Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

A

araujofh

Veteran
Hello guys,

I just joined a project where we are going to shoot a feature film in both the DSR-250 and the DVX. I was wondering what the best settings to match more or less the footage from the two cameras would be.

I will be operating the DVX and another guy will operate the DSR-250.

Basically, I am just going to covering the guy. Since I am using the DVX and I would like to make the footage from the DVX to look as close to the DSR-250 as possible.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Fidel.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

I have both cameras but haven't mixed and matched anything from them. I would turn the chroma down quite a bit on the DVX because it's much richer than the Sony. The Sony has the same general warmth as the DVX so you shouldn't be too far off when you view the footage in post. Obviously shoot interlaced and at the same frame rate as the Sony unless you are going for a different look but I think your point is that you want to closely match the footage of the Sony.

The DSR-250 is a good camera and served me well for years but I have to say when I started to shoot with the DVX, the difference was unbelievable. I have not shot a single minute using interlaced on the DVX so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Are you not going to have an opportunity to do some field tests before you go on the shoot or at least borrow the 250 for some quick tests of your own?
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

Well, the #1 thing to do is to shoot in 60i mode. #2 would be to use something other than CineGamma, probably "Norm". But more than anything, set both cameras up on a monitor with an A/B switch, and then tweak them until they look close. You can't possibly hope to match them without seeing them both on the same monitor...
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

[quote author=disjecta link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#1 date=09/15/04 at 10:06:20]I have both cameras but haven't mixed and matched anything from them. I would turn the chroma down quite a bit on the DVX because it's much richer than the Sony. The Sony has the same general warmth as the DVX so you shouldn't be too far off when you view the footage in post. Obviously shoot interlaced and at the same frame rate as the Sony unless you are going for a different look but I think your point is that you want to closely match the footage of the Sony.[/quote]

Well, the final product will be transferred to 35mm. I was going to do the whole thing, but since I work during the week, she found another guy who has a DSR-250. So, he is going to shoot the film during the week, and I will shoot during the weekends.
If the film was going to be shot fully with the DVX, then I would set the recommended settings by DVFilm.

Well, I'll play around with the chroma.

Is the camera true 16:9?

[quote author=disjecta link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#1 date=09/15/04 at 10:06:20]The DSR-250 is a good camera and served me well for years but I have to say when I started to shoot with the DVX, the difference was unbelievable. I have not shot a single minute using interlaced on the DVX so take my advice with a grain of salt.[/quote]

Well, I haven't shot interlaced on my DVX either. This is going to be the first time.

[quote author=disjecta link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#1 date=09/15/04 at 10:06:20]Are you not going to have an opportunity to do some field tests before you go on the shoot or at least borrow the 250 for some quick tests of your own?[/quote]

Well, I could probably try some tests with the guy. I am not going to be operating the DSR-250. Only the DVX.
And, since the film is really ultra low-bugdet, we aren't going to be using field monitors either.

I'll see if I can meet the guy and we do some tests together, to see how to match it.

Thanks for the advice

Fidel.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

[quote author=Barry_Green link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#2 date=09/15/04 at 12:20:08]Well, the #1 thing to do is to shoot in 60i mode. #2 would be to use something other than CineGamma, probably "Norm". But more than anything, set both cameras up on a monitor with an A/B switch, and then tweak them until they look close. You can't possibly hope to match them without seeing them both on the same monitor...[/quote]

Hi Barry, thanks for the advice. Well, I will be shooting 50i, since I am in PAL land. And we are not going to be on the set at the same time. And, as I mentioned above, we will not have field monitors.

If she hired a DVX, then that would be a ok.

But she is tight on bugdet. Anyway, I will run some tests with the guy as disjecta suggested, and use the settings as you guys suggested.

Thanks again for the advice

Fidel

PS: I wonder how the DSR-250 footage looks like when transfered to 35mm.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

Do yourself, and the other guy a favor, accidentally knock over the camera, and in your rush to pick it up perhaps jump on it a few times. I have nightmares about that camera. The 150 looks better than the 250, you do not have to deal with that lens, ug! Sorry about the rant, just reminds me of bad times. I will go now.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

The DSR250 is not native 16:9. As far as imaging goes, it's basically identical to the Sony PD150, just housed in a larger shoulder-mount version.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

[quote author=Prairieboy link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#5 date=09/15/04 at 13:29:30]The 150 looks better than the 250[/quote]

If you are referring to the footage, it's identical.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

[quote author=Barry_Green link=board=news;num=1095267003;start=0#6 date=09/15/04 at 13:30:25]The DSR250 is not native 16:9. As far as imaging goes, it's basically identical to the Sony PD150, just housed in a larger shoulder-mount version.[/quote]

Ok. So, If I use the anamorphic adapter with the DVX, what should the other guy do with his camera? Or should I just shoot in squeeze mode?

Thanks in advance

Fidel.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

"fake" widescreen mode in the DSR-250 and any other interlaced camera, for that matter is going to look really bad if you are going to transfer to film. It looks bad enough on a regular TV. If you are going to use widescreen then I would recommend the anamorphic adapter from either Optex or Century (the one I have). There are huge limitations with these lenses regarding focussing but avoid the in-camera widescreen. In regular interlaced mode, I don't think the DVX is much better (it shines in progressive) so I would also recommend you use an anamorphic on the DVX... Otherwise, just shoot standard 4x3 and crop it in post.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

Agreed. Both the DVX and the DSR250 do a fairly lousy job of in-camera squeeze on interlaced footage.

As for how does a DSR250 look on a film transfer? Depends on who does the shooting. Some stuff looks fine, but there are reports that other stuff most definitely does not (like "Open Water", for example). When Noah Kadner and David Mullen did their DVX/PD150 comparison DVD, they commented on how markedly better the filmlike DVX looked than the video-like PD150, but then after they transferred it to film and screened it, they said that both cameras looked more comparable on the film transfer.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

Thanks a lot guys.

I'll talk the the director and see what we can do.

Once again thanks a lot.

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: Mixing footage from DVX and DSR-250

I just finished a documentary using the DSR-250 and the DVX-100. It took a bit of work to get the cameras to match up, but the quality of the dvx was drastically reduced when we shot in 60i. We weren't happy with the results so we just altered the editing and storyline to fit the use of two different cameras. It was a lot easier than trying to get the two to match up. The best results we came up with were Gamma: Norm, Lo-Gain on the DVX (it was noticeably noisier than the DSR at any higher settings), MANUAL white balance on both cameras (the auto w/b on both cameras each came up with different results). We also kept the iris on the dvx a little lower than the DSR. You might have better results in 50i PAL than we did, good luck to ya.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top