Slow motion with a Prosumer camera and FCP7

[Alex Huber]

Well those tips are exactly correct — but only IF you shoot 60i and the rest of the footage and project is 24p.

If it is, then the math works and you can get acceptable slow motion.
60i x 40% = 24p

It looks pretty good. I don’t know if it is an HD or SD project but even if it is SD shoot with the H1 in HDV mode since you effectively lose half of the scan lines when coverting individual interlaced fields to full progressive frames.

One thing that you said though — you said you were going to be using long lenses. You said you may also use a Steadicam. Those two things don’t usually mix. You would probably never want to use long lenses with a Steadicam — they are best for medium wide or wider lenses. They are not really the look of NFL Films either which is predominately very long lenses.

/A

[Jeff Mueller]

Thanks Alex. I agree on the Steadicam and wide lens. I’ll shoot the long lens stuff off of the tripod. the Steadicam idea took root before the client said anything about NFL Films or slow mo but I couldn’t unwed him.

This is going to end up on DVD. Normally I’d shoot it all in 1080i 60, but from what you’re saying it sounds like I’d be better off shooting the rest of the project in 24p (they call it 24F on the Canon because it’s an interlaced chip but I think it ends up the same).

Jeff Mueller
http://www.ApertureVideos.com
Santa Barbara, CA

[Alex Huber]

right you will want to shoot the rest of the project as 24p if you want to slow the 60i footage to 40 percent and get a frame for frame accurate drop in for the rest of the project.

Don’t sweat Canon’s “24f” label. It is 24p. Lots of 24p cameras actually shoot with an interlaced chip just like Canon does. It is more of a legal thing than anyone else. Basically Canon didn’t want to pay the royalty rights to Robert Faber (the inventor from the old “FilmLook” company) who had trademark protection on the process and the “24p” moniker so canon came up with the “24f” designation. It’s the same thing. Plus if they want the NFL Films look they will definitly want the normal speed footage at 24 not 60.

Speaking of which — keep in mind that the NFL Films slow motion was often very very slow. Back when they were shooting film they often used film cameras that would overcrank up to almost 500 frames per second. That’s more than 2000 percent of normal speed. So the slow motion was very very slow. You won’t get that out of the H1 even with frame interpolation. You might run a test so your client does not have false expectatons of what the gear can do.

If they really do want it that slow, the best choices would be to either shoot real film with a high speed camera, or book a Panavision Phantom 35/HD for the day if they want video.

/A

[Jeff Mueller]

Thanks, great information. I have to make do with the gear I’ve got, but I’m sure the results will be better for having asked the Cow.

Jeff Mueller
http://www.ApertureVideos.com
Santa Barbara, CA