Why does my low-light footage look so AWFUL?!

Should be said that while you aren't an expert... you should take the time out to read the manual and ask questions. That's how you become an expert.
 
Thanks for contributing Kholi. Yes, I'd say I need to spend a lot more time with my manual and a bit less time asking questions on the forums. Thanks again.
 
DammitJanet said:
Thanks for contributing Kholi. Yes, I'd say I need to spend a lot more time with my manual and a bit less time asking questions on the forums. Thanks again.
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Nah, not saying that. It's just good practice to read the manual to anything before you dive into it. Asking questions on the forums is what the forum is for.
 
"You sir, get a gold star. I guess I spent more time looking at my footage than I should have spent looking at the camera itself. I had no idea there even was an AGC switch."

You're welcome. Can't really blame you for NOT reading the manual right away...

A1. Me likes!
 
Just to sum up, I believe what DammitJanet (like a few) is waiting is for the best lowlighting clips genre those Michael Pappas' "Movie House" and "Bakery". That's all! If the XL-H1 produced them, why not the A1 too?
 
I just bought a new guitar, same one Eddie Van Halen uses but I cant make it sound the same? Anyone have a setting or something that can help me?

In all seriousness, I see this all the time, people who dont really know how to use something complaining about the performance. I posted a ton of low light tips for the Canon cameras on other forums. If you need gain, up the coring, boost the color, crush the blacks, etc. etc. etc.

These grabs are all +12dB gain with no adjustments for gaining up...



ash =o)
 
Question about 24f. When I shoot in 24f and upload into Vegas, I also get those interlace lines that show in his grabs. Is it because Vegas doesn't capture the 24f properly? BTW, that is when I capture SD.

When I capture HD with ConnectHD I don't have any problems. Haven't found out a way to capture HDV within Vegas. I'm using 6.0.
 
bballplaya283 said:
Question about 24f. When I shoot in 24f and upload into Vegas, I also get those interlace lines that show in his grabs. Is it because Vegas doesn't capture the 24f properly? BTW, that is when I capture SD.

When I capture HD with ConnectHD I don't have any problems. Haven't found out a way to capture HDV within Vegas. I'm using 6.0.
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Question: When you say you're capturing SD, is that to say you're capturing footage that you *shot* SD (DV)? If that's the case then it makes sense that you are seeing interlace artifacts.

When you shoot HD 24F on the Canon, the camera records only the native 24 frames that are captured by the camera head every second. But when you shoot DV, the camera embeds the 24 frames in an NTSC legal 60i stream using pulldown. That's why the camera only gives you a choice of pulldown patterns (2:3 or 2:3:3:2) when set to DV.

In this case, the interlacing that you see would be a result of the pulldown being used to create the 60i stream.

I've never used Vegas, but if it works like Final Cut Pro, you should be able to remove the pulldown as you capture the footage. This would allow you to A) not see the interlacing and B) edit your footage in a native 24p timeline.
 
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AshG said:
I just bought a new guitar, same one Eddie Van Halen uses but I cant make it sound the same? Anyone have a setting or something that can help me?
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Dear Ash, Michael shot it with the available light. There wasn't any lighting setup. Just street shots.

In all seriousness, I see this all the time, people who dont really know how to use something complaining about the performance. I posted a ton of low light tips for the Canon cameras on other forums. If you need gain, up the coring, boost the color, crush the blacks, etc. etc. etc.

These grabs are all +12dB gain with no adjustments for gaining up...
Click to expand...
If they were all +12db gain or not, I can't know for sure but following your words I can just figure there will be settings to allow what DammitJanet is looking for -- imitating what the XL-H1 showed to deliver.
 
:evil: :D
AshG said:
I just bought a new guitar, same one Eddie Van Halen uses but I cant make it sound the same? Anyone have a setting or something that can help me?

In all seriousness, I see this all the time, people who dont really know how to use something complaining about the performance. I posted a ton of low light tips for the Canon cameras on other forums. If you need gain, up the coring, boost the color, crush the blacks, etc. etc. etc.

These grabs are all +12dB gain with no adjustments for gaining up...



ash =o)
Click to expand...

:evil: :D
 
John_Hudson said:
:evil: :D

:evil: :D
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This thread is (What the Eff is the word I am looking for ?)

Those grabs look about as one would expect with outside night shots

Why continue trying to dissect them ? :violin:
 
I shot HD and downconverted, as I assume he did too. I'm sort of worried about this, because there are some other problems with my downconverted footage (nasty ghosting which isn't a result of shutter speed or NR setings), but this isn't the thread to discuss that in. Other than the downconverted SD, my HDV footage is great.
 
Emanuel said:
what DammitJanet is looking for -- imitating what the XL-H1 showed to deliver.
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It's what we're talking about.

John, since your 'voluntas break' a couple of months ago, it seems your user account has been highjacked... :beer: cheers
 
Emanuel said:
It's what we're talking about.

John, since your 'voluntas break' a couple of months ago, it seems your user account has been highjacked... :beer: cheers
Click to expand...

I'm still on break; wait ...

WTF

Who am I ? :D :evil:
 
Emanuel said:
Dear Ash, Michael shot it with the available light. There wasn't any lighting setup. Just street shots.
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Mike's shots weren't under sodium vapor parking lot lights, and the AGC (auto gain circuit) was disabled. It's just a matter of controlling exposure and choosing better "low light" to shoot in.

It has to be reiterated that the A1 isn't a "no light" camera. Like the H1, it certainly has noise, but the pattern is very fine and small if you don't gain up too much. If you do gain up, there are at least a few NR algorithms to help deal with the fact that you're trying to get useable image from a super dense CCD!
 
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" Mike's shots weren't under sodium vapor parking lot lights, and the AGC (auto gain circuit) was disabled. "

How do you know this? Did I miss something in the posts? I can't fathom how those images could get SO red without having been made under low pressure sodium light.
 
Sorry, I'm referring to some H1 clips Mike Pappas put up a long time ago, which is what Emanual is using as a reference for low light footage the A1 should be compared to.
 
IMHO, this is a fine info thread with available hints for any potential A1 user like my self. For sure when I watched those Michael clips I immediately thought I'd want that camera. I'm a little bit curious around the same outcome coming or not from the A1 (vs. XL-H1). When I found this thread I felt like a fish in the water. So, I should thank you, DammitJanet. Not the opposite.

BTW, it's a common understanding to hope for any Barlow's answer on the Canon stuff. We all know he's the Canon guru (like Barry is Pana related). His opinion is so much appreciated. I guess all here agree with me. And for sure there will be more Canon users after the Barlow posts.

Yes, I'm using these clips as a reference for lowlighting footage. But not as the A1 should be compared to. Only as I'd like to have a comparision over these same boards. Although I'm waiting for these new lowlighting clips coming from DammitJanet (AGC disabled) or Barlow (considering he has both models), at least, I'll be waiting for the Michael Pappas' new A1. If before than that my supplier won't provide my 25p as I'm waiting since a long time.
 
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