Slow Motion Video: Tips And Tricks!

I love slow motion video! Those who I have shot for know that as well and that I am always look for opportunities to shoot 60 fps on our XDCAM HD cameras. I love watching the show Time Warp. It's cool the things that the show likes to slow down, but they also take it to the extreme.

Here's some tip and tricks for shooting slow motion video:

1) Let There Be Light - When you are shooting slow motion, there are a ton of frames of video flying through the image sensor. That being the case, the camera has very little time to let light in. So, pump up the lighting. If you the scenes that Time Warp sets up in their studio, you'll usually see a lot 10K or 30K lights blasting the object that they are warping. Usually because they are shooting them at 1000 fps or higher, which brings us to...

2) FPS, More Doesn't Mean Better - Not all standard video cameras can shoot at higher (F)rames (P)er (S)econd. Only a few out there can do it really good then, say, on an editing system. But, what you are shooting also dictates at what FPS you should be shooting at. Examples:

120 FPS -This is your classic sports replay mode. Any time EPSN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, etc. throws the replay on your screen, you are usually seeing it at 120 fps or 1/4 real life speed. Unless, the commentary guys/girls stop the video to point something out.

300 FPS - This is the narrative slow motion. The guy passing the girl in the hall, shooting guns at people, or my favorite classic, the opening credits to Reservoir Dogs. Basically, the movie standard for Hollywood. Click above to see what I am taking about.

600 FPS - This is getting into the realm of showing exactly how things move. You'll see this common on showing how an athlete moves. Not showing the touchdown they just made, but more of the how did the muscles move, the foot land, the arm extend, etc.

1000 FPS to 1200 FPS - This is close to the Time Warp stuff. This is your classic fireball exploding or balloon popping.

10,000 FPS and BEYOND! - This is the Time Warp extreme. They use 10,000 FPS a lot in their studio where they can control the settings and the light. This is also the usual way to get lightening! Or bullets!

3) Tripod Is Nice, But Don't Get Locked In - Tripod will give you great stable images for a lot of those higher frame rates. But, it doesn't mean that you should lock yourself into that tripod. I've shot some SWAT team stuff off the shoulder and ran around with them. Did all of it look great? Not really, but there were seconds here and there that made the video better. Like everything, the tripod is a tool in your toolbox and so is slow motion.

4) The Higher We Go, The Lower The Resolution - Most prosumer cameras on the market as you go up in FPS, you lose quality of video. This is true to some degree with professional video cameras. With our XDCAM HD cameras, to change the FPS you need to switch the video from 60i to 30p, which drops the quality down some*. This is why Time Warp has the Photron SA1 camera. It runs about $5,000 to $10,000 for the camera. But, you tack on computer support, lenses, lighting, etc. you could be looking at over $100,000 before you pop your first soap bubble. Here's a list of what's available to the consumer or even prosumer:

Today's Slow-Motion Cameras, Camcorders and Cameraphones
• Casio Exilim EX-F1
• Casio Exilim EX-FH20
• Casio Exilim FC-100 and FS-10
• JVC Everio X
• Samsung HMX20
• Ricoh CX1
• LG Viewty

*I won't get into comment debates on the numbers on this statement. This entry on slow motion was to explain, not fight.

"More Than a Game" Trailer - Great 2.5D work

I've been seeing more and more of this 2.5D work lately, where stills are roto-d out and placed against a background plate, then a camera view is set up and moved to make it look as if it is a 3d shot instead of photos against photos. This is by far the best example that I've seen yet though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KXYDa3gARs&feature=player_embedded

I was hoping to work the Halo ODST trailer into my first post somehow, since it was so well done, but couldn't think of a way. Any ideas? I've seen a list of credits and there had to have been at least, if not more than a hundred people that worked on it. Crazy, but I guess that's what you have to do if you want to have millions of sales of a $60 game.

Wow! That HD stuff is amazing!

An new survey shows that people really still don't understand the difference between SD and HD. This is why Monster Cable is still in business:

Think yourself a sharper TV picture

• 30 September 2009
• Magazine issue 2728. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.

WANT to experience the benefits of super-sharp high-definition TV without buying a new set? Simply tell yourself that you are watching HD and put up a few posters. That's the implication of a Dutch study into how expectations affect viewers' perceptions (Computers in Entertainment, vol 7, article 40).

Two groups of 30 people watched the same video clip, individually, on the same television. Half were told to expect a better experience thanks to HD technology, an impression backed up by posters, flyers and an extra-thick cable connected to the screen. The other half were told to expect a normal DVD signal.

In questionnaires afterwards, the group told to expect HD reported that they had witnessed significantly sharper, more detailed images.

GEEK FREAKOUT: How a CCD works

Let's celebrate the new Nobel Prize laureates in Physics by understanding just what the @#$% they won it for (especially since what they did makes possible what we do).

-dp

How To Merge Still Photography With Video Photography

The Power of Red.

A few months ago, Esquire magazine did something interesting for their "Sexist Woman Alive" shoot. Instead of hours of setup and still photography, their DP shot with the RED camera and captured about 12 minutes (2 to 3 scenes) of Megan Fox on 4K (4 times 1080p) video and took stills from that to create a magazine cover and full spread.

It's kinda the reverse of using a Canon 7D or 5D Mark II to shoot video. Using a video camera to shoot still photography. Now, Esquire has done it again with RED's newest beast: the RED Epic, which does 5K (5 times 1080p). They shot Kate Beckinsale in 5K for the cover and spread instead of hours of stills. And both times, for Kate or Megan, the actresses loved the idea of not spending hours on a photo shoot.

RED continues to show that it's the most adaptable, low cost, film replacement camera on the market. Well, soon to be, Epic and Scarlet cameras are going public soon. And while I applaud Canon's and Nikon's efforts to show that's it the body of camera that counts with several models shooting 1080p video, RED still brings it home with their motto:

RED Renders Obsolescence Obsolete.

Here's the video from Kate's shoot:

Small agency. College town. Great look.

Ologie is in Columbus, Ohio, but that doesn't stop them from projecting a fantastically put-together image that can compete with the largest marketing agencies in the U.S.

Poke around their site, get a feel for their vibe, then ask yourself "what's ours?"

That, mes amis, is what we are going to be defining...and I can't wait.

-dp

Tilt-Shift Video

I'm a big fan of time lapses. I love the everlasting sunrise and sunset. But, one thing I have found fascinating is tilt-shift time lapse video. For those who don't know what tilt-shift is:

Tilt-shift requires a special camera setup, a lens that can tilt—or rotate—and shift—move parallel to the image plane. With tilt you control the focus of the image, which works better in vertically oriented framing, blurring the closest and farthest part of the image. With shift you correct the perspective of the image itself, making things look flatter than they actually are.

I've also found some cheap ways to make tilt-shift lenses. I gotta find those sites.

Here is an example:

Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.