Shooting a wedding...settings?

C Walker

C Walker

Well-known member
I'm shooting a wedding for free this weekend and another one the following weekend, also for free. One is outside, one is inside. What settings should I play with before the big day? Any "tried & true" methods with the DVX-100B?

Thanks!
 
Well, there's quite a few posts regarding wedding threads. Ryan (I think?) made a post about how to shoot a wedding. It's pretty informative.

As for settings, I always shoot 30p and adjust accordingly to the lighting conditions of the church and the reception hall. Outdoor lighting is always easier to work with, except if you're dealing with bad weather conditions. In that case, audio might not be the greatest. I'm going to assume that you'll be laving the groom or the officiant?

Don't be too extreme with the settings, because you can always add that "look" in post. You want to have the freedom in case the couple prefers a documentary style wedding video or a creative one.

Its good that you're shooting them for free, because you're getting good experience so I wish you all the best! Good luck with your first wedding and try not to be too nervous!

-Kegan
 
I have a complete set of tweeks for weddings, but they're all for the DVX100AE (720x576 PAL), not 100b, so may well give a different result !
However, I would recommend checking the look with the following settings;

DL -1, VDL -1, Coring +2, Chroma level 0, Phase 0, and Colour temp 0, PED -2, A.Iris -1, Gamma C-L_D, Auto Knee, Matrix Norm2, Skin T-DTL on, VD Freq MID

I must stress that I only use these for wedding(type) filming - they are not a "catch-all".
I settled on these "wedding settings" after many hours of trials, and would be interested to know what they look like on the 100B - please let us know !

Ruff !
 
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Kegan Sant said:
Well, there's quite a few posts regarding wedding threads. Ryan (I think?) made a post about how to shoot a wedding. It's pretty informative.

As for settings, I always shoot 30p and adjust accordingly to the lighting conditions of the church and the reception hall. Outdoor lighting is always easier to work with, except if you're dealing with bad weather conditions. In that case, audio might not be the greatest. I'm going to assume that you'll be laving the groom or the officiant?

Don't be too extreme with the settings, because you can always add that "look" in post. You want to have the freedom in case the couple prefers a documentary style wedding video or a creative one.

Its good that you're shooting them for free, because you're getting good experience so I wish you all the best! Good luck with your first wedding and try not to be too nervous!

-Kegan
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I'll check into posts by Ryan and see if I can dig up that thread. I'm shooting for free because I feel stupid charging for something I have no experience doing, and to add stuff to a demo reel! Not many people turn down free work! :)

The idea, so far, was to make everything as "normal" looking as possible and color correct in post. Looks like that's the right course of action.
 
Ruff_Futtidge said:
I have a complete set of tweeks for weddings, but there all for the DVX100AE (720x576 PAL), not 100b, so may well give a different result !
However, I would recommend checking the look with the following settings;

DL -1, VDL -1, Coring +2, Chroma level 0, Phase 0, and Colour temp 0, PED -2, A.Iris -1, Gamma C-L_D, Auto Knee, Matrix Norm2, Skin T-DTL on, VD Freq MID

I must stress that I only use these for wedding(type) filming - they are not a "catch-all".
I settled on these "wedding settings" after many hours of trials, and would be interested to know what they look like on the 100B - please let us know !

Ruff !
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll post my results, good or bad. This is experimental, so maybe everyone will get to share in my embarrassment!

Noob question here, but, how do I set the camera for those settings?
 
hit the menu button and they are all in there. The manual should also help guide you around. Good luck with the shoot.
 
10-13-2008 : Well Cracker , how did it go ?

10-20-2008 : What settings did you finally decide upon ? and - will you be looking for more weddings to shoot ?!
 
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sorry i'm just now getting back to this...

Well, I didn't get too experimental. I just put it on 24pA for the first one, yeah I won't do that again for something that's unplanned. I made the most of it. The montage came out well. It was my first shot at using Color too, so I need to go back and fix some stuff. Otherwise, GREAT learning experience. I figured out so much about the DVX in the few hours I spent with it. More than I've learned yet. You know....like the F'ing iris controls. It's no wonder everything I've done to date looks like a home movie.

The Second:
No special settings this time either, however, I did figure out putting the DVX in 30p, which was a great help. Oh, and don't turn it off and then expect it to be back in 30p when you turn it on..oops...better yet, I bought another battery so I could just leave it on the entire time. 30p is a blessing during live events.

I'm editing #2 at the moment, when I'm done this weekend, I'll post 'em up!

What I learned:

1. Iris controls
2. I LOVE Zebra stripes
3. I need wireless mics, badly.
4. DON'T turn the camera off!!!!!!!
5. I need a better suited tripod

So, now I'm looking for a 2nd camera. I'd love to have a 2nd DVX, but I'm wondering if I should just get a Canon GL2 for the sake of $$$. This would not be the main camera. Or should I just suck it up and get another DVX?
 
OHHHHHHHH.....it's done, lemme host and I shall post.

What are good FCP/general settings for putting videos on the web?
 
Cracker said:
I figured out so much about the DVX in the few hours I spent with it. . . . . . I did figure out putting the DVX in 30p, which was a great help. Oh, and don't turn it off and then expect it to be back in 30p when you turn it on..oops...better yet, I bought another battery so I could just leave it on the entire time. . . . . . . . .

What I learned:
. . . .
4. DON'T turn the camera off!!!!!!!
5. I need a better suited tripod
Click to expand...
No No no !! If you read the bit about saving settings on, say, F2 ; you can turn the cam off and return to your settings when you turn it on again. - a new battery just to keep the cam in 30p !! - ah well, it's always good to have extra power in your bag.

As for needing a "better suited tripod", - wow! that must be a very formal event to insist that your tripod wears a suit as well ! - Black Tiewrap anyone ?

Joking aside - glad it went well for you.

ps - wedding bits intended for slo-mo : use interlaced as it has twice the number of fields to be stripped appart for slowing the motion. (not worded very well - sry.)

Ruff.
 
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I've been shooting weddings for awhile now. I always use the F3 (SPARK) setting on my DVX100a. I never went wrong with this setting because I want to be able to slow any of my footage down. I use slo-mo for my wedding recaps.....so I need all the footage to be 60i. And spark gives it that wedding videoish look.
 
Ruff_Futtidge said:
No No no !! If you read the bit about saving settings on, say, F2 ; you can turn the cam off and return to your settings when you turn it on again. - a new battery just to keep the cam in 30p !! - ah well, it's always good to have extra power in you bag.

As for needing a "better suited tripod", - wow! that must be a very formal event to insist that your tripod wears a suit as well ! - Black Tiewrap anyone ?

Joking aside - glad it went well for you.

ps - wedding bits intended for slo-mo : use interlaced as it has twice the number of fields to be stripped appart for slowing the motion. (not worded very well - sry.)

Ruff.
Click to expand...
I prefer to dress my tripod in a tux, but for that case a polo was just fine!
 
it's uploading, finally. it's been a hectic few months. excuses, excuses, i know. i can't wait for my hand to get slapped by the copyright people, as i don't have rights to the song used. i don't know if this matters or not, but i didn't get paid for it.

edit:

okay, let me have it!

http://www.vimeo.com/2673115
 
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i liked it. the cut aways you used were great. not sure if all the pans and zooms would be liked by everyone. ive had some clients who said there was to much movement and then there are some who said not enough can please everyone but i like it.
 
bilgami said:
i liked it. the cut aways you used were great. not sure if all the pans and zooms would be liked by everyone. ive had some clients who said there was to much movement and then there are some who said not enough can please everyone but i like it.
Click to expand...
thanks! i'm not a fan of the zooms. i slapped myself on the forehead once i got it in post. I gotta lay off the zoom control.
 
i liked it...u can lay on the zoom control :D IF u do it to set up ur other shot and edit it out :) Just make sure to hold those shots long enough for a proper edit.
 
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