Slo Motion Hell

[John Lenihan]

Mark,

You may have to reshoot with another camera.

When I first got the nx5u I tried a slomo and found the same thing.
Then I read the owner’s manual VERY carefully.

nx5u is a fake slomo. In other words, it achieves the slomotion affect my reducing the number of pixels that it captures per frame. That way it maintains the same bits per second.

John Lenihan

John Lenihan

LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicamvideoproductions.com

[Mark Hevingham]

Thank you John. Another user has said that he was able to re structure the clips and has shown me the evidence. He is vague on how he achieved it. Its a great shame that the performances were perfect and the takes destroyed them

[Uli Plank]

Sorry, but you need to test ANY camera before doing that! And the manual gives a warning, BTW.

Even the FS100 has crappy slo-mo if you try the factor 4 version, because it samples fewer pixels and interpolates them. The only cameras (other than specialized slo-mo cameras like Phantom or Weisscam) doing it well is the RED One or EPIC. Due to it’s higher resolution sensor it can afford to sample a smaller window in the center to get higher frame rates. Even that camera will look softer at 2K, but far better than the two NEX cameras.

You can use 50p or 60p in full resolution in the Sonys, though, and slow it down to 24p or 25p with tools like Apples Cinema Tools. Very good quality, but maximum factor 2.4.

Director of the Institute of Media Research (IMF) at Braunschweig University of Arts

[Mark Hevingham]

We had the cameras on another shoot and the results were not that bad. Also on the onboard screen the picture looks great. I understand that a small screen condenses the picture, but this time the footage was markedly worse.

[John Lenihan]

Mark,

So if you had one good experience and one bad experience, you have the opportunity to help the rest of us…

What was the difference?

John

John Lenihan

LeniCam Video Productions
https://www.lenicamvideoproductions.com

[Mark Hevingham]

Its a weird one.

The footage that worked was shot in a forest! We did a pop music video that involved around twenty set ups being shot in slo mo and of these they all came out well.

The stunt work was shot in a locked down shopping mall after it closed. We were allowed in and shot the regular footage for two hours then did some stunt work (some one running, getting shot and diving onto a crashmat) which we decided to shoot slo mo. Usually I prefer to shoot 25p (UK frame rate) and drop into AE CS5. I curse the day some one suggested shooting directly in slo mo!

We are arranging a reshoot as I write this. Luckily I got the venue for free.

[Uli Plank]

You can shoot slo-mo in camera – but not beyond 2:1 in Europe.

Director of the Institute of Media Research (IMF) at Braunschweig University of Arts

[Stephen Crye]

As someone else mentioned, the Phantom is phenomonal – but priced to match:

https://www.visionresearch.com/Products/High-Speed-Cameras/Phantom-HDGOLD/

There is no magic. Slo-mo is subject to the laws of physics. This is why high-speed cameras are called high-speed and come at a high price.

If you want to speed up by, lets say, 100, and the target post-production frame rate is 24 fps, then you need to shoot at roughly 2400 fps. That means each frame needs a shutter speed of a MINIMUM of 1/2400 – but it gets worse, because there is still a finite amount of time needed to process the frame. So, pretty soon you are talking shutter speeds of 1/10000 sec.

Now consider a still shot at 1/10000 . Gonna be pretty dim unless you have arc lights, so you will need a VERY fast lens. Lots of glass. And, you need a sensor to match.

Steve

Win7 Pro X64 on Dell T3400 MultiTB SATA 8 GB RAM Vegas 10e x64 DVDA 5.2 Sony HDR-CX550V