New to the DVX100b

P

PrePro Filmmaker

Member
Well I just bought the DVX100b, I've had it for a few days and just been messing around with it and I was wondering what happens to be the best settings for the camera? Shutter and all. Im not very suave on cameras im a pre production guy myself.

PS: Shot with the camera on 24p and when I imported the footage to final cut it almost looked interlaced, and any movements look rather unsmooth no matter the speed on the dolly and handheld.

thanks.
 
Look and search

Look and search

I suggest going and using the search function. Most technical questions have been answered at some point. Also if you want to know what settings to use, you need to tell us what situation you're in. You can buy Barry Green's book and DVD. It has some great recomendations. Also go out and experiment! Turn on all automatic settings, and change each setting individually until you have the image you want. If you're outside I suggest using your neutral density filter. Always color balene, and try what works for you.

-Michael
 
Right now, im outside and I have a guy sitting on bench no nd is on for I have a polarizer and a 12x12 silk for diffusion on the setting. Now when I check the footage there are rough edges and when I put them into final cut and or combustion it looks rigid.
 
The camera is very flexible and you can get a lot of different looks out of it. Unlike other cameras that have a "best setting", the DVX cameas perform really well for a lot of applications and preferences. So... that means the "best settings" depend on what look you want for the particular application given the environment and circumstances.

Not enough details about the camera and NLE settings to diagnose the problem. So the following is just a guesss:

The "unsmooth" movement sounds suspiciously like footage shot in 24PA "advanced" mode without the extra frames removed, or like footage shot in 24P "normal" and then having frames removed with the wrong pulldown cadence.

Check that you are shooting in 24PA "advanced" and that the version of FCP you are using is automatically handling the removal of extra frames, and that you are editing on a 23.976 timeline. These could all cause artifacts that look like interlacing or "jerky" motion.


Good luck.
 
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PrePro Filmmaker said:
Yea that helped it, I just changed my timeline settings to dv24p advanced pulldown removal. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes search is very helpful but I know what it's like to be in his situation so for the shutterspeeds, most agree setting it to off as having the most 'filmic' movement. When you get to the higher speeds (500 for example) if you watch battle scenes in gladiator or saving private ryan, it would look moer like that.
 
So would turning the shutter off while shooting 24p help the image or when shooting 24p which shutter speeds are best. Another question is what is 1.48.0 or any of those speeds?Whatdo they represent and what is the best way to utilize them?
 
Turning the shutter off doesn't really turn off the shutter, it just sets it to 1/60 (?) and 1/50 in PAL.
 
When you change the shutter speed it changes the amount of time that each frame is exposed to light. That has two main consequences; it changes the amount of motion blur that occurs on moving objects (or the total blur if the camera is panning), and it changes the total amount of light reaching the sensors.

Ultimately, there is a tradeoff between motion blur and depth of focus blur. And its related to what happens with the iris as a result of the change in the amount of light reaching the sensors.

If you slow down the shutter, then objects in motion will travel further while the frame is being exposed, resulting in more motion blur. The additional time of the exposure adds to the total light -- making the image overexposed. To compensate, you can close down the iris. That reduces the amount of light reaching the sensor, but it also acts like a pinhole camera -- focusing the light. So the focus becomes very deep and there is little background blur.

If you speed up the shutter, then objects in motion don't travel as far while the frame is being exposed, so there is less motion blur and they look much sharper. The faster shutter reduces the total light reaching the sensors -- making the image underexposed. To compensate, you can open up the iris. That increases the amount of light reaching the sensor, but it also makes the focal depth shallower, increasing depth blur.

Of course you can use ND filters, GAIN, and adding and removing light from the scene to change the balance between these. And sometimes you will want to change the shutter speed for the purpose of altering the exposure, and sometimes you will want to change the speed for the purpose of altering the blur or focus characteristics in the shot.

Here is a little test I did to see the motion blur effects of various shutter speeds. The camera was panned at about the same rate on each shot. You can really see how at the high speeds it virtually froze the image.

DVX_shutter_speed.jpg
 
Ok I've been messing around with the dvx all day taking everyones advice and found out a lot of nifty tricks. Now I need to shoot an interview, so I was wondering what settings would make the interview look stunning. Yes I could use a film(I'm more fluent in film than digital) since they want a film look but if I can get away with the dvx I will. So any help with the settings would be best.
 
DVX.jpg


Another candidate for the Triple B Program (Buy Barry's Book) As people have said before, it is impossible to give you info that would "make an interview look stunning." Light it well and get your exposure and comp down and you will be set.
 
BennisHahn said:
DVX.jpg


Another candidate for the Triple B Program (Buy Barry's Book) As people have said before, it is impossible to give you info that would "make an interview look stunning." Light it well and get your exposure and comp down and you will be set.
Click to expand...

smart man. listen to him, and read!
 
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