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  • Matching video and still images with Nikon D800

    Posted by Brian Betz on February 23, 2015 at 12:49 am

    I really hate to ask this question, as I am sure there is a simple solution, but I’ve not been able to find anything online or in my camera manual. I have a Nikon D800 and I am trying to match video and still images shot with the camera. Taking a picture in video live view display mode, on a tripod with the camera position exactly the same, yields an image that does not match with the video shot. The 6720 x 3776 still image, with the proportions constrained in Photoshop, scales to 1920 x 1079 (not 1080). Additionally the still image appears to have been shot with a lens with a smaller focal length than the video, although both shot at 24mm. Is there an easy way to match footage shot with still images with video? Thanks!

    Brian

    Brian Betz replied 11 years, 2 months ago 2 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Steve Crow

    February 23, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    According to a forum posting I found at:

    https://www.instapaper.com/text?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnikonrumors.com%2Fforum%2Ftopic.php%3Fid%3D5744 the Nikon is only using a portion of the full sensor when it switches over to video which can account for the different look:

    “Video only uses a central 32.8 x 18.4mm section of the sensor, at most.” So it sounds like this Nikon model is one of those that is “cropping in” for video but not for stills.

    As a workaround why not simply export a still image from the video clip when you need it….then it will match perfectly.

    Steve Crow

  • Brian Betz

    February 23, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Thanks for the explanation Steve! I was hoping to use the still images, however, as they are higher quality. Essentially I have a fast moving subject that I record with video. I wanted have this person repeat the movement and then take a series of still images and use those as a a “freeze frame.”
    Brian

  • Steve Crow

    February 23, 2015 at 6:27 pm

    I see what you are going for….I am wondering if the when the subject repeats the movement for the still photos, unless they do it EXACTLY the same it won’t match exactly anyway and those differences in position would be very difficult to make match with the video frames taken earlier.

    The second thing is, and I admit I am not sure about this at all, once the still image has been incorporated into the editing timeline and then the video is exported, it will essentially be down rezed to the same quality as the rest of the video. I can see that you would be STARTING off with a higher quality source – that much is clear – but at the end of the process I am not sure you could tell the difference or, if so, how large a perceptible difference that would be.

    Good luck with your project! Sounds interesting.

    Steve Crow

  • Brian Betz

    February 24, 2015 at 9:28 pm

    Hi Steve,

    I’m capturing the video on a Ninja 2 and, thus it is uncompressed, and really high quality. Even with the great video the still images are noticeably different and that is even after doing color correction and compressing the final footage…I’ve experimented with putting footage on a Blu-ray and uploading online. I can still tell the difference between the stills and video….thus, it would be nice to have them match up. In some respects if he stills didn’t match up exactly I could live with that as I am applying some time warp and echo effects in After Effects, but it would be nice to start with a close match.

    I have a performer who is quite skilled at Chinese martial arts and I am taping him doing various moves. Below is an example, of what I am going for…not my footage, however. I see After Effects rotoscope and motion tracking were used.

    I had thought with the D800 there might be some mathematical formula to use for approximating image and video stills…for example altering the focal length.

    Thanks for the input!

    Brian

    https://vimeo.com/88632150

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