[Bruce Greene]

You could try using the syncro scan instead of the shutter speed presets to find a shutter speed longer than 1/48 sec that will sync.

As for phase, all I can think of to try is A) turn off the camera and start it up again (probably remove battery) or B) try changing the fps to 23,22,21 or 25,26 etc and then back to 24 fps to see if the phase changes.

Varicam/Steadicam Owner
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.brucealangreene.com

[Bruce Greene]

Thanks Steve for the info on the dark compression mode.

I purchased a model H in November. Is there a software update for this model to keep the dark compression on when powering off?

And a wish list request: It seems that there is a way to load custom gamma curves in a Sony f-900 via special software through the memory stick.

I would desperately love to be able to do the same when shooting in the Film Rec mode. The idea is to be able to take advantage of as much dymanic range as needed, and maximize the use of the limited 8 bits by normalizing the Film Rec gamma in the camera for wysiwyg style recording. I have found that the Knee/Gamma/Black Stretch in the Video Rec mode is a not the ideal way of handling this.

What would be way cool would be to have a little software program that lets one choose the dynamic level setting and apply a custom curve (like an “s” curve) to the dynamic level selected. This could then be downloaded to an SD card and loaded into the camera as a scene file. Perhaps one could just draw the curve as one does in photoshop.

Of course a remote paint box that allows one to draw the curve on a little screen and see the effect on the image instantly would even better, but also a more expensive solution.

So waddya think?

-bruce

Varicam/Steadicam Owner
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.brucealangreene.com

[Bruce Greene]

Rodrigo, I’m using the Fujinon 4.5-59mm cine style zoom. I have actually been pretty impressed by the quality of images from the lens and that 4.5mm is really wide!

-bruce

[Bruce Greene]

I faced the same question and…shot in 4:3, but framed for 16:9. Some distributers and tv markets may demand 4:3 still and it’s good to have it, even if it’s not framed the best…

For presentaion, we crop the 4:3 and letterbox it. Since the chips in the DVX are not widescreen chips, all it seems to do is crop and enlarge to anamorphic — something you can do yourself in post if you wish.

-bruce

[Bruce Greene]

Many people are convinced that shooting at 24FPS is THE way to get digital to look like film.

Certainly the motion part of the equation will be film like, or like film shot at 24fps. Personally I think the color rendition and gamma curves have a lot more to do with the film look, but that’s another discussion.

A few years back it was common to shoot film at 30fps for video transfer to make the video look more like film! (by avoiding the 3-2 pulldown to convert the frame rate)

The most basic reason to shoot 24fps is for transferring the project to other formats.

Shoot at 24 fps and transfer to film for projection at 24 fps—simple frame rate conversion.

Shoot at 24 fps and transfer to PAL video (25fps) by just speeding up the show by 1/24th.

Shoot at 24 fps and transfer to NTSC video at 30fps by the duplicating a frame here and there (just like movies are transferred to video)

So 24fps is a good mastering format because it can be converted well to all the other common formats. If you shoot at 30fps (progressive) it looks really good on NTSC 30fps video but frames will have to be thrown away to convert to PAL or film projection at 24fps and that doesn’t look nearly as good as duplicating frames from 24fps for viewing at 30.

By the way Barry Green’s book for the DVX is wonderful and a must have.

-bruce