Off topic but nowhere else to turn

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Duke,

I’m pretty sure that the HDMI output is 1080P 29.97 only on the D5500, so that would explain why you are only able to record at that rate.

Ninja edit (No pun intended)

Seems to be confirmed on Atomos forum, although that’s the 5300:

https://forum.atomos.com/archive/index.php/t-53817.html

Also here: https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/archive/index.php/t-337536.html

Vince Becquiot

Indigo Live | Kaptis Media

San Francisco Bay Area

[Duke Sweden]

Hey Vince. Thanks so much for responding! I’m telling you I searched high and low for articles like the one you linked to. I even emailed Nikon but they never responded. Yes, the D5500 is basically the same as the D5300 only with the swivel out LCD, and possibly no anti-alias filter. It’s odd that both Nikon and Atomos mention that Nikon DSLR’s (not just Nikon PRO DSLR’s, but DSLR’s, period!) output 24fps.

Well, that explains a lot. I had just come here to edit my initial post to add video I just shot (in 1080p 29.976fps). I exported at that frame rate, then changed it to 24fps in sequence settings, and, yeah, there is a bit of jitter in the 24 version.

So, what do I do to be able to get the “film look” that’s been eluding me all this time, with one less weapon at my disposal!?! Is it more in the color grading than the frame rate, in your expert opinions?

Thanks again, Vince. I get to keep what little hair I have left 😉

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Duke,

Yep, the 24P cinematic looks is more of an indie filmmaker tale and the fact that camera companies used to market as a novelty didn’t help.

You certainly could export at 24P, you’ll just be dropping frames.

Lighting and grading are really what you are after if you want that cinematic look.

Vince Becquiot

Indigo Live | Kaptis Media

San Francisco Bay Area

[Duke Sweden]

Just as I thought. I love this forum. The fact that you pros will take the time to answer the baby questions of a hack amateur doofus like me when I have nowhere else to turn, well, what can I say. Thank you all.

Here is the video I rendered at two different frame rates. I think you can see that the false 24fps looks a bit jittery next to the 29.976 version. One of those posts in the link you gave me had an idea I could try to get 24fps out of the camera so I’ll give it a shot, but now that I know a pro like you consider 24fps to be more of a gimmick than anything else, it’s not so important. I think I didn’t adjust the shutter speed to 1/60 on this. Anyway here are the videos.
24fps
https://youtu.be/ZV9voiBZAQ4
29.97fps
https://youtu.be/dA7N7c0Pfl4

Since I wanted to get this up fast I encoded at a min bit rate of 10. I guess that’s why the red in my jacket looks a bit ragged?

[Chris Wright]

ehhhh, if you record at 29.97 and export to 23.976 or 24fps without either slowing down or doing frame blending/optical pixel blending, you’re gonna get really bad judder, like I see here. The camera is not moving and it is not supposed to look like that.

how to enable optical flow
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/duration-speed.html#optical_flow

[Duke Sweden]

Thanks, Chris. Yeah, as I said, I noticed the juddering effect when I changed the frame rate. Is your link really good for extended clips or just a quick fix for stuff like the example I posted? The article says Optical Flow is processor intensive, so…

Anyway, I’ve still got so much to learn with this Ninja 2. Still not pleased with my grading skills with all this extra bitrate to work with (220 mbps compared to h264’s 24mbps (I think?) Anyway, thanks again!

[Chris Wright]

it should work for any duration although it will increase render time. the best thing is to shoot 24p in the first place.
if you don’t need 24p and can only shoot in 29.97, then just do 29.97. 24 is only for film output anyways.

if its still 8 bit output, the higher bitrate will only reduce compression, not precision. you still might be needing neatvideo if you do heavy grading in 8 bit footage.

[Duke Sweden]

I don’t “need” 24p, I just prefer it, although with what Vince told me, it’s not so critical anymore. I assume you agree since you didn’t question his point.

When you say 24p is for film output you do mean film as a final destination, right? Not as a “look”?

Yes, it’s still 8 bit, although the D5500 does output 4:2:2. Yeah I do try to stay away from neat video, though, it’s such a heavy plugin. But I will use it when necessary.

For now I’ll just be sticking to my green screen nonsense (I must admit keying is a LOT easier now). I would like to go out beyond my back yard and do some artsy stuff, but that’s for later. Last weekend’s comicon was more than enough outside world for this month 😉

[Chris Wright]

23.976/24 is a ‘look’ as in film look. 29.97 progressive does some similar things but features much less judder.

Depending on how you move the camera, lighting, framing, anamorphic, fps all contribute to the ‘look’. if you reduce only one feature, if the others are professional, most people won’t notice.

the lower the framerate, the heavier use you need for warp stabilizer or steadicams etc. plus 7 sec panning speed. :0

[Duke Sweden]

Still working on my glidecam technique. Seriously, Chris, it’s just me and my equipment. I have no one to help me. My son is mentally handicapped so I’m lucky I can even get a performance out of him.

Everything I do revolves around my tripod. I just shot some glidecam stuff this past weekend. I thought I was better than that but still need to work on it, but for the most part, even when I venture outside, I’ll probably use the tripod. I would really, at some point, like to shoot a one hour feature, but right now, it’s just green screens and tripods. I don’t even know what 7 sec panning speed refers to, although I will google it right now 😉