Confused about Video Recoding Settings

ajamils

ajamils

Well-known member
Even though I've read the manual a few times, the more I use GH1, the more confused I get :(. Yesterday, I took my cam to the seaside board walk and made some videos and was quiet disappointed with the results. I'm not sure what I did wrong but its must be something terrible because videos do not look anywhere close to some of the examples I've seen posted here.

Here are some questions that I have.

1) What's the difference between pressing the video recording button and capturing video, while the dial is set to "P, A, S, M" compared to turning the dial to "Creative Movie Mode" and then switching between "P, A, S, M".

2) Does "Film mode" effects still pictures as well or just video recording ?

3) What's the best film mode to use ? I've tried both Natural and Standard and did not find any difference between them.

4) For *everyday* videos, what are some of the ideal settings (for low light and outdoors) ?
 
1. Creative Movie Mode allows you to manually set ISO, aperture, and/or shutter speed in video mode. If the dial is set to anything else, then I think that the camera will be doing full auto-exposure when you press the record button (but correct me if I'm wrong). If you intend on using P (Program Auto), A (Aperture Priority), or S (Shutter Priority), which are all auto-exposure modes, then I really don't see the point in using Creative Movie Mode. Aperture Priority will let you set just the aperture, and Shutter Priority will let you set the shutter speed. But that's about it, unless you're using M (Manual).

2. It affects stills and videos.

3. I think that most users here prefer to custom "Film Mode" settings. I like to do -2 Contrast, 0 Saturation, 0 Sharpness, and -2 NR (noise reduction). I know that others have slightly different preferences. But you should decrease contrast and noise reduction in order to maximize latitude and recorded detail.

4. Not really sure what you mean... What settings? You can keep Film Mode constant for everything, but exposure settings will change depending on lighting conditions. In that case, "ideal" is whatever gets you the "right" exposure. To get shallow depth-of-field, use a big aperture (which means a small F-number). If shooting 24p, then use 1/50th second shutter speed. If you're shooting 60p for 24p conversion, use 1/60th. If you're doing slow motion, use 1/125th. ISO is probably what you'll be changing the most.
 
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ajamils said:
This is frustrating !! :(. I went to the board walk today and took some videos. Mostly were on P mode (on the dial) and some were on Creative Movie mode (set on the dial) and pretty much all the clips look like trash. Except for some shots most of the videos look like they came out of SD cam. Colors were good but it lacks sharpness and "pop" that you'll expect from HD video.

What could I be doing wrong ? I'm using kit lens. Any tips ?
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You should shoot in the AVCHD SH mode (which is 720p at 60 fps). The FHD mode easily suffers from codec break-up, as commanderspike will tell you, and the other modes (aside from SH) aren't HD. Make sure that you are playing your clips on a computer, or that you're connecting the camera to a display via HDMI (not composite) for playback.

Please note that some of the clips that you see posted here have been color-graded, which is one reason why they look so good.

BTW: Illya Friedman has a great quick-start guide here: http://www.hotrodcameras.com/2009/09/07/quickstart-gh1/
 
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How it looks can depend a lot on how you played it back - from the GH1, or transferred to a PC or Mac? What software if playing on a computer? etc etc.
 
What is the recommended film mode to use in everyday videos/stills (Smooth, Nature, Dynamic etc)?
 
The FHD mode easily suffers from codec break-up, as commanderspike will tell you, and the other modes (aside from SH) aren't HD.
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The FHD is fine. If you pan slowly and consistently, as you are supposed to, you will have no trouble. If you whip pan like a maniac thats another story. The best looking footage, (film like quality), comes from 1080p, no doubt about it.
One of the most important things to do with the GH1 is that you have to stabilize it, be it mounting it on a tripod or shoulder rig. The Smooth setting or Standard setting have worked pretty well for me so far. You would have to experiment with the contrast, saturation, etc. until you find a combination YOU are happy with. You will also need Voltaic HD or Neoscene to remove the pulldown from the AVCHD files and covert it to a more friendly file format for editing. Again, don't be scared at all to shoot 1080p for the most film like images you will get. Shoot as many static shots as you can, wide angle shots, medium shots, long shots and close-ups, and combine them with carefully executed pans and you will do fine. If you notice that certain subjects, like foliage, give you trouble when you move the camera around then try to avoid that situation and you will be happy with the results.
 
I tried those setting and got mixed results (viewing directly on TV from the cam). Some shots looked good, while others still lacked "HD" look.

On a separate note, I keep reading everywhere that 1/60 is considered to be the best shutter speed to use for video (1080, NTSC) but I can't seem to find it.

Under shutter speeds..... I get numbers like 1.3, 1.5, 1", 500. I'm assuming that 1.3 is slower than 1.5 but then what is 1" ? Is that one second ? and 500 is 1/500 ? If so, should I be using 60 as shutter speed (assuming its actually 1/60) ?
 
ajamils said:
I tried those setting and got mixed results (viewing directly on TV from the cam). Some shots looked good, while others still lacked "HD" look.
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Can you upload some footage? It would help us not only understand better what you mean, but also help figure out what you might be doing wrong.
 
ajamils said:
On a separate note, I keep reading everywhere that 1/60 is considered to be the best shutter speed to use for video (1080, NTSC) but I can't seem to find it.
Click to expand...

I thought it was 1/50 when using the 1080 NTSC?

Does anyone definately know the best "most filmlike" shutter speed for 1080?
 
Anything between about 1/45 to 1/60 will look appropriately filmlike.

But do NOT shoot 1080/24p on a CMOS camcorder at 1/50th under fluorescent or HMI lights unless you're certain those lights are high-frequency electronic-ballast. Use 1/40th or 1/60th instead.
 
GH1 raw videos

GH1 raw videos

ydgmdlu said:
Can you upload some footage? It would help us not only understand better what you mean, but also help figure out what you might be doing wrong.
Click to expand...


Here are some raw videos that I uploaded directly from camera. Please take a look at them and let me know what you think. Please advise how I can make them better or better yet, how can I shoot better videos :)
 
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