How to monitor three-cam setup, shooting multicam?

K

Kit_L

Active member
We shot a three-cam interview on the weekend; the closeup cams were in focus, but the side angle two-shot cam turned out to be way OOF once I could see the footage (another state, a day later)
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The problem in my setup is that I am both the director of the program and a participant—so can't do a final real-live check before rolling, 'cos I have to be in the set.

We shoot with three Panny G6 bodies and second system sound.

I want some solution that I can use to see the images from all cameras (and esp. to match the angles of the two CU cams). I do have an assistant who can reframe, etc. Does any technology spring to mind? Needs to be light as we shoot all around the globe, and total kit needs to be under 7Kg for carry-on.

I am thinking wi-fi connection to three iPhones, and using these to move and check focus points and to roll the cameras—but any other ideas?

TIA, kl
 
You say "we" shot... who else is working with you? In other words, is somebody else working the cameras at all?
 
Some kind of video output and a quad split device so that you can have 4 smaller images from up to 4 cameras on a single monitor. Alternate is 4 small monitors stuck to a board so that all 4 cameras are present or a monitor with 3 or 4 inputs so you can switch between cameras.

You may also decide to add more light and shoot with the lens more stopped down, not everything needs to have depth of field so razor thin it could slice meat for a sandwich.
 
The setups vary. I have a Vimeo on Demand channel that's doing quite well; it features intermediate–advanced stretching programs. When we make these, I have real people manning the cameras. But even then, the small screens on the G6 bodies can mean that focus is missed when the pressure is on.

The setup I refer to above are "Coffee Shop conversations", a recent free addition to the pay programs. And these are usually shot interstate, so all gear must be carried on board, and most often complete newbies are the only assistants the locations offer.

A bit of background: I am an ex-network TV director who specialised in live events; I am looking for a way to make sure the interview setups, where I will not have experienced people around, can be framed and focused 'remotely', by me.

Stopping down will not give the look I want; most times for the interviews, the c/up cams are ƒ2 or ƒ2.2 on the Oly 45; this gives a very natural look, and a lovely soft background. And the natural movement of the interviewees is covered by these apertures.

Greg, do you have any specific recommendations? And @ Alex, we want to minimise the number of people in the room.

Has anyone used iPhones in the way I was considering? cheers, k
 
I have worked it out: here's the process.

Set all cameras to pinpoint focus mode and AFS (so no drifting of focus point). Turn on Wi-fi on all cameras (all cameras were wi-fi synced with the one phone; the phone remembers the unique passwords), and set up.

On the phone, I open Panasonic Image App (free download). I am now able to see the output of any of the three cameras, simply by going to "Settings > Wi-Fi > and clicking on the three camera-generated local networks on the phone in turn. Because pinpoint focussing is enabled on the camera, as soon as I touch a point on the phone screen (seeing the camera's output), that section is magnified momentarily, and you can watch focus being pulled in real time. Press Exit (takes you back to full screen and all controls. That camera is then put into Record, and the process repeated for the others. The final step is to hit Record on the sound recorder, and clap my hands. Assuming no-one bumps the cameras, we are golden.

The only unknown is, with wi-fi enabled, how long can I record for? Our interviews are 60' or so. The unlimited recording duration on the G6 is one of the major reasons I use these bodies (rather than the LX-100, for example, which is limited to 29'59", even the US models we use for the 30p frame rate).

I will report back re. recording duration (1080p, AVCHD, 24Mb/sec setting) with wi-fi enabled. I don't want to turn this off physically on the cameras, as that can disturb the focus points.

Thanks for the other suggestions, too.
 
Update:

With a 32GB card, CamA recorded 2 hours 15' continuously; CamB recorded 1.5 hours (16GB card).

Interestingly, once recording had been started on both cameras (and pinpoint focus had been checked on both before rolling) the AFS reverts to a mid-sized area than can be moved around trhe screen (using the remote app on the phone) and as soon as you reposition the focus point, the camera chacks it—quite subtly, too.

This will work for me.
 
SoundsSoundsSoundsSounds like 3 phones will be faster and not too much money, then just Velcro them to a clip board or something. If you are going to trust the AF, there is a little tiny Android phone that you can often snag for $50, I use this for a remote shutter on my Fuji X-T1. The image is small but it should do what you need and they pack extremely small. Search for smallest smartphone and you should find it.



Sitting on my 10 inch tablet next to a credit card to show size. Runs Android 4.2 and has a decent display for its size.
 
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Thanks Greg.

The pinpoint AF on the Panasonics is truly excellent, and at least as good on the phone as on the camera itself. Using AFS, it stays locked on (once we are set up, we don't change position and the cameras are locked down and the framing is loose enough to permit normal body movement). And although when the focus reverts to the larger rectangle once recording, so harder to see on screen, it is 100% reliable too, on skimming the footage yesterday. The whole process worked better than I hoped.

I have a few iPhones here, but that Android looks amazing. I searched here (I am in Australia); this is the cheapest, and I think it's the same phone:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Worlds-s...04?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item27fc28ba48

Thanks, appreciated.

KL
 
That's the one, looks like the price has gone up again. Not sure how well it will work with your cameras, that Fuji app is fairly crippled so it's just a down and dirty wireless remote for me.
 
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