Danita Delimont

PACA Update – Part 4

And the future is………

Possibly Red!  The Red Scarlet is now scheduled for release by January 1.  It will come in both a fixed and interchangeable lens configuration.  Expect to pay $4-5k.

The Red One is scheduled to be replaced by the Red Epic, which will have a 5-6k resolution.  Red has indicated that they will accept Red ONE cameras on trade-in for their full purchase price as a credit against the cost of a Red Epic.  How’s that for standing behind your product!

And don’t expect Canon, Nikon, and other DSLR manufacturers to be left behind.  Canon has already announced another firmware upgrade for the Mark II which will provide for various frame rates including the popular 24 frames per second.

Red Scarlet

Footage will be a harder format for the microstock community to produce.  It requires more skill and equipment to do it well. Few will have the patience or money to dedicate to this after they see how little they make on their stills.  Consensus at PACA was that stock footage currently has a longer payback period than stills, in the area of about 18 months, but also has a longer lifespan.

In closing, we have been acquiring footage clips for about 6 months and expect to have them loaded to the website in 30-45 days.  Next year will be the Year of the Footage Clip and we encourage you all to get with the program. Speaking of which, we will soon be announcing our plans to help beginning footage shooters with submitting and processing their clips until they get comfortable with the process.

Footage continues to be a bright spot in the otherwise not so rosy photography business.  To travel and nature photographers, it represents a very attractive and relatively easy way to increase the return from your travels.  We look forward to helping you to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

PACA Update – Part 3

Footage Workflow

Whereas Photoshop is the preferred software for high performance editing of stills, the software of choice for video is Final Cut Pro.  This is especially true for Canon 5D Mark all files.  The 5D uses the H264 codec created by Apple 4 years ago.  It uses a 4-2-2-compression which is more than adequate for HDTV.  When processing the file using software other than Final Cut is that the software will convert the H264 to its native codec and then translate it back into H264 when it’s done.  This could have undesirable effects on quality.  The end result could be better with more modern codecs but could also be worse.  When in doubt, stick with the original if you can.

(That said, since we are primarily a PC shop, we use Adobe After Effects with good results.  We are also looking into using i-Movie on a MacBook to do basic editing chores.)

To speed up your editing make a “proxy file” (a lower resolution and thus smaller file) to make your edits on.  When you have the EDL (your edit decision list) saved, substitute the full resolution file and run the processing.  Your edits will go faster this way.

The 5D uses Long GOP (Group of Pictures) coding, which takes a long time to process.  Do your batch conversions into proxy files overnight to save time during working hours.

DV Kitchen (http://dvcreators.net/dv-kitchen/) is an $80 program that will do this job.  Create .mov files for editing.  For example, you can export the original to Apple Pro Res HQ422 wrapped in the .mov extension.  We haven’t had time to try this yet but I was assured it works well.

Lightroom is a good program for managing the finished clips.  Capture 1 was mentioned as better than Light room for feathering clips.

A rule of thumb is that it takes about 4 times as long to edit footage as it does to shoot it.  This makes sense since you have to watch the clip first to see what to do with it.  You are already at 1X the time before you even begin making changes!  Next, make your time in and out decision, then color and other corrections.  Then there is also the keywording, which may require repeated viewing.

Some Inspirational Canon 5d Mark II videos

I went browsing through the Canon 5d group on Vimeo and found some incredible material. This is some very inspirational stuff if you happen to have a 5d or are in the market. It goes to show the possibilities are endless with some training and a little hard work. Enjoy.

Human Prints from julrom1 on Vimeo.

Eos 5D Mark II quick test from Stefano Bozzetta on Vimeo.

Night and Fog from Luke Humphrey on Vimeo.

Ian Provo / Coast Edit 2009 from Ian Provo on Vimeo.

Nostalgia (original version) from Edgar Maguyon on Vimeo.

PACA Update – Part 2

Footage Shooting Tips

While watching the stock footage shoot at the PACA International Meeting Sunday session, we got a chance to watch and talk with the participants for 3 hours as they went about creating several different stock footage clips.  Here is what I gleaned from the assembled practitioners.

The Red ONE is an extremely good camera for the price. They love it. However, it is not easily portable in the sense of travel photography.  The tripod is enormous and the ancillary gear such as hard discs, field monitors, etc. requires having a multi-person crew.  In addition to the 2 models there were 6 others involved in the shoot.

Focus is extremely important. The depth of field with a 135mm lens at about 15 feet was between 3 and 4 INCHES!  A turn of the model’s head and his beard went out of focus.  The 5D Mark all which was used to get the “B roll” shots had a much larger DOF and a different look because of the sharpness of the background.  This is both a limitation and a benefit of the DSLR hybrid that can be used for good effect.  Focusing the Mark all was very easy compared to the Red ONE.  The resulting “boca”, or area that is out of focus, is better with the DSLR.

Canon 5d Mark II histogram

Expose to the far right of the histogram whenever possible. The result looks overexposed on the viewfinder and on a monitor but can be easily corrected in post.  This technique saves the details that might otherwise be lost in the shadows.

Other tips included:

Think like you are shooting a silent movie (which you are!).  Tell the story without the sound.

Shoot multiple compositions whenever possible. Do a close up, a wide angle, leave room for copy in one version, etc.

Pans and zooms can be added in post if the original composition is created with this in mind. Shoot wider than you want for the final product and do the pan or zoom in post similar to the way you would do a crop in Photoshop or turn a still into a moving image.

Avoid logos and trademarks. These can be removed in post but it requires a lot of work.  There is a list of places and things that are problematical on the PACA website.

Get Down! The DSLR can get closer to the ground than a regular video camera and can also be more easily elevated with poles or booms to get unique perspectives.  Be creative, get unique shots.

Red Scarlet Update

Red Scarlet

Gizmodo just released some new details regarding the RED Scarlet. According to sources, it looks like it should be available this summer.

This camera is going to make serious waves in the video and photography industry. With DSLR hybrids currently ranging from $5-8,000 this gives dual shooters another option and in my opinion start the decline of the DSLR’s user base. There is too much bang for your buck in this beauty. You can use any frame of it’s 60fps as a still and would have a hard time noticing the difference between it and most Pro/Pro-sumer DSLRs. Interested yet?

For those of you that speak video tech here are some of the specs:

* Increased REDCODE data rates
* New FLUT Color, Gamma and Sensitivity Science. Now same as EPIC.
* More extensive modular system integration.
* Interchangeable Lens mounts including focus and iris control of electronic RED, Canon and Nikon lenses, along with Zoom data (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable)
* “Touch Focus Tracking” with electronic lens mounts and RED touchscreen LCD’s (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable and 8x Fixed)
* Two independent microphone level channels, balanced input circuits, 48V Phantom Power, digitized at 24-bit 48KHz.
* GigaBit Ethernet port
* Scaled 1080P at 60fps

For more info and all the detailed pictures of the camera and it’s accessories be sure to check the article over at Gizmodo.

PACA Update – Part 1

We attended the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) International Meeting and Symposium in Miami Beach October 17th and 18th 2009.  There was a lot of interest in footage this year and the program had several footage sessions, all of which we attended.  In this article I will give an overview of what I learned and will go in to more depth in upcoming posts.

Most striking was the general attitude towards stock footage.   Last year it was the future.  This year it is very much the present!  More agencies are putting their toes in the waters and more and more resources are available to allow still photographers to acquire footage capabilities.

The Canon 5D Mark II, and similar hybrid DSLRs have been well accepted by shooters and buyers of stock footage.  The image quality is good enough for all but the largest presentation formats, such as theatrical releases of movies, and is quite acceptable for TV and web use.  I learned several advantages DSLRs have over traditional video equipment as well as techniques to work around some of the limitations of these hybrids.  More on that next week.

We also watched a stock footage production shoot featuring a Red ONE camera, 2 models, and extensive lighting.  The shoot was staged in the lobby of the Eden Roc hotel around the lobby bar.  It allowed me to see firsthand what goes into a typical shoot.  You may have heard that making the transition to video can be a daunting challenge and to watch how an on location shoot with talent and lighting works makes me agree with this assessment.  I would never want to try this style of shooting with my 5D!

The good news is that the type of stock footage we are adding to our site does not require this level of technical sophistication and complexity!  While some people are shooting elaborate studio type video with very high production value, our travel and nature photographers are presented with a much simpler and easier proposition – let Mother Nature supply the talent and lighting – just focus on the composition, exposure, and focus!   I will give you more details about this in an upcoming post.

There was a lot of good information on the footage workflow.  In addition to getting tips on software and procedures, we also located several resources that can take over with some of the “post-production” tasks that you may not be ready or willing to do yourself.  We even located a vendor that is now providing us with samples of their post production capabilities.  Their work looks great and they can quickly turn around clips from our EDL (Edit Decision List) and even supply the metadata.

Finally, I picked up some scuttlebutt about the upcoming Red Scarlet and Red Epic that will be appearing in the near future. Stay tuned!

Follow Focus

From the Follow Focus Website:

Follow Focus

The all new Redrock microFollowFocus v2 brings new levels of features and refinement to the award-winning microFollowFocus.

The microFollowFocus is the first cinema-grade follow focus unit optimized for use with video cameras and still (SLR) 35mm lenses. Designed to be used with standard 0.8 film-pitch gearing and 15mm lightweight rod support (such as the Redrock Micro microSupport system), the microFollowFocus brings control and accuracy to the new world of digital filmmaking at revolutionary prices.

Redrock microFollowFocus Reviews

Read the review from VASST on the microFollowFocus V1
Read the review from microFilmmaker on the microWhips

LCD Hoods & Eye Pieces (Canon 5d Mark II)

Hoodman Loupe

ICD LCD Viewfinder

When in the field it can be hard to shoot and review clips using your LCD screen. These LCD hoods and eye pieces for the Canon 5d Mark II make it easy to get a good look at your screen without any glare.

You can either put the eye piece up to the screen when you need a look, or hook the attachment on and use it as you shoot.

I would go as far as to say that this is a must have for our 5d shooters.

Ready, Steady, Go!

Another way to get a steady shot and the highest quality footage in the field is to use a Stedi-cam. These use a counter balance to keep your camera steady and almost hover, allowing you to move freely and quickly without the camera shaking and causing the viewer motion sickness.

Here are a few steadicams that are on the market today:

Cavision RS1580D

Glidecam 2000 Pro

ABC Handyman 100

SteadiCam Merlin

Tripods and Fluid Heads

When capturing footage it is essential that your shot be steady and well framed. The best way to do this is to have a sturdy tripod to keep your camera still and a fluid head if you plan on attempting any pans.

Here are some recommended Tripods and Fluid heads that work well with hybrid DSLR cameras and some video cameras.

Tripods

GT2530EX

Gitzo GT2530EX

Gitzo G1327 Mountaineer Mk2 Carbon Fiber

Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripods – 1325 and 1227

Manfrotto 190XPROB

Manfrotto Tripods (Reviewed on CNET)

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Fluid Heads

503HDV

Manfrotto 501HDV

Manfrotto 503HDV

Manfrotto 701HDV

Gitzo G2380