Footage lacks detail with sharp contrast in the background

L

lifepo4

Well-known member
http://www.vimeo.com/4366356

HMC150, everything in the scene file is pretty much neutral, should I increase the PED slightly (say 30) and in GAMMA choose HIGH (to decrease contrast) instead of HD Norm? I also notice that sometimes when AWB does not work well (either A or B), it is a little hard to use the LCD screen to adjust White Balance manually, should I use Auto Tracking White (USER1: ATW)? You can see that my WB is a little off here.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions!
 
What's the issue exactly? It's hard to tell what you're referencing given the crummy Vimeo compression...
 
Avoid ATW, it is not accuate and will change during filming. Just learn how to accuratly Witebalance your shot! Make some tests and verify the result in post to get used to the differences between the LCD and the final result, or plug your can to a TV monitor.

And I don't see anything wrong in your video. Maybe it's the web's compression.

You're filming outside. Which ND filter are you using? Did you witebalance after having set the ND filter? At which Iris f number where you? Sometimes, disfraction can occur when the iris is closed down.
 
Sprimeau, thanks, In this case, the ND filter is 1/64, I usually ensure the Iris is about F3.4 to F4.0, when it is too bright, I usually set the shutter to 1/120 in order to get proper exposure at F3.4, I adjust White Balance quite actively.

When I watch my video on a regular Samsung LCD TV, the video looks a little washed out with poor details.
 
Maybe you should not use ND 1/64. I hear it washes out the footage no? Would there be any disadvantages of just leaving the ND lower but pumping up the shutter speed to say 1/500th or 1/1000th or whatever gives you proper exposure?
 
Can anyone comment on Entity's opinion that ND 1/64 tends to wash out the footage? Also can anyone explain GAMMA regarding the picture quality? When the background is very bright and your subject is so-so, should I select HIGH or default HD NORM? Thanks!
 
should be no surprise. the HMC's sensor resolves to lower resolution than other 1/3 prosumer cameras.. this has been shown time and time again in real world tests.
 
ullanta said:
What's the issue exactly? It's hard to tell what you're referencing given the crummy Vimeo compression...
Click to expand...

Got to say you might want to check your export settings, looks like you got some interlacing going on...

What recording mode did you use? Editing on PC or Mac?
 
MadHMC1: Recorded in 1080i, (PH mode), trancoded to Apple Quicktime format using AltaicHD (29.97fps, variable bitrate, Quality setting: high)

Boog: I have videotaped indoors, it generally looks clear, so the reason why this particular footage is grainy? I suspect it is mainly due to settings, also when I taped it, the focus was near center of the fountain, which is about 15-17 ft away, partially explains the grainy background.
 
lifepo4 said:
MadHMC1: Recorded in 1080i, (PH mode), trancoded to Apple Quicktime format using AltaicHD (29.97fps, variable bitrate, Quality setting: high)

Boog: I have videotaped indoors, it generally looks clear, so the reason why this particular footage is grainy? I suspect it is mainly due to settings, also when I taped it, the focus was near center of the fountain, which is about 15-17 ft away, partially explains the grainy background.
Click to expand...

Oh I thought you were talking about the lack of detail / low resolution.. .which in that case, the 170/150/200A all have lower resolution sensors than other 1/3 cameras..
 
I get those horizontal lines when the footage has not been set up to de-interlace with "upper field first" and using a glaussen (sp) blur. Then exporting as 30p. Donno if it will help, just my $.02. I really liked this Neo Scene converter making it an *.avi works well...
 
booggerg2 said:
Oh I thought you were talking about the lack of detail / low resolution.. .which in that case, the 170/150/200A all have lower resolution sensors than other 1/3 cameras..
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The sum of its parts is more than just resolution. I find that most of the higher res camera to trade off in sharpness for a less pleasing image. The Panasonic Mojo acounts for a great part of what I like about this camera.. and why so many people liked the original DVX. I've shot with the A1 and that cam produces nice sharp images but at a cost of having too much harshness to its image and overall a less appealing image. When you also couple in the cmos stuff, that's a deal breaker in a ton of situations that I am forced to shoot in.

Your point is taken but that isn't the sum total of a cameras worth.. and its why so many people bought the HVX and now this little 150... it produces really sweet looking images and who sits there and comments upon the sharpness of the image... besides people looking for it? If it was all about sharp images, people wouldn't be buying these cams at all.. but thankfully they are.
 
Justyn:

Canon XH A1 uses 3CCD, each with a resolution of 1440*1080, but the low light performance, HDV interframe compression are its shortcomings, in my opinion, but still better than SONY CMOS based HDV cameras.
 
1080i footage will look interlaced on a computer or (non-interlaced monitor/progressive TV)

The HMC150 does not have full raster chips, so you will not get the resolution of 1080 as compared to other cameras that do have full raster chipsets.
(the trees in the background are not rich in detail, as there is no RESOLUTION in the chipset to capture it. It will always look like that unless you increase the resolution)

The blocking in the footage is from the compression of the vimeo and going from HMC150 to "something else". Increase the bitrate and this will help, shoot progressive and this will help.
 
Justyn said:
I've shot with the A1 and that cam produces nice sharp images but at a cost of having too much harshness to its image and overall a less appealing image. When you also couple in the cmos stuff, that's a deal breaker in a ton of situations that I am forced to shoot in.
Click to expand...

Simply not true. The A1 images aren't "harsh". Although I can't really debate that since it's only a matter of opinion, situation, settings, etc.

The A1 picture looks soo much better than the HMC-150 in everything but low light. Trust me I've shot with a A1 for years. I still chose to sell my A1 and get the HMC-150 for other reasons though. Also the A1 isn't CMOS but I think maybe you were refering to a different camera.
 
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