Rick Wise
1
COW Coin
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Thanks. I meant to write, control-drag.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
Rick, a couple of comments: Scrims and nets do not soften light, they reduce its intensity. Diffusion both reduces intensity and softens. The main reason to use diffusion, of course, is to soften it.
Bouncing light is very often a good solution to a softer look. However, bouncing off walls rarely works very well as the walls usually have a color, which then becomes part of the bounced light. On the other hand, sheets of foamcore, or beadborad, or white cardboard all can serve to bounce light. My favorite way to shoot interviews is to key with as large a soft key as possible (more on that below) and take a sheet of 4 x 4 foamcore and bounce some of the key back on the fill side. A very small second light takes care of a back-hair light. Then the background usually needs treatment with lights and or flags and scrims. Note that you may need to slow down the light on a white or bright shirt with a net.
The big soft key: a 1200 HMI Par or Fresnel, or a 2K Tungsten; in front, clipped to the barndoors, opal diffusion; then a 6 x 6 or 8 x 8 frame about 3-5 feet in front of that, with 1/2 gridcloth; the frame is placed as close to the subject as possible without getting into the shot or way. Alternatively, the light goes through a Chimera (“softbox”), and then is further softened by additional diffusion placed a few feet in front as described above. In other words, double-diffuse it, with space between the diffusions.
If you are trying to increase general ambient light, sometimes you can tape sheets of 4 x 8 foamcore to the ceiling, or in a corner, and bounce light into them. Sometimes you have a white room and can bounce light off the walls and/or ceiling. You can also place foamcore on the floor and bounce light off that, simulating the look that slanting sunlight makes when it bounces off the floor. If the sunlight is slanting in, you can increase its effect with the foamcore.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
I’m using Vegas version 8.0c.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
Steve, have you figured out what formats won’t work with ctrl-drag? I’ve never had a problem like this with with AVI clips.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
That’s Z7y, not 27u.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
You are starting out, it seems. Take what they give you this time. See how fast you are, and how good. If you are both fast and good, probably next time you can ask for a little more. And now you will have a demo to show to prospective cleints. Work your way up. Don’t kill the golden egg — though there’s mostly alloy in that egg, not much gold.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
Sony Z7u. I think, at present, it is the best solution to doc shooting. It’s much easier to hold and handle than the EX1, and also has less problem with rolling shutter. Were I shooting a scripted, dramatic piece, with a dolly and full crew, I’d go for the EX1. For run and gun, the Z7u seems to be the best choice — at present.
One person who sometimes posts here wrote me offline about his joy with the Z7u: “the result, all
the advantages of the ex1 (equipment wise) but without the disadvantages of
the ex1 (rolling shutter effect) in fact, we ran our own rolling shutter
test with over 20 flashes in a very low light situation AND got only three
rolling shutter effects (but not wobbly like the ex1 only screwed up screens
like electronic failure) AND the flash in all three instances were aimed
directly at the camera and within 4 feet of the lens. now i ask, how often
do you get that? and if you did, don’t you think that the affect (which at
regular play back just looks like a bright flash) is explainable if needed
to be explained? moreover, unlike the ex1, the number of frames affected by
this intentionally produced rolling shutter effects were 7 . . not 30 to 70
wobbly frames. again, non of the other 17 had any effect on the camera’s
recording only those three that were quite extreme in nature and even
explainable to the client if needed to be.we are very very very very very satisifed with the z7 and wished we’d found
out about it before buying that last hvx200a in may”You can also read reviews of it at:
—https://www.eventdv.net/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=41396—https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/awilt/story/review_hvr_z7_hvr_s270/
—https://digitalcontentproducer.com/cameras/revfeat/video_sony_hvrzu/
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
Your problem has nothing to do with white balance, and everything to do with exposure. If you set your zebras to 100, anything at 100 or above will “clip” — there will be no detail. Your white shirt must have been at or above 100 IRE (which is what the zebras are indicating.) You apparently set your zebras to 90, which was of little use to you.
White shirts, dresses, etc. are always a problem, especially for small HDV cameras, especially in hard light. If you expose for the white, then faces tend to be underexposed a bit. As you probably know, in post you can boost the middle level of exposure and leave the shadows and highlights relatively alone. So your best bet is to expose for the whites, then in post bring up the faces a bit.
Going the other way — exposing for the faces and letting the whites blow out — is impossible to correct in post, for the reasons stated in the first paragraph.
Zebra levels: if you set your zebras to 70, which I recommend for most shooting, and adjust exposure/iris so that there is just a tiny bit of zebra on the hottest part of the face, and the face you are adjusting for is Caucasian, you will get a “correct” face exposure for everyone in the scene, no matter how dark or light. Some good cameras, such as the DVX100/a/b will not let you do that — the lowest zebra is 80, which is a bummer. If your subjects have dark skin, you can “borrow” a white hand or face to set exposure, or else learn how much to stop down the iris on a particular shade of dark skin after you find a twinge of zebra.
On the other hand, if you are shooting outdoors with lots of sky, you might want to set the zebras to 100 so that you adjust exposure to get some detail in the hot sky. This adjustment is often a hard dance to pull off, as you are likely to make the ground-level stuff a bit dark. One solution is to frame so that there is not much sky, and to let the sky “blow”. This is the curse of video — can’t handle the range from hot sky to dark shadow. Film has much more latitude, though the newest big HD cameras, such as the Sony F23, are approaching that beautiful ability.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
Steve, while it’s true that the pro version has a lot of possibilities that the consumer version does not, the consumer version is, I think, a great way to begin. It offers more help, is easier to understand, etc. I started with pro version 3 (back when it was not a Sony product) and have stuck with it. But I helped a neighbor start up with the consumer version and was astonished at how powerful and also how much easier it is to learn.Later the user can upgrade.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com -
What you are looking for is a great hook in the sky. Haven’t found one yet. Probably the most operator-friendly system is the EasyRig, which can work for any weight camera depending on which cord you use. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sb=ps&sq=desc&Q=&O=&pn=1&ci=0&A=search&shs=Easyrig It looks a bit dorky to some, but users seem to swear by it, as it puts the weight on the operator’s hips rather than on his/her shoulder. I have used one only briefly. It takes some adjusting to sling it correctly, but after that it works well.
My favorite for relatively quick changes and angles is a long jib arm mounted on a large dolly (Fisher 10) with a cross arm from which is underslung a 3-axis Weaver Steadman head. Obviously for that you need a really good dolly grip plus extra muscle, a smooth floor, etc. Not great on small stages or on location. Fabulous in the right circumstances.
Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com