Pete Burger
Forum Replies Created
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbs6dlNGLhY
(not me in the video)
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\”Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.\” – Buster Keaton -
Absolutely 100% agree with Steve. DSLR video can be gorgeous, lenses, camerawork and good lighting provided. Many music-videos, documentaries and even tv-shows are (at least partially) shot with DSLRs. They are small, comparatively lightweight and even though the used H.264 codec was not really made for post-production, still can provide good to excellent quality and the videos can be very cinematic.
The biggest problem IMHO is that these cameras are first and foremost stillframe cameras. So the handling is quite a bit different than what you might be used to from “proper” camcorders. But it’s all a matter of practice. I work natively with DSLR matierial for more than 4 years. Transcoding is not really neccessary anymore.——————————————
“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
Are you talking about the wires? If so, two thoughts come to mind:
I’m not familiar with the 6D, but shoot a lot with the T2i (550D) and the T5i (700D). To my knowledge the internal resizing from that 18MP sensor (20MP with the 6D, isn’t it?) is not really the best you can imagine. From what I read, it’s not really a downsampling, but simply a skipping lines (I can be wrong here), that leads to jagged edges. So I presume(!), that if you shoot higher shutterspeeds, this becomes more apparent, because you have less motion-blur – if that makes any sense. Random colours can be a side-effect of that as well, or it simply is colour noise, introduced by higher ISO needed with faster shutterspeeds.
All just assumptions——————————————
“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
You are most welcome, Scott!
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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
Thanks a bunch, Abraham!
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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
Exporting from After Effects into H.264 is not the best idea. I have to say though, that I still work with AE CS5, so there might have been some improvements on that in the meantime. The way I work is to export from AE as Quicktime and then compress with appropriate software. Since I work on Windows, I use the Adobe Media Encoder. If you’re on a Mac and have Compressor: perfect.
As for the quicktime compression. You can use ProRes. Even ProRes LT. Alternatively use the Animation Codec (lossless at 100%), PNG (also lossless at 100%) or even JPEG (at 100% “visually” lossless).
In the very beginning of DSLR video, an intermediate codec (like ProRes) was needed to assure a smooth workflow. I don’t think, that you really have to use it now. I work natively with the MOV’s from my DSLRs for years now. No problems.
Hope this helps a bit!——————————————
“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
The 18-55mm is not as bad as many people might want you make believe. Especially the newer version is quite neat. It’s not the best, nor the fastest lens and it has some quite heavy distortions on the wide end, but it’s an okay lens IMHO. I used it a lot for video. The 18-135 is (from what I heard, I never used it myself) better and also has a wider zoom-range.
The 50mm you mentioned is simply a superb lens. Nothing more to add 😉
I use the 28-135 a lot. The downside to this lens is that it’s stabilization is very loud and you will have it on the audio. But, well, DSLRs and internal audio… Not the best combination.——————————————
“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
[Scott Gaskin] “Is this caused from footage straight out of the camera or when it has been exported? I think its the latter when I exported it from After Effects.”
When you play the footage on your computer, do you already see these artifacts. Blocking artifacts is something I actually never had with any kind of DSLR video (no matter which camera – T2i, T5i, 7D, 5DMkII). So it’s most definitly a problem with exporting. To which format do you export to from After Effects and which kind of compression do you use?
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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster Keaton -
The 50mm 1.8II is… well… not really extremely well built. It’s completely made out of plastic (apart from the lenses and the electronics of course).
I dropped mine in the camera-bag just about 1ft to the ground and it fell apart.
Couldn’t repair it myself. Tbh I didn’t bring it to the service but bought a new one. And I would buy it again, although I must admit, that the 50mm 1.4 is way better built, even faster and “only” about triple the price.The H1 on the camera is IMHO not the best idea for a shortfilm. The sound-quality is extra-ordinary good (esp. when you consider the price), but you won’t get good sound by only using the recorder, because you most definitly won’t get close enough with the mics. And since the built in mics have a wide stereo field you get lots of ambient sound.
You can plug in a shotgun mic (not XLR mics or mics that need phantom power though), but I would think that you’d better get one of these Rode or Sennheiser shotguns that are especially built for DSLR filming. You can plug these directly into the camera.
Lenses… I’m not the lens expert, so maybe someone other might chime in here, but since you have the Kit lens, I would presume you have an APS-C camera (not a full frame like the 5DII or 5DIII).
The 50mm on a crop has a quite narrow angle of view (about that of an 80mm on a full frame cam). The Kit-lens is IMHO not as bad as many people say. I did a lot of filming with it. But it’s not very fast.
The 40mm 2.0 is a fantastic little lens, but if you already have the 50mm, I’d say it won’t give you too much in addition. I borrowed it once and … yeah … great lens, but not really wide enough to be a must-have if you already got a 50mm.I have the 28-135 which I personally love to death ^^ Great (but loud) IS, and quite a good range of focal lenghts. But it’s also a slow lens starting at 3.5 and ending at 5.6.
So maybe the 35mm 2.0 would be an idea. This is the lens that I think I’ll get next.
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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster KeatonMe on Twitter (english/german)
https://twitter.com/FastFoodVideo -
Of course this largely depends on what you are about to do.
I can only say, that I have both, the Zoom H1 and the 50mm 1.8 II and I’d buy the 50mm 1.8II in an instant again, if it breaks (and that thing breaks fast ^^) and I’d not buy the H1 again.The H1 is a great little device, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not very flexible. After about half a year I invested in the Tascam DR-40 which is “only” about double the price but (for my needs) absolutely perfect.
So I’d say if you don’t have a fast lens yet and you have that money to spend, you can’t get wrong with the “nifty fifty”… Superb picture quality and very fast. Done a lot of even professional shoots with it – both video and pictures…
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“Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.” – Buster KeatonMe on Twitter (english/german)
https://twitter.com/FastFoodVideo