great slo mo

I am going to be shooting a music video and will require some great slo mo. I have a 5DMkii which is my go-to. I don't want to go rent a Red, only have a few slo-mo shots and will have more with future projects as well, so either want to invest in great software (twixtor etc) or a DSLR that shoots higher speed (is the 6D all that?). Would like to know any favorite DSLR cameras that shoot higher speed (within $5k), and / or software (in case maybe my 5d will do the trick with post)... Using FCP 7.0.3
Thank you

Troy

The old trick was to shoot at 720p60 and then transcode and conform it to ProRes 23.976 fps in Compressor. That can give you pretty good slow mos.



www.strypesinpost.com

The 5DmkII doesn't have a 60p setting, even at 1280x720, I believe. (In fact, a quick browse of the 5DmkII's specs reveal only options for 24fps, 25fps and 30fps, and only 1920x1080 or 640x480.) The 7D has the 60p option, as do the 60D and the 5DmkIII.


www.derekmok.com

My bad. I always get the DSLRs confused. Get a camera that can do 60fps (or higher). Shooting high frame rates always looks better on slow mos than using any kind of software in post. But for post, Twixtor will give you the best looking slow mos.



www.strypesinpost.com

'The old trick was to shoot at 720p60 and then transcode and conform it to ProRes 23.976 fps in Compressor. That can give you pretty good slow mos.'

Yes, indeed that's the 'old' trick... and I've tried it and it worked GREAT... but that was a yr ago, just wondering if there is a 'new' trick nowadays... a new camera that shoots higher than 60fps, etc... (thanks!)

Yes, you are right. The mkii doesnt do high speed... Ive had mine for 2 years and LOVE it... but I only wish it had a damn highspeed option. I guess what Im wondering is are there any DSLRs that shoot higher than 60fps. The 7D etc have been shooting 60fps for a couple years now, so I was thinking that there must be something better than a camera from 2 years ago (as they seem to keep evolving quickly).

The new trick is Twixtor via AE. 20% speed looks beautiful through that method.

[www.revisionfx.com]

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Shooting at high frame rates is best, because it reveals the fascinating reality in the motions and avoids "optical flow" artifacts. But if you can't shoot at rates high enough to make motion slow enough, consider augmenting the highest available frame rate with software such as Twixtor. Optical flow speed doubling, just slipping one constructed frame between each two genuine frames, is unlikely to produce noticeable artifacts.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

There are better cameras, but they aren't in the budget you listed. Sony's NEX-FS700 will do 1080p60 as well as 120 and 240 fps in burst mode (16 sec and 8 sec respectively) but the camera alone is $8,000. For $5k or less I think you are limited to 720p60 cameras. The exception is the GoPro Hero Black which will do 1080p60, 720p120 and 1440p48 for $400 but I don't know if the GoPro would give you the look that you want (other than slo mo of course).


-Andrew

My son has the GoPro Black and it has pretty good image quality. It fisheyes everything but for action/sports shots i kinda like that.
There is some plugins that will fix the fish eye and if you have AE you can reverse a sphere effect to get rid of most of it. However, you may have to increase the size of the frame to get rid of some edges if you reverse the sphere effect.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

I know you said you didn't want to rent a Red which is understandable considering the data management you would have to add to your on set workflow, but have you considered renting any of the camera's mentioned here?
Many of the rental houses have packages of DSLRs or the medium pro ENG/EFP cameras. Should be cheaper than renting a RED and you can try out the slo-mo to see if it's useful for you.
If you get any of the Canon cinema cameras the data would fit (more or less) into your existing 5D workflow.

Heck, rent a Phantom and really go to town...jk

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

Well really what I'm wanting to do is BUY a second camera, to add to the 5D. Would the 6d be the best option, has anyone used one? The reviews appear to be pretty good. And it shoots at 60.

Great, thanks Mr Corbett ... one would still have to have a fairly clean frame and smooth movements though I assume?

For twixtor, would I need to buy the PRO version? Pretty costly... does LAFCPUG have any discounts/codes etc?

And you say to get the AE version... is that a lot better than going through FCP?

Yes. The Ae version is better because Ae deals with the frames more intuitively. FCP version is ok but not as good as premier version. And premier version is Not as good as AE.

Ae is just better built for effects as a whole.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

GoPro Hero3 Black Edition (I have one of these) - tons of settings including 1080p @ 60 fps and 720p @ 120fps / built in WiFi so you can use the GoPro app on your iPhone as a monitor / camera control. Waterproof. Amazing technology. Everything is not fisheye out of this camera as you can adjust the Field of View in the menu settings (Ultra Wide / Medium / Narrow). You will want all the mounting goodies. Best $800(ish) you will ever spend (I got all the mounting goodies through Amazon and saved some $$$ and free shipping):

[gopro.com]

Twixtor Pro (AE) also on 120 fps footage is outstanding...but the more frames Twixtor has to work with the better. I would not use Twixtor on 24fps footage and expect a clean super-slomo. Check Toolfarm for Twixtor (best prices anywhere on plug-ins)

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote
J.Corbett
The Ae version is better because Ae deals with the frames more intuitively. FCP version is ok but not as good as premier version. And premier version is Not as good as AE.

That's puzzling. Why would the different versions of Twixtor for the three different applications produce significantly different results? Twixtor, like all optical flow software, must operate on uncompressed images extracted from the clips. The different applications should supply Twixtor with the essentially the same uncompressed images. Then after Twixtor has operated on the uncompressed images, the different applications should produce essentially the same processed clips.

Can you explain how "Ae deals with the frames more intuitively" and how this could affect how Twixtor deals with the images?

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany