Random Footage to test DOF

P

Policar

Carbonite Member
It was really bright out, so I figured I'd play around with depth of field a little. (Since it's two weeks until I actually shoot anything serious, I figured I'd at least try and get a feel for the camera in the meantime.)

I shot in 24p (squeeze mode), then scaled everything down to letterbox. There's still a lot more grain than I'd hoped, but that's probably my fault. Oh, and it's really boring....

It's a divx, btw...no sound.
http://home.comcast.net/~pfhorwitz/divx.avi

If anyone wants to offer some advice about reducing the grain (no, gain was not on and detail was not cranked up), please feel free to.
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

WOW these footage look great! I dunno if the DVX100A is that much better over the DVX100?? I think the DIVX compression is softening up the image so it looks much more film like. I really like the shot where you tilt up the camera to the blue sky.
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Nice examples! I dont use the Divx too much unless someone posts it but it is a nice codec.

That location is kind of spooky! :o
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Ohhhh crap! I have been going back and forth between whether to buy the JVC HD10 or the DVX100 - and I HAD decided on the HD10 until I saw your footage. Sure it's just nature stuff, but it looks great. Back to the PROS CONS chart for me.

Nice stuff
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Oh Damn MArk

Dude, get the DVX. So many more options for you. 24p baby. I doesnt get any better than that!
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Nice test footage, thanks for posting. (It does have that "puurty mouth" look, or the Hewitts farm).
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

I spent way too much time looking at the HD10. There is *nothing* but cons with that thing. If you're sold on HD, wait for the next generation of cameras, but don't saddle yourself with that HD10 (unless you fit JVC's defined market segment: wealthy consumers with an HDTV set at home, who just want to point 'n' shoot their own home videos but in HD resolution).
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

man i really want to see this. I downloaded divx and still can't. Any help? Thanks
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. It's taken me a little while to get used to the dvx, but the more I use it, the more I like it...I'm definitely glad I bought it and not the pd-170 or gl2 I was comparing it against.

As for the divx compressor adding some softness to the footage, that's probably the case, but I also used the manual iris and I tend to open the iris a little more than the automatic mode recommends, so that made some things seem a little softer. I didn't do any color correction, btw, and was very impressed by how true the colors were after just doing a simple white balance.

As for the HD10, I looked at it briefly and the footage I saw from it was admittedly pretty sharp looking. The resolution was incredible, and there were no visible artifacts (but the footage I saw was incredibly slow moving.) When I tried it out, though, the colors weren't as accurate as they were with the competition and it didn't feel as polished. As amazing as the resolution was, I'd avoid it; it uses some proprietary format which is a pain to edit, and the guy who runs the store where I bought my dvx told me that a lot of people weren't happy with it after they bought it. If you want HD (and I can understand why you would, although to me it wasn't a priority) at least wait for Sony or Canon's offerings, which should be out within the remainder of the year. If HD isn't that important to you, the dvx100a is a very nice camera and extremely versitile as well.
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

I'm using a Mac with the latest version of Quicktime (just updated last week) and it will not play nor save to disk (I have QuickTime Pro so I can save to disk). Any other Mac people able to view this?
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

BIG thanks John!

Great shots Policar. The grain looks good!
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

[quote author=magicdavek link=board=Clips;num=1084062617;start=0#13 date=05/09/04 at 18:41:47]I'm using a Mac with the latest version of Quicktime (just updated last week) and it will not play nor save to disk (I have QuickTime Pro so I can save to disk). Any other Mac people able to view this?[/quote]

Yup... it does load in Safari, but works if you "save target as file..." in Safari and then open it in QuickTime Pro.

Naturally, you'll need the Mac version of the DiVX codec, but that's freely available and quite good.

Good luck!
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Policar,

Nice footage. The grain ads a nice filmic quality to it.. were you shooting with the Cinegamma setting? Greens seemed a bit bland.

Mike
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

That looked great! It really shows off the vibrancy of the colours, the exposure lattitude, and the shallow DoF that the DVX can produce.

Can't wait to see a project of yours!
 
Re: Random Footage to test DOF

Nice pull focus and no strobing problem on the tilt??!! How did you do that? When I tilt or pan I always have a slight strobbing (or pulsing) look.
 
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