First serious shooting on friday...suggestions

O

Ogrus

Well-known member
I will be shooting with my HMC41 (Pal) in a office on friday. Short relaxed three minute scene. Two people sitting at a table. talking. Intimate lightning.

Options:
This footage will be HD for a blue ray and downconverted to SD for the humble local tv station

Im thinking shooting 720p. This is my first serious attempt filming AVCHD. It has to look good.


Is 720p a good option transcoding for PAL?

Any suggestions on format and scene files? shutter speed? gamma? knee? etc... My HMC book still hasn't arrived so I'm a little lost!!!


Thanks!!

Ogrus
 
I would shoot at 1080p. IMO you shoot 720p when it's a long event to get more space on your card. Your lighting is what will make it look good. I don't know what it is your doing but I prefer 24p.I've down converted from 1080p to standard mpeg2(DVD) and it looked fantastic on a dvd player. What software are you using? And as for shutter speed I think 1/50 is the closest you get to 1/48 on this camera. 1/48 is standard for a normal look. You will need a lot of lighting for this camera unless you want to use the gain.
 
P.S.T. said:
I would shoot at 1080p. IMO you shoot 720p when it's a long event to get more space on your card. Your lighting is what will make it look good. I don't know what it is your doing but I prefer 24p.I've down converted from 1080p to standard mpeg2(DVD) and it looked fantastic on a dvd player. What software are you using? And as for shutter speed I think 1/50 is the closest you get to 1/48 on this camera. 1/48 is standard for a normal look. You will need a lot of lighting for this camera unless you want to use the gain.
Click to expand...


There willl be a good lightning rig, ¡'m fully aware with low light issue in HMC40, so that has been taken extra care off. I use Premiere CS4

I'm certainly after the "movie look" so progressive is viable. Did you use cineform to transcode or another software to mpeg2?

Thanks for the advice!! It is greatly welcomed!! I'm a begginer to HD and need all the help I can get
 
You can get 1/48, by using the Syncro Scan menu option. But it depends on what lights you're using -- if they're fluorescent or HMI, you really don't want to go off of 1/50th (assuming you're shooting in Spain or some other 50Hz territory).
 
Yes... shooting in a small town near the border of France.
This has to have a dramatic look, any suggestions for scene setting?

Thanks!
 
check out what I did with the hmc40. All I had was a regular work clamp light on the right of the subject for the keylight. It was a fluorescent lightbulb with tungsten temperature and china paper to diffuse it. Then I used a 300 watt tungsten light for back light. The scene was actually very lit and I used magic bullet looks to make it look dark and green in post.


You would be surprised on what I used. I used Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate. That software came with magic bullet looks, AVCHD ready, 5.1 DOLBY encoder, Chroma Keyer,BlueRay ready AND was only 110 dollars. I just burn it to a dvd at maximum quality and there you have it. For youtube I just exported it as mpeg4 at maximum quality. Very simple software yet very powerful and cheap.
 
P.S.T. said:
check out what I did with the hmc40. All I had was a regular work clamp light on the right of the subject for the keylight. It was a fluorescent lightbulb with tungsten temperature and china paper to diffuse it. Then I used a 300 watt tungsten light for back light. The scene was actually very lit and I used magic bullet looks to make it look dark and green in post.


You would be surprised on what I used. I used Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate. That software came with magic bullet looks, AVCHD ready, 5.1 DOLBY encoder, Chroma Keyer,BlueRay ready AND was only 110 dollars. I just burn it to a dvd at maximum quality and there you have it. For youtube I just exported it as mpeg4 at maximum quality. Very simple software yet very powerful and cheap.
Click to expand...



Amazing result!


PS: For all of those who diss the HMC in lowlight....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RRoCkncvYo
 
To my surprise i was told this TV network does its news in HD, 720, so no need to downconvert

Should i shoot straight 720/25 or 720/50?
Does it make sense not to shoot in 1080 because the Network airs 720?

My comp is rather slow for HD (next investment will be a higher tech workstation) for now, it is what i have. I use CS4. Would it be a good idea to transcode to cineform neoscene to edit smoothly?

thanks once again!
 
If you shoot in 720/25p, the station will air it on a 720/50p signal and there's no problem with that. For fast action sports, you'll want the higher frame rate, but for most things 25p is good enough. Just watch your shutter speed and select a 1/50 of a second shutter speed. Shorter speeds will generate a strobe like effect at 25p.

Outdoors will be too bright for the camera, so a good ND filter (0.6ND or 0.9ND) will be required.


Bob Diaz
 
BobDiaz said:
If you shoot in 720/25p, the station will air it on a 720/50p signal and there's no problem with that. For fast action sports, you'll want the higher frame rate, but for most things 25p is good enough. Just watch your shutter speed and select a 1/50 of a second shutter speed. Shorter speeds will generate a strobe like effect at 25p.

Outdoors will be too bright for the camera, so a good ND filter (0.6ND or 0.9ND) will be required.


Bob Diaz
Click to expand...

Thanks! Vital info!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top