Blackmagic Tech Dem

Today we had a tech dem on the Blackmagics, which was essentially a refresher from Wynyard filming. I still made a few notes to add to the blog for the future and if I need any more reminders.

• can choose to have a monitor on set
• Can change display. Menu-settings-frame. 2.39:1 and 2.40:1 gives nice bars. Also thirds option (which will probably be what I go for as I do like my framing, and we can always add bars in post)
• solid state harddrive
• ISO built in for 800 (reccomended number). 400 for outside
• ProResHQ usual recording format
• Dynamic range. Film= more info, best for colour grading. Video= use if no time for colour grading
• 25fps is reccomended as that is what is used for Vue
• Make sure timelapse is off
• Settings-display. Zebras (overexposed) can be on
• Make darker, change f stop. Makes DoF shallower
• Always bring ND filters if outside
• Shutter angle= 172.8 (can be 180). [jello effect if lower, whip pan if higher]
• 5600 white balance if outside. 5000 inside. 3600 readheads.
• Switch camera off before change lenses
• If electronic lens, back and forward buttons change ISO
• Settings-display-LCD overlay and SDI overlay to ON so you can see the settings
• Exposure histogram on bottom left of the display. Keep low and as even as possible. Should fill 70%.
• metadata- rename camera and clips. A= automatically updates take number

Digital Production #3 - P2 Tech Dem

Today we had a P2 tech dem and a quick activity/quiz with a free drink at the RTS Awards at stake. I didn't win but it was fun! We use the P2's rather than the AVC's for multi cam as there's three of them and they are HD. For this particular project, we need to film in 30fps as that's what YouTube allow for live streaming. To get 30fps we need to put it in American mode (aka NTSC), which is found in option 9, then system frequency, and change it to 60hz. When we are finished, we need to put it back to PAL (English, 50hz) as students often forget to check the settings. We also want to put the video output as 720 to suit the vision mixer, and it also uses less bandwidth.

To connect it to the vision mixer, make sure the wire goes into component out, and also switch off the mic and phantom power on the camera. We then connect the wire to a mains adaptor (the battery charger, but don't charge batteries on it while it's being used as a mains adaptor as it doesn't work). 

On option 6 of the menu, make sure SDI is on and meta is off, and that it's also on 1080i and not auto. If you want to show the battery on the video, you can do that on display, then put video out OSD, on. 

We can also record as well as stream if we decide to edit it later. 

AVC Tech Dem: Take 3

Today Lee wanted us in for a 'AVC Refresher' session. He quickly looked at out video from our Live Project (but none of the other team's which was a shame as I wanted to see their final versions) and nit picked at our shots and framing. While some of it was useful, it wasn't anything we already knew. We did all the framing for a reason, whether it told the narrative or just looked nice.

He then told us the basics of the AVC's again and what format to record (this was probably the only useful thing as the frame rates in ours was weird due to the camera ops not checking this on set). I have already made notes on all of this the last tech dem so check out this post and this one. 

Lee then told us to do a tech dem and repeat what he just said in a 5 min video in groups of 3 or 4. Me, Beth, Janice and Jamie were in a group and we all wanted it out the way so we could focus on Professional Studies and our pitches for next week. So we quickly booked out a camera and recorded it on my phone.

Our tech dem is just pretty much a repeat of the one we did in Digital Production but without the swanky cuts and the display on the interactive whiteboard. We did think about doing a rap but we just didn't have the time.

I was the person improvising and pointing at buttons as I was the most confident with the equipment and know where everything is and the most confident in front of the camera. Janice was camera op. Beth was producer. Jamie and Beth are editing it. Even though we did use in camera editing, it still would be good to edit it as it is 7 minutes as I "um" and "ah" a lot. 

Jamie's Edit


Beth's Edit

Digital Production #3

This morning we had more practice on the AVC cameras by filming a tech dem. Also got to look more at the studio lighting since we needed to use it for the video and was a bit easier to watch with our small group since all the class were squished in the room last time.

In the afternoon, we again got to film with the AVC cameras but this time outside. We had to find shots that have a hidden meaning with something to do with Hartlepool. This is very similar to what we did in freshers week with 'Hidden Hartlepool'. We then had to discuss our shot choices and what the deeper meaning could be.

Production Skills #3

This week we looked particularly at cameras. I have some pretty hefty notes for this lecture so bare with me. I'm just going to jot them down as I have in my notebook, in note form, not full sentences. Why? Because...

https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ain%26039%3Bt-nobody-got-time-for-that

Canon XL1 

• M= manual (dial on camera). ON. Shoots in 4x3. 
• Exposure= amount of light (iris control). Gain standard = +0db. Makes more sensitive to light. Can degrade quality. Shutter speed= 50i, button behind iris control. 1/50= standard shutter speed. F.__ = iris. The higher, the less light goes in and the shallower the depth of field. F5.6-8 standard. Neutral density filter (NDF)= on or off. Sunglasses for camera.
• Stability function= for handheld camera. Reduces shake but not all of it.
• AF button- focuses in one push
• White balance= next to gain button. Light bulb= indoor. Sun= outdoor. Triangle, square, triangle button= fix white balance. Use white sheet of paper to correct.
• Audio 1, left - mic plug in. 'line' = mixing desks. 'mic' = microphone
• Canons= no phantom power. Use rode mic. 
• Gain= increasing sensitivity. Audio and video gain. Background hiss.
• Zoom. W- wide. T- telephoto. The closer, the more shake. 
• Eye piece= near and far settings. Don't trust in built monitors. 
• Use record button on SIDE.
• Lower the lens, the wider. 25mm= stretches perspective. 50mm = observer. 100mm= tighter crop and foreshortens perspective. 

Panasonic 3CCD

• Gain= low/med/high
• White balance= tungsten and daylight settings. AWB button- use white paper.
• ALWAYS ON MANUAL. Manual iris, next to gain option. Do not want it 'open'. 2.8= safe.
• More control of NDF filters. 
• Zebras= exposure range. 85% for white skin. 70% for black skin. 100% overexposed. Striped lines.
• Shoot in 4x3- aspect conv. option in menu
• Progressive= filmic but tears and ghosting if movement too fast.
• Interlace= fast action and can fix tears but can cause artefacts/blur.
• 50htz refresh rate (double the frame rate)

Phew I think that's it! We then filmed a tech demo of one of the cameras. We got given the Panasonic and we had to talk about setting up the audio and the white balance.