[Dean Sensui]

It’s an unavoidable artifact in FCP when scaling images. It’s especially visible when moving upward or downward (tilting) on an image. FCP isn’t very good at doing these things.

If I have to do move or re-scale an image, I’ll set it up for timing in FCP, but transfer the project over to After Effects, using Automatic Duck, to do the actual rendering.

You don’t need Automatic Duck to do this, but if there are a lot of images it pays for itself the first time around.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

The only comments I’ve ever received about the quality of the EX1 images are positive ones.

Even professionals have mentioned being impressed by the look the camera provides.

I owned an HVX prior to the EX1 and have to say that in terms of overall color quality, both are on par. However, the EX1 does seem to have slightly better dynamic range and it definitely captures more detail than the HVX.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

[Craig Seeman] “I see all sorts of potential drawbacks with such a device such as not having the security to KNOW the clips were copied without issue and the need to power such a device with a battery . . .”

I worked with a P2 Store and that was exactly the problem.

So, even with 4 hours of recording time I’d rather invest in the needed 16-gig cards and make sure the event is properly captured, instead of worrying about whether I transferred a card or not.

With so much to think about when shooting, adding to the workload will make a difficult job even tougher. Unless, of course, you have a very diligent assistant.

And in my case, being on boats in salt water, I’d rather not take a laptop. Even a hardened one. The P2 Store device could work if it were weatherproofed. But there’s still the concern about files not being transferred.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

The Panasonic HVX had that.

And any camera Nostradamus used did, too.

I heard about the EX1 possibly having it with a firmware update and I wish it comes sooner than later. But until then I’ll have to rely on my cat-like reflexes. Unfortunately that “cat” sometimes naps at the wrong time.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

If it’s for print publication then you’ll need to know the total number of pixels along the longest dimension, in which case it’s been mentioned as 1920 pixels.

Then find out what the line screen is for the press. If it’s a 150-line screen, multiply that by 1.5 to 2 to find out the optimum resolution in pixels/inch (equals 225 to 300 pixels/inch).

Divide 1920 by 225 and you get 8.5 inches. Enough to go across a magazine page if the publication uses a 150 line screen for their color separations.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

I’m thinking of combining this with an HD Link to provide full HD monitoring as well as a color reference. I do a lot of compositing in AE and also work extensively with Color. Would be nice to see the image in full 1920×1080 resolution instead of a 14-inch monitor.

The monitor is supposed to have some of its own color adjustment capabilities and the HD Link is also supposed to provide calibration capabilities.

I’m hoping I can get it to match my Sony CRT which I’m currently using for color correction.

What got me initially interested in this monitor was the 5ms LCD response time and the 20,000:1 contrast ratio.

If anyone finds anything on this monitor and/or combination with HD Link please post.

Thanks!

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

Meryl Streep acted with a green hood on her head for “Death Becomes Her” when her character falls down some stairs and breaks her neck. That was motion tracked and replaced with her head on backward.

Ironically it was the day her mom showed up on set to watch her act, and there she was with her head totally obscured. It was all shown on a series called “Movie Magic” back in the 1990s.

OT: I wish that show was still in production!

One of the problems with doing a green screen removal of the head is you’ll need to replace the neck with something — or at least up to the point where the head is missing. Depending on the amount of movement, that replacement might have to be a CGI element in order to make lighting, highlights and shadow match the rest of the scene.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

[Alan Okey] “You’re kind of doing things backwards, which is the hard way.”

Not necessarily. Sometimes you have to work with existing plates as was done here:

https://www.studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6503.html

I do the same thing for my own show, although the process isn’t nearly as sophisticated nor complex as with Stargage’s examples.

When using existing backgrounds, it’s essential to match perspective along with direction and quality of lighting. Using a transparent overlay can help speed the initial setup somewhat. The final lighting and camera setup is best done with a “scratch” or rough composite on set prior to actual filming.

That said, if anyone has a answer for Ron’s question, please share. I could use something like that, too!

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

Walter…

When I diagnosed my problem I manually pulled the fonts and gradually put them back in. It was a crude emulation of what a diagnostic utility used to do back when Mac was run by System 7.

Good luck with finding the trouble source. Can’t have “Good Eats” held up by a rogue font!

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing

[Dean Sensui]

Elijah….

I’m using FCP but not for compositing. As for the Mac I’m using, it’s a 2×2.8 Quad-core running OS 10.5.4, FCP 6.0.4 and Quicktime 7.5.

Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing