanks.

Van
 
Just stumbled over this footage.

Looks GREAT ~ Im really narrowing my 35mm adapter down with help from posts like this!

Keep up the great work.
 
oogabooga said:
QUESTION---

I am going to be shooting my film with the exact same set-up soon. I was just wondering if you could tell me your workflow for setting up the M2 to get the best possible focus? Thanks.

Van
Click to expand...

I have moved the shim plates under the M2 instead of the rod holder.
It makes it possible to mode the rods back
IMG_1232.jpg


I have set the zoom permanently at 76,disabled motorzoom and secured both rings using gaffer's tape.

when I set up the adapter I use this siemens star at 2m http://www.jvcpro.co.uk/getResource?id=6145
Then put on the 85mm Nikon and set it at 2m.
Then I open the camera iris wide open and let the scamera focus on the chart using the push auto button. Then I just tweak the focus on the nikon lest to get it perfect and use push auto again. This will put the focus at 17 and it is right on ebery time.

Why I do it this way?

17 actually has three steps, so it is really difficult to be sure it is right if done manually.
It's very hard to secure the focus ring after you have set it manually. It's much easier to secure it and then focus...
 
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