Leo Ticheli
Forum Replies Created
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Logic is certainly under-employed in general, but, as useful as it is, it all too often fails to predict the results of empirical tests.
In other words, it is often dead wrong. Your logic that 60 fps must be better than 24 fps because it’s a bigger number is no more valid than taking five aspirin instead of two. In fact, taking too much medication is less effective.
I’ve seen tons of material shot at 60 fps for slow motion that was screened 60 for 60, and it always has a “video” look. That’s not a worthwhile attribute, by the way. That’s why we try mightily to shoot scenes that may or may not be edited slow motion at both 24 fps and 60 fps, or some other over-cranked rate.
Opinions vary on many issues, but I’ve personally never met a single person who thought 60 for 60 looked better than 24. Not one. Cutting into a 24 fps program, the 60 fps material stick out, and badly at that. By the way, this is true even with film, not just HD. As I said in an earlier post, I tried shooting at higher frame rates on film, 30 for 30, and the results were very disappointing. Instead of looking better the 30 fps material looked decidedly less appealing.
I’ll guess that you can see the difference and that your visual tastes are quite different.
Regardless of your own opinion, there is something “magic” about 24 fps/180* shutter. I used quotes on the “magic” word, because it’s not really magic at all, but something very real that happens when the brain is forced to fill in the gaps in the “reality” that is presented on the screen. It’s more engaging, and that makes it more enjoyable. I believe it’s akin to what happens when we read, the imagination is called forth. It is, however, much more fun to call it magic.
Best regards,
Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA -
While I appreciate your contributing your views, Herb, but I disagree with almost everything in your post.
It is not “more common to shoot and edit at 59.94;” at least not on this planet. Overwhelmingly, the standard frame rate for HD is 24 fps, and for very good reasons.
No, you cannot “add motion blur” in post to make 60 fps material look like the motion blur of 24 fps material. The effects are quite different. Furthermore, 24 fps material is usually shot with a 180
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If you want your finished project to look filmic, do NOT shoot at 60 fps!
It CAN NOT be “retimed” to look like it was shot at 24 fps. Period.
Shoot 60 fps only for slow motion or some special purpose such as “live” sports or a “video” look. If you’re shooting features, interviews, the vast majority of commercials, corporate films, weddings, and the like, shoot at 24 fps.
The forums are filled with help-seeking posts from poor souls who received material that was shot at 60 fps. Don’t be one of them.
Good shooting!
Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA -
Tony,
I raise my glass to you, sir!Engineers are great people; we couldn’t survive without them; however…
When you are shooting out of town do you ask the local engineer for recommendations on restaurants?
Do you wish you could dress as stylishly as an engineer?
If a hand-grenade exploded in an art museum, no engineers would be killed.Mostly kidding, of course, but there’s a reason engineers are hired to make the machines run and we’re hired to make magic.
Of course, there have been many times I wished I were as smart as my chief engineer!
Best regards,
Leo -
I think the “tech” guy is wrong; very wrong.
Too bad.
Years ago I tried shooting film at 30 fps to transfer at 30. It seemed so logical that the faster rate would look better; one to one, frame for frame transfer to video, no pull-down, more pictures per second. To my dismay, the results were disappointing; it just looked like pretty video! In other words, it looked bad.
We’ve all talked about this; there is something very magic about shooting at 24 fps with a 180
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Suggests even further communications failure.
Could it be confusion about the 720p/60 recording and delivery format, which is not the same thing as the shooting frame rate? Are you sure they actually wanted the visual effect of a high shooting frame rate and the subsequent greatly reduced motion blur? That’s the important question to ask.
No matter what shooting frame rate you selected, such as 24 or 30, the mastered show would be 720p/60, unless, of course, you edited at a different time base, such as with 1080i at 29.97.
Unless the material was action oriented such as sports, other shooting frame rates are typically more engaging; for example, 24 fps with a 180
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No.
If the typical shutter angle of 180
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Never buy a camera you can’t spell…
You can lighten the camera considerably by removing the viewfinder and using a prime lens. I’ve directed spots using the VariCam on a SteadiCam with no problems.
If I needed a smaller camera and I could wait a bit, I’d probably go with the new Panasonic 200.
Good shooting!
Leo
Director/Cinematographer -
I disagree with almost everything you wrote. Weak and strong photons?
Professional video cameras with 2/3″ imagers have 2.5 times the depth of field of a film camera at any give stop, so a setting of 4.5 on the lens results in rather profound depth of field, not narrow as you suggest. Even 2.8 is very, very deep. To limit depth of field, one must shoot wide open, using the ND filters to control exposure.
When shooting with the far more common 1/3″ chip cameras, the depth of field problem is far more difficult to overcome; again, shooting wide open is an absolute must.
There are many ways to control excessive contrast; the aperture setting on the lens is not among them. Choosing the most advantageous time of day and available lighting conditions is certainly the easiest.
Best regards,
LeoDirector/Cinematographer
Southeast USA -
It might come down to personal taste; you could have settings that are optimal to most, but not pleasing to you.
On the other hand, there could be some problem with the settings or an actual electrical/mechanical problem with the camera. Without seeing it, there’s no way to judge. Perhaps you could take the camera to the local rental house and ask their camera department to take a look. Perhaps Panasonic in NY could send someone to check it out for you.
Good shooting!
Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA