What Resolution to shoot Long Term? 1080? 2k? 4k?

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

Well-known member
Let's say that I was going to start a long-term project similar to Baraka that mixed timelapse footage with live action motion-picture nature and landscape footage. This type of project takes years to do, so, with an eye toward the future, what format would be good to aim for? I would have to decide in advance, and I want the maximum resolution I can afford.

My DSLR now can shoot 2k timelapses no problem and I still have room to crop. Once Red comes out, I could easily shoot the live-action stuff on that camera at 2k.

Or would it be better to aim for 4k? I would have to upgrade my DSLR or uprez its footage, or just shoot the timelapse stuff on the Red at 4k. If I did shoot at 4k, though, I could not really crop much.

Is 2k or 1080p good enough for the future? What about 10 years from now? Will people be installing 2k and 4k systems at their house?
 
Just skip all this intermediate stuff and shoot in 32k 3D.

Seriously though. It's impossibel to say what will be the format of the future.
The "safe" answer is to shoot in teh best quality possible. The "right" answer is to say shoot the best that you can to make the best product right now.

- Mikko
 
Who knows? I've been told that after going through all the various generations and prints, the average 35mm film only gives about 800 lines of resolution to it's audience when projected. The 1080p CineAlta can already manage that with the cheaper HD cameras being able to manage 600-700 which isn't bad.
 
R!ff R4ff said:
YIKES, who told you that?
Click to expand...
Told what? That the final res of a movie print is 800 lines? I've read the report, and what David is saying is true. Not that the original camera negative is limited to 800 lines, but by the time you've done a release print and project it in the theater it gets down to around 800 lines. They also had the observers sitting quite close, so for the average movie viewer in the middle of the theater, the perceived resolution is probably a bit less.
 
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