How do I get clarity/detail in snow?!

H

Hean

New member
Hey I won't drag this out but how do I get the best clarity and detail while filming in snow? Clean and clear shots are CRUCIAL for snowboarding movies! I have the 100a and am pretty familiar with the settings. I close the F-Stop to get the ridges and shadows in the snow, but in exchange I don't get the brightness or colors I want. Any ideas?
 
Well since it's a sport, you can use a high shutter. 1/500 - 1/1000.

Then, put your ND filter to 1/8, and if it's still to bright, 1/64.

This way, you can leave your iris low. If you have your iris controlling the exposure, you may end up with your iris above 10 which may not make the image crisp.

Keep in mind, if you're shooting 24p, you may or may not get strobing/jitter with certain/different shutter speeds.

People, back me up?

Robbie
 
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Alright, all of that does make sense. But there is one thing I don't know how to set, and that's the shutter speed. I've searched on how to set that forever!
 
open ur LCD and u'll see" shutter" button and "speed select" button beside it. Press the shutter button to turn on shutter control....then press speed select button to change to ur desired speed.
 
i'm not sure how much detailed you want it, but the image was too...sepia?
Just turn the iris down and maybe throw on an ND filter and you won't over expose stuff without warming it up
 
Hean said:
Thanks guys, any more suggestions? Scene file ideas? I'm going to include a little one day shoot. In the end, I think it came out TOO warm. Here is the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go8SZQo-WQ8
Click to expand...

no offence but can't say i enjoyed that.
the spots looked like alot of fun but the filming and editing wernt on point.
check some snowboard edits i've done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMJKcsOQkag&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo_Fh5OjDo8&feature=channel_page
 
No offense back, but I could care less. I thought the shots went well with the music and it flowed. And for being my first film? I'm simply on here trying to better my work and to ask for some TECHNICAL opinions I.E. camera settings. Editing/shots had nothing to do with this topic.
 
Thanks Dory, that was exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I think that will be my next investment for sure.
 
Thanks a bunch guys! This really helps a TON! I'm looking at polarizers online right now. Hopefully I pick a winner!
 
what's a decent quality polarizer for the dvx? I was wanting to buy one myself. And what's the deal with spinning them? does it get you a different image if you put it in a different position or something?
 
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Dont skimp on any filters, only buy the absolute best you can afford. I made the mistake and am paying DEARLY for it :(.
 
If you're looking for a more crisp picture that allows the color to really pop, I would suggest getting into your scene file and see what kind of changes will help with your shooting conditions; also I'm not sure how you're white balancing but I would suggest just double checking your white balance, I also saw someone talk about using your ND filter avoid using that at all costs try to rely much more heavily on your shutter and Fstops. Unfortunately I'm not with my camera right not to give you more helpful suggestions around scene file changes, but one that really stands out right away in my head is your master pedestal; I'll post back with a more in depth response when I'm back in front of my camera.
 
I usually white balance to a warm card for snow shots, you can just use a robins-egg blue sheet and white balance to that in the sun.

If I want to set exposure manually, I try to get most of the snow in zebras at 80-85%. You can probably crank up the color in camera for most shots, since otherwise they will look very gray. You will find you need different scene file settings depending on if the day is sunny or cloudy.
 
ProfessorU said:
You will find you need different scene file settings depending on if the day is sunny or cloudy.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was trying to relay, you'll find you're constantly changing your scene file settings on top of your white balance and if it's all done correctly or almost so the out come can look great; here's a link to the most recent thing I shot and cut together for a friend, I'm looking at my camera right now for the night portions of the edit my scene file is as follows.
I hope something below helps or encourages you to just mess around with your internal settings to get what you're looking for.

One thing about my settings not below is the fact I shoot anamorphic, also this was edited in standard DV and exported as HD 720P, so your camera has a lot of capabilities.

Detail lvl: 6
V Detail lvl: 7
Detail Coring: 5
Chroma lvl: 3
Chroma Phase: 3
Color Temp:-3
Master Ped: 2
Gamma: Cinelike V
Knee: Auto
Matrix: Cinelike
Skin Tone dtl: on
Vdetail freq: mid
Progressive: 24P(ADV)

Here's what the footage looked like http://vimeo.com/2987716



Thanks to Hunter_Richards for explaining the 720P upscale trick!
 
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Holy crap guys, the response I'm getting from this thread is huge. I never expected all this. My first shoot after getting all this info is a best trick comp at a local resort on Friday night. I'll let you guys know how it goes and will post a rough cut asap!
 
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