first wedding / mixing 30p and 60i

G

grmasnow

Member
hello my fellow dvx users.
i'm kinda new here but i'm excited to learn much from you all.
i'm filming my first wedding next weekend and i've been doing a lot of research on here and elsewhere on how to go about doing this however i still have a few questions.

i will be shooting with two cameras however i will be the only person filming. my plan is to throw my dvx on a tripod at the back of the centre aisle angled slightly towards the bride and then i'll roaam with my other one getting handheld shots.
now, the problem is that my second camera is a vx2000. it kinda sucks but it's the only other decent 3 chip that i have available. so my issue is going to be attempting to mix the footage in a seamless manner for the edit. as much as i want to shoot in 24p with my dvx, i realize that this isn't practical when mixing with the 60i vx footage. is it fine for me to shoot 30p and or should i play it safe and shoot both at 60i? also do you have any tips with regards to attaining similar looking footage colour-wise?

also, the reception is in the groom's barn so this will pose a problem for lighting. i'm hoping that the sunlight streaming through the barn boards will be sufficient when added to the few lights that will be on. i am quite lucky that the wedding is on the second longest day of the year however the first dance will be at a time when the sun will be near setting. do you have any tips on getting the lightest picture with the littlest noise that doesn't require an on camera light?

sorry for the length of this. thanks in advance.
 
Personally I'd do this.
I shoot all my weddings in 25p (this will be 24p for you). If you like the look of interlaced footage there's no problem shoot with both cams in 60i.

If you choose to shoot in progressive then you'll need to de-interlace all the VX footage. Because de-interlaced footage loses resolution in the process, it would be wiser to use the VX on the tripod and use the DVX in 24p to get all the nicer shots and use the VX footage to cut back to if need be as the DVX 's footage will be nicer for the main shots.
Just my 2cents.
As for the lighting, you need not worry too much. I've shot receptions indoors at night with no sun coming thru windows and the footage is fine with normal lighting inside. Just make sure you white balance often and BOTH camera's. Oh and shoot plain with both camera's and color grade in post cause the VX looks nothin like the DVX's footage!
 
thanks for that advice shaun.
so what you're saying is that you would shoot in 24p and mix it with the 60i footage? isn't the contrast between 60i and 24p much much larger than 30p and 60i? i'm not sure but i feel as if 24p mixed with 60i would look badly mixed even to the untrained eye. also will throwing 60i footage in either a 24p or 30p timeline look odd in anyway? what are the downfalls of this?
and i'm planning on probably using more of the static tripod shots then the handheld so that's why i'm putting the dvx on the tripod at the back.
also, it was requested that i shoot in 16:9 however i am undecided between anamorphic or squeeze. if i'm mixing 16:9 from the dvx with 16:9 from the vx then would it be wise to do anamorphic so that on 4:3 tvs the shots won't be mix and match?
thanks again.
 
Nope, I didn't say mix the footage. I said if you want the progressive look, you'll need to de-interlace all the VX footage to 30p so its a better match to the DVX's 24p or even shoot 30p on the DVX so the frame rates are exact between the 2 cams.

Or just shoot both cams in 60i, once you have the edit done you can run the clip thru magic bullets de-interlacer if you want that progressive film look.

Shoot squeeze on the DVX.
 
Also, you can add 60i, 30p and 24p into the same 29.97 fps timeline. The only time you would use a different timeline is when you shoot 24p advanced which would go into a 23.974 timeline.
 
For simplicity's sake, being for your first time, I would strongly suggest not using 24p. But I would also agree that your VX2000 should be the wide, tripod cam and your DVX the closeup cam, shooting 30p or 60i.
 
andythefilmer said:
Also, you can add 60i, 30p and 24p into the same 29.97 fps timeline. The only time you would use a different timeline is when you shoot 24p advanced which would go into a 23.974 timeline.
Click to expand...

This is mostly true, however, keep in mind -- you generally should not choose your timeline based on whether you shot 24p or 24pA -- you should know ahead of time how you're going to edit and choose either 24p or 24pA based on that.
 
thanks a lot, that clears up a lot of questions.
i think i'll probably stick with 30p then.
but why should i shoot squeeze instead of anamorphic?
just a general wedding question: usually, how 'in there' do you get when you're shooting handheld? i've been watching a lot of wedding reels and trailers and i've seen some amazing shots but it seems as if the shooter had to be somewhat intrusive to get them. i'm trying to figure out where to draw the line as far as how mobile i will be during the ceremony.
 
The "progressive" mode on the VX2000 is pretty much useless except for certain stylized footage. It's interpolated from an interlaced CCD and is only 15 fps. Even Sony says the only real reason to use it is to grab stills from the footage.
 
grmasnow said:
but why should i shoot squeeze instead of anamorphic?
Click to expand...

Squeeze IS anamorphic, at least the way it's recorded.

If you're referring to the anamorphic adapter lens, I wouldn't recommend it for this use.


just a general wedding question: usually, how 'in there' do you get when you're shooting handheld? i've been watching a lot of wedding reels and trailers and i've seen some amazing shots but it seems as if the shooter had to be somewhat intrusive to get them. i'm trying to figure out where to draw the line as far as how mobile i will be during the ceremony.
Click to expand...
That's something you need to discuss with your client beforehand. :)
 
i did discuss it with them and they said feel free to do whatever. they're a good friend of mine's sister so it's a relatively low pressure shoot but obviously i still want to do my best.
how 'in there' do you get with your most liberal client?
and also, i was planning on using a hand held recorder to hook into the soundbouard of the church however i found a cheaper option where i can buy a device for about 100$ that records it straight to my computer. is this a good idea or should i lay down the extra cash for a zoom h2?
 
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I have used the H2 and like it a lot, pick one up if you are able. Right now I have the H4 unit. You can get these for about $200.00 (used and well cared for on Ebay, the H2 used is about $165.00), the updated features are worth the little bit of extra money.

It has a tripod mount that allows more advanced placement, along with audio quality that you will be more than impressed with.

Good luck!
 
sorry to bump an old thread, but quick question.
i shot the wedding and all went well. the footage is actually mixing surprisingly well.
one thing though, generally how long does it take you to edit everything and hand over the finished project to the bride and groom?
 
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