I'm a complete novice at shooting video but its something I want to add to my studio sessions. I just ordered a D800 so now is the time to start learning.
Are there any good tutorials out there on "how to" get started with video. I did a few google searches but haven't come up with much.
In video: You project "time and space" in a continuum of motion pictures.
When you take a picture: You have this image of what you want in your mind.
When you make video: You capture time and space and event horizon. You try to capture what you dreamed of in your vision.
Capturing video on your DSLR is only half the process. The rest, more difficult and challenging, is movie editing: which might have more budget costs for hardware and software than your DSLR!
You Tube has it's own tutorial, as well as many others on You Tube thta gives tips and tricks.
my advice would be to go to a local school/college workshop course to get the basics if your a hands on learner, or if your good at reading and learning from books get something like a dummies book .. they do books on allsorts of genre's
Lionfish Photography wrote: I'm a complete novice at shooting video but its something I want to add to my studio sessions. I just ordered a D800 so now is the time to start learning.
Are there any good tutorials out there on "how to" get started with video. I did a few google searches but haven't come up with much.
Larry
Your new D800 will be a nice addition to that D700 you're shooting with.
I've seen 2 nicely done videos done with the D800
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVHvD3ZZN6w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLIwKVQ0JOA the rest of the eye-catching videos I've seen were shot with Canon gear. When you shoot your video, I hope you post a link or a thread. I would love to see some more fashion and glamor video shot with the D800 or D600.
Though the same principles of lighting and exposure may apply, video is a whole other animal than stills. DSLR video is a whole other animal than shooting video on a high quality video camera designed for the purpose.
Most DSLR's do NOT continuously autofocus. So, you should either have additional pairs of arms/hands implanted by a plastic surgeon or be prepared to spend a considerable sum on "attachments" to make video manageable. It's easy to invest more in follow focus, external monitors, sound, brackets, sliders, dollies, etc than you paid for the cam body.
While there are some technical challenges to shooting video the harder part, in my opinion, is the concept. Think of stills like a painting or drawing, it is a fixed moment. Video on the other hand is a lot more like a book, it has to have a story line to make any sense or be interesting. It is this coming up with the story line and shooting to it that makes video so challenging.
As a full time editor, I can say to learn the technical rules for DSLR video. Proper shutter speed. If you are shooting 30p, shutter should be 1/60. If 24p, set to 1/50. Use of ND filters. Maybe look into getting a cheap rig with follow focus. Etc. If you have any questions, let me know. YouTube is a great resource also
Itkis76 wrote: As a full time editor, I can say to learn the technical rules for DSLR video. Proper shutter speed. If you are shooting 30p, shutter should be 1/60. If 24p, set to 1/50. Use of ND filters. Maybe look into getting a cheap rig with follow focus. Etc. If you have any questions, let me know. YouTube is a great resource also
In my still photography I sometimes use shutter speeds of a 1/60 or lower but not usually by choice. Are you saying you should always use those speeds mentioned above or don't go below?
Lionfish Photography wrote: In my still photography I sometimes use shutter speeds of a 1/60 or lower but not usually by choice. Are you saying you should always use those speeds mentioned above or don't go below?
yes. if you had crystal clear sharp images for every frame in your video it will stutter and look unnatural. You NEED motion blur, and the correct amount of motion blur
think of shutter speed over time and related to frames per second and this is called 'shutter angle' which is the correct term for a rotary shutter.
180 degrees is the most natural motion blur
180 degrees would be 1/48th of a second shutter speed over 24 frames a second
180 degrees would also be 1/60th of a second over 30 frames a second
180 degrees would also be 1/120th of a second over 60 frames a second
This is correct. Most refer to it as the 180 rule. If you deviate from this you'll end up with either motion blur or on the opposite end, a jarring strobe like effect. Also I wanted to ask about your plans for audio? Or is this a video only project?
It can have a steep learning curve, this is what a lot of people to go school for, or it can be pretty straightforward and easy. Some here brought up great points, but without knowing more of what the end product is they could be getting into it way too far.
I am a videography instructor myself. I teach at the Defense Information School. I can tell you that video is a whole new moster. Editing can be even worse. Tutorials help, but if you're serious about getting good at video I honestly recommend taking courses on it.
Itkis76 wrote: This is correct. Most refer to it as the 180 rule. If you deviate from this you'll end up with either motion blur or on the opposite end, a jarring strobe like effect. Also I wanted to ask about your plans for audio? Or is this a video only project?
sorry to interrupt but the 180 degree rule is something completely different and has nothing to do with shutter speed, shutter angle or frame rates.
The phrase '180 degree rule' refers to the line that we usually do not cross when blocking
edit:
not meaning to be narky, just trying to prevent the spread of misinformation re: 180 rule
To achieve a film look (which has just enough motion blur between frames to look natural without being “smeary”) you need to follow the 180 degree rule which, simply put, says that your shutter speed should be double the frame rate. This is one of those times when I want to say “don’t worry about what it means, just go with it” as the technical explanation is quite…well…technical. Tyler Ginter did a really good job explaining the technical side of this on his blog post 180 Degree Shutter – Learn It, Live It, Love It.
**Not being Narky either. Just pointing out that it's probably called may things**
What I would like to do initially is do some behind the scenes video of my shoots for my own promotion. I also would like to put together some clips with a music background as a kind of value added for the models.
Lionfish Photography wrote: I guess all I need to know is 1/60th
there's one other thing
if you are near flicker lights (example any domestic fluorescent light) and your shutter speed is slightly off the frequency of the power supply of the country you are in you will get banding in your image
Lights to watch out for are fluorescent lighting in offices, public spaces. After a being burnt a few times you will learn to spot them.
Pro film lighting that uses fluorescent (example kino flo, hmi) uses flicker free balast so you will be fine. But most location lights will not be flicker free.
US current runs at 60Hz so if you are near flicker lights make sure you are at s1/60
Europe current runs at 50Hz so switch to s1/50.
This also applies to multiples so if you are shooting slo mo at 60 fps s1/120 in europe with a 50Hz power and standard flo lighting in an office you will get nasty banding
Its important to realize that producing videos is a very complex endeavor with new equipment, skills, and editing. Asking for tips in an internet forum is like asking how to cook since you just bought a new stove.
Your photography work is very good, so I would try to partner with an established video producer in your area to first produce Behind the Scenes videos and Model Feature videos at your shoots. Then you can work side by side with an established pro to build your video production skills, and not make too many mistakes buying the wrong equipment or learning obsolete editing SW.
Lionfish Photography wrote: I'm a complete novice at shooting video but its something I want to add to my studio sessions. I just ordered a D800 so now is the time to start learning.
Are there any good tutorials out there on "how to" get started with video. I did a few google searches but haven't come up with much.
Larry
I have shot several short films with DSLR. One thing is to drop the exposure about -1 to prevent blowouts of highlights, common with digital video over film, because of digital having less latitude for exposure over film. There is no RAW mode shooting video, unless you are using a RED camera (brand of digital video). Generally you will be shooting in manual mode, no autofocus. Turn off the autofocus button on the lens, do it all manual.
If you will be recording audio that is a whole additional monster to control, bad audio will ruin a film. But if you are just capturing video it is hard to screw up if you shoot manual, -1 exposure compensation, 24 frames per second (traditional 'film' look).
EDIT: Oh, and if you need a 'steadicam' to record video while following a moving model/actor (Jason Bourne type footage, you know), you can build yourself a $15 steadicam with some simple supplies from the hardware store, just google $15 steadicam.
I got tired just writing screenplays, decided to get back to some photography as an excuse to get away from the keyboard, interact with real world people (beautiful models) instead of just fictional chars. Will do both, just want to balance life's passions a bit.
I'm on a similar trip.
The immediacy of still photography is what has been appealing to me lately. I shoot and the end product is in my hands in 3-4 hours instead of 3-4 days.
I'm still shooting corporate vids and some ads but with cams owned by my work, usually c300 or c100. And writing a lot.
liddellphoto
Posts: 1,671
London, England, United Kingdom
I have been messing about with it and it is pretty hard especially editing. It is very odd coming from photography in that some skills are useful but some are totally new; You have to be constantly thinking about having many angles, near/medium/far shots and movement be it subject movement or camera movement.
Randall_Oelerich wrote:
It is a freaking black hole money pit is what it is, lol. Seems like it never ends, buy this or that to shoot a film.
I'm only looking at basics (but decent kit) like a solid fluid head, half decent follow focus and a field monitor and the price tag is coming in at over £1k.
Thanks for all the input from some obviously very knowledgeable people. I does seem a little daunting but I did teach myself photography. I'm more of a get out there and do it kind of learner. Clearly I won't be producing cinematic results right off the bat just because i bought a video capable DSLR. The advice and links provided on this thread should go a long way in starting me out.
Thomas Earl
Posts: 273
Los Angeles, California, US
It's an interesting and demanding medium. I'm trying to learn it myself at the moment too. One good website where you can get a lot of info is cinema5d.com. And no it's not only concerning the 5d, I think it jut started that way since that was the first capable camera. Also if you want to see examples of some skilled short film makers I always find them easier to find on Vimeo rather than YouTube. Lots of good groups there. Good luck...
Square Jaw Photography wrote: I am a videography instructor myself. I teach at the Defense Information School. I can tell you that video is a whole new moster. Editing can be even worse. Tutorials help, but if you're serious about getting good at video I honestly recommend taking courses on it.
Being a film student currently, I'd agree with that. It's not like photograph, where you can actually fake it by machine-gunning your shots and cherry-picking the few non-crap images from the vast piles of crap you end up with if you don't know what you're doing. In cinema there's less forgiveness. Fixing minor glitches like things poking into the frame aren't a big deal in stills, but when you have to fix 24 of those per second, it can get to be a drag before you even start to think about editing.
WMcK
Posts: 5,183
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Lionfish Photography wrote:
In my still photography I sometimes use shutter speeds of a 1/60 or lower but not usually by choice. Are you saying you should always use those speeds mentioned above or don't go below?
Shutter speed has a very different function in stills and video. With stills you normally want to freeze the action with no blur. With video (and ciné film) some blur is necessary to smooth the motion. Normally half your frame rate is recommended as the best compromise between blurred images and jerky motion. But experienced cinematographers know when to vary this for optimum effect.
liddellphoto
Posts: 1,671
London, England, United Kingdom
I've watched a couple of courses on creativeLIVE which has been a big help since they are geared towards photogs. Seeing how someone experienced puts shots together and then edits them is very useful.
jdmax wrote: if you are near flicker lights (example any domestic fluorescent light) and your shutter speed is slightly off the frequency of the power supply of the country you are in you will get banding in your image
Lights to watch out for are fluorescent lighting in offices, public spaces. After a being burnt a few times you will learn to spot them.
Pro film lighting that uses fluorescent (example kino flo, hmi) uses flicker free balast so you will be fine. But most location lights will not be flicker free.
US current runs at 60Hz so if you are near flicker lights make sure you are at s1/60
Europe current runs at 50Hz so switch to s1/50.
This also applies to multiples so if you are shooting slo mo at 60 fps s1/120 in europe with a 50Hz power and standard flo lighting in an office you will get nasty banding
I had a European producer client for a while, mostly feature stories. He'd bring his own PAL Digital Betacam, and I'd have to be certain to reset the shutter to 1/60 for that very reason. Things pulsed and banded unpleasantly otherwise.
SKITA Studios
Posts: 1,316
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sliders and FF seem to be essential bits of gear w/ video.
Nice job w/ your first go at it w/ Emily, Larry. While watching it, I thought a slide would have been useful...maybe a jib if you want to get a bit fancier :-)
You're not doing audio w/ most of these BTS, so you don't have to go into that rathole...
SKITA Studios wrote: Sliders and FF seem to be essential bits of gear w/ video.
Nice job w/ your first go at it w/ Emily, Larry. While watching it, I thought a slide would have been useful...maybe a jib if you want to get a bit fancier :-)
You're not doing audio w/ most of these BTS, so you don't have to go into that rathole...
Before investing a lot of money in extra gear I would suggest making a few videos without followfocus (just focus before recording), jib or slider (very fabcy indeed, but if you can't tell a proper story without those tools, it's a waste of money) to see if it's really something you like to do.
Filming is one thing.
Filming with the edit in mind takes some more experience.
And editing takes time to learn: although it's basicly cut and paste, it's also about decisions you make. But you can only cut away what you have, so you need to shoot with the edit in mind.
Audio and DSLRs are a bad match, but if you need to record audio, that's also something you'll need to learn.
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