Filming real estate, need some advice!

A

Admir

Well-known member
As it looks right now, I might be getting into real estate filming. I will shoot anything from a house to apartments that are for sale. Right now I have an HMC150, and a SGblade for more artistic type of work. The SGblade might come in handy while shooting outdoors. But indoors, it will be impossible to use. Each job will be on a very low budget, so there won't be any room nor time to shoot with lights.

Do you think that the HMC will hold up to that type of work? Or should I maybe sell the SGblade to get some cash, and go for a DSLR (for the first time ever) because of the much better low light performance and detail quailty.
I really don't want to fail with the first shot as it will probably be my only chance to impress my potential customer.
Also, I'm worried about the dynamic range when shooting towards a window in order to show how it looks outside or the view from the window, any general tips of how I could do it?

Anyone that has experience from this type of work that could give me some advice of the workflow (how to set up, plan, shoot and so on?
 
I'd recommend going dslr. I've done several of these over the past year, all with a dslr and various lenses. You'd certainly be able to get that shallow DOF indoors without losing all the light from the adapter. With no additional light, you'd either have to bump up the ISO or get a lens that's at least 2.8. I've only used additional lighting on two of the properties I shot. It can help even out the huge exposure range slightly, but usually isn't enough unless you're bringing in big HMIs or something. No camera has the dynamic range to cover interior and exterior at once in most properties (EPIC maybe). It's best just to expose for interior and let the windows blow out.As far as actually filming goes. Make sure your shots aren't shaky. Try not to pan and tilt simultaneously, just one or the other. If you have VoiceOver, the sequence you shoot the rooms in doesn't have to make sense. If not, try to start one shot where the previous one ends to give some sense of layout. Just make sure your camera is level, and if you're doing lots of pans, try to keep them all the same speed and duration. Check out some of my other posts for a few examples of some I've shot.
 
Couple thoughts -

If you never need to capture quality audio, a DSLR may be great for this sort of gig - I'd bring a wide zoom and something like a 28-70 2.8. Handheld with a DSLR is really rough, but this is not likely a handheld gig. The DSLR would be great for isolating cool details of a nicer home. You may get some aliasing on things like mini blinds, but much of this goes away at a web-size - on a large TV it could be an issue.

For exteriors, some sort of ND and possibly an ND fader (for skies) would be a must. And a matte box with 4x4 filters is the easiest way to do this, but pricey. Screw-in glass filters work well, more of a hassle though, but far cheaper.

The 150 really needs a fair amount of light to shine - I find cranking it up in post can really trash darker footage. And chances are, even with a DSLR, you'll find some rooms that simply need extra lights. I'd look into a couple of 4-bank biax flos and stands, seeing those for as low as $275 or so. They deliver a lot of easy to setup soft light, a 4-bank biax being close to 1k. Others will have their own opinions.

As for the windows... that's an issue with many solutions, none very easy. If you want to see exterior details, you need large rolls of ND gel hung over the windows, on the building exterior. You could possibly pull this off with a static (locked-down) shot, shoot at interior and exterior exposure levels and matte it together in post. With a moving camera this will be tough and require matchmoving software. Fixing that issue is a problem that usually requires more budget than a project like this may allow. Windows can be brought under control with scrims, but that's more to cut the exposure, still leaving a "white" window.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Yeah the DSLR would probably be a wise thing to invest in, but there are some stuff I really don't like about them. Such as the aliasing, the need of external ND filters (and the fuss with keeping them clean on set and so on). That's why I still use my beloved adapter, I get the same look but have all the pro' videocam functions that the HMC has to offer. Since I also do some run n gun jobs, and filming events, I want to keep my HMC at least for now since it is a really nice camera.

Would an on board light on the top of the HMC help out indoors you think? That means that i bring extra light with me, and no worries about setting it up as it always stick on the camera and is easy to adjust and aim where extra fill light is needed in zero time.

I just found this one, a lot of people seems to like it, and it's cheap as dirt http://www.coollcd.com/hdvz96-5600k...7.html?zenid=88cd02111cb20ea9eb6a28f0c1a089c9
 
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You really need a lot of light to make any difference. I'd stay away from on-camera lights for this kind of thing. You'll end up with color casts from the different light sources, lots off light falloff at the edges of the frame, and still not enough light to combat the windows. Anything bigger is just too cumbersome for a one-man job, especially when you'd need to light and shoot 10+ rooms in like two hours. That's why i don't bring in any lights for the majority of my real estate videos. Just a camera, 2-3 lenses, tripod, and slider.A t2i and a tamron 17-50 2.8 will serve you well for most places you'll shoot. You could probably swing that by selling the sgblade and hang onto the hmc. My tokina 11-16 gets a ton of use for real estate too. Are you doing photos as well?The aliasing can occasionally be problematic, especially with brick houses. NDs aren't as big of a deal, since you can just stop down outdoors. You usually want fairly deep DOF to see the landscape and all that.
 
Great, thanks for the tip regarding on board lights. No, I won't do any stills, not at least for now. If he asks me if I can do it, then I'll get a GH2 at once. As far as I can see it, a GH2, with the new hack and upcoming updates, is the best DSLR availible, right?
 
You're on the right track with keeping the 150 regardless; there are way too many times you need a full blown, purpose-made video camera.

I really think of the DSLR as my "artsy" camera (even on its rails with ff and matte box) and the 150 as my video rig. And if an "artsy" project requires keying - 150 all the way.

So many investments will apply to either system - whether steadicams, cranes, heads, sliders... or lighting and grip... it's not a waste to own both setups.

And by the way... if you just gotta light some rooms, try 2 or 3 of those huge 80 watt flo bulbs and some big china balls. For under $100, you can have a setup that puts out over 2k worth of soft, pretty light. Get some of the sort of "unbleached" paper look balls for a warmer look. You can pack all that in a small suitcase (minus stands). I've been really impressed by the power of the big flo's. I use these bulbs and man - they kick out some lumens - they seem way brighter than a 400 watt tungsten, more like 500-650.
 
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I can remember doing this type of shoot around 1991- and having to bring the camera, the deck and umbilicals and being happy that someone had already gelled all the windows! Lighting is the big challenge, for sure - but less so than 20 years ago!
 
some tips

some tips

Anyone that has experience from this type of work that could give me some advice of the workflow (how to set up, plan, shoot and so on?[/QUOTE]

Travel light and run & gun. The 150 is just fine for interiors with that wide angle lens on board. Turn on all the lights in the house and white balance for indoors and just let the windows blow out. If you have too much daylight, then close curtains and rely on incandescents. Iris manually. You could also use a camera light with a wide angle throw like a 60 degree MR16 or an indoor LED, or you could bring a 500 watt Tota-Light on a stand and bounce it off the ceiling and keep it at your back. Add a Glidecam rig for smooth moving shots. I prefer the 150's ability to zoom over the "bokeh" of a DSLR.

Here is a real estate video I shot with the 150, handheld, and a Mini-Cool camera light (MR16, 60 degree, 35w halogen): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1766NwLU2Rg
 
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Accelv, hope you cleaned your gear after being in that filthy shack. They need some paint and a rug cleaning before they call the video folks.
 
Here is the latest video I put together. It was originally shorter, but the client requested that I added stills to the mix....


I've also done a few walk-through video tours with my steadicam also. They're super easy to do and don't take much time at all, but they still aren't as smooth as I'd like for them to be--meaning the shots don't intercut very well with tripod or slider shots. Still, a lot of realtors like them, so you gotta deliver what's wanted.
 
Thanks for the advice! I will stick to my HMC for the first job, and see how it goes. A dslr isn't that expensive (well yes it is for me) but compared to other cameras they aren't. We'll see what type of workflow I will use, this client is one of the biggest in this country and having him as a client would really help me and my career.

Thanks for the videos, they look great, I have just built another DIY slider that works perfect, it might get in handy :thumbsup:
 
dwelter said:
Accelv, hope you cleaned your gear after being in that filthy shack. They need some paint and a rug cleaning before they call the video folks.
Click to expand...

Jeez, I thought it was a nice little house. . .

Anyway, an hmc150 will do just fine. But you'll need a few things.

A wide angle adapter. This is a MUST. I have one from 16x9.
A way to fix the wide angle distortion. Newblue effects has a plugin pack that includes one called lens correction. This will do the job.
Lights. I don't think you'll be able to avoid this. I prefer to use fluorescents closer to daylight. Even with all the lights in the house on, most your light is coming from the windows. If you're relying on tungstens or just the lights in the house, you end up with clashing colors.
Also, the HMC has a preset called Backlight that works really well for rooms with a lot of windows. It will allow you to use auto iris but will blow the windows out instead of darkening the room.
 
Yes it seems that I will have to invest in some LED panels or something like that. As long as it is easy and fast to set up. If I can make it look good they should pay off pretty fast I think!

Right now the only kit of lights I have are two halogen build lights, and they serve me well but they won't do the job when filming a house. I'll start to look for some light panels!
 
Be careful about potentialy investing too much in lights and other gear. In my experience, real estate videos are typically low paying, so it would take a long time to recoup any significant investment.
 
Yeah those litepanels are expensive as hell and not really worth it for what you're doing. But some cheap fluorescent floods or umbrellas.
 
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