Category Archives: Editing

3D, Cameras, Editing

Using a hybrid video frame rate for 3D (or 2D)

Leave a comment

Is Variable Frame Rate Better than High Frame Rate for 3D?.

There are times, in video, where we want 30 fps – but that can result in jittery motion if the shutter speed is fast. We can either use a longer shutter speed (e.g. 1/30th of a second) to blur motion, or we could shoot at higher frame rates (60 fps).

The authors propose shooting subjects that have fast action in 60 fps but continuing to shoot slower moving subjects in 30 fps. In post production, the entire production can be rendered as 60 fps by doubling up the 30 fps frame.

They did their tests, by the way, for 3D video. 3D likes good detail and does not like lots of motion blur, complicated the decision: how to render detailed 3D without ending up with motion blur problems.

(Actually, the link is to a PAL world discussion where they do thinks in 25 or 50 fps. I translated to 30/60 fps for the North American audience. Also, I did some similar tests sort of along the lines of the authors, but was just playing around with 720p/60 for 3D and found the results were much better than I had expected. But that also may have depended on the inexpensive cameras I was using.)

Cameras, Editing, Lighting, Technical

Is a 10-bit video codec always way better than an 8-bit codec?

Leave a comment

It depends:

“As long as you have the right 8-bit, youre fine." DSLRs like the 5D Mark III have 14-bit sensors, but for video capture, they’re converted down to 8-bit. Its this 8-bit “secret sauce” that the experienced engineers are able to pull off.  “If the engineers are getting the right 8-bit in that final codec, its visibly lossless,”

via Misinformation: The Right 8 Bits | HDVideoPro.com.

It also depends on the lighting in the scene. If the scene has a high dynamic range, more bits are better. If the scene’s dynamic range is shallow, fewer bits are needed to capture the full range. And, like the above, it also depends on how the codec itself works to capture in 14-bits but mix down to 8-bits.

3D, Cameras, Editing, Gear, Techniques

Some odd tips for shooting #3D stills or video

Leave a comment

I have learned all of these the hard way!

The following tips apply to shooting 3D using two cameras.

Got back from vacation 2 weeks ago and discovered that the time settings in my 2 cameras were not the same – making pairing up the video clips a little harder than I wished.

  1. Set the time and date in both cameras to the same settings! Makes it easy during edit to find matching images or video clips between the two cameras.
  2. Simpler cameras with fewer gizmos, gadgets and options generally mean you are more likely to get your 3D shot. Complex cameras have a lot of settings. The main value to shooting 3D with an advanced and complex cameras, I have found, is that you have interchangeable lenses, and its quite possible to adjust zoom lenses “close enough” on both cameras when you can physically see the lens markings as you make your adjustments. But otherwise, 3D likes wide angle and two simple cameras with nice wide angle lenses would be great for 3D.
  3. When taking still photos, you can use the auto-focus, but I recommend you use the pre-focus feature of your camera, if you have it. Most dSLRs will pre-focus the shot if you depress the shutter button part way but not all the way down. Wait for the pre-focus to complete, and then press both shutter buttons simultaneously. This can really help the two cameras fire almost simultaneously.
  4. The experts say to shoot everything in manual mode. That’s how I have been doing it, but on a modern dSLR there are a zillion manual settings that can get turned on accidentally, like programmed shooting modes, custom white balance settings, exposure override, a switch between 720p and 1080p and many more. I ran into this problem today! My thought is that for general hobby shooting, use the full AUTO mode on both cameras.
  5. Output to JPEG image files, not RAW. I shot about 60 3D photos today in RAW mode. Oops. Now I have to convert them all to JPEG before I can do the 3D processing! RAW is nice as it gives a far greater dynamic range – use it where you need it, but if you are shooting 3D, shooting RAW adds a lot of extra work steps.
  6. 3D is complicated enough – keep it simple. (I say after recently shooting 3D video with two shot gun mics, audio mixer, wide angle lens adapters …)
  7. Avoid shooting images that have railings or other items covering up part of the image. For example, the fence railings on th4e image below mess with the eyes. I encountered a similar problem with high school students behind a protective wire mesh used to shield them from some robots they were controlling. The wire mesh ruined the 3D imagery.
[singlepic id=173 w=640 h=480 float=]

 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
3D, Cameras, Editing

Taking 3D Shooting To The Limit — with 3 Cameras!

Leave a comment

Or n cameras for that matter: Taking 3D Shooting To The Limit — with 3 Cameras! – Creative COW.

I have been thinking about this same idea. At times, we don’t know what the inter axial lens spacing should be for 3D – so why just shoot with n cameras instead of 2?

Having 2 cameras gives us stereoscopic views. But sometimes we need different spacing – adding a 3rd or 4th or more cameras to the camera array enables us to record multiple stereoscopic views simultaneously.

Before long, as n goes to infinity, I guess we end up with holograms!

Editing, Gear, Technical

Why We’re Switching From Macs « Rocket Jump

Leave a comment

FreddieW explains Why We’re Switching From Macs « Rocket Jump.

I reached the same conclusion as FreddieW.

After more than a decade of working on Mac, from the PowerPC to the quad core Mac Pro desktop, I have mostly switched to a quad core Windows 7 machine.

The lack of real AVCHD support in FCP7, the FCP7 to FCP X mess, no 3D video support, the disappearing Firewire ports on new hardware, and Apple’s constant push to nearly force upgrades every 2 – 3 years – and the final blow with Mac OS X 10.8 being crippled so that it will not run on 3 of my Macs, Apple has dampened our enthusiasm.

My main reason to keep a contemporary Mac is for iOS development and to access legacy projects. Other than that, most of my work is now on Windows. Sony Vegas, Magix Movie Edit Pro, Adobe Premiere are all excellent video editors that run on Windows.