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Shooting in 3D: 24p or 60i
I’m the proud owner of a HXR-NX3D1. I am currently undecided on whether I should shoot my 3D film project in 60i or in 24p. Please excuse my ignorance, I’m still learning. At first, I thought 24p was much better because each frame is full (whereas 60i is 60 “half frames”) and it also gave a “film look”, but I am disappointed by the jerkiness of the video as I record it (on the LCD screen; haven’t tried editing at all yet). So I did some research and found that “true” 24p doesn’t actually exist on video cameras? Is this right, or has the technology changed? Does the HXR-NX3D1 record true 24p or does the camera perform some “pulldown”? Another factor that I’m considering for my decision is the editing/authoring process. I will definitely use Sony Vegas to edit my film as it seems to support Sony’s 3D cameras very well, but is there a preferred frame rate? How about burning the final project to Blu-Ray? I’d like to make some 3D Blu-Rays, and I read somewhere that the standard for that is 24p. I know I can probably convert 60i to 24p if that’s the case, but I’m trying to get the best possible result.
Any help on this subject would be very appreciated. Thank you!
Benoit
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4 Replies
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Benoit,
There is no perfect format for everything so just try some stuff.
Blu Ray is smart enough to play just about anything.
Vegas is smart enough to allow you to edit just about anything.
Don’t make your first use of the camera a paying job. I always take a new camera, get an hour of shooting, may a second hour with different setting, maybe all day with diferent settings, light, framerate, speed of subjects moving, etc.
Each time you change, record yourself saying what the new settings are.
Then bring it into the editor and compare the various looks. No effects, just titles to differentiate the settings.
Take it all the way to render and burn. Then you can really compare on a blu ray player and tv.
You will also have other items to play with regarding the 3 d effect, like focal point, do subjects converge in front or behind the tv, Is there enough light. (Active 3 d glasses only allow half the light to each eye).
By this point, you will feel more comfortable doing a second or third round of your own tests going all the way through production of a bluray.
This may take you a week or 4 to become experienced enough to actually do something for someone else.
John
John Lenihan
LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicamvideoproductions.com -
Great advice from John.
I also noticed in the specs of that camera that the chips are only 1/4″. Just be aware that those are very small chips and will require LOTS of light – as John pointed out, even more light is needed because of the 3D glasses cutting down incomging light to the eye as well.
In those tests that John suggested doing, pay attention to the graininess/fuzziness of the image as well. I just went through all of this with my new NX5U cameras which have 1/3″ chips and in order to reduce or eliminate image grain the camera has to be set to -3 or -6 db gain and fully open iris. Essentially anything that is not daylight will either be darker than we’d like or have some grain in the image. I’m just telling you this so that you can plan to light your film accordingly. Try to keep the camera iris fully open at all times and if that camera can go to a negative gain then use it.
Have fun! I’m so anxoius to get into 3D but for what I do there’s just no market for it yet.
Eric
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Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, the camera doesn’t have a gain setting, let alone in 3D mode… It does have manual exposure though. I’ll try to use as much light as I can for my film. About the fact that it needs more light because of 3D: aren’t most of the latest 3D TV sets “passive”? Since John mentioned active glasses, I’m guessing light isn’t relevant to passive ones? I remember reading some reviews and it seems that passive 3D is generally better.
I will definitely do camera tests before shooting my project! I was just concerned about 24p, and whether it was a good option considering all the complicated technical stuff I had read.
Thank you,
Benoit
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Not sure about the passive and active options, I need to read up on 3d.
Just a reminder about the 24p, as you already saw, you need to be VERY SMOOTH with the camera movements.
Good luck and enjoy!
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