World's first official Convergent Design Gemini 4:4:4 recorder short test

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Filippo Chiesa

Well-known member
Last week I was in Amsterdam at IBC.
I was lucky enough to test a sample of the new Gemini 4:4:4 recorder with my Sony PMW-F3 + S-Log.
It was the first official test, so I felt very honoured to have this great opportunity.
I shot this video in a very nice village near Amsterdam on Sep. 10th from 7am to 10am.
The Gemini software was not the definitive one but it worked great.
It's solid like a tank, the images are terrific and the Arri RAW option is on the way.

Please download the compression version to see the video in a better quality.

ENJOY AND THANKS FOR WATCHING!

http://vimeo.com/29021459
 
Looks very solid Filippo, have you shot in SLOG 4:2:2 before? If so, any thoughts on how the 4:4:4 compares? Also what format does the Gemini record to (or is it uncompressed)?
 
Grug said:
Looks very solid Filippo, have you shot in SLOG 4:2:2 before? If so, any thoughts on how the 4:4:4 compares? Also what format does the Gemini record to (or is it uncompressed)?
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken the Gemini is 4:4:4/4:2:2 uncompressed in DPX file format. Audio is recorded in WAV file format.
 
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Grug said:
Looks very solid Filippo, have you shot in SLOG 4:2:2 before? If so, any thoughts on how the 4:4:4 compares? Also what format does the Gemini record to (or is it uncompressed)?
Click to expand...
Hi Grug, it was the first time.
Sony lent me the S-Log update the day before the test because mine is not yet arrived.
The Gemini can records uncompressed material (no artifacts, noise, etc.), but you still have the option to work in other formats like Cineform, ProRes, etc. via a simple encode process.
 
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There is no doubt, but it is not efficient on long form. Specially on documentaries. In the studio it is doable tethered to a computer with a RAID.
By the way don't you people sleep? Timur? Hehehe
 
Filippo, what scenes specifically demonstrate instances where the image in part or whole were pushed/pulled resulting in some of the true benefits that shooting SLOG offers?
 
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Douglas Villalba said:
There is no doubt, but it is not efficient on long form. Specially on documentaries. In the studio it is doable tethered to a computer with a RAID.
By the way don't you people sleep? Timur? Hehehe
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Why not!?
If you use a camera like the Red Epic/One or the Alexa, you can surely use the Gemini in documentaries.
 
I understand benefits of slog, but what I see is small grading applied to footage to remove flat curve. For me real power of SLOG is pushing/pulling exposure of image, or parts of it.
 
Filippo Chiesa said:
Why not!?
If you use a camera like the Red Epic/One or the Alexa, you can surely use the Gemini in documentaries.
Click to expand...
Hi Filippo,
Anything is possible, not everything is efficient. You will have to carry a whole bunch of drives and someone transferring them to HDD. Unless you are made of money and then you buy 50 SSDs.
For most jobs 10bit 422 is enough.
I will eventually upgrade to Slog and Gemini, but like I was telling starcentran "when a customer wants it bad enough, they will pay for it"
 
starcentral said:
I understand benefits of slog, but what I see is small grading applied to footage to remove flat curve. For me real power of SLOG is pushing/pulling exposure of image, or parts of it.
Click to expand...

Its all of that. The benefit of sLog is multi fold. First, it requires low compression capture to be used efficiently. First and Fore most, that takes care of alot of the issues we encounter with highlights, clipping, macro blocking, etc.... Second, LOG seems to very accurately render highlight information, color, sharpness, dynamic range, subtle tones. Yes you can now choose where you clip white/black in post, but its so much more about creatively placing elements of your exposure in ranges of the IRE scale that were inaccessible before. 85-99 is oddly "safe" in sLog. its bright yes, but looks natural.

Recording uncompressed, gives you even greater accuracy.
 
I know you stay up late, but are you up this early? Or are keeping artist's hours? (Stay up late and waking up late)
I'm getting between 4 and 5 hours sleep and I am only in pre-production mode.
By the way, I like this test with the Gemini. Most people are more into preserving the highlights. I like what it does for the blacks specially the dark house.
One thingI have notice is th in order to get some color back, you have to push the saturation adjustment to the top. Maybe in Color or DaVince you can get more out of it.
This test and I know that the location has a lot to do with it, has a slight HDR look to it.
What is your take on it?
 
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