Sony V1U settings? Fellow users, help!

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Psychovideo

Member
OK so, Ive learned so much in a short amount of time. I had an issue with my Redrock Micro sucking light pretty badly & I realized that I needed a different lens. The crappy zoom I got with my 2nd hand RRM2 was working but it was very dark so with the advice of 1 of their sites generous members, I got a used Canon EF 50mm 1.4 lens & BOOOM!!! There it was. It looks great so, with that in mind, I thought about settings & what Im looking for is a very Cinematic look. So far Ive only recorded in its standard mode but does anyone who uses this Camera know a good setting for the V1U that really taps into that movie feel?

What do you fellow V1U users shoot in to get a nice movie look with or with out the RR adapter on? Is there a difference that can heighten my video quality to help me get a better picture?

Any help on this would be great!
 
I forgot my exact settings, but under the V1U there are cinema settings. I turned my cinema settings on - turned my blacks so that they wouldn't compress down, but would show more detail, turn my SAT up sligtly and my sharpness down to 2. That's what I can remember.

Other things you may consider - shot my whole movie in 6db of gain - the V1U sucks light so you need to open it up. At 6db the grain is barely noticable. Shoot at 100% perfect white balance - a mistake I made, the V1U seems color weird, so you'll need to bring a long a white card / piece of paper to check your white balance.

Besides that you just need some lights and you're ready to rock.
 
I have tried to use the gain button on the back but it isnt really showing anything, is there a setting in the camera menu I should be using instead?
 
P.S. what is it exactly that makes the video look that way anyway? Regular video cams & feature movies have such a difference in the way they look & feel. Why & how is that?
 
Psychovideo said:
P.S. what is it exactly that makes the video look that way anyway? Regular video cams & feature movies have such a difference in the way they look & feel. Why & how is that?
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This is a HUGE question you've asked - and no matter how I answer it, someone will come behind me and correct me. Because it's 30% opinion and 70% fact.

Video Cameras have relatively low capability to record light stops. Most record around 8 to 9 stops of light, and some like the EX1 and RED can reach into 11 to 12 stops of light, vs 35mm film has some stocks which can record 13+ stops of light. This area of light is called "Dynamic Range"

Video Cameras use small sensors inorder to record information. These sensors contain an artifact, because of their size - Chromatic Abberation (spelling?). While this is a small detail, it is a big deal.

Video Cameras usually see the world in a direct line of light to dark. Our eyes adjust light to what we want to see, then slowly "curve" off the light into the dark and light areas. 35mm Cameras see more like we see as humans. So the light isn't as harsh.

Video Cameras shoot everything "in focus" while our eyes and 35mm cameras see things in "selective focus", i.e. only a one/few items in focus at a time.

These are the major differences between 35mm and Video. Most are changed by understanding the settings of the camera, and changing them. Many video cameras these days are made with "cinema/film" looks. So they imulate as much as possible the appearance of 35mm film. Depth-of-field Adapters pick up where these camera settings leave off, by allowing for shallow depth of field, i.e. selective focus.

So you can make a video camera look 95% like a film camera. Other things that factor into the look are color correction, lighitng, cinematography, etc. There are probably over 20+ individual factors that give 35mm feature films their "look"
 
Psychovideo said:
I have tried to use the gain button on the back but it isnt really showing anything, is there a setting in the camera menu I should be using instead?
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It'll highlight a setting, use the wheel to go up and down on the setting. turn your autos to off and make sure the "lock" is off. The lock is located at the top of the back of the camera where your white balance button is.
 
OK so I learned allot about Gain & things like that & I really got a good image but, There's still a little bit of snow (not allot but to me its noticable) off in the dark areas behind my subject and also just a little bit of lines on the subjects face & shirt if he moves drastically. Is there something I'm missing in the settings or is it just that I don't have allot of light and theres too much along the edge of the face? I've seen uploaded vids on Vimeo that look great & have sharp lines. I feel like mines missing something.
 
It might be, cause I have no snow - my dark areas are dark and my brights are bright. I have a small amount of grain in Gain settings of db6 and db9 - can barely even see the db3 - Check out my vids under the Red Collar Link Below. That's with no color correction.
 
Yeah, mines about the same when it comes to the snow part but only where its a lil darker. The lines on the forehead & all are what's bugging me. When he or the camera is still its fin but when he moves or the cam moves, where its bright on his face & collar, thats when I see horizontal lines just until something moves again. Is it maybe over exposed there? I need to upgrade my Vimeo account to get a better picture so I can maybe post it or something.
 
Heres a clip, it took a long time to upload & I'm not familiar with Vimeo . I signed up for the Plus service thinking it would upload in HD but I guess not I don't know. But yeah if anyone wants to take a look at the snippet & give some advice on the settings, feel free. Im always open to suggestion.

Thanks!

http://vimeo.com/3003014
 
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You don't have any problems. what you're seeing with the horizontal lines is called interlacing. Once you go progressive the lines will go away. The little grain you see is not bad at all.

Set the Camera to be progressive. If it is on progressive, then your Editor can't read progressive. If you're using Final Cut, Premiere, Avid, or Vegas you can easily do progressive. If you're uing some downloadable program or a cheap $100 program - there lies your problem. You can't use a $4500 camera and spend $100 on an editor. The more money you spend on a camera, the more money you have to spend on everything. Sorry that's how it is. But upgrade to a pro editor and you won't have any more issues.

Hope this helps
 
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I just used Quicktime pro to upload the footage. It hasn't been used with any sorftware yet. How do I set my cam to progressive? What setting is that under? So you think it looks good tho? Stoked man, glad to hear! I'm really working hard on this. The Documentary needs to be good, my lil town needs something good to happen & I want them to be proud of what Im making.
 
Please folks, critique the video in the link I posted above. It helps me learn more. I'm very passionate abut this & the more feedback I get the better chances I have of working or moving forward. PLease feel free to help me out with advice on setting you think might help.

Cheers!
 
You should try to deinterlace it better , footage is somehow too sharp for my eye i dont know why but also ears are out of focus cause lens is probably opened to the max , i would close it a little bit to change this "dreamy" look of footage.
 
Sorry to thread jack

@jls4

That clip from "Voices" on VIMEO should be used at film school for a discussion on eyelines and crossing the line. Classic
 
bwwd said:
You should try to deinterlace it better , footage is somehow too sharp for my eye i dont know why but also ears are out of focus cause lens is probably opened to the max , i would close it a little bit to change this "dreamy" look of footage.
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Yes, De-interlace it, How do I do this? Forgive me I'm very new to most of these terms. Is that what gives it those horizontal lines on the highlights of his face when he moves?
 
Shooter said:
Sorry to thread jack

@jls4

That clip from "Voices" on VIMEO should be used at film school for a discussion on eyelines and crossing the line. Classic
Click to expand...

As long as people give me credit, I don't mind. :) I will be using many clips from "Voices" once I get the 24 Diary turned into video form. I'll try to use "practical" examples and show how we covered mistakes, and solved problems through the editing and color correction process.

Also an aside. A friend of mine used my V1U to shoot his movie. My V1U has now shot 2 movies and 1 short. Anyway he screened his feature last night on a 35x16+ screen, at a new digital movie theater here in Atlanta. When everything was in harmony lighting, audio, camera, depth of field, etc the camera sang on the big screen. I wasn't that worried about it because everyone says that the HVX200 looks good on the big screen, but it was amazing to watch this 25Mbps HDV camcorder produce these film-like images on a huge screen. Never did it seem grainy or less than what it needed to be. (I've done a full write up on this and HDV 25Mbps in the 24 Diary)
 
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You can set the cam to progressive like this:

1. Press MENU
2. Choose CAMERA SET
3. Choose PROG. SCAN
4. Select 24pSCAN

There you go
 
yes leave interlaced recording and use progressive mode if you want the film look ,otherwise objects in your footage will be moving like in soap operas,too smooth and just ugly .
 
Found it, Great! I actually just wanted to see if this would even effect the way it uploaded in Quicktime & It did a little. Im sure once I shoot a new subject or my buddy Will & my wife who are always my supportive Guinea Pigs, Im sure there will b some difference. Im going away for a week to Costa Rica, when I get back, I'll def shoot a few more peeps. Im making a documentary that I've set a goal to finally finish in April of this year. I wish I had this equipment & this community to talk to when I 1rst started making this with my crappy hand held vacation beater Panasonic. Now Im half way thru & I have all this great stuff. the 2nd half of this movie is going to look really good hopefully, lol!

Anything else you can offer as advice to cleaning up the image while shooting would help as well. Thanks all so much! I'm stoked as hell & cant wait to shoot again. I almost dont even want to go on vacation because I wanna shoot! lol!

here, you guys can take a look at a trailer I made last year before my Mac died, I didn't have my V1U & any real editing software yet so please don't be too harsh. I shot this all on the Panasonic & had no experience at all but I figured I share it with yas! I wanted show how similar the community was to any other surf culture in the world & keep my friends stoked on me making a movie too. It def doesn't look like NYC but it is. Take a look see & enjoy the novice in action, lol!

http://nynjsurfvideos.magnify.net/video/Shadow-of-the-Same-Sun-Traile

Yes I know allot of Blondes, They all seem to live in Rockaway beach! HA HA HA!
 
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