Quick question on focus

[Macnoviz]

Hi,

I'm shooting a lip dub video in a few days, using my GY-HM100. I'll have to use autofocus, and I'm worried about how well this will do when moving around (the whole video is one shot of people coming into and out of view while the cameraman (me) moves around).

Would using a smaller aperture help improve focus? Any other tips on how I can get the best possible results?

I'm gonna be using a tripod as a stand-in steadycam, and I'm hoping to use the smoothcam filter, although I'm not sure if this will work for long clips.

 

[acearchie]

If you use a larger aperture (as in higher number) then you will have a larger depth of field making more things in focus.

However, with the camera you are using the depth of field shouldn't be so much of an issue.

If you keep the shots wide then you should be able to keep everything within the frame in focus.

Don't forget that if you try increasing the aperture number you will have to either compensate with a slower shutter speed or more light on set.

 

[Macnoviz]

If you use a larger aperture (as in higher number) then you will have a larger depth of field making more things in focus.

However, with the camera you are using the depth of field shouldn't be so much of an issue.

If you keep the shots wide then you should be able to keep everything within the frame in focus.

Don't forget that if you try increasing the aperture number you will have to either compensate with a slower shutter speed or more light on set.

Thanks, I have a camera light which and I'll be using a shutter speed of 1/50, perhaps even 1/25 if the motion blur isn't too bad (I shoot at 25fps). I was also thinking of adding some light in post (Magic Bullet fill light is quite good). I think I prefer a little bit of noise to unsharp footage.

Any tips on using smoothcam for long clips? I want to avoid having to cut the clip up to adjust the smoothcam settings, since there's always a jump between the two images and especially for a lip dub, it might look as though we cheated.

 

[Macnoviz]

Well, it worked, although the focus wasn't always that great. I had to put aperture and shutter speed on automatic.

Smoothcam did a remarkable job of stabilising the footage, especially since the whole video is one shot.

I used Magic Bullet for grading, with appropriate adjustments for each part.

You can watch it here: http://vimeo.com/18230924 password is "konijn" (dutch for "rabbit")

 

[jwheeler]

Cool idea. Sum of the lip sync was off. Should use aftereffects to edit the timing. How many takes?

 

[Macnoviz]

Cool idea. Sum of the lip sync was off. Should use aftereffects to edit the timing. How many takes?

after rehearsals about 7 takes. We had a boombox (sort of) with us, and the music is synchronised to that. Lip Sync is mostly their responsability, but perhaps I'll use Final Cut Pro's time tools to help a bit

 

[jwheeler]

after rehearsals about 7 takes. We had a boombox (sort of) with us, and the music is synchronised to that. Lip Sync is mostly their responsability, but perhaps I'll use Final Cut Pro's time tools to help a bit

Might help, although might not help if you you don't meticulously go over it with a fine tooth comb . Depends how much it's worth to you

If I wasn't being paid, I'd think twice. If I was, I'd time the time it takes me

EDIT: Does FCP have anything like "Flex Time" in Logic, but to stretch key frames to key bits of the music??? 'Cause that would help...

 

[RHVC59]

No constructive criticism, but is was sure fun to watch.

 

[Macnoviz]

Might help, although might not help if you you don't meticulously go over it with a fine tooth comb . Depends how much it's worth to you

If I wasn't being paid, I'd think twice. If I was, I'd time the time it takes me

EDIT: Does FCP have anything like "Flex Time" in Logic, but to stretch key frames to key bits of the music??? 'Cause that would help...

it was a freebie, so I probably won't put very much time in it. And I think you can drag key frames to certain points in way that it adjusts the timing before and after accordingly, but I haven't tried it yet.

I am having some problems however exporting and sharing it properly. I used smoothcam and Magic Bullet, and they claim that the video has become less clear than when I showed the raw footage, although that could be Vimeo's SD compression, or smoothcam, or the grading. I'll have to show it on my laptop side-by-side to be sure

 

[Richardthe4th]

hahaha, leuk man. gaaf :-D