DVX 100A question

M

mumin

Well-known member
I have two questions regarding dvx100A. I will be shooting my thesis film very soon. I wanted it to be in wide screen format. Some people told me that best option would be to shoot 3:4 and change it to wide screen in post. What about shooting with anamorphic lens or wide screen with in the camera. I believe camera has standart, wide screen and squeezed . What are the advantages and dis about those options?

Also at some point during my class shoot we shot specific shot that required rack focusing , the camera was rack focusing automatically even though it was switched to manual. What is that??

Thank you for reading.
 
First question :
If you use the anamorphic adapter, you gain better picture quality (less loss in pixel count)
If you shoot 4:3 and wide it in post, you will gain more lattitude on your frame (by adjusting vertically the frame in the picture) but framing may be an issue.
If you shoot in squeeze mode, you can control the framing during your shoot, but personnaly, I've never framed something successfuly with this distorded screen (I'm 100B).
Try to shoot 4/3 and stick a wide overlay on your LCD …

Second Question :
Wath is switch to manual : the whole camera (Auto mode OFF) or the focusing (switch on the lens) ?
 
If I want to shoot 4:3 and then change it in post do I start new project as 4:3 or 16:9 and which one I export with. Or is there an option in the software to add bars? What is the difference between post 16;9 and in camera 16:9 wide?
 
If you want to go to DVD, then shoot SQUEEZE mode (16:9)... Edit in a 16:9 timeline... Burn a 16:9 DVD. That way, you don't need to resize in post, which can be a mess. The in-camera resize from SQUEEZE mode is pretty darn good on NTSC cams.

If you had said SD broadcast (which is always 4:3), then 4:3 and letterbox in post would have been a better choice. DVD does native 16:9, so go SQUEEZE.
 
when I do squeeze then I need the anamorphic adapter to have lcd with normal picture?? i guess dvx B don't need that but I will be having dvx 100A. Or is the anamorphic adapter and squeeze two separate things. It seems that I also loose quality when I squeeze, is that true?
 
The anamorphic lens adapter and squeeze mode are two separate things. They produce the same result: a squeezed 4:3 image that has to be stretched out horizontally in post by your editing program.

Squeeze basically crops the top and bottom of window inside the 4:3 image, then it digitally stretches that 16:9 up to fill the whole 4:3 frame. It marks the shot "widescreen". Most editing programs understand that marking and automatically treat the footage as "squeezed" and stretch it out to fill the 16:9 frame on your timeline.

The anamorphic lens adapter accomplishes the squeezed 4:3 image optically rather than digitally. Because of this, it produces a sharper image.

Pros of the anamorphic lens adapter: [1] It's a higher resolution image that won't look as soft as a digitally squeezed image when displayed on a 16:9 TV.
Cons of the anamorphic lens adapter: [1] It's hard to focus. [2] It doesn't mark the video "widescreen" because you shoot in standard 4:3 mode. You have to tell your editing software manually that the footage is "squeezed". [3] On the DVX100a you will see a squeezed image on the LCD, so it might complicate framing.

Pros of "squeeze" mode: [1] It's easier to focus than the anamorphic lens. [2] It marks your video "widescreen".
Cons of "squeeze" mode: [1] The image is stretched twice digitally, once in camera it is stretched up vertically, and then once in post it is stretched horizontally. That makes the image softer and could produce digital artifacts. [2] On the DVX100a you see a squeezed image on the LCD, so it might complicate framing.
 
The "letterbox" mode on the DVX is optimized to display a 16:9 (widescreen) image on a 4:3 TV in letterbox format (with the black bars on the top or the bottom).

"Squeeze" mode on the DVX is optimized to display a 16:9 image on a 16:9 widescreen TV. The anamoprhic lens adapter is another method to produce a "squeezed" image that is sharper then the camera's squeeze mode.


To get the letterbox effect, you can set the camera into letterbox mode and it will place black bars over the top and bottom of the image. There are several good things about letterbox format. First, it doesn't use any digital stretching or squeezing so every pixel you get is what the camera recorded. Second, when you look in the LCD, the image has the black bars so when you are framing your shots -- what you see is what you get. Third -- it's easy. Because once you turn it on in the camera -- you've got a 16:9 image and there is nothing else required. So all the post work is just the same as if you were shooting 4:3 without letterbox.

Another way to get the letterbox effect is to shoot a standard 4:3 image and then add the bars in post. That is called "cropping" the image or "letterbox" effect. In Final Cut Pro v 5.1.4, you select [Effects]->[Video Filters]->[Matte]->[Widescreen] and bars magically appear. Check the help system for your editing program or search in the appropriate editor section of DVXuser for more information. The benefit of "cropping in post" is that you have extra room of recorded video above and below the cropped area. In some editing programs you can move the image up or down a little bit to "fix" framing errors . There is extra work in trying to fix it in post. Some people love the flexibility of correcting or framing in post. Others swear that its better to frame it correctly when shooting and to avoid the extra work.

One trick for shooting in 4:3 for cropping in post, is to turn letterbox on so you can see where the bars will be, and then put some masking tape over the LCD to represent the upper and lower bars. Then turn letterbox off. The tape will act as a guide to help you frame properly when shooting. And then you will still have the "overshoot" area to enable you to correct a shot in post if the framing was off.
 
Rack focusing automatically.

If you move the camera with autofocus on, you'll notice that it will autofocus on objects in certain areas of the frame. If you carefully plan your camera motion, along with careful blocking of the subjects, you can get the camera to autofocus from one plane to another producing a rack focus.

Example: Frame someone's face and part of their shoulder, maybe 6 feet in front of you. The camera will autofocus on them. Then slowly crane the camera up and pan away from their face and shoulder to another person standing 15 feet or so behind them. The first person's shoulder and the side of their face frames the second shot, and the camera autofocuses on the person behind them, producing a rack.

Practice the move several times before shooting it, because the speed of your movement has a big effect on when the camera starts to autofocus and how smooth the resulting rack looks.
 
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Hi Andy:

I just shot a short in squeeze mode. I have a DVX100b. I plan to edit it in Premiere 2.0. Would you know if there is any thing I should do to get the best image possible?

Deacon
 
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