Lance Bachelder
Forum Replies Created
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Sharpness, color, contrast as you’ve stated will be NOTICEABLY better on a pro lens! I’d say the difference between pro glass and kit glass is FAR greater than the difference between the various Canon DSLR’s that currently shoot motion.
Edge to edge sharpness, clarity, accurate focusing, the ability to render colors and contrast to their fullest. Also the lack of chromatic aberration. The Canon “L” series of lenses were designed for pro still photographers who scrutinize every inch of their shots. Another great thing about L series lenses is that they hold a good deal of their value for years – kit lenses sell very cheap new, but dirt cheap used.
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Congrats on the purchase and welcome to DSLR filmmaking! You’ve made a great decision and not opting for the 7D I hope you’ll spend a little cash and get a pro quality lens. As a filmmaking tool I don’t think any camera is superior to the other in the sense that the story and casting are far more important than the tech stuff. You’ll be fine starting out with the 550D – just get out there and shoot and never stop learning!
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Thanks for the sane post Ben! Anyone shooting Canon DSLR and cutting in FCP should be using the new Log and Transfer plug-in period. So easy and logical. All this Streamclip crap needs to cease – there is absolutely no reason anyone using FCP and ProRES should be using that software to transcode their files anymore. And if you say it’s because you have an older version of FCP then stop everything you’re doing and get to the freakin’ Apple Store or wherever and BUY the Studio 3 upgrade! No excuses!
On another note – enough of this ProRES LT and standard ProRES talk – the only choice anyone should use is ProRES HQ (unless you specifically doing an offline/online workfow). I don’t care what Philip Bloom or anyone else says – hard drives are cheap – use HQ. Why would you not want your footage transcoded into the best codec possible if you’re cutting in FCP? We’re doing features films for real money with these cameras and we’ve tested everything out there and there are two choices in my opinion Cineform Highest or Filmscan (either better than any ProRES flavor or ANY other compressed codec for that matter) and Apple ProRES HQ.
That’s my rant for the day – back to editing…:)
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Never saw a pop window – just click the download style button on the left and it brings up a page where each style can be downloaded individually – thanks Neil!
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
I think the DSLR’s are perfect for film schools and what I would choose if I was running a film. dept. Specially since you mentioned animation – the stop motion capabilities alone make a a DSLR a far better choice than any camcorder.
SInce the Sony you mentioned is closer in price to the Canon 7D I would make the jump from the 550D if you have the budget – of course you need a decent lens, but either way I’d stay with any of the Canon’s vs. camcorders.
Now if your goal is to become an ENG (news, sports etc) Shooter, then the Sony would be a great choice because of it’s form factor (shoulder mounted).
Good Luck!
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Actually the roundtrip from FCP to Color and back is really easy. The same “send to” function as the others apps. Color itself takes some time to learn but is actually really fun once you get the hang of it.
I recommend you get the Ripple Training DVD or their download for Color and take a weekend to learn it – awesome program!
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Figures this comes out AFTER we have transcoded over 2500 clips and renamed them via slate. This will be a great tool to have on set for asst editor – like it a lot.
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
Add Cineform to that list and ours are identical! LOL! I’ll be working the AJA booth again this year – hope to see you there.
Lance
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
“It won’t be long before somebody makes a film with one of these. ”
We purchased the 1st two 7D bodies in OC the second they were available, back in Oct? Tested them for a day, then canceled the 2 RED pkgs. we were supposed to shoot our feature with – so hopefully we will be one of the first 7D features to hit distribution soon (in post for a couple more months).
So it took about 72 hours after the cameras public release for “someone” to start shooting a feature with them. There are many more out there too.
Can’t wait to see what’s next in the HD DSLR realm…
Lance Bachelder
Southern California -
It’s not really a pro vs. consumer issue at all. It’s a codec issue – is there enough color information to pull a nice key? The general answer would be NO – current DSLR’s do not have a robust enough codec to shoot green screens.
This really depends on where your shot is gonna end up? If it’s going on a big screen in a theater forget it – but youtube? Might be fine. Keying also depends on the software you are using – something pro like Keylight might be able to do a usable job with your Casio footage – but if you’re using the built-in keyer in an NLE like Vegas or Final Cut you may get poor results.
Lance Bachelder
Southern California