Best scene file for highsun daylight wedding

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Peem Washikiat

Active member
Hello,

Just made the decision to shoot my first wedding with the dvx200 in UHD for a presumed output in 1080p. Thus far I have produced DVDs shooting with my old dvx100- so it's a big step for me, with focus and exposure now that much more critical along with handheld movement. But I'm going for it thinking a little room for post work as well the option to finish in uhd. But my big question today is if there's a best Scene File setting for my shoot. Any hints or opinions would be appreciated. Cheers!
 
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If you have room for post work, then shoot v-log L. Just black balance before the shoot, white balance correctly whenever the lighting changes drastically, and keep an eye on your waveforms for proper exposure and you'll be fine. Just remember highlights clip at 80 IRE in the dvx200's implementation of v-log L. Don't crush your blacks.
 
I have been using three DVX200s for wedding coverage for about one year. I use a slightly customized scene file 4. You can see an example of what it looks like here:
http://www.video-vermont.com/hannah_eric.html
The bridle/groom prep is GH4. All the rest is DVX200.
I was quite pleased by the outcome and so was the client, especially having to shoot the ceremony against a sun streaming through windows, right at my cameras! I don't use V-Log because it is too much trouble to get hired shooters to learn the camera properly. I am now experimenting with TDCAT's scene file which is much flatter looking to my eyes, but which seems to match the look of the Sony A7Sii in PP8, with Cine 4. (This Sony setting seems to be popular with some sony wedding shooters)
 
Awesome wedding videos. Great to see the DVX200 in a wedding setting. Just a couple of questions since I might shoot weddings with it in the future.

- Did you shoot in 4k/UHD then edit on 1080 timeline
- During the evening reception, what is your highest gain/iso that looks usable.
- Do you recommend Auto or Manual focus?
 
Apologies, Greyteil: I also shoot weddings, so I'll offer a response to this, as well.

Thinkgines, consider this extra information to append what Greytail's response will be.

thinkgines said:
- Did you shoot in 4k/UHD then edit on 1080 timeline
- During the evening reception, what is your highest gain/iso that looks usable.
- Do you recommend Auto or Manual focus?
Click to expand...

I will shoot DCI 4K because I want the 24.00, then edit on a 1080 timeline with a crop (17:9 to 16:9 isn't too big a deal). Also, starting from 4K and rescaling to 1080 makes the image a bit sharper and the noise a bit smaller. Also, I do a bit of VFR and that is only 1080, but I try not to go past 60, or 90-something tops, as the sensor crop will harm IQ. This goes into the 1080 timeline just fine. If you want to move fast, then always shoot 1080 and VFR will be much more intuitive to toggle.

In the 4K->1080 workflow I mentioned, ISO 2000 seems to be fine, but I don't go higher than that. Day-to-day I generally go ISO 250-1000, staying at 250 as much as possible, then 500, then 1000. 500 being base ISO. If I have to, and things get really bad at higher ISOs, I know I can use Neat Video to denoise. Also, I shoot vlog for most everything except news.

Don't ever use auto focus for anything, ever. Use manual focus, practice manual focus, become a manual focus ninja. Focus is a creative and dramatic instrument and having a computer think for you is never fulfilling or appropriate as an artist or a technician.
 
thinkgines said:
Awesome wedding videos. Great to see the DVX200 in a wedding setting. Just a couple of questions since I might shoot weddings with it in the future.

- Did you shoot in 4k/UHD then edit on 1080 timeline
- During the evening reception, what is your highest gain/iso that looks usable.
- Do you recommend Auto or Manual focus?
Click to expand...

Yes, I shoot 4k/UHD all the time and edit on a 1080 timeline in FCP X. I usually multicam 3 DVXs for the ceremony. My computer can't cope with this, so I edit in Proxy
I have my high gain set on ISO 2000. I have never had to use Extended sensitivity.

Always manual focus, though in manual you can push auto just to get into the ballpark sometimes.
 
JRJphoto said:
Apologies, Greyteil: I also shoot weddings, so I'll offer a response to this, as well.

So at weddings how do you get focus in bright sun or in situations where the contrast is not sufficient to provide peaking? A couple of times, peaking has tricked me, highlighting foliage use behind the bride and along with the bride. Back in post I discover I was slightly out of focus! This focusing problem is my biggest challenge with the camera. I have a Hoodman for the LCD but it is not sufficient and if I look through the eyepiece, my eyes are so accustomed to the bright light, that I can't see it properly for a good 15 seconds.
Click to expand...
 
I don't use focus assistance while shooting. I'm used to EVFs, but I've gotten used to using LCDs. If it's a wedding, I stop down to maybe f/11 or so and use ND. It's harder to be OOF when the DOF is deep. Also, I get kinda close. It's even harder to lose focus when the subject is 10' away and you're not zoomed in too much.
 
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