Undercrank smear

B

BradFu

Well-known member
Hiya,

I'm sitting here with an HVX rental in my lap as I type this. I've gone through and tried some variable frame shooting at both ends of the spectrum, 12 frames, and then 60 frames.

side note: I was shooting in a completely dark bedroom with a red lightsaber for a better contrast. Blinds and windows open. I'd pay cash to see the look on my neighbors' faces.

Anyway, I played it back on the big screen HDTV, and it looks great, both in fast motion, and then slow motion. Smooth as silk. But my real question is this: How do you get that fast motion "smear"?

As an example, if you watch Spike TV, there's a promo that runs in about every other commercial break for the "Late Night Strip". I'm guessing they put a Varicam or something else on top of a car, then drove down the Vegas strip. The result is fantastic. Or for another example, I've watched Madonna's "Ray of Light" video more than a few times. I'm thinking that whole video is an example of undercranking, but I don't know how they do it to get that effect: The stretching and smearing of taillights or people crossing the street.

Anyone accomplish this? Or should I just go back to my room with my lightsaber?

: )
 
Thanks for the quick reply!

DC mentions this: PRIVATE\MEIGROUP\PAVCN\SBG\P2SD. I've never heard of it but I'll search for it.

Cheers,

-b
 
I think the effect you are looking for is probably done more with timelapse than undercranking.
 
BradFu said:
PRIVATE\MEIGROUP\PAVCN\SBG\P2SD

DC, are you out there?

Anyone know how to get to this step?
Click to expand...

That's the directory on the SD card where the scene files are stored. That's where you edit the scene file to tell it to go to FRAME RATE: 1 (for 2 fps).
 
Hey Barry, thanks again for the help.

I have yet another question about this process: I edited the scene files on the card, manipulating the frame rate according to the values you provided, but I'm a little fuzzy on the previous posts stating that, once your card is loaded, and you try to change the scene file menus, the camera snaps back to default. For instance, can I keep this extra low frame rate intact while I go through and change, say 'chroma phase' or other major changes?

Thanks again!
 
Yes, change anything you want but if you change the frame rate it'll snap back to an "approved" rate rather than your custom rate.
 
BradFu said:
PRIVATE\MEIGROUP\PAVCN\SBG\P2SD

DC, are you out there?

Anyone know how to get to this step?
Click to expand...

Whoops, yep . . . I'm here. Sorry. :)

What Barry said is ace. I updated those instructions to help make the process a little clearer.
 
Barry_Green said:
Yes, change anything you want but if you change the frame rate it'll snap back to an "approved" rate rather than your custom rate.
Click to expand...

Something just occured to me -- does the new firmware update effect the ability to use the non-standard frame rate hack? I hope not, as I already updated on one of my cameras...
 
Uh-oh, that's a darn good question. I updated my only HVX to the latest firmware.

Anybody know the answer to this?

D~C
 
Barry_Green said:
That's the directory on the SD card where the scene files are stored. That's where you edit the scene file to tell it to go to FRAME RATE: 1 (for 2 fps).
Click to expand...
Barry -

So to edit the frame rate on any specific scene file, is it done within the text file of the P2SD folder? Is this how you acheive rates below the default low setting of 12 FPS ?

When making these changes, do you enter the number of FPS as a level ( eg. + or - after the colon or the numeric value before the semicolon, or both) within the P2SD scene text file?
 
TwistedLincoln said:
does the new firmware update effect the ability to use the non-standard frame rate hack?
Click to expand...
That was the first thing I checked, and fortunately no, it does not affect that ability.
 
Hey THoff and others...

i am not sure if its worth it to update..did anyone do this and if yes, what "effort" is there..?

thanks!
 
I did it just for grins and giggles. Haven't noticed any change in the camera's menus or how it behaves, but then again the changes (at least the ones that are documented) are for very specific and rare conditions.

Performing the update is trivial -- all you need to do is copy the new firmware into a specific location on a SD card, and initiate the update from a menu item that only appears when a firmware image is found on the card. The process takes about ten minutes, then you turn the camera off and remove power. That's it.

The only change I made from the recommended upgrade procedure is that I did this with a fully charged battery, rather than putting the camera on AC power. You don't want to lose power during the update, and in my humble opinion a fully charged battery is more reliable than the AC grid.
 
Wow. I'm doing a smear timelapse of the moon at 2fps right now (300d shutter angle). This is an amazing hack. Thanks to Barry and everyone else that contributed to getting this info out there. I consistently stumble on really useful info on these forums. This looks sweet. I'll try to post some footage in the near future.

Cheers,
Sean
 
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