Shooting Dance Recital with xha1

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PJSKOT

New member
Hey Guys, thanks in advance for any advice and for your patience as i do not have much experience with this stuff. I only do this once or twice a year with equipment i rent from ats rentals online.
This weekend is a dance recital im shooting and then producing about 30 dvds. I have done this the past 2 years and it has worked out pretty well. The auditorium is completely dark, the stage, obvioulsy is bright with stage and sometimes additional spots. I shoot from center rear over the audience. I have generally left everything i could on auto and shoot in HD. But last year I had a problem with the footage I didnt notice until after i had it in the computer. If the dancers moved quickly they developed some sort of horizontal lines through them for that sudden burst of quick movement. Any ideas what this could be?
Or better yet, any idea on what basic settings I should use for this camera and application to achieve the best results?

Thanks so much in advance.
Phillip
 
What you saw is probably interlace combing, completely normal. It won't show up once it's on a DVD.
Leaving everything you could in auto doesn't sound like the best move either. Dial in around 3200 degrees for the white balance and at least put the camera in TV mode so that you have manual control over the shutter speed. Put the AGC switch in the off position.
 
Thanks for your response moseph!..
I did show up in the DVD at certain spots. I will be sure to set the camera to the settings you suggest. Very much appreciated. 30 People cound on me getting it right and i feel i let them down a bit last year.
thanks
Phillip.
 
It actually showed up on the DVD? That's odd. What sort of display was the DVD you speak of being watched on? CRT TV? LCD TV? Projector? Interlace combing should never show up on a CRT. However I have occasionally seen it on my LCD in shots that have very little motion. From my understanding, CRTs are the only displays that can properly display interlaced footage. LCDs have to deinterlace it somehow in order for it to be displayed without combing, it's possible that sometimes they will simply not do it if there's little to no motion in an effort to save resolution. I'm really not sure.
 
yes it was an lcd, and it was at a point in the routines where the dancers were still or nearly still and then abruptly started dancing very quickly swinging arms and such. during that quick burst of motion the lines would appear. it wasnt terrible but enough that some of the parents complained.
i will use those settings you recommended instead of everything auto and hope for the best. if you have any further info on baseline settings feel free to inform me. im looking to learn as much as possible.
thanks,
phillip.
 
Were all of those parents watching on an LCD as well? You might want to try shooting in 30F to avoid the whole thing. It'll definitely give you a different look but it will eliminate the possibility of any of those artifacts for all types of displays.
 
So i did a little reading today through some of the threads on this site, sounds like some people have luck with using the spotlight setting? I went to the dress rehearsal today and tried 30f on spotlight. The people on stage seem a bit over exposed. quite washed out. I was someone confused what you meant by manual control over the shutter speed?
Thanks
PJ
 
Personally, i would do away with all auto settings. The only mode i ever shoot in is M. Ive never tried spotlight mode, but my understanding is that its meant for shooting small, brightly lit subjects. The camera will try to meter just the subject, not the entire frame. Are you sure you werent accidentally in night mode?
By manual control over the shutter speed, i mean manual control over the shutter speed, not letting the camera control it automatically. This is unrelated to the combing that you saw though.
 
PJSKOT said:
If the dancers moved quickly they developed some sort of horizontal lines through them for that sudden burst of quick movement. Any ideas what this could be?
Click to expand...

The description is too vague and mean different things to different people. Perhaps posting a photo (frame capture) of the problem would help.
 
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