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IBC starts Friday…. what a big show it’s become!

Hi all. I’m still here, just been busy off in Arizona shooting storms in 3D and then a quick family holiday before my wife and daughter forget who I am!!

Anyway is business as usual again and I promise some really interesting video tutorials are in the pipelines on 3D, S-Log, Gamma Curves and the Colour Matrix, so do keep checking back.

Anyway, jut 4 days to go until IBC and what a big event it has become since it first started in 1967. I will be helping out on the Sony Booth on the “ICE Bar”. It’s going to be a bit like an Apple Store Genius Bar, only manned by video professionals and Sony ICE’s (Independent Certified Experts). So please drop by and ask all those nagging questions or come for a chat about picture profiles or anything else you want to know more about. I’ve been told there will be lots of F3’s on the booth wearing all kinds of 3rd party fashion accessories plus of course the FS100 and F65, so plenty of gear porn.

Talking of IBC, Quantel and  have been busy preparing all kinds of stats about the show and they do make interesting reading, last year over 48,000 people attended the show compared to the 1,300 of the first year. You’ll find a page of info here: http://blog.quantel.eu/2011/09/infographics-ibc/

Arizona Monsoon Chasing

Arizona Monsoon Thunderstorm

Not too many posts from me recently. Very busy, travelling all over the place, last week Hong Kong, this week Arizona. I’m in Arizona running a workshop for some students from Singapore Poly. We’re shooting some short video documentaries about the Arizona Monsoon thunderstorms. I’m also shooting lightning in HyperStereo with a pair of F3’s on a Hurricane 3D rig as well as some background footage with one of the new Sony NX-3D1E camcorders (brilliant little camera, review to follow). Last night we had some incredible storms and we are expecting more today.

Using a PC Tablet as a 3D Monitor

In my quest to make 3D more affordable for all I have been looking at ways of using DSLR’s. The major issue with DSLR’s is the lack of sync and this means monitoring is also tricky. A pair of DSLR’s can be brought into reasonable sync by using a split trigger cable to take a still photo with both cameras after you have started recording. This resets the cameras shutters and they will run in reasonable sync for a few minutes after taking the still photo.
The next problem is monitoring. One popular tool to use is Peter Wimmer’s Stereoscopic Multiplexer and Stereoscopic Player software on a PC, but even a laptop can be a bit bulky. So I decided to try a windows tablet. I chose the Archos 9 tablet, pre installed with Windows 7. You may be able to get this working on other tablets too. The Archos has a dual core Intel Atom CPU, but it still a little lacking in horse power so there is some lag in the display and a frame size limit of 640×480, but it’s OK for getting a rig reasonably well aligned and very portable. Here’s what you need to do to get it all going, these instruction would also work with a conventional PC:

THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT:

Get a pair of EZCAP.TV EzCap 116 USB 2.0 capture cards. IT MUST BE THE EzCAP 116. Do not buy the generic EasyCap models, many of them will not work in pairs, it must be the 116. I strongly recommend getting the full retail boxed version, barcode No X0002X5LGT. I paid £19.00 GBP each for the ones I am using.

EzCAP 116 USB 2.0 video capture. Supersedes EzCAP DC60+. World wide delivery.

New Ezcap USB 2.0 Video Capture Adapter for XP Vista 7 | eBay

You will also need the expansion port adapter for the Archos 9 (windows 7 version).

Here are the installation steps:

1: On a PC or other computer copy the entire contents of the install CD Rom that comes with the EzCap to a USB memory stick.

2: Insert the memory stick into the Archos (or other PC) and browse to it and double click on Autorun. First install the drivers. You should allow the PC to re-start after the install.

3: Again click on Autorun on the memory stick, now install Showbiz 3.5. You MUST install showbiz.

4: Go to 3dtv.at and download and install both Stereoscopic Multiplexer and Stereoscopic Player.

5: Unplug the memory stick and now plug in one of the EZCap devices to the USB port, connect a camera to the EzCap (in the case of a DSLR using the composite cable supplied with the DSLR. Windows should detect the EzCap and install the drivers, this can take quite some time, perhaps 10 minutes (go and have a coffee). If you get an unrecognised device error at this stage, ignore it.

6: Plug the second EzCap device into one of the ports on the Archos expansion box (you can’t plug them both into the expansion port or a USB hub, it won’t work, they must be on separate USB busses).

7: Run ArcSoft ShowBiz. When ShowBiz is running click on the capture tab. At the top of the capture window under “Source” select the first “USB 2861 Device” (may be labeled WDM 2861) Then set “Video Input” to “composite”. You should see the camera output on the screen. Now under “Source” select the second “USB 2861 Device” and select composite, now you should see the second cameras output.

8: Close the capture window and Quit ShowBiz.

9: Start Stereoscopic Multiplexer. The Configuration Wizard should start. For Left Capture device select the upper 2861 Device from the drop down list, for the right camera select the lower 2861 device. For both devices set the appropriate input standard, Pal-I for PAL and NTSC-M for NTSC. Click Next.

10: The maximum resolution the Archos 9 will support for two sources is 640×480 (Laptops should support full 720×576). Select this and then test that you can see each camera using the test left/right buttons. Check that 640×480 is selected before clicking next.

11: Go with the defaults on this page, just click next.

12: Again keep the presets on this last page and click finish.

13: After a few moments you should now see both cameras outputs, displayed side by side. Quit Stereoscopic Multiplexer.

14: Once Stereoscopic Multiplexer has been configured it should remember these settings so you should not need to set it up again.

15: Start Stereoscopic Player. Under “File” select “Live View” and “Stereoscopic Multiplexer”. You should now be seeing both cameras. By using the “View” menu you can choose how to view the images, on the Archos9 “colour Anaglyph” will be the most useful for alignment and “side by side” to check relative exposure and colour balance. Note that if using a mirror rig you can do a horizontal flip of either camera via the “View” menu.

There is some lag in the image display, but it’s useable for alignment and checking. Higher performance PC’s will give better results, but are not as portable.

Have fun!

 

2/3″ Shoulder Mount Camcorders. The end of an era?

Are we seeing the decline of the one de-facto 2/3″ shoulder mount camcorder? I think we are. The reasons are many fold, cost, and bulk are certainly factors, but what about sensor size, I think it depends on which sector you work in but historically larger sensors have been desireable

In movies and features the desire has always been to produce a film, even with a very low budget that has the look and feel of a big budget movie that would typically have been shot with a large sensor, so in the movie world little has changed, the desire for a large sensor has always been there, although often not at the top of the list of priorities.

However in factual, documentary, soaps and other television genres there was not the big desire for shallow DoF. I started in TV in the 80’s. I used to shoot on S16, then 2/3″ video cameras. This was normal for me and being honest it never even occurred to me that a bigger sensor might open up additional possibilities. As far as I was concerned it was a technology that was just not available for the kind of TV programmes that I worked on. Some of this was cost driven, smaller budgets simply meant the use of Super 16, Beta, DigiBeta and DVCAM and here in the UK at least this was normal and perhaps the biggest wish was just to have the budget for a better 2/3″ camera with a less electronic image.

Certainly I was aware of devices like the Pro35, Letus and other ground glass systems that could be used to allow the use of 35mm lenses on 2/3″ cameras, but they were just not practical for factual television. I did dabble with them on corporates, but frankly they were more trouble than they were worth.

Then along came video capable DSLR’s. Suddenly there was a perception that you could hand a $1500 camera to the DoP and hey-presto your documentary would look like a movie, your equipment and transportation costs would be slashed and you could shoot just about anywhere without being noticed. Now while most production companies realised that a DSLR would be a poor choice for many projects and had a whole bunch of new issues, the noise generated by the DSLR community was deafening. There have been some very beautiful looking, high profile (or at least highly vocal) productions shot with them and the shallow DoF, crushed blacks, high contrast look became quite fashionable amongst younger shooters, especially media students as a DSLR is very affordable compared to most full size cameras, you can pick up the Canon 550D (T2i) for £500. Because of the low cost of DSLR’s many of our universities and colleges will use then to teach video production. Yes they might have a couple of old HDCAM’s that the students might get a couple of hours on from time to time, but very often the day to day course work is done with either DSLR’s or handy cams.

So now we have a new generation of programme makers that own cameras that can produce something with that filmic shallow DoF and low frame rate progressive motion (DSLR’s don’t do interlace) that really don’t cost a lot of money. This is the look that these youngsters will be familiar with and to them a 2/3″ or half inch, off the shelf camcorder looks like video, while the DSLR’s look much more like film. With budgets in factual and TV in general getting squeezed more and more many of these younger shooters will find themselves out in the field as principle camera operators very early on in their career, possibly straight from college.

Now we have cameras like the F3, FS100 and AF101 that straddle and blur the boundary between DSLR style shooting and handy cam shooting. You have handy cam ergonomics with DSLR DoF. Because of the improved sensitivity you can shoot with these cameras at smaller apertures if you don’t want shallow DoF. The missing link is decent workable zoom lenses. Abel Cine’s 2/3″ adapters are certainly one way to go and I know that there are cheaper alternatives on the horizon. So conceivably you could have one camera that could be used for general purpose productions by using a 2/3″ lens plus adapter and shooting at f8. Then when you want the filmic look for more controlled situations you swap lenses and stick on a fast PL or DSLR lens.

In the future I envisage there being a range of compact “slow” f4  servo zooms specifically made for super 35. In effect all it would need is for Fuji or Canon to replace the 2x extender in the back of a 2/3″ HD lens with a 2.5x extender and the projected image will fill the s35 frame. Bolt on a PL mount and away you go. These lenses should cost no more than a current 2/3″ zoom, but they won’t be f1.8, now they will be f4 -f5.6.

So is 2/3″ going to hang around forever? I’m not convinced. You only have to look at the impact that lower cost 1/2″ and 1/3″ sensor cameras have had on the 2/3″ market. Single chip cameras will get better and better and the cost will almost always be lower as there is no expensive prism. Large sensor cameras with the right lens could be much more versatile than small sensor cameras. As the need for ultra fast lenses diminishes through improvements in sensor sensitivity, producing smaller, wide range zooms for s35 will become easier and cheaper, but then when shallow DoF is your goal you retain the flexibility to swap to fast primes or more exotic zooms. In the studio having larger lenses on s35 studio cameras would not really be a problem and a studio equipped with s35 cameras could one day shoot a game show and the next be used to shoot a filmic drama. For news 1/2″ and 1/3″ handycams are already becoming common place. For factual there is now a great desire to move from the video look to more of a film look, so s35 may be the way forwards. For Natural History, the 1/2″ EX3 is often used with DSLR lenses for long lens work. For sports you could argue that 1/2″ OB style cameras might make a lot of sense as producing compact long focal length lenses would be easier. If the cameras are smaller and lighter then the truck needed to transport them also gets smaller and lighter and each camera takes up less space in the stadium.

Clearly 2/3″ is not going to suddenly disappear, there is far too much already invested in it globally. But it’s share of the market in my opinion will only ever get smaller and smaller.

It’s airshow season!

Fitting a mini-cam in a Raphael Jet Fighter

I have not had a chance to post much recently as I have been busy shooting airshows. The last couple of weeks have seen me shooting “run and gun” with an F3 at the Flying Legends air display at Duxford and the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford. The weather was on and off at both events and as well as shooting the aircraft from the ground I also fitted one of the minicams. In the next few days I’m going to write about how I found using the F3 for Run and Gun. It’s doable, but not ideal and lens choice is critical! Also coming soon a couple of reviews of some Camrade gear, a PMW-F3 rain cover and bag.

Free Play with a 3D Rig opportunity, London, July 20th.

I’m running a “Play with a 3D rig” session at the Phoenix Artists Club in central London between 12.30 pm and 6 pm on July 20th. This will be an opportunity to come and have a go with a Hurricane Rig and hopefully other related equipment. It is completely free and open to all. There will be discount prices on the rigs for those that attend as well as a free prize draw. It’s all free and if there is enough demand I will run a brief introduction to 3D workshop between 3pm and 4pm. Please fill out the registration form if you wish to join us. http://www.hurricane-rig.com/play-with-a-rig-london/

FCP-X, My first look.

OK, I took the plunge and tried FCP-X to see for myself what it’s like, despite all the negative comments about it I though I would give it the benefit of doubt and try it for myself..
It’s very fast, the way you scrub through clips in the bins is impressive and the built in filters are a good start. I also note that decklink now have drivers for most of their cards so HDSDi out is now available, certainly things are strating to come together with FCP-X.

BUT… I wanted to add a simple colour correction to a clip, no problem with that using the colour board, but then I tried to add a keyframe so the correction would change slightly of the duration of the clip. Simple, basic stuff…. But you can’t. You can’t keyframe the majority of FCP-X’s effects, only the motion effects and a couple of others. This is such a simple, fundamental thing that I take for-granted with every other pro edit package. It’s not an advanced feature and yet it’s completely missing. FCP-X is not ready for me yet, too much stuff missing to make it useful as my NLE of choice. If I can’t keyframe effects then for me this is not a “Pro” edit package, it is a consumer product. Perhaps over time it will mature and things like this will get added. But I have on-going projects and who knows how long it will take to get FCP-X up to speed, it could be a year or more. So I either stick with now somewhat long in the tooth FCS or jump ship to Premiere CS5.5 which looks better and better by the day or maybe leave the Mac platform altogether and go with Vegas or Edius. Of course Avid is still an option too.

Why using negative gain can be bad, unless you have an F3.

One way to reduce the noise in a video camera image is to reduce the cameras gain. We all know that increasing the gain to lets say +6db will increase noise and generally the reverse holds true when you reduce the gain, the noise typically reduces and this may be helpful if you are going to do a lot of effects work, or just want a clean image.

However in most cases negative gain reduces dynamic range as it will artificially clip your low key parts of the image. The brightness range is restricted by the cameras DSP (Digital Signal Processor), it only has so many bits of data to sample the sensors output, from dark to light. If you reduce the gain the highlight handling doesn’t change (DSP bit depth limited) but your entire image get shifted down in brightness and as a result you will clip off some of your shadow and dark information, so your overall dynamic range is also reduced. Dynamic range is not just highlight handling, it is the entire range from dark to light. 3db is half a stop (6db = 1 stop) so -3db gain reduces the dynamic range by half a stop.

So for cameras like the EX1 and EX3 or even PMW-500/PDW-700 using negative gain can be a bad thing to do. You need to be aware that there is a trade off of noise against dynamic range and need to be sure that the small noise benefit are worth the sacrifice of some latitude. The problem is further compounded on the EX1 and EX3 where the use of -3db gain also reduces the peak white recording level by 3db and with Cinegamma 2 this will prevent you from actually reaching peak white (unless you change the gamma curve gain).
Interestingly the PMW-F3 has an excess of dynamic range for the normal gammas and cinegammas and the processing appears to take advantage of this to keep the images very clean. When you shoot with the standard gammas and cinegammas on the F3 the cameras base ISO (sensitivity) is 400 asa at 25p. This gives a very clean, ultra low noise image with 11.5 stops of dynamic range. When you switch the camera to S-Log, which gives a greater dynamic range (approx 13 stops by my estimation) the base ISO increases to 800 asa.  Looking at some of my S-Log test footage a clear increase in under exposure latitude can be seen when you use S-Log. I suspect that the “0db” point in the F3 is actually 800 asa as used by S-Log, where maximising dynamic range and using the full sensor range is the priority. Meanwhile with standard gammas, which are limited to 11.5 stops anyway, you can reduce the gain by 6db (1 stop) sacrificing one stop of underexposure but still have the full 11.5 stops but with 6db less noise.