Recipes for “film look” for EX-3?

[Benjamin Reichman]

Tom, I’m a film student who’s been using an EX-1 for about a year, which is extremely similar to the EX-3. I’m (obviously) not an expert, but I can tell you a few things that I’ve tried and that teachers have recommended:

1) As for resolution and frame rate, I don’t think you can get more film-like on the EX-3 than 1080/24p. That’s the maximum resolution of the camera, and 24fps is the standard framerate for film.

2) CineGamma presets in the Picture Profile menu can really help. On the EX-1, there are a set of Standard Gammas and a set of CineGammas, and we’ve found that CineGamma 3 often gives us a rich, film-like look. It all depends on your taste, what you’re filming, how it’s lit, etc. So you’ll just have to try out the various gamma settings to find what works for you on a particular project.

3) You may want to set gain to a negative level (-3db) to ensure the cleanest image.

4) Speaking of clean images, you may want to make the image less clean by adding fake film grain to your footage. I personally have never tried that, but I’ve heard you can get good results that way. There are various plug-ins that do this. Last week, I saw a demonstration of the FurnaceCore plug-ins from The Foundry (a package that works with Final Cut), and one of the plug-ins can be set to mimic the grain of specific film stocks!

5) We used the Letus adapter with the EX-1 on two of our final projects this year. I think this is probably the BEST single decision you can make to mimic film (after framerate), because an adapter with 35mm lenses is the only way to get the shallow depth of field that film has.

I can’t comment on whether the Letus is better or worse than other similar adapters, but what they all have in common is a certain amount of light loss, and a kind of “grain” caused by the spinning ground glass.

Also be aware that renting an adapter, lenses, follow-focus, and rails isn’t cheap. You’ll also need a dedicated focus-puller, so if you’re used to having only a camera operator, now you’ll need an operator and a second person to pull focus.

And of course, this will slow you down! Focus pulling is hard. Don’t expect to shoot nearly as much in a day as you would normally–at least until you and your crew are very proficient at it. We had good results thanks to some fellow students with experience. But it was still tricky.

[Michael Palmer]

I use the Red Rock Encore 35mm lens adapter and here are a couple videos to show how well it works with the EX STOCK LENS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5z3hDkkiIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhGMpjewx1k

One of the main picture profile tweaks is to reduce the detail level to -20 or lower and then start adjusting the Gamma settings.

Search for EX Picture Profiles here and I’m sure you will find some interesting reading.

https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcamex-latest-ShootingTipsIndex.shtml

Good Luck
Michael Palmer

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[James Hilton]

I would add, do remember settings in the camera are only part of the story. Once your EX-3 is setup the real fun begins.

You need to approach every shot as if you were shooting on film if you want to pull off a film look.

When using film every second costs money. So you want to get everything planned and set up so you can get it right in a limited number of takes without wasting film or crew time. In my book the same should apply when filming in digital be it a feature film or small indi production, you want to aim to get it spot on first time.

To do that really think about what look you want to get before you hit record, practice panning the camera etc and make sure you have got the best camera position. Consider the focus, and where the subjects will be in the frame and depth of field before the cast arrive. Very importantly, get the lighting just right.

You want to use a good quality external mic connected to your EX-3 as bad sound quality can potentially can ruin anything.

Other tips would be use a rock steady tripod, lock exposure and use manual focus. Also don’t zoom in or out. Make sure you set the camera’s white balance correctly before each shot. And don’t think “it can be fixed in the mix”, aim to get it right when shooting.

In truth you can make HDV look very film like if you approach it the right way, the only thing you won’t get without any extra help wth HDV is a lot of depth of field. Approach each shot the right way and you will be able to produce some really good, film like results with your EX-3. Good luck and enjoy!

[Craig Seeman]

[James Hilton] “the only thing you won’t get without any extra help wth HDV is a lot of depth of field.”

Depth Of Field is related to sensor size and not codec. EX camera with HDV codec will have just as much control of DOF as using EX XDCAM codec.

The problem with HDV codec is that certain subject matter can “break” the codec. Basically shots with lots of movement (and lots of movement can be rippling water or blowing grass or leaves) have the potential to be problems. Also issues may become more apparent with heavy compositing or color grading.

[Craig Seeman]

[Benjamin Reichman] “3) You may want to set gain to a negative level (-3db) to ensure the cleanest image.”

I’ve seen one detailed test that shows this will decrease latitude, meaning that the whites will clip at a lower level. It will give you cleaner blacks in many situations. I’ve used -3db when shooting fireworks. With the proper CINE gamma selection, the whites still roll off smoothly so the loss of latitude isn’t obvious to me.

[James Hilton]

I should have been more clear, I meant an HDV camera in my post, not HDV codec on an EX-3.

[Craig Seeman]

[James Hilton] “I should have been more clear, I meant an HDV camera in my post, not HDV codec on an EX-3.”

Sorry to be too nit picky about this but the language we use can create misconceptions. Canon’s new XF300 and XF305 are not HDV nor are many Panasonic cameras. While it may be true that all HDV cameras are 1/3″ sensors, there are plenty of other non HDV cameras that also have the same. In fact JVC’s EX cameras (HM series) are also 1/3″ sensors. This is THE KEY reason why Sony EX cameras have an edge.

If you want better DOF control (the ability to have shallower DOF) the larger sensor wins.

I’ve seen far too many posts on the COW saying “I read . . . .” and then misunderstanding the concept. There will be people who will think HDV cameras are the issue and then assume that new Panasonic and Canon camera’s have better DOF control because they don’t use HDV codec.

[Tom Laughlin]

Excellent points from all of you, thanks! Also, for the sake of having more tape, crews sometimes shoot in the SP mode rather than in the HQ mode. Even though this is for mainly getting more video on a card, 1 (32GB) card = 160 min of HDV of 1080SP mode. Are there other reasons that this may not be a good idea? On the technical or creative or image quality level, any problems with this? If shot in 1080HQ, what are the advantages, as well as how many minutes less do you get on a 32GB card? When shooting in 1080HQ, are there settings you definitely want to tweak differently than when shooting in 1080SP mode? Again, this is all because crews want more footage per card, and I’ve edited and seen nice video here, even though it is an HDV codec, but I just wanted to see what the shift would be in that arena, if we started shooting in HQ from now on.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Craig Seeman]

Please reread my post on HDV codec breaking. To me that’s the single biggest reason. If you’re just shooting talking heads against simple backgrounds that might be OK but for everything else it’s an irreparable problem waiting to happen. EX XDCAM, especially progressive, will hold up better in compositing and color grading as well.

Other problems specific to EX is that it’s not progressive and when you used 24fps it’s in 29.97. You can’t overcrank.

Make sure the camera is current with firmware and buy high quality SDHC cards.

If you are primarily concerned with “more on the card” you’d be better off with a good AVCHD camera with 24mbps data rate. It’s a better codec than HDV but you’ll get the joy of either dealing with it in an NLE or having to transcode everything . . . but it is both “more” and “better” than HDV.

[Steve Pender]

Hi, Tom.

I’m a video biographer in Tucson, Arizona. I may be looking for a second EX-3 for some upcoming shoots in the Salt Lake City area. Wondering if you’re available for hire on a daily basis – if not, whether you may know of other resources for an EX-3 in Salt Lake City. Shoots may be in March or April.

If you’d like to know a little about me, please visit:
https://www.familylegacyvideo.com.

Cheers, Steve